my pink life, mi vida rosada

The word of the week is: open. I'm joining up at the gypsy mama , where you can find a collection of posts on the same word. Open. Open to grace, and to others. Open. And closed. I was talking with my good friend, Roommate, last night, and I think that she finally found me to be as open as she needed me to be. Open, accepting, full of friendship, like I used to be with her. About two months ago Roommate told me that she had started dating a girl, was being really quiet about it, not telling many people because it is the first time she has dated a girl, and also because of all the people who judge, and that she was unsure whether she wanted to open herself up to that kind of judgment. She said that she would answer any questions I had, and was very open with me. I was closed -- I made some sort of vaguely accepting comment, and proceeded to steer the conversation away from her news. Over the past couple of months, I have become more open, more accepting of this change in my ...

We spent the day painting the bedroom. And sitting on the couch. And eating chex mix, minus the onion powder, plus a lot of worcestershire sauce. And poor sweet hubby bought three different blu-ray players, returning the first two for two different reasons....the first may not have worked correctly, while I may have complained that the second one was too complicated for me to figure out how to watch tv. Even though I tried to take back my tantrum, it was too late. Sweet hubby had already made up his mind to return it and find something less advanced. I'm pretty sure he actually told the people at the store when he returned it that there was nothing wrong with it, that it was simply too advanced for his wife. The bedroom is now peach. I love it. There will be pictures soon-ish -- once the room is straightened back out and curtains re-hung and things like that. We are going to have to wait on a trip to Chile. We both REALLY want to go, but neither of us finds the idea of al...

It's time to get creative for sweet hubby's Christmas gift. Officially, we told each other we are not exchanging gifts this year. But I have a record to keep up -- there is always some sort of surprise for sweet hubby under the tree at my Mama's house. Last year, I painted him a picture, and we hung it in our dining room until a friend gave us a much bigger, better picture for my birthday. The year before, I think I snuck a new camera under the tree. And the year before that, I think, was the year I snuck the kitty into our lives....(And he thought he was getting a fishing pole, from the wrapping job I did!). I can't remember everything, but there has always been something under the tree for him, when he is expecting either nothing (because we've agreed to do nothing for each other since in general there are so many gifts going on), or a specific item we've already talked about...And since I'm pretty sure there won't be plane tickets to Chile materi...

Must be funny....In the Rich Man's world. (Just thinking of Abba). No, really, I was just thinking how nice it would be to have any kind of surplus right now, to get some plane tickets for sweet hubby to see his family this summer. A few months ago I posted that I was going to be trying to get my finances back in order , so I thought perhaps a little update was over due. I stink at getting my finances in order. Some of the things I listed last time ARE helping, but some areas have not improved all that much. For example, having a lower house payment is definitely helping. We haven't gotten any better about cooking at home, and especially not about cooking meals that use same ingredients to use them up before they go bad. Does anyone want to volunteer to be my personal chef? I can't pay you, but I can tell everyone I know how amazing you are? Knock on wood, but my car hasn't had major trouble for almost a month. (Last major trouble: brake lights quit working, meanin...

despierta muy temprano, siendo que es mi primer día de vacaciones. mirando un árbol bonito, adornado con cosas que me hacen recordar tiempos y personas bonitos. pensando en todas las cosas que necesito hacer antes que se acaben las vacaciones. preparandome para escribir un millón de tarjetas de gracias a mis estudiantes. escribiendo un proyecto nuevo en donorschoose , porque me gustaría mucho criar huevos de gallina y tener pollitos en mi sala en la primavera. sorprendida que la Navidad se celebra en solamente una semana más. ¿Dónde voló el tiempo? esperando un poco más antes de comer más de las confecciones adictivas que son panecillos de canela . calentita, con la gatita encima de mis piernas. feliz que hay tiempo ahora para arreglar mi pieza, pintar, coser, y hacer proyectos de la casa en general. ansiosa que no he comprado un regalo de Navidad para mi hermana, ni para esposito lindo. triste que pasajes a Chile cuestan TANTO que no los podemos comprar, y que ya son 2 años que mi es...

Joining in for five minutes on the word "connected" at thegypsymama.com . I am connected to people I don't know. I am connected to people I do know. I am connected, and yet, sometimes, many times, I feel so disconnected, too. I was thinking about this the other day...yesterday...when I saw an acquaintance at a meeting after school. I met her through sweet hubby. He used to work with her (she changed jobs), and we occasionally saw each other at their work functions, or went to get tacos from the taco traila together. The last time I saw her was in May, or June....And now here it is, December, and a totally unrelated event, that makes us re-connect.... Connections begin in funny ways, end in funny ways, and re-occur in unexpected ways, too. It is the connecting and the reconnecting that are happiest for me. The disconnecting? That is not so fun. I have been struggling lately with a feeling of disconnect from a particular gorup of teachers at my school. I get along ...

I just received a notification that the first donation has been made to my new project .... It feels like Christmas!

Just a quick line to let you know that this handsome man? He just found out he passed all of his classes this semester! I am extremely proud of him for his hard work.

feeling overwhelmed with the prospect of christmas shopping on my nonexistent budget and limited free time. snuggling with the kitty and drinking a glass of wine. full of yummy chicken putt-putt (pot pie, for those native english speakers who were never confused by the all too similar sounds of pot-pie and putt-putt in southern dialect to a native spanish speaker learning english). tired after making yummy chicken putt-putt. ready to have a sub in my classroom tomorrow while i work on translating skill-rating scales with the fourth and fifth grade immersion teachers. not ready to have a sub in my classroom on tuesday and thursday next week. ready for friday of next week -- movie and party day! not so excited about monday and wednesday and trying to be productive and finish this plant adaptation unit, for the love of all things good, before the break.... so excited to be close to a big break, so that i can enjoy my job and be more focused again.... happy that the "december list...

But this looks like it will be a kid-favorite activity for the year.... Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures of our "chia" heads once they start to grow hair! (And hopefully that will be before Christmas break....otherwise, they'll take them home before they grow.

If you make a donation to my project at donorschoose.org , it can be doubled through a matching grant! All you have to do is use the code SPARK. Please help my students!