1. Because I never formally announced it here, I figure I’ll do so now–we’re moving! Thanks to a gentle nudge in the right direction from all you lovely readers on my question of whether we should move or not, we will officially be out of our beloved rat hole (aka our first apartment) and moved into a much nicer one at the beginning of next month. We’re only moving a couple blocks down (so Matt will still be keeping his new church position), but the difference between the places is like the difference between dust and fresh flowers–one is grimy and gross and hard to love, and the other is airy and bright and perfectly lovely. We are thrilled. (Or at least I am—Matt, for one, positively despises moving and is not looking forward to it with as much anticipation as I am.) I’m also glad for the push this will give me to get rid of the clutter that has managed to accumulate since the end of my organization project last year.
There’s nothing like a move that makes you want to throw away everything with reckless abandon, eh?
2. As my students prepared yesterday for their final country swing dance performance, I had two–TWO!–students sent to the hospital with suspected broken limbs. Only one of them ended up actually having a broken bone (the other got away with a sprain), but still! I was sure between angry parents and concerned administrators, our partner dancing operation was going to get shut down in a hurry, but everyone’s actually taken it very well, and apparently we’re still doing a performance in 3 weeks even though the students seem to be dropping like flies. Huh.
Just a typical Monday in the life of a 7th grade teacher. No big deal.
3. Due to the fact that we haven’t been home hardly at all any of the past few weekends, we STILL haven’t gotten our garden in order. Not only are our plants not in (or even bought), but two of our three rows are being positively divided and conquered by weeds at the moment. I really wanted to get in some potatoes, onions, and maybe some peas or beans along with the usual haul (tomatoes, corn, peppers, squash), but I’m worried we’ve waited too long. The average temperature over the past few weeks has been about 50-60 degrees. Can I still plant those crops and expect a decent yield? Anyone know?
4. After perusing through my blog posts from last May (mostly just to see if I was as swamped with items on my to-do list as I am this year), I was reminded of the fact that I perhaps literally cooked about two meals during this entire month last year due to busy-ness. So although I still have over 50 items on my to-to list (I originally had 75 though, so–progress!), I have made it a point to actually make sure I’m keeping up on good health habits, like cooking a few times each week and going running on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Hence the pictures–last night I made this recipe (a creamy lemon chicken and broccoli dream) and just thought it was too good not to share.
And seriously, if you haven’t subscribed to Mel’s Kitchen Cafe blog yet, you should—that site is a positive treasure trove that has saved us from another night of $5 pizza too many times to count.
5. You probably didn’t notice, but May is the first month in my list of monthly goals that I didn’t set any goals related to reading books off my lists. Although I’m still determined to finish at least a book or two in this, the busiest of all months, I have given myself a “break” of sorts from having to choose books off of my recommended reading lists. I can’t tell you how lovely it is just to pick up a book and read it simply because it looks interesting. Novel idea, I know. (No pun intended.) You’d think I’d wise up and do that all the time, but the reason I stick with the lists is because I’m pretty much guaranteed a decent read every time, whereas with my own quick judgments, I can sometimes be disappointed.
I’m currently reading The Signature of All Things, the first major fictional work by the same woman who wrote the bestseller Eat, Pray, Love, and I’m rather on the fence about it. Good thing I still have over 200 pages to decide how I feel.
What have you read lately? (Now would be a great time to give me recommendations seeing as I’m not tied to a list of any kind at the mo.)
Have a perfectly lovely day!
