GIS- Geographic Information Systems (English) GIS- Global Information Science (ASL) Butterfly- A colorful insect that flies from flower to flower pollinating and bring joy to the onlooker.
In this unsettling time of our World's history my comfort is found in focusing on my favorite things. As Julia Andrews sang in "The Sound of Music" I sang to my students one day this week. It was a reminder to myself as I recounted every word and dazzled them with a floor show in my Reading Group classroom.
My favorite author and blogger is Lisa-Jo Baker. I have shared her since I was on the launch team of her book: Surprised by Motherhood. Her weekly podcast is Out of the Ordinary She and Christy start their podcast by listing some of their favorite things. I love that they share the ordinary things in our lives that really are extraordinary.
They mentioned these books by Louise Penny and now I am hooked. Molly and I will be enjoying this three book set of the 1st books in the murder mystery series about Inspector Gamache. With a cat on my lap and a book in my hand I am ready to leave my chair and travel to another place and another time.
Beer and Pizza
I am a connoisseur of gluten free pizzas in my area. the Shasta Pizza Co in Redding is my current favorite. They are located on the corner of Hartnell and Victor, so I can call at 12:45 and pick it up after I get off work at 1pm. The single pizza can be four meals for me. Guinness being my beer of choice this week.
Fall Décor
After working at Pier One Imports for a few years it is no surprise that I have something for every season. No surprise that I have A LOT of somethings for every season. Fall pillows are out, hand blown glass pumpkins and this lovely on the hearth. It is dried flowers and was about $30. I got it when we had marked them down to $10🎃 With fall comes all the fun foods: Carmel Apples, Popcorn Balls, Apple Crisp and Peppermint Mocha.
These three are sandwiched in the middle, because they are in the middle of my joy. We also got the announcement that they have a little cousin arriving in March, I can't wait to hold my baby boy's ~baby boy.
I like pretty nails. During Shelter in Place my nails were so healthy and I enjoyed taking care of them. Of course going back to work at Pier One was not good for the nails and I wanted pretty nails for my niece's wedding. I bit the bullet and got acrylics which were more expensive than before Covid and the fill was even worse. I have Psoriatic Arthritis and getting a manicure is painful. Removing the acrylic nails in the shop is out of the question. I know my own pain tolerance and can stop and rest. I received the Keratin gloves as a gift and it was very therapeutic after removing the nails. Now I am back to my old worn down nails and enjoying my Color Street nail strips.
I hope you are enjoying some of your favorite things. Please share your favorite things in the comments.
I can not imagine what the past year would have been like if I had not chosen to follow my heart into the Anglican Church. The following month my step mother passed away. She had been ill for many years and my father had become very frail from nursing her. My sisters live out of state and I felt the need to check on my dad daily through the next 10 months.
On Father's day weekend he had a fall and a subsequent brain surgery three weeks later from head injuries. We were not able to go to the hospital with him and it was very hard for a few days. He had a miraculous recover from blood clots on his brain. Life is too short to wait for much at 87 years old. September 19th he married the lovely Rita.
It has been so wonderful to see them enjoying each other's company.
This week he took her up to meet his big brother and family in Oregon.
I took Molly to the mountains to stay with Mary and have been watching their fur baby, Duke.
Pier One Imports closed its doors for good on September 23rd. All Pier 1 stores are gone forever. My side job is gone and school has begun to settle into a routine. Monday to Friday I work from 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school with children present, on campus.
I don't want to call it a new normal, but we are dealing with the daily changes...daily.
I needed a new side hustle, if only for my own amusement. I love to have pretty nails and earrings. But with having to wear a mask or shield at school the earrings have had to be occasional. My ears get sore from the mask, so I go from shield to mask all day.
I had gotten acrylic nails for my niece's wedding in August and got a fill three weeks later. The cost of a fill had gone up to $30 and I always give a tip. I was flabbergasted. Color Street sets are only $11 or $13 a set and that can be two manicures. A friend was having a party on Facebook two weeks ago, so I ordered some. Then I saw what the start up fee was to be a "stylist" and signed up. I will be having my first party online this week.
I'm using the Color Street strips to cover the acrylics while they grow out. This is how great they still look after a week. Next weekend I can file down more of the acrylic bump and apply a new set of strips.
Duke is smelling fresh after a bath today
Last weekend I got to take my Grandson to the zoo with his sweet Mama. He was fascinated by a skunk
This weekend was just for resting and recharging for the next week. We have only had two weeks of in person classes with students. I got to start my ESL (English as a second language) group and Monday I will start my 1st and 2nd grade reading groups. In order to socially distance students we have three recesses sessions and three different lunch periods for grades 1st to 5th. Last week a kindergarten aid was out and we had to fill in for her as well. The Zogg fire was very close to us in Redding and the air quality on Wednesday and Thursday was so bad students could not play outside. That still meant that I was racing all over campus to give teachers breaks and get students in and out of the cafe.
Thankfully the wind died down and the firefighters have been able to begin containment of the fire in our foothills to the west. My son is one of those firefighters. I was glad to see that he and his lady got a day off to go fishing as he works 16 days straight.
October usually means rains, cooler temperatures and the end of the fire season. Our area has been hit hard with the fire in recent years. I pray that the next couple of months of 2020 will be kinder to us.
