Moving On

I fear a generation gap is beginning to form between my 25-year-old self and my 5-year-old kindergartners. One girl was at the Listening Center wanting to hear Dr. Seuss' ABC on tape, but was having trouble getting the tape in. I was on my way to help, but was diverted as usual, and didn't get to her right away. No worries, though, she called out to me, "I got the CD in all by myself!!" It was all I could do not to laugh. She knew the tape did the same things as a CD, but didn't know exactly what a tape was called, so to her it was a CD. Cute.

Later that day, as we were eating lunch, the one and only boy in the class decided to give the girls a...little talking to:

"You have to put all the food on your plate, girls. It doesn't matter if you like it. That's the rule. If you like it [looking at each girl in turn] eat it, if you don't like it, don't eat it, okay?"

At this point, he caught my eye and saw me smiling.

"At least that's my philosophy," he told me.

Didn't know 5-year-olds knew the word philosophy, let alone had one. But you learn something new everyday.

"Completing an improbable late-season surge, the Phillies clinched the NL East for the first time since 1993, beating the Nat[ional]s, 6-1, on Sunday as the Mets lost to the Marlins."
-phillies.com

I admit it...I was one of the many people who wrote the Phillies off early in the season. And for good reason, they were AWFUL! But somehow, someway they pulled it off and managed to be named the National League East Champions today. They were tied with the New York Mets for first place, until the Mets lost their game today and the Phillies won theirs. So, go Phillies! Not sure how far they will go, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due!

I've been meaning to blog since I got back, that night actually, but apparently I have been too busy! Friends, family, and my David have been keeping me occupied, for which I am very touched and very grateful :) I'm watching my little guy tomorrow while his parents are at a Phillies game and then Mom and Dad will be here the next day. Wow time is flying!

So about this past weekend...

D and I left here around 4:45pm and managed to get to CT by the very reasonable hour of 9:00pm. I love those kind of rides. We got another book on tape, called Book of Fate about the Freemasons (they are prominent in the Philly area). It's fiction, but closely aligned with fact, which confuses me more because I never know what part is true and what part is made up. Anyway, we got through some of it and it's really good. It felt weird getting to CT so early, usually we get there with enough time to say hi before everyone disappears to his/her room for the night. Nick, however, forgot the "going to sleep" memo and came plowing into our with his dog, Cody. Cody thought the party was just starting and didn't manage to calm down until Nick took him out of the room. Lucky he's cute.

The highlight of this trip, besides seeing family, of course, was going to the BIG E!!! I love the fair-type atmosphere and, surprisingly, PA doesn't have anything like the Big E nearby. So, early Saturday morning, Dad, Mom, D, and I piled into the car and headed towards the fair. We met up with Sara, Tony, Ari, and Pete for a bit, too.

So that was our very fun weekend. Now I get to look forward to this weekend when Mom and Dad will be here. D mentioned that he might be going to Boston for some conference that they said he didn't have to go to, but was really interested in going to. How's that for my nerdy med school husband? Cool and nerdy, yeah, that's what I meant :).

We found out some exciting news late this afternoon... which I have to make quick because I am dead tired, but I am also way proud of my awesomely smart husband.

Drumroll please.

Thank you.

David got his first interview invitation today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He only sent in his application two and a half weeks ago and already he has gotten a response :). "They" say that residency programs usually start sending out invites mid-October through December, which is also interview season. But this hospital couldn't pass up my husband's stellar application and just had to invite him this early. So early, in fact, that they said they need to get back to him with some interview dates because the interviewer has yet to even set up the interviewing schedule!! He was so happy, well as far as I could tell because he doesn't show much emotion. Actually I could tell because he wanted to call our parents. This is such an encouragement to him and I am so happy that we are seeing the results of years of hard work and lots of prayer. This is only the beginning of this part of the process, but it's a good beginning, a great beginning even :) :) :).

So there you have it, major bragging now over...at least for a little while.

I really enjoyed this fall-type weekend, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The bright blue sky, no humidity in the cool air...that was when I finally realized that the beginning of each season is my favorite time of year. I can't wait to go apple-picking, to make candy/caramel apples, to carve pumpkins, to start wearing cozy sweaters. Summer was awesome and now I'm ready for fall.

After lazing around Saturday afternoon, D and I met up with a couple from our church at a local Cajun restaurant. I eat pretty much everything and like it, but can we say S.P.I.C.E.Y.? And David was in all his glory. We actually spotted this restaurant at least a year ago and I distinctly remember telling D that we'd go there for his birthday...last December. Well better late than never. It's kind of pricey, so we probably won't be going back any time soon.

I was prepared to spend a leisurely week with David, but a video-game night here and a dinner with friends another night there and it's turned into a not-so-leisurely-but-just-as-fun week. Our brother-in-law, Josh (D's sister Mary's husband, got that?), even decided to show up in Philly and we were more than happy to have him over for dinner.

Last night, D and Ron started playing this game on the Wii that they want to turn into a weekly Man Night. More boring a pasttime I couldn't think of but these guys were at it for three hours, THREE hours. Sara and the baby and I had so much more fun, at least in my opinion. I made some apple crisp and you know fall is in the air when an apple crisp recipe crosses the mind. Then, tonight was the night we hung out with Josh for a few hours.

The fun continues on throughout the weekend when D and I meet Sara, Tony, Ari, and Pete at the Big E on Saturday. We're leaving for CT on Friday night, but I don't want to think about that right now because I've got a whole lot of packing to do at some point between now and then. What I am thinking about is the Breadbowl Chili I'll be making for dinner tomorrow night. I think the couple we're having over is the only one to have escaped this dinner so far, not for much longer though! Yum :)

The official engagement picture:


Congratulations to Ryan and Yana! Ry FINALLY proposed to her, today, September 16, 2007. They've been dating since April 2005 and they are planning an April 2008 wedding.


I'm so excited for next year: Ryan and Yana's April wedding (as of now), D's May graduation, and Nick and Kristina's June wedding. Not to mention moving out of state and D's grad party in the beginning of June and then the start of Residency in the beginning of July. Let the fun begin...in a few months, I need to rest up before all of this!

I wanted to post something September 11th-related, but couldn't figure out what exactly. On Tuesday, after dinner, we were flipping through channels and letting our food digest before embarking on our nightly walk. I paused at TBN, one of the fifteen channels we do get since we are not cable subscribers. It's a Christian-run network that I sometimes watch, but usually pass right by. That night, however, they were doing a 9/11 tribute, which included interviewing the relatives of people who had died. How heart-wrenching. But many of these people turned to and embraced their faith and are now living joyful lives. How heart-warming. They kept talking about God's grace and His mercy and I couldn't help but wonder if I would have the same reaction these six-short-years later. Then I started to think about the "why," which is never a good road to start down.

Not five minutes later, though, a commentator started talking about a hijacker that didn't make it to his designated plane. That was one less plane able to hit what many believe to be the White House. And then the host started detailing the events aboard Flight 93 that crashed not too, too far from where I am currently living. Investigators later found out that it was probably headed for the U.S. Capitol. Another part of the terrorist plan thwarted. So while, yes, September 11, 2001 was, is, and always will be a horrifically tragic day for millions of people...God was, is, and always will be right there in the midst of it all...outpouring His grace and mercy, even when we can't see it and even when we don't know we need it. How comforting.

I like how the people in this article chose to remember the day.

I was doing my daily walk up and down the playground yesterday (a very easy way to get to 10,000 steps on your pedometer!) and I overheard some girls trying to one-up each other. It's a very common practice in kindergarten...and something that really annoys me. This particular day, the girls were talking about dresses.

"My mom bought me this dress that is so beautiful with sparkles."

"My mom bought me two dresses that are princess dresses."

"My mom bought me three dresses. They all look like prom dresses."

I couldn't resist at this point. I love to call 5-year-olds out on the vocabulary they use but have no idea what it means. They overheard it either in an adult conversation, in a music video, in a commercial, or on a TV show, but it's something they only half-grasped. I know, it's kind of a cruel past time, but it's very entertaining, so it's okay :).

"What's a prom dress?" I asked, looking puzzled.

The girl who made the statement whipped her head around to look at me, then looked back at her cohort, then looked back at me, baffled, and said,

"I don't know, but I have three of them," showing me three fingers for emphasis.

Yeah, so, I continued walking up and down the playground...it's a good way to add 10,000 steps to your pedometer...

I could not wait to spend the weekend with David. We had a fun Friday night planned with a movie and popcorn. Fearless (B-), with Jet Li, was David's choice. Not the best movie I ever saw, but I enjoyed our time together...until my other (little) man called. Our friends Sara and Ron were interested in a Date Night and asked us if we could possibly watch their little guy. David, David who?! ;) Sure we could babysit!!!!

And that's exactly what we did Saturday afternoon. They went to see a matinee, so they brought the baby over around 4ish. He is so entertaining, with his rolling and reaching and grabbing and smiling and talking. Poor guy was getting over a cold, which made him a little fussy, but we got plenty of playtime and talk time in before it was naptime. His parents returned around dinnertime, so we ordered a few pizzas (gotta love those buy-one, get-one coupons!) and settled in for a night of chatting and Super Scrabble. We played guys against girls - guys won. However, I would like to state the unfair advantage they had: Sara couldn't stay up any longer and fell asleep on the chaise for the last hour of the game. So I was up past midnight playing by myself against two very intelligent people. I lost by 100 points. I tried to pull ahead last minute with a 54 point word, but they were just too far ahead. Here's what the board looked like, we didn't use two letters:


After all that thinking and using of brain power, we slept so well...or it could have been the late hour we went to bed.

Today, David treated me to Auntie Anne's. I had a buy-one, get-one coupon and I couldn't resist any longer (I think I printed it out on Thursday...). Boy do I love those pretzels. D got some video game-playing time in and I actually got to read for a sustained period of time. I'm reading The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan. It's about the formation of Israel from both a Jewish and an Arab perspective. A little light reading for the end of summer. I also got out another Lisa Scottolini book (all her books take place in the Philadelphia area...we listened to one on the way to CT), which will be a fast read.

Oh yes, forgot to mention: Our bible study has now concluded. We had a make-your-own-calzones dinner on Tuesday night as a finale. We're going to try to get together once a month, if possible, because everyone is so busy in the fall. I learned a lot from our study book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, and plan on reading it again. There is just so much good information to process. My goal is to do that during the month D is away.

That pretty much sums up my/our weekend. Here goes week #2 in kindergarten...

Well, with Labor Day inevitably comes the start of school. I always look forward to that three-day weekend, but then I also know school begins promptly the next day. It's a teaser holiday. Anyway, this year is shaping up to be a great one. I have 6 students: one boy and five girls. Could I have asked for a better combination?! I don't feel too bad for the boy because he has three brothers at home, so he gets his fix there. What's better, these kids are so well-mannered, excellent listeners, very quick learners, and, well, no trouble at all...at this point. I'm almost bored throughout the day because I usually spend a lot of time correcting, especially in the beginning of the year. I'm knocking on all sorts of wood and praying this impeccable behavior lasts longer than the first week of school.

I wish I had a Kindergarten Conversation to post, I was even on the look-out for one this week, but, um, these kids don't talk! I mean they do the normal amount of talking here and there, but nothing like I experienced with past classes. I love, love, love it. Again, I may be eating my words in the next week, but somehow I don't think so. These kids are a different bunch and I can't pinpoint exactly what is so different about them, besides all the obvious characteristics I've already mentioned, but I'm loving this class. Maybe they know it's my last year of teaching kindergarten here and want to make my year as easy as possible. Maybe they are so into learning that they don't think of acting up. Maybe they are so happy to be in kindergarten that they will do anything to stay. Whatever it is, I couldn't have asked for a better to start to my last school year here in PA.

I heard it said many times this weekend that "Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer." Boo. This summer flew by. I know we did a lot, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels like summer should only be half over and we should be going on another mini vacation. Not so.

We left Philly around 6:45pm on Friday and I was fully prepared for a 6 hour ride. After all, it was Labor Day weekend. We arrived happily in CT around 11pm. The only traffic we encountered was when we were half-way over the George Washington Bridge...not the best place to get stuck, but we managed. D downloaded an audio book called Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline from our local library's website, so that kept us quite entertained for at least three and a half hours of the ride. I actually couldn't wait to ride back to PA so I could find out what happened in the end. She's a local author who sets her books in the Philly area so it's really neat to be able to picture most of the locations she writes about. Anyway, the no traffic made a great start to our three-day weekend.

D was actually more busy than me this visit, which was nice for both of us. He liked hanging out with the guys and I liked being able to relax and not feel so rushed around. Mom and I had a hair appointment Saturday morning, but not much else. Dad, Grandma, and I went on our traditional food shopping spree...we actually hit up two stores which was unusual. That night, D and I ate dinner with his family. Sara and Tony and Ari were there and Ari was her entertaining self. I played the "I'm going to get you" game with her and if I was near Tony, her "base," then she'd run past me to get to her daddy. I thought it was funny that she was running to/past the person who was going to get her, but she saw safety and didn't look back. Poor Tony was trying to play Wii in the meantime, but managed to still do good at whatever he was playing. She kept me entertained for a while, until she was tired and had to go :(. I did manage to snap off these pictures of our Ari-girl:




And here's everyone playing the Wii. I think Dad, Sara, and I were the only ones who weren't playing!



Sunday was another relaxing day. It was great to see some church people again. In between churches, Grandma, Mom, Yana, and I took a little trip to Target:


After church, Dad prepared this yummy dinner for everyone and Ryan and Yana sponsored a very yummy ice cream sundae party:


Monday was our Labor Day Picnic. Dad and Mom love hosting these things, so we had another houseful of people. Some of Yana's family came this time and it was so nice to meet such sweet, sweet people. We had our usual family members there and D's family came, including Ari-girl. I made my pulled-pork recipe and it went over well. I can't take too much credit for it, though, the crockpot did all the work! Here are some of the outtakes: