Moving On

If you were to ask me where I was around 11 o’clock this morning, I would tell you outside. With my kindergarten class. Watching snow fall at the rate of one flake per minute. But it was snowing, therefore we wanted to “make snow angels,” “build a snowman,” and “catch snowflakes on our tongues.” They ended up having to wrestle with each other to catch the snowflake that fell each minute. And they soon discovered they wouldn’t be building a snowman or making snow angels in the near future. However, it was the first snow of the season and we were excited to see it falling from the heavens. It actually did pick up and it started to stick when the kids were napping. I brought them back out for a few minutes so they could actually “play” in it. A few snowballs were involved and starting to head in my direction until I put on my that's-not-such-a-good-idea face.

In other happenings, some friends and I got together last night (the host's decorative house inspired me to do ours tonight!) and the evening had a Christmas theme. We played a Christmas song picture game and I won (what you ask? A pair of Christmas socks that actually say "Merry Christmas," not "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings.").

Can you guess this one?






I also learned some interesting bits of useless information. I'll pass on some of it, but you'll have to work for it:
Jingle Bells used to be a kids' ______________ [insert name of holiday] song. (Hint: The holiday is not Christmas!)

Another successful Cookie Bake has come and gone. There was a good variety, as always, and some new recipes which turned out to be oh-so-yummy. We girls baked for a good few hours while the guys watched football, played pool, and other such entertaining activities. We all ate dinner together before cookie-swapping. Here is a list of some of the cookies that are now piled in our freezer (well, some are still on the counter...just in case they want to be eaten...):

Mexican Wedding Cookies (click to go to recipe)
Toffee Cookies (a variation of the classic chocolate chip cookie)
Soft Italian Cookies (I made these, you know, the ones with the 10X/water icing on top? I made two batches, when one would probably have been enough. We ended up with "about 900" of them, according to my friend.)
Peanut Butter Blossoms (click to go to recipe)

...and my new favorite dessert recipe (and it seems that it's D's new favorite recipe, too, because we keep monitoring how much the other is eating and comparing it to how much is left in the container):

Caramel Cranberry Bars

1 package (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
1 package (8 ounces) chopped dates
3/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

*In a small bowl, combine the cranberries, dates, pecans and 2 tablespoons sugar; set aside.
*In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and remaining sugar. Stir in butter; set aside 1 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
*Meanwhile, place the remaining flour in a small bowl. Stir in caramel topping until smooth; set aside. Sprinkle cranberry mixture over crust; drizzle with caramel mixture. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
*Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 2 dozen.


Don't they look beautiful? My friend got the recipe from the most recent Simple & Delicious issue. Lucky for me, and thanks to Mom, I have that issue so I already have the recipe. The cranberries really make it. Oh, and we each got to choose a plate after all our "hard" work. I loved this red one.

I'm hoping there will be cookies left over to bring to CT with us. I saw D eat four tonight, so if he keeps that up there may not be.

20 more days til D's birthday. 24 more days til Christmas. 9 more days til D's three days of interviewing. 18 more days til we leave for our two week Christmas vacation. It's shaping up to be a very fun, very festive month.

The weeks just seem to be flying by. Tuesday night D and I went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping and to do some mall walking since it is so cold out now. And so dark by the time we're ready for a walk. We got some unbelievably great deals and have managed to buy for most everyone on our list. We/I have a few more gifts to get, but I know what they're going to be. The tough part of thinking what to get everyone is over! And I bought these really Christmasy-looking boxes, along with some tissue paper, for packaging gifts this year. No wrapping paper for me! I always do it last minute, anyway, and the gifts just get opened hours later after all my hard work. So now, thanks to boxes, I won't have to wrap this year!! I know, many people think that's part of the fun, but I'm not one of them :).

D has been doing Pulmonary Medicine for the past few weeks at Temple and has been enjoying that. With his three interviews coming up, he'll be missing most of his last week. Guess that's how things go during interview season. And kindergarten has been fun, not much going on there.

November was such a relaxing, no-stress month. I'm hoping much the same for December! Our Sunday School class is having our annual Christmas cookie bake tomorrow. And it's supposed to snow. Should be pretty, and hopefully not dangerous. We always have so much fun baking and we come away with more cookies than I care to count.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this awesome deal I got on these two...things:

I wasn't sure what they were when I bought them, but I knew I had seem them before for a far more expensive price than $2 a piece. So I got them. And I looked up what they were online: Soup Crocks. More specifically, it seems, onion soup crocks. I don't know if I'll ever make onion soup, but now I can if I want to!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. You have to think about all you are thankful for versus all that you want. The only thing you have to bring to the party, if anything, is a side dish or dessert. I mean, really, does it get any better than that? We had ourselves another wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to share it with my Mom's side of the family:

And it wouldn't be a family gathering at our house if Dad didn't round us all up for a family picture (or fifty, here's the abridged version):





We did this all again on Sunday afternoon, before everyone went their separate ways again for who knows how long. Mom made a 24-pound lasagna. We knew it was 24 pounds because we watched Dad weigh it Saturday night. That thing was huge, but it was good and it fed everyone.

In between Thursday and Sunday, D and I got a little Christmas shopping done (Mom informed us that it was "One more month til Christmas!!" yesterday. This lady starts the countdown every year and on the 25th of every single month, we get a phone call stating the number of months left until the 25th of December...). We fit in another Ladies Night where we watched Amazing Grace (A++). We rarely buy DVDs because we rarely watch a movie twice, so it'd be a waste, but this is a movie I definitely want to get one day. D had fun during our Ladies Night because he was in the middle of Manly Night with my brothers and some of their friends. It involved a trip to Best Buy, a really, really stupid movie, and lots of eating. So he was happy!

Now it's back to--gasp--work for an entire three and a half weeks straight! D has three interviews in the meantime, but I won't be going on those with him. I love teaching this time of year, and we'll already be in CT for two weeks over Christmas, so I can handle it. More and more people are starting to talk about us leaving here, so you know the time is fast approaching (less than 180 days till graduation, according to my trusty countdown clock). After Christmas, it'll only be 5 months...weird! Oh, and thanks to everyone who was/is praying for my Grandpa (Mom's dad). The doctors said he doesn't need any further treatment for his lung cancer, just 3-6 month checkups. Yet another thing to be thankful for!

Conversation I had with a student:

"So did you have a good Thanksgiving?"

"Yes."

"What did you have to eat?"

"Macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and gross beast...yum!"

"Do you mean roast beef?"

"No, I mean grrroosssss beeeeeeeeef [as if I misheard what he had said the first time]."

"Oh, well that does sound yummy..."

Some facts that I was recently made aware of by some five-year-olds:

"When I wake up my hands feel strong [making a fist]."

"I'm eating these carrots so I can see at nighttime. I'm going to sneak up on my mommy when I'm supposed to be in bed and she is watching TV."

Can I tell you how great it is to only work six of ten working days?? And only two this week? We got back Monday night and are leaving...tonight! At work yesterday people were asking, "When did you get back?" To which I responded, "Last night."

"Oh," they said, "and when are you leaving for Thanksgiving?"

"Um, tomorrow night," I answered. So it was a pretty funky work week, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Our cook even made a complete Thanksgiving feast for teachers, students, and parents alike yesterday. Totally got me in the mood for all the yummy Thanksgiving food that Mom will be cooking up tonight and tomorrow.

We had an uneventful ride up to CT last Thursday night. We were listening to another book on tape, which always makes the trip go by sooo quickly...to my continued amazement. D's interviews went really well, per usual. They told him to "keep us in mind" because he is "a very strong candidate" and they would love "to have him be a part of their hospital." So that was nice, but it was a working four-day weekend for him. Not for me :).

Mom and I did our thing on Friday: haircut, lunch with Auntie, visiting Grams and Gramps, and Ladies Night (we watched The Christmas Card A- and Say Anything A-). Saturday we all went over to Nick and Kristina's house to help them out and get it ready for inspection. It was a team effort: Kristina's parents and brother, one of Nick's friends, D and me, and Dad. Mom came later with pizza and cookies. We got a lot of work done and the house will look so cute when it's all done!

On Sunday, Mom and Dad had a small bday party for me. They sang. I shouldn't have to sit through the Birthday Song at 26, but they sang. Later that evening, D and I went to visit G&G before church. D wanted to see Gramp's surgery scars, so that was the first thing he did when he got there! Then he asked how he was doing (My grandpa had surgery to remove the lower left lobe of his lung where they found stage 1a lung cancer. It looks like that was the extent of it, though, and he probably won't need any further treatement :)). That night we, as in Mom, Dad, Ryan, Yana, David and I, watched Ocean's 13 (A+), which was surprisingly good because Ocean's 12 was AWFUL.

Monday was Visit Ari day!! Here are a few pictures of the beautiful girl:





Now we're off to CT again for another four-day weekend. Mom's having all of her family over for a big turkey dinner tomorrow, so it'll be nice to visit, eat, visit, and, well, eat!

Enough said. You'll understand when you click on the following image:
We're in CT, which means we are sharing my laptop. I was on the computer before bed last night, after D was using it, and I saw the above website on the screen. Only he would be able to find (and then enthusiastically participate in) a site like this. I have to admit, not only is it for a good cause, but it brings out my competitive nature. I've donated 700 grains of rice so far. How about you?

I enjoy listening to the new AT&T commercials. You know, the ones where they combine all the different city names into one long funny-sounding city name? Well when I came home today, D was all excited because he found this website:

www.attwheredoyoulive.com

He even offered to buy me the shirt he made on the website, "Famous in Brookdelphicut." I'm still deciding whether or not to purchase it, but I had so much fun making all the different combinations that I wanted to share the website in case anyone else wanted to have the same type of fun.

I'm very sure D is glad this past weekend is over. The poor guy had his head stuck in a book for nearly the entire time. He rounded out his three and a half weeks of studying with test questions, lots and lots of test questions. He did 13 tests with 50 questions each in a matter of five days. The real test is tomorrow, so pray please! He'll be taking the train into the city for the 8am test and staying there for the nine hours it takes to complete. I don't envy him...at all. But he's happy because he got another Radiology interview invitation today!! He's hoping to schedule this one during our Christmas vacation because he'll be taking a lot of time out of his future rotations to interview, so the less that happens, the better. Speaking of interviews, he has two coming up. We leave for CT on Thursday night to be there in time for his Friday interview and we're staying through Monday when he has another interview. I told the kindergarteners I'll be away again and they literally cheered. Puzzled and half-hurt, I asked why they were cheering. Because, they informed me, they were excited about the treats (they got Smarties last time I was away and found out they were very well-behaved) that were sure to be coming their way. A little bribe never hurt anyone...

This weekend went by nice and slow, for some reason. Friday night we went to dinner at our friends house and I made a variation of this dessert from the Kraft Foods magazine (I used corn flakes instead of the cereal they listed). Super easy and super good. So easy and good, in fact, that I'm making them for Ladies Night on Friday. We didn't get home until really late, so of course we slept in the next morning.

I got caught up with some emailing and other things online (I used some bday money to buy this laptop bag with a $10 off coupon D had just received) and before I knew it, it was approaching noon. My friends' baby was on his way over, but I managed to squeeze in a trip to the library to pick up my latest read, The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS, before I had to devote all my attention to him. He's in that beginning-to-crawl-but-doesn't-quite-have-the-hang-of-it stage and it's so, so cute. He gets on all fours and proceeds to go...backwards. I got on all four, facing him, and was encouraging him to crawl to me. He was trying so hard, with this huge grin, but kept getting further and further away from me. I just love him, he's the best baby. But, like all good things, our time together came to an end when we dropped him off at home on our way to dinner :).

We also found out this weekend that a couple we know from church will be moving out of state next month. Other friends of ours moved during the summer, these friends are moving now, and soon we'll be moving. It's kind of sad. We've all been together for a few years and now everyone is moving away. Anyway, more places to visit.

Well, I'm off to find out the numbers behind NUMB3RS...

This has been an unusual week. D left in the middle of it, Tuesday night to Wednesday night, for an interview in CT... and he came back with our new Volvo!! I was super excited about getting it, but as I was cleaning out my old car to give to David, it was almost sad. I've had that car since '01 and I have all the junk to prove it. I found myself tossing old insurance cards from May 2001 into the shred pile (and numerous other miscellaneous items into the garbage pile). I even got a one dollar gold coin out of the whole cleaning deal! Anyway, all that to say that while I absolutely love the Volvo and all it's neat little features, I will certainly miss my "old" car that has been so good to me these last six and a half years. However, it is David's car now, so I don't have to go too far for a visit.

Speaking of visits, we'll be in CT this time next week...Lord willing. We're leaving Thursday night because D has an interview both on Friday and on Monday. Mom has informed me that we have a hair appointment, lunch with Auntie in Hartford, and another Ladies' Night planned for Friday. Good thing it's a four-day visit. We'll be returning here Monday night for a few nights and then heading out again on Wednesday night for the long Thanksgiving Day weekend. The only reason we're coming back for those two days is because D's vacation block is finally over (pray for his test coming up on Tuesday, it's 9 hours long!) and he is starting Pulmonary Medicine. Less than seven months to go until it's all over. He's been getting lots of interviews and lots of positive responses at the interviews themselves. I toldhim that I'm mad at him for making me nervous this summer when he thought he wasn't a competitive applicant...nothing could be further from the truth! I'm so proud of him, which outweighs my madness at him, so he's lucky. :)

Due to this big test coming up, it promises to be a not-so-fun weekend. Tonight we helped some friends paint their newly-finished basement. Tomorrow night we're invited over another friend's house for dinner. And my friend Sara, with the baby, informed me that she's going to be away for the weekend and leaving the baby with her hubby, which, in his words, "is never a good idea." I offered to take him for a few hours on Saturday, so I have a feeling I'll get to hang with my little guy. It's the best kind of baby to have: play, feed, nap, and give him back! Hopefully he'll like D more this time, he wasn't having any of him last time, clinging on to me for dear life. Not taking offense, D informed me that stranger anxiety sets in about this age, so it's normal. So it just may turn out to be a fun weekend after all...

Overheard conversation between two students:

“When you’re tired, you take a deep breath and you walk.”

“Where?”

“To the bank.”

“Oh, okay.”

***

We were eating lunch when all of the sudden one of the girls makes this really awful face and spits out a cooked carrot cube.

She was looking around to see if she was going to get in trouble when another student commented, “That’s okay, it might be dead.”

I didn’t even know where to go with that one(maybe because it was brown and not orange??), so I left it at that. Actually, the real reason I didn’t ask questions was because everyone else seemed to get it and I didn’t want to give the impression that I was in the dark about what was going on. But I was.

***

One day last week, I noticed there was a lot of leaves on the ground…perfect for leaf piling. So I suggested everyone make a big leaf pile and jump in it. This turned out to be an acceptable idea to the masses and soon they had a pile big enough to jump in. At some point, when interest seemed to be waning, one of the girls suggested, “Let’s make a Christmas one!” With renewed vigor, everyone started making a “Christmas” leaf pile. To me, it looked exactly the same as a “regular” leaf pile…but I’m just an adult, what do I know?

***

And my favorite…

One morning while we were waiting for all of the kindergarteners to arrive, one of the girls decided to play a card game with me. Here’s how it went:

I picked a card from the deck and was sure not to let her see it. She said I could look at it, so I took a peek. Expecting her to try and guess it (after all this is how the game usually goes, right?!), I asked, “Okay, so are you going to guess what card I have?”

“No [insert her baffled expression here] you’re supposed to guess.”

Just when I thought I had it…

“Oh, well, okay. I guess the ace of hearts,” I told her because, in fact, that was the card I was still holding. I showed her, lest she think I was making it up.

“WOW [insert her amazed expression here]! You’re right!”

She called over the students and we repeated this game a few more times.

All stared at me in wonder. What can I say? I’m good at the game…