Sunday No Funday

55 years in, and guess what? I am still a procrastinator.

As a teacher, I've kind of been able to work around it, since I make the deadlines and all. Of course, there are quarter grades to be submitted, but again, I have a lot of control over those details. But now and again, that old devil comes back to bother me, and that is how I spent my day on the couch updating the online course I'm teaching that starts tomorrow.

Oh, I've known that, since our district has switched Learning Management Systems this year, some serious revision would be required, but man! I just wasn't feeling it. Until today, when the painful reality was quite present.

But, it's done! Which really? Is a huge improvement. I mean, I never even considered pulling an all nighter.

In Sync

We had a little family dinner tonight in honor of what would have been my dad's 83rd birthday and my sister-in-law's mom, Judy's 81st. Although they never met, I dare say the two of them would have relished the festivities had they been here-- the food was simple and a little old school, prepared with a few of their favorites in mind, and we drank a toast to each before digging in.

Afterwards we enjoyed coffee and dessert by the fireplace and played one of the Christmas games. Think n Sync consists of a box of cards, each with a general category and four more specific questions. For example, Vegetables: Name an orange vegetable, Name a vegetable you put in salad, and so forth. The challenge is, after a countdown of 3, 2, 1, to say the exact same thing as your partner does.

It's a simple concept, but surprisingly revealing and a little profound when it comes to thought process, strategies, social skills, and relationships. Should you say what you think, or what you think your partner thinks, or what you think your partner thinks you think? Do spouses have an advantage? What about siblings? Parents and kids? Cousins? If so, is that fair? If not, does that mean something?

Oh, our game was rather low stakes; we didn't even keep score, and that was probably a good idea, because everyone had fun, no matter what ridiculous answer their partner gave. I think Bob and Judy would have gotten a kick out of it, too.

Happy Birthday, guys!

Polar Vortex Indeed

I like to think of myself as a person who is not bothered by the cold, one who dresses appropriately and then heads out, undaunted, (gleeful, even) into the elements.

Which is exactly what I did this morning to go to school-- I was all bundled up in wool socks, boots, jeans, turtleneck, fleece-lined flannel shirt, scarf, heavy coat, gloves, and even sunglasses to protect my eyes from the icy wind and glare. BUT, in the walk from the remote parking lot to the building, the howling wind froze my ears and nose and cheeks, figuratively, and the coffee on the top of my cup lid literally.

Whoa.

Snow, Sun, and Moon

When we woke to the unlikely news of a snow day this morning, I knew just what to do (after going back to sleep for a couple of hours).

The first to rise at 7:30, I completed the morning chores and then looked up a recipe for Sally Lunn, a yeast bread enriched with eggs and butter that my mom used to make for us on snow days. In no time at all, the sticky dough was turned into the big aqua Corningware bowl (aka the popcorn bowl) and rising on the back of the stove.

As I waited, I read the bottom of the recipe that addressed its origin. Sally Lunn is either English or French, it said, which was news to me, because I recall visiting the tavern in Bath which claims to be the first place the bread was baked. There it is said that Sally Lunn was a Huguenot fleeing the intolerant Catholic French regime who landed in Bath and made her living baking and selling bread on the street.

This particular recipe had another theory, though. It seems that "Sally Lunn" may not be a person at all, but rather an Anglicized version of "soleil et lune" or sun and moon, which refers to the shape and golden color of the bread.

Either way? It's a good story, and an excellent slice of bread, particularly with butter and hot tea.

On the Sly

A couple of rowdy boys were nudging each other and pointing to an iPad during class. "What are you guys up to?" I asked.

"We're just looking at something about the book I'm reading," answered the most mischievous one in an innocent voice.

"Really?" I said. "Let me see."

He flipped his iPad around to show a beautiful photograph of a fox. "It's my screensaver," he informed me. "I was asking him if he liked this one, or this one," he paused and hit the home button to show his wallpaper, which was another super-cute picture of a fox. Both seemed a little out of character for this tough guy.

"Did you put those on there because of Pax?" I asked him, naming the book that happens to have a fox as the title character which we are reading together in my boys' group

"No!" he shrugged, "I just like foxes." Then his voice softened. "They're so cute."

"Since when?" I demanded.

"Okay, since Pax," he admitted.

"That's awesome!" I said. "And I agree. They are adorable!"

Teachable Moment

"Son of a bitch!" a boy I didn't know swore loudly when confronted with a locked door across the hall.

I tapped sternly on the window. He looked at me hopefully and came to the door. I grabbed my keys. "What do you need Cussy Cusser?" I asked.

He looked confused, but then his cheeks brightened. "That wasn't me!" he said. "But I need to get into that classroom-- my phone's in there!"

"Then you're going to need to own up to what you said," I told him, jingling my keys.

"I said, Dang it!" he tried.

"That's not what I heard," I said.

He stood uncertainly.

"What I heard started with, Son of..." I prompted him helpfully.

"Well, usually I say Son of a mother!" he replied.

"Maybe," I answered, "but not this time."

"Oh, okay!" he said in desperation. "I said it, I said it, okay? And I shouldn't talk that way in school, I know!"

 "How are we going to make sure it doesn't happen again?" I asked as I opened the door.

"It won't!" he assured me. "This was way too much trouble."

Unfortunately, his phone was not in there. "Oh sh--" he stopped and looked at me. "oot!" he finished.

"Nice save," I said. "Maybe your phone's in the office."

We May Be Hazardous to Your Health

"I'm going to have to be the mean nurse and ask some of you to go," the very sweet nurse in my cousin's ICU room told us this afternoon. She looked meaningfully at me, Heidi, and my Aunt Harriett, who were having a very animated conversation indeed. "His blood pressure is up and it's just too stimulating in here."

"That's okay," I hugged my aunt. "We have to run anyway." And to the nurse I said, "No worries! Believe it or not, everywhere we go they tell us we're too stimulating!"

"Yeah," Heidi added, "it must be because we're teachers. Stimulating is our job!"