Hat Thief

Here's something amusing from school today:
N (to G, his "special friend"): You've taken my hat like thirty times today!
G: No I haven't! Only five.
J: Well, five times six is thirty!
C: Where'd you get six?!
(My thoughts exactly, as I tried to pretend that my giggles came from the work I was reading.)
J (mumbling, looking confused): I don't know. (His face clears.) She stole it six times yesterday, I think.
Truly, my students' logic astounds me. :)

Drifting

Probably blogging has slowed like the housing market because (unlike the housing market), I am busy. But even as I write this my head starts to shake because busyness should never bury me.

Right now sickness is threatening to bury. I feel myself slipping underneath the mountain of aches and sniffles, and in the back of my mind lurks the temptation to call a sub...until I remember that it will be more work than to go to school. Ah but I am thankful for my work, even when I can barely make it there.

I hung snowflakes and snowmen in my classroom as soon as the students let out for Thanksgiving break. Kristina, if you read this, know that I pine for snow like you have on the mountain, snow to run in and build forts out of and get stuck in so that I can't make it to school. Ha.

I love baskets. Did I ever mention that? Not too long ago I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased some baskets. Now writing this I feel guilty. Why? Because I recently read an article about the "buy nothing new" outfit/campaign/way of life. And I know that somehow I supported an evil industry. We'll see if "buy nothing new" makes it onto this next year's list of things to do. I'm on the fence, still. But right now I do like the way these baskets sit on the shelves Mitch built, holding fruits and pasta and beans and potatoes.

Also, I can't believe I missed Miss van der Molen and Greg Leavitt's duet. There are few opportunities in life to catch something like that, and the Boyds are some of the few/proud/strong/brave to enjoy/listen to/hear/endure it.

School

I should be grading. Instead, I am vainly trying to update this blog, a place to which my thoughts have dug in their heels and refused to go for awhile. Stubborn. Anyway, I type an update on my life, with some pictures to prove that there are people here in this "new" place. (It doesn't feel quite so new anymore.) The ones below are in my charge for eight hours each day.

Grandparents' Day! We played the chimes and did a skit. I felt like Miss van der Molen, my music teacher thru high school.
All right, must go. More later.

The Buzz

It's more of a resurrection, really. Today Union College came back to life.

I came back to school early, only to find the campus dead. There were no signs of life anywhere. The Dick Building? Its windows were dark, blinds drawn. Engel Hall? Locked, with a sign on the door informing me it would be closed until January 8, 2007.

And that's today.

So the campus came alive with students, faculty, and staff. And lo and behold, new neighbors!

That's right. Carrie and I now have bottom-dwellers living underneath us. No more jumping jack parties or tap dancing on the kitchen floor, but hopefully a lower heat bill. Woot!

We might start up a "Reflections" type meeting for the apartment complex...I don't know my neighbors all that well so we'll see how it goes. Just a once-a-week meeting, some time to relax, to reflect, to study the Bible or share God-things with each other.

Whatever happens, I am excited. It's good to be back, starting new classes, and knowing that this is the last semester!

Rock on.