No-blapomo

Yep, the 4th day of the month and I missed posting. Oops! I spent 6:35-7:45am at the polls yesterday morning (It was amazing to see so many people voting!), we to the teaching conference 8-12, had lunch at my house for other teachers, more conference 1-3:30, went home, said hello to the daughters-who helped tremendously with the lunch!-ran almost four miles, showered, went to dinner at a friends (the whole family went), came home and watched just about half an hour of election coverage and fell fast asleep... before 10, which is a rarity. I slept wonderfully and awoke to the confirmation of a historic new president. Hopefully he does great things in the four years to come! Historic indeed.

Another Day, Another Post!

Here I am again! By the end of November, you'll be sick of my postings! If you aren't already! :)
I finished the feather letter last night, but not the cutting of feathers and addressing envelopes. Looks like an activity for tonight. I think I figured 32 feathers this year. I wonder how many will be returned?

It's the beginning of the week and I thought I'd request prayers, if you are a pray-er.
These are a few of the people I'm praying for this week:

• My friend Nikki who is undergoing radiation for her breast cancer a little bit longer. She should be done by the holidays!
• My Uncle Duane who is undergoing medication for cancer, and his comfort, as well, please, as the medication doesn't sit well with him.
• Cari, her recent surgeries and progression of her cancer.
• Michael, whose tumor has returned and he has surgery on Dec. 11
• Mikan, continued success with his growth!
  

I believe God hears us and does wonderful things, so I don't think it can hurt to add these people to prayer lists. :)

The To-Do-List Update

I know you've all been clamoring to your computers to see an update about my to-do list. :) First, I have to start by saying that, as I finished yesterday's post the in-laws called and wanted to get together, with my brother-in-law, his wife and kids, the parent in-laws and us, to the new bookstore that was opening. So, we went. We had a great time, as usual, with them and I scheduled them as sitters for the evening. I added two things to my day's list: getting together with family, and a date with my husband, which was long overdue and thoroughly enjoyed!
However, these two included things left my list only partially done:
I finished all of cleaning the house, some laundry, all pulling out annuals and filling feeders. I put away the Halloween decorations and got out Thanksgiving decor, bathing dogs, ran 5 miles, picked up my dry cleaning, and blogged.
Today I went to church, spent some more family time at our favorite metro garden, which we haven't been to in ages. I got lots of nice photos. Then I cleaned the pantry, lazy susan and added cleaning out under the kitchen sink. I also made the m & m cookies, called my Gram and mom. I have a tentative menu for Tuesday's lunch and will be getting groceries tomorrow. :)
I have to write the Thankful feather letter tonight. :) And trace many feathers, address envelopes and get everything ready to send out.
Later this week I will also be writing and sending Veteran's Day cards. I need to mail them out on Friday so they get there on the right day. Longtime readers know I'm a fan of snail mail and letter writing, thus I feel it necessary to send out Veteran's Day cards. I hadn't mailed notes of that nature until 1998. I sent a heartfelt note letting my grandfather know I appreciated his service in WWII, and he died in December that year. I am still glad I sent that card and have sent one to the veterans I know since. I'm thankful for them, and am glad to let them know. :)
I've signed up for Nablopomo, so I'm trying to blog everyday... but I signed up for marathoners in training over the summer and that didn't help me keep running... :)
Thanks for stopping by, blog readers, and friends. :) Have a great week! :)

Today's To-Do-List

After a busy week... end-of-season cross country banquets, band concerts, carving pumpkins, making Halloween costumes, Pumpkin Day at school, Halloween party at school, trick-or-treat last night... a very busy week, my at-home-to-do-list is rather large for today:

1. clean house
2. do laundry
3. pull out annuals killed by the frosts last week
4. fill bird and deer feeders
5. bake m & m cookies (with m & ms leftover from Halloween candy)
6. put Halloween decorations away (there aren't many, but it's time for them to disappear)
7. get Thanksgiving stuff out (again, I'm not a big decorator with Thanksgiving stuff, but I have a few things, like our thankful turkey that I made last year)
8. call Gram, my grandma who comes for a visit about every season, we have her visit for a week or so, but with all the subbing I've done, we haven't had her down, so I've got time planned; thus I need to call and make sure it works for her
9. call parents to check in (Mom had arm surgery and has been progressing just like the dr predicted, although not fast enough for her, and I chat with my parents at least once a week)
10. Write Thankful feather letter and make/get feathers ready to send out, as well as stamp and address envelopes. A yearly tradition I really love!
11. week's menu and grocery, as well as lunch menu for Tuesday (Tuesday is a conference day for teachers in the district, due to voting polls in the school buildings, so 1000 teachers will be at the conference and needing a place to go for lunch. That means very busy restaurants, so I invited the first grade team I'm currently working with to come over to my house for lunch instead of worrying about going out. I'm right nearby the conference location. :) Now, to find some good recipes... :) )
    
12. bathe dogs-they need it!
13. clean pantry and lazy susan (it's that fall time of year when I get in a cleaning/purging mode. Last week I did my clothes, the shoe/coat closet, brought up winter things and put away warm weather shoes/sandals, and cleaned out some cupboards. I get like this a few times per year, and I have to take advantage of it while I feel like it! :)
    
14. run (I've been running three times this week and last week was four, so I have to keep at it. Just running when I have time has been so nice! :))
15. Pick up dry cleaning... it's been there a week and I haven't done it yet... :)
16. Edit blog (check :))
    

I should be able to get that done before church at 5... right? :))
A few notes about our busy last week:
Pumpkin Day in the class I'm teaching was so fun! We had volunteers sign up, and each volunteer brought a pumpkin. We had enough for 2-4 kids in each group with a volunteer/pumpkin. The kids did things like estimate how much it weighed, then weighed it, estimated how many seeds were inside, then counted them as we carved, they estimated how many creases the pumpkin had, then counted them, etc. They had a great time! It took about an hour and fifteen minutes and the "pumpkin math" was so fun! :) Then I saved two seeds per child in case they wanted to plant them next year, roasted the rest and brought them in the next day for the kids to taste. It was a great day! :)
The Halloween party was fun, the room parents were in charge of coming up with the "centers" and the kids had a great time, but they were wound up all day! :) At this school the kids dress up and I dressed up. The first grade team of teachers were the "three little kittens". We wore black, donned some face painted whiskers, a headband with ears, a tail, and one mitten. The kids loved that I was a "black cat" but didn't know the nursery rhyme, so they didn't understand the one mitten. :)
We always try to make our kids' costumes, and this year was no different. Our oldest gave out candy instead of trick-or-treating, but our youngest needed a costume. So, after a few weeks of trying to come up with a good original idea (last year was grapes...) we decided on a jellyfish. I saw this jellyfish idea, but changed it a little. This idea had a clear umbrella, which could not be located within a ten mile radius, so we used a pink umbrella, varying lengths of bubble wrap for tentacles and glow necklaces woven into the those bubble wrap tentacles, as well as taped around the inside of the umbrella. She moved the umbrella as she walked and made it look like it was swimming. It was great fun! :)
That's all I have for today... I hope your week went well, was positive and the week ahead is good, as well!! :))

Obituary

Today I was reading an editorial obituary about a former mayor. He was mayor of a big city near our suburb and I saw it as I perused the editorial cartoons. I was impressed by all the positives in difficult times the 78 year old man exhibited.
The article made me wonder what my obituary might say, or more to the point, how I would be remembered. I hope it's of a positive person who brought light and warmth to others. However, there are times when I don't exhibit those qualities...
Not to be morbid, but just to think of "what if this is my last day?"
The worst part for me is that when I see the less positive side of myself, it's usually with the ones who are nearest and dearest: my family. How ironic...
Anyway, just thinking about that editorial...and sat down the blog, and the thoughts collided. :)