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My favorite hour change...

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I slept and slept last night. I was watching a Father Brown mystery on the tv, and fell asleep-- then went to bed, changed the clocks, and fell asleep some more. I was up in bed at 9 (new time), and slept until 5:30. I feel like I've almost had enough sleep, for once.  Now, if I can shake the sinus headache... well, that probably won't happen anytime soon. It's dry in the house, humidifiers be damned. And the next door neighbor uses soft wood, I think, so the smoke from his chimney is thick and sooty, and since we are next door, well, my house and bedroom smell like smoke every night. And that is troublesome for me, so I have air purifiers going on both levels. I suppose it helps, but here we are. Winter woes. I miss having windows open at night for the fresh air, but this air is not so fresh.  Today is the second day of my writing class, and I sure hope the internet stays on. It was a bit awkward to jump in halfway yesterday.  First, though, church. And food. And then, c...
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Better (very) late than never...

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Today began by Geoff waking me up with, "may as well stay in bed, the internet is down." And down it was until just after 11am. I missed the first half of today's writing class, but I managed to get caught up. In addition to that unpleasant start to the day, a bear trashed our bird feeders. We hadn't seen any signs of a bear in about 2 months, and so we had feeders out. Dang thing smashed two of them, bent the crooks, and left a mess. ugh.  Well, sort of ugh. I hadn't yet decided on a topic to work from for the class today, so I just went with the bear and bird feeder thing. It's been fun, and a little surprising as well. What started out as something to just get started with is turning into something much more metaphorical; it's funny, isn't it, that what's most on your mind ends up in your writing? Suffice it to say, this may be the only way in for me to engage with some of the things that are too traumatic in the world right now to speak sanely ...
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A poem (by me) for All Hallows Eve...

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  All Hallows Eve   Kissed but not cut by the combine, solitary cornstalks rustle in wordless laments. Crows bicker and feint,   sparring over slim leavings, gathering seed in the cold. Pumpkins guard our doorsteps, lined up with precision,   or clustered in tight little groups, barring any wayward shades. Tendrils of cold seep around sagging gray weather stripping, finding   warmth in the kitchen. Wool-wrapped, we huddle around the fire, ghost stories haunting the edges of conversation, too real, too likely, to speak of.   Published in the Aurorean , Fall-Winter 2018    
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Wet weather ahead for Halloween... bummer.

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Dark and cold again, with really awful weather in the forecast for Halloween. Poor kids. We'll see what comes of it-- I may end up with a metric ton of pretzels packets and cocoa. That said, it's not today, and today's weather looks like it will be degrading as the day goes on. Yay.  I spent a little over an hour on Zoom last night in an actually useful webinar for AP stuff. Then I watched a little TV and went to bed. Crazy stupid dreams all night, then woke with a headache. Bleah.  I hope today at work is sane; it should be. High school kids don't get that excited about Halloween (well, there is likely to be at least one party, but they don't share that too openly)-- what they do get excited about are naps and snacks.  So, if I don't get to hand out much of what I've already stockpiled for trick-or-treaters, they'll get the motherload. I'll donate the cocoa to the school pantry or something.  And, on a positive note, how 'bout them Blue Jays? =)...
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Halloween and Hunger--

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Yesterday was a good day-- work went well, and then Holly got a "big girl" haircut! She now has a cute little shoulder-length cut with bangs! Then we carved our pumpkins and it was time for bath and bed.  You may have seen the memes on social media talking about handing out actual food things on Halloween. Funny? not so much. I have a case of noodle cups, pretzels, and some small packages of oreos to give out. And hot cocoa packets, too. No chocolate-- face it, G and I both can't stay out of it. =) I also emailed our guidance department yesterday at work about what the in-house food pantry needs most. And I emailed our church secretary about doing a food donation component at the annual harvest supper. I cannot believe that in this nation, people will be going hungry starting this weekend. And it's entirely avoidable; this starving-out of the most vulnerable is a manufactured, cruel crisis. This "trick" is draconian. Not on my watch.  I also refilled the sna...
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Quick check-in-- I need coffee

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Yesterday was a bit strange. Holly was all ready for school, I was almost ready, and we were sitting down to breakfast when she threw up all over the table, herself, etc. O lordy. I'm am not good with vomit, but hey, ya gotta be the adult in the room...  So, I ended up staying home with her (she was perfectly fine after), and getting a lot of school stuff done, so that was good. And we played several rounds of Disney Princess Yahtzee.  Today, then, I will get my students back on track (heaven knows if they did what I wanted them to, but hey, it's a dice roll). Both classes have ongoing papers in the works, so I'm hopeful that they worked on those.  And tonight, we carve pumpkins. I have to stop and get one or two more, and then... gourd gutting will commence! G's company is having a fun competition-- send in photos of your carved pumpkins and someone will win $200.00. We won't likely win, but it's worth a shot.  Other than that, I hope your day is a good one. Hu...
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Winter prep is well underway-- and it's time to carve punkins...

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What a busy weekend. I didn't finish up with papers til 8pm last night. I did take a little time off to watch football (Pats won again!), but other than that, it was full speed ahead both Sat. and Sunday.  G put away the deck furniture, he helped me switch over the curtains, and I put a second blanket on the bed. It gets cold upstairs. I also baked: a pear/raspberry pie (it was our pears, and it was yummo) and a set of six big blue-nana muffins. It was a good day to bake, as it was cold and damp.  And so we enter "winter food" season. I also bought a beef pot roast (it was on sale, and even then--yipes). Hearty foods on the horizon. No more salads for dinner. Not for a while, anyhow.  I am going to make an effort to cut as many carbs as possible, though-- better for G's diabetes, and maybe I will feel more energetic, too. That said, there was this HUGE russet potato at the store-- it'll be enough to feed at least the two of us, maybe a third person. Crazy! And thi...
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