10-12 inches so far

 

Today was an unexpected day

off from school. Flooding rains in the area. Vicious winds during the night that kept most from having a peaceful sleep or any at all.

But by noon the sun was out, the temp was 61 and I was out walking. Then took a nap with Heinz.

So now it's time to get the cleaning done so husband thinks that something got finished here today. And then it is movie/date night.

I listened to this song on the trains

on my first trip to Germany. Every time I hear it I can't help but smile.

Innsbruck, Austria

 

 

 

 

I'm not heading back to Germany/Austria this summer but am enjoying my photos from last summer.

Small Town Virginia/ Wordless Wednesday

Monticello - a mostly pictorial essay

On Friday I went to Monticello. Though I have been there several times, this was the first time with snow on the ground. And with a small crowd instead of large. I wholeheartedly suggest visiting on a winter's weekday morning.

A Light Hearted Story

The owner of the doggy play place that Bella goes to once in awhile looked at me on Friday and said "I think that Bella may have a urinary tract infection." So I called the vet's office and was told to bring in a sample.

So yesterday morning, at 5:45 am, husband and I got up (he had to go to work)and put on sweat shirts over our pj's. Husband put Bella on a leash, I got a flashlight and a plastic container. (It was dark and I needed to see what I was doing). It took a couple of tries but we were successful in the end and it was so funny. Bella couldn't understand what we were doing and why.

Turns out she is fine.

I took the day off

yesterday from work. Went to a town south of here - not much to see and then went to Monticello - which will be a post another day.

Afterwards I went out for coffee, a scone and had some quiet reading time.

I left, got into my car and locked the doors. Pulled up to a stop sign. The man at the corner came up to my car and tried to get in. And was quite upset that I would not let him in because I had on my right turn signal and therefore must be going to the area that he wanted to go in.

I would have left then, but the traffic was heavy - so I was stuck. I explained to him that even though I was turning right that I was not going to the place he was going. We argued for awhile and then he left.

Thank goodness I had the doors locked as I don't always do that. Will be more diligent in the future.

Last night

I heard a cat yowling and thought that it was Sport who spends much of his time outdoors. It was Wishbone and she was under my car.

I could not figure out what was wrong. She rarely goes outside but it didn't surprise me that she was there.

So I brought her in. And noticed that she could not move her hind legs.

Later she moved her legs and seemed to walk around in pain but seemed ok.

But she was not. This morning she was making odd sounds and I noticed that some of her front teeth were missing. The vet thinks that she was hit by a car. The trauma was too much for her and I had her put down.

This week felt like 3.

I think it was the snow still on the ground, the biting cold that sucks the life out of you, and the fact that the playground is still covered in snow as liability is figured out as to who will shovel it. (Does that last part make sense? Parents want to shovel but the liability issues are too big.)

The amusing part was this morning. The roads were white with salt, plows everywhere and we got a dusting of snow.

Please help me not to whine when the weather turns hot!

This mound of snow came from the big storm and it is still over a story high. It will last until spring.


The snow outside my classroom door to the playground. No going outside for the forseeable future!

Multilple uses of an item

can come back to haunt a teacher.

Today I pulled the pirate ship for the children to play with the Gingerbread Pirates that I made for the class. (A BIG hit by the way). After reading the story I told the children that the ship and pirates were available to play with. One child, after looking at the boat, gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Oh, Mrs. R, that is the Mayflower!"

And so it was.

I'm reading

Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life, stories and recipes from my kitchen table.

A wonderful little book of stories and recipes.

The one chapter that I would mention is the one about her father's death. Where the home nurse instructs the author not to call her dad back but to let him go.

When my grandmother died in August 2002 I spent her last full night alive on a cot next to her hospital bed. In the middle of the night I woke up to see my uncle and his stepfather standing next to my grandmother. Not wishing to intrude I kept my eyes closed but will never forget my uncle telling H to tell my grandmother that it was okay to go. That we would be fine.

It was one of the most heartbreaking things that I've ever listened to. My uncle was an incredibly strong person - when his son died in 2001 he stood up near V's casket and when family members were done paying their respects they would turn around to be seated and my uncle would be waiting there for each one of them - arms wide open to comfort.

My uncle died on my birthday 2 years ago.

I miss him tremendously.

Photos from Yesterday's Short Walk

Next Year, Berlin!

No, we have not made plans. But doesn't this look like fun?

We went to bed before midnight last night. I wasn't in the mood to stay up and husband was tired from his day of working 2 jobs and having to spend the night at work the night before.