Friends

Actually it's a wind chill day.  Because we delicate hothouse flowers here in St. Louie aren't used to windchills of -25, which is what it's forecast to be, maybe, in the morning.  All districts in the county again closed prior to ten p.m., including the Six That Never Close (of which my district is a charter member).  Aliens have obviously kidnapped several superintendents of schools in the area.

I have a very plain, and probably too narrow in the skirt, seafoam green wool peplos now.  It really could probably use an extra half-width of fabric, but when I sewed it up I didn't know I'd have tomorrow off, and that would have more than doubled the amount of necessary sewing.  I could take out one of the seams tomorrow and insert the extra panels, but somehow I doubt I will.

The spousal unit is currently putting together the "mud bench" I bought for the bedroom, as I cleared out the area where it is to go today.  Actually, that stuff mostly went into Third Floor Stuffit, in preparation for a (hopefully sooner rather than later) game of Third Floor Kablooey.

Did I mention it's frickin' COLD here?

Having slept in until nearly 8:00, here's the to-do list for today.

1.  Turn the light green wool into a peplos for Crown this weekend.  The latest Wichita forecast has us starting Saturday below zero and going up to a balmy 15 degrees.  Sunday is supposed to be warmer, but I don't need garb for Sunday.

2.  Clear out the area under the bedroom window, so the spousal unit can (a) close off the storm window already, and (b) move the "mud bench" I bought there and assemble it.

3.  Begin stringing Gillie's laurel medallion.

4.  Wii Fit workout.

5.  Pack for Crown.

6.  Sort, and possibly actually do a load of, laundry.

7.  If time permits, start working on the seneschal's handbook and the waterbearing articles.

Hmm, better get cracking...right after I have another cup of coffee...

Just got the automated call.  No school tomorrow.  Pointy-haired superintendent sounded really depressed about it.  This is because it's in his interest for summer vacation to be as long as possible, so everyone will associate his stupid school calendar with long summer breaks.

Have I been teaching gifted kids too long, or what, that I can see through such amateurish schemes?

Well, since I'm off tomorrow, that means I will have a wool peplos dress for Crown this weekend!

And too damn short it was, too.

My friend Lyriel absolutely rocks!  She drew my name for the Christmas gift exchange.  The name-drawing happened at Krist Kinder.  She and I, of course, shopped together at Krist Kinder.  I drooled over a big ol' lump of only partially-finished amber at Time Traveling Traders.  Not normally my style, but I liked it, and have wanted a big hunk for awhile now.  I went back to buy it after I discovered, no shit, a wad of 5 20-dollar bills at the bottom of my wallet where I had thought only ones and maybe a five or two were living.  It was gone.

Yeah, found out last night who bought it.  That is waaaay more money than our usual limit on this gift exchange, and she really rocks.   Of course, we all knew that already.  And, to be honest, if our positions had been reversed, I'd have done the same thing, which makes it barely excusable.

I have now finished writing the report cards, looked over the week's lesson plans and brought them in line with reality, and sorted through all my stocking-stuffers from the party to figure out which I actually want, and which can go to school for this week's brainstorming-points auctions.  Also half an hour of "free step" on the Wii Fit,  I didn't get on the damn thing yesterday or Friday--Friday we played "Living Room Kablooey", an amusing game described, independently of our trying it, by my dear friend Alina in her Christmas card letter which arrived yesterday, and which I will describe, perhaps, in another entry.  (Alina's Christmas letters?  Are a MAJOR treat.  Occasional factoids about the family seep in amongst the comedy.)  Soon--as in, the minute we have a weekend at home, which won't happen until January 24 or so--we need to begin an all-out game of Whole-House Kablooey.  I want to start on the remodeling, dammit.

For tomorrow--back to the salt mines.  And it's too beastly cold here, and scheduled to remain so for at least a week and a half.  I have no use for winter once the holidays are over.

A guide to effective exam grading:

www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/12/a_guide_to_grad.html

It wasn't too cold, and it snowed lazily most of the day, without accumulating enough to be a mess anywhere.  And I didn't have to work.  I did my stuff on the Wii Fit, and did some laundry, and got the oil changed in the new van, and then spent a lovely and totally unproductive afternoon and evening (well, for most definitions of unproductive) browsing on Emusic for the best-sounding versions of various iconic '50s and '60s songs that I like, to download for my MP3 player.

Didn't get the couch posted on Freecycle, didn't get anything packed or strung or graded, but had a lovely day nonetheless.

(Interesting how posts made when I'm sleepy and incoherent garner more interest than the well-thought-out ones!)

( Cut for those not remotely interested in personality theories and gifted education )

So, last January I posted some "goals".  None of which I met. :)  I have not lost 20 pounds, read 51 books, or cooked 51 home-cooked meals.  I do have a vague idea of how to buy back not just one, but two years of credit on my retirement, but I need to do more research on rollovers which I've been too lazy to do.  And we have accomplished little on the home-improvement front, though we do seem to be in the "this is gonna get a lot worse before it gets better" stage.

On the plus side, I do have a concrete plan in place that should result in more than 20 pounds gone by this time in 2010 (so far I've lost 8 or 9, and can fit in size 16 pants again--though the jeans I put on a little while ago are awfully snug).  And we've rented a storage unit into which I plan to pour more stuff while I'm off this week.  Our finances are (still) in pretty good order.  And we replaced the van without breaking the bank.  My job is more sane, though the administration is not.  And so it goes.

I think I'll be more vague for next year:  lose some weight, read some books, cook some meals.  Exception:  by this time next year, I really want the interior remodeling done.  Except for the bathrooms, which will cost more than what we will have available after we get the other stuff done.  That one--hopefully by the end of 2011.