Right Here, Right Now for a Long Weekend

What I'm wearing - Plaid flannel shirt and jeans - my usual cold-weather wardrobe.

What I'm reading - Too  many news reports, the scriptures and this book, which is chock-full of wisdom.  I hope to finish it in the next couple of days. 

What's happening in my kitchen - Last night, we had Shepherd's Pie (from Costco) for dinner.  It was quite delicious.  Just the three of us ate half of this large pie.  Looking forward to the leftovers tonight.

I made some baked oatmeal with dried apples and peaches after dinner. That is one of our favorite things to have for a quick, healthy breakfast in the morning. 

What's outside my window - a gray January day.  We badly need snow for our water supply around here.  Hopefully some is coming by the end of the week.  This picture was taken on our walk this morning. 

What I'm thankful for - The long weekend - I am off today for Martin Luther King Day. 

What I'm hearing - The sounds of waves from the white noise machine in the bathroom attached to the office, the heat coming through vents warming our home and the TV that my husband is watching in the living room.  The dishwasher is quietly doing it's thing in the kitchen, just around the corner from the office. 

What I'm crafting - I have been doing some crocheting, which I haven't done for a while.  I decided I wanted to participate in a project called "Scarves in the Park" which takes place every November here in the Salt Lake City area.  Handmade knit and crocheted hats and scarves are placed on a fence in a local park frequented by the poor and homeless and anyone can take whatever they want - no questions asked.  Most of the stuff is taken by the homeless.  I am not super good at crocheting and I am not fast, especially now that arthritis seems to be creeping into my hands (darn it!), but I can make some scarves throughout the year that would keep someone warm on a cold day.  This is the scarf I am working on now. 

On my mind - Getting the second dose of the Covid vaccine.  I was told to set aside some time on February 12 for that, but nothing is set in stone.  I am also hoping that Charly can get the vaccine soon, but here in Utah, it will probably be another week or two until his age group is eligible.  

Also on my mind is the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris this Wednesday and what that will mean for our nation.  I admit that my anxiety is very high about what Trump and his MAGA supporters are still planning.  I am still upset about the insurrection on January 6,  and I am praying for peace and healing in our nation and that our Democracy and Constitution will be preserved for many generations to come. 

Words to live by - 

Best of this December Week

It's Thursday evening and that means it's time to for me to look back over my week to remember the best things that happened.  I am linking up again with Susanne and other grateful bloggers over at Living to Tell the Story for this Christmas version of Friday Fave Five.

COVID Vaccines for Teachers - Thursday, our Utah Governor, Gary Herbert, announced that teachers will be given the COVID vaccine in Phase 1 right after healthcare workers. K-12 teachers may be able get the vaccine as soon as the end of December of first part of January.  Charly will probably be in Phase 2 because of his age, so I am hoping that he will be able to get the vaccine soon as well. I am all in to getting the vaccine and very grateful that it has been approved. 

Opportunities to Give and Share - one of my favorite things about Christmas time is the many opportunities to give and share. This year, we have been able to help Operation Christmas Child, Quarters for Christmas, The Salvation Army, and  a blanket drive for needy students at a local elementary school. This weekend, we will select a toy or two to donate to Toys for Tots.  Helping others - even in a small way - is really my favorite part of the holiday. 

An Unexpected Gift - I received a lovely unexpected gift from my niece and her daughter this week.  I can't wait to fill this mug with some delicious hot cocoa this weekend.

More Christmas Cards - Christmas cards keep coming and I am loving it. Here are the cards that have come in so far.  It' always great to hear from friends far and near. 

New Books - As I have been doing my online Christmas shopping, these books, may or may not have leaped into my Amazon cart all by themselves.  They arrived in the mail this week. Seriously though, I did order a few "thrift priced books" from Amazon because I really do need more books.  ;-) 

Christmas Lights - I love Christmas lights and I love how this tree near our home is done up for the holiday.  

Thank You Emails - As a teacher, I do lots of things for students every day, and just count it as part of my job.  It was nice then, this week, when I received not one, but two thank you emails from students.  It is always nice to feel appreciated. 

Monday Night Catch-Up

 Last night, I didn't get a weekend blog post done, so I will try to catch up tonight.  Here is a bit of what has been going on here the past four days. 

Friday was COVID testing at the school where I teach, so off I  went to the auxiliary gymnasium to spit in a vile and see if I have this darned virus that is wreaking so much havoc.  I didn't (and still don't ) have any symptoms, but I knew that I had been around some other staff members at the school that came down with COVID, so I decided that it was "better to be safe than sorry."

Not only was the COVID test free for teachers in our district, I also received a $10 gift card to our local Kroger grocery store. That was a nice surprise.  The gift card wasn't the best part.  The best was a call this afternoon that my test showed that I was COVID negative.  I know that a negative test is only a snapshot in time, so I will continue to take precautions and be vigilant. 

We got more Christmas cards over the weekend and earlier today, and our front door Christmas card display is growing.  Among these cards are several from blog friends.  I always love exchanging cards with other bloggers. 

We took our daily walks every day over the weekend. Saturday morning, we walked to a new shopping center and did just a bit of shopping, then walked home.  Later on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we walked around our neighborhood.

Sunday morning, we went to church in person.  Later, I attended a Zoom Sunday School scripture study meeting. 

After lunch on Sunday, I did some indexing of Alabama voter records and military discharge records.  We also got Charly's DNA test kit ready and in the  mail.  We ordered an Ancestry DNA test for Charly from Ancestry when the DNA tests were on sale on Thanksgiving weekend. Josh and I had our DNA profiles done over a year ago.  Our oldest daughter was the first to have her DNA profiled and I am sending our second daughter a DNA kit for Christmas since she said that sounded good to her. It is sure interesting to see all of the places our ancestry comes from.  

We had some good food over the weekend.  On Friday, we got two pizzas - Pepperoni and  Chicken-Garlic - both take-n-bake pizzas from Papa Murphy's.

Pepperoni Pizza and salad is one of my favorite dinners.

After leftovers on Saturday, I made Beef Stroganoff in the slow cooker for Sunday dinner. 

The stroganoff recipe is easy and delicious. 

Sunday night, we watched some shows on Netflix.  We just signed up for on Sunday afternoon.  After many years of resisting, we decided to take the plunge.  I know there are some inappropriate shows on Netflix, but we plan to be very choosy about what we watch.  So far, we have watched Hillbilly Elegy,  and an episode The Queen's Gambit and The Crown.   All were excellent.

Today, it was back to school for me. The halls of the school are still empty of students, as we had online Zoom class meetings for one more day. Tomorrow, students come back in person.  Our district is going to try to use testing to quarantine staff and students who actually have the virus, instead of completely closing the school and having classes online.    

There isn't much coming up this week, other than the usual things that come up every week - school, cooking, and cleaning.  Josh is finishing up his semester at Ensign College soon, and he was busy doing some final projects over the weekend. We were so pleased when he told us he is getting straight As in his classes.  

That was our first December weekend and the beginning of the new week.  Hope you all have a wonderful week and that you take a moment to consider this...

 

First of December Favorites

Welcome once again to Friday's Fave Five when I join with Susanne and other grateful and positive bloggers over at Living to Tell the Story to look back at the best parts of the week. 

Christmas Ready - Our home is now dressed up and ready for Christmas! Packages containing Christmas gifts are starting to show up on our doorstep.  We are ready to relax and enjoy the holiday.

Christmas Cards - Most of my Christmas cards are in the mail, and some have even started arriving at their destinations.  If you are not already on my Christmas card list, feel free to email me. Exchanging Christmas cards with blog friends is a favorite part of the holiday.

So far we have three Christmas cards here at our home.  I hope the back of our front door will be filled by the Christmas cards from near and far.

I will admit that my favorite card is this one that arrived today with a picture of our second oldest daughter and her family on it.  I sure love all the people in this picture, and I can't believe how quickly my sweet grandchildren are growing.  

New Nativity - I have a creche collection which I love.  I like to add at least one new piece each year, and this is this year's nativity.  

Here are some of my other nativities.  Each is special to me and represent the birth of our Savior, true reason we celebrate Christmas. 

O Holy Night by Gentri

Christmas Music - Oh how I love Christmas music - but not just any Christmas music.  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer just doesn't do it for me, but music about the birth of Jesus that praises God for His great gift is, to me, the most powerful and beautiful music in the world.  It makes my soul soar and brings me peace.  These are some of my favorite Christmas songs and artists.

Joy to the World by Chris Tomlin

Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant

Mary, Did You Know? By Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd

Hallelujah by Lindsey Stirling

Blogger Giveaway - I won the give away that Liberty Belle was having over at her blog, and today this fun original dish towel arrived in the mail . Thank you, Liberty Belle. I love it!

Zoom School - School is still online until December 8.  I am starting to get the hang of it.  Covid rates are still exploding here and many teachers and administrators are out with the virus or on quarantine after being exposed. 

So far, I am still OK - no Covid and no exposure for me.  I am working every day in my empty classroom and taking lots of precautions, just as I will be doing when my students come back off dismissal next week.

A Gift to Myself - As I have been online ordering Christmas gifts, I found this cuff bracelet that I just had to get for myself.  It in engraved with the last line of my favorite hymn, and an ever timely reminder - Unending love, Amazing grace.  

Have a good weekend as you prepare for this holiday season. 

Weekending

Friday afternoon was gray and rainy as Charly and I took our daily walk. 

Mt. Olympus was shrouded in clouds. Just as we were finishing our two miles, more rain came.

After a Friday night dinner of leftovers, I made some more baked oatmeal, which has become a new family favorite. 

I added dehydrated apple slices and walnuts to the recipe.  It's a quick good and nutritious breakfast.

Friday night, Charly and I settled down on the couch and watched the one show that I watch with any regularity - Dateline. 

During our walk on Saturday morning, there was sunshine and blue skies to the west of us...

...clouds and stormy skies to the east. 

About mid-morning, we went to the library to get some books I had on hold. When we got into the library, we found that they had a special sale on used library books - ten cents each! I checked out two books and bought two other books for twenty cents.  What a deal.

We also went over to our rental condo to check and see if it needed a new furnace filter.  It didn't. The condo is empty right now.  The former tenant moved out at the end of October. 

Later, Josh and I went to our nearby Target and Walmart and got the things for the Operation Christmas Child Christmas boxes we will be donating.

These are some of the things we got to go in the two boxes we are preparing for this awesome service project.  You can see that there are clothings, toys and hygiene items.  Josh picked out all of the items for boy's box, and I picked out the things for the girl's box. Tonight, I have been wrapping and preparing the shoe boxes these items will go in. We plan to deliver them to a Operation Christmas Child participating church in our area later this week.

Sunday morning we watched our church service on Zoom because the virus is raging around here. We decided to stay home and stay safe. 

After our church service, I participated in Zoom Sunday School scripture study.  

Later, Charly and I walked, I spent some time indexing, and getting the Christmas Child boxes ready.  Dinner was dirty rice, buffalo ranch salad, and corn muffins.

When I am finished with this blog post, I plan to do some reading.  This week, I am reading these books.  As you can tell, I read all kinds of things (well not ALL kinds of things...) but I do have many interests and like to read all kinds of books.  While I do enjoy reading novels, I find that most years, I tend to read about 75% non-fiction. 

That was our weekend.  Hope yours was good, and that the coming week brings positive things to everyone.  Remember...