Day 63

Then and Now

It seems like I've always had these two cats. Lucy was absolutely adorable, so when Linus came along, I thought that I probably should look for a good home for him. I fully inteded to do just that as well. Until I got way too attached to the little guy and just couldn't bear to part with him. Now, he's a permanent fixture. And getting so very big, despite what I want.

Day 62

To continue with the vein of Christmas ornaments, here's another example of what's hanging in my kitchen. The big D was given to me by a co-worker and the angel was given to me long ago by my mother when I moved out of the house.

I have also enjoyed the saying that is on the second ornament. Not sure those I end up singing around are as thankful, but I sure enjoy it.

Day 61

Oh for the ability to be that blunt. A student found this old report card in a book in my classroom. It's from 1994. The teacher was given four choices of ways to offer recommendations for improvement. There are some days when I really wish I could be so blunt and just say "Follow steps number 1 through 4" It would make some of my parent teacher conferences so much easier.

Day 60

Because I travel to MI every Christmas, I don't put up a Christmas Tree. I really don't like fake trees and having a real one would require me to take it down before I leave for the trip. Because of this, I started putting my ornaments on the cabinets in the kitchen. And becuase they are so much fun, I'm just leaving them there all year round. Incidentally, the ornament on the left was given to me by a youth group girl. If you notice the date, there is proof that I have owned something for over 5 years without losing it. The one on the right was one that I painted this year.

Day 59

After finishing my workout the other day, Linus noticed that my drawstring was haning down. Unfortunately, I didn't. All I knew was that all the sudden, there was a sharp stabbing in my lower leg. Seems he has figured out how to climb quite well.

Day 58

My bling-bling ring. There was a fund raiser representative in our school last week and he gave all the teachers this ring. It lights up and flashes in a most annoying fashion. Stare at it too long it may well become seizure inducing. But, it's flashy, which means Linus now has a new toy to play with. Though, at the moment, he seems to prefer my nasty, sweaty gym shoes. Go figure.

Day 57

The two rugrats. These two cats have very quickly become such a big part of my day. I love the fact that they are they to greet me everytime I open my door. All thoughts of finding Linus a good home has long gone.

Day 56

Take that Martha Stewart. My sister gave me a frozen meal recipe book so I decided to put it to good use. I make tomato basil soup, chicken enchilladas, parmeasean chicken, chocolate chip cookies, and bread. Yuppers, I'm starting to fill my freezer with nothing that was purchased pre-made at the store :-)

Day 55

Boy oh boy, what a day. It started with a headache, so when it came time to work out, I thought I'd give it a shot in hopes that it would go away. Yeah, not so much! When we finished working out, I thought my head was going to explode. It's a sad day when my favorite pain killer isn't working. On the other side, I really am thankful that such

Day 54

The most important people in the world to me. Every year we take two family pictures, one in the summer and one at Christmas time. This time around, we made sure to include the pets as well. It's didn't turn out as the best picture, but I still love it. Linus and Lucy even managed to get along with Tree for a few moments, and wonder of wonders, there were no bunny ears.

Picture 53

A cold night in Michigan. The night after a good snow, I decided to make good use of my time and head out and take pictures. The only trouble is that it was way too cold for me to get out of the car. So, I drove up and down the streets, rolling down the windows and snapping pictures. Part of me is slightly surprised I didn't have some cop pull me over and inquire as to what I was doing. This is an old church not far from Hope College in Holland.

Picture 52

So, while not technically in chronological order, I did take the pictures and individual days and I would like to include them. This picture was taken at Duke chapel on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. A group of us went to hear Handel's Messiah performed. There is nothing quite like it to get you in the holiday mood.

Day 51.... sort of

So turns out my attention span is about 50 days. So much for the old theory that if you do something for 30 days, it becomes habbit.

I've also learned that it's easier to take something away than add something to life. Meaning that for the last two years, I decided to give up something bad for me in the hopes of breaking bad habbits. Turns out, it's not such a difficult thing to do. But try and add something positive to your life, and it takes a lot more work and effort. So, in an attempt to not give up the first time I don't succeed, here I go again, picking back up with the pictures.

These two have very quickly become such a huge source of joy. Linus is hilarious with all his antics and playing around.