It’s been a loonnnnnggg time. This morning, I woke up on the couch. It’s where I fell asleep in the middle of the night when Ivy began to bark, yowl, and whine. She wanted out, so I crawled out of bed and went downstairs only to fall asleep on the couch after I let her in. I decided it was easier to stay downstairs than go back up and covered up with Ivy snuggling in a ball at my feet. Hours later, as night slid into early morning, the pitter-patter of rain woke me and I heard a rumble of thunder. It was time to get up and get going, and Ivy wanted out. Continue reading Saturday morning, late April
Category Archives: Weather
Spring Sightings
Spring has officially sprung. Olivia and I can attest we both woke up early this morning seeking relief from the severely stuffed up noses. Yesterday, I was stuffed up, but nothing like this morning and O went to bed last night tired, whiny, and complaining about her itching eyes and stuffed up nose. Continue reading Spring Sightings
Thursday, before Friday
I woke this morning trying to breathe, it took almost an hour of blowing my nose and trying to go back to sleep, before I gave up and started the day. Ivy wanted nothing to do with me, or my waking ideas, and is still sleeping soundly – as only she can.
“We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.”
Roald Dahl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Continue reading Thursday, before Friday
Spring Break Part II
Sunday’s post was brief, but it cut into my morning time. I usually try to get up before anyone else and enjoy the quiet time before the day begins, but yesterday Olivia got up with me, and grandma and grandpa were already up and moving. By the time I was writing, the cottage was in full motion with everyone moving for the morning. I started to write but, realized it was futile to continue and stopped, vowing to finish at night when everyone was spent from the day. But, I forgot I was one of the ‘everyone,’ and fell asleep on the couch, reading one of my spring break books – Scat by Carl Hiaasen. Even Ivy had gone upstairs by the time I woke up at 1 AM and stumbled upstairs and climbed sleepily into bed. Needless to say, I didn’t write last night. Continue reading Spring Break Part II
Spring Break – 2012
I‘ll be brief, I promise. It is Spring Break. I have big plans and small ones, too.
The plan was to leave immediately after school Friday, but I nixed it on Thursday because I was exhausted and did not want to drive 360 miles Friday trying to stay awake nor settle back seat disputes. So, we settled on leaving Saturday morning and even then I was sleepy the last hour or two. The drive was pleasant and it was amazing to drive through budding trees and the emerging green grass. We even stopped at our friend’s house for a brief visit. I visited with the parents and the kids had fun with each other. It was a nice visit and broke the drive into two parts – But, we made it and we’re here at the cottage. Continue reading Spring Break – 2012
weekends, sigh

Weekends disappear in the blink of an eye; actually, the entire past week disappeared in the blink of an eye. I can hardly believe the week is done. It was an easy week due to state testing, but it is done except for makeups for students who missed a day or two. I look back at the week with a bit of pride – I accomplished quite a bit and am current with just about everything at school; however, my office space downstairs is a fire hazard and I have other tasks to accomplish this weekend. Continue reading weekends, sigh
Testy, testing, whatever…

It’s springtime – or pretty darn close. The days are getting longer and slowly warmer. Yesterday it was in the sixties and windy with gusts in the 30-40 mph range. It’s been a pretty lame winter and I’m glad it’s getting closer to spring. There is that feeling in the air when it smells like spring. The wind howls and you know, really know, that warmer days are near. Right now, it is that time in the day when the sun seems to hang in the air and make the afternoon linger and seem to last another hour, or two. Continue reading Testy, testing, whatever…
Spring Day
Spring has sprung, at least for a brief moment earlier this week. Wednesday morning, I walked out of the house and it was 50 degrees; it was the same morning the storms rolled across southern Illinois. Right now, we are back in the mid-30s and cloudy; it looks much the same as most of January and February did. Nevertheless, it is spring. Continue reading Spring Day
President’s Weekend – 2012
It is the second long weekend of the calendar year and I am home, Beth and the kids are skiing in Michigan and having fun. They took off Thursday evening because the kids had no school Friday or Monday, making escaping the city and running off to the north woods a three-day fun-escape and much more inviting than staying home and cleaning the basement or other chores. I won’t be cleaning the basement, either I have a stack of papers to grade and get back before next Tuesday and I have time to make it happen. Continue reading President’s Weekend – 2012
What a difference a year makes

A year ago, I was climbing into bed dreaming of sleeping late, really late – past seven, eight, maybe even nine in the morning – which is unheard of for a middle school teacher. Except, we had been pummeled by 20+ inches of snow beginning Tuesday night and school had been cancelled for not one, but two days! Fast-forward to this year and we have had hardly any snow, yesterday it was in the upper 50s, and except for a few patches in shady areas, there is no snow on the ground. Continue reading What a difference a year makes