the turkey day

Happy Thanksgiving

What more can I say?

Cheers

the essential

Short and sweet:  I am thankful for this.  

the land of humidifiers

We have had to place a humidifier in our bedroom.  I have never actually used a humidifier, even in the driest conditions.  However, Jason's skin and eyes are suffering big time in this arid and dry land.  His keratoconus is facing challenges he has never had to deal with in the land of rain, clouds, and humidity.  The eye that has not had a cornea transplant is struggling big time.  The dryness rubs it the wrong way-literally.  He is in constant pain in sunlight.  You will recall a similar complaint in a post I wrote in the dead of the hot summer.  


We are hoping that a humidifier will help add necessary moisture to the air so that Jason can restore his tolerance to his eye condition.  Jason has never even seen a humidifier before.  He had no clue how to work the thing or how to understand the concept of it.  I didn't have a clue either since I am immuned to dry and arid conditions.  


I am respectful of his need for a humidifier.  I remember when I started seeing rain come down in sheets for days on end.  I could see beads of water on the inside of our windows and walls due to the high levels of moisture in the air.  I constantly felt rain-soaked.  Locals suggested I buy a de-humidifier so that I could feel some dryness in my life.  That was a new concept for me.  A machine to take moisture out of the air???  


I come from the land of humidifiers and Jason comes from the land of de-humidifiers. Who would have thought?

Cheers

the kicks and giggles for the day

Just for kicks and giggles I would like to share 3 awkward things that have happened to me in the past several weeks. 


1.  a student asked if my hair color was real.  okay, I am aware of my roots.  one of these days I'll take care of my root problem.  it is yet another example of how very aware students are of your every move and daily appearance.  on this same note, a student asked me why there were so many red bumps on my face.  yes, I am aware of my adult acne challenge too.  thanks for the reminder to keep that under control.  


2.  a large crowd was gathering in the hall outside of my room and I assumed it was a fight.  as I approached the large crowd I saw the yellow rubbery item that had stopped everyone in their tracks.  lucky me got to pick it up in front of a large group of laughing middle schoolers to dispose of the rubber.  just part of my job.


3.  as I was scanning the aisles while students were doing independent work I accidentally got a butt tap.  a student had stretched out his hand and I walked by at the exact wrong time.  it was obvious enough that there were giggles but low-key enough that I could pretend I hadn't realized.  there are certain times in a teacher's life that you have to decide if it's better to pretend you hadn't seen it or be firm and straight faced to get them back on task.  In this case I went with pretending.  there were some awkward minutes to follow but we lived through it.  


Welcome to my life--I love it. 

the snapshots

                         Is this not beautiful?  Cold, hot, windy, sunny--Arizona is one of a kind.  

the compliment of the day

Since Jason and I have been married, we have made an effort to do 2 things:

1.  Give each other a compliment of the day.

2.  Share our favourite part of the day.  

At first I always asked, but Jason has fully taken on the gig and is usually the one to initiate the compliments.  I like this because it is a simple way to brighten his day.  We usually end up laughing since most of them are funny.  However, there is the occasional heart-touching compliment.  

I thought I would post my compliment/fav part of the day.  

Jason, I really appreciate the pancakes you made for me twice this week.  I was not even out of bed yet and you were already making pancakes from scratch.  Thank you. 

Favorite part of the day was definitely the mile pace my sister and I ran during our 10 miler today.  

Cheers