Happy New Year's Eve!

Happy New Year's Eve!

How do you spend the last day of the year?

I am not a partier.  I am normally home, watching movies or one of the shows showing celebrations around the country, and snacking.  When I was little, I would spend the night with my paternal great grandmother and we would watch the ball drop.  Other than staying with her, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I was not at my own house relaxing on New Year's Eve.  Tonight, I know I won't make it until midnight.

How do you feel about ending the year and starting a new one?

Many people look at it as ending one chapter and starting another or wiping the slate clean to begin anew. I don't see it that way.  Maybe it is because I am in education, and our year runs August to August instead of January to December.  I can't just wipe the slate clean and start anew when I am in the middle of a professional year.

Sometimes, I just want to ignore the idea of ending and beginning and just think of it as another day.  I don't set goals or create resolutions, so really the day is just like any other.  Looking back can be sad or joyous, depending on the year.  Looking ahead can be scary because of the unknown.

One of my BFFs posted the following:

I really struggle with this, so this is a verse I plan to revisit this year.  I have faith and believe in God.  He is in control, and all things happen through Him.  He knows His plan for me (and family members), and I need to let go of my plans and let His prevail.

This goes back to what I wrote earlier in this post.  I guess my professional book begins each August, but my personal book can begin each January 1st.  I wonder what God has in store for me this year.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

My amazing niece and nephew with me on the last seat of the train at the zoo.

My talented niece and nephew with my wonderful mom on Christmas Eve.

Girl Scout Camping 2014

I didn't realize it until we returned, but with 10-12 days to go before Christmas, we took 9 amazing young ladies Girl Scout camping.  We had the best time!  They created their SWAP on Friday night, which was connected to their Scouts Own ceremony. They participated in a flag ceremony first thing Saturday morning, did a team building activity, had a great time with archery, learned about structures and bridges with Mad Science, and did a great job with a skit before making S'mores on Saturday evening. They led the camp in a Scouts Own first thing Sunday morning and then went hiking in the drizzle before breaking camp.  It was just the best camping experience!

Our girls 

(some were not able to join us for camping)

Team Building

Archery

Structures/Bridges

After our Scouts Own

After our final hike

I love this picture of my niece and me!

At One with Nature

You know how you are sometimes asked, "What is your dream vacation?" The last few years, I've said, "Hanging out in a cabin in the woods near a lake or river." 

Today, was very close that.  

The temps had me wearing a sweater.  Perfect.  

I got to hike at my speed in nature.  Perfect.  

I got to hike along a river (the Colorado River).  Perfect.  

While I like people and sharing experiences like this, today I was alone.  Perfect.  

There was a place to stop and rest.  Perfect.  (If I had had a bag, I could have taken a book to read in the woods.)    

I saw the brightest red Cardinals.  I've never seen so many together or that brightly colored.  

A hawk flew right over my head. 

Squirrels scurried all over gathering and eating pecans. 

We saw deer both mornings.

After walking, I went back up a trail near those stairs and sat near a fire pit (not lit) overlooking the river.  Wonderful.  Fire pit being lit would have been close to perfect.  

I could see families biking, playing horseshoes, and playing other games.  

I could hear all kinds of animals scurrying, tweeting, etc.  

If I would have had my book or even my computer to do some work in that environment, I could have been out there all day.  

It was absolutely something I needed today.  

It is something I would love to do again.  

My niece was at a dance convention at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa.  I walked along behind the main building toward the McKinney Roughs Nature Center and then onto that property.

I came down these stairs from the main lodge to the path near the Colorado River.

Once at the bottom and on flat land, this was my view of the Colorado River and dock area.

My view as I walked along the path near the Colorado River.

The closest point to the Colorado River as I walked along the path.

After walking nearly 2 miles along various trails, I came to a picnic table. 

This was my view as I sat to rest.

Thanksgiving Reading

Since we were going to be gone and had a 5 hour drive to and fro, I grabbed 3 books to dive into during our trip.  Well, I managed to only read one of the books while we were gone, which was read only while we were driving.  I just read/finished Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan.  I really enjoyed the book. It had a good pace, and I didn't get bored. On page 360, I ran across a line that touched me.

"I'm not brave; it's just that all other choices have been thrown out the window."

I thought, "If 'brave' were changed to 'strong,' that would be me."  I don't mean for that to sound conceited or anything, but I find that with everything that I have thought about, felt, and gone through the last few years, that I haven't been brave.  I have had to be strong.  Stronger than I ever thought I needed to be.  Strong enough to get through.  Maybe I have put things off, not mourned when or how I should have, over or under reacted, but I have survived.  Strong and the way I have handled things is the only way I knew how b/c "all other choices" were "thrown out the window."

Thanksgiving Break 2014 and Toys for Tots 5K

We had a great Thanksgiving Break.  I have had this feeling that keeps me thinking . . . what if this is our last Thanksgiving with Mom.  Tomorrow isn't promised, and we have no idea what a year will bring, so I have decided to live up each holiday, moment, etc.  This may all be made up in my mind, but it is still a feeling/thought I have.

We went to spend several days with my niece, nephew, brother, and sister-in-law.

On Tuesday, after we arrived, we enjoyed a great dinner and went shopping for all the groceries needed for our Thanksgiving lunch.  We also picked up the last of the Science Fair project materials.

On Wednesday, we decided we weren't going anywhere until both Science Fair projects were completed.  Both needed to do the experiment portion, but they had the majority of the write-up finished.  By the time we left for lunch, they had done their experiments, finished their typing, and printed off their pages to put on their boards.  We then went to lunch and ran several errands and picked up a few Christmas gifts.  We also picked up the turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and rolls, which we ordered from Luby's.  We find ordering the larger pieces makes things so much easier.  We ended our day with my niece making two pie crusts almost from scratch and then the two pie fillings.  My niece loves to bake, and I love to watch and help.  This time, I helped, but Mom helped even more.  I loved watching the two of them.  My niece loves Pumpkin Pudding Pie, which she learned in 1st grade from her teacher when they made it in class.  She also tried Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Pie, but in the end, it did not turn out.  We will try it again another day.

The kids did a great job helping to cook Thanksgiving lunch.  I realized days later that I never took any Thanksgiving Day pics.  Here is one of my nephew with the green bean casserole that he made.

On Friday morning, our first task was to go to Walmart to get the pics I had printed.  We needed them for their Science Fair projects.

Here is their finished work:

On Friday evening, my nephew was to volunteer with his Young Marine group to put out chairs, usher, and pick-up chairs at the San Antonio's Holiday River Parade & Lighting Ceremony.  My brother signed up my niece, Mom, and me to help.  This got us free lunch from a food truck, free viewing of the parade, and free dinner.  They will also get to attend a dinner in a few weeks put on from the sponsored for their gratitude toward volunteers.  While we worked hard to set-up hundreds of chairs, it was great helping people, meeting new people, and watching the parade.  It was a fun evening!

 These are just a few of the parade pics.

One of my favorite scenes was looking over to see Mom and my niece watching the parade together.  My niece had the program and was reading about the floats/companies as they entered our viewing area.

This morning, we woke up and got dressed as fast as possible to be at the Toys for Tots 5K by 8:00.  We made it just after 8.  Whew!  My nephew and his Young Marines group led the opening ceremony with the flags and National Anthem.  They also helped with the water station.  My niece agreed to do the Fun Run with me.  Yea!  It wound up being a 4K, and there were no more than 25 runners/walkers.  It was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced.  All the 5Ks I've done have had thousands of people.  This one had 25 max!  We were the only walkers, so we only did one of the two laps. I hated the thought of everyone being finished and us still out there.  My niece was great, seemed to enjoy it, and was happy to stop after one lap.  My niece and nephew have both agreed to do a Color Run with me at some point.

We celebrated at Starbucks with Frappuccino and Hot Chocolate.

It was a great break, and I absolutely hated leaving.

Lunch Book Club

The office staff, administrators, and support staff (all of us who are not classroom teachers but support the teachers in various ways) eat lunch the lunch period after all the students and teachers eat.  We talk about a variety of things--family, work, movies, and more.  We also talk a lot about books.  We are always sharing titles that we enjoy, but we don't tend to remember them after we eat.  We decided this year that we would read a book together and discuss it during lunch.  We began on October 15th with the plan that we would read one chapter a night and discuss that chapter the following day during lunch.  Well, once we were supposed to have read 5 chapters, many were behind.  We decided to change our "rules."  We would read the whole book by November 20th and then bring a dish on November 21st to share that symbolized the book to us.  November 21st was the day we were getting out before Thanksgiving Break, so very few wound up being on campus and several ended up in meetings. We decided we would just have to put it off.  Maybe after the break.

Oh!  What book did we read, you ask?  We read The Wife, The Maid, and The Mistress by Ariel Lawhon.  I enjoyed it, but I have no idea what dish I would make.

Now, we have to decide what our next book will be.

I took a lot of books I really enjoyed (and have blogged about earlier this year) and created a little library in my office for them to borrow.