Kinda sorta work...it's money, anyway

I didn't quite get the job that I applied for at the Daycare, but I am going to work there part-time for the next few weeks until school starts and their regular teachers come back. I'll be a sub, so to speak, filling in wherever they need me, whenever they do. It's long and tiring work, playing with a classroom of 2 year olds, but it'll be SO fun, and, hey, it's money. We could use some of that right now. So even though it's just for a while, I'm grateful. It'll do for now.

I'm still looking around, though. I've gotta work in the fall, or we won't be able to pay bills! :)

Picture Books & New Traditions

Paul & I thought up a few fun traditions related to picture books, and I thought I'd put them down in writing so we don't forget.

The first one has to do with birthdays. When I was little, one of my favorite books was "Happy Birthday, Moon". Imagine my surprise when I found out that Paul's favorite book was the same thing! So we've decided that on the evening before our birthdays, and our kids', we're going to read the book to them as we tuck them in, and we're going to have a top hat just like Bear has in the book, hidden somewhere in a fairly conspicuous place to find around the house, with one small "first and best" gift under it to open on Birthday Eve. I'm stoked.

The second is a Christmas tradition. I love Christmas, and I love picture books. So I've compiled a list of my 25 favorite Christmas picture books, and each night of the 25 days of Christmas I want to read a different one aloud as a family. Want to know my list?

1. Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg)
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Dr. Seuss)
3. The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry & P.J. Lynch)
4. Christmas Oranges (Linda Bethers)
5. The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Anderson)
6. Children Around the World Celebrate Christmas (Susan T. Osborn & Tangvald)
7. Brown Paper Teddy Bear (Catherine Allison/Scholastic)
8. A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree (Colleen Monroe, ill. Michael Monroe)
9. The Crippled Lamb (Max Lucado)
10. Wenceslas: The Eternal Christmas Story (Geraldine McCaughrean)
11. The Nutcracker: A Young Reader’s Edition of the Holiday Classic (E.T.A. Hoffman)
12. The Littlest Angel (Charles Tazewell)
13. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Robert L. May; ill. David Wenzel)
14. The Little Drummer Boy (ill. Ezra Jack Keats)
15. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Kellogg/ Coots & Gillespie)
16. Silent Night: The Song and its Story (Margaret Hodges; Ladwig)
17. St. Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (Julie Steigemeyer; Ellison)
18. The Legend of the Christmas Stocking (Rick Osborne)
19. The Legend of the Christmas Tree (Rick Osborne)
20. The Legend of the Candy Cane (Lori Walburg)
21. The Night of Las Posadas (Tomie dePaola)
22. The Legend of the Poinsettia (Tomie dePaola)
23. “B” is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (Isabel Wilner; ill. Elisa Kleven)
24. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Clement C. Moore)
25. The Christmas Story: From the King James Version (Gennady Spirin) (OR Christmas Story by Val Chadwick Bailey...I haven't decided yet)

NOW, I just have to buy them all!

The 5 things on my mind right at this exact moment:

(1) I just finished my sister's birthday present! Unfortunately, since there's a slim chance she'll see it if I post anything about it right now, I can't. I'll show you and tell you all about it in 2 days. But suffice it to say, for having zero dollars to my name, this present pretty much rocks.

(2) I am already planning Paul's birthday party (and it's not until October 18th). This shows you how *sick* I really am. I love party planning, especially parties for OTHER people. I love making homemade gifts that you can't get anywhere else and I love surprising people. I also love familyfun.go.com, where I get a lot of ideas from. Moms, check it out! That's what I've been doing all week!

(3) I am waiting to hear tomorrow about a job I interviewed with on Thursday...I'd be working with another "teacher" and 8 or 9 2-year-olds for 10 1/2 hours on Fridays at a Christian Child Care. I really want this job, and if not this one, something like it. Mostly, though, I just want A job!

(4) I am really hungry. I might have to eat some chips 'n' salsa after this. We got the cheap brand of the black bean & white corn salsa, and it is scrumptious. Just sayin'.

(5) Today, and really all week, has been an emotional roller coaster in the private places of my heart. I think I am ready for something...I don't know what. I just got a new calling in our new ward, one that I wasn't really planning on, and maybe that's the first step. I probably just need a new challenge. Usually when things seem hard it's because (a) they are, (b) you're not doing something you should be, or (c) you're ready for new challenges. I feel pretty good overall about what I've been able to do and to be lately, so I think I pick (c). :)

Yearbookyourself.com

If you have a few minutes to spare, check out this website! (http://www.yearbookyourself.com/) It's hilarious! You upload a pic of you (or whomever you wish) and stick their faces onto yearbook photos from decades past. If you have a Facebook account, you can send them directly to your photos. If not, you can either save them to your computer or email them to yourself or someone else. Anywho, here is a sampling of some of my favorites. :) My friends Shean & Audrey.

My BFF Lindsey, rockin' it out!

Almost all the Watson clan.

My dear husband...

And me!

Attention All Moms! (or teachers of young children...)

I recently discovered a neat up-and-coming website that features short (5 minutes or less) virtual field trips for kids, by kids. There are interviews with authors/illustrators, field trips to observatories, museums, and music halls, and contest winners for things like poetry month, holidays, hobbies, and "the most interesting person I know". Even cooler, you can have your own kids make and send in a video to be put on the site! It's still new so there are a lot of features under development, but under each video is at least one link to another website related to that subject, recommended books, and questions/links written by educators for extended learning. I'd STRONGLY recommend checking it out when you get the chance:

http://meetmeatthecorner.org/

Have fun!

Our New Pride and Joy :)

This is the piano that Paul & I won on ebay for $25. I have to admit, it was an amazingly SWEET deal. The previous owner was just some guy who happened to have a piano lying around in his garage for the last 5 years, and he was going to just leave it on the side of the road, but he figured if he put it up on ebay he'd make a few bucks off of it. Unfortunately for him, that's ALL he got. But WE WIN! On Saturday, our good friend Nathan Utt drove Paul up to the Chicago temple (he had to work there for 5 hours), and then the two of them drove Nutt's truck down an hour or so south of town and wound up in a surprisingly nice neighborhood, where they exerted their superhuman strength and moved the piano all by themselves. A big shout-out, too, to the guy in the apartment above us who helped get it from the truck to the inside of our apartment.
This is the small centerpiece I made for it, mostly to cover up the book that we're using as a weight for the lamp until we can find something better. I used the leftover wedding flowers (and STILL have more to go!).

So now the quaint old piano is in our apartment and we look at it much the same way new parents admire their children--part wonder, part shock, part amusement, part love. It feels like a little miracle in the midst of a lot of hard times, and holds the promise of progress and happiness ahead. And while there's a low B key that buzzes and a high C key that's sharp, for the freedom it gives us to explore and express ourselves and the independence from the "someday" promises of BOTH our parents' pianos, this beauty'll do. :)

Caida's Update

Caida is back at home as of yesterday, and is doing much better. Time will tell as far as the medicine she's on, but Cerene feels that she's in good hands with the doctor there. We'll see about the neurologist appointment getting moved up or not...but either way, the immediate danger is gone for now and I am so grateful! Thanks for any good thoughts or prayers sent our way.

This is why I'm glad to be a school teacher NOW.

1905 teaching contract rules from Story County, Iowa:
1. Teachers are expected to live in the community in which they are employed and to take residence with local citizens for room and board. (Many teachers lived with the students and their parents going from one house to another).
2. Teachers will be required to spend weekends in the community unless permission is granted by the Chairman of the Board.
3. It is understood that teachers will attend church each Sunday and take an active part, particularly in choir and Sunday School work.
4. Dancing, card playing and the theatre are works of the Devil that lead to gambling, immoral climate, and influence and will not be tolerated.
5. Community plays are given annually. Teachers are expected to participate.
6. When laundering petticoats and unmentionables it is best to dry them in a flour sack or pillow case. (So no one sees them hanging on the line to dry).
7. Any teacher who smokes cigarettes, uses liquor in any form, frequents a pool or public hall, or (for men) gets shaved in a barber shop, (or for women) bobbs (cuts) her hair, has dyed hair, wears short skirts (could not be any shorter than 2 inches above the ankles) and has undue use of cosmetics will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
8. Teachers will not marry or keep company with a man friend during the week except as an escort to church services. (The only man a woman teacher could be seen with was her father or her brother).
9. Loitering in ice cream parlors, drug stores, etc., is prohibited.
10. Purchasing or reading the Sunday Supplement on the Sabbath will not be tolerated.
11. Discussing political views or party choice is not advisable.
12. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if they go to church regularly.
13. After 10 hours in school, the teacher should spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books.
14. Women teachers who marry or engage in other unseemly conduct will be dismissed.
15. Every teacher should lay aside from his pay a goodly sum for his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.
16. The teacher who performs his labors faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of 25 cents a week in his pay providing the Board of Education approves.
http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/contract.htm


1915 teaching contract rules from New Hampshire (notice the similarities and the differences):
1. You will not marry during the term of your contract.
2. You are not to keep company with men.
3. You must be home between the hours of 8 PM and 6 AM
unless at a school function.
4. You may not loiter downtown in any of the ice cream
stores.
5. You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you
have permission of the chairman of the chairman of the
school board.
6. You may not ride in carriages or automobiles with any
man except your father or brother.
7. You may not smoke cigarettes.
8. You may not dress in bright colors.
9. You may under no circumstances dye your hair.
10. You must wear at least 2 petticoats.
11. Your dresses may not be any shorter than 2 inches above
the ankles.
12. To keep the classroom neat and clean you must sweep the
floor once a day, scrub the floor with hot soapy water
once a week, clean the blackboards once a day and start
the fire at 7 AM to have the school warm by 8 AM when
the scholars arrive.
http://www.nhhistory.org/edu/support/nhgrowingup/teacherrules.pdf

Please pray for Caida!

If you have a spare moment, please pray for my niece Caida Lee Darland (the cutie in the middle). She's 4, and she's got epilepsy, and she's in the hospital because she was having grand mal seizures so often and so badly through the night that they had to put her on oxygen because she couldn't breathe on her own. She was blue and foaming at the mouth. The worst part is, she knows when they are coming on now and she gets so petrified that she SCREAMS before her eyes roll into the back of her head and the seizures come on. She's got an appointment with a neurologist in OCTOBER, but after last night the pediatrician on call at the emergency room is going to see what he can do to bump that up. (Finally, a doctor I don't have to hate!) Also, unlike all the doctors Dad & Carri took her to, this one's not just going to "up the medicine and see what happens" but is going to try something new. Finally! Paul's going to the temple today, thank heavens, so he's going to put her on the prayer roll. She's far away enough we can't go visit her, which is the hardest part of all for US, and I don't know if my sister knows any priesthood holders out in NC to even give her a blessing. Anywho, thanks for any thoughts and prayers you can spare. I'll keep you posted.

New Blog!

I started a separate blog for all the poetry and stories I will write, am writing, have written...as well as any other creative works I feel like sharing, whenever. It's an anything-goes-as-long-as-it's-mine kinda thing. Check it out if you so desire at:
http://worksofceleste.blogspot.com/
Of course, I will still be keeping THIS blog as a journal/virtual scrapbook for our family! I just wanted my creative works to have their own space...mostly because I discovered Blurb BookSmart (download for FREE here), and the idea of making quality books from my blogs totally appeals to me! It's more expensive than journaling, but cheaper than scrapbooking...and it's EASY. It's an automatic publish, even if I never make any money from it. :)

Okay, that's enough of the plug. :) Read my stuff! Or don't. I'll love you either way.

Fruit Stickers

My poetry class has inspired me lately, in spite of the things I say. I've been more into recording my frustrations and my elations in writing lately. I am also becoming more observant and enjoying words again. It's a blessed reunion.

My latest "project" is to create a poem about a person, made entirely of the sayings on fruit labels. So if any of you find any real gems out there in the world, let me know! It doesn't have to be all that funny, but you may be surprised at what you find when you start looking.

Wishes

I wish a lot of things. ONE of these wishes will come true tomorrow: I will be done with my poetry class. :) Hopefully, one of my wishes will come true today: I will be brave enough to read an original poem aloud for extra credit.

I wish either Paul or I (or ideally both) could find a job.

I wish some other things that I probably shouldn't put up on a public blog, because last time I did that I ended up making a ton of people mad at me. And some of it is just kinda personal.

What do YOU wish for today?

Speaking of food...

Today our new ward had its infrequent-but-wonderful-when-it-happens break-the-fast after church. I just have to say, I love Fast Sundays. I love to fast (shocking) because I know it helps. Our ward had a special fast for the unemployed in our ward and area, and really all that are having financial strain, and since we fall into that boat, we were extra grateful to fast today. I also love testimony meetings, even those with the big lulls, because I love to think about all the blessings I have because I was blessed enough to be born into the gospel.

But I also really, really love not having to cook much, especially on a Sunday. I think potluck dinners are just about inspired--can you imagine if we had them every day? You'd eat until you were stuffed, and hardly have to do a thing for it. Everyone wins. And it would probably be cheaper.

This brought my mind back to my days at BYU...in our apartment, the six of us used to eat together on Sundays, and once a month or so we'd invite other apartments in the ward over and we would all eat and chat and get to know one another. It was stressful sometimes, but it was fun, too. And since I'm not all that great at making new friends, it forced me to interact with people on a smaller and more intimate scale and helped a lot.

I think Paul & I are going to start up a little dinner group for the occasional Sundays...anyone else interested?

A yummy dinner

I was in charge of dinner last night (Paul & switch off right now), and I was stuck as to what I could make that wasn't pasta or stir fry (my usual fallbacks). (Paul's meals are always WAY better than mine, p.s...I married a man who can COOK! The pressure's on!)

I wanted meat, not in something but on its own. And then I remembered that we had pineapple. Problem solved! I made teriyaki chicken & pineapple kabobs--they grill on our indoor grill in 4 minutes! But that wasn't the most yummy part (it was good, but you gotta try this:)

We have a few mango leftover from the huge bagfull my mother-in-law gave us last week (thanks, Paulette!), and I knew it had to be eaten soon. So I cut one up into cubes and put in some coconut and a few chopped up strawberries. It was SO DELICIOUS! We ended up mixing that with the rice more than the kabobs, and let me tell you, mango and coconut and rice are meant for each other! It was sooooo good. We ended up with very few leftovers.

The best part is, we fed ourselves fat and happy and altogether it took one chicken breast, half a can of chunk pineapple, a mango, a couple of strawberries, some rice, and a handful of shredded coconut...all of which we almost always have around the house. And we cooked, ate, and cleaned it all up in an hour. That's MY kind of meal! :)

I wish I had a picture to share with you. This is closest thing I could find, although it's missing the strawberries and kabobs...but you get the picture:

I love happy accidents!

Sometimes you just gotta laugh!

A few days ago, we found a beautiful black piano on Ebay that was located in what we thought was Frankfort, Indiana (a hop, skip, and a jump from here). It wasn't selling for much, but there were several days left and Paul & I knew that the action really happens in the last 12 hours of the bid, anyway. So we figured out how much money we could spare (a measley $30) and bid on it, thinking there was no way in Haides we'd possibly win. And so, of course, we won. We have a Wurlitzer black piano waiting for us in Frankfort, ILLINOIS (about 2 hours' drive from here), that we got for $25. The only obstacle: we have no truck. :)

It'll be okay. We're hoping to enlist a friend or two, take 'em out for fast food and pay for gas in exchange for manpower and the use of their truck. But we're enjoying the fact that we won what we thought we wouldn't and it's where we thought it wasn't and now we are stuck figuring it all out. :) Sometimes, friends, you just gotta laugh!

But it's going to look great in our living room!

Intro to Poetry

Of all the paintings I've seen of poets, I appreciate (if not understand) Chagall's "The Poet" best: I'm taking an intro to poetry class this summer, and I thought I should finally get around to sharing some of my own thoughts and things I have learned this summer.

(1) A lot of poetry, especially the contemporary stuff, I either do not get or do not like, and no 200-level course is really going to change that. And that's okay. I'm at peace with my being at odds with it.
(2) I still love words.
(3) My professor, an old and large lady who grew up in Oklahoma and swears like a sailor, who taught third grade and was a lawyer by trade, thinks I "would be a good English major, if (I) didn't want a job."
(4) There is still a huge part of me that wishes I had time and talent enough to write. Not only do I love a good story, and not only do I love the penumbra of bits of language, but it's a cathartic process for me, and I need to start doing it again--even if it means writing bad poetry in the corners of my room and never letting another soul see it.
(5) You really read different things into poetry and have different opinions about it depending on your own life experience and the mood you're in while you're reading it. For example, I'm in a bad mood today. And going to class was the two longest hours of my life. And I didn't say a word. And the poets sucked. And they were too transparent. And their subject matter hit too close to home or was too far off base for me to enjoy the experience. But other days are not like that at all.
(6) I had no idea what "Ars Poetica" really meant until I had to compare four poets, and now I don't know where I stand on the issue myself.
(7) I will never give participation points in my class. It's lame.