December Twenty

(I'm slowly catching up!)

Work again on Sunday. Every Sunday. The alarm goes off early at 5:00 am. Looking forward to a time when this won't be necessary.

Seann took Bob and Dimmie to Powell's in the morning so I could continue the cookie baking and decorating.




It was a long process that seemed to take all day though I know it didn't. I tried to be a little creative on some of the cookies but exhaustion quickly won out to creativity. Maybe during my vacation I'll try again. Right now the idea of baking more cookies sends me to the loony bin.

The rest of the day was really low-key. I turned in early in hopes of getting good sleep. My throat had been steadily getting more sore over the last few days. I originally tried to blame it on the fact that I was using it so much more while teaching. But the accompanying sniffles proved me wrong. I needed a good night of sleep and Monday morning I knew I could sleep in--no work until 5:00.

Somewhere over this weekend the tree got decorated. Can't remember if it was Saturday or Sunday. It's always fun to take out all the ornaments and remember (or not!) where they came from. I still have some of the original cheapy ornaments Hallie and I bought the first year we lived together. And I have some from when Seann and I were both very young--childhood favorites. Decorating the tree has always been one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't turn out. I'll try and get some new ones taken and post them.

December Nineteen

In-law invasion! Not really but it's fun to say. Seann's father, Bob and his wife, Dimmie came to visit this weekend. After work I quickly changed and we headed out the door for a Mongolian barbecue lunch. It was quite tasty. Both Seann and Bob made theirs a little bit spicy but I'm smart enough to make it just right. After lunch it was time to get to work in the kitchen.

Between subbing and working at Target I haven't had a lot of time to bake and I had to get all my Christmas boxes out of my house! Seann helped me out by making some of the cookie doughs Saturday morning. After lunch I set myself up in the kitchen and proceeded to make sugar cookies, chocolate blossoms (chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar, baked so they get a nice crackle effect and then topped with a minty Hershey's kiss--Yummy), chocolate/vanilla pinwheels (these ended up a little larger than usual--oops!), Russian teacakes, and gingerbread men. I didn't make as many as usual since Heather was also making cookies and I didn't want to overlap. Still, I was in the kitchen for a long time. I chatted with Dimmie as she watched in amazement (she doesn't make cookies) while Bob took a nap.

As the evening wore on and the cookies were finally done it was time to wrap presents. Seann made us a nice spaghetti dinner and we all chatted while I sat and wrapped presents. I had to get these boxes out! But, as tends to happen, the evening became night and it was time for all to sleep. I had an early morning coming up and I was already exhausted. Sleep came blissfully.

December Eighteen

All week I have been looking forward to this day. It is the last day of working at the school. Bittersweet. I loved being in the classroom and teaching, but I was looking forward to vacation and not having to work two jobs a day. All week Seann has been telling me to hang in there because he got free tickets to a lacrosse game at the Rose Garden. His work has a box there and we can occasionally get tickets. We'd been to one lacrosse game before and it was pretty fun. Sort of like ice hockey but on grass. And yes, I realize ice hockey on grass is called field hockey but it is more the general feel of the game that is similar. Fast paced and fights.

Anyway, I get home from work and get to relax for a little bit before getting ready for the game. We hop on the MAX with our crossword and head to the Rose Garden. I'm exhausted from working a 60 hour week but excited to be out of the house and doing something fun. I'm also hungry so we decide to grab food before we head to the box. As we are walking around looking for something yummy I notice a guy carrying a hockey stick. Odd. But you know the saying, keep Portland weird.

We head to the box and are the first to arrive (we misread the tickets and thought it started at 7:00, not 7:30). We brought our food to the seats and looked out on the field. Huh. It was covered in ice. What Seann had actually gotten tickets to was a Winterhawks ice hockey game, not a LumberJax lacrosse game. I like hockey a lot better so I was excited.

The game wasn't nearly as good as professional hockey but it was still a lot of fun. More people from Seann's work came to fill up the box. He didn't know most of them. Midway through the game I get up to get a drink and see a guy who works at Target with me. Small world. His mom works for the same company Seann does.

A great way to end a long week. Still have a few shifts at Target and then I'll be able to enjoy a nice long holiday weekend with no work.

December Seventeen

Back to working double duty as a sub and at Target. The kids are beginning to get restless and anxious for their party. The Target guests are beginning to get pushy and anxious for the holiday. Who would have thought that six and seven year olds could be better behaved than adults?

December Sixteen

My first day off at Target this week after four days of working. Still subbing and having a blast. In the few precious hours before sleep takes me I get to do some last minute Christmas shopping. We get a deal a few times a year where employees of Seann's work get to go to the Nike employee store.

Nike's world headquarters are located about two miles from my house. It is kitty corner from where Seann works. The campus is beautiful and huge. It has a walking/running trail that surrounds the whole thing that is open for public use. In addition it has a full running track, two gyms, soccer fields and a ton of other stuff I never got to see. The buildings are beautiful and there are so many employees sometimes use a golf cart to get around. The entire complex is surrounded by hills and a big hedge and the buildings kind of sit far back so once you are on the campus it feels like it's own little city. I was on campus for an interview two years ago. I did not get the grand tour but would have loved one. The building I was in has all kinds of displays of all their spokesathletes and current products. It would have been fun to work there.

The employee store is not located on the main campus. It is tucked away behind Seann's work. The store carries most everything from the catalog as near as I can tell. It also includes a selection of items from the other companies Nike owns. All the items are about 50% off so the prices end up reasonable instead of astronomical. To get into the store with a visitor pass we first have to email our names so they'll put us on the list. Once we arrive we have to show ID that proves I am related to him and live at the same house. Then we get a ticket that lets us in. There are no in and out privileges so you better go in with a list. This time the line to get in was long but once inside it didn't actually seem too crazy busy. We went during back to school season once and it was packed with people to the point we almost left to get away from the crowd. But today was nice and we got to do some Christmas shopping and some us shopping. It took longer than we expected so we didn't get to the mall as I'd hoped to finish up. We were a bit beat and went home to crash before getting up early again the next day. Way better than closing at Target!

December Fourteen and Fifteen

All right, being honest here. I don't really remember too much of Monday and Tuesday. I subbed during the day and closed at Target. They were really whirlwind kind of days. If I was clever, I would post a picture of the Target logo and something from the classroom, but I'm just not that organized or clever. Some days in December just aren't that special!

December Thirteen

I promised I'd play catch up! It's just taken me a little longer than I hoped!


Sunday was a fun-filled, Christmas-y day. I worked in the morning (as I have done for the past two years!) and then came home to get ready for Gingerbread houses! Ginger, Skylar, Dylan and Taylar came over to help us decorate. We had gingerbread house kits for the kids. If I'd been a little more organized I would have built the frame of the house Saturday night so that the frosting had plenty of time to set. But I'm just not that organized. So Seann helped get the houses put together and then we took time off from the houses to bake gingerbread cookies. It's so much fun to cook with kids. I opened up my giant tub of cookie cutters and we were off!

Dylan rolling out the dough.

Aren't we cute?

With the cookies out of the oven it was time to get started on the houses. We had plenty of candy and decorations. Taylar particularly liked the Halloween eyes I have in my stash.

Ginger helping with the frosting.

Taylar's House of Eyes

Dylan's house had a melting snowman. Sad.

The finished products.

And, as always now, the kids played on the rock wall. We're definitely the cool house on the block.

Taylar and Dylan Tacos. Super Yummy!

Updates coming!

Sorry! I will post December 13-16 on Wednesday. Working tonight until 12:30!

December Twelve

Today was so much fun! It started with work, but I finished in record time and left early so we could get started on our adventures.

First stop was to take our freshly washed dogs to Petco for pictures with Santa. Yes, we are those people. In our defense, a friend signed us up and we just couldn't say no. It's a decent picture but I probably should have had her take another one or two. But it isn't easy trying to get two dogs focused on the camera in a store with such yummy smells!

Next, we drove out to Becks' Tree Farm in Oregon City to pick out our Christmas tree with our good friends Kelsey and Andy. It was a little drizzly and the ground was very muddy and wet. But Kelsey and I had specific pictures in our minds and we were willing to traverse all 40 acres if we had to in order to find the perfect tree. Ok, not really. But we did trudge through the mud a good ways in two different fields before finding our trees. Kelsey remembered her camera (I didn't) so she has the pictures. The tree farm has sheep too and Kelsey got a kick out of giving them treats. Andy and Seann got a kick out of the lamb meat for sale. The dogs were still with us so they got to hop out of the truck and sniff around the farm for a bit before we headed back to the west side of town.

Since then we have been relatively lazy. Seann is doing some work and I'm putzing with Christmas decorations. I'll try and remember to take pictures when all the decorating is done. But for now, here is a shot of the wreath we got at the farm.

December Eleven

TGIF!!

Today was kind of a non-day. I was exhausted and really just waiting for the weekend. Did some fun things with the kids this afternoon--lots of Christmas-themed activities. Next week will be a challenge. Lots of change in the routine with the mayor coming on Monday, the local weatherman on Tuesday and the party on Friday. Hoping to get in a little bit of teaching somewhere!

I am very much looking forward to this weekend:

Saturday:
• Santa pictures with the pups (yes, we're those people).
• Chopping down our Christmas tree with Kelsey & Andy
• Wrapping presents and shopping

Sunday:
• Decorating the tree and house
• Ginger's kids are coming over to paint our windows and make gingerbread houses

I should have more interesting things to post and some pictures this weekend.

December Ten

At some point during a daily blog posting month you realize that during the week, when you're working, there isn't a whole lot else going on to post about. I'm excited about a few things coming up this weekend and next week, but today was remarkably similar to yesterday. Seann and I did bake a chocolate cake tonight for his holiday potluck tomorrow. I think he plans on frosting it in the morning since I plan to go to bed in about ten minutes. This teaching thing is tiring me out! I have to build up my stamina. I am desperately trying to give away my Target shifts next week. I really don't think I could teach from 7:30 until 3:30 only to go to Target and work from 5:00 to midnight-thirty and then do it again the next day. Please, someone, take my shifts!

December Nine

Brrr. It is getting colder and colder. Today it was only 9 degrees when I got up. It is pretty sad when you have to put your hat and gloves on just to walk the kids across the hall to music! I wish we had some moisture. Snow would be good. It is so dry here right now my lips are chapped again two minutes after applying my Burt's Bees. Static electricity is in the (h)air. I have a couple girls in class who come in with their hair sticking straight out! I lost count of how many times I've been shocked or have shocked others. I even shocked Oscar this morning when he bumped into my leg. So I'll take anything--snow, rain, hail, whatever. Just please put moisture back in the air!

December Eight

Substitute.

I feel very lucky to have gotten a three week sub job and I absolutely love it! Any doubts I had after graduating, when jobs were scarce and interviews virtually impossible, have melted away. I have found my groove. This is a tough few weeks to be out since there are so many projects going on and fun things to do. I'm sure Mrs. S is missing the kids. But I am glad she is listening to her doctors and staying home. It is giving me a chance to be exposed to another grade level and I am gathering all kinds of fun ideas and activities. The more I am there, the more I am wishing for my own classroom. It is frustrating to be on the bench. So for now I will take what I can get and enjoy it for all it's worth. I know there will be good sub days and bad but right now we're in the good days. And that's enough for me.

December Seven

As I was baking cookies this afternoon, I happened to look up and catch sight of this little guy out the window.

He stood at the bottom of the tree, looking rather cold for over an hour.

I felt so sad for him. The wind was blowing pretty hard and it was very cold outside. He decided it was time to find a warmer spot once the pups went outside. I checked a couple hours later, after Oscar and Charlie were back inside, and there was the squirrel. He must be real estate shopping.


Meanwhile, after lunch we all sort of felt like this:


It's a rough life up here at the Woolery's.

December Six

Today was a quilting day. After work, Seann and I gathered up some quilt tops, batting and backing and headed to Sharon's Attic to use their long arm quilting machine. I have quite a backlog of quilts so I am trying to get time on the machine at least once a month. It was a miracle I could get in before the holidays. It seems a lot of people need to get their Christmas gifts quilted in December!

First up was a small Christmas quilt from M'Liss Rae Hawley's book More Fat Quarter Quilts. It was quick and easy until we got to the end and realized I had somehow miscalculated the batting size. We were about four inches short! Oops. Luckily Sharon showed us how to cheat by adding in a scrap piece. Once quilted, you can't even tell. Phew!

All ready for binding--a perfect couch project on these colder nights!

Up close shots of the quilting design, which is to say there really was no design. I just did random swirls. I love the thread color. It blends nicely on the back and pops well on the red and green on the top.

Next up was the Halloween quilt I started just after we got married three years ago. It was supposed to be a quilt for Seann that first Halloween but it turned out to be a bit more challenging than I originally anticipated. Seann made the pattern for me based off a quilt we saw hanging in a quilt shop. It has been a labor of love (and sweat and tears) and it was good to finally see it quilted. Seann decided he wanted to quilt it himself so I got to go play and look at fun fabrics.

Seann also chose to do random designs. Here is a spider web to help set the tone. We chose black thread for the back and bright orange for the top. If you look closely you can see a little bit of the orange peeking through to the back. It actually makes kind of a nice effect for a Halloween quilt.

December Five

Keep Portland Weird

December Four

Deferred.

That's what they prefer you call it. Instead of rejected.

Today I went to donate blood--something I try to do as often as I can--and I was deferred. Not enough iron. I was so bummed. She told me they could do a second test so, why not? Not so much. The second test had a lower iron level than the first! I guess my plan to eat Oreos to boost my iron levels didn't really work after all. I am hopeful that I can boost my iron and find another local drive to attend. I'd really like to donate before the end of the year.

I had planned to take pictures of me with a needle hanging out and my "I gave blood today" sticker, but obviously not so much. So I have no picture to post. Maybe another day.

December Three

Snapshots:

• Christmas quilts on the couch (thanks Mom!)

• Holiday rubber duckies in the bathroom

• Scented pinecones in the living room

• Thanksgiving decorations still up (I'm taking them down tonight, I swear!)

• Gifts piling up, ready for wrapping

• Our first Christmas card on the wall (Thanks Donnie!)

It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We're going to the Christmas Bazaar this weekend and getting our tree next weekend. I can't wait to get the rest of the decorations out. I love this time of year. It makes me happy. Ooh, I need to get out the Christmas CDs.

December Two

Brrr. Beautiful and sunny but c-h-i-l-l-y. Needed to bundle up to walk the 1st graders to lunch.

Today was all about catching up. Catching up on Christmas countdown chains, social studies, and sleep (in about 5 minutes).

Went for a nice afternoon walk with Seann and the pups. Oscar gets to run free at the bottom of the hill at the park. No swimming today, he just got his ankles wet. Both pups look so happy when they're on a walk.

December one

Busy girl. Up at 5:30 this morning. Couldn't sleep. Off to sub from 7:30 until 3:30, home for a quick dinner and off to work at Target from 6 to 11:30. Looking forward to the future when there will only be one badge in the picture (and no name tag!).