Weekending

- Casey Leave a comment

Finding time to sit at a keyboard is a rare occurrence but here I am…at 11:41 pm. C’est la vie.

I would show you photos of our weekend – Inwas honored to sponsor my daughter for her Confirmation; we had friends over for some wine by the firepit; I have several more rows on my Find Your Fade shawl. But let’s be real, here, because finding time to sit still and post anything is thanks to this ~

We had a Peapod delivery early yesterday morning and as I went to hold the door open for the delivery person, I got tripped up on our flip-flop doormat while  in Maia’s flip-flops and went down. When I look down at my ankle I noticed there was a big bulge in my foot was turned off to the side in an odd way which, of course, meant a broken ankle.  Eventually, I made it to the hospital via ambulance I had to have my ankle reset. Let’s just say that I broke it really really well because I need to have surgery. Hopefully that surgery will be tomorrow because I am in tremendous pain.

So I am out of work for at least a week, somewhat enjoying laying around on the couch, and looking forward to doing lots of knitting and reading. Luckily I did do that big Peapod order so there is plenty of food in the house if I can just convince people to do cooking instead of ordering in.

Slowing Down is Hard

- Casey Leave a comment

It’s a time of year that is supposed to move slower. There aren’t as many commitments (school, work, etc) but for some reason I feel like every day is packed. It could be that we’re just savoring the nothingness so much that we’re filling it unconsciously before fall brings routine back into our lives.  What I do know is that eight days lie between me and school, and I feel like I haven’t even dipped my toes into summer.

Addison leaves for Germany in seven days. This is the week of list making, packing, more list making, probably some more shopping, packing and packing again. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for him and I hope (and know) that he will be pouring himself into life as a German teen as much as he can. He’s thrilled and nervous, and I am, too, although for all the mom reasons.

Our town’s Oyster Festival came and went. Originally it was two days. I don’t know how the volunteers and organizers pulled off two entire days. Our one day festival requires three twelve hour days for me and I think I have one of the least mentally taxing position on the committee. It all comes together despite my Type A panic and ends up being a great time (even if this year ended in a major migraine for me).

And now we’re at the last full week of August. My classroom isn’t even close to being ready so that’s on the agenda. And there are the family pictures I wanted before Addison leaves. And there’s also the exchange student who will be staying with us for a few days before joining her host family. And a party to plan and execute. And that packing.

So this week, despite the rush, needs a lot of s’mores and savoring. And gratitude that I realized with was rushing to an end before it had well and truly ended.

Tuesday Playlist

- Casey Leave a comment

We are on the early boat to Nantucket and I’ve got many, many portable chargers ready to go for the two hour ferry ride and island day.  It’s going to be a busy day of beaches, dunes, meet-ups, and eating. My go to playlist is this super long, continuously evolving list of songs rediscovered via Sirius XM’s First Wave channel. Earbuds in, coffee in hand, and just relaxing on an early morning ferry.

Summer Reading

- Casey Leave a comment

I think my summer book stack is getting a little large. And it doesn’t include the teaching-related books I have waiting to be ready before school begins in August! But since our Cape Cod trip is upon us, I thought I’d share what I’ve got pegged for fun reading. (Also, I just learned how to make blog collages and was looking for a reason to make one.)

Summer House / Flight of the Sparrow

The Rumor / The Guest Room 

The Beguiled / The Whale: A Love Story

Summer Playlist

- Casey Leave a comment

It’s laundry and cleaning day here so I’m needing some extra motivation to keep going. What I really want to do is dive into my book (post coming tomorrow) or park myself down at the beach but I really, really have my work cut out for me around the house. My mind is totally focused on Cape Cod (and a trip to Nantucket!) so a little beach music is just what I need.

Wednesday WIP, Books, and a Playlist

- Casey Leave a comment

I really miss those Yarn Alongs that included what we were all reading so I’m going to just try to keep it going here.  I’m always looking for a good books to add to my Goodreads queue so if you’ve read something you loved, leave comments or add me to your Friends on Goodreads.

I finished On the Rocks last week and LOVED it. It had a definite Elin Hildebrand vibe to it, transported to Newport instead of Nantucket. I love both spots so it worked for me either way.  I kept asking my husband if the guy’s character was accurate (read the book to find out) and he agreed it was.  I was sorry I finished it, truth be told.

I just finished reading Thirteen Reasons Why. It had been on my To Read list for a while after Leslie Ann had posted about it a while ago. My daughter watched the show on Netflix and loved it, too. Being the English major I am, I had to read the book before I watched the show. Actually, we all got an email from the Superintendent of Schools about the show and how some parents were concerned it romanticized suicide. I’m guessing they never read the book.  Not seeing much romanticizing going on.

So today’s fresh start read is Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown. I’m on page 4 of this Early American story set in the Massachusetts Bay Colony but I have a good feeling about it thus far. It centers on a Native American abduction of a colonist, real life Mary Rowlandson, and her adaptation to her life in captivity. My own ancestors were killed and/or abducted in the attack  on Fort Seybert in West Virginia (James Dyer is my 5th Great Grandfather) so it has an added bit of interest for me.  Hopefully it will be a good book.

Now onto my Wednesday WIP…I’m wrapping up the third color in my Find Your Fade Shawl (Ravelry page here).  I’m not sure how I feel about that first golden color, but I love the white pops further in.  It’s taking a very, very long time to do this even though it’s mostly garter stitch and a small amount of (easy) lacework.  I’m thinking of what I’m going to wear this with because the colors are a huge departure from my normal colors but I can’t wait to wrap up in it in the middle of a cold New England winter.

. . .

As promised, as I was walking the neighborhood with the dog this morning, I was listening to music and decided to make a playlist of summery/Fourth of July tunes. Warning: This is meant to satisfy the varied tastes of my family and our visiting exchange student. Hope you enjoy!

Menu Monday

- Casey Leave a comment

I’m joining in at Organizing Junkie this week to keep myself on track with home cooking healthy meals. One thing I’ve noticed since I started regular exercise is that I am starving, which makes it much too easy to grab the wrong thing.

We also got our first CSA share last week so you’ll see a lack of vegetables listed. We’re eating them, but most of it is on the fly depending on what is in the box. This week’s share included bok choy, radishes, beets, kale, green lettuce (not iceberg), scallions, broccoli rabe, and strawberries. Our next pick up is Thursday so we’ll see what we get. 🙂

We’ve got a lot going on this week between a Rotary raffle, installation dinner, committee meeting, night out on the town, and our Rotary Youth Exchange visitor coming from Brazil to stay with us for the summer! Phew – that’s a lot for one week. Who said teachers rest during the summer?

Monday: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Tuesday: dinner out/meeting for me

Wednesday: Beef Stew/dinner out

Thursday: Crockpot Chicken and Black Beans over mixed greens from the CSA (recipe here)

Friday: Homemade pizza (here is a great pizza “recipe” if you’re like me and watching what you eat)

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: BBQ Welcome Dinner

You Win Some, You Lose Some

- Casey Leave a comment

If you have read this blog for any brief amount of time, then you probably know two of my favorite things are yarn and books.  This summer I decided to join an online bookclub hosted by Leslie Anne at the blog LaLa Life. We’ve been friends over on GoodReads for a while so I knew we had similar reading tastes.  Anyhow, there was a poll that took place a couple of weeks ago and this book won…

Now, I don’t want to say this is a terrible book.  It got fairly ok reviews. But for me? Nope. I made it about 40% of the way through and just couldn’t feign interest any longer. It was supposed to be about a single mom who moved to the Hamptons to be with this guy she barely knows and she gets caught up in the lifestyle of the Hamptons although, as far as I can tell, said boyfriend is sleazy and she’s really attracted to the local guy. Meanwhile the quintessential rich Manhattan/Hamptons family is totally dysfunctional, with daughter and wife sleeping around, son has a drug problem, and dad is suffering some sort of insufferable midlife crisis.  All this while the old guard wants to shut down a summer camp. So honestly, if there was eventually going to be a streamlined plot I’ll never know because it was just horrible.

So I dropped it. I hate quitting books because I always wonder if it really did get good and I am missing a great story. It’s on my Kindle so if I am ever desperate want to give it another chance, I can read it.

I moved on to On the Rocks which was another choice in the book club (and the one I voted for) and I will be completely honest: it’s set in Newport. That was pretty much the key for me. However, this story of a woman whose fiancé drops her via Facebook as she’s trying on her wedding dress is, so far, pretty darn good. Definitely a good beach read.

Moving on to Summer

- Casey Leave a comment

I’ve been debating if this really IS the first weekend of summer since most of it was spent fretting over school and cleaning/packing up my classroom.  In the end, however, I decided it still counted because there would be no commute into school on Monday. I’ve stepped away from blogging for a variety of reasons but, in truth, I think it was stress and anxiety that caused most of the silence. This has been a tremendously difficult year and one that has left me reeling. I have been counting down to the end of school since January – and not in an exaggerated, dramatic way. I literally would not have made it through if I hadn’t kept my eye on the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

I’m looking forward rather than backward, and so I’m resurrecting this old blog.

Where is a Three Day Weekend When You Need One?

- Casey Leave a comment

Truly, I believe that time passes nearly instantly from when I lock my classroom door on Friday and unlock it on Monday. I have another four day work week (yay!) so I am burning the nearly midnight oil working on lesson plans. Goodness it is much too much trouble to miss one measly day of school.  The countdown to summer, however, is most definitely ON.

This weekend was spent working around the house and working on school projects. Maia has a family tree due in Spanish so she’s been more interested than usual in my genealogy files. It’s given me a chance to sort through some old family photos which always makes me swoon.

Our kitchen is in the middle of a little rehab so meals have been at the whim of our contractor. There haven’t been major renovations…yet…but we’ve been updating some wall color, electrical wiring, etc. All of which means that the crockpot is retired, probably through the rest of the spring and summer, and best laid plans are disrupted.  Oh, and I’m a food rut. That being said, if all goes to plan, this is what’s on tap for this week’s menu:

Sunday – a break in the weather means steaks on the grill and baked potatoes

Monday – twice baked, crab stuffed potatoes (recipe here)

Tuesday – parmesan garlic spaghetti (recipe here)

Wednesday – honey dijon chicken breasts (recipe here)

Thursday – breakfast for dinner 🙂 {aka what will get cooked on whichever day my kitchen is a disaster}

Friday – out

Saturday – out

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