Christmas Break at Last!!!!

It's here! I'm off of school for two blessed weeks; no lesson planning, no kids to chase down, no late afternoons staying after school to sell basketball game tickets or attend Christmas concerts or tutor. No stress.

Wait! Did I say no stress? Tomorrow I leave to visit my sweet, sweet grandson, and of course his wonderful parents who gave him to me. BUT - A snowstorm is heading northeast as I write this. I have images of flight delays, sleepovers in airports, and lost luggage dancing through my head. My 3-hour layover in Cleveland looks like a likely night stopover instead, since it also has a storm forecast tomorrow. Instead of a dream trip, this could turn into a nightmare! I just packed a whole package of my migraine meds, because I just might need them all!

But, why not put a positive spin on this all? Waiting on the other side of it all, will be my family. I know I'll eventually get there, even if it might be a bit later than I planned. And I know it will all be very much worth it. The trip could be a horrible disaster, or it could be a grand adven-

ture. It all depends on what I make of it. I plan to make the best of it, and enjoy whatever comes my way. For now, I guess I'd better just finish my packing and go ahead with my plans. When tomorrow comes we'll find out what comes with the day.

A Blessed Christmas Season to all who read this message.

All Decorated!

Well, now that the tree is up and decorated, I feel much better about things. Thanks to John and Erika for that! Thanksgiving, wedding anniversary, and the colonoscopy are behind me (in order of importance, of course) And sadly, John and Erika have gone home and I have that feeling of hollowness down deep inside like I always do after one of my kids leaves me.

The old, fake tree doesn't look too bad after all - a little skimpy compared to the fat mountain-grown Fraser Firs we've been having for 16+ years, but it's very symmetrical, I must say that for it. It's a good foot shorter than I'm used to, and we used a whole string of lights less and almost a box fewer ornaments. But there's more room in the living room this way. And we don't really need much room for gifts anyway this year. It still gives us the beautiful aura of Christmas, and John and Erika and I had a wonderful afternoon Saturday with the Carols and the hot chocolate laced with candy canes and chili powder. Mmmmmmmm! Missed you, Rachel.

Now it's back to the work world for a few weeks. But in less than a month I'll be visiting my very sweet grandbaby. What can I say about that except I CAN HARDLY WAIT! See you soon, DANO!

Bah! Humbug???

I cannot believe this! The two people I live with actually made the preposterous suggestion that, merely because I will not be home for a week at Christmas time we should not decorate the house for Christmas! What a HORRIBLE thought! Simply one person missing for the week of Christmas is no excuse for NOT DECORATING! That is almost like canceling Christmas completely!!!

Okay, I will agree to not going to the mountains to cut down a real Christmas tree, because after all, neither of our two kids are coming home for Christmas. It would be more enjoyable, but I will get out the old, probably very dusty and considerably flat 20-something year-old fake tree, and decorate it. But, NO CHRISTMAS TREE? NOT DECORATE AT ALL? What kind of Scroogey people are these people? In fact, Grandma even asked if we put up a tree before we had kids - of course we put up a tree before we had kids - we WERE kids before we had kids (hee hee). And as far as I'm concerned, I'm STILL a kid deep down. I guess that's why I'm a bit disturbed by the whole idea of not decorating. If I didn't put my decorations up, it would be like going to someone's home and not visiting with them. I need to "visit with" my Christmas decorations every December. I would miss them if I didn't. So many memories are asleep in those boxes, wrapped in the paper and excelsior, waiting for the week after Thanksgiving when I will awaken them and put them in their accustomed places, while the favorite carols are playing, and the rich aroma of spiced cider is wafting through the house. How could I simply skip all of that? IMPOSSIBLE!

I know they meant well - they probably wanted to spare me all the "hard work", knowing that I would be coming back just a few days before going back to school. But that's okay. I'll make time. I just couldn't bear to skip all the wonder of Christmas decorating. I'd rather cut off all my hair! And we all know how I feel about my hair. Right? Right!

People Really Read This Stuff!!

Yessss!!!

I actually attracted some readers! Well, thank you very much, I know you are my children, and my friends, but it is very gratifying to know that someone cared enough to read my blog. You are right, Knitsational, it IS addicting.

I spent most of my Saturday looking online for materials for teaching my ESL classes what Veterans Day is all about. One doesn't think about it, how kids who didn't grow up in our culture know very little about our holidays. So Friday, when I was reminding them that we don't have school on Tuesday because of Veterans Day, most of them had no clue as to what Veterans Day celebrates. Believe me, after Monday in my class, that won't be the case anymore. I now have a plethora of activities and word puzzles to help them along. Plus, we will have vocabulary words all week associated with Veterans Day - beginning of course with the word "veteran"!!

I've been doing a lot of reading these past six months on what ESL students need the most, and vocabulary is one of their biggest needs. So that's what my classes are getting a LOT of this year. The trick is to teach it in an exciting and interesting manner, to keep them enjoying it, and to help them remember those words. Last week we did Hollywood Squares - remember that TV show? They LOVED it! Of course to them, it was merely Tic-Tac-Toe. hee hee!

Enough about work. Enough about everything. As usual, I got carried away again. I need to remember to keep these posts short and sweet. Or I'll lose the only 2 readers I have before I even get started. Sorry...

Second, But by No Means Less Important

Did I mention that I also have a very wonderful son? Today's blog I dedicate to my second-born, but in no way any less beloved child, my son. He is also very wonderful, like the daughter I adore. He is also very talented, and can write with a flair all his own. These two progeny of ours can put words together in such a way that defies all of my husband's and my belief. And yet their writing styles are very different. This son of ours is studying to be a lawyer at no less than Harvard Law!!! It still sends chills down my spine to say that - because I myself taught him and his sister in our very own home school from kindergarten through high school. What a thrill to think that he is now studying in the halls of one of the most highly-esteemed institutions in our nation. Yet this man who only days ago, it seems, was struggling to learn his multiplication tables, is a very down-to-earth young man with an old Ford Taurus and a young, lovely bride who cooks scrumptious meals in their tiny, over-priced apartment on Harvard Square.

If you read this, my son, the future lawyer, or law professor, or perhaps even someday Supreme Court Justice: I salute you with my can of Dr. Pepper, - to a brilliant future!

At first Blog

I can hardly believe I am finally writing a blog. Dano's mom, who has made me a proud Grammy for over a year now, has been blogging for a long time now, and she's been gently waiting for it to catch on with me. But she's a professional writer, and I'm just the person who started her off on it all. I gave her the first portable manual (yes, I DID say manual) typewriter that she began writing her very first little stories on when she could barely put words together. But she just never stopped putting words, then sentences, then journals, and finally stories and even novels together. She passed me up long ago. Those were the days when we didn't even know what a computer keyboard looked like, or how to pronounce b-l-o-g!

This post is dedicated to Dano's mother, my lovely daughter, who inspires me every day by her insatiable quest for the written word, either reading or writing it - even with a very inquisitive 1-year-old to care for.