reheating coffee is NOT optimal, but that's why there's sweetener and creamer!

i will admit that when i heard this on the news, i had to chuckle because the news anchor said that a blogger had said best buy deserved this for making fun of santa (especially since i had just written about it the other day! smile). bummer when you over-promise and under-deliver...sounds kinda' like our government these days, no?

so, i went downtown without a real plan tonight, and met a man at mcdonalds who was homeless-i had to stop to use the restroom (too much to drink) anyhoo, on the way out the door i asked him if he lived around there and he said he lived all over the area, especially in an alley on the other side of the street. his name is james and he just got out of jail about a week ago. i noticed he had only a backpack, so i got one of my bags out of the car and offered him a blanket as well. as he was walking away, he turned around and told me his name and asked me to pray for him.

then i continued and ended up in deep ellum and there was an elderly gentleman limping along, so i offered him a bag as well and a fleece blanket and a cup of coffee. (did i mention i got some coffee from starbucks?).

all hail the caffeine goddess 

i wanted to find a spot to park, but it was difficult finding a place to park and sit without looking  a little conspicuous, so as it neared 9 p.m., i decided to give up for the night and tomorrow i will reheat the coffee (and take lots of coffee and sweetener to mask the reheat) and take the cooler down to put some of the goodies in. then i can park and walk and wish people a merry Christmas! nothing like spreading Christmas cheer to people who will otherwise probably not have much of a merry Christmas.

it really was beautiful downtown though.

the fake icicles in the trees were spectacular!

i read a book recently called crazy love and it really made me rethink some things. and i've been seeing this verse over and over recently:
Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

so, as i was looking for information, i came across this organization called: our calling, which was founded by a man from dts (dallas theological seminary). i am thinking about the possibility of volunteering with them; they seem to have a great mission vision to help the homeless.
 
i hope your Christmas is filled with beauty, wonder and incredible meaning!
julie

i do not love coloring with markers

so, remember how i am having my students publish books-expository text? (but then, how could you forget? i've mentioned it so many times! sorry!)...well, last year i made a book when they did to model and they love reading it (it was about my first haunted house-scary, boo!). this year, i decided to write another for them because i know they will read it, and it's always good to have mentor texts on hand for them-here is a preview (just the pictures, not the writing); i decided to write about my favorite place, the bay islands, and it is dedicated to heidi and margo because they are the two i used to to the cays with!

view from the porch, and snorkeling around the island

fishing (i didn't mention that my friend's mom said that the key to catching the fish was rum and coke...and playing vball with the islanders was a blast!

nothing beats sleeping out on the dock at night listening to the waves lapping against the sand and looking at the stars, and last but not least even on a rainy day, there was plenty to do-with music and puzzles

 so i think the kids will have fun reading again. the thing i really wanted to do was fill the pages with color because what i noticed is that they are afraid to fill the page-their sense of space is not well honed. they had to be done in marker, so don't judge! (and i didn't spend a lot of time on them because i just wanted to get them done-kinda like the santa cakesters i made; when i want to get something done, i am not a perfectionist).

last purchases done today! i found these great fleece blankets at salvation army and i didn't see a price on them, so when i got to the front and asked the gentleman at the register, he said 99 cents...so i went back and got more!

there were 2 in each packet! score.

so i was able to get some stuff together for tomorrow night-this is a part of it...

i was also able to put together these bags of fun-i was really excited that i had so many lakeshore bags-they have the reinforced handles and they are solid.

also while i was at the salvation army, i found this great fleece...it is lightweight, and it reminds me of one that i had awhile back (which has long since been misplaced or left somewhere), so i'm glad i got it washed up and am wearing it-so comfortable! i was looking for something that i could wear with my gray sweatpants...all of my sweatshirts are also gray, which just does not look good together-looks like a coordinated sweat suit (which, i might add,  i do not own).

well, i think i had my pony tail in too tight because i have a headache now, so i am off to get some excedrin,
julie

that schnauzer has a hamster toupee...weird.

december 22 this year is the winter solstice..shortest day of the year-which means tomorrow will be a little longer!

i got a lot done today! but i also spent more than i had planned. when i went to drop off the books that my students are publishing, i saw this sign

no schnauzers...tarantulas, snakes, elvis memorabilia, urns with ashes....please notice the hamster on top of the schnauzer's head.

today i finally got the thing in the mail that i needed to send my last package! woo hoo! so when i opened the package from denver pete, you can imagine my surprise when i saw that the playing cards i had ordered were in some foreign asian language.

and being that i not learned in these languages, i don't even know which country it's even from...but i'm guessing not north korea, because they are not kim jung il cards...sorry, i cannot yet reveal what they are because it will take a few days for someone to receive this, and i don't want to ruin it (just in case that person reads this post). and even once i do share it, not many people will care very much, but you might understand why i was surprised to see the asian writing.

while i was at the post office, i had to wait in the line for the real person because the machine was totally out-figures. and as i was standing in line, a lady with her crazy code gun that looks like a sci-fi weapon kept popping out and saying, "is anyone in line just picking up a package or needing a round date?" i guess she wasn't really popping out-not like a jack in the box or something crazy like that, although it would've been entertaining if she were wearing a silly outfit and popping through the door from different angles like a snl skit...but i digress. i knew what she meant by picking up a package (obvious), but i wasn't quite certain about the 'needing a round date.' my thought was if i need a date, i am not coming to the post office to find him...besides, i don't know that i want him to be round either.

i continued through the line until i was next and i saw this change of address ad,

i guess they are now having yoda help with changes of address-bad economy.

when i got up to the lady, i got what i needed, plus an extra book of stamps, and then i lowered my voice and asked the lady what a 'round date' was. she explained that it was for businesses that just needed something stamped. no mystery there.

now i am home and the boys wanted to show off their matching 'jackets.'

i got them cheap at walmart because i was having a difficult time with chaco's sweater. this one is cool because it velcros in the front and on the bottom. it may take a bit to get chaco used to the velcro- he is not a fan of new sounds.

and right now i am waiting for some coats and blankets to finish in the washing and drying cycles! yippee!!

well, no round date for me tonight...looking forward to the extra minute of light tomorrow!
julie

who keeps eel bones around the house, anyway? no one, that's who.

i don't know about you, but i am somewhat bothered by the best buy commercials-the lady competing with santa and being saucy about it...i feel sorry for santa. is that strange? there is just something about elderly people, and respect...especially santa. i realize it's a commercial. i realize that santa isn.....(tell your children to skip this part) isn't real. but still, maybe it's the underlying theme behind it. the commercialism and competition at the expense of another just to be a winner.

most people know that i am not a crazy-big-jewelry wearer, but i do sport the smaller beads and more practical necklaces. i found some bead jewelry that i actually like the looks of, AND not only that, but it goes to help aids in rowan. one of my friends from kanakuk kamp (where i used to work for many summers), her name is joy (appropriately) and she has a heart for missions-especially in africa. please check out the site here, you might find something that you like, and it will certainly go toward a worthy cause. you know how sometimes there are organizations you are leery of, well, i actually read joy's blog about her time there, and she has some pictures posted in which she is planting trees with the widows and girls there-i am humbled by her commitment to love and serve in rowan. go joy!

new topic. i just saw a drano commercial on t.v. that made me want to watch Lord of the Rings tonight...i guess you'd have to have seen the men with the battering ram. oh, and i am really kinda dying for the hobbit to hit the screens (the rumor is that the trailer will be before the tin tin movies...smile). also seen on t.v. today was charlie's angels, only it wasn't the original angels...so i didn't watch the entire thing (kinda like the duke cousins...just not the same). does anyone really miss the fashion of the 70's?

i would VOMIT if i went to this gym! (and not from over exerting myself)

i had to open the windows today because there was lingering smell of dehydrated onion-which is not good once you're done dehydrating it! well, that has caused bruno and chaco to do a whole lot of barking. so finally i said, "guys, that is not the holiday spirit, you really need to stop now." chaco turned around and said, "but mama, we're saying merry Christmas type things..." and turned to growl again at the slamming car doors below.

and the only thing that really sounded good for dinner tonight was chinese/japanese and homemade eel sauce...only i found out why one of the web sites said it is rarely made at home (because normally it is made by dipping the eel bones in while simmering the other ingredients.)..ixnay on the eel bonesay...so instead i added a hint of citrus. smile. love it! and instead of the usual asian delivery guy, there was a hispanic man, which struck me a little weird, because usually when i go to a chinese restaurant, there are only chinese people working there...keepin' it in the family. so i prepared my plate and whipped out my handy dandy personal chopsticks (made in china and brought back by a friend who went on a mission trip). i love pulling them out to use every once in awhile. they are SO superior to the cheapies that you have to break apart.

yes, as a matter of fact, they do have their own carrying case. deal wid it!

and the fortune cookie-will prove to be true.

i am hoping to do something unique and fun this weekend-it's all about creating new traditions, right?

so, one of the gifts i got this year at school was a twin set of coffee mugs for on-the-go. well, i had one awhile back, but the lid broke and then it got lost at summer school. well, every time i was about to get a new one at bed bath and beyond, i talked myself out of it for trying to be practical. so i had this other travel mug that had a sunken hole, and it spilled on me a couple of times, so maria decided to help me out! love it and use it all of the time!

and the great thing about a twin set is that they always know what the other is thinking!

i also got this great set of utensils (which have the super-power of not melting; they're like shadrach, meshach and abednego in the fiery furnace), which i again have not trouble finding use for (in fact, i used one of the spoons tonight to make my fake eel sauce without the eel)...

the mixing bowl is perfect too, because it pours-pancake batter!

 and a third gift which i have put to use already since being home this break for obvious reasons:

sometimes a kiss just makes everything better.

the 4th gift was the tree, and sweet stationery-which i am prone to use quickly.

tomorrow i will be doing some preparing for this weekend. yea! if anyone is in the dallas area, looking for something a little different to do on Christmas eve, let me know.

julie

no booze for the boys...bruno is the designated gondola driver

ok, so i am waiting for one more thing to arrive in the mail so that i can send off an envelope-i am hoping that it arrives today...fingers crossed! i went to the post office anyway and stood in line to find out that i couldn't get the stamp i needed for my envelopes, so i had to just weigh them and use regular stamps. boo.

i was reading a friend's status and was saddened that they had to put their dog down today. i definitely have had my worries about my pups, but i just wanted to share this really quickly for all or you pet owners out there. i got this magnet last year at Christmas from the vip per insurance people, and i am not big on feeding the boys table scraps, but if you do, please check this bad list.

bmayes, you especially may want to have a talk with reagan...first two items. tell her to lay off the eggnog and the coffee.

plenty of dried cilantro seasoning? check!

thinking about putting a cheese ball together. yum.

i made bruno come with us again today, figuring he might get out to the dog park and play around, but as soon as i took his leash off, he sat by the fence while we walked on in and sat on the little cement slab. as soon as we sat down, he sprinted across the yard to us and jumped up into my lap and crawled up onto my shoulder like a baby. i think we still have a problem. so i put him back in the sling (he rode in it on the way there too), and i heard him saying in a tour-guide-voice, "welcome to the gondola. to your left, you can see bushes. in just a few moments if you look straight down, you might see a little dog-that's my brother chaco...he's not a big gondola fan."

bruno riding in the 'sling'. chaco kept on calling him a sissy and bruno retorted, "oh yeah, look at your sweater!"

ok, somewhere between writing the last paragraph, and this line, i put together my cheese ball mix and it is now chilling in the refri. i have decided that my next kitchen purchase is a full size food processor. i have one of those mini guys and he says, "woah, woah, woah....we're gonna' have to take three trips around in this thing...." so three batches later i finally had all of the mixture combined .

mini processors produce mini quantities.

and as i sit here on the couch finishing up this post, bruno has approached and come up the ramp with his food bowl...perhaps i should NOT have allowed them to watch charlie brown Christmas the other night.

there are some things you just have to process over and over  again,
julie

smells like mexican santa in here....

today i decided i wanted to try hollie's santas. now, i will admit, hers look MUCH better than mine... but that doesn't stop people from eating them!

i obviously didn't have enough red food coloring because the suits are a deep pinkish red...also, i only found spice drops instead of gum drops, and there were no black, so i used black cookie frosting for the belt...and then i took them up to my new taste-testers (they don't know it yet), the managers office, and when i mentioned that they were oreo cakesters, faces lit up-which is a good sign.

i had to swing by the tom thumb down the street so i could get the necessities for salsa, and when i got to the self check-out, i accidentally pushed on the red banana button, but i didn't want red bananas, so the guy had to come and take it off...he said, "red bananas?" and i explained that the screen changed just before i was able to click on the cilantro. so he just went ahead and finished off the rest of my produce-assuming that i couldn't handle it. which is fine because he had all of the codes memorized...which again is fine because if we had been at the airport, i would've schooled him on airline codes-so there!

then i came back and let's just say that my little apartment was a confusing, myriad of smells (using the term myriad as a gross exaggeration), although there were several things going on. santa cakesters, some wonderful scented wax, cilantro and onions creating (once again) a delicious salsa to make my taste buds dance (a salsa dance, i'm sure....), and then there was whatever smell was wafting up from the downstairs apartment...oh, and i might mention that i am now drying cilantro for later use because they sell it by the bush!

Christmas smells in my potpourri pot! yum.

 when i first walked out of my apartment early this morning to take down the trash, i had this note on my door:

very sad that there was a naked cat on the loose out there...i hope they found him.

losing an animal is the worst. i remember when i was young in brodhead and our dog got off his chain and ran off-there had been a fresh snow, so we went looking for him early in the morning before there were too many tracks to follow. he must've been adhd because the tracks were crazy-everywhere...we finally gave up on frisky, in sadness, and i think someone ended up finding him way out by the bait lady. (that was the day i realized i was no nancy drew...i couldn't even find a dog and there were tracks everywhere...but in actuality, there was no mystery, so i shouldn't have given up on the nancy drew dreams; i should have just been reconciled that i would never amount to much of a sacajawea and left it at that).

good night,
julie

strategically moving through addison and the acting portion of the gre

today-the first day of Christmas break! woo hoo! we wanted to wake up late, but had to settle for 8:30..try again tomorrow! i was very happy to be able to finish my Christmas shopping...all i need now is to pick up some manila envelopes and wait for something in the mail. oh, and i have one more picture to develop. remember when i painted the pallet? well, i took the pallet when our interim principal was at our school, and she had asked what i was planning to do with it, so i am sending her a pic of the inspiration and the actual pallet.

these are the canvases i did awhile back on the opposite wall.

i was going to get the pics developed while i was at cvs, but i forgot to bring the usb cord to pull the pics off the phone. boo.

so after i swung by cvs, i planned my moves strategically. first i would stop at the post office, then lakeshore, after that i'd cross the street and hit bed bath and beyond and last stop-over to barnes and noble!

so when i stopped at the post office, there was a line ( even at the machine! imagine that). but surprisingly everyone was acting strange-the holiday spirit had apparently descended upon everyone. isn't it strange how at Christmas time, people are more chatty and willing to talk to randoms in line?

a sweet elderly lady (who knows if she really was sweet, i just like to imagine that most elderly people are) didn't want to wait in the main lobby line, so she asked if the machine dispensed Christmas stamps, and someone in front said they were getting some and would let her know. (i had bought some the other day, but i didn't speak up...because what if the machine was out or they changed them up).

love the stamps!

 so indeed it did still have them and the lady looked at me and asked if the machine took debit cards and when i told her yes, she went on to explain how when debit cards first came out, she thought they were the devil, but now she can't live without it! then she conversed with the lady at the end of the line offering to hold her baby son...heavy baby son, judah...

at lakeshore, i realized how ridiculously over-priced educational resources are. boo. i got a couple of books to assist my students in their grammar and spelling- i wanted to get one that was white board compatible, but it was pricier than i really wanted to go at this time.

thought these might give me the most bang for my buck...(fireworks for my money...not bangs on a male deer-that would just be wrong)

when i got home, the boys asked me to please please please take a nap with them, so i did...reluctantly (right).

when we woke up refreshed, i pulled out the 'where is santa' book. i bought about 4 of them real cheap after Christmas at the family general store a couple of years ago meaning to give them to students as gifts. well, this year, i brought one home so that i could search-i love searches!

find the patriotic yorkie...

and now we are preparing to get our studying going! bruno said he's going to try to help me with the math rules and chaco said he was going to help me work on the acting portion. i explained that the test i was taking had no acting portion and he let me know that i was no fun. so i sent him off to practice the shepherd scene from the Christmas story and he could perform for us later.

hope your Christmas spirit gives you the opportunity to talk to people in long lines,
julie