Time to Start Again

We are off to a new start! A new school year, new responsibilities and new students!
Lesson plans, new lunches, and some really exciting possibilities for the future!

Happy Birthday MOM! I love you!

One of the Photos

This is one of the photos from central Oregon, the bridge that spans the Crooked River. There is a new bridge that goes over the gorge now, but the old one has stories. People used to say one of our high school teachers (who was really a wacko) used to get her steering wheel all straight and close her eyes and drive across it. Jez oh Pete.

Sunday, the day to get things done!

Oh this was a good day! I weather was perfect, my lawn was mowed by this great 4th grader I know (his mom was in on it too, I promise). So it was nice to be out in my yard. But I got things done inside too!

First, some cleaning, bills paid, laundry caught up, plants watered and worked on my paper that's due in a couple of weeks. Tracey's moving some stuff to her house, so I tried to get more of that fixed up too.

Then I did some major menu planning for the week:

Monday-Corn Chowder (found more frozen corn from our summer) recipe from Nigela
Tuesday- Whole wheat pasta with veggi and peanut sauce (veggi: broccoli, zucchini, carrots, snow peas, red onion and garlic)
Wednesday-Baked sweet potatoes and veggi sausage
Thursday- Ratatouille and rice
NO Friday or weekend! I am off to Portland to see Michelle! Cirque du Soleil!

Of course I am a complete zombie when I get up in the morning, so I put all that into containers so I can take good food for lunch. Also put some Nancy's yogurt in a little container with blueberries, strawberries, honey and granola for breakfast. I am looking forward to tomorrow!

Then we have a big fund raiser coming up for drama. So at lunch the kids are selling candy bars and other unhealthy things to get some moolah. Tonight I made some sweet bread dough and cut it into little chunks, dipped it in butter, then cinnamon, white sugar and brown sugar, put a few of the pieces (like 4 or 5) into greased muffin tins let it raise, bake at 350 degrees f for about 12 min. Turn upside down onto foil (or something non stick). OOOh yum. They may not make it to the fundraiser.

By the way- I have two tomato plants and one basil. They are not pleased, but starting to snap out of it and be a little more happy in their new home. Seeds to plant this week.

If you need some seeds, let me know! Especially if you are close by. I have a bunch I will share!

last week and this week

Food for the week:

Small white bean soup (crockpot!)
Fried rice with vegg
Spinach salad w/cranberries and pecans
French Bread

Project for the week: get the theatre paper written.
post the photos

April? Already?

I bought two tomato plants and a basil. I won't put them outside, I promise! It makes me very happy to see a little summer on the counter!

The other great news is that I received the lovely ebond from my tax return in the mail today! My big goal is to save enough to get a CD (certificate of deposit) and put it in for 24 months. We will see!

OOk, the project for the week: I painted at Tracey and Ryan's new house, I attended three senior projects, filled out a grant report... but as for my own art, I have failed miserably! There are some really great photos I took of the Crooked River Bridge, but that was last week! Hiring Travis this week to do some yard work was great ($30 well spent)

The next few weeks will be some major fundraising for our drama trip to Ashland. We will sell candy and other yummy things! The trick will be that I will make cookies and sticky buns! Get to work!

There is also the menu I will put together- to be posted tomorrow!

Good bye Trace! I hope you love your new house! It is beautiful.

Guys and Dolls and James and the Giant Peach!

Oh my gosh. I didn't say what I had been doing, really.
James and the Giant Peach was first. It was fantastic. We put the show on four times. Twice for the school in the afternoon and then twice in the evening, selling peachy colored ice cream at intermission. Loved it a lot. The kids were really great.

Then the musical, Guys and Dolls. It went pretty well when actors showed up, learned music and, well, showed up. heh. We put on two shows and it went well. Lots of issues with getting costumes and all... but ok. see previous post for that photo.

I really have been doing stuff, just not the cooking, fixing, planning that I had hoped.
So, here goes!

A Really Long-Week-Long Project

Ok, I am back. I wish I would have posted some of the work we had done during the last 6 weeks. We have painted peridaktoi, gathered props, endured costuming and all that goes with it (just shoot me, see photo)

The three sided set pieces are called peridaktoi, put together with hinges and are switched around for different looks. Fantastic.

So, I am back on track.
I am getting a few dollars back on my taxes... I am getting a savings bond for some of it! I also recently figured out that for my auto savings I am going to turn that into a money market fund. ooo. I also started taking more out for my retirement fund (still have a lot of work to do on that!) but at least it's going. Pretty exciting stuff!

Food? Well, let me tell you about the bread. ok, Tomorrow I will tell you about the bread and the waffle recipe I found. I think it's brilliant.