November 18th

Today was wonderful because…

• Breakfast buffet
• Lunchtime chat with a friend
• Grocery shopping on my own
• Went for a walk
• Snuggles from my niece
• I can go to sleep knowing I’ve got a sub job lined up for tomorrow already

Wonderful.

November 15th

Today was wonderful because…

I was off to see the wizard!

Yes, THAT wonderful wizard, the wizard of Oz.

I drove back to the high school tonight to meet up with a teacher friend so we could both enjoy the Wizard of Oz. But first, we got started with thai food, from that awesome local place I mentioned a few posts back. We had some extra time to kill after our meal and the outlet mall was just so close, so…shopping! I hadn’t gone shopping in quite some time, so I made a few purchases. The best of the lot: a bright pink dress. It’s beautiful, and it was on super clearance. Now I just need an “occassion” for which to wear it. It was one of those things I couldn’t pass up-I know I’ll find a reason (or twelve) to wear it.

The show was awesome. There were great creative work arounds for some of the more imaginative effects in the movie: fireballs and flying monkeys anyone? The student performers were pros. The members of the pit did an excellent job. All in all, one of the better performances I’ve seen-professional or amateur.

My favorite parts were the elementary cast members. Of course, the munchkins! Also-the flying monkeys. They were slightly terrifying, but so gosh darn adorable! My niece loves monkeys so it wasn’t too difficult to envision her as one of the flying monkeys on stage.

Of course, once I did start to imagine her as a flying monkey I started crying. (But I think I’ve previously discussed my tendency to cry. A lot.)

The show was well done, we went to see the opening night performance and I am certain that the show will have a great run through the weekend. It’s so wonderful to see students succeed in areas outside of the classroom. As a teacher I hear about their involvements and I love to see how those involvements come to fruition. I love seeing their passions come to life!

I know I mentioned yesterday that I’d have a bonus post today-it’s still in the works, and I promise, it will be worth the wait.

Scarecrow:   I haven’t got a brain… only straw.
Dorothy:   How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?
Scarecrow:   I don’t know… But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking… don’t they?
Dorothy:   Yes, I guess you’re right.

Wonderful.

November 11th

Today was wonderful because…

I had the epitome of a lazy Sunday. I ‘slept in’ until after 6. (This qualifies as sleeping in for me because, a-it’s almost 2 hours later than I usually wake up, and b-I can never sleep past 7am anyway) I got to stay in my pajamas all day. I made a delicious breakfast skillet: potatoes, bell peppers, ham, eggs. We ate that with awesome sourdough toast and coffee. I was able to watch the CBS Sunday Morning News Show without constantly needing to glance at the clock counting down the minutes until I had to leave or start some other task. I got to work on some projects which had been on the back burner for quite some time. I even had plenty of time to indulge in some crafting with the niece: we made paper bag houses and trees. Mix that in with some cozy meals, not having to go outside, lazing around in pajamas all day, and drinking an entire pot of Blackberry Sage tea and I would say this Sunday was

wonderful.

November 8th

Today was wonderful because…

First of all, I got to send off my niece for her day. She picked out her own outfit: black and white striped shirt, jeans, black socks, black and white headband. Then she decided she was a pretty zebra and crawled around the house for awhile. Awesomesauce.

Secondly, I got to indulge in some Shakespeare. I lived in Montana, and still have several friends there. While living there I got to experience Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (seriously: check it out!) and I fell in love. They were having a blow out sale of their summer merchandise so I stocked up. Hamlet t-shirt? Check. Shakespeare traveling tumbler? Check. Flowers of Shakespeare playing cards? Check. Sidenote: you know you’re a HUGE nerd when getting a deck of cards featuring the symbolic flowers used by Shakespeare is the most exciting part of your day.

I also sent a Shakespeare in the Park coffee tumbler to one of my friends in Montana. She has been eyeing it up for, what seems like, ages now, so I decided it was time.

Shakespeare and niece/zebras.

Wonderful.

November 6th

Today was wonderful because…

I voted.

Simple as that. I exercised my freedoms, and in so doing, I made sure to be “Minnesota Nice” and I “voted no twice” so that the freedoms of all would not be limited.

What a wonderful country we live in. Many people who know me personally know how significant it is for me to be beaming about the USA. I don’t wear my patriotism on my sleeve, in fact, I generally scoff at people who do. This tends to come off negatively to people and the perception is that I am negative about the US. In reality I am proud to live here and I don’t take for granted the liberties, freedoms, and privileges that our citizens have.

PS- As I write this sounds of uncontrollable giggling are emanating from the living room. The type of giggling that only a 4 year old can produce. The type of giggling that sets off a chain reaction of laughter.  The type of giggling that could produce world peace if all of the leaders of the world were put in a room and forced to listen to it.

Wonderful.

November 1st

Today was wonderful because…

My niece is hilarious. I know everyone says that about their nieces and nephews, but in this case I am being objective. If I were a stranger on the street I would still find her hilarious.

She loves coloring. Well, who doesn’t? She also loves presenting her latest creations to whomever is around. I have many of these artworks and I cherish each one. The other day I decided to color a picture for her as a surprise. I chose a line drawing outline of “Starry Night” of Van Gogh fame and colored it in with lovely shades of blues, greens, purples, in the sky and scenery, and warm yellows and oranges for the stars.

(My niece’s favorite movie is Tangled, or RAtangled as she calls it, a mash up of Rapunzel and Tangled which took us an embarassingly long time to decipher. She is convinced that she is Rapunzel.)

When I presented the picture to her tonight she was impressed. “Oooooooooo!” she crooned, and I beamed, waiting for the rest of her appraisal, “it’s the floating lanterns!”

My darling niece was 100% convinced that I had colored her a picture of Rapunzel’s birthday scene with floating lanterns everywhere. Possibly one of the greatest comparisons I’ve heard. Now that she’s made the connection I have a hard time seeing it any other way.

A fresh perspective? That’s

Wonderful.

October 27th

Today was wonderful because…

I made pancakes for three adorable blondes, drove them to basketball, and then out for popcorn and Icees at Target afterwards.

My afternoon was capped off with a brisk nature walk with my niece. It’s sort of our tradition, though we hadn’t been on one in a few weeks. So, we took off, checklist in mittened hands, to explore the park near home. We noticed how different things are without any leaves, rejoiced in the shuffling crunchy texture of the underbrush and leaves we stomped through, and scared up bevies of birds. She explained to me that God was watching everything, found a stick which was transformed into a pirate sword, she was the captain, I was the treasure hunter. Just a few steps from home she told me she was “poofed out”.

Wonderful.