Photo Of The Day-- New Thirties-ish Hat!

I've been crocheting a lot lately-- it's much more fun in the cold weather, plus I have a crocheting group to attend several times a week. I finished this a week ago, but finally got it all pieced together. I like how it turned out- a plain beanie, embellished with a silver scalloped edge and a crocheted flower and leaf. I think it looks a bit like the thirties. Definitely on the gaudier side of what I'll wear... but it's fun!

Highlights from The World Of Little People

- Our unit the next two weeks is on dinosaurs. I know NOTHING about dinosaurs. But I can ROAR pretty well and that's all that really matters when you're two.

- Victory from the last week: The Three-Year-Old learned how to remove his own shirt with minimal whining and crying about how he can't do it.

- Only one major injury, to Blondie. She fell on the play car and hit her head on the metal(!!!) steering wheel, leaving an awesome diagonal line bruise down her forehead from hair to eyebrow.

- I now have two biters. The Peanut has joined Stitch in using teeth to communicate.

- Glue sticks do not work with two-year-olds. Glue with paintbrushes does.

- It is possible for a child to talk for 2.5 hours when they should be taking their nap instead. Even if you take away their book and their shoes, they will still talk and not fall asleep.

- There is absolutely no way to use the water table in class without requiring a 20 minute mop-up with paper towels afterward.

- Pull-ups with designs that disappear when you pee are such a bad idea. How fun is it to make those little hearts disappear by peeing! I seriously think they are slowing down our pottying progress!

- It is also fun to pour your milk on the ground if your teacher will make you clean it up afterwards. Consequently, this child is not allowed to clean up his spilt milk... which I worry is setting him up for all sorts of character problems.

- It's fun to have the most flowery hats and bonnets, and sparkly purses, in the dress-up corner. Two-year-old little boys will think they are adventure hats and bags and will wear them to drive the play-car. And that is just awesome.

- No matter how frustrating a child is or how much they cry or disobey all day, when they run up to you and give you a hug, it is still all worth it.

- Two-year-olds can learn Scripture! Our class verse is Eph 4:32a: "Be kind and compassionate to one another." We talk about it almost every day, and when I see examples of the verse being used or not being used. I don't know how deeply they understand it yet, but I can ask questions like "Is hitting someone a kind thing to do?" "How about sharing a toy?" and they respond "Yesssss" or "Noooooo". The older ones can even give me examples of kindness. And I asked my YOUNGEST one "What does Eph 4:32 say?" when she was having trouble being kind, and she responded "Be kind and PASSIONATE!" Good enough for me... God's word is starting to sink into her little heart! This is why I teach!!

A Season of Waiting

Wow. Where did this week go? It was one of those weeks that seems to drag on, but then at the end I don't really remember much of it.
Monday we all got to have a 2 hour training after work... 10 straight hours at work sets the tone for a long week. That meant I didn't get to go grocery shopping til Tuesday, which made Tuesday a long day also! Thursday I baked my once-every-two-weeks double batch of cookies, to fill the cookie jar and boost the freezer reserves. Double Chocolate cookies this week... they are really soft and taste like brownies. Mmmm. Friday I got out of work an hour early and we got Italian Ice (at Ritas, where I will take every person that comes to visit us!) and checked out a local book store (named Carpe Librum, how awesome is that?). This weekend I've been catching up on much needed small projects.

But quite honestly, it's been a hard week. I've really been feeling lonely all week. That is the one really hard thing about the move to Knoxville. I love it here, love the landscape and the architecture and the culture and the weather and the friendly people, but I have yet to make FRIENDS. It's hard because Scott has automatic buddies in his physics group, but I don't have something like that. Yes, I have work, but there are only 3 other teachers at my school and we don't interact much since we are soo busy in our own little classrooms. 2 of them are significantly older than me, and they are nice but not people I can see as my life-long friends.

I am fairly introverted and not great at making friends immediately. Our apartment complex isn't really social (there's no central meeting place everyone hangs out except the pool, and it's past the season for that). I didn't really have any activities to meet people. I've started going to a crocheting circle so I'm starting to meet people but I've only gone twice so far. I don't really know what other things to go to... I'm looking at more crochet meetings and book clubs or classes, but I haven't tried anything yet. I'm just now getting to the point where I feel settled into the apartment and routine so I have time to do things. We hadn't settled on a church (but I think we have as of today!), but I would like to make friends at whatever church we end up going to.

So I have hope that I will be making friends, and I am committed to put myself in at least one situation each week where I will meet people, and to take initiative in making friends there. But for now... it's hard. Scott gets to go out with his friends on Friday nights (which I am so happy for him!) but I long for the day when I will have friends to go out with too! I am trying to trust in God, because I know His timing to provide friends will be perfect... and I know I am learning to lean more on Him through my lonliness. But I would love some good girlfriends to do life with! I miss all of my friends from San Diego and LA!

Photo of The Day-- Bringin' In The Harvest

One of the things that attracted me most to our apartment when we were looking at it was that the leasing woman offhandedly said "Yeah, do whatever you want to it... you can garden if you want." Later I asked her if she meant I could tear up plants, and she confirmed. So, despite the fact that we had absolutely no furniture our first two weeks of living here, I tore up a small patch of STUBBORN ground cover. I probably worked for five or six hours to clear 6 by 12 inch patch I have. I planted some carrots and basil. Today I noticed one basil plant was about 6 inches tall, which means it was time to harvest. I got about six medium leaves off of it, and used them in my stuffed zucchini... they tasted so amazing!! Here is the pride of my crop, right before the pluckin'. (Not the best picture, but my camera was getting rained on!)

Photo of The Day-- First Ever Grown-Up Decorating?

I've been inspired recently. I'm reading through the archives of Pleasant View Schoolhouse. It's a wonderful blog. The author is amazing at all things domestic... sewing, baking, cooking, decorating, knitting, and other such lovelies. I am just starting to come into my own domestically. We are still at the stage where we don't have a couch or bookshelves, and store our books on the floor. We don't really have the money to do up our tiny apartment in fancy decorations. But reading this blog has inspired me to do a little bit with the little I have. I have really never decorated before, besides putting up posters in college. I never got to the decorating stage in LA. But I'm determined to bring a bit of beauty to our modest home here.






A bag of lovely pumpkin scented pinecones and berries at AC Moore for $2.99, a repurposed vase with beautiful curves, and an autumnal dinner napkin for some more color. I can't decide if I like it more with or without the napkin. Thoughts? Ideally I'd have a runner for the dresser, but... it's all about making do.

Picture Of The Day-- Who Can Guess Where I Want to Be Right Now...?

Living in the Bible Belt

Admittedly, there have been fewer major differences between living in Knoxville and San Diego than I pictured (the majority of people here drive cars, and not tractors, down the street... despite what I had imagined).

Some of the more foreign feeling things have come from the fact that this is the Bible Belt. It's strange... it's not so much that all of the people here are church-goers. A larger percentage of the population than I had expected do not go to church. It is more that the culture is different.

- You know how many Spanish radio stations there are in Southern California, on both AM and FM? Well, it's like that here with Christian radio stations. It seems like every other address is gospel music, modern Christian music, Bible verses, sermons, etc etc.

- At the UT football game... they prayed before the game. It was part of the opening ceremonies, just like the anthem. It wasn't a super generic prayer either; it was a pretty Christian specific prayer.

- Grocery stores and convenience stores don't sell liquor, only beer. You have to go to a liquor store for spirits. And... they're not open on Sundays. Hmph. Margarita Sunday was thwarted.

- There is a mile stretch on the main road through town, and I think at least 3/4 of the buildings are churches. There are SO MANY CHURCHES in Knoxville. Seriously. I can probably think of 4 times as many churches in Knoxville than Encinitas. I don't know who is going to all of these churches, but there they are. Mainly Baptist and Methodist... I can't think of a Baptist church in SoCal.