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Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
December in a Nutshell
I haven't been in the blogging mood this month, but will recap some highlights for journaling purposes.
WARD PARTY
I got roped into helping coordinate the food assignments for our ward Christmas party a week prior. They wanted to serve family style, so all 25 tables needed their own food. Of course, the signups didn't get filled, so the begging and rearranging began through emails and phone calls. In the end we had PLENTY of food (of course) and added 4 tables for people. It was so crowded but cozy for our little ward - they had a hostess at the door which would assign families to tables to fill them up - cute. I was one of 3 narrators for the Christmas story "play" the kids put on. Unfortunately, I just wasn't in the mood and just wanted to get it over with so I could go home and be a grinch. It had been a long week. I'm not much for crowds these days, especially when you show up "stag." Hats off to all those who put it together, though - it was very nice for the ward.
PARENT CONFERENCES
I enjoy Parent-teacher conferences because I get to run around from one end of the school to the other every 15 minutes to translate for them. This year, I translated 15 conferences in 4.5 hours Tuesday night and only about 15 on Wednesday. For the first time in years, I had all of Wednesday afternoon OPEN. In years past, I've been booked all of Wed as well, completing about 50-60 conferences in 1.5 days. I was glad to help and it got me into some teachers' rooms that I hadn't been in before and so I hope it will open doors for me to help them in the future.
FIREFLY
Last Thursday I went out with some friends to Firefly lounge downtown. Ramona is a district friend for years, Benci is a fellow ELL Facilitator across town and teaches at the college, and Lori is the college dean where I teach. We enjoyed some spanish tapas and conversations from our marital statuses to college students we've shared, to current views on our ELL department, to vacations, to disertations. It was a relaxing evening together and I enjoy the variety of friendships I have. Overlooking the Fremont Experience is always entertaining as well.
CONCERT
Saturday night I took Alli and Katie (nieces) to the Jim Brickman concert. He's a pianist that we all enjoy and Alli plays some of his music. He had an amazing violinist who played a unique 6-string electric violin like no one I've ever seen before and had 2 vocalists who were amazing. I had thought we'd be listening to piano the entire night, but it was an amazingly entertaining concert and I'd go again when he comes back to town. The girls LOVED it and want to learn more of his music now. Thanks mom!
DINNER
Sunday night the Cordners invited us (single ladies) and the Eliasons over for dinner and it turned out to be a very nice, entertaining evening. The food was great, the conversation was great, and the performances around the baby grand piano were fun. Kari's son brought their 3-week old baby girl over, so of course she was passed around. Later that evening, Kari's dad danced with the baby as someone was playing the piano and I got really choked up to the point that I left the room. I realized that my dad won't get to dance with Sarah's baby (no, she's not pregnant - it was just a thought about the future) or any of his great grandbabies. It sombered me back to reality. Later on I got to hold her to calm her down in another room and got her to fall asleep. I enjoyed a few minutes of just holding a brand new baby alone - there's something medicinal about new babies for me. The next day, I went shopping with Kari and went back to her house to again hold that baby girl for an hour or so as we looked stuff up online at IKEA. Fun fun.
HARDY PARTY
Each year we get together with my mom's cousins' family for the annual Hardy Party (we affectionately call it - I'm sure they call it the Covey Party). This year it was at the Hardy's beautiful home and Scott and Jana brought their families, which are growing. It always boasts good finger foods and treats, the traditional English "crackers" breaking and paper crowns, toys, and jokes inside, and a long, but fun white elephant gift exchange. Then there's always someone who brings up singing the Twelve Days of Christmas as a joke - many, many years ago Judy had made signs and we had to go through the entire LONG song doing our parts. We only did that once and now it's a fun joke. A good time was had by all.
LUNCH with STEVE and the GIRLS
Yesterday, Steve and I took the girls (Sarah - and Joel, Alli, and Katie) to lunch at BJs. It was fun for us oldies to see the girls as grownups now - we laughed with and at them. They teased each other about what Alli does at college, how Sarah is being married, and Katie's take on the world. We enjoyed some Pazookies and promised to do this again one more time before Steve flies home next week. It's fun to have them grow up, but I do miss the "little girls."
EXHAUSTION
I have felt rundown and was hit with a hard bout of exhaustion last week and weekend. It was so hard to get through work Thurs and Fri, especially knowing that a 2 week vacation was nearing. I'm not sure what brought it on (hmmm, I'm not eating, sleeping well, nor exercising....) but hit my bed last weekend pretty hard. When I get that way (not too often), I get depressed and so it's a double-wammy. I had rolled out of bed Saturday about 10:30 to go to brunch with Shan, Carolyn, Suzi and Becky and ended up leaving 1/2 way through, having barely touched my breakfast, to go home and sleep. I could barely lift my fork or participate in the conversation. Then, of course, I felt bad about that. I slept most of Saturday and laid around most of Sunday. I don't think this gray gloomy rainy weather was helping either. Kari and Naomi stopped by during church to visit and make sure I was still alive. I enjoyed talking with them and getting some perspective back. After church, Shan and Gina showed up for the same purpose. I appreciate people who care and come around every so often. I'll be feeling much better once the sun returns. I do, however, enjoy the rainy weather, especially because you can enjoy it at home right now with the fireplace lit and some hot cocoa and a good book. So it's not all bad!
There you have it in a big nutshell.
WARD PARTY
I got roped into helping coordinate the food assignments for our ward Christmas party a week prior. They wanted to serve family style, so all 25 tables needed their own food. Of course, the signups didn't get filled, so the begging and rearranging began through emails and phone calls. In the end we had PLENTY of food (of course) and added 4 tables for people. It was so crowded but cozy for our little ward - they had a hostess at the door which would assign families to tables to fill them up - cute. I was one of 3 narrators for the Christmas story "play" the kids put on. Unfortunately, I just wasn't in the mood and just wanted to get it over with so I could go home and be a grinch. It had been a long week. I'm not much for crowds these days, especially when you show up "stag." Hats off to all those who put it together, though - it was very nice for the ward.
PARENT CONFERENCES
I enjoy Parent-teacher conferences because I get to run around from one end of the school to the other every 15 minutes to translate for them. This year, I translated 15 conferences in 4.5 hours Tuesday night and only about 15 on Wednesday. For the first time in years, I had all of Wednesday afternoon OPEN. In years past, I've been booked all of Wed as well, completing about 50-60 conferences in 1.5 days. I was glad to help and it got me into some teachers' rooms that I hadn't been in before and so I hope it will open doors for me to help them in the future.
FIREFLY
Last Thursday I went out with some friends to Firefly lounge downtown. Ramona is a district friend for years, Benci is a fellow ELL Facilitator across town and teaches at the college, and Lori is the college dean where I teach. We enjoyed some spanish tapas and conversations from our marital statuses to college students we've shared, to current views on our ELL department, to vacations, to disertations. It was a relaxing evening together and I enjoy the variety of friendships I have. Overlooking the Fremont Experience is always entertaining as well.
CONCERT
Saturday night I took Alli and Katie (nieces) to the Jim Brickman concert. He's a pianist that we all enjoy and Alli plays some of his music. He had an amazing violinist who played a unique 6-string electric violin like no one I've ever seen before and had 2 vocalists who were amazing. I had thought we'd be listening to piano the entire night, but it was an amazingly entertaining concert and I'd go again when he comes back to town. The girls LOVED it and want to learn more of his music now. Thanks mom!
DINNER
Sunday night the Cordners invited us (single ladies) and the Eliasons over for dinner and it turned out to be a very nice, entertaining evening. The food was great, the conversation was great, and the performances around the baby grand piano were fun. Kari's son brought their 3-week old baby girl over, so of course she was passed around. Later that evening, Kari's dad danced with the baby as someone was playing the piano and I got really choked up to the point that I left the room. I realized that my dad won't get to dance with Sarah's baby (no, she's not pregnant - it was just a thought about the future) or any of his great grandbabies. It sombered me back to reality. Later on I got to hold her to calm her down in another room and got her to fall asleep. I enjoyed a few minutes of just holding a brand new baby alone - there's something medicinal about new babies for me. The next day, I went shopping with Kari and went back to her house to again hold that baby girl for an hour or so as we looked stuff up online at IKEA. Fun fun.
HARDY PARTY
Each year we get together with my mom's cousins' family for the annual Hardy Party (we affectionately call it - I'm sure they call it the Covey Party). This year it was at the Hardy's beautiful home and Scott and Jana brought their families, which are growing. It always boasts good finger foods and treats, the traditional English "crackers" breaking and paper crowns, toys, and jokes inside, and a long, but fun white elephant gift exchange. Then there's always someone who brings up singing the Twelve Days of Christmas as a joke - many, many years ago Judy had made signs and we had to go through the entire LONG song doing our parts. We only did that once and now it's a fun joke. A good time was had by all.
LUNCH with STEVE and the GIRLS
Yesterday, Steve and I took the girls (Sarah - and Joel, Alli, and Katie) to lunch at BJs. It was fun for us oldies to see the girls as grownups now - we laughed with and at them. They teased each other about what Alli does at college, how Sarah is being married, and Katie's take on the world. We enjoyed some Pazookies and promised to do this again one more time before Steve flies home next week. It's fun to have them grow up, but I do miss the "little girls."
EXHAUSTION
I have felt rundown and was hit with a hard bout of exhaustion last week and weekend. It was so hard to get through work Thurs and Fri, especially knowing that a 2 week vacation was nearing. I'm not sure what brought it on (hmmm, I'm not eating, sleeping well, nor exercising....) but hit my bed last weekend pretty hard. When I get that way (not too often), I get depressed and so it's a double-wammy. I had rolled out of bed Saturday about 10:30 to go to brunch with Shan, Carolyn, Suzi and Becky and ended up leaving 1/2 way through, having barely touched my breakfast, to go home and sleep. I could barely lift my fork or participate in the conversation. Then, of course, I felt bad about that. I slept most of Saturday and laid around most of Sunday. I don't think this gray gloomy rainy weather was helping either. Kari and Naomi stopped by during church to visit and make sure I was still alive. I enjoyed talking with them and getting some perspective back. After church, Shan and Gina showed up for the same purpose. I appreciate people who care and come around every so often. I'll be feeling much better once the sun returns. I do, however, enjoy the rainy weather, especially because you can enjoy it at home right now with the fireplace lit and some hot cocoa and a good book. So it's not all bad!
There you have it in a big nutshell.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Literacy Wonderland
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| Gina (literacy specialist), Cherese (math specialist) and Me (language specialist) |
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| Dr. Mills (principal) and Ruby - in the beginning...it got crowded |
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Same/Different game for Pre-K and kinders |
I experienced my first Bunker Literacy Family night and was so impressed and amazed by all the work that went into making it festive, decorated, and theme-specific. The literacy specialist and a few other teachers worked for MONTHS creating literacy games, lollipop signs, and decorations that it blew me away. The kids and teachers came in their PJs and had about 20-25 different literacy games to choose from. The principal had a "Skating Rink" going in the cafeteria where kids had to slide their feet around on 2 paper plates going from chair to chair looking for letters to velcro onto a ping-pong paddle to make a word. It was so cute. The tables were wrapped in Christmas paper and the whole place was cute. The kids got a Polar Express bell necklace when they left to wear to school the next day. Here are just a few highlights.
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| Cute lollipop signs and penguin games |
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| Colors Spelling game |
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| Digging in snow drifts for objects, then placing them on the correct letter card on the table (house - H) |
Monday, December 6, 2010
TRADITIONS - Covey-style
How do traditions ever begin? What makes people repeat the same thing over and over, year after year, to the point of becoming a "tradition"? When does one realize that something has become a tradition?We Coveys have an odd (well, one of the several odd) tradition for birthdays. It's quite disgusting to the ear and makes one's stomach churn just a little - not to the point where you throw up a little in your mouth, but more like a slight gassy stomach pain. It's the
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG...Covey-style.
How did it begin? We have NOOOOO idea, but it's something that is repeated several times a year, for ANYONE's brithday. When it's time to open presents, someone begins "Haaaaaaaaappppppppyyyyyyy" in the most awful tone possible. Then, like magic, everyone in the room begins their own individual version, as off-key as possible and definitely NOT in unision. This signals the beginning of the present-opening, then AGAIN to signal the END of the festive unwrapping. Of course, if there is a cake with candles, the song is endured one more time. It's LOUD, OBNOXIOUS, and quite DISTURBING. But it's OURS.
In fact, it has been known to create some disturbing reactions from visitors, if they're privy enough to be in attendance during a celebration. Those brave enough to attend subsequent birthday dinners/parties have been known to chime in after their first few shock experiences. It can be a "freeing" experience to one locked into the traditional, rote version!!
We've been doing this "Covey-style" birthday song for at least 10 years - could be up to 15!! No one can pinpoint it's origin, but we the last time we performed it IN PUBLIC (Lonestar Steakhouse...now out of business...connection??) we were shot some crazy, horrified looks and were asked to NEVER do that again. So we have retreated to the privacy of our own homes for birthday dinners where we are free to express our joy...OUR way! What makes for a truely happy birthday.....the "Covey-style" rendition of a classic - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
NEVER BEFORE shared with the public - although we were missing 1/2 the family, here is a preview of what I'm describing. If you survive it, you may NOT take this tradition into your own home. It's OURS and it's not for sale.
Do you accept these terms? ____YES (proceed to video) ____ NO (thanks for stopping by!)
Does every family have a weird tradition?
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