A Delayed Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

[when you let your son pick out the tree topper and don't look at the box]

I'm finally on break for three weeks (all kinds of yay), so I thought I'd pop in with the post I had planned for last week but didn't have time to finish. 

1. As I said, I am now on winter break, which is three weeks (usually two, but they took a week from us at summer and added it here). We ended the week with several games of Scrabble in each class, pajama day, and being happy about finishing our initial analysis of Sylvia Plath. I also am in good shape with my grading, with just a set and a half of essays to grade (yes, 200 ungraded essays is nothing for this English teacher), so I feel good about going into finals when we return and doing semester grades. 

2. I couldn't be happier last week when I noticed that Sawyer had decided to entertain himself with getting scraps of wrapping paper and tape, making "sand castles" on the floor. It was creative and cute and he even cleaned up when he was done without being asked.

3. I am a total Christmas person this year- gimme all the Christmas activities, music, crafts and baked goods. Having a three-year-old who is obsessed with the holiday has transformed me. So far we've done Breakfast with Santa, the Mission Inn Festival of Lights, normal Santa pictures, a showing of Polar Express at my school, gingerbread house making, and tomorrow we are going to the San Diego Zoo to see their holiday lights. I also make sure we have plenty of time at home, too, though, so we can relax and just soak it all in.

4. Can men just not touch women without permission? Can we have just have some compassion in a tax bill? BUT, Alabama! I was so impressed and pleased.

5. Do I need an Instapot? Why or why not?

6. I think I can officially call myself a Ludite-Lite. I love technology to a point, but I don't want to keep adding more and more, especially at work. I think it's important to expose students to it, of course, but I think sometimes the want to add so many gadgets, interfaces, portals, etc... is just too much. 

7. I am currently listening to Charlie Engle's memoir Running Man and love it so very much. He was a former cocaine addict who took on extreme running (including the Sahara) and then had some other issues to resolve in life that landed him in jail. It's honest (I think), raw, and incredibly interesting.

8. I am reading The Accusation by Bandi and like it a lot more than I thought I would (this is the short story collection written in secret by a North Korean). I just finished Like Water for Chocolate and adored the magical realism. I have high hopes for reading the rest of this month, since I have so much time off. 

9. Because of the previously mentioned Scrabble thing, I've reactivated my Words With Friends account- play me at Christeenie222

10. I haven't see the new Star Wars movie yet because we don't currently have a sitter and had wanted to see it together. I told my husband to just go over the weekend and I am going to go on Thursday- can you believe I have never been to a movie alone before? I consider myself to be quite independent, but never have I been solo in a theater. This week I'll finally put on my big girl pants and do it.