our thanks we raise

This month has been a bit bumpy for myriad reasons and on several levels~there still are quiet thanks to give:

~my tummy is still stuffed with delicious foods.  From a meal that I was forbidden to contribute to, serve, or even do the washing up.

~the sweet puppy who was my shadow for the afternoon.

~my worldly goods are ready to be stuffed into a truck tomorrow; come hail, ice, or high waters, all of which are predicted.

~24 hours from now, I will be ensconced on my new lily pad.

why go veg...

Any questions?

You're welcome.

November scenes

T-day dinner #1 was on Sunday with some former colleagues and their grad-school children.  Tomorrow and Thursday's dinners will be with current colleagues.  It is not all bad to be alone and moving on a holiday~such kindness & food is being shared with me.

Now that I have free days, back to lots of city walking during the daylight and finding pennies!

Almost ready~at that peevish level of packing where all that's left is the humidifier and the popcorn kettle and other detritus that doesn't fit neatly into a container.  

(Also, while I've got photos uploading, the blog site is not allowing me to reply to your comments.  So.  Know that I'm not ignoring your visits!)

want ALL the puppies

Started volunteering at this incredible organization this morning.  It's bit of a mixed blessing~I do get to have my puppy fix, but it's heart-breaking to see so many abandoned pets.   And I want to adopt them ALL.  Or, mostly all.  I'll skip the 130 lb Mastiff that I met this morning. 

But it is heartening, in a world of shrieking politicians and horrors, to feed a baby kitten or walk an antsy dog and know that something small has shifted towards kindness in the dark.

wind in the hair

This is a birthday in which the years are accurate in this poem.

Here's to a new chapter!

sweetness

In a day filled with micro-managing bosses, insanity in Paris, stupidity over red cups, and myriad other inexplicable inanities, it is nice to have teeny things upon which to focus...a delicious cookie for a choir party this afternoon.  My first rehearsal with grades 5-8 and they nailed the Tallis canon~a cappella!   

I am beginning to lose count of how many times I've posted this quote~it has been on my bulletin board since Christmas of Sandy Hook:

“This will be our reply to violence:

to make music more intensely,

more beautifully,

more devotedly than ever before.”

~Leonard Bernstein

I really have no other commentary.  Other than to eat a delicious cookie with people that you love/enjoy/or are just sitting next to right now.

Tuxedo Junction

Cannot fathom that it is the end of the first trimester already.  To celebrate in the 6th grade, we learned a fun jazz combo that included the Lindy step, shorty George, and many pivots, kicks and swivels.  

I invited my friend/mother of a student/our choreograph for last spring's musical to come and work with us.

I have a fun video of the entire class at the end doing the full routine, but it's 'too large' to get off my phone.  Grr.  Ah well~here's a version of Tuxedo Junction for you to work out your own three minute routine!

the end of radio silence

Back to blogging...I've missed all y'all.