Happy Easter!

The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society

What a title! I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it came highly recommended by my mother's pal, Becky. I had nothing to lose and a few hours, so I cracked it open and started to read. My eyes (sans glasses) finally gave out two hours later and I still didn't want to put it down! I was completely sucked into the story, which is 1946 on the English Channel Island of Guernsey.

This book is written in letter format which is a fun format to read because it requires some imagination. It's a little bit like hearing half a phone conversation. And it takes a really talented writer to pull it off; to make the characters so full that you don't miss the interaction. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows did an awesome job.

This is Spring?

It's April and I'm really, really ready for some sunshine. We've had a few days of sunlight here and there, but it's really lacking. I'm feeling a lack of Vitamin D, which just makes everything much more difficult.

Stress levels are high at work right now. Some of the seniors are clicking into the fact that they have approximately six weeks to finish everything. Add that to some really unmotivated underclassmen and some days aren't running very smoothly.

On a more professional note, the school funding situation looks really bleak here in Oregon and many people are seriously concerned about their jobs. It's having an impact on our students as well as professional morale.

So, back to Spring. It should be a happy time. It's not. I'm ready for summer.

CKC-Portland

I spent Friday at the Creating Keepsakes convention in Portland. Wow! It was the first time I'd ever attended and I had a really good time. I participated in four classes and did a little shopping. The best class was an organization class. Of course, being sponsored by an expensive system company, they would've liked me to buy their system, but I think I could do something similar, cheaper. I'll think about that. It would require a ton of work. The vendor faire was a bit overwhelming, but I came home with some good stuff. Now I just need to carve out some more time for scrapbooking.

Traveling....

This time of year I start to get the travel bug really bad. I think it stems from a combination of things. First, I'm tired of the weather. It's been raining for months and I'd like to see the sun for more than a moment or two. Second, it's less than ten weeks until graduation and I'm going to be working very hard between now and then getting seniors done with their requirements.

The other day I was surfing the internet and found the following list of 15 Places Your Kid Should See Before 15.

1. Grand Canyon
2. Redwood National Park
3. Monticello
4. The Freedom Trail
5. Niagara Falls
6. The National Mall
7. Colonial Williamsburg
8. Disney World
9. Independance Hall
10. Alcatraz Island
11. Ellis Island
12. Yellowstone National Park
13. Fenway Park
14. Craters of the Moon
15. San Diego Zoo

I didn't read the entire article, so I'm not sure what the qualifying criteria were. I'm older than 15 and I've only been to see nine of the listed places. I guess I'd better finish the list.

Mystery Concert

KRKT, one of the local country radio stations hosted a mystery concert tonight. It required a bit of faith to just show up and see who was going to play. I'm not sure many people would've except that the booking was done with the help of the Oregon Jamboree, which traditionally books some very good acts.

So, my sister and I went to the concert. The opening act was Jackson Michaelson, who won the Oregon state Colgate Country Showdown last summer. Then the lights went down and came back to reveal....James Otto. Neither of us had ever seen him live, so it was a nice surprise. And I have to say that small venue acoustic concerts really do rock.

The Stuff of the Past

Not long ago I was doing some cleaning. The type of cleaning that means digging through old boxes in hopes of condensing into smaller boxes. I know, I should just throw them out without opening them, but I just can't seem to do that. Anyway, this is one of the little things of the past I found.



At the time I tucked it into look-at-it-later pile, and today was the day I finally did. I flipped through the pages reading the names of people I'd highlighted. Most of them are now my Facebook friends, so I know what they're doing from time to time. Other names I can't place, and I can't recall know why I marked them. So I went digging further into the past hoping to jog my memory. I dug out my college journals. Wow, that was weird. It's amazing how something so innocuous as a directory can send you to a journal, and then to another place altogether.