My weekend thus far

I have one week left of classes before finals, and i have a lot to do. I find myself however, being productive in other ways. I work 40 hours this weekend, but in the 16 hours i have off i have already done the following things:

I cleaned my bedroom, which proved to be a 3 day task.
(I also cleaned other rooms in my house with help from Jeremiah!)

I played soccer with 5 of my friends.
(3 on 3, my team lost, but we played well and it was a close game)


I accidentally kicked the soccer ball into a window,
while attempting to kick it into the house through the front door.
Luckily nothing happened, but Jeremiah caught my reaction on camera.

We hosted a craft night at our house on Friday.
I worked on a little book that i made.
Ruepert (dog) made himself comfortable in the midst of it all.

Jeremiah has been encouraging me to take more photographs, and my interest in photography has kind of been renewed, so i'm sure there will be a lot of photo documentation to come. Sometime i will link you to several of his photographs that i especially like. I have to finish my laundry and do some homework before i go to work in an hour and a half, so that's all for now!

Photos

The instruction for this picture was "look as if you are
trying really hard to be polite listening to someone
that you don't really want to be talking to."

A photo of a few of my students at Bridges.

(if you can enlarge, the facial expressions are priceless)

some of my students at Bridges working.

(kind of working)

Spending time with Isador and Jeremiah in the morning.
(we were playing with the lighting on the camera)

Isador resting in the bathroom towels.

Isador in the window sill. (i like her position)

Jeremiah and i trying to look threatening.
(We have a series of pictures like this, in which one of us says an emotion
and we both try to act it out)

a few good words

Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue... as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.
-Viktor Frankl

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
-Viktor Frankl

Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms: to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
-Viktor Frankl

A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.
-Kurt Vonnegut

"I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."
-Vincent Van Gogh

"Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and that which is done in love is done well." -- Vincent Van Gogh

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -Harold Whitman

"real strength does not impair harmony or beauty, but often bestows it."
-Herman Melville, Moby Dick

"and we went outside to once more see the stars"
-Dante's Inferno

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was unforgettable. I woke up around 9:30 excited for the day ahead of me. Somehow instead of getting ready though, Jeremiah and I ended up taking our Christmas card photo (see below). We are a classy folk.I started out at my grandma Pattis- she and my grandpa cooked while my cousins and i played with my pet rats. Grant (7) could not get enough of Chica (rat) crawling into and out of his shirt. I walked in on him alone in the room giggling- it was that kind of belly laugh that brings tears to your eyes.. possibly one of my favorite moments of the day. Soon enough, family arrived and the meal was served. I scarfed down a lot of food before it occurred to me that i was going to be eating again in 3 hours, and then i felt guilty and started eating more slowly, though i was already full. It's hard to resist a full buffet of food these days, as it is a rarity in my world. My grandpa and i talked biology and evolution (Did you know that humans are progressively growing larger over time? We can no longer fit into the old time suits of armor! Looking at my grandpa, this is not hard to believe. He is a tall, tall man. Also, our most ancient roots can be traced back to Australia, not even Africa as i had so often presumed.) My parents and my brother and i took a family photo, and tried to make it look candid. My dad insisted that it not look posed. He suggested that we "act like we are about to leave." My mom pointed out that this would still be posed. My family doesn't often make small tasks do-able. We like to muddle, and discuss, and argue, and laugh, and struggle a bit i suppose. Anyway, eventually we got a few photos that should suffice. After a glass of wine that my parents urged me not to finish, i left for Jeremiahs.

The drive from my grandmas house on Lake Jefferson to Jeremiahs was beautiful! The lakes were starting to freeze and it was a sunny day and i wished for a camera.

Upon arrival, Jeremiah welcomed me inside and introduced me to several members of his family, whom i had not previously met. I came prepared with a bottle of wine, but apparently nobody else had realized the liquor stores were closed on Thanksgiving. We called around and failed to find any resources. As folks arrived, there was a consistent mumble of complaints about it. We made due though. At Jeremiahs, the hustle and bustle was notable. I tried to capture it in a photo, but without the volume and the array of laughter and talk, it does not do the actual moment justice:

(CLICK TO ENLARGE!)

The highlight of this experience: I was playing hide and seek outside with Nation (7) and Hugo (5) at night. I was hiding in the front yard behind a car, and tricked myself into thinking that i heard them, and that they had found me. So, i jumped up screaming, and both Nation and Hugo were at the other side of the yard. I had given away my position. Also, while playing catch phrase with 8 or so other adults, i confused the pentagon with the parthenon and was infinitely embarrassed. It was a good experience overall though, much warmth and laughter and conversation, made a person feel good to be alive in such a place.

I ended my night at work, because i was due for an overnight. I slept on the floor, which i have found to be good for my back. I faded away to the sounds of an episode of Seinfeld.