Five For Friday

I'm linking up rather late for Five for Friday. I can definitely tell that school season is creeping up on me. I've had lots of commitments lately, which frankly makes me happy because I've been a little bored lately. I don't have kids, my husband works a crazy shift, and this was the first summer I haven't worked since I was like 15 or 16! So, I've been a little listless of late.

1. The highlight of my week was our Back-To-School picnic one of my co-workers hosted last night on her "farm." We had sooooo much fun. I'm constantly reminded of how blessed I am in my co-workers. We get along so well and have so much fun together. I really miss eating with them every day during the summer. Some teacher's lounges are filled with negativity and crass humor (I definitely experienced this during student teaching!). Ours is filled with recipe sharing, vacation recommendations, embarrassing moment sharing, idea swapping, and lots and lots of laughter! I'm looking forward to school starting just so I can eat with my fellow teachers again!

Here's a pic of the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens for the potato salad I brought to the picnic. It was a big hit!

2. I've been reading/reviewing books for my class library like crazy this week. This book, Plain Girl by Virginia Sorensen, was excellent! This will be very appropriate for my classroom because we live near Lancaster County, PA so we are all familiar with the Amish lifestyle. In our immediate area we have a lot of Mennonites as well, so the students will be able to have a frame of reference when reading this book. The book basically explores some of the questions and doubts going through the mind of a young Amish girl who was forced to attend a public school. Sorensen does an excellent job of presenting all sorts of scenarios that really causes the reader to dig deeply to figure out what he or she ought to believe in these particular situations. Another great book by the same author, which happened to win a Newbery medal is Miracles on Maple Hill. This explores what happens to men who come home from war and the effects PTSD has on their families. It also takes place in Pennsylvania. This time at a maple syrup farm in the Pocono mountains, which is also near where we live. I love when I can connect books to our current lives.

3. I decided to try a couple extremely simple sewing projects for my classroom Thursday evening after my husband left for work. My grandma taught me how to sew back in high school, but I've never been great at it. Every time I attempt a sewing project I get super frustrated with my poor sewing skills and sometimes even end up in a fit of rage. I got a great chuckle out of Kim's post the other day at Joy in 6th Grade. Her experience with Mod Podge sounds exactly like my experiences with sewing. This time wasn't too bad, though. I only spilled my entire container of pins once, and even though I burned my fingertips with the iron, it didn't leave a mark! Best of all, I only had to rip out one seam! Now I call that success! If the projects turn out okay when I install them in my classroom on Monday, I'll show you some more pictures of what I did.

4. My husband and I started re-watching the Lord of the Rings on extended Blu-Ray this week. Oh how I love LOTR! I've watched them a million bajillion times and pretty much have the first one memorized since it's my favorite! I cannot wait until the next installment of the Hobbit comes out!

5. This last one is kinda sad. On Wednesday of this week, my husband got an e-mail stating that the seminary he's been attending for the past four years is closing after this school year. He still had about two years left before he graduated, so we're not really sure what all is going to happen. On the positive side, it means we might get to move back to Illinois sooner than we anticipated. On the negative side, we now have to decide our future by December. Yikes! I was resting in the comfort of another year and a half before we had to make any big decisions. Also, several people we've grown to love as friends and mentors are now without jobs. It's a pretty big deal. If there's one thing I've learned in life, though, it's God works all things out for good. We may not see it at the time, but ultimately everything will work out for his glory. Looking forward to where God will lead us in the next year!