2009 Year in Review

1) What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
I went to Mexico, I was my sister's maid-of-honor, saw Billy Elliot and In The Heights on Broadway, made crepes.

2) Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year (this year)?
One of my resolutions for last year was to lose some weight - I lost 15 pounds! My other resolution was to move to Nashville. That did not happen. My resolutions for this year are to move to Nashville and get into law school.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Michael's friend Joe had a baby. Or rather, his wife did.

4) Did anyone close to you die?
Not especially close, but my great-uncle died.

5) What countries did you visit?
Mexico

6) What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More time with friends and family.

7) What date(s) from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
May 31 - Christa and Wes' wedding

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I think finishing the school year was pretty big.

9) Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had a cold or two, but pretty uneventful in this regard.

10) What was the best thing you bought?
Once again, plane tickets.

11) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A whole bunch of congress people and senators.

12) Whose behavior merited celebration?
I think a lot of the people I know are truly amazing. They are serving God in all kinds of ways and are looking for ways to help those around them and to better themselves. That deserves celebration.

13) Where did most of your money go?
Savings, bills, food.

14) What did you get really, really excited about?
Christa's wedding.

15) What song will always remind you of 2008?
I've been thinking about this and I really haven't come up with anything. I don't really listen to pop music, so I don't know what's new and on the radio. Mostly I listen to NPR. I'm that person. Ten years ago I would have thought I was totally lame.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you?:
Wiser? I hope so. How does one measure this?

Healthier? Maybe. Once again, how does one measure this? I'd probably have to see a doctor to know, and I try pretty hard not to see a doctor.

Richer? More in savings again, so yeah.

17) What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading, spending time with Michael and my family and friends.

18) What do you wish you'd done less of?
Anxious worrying, obsessive-compulsive thinking.

19) How much did you spend on christmas?
I don't really keep track of these things.

20) Did you fall in love in 2008?
I love my husband a lot.

21) What was your favorite blog post that you wrote?
Not that it took a lot of writing... but In The Car


22) What was your favorite TV program?
The Office and 30 Rock


23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Today is maybe a bad day to ask. Work can be very frustrating sometimes. I spent a lot of time after work yelling at people who weren't there.


24) What was the best book you read?
Some of my favorites: Water for Elephants, The Book Thief, The Gift of Asher Lev, Bel Canto, Skeletons at the Feast, Captivating


25) What was your greatest musical discovery?
Fireflies and Songs by Sara Groves


26) What did you want and get?
A Nook!


27) What did you want and not get?
A move to Nashville.


28)What was your favorite film this year?
I can't really remember watching any movies this year... must have been awesome, huh?


29) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Well, I don't really remember my birthday. Sad, huh? But a couple weeks later Michael took me to Billy Elliot. And I turned 26.


30) Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?
I don't think I like any celebrities or public figures this year.


31) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008.
Sweaters, stuff with asymmetrical lines and/or buttons, comfort.


32) What kept you sane?
Sunshine, Michael, God, Hope, Friends


33) Who did you miss?
My mom, Christa, and lots of friends, mostly Leslie. She shouldn't be allowed to go to Thailand for six months at a time.

34) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
I don't always get what I want. (This may seem obvious, it's a constant re-learning, I suppose.)


35) What did you lose this year?
15 pounds


36 )What did you gain this year?
A dream for the future.


37) Who was the best new person you met?
I really enjoy some of my new students this year. They are fun people. They shall remain nameless to protect the innocent.

38) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I am fighting to stay open, open like a lake.

Year in review (a little late)

1) What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Taught Business Math, went to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome, met Barack Obama and Dan Rather, went to the National Zoo, paid off our car, saw Brian Regan live, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway.

2) Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year (this year)?
I don't remember making any resolutions last year.
This year I want to lose some weight and move to Nashville.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Linsey Bailey

4) Did anyone close to you die?
My grandmother

5) What countries did you visit?
England, France, Italy, Austria

6) What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More time with family, a house and job in Nashville, more joy.

7) What date(s) from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
January 18-the day my grandmother died.
June 22-the beginning of our European adventure.

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
A lot of days it feels like just surviving is a big achievement. But probably, I feel like I am a better teacher all the time, and I am keeping up with my grading better than the last two years, and over all, I just feel more competent in my job, and that's a pretty big accomplishment.

9)Did you suffer illness or injury
No, just the usual maladies...

10) What was the best thing you bought?
Plane tickets!

11) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Various students at various times.

12) Whose behavior merited Celebration?
Michael's. He is very patient with me and is willing to do just about anything to make me happy. He's pretty amazing.

13) Where did most of your money go?
Bills and Europe

14) What did you get really, really excited about?
Europe, dancing with Shelli, a baby book that my mom made me.

15) What song will always remind you of 2008?
"Yes We Can" by WillIAm.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you?:
Wiser? Hopefully I'm getting wiser all the time. This is kind of difficult to measure.

Healthier? Emotionally? Yes. Physically? It's really a toss-up.

Richer? We have more in savings and less debt, so I suppose that we're richer, yes.

17) What do yo wish you'd done more of? More playing and time with friends and family, more reading, more exercise and more traveling.

18) What do you wish you'd done less of? Less anxious worrying and computer game time.

19) HOw much did you spend on christmas? I have no idea. Several hundred.

20)Did you fall in love in 2008? Marriage is a constant re-falling in love with someone you know better all the time.

21) What was your favorite blog post that you wrote?
Probably the series about Europe.

22) What was your favorite TV programs?
My favorite new series is 30 Rock, favorite returning series: The Office.

23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I sometimes hate various students. But it doesn't last for more than a day. So I guess not really.

24) What was the best book you read?
Probably my favorites were People of the Book and I Am Asher Lev.

25) What was your greatest musical discovery?
Probably Ingrid Michaelson and Eastmountainsouth

26) What did you want and get?
This sweet winter white cape jacket.

27) What did you want and not get?
This cute little dress in Paris.

28)What was your favorite film this year?
I really liked The Dark Knight and Wall-E.

29) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We ate at Uno's and saw Charlie Wilson's War. I turned 25.

30) which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?
Tina Fey.

31) How would yo describe your personal fashion concept in 2008
Comfort and cost effective with a little quirky.

32) What kept you sane?
Michael, antidepressants, Barack winning the election, trips home to see the family and dreaming of a different future.

33) Who did you miss?
My grandparents.

34) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Don't trust the stock market.

35) What did you lose this year?
My temper, several times.

36)What did you gain this year?
Hope that there can be joy again, a book club.

37) What was the best new person you met?
Maybe the new principal.

38) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
It's been a hard year, but I'm climbing out of the rubble...

Good books

This year I didn't try to read a book a week. Instead, I focused on trying to read award-winning books and books that came highly recommended by others. So here is a list of some of my favorite books of the year. I hope it helps you pick a good one.

The Good Good Pig-true story of a family and their pig. Heartwarming animal story.
The Known World-novel about free blacks in the pre-civil war south who owned slaves. Pulitzer prize winner.
People of the Book-historical fiction about the Sarajevo Haggadah, a valuable Jewish book which was saved by Muslims and Christians.
Grace Eventually-the newest memoir by Anne Lamott.
Year of Wonders-Historical novel about a town in England that is hit by the plague.
I am Asher Lev-I love Chaim Potok, one of my favorites of his.
First They Killed My Father-memoir about the Cambodian genocide.
Gathering Blue-Juvenile fiction - Lois Lowry's companion to The Giver
The Center Cannot Hold-memoir about living with Schizophrenia
The Law of Similars-novel about homeopathy and the choices we make in extreme circumstances
March-historical novel about Mr. March of Little Women, Pulitzer Prize winner, don't read if you want to keep your Little Women vision intact (but a very interesting book)
So Brave, Young and Handsome-novel by the author of Peace Like a River. Adventure and redemption.
The Lost-memoir/history, the author tries to find out what happened to six of his family members during the Holocaust. Kind of heavy and fact-laden, but very interesting to me.
Messenger-Juvenile fiction - companion to The Giver and Messenger
The Almost Moon-novel about family ties and mental illness. Pretty dark, but intriguing.

So those are my favorite books of 2008. There are about eight more that are in progress, you know how that goes... So I'll update if one of them makes it onto my favorites list before the end of the year. This post was especially for Kristina. =)

Dreaming

Yesterday it was all sunny - the second day in a row. And almost all the snow melted. And I felt melty inside too. Happy that maybe, possibly winter would end soon. So this morning when I woke up, looked outside and saw big, fluffy snowflakes my heart broke. Seriously. I started crying. I hate Pennsylvania. I want to move south. Maybe if I were schizophrenic I could imagine that I lived somewhere else and pretend that place was warm. I would probably get frostbite. But so far it doesn't seem that I'm schizophrenic. We won't totally dismiss the possibility though.

So yesterday whilst writing an email to Ben I realized that I should keep track of all my dreams right now, because lately my dreams have been very vivid and a little crazy. So I started keeping a log. Here's a snippet from my last few nights.
~~~~~~
Feb 21, 2008 -- Last night I had a dream in which I gave a persuasive speech about why Barack Obama should be president. I received a standing ovation. Then Ben and I danced and sang to "I will go down with this ship." Then Ben did a cartwheel/round-off combo. We also stopped and saw several of our married friends, all of whom had babies. Some cuter than others. All of this was on Union's campus and Justin was there too. (But the teacher in the persuasive speech setting was Mrs. G, and she was definitely not for Obama.)

Feb 23 -- I had a dream that my grandma was in assisted living in Nashville and mom took me to see her. I helped feed her even though she could do it herself, and she was talking to me, and was all lively, much more so than the last times I saw her. The whole time I kept thinking, "this is so weird because she's dead."

Feb 24 -- I dreamed that Leslie, Sissel and I were going on a road trip, and then Athena showed up as a surprise. And she was so small that she had hidden in her luggage and had it delivered to Sissel's door. Also, for a time, my car was invisible because I had left it in drive when I got out of it.

Feb 25 – DM's dad was observing my class and my students were being really bad. Half of them weren’t there, the others wouldn’t listen to me. He told me that some of my students had been talking about plagiarizing their book reports off of myspace.
~~~~~~
So if I've told you any of my dreams in the last few weeks/months let me know so that I can write them down.

Those are milder and less stress-inducing than my dreams of a month or so ago. So I take that as a good sign.

The soundtrack for this post is The Cranberries "Dreams." In case you were wondering

Maybe after I write the post I'll come up with a title.

This week has been good. Not superdy-duper awesome good. But good. I haven't had a really bad day yet. Some tiredness. Apparently, coming off of 50 mgs gives me more energy, but also takes away my ability to sleep for long periods of time. But it is nice to have energy. Really nice. I'm almost caught up on my grading. (!) And I don't want to go to bed before I get home from work.

So, on Tuesday, in class one of my students said, "You're in a good mood today, aren't you, Mrs. Shofner?" And I said (a little surprised) "Yeah, I guess I am." I feel bad that my students had to suffer with me through most of this year. Hopefully things will be better for all of us from here on out.

Also, hurrah for Super Tuesday! McCain did well, and if I had to vote for a Republican, he would be one of a very short list that I would feel semi-okay about. And Obama proved that he is a viable candidate. And many more Democrats voted than Republicans, over all. That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside with the hope that our country will be different soon. I hope not to be terribly disappointed.

"What is honored in a country will be cultivated there." - Plato (meat, beer, entertainment and war?)

While I'm dreaming of moving south, we're planning on staying here for at least one more year. We like the school. Even if Pennsylvania itself makes me die inside. And I like my job most of the time, which cannot be said of all jobs I've had. Notably one that I had in Kentucky. Yeah.

My mother-in-law is coming to visit in a week. I'm trying not to be stressed.

I need to take my animals to the vet.

I planted some daffodil bulbs yesterday. I didn't have energy to do so in the fall when I should have. So I hope that they'll bloom, despite my negligence.

I got up to level 51 on freerice the other day. This was surprising, because previously there were only 50 levels. Now, apparently there are 55. I haven't gotten past 51 yet.

I think I'm getting carpel tunnel from playing too many computer games. This started over homeleave. Maybe I should get a life.

things done over homeleave

Went to New York twice
Saw a show-not the best
Played a lot of hand and foot
Finished The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
Went to a Greek food festival
Ate Thai food in Lancaster
Went outlet mall shopping in Amish country
Had friends over for dinner (black bean soup and spinach-artichoke dip)
Tried to sleep in a lot
Watched a few movies
Did some house-cleaning
Didn't take any pictures

Title-less

Not a lot going on here...

There's testing this week, which gets in the way of my planning my classes, annoying, but, I suppose, necessary.

I seem to have either a cold or allergies. Can't tell which. Fun times.

Michael has Shingles. So apparently stress does effect him.

Homeleave starts a week from today, we're going to New York for half a day to see The Ritz, back on Broadway.

We have school again this Sunday, ugh.

And now a list of the some of the books I've read lately:

An Unquiet Mind - Kay Redfield Jamison
Personal History - Katharine Graham
How to Make an American Quilt - Whitney Otto
The Double Bind - Chris Bohjalian
All Over But the Shoutin' - Rick Bragg
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Housseni
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris

The End

I melt

The high for today is 42, a temperature unheard of since the beginning of January. I'm hoping the foot high pile of ice blocking the path to the front door starts to melt. Right now, we're just asking for broken bones every time we enter or exit our abode.

I've read eight books so far this year. They are, in chronological order:

Love Me by Garrison Keillor
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson
Storming Heaven by Denise Giardina
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt

I'm trying to keep up with a book a week. The one I'm starting today is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It won the Pulitzer Prize and I've been wanting to buy it for months. I'm excited.

We started a little public speaking in class. I thought I'd start off easy with a 2-3 minute reading. Sadly, no one in my classes listens so they all forgot about it and were just reading random passages from their textbooks. Not the most inspiring class period.

That's about it. I bought a gameboy advance used and am a little obsessed right now. It's really cutting into my reading time. And I'm not sleeping well. Which does not bode well for my mental health. Also, I changed my comment settings so I think it's easier to post comments now. See how I beg?

Happy to Oblige

I'm pretty sure I've done this survey before, but it was on my other blog, and maybe I have new answers now. Plus I'm uninspired to write about anything else. By the way, my computer won't even let me look at other people's comments, much less comment myself. That explains my lack of commenting... What's your excuse?

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Print Shop Coordinator (bleh)
2. Lifeguard/Blob Director
3. Student writer/intern for Marketing Communications Department at UC
4. Switchboard Operator


Four Movies you would watch over and over:
1. The Music Man
2. Fiddler on the Roof
3. Benny and Joon
4. Beaches

Four Places you have lived:
1. Cortez, CO
2. Lexington, KY
3. Madison, TN
4. Hamburg, PA

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Chipotle Vegetarian Fajita Burrito... it's been so long
2. Green Spaghetti
3. Homemade pizza made by me
4. Ice cream

Places you’d rather be right now:
1. In bed. Maybe not my own bed because we're keeping our thermostat at 52.
2. Florida
3. My mom's house
4. Somewhere where the high today is more than 17 degrees, as it is here. Somewhere like Jamaica. Warm and exotic.

People I hope will respond by posting on their blogs:
1. Everyone I
2. know, I think
3. has already posted this, but in case they haven't
4. Justin

Things to be thankful for...

As of today, I've been married to Michael for a year and a half. That's a very good thing.

He brought me roses. They're beautiful and made my difficult day a little easier.

Ben's coming today. I don't think he planned it this way, but I like to think of it as an anniversary gift and Christmas gift and (what the heck?) birthday gift all rolled into one.

I really like my new massage therapist. She's kind of like a counselor and she makes me feel good about me.

I think, maybe, possibly, I'm less dizzy today. (It's really more of a wishful, hopeful, than a for sure thing.)

Only two more days before I fly home. Not drive, fly. Huzzah.

I'm planning on playing Boggle for my students' final exam. This will be more fun than an exam. At least I think so. And they probably will too, since it's for bonus points or something. I haven't figured it all out yet, but it means I don't have to grade a test.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel: I'm closing in on finishing grading these book reports.

Those are very good things.

New list

Over homeleave number two:

*Got my hair cut. Woohoo! I have bangs and more layers and goodness. Don't even bother asking for a picture. Digital cameras hate me.

*Went shopping. Also got some free makeup. They have a store here called Ulta. They have all this girly stuff - makeup and hair stuff from just about every brand. It's fantastic.

*Signed up for my Educator's Discount at Barnes & Noble. Yeah, buddy. 20% off of resources used in the library or classroom. Maybe I'll lend those books out to students... yeah.

*Got application for a new passport. We're gonna travel.

*Tried to get PA driver's license. Went on the wrong day. Stupid DMV.

*Went to D.C. Michael's first time. Went to the Holocaust museum, Lincoln, World War II, Korea and Vietnam memorials. Ate some really good Thai food. That was heaven.

*Stayed at Mama Yancer's house. She wasn't even there. Which was too bad, it would have been nice to see her.

*Found a Gap Outlet in Gettysburg. Went haywire. Bought lots of stuff. Total cost for five shirts and two pairs of pants: $38. (No tax on clothes in PA: awesome.)


Homeleave was again wonderful. Grades are due tonight at midnight, which makes me want to cry a little. Mostly because some students refuse to turn things in on time and I don't want to give them bad grades. This is turning out to be impossible. Also, I'm sleepy. But life is good. I'm sure of it.

Things we did over homeleave...

*Got the car tuned-up and oil changed and all that stuff.

*Bought and assembled (twice) an island for the kitchen.

*Bought groceries. (You'd be surprised how difficult this is to do in a regular week.)

*Got Shelby a flea dip and a flea collar. It was getting out of control for a while with the scratching. She was keeping us up at night.

*Unpacked and cleaned a lot of our house. We can actually get to the closet in the second bedroom now. It's pretty full. I have a lot of clothes.

*Hung pictures, etc. on the wall. It feels a lot more like home now.

*Rented several movies, about the first time we've done that since we moved here.

*Got paid, woohoo! (And also realized that I'm not making as much less at this job as we anticipated. That is subject to change, I'm sure.)

*Ate at Olive Garden. It's endless pasta bowl time. The most wonderful time of the year. Too bad they won't serve the spinach alfredo sauce anymore.

*Toured Gettysburg. Much more interesting than when I went as a junior in academy. For starters, I actually wanted to learn something this time. Really enjoyed it and the yummy picnic lunch I made. (Superlink salad was included.)

*Went to New York city for the first time ever. Went to Times Square, Central Park and the World Trade Center site. Used the subway. Not as dirty as expected. Ate at a little Italian restaurant near Times Square. Had the pesto fettucini. It was yum. Also had some gelato later. It was awesome. Note: Central Park is amazing. Amazingly huge. Could not find Central Perk. Which doesn't mean it doesn't exist. New York is completely overwhelming. And we only went to Manhattan.

*Chaperoned students back from New York. That was fun on a chartered bus. Trying to get everyone there at the same time. Also, we were a little late. That didn't help. See, the bus schedule said we would leave at 5:30. So we got there at 4:45. We thought that would be good, but apparently not. Next time we'll know.

Now I need to figure out what I'm doing this week in Foreign Foods and start planning English.

Conclusion: I like homeleave. The next one is in three and a half weeks.