Take today for example: I was at the office supply store when they opened this morning, bought the things I needed, went directly to the office where I spent 4 hours making photocopies. Then I came home, ate a quick lunch, and threw an apple cobbler in the oven while preparing for class this afternoon. The other teachers ate the apple cobbler while I stapled tests, also for class this afternoon. The first hour was supposed to be review, but, really, who wants to come to class to review more before taking a test? I could tell my students weren't really into it, and in their place, I wouldn't have been either. Just give me the stupid test and let me get it over with! While they took their tests, I graded another set of tests from youth group this weekend.
(That's right...we gave our youth group a test. Disguised as a contest, of course. It was interesting to see who learned what. No big surprises, but interesting nonetheless.)
Back to my day...after class, I came home, started dinner, and wrote some e-mails. Half an hour later, around 7:30, I discovered that the oven had gone out for some reason, so I restarted it. An hour later, dinner was finally ready. Some day I'm going to eat dinner at a normal hour again. Maybe. Now it's 10, and I'm contemplating which project to tackle next. Or whether to ride my stationary bike for a while (my leg muscles are screaming "NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!).
While I consider the options, here are a few images from the last couple of weeks to keep you entertained.
First, a series of my favorites. Early last Saturday morning, I was headed to the store to pick up a case of copy paper. On the way, I was met with an unexpected obstacle. May I remind you, I live in the city. Not in a village. Not out in the country. No, in the city. And yet, as I was driving down the road, suddenly this was walking out into the road in front of me:
So, what does one do while waiting for a herd of sheep to cross the road in front of her? Take pictures, of course. I was a little slow on the draw (the camera was buried in my bottomless-pit-of-a-purse), so you don't get the full effect of seeing the donkey leading the sheep across the street; that's him in the left of the frame. Trust me, it was quite entertaining.
Typically, the shepherd follows behind the sheep rather than leading them. Is it like this in the rest of the world, I wonder? What does that do to songs like "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us"?
On a totally different note, last week I made one of my favorite winter meals, hamburger soup, a recipe I borrowed from Sara Hile in South Africa & then modified. I spiced it up a bit by turning the ground beef into taco meat & then got rid of the green beans (which are much better by themselves than in soup).
This is pretty much the only meal I make in the crock-pot, so it's the only meal that cooks while I'm not here. Gas pressure is way too unpredictable to leave the oven on when I'm not home. I can't even describe how wonderful it felt to arrive home and smell something delicious before I even opened the front door. Hot and fresh! Good stuff. I think I might need to hire a cook to occasionally have a hot dinner waiting for me when I come home in the evening (just kidding, in case you were wondering...).
And, finally, a random shot of a random child taken while in the mountains with the choir last weekend. Hopefully, another post will follow before too long (as in, during the next few days) with more details about that adventure!
Okay, off to do some more work in PhotoShop before doing my time on the bike for the night. Happy Presidents' Day!
