It's Tuesday...

And I am sitting here at school...knitting...and blogging. Don't worry though, I am on my lunch break. No rules are being broken. At least I don't think they are! :) Anyway, I was trying to decide what to do for a blog post and realized that, yeah, I don't have much to say. Who knows what I may end up rambling off during this blog post.

So want to know what my week is going to look like? Well, today is my last day of school for the week. I took Wednesday and Thursday off. I have 14 1/2 personal days to use up, remember? Anyway, I took the rest of this week off for a couple of reasons. First of all, I seriously need to think about what I am going to do this next year and that includes possibly looking for a new job. Second of all, we are taking our youth group to a youth event called "Aquire the Fire" this Friday and Saturday. We need to make plans for it and I also need to mentally prepare myself for it and that includes getting my house work done BEFORE we go! :) We probably won't be getting home until REALLY LATE Saturday night and then we get to wake up bright and early the next morning to go to church and have a potluck. Can anyone say "Bad timing"? We are going to be exhausted come Sunday afternoon!

I did find out a new piece of information regarding my job yesterday. I have many, many parents behind me, supporting me. Some are from this year's class and others are from my past years of teaching. I was pretty shocked by that. They are willing to do almost anything to help me out. That kind of support really makes a person feel good about themselves and that is something that I definitely needed. I have had such a great school year. I love my kids (most of the time) and I really enjoyed getting to know this group of parents. They have been, probably, my most supportive group yet!

Anyway, told you I'd end up rambling! That's what happens when you don't have anything specific to talk about. At least I posted though, right? :) Hopefully I can post something tomorrow that has a little better flow!

Here are some things that I have been knitting lately. They can be found in my Etsy store now.

I can't wait to show you my latest projects! I am SO excited about them! Stay tuned!

Things I am loving right now...

1. Knitting - Yup, I took up knitting! I have been knitting like mad lately.

I started out knitting these hats (that's my adorable niece)...
and these fun leg warmers...
I am currently learning to knit things such as this adorable little pea pod...or this amazingly cute little bear hat!I have also begun knitting these awesome cowls...and am learning how to knit these fuzzy warm mittens!

2. Quilting - Can you believe I have picked up quilting? I can't! :) I have fallen in love with all types of quilting lately and I can't get over how easy it can really be!

Patch-Work QuiltingRag QuiltingI have even been making these awesome rag quilt purses!And this isn't a quilt but it looks like it would come in REAL handy so I am going to attempt to make one!

3. Reading - I've been an avid reader my entire life but I wanted to share some books that I have been enjoying lately!

Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress has inspired readers for over three centuries. It is one of the best-loved and most widely read books in English literature and is a classic of the heroic Puritan tradition and a founding text in the development of the English novel. The story of Christian, whose pilgrimage takes him through the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Delectable Mountains, is full of danger and adventure. Together with his trusty companions, Faithful and Hopeful, he encounters many enemies--the foul fiend Apollyon, Judge Hategood, Giant Despair of Doubting Castle--before finally arriving at the Celestial City. Bunyan's own experience of religious persecution informs his story, and its qualities of psychological realism, and the beauty and simplicity of his prose combine to create a book whose appeal is universal. This edition includes the illustrations that appeared with the book in Bunyan's lifetime, giving a sense of its impact on contemporary readers.

Sarah's KeyA New York Times bestseller. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

And my newest read: The Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule. "I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."

Some of the plot's turns and twists may be somewhat implausible, but Hosseini has created characters that seem so real that one almost forgets that The Kite Runner is a novel and not a memoir. At a time when Afghanistan has been thrust into the forefront of America's collective consciousness ("people sipping lattes at Starbucks were talking about the battle for Kunduz"), Hosseini offers an honest, sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always heartfelt view of a fascinating land. Perhaps the only true flaw in this extraordinary novel is that it ends all too soon. --Gisele Toueg

4. YouTube - I am a die-hard YouTube addict. My husband can vouch for that. Not only do I enjoy watching videos, I enjoy making Vlogs too! I try to upload a new video to my YouTube account at least once a week. I share a little bit of everything on there from school to my family to my TTC journey.