Sunday Salon...Gem Show Style

Gem Show Style....

Is that like Gangnam style??

Drawing by 'Andy' in my class....

Listening -- Episodes of Castle on the DVR are playing in the background. Rich is enjoying catching up on a few shows since he's still footloose and fancy free tonight. 

Eating -- This weekend it has been yummy-central! Out for breakfast, a picnic lunch and Zona 78 pizza (A Tucson-specialty!) Wow, it was worth watching what I ate all week to enjoy the weekend fun.

Loving -- My pretties from the Gem Show!! It was a blast to shop up and down every row for hours. J&K and baby Tinsley joined us. There was a bargain around every corner.

I bet you want some too.....it was a blast!! There are literally paper plates covered with precious gems just out for you to run your fingers through. You almost become overwhelmed and jaded to the amount of $$$$ around you. (You aren't really supposed to take photos there but these came off our instagram hashtags!)

Reading-- Last Writes by Sheila Lowe, Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer, Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors. Book Group is this week!! I have got to read faster. I am also re-reading Teach Like a Champion for the Book Study I am leading this week. BUSY! I wish I could read two books literally at the same time!

Feeling -- So stoked about teaching the new math methods I learned last week. It is exciting and empowering. I wish they had taught me math this way. I might not have had the math-phobia I did for so many years.

Thinking -- I can't WAIT for the Tucson Festival of the Book! My son is letting us stay at his apartment for the weekend and I intend to soak it all up!! (He will be at Disneyland for the weekend so partying will continue for both of us!) We've already scheduled lunch dates, dinner dates and patio breakfast time with my mom.Just thinking.... 

Wanting -- More time to just sit, think, ponder, read, listen and be still. Some times on Sunday night I feel that I 'pay' for enjoying my Saturday.  

This Week -- Book Group, Book Study (that I am leading for the staff), Tutoring, Valentine's Day frivolity and more....

YUM!!!!

Sunday Salon - Super Bowl Style

Sunday Salon - Super Bowl Style!!

 Yep, many of you will curl up with your good book and shun the TV and football today. While I, little ol' me, will embrace it and celebrate the day--Super Bowl Sunday! I love that pigskin. Alas, I am pretty much alone in my fetish of the said football around here so I will lay out all of my munchies, chips and dips and sandwiches and cheer by myself --- and love it!! So...until the kickoff arrives I bring you...

Listening: silence. Everyone is gone and I am amazed at how quiet the house is. 

Eating:  On the menu....guacamole and salsa, nachos, spinach dip bread bowl, chips and french onion dip, shrimp cocktail (for my husband when he passes through to watch snippets of the game to support me and because he loves me!) sub sandwiches and lots of fruit! What the heck, I may whip up some cookies and haul out the chocolates - - depending on who's winning! A girl can only eat so much. (Seriously, J&K may join me once they return from K's weekly family dinner...they're supportive like that!)

Loving:   Having roommates! J&K are so easy to live with. And who wouldn't want to see this little bug everyday?!?! Little Tinsley is adorable!!

Reading: Same as last week....May B by Caroline Starr Rose (middle grade), Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer (for Book Group) and Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors (for Book Group 2)...

Feeling: A bit worried. Shake it off....Trust! I know.

Thinking: About the memories of watching football with my dad. It was time I spent just wanting to sit with him. It was 'our' time. He taught me all about the game and it meant so much to me to have that in common with him. My dad received a football scholarship to play at the University of Texas and was the first person in his family to ever go to college. One of his best friends, growing up in his little tiny town ( we called him Uncle Don,) played college ball too and was always at our house when I was tiny. Uncle Don went on to play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and I have fond memories of the players coming to parties at our home and seeing them all around town. My favorite Christmas was the one where there wasn't a present under the tree for me....imagine my surprise when the doorbell rang and it was my 'uncle' who brought over my very own football, signed by all the Cowboys players!! He took me down the street to teach me how to "really" throw and play that very morning!! I was the envy of EVERY boy (and girl!) Gosh I love thinking back about that!

Wanting:  A good diagnosis for my grand-kiddo!! Please! Please!

                

This Week: Rich and I are giving a presentation this Tuesday that is kind of a big deal. We are both so relaxed about it and that can be a dangerous thing! :) I have a big professional development week ahead for work too. I love l that, but it does mean I have a few days of sub plans to come up with. I don't like that so much. Finally on Saturday we are heading to Tucson and the Gem Show. Wahoo!

Sunday Salon - The Wet Version

 I think I may need an ark soon. It's been raining - pouring mostly - at my house for going on 2 days. That seems like some sort of record for us in the desert. It is cuddle-up-with-a-good-book or watch-a-movie-in-your-jammies kind of weather. It is NOT go-to-the-farmer's-market kind of weather. It is NOT help-move-your-daughter-and-her-family kind of weather. It IS be-glad-it's-raining-on-the-weekend-and-NOT-on-a-school-day-with-no-recess kind of weather!!

Listening: To the drip,drip,drip. LOVE IT! It lulled me to sleep and I truly woke up at 3:30am when it stopped! How wonky is that??? 

Eating:  Today I'm sipping herbal tea for my sore throat and laryngitis....Chicken soup may be next.

Loving: 1. Fun dates with Rich ---here's where we were at 10 am yesterday

Taking photos of each other in an empty theater.....

Why was it empty you ask?

Check out the time....

We laughed and laughed and laughed!! They had sold us tickets to a show that started at 10 pm!! The sign had stated 10 but we all assumed that it meant 10 in the morning. Well I guess you know what assume means, right??? Funny thing, no one had asked or noticed. The ticket meister just sent us to theater 21 and we were on our way. We did get a refund and the staff was so embarrassed that no one had noticed. It would have been a long wait in the theater.

              2. Washing baby clothes and socks! What a hoot. I always forget how small they are. 
              3. Rain

Reading: May B by Caroline Starr Rose (middle grade), Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer (for Book Group) and Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors (for Book Group 2)...I really want to read another Lisa Scottoline...

Feeling: Reflective. I tend to be this way when I am under the weather. I guess having to be still will do that to you. 

Thinking: How sad it is that we have to teach our students about lock-downs. We had a lock-down drill this week.  Next week we have a drill where we practice evacuating the campus. The police came and rattled my doors, they pretended that there were people standing outside the door pleading for me to let them in, they set off fire alarms to try to trick us and get us to flee the building. It was hard for ME. The kids were pretty nonplussed. We have had long talks and conversation in class so I do believe that they know that I would do all in my power to protect them. They tell me, "You would go all mama-bear on them, right, Mrs. V?" Yes, I would! I know that drills are important and truly saved lives in Connecticut. I know that when you are prepared you don't have to fear. BUT...I  hate the  fact that we live in a day when we have to have them. It breaks my heart. 

Wanting: 1.My voice back---it's been 4 days!! Even my whisper voice is gone. Truly gone. I am mute. My husband is probably enjoying the quiet, but it sure is hard to teach this way AND it's harder still to get someone's attention in the house. Hint, hint, honey. Just come to me when you're talking to me.

                2. Some encouraging job news for Rich
                3. Something crunchy....without calories...celery??...rats! Not what I had in mind.
                4. Another Lisa Scottoline book. Any suggestions?

This Week: Much calmer! Yippe-ki-yah! Testing for all of the 4th grade kiddos, Tutoring, yoga, and I am excited to be leading our school staff on a Book Study on Wednesday. Yep, that yoga breathing is working this week.....mmmm....

Love that wet stuff...Stay dry!

Tucson Festival of Books - 2 days of bliss and awesomeness!

Where words become Imagination.....

Chilly and windy on Saturday morning but I am NOT to be deterred. We are there bright and early. I swear, they even saved us the same parking space as last year!! How nice! The crowds were ginormous on Saturday though - 80,000 people that day alone. Everyone was happy and it was a contagiously fun place to be.

• I heard Alice Hoffman read from her newest book about the Masada, The Dovekeepers. Amazing! I heart her now.
  
• I attended a Professional Development class on writing with students. Taught by Ralph Fletcher, only one of the biggest writing gurus in the education-world! I couldn't believe that the place wasn't packed to the gills. Somehow folks weren't aware that educators pay $$$$ for workshops with him. I tried not to squeal with glee, but I got more than a workshop...it was fantastic!
• Hot Crime, Hard Science; Forensic Nonfiction - 3 Historians who spoke on the CNN panel about famous nonfiction discoveries....circulation and transfusions, the development of early forensics in France, the Poisoner's Handbook and the study of the fascinating study of poisons and finally the new forensic science brought to America around the 1920's-30's. I learned a LOT! Stretched my brain.
• Queen Elizabeth and her World - Louis Bayard, Margaret George (yes, THE Margaret George, of the 800 page novels!!) and Jennifer Lee Carrell. Totally an historians afternoon. I was amazed at the amount of research and crafting of words and story that these authors do. Wow~!
• Last, but not least, for my Saturday schedule was Cozies Need Respect Too...so capably moderated by Lesa Holstine from Lesa's Book Critiques and the Glendale Library!! Kate Carlisle, Earlene Fowler, and Avery Aames were the panelists. Gosh - a bibliophile mystery series, quilting mysteries, and a cheese shop series. I was getting hungry by the end!! I've not read many 'cozies' as I guess I really didn't give them the respect that they deserve....I know, I hang my head in shame. After the discussion I really did decide to try a few of them and I've been pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed how these authors could speak to the definition of the genre and alluded to the 'cozy idea' as one for marketing - marketing to women. As a definition Avery Aames defined cozy as a book that would probably not have bad language, sex or gritty, bloody-CSI type crime on the page. The sleuth is an amateur and typically has a 'community' of friends or supporters around them. My definition would probably be - Could I give this book to my mom?? It was a fun end to a fantastic Saturday - - I did NOT want to leave except that I really was tired and hungry! There was no time to shop or eat as I ran from class to class. What was a book-nerd to do?!?!?

SHOP!!!

I returned to the festival the Sunday morning, this time without my intrepid book-cohort (who had to return home to the valley for other non-bookish obligations...sad, isn't it!) Now I was on my own and I can really power-shop!! I hit a few booths before the crowds arrived and then the day began ....

• Brad Meltzer was the star speaker for the event and spoke at the Star Pavillion. He was S.U.P.E.R.!! I discovered a new hero!! He was funny, thoughtful, intriguing, honest, forthright, and powerful. He spoke about his family, his beliefs, his books, his History Channel TV show - Decoded, and the legacy we leave behind of ourselves. It was truly the most powerful message I have heard in AGES!
• Wicked Women was a panel with Thomas Perry (love him - true gentleman) Robert Dugoni, Lisa Lutz, moderated by Barbara Peters. Well done and funny. I have got to get Thomas Perry's new book....note to self! I met the nicest lady from Green Valley - we could be friends, I know.
  
• Deadlier than the Male was a panel with JA Jance, Betty Webb, and Elizabeth Gunn and was not my first choice but it was great. I had headed to a Women in History class but the lines were painfully long and I was just not in that sort of mood - soooooo....I headed to the center of the festival and took in these three grand dames of mysteries set in Tucson/Arizona. It was a terrific panel.
  
• About the Brain. This is where true serendipity plays a part! CNN hosted panels all weekend long and this one really appealed to me. As I wandered into the theater I found a seat and asked if it was taken, as I climbed over the young woman sitting down I looked closely and it was Alyce from At Home with Books!!!!!! Yeah!! She's all the way from the northwest, folks!! That's a lot of wing flappin' and now we find each other amongst 100,000 bookies?!?!? I can't even find the bathroom. Well we had fun time catching up and then the brain-busting began. The topic was fascinating. Moonwalking with Einstein; The Art and Science of remembering Everything, Annoying; The Science of What Bugs You, and Save Your Brain - three books to be added for my reading pleasure and edutainment!! Wow!
• Lastly - oh say it ain't so....Doing Your Research or Doctor vs Lawyer; the Final Contest with Steve Berry (lawyer) and Michael Palmer (doctor) moderated by Josh Bazell (doctor!) Totally cool. Their research tips and ideas were fantastic and fun. I loved this class.
  

Here, I'll show you my wares!! I hit up a second hand bookstore tent and found a couple of these beauties for $1!!! I shopped the UA bookstore, the tents and even found the Kettle Corn booth (before the long lines!) I loved running into authors just wandering around (like me) looking for the perfect book to read. It was a slice of heaven. A reading weekend.

The other slice of heaven was staying at Casa de Mellor... aka my mom's house. Rich and I took my mom and stepdad to the airport Saturday morning so they could leave on a cruise. I was handed the keys to the casa and told to have fun, feed the birds and water the plants. No problemo!! They live in the foothills in a canyon with little cell coverage, plenty of views, sunshine and wild critters. I was in heaven. I would be there still if a cute guy hadn't returned to pick me up come late Monday afternoon. I guess I will have to give up my life of sitting on the patio and reading ALL day. Here at home on Spring Break I have interspersed the patio sitting with library trips and QT runs....

Ahhhh. I feel my blood pressure returning to normal. Yep, this Spring Break is awesome.