A Hilton Head Christmas

Two things:
1. I joined 2012 just in time and upgraded to a smartphone. Consequentially, I got Instagram! PTL.
2. I have spent the past two weeks (almost) in Hilton Head, celebrating Christmas and, other than going to the Outlets almost daily, doing not much else than being with my family.

However, thanks to #1, here are some Instagram snapshots of our time in HHI:

Tomorrow I'll be riding the rails back to good ol' Virginia for a reunion of sorts with my college friends.  I cannot wait.

A Thrill Of Hope...

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has visited and redeemed his people.

He has sent us a mighty Savior

from the royal line of his servant David,

just as he promised

through his holy prophets long ago.

...We have been rescued from our enemies

so we can serve God without fear,

in holiness and righteousness


for as long as we live."

Luke 1:68-70, 74-75

...The weary world rejoices.

Merry Christmas!

[Image by Lindsay Letters]

I Did It!

Currently Listening To: Christmas Lights, Coldplay
Yesterday I Saw: The Hobbit!

I actually finished my scarf several days ago, so apologies if you have been waiting with bated breath to see my knitting progress. (I know you were.) I am much obliged to Julia, for helping me start, and Amy, for helping me finish.

In other news, I am in Hilton Head, and will be through Christmas. Yay!

Jingles & Bells

Regarding Christmas music, I stand by this playlist I posted last year.

I also adore and am instantly joyful whenever I hear this example Michael Buble Christmas jubilation:

(this, and "All I Want For Christmas Is You" are definitely top 5 contenders, as far as non-carols go.)

But I also wanted to share with you some good news which, if you love Ben Rector like I love Ben Rector, will have you shouting "it's a Christmas miracle!" Because you can download his holiday album fo' free on NoiseTrade. Click on the pic below to take you there! (Thank you to Abby for telling me about this last week!)

You're welcome and Merry Christmas.

My Kids

Currently Watching: Downton Abbey

1st Block

3rd Block

4th Block

It's my first official day of Christmas break, but I am definitely missing my kids. I am grateful, though, for the good time I had with them and especially for the beautiful binder I received full of notes and drawings they made me. "Thank you Ms. Black for teaching our class and how much effort you put in even though their wasn't any pay but even so we tried give you respect and love," says one note. And this one: "So I am sad you have to go but you will make a great teacher. But don't have butterflies because your class if there not that well behaved they can smell you fear..."*

They really are the best.

*After typing these up, I have realized the there/their confusions are more prevalent than I realized. Too bad I'm not there any more to help them work on that...

Last Day

Tomorrow is my last day of student teaching. It blows my mind to be on this side of something that I've known is coming for several years now, that seemed so big and daunting when it was summertime and I was looking towards it (and it was big and daunting, I was right about that).

And while it is nice to have made it through and survived and to get to have a nice long Christmas break now, it's a little sad, too. Because I really love my kids, and seeing them everyday and walking the halls of my school and doing lunch duty and photocopying things and telling students to get out their books for SSR has been my normal for about four months now.

As I was thinking about this earlier, I came up with a few other things I am going to miss:

- Post-it notes stuck to my computer with lists of names of kids who owe me work

- Learning fun facts about hunting (did you know that a deer doesn't respond to sound, aka you could yell "Deer!" and it wouldn't run, but rather movement?). Also, how to wear your hat if you consider yourself country.

- Having the key to open stuck lockers, and saving the day for a student who is scared of being late to their next class
 
- Being asked if I'm married three times a week
 
- Hearing random statements like these (all verbatim, I write things like these down as soon as I hear them): "I'm horrible at whistling. I can call bats, though." "YOU're a hyperbole story." "Faith, you look like Rosa Parks." "Do you have a Mr. Black?" etc.

- Playing 'four corners' on Fridays when we have a little extra time

- The fact that 6th graders cannot keep secrets very well, meaning that I have been trying to remove myself from conversations all week where they start to let slip something about what they are planning for me tomorrow.

I can't wait to be surprised by it. 

Knitters Unite

Currently Listening To: Don't You Worry Child, Swedish House Mafia 
 

As of yesterday, we are an apartment of knitters. Lesson #1 happened last night, courtesy of Julia, and now we are on a roll. Or a skein, if you will.

Actually, I'm a little mad at my knitting right now because even though I'm doing all the right steps, and I just restarted on bigger needles (as opposed to the ones shown above) so I can actually feel like I accomplished something, it just looks like a tangle of knots right now. Apparently that's how it's supposed to look in the beginning, but I'm not convinced.

Have you ever thought about the mechanics of knitting? What is actually happening, and how it works? I hadn't. Did you know that you begin with a series of loops (stitches, technically) down one needle, and then you use your other needle to go through and around over, and loop more yarn through? That the process of knitting a row essentially involves moving all the stitches from one needle to the other, and kind of adding more as you go? And then you switch hands and do it all over again. And again, ad nauseum. It is a very intriguing and complicated process..and obviously one that I am still trying to grasp the hang of.

Please wish me patience and perseverance as I continue in this endeavor. Fingers crossed I'll have a beautiful teal infinity scarf to show you sometimes soon. Right now, though, that's looking a little ambitious...