The Week in Review

Nothing has been blogworthy lately. Life has just continued on. We are happily in our regular groove after a bit of adjustment from our extended vacation. Here's what we've been up to, in pictures:


We have played with our dog.


We have read books to each other.




We have tried on our beautiful flower girl dresses.






We have baked cookies.


And we have spent hours digging for "ice crystals" in the "iceberg" which is still in front of our house! Life is good.

It!

Let's see. Seven little known and interesting facts about me. Hmmm. I can come up with little known, but interesting might be hard. You be the judge.

1. I hate country music. A lot.
2. My least favorite part of teaching is scoring writing tasks.
3. I have never broken a bone.
4. I used to be a tiny bit (or really a lot) obsessed with Princess Diana. I was 11, 12, 13. She was beautiful and a real princess. Somewhere in the garage are a couple big rubber maid tubs full of scrapbooks (I cut out every article I found), and other memoriablia I collected. My mom took me and my best friend in Scotland out of school for a day, and we went by train to Edinburgh to see her wedding dress (there are really no words to describe it!)and gifts (the huge green bowl from the Reagans was hideous!) in a traveling exhibit. My parents also took me to see Holyrood House were she was living with Prince Charles about a year after they married. Two figures were walking among the trees in the distance on the grounds (we could only look from the sidewalk). I still tell myself it was them. And, no, my Diana is not named after her. It's just a beautiful name.
5. I was at mass performed by Pope John Paul II. Not Catholic, but still cool.
6. I pulled dry belt in a plywood mill one summer. It was the worst job of my life. I was supposed to grade, sort and stack sheets of veneer (you know the thin layers that make up a sheet of plywood)as they came out of the drier. It was probably 125 degrees in there (that's not an exaggeration!) and I would drink an entire gallon of water in between breaks. I would soak my t-shirt in cold water on my break and wear it back to work. About every two weeks I would wear holes in my leather work gloves and have to buy new ones. I had steel toed boots. Needless to say, I was terrible at it. And, do you know how to grade veneer? You judge the knot holes in comparison to a can of chew. Good thing the guy on the line in front of me had a perfect faded ring from his can in the back pocket of his Levis!
7. My pinkies are bent weird. They curve inward. Mom says it's the first thing she noticed about me after I was born. No one else in our family has them, so we have no idea where they came from. They're just weird.

New Name, Please

Okay, friends, I need some help here. When Diana and I sat down at the computer in March to try blogging, I just typed in "Denney's Blog" to get us started. I always planned to change it to something witty and clever as soon as the idea came to me. Guess what? Nothing has come to me. I also didn't really expect that blogging would turn into a regular hobby like it has. I've had a few ideas, but nothing came together just right. I thought about something to do with a parenting three girls/princesses/daughters...I thought about something to do with "Days of Our Lives" (which I have loved since high school and whose life isn't soap operaish now and then?)... I've tried to be alliterative with my first and last name...Nothing's right. So, I'm hosting a "Name My Blog" contest. The Grand Prize is: nothing. Not really. You'll win bragging rights as the namer of my blog. Put your thinking caps on. Let the competition begin!

Out of the mouths of babes...

We had an altogether too short (less than 24 hours!) visit with Kendra and Felipe this weekend. We always miss her so much when she goes away! This time the girls and I had tons of fun ordering flower girl dresses with her. I will only say they're called "Cinderella". You'll have to wait until later for more details than that! Anyway, since it was such a short visit (thank you again, Arctic Blast 08) I took the girls with me to her bridal shower on Saturday. She got the usual baking utensils, kitchen towels, glassware...One friend picked out a very pretty and tasteful gray silk nighty at Victoria Secret. We were all admiring it and commenting on how perfect it would be for Tahiti when Laura chimed in earnestly, "Oh no. They forgot the bottoms!"

Happy New Year!

You'd think with all the time I've spent at home in the last three weeks that I would have posted more on my blog...For the first time, I don't wish Christmas had lasted longer. I took my time wrapping, baking, decorating, savoring the season. It was relaxing, fun and complete. My only regret is the postponed annual girls' Christmas tea and overnight at the Heathman in downtown Portland. It won't be quite the same in February, but it will have to do. The girls and I did get dressed up and have a little tea party of our own while the snowflakes fell silently outside our windows. I enjoyed many extra hours at Mes Amies, too. December is fun there. Men walk in, completely out of their element, and gladly accept coffee, gift suggestions and wrapping. Often I know their wives so it's fun to choose things for them and know what they're getting under the tree! For sure, there's no dressing rooms to clean or "Does this make my butt look big?". It's a whole different game, and I enjoy the challenge. Of course extra hours there mean Christmas gifts to me from me, too. Woo hoo!

Here are some highlights of 2008:
Mary and Laura turned 6 and finished kindergarten
Easter and spring break in San Francisco
Diana turned 8 and finished second grade
Mom and Dad took Diana to Spain for 10 days
Two weeks with my family in my beloved (and rainy!)Scotland
Debbie coming home with us
selling the duplex
An awesome weekend in Seattle
starting year 18 in sixth grade core!
the first days of first and third grades
many, many visits from the tooth fairy
taking on new challenges at Linfield supervising student teachers and preparing to teach a course spring semester
a very happy Halloween with the Eitzens
Thanksgiving in Roseburg with my aunt and grandpa in Roseburg for the first time in years
no trips to the emergency room!
no more training wheels
8 year old insomnia
soccer, soccer, and more soccer, ballet and piano lessons
special afternoons with just James and Abby
a long, restful and snowy Christmas season followed by New Year's at the Beach House, a perfect way to start a new year

We're already planning the adventures and awaiting the surprises 2009 has in store for us. Disneyland and American Girl Place in April. Debbie's visit in June and July (you can't back out now, D!). Turning 7, 9, 44 and 40! Kendra and Felipe's wedding. And DC/NYC in November. In between, we'll be dancing, playing soccer, playing Webkinz, reading, laughing and growing. I know the craziness of life is about to begin again, but we're ready for it. Welcome, 2009!