Ahoy, Matey

Today was pretty much awesome. I am done with college! I took two tests today to finish up a correspondence class that I should have finished months ago. Out of the original nine months of time, I was down to four remaining days. It feels so great to be finished! The graduation ceremony is a week from Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.

I found an awesome website that offers all kinds of Australian treats that are shipped from here in the U.S. They have the most random items. It brought back a lot of memories. One of the first adjustments I had to make there was finding things to eat in the grocery store. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I'm so pumped to order me some Cheds and Minties!

The second Pirates of the Caribbean movie was released on DVD today! I have been excited about it for quite awhile. I watched it with my parents tonight. My sisters would have probably suffered traumatic nightmares from all the sweet special effects. How exciting it is that there will be a third! I can barely stand the wait.

I played piano today for my good friend's mom's classroom. She works in a special ed. classroom. The kids were so excited to have a "real" piano player there. It was fun to see their smiling faces and hear what they have been working on for their Christmas program. It is also exciting to see a public school that hasn't removed all traces of the true meaning of the season.

Stay warm, be happy, and enjoy the Christmas season!

The Power of Suggestion

7:45 - I wake up hearing my dad use some rather colorful language about human intelligence.

7:46 - My mom calmly explains to him how to unstick my sister's tongue from a metal pole.

7:48 - I jump out of my bed before my originally scheduled time. There's no way I'm going to miss this.

7:49 - I help my dad fill a pitcher with warm water.

7:50 - I look out the window to find that the bus is waiting at the end of the lane. Everyone loves a show.

7:55 - The bus drives away as my dad and sister walk up the lane.

I learn as the morning progresses that before my sisters had left the house to wait for the bus, my dad told Mallory not to lick any cold poles or touch anything with wet skin. "It's freezing out there, you'll stick right to it."

My sister, in her eight years of wisdom has not yet tried this for herself. She therefore made the choice to stick her tongue to a sign pole. There was no triple-dog dare involved (unless there's something Alissa isn't telling us).

The poor thing must have been scared out of her mind. There was crying and blood. This is usually not a good start to a day of school.

My mom decides that we should send a note to the teacher, though I'm sure the teacher knew within 2 minutes of the bus arriving at school. Mom asks Mallory, "What do you think the note should say?" Mallory replies, "Don't put up any more poles!" Yes, that is the problem. Too many poles.

My sister gets up from the kitchen table and walks out to the porch to reapply her winter layers. My dad and I can't help but notice that her tongue is still sticking out of her mouth. We discreetly laugh really hard. You see, Mallory loves being the center of attention. I'm glad I don't have to witness how she acts at school today. I'm sure she'll play this up.

The moral behind the story is that you should never tell someone about licking metal poles in the winter, because they will have to prove that you are right. My sister Nicole has done this before as well. I told her it would stick, and she had to prove me right.

In light of the season and today's excitement you can bet there will be a showing of the classic movie "A Christmas Story" at the Zwiefel house!

Truth Be Told...

CELEBRATE!

Today was a pretty big day. Thursday, 23rd of the month... oh yeah, and it was THANKSGIVING and my BIRTHDAY!!! I'm going to warn you, this post is all about me, so if you don't care, stop reading :) Otherwise, I warned ya!

I hung out with the sisters most of today, it was awesome! We took lots of photos. Photo #1: Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go! (Minus the woods, and it was really only a creek.)

We spent most of the afternoon playing card games and sharing stories. I love my grandma. She still has an accent from the south, and she is hilarious! Oh, and she makes the best cornbread stuffing, which I had been looking forward to for weeks. It didn't disapoint.

My mom made me a bundt cake with white and chocolate icing. "Dere's a hole in dis cake!" As if Thanksgiving didn't provide enough food, I helped myself to a few pieces of delicious birthday cake.

As we waited for the hours between lunch and the big family Thanksgiving dinner to pass, my sisters and I walked from the grandparents' house to the West Bend grotto. We took some great snaps with my camera. It rocked.



Another highlight was that there were really cute babies at the family gathering! My cousin's daughter Aubriana is eight months old. My other cousin has a son almost a year old. His name is Landon, and he is precious as well. I loved holding and playing with them! See Exhibit B. Landon didn't want to smile for the camera.

I recieved tons of great messages and wishes from family and friends. I am so thankful for all the many blessings in my life.

Rollerblade Music

Not "goodbye".... more like "seeyalater"!

My last day of student teaching today... Yeah, it's weird. I know it won't sink in until next week sometime, when I'm typing away on the giant project I could've had done by now. I went to the high school during the morning to see what was going on there. I was not impressed. Because of that, I missed my second and third graders. I heard later that one of them wondered "where that lady went." I will miss them tons! I'm excited for the next season of my life. (I feel that "semesters" is too college-ish, so I'll refer to them as "seasons") I have basically decided what I want to do, but I have to make sure everything is in order before I blog to the world. I organized the photos on my computer today. I found this one of Mallory, taken before I left for Australia. It's hard to believe how much has happened since then.

Bits and Pieces

I couldn't think of much to write about, so I thought I'd include some random thoughts and happenings.

• This afternoon I went to a Halloweeen piano recital. Mallory dressed as Queen Amidala. She pronounces it a little more like Amidello.
• I got my first "teacher" photo taken on Friday. I get a free packet. What in the world am I ever going to do with those pictures...
• I made a giant list of to-do items for the weekend... and slowly but surely I'm getting them done. Update the blog was on the list... CHECK!
• I went to my uncle's house for supper. His son-in-law brought his hunting friends from Wisconsin. We had mule-deer steak and cheese curds!
• I watched parts of Ghostbusters II today. I probably could've lived without that.
• I recently bought the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die. I have several hundred still to go.

Popcorn Diva

It's random story time. Deb recently shared a story on her blog and I felt that it might be fun to share something random as well. I had a hard time thinking about what to write about, but here goes...

When I was in Kindergarten my class put on a circus for our families, complete with "lions," "tigers," and . . . well I guess there really weren't any bears. I was chosen as the popcorn ma'am. I was given this role so that I might sing the solo about being a popcorn person. On the day of the big show I was dressed in my favorite blue leotard (I was also an acrobat, of course). It was very much an eighties sort of outfit. When it was time for my solo I walked out onto the middle of the floor with a giant box of popcorn tied around my neck. I then gave it my very best effort. And . . . no one could hear me. I had to sing the whole song again with the rest of the class helping me out. How humiliating. It was a good time overall, but it's funny to think about my first solo in front of a real audience. My friend Jill has the whole thing on tape. We break it out occasionally for a good laugh.

Let it...Snow?

It's snowing! Right now, outside my house! I don't know if I'm excited or not. I think I am, because it's something new. I need to wear warmer clothes to school. They hadn't turn the heat on yet today and it was a bit chilly. Student teaching is draining me of all energy. I took a nap when I got home from school. I taught my first full lesson of first graders on Tuesday, times four. It was a bit intense. I forgot a very important CD at home. Fortunately my cooperating teacher is absolutely amazing and helped me figure out a back up plan. I thought it might turn out badly, but I got four hugs that morning. I love first graders! I got one today too, and a school picture. They're so sweet! I just figured out how to add links to my posts. The one below is a special treat for a special friend. If you've been reading her blog, you might find it interesting as well. Stay warm!

For Debra

Fall means FOOTBALL!

I can't really explain why, but since returning to America I feel a renewed interest in football. I recently decided that I wanted to choose a team to follow. This is no minor undertaking. I want to put some thought into it. It would also be a long term commitment. It isn't just through the SuperBowl. I told my friend Heather about it, and she is going to pick a team as well. I hope you realize that this is serious business!! We were challenged by brother Dustin to name all 32 NFL football teams and their mascots today. I am proud to say we accomplished the task! ... okay with a little help ... maybe a lot. Anyhow, we now have a list of all 32 teams! Here are the criteria I've created for choosing a team. Let me know if I'm missing anything.

These are in no particular order.

1. Team Colors (for example - brown and orange are not an appealing combination, unless you are a fall tree)
2. Team Mascot
3. Ability to win, at least on occasion

Remember When...

In second grade, a Happy Meal could solve all of life's problems.

In seventh grade, laughing with friends over cute boys made your day.

In the first year of college, a call from an old friend lightens the worry you have about your mile-long to-do list.

Even now, these things still make me happy.

It's the Little Things

I spend a lot of my time these days in school. My day starts pretty early, I have to be there by 7:40 AM. Today I worked with second and third graders. It's fun teaching them big words like crescendo and ostinato. They are smart kids! Today the shop teacher who shares an office with Sheila brought his lunch from Maggie B's, one of the best bakeries in town. He kindly brought both Sheila and me a pumpkin cookie with delicious frosting. It was wonderful. I led warm-ups for both sixth and eighth grade choir. I stood up and walked to the front of them room, said some things and began to play the first notes on the piano. All of a sudden the piano (a really fancy digital one) began playing a rousing version of Danny Boy. I had NO idea how to turn it off. Sheila had to run up and help me out. It made me laugh. Talk about a great start. Fortunately the eighth grade was feeling merciful today. We had a good laugh and started over. It's the little things that make each day special.

Three Things

Three things I did today:

I e-mailed Australians.

I took a three hour nap.

I chased a llama through half a mile of open field.

Hello friends,

I was in need of a new place to blog. MSN spaces has let me down. Hence why I decided to join the masses and use blogger.com. It must work! Right? Anyhow. I need to get some sleep, so I'm just going to paste in here what I had wanted to post on my other site. I'll be around....

Home. What a wonderful word. I could complain about it, but don't beleive for a moment I'd rather be in Australia with a bunch of strangers than here with my favorite people in the world! Besides, who wouldn't want to sleep on an air mattress 10 feet from a big screen TV, 5 feet from a mini pool table, and 3 feet from my long absent computer. All my sisters actually... If they had their way there would be a slumber party in my "bed" every night!

Today was my first day of student teaching in Algona. It's going to be quite different from down under! I will be working with 1-3 graders and 6-8th grades. It is a bit daunting to be at the beginning of the next 8 weeks and know that the emotional rollercoaster will most likely find its way into my life. It will be easier this time though, knowing that I can get away and spend quality time with my family and friends.

Exciting news from the Zwiefel farm: We have two new additions to our family!! LLAMAS! Their names are Big John and Little John. Creative huh? I had no part in it, and I actually didn't believe Dad when he told me. They are really cool. They were just groomed for the fair a few weeks ago, so their fur is really soft.

Last bit of news. I may decide to find another website to use for blogging. I don't like what has become of this one. Stay tuned for a change of address... (actually this is it, so if you're reading this, no need to worry!)

Have a great day!