Today marks the two year anniversary of my car accident in Ethiopia. Crazy how that time has flown! I was really hoping that our school district would call a snow day today so that I could stay home and rest as a way to celebrate but, no such luck. In any case, I am very blessed to have healed so well and come so far over the past few years.
Here are a couple of pics from that time. Crazy to think it was me wrapped up in there!
(This is in honor of my friend Jess who has shared some memorable quotes from her class).
So, my 6th graders and I started our lesson on Early Religions this week. Yesterday, we started talking about Judaism and the history of the Hebrew people. I have each of the students read out loud and when E., my little Mexican guy was reading, I had to laugh when he misread the following explanation:
“Hebrews: a meh…Mesopotamian group of huh…hooters and farmers.”
Giggle, giggle.
“No, E. That would be herders and farmers.”
Yikes.
Giggle, giggle.
With all of the hard things going on in the world right now, it was a relief to see some good news today.
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A source tells WCCO-TV’s Mark Rosen that American League MVP Joe Mauer has come to a preliminary agreement with the Minnesota Twins for a 10-year contract extension.
Mauer, 26, and the Twins had been pretty quiet about contract negotiations, while fans were eager to find out if their hometown hero would be staying put at last weekend’s annual fan festival.
This is Mauer’s final year of his current contract and manager Ron Gardenhire said Friday he was confident that both sides would come together and strike a deal.
Other media outlets late Monday published stories online that contradicted the WCCO report.
ESPN’s Buster Olney reported on a Twitter account that “Multiple sources now saying that the (WCCO) report on a preliminary agreement for Mauer is not accurate.”
And the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s national baseball beat writer, Joe Christensen, cited two sources who claimed that an agreement had not been reached.
WCCO’s Rosen Wednesday afternoon reaffirmed that the framework of a 10-year agreement had been reached. He also noted that deals like this can fall apart late in the process and that the two sides were still working out final details on incentives.
Mauer’s current salary this season is $12.5 million. Contract details about his new salary were not immediately released.
Mauer became only the second catcher in 33 years to win the coveted AL MVP award, finishing first in an almost unanimous vote in November.
Mauer set a major league record for highest batting average by a catcher and won his third batting title, becoming the first repeat batting champion since Nomar Garciaparra in 1999-00.
He’s been voted to the All-Star team three times and won his second straight AL Gold Glove award.
Mauer was born in St. Paul and would’ve been a free agent after the 2010 season.
Rosen spoke with Gardenhire during TwinsFest last week and he talked about Mauer’s negotiations.
“We all know it needs to get done. We all know Joe Mauer should be a Minnesota Twin forever; he belongs here. I think ownership knows that, and you know what, it’s a very positive thing going on right now. Everybody is trying to get it done and I believe it will get done,” said Gardenhire.
I forgot how much I enjoy Everest on Grand over in St. Paul. Nepali/Tibetan food on the corner of Grand and Syndicate. A friend from church and I enjoyed their lunch buffet today and it was amazing. They have a yummy lunch buffet every day (dishes vary from day to day). Be sure to check it out if you haven’t!
The latest fashion among middle-schoolers: TIGHT yellow skinny jeans…on a boy.
You read that correctly. As if tween boys weren’t awkward enough…
Anyone who has spent any time with me during the summer knows that I heart Dairy Queen ice cream. And, my absolute FAVORITE thing to get at DQ is something involving their cherry cone dip (the hard stuff they dip the cones in). Turns out you can do a lot more than just dip cones in it…you can have sundaes, blizzards and other creations made with it. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I know it is chalk full of Red 40 and partially hydrogenated oil but I don’t care, it’s amazing!
Well, now knowing my penchant for cherry ice cream goodness, you can imagine my curiosity when at Cub Foods the other day I saw Chocolate Cherry Bordeaux by Stone Ridge Creamery, a Cub brand produced by Supervalu. (I still don’t remember how exactly I stumbled into the ice cream aisle…) In any case, I was intrigued and had to try it. And, let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed. It is delicious! Again, full of food coloring and other not so healthy additives, but if you are looking for a treat, I definitely recommend it. And, you don’t have to just take my word for it: my roommates had some last night and agreed that it was awesome. So, let me know if you end up trying it!
Here’s the link so you know what packaging to look for. http://stoneridgecreamery.com/
To figure out that if you channeled the hormone-power of 8th grade boys into something positive, cancer would be cured, world hunger would be eradicated and tensions in the Middle East would be resolved by the middle of this year. Sheesh. Someone needs to figure out how to make that possible.
I think Kate Winslet is so classy. If I developed crushes on women, I’d have one on her.
First week as a Middle School teacher=done. Overall, it went really well. I enjoy being back in the classroom and it is fun to watch kids learn and grasp new things. But, at the same time, I do have a handful of kids who enjoy being naughty, difficult and lazy. Those ones are hard to deal with. I was never one of those kids who just didn’t care, acted up or continually showed up late. It is so frustrating to watch them fail. I know some of them are coming from tough homes and so their acting out has a root, but still, it is hard to see them make bad choices. And, for me, it is hard not to take it personally when kids act out or just don’t want to pay attention in class. But, I just need to remember that I can’t reach them all. There are always going to be a few who just don’t want to let their guard down. Still, I wish they’d be willing to adjust their attitudes…getting passing grades really isn’t that hard if you give just a bit of effort. At the same time, I am having to adjust my attitude/expectations and realize that I just won’t reach some kids. And, that is ok. All I can do is do my best for those who are willing to try.
In any case, thinking about attitude made me think of the Charles Swindoll quote about attitude which I think is really neat. Always a good reminder.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE
by Charles R. Swindoll
Philippians 2:3-5
This may shock you, but I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me, or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. The attitude I choose keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there’s no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.
Yet we must admit that we spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the things that can’t be changed than we do giving attention to the one that we can change, our choice of attitude. Stop and think about some of the things that suck up our attention and energy, all of them inescapable: the weather, the wind, people’s action and criticisms, who won or lost the game, delays at airports or waiting rooms, x-ray results, gas and food costs.
Quit wasting energy fighting the inescapable and turn your energy to keeping the right attitude. Those things we can’t do anything about shouldn’t even come up in our minds; the alternative is ulcers, cancer, sourness, depression.
Let’s choose each day and every day to keep an attitude of faith and joy and belief and compassion.
Take charge of your own mind!
(Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Day by Day with Charles Swindoll (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission).
Here are some organizations helping with disaster relief in Haiti following the horrible earthquake yesterday. Please consider giving through one of these links.
Catholic Relief Services www.crs.org (I used this one…super straightforward)
Nourish Haiti http://haitinutritionproject.org/ (This is run by some people I met this past summer)
Compassion https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/disasterrelief.htm?referer=105910
American Red Cross www.redcross.org
Yele Haiti http://www.yele.org/
World Vision www.worldvision.org
