Some Rainbow In the Sky!

After the storm Monday night we were blessed with this breathtakingly beautiful rainbow over the lake.
If you look closely you can see a double rainbow. I think the pot of gold was at my friend's house across the lake!!


“No vision and you perish;
No Ideal, and you're lost;
Your heart must ever cherish
Some faith at any cost.
Some hope, some dream to cling to,
Some rainbow in the sky,
Some melody to sing to,
Some service that is high.”
Harriet Du Autermont

Orange TV, Huckleberries Online, Used Books in Coeur d' Alene, and Mamma Mia!

SR photo of DFO

When I started my blog I had already been reading Huckleberries Online for a few months. It is a blog through the Spokesman Review newspaper in Spokane/Coeur d'Alene. "Dave Oliveria is the ringleader of this online circus known as Huckleberries, which began on Feb. 16, 2004." HBO keeps inland empire readers updated on news, opinions, political views, and much more. Through HBO I have met many online friends through comments and links to their blogs. You can find this blog here. It is worth a visit!

A few weeks ago I put out a thread that I wanted recommendations for used book stores in CdA. Silver Valley Girl and I were doing a sister day and I wanted to look for used books. I got lots of great suggestions. I also read the blog Get Out North Idaho by Orange TV which also runs as a print column in the SR. He featured information about events, concerts, restaurants and other things happening in the inland empire. I respect Orange's recommendations for places to dine. So off we went on Sister Day with the list of ideas for used book stores and places to eat thanks to Orange TV. You can read Silver Valley Girl's post of the day here.

Orange TV had recommended Calypso's Coffee so we began our day there. I agreed with his review of the place. It was comfortable, a great place to hang out, and we were glad we also ordered the Mexican Mocha!

Perfect! Add a blueberry scone to the mix and it was well worth the trip! Stickman and Orange TV had both recommended the Humane Society Thrift Shop on 3rd for used books. I agreed with them on this place. I found copies of books I had been searching for and yes, they did have a good variety. I loved also that I was giving my money to a good cause. I had my dog Emily because of the Humane Society in Cd'A. Sweet Herb and Angela had suggested The Bookworm and we went there also. For trade paperbacks it was a good stop. Nothing really unique, but if you love best seller paperbacks for half the price, it is your store! Reader had recommended St. Vincent dePaul and he/she was right about their selections also. Silver Valley Girl and I had the most fun there because we found so many books we had read through the years that we could hold up titles and laugh about a memory attached to that book. We also each found a nice pile of books there. Thanks DFO... we also stopped at`The Boy's Ranch and Women's Center Thift Shops. Both were a bit picked over this time through, but the stores were interesting just for browsing. By the time we reached Browsers Uncommon Books recommended by Bjorn and Matt we were a bit on book overload. I love this store. I have visited it for the last fifteen years. One thing I love about it is that it really doesn't change much except the collection gets updated.It is still owned by the same guy, it is a bit crowded, books sit on the floor, but it adds to the charm. I hit gold here in seeking volumes for my recently started poetry collection. That made it worth the trip. Here is one stack of books I have added to my book collection. I have wanted to read Planet of the Blind by Stephen Kuusisto since I read an excerpt a few years ago. Raymond Pert found his blog and had also recommended this book. So many people have told me I need to read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving so I bought it to add to my stack. Generally when you hear a book title come up over and over, it is worth finding the book and reading it. The poetry books I found that day included collections by Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson, Rita Dove, Ted Kooser, Sandra Cisneros, May Sarton, and others. For the stacks of books we bought that day each of us paid a fraction of the cost. I felt like St. Vinnies and The Humane Society stores had the best deals. I must say the readers in CdA have excellent taste in books and I was glad to see so many recycled to used book stores.Continuing with the food recommendation list, we ate lunch at The Sunshine Trader. Orange TV's restaurant review was posted right by the counter as we walked in. We agreed again with all that was written and would give this place a thumbs up!! Nourished by great sandwiches, huckleberry lemonade and iced spice tea we were ready to make a few other shopping stops before going to the matinee of Mamma Mia! This was one of those movies I had heard about, knew it was based on ABBA songs, and knew who was in it. I decided I really wanted to see it. I love ABBA songs and had no idea what an enjoyable two hours that musical would be. I kept wanting to grab a perfume bottle microphone and join in singing down the aisle!! We loved it so much we are going again with more family members this week! We rounded out a perfect day by going out on a limb and trying a restaurant just because we wanted to eat there. We continued our Greek theme at The White House in Post Falls. It was a fun-filled day that included all the things the two of us love- laughs, good coffee, books, bargains, singing, dancing, talking, excellent food, and kinship. Thanks again HBOers and Orange TV for the great recommendations. If you need used books... now you also have some ideas.

sr photo

Sibling Assignment #72: Advice to The Princess

Here is The Princess at Christmas, a few weeks ago on vacation, at the prom... and of course a pose of her dog Sadie.

This sibling assignment came from Silver Valley Girl. Today she will be escorting her daughter the Princess to Coeur d'Alene to begin her freshman year at North Idaho College.
"Since The Princess will be moving into her dorm room at NIC on Sunday, August 24th, let's post some advice, memories, information that could help her as she begins her first semester of college." You will soon fine Silver Valley Girl's here and Raymond Pert's is here.

Top Ten Things To Remember As You Begin College Tomorrow
10. A highlighter is to highlight important concepts in the text... not create a lovely art project to keep you awake while studying.
9. Make sure you are alert when you get to class.... head bobbing, snoring, and drooling are not attractive no matter how cute you are!
8. When in doubt about anything... ask.
7. When someone begs you to write a paper for them because they know you are skilled at English.... give them a copy of Green Eggs and Ham to turn in ...especially if their name is Sam.
6. When you are stressed, tired, and overwhelmed and in doubt of what to do.... go to class anyway.
5. Find a Bible study group, read your Bible, and pray.
4. Take time each day to enjoy the beauty of the setting at NIC. Take a walk, sit on the beach, and enjoy the outdoors.
3. Remember... everyone that cares about you deeply is only a phone call or email away 24-7.
2. Reflect on your blessings every day.
1. Be proud of what you have accomplished in the first chapter of your life.
We are all behind you cheering you along the way. You go girl!

Camera Critters: Celebrating Our Anniversary in the Wedding Garden

Today JEJ and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We started our morning in the wedding garden. It is hard to believe we started this garden eleven years ago. Here is the early morning view from the wedding garden. Slowly many of our cats and dogs decided to come and join us while we sipped our tea and coffee and enjoyed the beautiful, cooler weather ( We actually had to use a lap blanket and a fleece jacket!). Of course, Kit is always around when we gather outside.

The next thing we knew Annie and McDuff were moving in closer to celebrate. McDuff decided JEJ's lap even looked more inviting....but he passed on the tea! Isabelle woke up , stretched and strolled over to the garden.Shelby felt she needed to keep my seat warm while I wandered around to take pictures. Another added bonus this morning was the lingering scent of the phlox that moved through the morning air. It was a lovely way to start our anniversary day. For other camera critters, you can go here.

Photo Hunt: Wrinkled

Wrinkles

My friends are tired.
The ones who are married are tired
of being married.
The ones who are single are tired
of being single.

They look at their wrinkles.
The ones who are single attribute their wrinkles
to being single.
The ones who are married attribute their wrinkles
to being married.

They have very few wrinkles.
Even taken together,
they have very few wrinkles.
But I cannot persuade them
to look at their wrinkles
collectively.
& I cannot persuade them that being married
or being single
has nothing to do with wrinkles.

Each one sees a deep & bitter groove,
a San Andreas fault across her forehead.
"It is only a matter of time
before the earthquake."
They trade the names of plastic surgeons
like recipes.

My friends are tired.
The ones who have children are tired
of having children.
The ones who are childless are tired
of being childless.

They love their wrinkles.
If only their were deeper
they could hide.

Sometimes I think
(but do not dare to tell them)
that when the face is left alone to dig its grave,
the soul is grateful
& rolls in.

-Erica Jong

To check out other photo hunts using wrinkled go here.

Transition to School Schedule, School Nightmare, and Griefless Grammar

Yesterday and today I began my transition back to the academic year of teaching. Yesterday I participated in the first day of a two day workshop sponsored by the College Board which supports our language arts teaching as we prepare students for Advanced Placement classes. Last night I had my first "teacher nightmare" as summer winds down. In the nightmare I didn't sleep in on the first day of school. I didn't forget to take off my pajamas or (heaven forbid) arrive in my birthday suit. I arrived at school and my room was overcrowded with students that were very unruly. As I tried all my seasoned "bag of tricks" they just got worse. Then more and more students kept coming in so that when the period ended my room was overrun with students and I didn't even know all their names. Things seemed to get worse... but then I woke up. Whew!

The part I enjoyed the most during my workshop today was the section called Griefless Grammar. I was struck by the title of the workshop. Can grammar instruction be embedded in our teaching of writing without grief? Perhaps. I learned some exciting strategies I am eager to take back and try that attempt to make grammar instruction a bit more exciting than what I experienced while diagramming sentences and doing boardwork on verb tenses in Mrs. Peterson's class in 8th grade. After "hands-on" activities with punctuation, I actually began to appreciate the semicolon. I think it is because I understood more how to use it. Look out students; let the Griefless Grammar instruction begin.