Almost Time!

As I'm writing this post, it's 6:40pm, Pacific Time. That means that it is currently

6 DAYs, 15 HOURS, 20 MINUTES

until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training!!!

The last time the Cleveland Indians won the World Series was in 1948. We've come close a few times (most recently in the 1997 World Series when we went to Game 7 against the Florida Marlins...and Jose Mesa blew the save and we lost), but no Championship title.

I think that 60 years is long enough, and I have a good feeling about 2009. I think this is our year. Let's Go, Tribe!!!

Thursday Thirteen #2

(This image provided by Samulli.)

I took a walk today around the lake by our apartment. I love these walks for a couple reasons. First of all, it's great to just get outside and enjoy the area while getting a little exercise. But it also provides me with about 45 minutes of uninterrupted thinking. Among other things, today I took the time to appreciate some of those simple little things in life that make me happy. These are things that don't take much (if any) effort on my part, and these are things that cost me nothing. So for today's Thursday Thirteen, I have a list of:

13 Simple Pleasures

1. Seeing Shawn every day. After spending close to 3 years with him traveling back and forth between Seattle and Colorado, I can't help but smile every time he walks through the door after coming home from work.
2. Drinking coffee while still in my pajamas. I know that having that relaxed, quiet time in the morning isn't going to last, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can!
3. Reading my friends' status updates on Facebook. I love that a silly little website like Facebook allows me to feel connected to my friends who are spread out all over the country.
4. Touching a rock and feeling the sun's warmth. This is especially true on a cool day. I completely understand why snakes like to sun themselves on rocks.
5. Noticing very small flowers. Today, I noticed that some bushes near the apartment complex entrance have begun to bloom. They're tiny, but they're there. I also love the itty bitty alpine flowers that grow near the summit of the mountains where we hike in Colorado.
6. The smell of pine trees. Ponderosa pines are my favorite, but most varieties smell pretty darn good. The smell is especially good after a rain.
7. Breathing in cold air when I'm bundled up enough to stay warm. This is most noticeable on snowshoeing days!
8. Appreciating unique scenery wherever I go. Shawn and I agree that we miss the beauty of Colorado. However, Washington is beautiful, too! It's just different...different landscape, different climate, different varieties of trees and bushes. We see things here that we'll never see in Colorado.
9. The salty/fishy smell of Puget Sound. This might sound strange, but I love that smell. It lets me know that I'm close to the water, and I like to think about what's out there beyond what I can see.
10. The familiar prayers of Mass. Part of what drew me to the Catholic Church is the ritual. I love knowing that it doesn't matter where I am, if I go to Mass, I'll know the prayers. They may even be in a different language, but they're there.
11. Hearing from a friend. It doesn't matter if it's a phone call, an email, or a comment on my Facebook status (or this blog!)...I just love hearing from friends unexpectedly.
12. Watching snow fall. Watching the snow flakes fall to the ground always gives me a feeling of calm and peace. Unless I know I have to drive in it soon...but let's focus on the positive, shall we?
13. The sound of dirt and rocks under my feet when I'm walking outside. I'll admit that I wasn't a huge nature lover before I met Shawn. But I really, honestly do enjoy being outside. And there's something satisfying about this sound...whether I'm hiking up a mountain with Shawn or walking down the side of a street alone.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

For months now, I've been hearing great things about this book. After requesting it from my library in October, I finally was able to pick it up last week. It was a very fast read, but it was very good!

Despite hearing rave reviews about The Art of Racing in the Rain, there were two important details that I'm surprised I didn't know until I started reading. #1 - The "racing" referred to in the title is car racing...not running. And #2 - The book is narrated by the dog.

I should say that I'm not a fan of car racing. I've never understood why people would want to watch a car race, especially not on TV. But I was intrigued by the parallels drawn by the author between car racing and the struggles of life. It actually made quite a bit of sense. And I loved the use of a dog as the narrator. Throughout the book, he was the "innocent bystander," watching as events unfolded. I could feel his frustration as he knew exactly the right words to say to give comfort to his person but was limited to a bark, a gesture, a nuzzle.

This is a book that was at times sad, heartwarming, heartwrenching, aggravating, and funny. Especially if you can believe that pets have personality and care about their humans, I recommend this book!
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Total number of books read in 2009: 4
Total number of pages read in 2009: 2341

Teaching Update

This morning, I went to a nearby high school to talk with an Assistant Principal and a teacher about a potential long-term sub job. I knew that the teacher would be going on maternity leave in March and would be gone for pretty much the rest of the year. I also knew that she teaches Freshman English (which is a course that I've taught for the last five years).

Our meeting went well! I learned that I'll be teaching 5 sections, but there will only be one prep. Not only that, but this teacher has already done most of the lesson planning for March through June 1st! In that time, the students will be doing Animal Farm, a research unit on Shakespeare, and Romeo and Juliet. What's especially nice is that I've taught each of those things multiple times, and the teacher doesn't mind at all if I change or supplement her plans with lessons and activities of my own.

I've agreed to take the job, so it'll start whenever she has the baby (she's due March 17th). The teacher will be back on June 1st, so I won't have to completely finish out the school year. From what I was told today, it sounds like this school is very similar to my old school in Colorado, and it sounds like the English department gets along very well, too, which makes me very happy. I was also told that one of the English teachers will be retiring at the end of the school year, so there will be a full time opening for the fall!

Isn't it amazing what happens when we just trust God? I've been thinking lately that I really need to trust God to show me what to do to bring in a little income, and suddenly, I have a steady job for at least two and a half months, and there's apparently a possible opportunity to teach full time next year at a really good school. :-)

Weekend Update

This was a very lazy weekend for the Shannons. On Friday, I met up with a couple friends at Ivar's for a couple hours. The salmon cakes were really good. :) After coming home, we made dinner (Shawn grilled the chicken while I made the potatoes and veggies), and then we pretty much hung out on the couch and watched TV. Shawn's a big fan of Battlestar Galactica, so that was the main event for the night.

On Saturday, Shawn had rugby practice. We thought it was just going to be a morning practice, but it turns out that the coaches decided that the guys should have a three and a half hour practice followed by a game against the guys from University of Washington. I think it was really an effort at team bonding and recruiting (getting the guys from UW to be interested in coming to play with the Seattle team after they graduate college), which was fine. I just wasn't expecting Shawn to be gone until 4:45! While he was gone, though, I managed to finish reading The Stand, and I started reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. I also took a walk around the lake, did a little cleaning...that kind of thing. Then we went out to dinner last night (for Boston's pizza...very yummy!) and we got a really stupid movie from the Red Box at the grocery store. While "watching" the movie, I also beat Shawn twice at Carcassonne. :)

Today, we slept in and then went to church. We finally finished taking down our Christmas decorations this afternoon! Then we more or less watched the Super Bowl and ate a bunch of junk food. :) I also registered to take both of the tests that I need to pass in order to finish getting my WA teaching certification, so I was at least able to get through quite a few things from Thursday's To-Do List. So it was a pretty relaxing weekend, and yet we were able to get some things accomplished.

The Stand

I just finished reading The Stand, by Stephen King. I have to admit that I've always purposely avoided reading anything by Stephen King, simply because I freak myself out very easily. When I was reading The Lord of the Rings, if I was home alone, I just knew that the Ring Wraiths would be outside if I looked out my window. I figured Stephen King books would just push me right over the edge into crazy and/or paranoid. However...then I heard that the writers of LOST said that The Stand had a big influence on them when they were creating the show. After confirming with a few people that this book isn't super scary like some other Stephen King books, I decided to give it a try. It's also the first book I've completed for my LOST Books Challenge.I am really glad that I decided to read this book! I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about it. The story itself was very good. It starts with an accident at a Defense Department laboratory, where the U.S. government was creating a "superflu" that could potentially be used in germ warfare. However, the virus gets out of the lab, and about 99% of the world's population is killed within a matter of weeks. The survivors begin leaving their own towns and looking for others, and they soon discover that most of them are having different variations of the same dream. What starts as a story of surviving a flu epidemic and the aftermath caused by such a huge drop in population ends up becoming a story of the battle between good and evil.

After reading The Stand, I'm tempted to try some of his other books. I absolutely loved his writing style, which is full of literary allusions. I also enjoyed his attention to detail. This is probably because large portions of the book took place in parts of the country that I'm familiar with...such as Ohio and Colorado. Because I'm familiar with Boulder, Colorado, I could easily picture where many of the events in the book were happening. (And now I want to see if I can find Tom Cullen's house the next time I'm in Boulder!) At one point, King even mentioned a bumper sticker on the back of a truck that said "Get Your Ass Up the Pass"...which is actually the name of a Burro Race that takes place every year in Fairplay, Colorado.

If you haven't read The Stand, I highly recommend it! Don't let the length scare you; it's an entertaining and intriguing book. And for those of you who are fans of LOST, I can see how the writers were influenced by this book. It's an interesting thing to think about...what happens to people, society, civilization when all governmental structures are removed? Who wins...the "good guys" or the "bad guys"? What separates the "good" from the "bad"?

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When I review a book, I'm also going to use my blog as a place to keep track of the number of books I've read this year as well as the number of pages read in those books.

Total number of books read in 2009: 3

Total number of pages read in 2009: 2020

Thursday Thirteen

My friend Emily often does a "Thursday 13" blog post. I thought it was a great idea today, and when I took the time to do a little googling, I discovered the "official" Thursday Thirteen blog! So today, I'm giving it a try.

13 Things I Really Need To Do:

1. Take down our Christmas decorations. (Yes, I'm blushing.)
2. Register for and take the "content area test" that the state of Washington requires for me to be allowed to teach here after this school year.
3. Request a copy of my Praxis test scores from college...so that I don't have to take these tests again (for my WA certification).
4. Finish the laundry.
5. Work on my crocheted blanket.
6. READ! I have 300 pages left in The Stand, and I just picked up 4 books from the library yesterday. I think I have another one that needs to be picked up today or tomorrow. (I requested these books at random times over the last few months...they all came in at the same time.)
7. Organize/clean the second bedroom.
8. Get outside and take a walk.
9. Put the license plates on my car. (They've been in my car for almost two months now.)
10. Balance the checkbook.
11. Call a few friends I haven't talked to in awhile.
12. Finish making arrangements for my trip to Colorado for the Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer.
13. Organize our papers and files.