The Deal Went Down

Oh good heavens, I feel like I was just part of some kind of drug deal. Don't be alarmed, I haven't gone off the deep end. Here's what happened. I'm sitting at Barnes & Noble, nursing Sammy in the corner of the cafe with one hand and typing away on my thesis research with the other. Then I get a phone call. "Hello. This is Angela." The voice on the other end simply responds, "I'm here, parked out front." I tuck Sam into the stroller, slide my laptop into my bag, pick up my tea and head toward the door. As soon as I'm outside, I look for the blue Chevrolet I had been told of the night before. There it sat, at the front of the row, about 20 feet from the B&N door. I approach the car, the window is down, we look at each other knowingly. That's when the deal goes down. I pull out my money and she pulls out the goods. The exchange is made and I return to the store while she drives away. Done. Life continues.

my partner in crime

 Okay, so maybe I should share the details. Last night I found the perfect pair of mary jane shoes for Ella that I want to use in an upcoming family photo. I came across them on a classifieds page on Facebook and quickly posted "interested!" to claim them. And let me tell you, it was close. The next post was only a moment later. Another mama claimed second if I didn't end up getting them. So we decided to meet this morning in front of B&N so I could give her an entire dollar for the shoes. Yes, one dollar. Love it. But when I came back in the store with my baby and my tea, I felt a little odd. Almost like I should hold the shoes up over my head and proclaim, "They're shoes! That's all. Just shoes." Instead I got a little giddy about the great deal I got on the little black shoes for Ella. For a buck.

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Week one of class is finished of my last semester of grad school. Hence the lack of posts in the last week. It's so hard to post while I have class assignments.. and now thesis research.. hanging over me. Believe me, I would much rather write blog posts, but this is my attempt at being a very dedicated student. I'm so relieved that this is my last semester. Not that I don't enjoy it. I do. Very much. It's just that I'd like to move on with other things. It will be fantastic to have my Masters of Education when we finally head abroad and I get to teach there. (See this post for thoughts on our travels.) While we're in Duluth, I really want to focus on The Little Yellow Kitchen and see what can happen with it. I have so many dreams of stepping things up and doing more in the kitchen. I would love to expand and add my aprons and bibs to the shop, but I just don't have the time for now. Oh dreams, they can be so inspiring and somewhat frustrating all in the same moment.

new flavor: apple cinnamon cake with caramel vanilla buttercream

I'm doing my thesis on reading at a high school level. If you get me going on it, I've got a lot to say. It's fascinating and there just isn't enough research and time and money put into it. What is more important in secondary education than ensuring every high school student can read? Think about how much reading is done every hour of class. If a student can't read, there is no hope of further education beyond high school, if they can even graduate. Many can't. So that's my focus. How can teachers be better at making sure every student can read without taking them out of the regular classroom and putting them in a specialized class? So here's my working title: Teaching reading without "teaching reading": Content-area reading instruction in the mainstream classroom." For the next three months I'll be focusing on classroom observations, teacher interviews, and writing writing writing. I've got at least 35 pages written already. I'm thinking 35 more is a possibility.

Can you see why I prefer writing on the blog? I'll try to use blog posts as a break from academic writing between now and Christmas.

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We recently started the tradition of stopping at a garage sale on the way home from school on Fridays. This umbrella was Ella's big 10 cent purchase last week, though I'm not sure how it lasted the day. She insisted on having it open in the house and kept jamming it in doorways between rooms. We're working on proper umbrella etiquette.

Is it feeling like Fall where you are? It certainly is here! Today we're all sporting sweaters and cozy socks. True signs of changing seasons.