FLOWERS!!!

...and sometimes you come across a giant flowerpot!

       

A "lovely" view

It's not much of a view, BUT:

• It's in Seattle!
• It's from my own room at the Hilton
• I'm here for free!
• I am with fantastic people
• I'm being paid to be here 
• There is tons of learning going on here at the NCCE conference 

And today it looks like this:

Being Stalked

At the end of my long run this week, about 2 blocks from my house, a car passed me. It slowed down about 20 feet ahead of me and slowly stopped. I didn't think anything of it until it stopped in the middle of the road. Weird.

I ran by. As I got even with the grill of the car I heard a kid's voice, "Ms. Zaher!!!"

I turned around to see one of my students being driven home from driver's ed (God help us all!) by his mom.

He was grinning ear to ear.

These are the moments I feel so blessed to be called to teaching.

Popcorn is back!

I haven't made popcorn since I caught my hot pads on fire a few weeks ago [see previous post]. My plan was to get an air popper to replace my oil-over-a-hot-stove system. The Idaho Youth Ranch didn't have any when I stopped by (though I did get a brand new rice cooker there) and Sunday I was at Kohl's and stared at a $25 air popper for so long the sales people were beginning to wonder. I even came back to visit it after I ran the reset of my errands in other places at the mall.

However, I didn't buy it. I thought maybe a Christmas present I still need to return could be exchanged for one. Or maybe the Youth Ranch would come through. This little voice told me not to get it, whatever the reason.

Fast forward to last night, having dinner with a friend. She said, "I have something for you. I read your blog. Come to my car with me."

She pulled a grocery sack out of the passenger side of her car and I saw a stick poking out of the top, not sure what it might possibly be. She and her husband are cleaning out their house and this was on the very top shelf, used very few times since they acquired it.

Here it is!!!

A manual popcorn maker!!!  While I'm not sure what its proper name is, I AM sure that I love it and will use it often.

And won't burn down my kitchen.

Beautiful Sunday mornings

Though I awoke with a scratch throat and cancelled my plans to go ski this morning, I greeted with a beautiful view out my front window. It's not the top of Bogus Basin, but it's still a beautiful way to start the day!

I didn't burn my house down!

I love popcorn; it's my favorite snack. I don't have a microwave so I make in on the stove with popcorn from the bulk bin and oil in a covered pot. I put the burner on HI and shake away until I have freshly popped corn. [I do realize that Jiffy Pop exists, but it has butter in it which I'm allergic to.]

Two nights ago I did this and sat on my couch happily snacking away when I noticed a burning smell. [here's where it gets bad] I ignored it, figuring I'd left the burner on or there was something in the oven; I'd be getting up soon anyways.

It got worse. I finished my popcorn. I went to the kitchen.

There was smoke rolling out of the drawer to the right of the stove. Yikes! The smoke poured out when I opened the drawer, but I couldn't figure out what the source was--this drawer just has utensils in it.

I opened the cabinet underneath the drawer. Bingo! The hot pads I'd used to hold the pot while I made the popcorn had gotten so hot they'd caught fire and were smoldering on their hook in the cabinet! 

After I took care of the immediate problems: dousing the hot pads in water to make sure they were dead out; opening the windows and turning down the heat; throwing said hot pads outside in the snow. My house smelled (and still smells) like a wildfire scar, but nothing is on fire anymore.

The morals of the story:  

• What if I had left after I finished my popcorn and hadn't smelled the burning? Oh, my, am I grateful!
• When you smell burning, Joy, go figure out what is burning. IMMEDIATELY!!!
• When firefighters tell you that things smolder for days and we may not know it, I suddenly believe them!
• I seriously need an air popper.

...and sometimes, your name is a movie

Did I mention that it's also about a bad--s?