The Norwood Nest has been silent online lately... but not so silent in real life! Here’s a brief update of the last month and I promise to be better at blogging in the New Year!
Work: Stressful. Although I am SO glad to be back in Houston, this was one of the hardest semesters of work I’ve experienced. With Hurricane IKE and all the loveliness it brought to my school along with re-acquainting myself with YES culture, team teaching, integrating, and taking on a new administrative role, I’m EXHAUSTED. Add to that – several kids I really worked hard with (actually 7 kids) got kicked out this semester. I had 4 bring knives to school, 1 cut herself in the bathroom, and 2 more violently fight. So some days I’m like “WHAT exactly am I doing, again?” I’ve come to the conclusion that my school is crazy and I am crazy and the combination is what I like to call "crazy squared". The result of crazy squared has been me working way too much. And even when I’m not working, I’m thinking about working, and even when I’m not thinking about working, I’m stressed out about something. It is my top priority in the new year to work on my stress levels. I’m going to start by going to the spa next week (Thanks, Brent!). Then I’m going to work on getting my physical, emotional, and spiritual life into balance. Finally, I’m going to edit my mental monologue about work, myself, and life in general. And to make it all work, I'm going to do my best to stop trying to be perfect. We’ll see!!!!!!!!!!
Christmas Festivities: Since we are spending Christmas in Dallas, we decided to have a Christmas dinner with Brent’s side of the family. We hosted ten people for dinner – Brent’s parents, sister and brother-in-law, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandfather, and us! It was my first real Christmas dinner for that many people, so I was nervous! But it turned out well. I was so focused that I did not take a single picture, so unfortunately, there is nothing to document the evening. But, I can tell you what I made: Ginger marinated pork tenderloin, shallot mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and baked apples. For desert everyone brought their favorite Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun! We had to put a leaf in our table and even then, we were cozy. Brent and I also realized that we do not have ten of ANYTHING, so we had an eclectic mix of dinnerware, cups, and silverware. I like to call it shabby chic.
We are now enjoying Christmas at my parents’ house in Dallas. We were mostly entertained by my parent’s new 52” TV and Apple TV. Fun, fun! We spent the day opening presents, eating, and laying around. We're about to go over to my aunt's to see the rest of the family! Enjoy pictures below from Christmas so far!
It's been a while since I've added anything to the apartment! It was about time, and I had time, so yesterday and today I painted a canvas that's been in my closet for three months! Some of you may remember the ribbon catastrophe of 2008 or the scrapbook paper canvas debacle, but thankfully, none of these mishaps permanently damaged the canvas, so it sat blank for quite a while.
