Lisa's blog

1. I am a high school math and physics teacher.
2. I have a ruptured L5/S1 disc in my back.
3. I have a "high school diploma" from the National Guild in piano.
4. I live in an Alden B. Dow house
5. I usually wake up right before my alarm rings.
6. I never shave my legs in the winter.
7. I made the news before I was even born...my mom made headlines for sueing a
   Michigan school system who told her resign from her teaching job because she was
   pregnant. My mom won.
8. I labored and birthed two boys without pain meds.
9. I have never gotten a speeding ticket.
10. I managed to back into the mailman's truck even though I have a rear view camera
    in my van.
11. I must clean the dishes (or at least put them in the dish washer) immediately
    after dinner.
12. I love to ride my bike around the block.
13. I am a follower of Christ. I need his forgiveness every day.
14. Fall is my favorite season.
15. I was my senior class president in high school.
16. I prefer my beer to be at room temperature.
17. I don't like to see movies more than once.
18. I attended the inauguration of our 44th president.
19. My favorite sweet is a powdered sugar covered, vanilla cream filled, Dunkin' Donut.
20. I have traveled to 10 different countries.
21. I read online reviews before I make almost any purchase.
22. I still have a baby tooth.
23. I buy cheap clothes but expensive shoes.
24. I am very proud of my husband and boys.
25. I over analyzed the making of this list.

This is a Trek Pure bike.  It has a very comfortable upright seating position.  The bike geometry is non-traditional with its pedal forward design.  I am able to keep my feet on the ground while seated and still get proper leg extension while pedaling.  The basket was extra....perfect for trips to the market.

I find hanging laundry out to dry to be a very relaxing activity.  Jonathan and a friend from church finished this for me a few weeks ago.  No complaints from the neighbors yet. 

Jonathan and I made six 4' by 8' plots.  Next spring, I plan to use 4 of them for veggies and herbs, one for shade perennials, and one for a cutting garden of Gladiolas.  Right now I have planted chinese cabbage, kolhrabi, beets, and spinach seeds for a fall garden.

Friday afternoon, Finn and I were gardening in the front flower bed.  We were removing old landscape rocks, cutting back dead stuff, and of course pulling weeds.  Finn was loving every minute of it, especially since I let him use the hand pruners.  Anyway, our neighbors across the street came home and on the way into their house the woman said to us, "when you guys are done, you can come on over here, we got lots to pull."  I laughed and we exchanged a friendly moment.  After they were in the house, Finn walked over to me and said "Those people need our help mom, and we can help them....we have cutters and pulling weeds is easy.....I'm good at it so we need to go over there when we are done."  He continued on every few minutes with similar statements.  My replies ranged from, "She was only kidding honey." , "she was just being friendly", and  "yes, they do have weeds, but most people like to pull their own weeds, so we don't need to go over there." and so on did not do much convincing.  After hearing myself say that last one really got me thinking.  Maybe Finn understands the golden rule better than I do.

The 8+ inches of snow we got last night and today canceled church.  With the unexpected snow day, we decided to put our Christmas tree.  This year I decided to break out of the usual micro-managing mode and let the boys do all of the ornament hanging.  They enjoyed it but couldn't wait to get back to watching football with dad.

Here are some photos from today (more are on Picasa):

Last week I took the boys to get their holiday haircuts.  When we got home, they took off their hats, and we were inspired to get out the gel and hairspray...and take a few photos.  We also googled Harry Connick, Jr. so that Elliot could see the resemblance.  Some photos (more on Picasa):