Misc.

This coming work week will be the first week since the second week in September that I will be in the classroom all 5 days.  Between holidays and staff development meetings/trainings I have been out (and have had to write sub plans) at least once per week for almost two months.  While it's always nice to have a classroom break from time to time, it makes getting things done or taught more difficult, especially when being out is a regular occurrence.  My regular sub is fantastic, but still, trying to cram 5 days of instruction into 4 (or 3 for some weeks) is very difficult, and I've often felt behind this year because of that.  It'll be weird to work in my room for 5 days straight, but I think it'll make the week go quicker.  Sitting in a meeting all day makes the day drag when you're used to to going all day long.
I'm feeling kind of handy again.  There were two broken drawers in the kitchen - in one the plastic piece that holds the drawer slide onto the cabinetry had become brittle and fallen to pieces and in the other the guide that helps the drawer move back and forth was cracked and kept falling off the slide.  Both have been broken for awhile as I really hate to ask friends to help with these minor problems...I like to save my favors for the big stuff.  And I've been waiting to have more things to fix to make it worthwhile to call my handyman.  Fixing it wasn't even in my wheelhouse.  That was until sitting in the other room while talking on the phone last weekend.  I had an eye-line view of the cabinet and its two lopsided drawers.  After the phone call, I marched into the kitchen determined to figure out what was making them fall.  I added giving a go at fixing it to my Thanksgiving break to-do list.  Then this weekend, I just decided to get it out of the way.  To make a long story short, after cleaning out the drawers, a trip to Home Depot (where they sold me the wrong thing), and so another trip to Lowe's I got everything I needed.  Not having all the tools needed, some things had to be done in a round about way, but even so it got done.  It's so nice not to have to look at those lopsided drawers anymore.
I made my first "one-pot" meal a couple of months ago.  Tonight, I made another one.  They're brilliant!  Everything (protein, veggies, and maybe a starch) goes in one pot, and about 20 minutes later it's ready to serve.  It's different than the slow cooker, which is also great, but the one-pot meals are done so much faster than the 6-8 hours using the slow cooker.  And the best part...there's only ONE POT to clean!  Maybe all meals should be one-pot meals.

Yep! It's Sunday!