Reading, Knitting, Movies

So most people are under the impression that teachers have absolutely nothing to do during the summer and are lazy. Last year that was definitely not the case for me. I allowed myself to get involved in so much that I barely got to sit down and relax during the summer, and when school started I badly needed a vacation. This year I decided I would have that teacher's summer I always wanted. So, as soon as school ended I packed my bags and left. I am just finishing a week in Virginia with my cousin where I have basically done nothing but read, watch movies and knit. Oh yeah, and I would cook her dinner too, because she is actually working. With that in mind, I thought I would share a little about the books I've managed to read.

"Flabbergasted" and "A Delirious Summer" by Ray Blackston
These are the first 2 in a series of 3 books. They follow a group of young twenty-somethings in North Carolina, and their search for love at church. They are quite humorous as both books are told from the POV of guys, so it has a different spin on the "search" from what I am used to. The first book follows Jay, who decides to start going to church to meet women, ends up in a Presbyterian singles class, goes on a beach trip and then is sucked into many interesting adventures as he discovers what church is really all about. The second book follows Neil as he visits Jay's town in NC and is sucked into the same group of singles, only this time the girls are church hopping and rating churches based on the quality of guys. Another humorous look at what some people do for love, and others only think about doing. I didn't get a chance to read the third book "Adventures in Rooville" because they are my cousin's books and I was leaving NY. I was, however, informed that it was not as good as the first two.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne
This book was excellent. Right now I'm very interested in books written from a unique point of view, and this certainly is that. It is a story about the holocaust, but it is told from the perspective of a 9 year-old German boy. While it follows a 9 year-old it is not a book intended for 9 year-olds. The innocence of the boy as he is taken with his family to live outside a concentration camp is what pulled me into the story. Bruno, the boy, befriends a child on the other side of the fence, even though Bruno does not understand why the fence is there at all. The story follows the budding friendship of these boys as the war is happening around them. I originally got this book in December because the movie was coming out, I still have not seen the movie, but when I do, I'll let you know how it is. I'm usually very hard on movies if I've read the book, though.

After that, I had to finish some knitting and so I have spent a lot of time watching silly movies that I didn't need to concentrate on in order to get that done. If you have read any good books lately, please let me know, I keep a list so when I do get some free time I don't waste it trying to pick a book. =)

Snow Day

There are many reasons I love being a teacher... one of them is that I seem to get to relive my childhood in many ways. One of those happens to be snow days!!! I remember being a kid, and my mom was in charge of making the call to cancel school, so my brothers and I would help. We would watch the TV screen waiting for the different schools to scroll by, and then would scream out things like "Moon has gone 2 hour delay" or "there goes Cornell, how many is that?" Then we'd cheer when we would find out that we were going to delay, or better yet, close. Ah, the good ol' days! What I miss most was that snow days meant home days. We would spend time outside, together, sledding down the front yard. We had a jump even. Of course, our front yard went right into the road, but that was fine with us. We would get huge snow falls and and the plow would go by and build up these big walls of snow on the edge of the road. Sledding down we'd hit the edge and just jump out into the road, to see how far across you could get. The best times were when we'd know the night before that there was no school, and we were in the middle of a huge snow fall. We'd go out with our neighbor and sled by the street lights. We'd be on the look-out for plows, and would run to the edge and hit the deck. Oh, it was a crazy time!! I miss those good ol' days, fun and care-free. So, if you are young, soak it up, it doesn't last forever.

Smiling in a Post Office

Ok... so I really hate going to places and doing things that aren't familiar, so going to the Post Office to mail some packages was on my "really don't want to do this" list. However, my only resolution for this new year was to try new things that I previously avoided. So, I picked up my boxes (Christmas gifts... only 2 weeks late) and walked into the Post Office. Instantly I was terrified that I would do something stupid and make a fool of myself or get the workers mad at me. So as I stood in line, holding my awkward boxes, I watched as the two workers were helping customers. There was a guy who was busy trying to do something, there were a lot of "sign here" and "fill this out" from the worker, and then the other customer was a soldier, who was just mailing a small package. When the lady waiting on the soldier told him the total I was totally astounded as the guy next to him leaned over, gave her (practically threw her) his debit card and told that guy not to worry about it, it was covered! It was only like $7 or something, but for a guy who is busy doing his own thing to stop to thank a soldier by picking up his postage was just really awesome. Part of me really wanted to ask the guy why he did that... I wondered if he had a story; a son in the service, or he was a veteran or if he was just a really nice guy, but I guess I will be left to wonder. Random acts of kindness are very cool! :)

7 Weeks... 7 Weddings (sort of)

A new year has begun, so I thought I'd blog once again. I had so many options for the title of this blog, I thought "A Year of Weddings" or "The 27th Dress" or "Is there anybody out there who didn't get engaged?!?!" would all be appropriate. I decided to keep it simple. Let me explain.
I've learned that a lot can happen in a short period of time. I could say a year, but really it can happen in less time than that. The last 7 weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind for me. If you count, 7 weeks puts us back to roughly the middle of November, before Thanksgiving. That was when I found out that my very awesome cousin, Jon, got engaged!! Very exciting news, especially since this will be the first "family" wedding on Peters side. Yes, it will be a rocking Bell-Peters event, complete with all the awesome family and friends I have from Webster (or have met in Webster, even if they live elsewhere). That was engagement number 1. How many engagements could there be in just 7 weeks I wondered... and soon found out.

Within the next 7 weeks, 3 close friends from college, 2 girls from church and my best friend's little brother all got engaged. While each announcement brought up that old line "another one bites the dust" it also came with a lot of excitement. When I heard about my friend Kristy, the most recent, I think I actually jumped for joy.

So now, I have gone from 1 wedding in 2009, which I am the Maid of Honor for, to 5, maybe 6 weddings (depending on whether or not I'm invited). This will bring my grand total of weddings since 2000 to roughly 25 of 26, the exact number is not known because, while I can clearly remember and count 20 weddings, I have this feeling I keep forgetting a few. Now, this may seem depressing, all these weddings to go to, but really, I find it to be joyous. I was watching 27 Dresses this evening, with renewed appreciation. There were a few lines that stuck out to me, of course the "always, always, always a bridesmaid" line, which is pretty much my life, except I'm not a bridesmaid, just a guest, but also the discussion about why a girl would happily subject herself to attending so many weddings. In the movie, the main idea of the discussion is that each wedding is for the bride, not the bridesmaid, and then someday, those people will be there for you. I think, as a Christian, there is even more to enjoy about a wedding. Being able to see my friends (and family) make a commitment to share their life with another person, because they can honor and serve God more together than they can apart, is such an honor to me. Yes, I do hope and pray that someday all those people will be there to support me at my wedding, but until then, I will rejoice with my friends in the joy God has given them.

So for me, 2009 will be the year of weddings... for other people, but a lot can happen in a short amount of time.

I'll try to keep the updates coming, as I'll be doing a lot of traveling to get to all of these weddings. Hopefully I can find some friends to go with, too, or maybe even make some other stops along the way.

I hope you all are finding 2009 to be a year of adventure as you follow God's plan for your life. :)

Why I love Webster...

Ok, so there is this little town on the edge of Lake Ontario in New York, just north of Rochester and I am absolutely in love with this place. Yes, I'm speaking of Webster, NY, and I think if I weren't from the coolest place ever (being Pittsburgh) I would tell people I was from Webster. It's funny, I used to go there all the time as a kid with my parents, then after my freshman year of high school, when we went up for Thanksgiving, I didn't go back until my cousin's grad party in 2003. After my most recent visit I'm pretty sure the reason is that we left Grandma in Webster for 4 months after that one time, and I don't think they wanted to risk that again... long story. So what changed? Well, going back as an adult, I saw everything differently. I was no longer trapped by the decisions of my parents as to what we would do. Now that most of us cousins were "grown-ups" ourselves, we could choose to go and do what we wanted. I also started to meet more of my cousins' friends, and enjoy going out and hanging out. Yeah, the best part is that I have visited so often now that I actually know my way around a little bit, and am not longer a "guest" but I'm just family. If I were to run away, I'd run away to Webster. How do I know it is a second home? When I am in my aunt and uncle's house and people walk in, they seldom look at me with that "who are you" look, but just say "hey Heather, how's it going?" It's awesome!!! Every time I go up, I meet new people, learn more about the area, and of course, my uncle always offers me a job (I think this time it was middle school english) at the Christian school he is principal of. Who knows... maybe one of these days....

ps... I realize this was a lot of rambling... I'm just enjoying the last parts of my vacation, and the memories of all of the parts that made this last trip absolutely magnificent!!!!!

What is "home"?

When I was in college holidays always meant it was time for everyone to pack up and go home. The odd thing was that I always felt like I was already at home, but I was also going home. Is it possible to have multiple homes? Is it possible to not have a home? I think yes. The old saying "Home is where the Heart is" may be over-used, but it is true. When I was in college home was both at GCC and in Robinson, because my friends and family were in those places, and I belonged in both places. So what about now? I live in two houses, but often if you asked I would tell you I currently have no home. If anything my home is a roughly 30+ year old building in Robinson (aka RTCS/Providence) because that is not only where I spend most of my time, but a common link for most of the people close to me. Then there is the fact that my dearest friends from GCC are scattered across the country, so we aren't in one "home" place anymore. What about my parents' house you ask... well, that will always be home to some degree, but more and more I am a visitor there, not a resident. Truly, I am looking forward to going to my New York home for Thanksgiving to visit my family up there... because that is what you do for holidays, right? You go home. So I may not have one home, I have many, because my heart is with my friends and family, no matter where they are, and according to that old saying, where they are, that is my home. So I guess no matter where I go, as long as I'm visiting loved ones I am always going home... I like that idea. :)

October!!!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved October. I know what you are thinking... I only love October because I was born in October. That's not true. To me, October has always been the month for everyone to be born. My mom, dad and oldest brother are also born in October. My parents' anniversary is in the middle of October. My mom is a twin, so my uncle is also born in October (duh) and several of my cousins are born in October. Then, when I got to college, I met more friends born in October. So yeah, October is a great month to be born. Beyond that, though, October is fall, my favorite season. It is starting into jeans and hoodie weather. Winter is just around the corner, but not quite here yet. Also, October is soccer season, or at least the end of it. The crisp air makes the games a little more fun. There is nothing like booting up for a Saturday morning soccer game in the middle of October, with the crisp air, the leaves turning colors and falling and the joy of playing with your team. If that isn't enough, there is Steeler's football, hockey is starting, baseball is ending, school is settling down and the trees are all changing color making the most beautiful scenes. So yeah, I love October, and you should too!!!