Five on Friday--and The Glass Menagerie

 

[ONE] 
Today is a day off from school. Unfortunately--much of it will still be spent grading...but I'm so thankful that I get a day at home with my husband. And it's not the weekend.


[TWO] 
I've been loving these blogs/posts this week:

A. Liz Adventures

I'm linking up with her for today's Five on Five

The Good Life

The Life of Bon

[THREE] 

[FOUR]

My husband brought me coffee this morning--without me asking him to. :)

[FIVE]

The Glass Menagerie questions go live today--and the discussion goes live tomorrow!

Questions:

-Which character did you connect most with?

-What were your expectations for the play? Did the play meet or exceed your expectations? 

     (or something else)

-Overall, what were your opinions of the play? How do you feel about plays in general?

-How many stars would you give The Glass Menagerie (1-5)?

Alright! Get ready and if you've not finished the play--you've still got some time!

Happy Friday!

xoxo

A weekend recap...

...and some photos!

Well, I'm not entirely sure what to even start with!? Do I start with the part where I hurt my back on Thursday putting on my boots or do I start with being couch ridden all day Friday/Saturday? Or do I just tell you the pretty things that make our lives seem together and "with it"?

Pfft. You've already got us figured out. I'm sure of it.

But for good measure--since going to the Chiropractor didn't help (much), I spent all of Thursday afternoon and evening on the couch. I'd lay on the heating pad. I'd sit up with the heating pad behind me. I'd pace a little to stretch out my back and hips.

Nothing.

Nada.

When I realized it only felt better to lay down and not move for hours, I had to resign myself to the fact that I would not be able to go to school on Friday. So...I hung out with these cool cats all day on Friday.

source

And much to my dismay, I was at the end.
The very. End.
UGH. I've been aware that the end was coming...and I couldn't have been more bummed to see it end during the morning of my day of pain.

To console myself...I slept. yep. Not just a little nap here or there. I had a good 3 hour nap on Friday afternoon. And let me tell you. It was GLORIOUS.

To show you what the rest of our weekend was like, I'll sign off with photos. But, not before I tell you that my husband is the best. I know, I know. You may think yours is pretty good. But he's not as good as mine.

I recovered all weekend and amidst rehearsals, he was cooking and preparing to host a fellow singer Friday night for Saturday night's concert AND his parents Saturday night into Sunday.

He's a trooper.

My pal during Friday

Thai Chicken Pizza

GF Master Chorale--Sanctus (Michael Strand)

This wasn't even the coldest it got!

Caramel Rolls for Sunday breakfast

World Premiere of Sanctus (Michael Strand)

performed by Grand Forks Master Chorale Chamber Choir

It's Friday and all I want to do...

...is think about food. Like seriously.

Kyle has rehearsal tonight and then we're having a guest over that we're hosting for tomorrow night's concert. So that means dinner needs to wait til they get home.

And I'm super excited to try this pizza recipe. I'm also making a standard pepperoni pizza in case our guest isn't a fan of non-traditional 'zas. (that's short for pizzas...)

So I thought that since I'm waiting, waiting, waiting to eat until my main squeeze gets home...I'd share our belated Valentine's Date.

the menu:
New York Strips
Garlic Mashed potatoes
Stuffed Artichokes
Strawberry cheesecake cupcakes

*I've never cooked artichokes before

*We've found our new fav dry rub!

*Excited for dinner*

*Kyle brought me flowers at work!

We had a great dinner together and I'm looking forward to another good one tonight. 

Happy Friday! And if you're in the upper Midwest--stay warm!

Wicked Wednesday

I'm not sure what my deal has been this week.

Exhaustion. 
Lack of motivation. 
Lack of concentration.

The whole she-bang.

The highlight of my day was starting a discussion on Thanatopsis with one of my sophomores.
Nature. 
Death. 
Shrouds. 
Sepulchers. 
Quiet beauty. 
Planets. 
Nature.
Death.
What's not to like?

After that upbeat poem--the day got worse even better. sarcasm much, kelly? i know, i know.

What's ever good about a Wednesday afternoon? I'll tell you. Not much.

If it being a Wednesday isn't grand enough...it currently feels like 20- below zero. And this morning when I got to school...-35 with wind chill.

What the?!

Students were complaining and kept asking, "Why do we even live here?!"
My thoughts exactly, kids. My thoughts exactly.

Just in case you didn't believe me.

Five on Friday

I've never participated in a Five on Friday--so I figured today is as good as any!

1. Seriously. Pretty!

Kyle asked what I wanted for Valentine's Day. I said flowers. At work. So he dropped off these beauties for me today. He's a good one.


2. I cannot wait for supper tomorrow night...

A Valentine's Date with some of our good friends?! Why didn't we think of that sooner? We are ordering cheesy fried pickles and the world will be good.


3.  I'm currently working my way through this:

I'm still unsure how I feel about it. I'll let you know. But check over here and especially here for our book club details.


4. I'm not sure what my weekend will look like (other than tomorrow--see #2)...but I do know I'll have plenty of grading to do. Yikes. Pray for me?

5. We've been blessed with a warm day today! It's 12 above zero! (it does feel like -4, but who cares) At least it's not as cold as yesterday! So I'll bask in the warmer temps and wait until it dips below zero air temp again.

Until then...

Happy Friday!

I'm linking up over here so go check it out.

Harper Lee--No longer a "one hit wonder"

It's happening! Harper Lee, the author of my favorite book of all time--is publishing another book.

BBC News and Business Insider tell us the news.

Now I'm going to go put the book on my Amazon Wish List just in case Kyle someone has any struggles with an anniversary gift...

A little switch up...

So, because we're terrible people at life, Aubrey and I realized that currently our Book Club discusses the same day as The Life of Bon. We cannot have that! We both love reading Bonnie's blog and would be so sad (the saddest of sad, really) if we made her mad by having our Book Club on the same day as hers. 

That being said, we are going to try things a little differently this time around. For February's discussion, we will be trying out a coffee shop vibe. On the last Saturday of February (which just so happens to be the very last day in February--the 28th) we will be having a coffee shop date. We want you to grab your coffee, tea, hot chocolate, iced tea, milk, orange juice and bagel, and join us as we discuss this month's book. 

During January, we didn't have much response in our book and discussion. So we are hoping that in making our time together more relaxed, that you'll feel more comfortable joining in.

Throughout the month, as you're reading Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

"Menagerie was Williams's first popular success and launched the brilliant, if somewhat controversial, career of our pre-eminent lyric playwright. Since its premiere in Chicago in 1944, with the legendary Laurette Taylor in the role of Amanda, the play has been the bravura piece for great actresses from Jessica Tandy to Joanne Woodward, and is studied and performed in classrooms and theatres around the world. The Glass Menagerie (in the reading text the author preferred) is now available only in its New Directions Paperbook edition. A new introduction by prominent Williams scholar Robert Bray, editor of The Tennessee Williams Annual Review, reappraises the play more than half a century after it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award: "More than fifty years after telling his story of a family whose lives form a triangle of quiet desperation, Williams's mellifluous voice still resonates deeply and universally." This edition of The Glass Menagerie also includes Williams's essay on the impact of sudden fame on a struggling writer, "The Catastrophe of Success," as well as a short section of Williams's own "Production Notes." The cover features the classic line drawing by Alvin Lustig, originally done for the 1949 New Directions edition."  --Goodreads

Like before, we'll try to have the questions/points of interest/discussion/etc up that week before our coffee shop date. --It may be something like Monday or Tuesday before we discuss.  But we promise they'll be up.

Link up with us as you're reading and after you're done. Come back and leave comments and we'll go from there.

If any other changes surface, we will let you know with ample time. *Honest*