Settlers is a Gateway Drug, And I'm a Closet Game Nerd

First of all, it's only fair to credit the brother-in-law with the first half of my title, and Eric with the second.

Also, this post is being inspired by one of my best friends, Julie, who is currently a little bit (or a lot a bit) of a sickie down in Nicaragua. Please lift her up in prayer as you read about it here.

Julie is an amazing friend for many reasons (as is her husband Chase), and while I won't go into a litany as to why right now, one of their awesome qualities is their love of games. I mean they're even playing games in the hospital. Love. It.

Basically over the past 6ish years, any slightly off the beaten path game I have come to know and love has been introduced by them or has connections to them. And while, Settlers has become mainstream (seriously- I saw it at Target!), it is the grandfather of all my enjoyment of future games that have followed it. Here are a few of my favorites.... what should I add to the list?

BANG!

Well At Least I Made It Before the Wisemen

I was chastised the other day for my lack of consistent blogging. True. This is one of the many reasons I have friends for accountability.

So- back to Christmas.

We left on Christmas Eve for the beauty of the Red Rock country to spend Christmas with my grandparents. We left early in the morning and were rewarded with making it to their church's Christmas Eve service. I felt that this holiday season just rushed by and that I had missed out on all the Christmas hymns and songs that I love. Denver- I love you- but in addition to need Half- Price Books, Trader Joes, and good Tex-Mex, you also seriously need a Christmas music station. That rushed feeling, in combination with a random smattering of Christmas celebrations at odd times (Monday morning anyone?), left Christmas day anticlimactic.

So good thing we had this for our view-



This kind of beauty always puts things in perspective.

We did return from a Christmas Day walk to see Ella getting a nice bath. My Grandpa is the best- hands down.


We attempted to return the favor by getting some computer work done (re: Eric) and some closet cleaning out done (re: Nicole). I got to put to use my new closet cleaning skills I developed when we dug into our own master closet last month.

Closets. sigh. It was amazing to me the amount of stuff I have accumulated by my (hold on while I can) mid-20s. We still have 2 to go. Both of which are still disaster zones. And then I need to take that skill and hone it in my classroom. Does anyone else hear me on this?

Christmas vacation ended in a bit of a rush. I have a new, deeper appreciation for Colorado Dept. of Transportation after traveling the snowy highways of our Southern sister states. Ella, like Pigpen, is once again dirty. I guess my grandparents will just have to come visit us :)

Family.

When I married Eric, I got an additional bonus. I got his family. Coming from a two-sibling crew, I was simultaneously overwhelmed and in awe of his much larger family size. In addition to the classic (insert last name) trait of being opinionated, they are also gracious, giving, and like board games. Very important. Eric's family is all spread out- or rather Eric and I are spread out from them- so with all the wedding shenanigans it's been fun to see all of them multiple times this fall and winter. All the fam converged in the great state of Texas this weekend to finish the wedding celebration. But sadly, it's now back to the reality of the great American Live spread out across the country act.

And We're Back

Due to an inservice on Tuesday, today was my first day back with my class of kindergartners. When I first began teaching Kindergarten, I was let in on a little secret which has proven over and over again to be very true-

Santa Claus brings them brains for Christmas.

Now I don't know if it's old St. Nick or their transition from Piaget's pre-operational to logical thinking, but it's fun to see them take-off. We had a good first day back, in which they were good until 10:30, took a break from good behavior until about 1:30, and then ended the day well. To celebrate the beginning of semester two, I'll leave you with the highlights from my day:

Two students fell out of their chair- separate incidents. Their chairs weren't moving. They were both stationary when it happened.

"Did you know, teacher, that I am a reader?"

In anguish, "We forgot about Writing!" This lamentation was made during Center time after a long introduction into modeling our new writing unit.

"Oh s*?>." This little tidbit came from a formerly unaware student who noticed today when he bumped another student. Is it bad that I was happy to hear him noticing?

"Did you get us another surprise?" Surprises for today were as follows: new crayons and pencils, new books to read, and book boxes. How I love their excitement for everything!

And we'll end with my personal favorite-

"You know, teacher, it's okay if drawing a sandwich is hard for you. It's tricky." And here I thought it was looking halfway decent!

Goin' to the Chapel- wait we can't get in

Minus a minor snafu involving an Air Force Academy checkpoint and unwittingly expired car tags, Eric and I had a great weekend seeing his sister, Ruth, and her now husband Kent get married off this weekend down in Colorado Springs.

They came up from Texas to get married in the Academy chapel, and it was an absolutely fun and gorgeous wedding.

Two random tidbits were that we spent a lot of time around AF people this weekend which was a new experience as well as interesting given Eric's future career path leanings, and I got to meet someone who I have known only in the blogger world for the past couple of years.

But most importantly, welcome to the family Kent. From in-law to in-law, you've made a pretty good choice.

Why I Can't Follow Ol' Ben

I found some kindred spirits in my RtI meeting that met early on Wednesday morning before school. As we showed up with coffee and yawns, we began discussing the problem all but one of us have of staying up too late. I get a second wind around 9 pm, another coworker agreed, and another admitted to taking afternoon naps after work to supplement his late night lifestyle. I know it's possible to be early to bed, because I have friends and meet people who say "I'll go to bed at 8:30 if I'm tired." "I love sleep so I don't stay up late." "Just go to bed." Well folks, I love sleep just as much as the next person, but I can't.do.it. If I even try to go bed "early" at say 10, I lay in bed almost falling asleep but not quite. For some strange reason, my brain has to know it's at least 10:30 before it's hasta la vista world.

However, lately I have been feeling the effect of at max 8 hours of sleep. My tiredness is catching up with me, though that may be related to weird dreams involving babies that leave me awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Thank you to all my friends with small children. Whatever the reason, I will relish the fact that soon I will be able to go to bed "on time" and sleep in gloriously when Christmas Break hits! Let's raise our espresso shot coffee- here's to sleep!

On the First Day of December...

It is now the Christmas season, or way into it, depending on your view. It will be a busy month with a wedding, a drive to Sedona, and the usual Christmas holiday cheer. Not to let the "Busy Monster" down, Eric and I were prompted to completely rearrange our living and study area after buying our Christmas tree. I'll post pictures soon. But for now you're left with the-completely-staged-I-already-put-this-ornament-on-the-tree-once pose!