Cool, Cool, Cool

Phew, we survived the latest heat wave! Today we had a couple of good rain storms blow through and the afternoon one cleared the air and dropped the temperature by at least 15 degrees! Pleasant is now a word I would use to describe the great outdoors! We did not have the wild storms that have ripped through the mid-west and we are keeping all those folks who have suffered at the hands of mother nature in our thoughts. But we welcome a respite from the heat and humidity. 

Yesterday I did my spinning demonstration for the kindergartners and they were mesmerized by the wheel and the process of spinning! At the end, I gave each child a small piece of my washed fleece and they acted like I had given them gold! The kids came up next to me in small groups while I was spinning and it took all their will power not to touch my wheel! It was pretty funny! They were a great audience and later wrote the cutest thank you notes to me.

Later in the morning a couple of fourth grade teachers were walking by my office area and saw my spinning wheel and wondered why I had it. Their classes had just been to Genesee Country Museum and a couple of the homes they toured had spinning wheels in them. So the 4th grade teachers asked when I could do a demo for their students. So I gave up part of my lunch time to repeat my presentation to the older kids. Again, the kids were completely taken with the process of spinning and asked many good questions. It was a fun day!

Last night Gram and GrandDad were here for dinner and to celebrate Gram's birthday. Her birthday is tomorrow, but they were busy on all the other nights of their whirl-wind visit home. We had a nice time and sang Happy Birthday to Gram. So, Mom have a great day tomorrow (Wednesday)!

Tonight I attended the school board meeting with many other teachers on the second anniversary of the expiration of our contract. We were there to support the union president as he spoke to the board about some of the issues with the negotiations process. It was an interesting evening.

Time to go knit. I am working on a baby sweater for one of my colleagues and I need to spend some serious time on it.

Also in knitting news, through Ravelry (an on-line resource for knitters, crocheters, and spinners) I joined a "swap" for teachers who knit. I am going to be putting together a knitting related package for a teacher in Pennsylvania.  So this summer, while traveling, I will look for some unique things to send to her. My name was assigned to a woman named Ana who lives 7 time zones away from me! We looked up what countries that might include and I think she may be from Finland! She sent me a brief e-mail with some info about her (including the 7 time zones clue) and what she teaches. I replied to her e-mail asking where exactly she lived, but am waiting for a return reply. This whole swap should be fun. I look forward to shopping for a unique, special yarn to send to my swap-friend in PA (she likes bright colors, maybe red) and some other special treats. And I am looking forward to communicating with my swap-friend on the other side of the pond. 

Hope all is well.