ICEFEST 2010 AND OTHER NEWS!

Today Jim and I and Becky and Barry headed to downtown Chambersburg and ICEFEST 2010. It was FRIGID! Dressed in layers and feeling like a stuffed sausage, we made our way through crowds of people to look at the amazing ice sculptures throughout the downtown. One of our stops was the Tuscarora Mountain Winery. Notice their unique ice sculpture that fit so perfectly with their business. Notice that Jim and I are drinking HOT coffee! Man was it cold! We did buy a few bottles of their wine, too!

Barry and Jim posed outside of Lyon's Menswear where this gigantic frothy tankard of beer was located. Little kids who walked by said, "Look at the giant glass of root beer!" We knew better.
Becky and I couldn't resist this two seater that made our tushies even colder!

Barry can only wish! Sigh!

Miss Ocean Lover had to take a ride on this icy dolphin perched outside of

F & M Bank.

There were so many more sculptures than in years past, all beautiful. We have made it a tradition to attend ICEFEST each year and really enjoy it. They even had a forty foot ice slide beside Gartenberg Jewelers. No, none of us slid down the slide; there were too many kids waiting in line. It was also great to see downtown just bursting with people. The shops were crowded, people were buying everything from candy to jewelry to food to unique gift items, and everyone was having so much fun, in spite of the cold temperatures. It even snowed about an hour or so while we were there, which just added to the atmosphere. Bravo to everyone involved in ICEFEST!

Other News :

*I had my one month weigh in yesterday and have lost exactly ten pounds since the first of January! Woo Hoo! I can now feel it in some of my clothes, so this is one New Year's resolution that is right on track! I received some other good news in the mail today.

*In 2006 I was a presenter at the Sixth Holocaust Education Conference at Seton Hill University in Greenburg, PA near Pittsburg. I was asked to submit a paper on my presentation and it was accepted and published as part of "Selected Conference Proceedings" from the conference. The publication was distributed at this year's conference, which I was unable to attend. So, I just received a copy of the book, Emerging Issues in Holocaust Education, today. My seven page section is entitled, "Integrating Project-Based Learning into Holocaust Curricula." It was a real thrill to see this in print.

Resolution Update, Etcetera

Thought I would give you an update on my progress or lack thereof regarding my last post - New Year's resolutions. I finished The Help and it was a wonderful read. I highly recommend this book. It was one of those books you hate to see end. I am currently halfway through South of Broad by Pat Conroy. I have been a fan of his for years and was so excited to begin this book and am loving it. His characters are so rich, so real.

We are currently in the throes of remodeling the upstairs, another resolution. On Friday and Saturday I painted the upstairs hallway at light green and Becky's old bedroom a shade deeper. Jim wasn't able to help because he is battling a horrible upper respiratory infection - could have pneumonia in his left lung. I ached all over from painting the ceiling. HATE CEILINGS! We decided to have someone do our bedroom because all of the trim work, ceiling, and walls that need to be done and I am not up for more painting. It should be done sometime this week and then the hardwood floors can be installed. It's alot of work prepping for this, but I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

One good thing was that we purged every room. I donated hundreds of my Holocaust and World War II books to our school library. The librarian is going to create a Holocaust collection area in the library. I still have three bookcases worth of books left!

I had to share this photo taken of Jen, Annisa, and me by Tina Flohr. I wish Becky would have been with us that day because I LOVE this photo!

A few more random photos to share. Two weeks ago I got to see Aidan and Ryan play basketball. How fun! This is a picture of Aidan getting ready to shoot a basket during a relay exercise. HE MADE THE SHOT! He made two shots in fact, helping lead his group to a victory! Go Aidan!
This is Ryan's first year playing and he did such a good job during all of the practice activities. I love this photo of him doing a little one-on-one with his coach. Ryan is full of energy and puts his complete effort into whatever they do.
How cute is this! Ryan was doing his homework when the little "homework helper" just had to get in on the action!

Okay - back to the resolution update. I am still losing weight. Down 6 1/2 pounds in three weeks. By spring, look out! I will be a new woman!

The only other resolution I have been working on is the fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In less than a month we will be hosting the Love Crop scrapbooking and craft crop - February 20th. The registrations are arriving almost daily so we should have a successful event and be well on our way to reaching our goal following the October Crop, which is always our biggest event.

Hopefully I will stay focused and will continue to work on my 2010 resolutions. I have to stay accountable to myself and to my blog readers!

It's A New Year!

Another New Year! It is amazing how quickly the days, months, and years just fly by. So many times we make New Year's resolutions and then break them, so for years I refused to give in to the temptation to make resolutions. However, I am making an exception this year. Maybe I should "set goals" rather than "make resolutions." Sometimes a change in semantics is in order, so here goes!

1. Keep a list of books read. I used to do this every year and it was interesting to look back and see just how much I read and the kinds of books I gravitated to that particular year. Also, when Annisa posted the list of books she read this year, it inspired me to keep a list again, so I started my list for 2010. The first one I finished was The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee, who autographed the book at the conference I attended in November. Yes, 8 is her middle name and not a typo! The second book was Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer's Life by Michael Greenberg. I am currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This is the first book I am reading on the Kindle that the girls got me for Christmas. Love it!

2. Lose 25 pounds. Just how did the pounds keep accumulating? Sigh! Since January 1st I have lost five pounds in ten days. Woo Hoo!!! How easy it goes on and how difficult it is to get it off. I am committed to getting in good shape in 2010.

3. Update the Upstairs. Our bedrooms upstairs are in major need of a redo. Our bedroom, the hall, and Becky's old room need repainted and new lights. The room where the boys and Kari stay when they are here needs new border, so I replaced it last week. Then I ordered new bedspreads, which were on clearance, so I redid that room very inexpensively! The main spare bedroom is in good shape, but Becky's old room has issues. For some reason, the paint around the ceiling light is peeling off, so the ceiling and walls need painted. Our bedroom just needs the walls painted. So, Jim and I will be doing some painting over the next few weeks. The biggest problem upstairs is the flooring. All the carpets are in bad shape and so we are thinking engineered hardwood throughout the upstairs. Tomorrow we are getting an estimate.

4. 20th Anniversary Celebration. Next year will be Jim and my 20th anniversary so since Jim loves cruises, my goal is to book a cruise for next spring. Any suggestions?

5. Photography Fun. I would love to learn some cool photography techniques this year. Perhaps I'll take a class or use online tutorials. I could really use an upgrade to my digital camera, but I have no idea what to get. I don't want anything too complicated to use or too expensive, so. . . . anyone have any recommendations? I love the point and shoot capability of the standard digital cameras, but there's only so much you can do with them.

6. Write. Since teaching the Creative Writing course this semester, I would love to do more writing on a regular basis. No, I don't have the great American novel in mind, but I would like to explore some story ideas and do more with poetry, which is my first love. My goal is to set aside some time each week to write. Wish me luck with this because time is always an issue for me and when I have to make choices, the writing is always on the bottom of my list.

7. Trip to the Big Apple! For the past several years Becky has been my travel buddy to NYC. As you can see from my blogs last year, we had a blast! However, in May she is going to be a mommy. Who will be my travel buddy in 2010? Will NYC be possible this summer? Hmm! It's definitely on my goal list, but it might not be realistic.

8. $7000.00 for JDRF. Over the past three years I have helped organize scrapbooking crops to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Last year we raised almost $6000.00. This year I would like to hit $7000.00. Our first crop of the year is February 20th and is open to scrapbookers and other crafters like knitters, jewelry makers, etc. Anyone reading this blog who would like to attend, let me know and I will send a registration form. Anyone who would like to donate to JDRF to add to our total, just shoot me an email and I can tell you how to donate so that it goes under team Aidan and Ryan's Warrior Walkers. Aidan and Ryan are my grandsons who have Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.

Ok, the "goals" are made and they are in writing so all of you can hold me to them! At the end of the year I will post the results. If I am successful, maybe I will make "setting goals" a New Year's tradition! Happy New Year everyone!