Sunday Salon, Feb. 7

Admiring BIG art, Pasadena, 2015

Weather: I see a few clouds out the window. But I also see a bit of blue sky. It remains to be seen how the weather will shape up today.

Katie T. and another participant await the final results. Who will advance to state?

Poetry Out Loud Regional contest: The Puget Sound region held its Poetry Out Loud contest yesterday. Twelve students from area high schools competed including our gal, Katie T. The contest, which was held in the Tacoma Public Library started off in an ominous way...with a fire alarm. Apparently some patron of the library pulled a fire alarm. We all had to evacuate the building and wait for the fire department to give us the all-clear, which took almost a half hour. Katie did great with her recitations of two poems but did not advance to the State level.

End of semester one/Beginning of semester two: Wednesday marked the ending and beginning for us, the half way point of the school year. What a week. With many students leaving and many others coming in at semester, it was pretty busy in the library with flurries of activities around textbooks and ipads. Ugh.

Fun or Funky photos: I posted a funky photo taken during a vacation to Santa Fe a few years ago on my Facebook page. My sister replied with question marks. This got me thinking how much fun it would be to look back in my photos and post a few more fun or funky photos for you to enjoy.

Me amidst the outdoor art of Santa Fe, May 2014.

Don and I and LOTS of lavender at King Estate Oregon, 2015

Vitruvian Man in the Chinese garden at The Huntington , near Pasadena 2015

Friend Ken W. and Don near a huge beaver sculpture, Portland, Oregon

The Tri-Delt making the third delta of her sorority's name, Victoria BC

Flu Shot: I finally got my flu shot this past Friday after learning about confirmed cases of the flu at my school. Hopefully better late than never. The shot itself wasn't bad but I did feel kind of sickly for the rest of the night.

Books read this week:

• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena---the Newbery Medal winner and a picture book.
• Nice Recovery by Susan Juby---a recovery memoir and a helpful book for those wanted to make a fresh start from an addicted lifestyle.

Currently reading:

• The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George---a misnamed title. I am listening to this book in the audiobook format on 1.5 speed so I can hurry up and be done with it. Sigh.
• Vanishing Grace: Whatever Happened to the Good News? by Phillip Yancey---I hope to finish up this book which I started in November for a class I already finished teaching at church. It is slow going since I am only reading one or two chapters per week. No hurry.
• Sanditon by Jane Austen---her unfinished novel. I have read the book before but the version which was completed by "a lady." I want to see which parts were Jane Austen and which were not. 

For your viewing/listening enjoyment: William Joseph. I love this musician but all I could think about while I watched the video was , "He is wrecking a piano in all that water."

What are you up to? I'd love it if you'd leave a comment below!