Day 34: Christmas Door Contest

I have three Teacher's Assistants and at my high school, there is an annual Holiday door decorating contest. I designed the door and my students executed my idea. I decided to go for an "under the sea" theme but then a TA suggested putting Santa hats on the fish and I was like YESSSS!

Here is the sketch of my original plan.

... and the student's interpretation of my instructions. What do you think?

I really like it :)

Sadly we didn't win, place or show because we didn't resort to (what I consider) cheap gimmicks like a rotating Christmas tree or a television plugged in playing classic holiday reruns.

Still, our's was pretty creative. I think I could improve on this theme for next year and make it better. Like having a GIANT octopus / kraken beast around the door (with a Santa hat) that my students have to walk through.

Today was the second to last day of school and boy, students are getting ready to be finished. Frankly, so are most of the teachers too!

30by30: #6 Run a 5K - COMPLETE

Well, I did it! I ran my first 5K for the Portland 35th annual Shamrock Run on St. Patrick's Day. It was great fun :) My friend A and I ran it in 47:26 with a pace of 15:16. We were so excited to accomplish this. This was her first race ever and it was my first time running anything really long since my lung collapse at age 19.

After my lung collapsed, I honestly believed that I wouldn't be able to run without seriously hurting myself. This event really showed me that I can do this and NOT have my lung give out and die. I know that I've done other very rewarding things since The Project began (like Le Grand Continental dancing) but this was something I thought would actually hurt me to do again. I'm relieved that I had a fantastically supportive running buddy. What a relief that both of us made it and we did great! I will definitely participate in more running events in the future because people are very supportive and it was fun.

Plus, at the end they give you a free beer. Cheers! x

30by30: 2.) New dinner dishes

This recipe I had been dying to try for several years. It always sounded great, but I never had an excuse to make it. I am attaching the recipe I used, which I reduced by half.

Better yet, it tasted very savory and left me with that great umami feeling in my mouth. The picture attached was after I served it to me and my husband.


COWBOY CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST
- Serves 6 (or 4 cowboys) Active time: 30 minutes. Start to finish: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:
1 pound bulk breakfast sausage (not links)
4 Texas Toast pieces - thawed
1 dozen eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (and more if you like cheese)
1/2 cup whole milk
scallions
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375*F. Generously butter a 9x9 baking dish. Cook sausage in a skillet until browned, drain off fat and set aside to cool. Place Texas Toast face down in the baking dish. Sprinkle sausage on top. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper until frothy. Whisk in scallions and half of cheese. Pour egg mixture over sausage (bread will float to the top) and push down on bread with a spatula to help it absorb liquid. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with a large sheet of buttered foil (buttered side down) and bake for 30 minutes. Carefully remove foil and bake until top is slightly puffed and eggs are cooked through in center, about 20 minutes more. Let casserole cool for 10 minutes, then cut into pieces. Note: The dish can be assembled up to 12 hours ahead an refrigerated, covered with buttered foil. Bake as directed.

Adapted from:
Reichl, Ruth. Gourmet today: more than 1000 all-new recipes for the contemporary kitchen. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 657.

30by30: 8.) Works of art, Hand-made B&W cards with husband's photo pics

We had a whole bunch of very attractive 4x6" images left over from my husband's black and white photography adventures in Europe and Japan. With these 75 images, I put one side using decorative scalloped scissors and then attached them to basic photography cards that I purchased from Michael's. Then I gave them away as Christmas presents in groups of 10 or 12. On the back of each card, we put the location of the picture. Only family received them, but everyone really loved them.

30by30: 8.) Works of art, Hand-made furoshiki

When I was in Japan this year, I purchased some really nice Japanese fabric to use in making furoshiki for Christmas presents this year. History of the furoshiki began from the Edo Period, in the early 1600s. Furoshiki literally means "bath spread," as it was originally used to hold clothing, shoes and personal belongings while attending at the Japanese public bath. Users would wrap and fold it in various manners. As use of the furoshiki expanded beyond the bathhouses, merchants began using the cloth to carry their goods to the market and as a form of wrapping paper and gift carrier. It's reusable wrapping paper at it's finest. To me, it also reminds me of the "hobo bag" in the stick that people used to use in America. I made approximately 12 furoshiki as gifts this year and I believe my friends and family will really appreciate them. I made them large enough that if they would prefer to use them as a head wrap, like a bandana, then they are large enough.

New Thing #101: Christmas at Disneyland

Kevin, his parents and I all went to Disneyland for the last weekend of the holidays. Disneyland decorates everything for Christmas. They have a special holiday parade and decorate the Haunted Mansion (Nightmare Before Christmas Theme) and It's a Small World After All does Christmas music. The lights were very beautiful and we spent two days there shifting between California Adventure and Disneyland. Everyone enjoyed Disneyland more though :)

Holiday Cheer, Day 25.5

This is kinda unfair to consider this "Holiday Cheer" but oh well. Kevin and I flew down to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl and we spent our New Year's with his parents in an RV park watching the special New Year's fireworks over at Disneyland. It was amazing!

Holiday Cheer, Day 25

Merry Christmas! Kevin woke me up with bells this morning and we opened presents. It was loads of fun :) I had prepared cinnamon rolls the night before and Kevin popped them in the oven and made mochas for us to sip on. We had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. After our morning un-wrapping adventures, we drove down to Salem and did Christmas with mom. Kevin made steak for Christmas dinner.

Holiday Cheer, Day 24

The office is closing early today due to the holiday weekend, so I get paid for going home and prepping for Christmas eve: wassoling, wrapping and cooking! So excited to spend time with Kevin and Sugar under the Christmas tree!

Holiday Cheer, Day 23

Todd Z's poker party combined with an ugly-sweater Christmas party.

Holiday Cheer, Day 22

I've never seen "A Christmas Story" and tonight is the night! I thought it had some cute moments but I won't be watching it every, single year for the rest of my life. But I liked the leg lamp side-story because Heather always used to talk about the infamous leg lamp.

Holiday Cheer, Day 21

Recession Christmas white elephant gift exchange with the girls! Kevin got a knit scarf that Vanessa made and I got a see-through flame shower curtain. Woot woot!

Holiday Cheer, Day 20

Creating our Christmas morning music playlist on Grooveshark with Kevin. Each song has to be paired with various music trivia. I'm trying to be patient with him ... he's being "christmasy" at least ;)

Holiday Cheer, Day 19

Jackie Mitchell's wedding plus christmas with Dad, Deborah and Thomas -- fun times in Salem! Getting all glammed up :)

Holiday Cheer, Day 18

Christmas with Kevin's parents before they fly south for the winter.

Holiday Cheer, Day 17

I got tickets half-off to go see The Nutcracker Ballet for the very first time! I took Kevin and we had a nice time. We started out with a quick dinner at Paccini's (on the ground floor of the Ione Plaza, where we used to live) then went to Keller. The ballet was fantastic! Then on to Dragon Sushi for a quick bite and now we're home. What a delightful evening!

Holiday Cheer, Day 16,

Will hand paint little penguin Christmas ornament and put cute picture inside it's picture-frame tummy. Now considering pictures ideas...

Holiday Cheer, Day 15

Playing "Christmas" Scrabble with Kevin. Way more of a challenge than normal Scrabble because we could only create words associated with the Christmas holidays. Highlights included Cupid (as in Santa's reindeer), bow, geese, trees (my "axe" bissected his "tree" hahah!), torn, train, hide, gold, roof, nine and day. The other words were reaching :) Very fun all the same.

Holiday Cheer, Day 14

Plan to watch "It Happened On 5th Avenue" tonight. Not neccesarily a Christmas comedy, but was recommended as a holiday film by the internet. We'll see.

Holiday Cheer, Day 13

I watched "The Bishop's Wife" (Cary Grant version). It was a little weird. I don't like the idea of an angel coming down to heaven and trying to seduce a bishop's wife. The movie jacket led me to believe that she fell in love with him ... well, the way he was TRYING how could a woman NOT fall in love with that? Just ridiculous!