The silence between the notes

Finally! Six days into “vacation”, and I finally accomplished a “morning off!” I  slept in, stayed in my pjs, and curled up with my coffee, kitty, puppy, and book just because I wanted to! In fact I just noticed that it’s almost 1PM and wondered if I should feel bad that I wasted my morning... On the other hand, my sisters would be proud that I'm finally sitting down with a book! They often made fun of me as being the English teacher who doesn't read. In my 13 years as an English teacher, I read PLENTY though! It's just that instead of the publications most of you were reading, I usually read journals, essays, and graphic organizers from 17 year olds. I don’t turn off my work mode easily; I usually keep working or at least thinking about work for days after the calendar says I’m off work. Truth be told, I still sent a handful of emails this morning before I started my book, because I knew those work-related conversations needed to move forward before next week. But I se...

When I went gluten free in June of 2012, I spent a LOT of time researching everything related to gluten allergies and intolerances. By the holiday season of 2012, I had adjusted pretty well. And by "adjusted," I really mean "found a way to completely cut gluten out of my personal diet." But during the holiday season, I realized that although I had fully adjusted, my loved ones were still new to the burdens of accommodating gluten free living. It was a tough season together, to say the least. This year, however, friends and family have been eager to share the ways they managed to adjust their holiday plans to include me.  After last year's tears, it's been especially sweet to see how much effort my loved ones have now made on my behalf.  Eventually, I found it so normal to maintain a gluten free home that I settled into my own gluten free rut. So this winter, I wanted to start branching out and trying new recipes and strategies for the holiday season. I went...