Greetings!

     Hi! It's been a while, hasn't it? My sister-in-law, Sarah, mentioned my blog at Easter and it made me really happy to know that there's at least 1 person who occasionally reads this. Ha. Well.I've been busy since the end of January, especially with some letter writing projects, so I'll give a little update and hopefully blog more regularly.

        This February I participated in 2 letter writing events. Lettermo and InCoWriMo. Both events challenge the participant to write a letter (or more) every day of February. I was super behind with my penpalling so this caught me up and allowed me to write to a few new people. I had participated in Lettermo for a few years so it was delightful to reconnect with old friends. I like Lettermo because you create a profile and you can read through to find people you might connect with before you write. This was my first year doing InCoWriMo, where there is a list of random letter writers all over the world and you pick who you'd like to write to. I chose my recipients kind of randomly. I had each boy choose a few people I sent mail to and then I chose the rest based on location. It is warned that you might not receive any mail since the chances of someone randomly choosing you from the list could be pretty slim, but I got a lot of great letters. Some of the people I wrote too responded as well. In general, I get along well with letter-writers. They're my type of people.Letter writing has connected me with many friends that I may not have naturally connected with if I had encountered them in everyday life. I'm constantly learning and building friendships.
      March was filled with music festivals. It was so cool to watch both my students and my oldest son growing as musicians. My son and 2 of my students even got solos. I worked with a chorus of 100 boys from grades 6-9 from 65 different communities. It was a wonderful experience.

 
 
In April, we took a short trip to New Brunswick, Canada. I will write another post about that soon. I also took part in a letter writing campaign during National Letter Writing Month called Write_On. I learned about this from someone who sent me mail during InCoWriMo. I'm so glad I learned about this because I've connected with some amazing people online. I'm hoping to get to know many of them! Their mail is incredible. Everybody seems so interesting and talented. Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for Matt?) I have discovered many new snail mail related companies I'd like to try out too. I will share some of those with you too in future posts.  Here was some of my outgoing Write_On mail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

      I don't really have any talent with visual art, but the nice envelopes I made were from recycled calendars. (If you're a person who sees me regularly and you ever have a calendar you're about to throw out, consider saving it for me.Vintage stamps too!) I realized as I was writing this post that I don't often write many letters/cards/etc. to family and friends that I see often. Truthfully, some of the reason is that I know many of you don't "get" my "weird mail obsession," but if you'd ever like some postal joy, let me know and I'll send something out to you.
     I've been good about writing, but I've been awful about logging things. If I owe you a letter and it's been a long time, please let me know. I have a large "reply" pile but I'm less than a month from when I received your letter. If it has been more than that, please touch base.
      Ok, I have to head out to modify a quiz for my 6th grade music class. Have a great day!  If you're new to the blog, feel free to say hello and introduce yourself.
     

Lettermo 2017

     Month of Letters Challenge (Lettermo) 2017. Who's in?  The challenge is to:
1) Send at least one thing through postal mail for each day it runs in February.
2) Write back to everybody who writes to you.

      I love doing this every year. I'm a little behind on my penpal responses, so I'm responding to all of those first. However, one of the reason I do this challenge every year is to connect/reconnect with new/old friends.   If you would like a letter, comment here and add your address to my Postable account (only visible to me. I don't share your address with anyone).  If your name here is different than the name you've left on my address book, please let me know who to look for.

 

   I have already challenged a few of my friends (and one of my students too) to participate. If you feel like you've lost touch with friends/family or if you want to devote some time to building relationships with people, consider joining. I've met some amazing people through Lettermo. 

Finally a great mail day

    Today was the first day back to school after February school vacation. Although it was a great day of teaching and the students were really good considering they have had a week off, I ended my day with a rehearsal of my "elite" group. Unfortunately, we were missing a bunch of them and 2 of the boys were lacking any self-control. I ended my day feeling frustrated and disgruntled (and curious about what I should do about the 2 boys. It's hard to balance caring and merciful with having clear expectations after giving ample opportunities to fix behavior.) What I'm getting at is that it was delightful to trudge out to my mailbox expecting at least 1 piece of mail and finding 4 unexpected pieces. I also got a magazine and 2 (really inexpensive bills.)  Sorry for the low quality, we're having issues with our camera.

   The postcard on the left is a Postcrossing card from Iowa, which I visited for the first time this summer. It is from a woman named Nancy.  The card shows a lithograph by the artist Grant Wood (1891-1942)


     The postcard on the right was a surprise from Saskia in The Netherlands. She belongs to Penpalling & Letters with me. We could sign up for a New Years event where you sent at least 1 person wishes for a happy new year. You may or may not get any cards back. I was really appreciative to receive this. It also reminded me that I need to clean my apartment. I wish I looked that happy when I tidy up!
      The 2 envelopes under the postcards I received from Lettermo participants. These are both introduction letters. I have had a few people on Interpals ask to write lately so I was expecting a few intro letters there but I wasn't expecting any from Lettermo. These women are from Texas and Virginia. I am looking forward to writing back. They both sounded really interesting and kind. Marilyn also sent me the most adorable bookmark that she made. Thanks!

      All this good mail has inspired me to go write a few letters tonight and get creative with them. I also have to bake a cake for a small party I'm having tomorrow at school.

Happy February (Any other friends participating in Lettermo?)

    The other day one of my friends asked if I had updated my blog recently. The answer- no. When I started blogging, I was blogging mainly to document my 366 project. Since I'm not officially doing that anymore, I haven't really written much. Plus, Matt's camera fell and wasn't working correctly so I've been without a camera.  He may have accidentally fixed it today. Yes!

    So, I guess today's post will just be a bunch of randomness from life.
What have I been up to? 
     I cannot believe it is February already. January was very busy and I basically started February feeling completely exhausted. There hasn't really been anything exciting, just a lot of working hard on everything.  I have tried to challenge myself to learn something new so I'm brushing up on my German (took a year of German in college) and to try to learn Russian. Wow. I struggle with languages. So, if you speak either language, please feel free to write me a letter or card in that language. I'm finding that I can't just learn from reading the rules in a book. I also found that I'm petrified to speak Russian to a native speaker- and that I don't know enough yet. On a positive note, my brain is being stretched in ways it hasn't been in a long time.

What's going on currently?
    Work- Starting the musical. We're doing Peter Pan (one of the Jr versions). So, I will have no free time until the end of April. I'm excited to work with the kids. We had a great group of kids audition for the show. Speaking of auditions, I'm also preparing a bunch of kids for 2 separate music festivals. Those kids also worked very hard. 2 girls will be representing our school at a concert in Boston and 6 kids will be singing in festival in Lowell. Both are in March so now is when the preparation happens. I'm working as the manager of the boys chorus at the 2nd festival. We had auditions for that a few weeks ago and all of the boys who tried out seemed like great guys. I'm excited to work with them. On a negative note, a student I'm pretty close to is moving this month. I will definitely miss seeing him around school. 
     Home- I'm preparing for some work to be done in the bathroom of our apartment. I am imagining a ton of disasters happening over the next week of work, but I think it's because I've never really lived in a place while there are renovations being done. This work desperately needs to be done so please pray that it goes well- and quickly. Work starts Monday. 
     The boys are enjoying school and all their activities. I have felt guilty about not being around as much as I'd like, but now that quarter 2 grades are in, I feel caught up and fully available. They have both been participating in a baseball clinic and it has been fun for me to watch them play again. (Indoors of course) David has also started trying basketball and Tim has been in a boys tap class. 
    Hobbies- Penpalling
  It's Lettermo time again!!!! The Month of Letters Challenge, challenged participants to send at least 1 piece of mail for everyday in February and to write back to everybody who writes you. I have been participating for a few years and have met some amazing people. Actually, my first piece of mail received from Lettermo this year was from its founder, Mary Robinette Kowal- super cool. So far I have sent out 3 Valentines Day cards (my 2 ChemoAngels and my nana), 5 Postcrossing cards, a letter to my sponsor child in Ethiopia and a reply to Mary Robinette. If you like to write, check out the challenge. I know February has already started, but you will love participating.  Are any of you participating in Lettermo this year?

Music:
     I have 2 concerts that I am playing in this month. 1 is with an orchestra I usually play with during the holiday concerts. The 2nd is for the symphonic band I was in at college. The director is a huge mentor for me and I'm so grateful that I'm working with him again. You know those moments in life where you realize who you are and things/people that got you to the place you are at? Well, I have been thinking about that a lot while I am playing in this group. 
     
Art+social-  I have not done any socializing or anything fun with art this past month. Actually, I have tried to reach out an make a few new friends, but sometimes that weird as an adult. 

What's next?
    This month I have a week off. I would like to do something out of the ordinary but I don't have anything planned yet. Sometimes we go to Cape Cod for part of the week. My parents have a time share there. (If you've never been to MA- February is NOT an ideal time to visit the Cape, but it's great for us just trying to spend some family time.)  Currently I'm caught up with work. I have lots of rehearsals for various groups. One of my former ("old" lol) students is treating me to go see Pippin at the Boston Opera House this week.  I'm hoping to complete the Lettermo challenge, finish the books I'm currently reading (Flip the Script and Thunderstruck. Penpal/art friends, check out Flip the Script. It's really interesting and written by an acquaintance of mine.) and prepare for the Districts festival in March.  I'm sorry my life sounds so lame but I think this is one of those "put one foot in front of the other and keep going" times in my life.    

More outgoing mail

As February school vacation finished up, I will frantically try to get a few more letters done before becoming buried in music festivals, homework, projects, prep work and life in general. The top envelope I received in an envelope swap. It is on it's way to Georgia to a Lettermo friend. The bottom envelopes are for 2 friends who need some encouragement and a birthday card for my mom. (That's the really colorful one. She's going to think I'm weird since she is "not into" the whole mail thing.. lol) I'm usually horrible about birthday cards so I'm glad that I am getting this out.  Hopefully each letter or card will brighten the day of the people who get them.

Back from the Cape

    I'm back for a few refreshing and cold days on Cape Cod. If you're not from the area, Cape Cod is beautiful in the summer but very crowded. In the winter it is... closed? desolate? depressing? All 3 I think. The good thing is that my parents have a time share there and we can stay there for free. So, even though there is not much there to entertain us, unless we try, we have a great time just being with each other. There is a pool and they have kids activities so we are always kept busy. I always bring a puzzle, a book (or 2) and letters so I'm always busy. (I read Rooftops of Tehran on this trip. I really liked it.) 
    This trip we:
-Went swimming
- Went out to eat with Matt's brother Jon and his 2 sons
- Did our normal Christmas Tree Shop runs (and I found some acrylic paint deals at Ocean State Job Lot)
- Were visited by my sister, her boyfriend and my niece
- Went out to a taco buffet. Matt loved it. I think I can still taste everything 2 days later. Too much junky food this trip
- Did almost all of the kids' activities- painted rocks, played bingo, made fleece pillows, did hidden object pages, etc.
- Did a puzzle together
- RESTED

I:
-Wrote 8 letters
-Read 1.5 books
- Slept more than I have in a really long time
- Enjoyed spending time with everybody and really liked noticing more differences/similarities with the boys. Tim is like me when he can just keep going all day if he's having a good time. That boys spent 5 hours straight in the pool on Tuesday. He gets along with all different types of people and can make friends with anyone. Unfortunately, he also shares can be judgmental like me. David is like me when he just wants to sit and cuddle, read or rest. He knows when he is tired and when he should probably go to bed. He is content to just sit with me and do something in the same room. He is silly and lovable.

    I also had some mail when I got home. Yeah!!! I have been expecting a package from Finland for a very long time but I'm starting to wonder if it's lost. After my initial disappointment that that still isn't here, I checked the mailbox. (Side story- We have 4 mailboxes across the street from our house. Mine is one of the 2 in the middle. Apparently, my neighbor's got taken out with a snow plow yesterday. Sad for him but glad it wasn't mine. His is the other one on the inside) Here is what I got:

 4 letters! Yes. Finally. The one in Amharic is from a little girl I sponsor through Compassion International. She is from Ethiopia. Her name is Tseganesh. The one with the beautiful handwriting is from Donna in Canada. The bluebird one is a Lettermo reply from Neil in England. Check out his stationary :) I don't know if you can order from the US but I like it all.  Then the cool envelope on the end is from Jen in CA. She is another person I have connected with through Lettermo.

 The card on the left is from a private Postcrossing exchange. It's from GA. The card on the right is another Lettermo reply! Yeah for Lettermo! I will have to continue to get at least 1 letter a day out to continue to stay ahead. 
     Anyone else taking part in Lettermo- how's it going for you?


The 366 Project: 
Sent: 85
Received: 28

Oh hey... did I mention that it's snowing again? We got another 17" when we were down the Cape Today it is snowing off and on. There is a snowbank on the corner of our driveway that is now quite a bit over my head. I'm 5'10" 

 
 

1st Lettermo card

   I received my first Lettermo card in the mail today. The berries on this card are such a nice contrast to the whiteness of our neighborhood with all of this snow.Thanks Catherine!

    I also sent out quite a few things. The bottom "package" is headed to IA, then there are 2 sympathy cards, a Valentine for my Nana (ha! I'm beating her to it!!!), a card to MD and a letter to Ashley in Wisconsin.

    I'll update my 366 numbers later. I just wanted to check in.
      I'm hoping we go back to school tomorrow. I love the extra family time (though hate all the screens that have been on) but I'm not a person who can sit in 1 place for days without getting stir crazy.
      Hope your day is great!

Happy February+January Stats

    There are a few things I learned about Lettermo the 1st time I participated.
1) It's not all about you. Originally I thought that Lettermo would be a great way to meet new people but also to receive lots and lots of mail. Unfortunately that led me to sending out a ton of mail to a bunch of new fascinating people, falling behind in correspondences, feeling guilty that I should respond to regular pals first, then becoming so disorganized and flabbergasted (Wow, I've never typed that word before) that I never responded to half of my mail. My goal this year is to send mail every day and let people know that  I'm thinking of them. In some cases this is coming with an apology for being so disorganized.

2) I didn't give myself time. This year I sent a TON of postcards to all of the people that I was Lettermo friends with over the past 2 years. I don't know if all of them are participating this year but. if they are, their mailbox should be happy right at the beginning of Lettermo. Anyone who responds will receive a letter. I figured I'd send intro postcards first then letters if I knew they wanted to write. I downloaded a Lettermo calendar/planner and plan to write at least 1 piece of mail each day. The responses will be added to the calendar as they come.
     Here's my outgoing mail today:

I also got a great card last Friday. It's a Nouvelle Images card. I wish I had more of them. This is from Anja in Germany.


    I decided with the restart of my project that I would break down the stats month by month. In January I sent:
8 letters, 21 postcards, 6 cards
I received:
4 packages, 12 postcards, 1 letter, 1 card

The 366 Project:
Sent: 61
Received: 18

In other news:
1) This is my 3rd snowday this year. I'm ready to go back.
2) 3 of my students made it into the District festival. 2 8th graders and a 7th grader. They all worked very hard. I'm proud of all of the kids who got auditioned, even if they didn't make it in.

Lettermo2015

   Who else is excited about The Month of Letters 2015? I have been involved for a few years. To be honest, I didn't do a great job. 2013 I did really well getting my mail out to people but then got behind and was in a huge funk because of stuff like the marathon bombing. 2014 I don't even know if I got anything out. So, 2015- new year. I prepared by writing a list of people who I had written to before or who had written to me, checking out their blogs, writing to the international ones so they could receive it at the beginning of Feb, and finding some new friends. I'm hoping for a really successful year. (Things that will make this successful for me: 1) Sending mail every mail day of Feb. This will greatly help with my 366 project. 2) Meeting some new people who I can continue connecting with throughout the year and 3) Hopefully getting some good mail.)  You should challenge yourself with Lettermo too. (You know I'm always looking for mail!)

     Here is my outgoing international mail... if I can get to the post office.

    These postcards are headed to Turkey, Germany, England, and Australia.  

The 366 Project:

Sent: 32

Received: 15

   Oh yeah, and it snowed. I present to you "BLIZZARD 2015"

Oh... shoot, wrong Blizzard.

   It wasn't bad. We have about 22 inches of snowfall but the drifts are huge. This is the front of my house so it is blocked from the wind. I'm 5'10" and the snow there was almost up to my waist.  It snowed for another 8 hours or so after those pictures were taken. I was trying to get into my car to get my school bag to do some work. I still have not completed the work I intended to but I'm relaxed and happy. (for now.. lol)

Today's mail

366 Project

Sent: 14
Received:14

     Today I received 2 postcards which bring my sent/received today to equal. I'm way behind with what I wanted to mail so maybe I'll take tonight to send a bunch of postcards out and finish the letter I'm working on. I'm also taking part in the Month of Letters Challenge in February, which challenges you to :

1. In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
2. Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

  Although I'm getting a late start, if I mail something every day, I should be able to get at least 23 things out. 

    Here's what I got today:

 This card is my first Lettermo mail this year! It is from Michelle. I can't wait to respond. I have something special I'd like to send back to her.

 
   This is from Pedro in China. It is of West Lake, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. (I collect UNESCO cards so I was really excited to get this!) The card is really pretty.

Olympics

     How many of you watch the Olympics? Although I'm not a huge sports fan, you can't help but be impressed by the dedication of all of these athletes from around the world.  Meghan Duggan, captain of the US Women's Olympic Hockey Team is actually from our town. I have never met her but I think it's awesome that she made it back to the Olympics. I will try to catch a few of her games on tv. 
     We are going to do a little "Family Olympics" over the next month. Today we made some Olympic rings for our front door, made team flags and competed in our first event- The Snowball Toss. I made Olympic rings in the snow with some food coloring. The object was to see how many snowballs you could toss that would land in one of the rings. I won this event. The boys tied for 2nd and Matt didn't play. The kids are excited about this. Many events will be pretty goofy but we'll have fun. Do you have any suggestions for us? The boys are 5 and 8 so we want it to be something each boy could be successful at while still having to try and enjoying themselves. They do not all have to be sport related. 
     What are your favorite events to watch in the Winter Olympics? 
 

2 good mail days

Incoming....

     Both pieces of incoming mail are responses to Lettermo postcards I sent out. I look forward to responding to both of them!

 Jackie- Did you stamp this or print it? Very cool. I would like to make my own postcards but I'm generally just bad at art. :( I try. I'm thinking of trying a mail art project this month. I'll see...

  Angie (from Mailbox Happiness)- I love the postcard from you too. Great idea. I just read your blog last night about how your writing has evolved over the month so it was nice to get your postcard today. I approached writing a little differently this time. Most of my first correspondences this time were just about what was going on here and general conversation, rather than the awkward intro letters. Now that people are responding, I will respond and tell them a little more about me and my family. It is a lot easier knowing more about them too. All of the people who have written seem like they are great letter writers. Nobody left me in a situation where I didn't have anything to respond to or talk about. Good stuff. I'm really glad I am taking part of LetterMo this year.

Outgoing...

     Package for Ashley, 2 soldier letters, 2 postcrossing cards (Finland and Russia) and 3 Lettermo postcards to people who signed my postable. 

What's a Postable?

     Postable is an online address book. From what I've read, it is very secure and lots of people that I've contacted through Lettermo are using it. Basically, it stores your addresses online and you can access it from wherever you are. This will save me (and, more so, Matt) a lot of frustration since I won't have letters hanging out all over the house. (Except letters in a "special spot" like Ashley's. Ugh. I will find it.)  It will also be nice if I'm on vacation and pick up some postcards for my friends. So, please feel free to sign my Postable and let me know if you have one of your own. I'll send any new friends a postcard  :)
 

Mailbox happiness!

Incoming...

     We went on vacation for a few days and I came home to a lovely stack of mail. Here it is:

 From a postcrosser in Belarus. I don't have many long cards like this.

 Timmy loved this pig card from a postcrosser in the Netherlands.

 Here is a winking gnome from Stefanie, a postcrosser in Germany.

 From postcrosser, Liyn, in China. They work for a chocolate company. The chocolate looks delicious. The top of the card says "Every piece of Choc Choco tells a story" My chocolates are usually screaming in fear.. lol.

 This is from a Lettermo friend from Georgia. I love postcards that are mail related!

 Another new Lettermo friend. Missy is from Arizona. I love the Mother Theresa quote. Missy, if you're reading this, you should check out a woman named Mama Maggie Gobran. She works with the street children of Cairo, Egypt and is the most humble person I have ever heard speak. If I remember I will add some of her quotes to your letter.

Mail from South Africa, Australia, Maryland and Virginia. The woman in South Africa is a fairly new penpal and the other 3 are fascinating new pals from Lettermo. I'm so excited to that I joined this year.
  Reading back in the blog, I realized that I needed to update a few other pieces of mail too.  This was from last week. Sorry I have not been good about updating this week. 

 Package from my friend, Akiko, in Japan!

 Ooooh! Exciting.

 Oops... this was out of order. Great postcrossing card. It's in the other room so I don't remember off the top of my head where it is from.

 Tea from Japan- this will make me feel beauty... good stuff.

 Nice postcard from Akiko

 Tsurago Castle in Japan

 "The Big Bad Wolf and the Seven Little Goats" Akiko, is this a story? We don't have this story here. You will have to tell me it.

 Tea!

 Chocolate- white, milk and dark!

 New Lettermo friend from Indiana. I love the card. She made the photo below as well.

       Lastly, I got a letter from Wendy (Lettermo) in Australia. I grabbed it on my way off for vacation so I didn't take a picture.
     I can't complain about not having any mail this week! Hopefully it keeps up like this and I can write like a madwoman to keep up!

Outgoing...

    Didn't take any pictures of mail on vacation but I mailed 3 of my soldiers, a penpal package (Melanie's) and a few Postcrossing cards. Here are my new numbers since it's been a while.

The 366 Project:

Received: 31
Sent: 59

     Today is the 52nd day of the year so I'm still on track!!! Woohoo! 

    Off to write some letters.  Today I saw that my page has hit 2000 page views. Yeah!