The Endsley Grandparents: Looking forward to Springtime!

Every time the middle of February hits, I start to look forward to Spring. I intentionally wear cooler clothes (then have to turn the heat on in my classroom), drive with a skip in my step (I mean walk), and watch for our Mulberry trees to bud. I am not kidding. The first sign of green buds make me a bit giddy. Now that sounds downright ridiculous, but, it does tell you how much I'm looking forward to the seasonal change.
School's been pretty easy for the past 3 weeks, and it will continue to be so until after Spring Break. I have a student teacher, and I think I'm signing up for another one next year. He's doing pretty well, but there are times that I get pretty bored. Good thing I love to read.
Just returned from grandma's in Portland. It was her 94th birthday on Feb. 12, so I thought a quick visit would be fun for her and I. Before I left on Sunday, she sat me down and had "the talk." If you know my mom, you'll know what I'm talking about. To be honest with you, I don't think she has "the talk" with my brothers...who knows? OK, so here's the topic of this very serious conversation my mother had with me. She told me she doesn't have very long to live, maybe 2 weeks, 2 months, who knows, but she knows it won't be long. This is my thought: why has she been telling me this for the past year or so? I love my mom dearly, but bless her heart, her short term memory is pretty well shot. Thus the reason she gives me the same "talk" every few months. It was a bit depressing. I told her that Bill and I were coming up to Portland this summer, so she better not die. What a conversation!
Oh, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, and Happy Birthday to Maggie Mae, and Zachary (Feb. 13). Today, our choir went around to different classrooms to deliver their "Singing Valentines." It was pretty cute. One of my students was beet red.
I've decided to go on a diet. At least I'll start it when that bag of cookies are gone. No willpower. I have been walking the loop here in Bloomington (3.75 miles) in one hour. I stepped on the scales this morning, and noticed that I've gained 10 pounds since last year at this time. EEK! Biggest Looser, here I come.
Last comment: I know Facebook is the most popular form of social networking, but it sort of bums me out. When I started this blog a couple of years ago, I found the learning curve to be a bit steep, but I managed it, and was quite pleased with myself. Sometimes I ramble on, and I'm certainly not as adept at making it as cute as Summer and Ashley (and the rest of you). ANYWAY, now everyone uses FB to socialize, and no one reads/socializes with their blogs much anymore. I love to blog, and I can talk all I want...except everyone else has switched to FB. I will remain faithful, though, and continue to blog. I just love the free backgrounds and one of these days I learn how to put music on my blog (right, Summer?)