Currently

  Happy Thursday, Y'all

I'm joining Jennifer from Overflowing with Thankfulness, along with a few other bloggers, and sharing a look at what's currently going on in my life. However, I'm ignoring the prompts for this month and instead just writing about some of the random "currentlys" floating around in my head.

So what's currently on my mind?

I'm currently thinking about Christmas. I found the cutest shirts on Amazon for my nieces. Each one has something on it that I know they'll love. I wasn't even looking for them. I was looking for a dress for myself and for some reason, Amazon showed me these shirts. And the best part was that they were on sale because of an extended Cyber Monday deal. So that helped! And on the off chance, they're reading this over someone's shoulder, which could indeed happen knowing them, I don't want to post the pictures of them just yet ;)

I'm currently smiling over (about?) the sweetness of my students. One of my girls mentioned wanting to mail a birthday card to a friend in the States. So I quickly found a card design on Etsy, printed it out, and asked a fellow teacher if this student's classmates could sign it during his class the next day, and then a person visiting took it later that night to mail once he got back to the States. Then there was another student who helped me plan a snack theme for our Christmas party that all students could enjoy, including the one friend that has fairly significant food allergies. There was another student who asked to borrow my colored pens to write a birthday note to her mom, asking me how to spell certain words as she wrote. And yet another who excitedly told me all about his plans for an upcoming project he’ll be doing with his parents and the mission work they’re doing, because "I just love getting to help other people, especially when they don't know that I'm helping. It's all about them and nothing about me!" :)

I'm currently shifting into study mode with most of my people, as we prepare for their midterms next week. I told someone the other day that it's somewhat surreal... For so many years, as an elementary teacher, at this point in the school year, I would have been planning all sorts of Christmas crafts and coloring sheets and all of that. But for the last few years, I've been creating, helping kids study for, and administering exams. And while I do miss the fun Christmasy activities, I do so love what I'm doing now too :)

I'm currently enjoying this casserole I made the other day, with shredded pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, rotel, cream of chicken, a bit of chicken broth, cilantro, some random seasonings, and topped with grated cheddar cheese. And it lasted a while too! Y'all... It was so good!

I'm currently feeling happy that at the end of next week, I'll be able to see my family again, for the start of my Christmas Break vacation :)

I'm currently looking forward to Friday's lunchtime party with my students. We're having ice cream (or sorbet) and juice. Then they can either eat lunch and hang out in my room or take it with them when they come pick up their Christmas gifts. I enjoy this day each year. We get to "party" before the craziness of the last week gets here - when my younger students get out early since they don't take exams and my older ones will be busy studying for their exams.

And lastly, I'm currently planning to pick up this journal that I ordered for myself a few weeks ago when I arrive in the States next week. I like that there are 366 pages in it, so my plan is to take a page a day in my efforts to journal all year and also, to intentionally notice/show gratitude for all the ways God is working in my life in 2024. P.S. How is it almost 2024 already?! Is that crazy to anyone else besides me?! :)

And that’s about it for me.

What  about you?

What are you currently up to?