Roux

I've come to write a post several times in the last while and never got far.  It has been busy. I ended one of my classes on Friday, and finished my Singapore Math class this weekend. Well, I kind of finished it. We are meeting this Friday with a Professional Development Math Co-ordinater to do some more learning this Friday. The upside of this class is that the district paid for the class and they are paying for my hours this Friday.  So I am down two classes, I have my vocabulary class continuing, and soon I will start another Singapore Math class. Oh yes, my STEM class as well.  The exciting news is I am down to  two classes for now. I don't think the S.M. class will begin till January. I hope anyhow, I need the break.  I decided not to add to my class load this spring. I really need to put more time and focus into my classroom and my students.

It has been a long chilly weekend. I had class on Friday. The heat wasn't working in that room and gusts of cold air came up through the heater. I sat through the whole class with my winter coat and tweety-bird hat on. I went home and crawled into my bed just to warm up! I went to the gymnastics recital for my neighbors kiddos then went home and finished my online class. The gymnastics recital was about as exciting as one could imagine.  Yesterday I did laundry, and dishes, and laundry, (repeat).  We also had some snow yesterday so I shoveled my driveway. I was using my snow shovel which works fine but isn't exactly speedy. My neighbor said to use his snow shovel. It is great for this light dry snow that we get here. You can use this SnoBoss two handed and it holds A LOT of snow. It  made a long job into a short job. I may need to invest in one of these.  It doesn't scrape snow as well as some shovels but it moves a lot of snow quickly. The back is kind of like a sled and moves easily. Anyhow as you can see I am a little excited about a snow shovel! :) You can watch a video about this snow shovel HERE.

Today I spend staying warm, reading, and contemplating tomorrows work. I also decided I wanted to attempt to make a Gluten-Free Roux (White Sauce) to use in one of my favorite winter casseroles. I just ordered a Gluten-Free All purpose flour I had heard about. It was quite a lot of money for flour. I don't use very much, very often, so I decided to give it a try. It does seem to work as well as regular flour. It doesn't have that odd flavor that many Gluten-Free Flours have as well. I will try a few more experiments to see if I really love it.  You can check it out here: Jules Gluten Free.

I forgot to mention on Friday I also had a Dr. appointment. I had a thorough check up. It has been awhile since I've done that. He is going to do a couple of blood tests and see if my levels have changed since my last blood test. I had also lost 10 pounds since September and 20 pounds since last spring. I didn't really notice. My mom kept mentioning it... anyhow. I think going Gluten Free has been a very good decision for me. For one thing I cook a lot at home. When you cook things yourself you know all of the ingredients. I also made the change of drinking whole milk. At first it was a little gross to me. I am used to it now. I've read that they add a lot of sugars to 1 percent, 2 percent and lowfat milk.  I prefer to get my sugar in my Chocolate fix. I mean really!  :)  I have my priorities and they start with Chocolate! 

It isn't long till Christmas break and I will be heading north. I am looking forward to seeing Family and Friends and a change of scenery. Let's hope this Arctic Blast heads back to the Arctic when I am driving home!