Gifts from Germany

Can we open the package yet????

What do we have here?

Well, how about getting a big package of Christmas gifts in late January from Sönke Hanneken and his family? I think that has to be the best. Bailey thinks so. He landed a new pal that we've named Bailey II the Beaver. Thanks so much Hanneken Family. We'll make sure that Connie & Ben plus Brenda receive their gifts. Way too kind....

My baby... :-)

Friends for Lunch

Today, Bailey and I welcomed my friends Maja Wilson and Tom Newkirk for work and lunch. Maja is a professor at UMaine Farmington and Tom is professor emeritus at the University of New Hampshire. They worked on a book Maja is writing about assessment. Maja and I worked together at UMaine. The three of us caught up over lunch from the Rumford House of Pizza. I've know Tom since the early 1990s when I applied to UNH's graduate school. He liked the sound of my book-in-progress and end up editing that book and a follow-up book (Room 109 and Beyond Room 109) for Heinemann Education Publishers.  We also co-edited a book titled Teaching the Neglected 'R'. Tom and Maja are a couple of the good people in education. Don't forget to click on the photos below to enlarge.

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Click on Photo to Enlarge

The Mountains of My Home

Now that I've had a slew of trees taken down in my yard, including several 4-story Blue Spruce trees, I have a much improved view of the mountains of the River Valley. I still have some smaller trees to take down, and when I do, the view will be less obstructed. My late neighbor, Steve Davis, a WWII veteran, planted those Blue Spruce when he returned from Europe in the 1940s. He went on to manage a greenhouse and his wife, Mary, was the florist.

Bailey's room

I joke with people about Bailey's bedroom, but truth is, it's a good room with a great bed. Each evening he heads off to bed by himself between 9:30pm and 10:00pm. He makes his grand exit by barking at me looking for permission. "Go to bed, Bailey." And off he goes. Some nights, however, he waits for me to head up. Like an old couple, he heads into his room and I into mine. Usually he curls into a ball, but when he's just taking a quick nap during the day, he lies on his back. I know it's unusual that my dog has his own room and bed. If I have exchange students they take over the room. Then Bailey crawls into my office and sleeps on the wooden floor and wandered down into the living room to sleep on a Victorian couch. He never sleeps in my room.