Polymathic gone social!

I'm branching out in the blog world and goin' social. I figure people don't always subscribe to updates from a blog, myself included. If they see an update on social media, however, they subscribe to those much more easily (myself included, again). So here it is, the link to my Polymathic Journey Facebook page! It's not much for now, but it's great to be able to post a quick pic related to the blog that I might not otherwise post to the blog or a witty update. There's really not any of those right now either. I'll get there...

Explaining the Title

Polymath (n.): A person of great learning in several fields of study

     I was at work and we were eating (surprise!) someone else's baked treat that had been brought to celebrate a birthday. It was a DELICIOUS pecan monkeybread. I'm still drooling thinking about it. Anyways, I'm standing in the workroom, laminating cards for my students to use to play "Go Fish" (with fraction/decimal cards), and a coworker and I are discussing aforementioned monkeybread (drool). He starts asking about my baking ventures. "You're like, a talented baker, right? You just make all sorts of things?" We talk for a bit about that, my previous life with an egg allergy, baking inspiration, yada yada and then he asks how my other projects are going- the quilt I've been making, packing to move, prepping for the school year, blah blah.

     Enter another coworker, and coworker #1 says something along the lines of "Did you realize all the different stuff Sarah can do? I mean she has a million hobbies." So of course I'm flattered and embarrassed and try to avoid the conversation by bringing up whoever made the monkeybread (seriously I need a bib) and fumbling with my fraction/decimal cards. The two of them start talking about how I should start a blog. And one of them says "There's a lot of blogs out there, but you really have a lot of talents worth sharing!" Generally, I never share this sort of flattery. I admit, I enjoy it, and it made my day, but I don't usually like to brag about people bragging about me.  It even sounds weird in that sentence. But it's relevant to the next part of the story, so, yeah. I'll just be over here blushing (and drooling)...

     Fast forward to later that day, while I'm trying to finish THAT DARN QUILT. I'm tying knots (only 9 more to go!) and listening to this when-I-was-in-college-era mix of mostly acoustic mousic (I'm leaving that typo because I like it) when a Mason Jennings song comes on that made my brain wax a wee bit philosophical. I thought a good blog pursuit would be something about being a "Renaissance Woman." That sounds so...touristy, to me, though. It didn't feel flattering. Like, "Oh I can be a renaissance man but I'm a female so I have to classify that with gender specific vocabulary" and I just wrinkled my nose at the sound of introducing myself as "The Renaissance Woman." I also pictured this horrifying scenario where I just start getting offers to perform at Renaissance fairs, totally not the same thing.

     So I did what any average human being does, and I Google search the term "Renaissance man." There it is! My inspiration! I had completely forgotten about the Greek word where the idea of Renaissance man originated- polymath. I love the way the word polymath flows, though! And as a newly discovered math teacher, who's been nerding hard over manipulative activities this summer, the word has the added bonus of containing the word "math."

     I have always envisioned myself spending my life learning to be good at whatever I'm doing. I anticipate that my life ventures may change every now and then because I'm a very flexible person with a large variety of interests. I love the idea of using this blog to be a platform to that journey of becoming a person who spent their time on Earth cultivating knowledge of all sorts. Do I have a cluster of more strong interests? Sure. There will probably be a lot more posts on this blog related to things I pursue often- baking/creative outlets, active lifestyle pursuits (I haven't talked about running yet, have I?)- but I hope that my journey to discover and learn can bring along all sorts of people with me. I'm sure there are many interests that I have yet to discover, and I hope that blogging about them when I do discover will leave behind a trail of inspiration for others to follow.

A Blog Title!

So I've changed the name of the blog! Finally!

I think I may stick with this one. Changing the name, changing the direction a little bit too. I realized that I'm not posting because I keep thinking I need mountains of content to post. I need stories, pictures, full length narratives or recipes or ideas...and then I don't post because it will take so long to get that all typed, edited, and just right. So, until I have more time/stories/full length narratives, or take this blog anywhere serious, I'm going to change direction and make it my goal to just post SOMETHING daily. Whatever stands out. A link, a photo, a story, maybe a longer post now and then. Who knows.

Today's thought to share: My entry into a local brewery's baking contest to promote a new chocolate stout

You're looking at a prize winning setup there. :) 

Here's the process/recipe I followed: 

Step 1- Make the caramels. I used this recipe, http://butterwithasideofbread.com/2012/07/holiday-baking-homemade-caramels.html 

Note: it makes a WHOLE pan...a lot of caramels. You could wrap them and save them for later! Or give as gifts. Or eat them, with the leftover chocolate from Step 5. Mmmm. 

​Step 2- Make the brownies. You can use a box! I used this recipe: ​http://moneysavingmom.com/2013/10/ultimate-double-chocolate-brownies.html and that is probably my new go-to brownie recipe. 

Step 3- When everything has cooled, cut the caramel into squares, slightly smaller than 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch. I rolled them into balls after cutting, then you can see if they are too big to wrap brownie around. 

Step 4- I used forks to smash up the brownies in a bowl, kind of like you would do with cake if you were making cake pops. You should end up with a bowl full of small crumbs. Grab a small amount to just fill the center of your palm and place the caramel in the center, mushing the brownie around it into a ball shape. Place on parchment paper and refrigerate or freeze for at least 30 minutes . 

Step 5- I melted 1 bag of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips in a double boiler with 1.5 tablespoons of shortening and dipped the brownie ball in. When they were cooling I sprinkled course sea salt on top! You can leave them to set or you can put them in the fridge another 20 minutes to set. 

A Series of Lists

      I completely blame hockey playoffs!! The Caps made it to the end of the 2nd round and that meant every other day for a month I was watching a hockey game in my spare (ha) time. Making it to the 3rd round would have been history in the making and I wanted to be along for every minute of every game.

Things that suffered on account of time spent hockey during the playoffs: 

Hockey memes are okay [source]

- keeping up with baking challenges
- grading student papers
- social relationships
- level of house cleanliness
- any and all exercise
- maybe personal hygiene (but only on the weekends...)




     I also blame the end of the school year! We've got 2 weeks left until summer break. So much to do, so little time. Last week I was at school every day until 6 or 6:30, which means I'm fried when I get home. Any blog post I'd have written would have been utter gibberish last week. And the week before. Come to think of it, this might also be gibberish...

Teacher memes are great  [source]

Things that continue to suffer because it's the end of the school year:
- keeping up with baking challenges
- social relationships
- level of house cleanliness
- most exercise
- maybe personal hygiene (but only on the weekends...)



I'm keeping this short:
- in the hopes that I write another one soon
- to try and reclaim some sort of exercise regimen (I'm supposed to meet people to play soccer in 40 minutes)
- to build suspense...


Here are some posts I hope to write about in the upcoming weeks: 
- I'm competing in a local baking competition for a brewery! It's really nothing major, just for fun, but I'm fairly competitive so I'm obviously playing to win (the keg)
- My summer job is pretty cool, and I'm being trained in something new this year so I hope to describe that a bit
- I need to do some painting this summer and want to share those
- Summer adventures in general!!
- I WILL finish that d%&$ t-shirt quilt I've been working on for 2 years now (actually). I plan to share my process as a moderate sewer who tried to get way too fancy, and how it all turns out


      Stay tuned! I promise I won't be so delinquent now that hockey playoffs are over.

One Month Later...

Whelp. I knew it would happen. This is why I have never really been a "blogger!" Life gets in the way people!

Top 10 things that have contributed to the large gap between posts: 

1. Work. Last week I was at school every day until 6:30 or 7. Possibly the week before as well. Ew. Gross. Ugh. 

2. HOCKEY PLAYOFFS. I'm a bit of a fanatic. Let's go Caps!! (obligatory #CAPSLOCK @washcaps)

3. Our outdoor soccer league is finally getting to regular schedule (rain kept us from playing the first several weeks)

4. Weekends away/with visitors. Springtime apparently = ALL the visits. 

5. More work. Writing IEPs, doing transition meetings, lesson planning...not enough time in the day!

6. Procrastination

7. Third Rock from the Sun is on Netflix! Game of Thrones is back!

8. We decided we are going to move this summer! Which led to apartment hunting and.. 

9. Cleaning out closets/stuff around the house (still need to work on this)

10. Warmer weather has meant we've been outside a lot more! At the outdoor bars, taking a walk, grilling dinner, etc. 

I started to try and type an actual post but all of those things in the above list (particularly #1 and #5) have made me what we (in college) call "cracked out." I'm so tired but I'm giddy but mostly tired but also not in a bad mood just really really really REALLY in need of bedtime happening soon. And I don't write as well. But it's more entertaining, from what I hear.

So, to make it up to you, here's some lovely pictures to show what I've been up to: 

--> Going to Williamsburg, VA to visit the ol' collegiate stomping grounds/spend time with friends who are moving halfway across the country in a few weeks. We had an enjoyable time wandering campus on my spring break, and pointing and laughing at the students who had classes/exams. We didn't actually do that. We just talked about doing that.

 <--  Enjoying the pleasant spring (less so enjoying the pollen that accumulates everywhere) by taking some walks and hanging out on the back patio*.

*This is actually not from my back patio.








 <-- Baking lots of things for Easter and in general. Easter was entertaining because I got my cousins to show my mom how to video chat me, and she took pictures of me (on her computer) video chatting with them, on her camera.

--> Spending time with friends on nice evenings! This is a picture of one of the games at our favorite local hangout. We call it "Barcade" because we never remember the real name. They have a bunch of old school video games and you can play any of them for 25 cents. It definitely brings back old memories!



 <-- My Easter Peep wreath from my grandma. She made this for me one year as a Christmas gift, and it is awesome! She also got me the peep basket and cover. Last week, my mom gave me some greeting cards and the front is a peep with the phrase "Inside, we're all the same." Can you tell my family likes Peeps? It's actually part of an Easter tradition I started where we roast the peeps like marshmallows.

DONUTS. DONUTS. I MADE THESE. TASTE SO GOOD. DONUTS.

Okay I think we need to end there today. I have some interesting baking challenges coming up and a few pre-summer crafts/activities I want to accomplish. Which means I'll be rearin' to go with material and clearly should not take another month to post. Clearly. Obviously. (Donuts?)

But seriously...

Time for a little inspiration!!

     Sometimes, I get crafty. And sometimes when I get crafty I think, "This craft needs to be meaningful and worth my time, and not just frivolous." Trying not to be wasteful, I decided I'd make something inspiring and do a little recycling at the same time.

     I have several blank canvases laying around but the one I wanted to use most was actually a misprinted photo canvas I got in the mail last year. After contacting the company about the canvas, they of course sent a new one, but I was left with the crappy looking one! So, I brought it to my table and sat to work covering up the previous photo with white acrylic paint. Then, added a background color.

This is actually upside down from my viewpoint
whilst taking the picture. Huh. 

     Now, when I saw this color I was very pleased because this is my favorite color. A sort of cobalt, cerulean blue. Always has been and always will be! And then I started planning the rest of the canvas and realized that there are few colors that show up really well on top of this color. Oops.

     Inspiration for this canvas actually came to me several months ago. When Maya Angelou passed away, everrryyyone was posting their favorite Angelou quote on every social media outlet possible. I had absolutely no problem with this; I really enjoyed having a day where scrolling through media meant that I was enlightened by her wisdom, inspired by her triumph, and smiling at her happiness. However, a friend of mine posted one that made me give a resounding "Amen" aloud to myself as I read it. "You may not control all of the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them"

     To me, this is a excellent hard truth with which I feel everyone must come to terms. Our choices define us and we are all prone to those unfortunate choices. As a special education teacher, to me this quote also inspires the thought that decisions have different weight for each individual. Choosing what to eat for dinner is a difficult decision to someone dedicated to losing weight, but an easy one for others; deciding what to do with your life can be an easy choice for those passionate about a particular profession,

                             Dat glare, tho                                     but an excruciating one for those whose talents                                                                                         may not be easily quantified. 

     This is a conversation I hoped to inspire in my 6th grade classroom with this canvas. The finished product is sitting on my dry erase marker tray at the moment, directly underneath each day's agenda. I have to admit I haven't had that conversation I've been awaiting, but there's a lot of time left this school year for that. 

Finished product! Off center image. A little pixillated. 

I was right.

Here's a bonus snow day picture to make up for my absence:

Chapter 1: I'll probably forget about posting again for at least a week...

The World, as seen from somewhere in Jamaica (old honeymoon photo)

Hello world! 


      I have long wanted to begin an online presence to share art, poetry, ideas, recipes, or whatever else my little heart desired, but I've run into roadblocks. Not enough time, not having a functioning computer, forgetting to post, and, let's be real, a lack of material. I do not have the most interesting thoughts!

      Most of my thoughts revolve around a running to-do list in my brain, where my synapses are constantly sending a signal to one place and then another. It sounds like "don't forget to do laundry if you want your favorite running socks for your run tomorrow...I should actually put some socks on since my feet are cold!...speaking of cold, it will be spring and summer before you know it...oooh summer project list!...oooh summer travel list!...ooh lack of funds for most of the ideas that just got put on those lists....sigh...." and continues pretty much until I fall asleep. In the words of one of my good college friends, "WOMP." 

A "Work in Progress" snapshot.
Much Work.  Such focus. 

  So, now that the introduction to this blog is as thrilling as any I could spend months tweaking and working on, let's get started with material I DO have on hand. I've been participating in a "baking challenge" this year. Basically, I follow the 52weeksofbaking subreddit and each week they post a new challenge for the week. Could be an ingredient, maybe a theme, maybe a type of baked good; whatever it is I have a week to come up with my submission and upload a photo. 

      What reward is there? Is it a contest? I get these questions a lot. The answer is: several months ago I was griping to my husband about how the frosting on these cookies I made just did NOT look the way I wanted to. I had a white whine moment where I was all "these look SO ugly. This is not what I had pictured! HOW is this possible, I did all the things I should have done to make these turn out so cute, but they just look fugly. FUGLY!!" He did the traditional husband eyeroll and went straight into a very parental "Well, if you want to get good at decorating cookies, you're just going to have to practice more often." First, my brain did that synapse-running thing "I don't need practice! This is not a difficult task...although this is probably the 2nd time I've used this frosting and decorated sugar cookies with it...okay but really he just wants me to make cookies and cupcakes more often and he doesn't actually care what they look like..." etc. But approximately 30 seconds into that I thought, "Well, he's right!" 

1st photo attempt...The salt & pepper
are hiding a mousetrap. EW. What
was I thinking?!

     Hence the challenge. As the New Year began I was thinking of what my resolution would be. My resolution is usually something I decide to spend the year accomplishing. One year I set out to find facial cleansing products that did their job without destroying my skin or causing breakouts. One year it was do a better job cleaning out my closet (and bookshelves and whatever else I owned) and donating. This year, I decided, it would be to a) make better use of half the baking pans and trinkets I own but don't use very often, and b) try new baking things and get better at things I already do (such as decorating cookies).  This week's challenge was to  bake something that went with the theme of Chinese (or Lunar) New Year. I decided to make fortune cookies! 

      I used this recipe from ifood.tv mostly because the video was very helpful in learning to fold the cookies. The first round was definitely a little tricky, but after that it just got easier with each batch! This was definitely a fun challenge. Also a good snow day project- since you only make 3 at a time, well, it took a good part of the day to get them all done (It's not included on that website but one batch made about 45 cookies). 

Beautiful fortune cookies! Much better photo op. 

      I really should have ironed that cloth before taking those photos. Oops. So there's the first post. You got an idea of why you probably don't want to read this blog EVER again, then maybe I woo-ed you with a few nice photos (and one horrible one. I'm trying to show how multifaceted I am. Is it working? Guys?). And now you are thinking "Well, maybe the next post will be more graceful. I'll stick around to find out." Saaaaame thought my mother has had about me for 26 years, folks. But I'd appreciate it if you'd check out the next post just to check! Thanks for reading!