Everything Daisy

Mamaw's Green Glass Pitcher and Glasses

2011-11-05T19:22:00.002-05:00

Welcome to 2011

2011-01-01T22:40:00.002-06:00

It's gonna be a great year!

Resolutions - I don't do them and I resolve not to start doing them :)

Dyeing Ugg Boots

2010-11-13T09:38:00.009-06:00

I did it! I was nervous and worried but my Ugg pale pink boots were dying - no that's not right! They were DYEING LOL :) Well, really I guess they were dying to be dyed. They were filthy and couldn't be worn like they were. Something needed to be done. I got some inspiration from a fellow blogger catchickcreations and an ehow article.

So first I sprayed them with Shout and brushed them with a toothbrush. I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so I just went all in and threw them in the washing machine on cold/gentle.

I patiently watched them go through each cycle with my finger pushing down on the "lid closed" button. (I didn't want the bottom to come unglued from the leather)

They came out looking great! I stuffed them with paper towels to retain their shape while they dried.

I knew I wanted them to be "pinker" because they were so faded, so I bought RIT powder dye in petal pink. (I used one whole packet for the bucket). We (because at this point hubby became involved) filled the bucket with hot water and I dissolved the packet in a glass bowl with two cups of water then poured the dye mixture into the big bucket and stirred.

I throughly re-wet the Uggs and put on gloves so I could get them into the bucket top down with the soles floating together (if I would have had larger boots/feet, this wouldn't have been so easy).
I waited for thirty minutes and swirled them around with a stick periodically during that time. When the dinger went off, I pulled them both out and began the rinsing process - warm, then cold when they no longer had pinkish water running out of them. Then I stuffed them again - and waited. And waited. And waited.

It took almost 4 days for them to dry and I kept changing the paper towels in them.

But I have to say the final result was well worth it all. They are now presentable again. As a final process (to soften up the sheepskin on the outside again) I vigorously "brushed" them with a plastic bristle hair brush. This returned some of the nap and made them soft and pliable again :)

This was the final product/outcome. I think they turned out great. And thanks catchick, for your kind email and helping me through a scary process :)

As a side note, the stitching around the tag on back did turn pink. Since the dye was so light, it didn't affect the tag. I had a brainstorm of an idea to color the tag with white crayon (wax) before I dyed them to keep them from changing but in my nervousness, forgot to do that, so I don't know if that would work or not.

Yard Sale

2010-09-03T20:19:00.001-05:00

Find garage sales
in Hazelwood, MO.

It's Been a Glorious Summer!

2010-08-29T10:21:00.002-05:00

The dogs swam and loved it, and the whole experience was made so much better by the addition of steps into the pool rather than a ladder. We played volleyball almost every day and near the end the dogs thought they would like to play too.
We worked all summer trying to get some grass back in the yard and have been somewhat successful despite a dying lawnmower. A couple times I had summer evening fires in the new fire pit but I always ended up sweating and jumping back in the pool.
Mom and Dad came to swim and eat a couple times - on Father's day it was just like old times :)
We enjoyed several evening/night/1 am swims and games of volleyball in the dark - hilarious! - and we figured out our pool is just too small and our bodies are too big for Marco Polo :)
Near the end I started selling on ebay to get rid of some of this accumulation and have had some success but with the frequency of visiting ebay, I have also bought (some really sexy boots).
We celebrated our anniversary with an awful meal that luckily we didn't have to pay for and it ended with me being sick. So we celebrated again the next night at home and it was truly an awesome evening with a fixed steak, a night swim and chocolate!
We picked peaches and made ice cream and pies. Then made more ice cream with cosmic brownies!
We visited the Festival of the Little Hills and bought dip and ate it for dinner - LOL!
School has now started back and the pool is down to 71 degrees already. I'm facing that it is over and time to move on but it has undoubtedly been one of the best summers ever.

I really have finished it

2010-07-12T19:11:00.003-05:00

I did finish my book. But now I have begun the rewriting phase and am ready to tackle it again. Believe it or not, I am excited about it. The biggest part that scares me is the whole publishing end of it. Not actually getting published, as I imagine that would be amazing. But the "how to get published" part of all of it. And ISBN number. Well who the hell knew?? There goes a whole days work of teaching. An agent?? Oh now come on.
Actually, the writing and rewriting and editing is SO the easy part. That's the part I know how to do. I know how to write. What I don't know how to do is this whole business of publishing. What a nightmarish mess!

Oh, and as of the last week, the new title is "Eternal Fault."

One Adventure after Another

2010-03-16T18:35:00.002-05:00

wow
Spring Break has been a fun adventure so far.
Monday - went hiking to a place I had never been - St. Stanislaus. Went up a huge hill and slid down (on accident) due to the mud. And I guess calling it a hill is an understatement. It was a mountain. The view from up top was absolutely gorgeous despite my numbed and filthy mud-caked hands and almost new and now filthy white down coat.
Later on down the trail we found an old homestead - just the foundation was left and parts of the rock walls that had tumbled down. It was an odd oval shape???? What's up with that? It is at the end of the public land, announced by a big sign in the middle of the woods nowhere. So we turn around to head back to the main trail and surprise - a big quiet pit bull was about 50 ft. in front of us. My Snow White effect kicked in and I started to just talk to him. Ronny told me not to move but I didn't feel scared at all (reminds me of the time when the Jona's dog was coming in for the attack and out of reflex I yelled in my deep voice "go lay down" and she backed off :) So, really not wanting to make Ronny mad (cause I wasn't worried at all about the dog), I stood still. Off in the far off distance I heard a yell, which must have been the owner? and the dog turned and ran off. Made for a quite interesting day, and even though there weren't any bears or giant mudslides, our little occurences along the trail were just enough to give a hint of dangerous fun :)

Tuesday - Bought the nieces and nephews Easter candy - and yes I do think it is a bit early but it has to mailed so that's okay I think. Then we took the puppies to a dog park for the first time. We were a bit leery of Raleigh and how he would act, only because he acts like he is going to tear Rio apart in the backyard and I didn't think this behavior would be acceptable :} So we get there and in goes Rio, no problem and Raleigh and I are on the outside and he is whining like crazy. He drug me in, scraping my hand along the gatepost in his hurry, so I looked like I had gotten all chewed up before I even entered. I had blood and welps all over my hand. Geez. So we get in and he is still on the leash and isn't being very good so we just took him off. He LOVED it! He was the littlest dog there, and at one point there were about 20 dogs inside running loose. He ran and ran and ran, chasing and being chased. And then poor Rio, the 95 pound scaredy cat. He wouldn't leave our sides. And he was much more interested in the humans and children ::::)))) (yeah, I can lick a face at just my height!!!!) A dog would come over very friendly and he would run around and hide behind hubby's legs!

So tomorrow? What adventure awaits? I know it's St. Patricks Day and I will be eating corned beef and cabbage :) I wish they made green wine :)

Where Have I Been

2009-10-24T11:06:00.002-05:00

Well, hello all. Long time no write. But I'm still around. I haven't felt the need to write on my blogs lately (lately being the last 3 months) and I am not sure why. Seasons change and my mood changes with them. Activities change (such as returning to work) and priorities change.

But thank the heavens, there is one thing that never changes. That would be that we all have angels around us. Let me tell you why this is my thought process today.

A friend (and in just a minute, she will know who she is) recently had a pretty bad car accident. The minute I saw the email about it, I called her to let her know I was glad she was okay. She related the accident scenario to me and one part stuck out.

After she had done two 360's with the wheels on the road, the car hit the median, flipped up and fell over on the passenger side. She didn't land in oncoming traffic. She didn't fall off the bridge into the highway traffic below. She was able to climb out of the car with a smidge of help from someone who stopped.

Another person had stopped as well. She had been on her way to pay a bill and now her car was totalled. The second person stayed with her while emergency crews arrived. And gave her $100 for her to pay her bill and then disappeared. I think that person was probably an angel in disguise.

Despite her bruises and aches, she is okay. I'm happy and thankful she has an angel watching out for her.

So Much to Talk about

2009-08-14T17:50:00.003-05:00

Where do I begin? The road trip we took (the puppies first long car trip) to New Madrid to see the Earthquake Museum? And we drive 2.5 hours and it is closed? Talk about feeling like the Griswolds!

Then there was the big trip planned the following day to the mall with my mom, to a mall we hadn't been to in awhile. Out of the entire mall, MAYBE 10% had open stores.

I could talk about the day the internet went out at home. Seems that Laclede Gas was in the neighborhood digging and the 1-800-digrite people had come out and marked the existing underground utilities. They just had the DSL line 4 foot off.

There's also my new facebook addiction to a game called Sorority Life. Yes, I am probably a bit old for that but I do so enjoy the clothes, cars, and shopping :)

We also squeezed in a trip to the vet for the final puppy shots for both of them. It seems the little one (who is now almost the big one) STILL isn't 4 months and hasn't lost a single tooth. And the vet mentions, "he could be part Great Dane."

I had my niece stay the night. She was great but stayed up till midnight. Then, because I have been wearing glasses lately (and obviously don't sleep in them), we got up at what I THOUGHT was 9:45. It was really only 5:45. Did I mention she is not quite 4?

Finally, on the first day of school I'm getting ready, taking a shower. Forgot to close the bathroom door. Rio the puppy ended up in the shower before I even knew what was happening, and of course he is SOAKED and soapy. That's what happens when you sleep/stand in the shower.

But tomorrow is Saturday. We are staying home, I am sleeping late and not showering, I'll make the puppies stay awake all night so they don't grow and I will enjoy my fixed internet cable :) and play Sorority Life!

More on the Puppies

2009-08-04T18:37:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's been awhile.

I don't have much suitable for publishing on the internet to talk about. Unless you want to hear about . . .

puppies who fight over a dead bird in the yard and have to have their mouths washed out with soap (which they actually like) because they stink so bad from the dead bird.

a puppy who decides it ISN'T time to sleep and proceeds to chew a 1" hole in the carpet.

a puppy (same one) who pukes on the carpet, which wouldn't normally be a problem to clean up but the food is red, the carpet is off white, and the stain is rather large.

puppies who poop is filled with gravel, rocks, bark and wood because they ate everything they found in the yard after the storm.

puppies who are cooped up all day inside because of the muddy mess in the yard made by a horrendous storm.

But they sure are fun when they are sleeping :)

Addition - this page has been edited to include the following additional content:

Yes, puppies can and do and will swim in ornamental fish ponds, regardless of how many times you tell them no. They just seem to accidentally fall in on purpose.

The up side to this is that if you have any dead fish, they will bring them out for you to play fetch with.

Eyeball Milestones

2009-07-23T19:56:00.002-05:00

In my life, because I am "sight challenged" there have been a few moments that were milestones.

I will go backwards.

Today, it became official that I needed bifocal contacts. This presents a problem because they don't make the blue ones in bifocals. So you know what I did. No, I don't even have to tell you. I stuck with the ones I have and will use "reading glasses" at least for the next year. I just couldn't give up the bright blue.

I suspected I might have some vision difficulties earlier this summer. I went to trim one of my nails and had to move it away to see what I was doing. Needless to say, it hit me like a ton of bricks when it happened. I was yelling, running around the house.

So now, let's go back to way back, when I first knew I needed glasses (or something to help me see). I would visit my mom, who lived out in the country. I kept running over turtles. Of course, each time it happened I felt horrendously horrible. So after the third turtle funeral, I headed to the eye doctor.

I sure hope I am done with all these eyeball milestones. I can't take another one.

Looks Like We Made It

2009-07-20T14:45:00.003-05:00

That song just came in to my mind. By Billy Joel I think. And yes, I think we might have made it through. Through the constant fighting, clawing, and biting. No, not me and hubby. The puppies.

We ran upstairs to get a snack and left them sleeping down in the living room last night. When we returned, Raleigh had climbed up with Rio and they were snuggled in the chair together, sleeping.

Earlier today when I laid out a bit, they actually both walked over to visit on several occasions, together, and NOT one dragging the other by an ear, a tail, or a hunk of skin.

This is good. :)

The Boys, Pills, and Apple Pie

2009-07-19T17:56:00.002-05:00

When we got Rio, he had kennel cough and we have been treating him for it with antibiotics. He really does NOT like things shoved down his throat. He won't eat regular people food, so forget sneaky into a piece of cheese, ham, etc. (We learned that the hard way - he spit it out and the other one got his pill one night.)

Anyway, so since the vet visit, they are both taking a different antibiotic for this to clear it up. We are on day three. Day one (which was actually day 5 for Rio of having pills crammed down his neck) was a nightmare. At 25 pounds, he can be a handful to hold and honestly can clamp his mouth shut and you can't open it.

Then "mommy" (that would be me) had a brainstorm. We don't want him to be funny about his mouth and ruin him for looking at his teeth so I had to come up with something. We had already tried dog treats, little reg. nibbles of food - nothing. Then I spy a lone cup of applesauce in the back of the fridge.

I mashed up the pills, put a teaspoon of applesauce in, mixed in a bit of water, warmed them in the microwave for seconds and "walla!" All pills going down "lickety split." (Pun intended :) They both LOVE it, so now we call it "Apple Pie Time."

Dogs are Going Back

2009-07-18T16:26:00.002-05:00

No, we aren't tired of them. We love them. But we figure this is a conversation they had last night about 2am.

Raleigh: Dang, don't these two ever sleep?

Rio: Yeah, I know. It's late. Talk about idiots.

Raleigh: And what's with all that banging and loud music? Do they really think they are cool or in a band or something? What a couple of dorks.

Rio: Huh, yeah, and I heard that blonde chick sings sometimes when they do this. I just don't think I can handle this. The pound was so much quieter, at least at night.

Raleigh: Yeah, it would get a bit stinky but I could sleep through that, but this? I'm with ya. Let's go back.

Rio: Maybe they will accidentally leave the gate open tomorrow and we can sneak out. Are you with me? We'll head back to the pound and get some much needed rest.

Raleigh: I'm there dude. Ready to head back to peace and quiet.

The Hellhounds

2009-07-17T13:51:00.002-05:00

They love to fight.

Wow, the two puppies are keeping us hopping. Rio loves to walk through plants and such. More like plow through, and he pretends to not hear us when we tell him no. Thank goodness his papa is bigger and much more strong willed or this little guy would turn out to be a terror.

He (Rio, not hubby) is also still having trouble with the laws of physics and hasn't quite figured out he can't walk on walls yet . . . I know, it's a long story and too confusing to try and even explain.

We made our first trip to the vet the other day - took two hours. But they were little angels. Really. Hubby and I were both shocked and wondered just who's dogs they were because they sure weren't the two we have had at home . . .

Raleigh is hilarious - he hides his bones in corners and nuzzles pretend dirt over them - in the house! He is also a stealer - anything Rio has, he wants. We also have a garden walkway that Raleigh had decided must either be a river or a lava flow - when playing and running he jumps over it every time.

Rio learned/taught himself a new trick - the big tub for water is big enough to get in and dig in. No lie, he is digging in water.

We just keep laughing at them. :)

We have also added middle names to them. Raleigh Ying and Rio Yang (we think yang is the bad element).

Meet Raleigh, puppy #2

2009-07-11T11:23:00.003-05:00

This is Raleigh. He's 5 1/2 months, curious, smart and likes to jump. This is maybe why he was a stray - he's eyed the fence a couple times already. Hence, he doesn't go out alone - at least not for a while till he is happy and comfortable here.

He plays great with Rio and is patient. Rio, on the other hand, is not nice, patient or kind. He is the one always attacking and raising his fur, but he's a bit smaller and just really doesn't like that he is overpowered.

Raleigh walked UP the waterfall this morning and Rio, trying to get to him, went around the top of the waterfall and into the flower garden and promptly fell off the retaining wall. Then a bit later Raleigh ended up with his front feet in the little pond and somehow managed to get himself out. Both boys are really good about staying away from the big pond, at least for now, which means Biguns is still hanging out on the dock.

Rawhide is working wonders for keeping them from playing/fighting inside. My house couldn't take the roughness they get into outside.

Meet Rio, Puppy #1

2009-07-10T11:13:00.002-05:00

This little guy is a handful! He is just shy of three months, but that is the only thing shy about him. He is courageous, fearless, and just wants to be in your lap or near you, chewing on his toy. We picked him up from the animal control center yesterday. Believe it or not, he was a stray. Now how on earth someone would loose a tiny puppy like him is crazy. He was found with a collar on.

You might have noticed he has a number, 1. That's because puppy #2 comes home this afternoon. He was also a stray there and they seemed to get along okay, but Raleigh (puppy #2) is a bit older (5 1/2 months). He's a super smart puppy (already knows "sit") and very calm and eager to please.

This way we will both have a puppy and they will have each other.

The Muny

2009-07-09T10:52:00.003-05:00

Unfortunately, these are not my pictures. One is from pectonyte's photostream on flicker and the other had no one listed to credit.

What is it about the Muny that makes it so special?

First off, for those of you not from here, I better explain what it is. Way back when, 1904 exactly, St. Louis had a World's Fair, which was partially held in a place called Forest Park. The park is now home to the History Museum, the Art Museum, the Science Museum, the St. Louis Zoo, Steinberg Ice Skating rink, the Jewel Box (a large glass greenhouse) and countless other things for fun.

Not too long after the fair, (1916) they created an area for an outdoor theatre in Forest Park. This place is fabulous, and it's called the Muny (for short).

It's one of the few (if not only, not sure about that) outdoor theatres and obviously, they only run shows in the summer. With the plus of being outside, they are able to incorporate tons of things that you just can't see at an indoor theatre, such as fireworks, real helicopters flying overhead (for Miss Saigon), etc.

Last night, "Meet Me in St. Louis" was the show. It was great. We had perfect weather, fireworks, and a real trolley that turned on the turntable stage.

If you ever get the chance to go, I would really recommend doing so. Tickets are a variety of prices and there is even a free section in the back (yes, still). Often you can purchase tickets the night of the show at the main box office there, which is ornate and has fountains on both sides.

It's almost like stepping back in time :)

http://www.muny.org/

Easy Cap and VHS tapes

2009-07-08T12:05:00.004-05:00

About a year ago I bought this little gadget called EasyCap. It was $30 on ebay, brand new.
Unfortunately, it came with very little direction. They didn't include pictures for hook up, much less written directions.

But, I decided the other day that I was going to win and make it work somehow, which was actually quite the ordeal.

Hubby (thankfully) hooked up the tv and vcr and cables properly for me so all I had to do was plug in the little gizmo to the computer. Having done that, I should be able to save all my vhs tapes onto the computer and likewise be able to burn them to cds or dvds. (Which I felt I really needed to do as I have a box of home movies on Super 8mm film that I need to convert but finding a projector is not the easiest thing and they are super expensive on ebay and I only want to use the thing to transfer video, that's it)

Anyway, two hours later and I am still trying to get a movie onto the computer. I don't have the capture button they are talking about, I'm not sure the software is installed right, etc.
YOUTUBE to the rescue!!!!

There were several videos on how to do this whole process with the gadget. And I finally realized that I didn't have the correct software. I paid all that and didn't even get the right software with it?????

So, thankfully, I found a website where I could get the correct software. It wasn't cheap, but they offered a 30 day trial, which would be great for me cause once I get this done, I'm never doing it again.

I still wasn't able to get it working until I realized I had to change some of the capture settings so it would know where to get the "capture" from. I'll tell ya, this is not a project for the faint of heart or the easily frustrated.

Four hours later (it was a lengthy download) I have managed to get my first movie onto the computer.

In the second attempt, I ran out of computer space.

Then I had to start saving the items to the external hard drive, which will hold 150gb (thank goodness I bought such a large one!!)

Of course then I had the bright idea to burn them directly to a cd. But I had no DVD+r cds in the house. Hubby picked some up for me the next day and I have successfully transfered one from the external hard drive to a dvd. YEAH!!!!

Honestly, I just don't know why the software to make it work wasn't included (the people on youtube said theirs WAS included!) And I just don't understand why there are so few directions. It could have been way easier than it was.

I now have my wedding, some other silly stuff, my first scuba dive, and my trip up Dunn's River Falls in video files on my ex. hard drive. YEAH FOR ME!!!!

Here is the link to my first ever scuba dive, before I was even certified! I'm the one in the yellow headband looking like I don't have a clue :)
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbPHAJfapQ4
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOJP0qe4K5Q

The Diagonals

2009-07-05T09:28:00.002-05:00

I don't know what to call them - they are katy corner or catty corner or kity corner from us. They are across the street and up one house. Well, whatever.

They are an older couple, in their 70's I would guess. Maybe older. He met her in Germany during the war (WWII) and married her and sent her back here to live until he came home.

They are a riot.

She walks every day, at least twice a day, sometimes more. She still has a thick German accent. As she walks, she picks up trash in the neighborhood, puts people's newspapers up on their porches, and picks up limbs out of streets. She's quite entertaining to watch. She walks in all kinds of weather, so sometimes she wears a shower cap and other times she just carries an umbrella. If you pass her while you are driving, she ignores you completely. She must be in her own world.

In the meantime, her husband likes to take naps. He has locked her out of the house while she is walking on MANY occasions. And then he can't hear her when he is sleeping to wake up and let her in. So now she has taken to carrying a key. But it doesn't always help. The last time he locked the screen door. She ended up scaling her fence (mind you, she's a bit older) (because of course the gate to the back yard has a lock on it too) to get to the basement door which didn't have a screen door.

He is a grass cutting fool. If someone is out cutting their grass, he has to cut his. Even if he just did it two days ago. It's funny.

All in all though, they are very dear people. Good neighbors to have. They help the couple with 7 children by taking care of their dog. Even when they are home. They feed it scraps and give it water. The poor dog has a very sad life - never goes inside, is never played with, etc.

So now you've met the Diagonals.

Neighbors Across the Street

2009-06-28T11:14:00.003-05:00

Long ago I made a post about ideas to write about. Neighbors was one of the topics. Something happened this week to bring that idea to the top of the list.

I love our subdivision. It's just regular middle class, a lot of homeowners who are the original purchasers of the house. But some of the houses, like the one across from us, are rented out. Now, with that said, I don't think renters are bad or rental houses, either.

Second, before I start, I want you to know that I RARELY talk bad about people. I'm not the gossipy type (which you should have noticed from all my previous posts).

But this just takes the cake and I have to share it with everyone.

The couple across the street have 7 children. Or I should say the WOMAN has seven children. There are 4 different fathers involved. The kids range in age from 19 to a set of twins that are just over a year old. (And by the way, the twins are NOT the "dad's" kids. They split up for a bit and she got pregnant)

All this is really fine by me. It has nothing to do with me. She/They can live their life however.

Before they split up a couple years ago, they fought constantly. Now how would I know? Because they fought outside in the front yard, up and down the street screaming obscenities at each other. The police came many times (although we never called). It really was embarassing when we would have people over and they would start their fighting. Sometimes at night it would even wake us up.

But all this is just background info.

So this week has been really hot out. Great sunny weather, perfect for tanning.

This woman has decided to make her front yard her "sunbathing" spot. She's laying out front, slathering on the oil, in a skimpy bikini in the front yard!!! Okay, I do all those things BUT the front yard part. That's just a little over the top. Hubby was laughing and telling me about it the other day, how she was walking around the front yard as she oiled up, wiping her body everywhere, etc. His reenactment of this had me rolling on the floor laughing.

I then got to see it for myself and was just mortified.

So a message to all those out in cyberworld. The front yard just really isn't a place to layout in your bikini. Your neighbors will laugh at you and write about you in their blog.

Tune in next time to get the story of the NEXT DOOR neighbor. And I really should do the katycorner neighbors too.

I wonder what they think about us? LOL

Coupons in a Bad Economy

2009-06-26T14:20:00.003-05:00

I said I had a lot to say and was going to lump it all together and then I got so excited when the embedded video worked, I forgot to say everything else I wanted to say!

I got a coupon in the mail a couple days ago, from Bed Bath and Beyond. It's a great store and has all kinds of gadgets and gizmos that you really don't need but absolutely love. Plus they always seem to have exactly what you are looking for, even it you can't afford it. So the coupon in the mail, advertising 20% off a single item was enticing!

Until I read the small print at the bottom. And I mean really small. Like get to the store and they point it out and your like, "What? That's writing down there?"

So here is what the fine print said. Limit one per customer (okay, that's normal). No copies please (Another normal statement on a coupon) Coupon must be surrendered at time of purchase (Okay, I won't be wanting to put it in the scrapbook anyway). Coupon valid through dates listed above (the last normal thing written in the fine print.) The next sentence lists 44 (yes, 44 - two fours) different BRANDS that the coupon CANNOT be used for. I have never seen a coupon like this before. I could see maybe one or two, but 44? And of course, they are all the good brands of stuff that you would actually want to BUY at Bed Bath and Beyond.

So at this point, I am wondering what on earth the coupon COULD be used for, aside from the suckers they sell in the checkout lanes.

I showed this to hubby. We agreed this was a really good marketing ploy. The old bait the customer. For example, dyson is on the list that isn't 20% off.

So you go to BB and Beyond thinking "Great I'm gonna get that new vacuum at 20% off. I can just see myself using it! I'm going to LOVE it." (I use a vacuum simply because I have a love affair with my own and can relate to this scenario.)

You get to the check out lane and hand them the coupon. They explain to you it isn't 20% off and show you the fine print with a magnifying glass. You're embarassed, let down, and there are screaming kids and ancy husbands in line behind you. So, you pay full price for it, because you had planned on getting it and the pressure in the line is enormous.

Hence, they have won. They got you to buy a full price vacuum cleaner.

So be careful out there - read the fine print, especially these days.

So Much to Say

2009-06-26T14:03:00.003-05:00

I have so much to blog about today and so little time. I'll probably just end up doing a bunch of stuff all together.
First, my students in summer school have been doing wonders!
I'm going to try to embed one of their videos here (hope it works). This one was really sweet and inspirational, plus he used some really choice vocab words :)

I think this ended up working :) Yeah for me! I love it when I try to do something new and it works!

The Sun Came Out

2009-06-17T19:49:00.003-05:00

I am WAY better today/tonight. The sun was out in full force, the pool was great. I have missed all that so terribly much lately.

My dearest friend who lost her husband earlier this year also came over for a visit on Monday night. She's staying quite busy and I am really amazed at her strength - but then again, not really.

So now to the confession about how I am the absolute worst friend ever. She came over on Monday evening for dinner. Tuesday was her birthday. And I forgot. Totally forgot the next day was her birthday. Totally forgot her birthday was even in June until she casually mentioned she was going out to dinner with her son the next night.

I felt so absolutely horrible. I don't even know how it happened, except for the fact that the calendar was still on May. Sigh.

A Wordle Inspired by a comment and the weather

2009-06-13T12:10:00.004-05:00

Okay - here is my wordle for the day. I really don't know how to do this all fancy. This will have to do.

Here is the link to see more and make your own: http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/940532/Untitled

Here is the link where the idea came from (a fellow blogger): http://mylastshredsofsanity.blogspot.com/

I'm Whining

2009-06-12T14:25:00.004-05:00

Sis, please come home soon and get back to work so someone reads my blog.

Weather, please please pretty please, let the sun come out. I miss it. This has been the longest winter ever. I feel my brain shrinking from lack of vitamin D.

Dear Dentist, I am so sorry it has been four years since you put me in so much pain. Yes, I see your little reminder card that makes me laugh with the cute picture on front. It's all a sham. You don't make me laugh.

Sun, I miss you. I'm cold all the time. Anything 80 or above would be nice. Do what you can.

Work, while I am enjoying my part-time summer school job, I miss you terribly. I confess, I am a workaholic and can't wait to start back in the fall (provided Sun and Weather cooperate and I have a great tan by the first day of school).

Thank You Computer Gods

2009-06-10T16:40:00.002-05:00

I got the red screen of death the other day. No lie. Just like in a movie. Then big letters in the middle of the screen "physical boot dump begins now."

I screamed and did what any sane person would do. I turned it off. I couldn't stop it.

So that day I call the IT help desk. They can see my computer on Monday morning at 6:30. I was thankful. Even though I had to go a whole entire weekend without it.

And for those of you who have read long ago posts, yes, I was cuddling with my pink external hard drive all weekend long.

I had backed up over spring break and was pretty happy to have done that. I had also backed up my book. EXCEPT for the last 100 pages. Okay. I wrote it once, I can do it again.

So I drop off my baby at the doctor bright and early and head off to summer school. Yes, the summer school computer teacher shows up on the first day of school without her computer. Ironic huh?

So after that, I head to MY school to get all the disks for picture editing, the scanner, the document camera, etc.

And you knew it had to be in here somewhere - yes, I made a LIST of all the websites I might have lost from the favorites section and a list of countless other things that needed to be reinstalled.

As I walked out of my school, I grabbed the phone to call the computer doctor and check in on my little one. I could come pick it up!

I have to admit I was a bit worried, but mostly about how much time it was going to take me to reinstall and refind everything.

All worrying was for naught. I DIDN'T LOOSE A THING!!!! I don't know how it happened or why.

The doc said he "ran a couple programs and it started working." I was elated!!!!!! I walked out of the office hoisting it up over my head in joyous triumph. For once, it all worked out.

Summer Lemons

2009-06-05T10:07:00.002-05:00

Ah, just when you thought I was finally growing some brains . . .

At the dollar store yesterday I was looking for a "smelly" for my car. I passed by the cleaning aisle and was overcome with lemon - it was fabulous. I had to have one for my car.

I picked it up. It said, and I quote, "Bowl Cleaner AND Air Freshener" I thought it was interesting that something would do double duty, but it really did smell nice and clean.

I got to the car and saw it was a toilet "smelly" - okay, I kind of thought it was. But then I read the fine details "cleans the bowl and freshens the air with every flush" Hmm, not a lot of flushing going on in the car. So now I am hoping the dog gone thing doesn't melt and become a gooey mess all over my car.

I'm not taking it out. It still smells good. :)

Topiary

2009-06-02T11:50:00.003-05:00

I think topiary is one of the neatest arts. I like the idea of shaping something to look like something it isn't.

Alas, I will never be mistaken for Edward Scissorhands though. I just can't do it.

The photo on the left is my attempt at a whale with water coming out of his blowspout. I have been working on this one for about 3 years. I'm sure you can see the resemblance.

The photo on the right is my spiral cut. I even started out with this one already done for me.

There are some things I just can't do.

The Pitfalls (or rather, just the pits) of Wrought Iron

2009-06-01T18:30:00.003-05:00

I was all set to write about something else. Even took pictures of my injury to share with you. I will explain that later, but this is first. (And yes, it is my foot. )

I just got off the phone with my mom. I'm sitting out on the deck. In my swimsuit (pool is full but too cold). I'm in a wrought iron chair. You know, the kind with the little diamond weave pattern.

Before I get too far, I have to tell you I love wrought iron. It holds up so well, it's durable, if it's powder coated you don't have to paint it for a while, you can have large friends sit on it and not break it, etc.

The one and only thing I don't like about it is that it is a fat sucker, meaning, it sucks the fat of my butt down into the holes. Making it extremely painful to get up. Yes, I have pads but with all the rain lately, they are hanging on the chairs by one tie (they seem to dry faster that way). Hence, the pitfalls of wrought iron.

So what did I do today you may ask. Well, I got beat with a stick.

We had a pile of brush as high as me that needed to be cut down so it could either be put in bags or burned in the fire pit. A lot of it was from an overgrown willow (willowy littler stinker).

I cut all the tiny branches off, but not all the way down to the main branch, therefore making it like some medieval weapon with spikes all over it. Of course, this particular stick fell and punctured my toe. So I did what anyone does when a stick attacks and I threw it out in the yard behind me to deal with later.

Later . . .

Not looking where I was going, I backed in to the dog gone thing and it whipped around and stabbed me in the heel. I wear the blood as a badge of honor. The stick will be burned tonight amidst much gaeity and celebration. I will win.

Will I Jinx it?

2009-06-01T00:21:00.002-05:00

Today was a glorious sun filled day.

We are in the middle of filling the pool. YEAH!!!!

We laid out for a while, working on not being so pasty white and sickly looking. (Days upon days of rain tends to make you look a bit sickly anyway - kinda scaly and you start to get these creases on your neck, you know, like gills.)

I feel asleep on the back deck reading a book - how delicious is that???? Until some stupid dog in the neighborhood started barking.

I ate TWO Reese's Peanut butter cups. Talk about indulging!

We ate dinner out on the deck, in shorts and tank tops, rather than sweaters and pants.

It's almost starting to feel like summer! Just might have to go in for a game of washers tomorrow! Can't wait till we are playing ping pong in the pool! (I'll have to fill you in on that another time - it's a blast)

The Dress Returns

2009-05-31T00:41:00.004-05:00

I went shopping with Mom today. We had a great time. Went to the mall. Haven't been in ages. Lots to see. We were like the robot in that movie with "Steph fan ie" The robot who loves input.

But I digress.

I wore "the dress" today. You know, the one I wrote about 2 posts ago. The amazing dress. The miracle boob dress.

Anyway, OH Lawrd! I got compliments left and right. Mom was frrreeeaakking out. She was amazed. And it wasn't me they would compliment. It was the DRESS!

I had one lady screech it across the front of the Cabela's entrance. "I LOVE THAT DRESS!

I did the best I could. I smiled and said thanks. (The dress can't talk ya know.)

Mom told hubby she wished she would have counted. There was just too much input :)

Super Glue Stories

2009-05-30T10:16:00.004-05:00

The world is going to come crashing down to a stand still. The yellow drum broke. Cracked. The hard plastic part. Guess we'll be super gluing. Get out the nail polish remover. I always stick my fingers together.

Along the lines of super glue, I have to tell you folks. It isn't an urban myth. One of the sweet ladies I work with? Her daughter (who is about my age, not some young teenager) actually put super glue in her eye one night, thinking it was eye drops. Needless to say, it was a horrific ordeal.

I don't keep the two anywhere near each other just because of this. Why would you have super glue on your bedside table anyway??? It goes in that mess of a junk drawer, so you have to dig and find it when you need it the most. But of course you can't find it when you need it. And if you do, it's all froze up because it didn't get shut right and you have to go buy more, use it once, then throw it out three months later, and the cycle goes on and on.

So the tip for the day? Don't put super glue in your eye. And don't play Rockband like you're auditioning for Megadeath.

The Latest News

2009-05-29T12:23:00.004-05:00

School's out.

I'm getting ready to build an Ark or something that will float.

I finally ventured onto to facebook to find family and friends and see where they lurk.

I'm regretting putting away the winter clothing. Webster is going to have to redefine summer soon. Sorry folks but bring on the global warming!

I'm taking pics and uploading pics (except to facebook, which I seem to have broke after uploading a profile pic - that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about how I look)

I'm writing a bunch - forget house work and such, dog gone it, I'm on vacation!

I'm wondering how long I can stay at the house without getting in the car - I might try to beat my record of 5 days 0 how glorious would that be??

I am working on the "hard" level guitar on Rock Band, as I am sure this will help me somehow later in life and attribute to my success.

I played poker the other night for the first time in ages. I still got it, but somehow NOT enough to help attribute to my success later in life.

I played Marble Madness the other night for the first time in months. I still got that too. Never know when one of the kids in class will want to challenge me and I will need a wicked bank shot to win.

I debated for 5 minutes, literally standing there last night, as to which book I should read before I went to sleep. I settled for War of the Worlds. The words and language put me right out, they are so dog gone fancy. (I'll let you figure out what my other choice was.)

I watched 3 bunnies play in the yard last night - so cute! (of course it was out the window because it was raining again)

What I haven't done is anything dumb lately. Surprise! It's only a matter of time.

Computers

2009-05-16T09:50:00.003-05:00

What a nightmare.

The other night I was close to tears (and that really doesn't happen much). I came home early (skipped a meeting which I NEVER do) and put on my swimsuit to go out and enjoy the sun (which we haven't had much of during this month).

After that, hubby informed me that the new modem had come (we have been having major connectivity issues). I dreaded it but knew I couldn't get on without tackling this problem.

So, dressed in my swimsuit (I guess at that point I was still optimistic) I headed down into the dungeon to work on the main computer for the house. It was cold and dark and sunless. Yuck!

I spent the next three hours talking to the At&t people on the phone and the linksys people. What a damn nightmare. And yes that was a cuss word and I could use a lot more.

I finally got it hooked up where the computer would work, but none of the laptops would work and when I went through the router, the main computer couldn't get online either.

At that point, I called my sister, begging and about to cry because I was so frustrated. (Of course the directions they sent to change out the modem were only a 1/4 page, 10 lines long and it should have worked, but NOOOOO, nothing can ever be that simple)

Anyway, my dear sister spent another hour and a half on the phone with me and then had to get off without getting it working. But she had gotten me to a point where I could retry the directions the linksys people had given me. I did - and it worked.

IT ONLY TOOK SIX HOURS!!!!!!

Needless to say, I was exhausted and my brain was fried. What an absolute mess. I took off my swimsuit and went to bed.

The Power of a New Dress

2009-05-12T17:13:00.003-05:00

I had an unusually long day yesterday - the kids had the violin concert in the evening. Rather than come home and fight traffic back, I stayed in the area. I went shopping to my most favorite store, Steinmart.

For those of you who don't know, I consider Steinmart the home to everything that glitters. It is full of all kinds of flashy and fun clothes and costume jewelry and purses and shoes. It's my kind of place.

I ended up buying the cutest pair of plaid madras long shorts (is that an oxymoron????) that are adorable. And then I found a dress.

It's unique. It was made, then printed on, so it has striped areas where the print didn't get, much like tye dye. The material is a flowy polyester and it is brightly colored in some wild designs that are very 70's. Needless to say, I absolutely fell in love with it, even on the hanger.

Then, a miracle occured. I put it on. And I had boobs. I don't know where they came from or how they got there. They just appeared when I put the dress on. And then, when I took it off, they were gone.

Of course Mr. Daisy loves this dress as much as I do. I keep hoping he will be like Gomez and tell me, "Morticia Daisy, never take that dress off," and I won't. (Cause you know sometimes he DOES call me Morticia, like when I forget to water or to throw out the dead flowers in the vase)

Anyway, I got completely side tracked. Back to the dress . . .

So I bought it then headed to the violin concert, then home. I thought about it the whole way home and couldn't wait to wear it today. I thought about it all night and kept thinking, "I get to wear my new dress tomorrow!" Then as I went to bed, I thought, "I get to wear my new dress tomorrow!"

And of course, when I woke up this morning (which is something I absolutely hate doing) I thought, "I get to wear my new dress today!"

It kinda made it all better. It's funny what a new dress can do for you.

Date Differences

2009-05-09T14:47:00.002-05:00

So a few posts back I did one about things you don't want to hear on a date. This one is a twist on that idea, stemming from something hubby said the other night.

Things A Guy Does Want to Hear on a Date
1. I'm getting drunk.
2. You smell good.
3. Have another beer! I'll buy!
4. That made me dizzy.
5. I'm ready to leave.

Things A Girl DOESN'T Want to Hear on a Date
1. I'm getting drunk.
2. You smell, uh, good.
3. Have another beer!
4. That made me dizzy (as you walk back from the dance floor after a fast dance without him)
5. I'm ready to leave.

Funny huh?

Do Yourself

2009-05-08T18:47:00.003-05:00

Here it is folks. Just what you all wanted to hear. Things hubby might say to let you know you've let yourself go a bit too long and it's time to do something.

1. Are you going back to brown hair?
2. I am assuming with those toe nails that you are entering the tree climbing contest.
3. Do you need me to buy you some razors?
4. Is the tanning place only open during the times you work?
5. Did your curling iron break? (you can also substitute clothes iron, hot rollers, and hair dryer)
6. That makeup you're using must be getting old.
7. The pedicure place is under new management. I saw the sign. Want me to make you an appointement? Also along the same lines, With those feet, it's a good thing the satin sheets aren't on, huh?
8. Could that hair under your chin be attached there?

I have to admit, these are things he hasn't said. But I am feeling he is probably thinking them. Guess that's what I'm doing this weekend.
And if you thought I was gonna post another picture of my feet, forget it!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-05T19:04:00.002-05:00

Donde esta la cerveza? hehe

(I hope I just asked where my beer was and wasn't asking something else!)

How bout this little funny for the day -

One of my students was writing about his condition, known to him as "lactoesentalerants."

Happy Birthday to Me (a couple days late)

2009-05-04T20:11:00.002-05:00

41. Sounds kinda not so young any more. But I still feel pretty young. Well, not pretty, but young. And not young so much as NOT old. Except on days when I FEEL old, achy and decrepit. Like when I don't get enough sleep, I push my body too hard, or well, add another cork to the collection.

Things I still like even though I probably shouldn't
1. trying to shoot out the star at the carnival
2. mini skirts and high heels
3. bikinis
4. long hair
5. loud music
6. riding rides at the carnival
7. making up games
8. having people sing happy birthday to me
9. my birthday
10. Corvettes
11. presents
12. birthday decorations

Things I should like more (but probably won't) that are better for my age
1. sensible shoes
2. old lady clothes
3. better coverage make up and wrinkle cream
4. cooking (that's just an absolute won't)
5. elevator music
6. quiet nights

:)

2009-05-01T17:11:00.000-05:00

I have so much to say and absolutely no time - gotta go enjoy my birthday presents! Yeah!!!!!

A Room Wish List

2009-04-26T09:56:00.003-05:00

Kathy over at The Junk Drawer http://www.junkdrawerblog.com/ often has me in stitches. Today she wrote about houses and it got me to thinking of the perfect house for me.

I would have rooms for:

1. one room completely dedicated to wrapping presents/gifts, with organized hanging sheets of colored tissue paper, bags of assorted sizes hung on nails, by occasion of course, a ribbon holder similar to a thread spool holder, scissors attached to heavy chain (so they couldn't run off and be used for other things by other people!!!)

2. a library - I am in desparate need of one - we have books in EVERY room in the house. Of course the library would have to have one of those chase loungers (settee?? - I don't know exactly what they are called) and a fire place, lots of sunlight, and my favorite blanket

3. a crafting room with all the different crafts stored neatly in their rubbermaid boxes and a super large table for getting it all out and leaving it whenever I felt like (of course this room must come with a lock on the door so no one else could see it)

4. a room large enough for ballet/karate with exercise equipment to make it look pretty (hehe) - and a whole wall of mirrors so I can see how stupid I REALLY look

5. a really good acoustic room for music, again, with LOTS of chairs

6. a greenhouse room, to keep indoor plants and me alive during the cold dreary winter months

7. a room lined with shelves for shoes, organized by color, then heel height - wouldn't that just be dreamy???

So honey, get the hammer and saw and get building! HA!

Live a Little

2009-04-23T16:06:00.003-05:00

Last night, after 4 months of kind and patient emails, I met up with a few people I had gone to college with. VERY uncharacterstic for me. I love being home and hate being away from hubby. (I even invited him to come along)

I was a bit nervous - but it was so fabulous! We laughed and chatted about now, what we do, and about then, what we did! OMG! We remembered places and people. When I left, I felt very young again. We hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years.

The personalities were still the same. The fun, the silliness. I am so glad I went.

Yesterday morning I wondered why I had agreed to go. I didn't know and didn't have an answer for my hubby. Why would I want to see people I hadn't seen in so long? Today I still don't have an answer, but have a refresher of that part of my life (which is actuallly kinda hazy anyway- it WAS college!)

And besides, it felt good to get out of my routine and stretch myself. And remember myself.

What REALLY Happened

2009-04-21T17:57:00.003-05:00

Okay, so this morning was NOT my problem. I was up - about a billion times last night. Couldn't sleep. I'll tell you why.

My loving, grieving husband invited my dog's spirit in the house after he died (the dog). (Where else would he go? Dogs aren't in heaven so I've been told.)

So last night was my first night in the house alone. With the ghost dog.

He huffed, and sniffed and tap, tap tapped on the floor.

Needless to say, I was scared s word less (see previous post).

I was GLAD to go to work today. (which I always am, but I am also a homebody and love being at home piddling)

So now I know we gotta fix the fan on the furnace, need to get some limbs away from the house, and ask the neighbor NOT to start his weed eater after dark. But in the dark, things can sound awfully different.

I told everyone at work about my harrowing night. As I left, I explained that if I didn't show up to work tomorrow, it meant I died of fright. So at least now I have a good reason to be late to work tomorrow besides "I had to make my lunch AND the coffee."

A Bunch of Tidbits

2009-04-20T16:40:00.003-05:00

Of course, in list form.

1. I have to make my own coffee tomorrow and pack my own lunch. I have to get myself out of bed on my own. I'm just so not good at these things.

2. Tomorrow one of my pictures, along with a prompt, will be at this site for creative writing. I'm excited and nervous. I don't even know what picture it will be! I will check it in the morning to see if I can use it with my students. You can check it too :)

3. I am knee deep in writing a book, and loving every minute of it. I love my characters, I love the story. It's why I have been so "absent" from here lately.

4. I am teaching about poetry to my students. I am tired of hearing about puppies and rainbows. They (not the puppies, the students) are banned from writing acrostic poems. I told them that poems didn't have to be "pretty." They could be ugly, painful, and nasty. One of the kids pipes up, "Can we say blood?" I said, "No" and someone cut me off, saying, "It still has to be appropriate." And I continued, "Yes, appropriate." Another little guy, Mr. Perfect Student, adds, "Yeah, you just can't use the s word or the f word." Well, what do I say to that???? I just said, "Yes. Right."

So, in honor of my Mr. Perfect Student, I will write a poem about what I HOPE doesn't happen tomorrow morning.

S word! No alarm?
It was set. On.
AM? PM! F WORD!
S word of a B word -
Run. Faster. Yep, clean there, move on.
A 3 car accident? I'll never make it.
F wording S word! Where's my F wording coffee?
I'm guessing that isn't blood running down the windshield.

Things You Don't Want to Hear

2009-04-19T11:36:00.002-05:00

Things you don't want to hear your date say

That's the topic of the blog today, largely due to last night being "date night" for hubby and I. I set aside one weekend each month and then he picks the night for our "date." He has my complete and undivided attention (which is actually pretty hard for me because of the whole attention thing).

So last night, for date night, we decided to get the ACDC rockband CD and play all night long. (Yeah, easy, cheap date, but we knew we would have fun)

After one particularly difficult song on the drums, I commented, "That got me sweating."

Of course, hubby came back with the sarcastic line, "That's what you want to hear from a date. Very romantic." We had a great laugh, and then I got to thinking what else you wouldn't want to hear from your date.

1. Watch my scab. Careful.
2. I had a spider in my ear once.
3. Can you do this with your toes?
4. Do you smell that?
5. I need to shave my back.

Okay - add to it folks :)

A Real Pain in the Eyes

2009-04-16T17:33:00.003-05:00

I'm here today to talk about my eyes. I'm getting ready to go crazy.

Off and on for the last three weeks I have been coughing. Ok. Fine. I can deal with it. But what I absolutely cannot deal with is stuff coming out my eyes that looks like it should be coming out my nose. It's so attractive in the morning.

Now I have a new symptom. The evil red eyes. I had them one day about a week and half ago. They were REALLY bad, but they didn't bother me.

Today, well, I'll make a list of all the things that they felt like all day long.

1. Someone splashed fingernail polish remover in them.

2. I ran through cedar trees with my eyes open (yep, did that one in real life so have something to compare it to)

3. Every time I blinked, someone who thought they were funny, rubbed sandpaper on my eyeballs.

4. Like I opened the little pop up lid of the toilet cleaner and it spouted into my eye at 2 in the morning (yep, that happened in real life too, and the memory is pretty vivid)

5. The cat tried to claw my eyes out while I was sleeping (I don't own a cat)

6. Like I swam 5 miles underwater in a heavy cholorinated pool, being pushed by a motor boat going 60 mph.

7. After staring at the sun for 11 hours, the eclipse finally happened.

8. The mascara I have had bacteria in it and it is eating my eyelids away (another true one, although my eyelids stayed intact) (And no, I just bought new mascara about a month ago.)

I'm getting ready to go pirate. Arg. Where's me patch?

And yes, they really hurt that bad. How will I read about Bella and Edward tonight before I go to sleep?

A Teacher Who Doesn't Teach

2009-04-13T16:56:00.002-05:00

That was me today. What a messed up day.

I had a meeting at 8 am (30 minutes before school starts) that lasted until 9:20. I got back to my room just in time to take the kids to library and drop them off for another 30 minutes. They came back in at 10 and for a wonderfully glorious 30 minutes, I got to teach. I read to them and we talked about the story and they wrote about it.

At 10:30, all but 4 of my students left to go to violin. They returned at 11:20. We continued to talk about the book and I gave them some time to read their own reading books ( and they are reading some really good ones - historical fiction :)

At 11:55, I took them to lunch and then picked them up at 12:25. At 12:30 we headed off to an afternoon presentation about bullying. It lasted until 2:45, and I don't even know how it went because at 2, I had to leave for another meeting and didn't get out until 3:30. (30 minutes after school ended)

I hate days like this. I LOVE teaching, not meetings. And I have to say, I am pretty selfish. I want to teach my own students, not let other people teach them. It's almost like I didn't even see them today :(

Do I think that everything they did is important? Yes. But that isn't the point. The point is, well, I guess I need to go back to kindergarten and learn how to share.

What a Refreshingly Nice Day

2009-04-10T17:24:00.003-05:00

First - talked with another friend who had lost her husband seven years ago to cancer, as to how to "act" and what to do with my newly widowed friend. A very heartful, endearing conversation.

Second - Arrived back in my room to find this little surprise (see picture) on my desk - how perfectly pretty and delicious - from one of the aide's who helps in my room.

Third - MAP testing is OVER! It was a somewhat normal day and the kids were SO wonderfully perfect all day.

Fourth - Had another deep conversation with another friend/teacher about love, caring, etc.

Fifth - Did I mention the kids were wonderful today?

Sixth - We helped out another teacher (my class counted push ups for first grade :)

Seventh - Another friend/teacher asked for some support and help in a delicate situation. I felt honored that she trusted me so much.

Eigthth - We had a "party" to end MAP testing - popcorn and social studies videos about pioneer life (the kids sure are glad they live in THIS time!)

Ninth - everyone wished everyone a Happy Easter/Passover and left thinking about food, Easter bunnies, and more great food.

I just felt really loved today. Very surprising and unusual for me on a Good Friday. I usually have pretty rotten ones.

On to Something Not so Sad

2009-04-09T16:46:00.004-05:00

Really, just bear with me for a minute while I set up the background.

My dear friend's husband's memorial service was today. As we got there, we all piled in and the line to see her was long. But I couldn't go up. I couldn't do that to her - I cried the moment I walked in the church and couldn't stop for about 20 minutes. And she was being so strong.

Later in the service, the pastor had a "moment" when everyone could hug, kiss, greet, etc (peace be with you and all). I had gained my composure and headed up to see her.

I got there and hung back but she seemed a bit tired of whomever was monopolizing her at the moment. She finally reached over and just grabbed my hand and pulled me over. Hugs, love, all the good stuff. Then she smiled at me and said, "Did you see my shoes?" I had to tell the truth. OF COURSE I HAD! And right there in the middle of her husband's memorial service - we giggled.

Ahh, girlfriends. And I knew her husband HAD to be smiling down too.

But back to the "moment" of greeting. Obviously, the poor pastor had never turned the room loose to a bunch of teachers before. We are SO worse than our students. He tried clearing his voice (yeah, right), making hand signals like he was rounding up a herd (we were more like a stampede) and finally had the organist play a chord. That poor organist played the same chord over and over for at least 5 minutes trying to get everyone back in their seats. When it all settled down, his first comment was something about teachers (I couldn't hear as others were STILL chattering, but I did hear "teachers") and everyone laughed.

It's nice to have a friend that is so loved by so many.

Another Horrificly Sad Story

2009-04-07T20:21:00.002-05:00

I stayed late tonight to go to the PTO meeting at school. I got to see the head custodian (he works nights).

I checked with him to see if he had heard about my friend's sorrow, as he had known her when she worked at our school. He replied, "Yeah, I heard. We had a tragedy in our own family."

It seems his daughter and son in law had taken their family on vacation in Arizona. They had a great time and were packing up to come home this last Friday. In the midst of all the packing and loading up the car, the three year old got out of the room and ran off. They found the baby in the motel swimming pool.

This poor grandpa was in so much pain. You could see it so plainly as he spoke.

My heart ached. And still does.

And you may wonder why I have chosen to share this story.
1. It helps me cope with things when I write.
2. Just to put the story out there, in case it helps save someone else so much heartache and pain.

I really am just done with these freak, tragic accidents.

A Sad Day

2009-04-06T16:31:00.002-05:00

A very sad day indeed.

I spoke about a very dear friend of mine awhile back in a post. (click here) She is the subject of that first paragraph.

It seems her husband (of about 30 years I would guess, I'm not exactly sure) was working on the van on Saturday. She was out, probably running some do-gooder errands like taking sick people bowls of chicken soup and such.

She returned home to find her husband crushed under the van. He had already passed away.

The love of her life. The man who STILL took her on "dates" and out dancing. The man she exchanged perfume with every Valentine's Day. They already had their vacation to Hawaii planned for when school ends in May.

Not too long ago, she told me how she dealt with being "upset" with him. He would ask "What's wrong?" She would say, "Nothing." He would say, "Your awfully quiet. Something's wrong." She would answer, "I'm meditating."

Of course when she shared this I was in a fit of laughter. Because that is what she has always been best at - helping other people feel good.

Her catch phrase has always been, "Spread the Joy." One year for her birthday I gave her a wooden purse and painted "Joy" on it. She carried it to our Art Museum outing. The sales lady in the gift shop kept calling her Joy. We just giggled.

About 5 years ago, she lost her younger brother suddenly - heart attack. Almost exactly a year later, her mother passed away. She took both extremely hard but you would never have known it to see her.

I called today and another friend was at the house fielding phone calls. Actually, my friend was out 'making arrangements.' Of course I asked what I could do and offered to pick up family members at the airport, since I live close by.

Amazingly, she took me up on the offer. I picked up her husband's sister and drove her to my friend's home.

As I drove home, it occured to me that my services weren't really needed. She probably just let me do it so I would feel like I had helped. So I could feel better.

I didn't stay long at her house. She had family and more were expected.

We hugged. I told her I loved her. She told me to keep the joy. I told her to hang in there.

Someone so beautiful inside and out shouldn't have so much pain. I am angry.

Self Help Group

2009-04-03T17:06:00.004-05:00

I am thinking of starting a new group at school. Teachers and students alike would be welcome. The Twilight group. We are just such a mess! Half of fifth grade is reading it and there are a couple teachers who are just about where I am as far as being insane.

Today I finished a really long read aloud to my kids. They were five minutes late to lunch because they wouldn't let me stop and we were so close to the end of the book. I had read it last summer after our social studies coordinator had given them out. It's about a young girl living in Missouri during the start of the Civil War. The kids were totally hooked, as I started it to kick off our historical fiction unit. You can learn more about it by clicking on the link.
A Voice From the Border
While it was from a girl's perspective, there was plenty of guns and battles to keep the boys interested too.

The most wonderful part had to be the intimacy our class shared as we read/heard. We all would gasp or suck in air loud at the same points of the story. It was so funny! And at points, I would stop and ask how they were feeling about the book. Several commented "It's why I came to school today!" and that made us all laugh. I also asked them if they would have every chosen the book (after I read them the summary). All of them admitted they wouldn't have. So I would like to think that this has opened a new door for them.

I absolutely LOVE historical fiction and Avi (the author) seems to do it best. I think I have read all those books. Yet, I failed American History in high school. Yes. It's time I owned up to that scandal.

I had American History as a requirement my junior year. I passed the second semester, but not the first. It was first hour and just SO boring! So when I failed, I had to change my report card. Not once. I had to do it for two years.

That may sound impossible, but let me continue.

So, all second semester, I had to change the grade from first semester because it still showed up on my report card. And what grade did I give myself? Well, a B of course. It matched closest to the letter F. The were computer print outs and a bit of smudging made it look exactly real.

Over the summer my parents received something in the mail about me having to meet the requirement of American History. (I hadn't planned on something like this coming!) I quickly explained it away, saying I was chosen to be in an ADVANCED class of American History. Of course my parents believed me because I always got A's and B's. I had recently just written a speech and won a bond for writing about war and American society. They had no reason NOT to believe me.

So, Senior year comes and here I am in a class with juniors, retaking a semester that I had failed. And what did I do at report card time? Well, the grade actually was a B (because the teacher was OUTSTANDING), but the course listing was MOD AM HIST. (You would think I would have gotten an A since I was actually repeating but it just goes to show how much I DIDN'T get out of the first class.)

I changed it to ADV AM HIST. This was a bit trickier but my report cards always seemed to get wet or sweaty or something, and of course they were highly smudged. And of course, I had to do it the whole year because the first semester was included on the second semester report card.

Okay. I feel way better now. And my mom already knows the story, so it's okay if she reads it. :) The whole thing was just so unfair - I should have never failed in the first place if I had had a good teacher. I don't care how early it was. And I can say this because I strive NOT to be THAT teacher.

I think my kids are in to history. I LOVE math and writing. And I adore science, although it isn't my greatest subject. Reading, well, what isn't there to like.

Yes, I am a teacher and yes, I failed a class in high school. Oh well. Thank goodness I didn't let affect my life.

My Birthday List

2009-04-01T16:29:00.003-05:00

Obviously, this post is for my mom and sister. :)

I will try not to make the list too long - I am guessing we ARE doing birthdays this year since we didn't do Christmas???!!!!!

1. Twilight - the movie on DVD (yes, I have seen it but only in 10 minute increments off of youtube.)

2. New Moon (book) (This is the second book in the Twilight series and the only one I don't own. I would like to have it - paperback or hardcover are both fine)

3. A foam floatie (The purple one I inherited from Weena is starting to get a funky smell to it and I absolutely LOVE that floatie)

4. I need some perfume. "Black" of course. Or else "Beyond Paradise"

5. Money on a music download account (this would be right up Weena's alley. I don't have one anywhere so she could even set it up for me - just not itunes)

If more things come up, I'll be sure to let you know :)
PS NO CAKE - we are all dieting!

Edit - Addition to the birthday list
6. AC/DC (playstation 2) for RockBand CD
7. Rockband 2 (for playstation 2) CD only
8. Track Pack 2 (we have #1) for RockBand (playstation 2)
or anything else Rock Band related :)

I'm Hoping

2009-03-31T18:08:00.003-05:00

I feel I reached the turning point last night. This morning was pretty rough again but overall I feel better and seem to have improved throughout the day. Maybe cause I didn't have to expend much energy today teaching because it "MAP testing" season.

We started today. I hate it. It is so boring for me. I would much rather spend my day teaching than watching the kids chew their pencils and okay trips to the bathroom.

I don't look good though. My eyes are a lovely shade of pinkish red (where they should be white). They are pretty slitty too. And I didn't have enough energy this morning to curl my hair. And no kidding - two people told me I looked pretty today. ?? So when I spend an hour and a half getting ready I don't??? Are reddish eyes in fashion - maybe because of Twilight??? I just found it absolutely hilarious. But I thanked them all the same (and inside I rolled my eyes and thought maybe they needed to really look first, then say)

I'm off to write - I haven't checked out today's creativity portal prompt and I am pretty excited to see what it is and write. I've just been in that mood.

One Eared and Going Blind

2009-03-30T19:59:00.002-05:00

It is amazing how pain can turn something nice and fun into such a sourpuss mood.

I had a wonderfully written review of my job performance today. All I had to do was go in and talk about what I wanted to do next. And I was so dog gone cranky I ruined the whole conversation. Hopefully my principal will forgive me - someday.

I am in so much pain. I think it is all just sinus pressure. My ears hurt. Last night I went deaf in the left and then it cleared up. This afternoon it is the right and still hasn't cleared. My eyes have crap coming out of them that looks like I blew my nose. My head feels like someone put concrete in it. And then began mashing down.

Scuba diving to 118' NEVER gave me this many ear problems or pains. It's funny cause I think if I DID go dive right now, it would probably help - push it all back the other way!

It even hurts to burp. I guess air comes out your ears when you do that.

I'm miserable so no sense in making you that way too. Then I will be hoping that some day you can forgive me too. I'm outta here.

Now I can Enjoy my Addiction

2009-03-28T15:24:00.006-05:00

I'm better today.

I finished the 12 chapters online of Midnight Sun earlier today. Of course that made me happy. And sad. What do I do now??

Well, for all you Twilight/New Moon etc fans, I made some photos you are welcome to use :) For the rest of you, sorry the pictures scared you :) hehehe

I don't know what I will do next. I'll find something.

It was nice to not have to work on paperwork today. It's been awhile. Now I just have some menial things to do. I am already dreaming up my next project. I think I might make another blog. Responses to writing prompts.

The Glitch

2009-03-27T18:27:00.003-05:00

There's always something. But usually it is little and doesn't involve a breech in morals and beliefs.

I hadn't signed my video releases. I didn't want to. It said something about they could use my video for assessment (of me, which I totally expected - no problem) but then it went on to say "professional development, RESEARCH, and" basically anything else they wanted to.

I kinda had a problem with that. A big problem with that.

Yes it's true I got all of the forms back from the parents stating that was fine. But I wonder if they even read it. They were probably like, "Oh, Mrs. Daisy needs this so lets get it back to her." because that is how my parents of my students are. They are wonderful.

So I look at myself as the last line of defense against anything that may harm my students. And I tend to take a lot of stances that err on the side of caution.

So my mentor (being the patient soul) suggested calling National Board and asking them if they had another form, or if something could be marked out, etc. (The strictness of this is amazing so it we knew better than to just cross stuff out because it COULD mean they wouldn't score the entire section).

The lady I spoke with there was very unhelpful - well, unhelpful in that she just wouldn't see my point or my side.

I have (no, I am not exaggerating) exactly half of my students that receive some kind of help for something - special needs. I tend to be even MORE protective of them. And they are wanting me to sign away that they can use those videos of those kids for anything they want??

Yes, they are respectable and all but still, I just really didn't want to do that. Nowadays there are so many horror stories.

So my options?
sign OR
reimburse my district and the state $3000 AND have wasted 2 years of work on something that I didn't turn in.

Not good choices. So I signed them and cried as I did it. What should have been a joyous occasion is now tainted with going against my beliefs, and strong ones at that.

I asked my mentor if anyone else had ever had a problem with these releases. She said no and I was floored. But then she did say she had never had anyone with so many special needs students either.

I called my teammate on my way home. She could understand my reluctance, which made me feel better. But still, it's my signature.

I hate that rock and hard place place. Especially when it comes to standing up and fighting for what you believe.

At this point I can only hope they will be responsible and kind, assess my teaching and then be done with the videos.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow :)

2009-03-26T19:45:00.003-05:00

Here it is, the eve of my mailing date. The entries are all edited and revised (finally - only took 3 people plus me working non-stop to get entry 1 down to 12 pages - ick)

Only a few minor things to do. Write the contextual information section (small) about my school and district. Put my number on all the pages. Order them and paper clip them and put them in the right envelopes. Then seal up the box. Now there is a pleasant thought.

Two years of work going through the mail. That causes sweaty palms and head spasms. Why just the other day when the FedEx plane burst into flames I was pleased that I had gotten my 2 class computers back the day before. (not that they went any where near China, but still)

You hear stories about mailmen, I mean "mailpeople" dying and then they find all this mail in their garage. Maybe an urban myth? But still, who HASN'T ever had a piece of mail lost??? And insurance??? Forget it. You better have a receipt and then some. What kind of receipt would I give them for 60 pieces of paper and 2 CDs that have taken two years to compile?

Receipt - one arm or leg, whichever you choose. Throw in one fried brain. We might come out even.

It's funny. I haven't let the packet out of my sight for days - I cart it everywhere (and yes it's heavy). My poor 'puter is so backed up that it is probably insulted. And here I am getting ready to mail it.

It has to be like letting your child go off of to college. No, more like letting your baby go off to college because my poor box won't be able to speak up or fend for itself either.

But all of this wasn't the purpose of the post. The sun WILL come out tomorrow. I am sure I will be relieved and happy and have a weight lifted off. And I know for a FACT that the Midnight Sun will shine tomorrow, as I just found out that there are 12 CHAPTERS online at Wikipedia. I am saving that reading (Edwards point of view of Twilight) for celebrating tomorrow :) - if I can.

So tomorrow I say, Go Forth, Baby Box, and go straight and true to your destination. Beware of vampires lurking, mailpeople garages and fiery planes. Amen.

And the Torture Continues

2009-03-24T18:51:00.004-05:00

Wasn't I just here with all these mounds? Did I ever leave? Have I progressed at all?

And in the back of my mind, Edward and Bella and Jacob and the whole rest of the bunch are still lurking . . . If I can just get this stuff done, then I can enjoy :)

Sorry, just had to take a break and say hi to y'all :)

Oh Yeah

2009-03-23T18:50:00.002-05:00

Member how I said I wasn't gonna watch the movie? Well, I did. It was on youtube. I also found the first chapter to the next book on Stephenie Meyers website and read that. I am such a nut.

I am Surrounded

2009-03-23T18:32:00.004-05:00

By mountains of paperwork. Everywhere I look, every spare spot on the table. Covered in papers.

I am feeling more than a little nerdy and bookish. How 'bout crazed??? Tomorrow is my last final hurrah for my National Board stuff. I have the day off tomorrow to finish everything that isn't and redo everything that is done.

I changed my mail off date with my mentor to Friday. I still have papers/entries out being edited and revised to, of all people, the principal and assistant principal. He probably took one look at it and laughed. Oh well. I've got to edit out 4 pages of the one he is checking out - cut it down to twelve. I seriously need help with that. I could probably do 2 myself, but that would be pushing it. Writing shouldn't be limited or made to be a minimum amount. You should just say what you gotta say and that's enough. Or if it's over, that's fine too.

Guess I'd better get started. But I can't leave without severely editing THIS post. Here it is in a nutshell.

See pic x 3. Tons -- paperwork. National Board. CRAZY! Mail Friday. Edit exhaustively. Say what you need to say. Bye.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

2009-03-22T12:48:00.003-05:00

I am LOVING the colors in my new blog header!!!

Anyway, we celebrated St. Patricks Day last night (a bit late but when you are Irish, it really doesn't matter - you can celebrate all the time :)) It was soo good to see all my cousins that I so dearly adore!

For the biggest laugh in the world, you HAVE to check out my photoblog ( http://photodaisy.blogspot.com/ ) to see a picture of my niece "cutting loose." Its got to be her rendition of Riverdance. I was laughing so hard I was crying when I got home and saw I had caught that picture.

Well, tomorrow is back to work. I'm not sure I'm ready but it doesn't really matter. It's coming anyway so I better make the best of it.

I am still addicted to the Twilight stuff. I made a playlist that takes me through all 4 books (by mood and words in the songs, etc.) Of course hubby thinks that is insane, but I think it is a great way to keep reliving the fantasy and save the magic :)

Oh, and as I part, I will leave you with some words from hubby last night as I was getting ready to go see all my family and cousins (he didn't go this year).

I was putting on perfume. He said, "What's that for? You inbred." (like I wanted to attract family members) It was absolutely hilarious!

Hippity Hoppity Here Comes Peter Cottontail

2009-03-20T12:08:00.002-05:00

No, really. The real bunnies. It seems they have come out of hibernation or something and they are all over.

I just took some adorable pictures of the little monsters. One was at the basement window looking in and I was looking out - I guess it looked like a mirror to him.

And yes, while I love them and their adorable little selves, they ARE monsters. At least to my newly sprouted snap peas, lettuce and spinach. (which were planted on Valentine's Day) My poor little babies are about 2" tall and those bunnies think, well, I guess they think I planted them just for them as a "Welcome to Spring" homecoming banquet.

I have dealt with this frustration before. I finally found something that works and I will share my secret with you :)

Put 1 tablespoon of red pepper seed (like the kind you find at some pizza places) in SUPER HOT water (about a quart) and put it in a spray bottle. SPRAY EVERYTHING YOU DON'T WANT THE BUNNIES TO EAT and spray the ground around the plants too.

Now granted, during the wet season, this needs to be repeated quite a bit. But it so works and is environmentally safe :) Well, unless of course you happen to have a drippy squirt bottle and it leaks onto your hand and then you wipe your eye cause you forgot it had gotten wet. Or if you wipe your lips. Or if you wipe your face. (You get the idea - and yes I've done it. Of course! It wouldn't be me if something dumb hadn't happened.)

Don't I sound so normal today?? You would think that I had finished the entire Twilight series around 2 am or something. And was pleased with the ending that I wasn't going to read.

I am so lucky. I married my very own Edward. Okay. I think I am done :)

Heading out to find the leaky spray bottle in the garage!

Getting Close

2009-03-19T20:30:00.001-05:00

I have finished National Board Entry 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a few more things and I am DONE :)

Addiction

2009-03-19T11:46:00.004-05:00

Geez. I am a mess. I can't think about anything besides these books.

There has been an upside to them that I hadn't expected or planned on. They are incredibly - hmm - romantic. (Don't want Weena to say TMI :) Magical.

I refuse to go on and on about them - I am sure no one wants to hear it. I don't even want to hear it.

So let's see. . .
Ah, It's Thursday. THAT has me a bit down. I am past the halfway mark on spring break. I always get so wrapped up in being at home over the long breaks. I have to force myself to go out. And I LOVE my job. I can't even imagine what going back to work must feel like for people who are less than thrilled with their job. And there are a few positives to going back for me. 21 to be exact. :) Probably way more than regular people with regular jobs.

And all in all, I would have to say I am a work-a-holic (another addiction). (I just wish school would start around 11am rather than 8 :) That is probably the worst thing about my job - but I can live with that.

I guess I am feeling rather lucky and content at the same time. Except I am not funny now. Other people make me see humor in life. (Unless of course I do something stupid, which actually occurs fairly often, just not this week:) So for all of you looking for a good laugh, I guess you will just have to wait until - no that's not true. Something rolling on the floor funny happened last night.

We were playing Rockband :) (addiction #99?) I am the permanent drummer now and hubby is the guitar player. About halfway through the song, the dog gone sound/stereo receiver turned off. We kept playing. The banging noises I was making to try to stay with the notes on the screen was absolutely hilarious. I sounded like a monkey with a pair of sticks beating around. Anyway, it was funny enough to have hubby CRYING! I guess I am capable of doing dumb things anywhere :)

The Contest

2009-03-18T10:55:00.006-05:00

This is one of my photos on morguefile

I think I have figured out a way to beat it. Although when I said that, hubby asked if it was a contest. Well, maybe.

First off, you have to understand that I am NOT a re-reader. The only books I have ever "re-read" are books that I read aloud to my class every year. (It's so fun to see their expressions, it makes it almost like reading it the first time)

Even the absolute best books I have read in my entire life (see previous post here), I have not re-read. Not one single page. I'll admit I tried once. It didn't work. And I think I know why. Because I knew the end.

So that is how I plan to beat these books. I am going to stop. I am not going to finish the last book in the Twilight series. Hard? You bet. But I think I can do it. That way, I can re-read them and enjoy them again.

I tried an experiment yesterday. I left to go tan and get Drano -how mundane). I had started the fourth book and was probably 120 pages into it. When I got back, I started the book over again. It worked. I could do it.

I think I am going to win :)

Staying Up all Night :)

2009-03-16T17:52:00.006-05:00

Maybe in support of yesterday's post, or because of yesterday's post, or because it was just so darn good I couldn't stop, I stayed up all night long. I finally took a short nap today from about 12:30 to 2.

So what kept me up? I started reading New Moon.

I had read Twilight over winter break. It didn't do a whole lot for me. It was okay. The end was really good though.

But this? This was amazing. The tension in the book was amazing. The love story was amazing. And then there is the whole vampire part.

I have always wanted to be a vampire as they are portrayed in the movies. Be forever young. Be beautiful. Have tons of money. And live forever. We were huge fans of The Kindred tv show. My current license plate is even "Ventrue." (yes, really. Imagine trying to explain that one to the kids at school)

So last night at 11 I was actually tired and thought I would read a bit before I went to bed. I finished the book around 7:30 this morning. I just could not even stop. And with it being spring break, that's OK :) It was delicious to stay up all night. I heard the birds waking up outside the window. I saw the light grow through the window. Sometimes it's just fun to do that. Gives you a new perspective about the day.

After checking at the library on line (totally a hopeless case) I just got back from the bookstore. It is rare that I will splurge and pay full price for a book. But I bought both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. (The last time I paid full price for two hardback books was when Stephen King came out with the last book in the Gunslinger series. I bought it and the one before it) I do tend to like serieses (sp?).

So now I am faced with these two glorious books. I'm weird in that I like to savor books that I know I am going to love. Save them for just the right time. I love really long books in the summer. Ones that stay with you for awhile. Yet at the same time, I can't even stand the wait! Maybe I will start the next one around Friday. Or today. I just want to see the story through.

I've already decided I don't want to see the movie. The people just look so much better in my head. (Besides, I tend to forget their age, as I am much older, and imagine them older. But Edward's what, 150? so what's age?)

I have to say this is a very relaxing spring break - but I did get all my notes done for my National Board entry 3 today so it's not like I am totally wasting my time ;)

I'll let you all know if I start growing fangs :)

A New Society

2009-03-15T10:37:00.003-05:00

I've talked about this before. I am not a morning person.

Here I am on day three of spring break. I have successfully changed my world around to the way I like it. That means:

I don't get up until 9 or 10.
I don't have to talk until 11.
I have very little movement until 11 also. The movement consists of raising my coffee cup and moving my fingers to type.
I get sleepy around 2am.

I decided to get a tanning package for the week and therefore have to go every day, so I have violated my rule of leaving the house. I so enjoy staying home and going nowhere. I have plenty to do here. I am easily amused.

There really is a whole bunch of us that are like this but we are forced to live in world that thinks 7am is sleeping in and after 10pm you turn into a goblin. How has this happened? Why haven't we formed our own society where we can live (and sleep) in peace? We should at least have our own neighborhood where we aren't judged harshly by our neighbors when we walk out at 11:30 in our pj's or robe to get the newspaper.

Our new neighborhood wouldn't have trash pickup until AFTER noon. Cutting grass would be considered a night time activity and we would all have lights on the mowers. No deliveries until after noon and that includes the post office, any appliance stores, and /or movers. Dogs wouldn't be allowed out until noon. But they could be out as late as 3am. Roofers and that constant tap tap tapping would only be allowed on roofs after 3pm.

We could have our own TV station - Good Morning at Noon! would be the most watched TV show. After dinner movies would be shown at 9pm.

Lazy Days

2009-03-14T22:32:00.003-05:00

Every once in a while, I literally have a day where I do nothing. And I mean nothing. Today was the day.

I watched reruns of movies on TV. I backed up my computer to my external hard drive (which took a really long time), but I didn't really have to do anything. I ate chocolate. I watched a tv show called "The Girls Next Door" which is a reality show about the playboy bunnies and Hugh Heffner. It's a really cute show! (Well, at least as far as reality tv goes) And who the heck are these Kardashian people???

Nothing like a full day of laziness to make me want to get stuff done tomorrow ;) Of course I have made a giant list of things to do over break. (backing up my computer was one of them, so I can cross that off :)

Are You Ready? Are You Set? Are You GO!

2009-03-12T18:06:00.003-05:00

Look out folks. With me now being officially off for ten days, the posts are liable to come fast and furious :)

The title is how I used to start races when I was little.

So if you will remember the other day when I was complaining about the wind, you can also notice the photo. THAT happened that day. That is the neighbor's fence on the top of my waterfall. Hubby also saw a large tree in the woods twist off and fall (and yes, he heard it). He also saw a tractor trailer that was used for advertising turned over on its side. And we had a few tornados in the area, but nothing too close.

Today was "the movie." Puberty in its finest for all the girls and boys. They are separated of course, into two class rooms. Mine wasn't used (thank you!). The nurse showed the girls pads and tampons. They passed them around. They asked questions.

They boys watched their movie and went out to recess.

We then all came back to our classrooms. 15 minutes later, my teammate comes running in my room with a story.

It seems that one of her boys had walked up to her desk with the "show off pad" stuck to his finger, dangling, and said, "Someone left something on my desk."

Clearly he didn't know what it was but was quite upset that "something" was on his desk. My teammate was so shocked. She looked around and no one else seemed to have noticed. She said, "I'll take that" and threw it in her desk. Me, personally? I would put it in my "Funny Folder." I was laughing so hard I was crying.

Then of course there was me today. Butt cheeks tucked tight, I scurried back to my desk as students were packing up. It was noisy. They wouldn't hear. And so IT came out. And I immediately hear, "Mrs. ______" right behind me. Geez. Glad we had that talk about gas at the beginning of the year.

And then at the end of the day, I got news that one of my students has finally been diagnosed. It isn't good. He has a severe disease. He probably won't live very long.

I'm glad he is in my room. He makes us laugh. He brings me an apple almost every day. I know for a fact that most teachers wouldn't want him in their room, as he comes with "issues." But he has really helped our class become a kind community.

Spring break is great, but I will miss the kids over the next 10 days.

Go To BED Young Children!

2009-03-11T23:02:00.004-05:00

Spring break starts on Friday the 13th. I am not superstitious. As a matter of fact, I have always liked Friday the 13th and feel it is more lucky for me. But that's me. And no I am not a witch. Well, maybe my students think so, but anyway. . .

We have been learning the art of written persuasion in the classroom. Well, I have been teaching, they have been learning.

Sometimes someone says something (who knew you could put so many "some" words all together?) and you just KNOW they have been watching things they shouldn't be watching.

The topic was "Your school is banning TV watching during the week. Do you agree or disagree? Persuade someone to see your side."

A couple of the girls actually opted for the banning of TV (it didn't surprise me). Word got around the room and some of the boys were shaking their heads.

One couldn't stop there. He blurted out (now remember this is fourth grade and they are at most ten) , "Oh my gosh. Girls gone wild!"

Obviously, TV should be banned in his house late at night.

Just Ugh in General

2009-03-08T12:21:00.003-05:00

I'm not a big fanatic of March. It has been fine/okay up until now because it was acting like February. And while I love the fact that spring is coming, there is a whole bunch of things I forgot about that I don't like.

1. The wind. I hate wind. It's loud and noisy. It makes me want to stay inside where my head is protected and I don't have to worry about limbs flying through the air and landing on my head. (Yes, we have lots of old trees around here, so that really is a legitimate worry.) You can't wear skirts in the wind - need I say more? Windyness is about the only positive point about putting on more weight though. I no longer worry about getting carted away or knocked over. (gee, why doesn't that make me feel better?)

2. Crazy weather. About an hour ago I looked through the window and it looked like we were in the middle of a hurricane. Rain was coming down in sheets. Trees were bent almost halfway over. Now the sun is out brightly and it is super windy. How on earth is a girl supposed to plan a wardrobe/outfit for extreme weather changes? Ick! It's probably 65 to 70 degrees now. I think we are supposed to have snow in two days.

3. Good Friday (I'll put this here because while it sometimes lands in April as it does this year, it sometimes comes in March.) If memory serves me correctly, this is the day Jesus died. Kinda not really good. And being raised kinda Lutheran, we don't eat meat that day. And I always forget. So every year on that day it is reaffirmed that I will go to hell. There's a real bright spot I can always count on - ha!

4. No matter when spring break is, it never comes early enough. By this time the kids are crazy and the teachers are so stressed that we are like a bunch of menopausal or pms ing wild women ready to bite. Our fangs are barred and we have assumed the catlike hunting crouch. Woe is the person who invades our dangling rope to sanity. Pounce!

5. Spring forward - are they nuts??? I HATE losing an hour. Blink and an entire hour is just gone. You didn't even get a Chance to waste it blogging! Plus you spend the whole day wondering if you will be able to wake up on time tomorrow and if the clock says the correct time or the old time because maybe hubby changed it and maybe he didn't. Or maybe you did, but you forgot you did it. Or maybe you thought you did it but you can't be sure because it happened in that mysteriously gone hour. Ugh.

6. okay, there is one good thing about March. St. Patrick's Day. Green beer, celebration and corned beef do help you forget about the wind, dictate what to wear, regardless of the weather, helps you forget you are going to hell for eating meat, and reminds us that we can drink green beer all week long on spring break. And that hour you lost? Enough green beer and you don't even care what day or time it is :)

I am an Antonym

2009-03-06T18:22:00.004-06:00

Antonym = opposites (for those who haven't been in school for a while)

I am so full of discrepencies. Give me a computer and I can compete with the best of them on software. Yet I cannot program a watch or VCR clock.

I love food. Yet would rather starve than spend the energy MAKING something to eat. But then again, sometimes I just forget to eat. Those are good days :)

I will follow every rule to the letter. BUT some rules really are just plain stupid and meant to be broken.

I am a workaholic. I am also a playaholic.

I have a thing for chairs. I rarely sit down.

I love digging in the dirt and am a very good digger. I also LOVE high heel shoes and skirts.

I really could care less about TV. It is a special treat to rent a movie and eat popcorn. (I can do the 3 minutes for that :)

Kids are my wonderful career and world. I don't "own" any though and enjoy sending them all home.

I am curious and adventurous to a fault (if there is a button I will push it to see what it does) and at the same time, I am so terribly predictable. I once videotaped myself watching something and showed it to someone else and said the EXACT same things at the SAME time in both viewings. THAT was a real eye opener.

Maybe we are multiple personalities :)

Why Women Shouldn't Play RockBand

2009-03-02T17:22:00.003-06:00

I have a pair of black Justin cowboy boots. I have had them for at least 15 years. I might have been wearing them when I met hubby.

Before that, they were my mom's. She probably had them about 5 years.

No, the blog title isn't wrong. Bear with me.

The point is, I have had these things for ages. And have worn them for ages. And loved them. Until today.

I came home with a raw spot on the inside of my calf from where the boot pull up strap rubbed my leg (no, I didn't wear tights, and I wore a skirt).

It is so sore. So I get home and hubby meets me at the car (he's so sweet). He asks how my day was. I go in to this rant about how bad my leg hurts. And it is all because of Rock Band. These boots have fit me for fifteen years and now that I am the drummer, my calf has grown two sizes too big for my leg. And my boots.

This is awful! What a fashion nightmare!

Anyway, he sarcastically comments as I am taking off my boots, "Well, why don't you use a marker and mark the spot on your leg every couple days until you wear them again. Then you'll know just right where to put the bandaid."

My witty reply? "Well, maybe I will just get a tattoo on my leg that says Place Bandaid Here." Wouldn't that be cute??? ha Very RockBandish I think.

Top Three Most Annoying Things about Bills!

2009-02-28T12:53:00.004-06:00

I am going to go backwards. Number 1 just flies all over me.

3. The amount of junk mail/stuffing/ads included with the bills. If I was really gonna buy any of that crap or wanted any of those services, I would check them out online or buy them at the store. One of these days I am going to send ALL the junk back to them with the payment! Let them sort it all out like they make us do. I just worry that it might make the postage more because of the weight. Then they will say they didn't get the payment. Or the lady opening the payment envelopes will get too sidetracked by purchasing all the cool things they have for sale in the junk and accidentally drop or miss my check. Besides, has no one heard of reducing waste and saving trees???

2. I absolutely can not stand when they attach junk mail to an envelope flap. I can't tell you how many times I have licked the flap only to find that I can't seal the envelope correctly because there is a piece of junk mail / advertising crap attached to the envelope. What is wrong with these people? Do they not think we are angry enough at having to pay enormous bills? And while I am on the subject of envelopes, why on earth do the electric, gas, and water company think that 1. my bill amount is public information and they don't have to put it in an envelope and 2. that they don't need to send a return envelope????? Maybe I will just staple a check, rip it off, and put the stamp on the bill and send it. When they get it and say I didn't send payment, I will just tell them that they didn't send an envelope and that the check was attached - public information and all.

1. Bills that are folded in the envelope and when you go to rip off the payment stub part, it rips at the fold, NOT the dotted line, so all the account info gets ripped off as well and you have to spend 15 minutes trying to tape it back together and hope you got the numbers or barcode lined up right so you get credit for payment.!!!! When they get these torn payment stubs back is there no one who says, "Hey, this might be a problem for our customers. They are all coming back torn. Maybe we should change the layout or where the bill is folded. "???? Idiocy at its finest.

hang on - gotta get that piece of tape off my fingers

Gulley Washers and Sticks

2009-02-27T17:13:00.003-06:00

Last night was Bo night at karate. No, not beau but bo as in a long stick. I prefer to call them sticks as most people don't know what a bo is. Or else they are completely getting the wrong picture.

I love stick night. Nothing like whapping people with a 6foot long solid wooden pole! Really though, it is very disciplined with strict moves and katas that you follow. But they are done with a partner so it makes it more "real."

It seems to come naturally for me. I attribute it to playing around with a baton for years and years and having a mom who was a twirler and taught me a couple nifty things as I was growing up. I still have HER baton. Kinda like having HER toes shoes (and you KNOW that whole story and if you don't, look back a few pages).

But anyway, having only gotten to use the bo on four separate nights, I am still in the beginner section. The green, brown and black belts worked as their own group off to the left.

Our group was small (4 students plus instructor). I was paired with a young high school boy who thinks he is the karate kid and superman all rolled into one. (He is pretty harmless though. You just have to get past his attitude and comments. Lisa, you are probably shaking your head right about now.)

So my partner and I were more advanced than the two that had never done sticks before. He goofed off quite a bit and kept me distracted from the achingly slow pace.

Off on my left, it sounded like the advanced group was really getting it. I don't mean understanding. I mean like really whaling on each other. I heard a great, resounding steady sound of whacking.

A couple minutes later I saw the maintenance man show up with a trash can on wheels.

I figured out that I hadn't been missing out on some major whomping going on in the advanced class. The roof of the gym was leaking like someone had just invented a skylight and forgot to put in the glass.

There was a major storm moving over and the steady splat sound I heard had been the water falling 25 feet from the ceiling to the gym floor.

I didn't feel so bad like I had missed out then :)

Ash Thursday

2009-02-26T17:02:00.004-06:00

Oh, I forgot when I went to blog last night that it was Ash Wednesday. I had a story all planned and everything and forgot. So I will tell it today.

Many years ago my hubby met me and moved up here from rural Oklahoma. Now, let me tell ya, there aren't a lot of Catholics in rural OK. At least none that I have seen (like no churches and such). Mostly Baptist.

So he moves up here and nine months later, Ash Wednesday. Now my city is full of Catholics, churches, parochial schools, etc. EVERYONE is Catholic, or at least has family who is. We have one of the largest parochial school choices in the nation. We even have a bishop in our city.

So Ash Wednesday and he's up early running around doing errands. That night he tells me in his sweet southern accent, "I saw all these people with dirt on their foreheads today. Finally I told a lady she had dirt on her forehead. She said it was Ash Wednesday like it was normal to have dirt on your forehead. What the heck does Ash Wednesday mean?"

Oh lordy. That poor lady must have thought he was an alien. And I guess in a way he was. Needless to say, we laugh about it every year. He abstains from putting dirt on his forehead for forty days :)

Get Outside - Spring is Coming

2009-02-25T17:07:00.002-06:00

I can smell it. I can see it. I can feel it! Oh what a beautiful day!!!!! The sun was out and it was in the 60's. What a gorgeous day. Got to be out - no time to blog too much!

KY Yours & Mine Consumer Product Review

2009-02-24T18:15:00.003-06:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day a week late (by choice). We made it date weekend and got reservations to a really nice restaurant. On my way home on Friday night, I stopped at Walgreens to purchase the infamous KY Yours and Mine.

It was $20 but they had a $5 coupon for the month of February (Valentine ploy!). I figured what the heck and shelled out 15 bucks. I thought one night of never before seen love would be worth that. (At the time I thought it was a one time only use.)

I got home and dropped it on the table for him to find. First he couldn't believe I had spent that much (I am taking it he had checked into it already). Then it was all he could talk about :)

So much later that evening, we, um, tested the product.

I have to tell you we were both so very disappointed.

I don't know what I expected. Like I wanted to see stars. Or maybe there was a little mini hooker/gigalo in the box. Or SOMETHING at least.

I think he was a bit disappointed too.

It was so not worth the money. We are way better off without it, if you know what I mean. But, I did mention to him that since we spent the money, we might as well give it another try just to make sure there weren't any ground shaking earthquakes hidden in the bottles. He liked that idea.

Bottom line - don't waste the money. Buy a real sexy pair of underwear instead. Get a pink pair with silver star sparkles on them. And label them with a Sharpie Marker "Mine and Yours." You'll come out way ahead.

2009-02-22T12:10:00.005-06:00

Our one and only dog, Leroy Brown (in the header picture above celebrating St. Pat's Day) died back in September. Since we have no kids, he was really a member of our family, and the loss was hard.

When he died, many people asked if we were getting another one. We had talked and decided we would later. When it was right.

See, Leroy really found us, rather than us finding him kinda. He was a baby baby (before weening age) when someone dropped him off in a park with nothing but a box and a handful of food. We were visiting family in a different state. They kept driving by and noticing him. Then one afternoon an ice storm came. He had been out there huddled by his box for three days. When the storm hit, we brought him to their home. And then he came all the way home with us. We really had no intention of having a dog. But I guess Leroy knew he wanted us.

So this past week, there has been a dog wandering around the neighborhood. He has been laying in a neighbor's backyard sunning himself and sleeping. On icy frigid nights. Through snow. He recently started limping.

At first, we thought he might belong to the people who live there. But he is kinda in a spot where they can't even see him, below a stone wall. And now he has begun venturing around.

He is beautiful. Shiny coat. Brindle color. Medium large size. I keep saying he is lost but hubby thinks someone has dumped him or abandoned him.

He ventured onto our front porch last night.

This morning he was guarding the next door neighbor's drive. When hubby told me he was out there, I told him to feed him. So he put a can of food on a plastic plate and took it out.

The dog is extremely skittish and shy and wouldn't come near until he had come inside. But we could see him from the window. He is so pretty.

When the dog finished eating, he trotted off.

I told hubby, "We have a dog. He just doesn't know we have him."

He laughed and said, "Yeah, we have a dog. We feed him every couple of days. He stays in the neighbor's yard. He's not too tough to take care of."

I wonder if our dog has found us.

Favorite Stuff

2009-02-21T09:17:00.004-06:00

Today is a day for favorites. Why? We are going to a really nice restaurant tonight that just happens to be my favorite. Well, one of them. We are headed to Dierdorf and Hart's. http://www.dierdorfharts.com/

Why do I love it?? They have the best steaks. Terrific vegetables. Nice atmosphere. Amazing desserts.

I have favorites of everything. And if I don't, I always figure out what is my favorite. Such as, my favorite nail polish is Dutch Tulips by OPI. I have a favorite lipstick, a favorite pair of shoes, a favorite pair of earrings, a favorite coffee cup, a favorite song, a favorite movie, and the list goes on. You get the idea.

Hubby on the other hand, has no favorites. He is hard pressed to even come up with a color. But I have finally nailed him down to "gray." It only took 5 years of constant asking to get him to admit he likes a color that most people don't even notice!

How can this be? How can you not have strong opinions, emotions or feelings about things?

So I am doing a theme today. All my blogs are getting my "favorites" posted according to what they are about. I think I'll do favorite dive spots and favorite dive gear for the scuba spot, and I will post my all time favorite pics on the photo site.

Here? Well this spot is about everything and anything.

Hubby just read this and of course tells me I am nuts. To prove a point he pointed to my hot rollers and said, "Okay, which one of these is your favorite?" Well of course it's the second to smallest size rollers. That was just way too easy. But he was highly surprised I had one. And yes, I had even thought about it before he just asked. See? I have favorites for everything.

And YOU are one of my favorites - cause you read my posts! :)

I'm In the Band

2009-02-19T18:15:00.001-06:00

Yes, yes yes. All right.

I had to drag myself away from my band :) (We just got Rockband for ps2)

I'm partial to the guitar but will play any of the instruments. We can't get the mic working yet, so I still have a voice :)

When I told my students I didn't eat dinner last night they asked why. I told them I was too busy playing Rock Band. They died laughing! Then they started drawing pictures of me playing the drums and such. So cute!!

The principal, who knew we were getting it yesterday, asked me this afternoon if I took a nap during my plan time. I said, "No, but I should have." :)

One more reason NOT to go to karate tonight. But I will drag myself away and make myself go since I didn't go last week.

Been in the Band?

2009-02-17T18:19:00.002-06:00

Driving home today I started to smile. The Outfield came on the radio. They were singing "I don't want to loose your love tonight."

Now, regardless that this is a great song and I haven't heard it in ages, it got me remembering a part of my life that was kind of forgotten. Not really lost but it just never comes up.

Yes, when I was in college, I was in a band. (Probably everyone else was too huh?) And no, we never played out anywhere. That just never seemed to be the point.

I don't remember the name of the band. I only remember the members' first names - Paul, Henry, Mario, Brian, a drummer who I can't even picture, and me (the keyboard and backup vocals girl).

We practiced once or twice a week in the basement of one of the campus buildings. We were loud. We had fun. We played the same songs over and over until we got them right. And it kept me out of trouble :) Well, at least some.

But that Outfield song was one I remember we played a lot. A very lot. And I never got tired of it. The male singer (Brian) we had was amazing and could hit all the high notes.

Nowadays, I sing to the radio and in the shower. If I get near a karaoke, my hubby wants to crawl under the table. It's not that I sing bad - he just hates attention of any kind. I also sing in my classroom to the kids sometimes. (silly stuff) And then I sing when I am with my sister. Or my dad. Or my mom. (We all sing) And then of course there is Guitar Hero.

I bought hubby a shirt a while back that says "I'm in the band." (of course, I am the groupie this time!!)

Fun stuff.

Beeper, the bird who proved the saying

2009-02-16T09:58:00.004-06:00

Have you ever noticed how many bird sayings there are?? The early bird gets the worm, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, etc. Why is this?

Anyway, I got sidetracked. I am here today to tell you the story of Beeper. Beeper was a little zebra finch I had. He was named by my hubby, who has names for everything (see older post). He got his name because he beeped a lot. On early sunny mornings he had another name, which I won't put here (trying to keep it clean folks ;). Beeper even had a wife later on in life - Mrs. Beeper. And they had babies, and the one we ended up keeping was, yes, you guessed it, Baby Beeper.

But none of this matters. The story is starting to get lost, so I will now begin.

Beeper spent his summers in a cage on the back deck. He loved it out there. Other birds would often come land on his cage and chat with him. Sometimes they would eat some of his millet that was hanging on the side. He was a very tiny bird and even the smallest of wild birds were like giants to him.

One day Beeper found out he could slide through the bars of his cage. I chased him around the backyard trees for hours with a butterfly net and a towel (how I usually caught him inside). He wasn't a good flier because he hadn't had much practice. But he was getting it now.

For three days, I couldn't catch him. He stayed nearby though and I could hear him taunting me and beeping while I laid their sunbathing.

On the fourth day, I heard the familiar beep once again. It sounded close. Really close.

No lie, he was in his cage.

He had come back. (I guess hunger and fear beat him and we had left the cage propped open just in case this kinda thing might happen.)

And believe it or not, this very same thing happened the next summer when hubby "accidentally" (so he says - we had been having lots of sunny early mornings) left the cage door open.

So twice he was "let free" and twice he came back. I guess he loved me after all :)

As an extra side note lesson of the day, all my pictures of Beeper were on my computer. The computer died (and so has Beeper) and I didn't have an external hard drive at the time. Hence, I have no pictures of this wonderful little bird.

Did You Know? BARBIE

2009-02-15T11:36:00.002-06:00

Did you know that you can play Barbies for four hours straight????

Maybe I knew a long time ago but I had forgotten.

I just had my 3 year old niece spend the night. She was non-stop Barbieing. She would want me to be a particular Barbie and then proceed to tell me I couldn't do anything with my Barbie. I'm just supposed to sit there and hold it???

So on the sly I would change Barbie's clothes. (one of the things I always loved about Barbies - we had the fanciest, coolest homemade dresses when we were little) It was funny. Barbie has changed. Her hips are bigger and her boobs are littler. This was really evident when I put on some of the dresses that I still had from when I was little and put them on my niece's newer Barbies.

So what is up with that?? Is Barbie getting old? Has Barbie had children and now her hips are bigger? Are her boobs sagging now due to being, what, 60ish? This all seems kinda wrong to me. Are they going to start giving her wrinkles too?

I don't want reality in dolls. After all, who can jump up to the top level of a house really? Who sits to go upstairs in their own house elevator when it only has two floors??? Whose TV never changes and only shows horse movies??

Barbie should always be the same. How else will we know if we have "outgrown" her? After my niece's visit, I feel more like Barbie than ever!

Valentine Gardening :)

2009-02-13T17:54:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is the day! Get your seeds ready!

No, I am not joking.

I cheated. I did mine today when I got home because it is supposed to be really cold tomorrow.

I'm talking about planting lettuce. Now is the time in the midwest. You can also plant those fabulous snap peas that you eat fresh out of the garden.

I am sure there are other cold weather plants that can be planted, but those are my two favorites.

Anyway, the old wives tale is that you plant your lettuce seeds on Valentine's Day. I have done this for the last 4 or 5 years and the lettuce is phenomenal. I have planted on the top of snow (last year) and when it is muddy. Lettuce doesn't go deep so you just really sprinkle it on top and put a little thin layer (very thin) of dirt on top.

It does take a while for it to sprout, but you don't have to water it until it starts to get hot (after spring). And it is always going really well by the time we put the tomatoes in.

Give it a try :) Salads nice and early!

Whoopee!

2009-02-12T16:17:00.002-06:00

We had our Valentine party at school today because the kids have a day off tomorrow (grade recording day).

They played Valentine bingo. Everyone got three prizes a piece (they played until everyone won).

Some of the "prizes" were whoopee cushions. The kids had so much fun with them! Go buy one if you haven't had one in awhile. Nothing says love like a good joke with a whoopee cushion!

Yeah It Wasn't Me!

2009-02-10T16:29:00.003-06:00

Computer issues?? Not my fault. Not even my computer!! Yeah! Somehow something broke with our school server and they didn't bother to inform anyone (like no one would notice???)

I'm just glad it wasn't me going crazy!

So on to funny things . . .

I have a new student who is an absolute doll. She has medical issues so she visits the nurse every day. We also eat lunch every day.

She had just finished a paper and needed some copies made. I told her where the copy room was (between the nurse and the cafeteria - its the only other door there). Then she stopped and asked if someone could go with her. I said no, she could find it. And she stepped out the door. One of her classmates who sits right in front of me says in a mysterious stage whisper "What if she never comes back?"

I laughed out loud and the kids asked why and I told them what their classmate had said. They laughed too. Then another student got called to office to pick something up. She met up with the new girl in the hall (and informed her of what the student had said after she left.)

When my new girl got in the room, she walked right up behind the boy who had whispered (he was in his own world working on the computer) and whispered loudly in his ear, "I made it back."

It was so hilarious. We were all laughing for awhile:)

I like it when they can be themselves and have controlled fun!

Mythological Computer Gods

2009-02-09T16:26:00.006-06:00

(To the right you will see a picture of the computer god, Vy Russ.)

Today the computer gods are laughing and playing with my life. No, not the big wigs at Microsoft and Mac or anything like that. These are the mythical gods, like Apollo and Zeus. But these are the COMPUTER gods, whom I imagine have names like Web loss, File aria, Connectus, and Help phos.

I am fairly computer literate. I take care of my computer by regularly cleaning it out, defragging, emptying the cache, etc., to make sure it runs efficiently. I also regularly back up my computer to my external hard drive, which I love. It is pink and cute and cuddly. Well, not right now but if I ever lost something, I am sure I would cuddle it.

Anyway, today has been crazy. First I couldn't get to my report cards (all day). The school tech came by to help and she couldn't get them either. Only on HER computer, not mine. And while I could access the students' files, they couldn't because the the "parkway server tree listed as K does not exist" on their computers, but it does on mine????

This wasn't a connection error as they were able to get on the internet. They could also open all programs and create new documents, but that doesn't help much when we are trying to finish old ones. And if we create new ones, we have no place to save them because the server has mysteriously disappeared off the student computers.

So I talk to people. I call people. Everyone just says Hmm. Now how helpful do you think that is???

Then there is this whole issue of "space." I think we should have as much as we want - it's CYBERSPACE people, it isn't real! It's not like I am taking up two seats at the movies!

This comes up because yesterday I tried all day to upload a homework assignment onto a forum. It just sat and sat and sat (must have had Error Uploadius laughing his fool god head off). I never received a message that the file was too big. And I can never remember which is bigger (kb or mb - i got a real nifty lesson in that from my instructor which I might just copy and paste here)

quoted from the instructor: "A byte is a unit that measures information storage. It is made up of smaller units called bits. Essentially a bit is "on-off" and is how the computer takes electricity and arranges it into something meaningful. The byte (arrangement of bits) is equivalent to one letter.A kilobyte (KB) is about 1,000 bytes. To be technical, it is 210 power or 1,024.A megabyte (MB) is about 1,000 kilobytes. To be accurate, it is 220 power. Those old floppy disks we used to use were 1.4 MB.A gigabyte (GB) is about 1,000 megabytes. Most hard drives are now measured in gigs. Other prefixes go up for here: terabyte, petabyte, yottabyte."

Okay, that was a trip to another land in itself. How 'bout byteme?? Is THAT invented yet?

So my instructor gives directions on how to shrink it. I had to shrink it twice. How ridiculous is this?? It's one page with four pictures on it. I think I should be allowed that space. I think I am entitled to that space. I WANT that space. I shouldn't have to shrink. They should have to grow. The god causing all this havoc of shrinking and growing space must be Alice ophrodite.

Please tell them to go away and pick on someone else! Like my sister, who can handle them!

While I Was Gone

2009-02-08T15:16:00.003-06:00

Sorry I have been absent. I have been super busy.

Crunch time is coming for the National Board stuff. I am also in a 6 week online course. Morguefile (a photo site where I am a contributor) just got their new site going and I have been uploading hundreds of photos (and putting in keywords, categories, etc.) Plus I found a new game online at King.com that I am totally addicted to - Marble Matchup.

Add to that I just found a super spectacular new kid's book I am reading (The Mysterious Benedict Society) and report card time is now (grade day is Friday).

All this means I am surrounded by mounds of papers and books and have two laptops going most often. (hubby says I am such a geeky nerd, but two is even faster than one and it saves from switching screens, accidentally deleting something, file something wrong, or clicking the wrong "play" button)

Despite all this thought (or maybe because of it :)) I was able to try a new wine on Friday night. Oh no - big mistake. I spent an hour in the bathroom hacking my brains out. On Saturday morning I couldn't taste anything and my throat was so sore I felt like I had eaten glass.

I am reminiscent of the time I tried sangria. It had the same effect on me. The red wines just don't agree with me. Someday I will learn. Maybe I should sign up for a wine class. I wonder how that would work online. Receive delivery. Taste. Post. ?

The Lesson that Worked

2009-02-05T17:27:00.003-06:00

For the first time ever, lesson number 8 in the electricity unit (which is an experiment) worked! Well I'll be dog gone.

This is the third year I have taught electricity. I was bound and determined this year that it would work. To make the lesson participatory, I had the students tell ME the steps I had to do in order to conduct the experiment. (I don't think that is why it worked this year, but it was funny that this is the ONLY time it HAS worked.)

The lesson is on making a filament light up.

We use two D batteries and hook them up to 2 wires, which are bent at a 90* angle through a lump of clay. Then nichrome wire is wrapped around the two open ends. This wire becomes the "filament" and gets hot and glows.

The kids read through the experiment so they knew it should glow. I also informed them it would get hot and smoke, which is why I was the only one doing the experiment.

We were all set. I was getting ready to plug the last wire into the clip and I paused. Then I said, "Right now would be a good time to review the fire drill procedures."

One girl caught it right away and let out a "HA." About 30 seconds later, another girl yells out, "Oh, I get it," and started laughing. Then the others started to get it and we were all just rolling laughing.

And as great as that was, it wasn't near as good as seeing that filament get hot and glow! The kids were absolutely amazed! At that moment I could have given them 5 pages of homework and they still would have thought I was a genius and they loved me :) hehe

So we all oohed and aahhed and took turns walking by it.

It was so absolutely terrific. Way better than the other years when we dim the lights in anticipation and nothing. And then I say, "Well, it was supposed to work." And we all go back to doing boring things like vocabulary. Talk about a major let down. It's like going to see the guy get shot out of a cannon and he has to crawl out 20 minutes later cause it won't fire.

It was a pretty eventful day in the classroom today. (see my photo blog for other interesting sights)

I love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything - well, maybe teaching scuba in the islands but that's about it. Remind me I said that when report card time comes.

Strange Day Off

2009-02-03T17:08:00.006-06:00

I had my stress test today. I smoked it! I went to the eighth level and they still couldn't get my heart to the target rate of 160! I was sweating like a pig when I was done and sure didn't look too attractive but I was happy.
That made me feel so good! Plus everything else looked great on the ekg. YEAH for me :)

So we had time in between that test and the dr. We drove around and ended up going down to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. My family isn't really big on going to grave sites. It just isn't something we do. But I found my grandpa today.

The last time I had been was so muddy I ruined a pair of shoes and they didn't have his headstone up yet.

There is something so peaceful about that cemetery. It is so neat and orderly.

The deer run rampant there and I had to watch out for their "piles" so I wouldn't ruin another pair of shoes.

We had lots of time to spare so I took a lot of pictures (see my photo blog). Then we headed back to the dr.'s office to just sit in the parking lot and wait for the appointment. That was when it happened.

I had laid back in the car seat to take a smidge of a nap. Hubby pulled his book out and started reading. The next thing I know, this crazy guy is driving in front of us real slow, flipping us off! Hubby started to get out of the car and he stood with the door open and said, "What's the problem?"

The guy started screaming, "I got a hurt leg and I gotta get in. Are you going to sit there all day?" And he started getting out of the car like he was going to come kick hubby's ass.

I told hubby he needed to get back in the car and he did. He immediately went back to reading while I stared at the guy making sure he didn't come bash my car in or something. Then he yells to me, "F U, Bit--" And I'm thinking what on earth did I do??? He finally got back in the car and drove away.

I like these little scenarios. (ha) But they always get me to thinking, well, what would I do if he just went nuts?

1. If you are wanting to fight someone, don't announce that your leg is injured. That would have been my very first target. (stupid idiot!)

2. call 911 and say someone is attacking us

3. throw my humongous coat over the guy's head so he can't see and then proceed to beat him up (if I could even get close cause hubby might hog the fight)

4. if he pulled a gun, start the car and run him over.

It was obvious he was there because he had ran out of pain medication. I hope he got sedated for his journey home. And hopefully they gave him a handicapped parking permit so he doesn't accost anyone else for sitting in a parking space he wants.

A Pain in the Neck

2009-02-01T09:38:00.004-06:00

I can't decide what to write about today. I could comment on it being Super Bowl day, but I know I won't watch it as I am not into that sport. I could write about Ground Hog Day and its sexy origins (I researched it one year. It really isn't a holiday for children. Maybe that's why my hubby loves the movie so much, but it is a nice clean movie.) I could write about all the holidays coming in February (Valentine's Day and I think Mardi Gras is falling in Feb - need to go check that one).

But I think I am just going to stick with what I know today. This is a post about getting old.

I woke up yesterday morning around 7:30, which is pretty early for me on a weekend. I laid there enjoying the bright sun streaming through the window. And then I stretched. I felt something, well, different. Maybe like a watch feels when it finally goes "Ping" and starts screaming at you - "You stupid idiot! You wound me too tight! That's it, I'm done with this job."

Yesterday that is what my body did. It paid me back all day.

So I didn't notice much just laying there in my stretched out position on the bed. But then I tried to move. It seemed like everything wanted to move but my head. My neck was refusing to work. I rolled over to get out of the bed. It was extremely painful as I tried to stand erect. My neck was like a broken bobble head. I couldn't put my head up!

I couldn't look side to side. I used my hands to actually lift my chin! And then boy oh boy, did my body yell at me.

Now I have had cricks or kinks in my neck from time to time from sleeping funny. But you are still able to move somewhat. This was absolutely insane!

It ended up being one of the most wasted days ever. And here it was, gorgeous out, 50 degrees, sun, and I had trouble just standing up because I had to support my erect.

I took ibuprofen, flexeril, ibuprofen, wine, tylenol pm. (Of course not all together! - through the course of the day) Nothing helped. So needless to say, I was hoping that a good night's sleep would loosen things up a bit and help me feel better. And a crick in your neck always feels better the next day after you sleep (just incase that was what it was).

Today I can say I am better, but not fine. I have extremely sore muscles in my back and neck. I still have to turn slowly but it all feels much more loosened up. So who knows what it was/is. Gee, I am so lucky. It looks like I will be well just in time to go back to work. Not that I dislike work. I just hate wasting a weekend being sick or in bed. We should get "do over" weekends when you don't get to do anything you had wanted because of stuff like this.

This morning as I felt around my neck and rubbed it, my neck felt littler. So maybe it was swollen yesterday, which leads me to believe I pulled something. I told hubby this so today my name is "Shorty with the Little Neck." (see older post about Name Calling)

I think I am just getting old.

Southern Accents

2009-01-31T10:05:00.002-06:00

Hubby is from the South. Oklahoma. Born in Texas.

He can't talk right.

I say that with tons of love. Honestly, I fell in love with him partly because of his accent. It was so cute and sweet and country.

As far as communication goes, we are fine when he is speaking in complete sentences. I am a teacher. I teach others about context clues. It goes a great way when you understand 90% of the words in a sentence. You can fill in the rest, usually.

But sometimes I still have to pretend I know what he is saying and to avoid argument I just say, Uh huh or Uhmm.

But let me take you back to the moment I realized it was even a problem.

I was working on my masters thesis. It was about spelling. (yes I know, a terrible topic and someday I might do a post on that whole topic)

I needed to retype this list of 300 frequently used words by 3rd graders. I am a quick typer. I can type while people talk pretty well. I knew if someone would read it to me, I would get done twice as fast. I asked him if he would and he, feeling sorry for me, agreed to help.

First off, the homonyms tripped me up, such as when/win (which I prounounce totally different but he doesn't)

But then there were words that just threw me for a loop and I knew they absolutely were NOT on the list of 3rd graders most frequently used words.

Off the top of my head right now I can't think of them. But I do remember it ended in a big fight and I did the remainder of the list myself. One might have been he said steal for still.

Then there are the phrases he says. They are really off the wall. And he has these phrases for EVERYTHING.

When it is raining hard - "Like a cow pissin on a flat rock."

When something is good - "Make you wanna stand up and slap your memaw"

Most of these have been passed down from his grandpa, who is long gone. But MY dad just can't even understand him half the time. He just gets this funny look on his face like hubby is speaking a different language. And really, he is.

But back to the accent.

Unfortunately after being married this long, I don't hear it so much now. Other people I know still can hear it, like my family. When he gets around his family it is more pronounced, but still not anything like I remember falling in love with. I just can't hear it and it makes me sad.

This past summer when we celebrated our anniversary, he surprised me by calling in to the radio station and requesting our wedding song to be played. They taped him. He was broadcast on the radio making the request. It was so sweet. But the most beautiful thing about it was that I HEARD his accent! Of course, I fell in love all over again!

But the fact remains, he still can't talk right. When I tell him this, he just calls me a Yankee.

Scaries

2009-01-30T17:56:00.005-06:00

(This is my pet tarantula, Annie)

My poor sister. She is such a mess. And it is all my fault (and when she reads this she will say it is all true.) Weena, this cannot be used in a court of law as admission to any guilt whatsoever :) (hehe)

She is afraid. Of a lot. And that is all my fault.

It started when we were little. We had bunk beds. I made my hand look as spider/tarantula like as possible and walked it down the wall our beds were pushed up to. I was sure to scare her.

But she bit me!

I screamed and something like the following conversation ensued.

"What's going on in there? You two better get to bed." (mom from the living room)

"AHHHHH" (me still screaming and crying)

The light flips on. "Well what's wrong?"(uh oh, mom's come in)

"Weena bit me." (me)

"Why?" (mom)

"Well, I was trying to scare her. And pretended I was a spider." (me)

"Well good for her." (mom)

"But why would you bite a humongous spider???" (me) I just KNEW my hand looked exactly like a spider coming down the wall

In the ensueing years, there were many more times I scared her. But the best/worst was just INSANE.

We were home alone (I was probably like 14 and she was 10). I had been downstairs/basement family room watching TV and she was up in mom and dad's room watching TV. It was night and mom and dad had to leave for a meeting. But she didn't know I had stayed home.

But I didn't know she didn't know I had stayed home. (which is important later in the story as I try to redeem myself)

So, as this was normal for us, I snuck upstairs. I waited and waited in the kitchen for her to come in for a snack. I probably waited a good 20 minutes just inside the kitchen from the hallway. (I didn't have anything else to do!)

Finally, here she comes. I knew it was going to be good.

Before she flipped the kitchen switch, I jumped out and yelled really loud "AHHHHHHHHH"

The poor thing collapsed!

So then I KNEW I was gonna get it cause I had just killed my sister.

Then she started screaming. (oh good, she was alive)

I had to let her know it was me so I just hugged her and said, "It's just me" over and over as she rocked and cried.

So there it is. I have ruined all scary movies and books for her. She hears noises in her house. And it is all my fault.

Maybe I could sneak over there one night outside . . . hehehe :) Nah, she might bite me.

Map Quest and other Driving Directions

2009-01-29T15:31:00.006-06:00

- going in circles!

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have gotten driving directions on line and they are sooooo wrong. But I probably don't have to tell you, because you already know.

Today I had to have bloodwork done. The place that I went to before (about 2 minutes from the house) is no longer there. So I had to search for the next closest place. Not too bad, only about 4 miles away.

We looked on the map. We had an idea where it was but neither remembered ever seeing it.

We studied and memorized the directions (both of us).

No lie, the directions they gave were so hilarious! We could have made a left turn into the strip mall. But no. At that point, they had us make a RIGHT turn, then a left, then another left till we were back on the same street going the other way!!!!! And then make a right into the strip mall. Are you kidding????

But not being exactly sure where it was, WE FOLLOWED THOSE STUPID DIRECTIONS!

And to make matters worse, when we pulled in, we didn't see it anywhere!

But we found it. Tucked into the corner.

I have my blood taken. (Thank goodness they didn't want to check my blood pressure. I am sure they didn't even need that little elastic tie around my arm.) Then the lady says something about a urine sample. I am quite surprised. What on earth are they gonna do with that? My cholesterol does not show up in my pee does it??? If so, does that mean I can pee it out???

Anyway, we took the short route home. We knew where we were going.

Favorite Books

2009-01-28T14:57:00.005-06:00

Sorry, not a funny post this time. Although it does have its moments.

I have been thinking about doing a book post. The idea started when the librarian at school sent out an all school email asking for everyone's favorite book so she could make it into a list for the kids and summer reading suggestions. I thought I would make my own list of books in different categories. Unfortunately, I am not so good with remembering authors.

Keep in mind, I own all my favorites. Especially when you get to the end of the list.

Picture Books - "Happy Birthday to You" and "Oh, The Places You Will Go" both by Dr. Seuss, "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" and "The Story of May" (The 2 Dr. Seuss books hold very special places in my heart. The both have written letters to me in them from my mom. The first one was when I was 5. The second is from when I graduated and was 30. No, not from high school)

Children's Books - "The Giver", "Charlotte's Web", "The Lightning Thief"

Favorite Young Adult series - "Among the Hidden" et all

Long Books for the summer that you read till the last 100 pages and then put down a bit because you don't ever want them to end - "Pillars of the Earth", "Scarlett"

Books that made me cry like a baby - "The Education of Little Tree", "Stone Fox" (don't even bother to put mascara on)

Best Series - The Gunslinger series by Stephen King, The Xanth series by Piers Anthony, and the Hobbit/Rings Series by Tolkein (The Xanth series is most amazing because of all the puns and plays on words.)

Most Informative Book I ever read - "My Backyard" by Douglas Waitley

Best Teaching Book - "The First Days of School" by Wong and "Educating Esme" (I read parts of the first days of school every year before I go back)

Most Inspiring Book - "Writing Toward Home" and all the Ralph Fletcher writing series

Best Love books - all the ones by Leo Buscaglia

Most Used Books - "The PDR Family Guide", "Home Remedies for Dogs and Cats", "Reef Fish Identification Guide"

Best Scuba Adventures - all the "Dirk Pitt" novels by Clive Cussler

Book Guaranteed to make me fall asleep every time - "The Wonders of Algae" and any book I currently have to read for a class

Yes, I have a book about algae. What on earth does that say about me???

So you have to share your guaranteed "sleeper" book. I am starting to get close to the end of the algae book.

Making You Smile! (for 40 years)

2009-01-27T22:19:00.004-06:00

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kkyper.com/art/smile3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kkyper.com/art/smile.html&usg=__7lgnk-NWV284wjDLUYoN_H9jzGM=&h=563&w=750&sz=116&hl=en&start=18&sig2=2j6o-RS9bvq6YQapnS-q3w&um=1&tbnid=BOm7tvZclxPfEM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=141&ei=ZNt_SbqBMpLSMfDOkdsF&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmouth%2Blips%2Bsmile%2B3%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

this is insane. check out the link above if you want a smile

HA HA HA talk about torture

sorry, doing this post on the mac and there is no button to make a link. you have to cut and paste

Winter Wackiness

2009-01-27T15:41:00.006-06:00

I'm back to my normal self.

And wondering what to write about.

I told hubby that later around 5:15 to 5:30 we would pull up chairs to the big window out front and watch people try to make it up our street hill (with all the snow and ice out there)as they head home or head out to work. It just might prove to be the highlight of the day!

I went around an tromped about in the snow in the backyard. With my wedding dress. Taking pictures of it in the snow on the ground. I have a few that might work out okay (see above) but the sky was SO overcast today.

Here is the conversation I imagine took place as my neighbors watched out their back windows.

"Honey, come see this. You aren't going to believe it. What is she doing?"

"What IS she doing?"

"What's that she's got? Is that a dress? Is that a WEDDING dress?"

"Well, it looks like it. Kinda hard to tell with all the snow."

"It looks like she is taking pictures of it. Do you think she is taking pictures to sell it on ebay?"

"I don't know. That's the strangest thing. Why wouldn't she just do it inside? Like lay it out on the bed?"

"Look, she just threw it into the bushes. It's gonna get all snagged. I don't think she is trying to sell it."

"Well then what on earth is she doing?"

"Well, she was off today. Maybe she is doing drugs or drinking."

"Maybe she is mad, like angry. Or maybe mad, like crazy."

"She sure is weird. Now she threw it on the ground. I wonder if she will walk on it."

"No, doesn't look like it. She just keeps taking pictures."

"Maybe we should move."

"But they seem so harmless when we talk with them."