Think like a chicken

Ok, so how many Krispy Kreme donuts does one have to eat to officially be a pig? Just asking.

Oh, btw, the weight loss plan? Not going so hot.

Josh showed me the proper way to think. You have to tap your finger on your chin like this. He learned it from the chickens on Chicken Run, he said.



One of my favorite things about Josh is that he always says "I love you mommy" just out of the blue. He and Sean went over to dad's house last weekend to work on a woodworking project, and Josh was right there with his tape measure hooked on his pocket, pencil in hand, making drawings of what he was building and banging on pieces of scrap wood. It was really cute.

Lexi is crawling all over the place and being cute. She loves baby dolls. They make her laugh for some reason. When her daddy comes home, she gets this giant smile on her face, waves at him, and then claps her hands. That's because she's trying to stay in his good graces because he sleeps in the chair with her when she's being naughty at night and refusing to sleep on her own. Oy. Gotta work on that.




The girls are both doing really well in school. Courtney seems to stay super busy. Brittney hasn't hit that stage yet, thank goodness, but she's so excited for soccer to start back up. I am too, actually. That always means nice weather is around the corner.

I've only got about 8 or so hours left to do on this Reading project I've been working on. I have to take this stupid 2 hour test on Saturday on educational theory for my relicensure (thanks No Child Left Behind for yet one more meaningless hoop that I get to jump through!) Once I get those 2 things done, all I have to do is put together a portfolio, which shouldn't be hard. I've already got the stuff to go in it lined up; I just have to gather it together and write all the rationales and reflections and garbage that goes with it. It will be a huge relief to get those 3 things done and over with.

Survivor commentary for the week: Nooooooo!!! Not my TV boyfriend Jonathon! He can't get sent home because of a stupid injury! I loved it so much when the plates wouldn't break and he yelled "My ASS!" Awesome. That is all.

Well, I'm off to bed. I was waiting up to do laundry for tomorrow, but I'm just too tired. I'm just going to throw on whatever weird combination of something I can find in my closet and call it good.

Hmmm... I wonder why my time stamp is so screwed up, and, more importantly, how I fix it? I just noticed that it's about 5 hours behind. Weird.

Is it spring yet?

I can't believe another weekend has come and gone so quickly. It seems like it was just barely Friday afternoon. The weather yesterday was beautiful. We went for a drive in the afternoon and saw a moose just standing in someone's yard, looking for stuff to eat and relaxing. I am so ready for spring, and for Spring Break. I only have one day off this year, and I want to do something really fun. But what? That is the question.

The kids are all keeping busy with school and sports and friends and whatever else. Sean is still working the overtime, which is really a huge blessing. Nothing too interesting going on... just the usual crazy.

I didn't do the weekly Survivor commentary... so instead I'll talk about Dancing With the Stars. A show I never watched until last season. I heard Marie Osmond was going to be on so I tuned in to check it out. I thought that she and Jenny Garth were really cute, so I watched some of their dance numbers. So now, I just barely heard that Adam Corolla is going to be on this season, so I totally am going to have to watch again to see that mess! I love Adam Corolla, as much as it pains me to admit it, and I totally want to see if he can be any good at it.

Well, I'm off to have some dinner and hopefully some time to read. I'm in the middle of re-reading The Great Gatsby and To Kill A Mockingbird. Both favorites, and both novels I'm teaching this term. Fun! Or maybe I'll just go to bed. If Lexi doesn't start sleeping through the night soon I'm going to have to... I don't know. Give her to grandma? Send her to Aunt Heather? She is up twice a night, and I need more sleep than that! She started crawling the last day or so, and it's so cute! She'll get some toy hanging out of her mouth and start crawling around with it, and she's like a little puppy.

Weekly Reality TV Review and TWoP

OK so if you don't have my warped snarky sense of humor, you probably won't like/get this post. So we are hit and miss American Idol viewers... we'll catch an episode here and there. I've watched about half of it this year. So anyway, I love Television Without Pity, and I was reading the recap of ladies singing night and oh. my. gosh. Hysterical. So here is an excerpt. (Blogger isn't letting me insert a link tonight, but you can find it at televisionwithoutpity.com. Be warned, however, that the recaps do contain profanity.)It's probably not as funny unless you watched the show, but here are a few of my favorite gems:

"Brooke White, the girl that's never seen an R-rated movie, such as Nightmare On Elm Street IV: The Dream Master. That poor, poor girl. I loved her in her interview, I loved her in Hollywood, I love her playing the piano, I love her crazy hair, I love her giant crazy Muppet-Janice mouth, I love nannies, I love her whole thing. She's adorable and smart and funny.... The golden light of a thousand suns illuminates her from behind and she kind of sparkles from all over herself like a magical happy creature. Or Steve Carell.

Randy thinks she improved near the end, which I didn't like quite as much, and cautions Brooke to -- in the future, you understand -- get her "slaying" on. Sometimes when Randy talks it's like this, but other times it's like this. This time is one of the latter. Simon's like WTF and Randy's like WTH and Paula's like 0010001010 LOL and it's all totally uninteresting, as of course it would be and always is when one of them decides it's time for a catchphrase, but doubly so because Brooke's just standing up there the whole time, like, wondering what the heck this has to do with her. Paula gets her mumbling craziness on for a while: "And that's what I love about you there you have your own thing you have your own like that's what this whole business is about it's finding someone that you hear your voice the first time and you identify that's work." Simon calls it precious and silly and ridiculous, with the joyfulness and the golden lights everywhere, which it totally is, which is why it was awesome, and he admits that too. Ryan and Simon make out a little bit and Randy desperately tries to get in on it, and the whole time Simon's like, "Um, I'm just saying she's kind of a gaywad. It's a good thing." Why doesn't anybody in the room understand what he's saying? It is because they have lost the capacity for wonder."

OK if that doesn't crack you up... I just can't help you. Here's another goodie...

" Alexandréa Lushington... seems to dress herself most of the time like the Marines from Aliens. There's a very...Webelos aesthetic to her manner of dress most of the time.... Vocally, she delivers about half the song, including some neato parts that are so deliberate and harmonically creative they sound weird, but the other half is like...drag night at the Den Meeting."

Tee. Hee.

There's so much good stuff in there. Anyway.

Survivor. Hated that episode. I hated Cirie and Jonathan fighting, hated Yau getting the boot, hated Joel's psychotic threats, and I just thought Cirie made way too big and bold a move for this part of the game. I did love the reward challenge, though.

OK, I do have a life other than TV. But I'll have to write about that later, since Lexi is crying and Josh is being naughty and Britt is complaining about something and Courtney wants me to listen to some song. Sean is bringing home Robintino's for dinner, though, so all will be well.

SAD and CHAD

So I was in the car driving home from a class on Monday, and the sun was shining, it was a beautiful 47 degrees, and I was feeling good. I felt better than I have in a while, and I was thinking that I'm pretty sure I suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) to some extent. Then I realized that I was also all alone in my car with the radio blasting, no one fighting with anyone else or whining that they're cold/hot/hungry/bored/have to pee, and I'm pretty sure that I also suffer from CHAD (Children Annoyance Disorder). Between those two conditions, it's bringin me down. Hopefully I can make it to spring.

Valentine's Day here was uneventful. I got a cute Valentine from Josh and Lexi... their little handprints made into a dozen red roses on a card. I usually don't do too much for the kids, and Sean and I don't really do anything either. I get all "this holiday is too commercial blah blah" about it... but really, I ought to just embrace it and jump in whole-heartedly. It's love, after all. So maybe next year. Anyway, I just got the girls a multi-pack of their favorite gum and wrote "I chew-chew-chew's you, Valentine" on it. Yes, cheesy, but it's from a Simpson's episode, so it's all good. If anyone can tell me the episode, I'll give you a prize. I made Sean sugar cookies, and Josh got enough crap at school that I didn't see a need to get him anything else.

Survivor... Huh. That was probably not great strategy. I guess we'll have to see. One thing I hate about Survivor is the constant assumption that a man will always be a stronger challenge competitor for the team than a woman. We want to break up Mikey B and Mary? Well we automatically have to get rid of Mary, of course, because we'll need Mikey in the challenges. And then the show bends over backwards to try to make me believe that's true. And sometimes it certainly is. But last season, all Jeff could talk about was what a big challenge monster James was. The guy didn't win a *single individual immunity. He helped his team win a few, but then he also screwed up at least one that I can remember. On the other hand, Pee Geih and Amanda happened to rock the individual immunity challenges, and had some good showings on the team challenges as well (remember Amanda in the ball rolling/wrestling one?) But did the show ever make mention of this? Did Jeff ever even mention it once? Were they ever called "immunity monsters" like James was? No. I'm just saying. It bugs. Anyway, onward with the intense Jonathon and Yau love. Liking Cirie. Liking Tracy. Also? Surprisingly I'm liking Kathy the crazypants.

Well, back to work on my project. Reading strategies. So fun. Don't have any great plans for the long weekend. I have list ten miles long of things I *should do... We'll see how many of them actually get done.

More Snow Pics

Here are the latest snow pics from the cabin. Sean shoveled it out again yesterday. I haven't seen it like this in years!











I can't believe it's already Sunday night. I need a few days off to recover from this weekend!

20 Things To Do Before I Die

Today I gave my students a journal assignment to make a list of things you want to do before you die. Here is my own list:

1 Drive the length of the Pacific Coast Highway.
2 Go to an NFL game.
3 Learn to swing dance.
4 Travel to Italy, Greece, Spain, and Costa Rica.
5 Drive Route 66 from L.A. to Chicago.
6 Visit all 50 states.
7 Go to Mardi Gras.
8 Learn to ski (better).
9 Play blackjack at Caesar's Palace.
10 Stay at the Mandalay Bay.
11 Get a tatoo (actually I have 2 in mind that I want).
12 Own a 1962 Corvette.
13 See the Eagles, Garth Brooks, and Aerosmith (again) in concert.
14 Get a master's degree in either American Literature or some sort of gender studies.
15 Go to law school.
16 Learn to quilt.
17 Speak Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country.
18 Visit every county, state park, and national park in Utah
19 Go to DisneyWorld.
20 Stay on a houseboat at Lake Powell.
That's not the end... there are a bunch more, but I wanted to stop at 20.

So let's see.... This week has been crazy. Lexi wouldn't go to sleep last night if I put her down. Sean ended up finally sleeping in a chair with her. I finally reached that "bring it on" point where you just don't care anymore. Like, I'm so bloody tired that nothing can phase me now, so just bring it on. School is just... loco. I don't even want to think about that. Sean is still working 12 hour days and then he often stops off here and there after work, so that makes things even nuttier around here with me trying to do it all. Last night I ended up taking the two littles with me to YW New Beginnings. Not smart. I ended up out in the hall for half the thing because neither Josh nor Lexi could be quiet. On a side note: You'll be happy to know that there was no gratuitous crying at YW this time. And the program presenter had an awesome Australian accent so it was very nice to listen to him.

Superbowl... Yay Giants! Yay Manning! We came within a hair... a hair I tell you... of winning $100 right before half time. If the Giants had just made that touchdown. Ah well.

Survivor... 2 thumbs up so far! I really enjoyed tonight's episode. I liked most of the fans, although we didn't get to see much of them. There were a few wackadoos, but most seemed cool. Of the favorites, I still love Jonathon and Yau. Ozzy is dead to me now that he hooked up with Amanda, and dude... are you serious? You guys haven't brushed your teeth or taken a shower in 5 days and you want to be making out? I still hate Parvati with the fire of a thousand burning nuns, and she's pushed James from "eh" to "bleh" with their little hookup. Fairplay was actually fairly normal this time, which was his plan I'm sure. He got to say he was a favorite, make over his image, and then not have to spend a couple weeks living in the dirt.

Well, I'm off to bed. Yay for the weekend!

Snow, Survivor, Sickies, and snark

Everyone seems to be feeling better now, oh happy day. Hopefully it can last a long time. I'm keeping Josh inside for a while to see if that helps. His immune system has to work overtime because of his skin issues, so I think going out and playing in the cold may lower his immune system and make him more susceptible to getting every little thing. At least that's what I'm telling myself so that I feel like I can take some sort of control over him not getting sick.

We have had a ton of snow this winter! It's been really pretty, and hopefully the runoff will be good for the lakes this summer. I have a student who just moved here from an area in Micronesia. (Incidentally, that's where they're filming this season of Survivor, as well as at least one previous one.) She went from a tropical island to snowy, freezing Utah. That had to be a disappointment. I would love to have a conversation with her about it; however, she speaks no English and I don't speak Chuukese. I've been looking for some ESL resources on the internet to use with her, and found these pics of the area she's from. Why, oh why, would you ever want to come here?




So speaking of Survivor... Yay for a new season! It's not exactly who I would pick for the Favorites cast, but I'm really excited to see Jonathan, Yau Man, and Ozzy again. I'm just "whatever" on Cirie, James, Amanda, Eliza. I hated Ami in her season, but she'll probably make a good villain. And I never really wantd to see Johnny Fairplay or Parvati on my TV again, so hate. Hopefully it will be a good season, since China was so meh.

Joshy got a haircut today. He's such a spaz, but I think he's cute, so I'll keep him.



I'm kinda bummed about the teams that made the Superbowl this year, but the party must go on. We'll be rooting for the Giants, since they are the underdog, and because I like the Manning boys. We're going to make some yummy treats and hopefully have a good time.

I've got this huge school project that I *have to work on today. I'm collaborating on a project for cross-curriculuar reading strategies, and I'm supposed to spend 30 hours on it. I've spent, um, let me add this up, 0. I also need to do my taxes. Maybe I should go have a piece of pie, and then I'm *sure I'll feel like working on it all.

So I'm creating a new section within my blog posts. Not sure what to call it... Maybe the Maximum Spin Zone or Opinuendo (any X96 fans?) Sometimes I go to post something insanely boring (yes, more than usual) or something that I think... eh, that might offend someone who reads my blog. So I leave it out. But dangit, it's my blog, so I'm going to put what I want on it. There are times when I want to write things for my own amusement and records, or I want to ramble about politics or snark on something in an irreverant fashion. I'll just put it in this section, and no one has to read it. I have many things both snarky and boring to say, but Lexi is awake, so it'll have to wait until another day.