Time really seems to fly by. I was home with sick kids at the end of last week, so I've got lots of catch-up to do. I graded a two-foot high stack of papers over the weekend and got the scores entered, so that's a good feeling. I'm having such a hard time keeping up this year.
My sister came for a visit, and it was so fun seeing her. Bummer that she had to go back. It was too short.
The deer hunters are home, luckily without a deer. Josh said to me, "Know how many deers we got?" "How many?" "None!" Sounds like they didn't really even see any, which is a bummer for them, but good news for me.
I haven't done my Survivor commentary in quite a while, so just a brief few words: Crystal: annoying and disappointing. I so wanted to see her kick some butt. Randy: I agree with him quite often, but he bugs me with his stupid I-hate-the-world thing. Ace: still only has the accent sometimes. Prat. Still like Bob. Surprised to find that I like Matty. (He had a trust fund that he totally blew through with partying, so I expected to hate him.) Everyone else ranges from eh to meh to haaaatttte.
Well, this week I've got to take my Suburban in for never-ending repairs. They still haven't fixed it right since the accident, but the guys at the shop dismissed our concerns... until State Farm's quality control inspector came and looked at the car and agreed with us. So back in the shop it goes. Josh is seeing a new allergist this week. I don't know what I expect her to tell me at this point, but hopefully she'll shed some new light on things. Brittney is having a birthday party on Halloween. And I've got to read The Secret Life of Bees this week. I'm advising a book club that some of my students wanted to start, and that's the first book they chose, so I've go to get it read before next week. Should be a busy week, but good busy not crazy busy, so can't complain. Off to bed.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Hope
It's hard not to get depressed when I read the newspaper lately. I've been troubled by a lot of things in the paper, on the news, in the debates... this little video lifts my spirits and reminds me there is hope for the future.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
I'm off work today and tomorrow. I have a modest list of things to accomplish, but haven't done all of it yet. Partly because I'm being lazy (yay for laziness!)and partly because I just don't do well with unstructured days and small children. I get so easily distracted by "She licked me!" and "I'm hunnnnggggrrryyyyyyy" and "Eww boogers/poop/blood!" We had a 30 minute meltdown over nothing this morning. At some point I've got to get the laundry done, though. Josh is down to his last pair of underwear. I know I'm not supposed to admit things like that, but you all know me anyway, so what's the point pretending.
So I just heard they are remaking the movie Footloose with Zac Effing Effron playing Kevin Bacon's character. Gag. I wonder if they'll Disney-tize it, because I can't imagine Zach Effron doing this scene:
It's impossible to listen to this song without tapping your feet along. Try it. I dare you.
I just went over next door and visited with The Band. Seems they got a new touring van for hauling their instruments to their gigs. It's a delightful little p.o.s. for which they paid $500. It's a constant used car lot over there, but gotta love a group of young, optimistic guys. OK this totally cracked me up. I wanted to laugh, but years of training as a mom and poker player have served me well and I was able to keep a straight face. I was talking to 2 of the guys, and one of them commented about our neighbor's BYU flag that he hangs on his garage on game days. I said, "Oh, are you guys fans?" and they said that indeed they are. Then one of them says, "Yeah, I always wanted to go there, but by the time I got up to college age I had tattoos and I guess I wasn't churchy enough for them. People look at me and are always suprised that I'm Mormon." He says this in all seriousness, with a cigarette in his hand LOL Then the other guy, tattoos up the arms, cigarette in hand, lip ring, long hair with shaved sides... says totally sincerely, "Yeah, people are always surprised that I'm Mormon too. It's just fashion choice, man, it has nothing to do with religion." I like these guys. They crack me up. They have a show coming up in Salt Lake and they promised me VIP passes. Woohoo!
So I just heard they are remaking the movie Footloose with Zac Effing Effron playing Kevin Bacon's character. Gag. I wonder if they'll Disney-tize it, because I can't imagine Zach Effron doing this scene:
It's impossible to listen to this song without tapping your feet along. Try it. I dare you.
I just went over next door and visited with The Band. Seems they got a new touring van for hauling their instruments to their gigs. It's a delightful little p.o.s. for which they paid $500. It's a constant used car lot over there, but gotta love a group of young, optimistic guys. OK this totally cracked me up. I wanted to laugh, but years of training as a mom and poker player have served me well and I was able to keep a straight face. I was talking to 2 of the guys, and one of them commented about our neighbor's BYU flag that he hangs on his garage on game days. I said, "Oh, are you guys fans?" and they said that indeed they are. Then one of them says, "Yeah, I always wanted to go there, but by the time I got up to college age I had tattoos and I guess I wasn't churchy enough for them. People look at me and are always suprised that I'm Mormon." He says this in all seriousness, with a cigarette in his hand LOL Then the other guy, tattoos up the arms, cigarette in hand, lip ring, long hair with shaved sides... says totally sincerely, "Yeah, people are always surprised that I'm Mormon too. It's just fashion choice, man, it has nothing to do with religion." I like these guys. They crack me up. They have a show coming up in Salt Lake and they promised me VIP passes. Woohoo!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Let's see what I have to ramble on about today.
Lexi has some monster hair after naptime.
Survivor: Yay! It's back on! Boo! I hate almost everyone this season! Well, maybe hate is too strong... Half of them I don't care about, a fourth of them I am cautiously optimistic about, and a fourth of them I hope will get eaten by an alligator. And live! I'm not a monster, after all. Hated Michelle; glad she's gone. Gillian was nice, but too excited about elephant poop (seriously, girl wanted to eat that crap. Ha! Crap!) and too slow in physical challenges. Paloma was OK, but I don't really feel too bad about her going home. Early favorites are Bob, Crystal (started out weak but girl owned that last challenge) Early hate going to GC and Ace of the Fake Accent. The rest I'm ambivalent about at this point. We'll see what happens tonight.
Presidential Debates: Haven't had a chance to watch the VP or 2nd debate yet. It's all more of the same probably, but I'll eventually watch it anyway. The thing I don't get, honestly, is this whole notion that Sarah Palin is a good candidate because "she's just like you and me!" Well guess what... You and me... we aren't qualified to run this country! I like you and me very much, and you and me can hang out and drink margaritas and talk movies and politics and read classic literature and shop for shoes... but you and me have no business being that close to the presidency, especially with the current state of the world. GAH.
Books: I finally finished reading my Kurt Cobain biography, and man, talk about a downer. I normally try to avoid any type of sad movie or sad book. I have the potential to get way too involved with the characters or people, especially when I'm reading, and then I'm depressed for 3 days. I kinda picked this one up on a whim, and then I couldn't put it down even though I wanted to. I dragged my feet finishing it, but I had to. And then it put me into a major funk. Seriously. I hate that. I just couldn't stop thinking about that poor little Frances losing her dad when she was only 2. And it was weird... as I kept mulling over the whole thing in my mind, I could relate to Cobain in some weird way I never thought I would. Anyway... it was a very fascinating story.
Kids: Sick kids over the weekend. Everyone seems to be better now. I've been in the doctor's office way too much over the last month with various kid things. Courtney got her CNA testing finished up, and she was hoping to do an internship with the medical examiner, but the lady at the school told her they don't do that. So she wanted to do one with a midwife. But they don't do that. She wanted to get a job at a nursing home, but they don't hire 16 yo's. She's wondering why she spent her summer going to school since now she can't do any of the things she wanted to do with it. I feel bad for her. We'll see how it all pans out.
Sean: So I told Sean I was tired of the truck in my garage. So what did he do? He pushed it out into the driveway, all proud of himself that he got it out of the garage for me. It had no doors. No bumpers. No. freaking. hood! Just the big stupid engine all exposed, with all the metal frame removed. I felt like I needed to go around personally and apologize to all the neighbors. Finally I threatened to move out if he didn't put it back into the garage, so he did.
That's about it for here. Not looking forward to snow this weekend.
Lexi has some monster hair after naptime.
Survivor: Yay! It's back on! Boo! I hate almost everyone this season! Well, maybe hate is too strong... Half of them I don't care about, a fourth of them I am cautiously optimistic about, and a fourth of them I hope will get eaten by an alligator. And live! I'm not a monster, after all. Hated Michelle; glad she's gone. Gillian was nice, but too excited about elephant poop (seriously, girl wanted to eat that crap. Ha! Crap!) and too slow in physical challenges. Paloma was OK, but I don't really feel too bad about her going home. Early favorites are Bob, Crystal (started out weak but girl owned that last challenge) Early hate going to GC and Ace of the Fake Accent. The rest I'm ambivalent about at this point. We'll see what happens tonight.
Presidential Debates: Haven't had a chance to watch the VP or 2nd debate yet. It's all more of the same probably, but I'll eventually watch it anyway. The thing I don't get, honestly, is this whole notion that Sarah Palin is a good candidate because "she's just like you and me!" Well guess what... You and me... we aren't qualified to run this country! I like you and me very much, and you and me can hang out and drink margaritas and talk movies and politics and read classic literature and shop for shoes... but you and me have no business being that close to the presidency, especially with the current state of the world. GAH.
Books: I finally finished reading my Kurt Cobain biography, and man, talk about a downer. I normally try to avoid any type of sad movie or sad book. I have the potential to get way too involved with the characters or people, especially when I'm reading, and then I'm depressed for 3 days. I kinda picked this one up on a whim, and then I couldn't put it down even though I wanted to. I dragged my feet finishing it, but I had to. And then it put me into a major funk. Seriously. I hate that. I just couldn't stop thinking about that poor little Frances losing her dad when she was only 2. And it was weird... as I kept mulling over the whole thing in my mind, I could relate to Cobain in some weird way I never thought I would. Anyway... it was a very fascinating story.
Kids: Sick kids over the weekend. Everyone seems to be better now. I've been in the doctor's office way too much over the last month with various kid things. Courtney got her CNA testing finished up, and she was hoping to do an internship with the medical examiner, but the lady at the school told her they don't do that. So she wanted to do one with a midwife. But they don't do that. She wanted to get a job at a nursing home, but they don't hire 16 yo's. She's wondering why she spent her summer going to school since now she can't do any of the things she wanted to do with it. I feel bad for her. We'll see how it all pans out.
Sean: So I told Sean I was tired of the truck in my garage. So what did he do? He pushed it out into the driveway, all proud of himself that he got it out of the garage for me. It had no doors. No bumpers. No. freaking. hood! Just the big stupid engine all exposed, with all the metal frame removed. I felt like I needed to go around personally and apologize to all the neighbors. Finally I threatened to move out if he didn't put it back into the garage, so he did.
That's about it for here. Not looking forward to snow this weekend.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Random Observations About My Life
* I have new neighbors. I was very concerned about my new neighbors. They are a group of 4 20-ish year old guys. Who have a rock band. In the basement. Oh. Yay. They are a bit rough-around-the-edges looking when they are outside having a smoke. I've talked to them a few times, though, and they're a pretty good group. They're really cute about asking if their music is bothering me, and they told me that they end their sessions early because they "live in a nice neighborhood now." Anyway, 2 of them were asking me about Sean's truck the other day, which is currently all taken apart in my garage. We're talking, he took the frigging bumpers off, the exhaust system is in pieces, etc. So those 2 are all excited to talk to Sean about his truck because they have old F-250s as well, same year I think, and they even volunteered to help him work on it. Hallelujah! For the price of a couple twelve packs of beer I could have this thing out of my garage before Halloween if I play my cards right.
* A crazy man at Sam's Club told me he really liked my hair. I do not have the type of hair that stops strangers in their tracks... My hair has 2 settings: "bad hair day" and "forgettable". Even if I hadn't noticed that he was a bit off, telling me I had nice hair would have been a sure tip-off.
* I love my kids. I love my job. I hate working with teenagers all day and then coming home and dealing with teenager-ness at home. I feel bad for my girls, though, most of all. My threshold for teenagery whining, complaining, or eye rolling is so low that I lose it pretty quickly. I go from 0 to Bill Cosby (don't you roll those eyes at me I'll roll that head of yours right onto the floor) in about 5.4 seconds flat.
* I started using the elliptical again. After my surgery this summer I wasn't allowed to exercise until August, and then I still didn't really feel well enough. So I'm finally back into it, and it never fails... like 2 days after I start exercising and trying to eat better, I'm like... hey, I should have lost 2 lbs by now... and getting all discouraged when I've instead gained a pound. I joined a gym when I was 16 because I loved to lift weights and do aerobics (I know, right? What happened to me? 4 kids, that's what.) My point is, I'm not new to the gig. I know how long it takes to see results... yet here I am still expecting miracles. What, I've been exercising for 3 days now and haven't dropped a pants size? I'm giving up and eating a donut! But, I decided that with the stress I am currently under, it's either exercise or heavy drinking. So I went with the exercise. For now.
* I love going to garage sales. It's like a giant treasure hunt. Currently I'm looking for books for school. I found some cute baby clothes last weekend for Lexi for 25 cents. I bought 4 items. I'm all picking through... "Oh, this dress is cute, but I don't know..." And then I got home and thought, "Well, crap, it was 25 cents! Why didn't I just buy it?" Who cares if it wasn't in perfect condition. For 25 cents she could wear it once and then give it to D.I. She gets her clothes all messy at daycare anyway... might as well buy them from a garage sale. Oh well. Sean got a DVD player for $5 and it works great. It has a 5 disc changer so he can put it in the garage and play CD's. While he and Guns-N-Roses work on his truck.
* It is late and I must go to bed.
* A crazy man at Sam's Club told me he really liked my hair. I do not have the type of hair that stops strangers in their tracks... My hair has 2 settings: "bad hair day" and "forgettable". Even if I hadn't noticed that he was a bit off, telling me I had nice hair would have been a sure tip-off.
* I love my kids. I love my job. I hate working with teenagers all day and then coming home and dealing with teenager-ness at home. I feel bad for my girls, though, most of all. My threshold for teenagery whining, complaining, or eye rolling is so low that I lose it pretty quickly. I go from 0 to Bill Cosby (don't you roll those eyes at me I'll roll that head of yours right onto the floor) in about 5.4 seconds flat.
* I started using the elliptical again. After my surgery this summer I wasn't allowed to exercise until August, and then I still didn't really feel well enough. So I'm finally back into it, and it never fails... like 2 days after I start exercising and trying to eat better, I'm like... hey, I should have lost 2 lbs by now... and getting all discouraged when I've instead gained a pound. I joined a gym when I was 16 because I loved to lift weights and do aerobics (I know, right? What happened to me? 4 kids, that's what.) My point is, I'm not new to the gig. I know how long it takes to see results... yet here I am still expecting miracles. What, I've been exercising for 3 days now and haven't dropped a pants size? I'm giving up and eating a donut! But, I decided that with the stress I am currently under, it's either exercise or heavy drinking. So I went with the exercise. For now.
* I love going to garage sales. It's like a giant treasure hunt. Currently I'm looking for books for school. I found some cute baby clothes last weekend for Lexi for 25 cents. I bought 4 items. I'm all picking through... "Oh, this dress is cute, but I don't know..." And then I got home and thought, "Well, crap, it was 25 cents! Why didn't I just buy it?" Who cares if it wasn't in perfect condition. For 25 cents she could wear it once and then give it to D.I. She gets her clothes all messy at daycare anyway... might as well buy them from a garage sale. Oh well. Sean got a DVD player for $5 and it works great. It has a 5 disc changer so he can put it in the garage and play CD's. While he and Guns-N-Roses work on his truck.
* It is late and I must go to bed.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Quirky
Those people are quirky. I don't think I'm very quirky. However, I was tagged by Lauralee to reveal 6 quirks about myself, so I'll give it a shot.
1) It bugs me to have anyone else write on certain things of mine, like my shopping lists or calendar. Sometimes I even have to start it all over. I like to have it all in one writing or else it bugs me so bad, and I can read my own writing quickly and easily. I let my students write their own names on their file folders this year, and I seriously obsessed about it forever because I knew it would bug me, but it was just too much work to do it myself.
2) With a few exceptions, I don't like my food to mix together. I don't like casserole, I hate getting syrup in my eggs, I don't want gravy on my corn. The closest I get to casserole is lasagne. I also don't want fruit in my dessert. The only exception is pie, and that is only certain types. Certain foods I always eat the same way... like I eat the filling out of the pie first and the crust by itself.
3) If I get bored, I play games in my head with words. If I see a big word, I'll see how many little words I can make out of it. Or if I see several words I'll cancel out all the letters that are the same and see if I can make a word out of the leftovers. Yah. I'm weird.
4) I'm mildly claustrophobic. I like to sit on the outer edges of large crowds, like faculty meeting or ball games, when possible. Basically, I just like to be mobile. I like to feel like if my butt falls asleep or I have a sneezing fit I could get up easily without having to crawl over people's knees and laps.
5) I hate turtlenecks, mock-turtlenecks, sweaters that are tight, and I never wear jewelry. I would like to be a jewelry-wearer, but I just never do it.
6) I love John Cusak and have since I was in high school. Even as he gets older and puffier, I just can't help it.
OK, that's the best I can do. I tag all my loopie friends who want to do it.
Family Photo Fun
So we got some portraits done the other day, and may I just say what a special kind of torture it was? You do not even want to know what hell we went through, and they didn't even turn out that super. Here are a few that I liked.
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