House of Deej

Parting

2010-08-26T21:43:00.001-05:00

Perhaps I am being silly here, but am both embarrassed and hurt by something that happened today.

A number of years ago a close friend went with me on a school trip to the UK. She lives over a thousand miles away so it was a treat for us to be able to travel together. On that particular trip we brought our daughters as well as my students.

Things went well at first, but my students came to me and were complaining about the bickering going on among some of the other kids. None of the teen drama made any sense to me, so I pulled all the kids that were arguing together and made them sit down and talk out whatever the heck was going on.

My friend's daughter was behind the mess. She was carrying tales back and forth between groups of kids doing the teen girl "she said this about you" or "he said that about you" thing. Possibly it was a divide and conquer thing to get into one of the groups - I don't know.

I told my friend what was going on and she was angry with her daughter for being so dumb and life went on. As the trip progressed things became more strained though. My friend was spending more and more time with her daughter because the rest of the kids didn't really want anything to do with her anymore. Add to that mess the fact that this friend of mine has had various mental health issues in the past.

I'd been there for her through a number of them. Some of those things included me talking her out of suicide and being there to support her through issues that drove her depression into a serious mess. I think seeing her daughter unhappy made her angry and she became somewhat of a bitch for the remainder of the trip.

When we got back to the States, I was uncertain how to handle things. I felt uncomfortable calling her because she stomped off at the airport without even saying goodbye. I just didn't know what to say so I hoped she'd contact me.

Time went on and I missed her. I missed the wonderful things about her. I missed the bond we had and how we always seemed to have each other's backs. Even so, I was still edgy and didn't want to make that first move.

There were so many times I stared at my phone over the years. There were so many times I started to dial and hung up. There were a couple of times that I blocked my number and called only to get a voice message. Rather than leaving a message, I hung up. I just didn't know what to say.

Last November I called her and left a message. My hope was that years put the rough feelings of our last time together behind us and we could possibly regain some sort of a friendship.

She called me back the next day and we talked for hours. We laughed and joked about all the things that have happened in our lives over the years. She sent me an email and said she would rather keep in contact that way because her work schedule made it crazy to be able to catch each other to talk.

We began to write back and forth about once a week. We shared feelings, laughs, and stories about what was going on with us. She sent me pics of her family - yada yada yada. In the meantime we talked on the phone every once in a while.

I hadn't heard from her for about a month so I called her last week. Today she responded with an email that shocked me.

She said she doesn't know why I bothered to contact her after all these years and that she knows it certainly couldn't be because I missed her. She said she has no desire to renew any kind of friendship with me and told me to have a good life.

I was stunned.

Why would she suddenly decide that? It makes me sad.

Peace

It's Over

2010-08-26T02:51:00.000-05:00

This is it mon last "official" week of freedom from other people's teenagers. Next week I head back to work for workshops, the week after that the wild hordes of kids will be upon me.

I'll have my usual tenth and eleventh grade kids - for those of you in other parts of the world, this means they are roughly 15-17. They've also given me ninth grade. Argh! What a rough age.

We also have a new principal and a new superintendent. Three of our school board members are up for reelection in November. AND *drumroll* so is our referendum. It comes down to this - if it fails, my school and job go bye bye. If it passes, life will be good.

What a weird and whacky feeling. This may be it for a school district.

Cross your fingers for my school and for moi! I get those hyper little ninth graders this year!!!

Peace

The Vision

2010-08-24T22:13:00.000-05:00

Suffice it to say, that was one of the most horrific things I have ever seen/experienced.

They had an open coffin.

It caught me off guard.

There they were – the mother, my old student, with her beautiful baby girl curled up beside her. Beneath the blanket that rested across the mommy was her tiny baby who was only two days from being born.

I cried.

I think everyone cried.

I cannot see how anyone wouldn’t have been moved to tears.

I cannot seem to get that image out of my mind. It’s haunting me.

Peace

R.I.P.

2010-08-21T11:31:00.002-05:00

There are those news stories that just get you - they tear at your heart and make you wonder why the hell things like that happen in our world. I'm talking about the stories that never happen to anyone we actually know - it's those horrible things that happen to other people.

This week one of them happened to someone I know.

She was one of my students. She traveled with me. She hung out in my room. She made me smile. She was a good person. She was one of those quieter students who didn't need or seek to be the center of attention. She wasn't the most popular girl in school, but she was kind and people liked her.

She graduated several years and ago and went on with her life.

She graduated from college. She worked with kids.

She was married and she had a fifteen month old baby. Her second baby was scheduled to be delived on Wednesday via c-section. Both were little girls.

Rather than celebrating the life of a new baby, her family and friends are left with sadness and grief.

Her scum sucking excuse for a cheating bastard of a husband brought an end to all of their lives.

He shot them.

He killed his fifteen month old baby girl. He killed his pregnant wife a couple of days before their second little girl was to be born. The asshole even shot their three dogs before killing himself.

She'd left him and was back in the house getting some of her things.

She knew he was cheating on her.

She knew he was an ass.

She left.

Sadly, she must not have had a clue as to how dangerous he truly was.

News reports will go on and on about what a kind and loving man he was. They will blame his military service in Iraq for his behavior. I don't care. I really don't.

Maybe it is nasty and unforgiving of me to say "I don't give a shit" about his mental health issues, I don't care.

I understand the fact that war plays hell with a person's mind. I get that.

What I will never get past is the fact that this animal was able to look into the eyes of an innocent fifteen month child - his own daughter - as he shot her. There is no excuse. He murdered his family.

Now there are unanswered questions running through the minds of so many people.

There are her friends who are mourning and wishing they could have done something to save her.

There is her family praying to find a way to turn back the clock and to stop her from going back to that house.

There is grief.

There is sadness.

There is no wee baby to coo over.

Instead, many people, including me, will be attending a wake tomorrow and a funeral the following day.

It is just so sad - so horrifying.

It's one of those things you never think will personally touch your life. We see stories like this in the papers and on the news - I hate that it is so close. I hate that things like this happen to anyone.

Peace

Bean v Car

2010-08-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

I'm hangin' here - hanging my head in shame. Here I was utterly and completely muttering about my hubster's silly spending habits and I most certainly had to find a way to choke down every one of those wayward mutters.

Why, you ask?

Last night was silly time with my gang of grad school girlies. When we get together it's our time to recap what's been happening in our lives since the last time we sharing the same space.

I think I've babbled about them before - this time it was our Diamond Girl that had one of the best stories to share.

It seems her hubby had the brilliant idea to buy his mom a brand new Camaro. She vetoed this plan for a couple of reasons: 1. his mom and dad have plenty of cash and could have paid cash for it if they wanted to buy one 2. Diamond Girl thought spending that kind of money on "mom" was a bit frivolous.

Apparently, hubster disagreed. He went off on his own and bought the car! Now they have $500/month car payments on a car that his mom loves, but seldom drives.

Oi vey!

Who does this?

Seriously, a few weeks ago I was rolling my eyes when my hubster was paying $8/pound for black jelly beans! He insisted on buying a whole lotta pounds of the gooey things as a gag gift and I thought that was dumb.

Put in perspective, I'd happily buy even more jelly beans! Yup, those little black suckers were a much better buy.

So, I am chagrined. I shall not complain again! (at least not today)

Peace

Waldo

2010-08-06T19:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I drove Girlcub to the theater so she could meet a friend for some teeniebopper movie. When we drove up, I noticed three squirmy little boys and one chubby little boy all hanging outside the theater.

As soon as I parked, the chubby one walked over to the car with a "wanted poster". The poster had a pic of Waldo and was done up like a police wanted thing.

For unknown reason he thought he was amusing as he went up to movie people and asked them "Have you seen this man? The police are looking for him."

Sadly, he was too much of a nerd to realize how geeky he was actually being!

When he finally walked away, mon Girlcub grinned at me and said "Uh, mom, he's one of your new students this year!"

Oh joy!

I knew having one class of younger kids would be different, but I didn't expect this one. Ha! I'm going to call him Waldo!

Peace

Scoop on the Poop

2010-07-28T06:49:00.003-05:00

So there is this guy that lives in my town and I am feeling consumed with guilt because I don't think I'm feeling the "proper" amount of sympathy for him right now.

I don't like him.

Our paths have crossed socially and professionally for years.

I never liked him.

He's always come across as arrogant and superior.

He taught my oldest daughter in school. She didn't like him

Our younger kids went to daycare together.

If my two year old took a toy from his two year old, he mentioned it in class to my daughter and embarrassed her.

I always had this feeling he was looking down my nose at me and that he thought I was some kind of superfluous bit of fluff.

He never said anything - it was just how he made me feel.

My youngest son goes to school with his son. His son is rather pompous (or so say most of the teachers he has had along the way). The kid is very bright, but arrogant.

We've served on committees together, this man and me, and he puts himself out there as an expert on everything we discuss.

It makes me crazy.

When we moved into this house we had extra fencing. I mentioned to someone that the guy could have the fencing because his son was going to raise goats. The man called and asked if he could come get it immediately. I was getting ready to go somewhere and told him the next day would work out better. He argued. I said no, tomorrow is best because I was busy. He showed up five minutes later. Rude!

Three years ago his wife was diagnosed with cancer. I didn't know her that well, but she seemed nice enough. I felt badly for her, for their two kids, and even for the man. It was an aggressive form of cancer; we all knew she wouldn't survive.

Late last month she died. It truly is a tragedy for that family. Nobody deserves that to happen to them - not her, the kids, her friends, or the man.

On Sunday I saw the man at our local town thingy. He came over to hang out with my friends and me. I told him again how sorry I was that his wife died. I said all the things one should say in that situation.

I was involved with something else and didn't really listen carefully to the conversation he was intently having with one of my friends.

Later I find out their conversation was him grumbling about something. He was being his negative and superior self about an issue that was very important to my friend that he was discussing it with.

She chalked it up to the fact that he must be having a difficult time right now.

Not me.

I just thought "he's like that all the time".

Hell, I am sitting here actually feeling guilty for not feeling guilty because I can't jump on the "cut him some slack, his wife died" bandwagon.

He was a poop before.

I think he's a poop now.

Now he's a tragic figure to people and I can't say I think he's a big stinker or I'll look like an unfeeling twit.

Argh!

Oh well. I can say it here.

He's a poop!

Peace

Beanbags

2010-07-25T10:01:00.002-05:00

It's that time of summer - my little town has its weekend of play and celebration. In the past I've always just gone to the parade on Sunday. This Babycub volunteered to work a couple of the Saturday events for her volleyball team. One of them was yesterday's "bean bag toss".

I figured it would be something for wee kiddies, so I grabbed the wee baby granddaughter to take with me. Nope, nada, I was wrong.

Who knew that in my small town the beanbag toss would be so popular among the adult world? They set it up on the street (blocked off) in front of our local bar. The volleyball girls keep track of the score sheets while the local peeps pay $10 each turn to try to get the most points. The winning team of two claims $100 at the end of the evening.

I marveled at this thingy as people brought lawn chairs to sit along the street so they could sip beer while watching each other toss beanbags at targets. It really was pretty damn quaint. At first I laughed to myself, but then it occurred to me - I'm damn glad I live in such a small, safe little world. How awesome that in this era of war, terrorism, and dirty bombs that my people still get a kick out of being together and tossing beanbags.

Yup, I'm glad I moved here.

On an entirely different note we have a problem with the wee girl grandbaby. She speaks now and her word for "frog" sounds far more like "fuck". It's a little disconcerting to have such an innocent sweet voice asking for a "greek fuck". Ha!

Peace

Crossing Fingers

2010-07-22T22:22:00.003-05:00

It's tentative, but it looks like I may know what I'll be teaching next year. With all the ups and downs with my district, nobody really knew what would be going on in the fall. I will still have my 10th and 11th grade kids, but they are adding 9th grade to the mix.

Of all the grades I'm licensed to teach, this is my least favorite age. Those kids are too old to do silly things like the younger kids do and too young to do some of the things the older kids do. All that middle ground makes them a hormonal mess that can drive a sane teacher insane. I don't know what it will do to someone like me - already a bit off the wall!

Next, this particular group of ninth graders are going to be a challenge. They've been that way since elementary school. Fortunately, I connected with some of them when they were in 7th grade - those kids have been following me around, texting me, spending lunch hours in my room, etc. ever since. I'm hoping that will help me this year.

Finally, the subject matter. *insert yawn* I'm licensed to teach seven different areas - two of them are my least favorites and this is one of the two. It's government. Ugh ugh ugh! I'm going to be scrambling for the rest of the summer. I've never taught this subject and I know it can be horribly dull if not taught the right way. I have to find that way!

I do love changes and challenges, so this is going to be unique. In a quirky weird way I'm looking forward to it. Hmmmmm we shall see!

Peace

New Boobies

2010-07-21T08:59:00.002-05:00

After reading Bliztky's blog about going back to Poland and seeing how some things changed and some things stayed the same, I thought of something that happened the last time I saw my extended family.

I have this wonderful cousin, K. She and and her hubster were at the family thingy that we have every July 4th. While a group of us were just hanging out, I noticed 'em.

No no no, I am not talking about noticing her and her hub. I am talking her boobs.

I don't generally find myself staring at or checking out boobies, but one glance at hers had me pondering. I had to look again.

In a flash many many many previous conversations involving her moaning and groaning or commenting on her lack of chest material. She no longer appears to be lacking.

She has always been tall and willowy. She's still tall and willowy. I say that because sometimes weight gain leads to booby gain. That's not the deal in her case.

When we left I asked one of the resident boobie expert if he noticed a difference. The conversation went sort of like this.

moi - "Do you think K had a boob job?"

hubster - "Well duh!!!!!"

Yup, the man is a typical man. While I wondered, he taken note, assessed the situation, and was certain of the facts. Many guys are like this, no?

The question I put out there is - is it proper, friendly, snoopy, yada yada to simply say something like "Wow, K, I love the new rack!"

Ha!

Peace

Geared Up

2010-07-20T09:06:00.002-05:00

I have found it.

Well actually someone else found it for me, but hey - who cares? It could be my future!

Last night at a school board meeting the board chairman said to moi "Just wait until you see what we have in store for you!"

Hmmmm

He was chuckling about this; I figured it he was up to no good, but I just had to ask.

His response?

"We're going to get an old school bus and paint it blue. We're going to put you in it and turn you loose on the race track"

Huh?

Apparently, a local race track has an annual bus racing event. This year another school entered it and used the side of the bus as a huge advertisement for their district. Clever clever!

Somewhere in all of this, our school board has decided that I get to do this next year. I glanced over at the zany teacher that is usually at my side when crazy adventures are taking place and said "only if my partner in crime goes with me!"

She moaned, laughed, and said she would.

Okay, so neither of us has ever driven a bus. We both drive compact cars. We've never done any kind of racing.

What the hell?

It sounds like fun!

This time next year I may start my racing career in a school bus, but I figure by the end of the summer I'll be ready for Indy. Look out Danika Patrick, there's a new girl racer on the way!

Peace

Another World

2010-07-17T09:50:00.002-05:00

They didn't want me. Oh woe woe woe is moi. Actually, I'm truly not upset about not being contacted about that job. I just thought it would sound wonderfully dramatic to do the whole woe is moi thing.

I have time to figure out what I am going to be when I grow up. However *insert shudder here* I do have a sudden concern about what will become of me. It didn't actually occur to me until I was dangling my toes in the lake while sitting on the dock with a bunch of friends and family.

Somehow that conversation got around to age and aging. Someone said I don't appear to be as old as I actually am - that part I pretty much knew and loved. The next part is what has me worried. They said that I seem younger because I act younger and I act younger because of my job.

Egads!

What happens if/when I have to leave the world of high school and get a job in the adult world? What happens if I get an office?

Will I suddenly feel old?

Will I look older?

Will I forget how to laugh?

Will I become one of "those" older people?

Will I forget what it is like to be a kid?

Will I forget how to play and be silly?

Will I ever giggle again?

Laugh laugh if you like, but I have to say this is one of the things that scares me most about my possible school closure and career change.

I don't wanna grow up!

Peace

The Mummy Choice

2010-07-14T22:17:00.002-05:00

I hate being in a state of limbo!

The kids and I are contemplating a jaunt to New York to see the Tut Exhibit before it flies home to Egypt. The boy has always been a mega fan of mummies, Egypt, and all that jazz. I've taken him to The British Museum in London and he was fascinated. Outside of actually visiting Egypt, that museum offers a fantastic experience. The girl has been driving me crazy to take her to New York City.

I have never been there. That seems so weird to me. I have visited and am quite comfortable in a number of European cities, but this great city in my own country is foreign to me.

Had this opportunity come up a year ago, it would have been a no-brainer. I'd already have the plane tickets purchased and the hotel reservations made. Instead I'm torn. New York City is expensive, and when I do these "once in a lifetime" things, the hub usually just says "go for it" and makes sure there is plenty of money for us to blow.

This time is different. The future is simply too iffy right now to be comfortable with an easy decision.

Do I take go for it and spend the money when I may not even have a job a year from now? Does it make more sense to save the money for that possible rainy day? Should I savor this adventure with my kids because we'd be doing something we'd never do again?

The hub says go for it. He'll dogsit and hand over the cash for the three of us to play in the Big Apple for a few nights. I figure we'd go in October.

Keep in mind, I'm taking both kids to England and France in March. That's going to hit us in the bank account as well.

Argh - I do so hate hate hate hate hate hate this uncertain feeling.

What to do?

Peace

Baby Diva

2010-07-13T19:30:00.002-05:00

I am creating a wee little monster, but she truly is a damn cute one.

The other day Babycub (who I really should rename now that she is taller than me) and I took the little grandbaby to the mall for "girls' day". It was a delight!

I think a love of shoes must be a genetic thing that runs strongly through the females in my clan. Actually, shoes were the primary reason for this shopping extravaganza - MiniMouse needed new sandals and I'm just the woman to take her shopping!

We started in the shoe store and after she gleefully tried on a number of pairs, we found the perfect ones. From the shoe store we scampered into a children's clothing store to find the perfect outfit for our little Diva in Training. The one we chose was so utterly delightful that we simply had to do a quick change in the dressing room after paying for our treasures.

Everyone knows the perfect outfit requires the perfect accessories, so our next stop was a boutique that carries jewelry for teenyboppers and little girls. Our little lady happily found some bracelets, a cute little purse to match her new outfit, and pink polka-dotted sunglasses to complete the ensemble.

The look was complete and she was loving the feeling of struttin' through the mall in her new get up.

I was giggling.

She was adorable.

We did lunch.

We shopped for new books.

We had a great day and I'm looking forward to a whole lot of days like this in the future. This gram (beebee) thing really does rock!

Peace

Babbly Thoughts

2010-07-12T09:55:00.003-05:00

I miss blogging. I also miss the community aspect of having a number of blogs that I look forward to reading. I always enjoyed the silliness of some bloggers, the joy of others, the opinions of some. I loved the variety of the numerous personalities that I came to know and enjoy.

I know I bailed out - took time away. I think a number of people did the same thing. Sadly, not everyone found their way back to the world of writing, journaling, whatever. Facebook seems to have nabbed a number of people. I gave that a very very short try and I really don't care for it. It's not as interesting or as deep as blogging was to me.

I can't fight Facebook, but I will continue to blog. I'm hoping to find new blogs to read, new people to enjoy, new readers for my babble, etc. I am going to try to be more dilligent about tossing something up here more frequently. I'm also going to post at a couple of my usual haunts with the idea of eventually just using one site.

Cross your fingers; I am hoping to see more of the "old" bloggers around these parts!

Peace

Life

2010-05-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

As the days, the months go by it still doesn't seem quite real that Led is actually gone. Every once in a while something hits me and I realize that I'll never hear his voice again and I am sad - so incredibly sad. One of his best friends, Leah, has been there for me. We text and sometimes have called each other.

Led left us in a very weird spot. When I first found out I was stunned. I guess the best thing to do is to go back to the beginning - the beginning of the end.

When Leah called me to tell me Led died, there was a particularly difficult spot in an already weird conversation. She paused and asked if I had a daughter named D..... I said yes. At that point she hesitated again before asking me if Led was the father.

Duh?

A while back Led told me his friends thought he was the dad and we laughed about it. He told me he talked about her around them and they jumped to that crazy conclusion. It was like him to be secretive and let them guess. I could just imagine him inwardly chuckling at their false assumption.

I told Leah that Led was not the dad and that Led mentioned they thought he was. Thank goodness she got ahold of me when she did; she and his friends were about to tell his mother that she had an unknown granddaughter.

Can you imagine?!?

A while later Leah and I were talking again and it all came out. She told me that it wasn't an assumption - my Led actually came out and told them he was my youngest child's father.

Huh?

He told them I'd once lived there with him and we split after I got pregnant. He told them it was all his fault. He told them he'd paid child support for years. He told them he helped me buy my current home. He told me he loved me, but we just couldn't be together.

Huh?

He didn't tell them I was married. He didn't tell them I had other children. He didn't tell him that my daughter was actually conceived when he lived in an entirely different state and before I actually knew him.

There is more, but you get the picture.

I was shocked.

I talked to him. Sure he couldn't respond, but I talked and talked and talked. I asked him what he could possibly have been thinking.

I've not always been truthful about myself online. I think I 'fessed up to you guys about my intitial ventures into chatrooms and the lies I told. I'm not proud of them. I told giant fibs to people I didn't know.

He told huge whoppers to the people in his life. He fibbed to the people that were his support system, that cared about him, that he sat across the table with during holidays.

Somehow it all seemed different to me.

Maybe it's not.

I know that I was lonely when I did the things I did. I was seeking acceptance and I thought that by being something I was not, I'd get that. I had no right to do and say the things I did. I hurt feelings and I hurt myself in the long run. I wasn't in a place in my life where I was happy with how things were going. That doesn't excuse my behavior, but it's the only explanation I have.

With Led, I think he was incredibly lonely.

I think he'd seen his friends moving on - one by one. I think he saw them getting married, having families, growing up, and having the things that I know he wanted so very much. I think he wanted them to believe that he had them - in an odd and twisted way. I think he wanted them to think there was someone out there for him.

Sadly, when he was at his most lonely - those last months of his life - I was too busy for him. I'd stepped away and expected him to be able to fly solo. I know I was his support system. I know I was the one he'd always talked to when the world kicked him in the balls. I deserted him because he was clinging too much and expecting too much. He wanted things I couldn't give him. I could offer friendship - nothing else.

At the same time someone else that was very special to me had to back away. Their own life took some unexpected turns and they needed to deal with that. Their life was most assuredly too busy for me and, like Led, I had to stand on my own two feet without the emotional support I was used to.

In the long run, I think it was a good thing. I will always care about the special person that drifted from my life. Hell, my heart will always hold a place for just that person - nobody else can fill that spot. Even though we are still friends, it's not the same. My calls and texts to this person are not always answered and I know I'm not as important to them as I once was. It's okay - I understand - I truly do.

My point - I don't know that Led was able to do what we did. He didn't find it as easy to go it alone and the stories he wove increased during the last months of his life. He floundered. He was alone and he was lonely.

I am not angry for the stories he told.

I am sad for him.

I'm sad that he was so very lonely and that he died alone.

I'm sad that he's not there anymore and that I cannot tell him that I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sad that he didn't know how much he meant to me.

I'm sorry for myself as well. Two people incredibly dear to me in different ways are lost to me. I think of them both daily. Even still in those odd little moments when something funky happens I want to just pick up my phone and call one or both of them. Yet, I cannot.

I guess tonight I am feeling introspective and just needed to ramble.

I'm okay; truly I am. I'm not looking for anyone to feel badly for me. I'm in a good place in my life. I am happy. Things are good.

Sometimes, I just want to move the clock back and have one more day.

Peace

Smacked

2010-03-01T12:53:00.000-06:00

My head hurts.

Why, you ask?

I dropped a vacuum cleaner on it.

Uh huh, that was the response I got from the hubster when I casually mentioned dropping our vacuum cleaner on my head.

It went like this. There I was innocently vacuuming the stairs in the foyer when the damn thing came toppling down and landed on my head. I didn't see it coming and it smacked me a good one.

I guess that's just one of life's little foibles.

Peace

Daylight Serenade

2010-02-12T13:10:00.001-06:00

There I was happily having a luverly discussion with one of my most favorite classes - and then it happened.

I glanced out the door and one of our secretaries was there with the guidance counselor and one of the interns working in our school. Behind them were four old guys wearing matching suits with bright red ties.

No, I hadn't been zapped into the Twilight Zone.

The hub found a unique way to do something for me for Valentine's Day. He sent a barbershop quartet to sing to me. They were so much fun. They all traipsed in, handed me roses and a card, told me that my hub sent them and proceeded to start singing.

My class was stunned and more and more people started filtering into my room to see what was going on. To say it was different is an understatement. It was delightful!

Between songs, they gave me little messages from the hubster that were all pretty damn sweet. The kids were taking pics with their cell phones, the women in the room were crying. The guys were grinning, and me? I didn't know what to say or do.

Nobody ever told me what the proper protocal is when being serenaded by four total strangers in front of a room full of people.

I'm pretty certain that I blushed. I know I got misty eyed.

It was sweet. To be honest, it was probably one of the most touching things he's ever done for me on Valentine's Day.

Peace

New Buddy

2010-02-10T10:50:00.000-06:00

Soooooooo I am really cool now. I have a new penpal. Okay, so he's only written to me once. I see that as a start to a new and beautiful relationship full of dialog and the exchange of ideas.

*snork*

Yeah yeah, I am exagerating. Even so, it's still kind of cool.

I write letters. I write to my congress dudes and dudettes. I write to my governor. I write when things bug the beejeebers out of me.

That's how one of my missives ended up in Washington DC. That's why my new penpal (that based on the fact that I got ONE letter back thus far) even knows I exist.

Yes, my new penpal is none other than Barrack Obama.

My own kids and my students were tickled pink to see the return address on the envelop and run their fingertips over the Presidential seal. Sure, it wasn't personalized - even so - it came from the big house in DC. That said to all the teens in my life that they "do" make a difference. It said everyone can put in their two cents. They were amazed.

As for me? If my penpal and his wife decide to have us over for dinner, I shall wear my new sassy ensemble that I bought for the wedding. Just don't tell 'em it was on sale!

Peace

Duh

2010-02-07T14:57:00.002-06:00

I truly do love my sophomores this year, but they sometimes drive me utterly and completely bonkers! I was warned. I can't say I had no idea what to expect. Everyone, and I do mean everyone that taught these kiddos before they pranced into my room last September said the same thing - "great kids, very chatty, but low achievers". It fits them perfectly.

Collectively, they are content to be proficient. There really isn't a single one of them that puts any great effort into school. They want to be spoonfed and would rather have me give them a bunch of information to memorize than to put any real thought into how the world works, why things happened, how one event led to another, etc. It's frustrating because I'm NOT a teacher that simply tosses dates and names at kids to memorize. I want them to "understand" the world around them. Argh!

A classic example was Friday. I was covering the end of WWI - it was time to mention the atomic bombs being dropped. Puleeze don't turn this into a discussion about the right or wrong of it - no no no peeps, I just wanna tell you 'bout my class, not get all political here.

Sooooooooooooooooo.............

It went kind of like this (abbreviated for the sake of my purdy little sore fingers and my non-desire to type each word)

"On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima....... (yada yada yada)"

Then...

"The Japanese didn't surrender, and three days later the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki..... (yada yada yada)"

One of the total black and white thinker type boys interupts me to ask "Uh, what year was that bomb dropped?"

My look of utter exasperation must have shown because one of the kids who "gets it", looked up, grinned at me, and muttered "that would have been 1946".

I didn't say anything, I just went on to explain the Japanese officially signed papers to surrender in September of 1945.

The confused boy looked up with a rather dazed and confused expression on his face and said "Uh, that doesn't make any sense!"

I asked why.

His reply?

"Well why would we have dropped a bomb on them in 1946, if they surrendered in 1945?"

*bangs head on desk*

Did you notice that I'd said "three days later"? Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I just want to stomp my feet and cry. Those feelings were intensified when the kids sitting around him said "uh, we have 1946 written down too!"

I had to explain that sarcasm boy was just messing with their heads because they should have KNOWN the year when I said it was three days AFTER August 6 of 1945. Instead of saying "oh oh oh, I get it", they said things like "well why did he SAY 1946???"

My head hurts.

Peace

Shoppage

2010-01-31T10:38:00.000-06:00

I'm a happy little camper; a happy camper yes I am.

(think melody to Yankee Doodle when reading that - I'm singing it in my head)

Yeah yeah, I'm feeling silly today but savings oodles of money can do that to a stingy Deej.

The wedding is in three weeks. I have been putting off finding a dress to wear to the big event. I just haven't been anticipating the thought of digging through atrociously decorated with faux pearls and gawdy sequins type dressed. I hate that shit. I hate those "mother of the bride" type dresses.

Yesterday Babycub and I went shopping for all kids of gizmos and doo-dads. She suggested I find a dress and I shuddered. I opted to use the age old excuse many women use when confronted with this particular horror "Uh, I need to shave my legs".

Perfect.

After all, who wants to try on dresses with less than smooth gams? Not, I - that's for sure!

With that out of the way, we continued having a marvelous day poking through one store after another. Then it happened. Some odd force drew me into a cute little boutique that I've never ventured into before. I found myself being pulled toward a rack of clothes and right toward this luverly printed jackety thing.

I pulled it out and asked Babycub what she thought. We both loved it. Then my face fell. My jackety thing with the fitted tank under it came with pants NOT a skirt. I sighed mightily and Babycub suggested I call the bride - my oldest daughter. If she could live with her "mother of the bride" in pants, I most certainly would be happy to prance down the aisle in this outfit of outfits. It was perfection on a hanger!

She didn't care. She knows I'm never going to be the 50s Throwback Family that she's marrying into. I am me. My family is unique, and I love it. We don't fit molds.

With glee, I scampered to the dressing room to try on my treasure. It fit like it was made for me. I flounced and preened in front of mirrors, Babycub, and the sales clerks. It was "me". I was thrilled.

I didn't look at the price.

I knew I'd be spending a few bucks to find the perfect ensemble for this wedding. I just figured this would be pricey and that was that.

There it was - the tag.

But wait!

It was marked down.

The mark down was crossed off and marked down again.

Wait!

The marked down mark down was also crossed off and marked down again.

But wait even again!

The dress was on clearance.

After all the markdowns, they were still discounting it by 75% of the last markdown.

To sum it all up - my perfect perfect luverly delightfully make me smile and feel purdy outfit cost me ....

*drumroll*

$14.00

Yes, that's FOURTEEN dollars.

The gods of shopping were smiling on me yesterday!

Peace

Boobie Fairy

2010-01-30T10:22:00.000-06:00

And suddenly there are boobies.

Yes, the boobie fairy has sprinkled some kind of mammary dust on my wee little girl.

My little babycub has a chest and I'm not quite ready to see her this way! Last weekend she tossed on some sweater, walked out into the living room and said "omg, mom, my boobs look like the size of Texas in this!!!"

I had to laugh and promptly texted her older sister about this so we could harass the poor little Texan in tandem. After all, if your family doesn't give you endless amounts of shit, what good are they?

We spent the day calling her Tex while she rolled her eyes at us in utter dismay.

When her bod first began to develop she was extremely self-conscious about the whole puberty/mother nature/hormone thing. She's accepted the inevitable - she will get boobs, pimples, periods, body hair, and all that jazz.

My house has changed. The hub and I have adjusted to the Mancub having a deeper voice, a hint of whiskers, and littlemanuppityness. Now we are moving into the moody hormonal aspect of a teen girl. Both of them at once? Really?????

Years ago when these two were little someone repairman was at our house and seemed rather puzzled to see the gap in the ages of our kids. The hub looked at him and said "Yeah, they are all ours. God is punishing us for something to land us with two year olds in teenagers all at the same time."

Some days I long for those old days, but time marches on and I wouldn't change a thing about my cubs. Okay, well, maybe she could be a wee bit less chesty - she's being ogled by teen boys and she's only thirteen!

Peace

Thoughts

2010-01-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

It still doesn't seem quite real to me that Led isn't going to be there for me the way he was for so very long.

For the first few days I cried every time I thought of him, but for the past two days I haven't cried. I'm doing okay.

All kinds of odd things have gone through my mind.

I think we all have similar thoughts when we lose someone we love. We fret over things left unsaid. We moan over things we wish we hadn't said or done. Shit, the last word I actually texted to him was "die". Go figure! Granted, I wasn't telling him to die; I simply texted "crap, my battery is about to die" - even so, the irony of it all didn't escape me.

I've been angry with him. He promised he'd always be there. He isn't. I know this because I call his cell each day just to hear his voice. Perhaps the finality of it all will sink in when the phone is disconnected and I get a recording saying the number is no more. Until then, I shall call just to have that bit of connection.

I've come to realize that I'm being incredibly selfish. I'm thinking of his death in terms of "what will I do without him in my life?" Sheesh, I have made this all about me. The reality of the situation is that I should be sad for him and not for me. I think grief tends to be that way for most people though. We are sad for ourselves because losing that someone takes them away from us. It's the survivors that are feeling lonely - it's not the one that's gone.

Even though I hadn't talked to him right before he died, he knew I loved him. I know he did. I believe that deep in my heart.

I also believe he didn't know or sense how close he was to dying. I've heard over and over from people how their loved one just "knew". I really think he just went to sleep that night and didn't wake up in the morning. I don't think he felt shitty and suspected that was his last night or that the end was nearing. I believe he'd have called me to say good-bye if that were the case. He wouldn't have just bailed from this planet on me.

I do believe his spirit, his presence, or whatever is here and always will be around me. He may not physically be here to kick my ass when I act like an idiot, but the essence of him is here. I can hear his voice in my head giving me encouragement.

I'm still finding the hardest part is that I can't just pick up the phone any time I want to talk to him. I think that will bother me for a very long time.

In the meantime, I am finding myself smiling when those memories of him hit me by surprise. It's okay. I miss him, but I will be okay. The world will keep spinning and as long as he's in my heart, he's going to be spinning on it with me.

Peace

My Led

2010-01-23T03:06:00.000-06:00

Nobody will understand this entry better than most of you. In our own odd little ways we have forged friendships and much more through this medium that non-blogger type people do not and will not understand. I know many of us have already mentioned this like this.

So, here I am.

Sad beyond belief…

I can’t sleep because I just want to cry…

It’s the middle of the night and the one person that wouldn’t get cranky by a middle of the night phone call from me for no particular reason isn’t going to answer. Sure, there are others I could call, but some would be a mite irritated about the time, others wouldn’t get what I’m feeling. This one person wouldn’t question. He’d just listen to me cry and let me get it all out. After that, he’d find something to say to make me laugh.

I cannot call him tonight or any other night…

He’s why I’m so sad…

A couple of you might remember him. He really didn’t blog at efx2 very often and he never wrote anything here; he signed up there to write a few entries here and there because I nagged him to do it.

He registered here and efx2 as leduntitled. I just called him "Led".

I had this phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. I didn’t answer the phone. Instead I listened to the voice message from a person I didn’t know. It simply said “I’m L…, a friend of Ed’s. Could you please call me?”

I knew.

I didn’t want to make that call, but I had to.

He died last weekend.

His friends hunted and searched for my phone number because they knew how close he and I were. They knew I needed to know. They invited me to come and stay with them so I could attend his memorial service. They seem wonderful. I’m glad he had them in his life.

Sadly, I knew this call would come. I just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.

He’s had health problems for the past few years. I’ve known that, but he didn’t complain and tended to try to shove the seriousness of his illness in the background. He always told me he didn’t want me to worry.

Our friendship has spanned years and years. Once upon a time, I wandered into some silly chatroom and met this guy. He was sarcastic, odd, funny, intelligent, sweet, and silly. We hit it off immediately and began to spend hours and hours talking.

No matter what happened in his life or mine, we stayed friends. There were some ups and downs, just like in any friendship. There were times that I wanted to smack him silly, and I’m sure there were times he felt the same way about me.

He was a computer savy tech geek who rolled his eyes when I admitted I didn’t know how to copy and paste. He patiently taught me how to navigate the net and do all kinds of funky things with a computer.

He forgave me when I wasn’t a very good friend to him. He’d tell me if I was being an idiot, but never did he stop being there for me.

Before there were inexpensive cell phones everywhere (yes, we have been friends long), he got an 800 number in case I wanted to call him – any time, anywhere.

When things were crappy in my life, he listened and cared.

When shit hit the fan in his life, I listened and cared.

I was married with kids; he’d never married and had no children. Even so, he seemed to love when I babbled on about the goofy things my kids did. He asked about them all the time. When he was in a relationship, he’d use me as a soundingboard when his g/f was driving him nuts.

He was just always there.

Several years ago, everyone in my immediate family forgot my birthday. He didn’t. He put together a silly birthday website to make me laugh. He was so angry that I’d been forgotten here that he made a point of always making sure that never happened again. My birthday is Monday. It will be the first time in thirteen years that I won’t hear from him.

I hated knowing he was so sick. I hated even thinking about the possibility that he wouldn’t be there some day. I tend to shove bad things into the background. I tend to try to avoid the ugly parts of the world. I ignored that I might lose him.

In doing so, I haven’t been the best friend to him lately.

I wasn’t blogging here, you know that – I also wasn’t being very good about talking to him as much as we did in the past. I haven’t had any contact with him in over a week.

I keep going back to last year when he was really feeling sick. I demanded he go to the hospital and threatened to call his mom, his friends, etc. if he didn’t go. He went and his doc told him he’d have died if he didn’t get in when he did. Now, I am thinking that maybe if I’d talked to him last week, I would have realized he needed to see a doc again; he was terrible about doing things like that.

In any case, there is a hole in my world right now and I just needed to talk it out. Like I said, you peeps – you people understand how much we can learn to care for someone online. Truly, none of my friends that don’t go online would understand how I’m feeling – they would think I’m nuts.

Bear with me for a bit. I have a feeling I may be writing about this again one of these days.

Thanks
Peace

Oh Baby!

2009-04-22T19:42:00.004-05:00

I may have had a few of my own, but I still don't know much about birthin' babies. It seems I am about to learn. I don't know if some idiot poured fertility drugs into the local water supply, but I am suddenly finding myself surrounded by kids having kids. I don't like it much, but there isn't much more I can do other than be supportive and encourage my mommies-to-be to finish school in spite of the hardships they are going to be facing.

One of my girls graduated last year. I've talked about her in the past - we've been through a lot together already. She's the girl that dragged me off to her AA meetings so she'd have a support system there as well. Now I'm finding myself being her friend and teacher as she travels down an entirely different path.

Another is barely sixteen. I am finding myself amazed and impressed at how well this little girl is handling a very adult situation. She's moving forward, but doing whatever it takes to continue with her education while also preparing to be a mom. Her own mom isn't in her world - it appears she's substituting hugs and encouragement from me in her place.

She's due any day and her plan is to drag me into the delivery room with her. Actually, they both seem to have this plan and I seem to have a difficult time saying no. How can I? They are both in a place in life where they need someone and they've picked me.

My older girl isn't due for a couple of months, meanwhile I'm just counting down the seconds until the younger one goes into labor. This morning my phone rang well before my alarm went off. Instantly my mind went to "oh my God, this is IT!" I was wrong. It was my brother calling about something most definitely not baby related.

Yet, soon first call will come and I'll be there to see the wee baby boy come into the world. I think it will be an amazing experience even though I don't know nuthin' about birthin' no babies.

Peace

In Love

2009-04-20T21:11:00.003-05:00

I am in love.

I can't deny it.

He got me with just a few simple words.

How?

Who?

One of my bestest guy friends from work whispered sweet nothings to me today. He told me he is pretty certain that he's hooked up with a grant to get some funky clicker things for both of our classrooms.

*swoons*

We have been coveting these things for a couple of years now, but they are way too expensive.

*swoons more*

He seems to have found the funding to get us each a set, PLUS several more sets for our district.

*swoons even more*

I am totally in love. If this really comes to fruition, I may just have his baby.

Okay, so that's taking it a bit far - I'll buy him a drink.

Peace

Flurry Frolic?

2009-04-19T10:41:00.002-05:00

I "said" my gardens were going to need my attention. Yeah right, like the snow flurries I am seeing outside my windows are going to encourage me to scamper outside to frolic in the grass. Grrrrrrrrrrr! I am done with Old Man Winter. I am ready to stuff my fingers into the dirt and make flowers appear. I want to jump in the pool and float on an air mattress. I want to grab a kayak paddle and splash through a rapids.

I do not want more snow. It's just flurries - but enough is enough!

This summer should be busy.

I have two, yeah icky, two family reunions to attend. I figure some of the older folks may not be around for the next ones, so I should go. Even so, I am not particularly wild about going to these things.

It looks like I'll be in Italy for a bit. Hopefully, we can splash around in the sea along the Amalfi Coast. I love it there; it's beautiful and Italy is simply one of my favorite places.

We'll be spending time at the lake house quite a bit. It's quiet and peaceful there and the kids love to swim, fish, ski, and do all that watery kind of stuff.

Go away snowy days! I want sunshine!

Peace

A Catharsis, I Guess

2009-04-18T13:16:00.002-05:00

It wasn't that long ago when I wasn't even online. I never thought I'd be able to take that much time away from the world of the internet, but I did. The longer I was away, the less I missed it. Even so, I found myself thinking things like "I should blog about that" when things happened in my world.

When I took the plunge and set up my online account again, I slowly got back into the swing of things. Here I am - a happy little blogger once again. I enjoy sharing the lives of the people I read. I love reading various opinions on political issues, or reading about the good things that happen to all of you. I sympathize and worry when things aren't going to well for those I care about. Basically, I simply love the whole community aspect of blogging.

That said, I've found myself falling into the habit of spending too much time online lately. I'm not walking away or giving up blogging. I'm just becoming too much of a "net-junkie" and it has to stop. My house is getting messy, my gardens will soon need my attention, I have correcting to do - there are things I am neglecting because I've been finding myself online way too much again.

When I first went online years ago I became an utter junkie. I jumped into the world of online chat and couldn't tear myself away. I was paranoid about all the horror stories people told about crazed computer stalkers and such so I created a fake me. I let it get too far. Originally, the "character" of myself that I created was just to give me a way to hang out and chat, but it became too big. I started to really like and care about the people I chatted with, but had dug myself a hole that I couldn't get out of. Eventually it all caught up with me.

I don't do that now - that was years ago - what you see is who I am. I really am the dull old Deej that you see here. I like being myself much better. It's easier - I don't have to keep stories straight or anything like that. I am ashamed of what I did, but I guess 'fessing up and acknowledging it helps me to forgive myself.

I didn't like myself then. Not only was I lying, I was short-changing my family. My time online became something I obsessed over. I spent way too much time in chatrooms and not enough time with my older kids. I will never completely forgive myself for taking that time away from them. They don't mention it or complain about it, but I know it's there - that ugly part of my life that I wish I could change. I cannot.

Here I am me. My kids are a part of who I am when I blog. Often times I read them the entries I make about them. They giggle and laugh and ask what kinds of comments I get in response. My world of blogging is so very different from what my world of chatting was. I'm glad. I'm glad you're here for me to read and I'm glad you're here when I need a word of encouragement or a smile. I'm glad I can be myself when I write things here.

For that reason, I'm cutting back now on my online time. I'll still be here almost daily to check up on everyone. I'll still write my dorky little entries about things in my world. I just have to kick myself in the ass and stop opening up my laptop every time I walk by it. I'm slowly falling back into that habit and I am not going to let myself short-change my younger kids.

Wowserooni! I never expected this entry to take the turn it has. I truly was going to start out by just saying I wasn't going to be as prompt with replies. Argh! I am absolutely too long winded sometimes! Sorry peeps!

Peace

Stubborn

2009-04-16T20:09:00.003-05:00

Man people can be so amazingly stubborn sometimes. Just over a year ago the hubster cracked his tooth and was in a huge amount of pain. I kept telling him to call the dentist, but the "I'm a tough guy" in him held off. I was flying to Italy and I pestered and pestered him before I left. The last thing I said to him was "call the dentist!!"

He claims they couldn't get him in. The operative word there is "claims". Bullshit! Every time I have called them they have bent over backward to get me in immediately. I've even called them for a friend and they got her in that day. He lied!

By the time I got home he was practically climbing the walls in pain and he gave in and called them. They fixed it, life went on, and apparently selective forgetfulness or Alzheimers have taken over his thought process beccause yesterday he announced the fact that he has a toothache.

I told him to call them in the morning. I knew he wouldn't, so I did. I made him an appointment, I told him when it was, and his response was "call them back and tell them I cannot make it".

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I explained that our dentist wasn't in the office on Fridays and the other dentist is on her way to Ireland for a family emergency. If he didn't go today, he'd have to wait until Monday. He opted to wait. I figure any ouchessness he gets will be deserved after this one.

I'm not listening to the manwhines after this - not ONE!

Peace

Olive Branch

2009-04-14T09:48:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the day one of the girls slipped a note into my hand. Yeah, we’re back to the “note passing thing” again. Yay me.

The note was from Wild Child. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how long it would take her to do something or if she ever would. I’m glad for her that it isn’t taking long at all.

I’ll talk to her after lunch - for now it’s all about standardized testing. *insert groan*

She wrote:

“I’m really really sorry. I really don’t know what else to say but that I was a bitch! I was just upset and I decided to keep that inside and not talk to you about it and then it elevated into something elseand I got really angry. The only reason I’m writing this to you and not talking face to face is because I don’t want to start the day off crying. You’re my favorite teacher and I love you to death and I hope we can forget this ever happened, but if you don’t want to talk me anymore I understand. And I don’t hate you at all and after I said that to you on Friday I felt really bad right away. I did no bad stuff at all. I just said that out of anger but I am really REALLY sorry! So PLEEEASE forgive me. So when you see me or get a chance to let’s talk and tell N and J that I am for being mean to them and I didn’t mean anything I said. And please explain to them I why I did that please. But I wanna talk because I am reaaaalllly sorry. PS Can you get me a new journal cuz I kinda ripped mine to pieces on Friday. A”

Rawr, Roar, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2009-04-13T12:39:00.003-05:00

I've been biting my tongue and curbing my desire to be the Mommy Bear That Roared for months now; last night was the last straw.

Babycub and her friends have long been complaining about two boys in their grade that bully and harass a huge number of kids. They don't just pick on my kid and her friends - they are equal opportunity thugs who seem to love finding other twelve year old's weak spots and making the most of giving them shit about it. It's no secret; even the older kids in my classes comment about what little assholes these two boys are.

I've asked Babycub a few times if I could/should step in, but she didn't want me to play the "teacher trump card" and make things more difficult for her so I held back. Even so, I listened as she and the other kids muttered and grumbled about the non-stop crap that the boys dealt out.

Last night at 12:30 Babycub's phone rang. She was in bed, but the rest of the house was not and I looked to see who was calling her so late. It was one of "them" - yes, she has them on her phone - they were actually friends last September. That's always bothered her - that someone once considered a friend could be so cruel now.

The boys have taunting nicknames for the other kids - Babycub is called "Dictionary" because of her brain power. I try to tell her that's not a bad thing, but truly nobody wants to be teased. She now has resorted to lying to people about her grades - she doesn't want even her friends to know how well she does.

In any case, I put on my sleepy little girl voice and answered her phone. The call went like this:

"Uh... hello?"

"Hey Dictionary!"

"huh?"

"Dictionary, what are you doing? Are you busy selling dictionaries right now?" yada yada...

*lose the sleepy voice and change to avenging mommy voice*

"J? This isn't D, this is her MOM. Tomorrow I shall be talking to YOUR mom."

"Oh"

With that, I hung up.

I stewed and became angrier. I kicked myself for not saying anything sooner, but I truly do believe kids should try to work things out themselves. Additionally, it's a tough call to actually be one of the teachers when your kid is being directly affected by a situation like this. At what point am I taking advantage of my position as a staff person? I worry about things like that.

I called J's mom this morning. She was livid with the kid. I'd forgotten that last year J's sister was dealing with a horrible harrassment situation and J's parents had taken it all to court. The mom was really upset to find out her own child was now being one of the bullies in a situation. She asked for more information, and I said my daughter asked that I mention another little girl who wasn't really a friend of hers. That little girl is a quiet little bookworm who never bothers anyone. She also has a bit of a lisp, much to the joy of the Bullies who teaser her horribly about it.

J's mom was furious with her son. I guess I don't understand how it got this far without anyone saying anything to her, but maybe other parents were like me - telling their kids to work it out for themselves. I told the mom that had been the approach I'd taken, but when her son starts calling my house at that time of night to harass my kid, it has to stop.

I'm hoping it truly will stop with this.

If it doesn't, I have multiple back up plans that I'm going to use. They aren't as nice as simply calling the parents. The other plans are mean, but then again - I am the Mommy Bear sometimes.

Peace

Old Flirty Easter Ham

2009-04-12T06:21:00.003-05:00

It is officially Easter here, and I am sleepy.

Today's menu includes both turkey and ham. I have one oven, and I don't feel like grilling either of them. Subsequently, I opted for a ham recipe that one of the school secretaries was telling everyone about - it calls for a crock pot.

Needless to say, that involved getting up way early. Babycub and I decided to be the Easter heroes and get up to create the ham masterpiece.

My babycub is adorable, but even more ditzy than I am at times. Yesterday was classic. I was explaining the ham cooking process thing to her and rattling off the various things we had to add to the crockpot - like brown sugar. In the midst of it all, I said it would be eight hours before it would be done.

She then asked me what the brown sugar would do and I explained that it would become kind of a glaze as the ham cooked and the juices from the ham blended with the brown sugar. With that she asked "Oh, so we have to cook it too?"

*bangs head on keyboard*

"No, Babycub - we put all the stuff in the crockpot and let it sit there for eight hours WITHOUT turning it on."

Egads, I didn't think I'd have to explain that part to her! She's so funny!

Yikes, I almost forgot the flirty cuteness of candy shopping yesterday. E, the cubs, and I were wandering through the Easter candy trying to decide what to buy and a dude came up and started talking to me. I'm used to this when I shop locally, it's a small town and I know a lot of people.

I turned and he started recommending various things and chatted away about the yummy goodness of each of his choices. I responded while my mind did the "who the hell is this guy?" thing - he wasn't even slightly familiar. He kept talking, leaned in and told me a silly joke, then tipped his hat and wandered off. Seriously, he TIPPED his hat. I thought that only happened in movies!

No matter - he was sweet. The cubs asked me about him and I had no idea who he was. Boycub said "he was sooooooooo flirting with you, mom!" I said no and E agreed with the cubs.

Why oh why is this making me whimper? He was an old cute dude - key word being OLD! Immediately, my mind whirled with the "Have I suddenly become old looking? Why are old dudes flirting with me? Is it time to sign up for bingo night?"

Alas, I think I need a night out to reinforce my non-oldness mojo or something!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Peace

Pond Plunk

2009-04-11T12:53:00.001-05:00

Sploosh splash sometimes it's just fun to get wet. Other times - not so much. Today's little adventure started harmlessly with a walk through my woods to start the day.

Wow - it still has the ability to make my head go "whoosh" when I think of the fact that I have my very own little forest. It's my own little critter sanctuary. On a daily basis I watch the little deer herds and familes wandering through. There are Canadian geese flying overhead, mallards itching to swim in my pond, and all that jazz.

I digress - I do that a lot!

This morning while down at the pond, I noticed the kids have a ball that's been hanging out on the far side of the ice. It seemed logical to figure out how to get it off the pond. I grabbed a large stick to try to push the ball closer to the shoreline, but the stick wasn't quite long enough. It was like one of those situations where your fingers juuuuuuuuuuuuust won't quite reach something on a high shelf. I decided to improvise.

I grabbed hold of a small branch still attached to one of the trees beside the pond and did the leeeeeeeeeeean over thing. I squirmed and a wriggled to reach the ball. Just as I was almost there...

You got it.

The damn branch broke and I toppled.

Did I mention the ice on the pond? The reason I didn't just walk out to get the ball was because the ice is too thin to be safe right now. I know this for sure because I tumbled right through it and landed in the frigid water that's beneath it.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I love a glass of ice water as much as anyone, but swimming in it? Nope, not so much.

I wasn't in any kind of danger here. The middle of my pond is about ten feet deep, but the edges are shallow. It was my dignity and pride that were damaged as I sputtered and spewed four letter words like an angry pirate.

Such is life in the woods - with my own "almost" frozen pond.

Peace

The Deej Motel

2009-04-10T19:24:00.001-05:00

I know I’m lucky/blessed and all that jazz to have a wealth of friends and family that care about me. I get it!

I’m there for them; they’re there for me - such is the way of things.

That said - is it tooooooooooooo much to ask that they get in the habit of giving me a wee more bit of notice before they descend on my house in droves?

Okay, I exagerate - it’s not droves - but it’s still inconvenient at times.

Yesterday I found out my home is the destination choice of a few extras for Easter. One is arriving this evening, a couple more tomorrow. This morning I had a phone call that added an afternoon of guests today.

Argh!

I’m going to start burning everything I cook, leaving dirty sheets on the beds, ignoring the dust on the tables, and refusing to clean my bathrooms. I figure eventually they’ll opt for a hotel.

I know some of you are going to say I’m letting this happen. I know I am. The thing is, I do love them. I know I could pack up all my bags and woes and head to their place and they’d welcome me with open arms. I just don’t do that very often.

I suck at saying “not now, please”. I utterly and completely suck at it!

Peace

Main Address

2009-04-09T13:33:00.001-05:00

I feel rather bad having this blog just sitting here. Yet, I am not the world's greatest at double posting.

Right now I am debating which avenue to take. I will continue to blog at efx3 as long as Pixie and Rusty are doing such a great job, but there are a few people who who are over here that I enjoy reading.

I think, for now, I shall wander back here to post the link to any blogs I post over at my new site. In the meantime, I'll leave the address here in case anyone is interested in catching up with me.

Peace

I'm here:

http://deejay.efx3.com/

Octomom Rant

2009-02-09T14:41:00.000-06:00

I'm an irritated crankyass about this whole deal of the "octomom". Yeah, I'm talking about the dim bulb that recently gave birth eight babies. Can we say selfish, immature, and looneytunes?

What the fuck?

I have no issue with people using alternative methods to help them have kids. Hell, one of my best friends has had to travel down that path. However, she wasn't living with her parents, she has a decent job, and all that jazz.

It's a scary and slippery slope I am on to suggest that the doctor acted irresponsibly in this case. I realize that it could lead to someone out there making decisions about who can and cannot have children. Yet, I do think that the doc had a moral obligation to check the situation he's helping to create children to move on into.

I've seen the interview with Octomom. Sure, I'm not a mental health expert, but to my uneducated eyes, she appears to be a fruitburger. I wanted to smack her when she babbled on about the fact that she'd be able to give her children herself and unconditional love - as compared to others who cannot say that. Excuse me? I'm betting there are a whole lot of parents out there who would love to be able to stay home with their children, but they are not able to - they have these silly things called bills that have to be paid. It doesn't mean they don't love their kids - it means they are responsible for their children - emotionally AND financially.

Having children isn't about wealth. God knows there are a hell of a lot of poor people that are wonderful parents. Yet, when one consciously makes a decision to have a baby - much less FOURTEEN children - I believe you have to have some kind of plan that doesn't involve everyone else who's doing the 9-5 gig footing the bill for you.

Today I saw an interview with Octomom's mother and in it they showed the home where Octomom lives with her parents, her first six kids, and someday the other eight kids. It's a smaller three bedroom place. Grandma claims that she is in charge of most of the childcare and is overwhelmed. She's angry about her daughter's decision and has no idea how they will get by when the new babies are brought home.

Octomom has received a chunk of money from a settlement she got after being injured on the job. She's not given a dime of that money to her parents - instead - they are forced to try to support her and her growing family. My guess is a chunk of that cash has gone to Dr. Irresponsible to pay for her latest adventure into parenthood.

I say Dr. Irresponsible should step up to the plate and pay child support. After all, he's technically the one responsible for Octomom having fourteen children.

I just feel so very very sorry for those fourteen kids.

Peace

Dust Bunnies

2009-02-09T11:23:00.002-06:00

*dusts off this blog*

Sheesh, kids! I go offline for a bunchamonths and almost immediately after I find my way back to the world of the internet, efx takes a crash. Where is that amazing Sully pilot when we need him?

This morning I found myself home from work as ice blankets the roads, trees, and everything else around me. I wanted to blog, but the password to this place had completely slipped my mind. I have a tendency to forget things like passwords; this time I'd actually sent an email to myself with the password and log in. What the heck? That is soooooooooo unlike me. After digging around and finding the email, here I am.

This is good. I'd forgotten the address to this blog which meant I couldn't visit the links that I had stored here. See? I truly am fast becoming the blog world equivalent of the absent-minded professor. 'Course, I'm still a couple years short of that PhD - the title can still fit. Hopefully, I'll eventually catch up with everyone. Hang in there if it takes me a wee bit to find you and begin to haunt your blog again. I'll get there, I'll get there.

Peace

Winkie Dink Service

2008-08-21T21:12:00.001-05:00

I sort of roared. Okay, so it was a politely cool roar, but I did it, folks! I stood up for myself on something and I'm damn proud of it.

The situation: We have Direct TV and it was most definitely not working. I let it go for a couple of days because I was attacked by a migraine. In the meantime, the cubs had to make do with their Wii and movies if they were in the house.

Today I called to see about getting this fixed. After going through those damn automated voice thingies forever, I finally was able to talk to a tech who walked me through a number of possible fixes. Nothing worked. She then said she'd have to set up an appointment for someone to come to the house. No biggie on that one - I have been paying about five bucks a month on a maintenance plan. All was right with the world - until she dropped the bombshell on me.

"The soonest I can get someone there is September 11th"

Excuse me?!?!?!?! That's THREE f'ing weeks away! I pointed that small fact out and she said it was the soonest appointment available, but I could call another number to see if they could help me. I called.

I explained the situation to them, and again was told there was no possible way anyone could come to fix this until September 11th AND if I didn't snap up that appointment quickly, the next available one would be September 30th!

I asked her if they'd have been willing to give me that much latitude if I called and said the soonest I could pay my bill was that far off. She didn't quite have an answer. I asked why on earth they had me paying a service plan if they weren't planning on providing timely service. Again, no answer.

I called Dish Network to see if they could set up an account for me. It was absolutely possible AND they will be here the day after tomorrow to put in their satelite dish and get my house wired for their service. I went for it.

Then, I called Direct TV back and spoke to customer service. I asked the nice guy that answered how long it would take to have satelite service set up in my area. He assured me it could easily be done within a week. I asked him if Direct Sat was the company they used for installation and service - he said yes, they do both for them. Next I asked him what would happen if I had service with them and a tech needed to be sent to my house - as in how long will it take to get one here.

He said "Oh, we would have someone there within 24-72 hours".

Me - "I guess I should be honest with you. I am currently a customer with Direct TV. I need service, and the soonest YOUR people can get a tech here is on September 11th."

*dead silence while he regrouped*

Him - "Uh, I don't know what to tell you. Have you tried calling our corporate office at 800-we'reassholes" (no, he didn't say the we're assholes part)

Me - "I called that number and every other number I was passed off onto. I have spent TWO hours trying to find someone that can take care of this problem."

Him - "Uh, I pride myself on the fact that we have the highest customer service rating in the business and I've never heard anything like this. You just burst my bubble."

Keep in mind. I know it's not the fault of any of the people answering the phones; I went out of my way to be polite and NOT go off on them. I'm pretty proud of that fact. Even so, I am way pissed at their company!

Me - "Now I need you to do something else for me. Please connect me with whoever I need to speak to so I can cancel my service with you."

Next I had a very nice woman to talk to. Once again I explained the situation and she double checked the service time. Even she sounded a bit stunned at how long they were willing to make me wait. This is where I roared a bit.

I told her I'd called and was told about installation and service as if I were a new customer. Then:

Me - "It seems to me that your company is more than willing to find a way to get someone to my house to set up a complete new system and promise me the moon. However, once you have the account, you stop caring about your clients and have no problem screwing them over. I don't think that's the sign of a company I have any desire to do business with."

Her - "I can see why you are unhappy, but that truly is the soonest anyone could come there to fix this problem."

Me - "Let me just point something out to you. Technically, I could cancel my service right now, then call installation and set up a new account. They would be here to hook up a new system for me AT NO CHARGE, and it would all be done within a week. However, since I am already a client, I have to wait three weeks before I can have service. Do you see the irony in this?"

Her - "I could offer you three free months of Showtime for your inconvenience."

Me - "Do I need to remind you that I don't have any kind of service now? I couldn't WATCH Showtime and, if I wanted Showtime I would have ordered that when I bought my satelite package. Now, I simply want out."

My contract was terminated. I am being reimbursed for my last payment. Dish Network will be here in two days to set up my satelite once again.

I will NEVER do business with Direct TV again. In fact, I think I need to write a letter to corporate. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Peace

PS - I'll get caught up with blogs over here ASAP! I don't have time to read them tonight.

End of Days

2008-08-15T14:11:00.001-05:00

I am a weird with two back to back entries in one day! I just didn't want to blend this one with the one about the phone call.

This morning I realized this is "it". Summer is really really really ending soon. My last week "off" is next week! Once upon a time August 25th seemed so far away; now it's just around the corner.

It's time to get that little bit of summer in before I pack it away in a box of memories. We're going to the lake. Yeah, I can do that in the fall and after school starts, but the "feel" of it isn't the same. When I go then, I usually drag work along and/or simply don't have that carefree feeling that goes with summer.

The cubs have packed up their beach towels and fishing poles. I have my books to read. We're going to swim, try to catch some fish, waterski, and play for the last few days that we can. We can't put it off - next week I have meetings, Babycub has her sports physical, Boycub has friends coming over. It's truly now or never.

Woe is me - where on earth did our summer go?

I'll be back before you know it!

Peace

The Call

2008-08-15T14:10:00.001-05:00

I took the bull by the horns - okay, not really - I called K because I was tired of waiting for her to call me. The conversation went well; at least I think it did.

Talking to her reminded me of past conversations with my prescription drug addicted aunt - she was slurry and disjointed. I'll chalk that up to her saying she'd just woken from a nap.

In any case, I put on my best bubbly, friendly voice and asked if she had any questions or concerns about the wedding. She wanted to know what the menu was. Even though I knew her daughter had already told and the caterer had already told her, I went through it all again. She didn't mention beer even when I said we were serving coffee and punch.

We talked about decorations; I told her I'd taken her daughter out to get some more things yesterday. It seems all of that is falling into place now.

The bride's family isn't coming here until the morning of the wedding. She works on Friday and, according to her, doesn't want to come up that night and have to "bathe in a lake" before the wedding. I guess getting a hotel room or staying with her mother who lives in town is not an option for them. It's not a big deal to me; it just means that I'll have to help with the decorating myself.

The weird thing is - I think she's intimidated by me. It's a freaky weird feeling because I'm about as scary as a butterfly. She stammered and tripped over words. I found myself going out of my way to be nice and to reassure her that everything was going well on this end.

My hub, A, once said that he thinks K's second hub is a total schmuck who probably bullies her. A thinks the second hub, B, is the one behind the beer and everything else. We shall see, I guess.

So, the wedding is in two weeks and I'm anxious for it all to be over. I am simply hoping for everything to go well and the kids to have a wonderful day.

Peace

Some People

2008-08-13T23:38:00.000-05:00

**** Rant Alert ****

News flash – there are idiots among us.

Remember a long while ago when I mentioned my son’s wedding? Here’s how things have progressed thus far.

The kids decided they wanted a small, intimate family wedding among the gardens in my yard. Last spring I started really going bonkers to make sure everything was going to be glorious; I wanted their day to be wonderful.

The bride’s mother, K, then fired off her guest list and this “small” wedding was suddenly up to 150 guests. This just isn’t a possibility for my yard. There isn’t enough room to park that many cars, I only have two bathrooms, I would have to rent tents, chairs, and all that jazz. The kids, my hub (A), and I sat down and decided it would be best to move it to a gorgeous park nearby. From there, we would have a reception at a local place in town.

The kids were tickled by this and we went on to planning food and all the rest. I know my son’s fiancé’s family isn’t rolling in the bucks, so we offered to help pay for things. I realize that tradition says the bride’s family pays, but we can afford to help out. Nothing Ms. Fiancé was picking out was expensive; things were simple, but classy. All was right with the world.

Suddenly, the wedding was being called off by the kids. The fiancé’s family announced they couldn’t afford to pay for anything other than the decorations. A and I stepped in and said we’d pay for the dinner, the clergy, the park rental, the reception building rental, the linen, the music, etc. We wanted the kids to have a nice wedding.

Within a couple of days Ms. Fiancé called me with a new issue. Her mother told her that some people may not be able to afford to buy drinks if we have a cash bar AND it is the groom’s family’s responsibility to buy a keg for the reception. I was stunned. Excuse me? It would seem all “tradition” went out the window when they stepped back and had the groom’s family paying for almost everything!

To have any alcohol served at the reception involves me putting it on my homeowner’s insurance which means a rise in rates for the month. Additionally, I have to hire a cop to be there the entire time and contract with one of three bars to bring in and serve the booze. To me it was a no-brainer. After checking with the kids, I decided to have a dry reception. We are serving coffee and punch.

Meanwhile Ms. Fiancé’s mom was scrounging through rummage sales buying “decorations”. I saw them today; we’re using them, but adding wee bits to try to dress them up a bit. I don’t want to step on toes and I don’t want Ms. Fiancé stuck in a rough spot with her mom.

A few days ago Ms. Fiancé told me she was having difficulty saying no to her mom who now was demanding we also host a dance and have a bar. I asked Ms. Fiancé if this is what SHE wanted, and she said no, but her mom was being insistent. Argh! I told Ms. Fiancé it was time that I talked to her mom and explained the financial situation to her. God, I am leaving out so much – but suffice it to say, these people seem to think I have unlimited funds to spend so they can entertain all these people they are inviting!

This morning I met with the caterer. Thank goodness I have known this person for years. K, the mom, lives 120 miles away – last week she “just happened” to be in the small town where we live and decided to stop by and check things out herself.

First she and her hubby crashed a wedding reception that was going on at the place where we are holding the kids’ reception. They went in, went to the bar, and asked the bartender how they go about getting beer at their daughter’s wedding reception. The bartender is a previous student of mine, and he sent them off with the name of the caterer who is just down the street.

From there they went to the caterer’s place and asked about beer. He told them I’d only requested punch and coffee; they said there had to be beer there and looked into booking that as well – all on my dime. Then they complained about the menu Ms. Fiancé and I chose. They wanted it changed to something more expensive – again on my dime. He told them he wouldn’t change anything until he spoke to me, and let them know he was meeting with me on Wednesday morning.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Who the hell are these people? I could see if I’d met them before and had been mean, snotty, bitchy, horrible, etc. No, I have NEVER met them and NEVER even spoken to them. Instead of calling me with concerns or suggestions or anything else, they are scampering around behind my back spending my money!

Can they afford to help out? You tell me. They have a very nice home, a boat, a lake house, four-wheelers, and snowmobiles. I’m thinking they could kick in a couple hundred bucks if not more. In the meantime, I cancelled two summer trips am putting off some dental work and am scrambling to make sure everything is nice for the kids AND within my budget.

I am furious beyond belief.

I’m proud of myself for NOT taking this out on Ms. Fiancé and telling her that her family is made up of first class jerks. It’s not her fault and they have treated her like shit all her life. They do nothing for her, spend very little time with her, and couldn’t be bothered to come see her when she was in the intensive care unit for a week a few years back. It’s not her fault they are like this; she loves them and so wants to be loved by them. It’s really very sad.

K never called me – surprise surprise. Tonight was the night she said she’d call to discuss wedding plans. I think my sister-in-law hit the nail on the head when she said it seems they want to have some splashy wedding to show off for their friends and family. After all, it’s not like they have to tell anyone they are barely doing a thing to put it together – most will assume the bride’s family did the wedding.

I practiced my diplomatic, nicely sweet little discussion with her in my head all evening. I was ready to be nice, but firm when I let her know that I wouldn’t take on the responsibility of booze at the reception. My suggestion was going to be that they reserve the place, put it all in their name, pay for it, and I’d still pay for everything else and the food – the food that Ms. Fiancé and I already selected.

Nothing – no call!

Argh!
What to do, what to do? I am trying so hard to walk a fine line here and make sure the day is wonderful for the kids. I don’t want squabbles between families to ruin things for them. Even so, I really want to plant my fist between the woman’s eyes.

Whatcha thing, blogger buddies? Shall I smack her or remain sweetly serene when I finally meet the wench?

Peace

*whispers* If you’re still with me, thanks for taking the time to read this long long entry. I am just soooooooooooooo frustrated with all this right now!

Boxing Boob Blooper

2008-08-12T19:17:00.001-05:00

I appear to have had one of those Freudian moments today. Who knew I was a violent person masked behind a mellow demeanor? I certainly didn't.

Remember last winter when I had my boobie moment happening? It was the whole thing with the cyst, the biopsy, and a positive outcome that I didn't have to deal with that ugly disease that starts with a "c". Because of all of that, I had to have a six month follow-up mammogram on my naughty boobie.

Lucky me; today was the official "smash the boobie" day. I know it's a good thing, but it still isn't the most pleasant experience in the world. Truly, I would rather have a root canal - but then - you all know I've discovered a recent passion for going to the dentist. Yes, I am sick!

There I was in the room with the tech and the boobie smashing machine. She'd just completed the smashage and was getting the films ready to run across the hall to be checked. While they do that, they don't want me to get dressed in case something went wrong and a second smoosh becomes necessary.

Even so, I felt it would be okay to slip the gorgeous hospital gown back on while I waited. I was wriggling into the gown while she reached for the slides of my breast. She turned just as I jammed my hand through the sleeve. My hand connected solidly with her face!

In horror I looked at her and began apologizing profusely. Seriously, I don't like mammograms, but I don't tend to smack the people whose job it is to administer them. She laughed and said it really didn't hurt. I can only imagine how red my face was - hell, I was far more embarrassed about this than I was when she was manipulating my boob to get the perfect pic of it.

So there you have it - my first act of violence. Don't piss me off, peeps - I'm obviously rather dangerous when smashed!

Peace

Generational

2008-08-08T23:12:00.001-05:00

The poor guy had to have been utterly and completely ready to crawl in a hole. I couldn't help but giggle. Yes, I actually do "giggle". For years, I denied it and called myself a "laugher", but sadly, I must admit to being a giggler.

I digress - the ins and outs of my sounds of amusement were not to be the topic of tonight's blog. Nope, they were not.

Instead, I am talking about the embarrassment faced by my oldest son on three, count 'em, THREE incidents in one day.

I picked him and the wee baby grandchild up to run some errands around town. His fiance was working; it was just the three of us dashing about paying bills, doing a bit of shopping, and having lunch.

At the bank, he was depositing his fiance's paycheck. She assumed it was me. Yes, I laughed. Poor kid, he stammered and said "uh, that's my mom". It was grand fun!

In one of the stores, the clerk said something about what a cute baby we have. Ha ha ha! Again, he felt the need to explain that I was the grandmother, NOT the mom!

I took pity on him at the restaurant when it happened a third time. I told them we were three generations - not two. It truly did make me giggle to watch him turn four shades of red at the mere thought that I was his fiance. I think he was having visions of ugly incestuous situations and it was making him ill.

Frankly, I just thought it was funny.

Peace

The Little Pisser

2008-08-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I'd hoped to start catching up on my way behind blog readage, but I got busy tonight. I shall get on that tomorrow evening - I hope!

I just had to scamper to my comp to share my latest tale from life in the woods with you.

I plunked down on the end of my couch a wee bit ago. Almost immediately there was a small splash of drops that felt just like those first bits of rain that land on us. Puzzled, I looked up and the ceiling was dry. It wasn't raining outside; I was confused.

It happened again. It truly wasn't my imagination. There on my arm were tiny droplets of wet.

Then it came to me.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww", thought I.

I looked on the screen in the window behind where I was sitting and there was the culprit.

Ladies and gentlemen, I was being pee'd on by a damn tree frog that was crawling across my window.

How utterly disgusting is that?!?!?!?!?

Needless to say my arm has been sanitized and I scrubbed the end of the sofa just in case it got hit as well.

Gotta love life in the woods!

Peace

Home Again

2008-08-07T13:56:00.001-05:00

I love you peeps to bits, but damn you sure can talk a lot! Egads, I have only been gone about a week and I have 79 post alerts, 18 comment alerts, and 82 tracking alerts!

You do realize I shall never ever catch up with everything. I will try. Lordy knows I'll try scampering through as much as I can, but I'll be one crazed basket case if I attempt to leave comments (aka my mark) wherever I go!

As for me - I ran off to parts unknown. There was no cell service, there was no electricity (unless you count batteries and a generator), there was no civilization (not like I'm used to, anyway). It was simply luverly to kick back and not think about things for a bit.

Even so, there are still bunches of thoughts rippling through the recesses of my mind. One is a big old ugly word that starts with a "d" and ends in an "e" and has a total of seven letters. I approached A about this several weeks ago; we are "talking" about things now.

Another is The Dark Knight. Yes, I did see it while I was away from you. I think it falls into one of those "I expected soooooooooo much more after all I heard" categories. It was "okay". Heath Ledger was quite impressive, but overall, I really don't see what the buzz is all about. I contemplated a nap toward the end of it all.

I'm itching to share something else with all of you, but I don't know that I can. I'll try to talk without saying much. Remember back last spring when I mentioned "threats"? It seems something may be coming of all that now. I have mixed feelings about it all - some of them are a bit creepy. Is this poking something ugly with a stick? Will that something ugly snap and hunt me down now? It somewhat scares me.

Satelites - wowserooni are there a lot up there! One night while I was away, we sat and counted them. We got to fourteen before our necks were sore from staring up at the night sky. In case you are wondering, we did wave at several that we suspected of being a part of Homeland Security. After all, campers in the midst of nowhere could certainly be deemed a threat and in need of photographing! Yikes, thank goodness I wasn't nekkid!

Brett Favre has me uttering profanity. I think he's making an utter ass of himself over this whole thing. However, I did think it was quite amusing when the Vikings were thinking of picking him up. I have tickets to the season opener when my purple dudes travel to enemy territory (aka - Lambeau Field) next month. I think it would have been quite the show to see him in a purple jersey in front of his home team. The Pack was supposed to be retiring his jersey at that game - I am wondering if they will be burning it instead. I'll report back after it's over.

For now, that's about it. Yup, this was one of those rambly "what the hell is going on in her head" kind of blogs. I'll be back around later this evening, I think, to try to start working on those gazillion alerts!

Peace

Off I Go!

2008-07-31T10:24:00.001-05:00

Something was bothering me - making me sad - very sad - crying sad - big drippy tears sad. I'd had my feelings knocked about and I was in one of "those" moods. I hate feeling like that.

Someone luverly who actually thinks I am luverly too, came up with a scathingly brilliant plan. I rather like scathingly brilliant plans.

That said, I am doing laundry like a madwoman. I am tossing the things I need for this adventure into my suitcase. I am scampering around here making sure I don't forget anything.

I am hoping I got caught up with all of your blogs. Smack me with a wet noodle when I get back if I have forgotten you!

As for me - by the end of this day I shall be up, up, and away!

*grabs my golden ticket and scampers*

Peace

Oh oh oh, I'll check back later - before I go!
Play nice while I'm away!

Masochist?

2008-07-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

You're truly going to think I've lost my marbles and there is something seriously wrong with me! Here I am blogging about dentists again. Could it be some deep-seeded masochistic side of myself that I didn't know I had?

Last fall I had a root canal. It was a blast. If you don't remember, I happen to have WonderDentist. He is humorous and almost pain free. His staff is a riot; going to the dentist isn't the thing of horror that so many people think it is - not when it's "my" dental office.

A few days ago I noticed a niggling little toothache. Let's face it, those things are never fun! I wasn't concerned about having to go have someone stuffing weird instruments and fingers into my mouth. I was mentally adding up the cha-ching sounds of a dental bill. I have insurance, but I figured it wasn't going to cover a huge amount of work and it felt like the root canal tooth that hurt.

I decided to tough it out for a day or two in case it was my imagination. It didn't go away. Nope, it hurt. I gave up and made the call, and instantly had an appointment for the next morning.

I love that place. I love the fact that the business manager waved at me when I parked in front of her window. I love that I can flitter in and instantly we are all chittering about what's been going on in our lives. They know everyone that goes there, and they make it a point to make you feel special.

After looking at new x-rays, WonderDentist confirmed that it was the root canal tooth. That's surprising to me, and I had to ask him if I had some kind of Lazarus tooth that came back from the dead. He explained that sometimes this happens, but he was kicking himself because it shouldn't have - especially so soon. He said he'd credit my account, and then he dropped the bad news on me.

He had to send me away - to some funky root canal specialist. Who the hell knew there was such a thing? Who the hell decides to spend their career specializing in root canals? I figured I was doomed to be a hurting unit with some sadist meaniepants that enjoyed giving oral pain to unsuspecting fools.

I whimpered a bit. I told WonderDentist I was rather attached to this office and felt like I would be unfaithful by going anywhere else. For years, nobody else has been allowed to come near my mouth with silver instruments of doom.

He assured me the new dude would "take good care of me" which only added to my apprehensive feelings of being in the hands of a sadist dental freak.

I wasn't exactly trembling in fear, but I was a mite nervous walking into the new office. The receptionist was wonderful, the dental assistant a bit shy, and then "HE" entered.

My heart flipped. My hormones raced. He, to put it mildly, was a studmuffin. Suddenly, I really DID want him to take care of me, but I wasn't thinking dental thoughts. Shame on me! Down, girl, down!

He stood there with his perfect bod, perfect smile, sexy eyes, and looking fine in scrubs and all I could think of was "wow, this is the dental version of Grey's Anatomy!" WonderDentist sent me to root canal heaven - I wonder if he even had a clue.

As it turns out, I have a small infection near last year's root canal. SexyDentist said it could be last year's infection flaring up again, and opted to put me on a run of antibiotics to see if that would clear things up. If it doesn't, then I'll go back to him and let him shove those silver tools into my face.

I truly do want the antibiotics to work their magic. I don't really want him to have to reopen that tooth and poke around in there. I figure it will probably suck. But, I guess if that is the path that I have to take, at least I'll have some eye candy - that doesn't cause cavities!

Peace

Her Tweakness

2008-07-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life gets a mite hectic. I sat down with the most fantastic creative flow rushes through my veins, and efx wouldn't work for me. After that, those darn creative thingies just fled from my bod. I've looked and looked, but the damn things are being amazingly elusive. So, instead of a wondrous bit of bloggety blogging, you're stuck with a dull old update entry.

My Fair Lady surpassed everything I expected. Even if I was some ornery crabbypants looking for something to bitch about, I'd have nothing. The show was even better than the great reviews I'd read. Babycub loved every moment of it and so did I.

Sunday was a complete 360 from Saturday's evening at the theatah. My little town's yearly summer celebration was in full swing and we never miss it. The cub's hung out with my son's fiance and that adorable baby I adore while I was in the parade. Yeah, I do that sort of thing. My school had a little float, a marching band, and a contingency of teachers being silly and passing out freeze pops and candy.

I was a freeze-pop-hander-outer-person; let me tell you that on hot summer days those things taste marvelous! I was swamped by little children and pushy adults all begging for frozen goodies. I think I sweated off all the weight I gained eating Nikkie's brownies as I ran back and forth between the crowds and the cooler full of freezies.

It's a fun little event though. In a town this size, everyone knows each other so I had old students jumping out of the crowds to run and give me hugs. I got to tease little grannies about wanting a kiddie treat. I got to tickle cute baby toes. I got to see pretty much everyone while I was sweaty, soggy, and armed with goodies.

The parade also is a wake up call that summer is fast coming to an end. In a few weeks we're all back to work and I'm simply not ready. I have oodles of things to do before it's time to walk in the school and inhale that "back to school" smell. Yes, there really is one.

I teach about the same thing every year, it should be completely plotted out and ready to go after all this time. It never is. I will never understand those teachers that never change things up - the ones that teach the same thing the same way year after year. I would be so bored!

Every summer I am rewriting, redoing, and revamping the stuff I use. I write a huge amount of my own curriculum, then pull in ideas and gizmos that I think will enhance things along the way. Some things work and are used again - others discarded or tweaked. It just never ends.

That's where I am now - I'm in creative mode. When that mood hits, I start getting eager to head back and "do" all the things that I put together for the kids. It's hard to wait; I become like a kid waiting for Christmas to come. If you see me online, that's probably what I'm doing - tweaking and writing and waiting impatiently for the smell of the new school year.

Peace

Rain in Spain

2008-07-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

Last spring while we were in Barcelona, a few of us were singing "the rain in Spain lies mainly on the plain" as it sprinkled on us. If you remember, Mother Nature didn't treat us well when we were in Italy and Spain.

This past June, Babycub and I were talking about old movies. One of her very very favorite movies is Breakfast At Tiffanys. I said something about loving My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn, and suddenly I found out I'd been 'orribly remiss as a parent. My child has never seen it!

In horror, I dashed to Barnes and Noble to rectify this situation. The poor kid had no clue where the "rain in Spain" song even came from. I'd been a bad mommy, indeed. However, I became a miserly mommy when I saw the price tag on the movie - it was about $28! Sadly, I decided to leave her suffering from lack of knowledge a little longer.

The fates stepped in a few days later when I was reading the paper. The Duluth Playhouse is doing My Fair Lady! I immediately called for the cubs. Boycub looked at me in utter disgust when I suggested they both go. To be honest, his reaction didn't surprise me, but I thought it would be a nice little gesture to ask. Instead, he's going to spend that time at his big brother's place. He'll play with the baby, eat pizza and junk food, play video games, and watch creepy movies.

Babycub and I are headed to the theatah. Did you like how I said that - all fancy schmancy? I bought the tickets as soon as they went on sale. We have front row and center, I'm just hoping it's not too close. I'm also hoping nobody has a 'bout of clumsiness and ends up in our laps!

She's as excited as can be. She's been in children's theater productions and has been to the local theater. The Duluth Playhouse will be new to her. Next spring I'm hoping to take her to see Mama Mia while we are in London, but that's a whole different blog to write.

We're dropping off Boycub and all the things that go with him, then heading to Olive Garden. Babycub has been Jonesing for that place for a few weeks now, and she's chosen it for tomorrow evening's gala event. After dinner, we are heading out to watch the play.

I'm hoping she falls in love with the story. The reviews of this performance have been excellent; I am excited to share it with her!

*saunters off singing about the rain in Spain, wondering why men can't be more like women, and thinking about dancing all night*

Peace

I Hope You Dance

2008-07-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

I think most of us have that someone special in our lives that makes us smile no matter what they do. It's that someone that we admire. It's that person that we look up to and want to be like.

I want to be like "her" - my great aunt Amelia.

Ever since I was a child, she was this force to be reckoned with. She was pure class, yet tough as nails. She was the model of decorum with the sassiness of a downtown streetwalker.

I cherished every conversation I had with her. If we were at the same wedding, funeral, birthday party, or picnic, I followed her around like she was the Pied Piper. I hung on every word and encouraged her to share story after story with me.

To her, life was just one adventure after another.

Into her 80s she still volunteered at her local nursing home. She enjoyed helping out "the old people" in her spare time.

Through her 80s she still went dancing every Saturday night. Once upon a time I asked her if she was still doing this and she said "I sure try, but it's getting more difficult as I get older. The friends I go dancing with are all daying. Isn't that just the shits?" I giggled with glee at her choice of words.

Once she told me about a tornado warning she'd recently experienced. Someone called to let her know and to urge her to go into her basement - just in case. Her reply? "Hell NO! If it's my time and God wants to come and get me, he's going to find me in my living room and not my dirty basement!" Again, she made me laugh.

She smoked like a chimney. She was never caught in public without her signature red lipstick. She loved drinking beer directly out of the bottle - never EVER a can!

In her lifetime, she visited every continent except Antarctica. She raised five kids. She spoke three languages. She took care of old people. She danced and danced and danced. She lived in her own home until two days before she left this world. She savored each moment she was alive.

She died a short while ago.

Yet, even as she was dying she found a way to bring laughter to my life. I wasn't able to be with her. Her immediate family was all gathering in the hospital. Voices were hushed just as they are whenever someone is gravely ill. I am sure there were a lot of those "how is she doing" comments buzzing around her. Amelia, seemingly was asleep - oblivious to all that went on.

Suddenly, her voice filled the room. Her eyes never opened, but she said "excuse me? Will you all quiet down? I can hear you. I am not dead YET!"

About five minutes later she was gone.

I wasn't sad when I heard she died. She was nearing 100 years old. She'd lived an amazing life. She was ready to let it go.

I was just happy that her passing was so easy for her.

I was even more happy that I was able to share a part of her world as I traveled through my own life. I can smile when I remember her. I will always cherish her memory and consider myself blessed.

I just hope I can still be dancing when I am 90! I wish the same for you.

Peace

One More Time

2008-07-22T19:11:00.002-05:00

The links from my previous blog work over at this blog:

http://deejay.efx2blogs.com/40720/

*hopes you go find it*

Opinions Needed

2008-07-22T15:46:00.001-05:00

Today was a shop shop shop day. I do so love hitting the stores, but this time we were utterly and completely goal oriented. We had to find a dress for Babycub to wear as junior bridesmaid in our oldest son's wedding, and we looked for a dress for me to wear as well.

Babycub is happily all squared away with a pretty little teal number that has her feeling like a million bucks. She's tickled teal, and cannot wait to show it off on the big day.

As for me, I am torn. I found a couple dresses at David's Bridal that I liked. I thought I'd chase down my luverly blogger buds and see which you like as well.

I am sorry, but you'll have to go to the links to help me out.
*bats eyes* Puleeze do this!!!!

This was the one that caught my eye first. The girls rolled their eyes in dismay when they saw it on the hanger, but it was also on a display model and they changed their mind. It's really a cutie! I like it in both of the colors it comes in.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/mother_o...odgroup=59

On the other hand, this one is pretty slick too. I think I like it in black. Maybe that's not the best color to choose for a wedding, but it's just kind of stunning in that color. If not, there are other colors I really like as well.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/mother_o...odgroup=59

Please vote on them. Let me know which one you like best!

Peace

Smarts

2008-07-21T12:47:00.001-05:00

I'm a dancing queen again today! Yippity skippity zoo-da-di and all that happy time jazz. The Smart Board is going up in my room tomorrow.

They are awesome, wonderful, fantastic, and way cool gizmos that will enable me to do different types of things with my kids next year.

They are expensive and I work for a very impoverished school district that is barely keeping its head above the water. Mine was given to me by the local Indian Reservation. To be perfectly honest, without the aid of the Reservation, I wouldn't have a whole lot of things.

I am the department head which means I have to buy the supplies for my department of three. We have to purchase everything from student materials, teaching materials, and office materials from a whopping $425 per year. No, that was not a typo, folks. On the other hand, for the past few years the Reservation has given my department about $1800 PLUS purchased us new computers, projectors, and now the Smart Board. Each department gets a certain amount of help from them. It is like Christmas for us!

This morning I scampered off to school to put things in place for the electrician who will be running the power to my new toy. Tomorrow Santa's elves show up to install it for me. I feel positively giddy!

I pranced around thanking the custodians for getting my room done so quickly this year. My floors are all waxed, the walls freshly painted, and my furniture has been put back in place. I think I'll bring them cookies!

My co-workers tease me about how well the guys on the custodial staff and I get along. I think I'm the only one that can say my room is polished from head to toe each day. If I need something fixed, they do it immediately. If I ask them if I can borrow a tool, they bring it to my room and take care of whatever I needed it for right away.

It's the little things, I think. I always take the time to make sure they know how much I appreciate all they do. I never treat them like the hired help. I know how important their role in my school is to all of us. Those small gestures go a long long way in human relations.

Babycub was with me this morning, and while I was out of my room, a couple of the custodians came in muttering about another staff member. I don't think they saw Babycub sitting behind my desk when they said "she's nothing but a psycho bitch". I don't want them to refer to me that way - not ever!

Anyway, I'm back to dancing around in glee. I am getting a Smart Board!

Peace

Movies and Angels

2008-07-19T19:50:00.003-05:00

"dancing queen, she's the mama mia, here I go again, can you hear me SOS"

Oh yeah oh yeah, I am a complete and utter fan of the movie Mama Mia!

On a whim (sheesh, and someone I know calls me Ms. Whimsy), anyway, on a whim yesterday I decided to go check out the film. Boycub wanted no part of this nonsense, but Babycub was geared up and ready to hit the theater with me in a heartbeat. The afternoon matinee was starting at 2:30, it was 1:45, and I had to fly.

I dashed to the shower, then thought of a friend that I knew would love to see it as well. As soon as I got out I called her and told her that if I could do it she could. She argued for 30 seconds, until I reminded her that I was standing there dripping wet and was still going to be able to get there - she could too.

She was.

Welcome once again to Small Town America. As soon as we walked in there was a yell from the concession stand "Hey Ms. Deej!!" I have students working there. Once in the theater we were all greeted with holas and hellos from students, parents, and friends. Lovely, my hair was still wet and I'd tossed on jeans and a t-shirt. Thank goodness the lights are off when movies play.

It was delightful! Not a single person got up during the film. There was laughter and toe-tapping throughout the film. Sure, the actors and actresses in this are not "singers", but the movie was so fun, I didn't care. I loved it!

I'm going to see it again tonight with a different friend. Egads, does this make me a groupie????

The Air Show today sucked donkey testicles. They didn't start when they said they were going to start. There was way too much lag time between performers. Hell, I took two naps in the midst of it all! Boycub and I played a game to count how many other people we would see sleeping. There were quite a few snoozers.

The weather turned cold, and I found myself forking out $35 for a rather hideous hoodie, but it kept me warm - until the rain hit. By the time the Blue Angels began performing it was drizzling and cold. Midway through their performance, the fog rolled in and they had to cancel. Better safe than sorry, but I can't help but think if they'd started on time and run the show efficiently, we'd have been able to get the whole Angel performance in before the fog hit.

By the time we hiked the million miles through the field to our car, we were soggy and bedgraggled frozen urchins. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr and grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Since all trillion people that attended parked in the same field and left at the same time, it took TWO, yes, I said TWO hours to get the heck out of there.

So now, I am sipping my cocoa and all dried off. Soon, I'm heading out for some entertainment I know I'll enjoy. Who knew ABBA could be so much fun?

Peace

Sunshine and Roses

2008-07-18T10:29:00.004-05:00

Before you read this, keep in mind that I have a wonderfully fantastic relationship with my wee baby cubs. Having two adult siblings means they've grown up in a world full of sarcastic adults that love to tease and have fun. The cubs can give it back in spades.

They "know" when I am teasing them. Hey "know" when I am serious.

A few moments ago the cubs and I were joking around. They were talking about putting me in a nursing home when I get old if I don't shape up and start being nice to them. I told them they'd better be used to living in boxes because they'd never inherit from me with that attitude. They said it would be no big deal because they were going to get fantastic jobs and be uber rich. I just laughed. They said "you don't think we will?" and I said "no, because you're simply too dim for success."

Babycub said "You know, mom, if we were the kind of kids that needed moral support all the time, we could never go to you. Our self esteem couldn't take it."

My response? "Oh dear, I didn't know it was my job to blow sunshine up your butts all day."

They giggled and we hugged. Now we are heading out to frolic in the pool for a while. Yeah, I sound vicious and cruel. The cubs know I adore them and would lay down my life for them. I just figure I'll never be the perfect mom, but I'm going to have a grand time enjoying these kids for as long as I can.

Peace

Choices

2008-07-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

When we decided to move from the city to the country, I pondered the idea of buying a house on the lake just outside down. It's a wonderful lake, but is quite crowded with year-round homes. There were some in the price range I knew we could afford, but they weren't as nice or the same size as the house we ended up buying. Additionally, the lots were much smaller. Here, I have seven acres of forest around my house. There, I would have been paying more money for less house and less land.

My cubs sometimes complain that many of their friends live on the lake and they wished that we did. Today we talked about it for a while. I asked them if they like being able to have the constant quiet of the woods and to be able to hang out in the yard without always having people stopping by. They said they did. This conversation was taking place in the car on the way to the grocery store and my point was driven home while we shopped.

We were stopped multiple times by students, parents, friends, etc. who just wanted to say hi. I never mind this; shopping or leaving the house is truly a social event when you live in a small town. It's like Cheers - "where everybody knows your name". As a local teacher, it's even more so. I am always running into people who know me; sometimes it's a parent and I simply cannot remember their name.

When we got back to the car and were driving home, I brought this up to the cubs again. I said "can you imagine what it would be like if we lived on that crowded lake? Every student that happened to go by in a boat would stop to say hello. There would never be any quiet like we have now." I could see the lightbulbs going off in their heads - they understood my need and desire to have some space. They enjoy it too. They have to share their mom with a huge number of teenagers constantly, but home is home - here I belong to them. I think they like that.

Peace

The Bossman

2008-07-16T13:40:00.005-05:00

The man is a gem. When I reflect on things past, I realize over and over again that I have been blessed to have him in my world.

He is my boss.

I've never had a different principal to work for, and I cannot imagine what it will be like when he retires at the end of this year. The entire staff and the vast majority of the kids love the guy. I have not always agreed with everything he's done, but I have understood why he made the decisions he has made.

We work well together. He puts up with my quirks and foibles. He's never called me to task on anything I have done - not ever.

I have flown into the office, looked up at him with teary eyes, and said "do you have a minute, I'm about to have a meltdown", and promptly burst into tears of frustration as soon as we closed the office door behind us. He just listened. He supported me 100%. He didn't tease me for my overly emotional outburst.

I have leaned across a table from him in a bar when we were all out and said "You know, I'm really mad at you right now. Do ya' want to know why?" Yeah, I was tipsy, but so was he. I told him what I was having issues with. He told me why he made the choice he did. I lived with his decision.

I have called him and said "I know I said I'd be at work tomorrow, but they just told me I can't take a shower for 24 hours. I'm staying home - officially, I'm calling in stinky."

I have told him "If you ever want me to quit, just start assigning me to teach ninth and twelfth grades. I'll know you hate me then." This year, those are the only two grades I will not be working with. That makes me laugh.

I have chuckled at the evaluations he does when he does observations in my classroom. My all time favorite thing that he's written was "very unorthodox approach to teaching, but extremely effect".

I've sang karaoke with his wife while we were all out. He just shook his head and laughed at the silliness. Trust me, we cannot sing!

I have slipped into rooms when I notice him covering a class for a teacher that is gone, and told him he could send the kids to my room. He has so much to do all the time; I don't mind picking up the extra kids to help him out.

I have been in numerous pep assemblies with him.
I have cheered for the teams he coaches.
I have laughed at his dry sense of humor.
I have admired the patient way he deals with kids.

I am going to cry at his retirement party, but in the meantime, I am truly looking foward to sharing his last year as my boss.

Peace

PS - Have I mentioned he's a hottie? Heck, a number of the high school girls ogle the dude.

Poppies, Poppies

2008-07-15T19:24:00.003-05:00

This evening I am dragging because I simply couldn't sleep last night. Nothing is wrong, but my mind was just doing that whirling, swirling thing that minds sometimes do when they are filled with thoughts.

While thunder crashed and lightning lit up the night, I tried closing my eyes and drifting off to lalaland. I love night storms as I am drifting off; I figured this would be the perfect send off to a very nice day. I was wrong.

Instead morbid thoughts found their way inside my head and I couldn't get them out. I found myself thinking of friends and relatives that have died. I counted back how long they'd been gone. I found myself stunned at how long it has been for some of them. I wondered if someday someone else would think of me in the midst of a stormy night long after I am gone.

In frustration I grabbed my book again and tried reading. The plot of my latest thriller wasn't enough to hold my attention. Once again I flipped off the light and tried to drift off. I told myself "don't think about dead people, you idiot", but that only brought everything back once again.

I wandered around the house, then tried again.

I stood in the sunroom gazing up at the lightning, then tried again.

I drank green tea, then tried again. That only made me have to get up to use the bathroom later.

Nothing was working.

Stop reading if you don't want too much personal info.

Even a couple of orgasms didn't relax me.

I logged back onto the computer and browsed some more websites and finally my eyes began to droop. With tea in hand, I wandered back to my room and picked up my book. Instantly, I was wide awake. This time my thriller grabbed my attention and I couldn't put it down. I tried to sleep a few times, but I simply couldn't.

I read.

I read some more.

My eyes became tired and my mind relaxed. It was 5:00 a.m.

I slept.

Ugh, I was up early as usual. Argh! It's been a busy day. I've been to school to do some stuff, I went hiking with the kids, I played in my gardens, I made a kick-ass dinner, I have read your blogs (I think I hit them all), and now I am tired.

It's going to be an early early night for me.

Peace

PS - Get the title? I am not feeling very inspired - it's from the field of poppies in the Wizard of Oz when the witch put them to sleep.

Opportunity Lost

2008-07-14T12:24:00.003-05:00

Woe is me! I cannot believe I missed something as grandly exciting as the Catfish Festival. I have this friend - really, I do have friends! He's a wonderful musician who used to tour with Off-Broadway shows and such. Now he's happily ensconced in the wonderful world of being hooked up with my best friend. To make a long story somewhat shorter, he had a gig over the weekend. He and a number of local musicians are constantly playing things around here; they mentioned this one to me and I thought it might be fun to go because they were going to be playing Dixieland stuff.

I'm not a major fan of Dixie, but it sounded like a good time and some of these small town festivals can be a kick. However, I forgot.

A wee bit ago S (the above mentioned best friend) called to tell me all about the Catfish Festival and the wild time she had. *insert a polite cough here*

There was parade - it was an entire six blocks long! There were overpriced food booths. There was a beer tent - without a tent. "La - ti - da", thought I, "I've seen all those things before." I was happy not to have missed much.

Then she did it. She told me about the highlight of the day. There was a cow in a fenced in pen thing. The ground inside the pen was marked in a grid with squares. Anyone wanting to take part in this "fun" event could pay ten dollars for their very own square. When Bessie the Cow decided to deficate, things would get really interesting. If she choose YOUR square in which to drop her smelly goo, you would win a whopping three hundred dollars!

Hold me back, folks. It's a damn good thing I didn't go. That kind of excitement would likely cause me to have a coronary or something. S told me that the crowds began to surge around the pen as the day wore on. It seems everyone was anxiously awaiting the dropping of the pile.

They probably gave good old Bessie some anti-diarrhea medication and pocketed the loot.

Peace

PS - Don't ask why a pooping cow has anything to do with a catfish. I've been trying to figure that one out myself!

The Challenge

2008-07-13T14:04:00.002-05:00

Does it make me insane to say I am eager for school to start?

I'm enjoying my summer, but I'm anxious to play around with a new program they've given me for next year. I'll still be teaching my senior high kids, but for only four periods rather than the usual five. It's the new thing that has me itching to get back.

My school, like most, has had a tutoring program for a long while. To say it's been ineffective is an understatement. It needs some tweaking, and my boss has given me the green light to do just about anything I want to change things around.

He's given me the wee kids - I'll teach high school, but be in charge of the program that will be geared toward helping sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students have more success. I'm tickled pink at the opportunity to take on something new.

Here's how it's looking so far. If any of you read this, I'd really appreciate the feedback on it!

I have a group of students who are juniors (16-17 year olds) who will be given elective high school credit to work in this program as the tutor/mentors for the younger kids. My tutors were all asked, not assigned, to be a part of this program. They're great kids that I choose for their various strengths. Not only will it give them credit, but it will look fantastic on college and scholarship applications!

The kids that will be a part of my program will be kids that tend to fall through the cracks - they don't qualify for special education, but they need some extra help in various ways. Most of the kids will be those that have had difficulty with the state's standardized tests, those that have failed classes in the past, or are showing signs of struggling.

My tutors will work in teams of two; this enables me to make sure that a wider variety of strengths are in each team, plus ensuring someone will always be there to help if one of the tutors is absent. Each team will be assigned certain kids that need their help.

One of the things we've noticed over the years is that so many younger kids start to slide because they lack the organizational skills to stay on top of things. My tutors will be their personal organizers. They'll help them go through a checklist to make sure all of their ducks are in a row for each class. If there are things they are struggling with, the tutors will work on that with them. If they have projects due, we'll make sure they stay on top if things. If they need supplies (many of these kids will be from lower income families) we will be able to help them get the things they need.

As we are working with them in their current classes, we will also be working to help them gain the skills needed to be more successful with the state testing. I'm anxious to see the results of this next spring! We have a current baseline of their scores to compare the results to later. Cross your fingers that things go up!

My state's standardized tests are scored in a way that allows me to pull each student individually and see what areas they were successful with and which ones they need to improve. Within this program, I'll be able to concentrate in areas they had difficulty with when testing last spring.

We're working on building in field trips to use as rewards and incentives along the way. I'm hoping to be able to use games as a means of helping them build skills in math (our weakness in state testing). Little touches like that sound so small, but can actually make quite a difference. For instance, kids that play cribbage tend to score higher on math tests.

The atmosphere will be casual and fun. My classroom is usually energetic and somewhat zany; my plan is to continue that with these kids. For those who need quieter space, I've recruited the school's librarian and her space for us to use as well.

"Pizza Fridays" may happen every other week. It's another of those little touches that I'm hoping will keep the kids entertained and interested while I try to shove math, reading, science, history, etc. into their gray matter.

My hope is to help them gain the confidence and organizational skills at this level so they can be more successful as they reach high school. Needless to say, this is a huge challenge and has me bubbling with excitement to see how it goes.

Wooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooo! I do so love being pushed as a teacher!

Peace

Trapped

2008-07-12T11:17:00.002-05:00

The damn drain in one of our bathrooms is out to get me. The thingy over the drain in the shower lifts right out. I don't know if it's actually supposed to be that way, but that's how it was when we moved it - that's how it has stayed.

It's never been an issue until today.

There I was innocently soaping up my bod when I noticed a ponytail binder stuck around the drain. I reached down to remove it, and the cover came right up. There I was, all sudsy and soapy, fussing with the drain thingy to get it back into place when the hair clip I'd just taken off slipped down the drain.

I had visions of major clogged pipes and a massive bill from the plumber. I simply had to rescue the clip myself.

I reached.

It didn't occur to me to turn off the water or yell for assistance before I slipped into Super Deej mode. I just scrunched down and stuff my hand into the drain. I could touch it, but I couldn't grab it.

I scrunched more.

As the water rained down upon me, I continued to shove my hand (and now my arm) further into the icky pipes. It had become a mission. I couldn't give up, and I figured I'd simply scour my skin to get all remnants of ickiness off when I'd completed my task.

Finally, I grabbed it - the hair clip was mine!

However, I seem to have reached too far. I squirmed. I squiggled. I wriggled.

Talk about utter frustration! I couldn't get my arm back out. I paused and assessed the situation. I was naked. The hot water was becoming warm water, but still coming down in torrents. The door was locked. I was getting sore from being all scrunched up with my arm in a drain. The cubs were outside. A was not home. I was stuck in a drain.

What to do?

It occurred to me to use shampoo - lots of it. That was easier said than done because the shampoo was on the shelf above me. Gingerly I wriggled, adjusted, stretched, and became a rather impressive contotionist as I found a way to get one of my legs up to kick the shampoo from the shelf.

Of course the damn bottle was full and landed on the hand I was using for balance. Yes, it hurt. Certainly, I belted out several rather unladylike four letter words.

I opened the bottle and worked to lather up my arm before the warm water became even cooler. Eventually, I prevailed and bingo bango - I was free.

Quickly, I scrubbed my arm then dashed out of the shower.

My next project will to get that damn drain thingy firmly secured. Hell, the next time I may not find a way to free myself!

That was my morning. How was yours?

Peace

The Secret is Out

2008-07-11T14:11:00.003-05:00

I didn't want to say it. Somewhere in the back of my mind are visions of a horrible, curler wearing, bathrobed, poofy slippered, chain-smoking beetch when I even entertain the thought of saying it.

*takes a deep breath and slowly exhales*

I don't really like him much.

There! I have said it. Okay, so "officially" I have only written it. Maybe that makes it better somehow. Yet, I am still feeling myself rather consumed by guilt for even baring my soul to all of you on this one.

Admit it, you are wondering who I am talking about.

It's "him" - the daughter's fiance. *chokes and sputters a bit*

He's - how to put this delicately - he's a putzoid.

He's a self-centered mama's boy that snorfles all the time. Remember the movie "Sleepless in Seattle"? You know the dude Meg Ryan was engaged to? Remember how he had oodles of tissues and was always sniffling and allergic to everything? Yup, that's this guy.

Okay, so he cannot help the allergies. I realize that. Yet, I find myself inwardly cringing every time he looks my way and does that funky little nose snorfle that he's constantly doing.

Bad me - that's all something that cannot be controlled. I realize this!

Let's go on to his full-fledge poutage if he doesn't get his way. I swear the boy was about to jump off a bridge when he wasn't included in a family meeting to plan my son's wedding. My oldest daughter was only here so she could babysit the wee lassie. The rest of us were getting down to the nitty gritty financial crap and all that jazz. There was no reason for lover boy to be here.

I wouldn't have minded, except he is a self-appointed expert on everything and I really didn't need or want to have him putting his two cents into every aspect of their wedding. As it is, he has even suggested that HE give the bride away. What the hell? He's the boyfriend/fiance of the bride's older sister.

No matter what topic comes up, he has an opinion and he is always right.

He gradutated from a school that is a rival of the one where I teach and the cubs attend. He's constantly making derogatory comments about the school to me and to the cubs. It's not all in fun; it's not a friendly rivalry - he is constantly being insulting about it.

Thus far, I have walked away rather than reaching across the table and ripping his vocal cords from his throat. I'm rather proud of that fact.

I keep telling myself that my daughter will have to live this this nambypamby whiny wussnick. She has a very dominant personality; I'm sure she will always be able to crack the whip and get him to crawl along behind her like a "good boy". It would drive me nuts.

I've held it all back. My closest friends know how I feel, you know how I feel, and the rest of the world will continue to see a smiling Deej welcoming this dude to the clan. The upside is, his own mom and grandmother live nearby and I'm sure they'll adore him and baby him to bits. He better not expect it from the "monster-in-law".

Peace

The Rule

2008-07-10T22:46:00.003-05:00

I have this hard and fast rule that I've lived by since I began teaching. I do not attend the graduation open houses of any of my students. It's simply too difficult to get to each one I get invited to, and I don't want any of them having hurt feelings because I went to some but not theirs.

My sweet little Maddie called to ask if she should even bother with an invite. I felt a mite guilty when I explained the "rule" to her again; I could hear her sigh over the phone. Damn it all! She's already made me cry when I read her journal a few days before. In it, she commented on how much it bothered her that I didn't attend graduation this year, but that she called me and I talked to her just before she walked into the gym. Ugh! I couldn't go - it was in the midst of the student threat thing.

A wee bit ago she sent me a text message reminding me of her open house and giving me directions to get there.

How can I pass on this one?

This kid has become like family to me. Sure, I've made connections with a lot of students, but Maddie has grabbed onto me and is holding on tight. It's weird - I didn't realize how much she'd come to depend on me being there for her.

Once upon a time an older teacher explained "the rule" to me. When I was new at this game, I said I would go to the open houses of the students who really meant a lot to me. He said "What about the kids that you've really touched and don't realize? How do you think they'll feel if you are not there?" That's when I adopted "the rule".

I guess some rules are meant to be broken. I'm going to a party on Sunday.

Peace

Hunting

2008-07-10T12:30:00.003-05:00

For now, I am going to be posting at WordPress and Blogger. They both have features that I like and both have a few drawbacks.

I don't care for the busybusybusy look at Vox, plus I can't remember my log in name over there right now. I do like the community aspect at Vox, but I'm hoping Mr. E or Bebbet will save the day at Blogger for me by giving me the secret on how they set up an alert thing on their bloggers. Yay them! With that, I'll be doing a happy little Deej jig because I'll know when my buds have written something.

As for Wordpress, it seems that CSS cannot be modified without paying for it and I just don't feel like tossing money out there to get things I can get for free.

Complain complain! That's me today!

Anyway, I'm working to try to find everyone's blogs so I can get them linked up here. Hopefully, I'll catch up with all of you soon so I can get these sites squared away and start just plain old "blogging" again. All of this hunting is making me nutzoid! Ptooey, to whatever caused efx to go down once again!

Peace

Once Again

2008-07-09T20:56:00.004-05:00

Egads, it would seem our efx is down once again. I wonder if this is going to be a forever thing.

It took me forever and ever and ever to try to remember how to get back into here again. However, I don't know if I'm going to use this or my newly creating blog at wordpress. Of course, there is always Vox, but for some reason I am not particularly wild about that one. It just feels off to me.

Oh well.......

I'll leave notes here as I try to track you all down. Hopefully, some of you will find me here!

Sassy Red Bra

2007-09-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

I survived my shopping trip, but not without permanently scarring the cubs for life. I must admit, I rather love watching them blush and bluster and take advantage of every opportunity to do just that.

Today it was easy. As we meandered through a department store a bra caught my eye. It wasn't just any old bra, it was a bright red, fur-lined, Christmas bra. I just couldn't resist. Something inside me forced me to scamper across the aisle to tug it from the rack and hold it in front of myself. I called to the cubs and asked them what they thought.

Boycub is utterly and completely at the age where anything like this makes him blush and stammer. He's certainly curious about boobies and girls, but he is horrified at the mere thought of his mom being seen in that light. Girlchild is just sprouting a pair of her own and is going through breast denial.

Both glanced over then said "Mom! Put that down!" I smiled innocently and asked them if I should buy it. Instantly they glanced around to make sure nobody was watching our little family interlude. I'm sure if friends had been nearby they'd have wanted to be swallowed up into the floor of the store. I wasn't that mean, I made sure the coast was clear before I began playing with them.

They kept saying I didn't need it. I kept insisting I did. Girlcub pointed out the fact that the furry lining would make any shirt I wore all bumpy and puckered. I blinked and told her this particular bra wasn't meant to be work under anything. Instantly she cringed and insisted that I refrain from giving her any more details.

It was a delightfully wicked tease and I love it! The cubs and I have a great relationship and we are always screwing around with each other's heads. It was just my time to play.

Yet, I left it there on the little hanger and we moved on to shop, shop, shop. Boycub scored with new jeans to remove him from possible geekdom. Girlcub picked up a couple of books. I nabbed a few pairs of new pants, some new shirts, and - of course - new shoes! They rock and make me multiple inches taller.

As for tomorrow, I may go back and get the sassy red bra. Methinks it would be a riot to watch their faces if I wandered out of the bathroom wearing it. Ha! Yes, I am a meanie mom.

Peace

Pass the Nyquil

2007-09-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

My head hurts, my nose is stuffy, my chest feels like a damn elephant is sitting on it, I am sneezing and snorkling like an anteater (do they sneeze and snorkle?), my eyes don't want to focus, and I have my period (yeah, too much info - but it just seemed to be karma with the timing of all of this).

Combined - this all means stay the hell away from me unless you are bringing chocolate or Nyquil.

I went to work today. I hate missing this early in the year, so I grabbed my handy dandy box of Puffs Plus and scampered off to hack in the faces of the students I adore. They duly provided the amount of sympathy that I required and argued over who was going to make my tea. I do love them.

However, they had me rolling my eyes. Sometimes people can be incredibly dim. Today was one of those days. The conversation went something like this:

Moi - "K' guys, I have come down with Bubonic plague"

Student - "Wow! What's that?"

Moi - "It's a disease that killed about twenty-five million people in the Middle Ages"

Student - "Holy crap, Ms. Deej. Why aren't you in the hospital?"

Moi - *banging my head against the concrete walls to clear my aching brain*

Egads, they are cute but they fall for everything. I cannot WAIT to pull my annual Socrates tease on them later this year.

In the meantime, I'm going to curl up with a hot cuppa, a dose of Nyquil, a fuzzy blanket, and a puppy. I'll be back to read your luverly thoughts and words when the plague has left the house!

Peace

England - BITE ME!

2007-09-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

Okay England, you’ve made your point. You’re pissed at us about your country being dragged into Iraq by the ignorant putterhead that currently lives on Pennsylvania Avenue. However, you didn’t have to take revenge quite so cruelly.

Yes, we’ve made mistakes. Yes, you’ve had to suffer the consequences too. I just never thought you’d turn on us quite so badly. I never thought my Jolly Old England that I love so much would sink to such lows as to do what you’ve done.

Please please please forgive us and take them back.

Please?

Pretty please with sugar on top?

Please please please come and get David Beckham and his stupid wife, Posh!

I can’t take it anymore. You’ve won – I surrender.

I am tired of picking up magazines and seeing her ugly mug and reading about her amazing *insert gag* fashion sense. I really don’t give a shit why the bitch never smiles. Frankly, I am assuming she’s constantly constipated. In any case, I want her gone gone gone!

We’ve paid our dues. We’ve been forced to live through the constant hype that led to their traveling across the pond. To be honest, I don’t know anyone that gave a shit if they were coming or not. Now, the tides have changed and many are hoping he breaks an ankle and her boobies suddenly drop so they can stop garnishing the publicity that shoves them down our throats.

I never thought anyone’s annoying moment in the sun could be more nauseating than Anna Nicole Smith’s was – but the Beckham’s have topped it.

In any case – we’re sorry! Please take them back!

Peace

Anyone Have Some Ketchup?

2007-09-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

“Mom what should I do?” was the question my oldest cub tossed my way last Thursday evening. Her dilemma, you ask? Apparently the water was shut off to my other house. No no no, this was not my fault. The older cubs and my son’s girlfriend all live in our house in town. Officially, they rent from us and are responsible for their own utilities.

To say I was dismayed is an understatement. Yet, I wasn’t surprised. For years I have lamented the financial irresponsibility of my oldest cub, and this appeared to be one more example of her being an utter twit.

According to her, they came home on Tuesday to find themselves waterless. They searched high and low for their latest bill and/or a disconnection notice and couldn’t find anything. Uh huh – the water company doesn’t just opt to randomly choose a victim to harass. I pointed this out to her, and she argued vehemently that they were never notified.

On Wednesday, she paid the bill via her debit card and was told someone would be out first thing Thursday morning to flip the switch. It had to wait until then or she’d be paying an extra hundred bucks for the privilege of having water instantly. Harsh? Perhaps, but I was thinking it was going to be a lesson learned for the mistake she made.

By Thursday evening she was frazzled. Nobody showed up to get the toilets flushing, the showers running, and the sinks spewing. She called them and was told they had no record of her water being shut off, therefore, nobody was coming to turn it on. WTF? She’d called her bank and the $300 the water company told her she owed had been taken from her account. In a nutshell, they took her money, but seem to have lost the order to shut off or turn on her water.

Does it sound fishy to you? It did to me. I just knew I was being fed a line of bullshit from the kid, but she was adamant about it all. Now she wanted to know what to do.

My advice? “Pay your bill on time next month and you won’t be dealing with this!”

I am eating crow and it doesn’t taste very pleasant.

The next day I called to see if things had been straightened out. It would seem the water company did make a mistake and opted to randomly harass a paying customer. They’d turned off the wrong house! That’s why the woman couldn’t find a shut off order and refused to send someone to turn it back on. The kids had paid their bill on time – they were paid in full.

Now, they are getting a month free due to the company messing up.

Pass me a fork, please? Oh, and some sea salt and pepper would be nice – crow really does taste like crap!

Peace

Here and There

2007-09-16T05:56:00.000-05:00

Argh! I am tired - so very tired, but at the moment I'm dealing with cramps from hell and can't sleep. Until wee painpills kick in, I'm online and trying to figure out the new efx stuff.

I did get a blog registered over there. Ha! Those of you who left thought you could get away from me. Wrong wrong wrong! *wicked grin*

My new address will be:

http://deejay.efx2blogs.com/

BUT BUT BUT BUT - I am staying here as well. I have to play with the new site a bit before I figure out exactly what I'll be doing.

What I miss most about efx is the alerts, the recent visitor list, and the ability to set my blog up to just registered users. Without those things, one site is about the same as another. It's the people in a blogging community that make a place special to me, and as long as I can find all of you and you still wander to my place - I'll be a happy little blogger.

For now, I'll use them as mirror sites. That way I won't go through blog withdrawal if one or the other is shut down.

See you wherever!

Peace

Rawr!

2007-09-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Yup, that is the sound of me roaring like a damn bear. I growled last night and I growled loudly!

Babycub and her three little buddies were handing out just before the football game started. It's a smalltown thing here, and everyone goes. The younger boys toss footballs around in the end zone. The older kids walk around the track. Adults discuss plays over cups of coffee and cocoa. It's like stepping back in time - at least most of it is.

The girls were sitting near the edge of the end zone and I was walking around the track to get a program when I noticed some older boys hanging around the girls. Hmmmm, not a good thing. As I walked closer, I noticed the boys were some of the scuzzy, pukehead, dickwad ninth grade boys that are constantly in trouble at my school.

They were flirting with my baby and her friends. Big mistake!

As I neared, I could hear what the boys were saying and my blood began to boil. They were telling the girls they "wanted them" and that they'd "use protection". Excuse me????? These are little girls - it was Babycub's eleventh birthday! Granted, the boys aren't out of puberty themselves, but they are certainly old enough to know enough to stay clear of children.

I marched over and stood behind the girls. The boys know who I am. They don't have me as a teacher - YET, but they will.

They looked up and were about ready to make a vain attempt to be snotty, when I stopped them in their tracks by saying "Excuse me? What kind of crap are you saying to MY daughter and her friends?"

Dead silence. The sidekick boys of the asshole ringleader began squirming. The ringleader tried blustering. I moved closer and gave him "the glare" before telling him if I saw his sorry ass anywhere near the girls again, he'd be paying the price for his entire high school career.

Fortunately, the guy working security nearby is a good friend. I told him what the boys said, and he said he'd smack them before he kicked their sorry asses out of the game if they even looked at the girls again.

Icky boys were soon removed from the game anyway. They got busted with a mongo bag of chew shortly after my little altercation with them. I can't wait for Monday. *insert evil grin* I shall endeavor to make them squirm every time they walk past me in the hall - the creeps!

More later -

I am soooooooooooooooo tired. Little girls have far more stamina and endurance than I do. They kept me awake all night with their giggling and music and I am one tired mamabear!

Peace

PS - What's the scoop on the new efx thing? Does it have alerts? How many of you are moving? Is it confusing? *cries* I am soooooooooooooooooooo confused.

Save Moi!

2007-09-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

Yikes stripes!

I'll be mostly AWOL for at least tonight.

Yon' GirlCub, aka Babycub, is having her 11th birthday party. This party includes a giggling bunch of goofy girls spending the night, going to the football game with me, watching movies, eating, and taking pics with their phones.

A moment ago Boycub wandered through the room and said "I'll never understand women". Ha! He's right on that one!

In any case, I'll be back with tales of trauma - if I survive the night!

Peace

Whoopsie

2007-09-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

I may have committed one of my bigger faux pas yesterday. Yup, I had one of those “how-the-hell-can-I-get-myself-out-of-this-gracefully” moments.

In my world geography class I am teaching a quick unit on Islam as an intro to the Middle East. I figure many Americans, particularly teenagers, know very little about this religion. I want them to realize that not all Muslims are strapping bombs on their backs and searching out Americans to murder. Sadly, too many people are guilty of lumping everyone of Islam into the same group as the radicals that are bastardizing their faith.

We started this unit last week with some wonderful handout geared for teenagers. They don’t go into a great deal of detail, but provide enough information for me to watch my students gain an understanding of Islam and some of its basic beliefs.

That said – I am certainly no expert on Islam. I know more than the average bear, but obviously have a lot to learn. I’m upfront about that with my students each year. We cover the information together, and each year I learn new tidbits that I can pass on the next year.

On Monday my newest exchange student joined the class. We were reviewing and discussing the things my students read over the weekend. As a group we talked about things like Koran, Sunna Shabada, Hajj, and Sawm while we compared Islam to the religion they are most familiar with – Christianity. I told my exchange student she wouldn’t have to take the quiz on Tuesday because she wasn’t there when we started the unit.

Yesterday while the kids were working on the quiz, she came up to me and handed me a little beaded bracelet. I told her she didn’t have to give me anything, and she smiled and said she just wanted me to have it. It was beautiful, and I showed my delight as I commented on how very much I appreciated her kindness.

Yet, when I looked at it I was puzzled. It really was too big to be a bracelet and far too small to be a necklace. Even so, I couldn’t figure out how on earth I’d ask her what to do with it without hurting her feelings so I just slipped it around my wrist.

After class she wandered over to talk and I decided to ask.

Well duh.

By now some of you may have guessed what this sweet kid gave me.

I assumed she was Muslim because she is from Turkey. I was comfortable with how my students handled their discussion of Islam.

However, I had absolutely no idea that Muslims have prayer beads. Did you?

I can only imagine how much I blushed as she pulled the handout I’d used and showed me a drawing of a Muslim man with prayer beads in his hand. I like to think I recovered well when I asked her to explain how, why, and when they are used. In her broken English she made a valiant attempt.

Even with my recovery, I felt like a blooming idiot. Thankfully, my new little student never seemed to take any offense with my ignorance. She beams at me and smiles every time I pass her in the hall. I am rather thrilled with my little gift. I’m not sure, but I think that she gave me something very important to her and I hope she did so because I handled the discussion of her faith well enough for her to want to extend a small thank you.

Who knows?

Maybe she just wants to teach or convert me. No matter what, I am touched by her actions.

Peace

Beetch Slapping

2007-09-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight I wanted to bitchslap a couple of nasty wenches.

I was monitoring one of the doors at our high school volleyball game and they utterly disgusted me. The scenario went something like this.

*beetches just about to waltz past me*

Moi - "Hello ladies. Have you paid yet?"

Beetches - *gasping indignantly* We have to pay?!?!?!"

Moi - "Yes, you do." *insert sweet little smile*

The Beetches asked how much it was and were livid when I told them they'd have to pay $5. Give me a break, every single school around charges admission to get into varsity sports. They'd be paying if they went to a game at their own school; why would they think mine was going to let them park their asses for free?

Beetches to each other - "I ain't payin' no five dollars to watch some stupid volleyball game. Are you?" "Fuck no, let's just wait in a bar until it's over."

Great - what an amazingly wonderful support system they are to the teen girl they motioned to come over to the door. *insert mega sarcasm here*

Beetches to volleyball girl - "We ain't paying no money to watch volleyball, so we'll meet up with you after the game."

Girl - "Uh, okay." Actually, she was quite sweet and very nice about the whole thing. I have to wonder if she felt terrible. I know my kids would be hurt if I didn't make every effort to attend their things.

With that, the Beetches waddled off to a local pub. Bully for them. I'm sure they probably spent more there than they would have had they taken the time to make that kid feel like they cared. I was stunned.

I've played this ticket-taker/bouncer game for a number of years and I have never seen anything so nasty. I truly wanted to smack both of the Beetches for being such utter low-life scum. I really do hope that the volleyball girl has other people in her world that will take the time to drop a couple of dollars watching her play rather than taking the money off to a bar.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

People like them just piss me off!

Peace

Techno Love

2007-09-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

Last spring I was a happy camper. I was getting a new computer for my desk at school. Yippity damn skippity and all that jazz.

It came over the summer.

Our tech set it up.

I turned it on.

Bingo - error message!

I restarted and walla - I was humming along with the latest technology. At least I was until it was time to print something. Then the damn thing gave me another error message. No worries, another printer was added to my settings and I was able to create documents once again.

Bingo - another error message!

Again, life moved on after another restart.

However, printing became an issue again. The damn thing has a mind of its own. Periodically, I have to restart just to print. Somewhere in the midst of rebooting my comp realizes it's supposed to be nice and let me have my documents. It's a quirk, but one I shouldn't have to deal with on a new machine.

In the meantime, I've realized it has a crush on me. Yes, it chirps little chip-chip noises that sound sort of like a wolf whistle click thing. Nobody, including our tech, has a clue why it does that, but it goes on all day long. It's a quiet little computer whistle. I think it's just reminding me it's sitting there lonely and ignored and needing me to put my fingers on its keys and stroke it a wee bit. My computer must be male. *nod*

Today I had to print. Again the blasted thing refused unless I restarted. This time was different. The scary "official" looking message that appeared had me scurrying in search of the tech.

She checked it over and announced it was fine.

Yeah - I'm imagining all this crap.

I'm more than a bit ticked off and dreading the moment it completely crashes and burns and she tells me she didn't get a warranty on it or something equally lame. *insert seriously annoyed look here*

In the meantime, wish me luck. I think tomorrow it's going to ask me out.

Peace

Blog Buds

2007-09-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

The kinship of efx is amazing to me.

Within a few short days so many people have found a way to reach out to each other and reconnect in a new place. Emails have been sent, links have been followed, etc. Whatever it's taken, one by one I'm finding more and more of those wonderful familiar blogs around the wide world of the web.

If anyone ever tries to tell me that friendships and bonds cannot be formed through this means, I will be able to point to this moment. Each of us could have simply moved on and started solo somewhere else. It was the ties that were created through words that led to the controlled chaos of moving on as a thundering herd of crazed writers.

Kudos to all of you. Whether here or at other sites, I do hope we can continue to blog together. I hope we can continue to share our lives.

Y'all rock, people!

Peace

Stupid Lines

2007-09-09T21:36:00.000-05:00

I'm cursed.

It never fails.

Whenever I am shopping my internal radar automatically leads me to the check-out line with the uber annoying idiot customers that screw things up for everyone waiting behind them.

Today it happened several times.

Who are these people? Can we establish "stupid lines" in stores? We have lines that are handicapped accessible. We have lines for ten or less items. Why not "stupid people" lines?

I feel for the check-out clerks. It's not their fault they are cursed with morons that are trying to use cards that are denied. They can't be held responsible for the moron that shows up without their wallet. Yet, people glare at the people behind the register as if they held up a sign saying "hey, let's piss off the other customers - come to this line".

On a brighter note, I had a luverly little day of shopping. My ass is heading to school this week in new jeans and new pants. The upper part of my bod is going to be snuggled into some sweet little shirts I nabbed. The best part is I picked up some adorable spikey shoes that I can't wait to prance around in.

Clothes may not make the person, but they sure make this one feel purdy!

Peace

Love At First Sight

2007-09-09T10:18:00.000-05:00

I am weak.

I am so damn weak!

Yesterday the cubs and I ventured to the local chicken swap. Yes, I said chicken swap. It’s a completely silly small town country thing that my town puts on twice a year. We love going. Where else can one wander around and shop for fresh produce, breads made by grandmothers, and llamas all in one spot?

The local farmers and such come from all over to sell off their stuff. Once we discovered this grand adventure, we’ve never missed it. It amazes me how many people around here must have odd things like peacocks. Who the hell would want one? What would one do with a peacock?

We headed out bright and early. I even skipped wearing heels. After all, one must blend when one is attending a chicken swap and I don’t think farmers wear stilettos. I draw the line at putting on plaid flannel or overalls – this chicken swap woman wore jeans and a hoodie.

There we were aimlessly wandering and marveling at the size and smell of some of the hogs. We chortled over chickens. We commented on the size of one farmer’s mongo tomatoes. The sun was shining, the roosters were crowing, and life was good.

Then it happened.

There was a litter of puppies for sale. Actually, there are always multiple litters of various puppies and kittens of all sizes, shapes, and varieties at every chicken swap. I love those darn little squiggly critters, and can never just wander by without stopping to scratch one or two behind the ears. The cubs always beg to take one home. I always put on my strict mommy face and firmly remind them that we already have two dogs, two rats, and a cat.

This time it was me that stopped. There was one wee little puppygirl that caught my eye. She wasn’t the cutest in her litter. She was the quiet little peaceful one in the corner of the cage. The little bugger looked up at me with the biggest, saddest, take-me-home eyes and I just had to reach in and pick her up.

We bonded.

I fell in love. Yes, people love at first sight really can happen.

She’s a beagle and her name is Shiloh. She’s now living in my house.

I tried. I really tried to be strong and walk away, but I couldn’t. I’ve never thought about having a beagle, but apparently there was something deep inside me that simply demanded I get one.

Damn weakness.

Shit, she’s cute!

Peace

Looking Up

2007-09-08T22:01:00.001-05:00

I've been messing around here and on Facebook to gather addresses. I've found a few of the people I read regularly, and am looking for more.

If anyone else stops by here, please leave me your address so I can link to you. I think that's the roughest part about losing efx - the community of it all. I'm hoping to link, link, link so I can keep track of where everyone is. : )

Update me peeps! Hit me with those addresses!

Peace

Damn, I'm Homeless!

2007-09-08T20:55:00.000-05:00

Well shit!

I'm feeling amazingly adrift in the big old sea of bloggerooni. It seems efx has taken a nosedive and I've lost my blog buddies to cyberspace.

Hopefully, I'll find them soon.

In any case, I'll be blogging here until home sweet home is up again.

Peace