Happy New Year to You!

It's a balmy 20 degrees with not a cloud to be seen. I love this kind of weather. The world is frozen and all is peaceful. Even the dogs are quiet on days like this.

I'm not sure why I was in such a melancholy mood yesterday but I'm in better spirits today. Thanks Kate and Jayleigh for reminding me of the good things that have happened these past few months. :o)

Michael and I don't have any plans for bringing in the new year. We'll probably go over to his parents house and count down with them. We're not into partying and drinking like some of our aquaintences are.

I don't mind, though. I love spending time with family.

While sorting through our living room closet, we came across some old video tapes from our first couple years of marriage. Not much footage of ourselves, but tons of our nieces and nephews as babies. They were sooo cute! I miss them being so small. I can't wait for the chance to show them and embarass them all! haha

I have some pictures I've been wanting to share but haven't made the time. I'll do that tomorrow or Sunday, I promise.

Happy New Year to You and Yours!!

Where Did the Year Go?

I'm trying to remember the biggest events of this past year. I can't think of anything good or happy. I lost my aunt, Michael lost a brother, my sister broke her hip...

Why is it that the bad things always stick in our minds? I'm sure there were plenty of happy events this past year but they've all escaped my mind at the moment.

I'm Back

Oops! I guess I spaced out my blog for a few days. I’d apologize, but it was a nice break.

Christmas was hectic, but fun. We spent most of both Christmas Eve and Christmas day at my in-laws. I had expected it, though, because this is the first Christmas since Michael’s older brother died and his mother is very emotional. It’s been 6 months and although he was a Jehovah’s Witness when he died, he hadn’t been one all his life so the holidays brought back a rush of memories of him and the holidays they shared with him.

Michael’s family is quite large. The house was full and loud but it was nice to be together. I really enjoyed all of the kids. Lucione showed off her new trumpet and Lindsey was delighted with the knowledge that she was the only one to master her new grabber game.

I gave Michael a new George Foreman grill for Christmas. We got one as a gift a couple years ago and he wore the non-stick coating off of the grill plates he uses it so often. This new one has a temperature control, timer, and removable grill plates. He was so happy with it. I also gave him some movies and a hair clipper set. I was nuts to do that, though, because he’s been wanting me to cut his hair and I don’t trust myself. Why did I buy the clippers?!?

He gave me a popcorn machine. It looks like the large machines you see in theaters, but it’s only about 19 inches high. It pops ¼ cup of seeds at a time. Just right for a snack. He also gave me a Snow White quilt and a Mickey Mouse phone. The phone is shaped like Mickey’s head and plays the Mickey Mouse Club theme when a call comes in.

The weather is pretty chilly…in the 20’s for the past 3 days. I love the cold, but being this cold meant a dry Christmas. I so wanted it to snow. It’s warming up now, but with my luck, it will warm quickly and rain instead of snow.

I’m going to relax for a bit…I’ll write again some other time.

Holiday Baking

I was so bad yesterday. I had planned on getting 3 out of 4 cookies done while Michael was helping his friend in town and I only did 2. Now we're playing catch-up. Yesterday I made the banana nut cookies (minus the nuts, I guess I should call them banana chocolate chip cookies) and the apple cream pennies (which aren't apple cream pennies yet because I still have to make the filling). I had planned on making the marmalade cookies but when Lindsey showed up, I got lazy. We just sat around watching cartoons until Michael came home.

Once we get these cookies done, then I can make some fudge and tomorrow we'll fry up some rosettes. On Christmas Eve, I'll be busy bagging up the bread, plating the cookies, and baking a ham for the "luncheon" my mother-in-law puts on every year. She says this is her last year, but she's been saying that every year since Michael and I met 14 Christmases ago. Christmas day I'll have to make a fruit salad for Christmas dinner. This is new...we've never had Christmas dinner as a family in all the years Michael and I have been together.

Lindsey is getting so excited for Christmas. Last night she asked, "Is tomorrow Christmas Eve?"

"No, tomorrow is Christmas Eve Eve."

She laughed for about 10 minutes when I said that. It doesn't take much to get her laughing, apparently.

I thought having Michael help this morning would make the baking go quicker and more smoothly. It's been a little quicker, but not so smooth. He cleans and bakes at the same time. Seems like a silly thing to complain about, but I had just poured myself a tall glass of iced tea. I didn't put any ice in it because I had planned on drinking it right away and didn't see the point. When I wasn't paying attention, Michael dumped it and washed the glass. I went to take a sip and it was gone. I asked where he put it.

"That was iced tea? I thought it was old Coke so I dumped it out."

Time to go fill up another cookie sheet.

Yummers

When Lucione was small, if she took a taste of something she liked, she'd say "Mmmm, yummers!" Now when I say that to her she looks at me sideways. haha

I just tasted my first batch of cookies and if she were here, I'd have said that to her. Who am I kidding? I said it even thought she isn't here. Nobody's here. Just me and my cookie dough. Banana cookies, mmmmmmmm! Taste just like banana bread but easier to make, in my opinion.

This post is making absolutely no sense. Back to the kitchen I go.

Tuesday Already?

I didn’t have time to post yesterday. Michael and I baked bread. 54 loaves. 54. Most of which will be given away as presents within the next couple days. Funny thing is, even when he’s just baking for personal use, he’s never made less than 20 loaves at a time. It’s just not in him to make a small batch.

We started at 8AM and were baking until about 5PM. Our big commercial mixer was not working so the mixing and kneading had to be done by hand. Our oven holds 5 loaves at a time so even though the dough was ready early on in the day, it took forever to bake it.

We would never have even thought about not doing it, though. Too many people look forward to it. Michael makes the best bread. Nothing fancy, just plain white bread, but it’s the best. Some years we make raisin bread as well, but not this year. Michael has to help his friend get some gifts back from town tomorrow so had to give up a baking day.

By the time we took our last loaf out of the oven, it was time to go and watch Lindsey play basketball. She’s on the Bulls. Her team ended up winning by 4 after going back and forth the whole 2nd half of the game.

I got lonesome for my mom yesterday, so I downloaded one of my favorite Christmas albums from my childhood and burned a CD. We listened to it in the truck last night after Lindsey’s game. I must say it was a comforting feeling to hear the music and retell stories of my childhood Christmases.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention my paycheck. My sister-in-law (supt. Secretary) went into the office at 8AM yesterday even though she’s on vacation to get the ball rolling on my payroll check. She had sent an e-mail to the business manager who was already in Washington state by that time and called the chairperson of the school board. At about 10:20, my phone rang.

“Hi Kerri, this is Yvonne. I just hung up with the bank. I’ve cleared it so you can cash your payroll check. If you get there before Noon and speak with Lynn that would work the best.”

“Thank you so much, Yvonne! I’ll go right now. Thank you! Thank you!” I don’t know how many times I actually said thank you, but I truly was thankful. So much so, that Yvonne is getting a plate of Rosettes from me for Christmas this year. They happen to be her favorite treat. I normally cook up a few to add to my cookie plates and she always raves about them.

Now that it’s almost lunch time, I’m off to have a sandwich and then shop for cookie and fruit salad ingredients. I’ll be baking all day tomorrow while Michael is off in town helping his friend.

One Thing After Another

I should have taken the fact that I had to leave work early on Thursday as a sign.

I guess as a whole, I’ve had a pretty good weekend. But I had a whole bunch of little things go wrong, or at least not like I had hoped, so if I forget to focus on the whole entire weekend as a whole, it seemed pretty awful.

Friday morning I woke up around 5AM. I was stressing about making the ferry because I knew it would be packed. It didn’t leave until 9:00, but when we parked our car in line at 6:30AM, we were already 4th. We ended up leaving the car there and coming back home until 8:00 to sit and wait. I was hoping to be able to pick up my payroll check before I left so that I could cash it in town and not have to worry about how much I was spending but they delivered them late so my principal’s secretary - my sister-in-law (the space cadet) assured me she would bring it with her when she took the later ferry at 1:30PM.

When they finally loaded, there were well over 20 cars on a ferry built to hold 18. The seats inside were full and people were sprawled out on the floor so a lot of us had to sit in our cars. I didn’t mind, though. We had our DVD player and watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on the way to town.

We got to the hotel and experienced our first set back. The cleaning crew was not on duty yet so our room was not ready. Without my payroll check, we hesitated to start shopping. It’s too hard to be frugal when I’m shopping for gifts. I never pay attention to what something costs. Gifts have never been about money to me. I choose gifts because they were made for whoever the recipient is, not because they are on sale. Besides, Alaska sale prices are way higher than anywhere else anyway, so why bother?

We walked around Safeway wasting an hour because the hotel clerk assured us that our room would be the first one to be cleaned since we were the first ones to try and check in. After the hour, he said they needed another 30 minutes so we went and had lunch at Subway.

When we finally got our room key, we had a couple hours to wait for the ferry and my paycheck so we hung out at the hotel and watched Christmas programs. When my sister-in-law finally arrived, she was supposed to come right to our hotel but she went to my other sister-in-law’s house instead. We waited and waited and finally called her.

She said, “I’ll be down to your room in a little bit.”

We offered to go up to where she was but she said no, she would come to us and be there in a few minutes.

We waited almost an hour and called back. My niece Bryn said that she went to the bank and then would come to our room.

She arrived and her first words were, “You’re going to want to hang me.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I had your check in my hands…I put it in the visor of my car and left it there.” Michael asked her why she didn’t bring it up to the room and she said, “You don’t understand. I put it in MY visor. But I brought DAD’S truck. The check is still at home but my husband said he’ll send it over on tomorrow morning’s ferry.”

She was right. I wanted to hang her. I kept my mouth shut because the things I was thinking were too terrible to say. She hadn’t even started her shopping yet. She had tons to buy for her 3 daughters and whoever else was on her list. She wanted to give me $500.00 to carry me through till the next day when I could cash my own check and pay her back. I refused to take her money. I told her I’d just pinch my pennies and wait till the next morning to do some whirlwind shopping before we had to take the ferry home. We had already decided at that point that we would only stay one night because I was still not feeling well.

So she left with her money and I was left with no paycheck. I had money, but like I said, I don’t like having to worry about what I’m spending. I feel terrible when I see something I know someone will love but have to opt for something else because it’s cheaper. I hate that.

So anyway, we do our shopping and take care of the most important people: Space Cadet’s oldest daughter, Michael’s parents, and my dad and step-mother. I have friends who won’t be getting gifts from me this year because I don’t want to go back over and didn’t have the money to shop for them this weekend. I hate that, too.

We were going to go to a movie that evening. We had a choice between Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events (how fitting…sounded a lot like how my weekend was going) and Ocean’s Twelve. We decided, however, it would be better to show our support for our high school girls’ basketball team. We went and watched them get slaughtered by 28 points against the school who has been our school’s biggest rival since the beginning of time.

Saturday morning we got up early, as we usually do, and headed out to breakfast. We wasted time till about 9:30 when the ferry arrived. We picked up my check and I was shocked at what I saw.

It was covered with White-Out. Apparently, the business office had a printing problem and my check didn’t print correctly. Rather than shredding it and issuing a new one, our genius of a business manager chose to cover it with White-Out and re-type the information that was incorrect. Problem was everything was incorrect. The only part of the check that was not covered was my address. My name, the numeral amount, the worded amount, the check number, the date…everything…covered in White-Out.

I commented to Michael that I didn’t think the bank would accept it. He said to try anyway.

So I did. I was right. The teller took one look at it, said she would be right back, and took off towards the back of the bank. When she returned she said she wouldn’t cash it because it was altered. I assured her that it was in that condition when I received it. Showed her my district ID, my state ID, and the check stub hoping that she would see that the amount was correct and that I was who I claimed to be since my photo and address are on both ID’s and my address happened to be the only part of the check that wasn’t covered up.

She went back and got her supervisor because I was pleading with her to cash my check. The supervisor came up front and said she would not negotiate. I had to get a new check issued before she would cash it.

I tried to explain that our business office was closed. I work for a school district made up of out-of-towners who don’t ever stick around for Christmas. I told her I couldn’t get a new check issued until school resumed in January.

“I’m sorry. I will not negotiate. I will not cash this check because it’s been altered and there are no initials.”

“But there are initials right here. The initials of one of the school board members who signed my check.” I’m trying so hard not to cry because I’m so frustrated. I can hear my voice cracking.

“There should be initials for each mistake. Only one is initialed and the inks don’t match. I’m through negotiating. I will not allow you to cash this check.”

I turned and walked out without another word. I had to spend what I had in my checking account on our shopping and wasn’t able to buy the ham for our Christmas Eve gathering at Michael’s parents house.

My oldest sister-in-law is the superintendent’s secretary. When I told her what happened, she said she’d help me out. She called the chairman of the school board and told her about the trouble I’m having with the check. She (the school board chairman) is going to call the bank tomorrow and tell them to let me cash my check; that the error was mechanical and that the alterations were made by the business manager and he is out of town for the next 2 weeks. I really hope it works. I really want need my money.

As if all that wasn’t bad enough, I bought Michael’s last Christmas gift over there and had to give it to him early. It was a new coat and the one he had on was thin and worn out. The lining was starting to tear and it was raining so hard, his shirt was getting wet. I gave him his new coat. So now he got an early present and I have to wait 5 more days to open mine. *pout*

The ferry was packed on the way home so we were stuck in the car again. The wind was gusting at least 50 so the ride was extremely rough. I was so glad to get home even though the wind shakes my house. The wind didn't calm down until after Midnight.

Today was a good day, though. The sun was shining so we went for a long afternoon drive. My niece Bryn and her brothers are here for Christmas (their mom and, hopefully, dad will be here by Thursday). She came over for a visit. After dinner, Michael and I went to a choir concert because 2 of his sisters (space cadet and superintendent's secreteary) are in the choir. It was a really nice concert.

Now I'm exhausted and must get some sleep. It's almost 11:30PM. I'm on vacation, but not used to staying up late. By the time I am, it will be time to go back to an early bedtime. hehe

Oh. My. God.

I am so relieved to be home! This is one trip I hope to forget sooner rather than later. The wind is blowing a steady 40 and gusting over 50 right now so I'm not going to type much. If I don't wake up in the Land of Oz, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Concert Photos!

My holiday break has begun! A bit sooner than I anticipated because I had to come home at lunch time and go to bed. My head felt like a medicine ball. It took all the energy I had (which wasn’t a lot) to keep myself upright. The principal was nice enough to let me sneak home at lunch. I ate what Michael had prepared for me and went to bed. I was out like a light until 2:40. Perfect timing since school is dismissed at 2:45 and I had told Lindsey and James they could come do their homework here after school because I wouldn’t be there to help them as usual.

James is so silly. He walked in all drenched at 3:00.

He said, “I’m really wet because I took the long way.”

I asked, “Why’d you take the long way on such a rainy day?”

“I didn’t mean to. I forgot which street to walk down and when I finally remembered, I was already wet.”

I ended up with James, Lindsey, Lucione, Alexys, and Jasmine here today. I’m so glad I got some rest. I would have been a wreck if I hadn’t.

The concert last night was a huge success. I think Lindsey actually had fun! She’s terribly shy so performing is always so much of a chore for her. The pictures I got of her were great because you can see a hint of a smile in almost every one. That’s huge for her.

Lindsey's in the back row dressed in lavender.

James, too, did great. He’s normally a statue and you can barely see his mouth move. This time, though, he got into the movements and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

James is in the middle row...the taller blonde with the red shirt and three stripes close together.

Craig was so adorable. He usually hams it up when he knows there’s an audience. This time, though, he was a real trooper. He sang and did sign language and behaved himself.

Here's Craig lookin' all handsome in the front row. They're signing and singing The First Noel.

The name of the concert was “A New World Christmas”. The kids performed songs about Christmas in other places, and even in other languages. One in Hawaiian, one in latin, and one in sign language. It was great.

Each student from 3rd through 6th grades was asked to create a tree to decorate the walls in the gymnasium. Most students chose the family theme for their trees. Lindsey was one of them. She put my photo on her tree.

When she told me, I said, “Awww, man!”

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I didn’t want to be on your tree.”

“Why not?”

“Because everyone will see me!”

She rolled her eyes and said, “That’s the whole point, Aunty Kerri!”

Lindsey's "family tree".


Here they are all together after the concert.

It’s getting late and I better finish packing for our little trip to Town. I hope that you all have a nice weekend. I’ll be back by Sunday at the latest.

I Hate....

HaloScan...or my computer...whatever it is that is keeping me from commenting on the blogs of friends. I've tried 3 different blogs today and they all use HaloScan and are all giving me the same error.

Open proxy detected. Comment posting disabled. If you think you have received this message in error, please contact the webmaster.

Does anyone know what that means? I have a feeling it's not HaloScan or how would others be able to comment? I knew I should have asked Santa for a new computer!

Quickie Post

I handed out my little goodie bags today at work. I delivered them personally and included everyone from the principal to the custodian. I still don’t know who distributed the candy canes, but I feel good knowing that I included them. I even included the new lady who is going to replace one of our 1st grade teachers after the holiday break. I don’t even know her name but she got fudge from me!

Lindsey’s Christmas concert is tonight. Lucione is in charge of the sound system. It’s her job to control all the knobs and sliding levers on the sound board. I heard a lot of comments about the way she handled it during rehearsal today. People are still talking about her trumpet solo from her recital last week. So much so, that the pastor has asked her to play it in church this Sunday.

I’ve got to eat dinner and get Lucione home so she can get ready for the concert. I’ll write about it later.

I Feel Special

Yeah, I know...I'm a dork. But I checked my mail today and guess what I found waiting for me in the mailbox? C'mon...guess!

Okay, okay...I found a card. But not just any card. A Christmas card...with teddy bears...and snow! A card with two of my favorite things from one of my favorite bloggers!

Thank you very much, Tara! You totally made my day...my week, even! :o)

My Fudge is Ready to Be Delivered!

These are the bags I made...24 in all. I hope I remembered everyone! 


Lucione helped me stuff the bags. The fudge has a miniature ornament hanging from it and we also included a miniature candy cane. 

MMMMmmmmmmmm, Fudge!

I'm going to make fudge tonight. I made little paper bags to put it in with a little candy cane and miniature ornament. I'll bring them to school to share with my co-workers.

Someone handed out candy canes today...I didn't get one. The only reason I know they were handed out was because whoever did it, didn't actually hand them out, they just put one in the mail boxes in the work room. I don't know who did it, or why I didn't get one but I didn't raise a fuss. I figured there was no point. It's just a piece of candy and if whoever handed them out excluded me on purpose, they'll feel like a heel when I hand them their little bag of fudge on Wednesday!

I left work about 30 minutes sooner than I usually do. I'm feeling strange today. At one point, I actually got dizzy but was fortunate to be standing next to a table I could lean on to keep from falling. It was before lunch, but I had breakfast so it wasn't from hunger. I feel a little better now, but the weird light-headedness comes and goes.

I better get started on the fudge, I think I'll be wanting to get to bed early tonight.

13 Days Till Christmas!

This weekend was the best. No, we didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Didn’t travel to an exotic destination. We didn’t even travel to Town. Haha (That’s our plan for next weekend.) But it was still the best.

No stress, no illness, nothing negative whatsoever. Just the two of us, hanging out, enjoying each others company. We haven’t really done that in ages. We spend a lot of time together, but this weekend we reconnected. Had a couple heart to heart chats which lead to me feeling even more loved and secure than I ever thought possible.

We haven’t really been having problems. We were just sorta going through the motions of being married. We found ourselves in a rut. I think we’re ready to make a fresh start now and I feel like we’re moving in the right direction.

I had a wonderful talk with my mom and sister yesterday. They’re both doing great but are a little homesick. My sister hasn’t had a Christmas here at home since she left (back around ’88) and my mom has only had one Christmas at home since she left and that was about 3 years ago. They were feeling bad because my gifts for them have already arrived and they haven’t had the money or time to shop for me.

I hate how Christmas has become about gifts. I don’t like people feeling like they “have” to give me a gift. I never believed in things like drawing names, or gift exchanges. The past two Christmases, Michael’s family has had a name drawing night. They claim it’s to take the financial burden off of us and to guarantee we each get at least one gift. I buy gifts because I want to. Each gift chosen specifically for each person given as a sign of my love and appreciation for them. When they draw names, I always end up with a distant relative who doesn’t live here and whom I barely know. The first name I drew wasn’t even a relative. He was the boyfriend of one of my nieces. Not a husband, not a father to any of her children, just a boyfriend…who lived in a whole different state than my niece at the time. I bought him a coat because I didn’t know him well enough to really find the “perfect” gift for him. A couple months ago, my niece was at my mother-in-law’s house for a family dinner. She was wearing the coat I bought her boyfriend. Her mother commented on the coat.

“Oh, I like your jacket.”

“Thanks, but it’s not mine. It’s Marks. He got it for Christmas one year but can’t remember who gave it to him. He leaves it in the closet in case it was from his mom.”

I wanted so much to tell her it was from me and that he could do whatever he wanted to do with it since it was obvious he didn’t want to wear it. It still looked new almost 2 years later.

This year I drew the name of a nephew I don’t know. He lives in another state and I never see him. The last time he was home, he didn’t acknowledge me in any way, not even if I tried to initiate it. I got him a coffee mug with his clan on it. I don’t even know if he drinks coffee but it’s a cool looking mug.

It’s time for dinner now. Michael cooked us steaks and baked potatoes. I’m drooling just thinking about it. I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Holiday Eating Tips

I just received these tips from my sister-in-law, who lives in Town. I don't normally pass on forwarded e-mails, but thought someone might get a giggle out of this.

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1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention.

Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, "martini" in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Mini-Post

I didn't have a lot of computer time today because my niece Alexys planted herself in front of my computer and sat here for over an hour. It was nice to have her visit, though. She hadn't stopped by since well before Thanksgiving.

After she left, Michael and I went for a drive. Just when I thought we were going to get rain it started to snow. We got another light dusting...less than an inch. But now it really does feel warmer. The snow isn't as light as it was the other day so I think this time it will become slushy and melt away.

Next week is the last week of the semester. I can't believe the year is half over already. Time has flown by. Friday is a half-day so Michael is taking me to Town. I still have to get my Holiday bears from Wal-Mart.

Once school is dismissed at noon on Friday, we won't resume until January 3rd. I'm so looking forward to the time off. Sure, I'll be busy baking the first week, but that's always so much fun. Speaking of which, I think on Monday I'll bring some fudge to work for everyone.

I'm going to go watch My Baby's Daddy before I go to bed. I hope you all have a nice weekend.

The 31st Annual People's Choice Awards

The 31st Annual People's Choice Awards will be chosen by online voters this year. Have you ever participated in the voting before? How is it usually done?

Little Bits

I saw the mother at school today. She averted her eyes as soon as I looked at her. I'm hoping it's because she feels guilty about the way she treated her son the other day.

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Our church is having their bazaar today. I helped set it up lastnight so, thankfully, don't have to work a table today. I took cold medicine and it's zapped all my energy.

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The snow has quit falling and it feels warmer out. I think we're going to get some rain.

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Time to brag about Lindsey....the 5th and 6th grade classes have a challenge in science lab this week. They have to build a "Humdinger". It's a little contraption that hums when you pull a string and dings when you let go. The example is inside a paper bag that's taped shut so they don't know what it looks like, just what sounds it makes. Anyway, each group was given a bag of materials. The only rules were that they had to have a string and when you pulled it, you got a humming sound and when you let go, you heard a ding. Materials included a battery, a small motor, paper clips, small dowels, copper wire, masking tape, clothes pins, and rubber bands. Out of all 3 class rooms and a total of 10 groups, Lindseys group was the only group to figure out how to do it and they did it in about 30 minutes. Everyone else tried for an hour without success. I was so proud of how her group worked together and figured it out so quickly.

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I have a head cold. I can't stop sneezing. I took cold medicine this morning and have been dragging ever since. I can breathe...but all I want to do is sleep. I can't miss work because I'm testing again and don't trust a substitute to remember how to do it. I'm sure anybody could do it, it's just me wanting to make sure it's done perfectly. If I can just make it through tomorrow, I should be okay.

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My mom made me cry this morning. Not intentionally, and she doesn't know I cried because she did it via e-mail.

A few years ago, she was depressed and called me and cried on the phone for over an hour saying how she didn't feel successful, her marriage was going through a rocky time, my sister was stressing her out, etc. I couldn't console her on the phone. When we hung up, I sat down and wrote her a long letter. I told her how I'm always getting complimented on things. I've been told I have a good work ethic, a nice singing voice, the patience of a saint, etc. I told Mom that she is the reason I am who I am. I learned by her example. Well, it was a really long, mushy letter but it was sincere and it made her feel better.

Last week I asked both my mom and sister to create wish lists on Amazon.com because I was stumped. Theirs were the last gifts I had to purchase and could not think of anything they'd want or need. I figured I'd play Santa. Let them make a list and go from there. The items my mom initially chose were unavailable so I had to ask her to update her list. Twice. The last time I asked, I told her I was sorry that it was turning into such a chore, that I had hoped this would make things easier not harder.

Well this morning I got an e-mail from her. I think I've mentioned before that it's been extremely difficult to stay in contact with her. We've basically played phone tag for months. So I get her e-mail thinking it's going to be something about her wish list.

She said, "Hey Bear (my nicknames Care Bear), don't stress. I don't care if I get a gift from you. I miss you. Remember that letter you wrote me telling me how you feel about me? I still have it. I keep it on the shelf of my headboard and when I get lonesome or sad I read it and it always makes me feel better. I just want to do better at staying in touch. That could be my gift. I promise to be home every Monday at 5:00 so we could talk. That's what I wish for. That's all I want for Chrismas."

So yeah, I cried. I was touched that she kept the letter, sad to realize that she had to read it so often, guilty for not trying harder to get ahold of her....

I'm thinkin I won't even wait till Monday. If I have to try a hundred times between now and then I will talk to her before the weekends over.

Therapy, Anyone?

Yesterday during study hall I witnessed an exchange between a son and father that made my heart melt. Then in the blink of an eye, I wanted to scream and cry all at the same time. Here's what happened.

A little first grade boy was in the library waiting for his mother to pick him up. His mother and father were never married and separated when the boy was 2 years old. For a while following the separation, the parents were civil to each other and the father even had custody for the better part of a year. Both the mother and father have different significant others now, though neither of them is married.

So the son is in the library and his father walks in. He's there to pick up the daughter of his current girlfriend who happens to be playing with his son. His son shows off his toys and asks to go with his dad.

Dad says, "I'm sorry, Son. I'm not going home. I need to bring her to her mom. Maybe next time."

He and the girl turn to leave and the boy calls out, "Love you!"

"Love you, too, Son."

Just as the boy was calling out, his mother walked in. She stomped over to her son, put her hands on her hips and screamed, "What was that all about?!"

The boys eyes grew as big as saucers and he was speechless.

"What did I tell you about him? You know better. You KNOW BETTER!! What did I tell you?"

"You said ignore him."

"Right! Just ignore him and walk away. You are not supposed to be talking to him!"

This was in the library. There were people there. Not just kids, but some parents, too. This is a small town. Small enough that everyone knows she and the boys father separated because she walked out on him. She moved in with a recently divorced guy and left her son behind for almost a year. What's happened since then, I don't know but she's obviously holding a grudge and I don't think it's fair for her to involve her son. He's in the first grade. He loves his dad. How can you deny him his own father? This poor child is going to need years of therapy to undo the damage his mother is doing. I sincerely hope, for the boys sake, she sees the error of her ways soon and changes her mind.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Well, it's about time, Mother Nature! I was beginning to doubt I still lived in Alaska! Here it is 18 days till Christmas and we finally get our first taste of snow. It'll probably change to rain in the next day or two, but this will be fun while it lasts. It's the fine, powdery snow that blows around in the wind. I love watching it swirl around. Too bad I'm so sleepy, or I'd sit up and watch it all night.

Lucione's recital last night was great. She played Good King Wenceslas and I must say, she had the best solo of the night and I'm not just being biased. I've heard her practicing here at my house, but to see her perform up there on stage, in a spotlight all by herself, without skipping a beat or missing a note made me extremely proud. She was totally in tune and kept a steady beat all the way through. There were high school students who did not do as well. You'd never know this was only her 2nd year playing. She is so going to love the trumpet I bought her for Christmas!

Now it's bedtime. I'll have a hard time falling asleep thinking about the snow out there. Not to mention the Beatles song that is now stuck in my head (Thanks a lot, Aimee!). :o)

Musical Monday

I like my chin; it’s right below my nose.
I like my knees, my elbows and my toes.
My mouth can make a whistle when it blows.
I like, I like, like myself!

The computer lab is right next to the guidance counselor's office. The lyrics above are part of what I've been hearing for the past 20 minutes. It always takes a while for the Kindergarteners to learn a new song and I always end up learning it with them.

The 2nd quarter of school ends next week so I'm testing again. I told the principal this morning so he wouldn't get all shook up like last quarter. He looked sort of shocked. He either did not expect me to remember or the semester's end snuck up on him. Either way, the look on his face was priceless.

Our temps have been in the low 30's since late Friday night. I love this kind of weather. I'm hoping its cold for Christmas. I'm ready to give up on snow. It’s been teasing me for a month now. It works its way down the mountain and then disappears. It almost makes me wish I didn't live in this maritime climate at sea level.

Lucione's Christmas recital is tonight. She is extremely excited. I must say I am very proud of her. She chose the trumpet and stuck with it even when her classmates tried to tell her it was a "boy" instrument. She's pretty good at it, too. Last week she said her band teacher told her she should look into private lessons because she's so far advanced her classmates are holding her back. I told her she should be very proud of herself and she said, "I am! I'm good like you!"

I had the same problem when I was her age. I play the clarinet. I was in the Talented and Gifted program all through school. In 4th grade I got tired of doing science projects so switched to music. I chose the clarinet and picked up on it so quick my grandmother bought me a clarinet of my own. I still have it and play it occasionally. When I got in to junior high, I was further along than my classmates so went to high school band class instead. I participated in the junior high concerts, but I was sight reading. I didn’t rehearse with them.

Enough about me, though. Tonight is Lucione’s night. She even has a solo. She wouldn’t tell me what she’s playing…just that she had a solo. I’ll be taking both the digital and video cameras. Her grandparents are out of town so they’ll watch it when they get back on Thursday.

I better get going if I’m going to get the “good seats”.

For Ahka

Today is my friend Ahka’s birthday! She’s the one who leaves anonymous comments here on my blog. :o)

She is a very dear friend of mine and I thank God everyday for allowing me to know her. She has the greatest sense of humor, the best attitude about life, and a big, generous heart. I wish I could be with her today to show her how much she means to me but she’s too far away.

I figured this was a good way to let her know I’m thinking about her today, as I do everyday, since she reads my blog once in a while.

Ahka, I hope that you have a wonderful day with the family that surrounds you. I hope that you are able to look at your past year with peace and contentment knowing it has been a good year full of God’s blessings. I hope that God continues to bless you throughout the coming year with love, health, and happiness.

Happy Birthday!

Chat

Yay! I just had a short chat on MSN with Jayleigh! I think that is so cool! :o) Timing is everything. I signed on and said hello as she was getting ready to call it a night (a very late night for her, btw). She's the first blogger I've chatted with outside of comments. I'm so tickled. haha Okay, my turn to call it a night.

What is This?

My nephew, Craig, is just too adorable sometimes!


This was taken at his Christmas program last year. He's "searching" for someone he knows in the audience. 

I went to visit my sister-in-law in her office this morning. My principal is really cool. He knows I wouldn't be in there if I had something more important to do so he doesn't fuss too much when I pop into the office every now and then.

If my sister is busy doing a project, he'll say something like, "She's busy, don't distract her too long."

Anyway, I was in there visiting this morning and Craig walked in. He had been playing on the playground, slipped, and landed in mud. His left leg was covered. Because of this, he was quite upset. When he is that upset, it is nearly impossible to brighten his mood.

My sister and I were trying to talk to him and cheer him up. When it became obvious to us that we were not successful, she did the only thing she could think of. She pulled out a gummi worm and handed it to him (it's okay, they were sugarless ;o) ).

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's a gummi worm, try it," his other aunt told him.

He looked it over and said, "Oh, thank you."

It seemed to me that he had never had a gummi worm before. He had no idea what to do with it.

"Oh, look! I made an L," he exclaimed.

We were glad that he was in a happier mood, but he really had no clue what he had in his hands.

"I can twist it. See? It bends. I can stretch it, too."

After about 5 mintues of his playing with it, my sister finally took another one out. When she was sure he was looking, she put one end of it in her teeth and stretched it out till it broke and chewed it up.

"You can eat it?!"

"Yes, you can. Take a bite, I think you'll like it."

He took a little nibble off the end and chewed it slowly. Then this huge grin came across his face and he took another bite. By the time his mother showed up, he was in better spirits. He walked to the restroom to change his pants and my sister and I cracked up. We could not stop laughing. We were laughing so hard, the prinicpal poked his head out of his office to see if we were okay.

Sweet little Craig made my entire day. :o)

I Wouldn't Go THAT Far

Every so often, when I'm bored at work, I read Dear Prudence on MSN's Slate. This weeks issue has me shaking my head.

The Elephant in the Room - Can angry Democrats get along with Bush supporters?

I don't discuss politics. I don't always agree with people about how they vote. But would I be willing to totally cut them out of my life because of it? That's a little extreme, if you ask me.

Stormy Weather

It has been raining so hard here all day. Kinda matches my mood. I'm not really depressed, but not happy about anything in particular, either. I'm just going through the motions today.

Work went by pretty fast considering how tired I am today. I got somewhere around 4 hours of sleep last night, not consecutively. I'm so ready for bed right now but it's not even 8:30 yet. If I go to bed now, I will wake up too early tomorrow and be in the same boat.

It's supposed to rain like this again tomorrow and then we're in for about 4 days of snow. That would be nice, but I highly doubt it. We've had a strange fall season this year. We normally have days and days of rain but this year we've hardly had any. Our summer was hot and dry so people were saying we'd have a cold winter. I don't know how true that is, but one can always hope. :o)

People here can't stop talking about the girl who solicited help in the murder of her own mother. It makes me sick to think about it. She was just here in October for volleyball. She seemed like a nice girl. I guess looks really are deceiving.

I'm sorry, I'm just not into this tonight. I'm going to find a book to read or something.

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I am so not awake today. I couldn't get to sleep last night until after Midnight. Then I woke up at 2:30 to find Michael was not in bed yet. I panicked and ran down the hall. He heard me coming and immediately got up to come to bed. It took me a while to calm back down and fall asleep. Then at 4:30AM I got a cramp in my leg. I've been awake ever since. So, yeah, I'm totally dragging today. I can't call in because we're already out of subs for both today and tomorrow. Well, I could call in if I didn't feel sorry for my sister-in-law, who is in charge of getting subs.

I'll try to ignore the burning in my eyes, the fact that my feet feel like a couple of anvils when I try to walk, and the aching muscle in my leg that is causing me to limp. Hopefully, I'll be successful because if the kids know you're tired, they're relentless.

Man, I wish I was a coffee drinker.

Tuesday Tidbits

Today for the first time since Thursday, our dinner will consist of something other than turkey. Michael bought a huge turkey this year. We like to have leftovers but he forgot that we wouldn't have the girls this year so we had tons left over. It's amazing how creative one can get when its needed. I've never had turkey so many different ways before.

I'm sleepy today. I couldn't sleep lastnight for some reason. Wasn't thinking about anything in particular, just restless. I didn't want to be lying down but new I couldn't get up if I was going to function today. This part of my morning is always slow so its easy to start to drag. If I were a coffee drinker, I'd need a cup or two right now.

Speaking of coffee, Aimee, if you read this, I found out that Starbucks coffee is sold at Safeway in Town :o) The sign caught my eye while I was over there waiting for Michael to come back a couple weeks ago and I thought of you.

Lucione came to do her homework at my house yesterday. She said her band teacher told her she should look into private lessons. I asked her why and she said, "Because I'm so good, just like you." She doesn't know it, but I'm giving her a brand new trumpet of her own for Christmas. They're not cheap, but she loves playing and was embarrassed that the one she had to use last year had a piece of gum where the spit valve should have been. The school got new instruments over the summer, but I still wanted her to have one of her own. I love to spoil "my girls".

I don't really spoil them, though. When they stay with me they have chores, and I find little ways for them to "earn" what they get from me. But every once in a while, like at Christmast, I like to splurge a little.

Lindsey is getting a game. One of those grabber things. You know...like the ones you see in arcades. Where you put money in and you have a certain amount of time to move the claw around and try to pick up a prize. I found a miniature version of it. We have one in the mini mart here and she could stand there for hours if we'd let her. She's gotten pretty good at it, too. So now she'll have one at home and it will drive her dad nuts. That makes it even better! It's got music and sound effects. haha!

Those are just the gifts I'll put under "their" tree. Who knows what they'll end up with under mine! ;o)

We've already got presents under our tree. Michael is home all day so I couldn't take a chance and leave his gift unwrapped. He likes to reorganize things when he gets bored so he would have stumbled across it for sure. I wrapped them and put them under the tree and so he returned the favor. Let the games begin!

I've got science in a few minutes so I'm going to go and prepare. If I don't start moving I'm liable to fall asleep here at my desk and that would not be good.

Grrr! This didn't post when it was supposed to! Hope it doesn't show up twice, now.

Believe it or Not...

I'm actually doing something right! What, I don't know...but according to the principal of my building,

"The Library has never run so smoothly."

The past two people to run it were licensed Librarians. I stepped into it not knowing what in the world I was doing. But, my partner and I have apparently figured out things well enough to impress the boss! What a great way to start the week. The kids were really off today so it was a long, hard day. It was within the last hour of the school day that the principal sought me out to tell me. His compliments turned my whole day around. :o)

Weekend Report

Wow, what a long,whirlwind weekend this turned out to be. Thanksgiving in and of itself was fine, it was the days following. Lindsey spent a lot of time with us this weekend. She spent the night with us on Saturday. She had been asking everyday since Wednesday and we finally gave in so she was pretty much here all weekend. She went home around 4PM yesterday and her sister Lucione came by around 6PM.

Between playing games with Lindsey to keep her entertained, we managed to decorate our house. I've got lights on both living room windows, Lindsey's window, and Lucione's window. Michael also put lights up around the living room ceiling and today he's going to do the hallway (and the roof if the weather calms down). I decorated the tree...we hadn't really decided if we were going to stick with artificial this year or go find a real one, but I couldn't stand to have an undecorated tree any longer even though it meant being able to use less than half my Disney ornaments. Yeah, we like Christmas around here. :o)

That was pretty much our entire weekend. It seemed to last forever and yet it seems to have ended all too soon.

Busy Friday

I wasn't on my computer very much today so I'm writing this on my Palm and I'll HotSync it in the morning.

Lindsey came to visit again today. She kept her uncle and me busy playing games. We played Yahtzee, Slap Jack, War, Go Fish, and Crazy 8's. She also played games on my computer which is why I didn't have time to write a post. She didn't go home until 9:30PM.

I really didn't mind having her around, though. She's the goofy one, but I like that she feels comfortable and welcomed here. I have to be extremely busy or deathly ill to not allow her to visit. I'm thankful that doesn't happen too often.

I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post that my sister and I didn't always get along. It wasn't your normal sibling rivalry stuff, either. We literally could not stand to be in the same room together. When we were, there were a lot of glares exchanged but we never spoke unless it was to argue.

When we were really young we were civil to each other but we didn't have anything in common so we just sorta shared space becuase we had to. As we got older, we drifted further and further apart. It eventually got to a point where we just totally ignored each other.

She was a Freshman in highschool when my mom left. She grew bitter, my dad got drunk and I was left to pick up the pieces. I wiped my dad's tears when he'd sit in the dark and sob, I used a stool to do laundry because without it I couldn't reach the bottom of the washing machine. I learned to cook simple dishes and made sure my sister got up each morning for school.

This was when our relationship was at its worst because she resented me for "mothering" her and I resented her for rebelling. My dad eventually got tired of being drunk and resumed his parental duties but the damage was already done. It would be years before my sister and I would learn to accept, like, and eventually love each other.

During the tough times, I spent a lot of time with my cousin and her family. I am only 6 years older than her oldest child so she was a kind of surrogate mother to me. She would let me help her cook so I could go home and cook for my sister and dad. She'd listen when I needed to talk. She was my safety net. If something happened she was there-no questions asked, just open arms and loving words. She was always a huge part of my life. Many times, I'd spend the night on Christmas Eve so I could watch my little cousins open up their gifts before going home to wake up my dad and sister. Any birthday parties I had during highschool were given by her. She checked up on me weekly while I was at college. When the time came, she made the bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. She lives far away now and I miss her but will always be grateful for having had her in my life.

Anyway, my point of the story was to say that I aspire to be for my nieces and nephews what my cousin was for me. I want them to have a place to come for support, encouragement, or to just "be". I don't want to replace their mothers, just be someone they trust. Someone they can talk to when they need to. I want my home to be a place they can come to when they need to feel safe, loved, or just hang out.


(As for my sister... we get along a lot better now. The first time she told me she loved me I cried.)

Thanksgiving Recap

It’s 11:38PM and I am so beat. It’s been a long day. I was up until almost 1AM last night chatting on Yahoo with Ahka and got up just before 8AM. 8:00 is normally sleeping in for me, but I’m usually in bed closer to 11PM if not sooner.

So anyway, we baked another pie this morning because we hadn’t planned on our dessert party my sister-in-law insisted on. Then we put the turkey in the oven, made the salad and went for a drive. The weather was perfect today. We normally get really high winds and heavy rain. It was a little breezy today but not too bad. The sky was mostly cloudy, but there were a few blue patches every now and then. At one point, we noticed it was raining. Soon the rain turned to wet snow and finally into hail. Michael asked me if I was wishing for snow. Hehe That’s sort of an inside joke with us because when my niece Lucione was small, she always seemed to get snow when she wished for it.

After our ride we came back home and finished preparing the food. We cooked the stuffing separate from the turkey this year so when the turkey came out of the oven, we put in the stuffing and the sweet potatoes. Michael wanted marshmallows on them and I had never cooked them that way before so I had to recruit Ahka and her daughter to help me figure out what to do. They turned out great!

We watched the tape delayed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and then when it was time, just sat and enjoyed each others company at the dinner table. It really was nice to have a quiet dinner alone but we kinda missed the girls.

After dinner, we cleaned up the kitchen before we got lazy, haha, and then watched Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving on CBS. Once that was over, it was time to go to the dessert party.

Turned out I didn’t need to bring my pies after all because my sister-in-law served and she only cut her pies. Oh well, I wanted to share with my dad anyway. He’ll be happy when I call him in the morning to tell him I have leftovers.

After things settled down, Jasmine came by to visit the girls. She’s the daughter of my “cousin” who is only my cousin because he is the son of my “aunt” who isn’t really my aunt. Haha His mom and my mom have been life-long best friends so I grew up calling her my aunt. Jasmine is deaf and brought Harry Potter to watch with the girls. We couldn’t get the closed captions to work on the TV so I brought them all over to my house to watch. They had a blast.

After the movie, Lindsey came into the bedroom where Michael and I were playing Cribbage. She got all excited when she saw us playing.

“Oh! I know how to play that game! Can I play next?”

She’s 11 so I didn’t believe her. “How do you know how to play this game? I bet you don’t even know!” I like to tease her.

“I do, too! My teacher put it in our math center at school!”

So after I beat Michael by 20 points, I let her play. I’ll be darned if the little stinker didn’t beat me. I wasn’t even trying to lose! She challenged her uncle and lost so then she challenged him to Slap Jack. She wasn’t about to go home a loser. It didn’t take her long to beat him.

Now it’s almost Midnight and my house is quiet once again. All in all, it was a very good day. The turkey turned out tasty and moist, the stuffing just crisped enough, the sweet potatoes were yummy, the crab salad delicious, and I have to say MY pies were the best! Haha

I hope the rest of you had a nice Thanksgiving with your families.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everyone is having a great Thanksgiving with their families.

This year was "supposed" to be our first year having dinner completely alone but my sister-in-law keeps complaining about being alone. All I could say to her was, "Now you know what it feels like to be the one to be left behind!" That seems a little cold, but that's the type of humor she has...she just laughed. I've had her children for every Thanksgiving since the youngest stopped nursing. She just turned 11 in September. She's always traveled to Seattle with the rest of the family for Thanskgiving and left her kids with me. So it was always Michael and I and her kids. I'm not complaining, mind you. I love those girls like they are my own and have them so often people have actually thought they were mine!

But I was looking forward to having a peaceful Thanksgiving with just the two of us.

She, aparently, has become accustomed to the huge Thanksgiving gathering they have in Seattle so is insisting we combine. I got her to agree to dessert. Her family and mine for pie. That was fine. But I've just hung up the phone. She's busy calling anybody she can to make this dessert "party" as big as she can. I hope she baked a lot of pies because I certainly didn't.

Okay, deeeeeep breath!

Other than that, this should be a good day. Michael and I have baked the last of our pies, I'll put the turkey in the oven in an hour or so and we'll be good to go.

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I'm Thankful For...

I am thankful for my husband. He is my best friend. He does his best to spoil take care of me in every way possible.

I am thankful for my parents. They got divorced when I was 12 but have remained friends and my biggest supporters. I got my desire to help others from my mother, as well as my natural wavy hair. I got my sense of humor from my dad.

I am thankful that my sister and I actually get along like sisters. There was a time we couldn't stand to be in the same room together. Now we talk all the time and I can't wait to see her again.

I am thankful that I have employment. Not just employment; a job I absolutely love. Children are so good at making me smile each day. I'm there till 4PM each day and even then, I sometimes have a hard time leaving.

I am thankful for our health. Michael's test results have all been favorable so far. Still waiting to hear about the monitor he had to wear, but all his other tests were good.

I am thankful that I am able to call this small paradise home. It has it's flaws, as does any place, but I am absolutely happy here and can't imagine living anyplace else.

I am thankful for my nieces and nephews who make my life full of excitement, giggles, and slobbery kisses.

And last but not least, I am thankful for my computer. As I mentioned in my Wonders of MY World post, it's what helps me meet and stay connected to the wonderful people I've met online. :o)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! *HUGS*

WHAT'S his name?

Pumpkin pies are in the oven. YUM! Once they are done, we'll bake an Apple/Cranberry pie. I love home made pie. Especially when Michael and I bake together.

I almost let my sister-in-law (the one who broke my camcorder battery...and still has not replaced it OR returned my camcorder) spoil my mood but I snapped out of it real quick. We talked about baking all morning at work. She knew she was going to bake. She knows the grocery store closes at 6PM. So at 8PM the phone rings.

"I'm trying to bake my pies and I don't have baking powder. Can I have some of yours?"

"I don't really have a lot to spare. We're baking, too, and the can is almost empty," I tell her.

"Okaaaaaaaay. I guess I can just use this white powder stuff I found in a baggie. I don't know what it is, but I'll take a chance."

"Geez. Just come get this. I'll find some someplace else."

I always give in to her. I always bail her out. I get tired of bailing her out because she makes the same kinds of mistakes over and over again.

I ended up finding a full can hidden in our shelves but I'm not going to tell her. Not right away. It may be mean, but I'll let her sweat it out for a day or two. But lets be real here, will it even bother her? Probably not. She still has my camera, remember?

On a happier note, she brought her husbands grandson and granddaughter with her. The boy is 6, almost 7, and the girl is 4. They pulled into my driveway and my dog started barking.

The boy said, "That's a really mean dog!"

His grandma assured him, "No, he's not mean. Plus, look...he's tied up."

"What's his name, anyway?"

"His name is Sebastian."

He thinks on this for a bit and asks, "Why do they call him Bastard?"

 This was taken a couple weeks ago on the other end of the island.

Tumultuous Tuesday

What a crazy day this is turning out to be! I’m so glad tomorrow is a half-day. I couldn’t take another day like this one! Started out fine, but then it came time for my first computer class. I walked into the lab and the class was already there. The teacher said, “Sorry, we needed the extra typing time today.”

Not a big deal. Except it’s not her whole class - just a small group. She has her class divided up into groups and they are writing reports on different regions of the country. She had one member of each group come to the lab.

Their group task is to write a 5 paragraph essay about their region. Again, no big deal, but she has them trained to use their own disks to save documents. This time, however, she has each group member typing a different paragraph. What she didn’t explain to them was that their individual paragraphs are a part of a whole essay. They should have all been using the same disk. She assumed that we all knew that. Remember, they were already here when I got here.

Her students were rotating in and out of here until 9:00. When she came back to say time was up, she reprimanded them for typing their paragraphs separately. I tried to come to the students’ defense and tell her they were doing what she had trained them to do. She said they should have figured out that all of the paragraphs belonged to the same essay. I still think she was wrong to reprimand them. They’re kids. When you drill it into their heads to do something a certain way and then all of the sudden change the rules, they’re bound to make mistakes. Humans are creatures of habit, especially little humans.

(Deep breath)

Once that class was gone, the Kindergarten class showed up. Normally, I get a group of 10 to 14 out of the class of 21. I’m supposed to have 2 pretty equal groups but the teacher is taking forever figuring out their reading levels so she can divide them up. Anyway, today there’s a sub in the class so I got 18 kids at once. I wasn’t panicked until they started acting helpless. They had me literally running in circles because they “forgot” how to open and close their programs. I had to keep telling myself not to get impatient because they are, after all, only 5 yrs old and I didn’t want to start sounding like the other teacher.

Now it’s 9:45. Only two classes into my day and I’m ready to go home. Haha

My next class is science with the 2nd graders. Wish me luck!

Monotonous Monday

9:00AM: I just looked outside. The sky is so beautiful. I'm kicking myself for not bringing a camera. The sun hasn't been up for long so the blue is a deep shade. The clouds look pink and that causes parts of the sky to look purple. The streets look deserted. Quiet for a Monday-even in a town as small as this. It seems sort of eerie; like the calm before a storm.

2:30PM: I'm sitting in the library waiting for the dismissal bell to ring. This is where I do my afterschool study hall.

Today was a pretty uneventful day as far as school. I was expecting the kids to be antsy as they usually are when they know there's a break coming up. The older ones especially. Much to my surprise and delight, they've been quite the opposite.

The building we are in is separated into two wings. The Lower Wing is where the Library, Science Lab, Office, Cafeteria/Gym, Teachers Work Room, and Kindergarten through Second grade classrooms are. The Upper Wing has the Math Lab, Teacher's Lounge, Store Rooms, and Third through Sixth grade classrooms. The Computer Lab, the Guidance Counselor's room, and the Resource Rooms are in a hallway connecting the two wings. If you were to see the building from the air, it looks like a U.

The Upper Wing, for some reason, had a strange odor lingering in the air. At times it smelled like hot candle wax. At other times it had more of a diesel smell. Whatever it was, it was strong. I'm surprised nobody got nauseous or complained of a headache. It's just started to drift down this way. I don't know how they managed to breathe it all day.

I wrote this post on my PDA today. I've really got to come up with more intersting things to write about. I'm even boring myself with this.

Christmas Bears

 


This is what I came home to on Friday. There are 26 bears lined up. Two for each year from 1992 through 2003. These are just the K-Mart/Wal-Mart bears. I have other Christmas bears that haven't been set out yet. 

Where Did the Weekend Go?

I can’t believe Sunday is already half over! It all seems a blur right now. I can’t figure out where the time went.

Thursday night Michael took out the artificial Christmas tree we bought last year. It was our first time using an artificial and I’m not sure we’ll keep it up this year. For some reason, he’s anxious to jump-start the holidays. It’s not decorated yet, but it’s set up and he plugs it in everyday.

Friday when I came home from work, he had placed most of my Christmas bears around the tree. The year we got married, my mom bought me Christmas bears from K-Mart because I love teddy bears (my nickname is Care Bear) of all kinds. These ones were all dressed up in pretty dresses and suits. That started a tradition. Every year, she’d send me 2 more. Always a boy and a girl. Then K-Mart started putting out plain looking bears. With just a little scarf or a sweater. Still cute, but not as pretty as previous years. Luckily, they got a new Wal-mart in her town. They had Christmas bears just as pretty as the original K-Mart bears. Up until about 3 years ago, she was sending me 2 new Wal-mart Christmas bears each year. Then we got a Wal-mart in town so I can buy my own. I wanted to buy this years when I was over there but they only had the small ones out because the manager didn’t want to “get sick of Christmas too soon” according to an employee. I WILL get my 2004 bears, though…I’ve got 1992 through 2003 and skipping a year is not an option. It doesn’t matter that my living room is getting over-run with teddy bears. Ha-ha

Saturday, Lindsey thought she had a basketball game at 1PM but it wasn’t until 4:45 so she hung out at my house. We went to the grocery store and got things for Thanksgiving dinner. I decided to let her cook dinner. She and Lucione love to help me in the kitchen because they never get to at home. I had a can of Pillsbury biscuits in the fridge so let her make us some mini pizzas. It was really easy and they turned out to be tasty as well. All she did was flatten the biscuits and then top with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. They baked at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes. She was so proud of herself.

After we ate, we went to the Town Hall for her game. Turned out they were behind schedule so we had to watch 2 games before hers, and stayed for the game after hers. 4 games is a lot for one day.

When I listed the little tidbits about my home town the other day, I failed to mention my cousin’s pizza place. She makes really good pizza and we indulge about once every 2 or 3 weeks. Recently, though, she’s added ice cream to her menu. After the basketball games Michael treated me to a double scoop cone. Banana nut and strawberry cheesecake. I hadn’t had ice cream in so long. It was SO good.

Today I haven’t really accomplished much at all. Read a few blogs. That’s my big accomplishment of the day today. I need to figure out what I’m going to eat for lunch…especially since I skipped breakfast. We both got up later than usual and neither one of us felt like cooking or eating.

I’m going to go look at my tree and bears for a while. :o) Maybe blast some Christmas music. I so love having a satellite dish. There’s a music channel that plays “Sounds of the Season” and they’ve played non-stop Christmas music since November 1st.

Friday Funnies

It's Friday, and I think we all need a laugh to start the weekend.

I just received this via e-mail. Hope you get a giggle out of it just as I did. :o)
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READ SLOWLY-THESE ARE RATHER CLEVER!

1. ARBITRATOR: A cook that leaves Arby's to work at McDonalds

2. AVOIDABLE: What a bullfighter tried to do

3. BERNADETTE: The act of torching a mortgage

4. BURGLARIZE: What a crook sees with

5. CONTROL: A short, ugly inmate

6. COUNTERFEITERS: Workers who put together kitchen cabinets

7. ECLIPSE: What an English barber does for a living

8. EYEDROPPER: A clumsy ophthalmologist

9. HEROES: What a guy in a boat does

10. LEFTBANK: What the robber did when his bag was full of money

11. MISTY: How golfers create divots

12. PARADOX: Two physicians

13. PARASITES: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower

14. PHARMACIST: A helper on the farm

15. POLARIZE: What penguins see with

16. PRIMATE: Removing your spouse from in front of the TV

17. RELIEF: What trees do in the spring

18. RUBBERNECK: What you do to relax your wife

19. SELFISH: What the owner of a seafood store does

20. SUDAFED: Brought litigation against a government official

Balance and Motion

The 1st and 2nd graders have moved on to Balance and Motion in science lab. They've been practicing making paper objects balance, exploring counter balances, etc.

Today, one of the 1st grade classes was making mobiles out of straws, paper clips, rubber bands, and index cards. We gave them a picture of what the end result should look like and it was up to them to use their materials to recreate their own.

They were all having a blast and I asked Tyra if she thought todays experiment was fun.

"Yeah! We shoulda tried this years ago!"

She's 6. :o)

I love my job!

"Smoking is the Leading Cause of Statistics"

So says the man in my radio. hehe

Today is the day for the Great American Smoke-Out. If you're reading this and are a smoker, I hope that you are trying to participate. Even if it's just for this one day. I encourage you to try.

I know, easier said than done. Especially coming from me. I don't smoke, but my mother does. My grandmother died of lung cancer when I was 12. The day I found out she was sick and it was caused by smoking, I vowed never to smoke and so far, I've kept my word.

There's No Place Like Home

Back in the August archives somewhere, I wrote one of those ABC poems about "home" because I was bored one night and had nothing better to do. I've hinted around a bit about how small this place is, but haven't really elaborated so here are some tidbits about my hometown.

*I live on a small island in Southeast Alaska.

*This is an indian reserve. The only one in Alaska.

*The population is just short of 1,800.

*We have a mild climate with cool summer temperatures (usually 60-70) and warm winters (usually 30-50) and average about 150 inches of rain per year.

*This town was established on August 7, 1887. The founders moved from B.C. Canada to gain religious freedom.

*We have one grocery store.

*We have one hardware store.

*We have 2 clothing stores (One specializes in t-shirt transfers).

*We have 2 movie rental/snack stores.

*We have one gas station.

*We have one convenience store.

*We have 2 hamburger stands.

*We have one hotel/restaurant.

*We have 3 Bed & Breakfasts.

*We have one post office, no mail delivery.

*We do not have cell phone service, but they do on the next island.

*We do not have traffic lights. The speed limit is 20mph unless you are outside of the city limits, then you can drive as fast as 45mph.

*The island can only be reached via air or water.

*We have one school district that includes 3 buildings. An elementary, a Jr. High, and a highschool.

*We have one private school run by the Baptist church.

*Our town is governed by a mayor and 12 council members. All are elected.

*In order to own property, run for public office, or vote in the town elections, you must be a member of the community. If you are not a member, you need to have a work and resident permit to live here.

*To be a member, you must belong to the tribe, be approved by the council and be sworn in at an inauguration.

*There are many native dance groups. They perform at potlatches, for the tourists, and at other local events.

*At the moment, about 70% of us are unemployed.

*Up until about 4 years ago, most of our roads were unpaved. Now all roads within city limits are paved.

*We have one clinic and one dental clinic, but are often sent out of town for medical care.

I can't think of anything else anyone might find interesting. Feel free to ask questions if you want to. Hope this hasn't bored you to tears. I had nothing interesting to say so this is what you got. haha

Superstitions and Wive's Tales

My father-in-law called me early this morning. He said, "Mom said someone tried to follow her into the bedroom this morning. Be careful for the next 4 days."

"Okay, I will," I promised and hung up.

I asked Michael what he meant by that. He didn't know but the more we talked about it, the more I figured it was one of his mothers superstitions. He dropped me off at work and said he'd go find out more.

So this is what happened. His mother had just come out of the restroom after her morning shower. She went into her bedroom, then closed and locked the door behind her. She heard something and looked up at the door. The knob was turning like someone wanted to come in. She called out asking if it was Richard, my nephew who is living with her. There was no answer so she finished dressing and then she and my father-in-law walked out into the hall. The house was quiet, all doors to the outside were still locked. They walked into Richard's bedroom and he was still sleeping. That's when my father-in-law started making phone calls.

Apparently, if you lock yourself in a room and you think you hear and see the doorknob moving like someone is trying to follow you, then you can expect something bad to happen. I don't know if it's death or injury, or what. But we've all been warned to be careful for 4 days.

How do superstitions like this start? Who was the first one to relate a bad circumstance to a locked door?

There's one that says if a bird should fly into your house, you have to trap it and kill it or someone in your family will die.

Then there's the one that says you have to give your first catch of the season away. If you don't, you won't catch any more fish.

There are a lot more that I can't think of at the moment. When did they start? Why do people belive in them?

"Your Hair Got Cut!"

Grace, a little 1st grader was the first one to comment on my hair. She saw me and said, "Hey! Your hair got cut!"

"Yes, it did."

"I know why your hair got cut."

"You do? Why?"

"So it wouldn't get tangled up on our pencils anymore!"

Hehe...and she's absolutely right.

My sister-in-law can't quit playing with my hair. She has to grab it everytime I'm close enough for her to reach. She can't get used to my new look.

The little girl who said I had old hair asked if my hair was still old even though it's short. I told her I didn't think so and she almost looked disappointed. She's going to watch me like a hawk now just waiting for my old hair to come back, I just know it.

Other than the many comments and compliments about my hair, it was a pretty uneventful day. A typical Monday. Two of my nieces had dinner with us, though. Lucione and Alexys were here when I got home from work. They were practicing their instruments before basketball practice. When they came back, they were hungry so ate dinner.

I can't stop yawning and can't think of anything else to say so I'll stop and call it a night.

Sunday Mini

It's another stormy day today so we'll probably stick close to home. I don't mind, though, it's just good to be back. Michael surprised me with breakfast in bed this morning. Potatoes, eggs, sausage, and toast from homemade bread.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I am a huge Disney fan. I bought Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas while I was in town and tried to stay up and watch it last night but couldn't do it. I watched maybe 20 minutes and gave up. I think I'll watch it now.

Not much to say today because it's a lazy kind of day. But I'm not complaining. :o)

WARNING! LONG Post!

I'm back home. Eating a hot bowl of venison stew that my sister-in-law's husband made for us. It's full of potatoes, carrots, celery, green beans, broccoli, red peppers, onions, and venison all cooked to perfection. I can't tell you how good it tasts. Especially after not eating lunch. It's the perfect time for stew because the wind is gusting 60 and the rain is pouring down. I don't have time to rest, though, because Lucione has a basketball game in 5 minutes and Alexys has a game immediately after. I used my PDA to record my thoughts and things while I was away so I'll paste it here in case anyone's curious about what I've been up to. :o) No real updates on Michael yet, except that we're both home. Results will arrive in a few days, I guess.

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11/11/06: I came to town anyway. I'm not happy about being alone but in a way, it's good to be away from home. I was getting tired of the constant reminders that my husband wasn't there. I almost don't feel guilty for taking 2 personal days. I kinda feel bad but at least I've taken care of my "old hair." :o)

It's strange being in a hotel alone. I haven't done this since I had to travel between here and college.

This is the first time I've ever colored my hair. I was afraid to do it because I didn't want it to "look" dyed. I don't wear make-up very often and when I do, it's minimal. I'm all about being natural. (This is not to say I don't respect the fact that others feel differently.) I didn't need to worry at all. It turned out looking really good. The hairdresser did a wonderful job mixing the color. My hair does not look dyed at all.

The lady who did my hair turned out to be from home. She was raised at home and is, in fact, my husband's cousin! We talked about our families and were sort of amazed at how we were strangers who came from the same small town. At any rate, she did a wonderful job on my hair and I will definitely be paying her another visit.

She not only colored my hair. She chopped it as well. I gave about 10 inches to Locks of Love. Even minus the 10 inches my hair falls just below my shoulders. I've got some subtle layers which helps my head feel a lot lighter. Best of all, my hair won't get caught in car doors or under the elbows of my students.

It has been kind of nice not having to worry about a schedule. Being able to wander in and out whenever I please and go wherever the wind blows me. :o)

I did have one tense moment today, though. I heard a knock on the door. At the time, nobody knew my room number and I wasn't expecting anyone. I went to the door (which had been locked with both the chain and the dead bolt) and looked out the peep hole. I saw a shadow but couldn't tell who it was. I asked but they didn't answer. They eventually left either because they figured I wasn't going to fall into their trap or they didn't recognize my voice and realized they had the wrong room.

11/12/04: It's about 9:45AM right now. I've been awake since about 7:00. That's sleeping in for me and it felt good. Especially since I fell asleep BEFORE 11:00PM. I've already had my breakfast. All that's left is to countdown the hours and minutes till I see the love of my life again. He leaves Sitka in an hour and a half. A short 50 minutes after that he'll be landing HERE!!!

I'm going to go next door and waste some time in the mall so Housekeeping can clean my room. (Oh! I almost forgot...when I first walked into my room yesterday, I was feeling a little lost because it's been so long since I've slept alone in a hotel. So I walk over to the bed to sit for a while. The little card the housekeepers leave behind caught my eye. My housekeeper's name? Mike. I had planned on keeping my husband's name a secret but I slipped the other day so I guess there's no sense in hiding it anymore. Haha I don't call him Mike, but everyone else does.) Now I'm off to the mall. :o)

It's now 11:45. I'm sitting in a small corner booth at McDonalds sipping a coke and watching passers by. This is one of my favorite pastimes. I remember when my mom lived in Seattle. I was in Jr. high. My mom was working for a factoring company at the time and South Center was on the way to her office. She'd sometimes take me to work with her and I'd get $0.10 for every envelope I stuffed. My first real pay check came from that company. It was for $20.00 :o) On the days I didn't feel like stuffing envelopes, Mom would drop me off at the mall. She'd give me enough money to buy lunch and some to spend however I wanted. My only instructions were to look for clothes I wanted and meet her at a certain spot at 5:15 so she could look over my choices and purchase them for me. I'd be at a near run trying to come up with a list Mom and I would agree on as quick as I could. I'd then find a comfortable spot and watch people. Mothers with children, teenagers in love, elderly couples. When I felt like moving, I'd walk a bit, find a new spot to sit and on and on. My mom often said she felt bad about "abandoning" me at the mall for hours but I always assured her I didn't feel abandoned. I loved watching people and making up their life stories in my head.

I have to keep chuckling to myself sitting here because of the other silly people coming and going through the doors of this popular eating establishment. Why am I laughing? Because these people are just as silly as the people at home. There is a bright yellow sign on one of the doors with an arrow directing you to Please use other door. I've watched 4...make that 5 people now push on the door multiple times before reading the impossible-to-miss bright yellow sign.

12:23PM I just got off the airport ferry. Yes...thats right...we have to take a ferry to the airport. Comes with the territory when you live in SE Alaska. :o)

Shucks. I just looked at the monitor. Michael's flight should have landed just as I got here but it won't arrive until 1:00. Oh,well. At least I know he's on his way. Minutes away. 20 LONG minutes away. hehe

They just announced the arrival of flt. 62! YAY!!! :o)

5:30PM: We're at the hotel now. We had lunch at McDonalds because it's right next door and he was in a hurry to eat. He surprised me with a peanut butter pie. He keeps commenting on my hair. I didn't tell him how short it was because I wanted to see his reaction. We went to Walmart for a bit for something to do. They had a big singing Grinch. haha Michael hinted he was going to go back and buy it. I kinda hope doesn't. I like musical things but what will I do with a life size singing, animated Grinch?

We ran into my step-mom in the lobby. She's going to tag along with us when we go to the movies.

11:30PM: We just got home. We decided to go to two movies. The Incredibles and The Polar Express. I was so excited to find that Friday Night Lights was replaced by The Polar Express. We thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

11/13/04: 10:20AM: We just got back to the hotel. We went to breakfast around 7:30 and then went to the store. I needed lotion and Michael wanted vitamins. I'm telling you, he's worse than a woman when it comes to shopping. We got what we needed, but also a tripod for our camera, a saxophone playing Coca-Cola bear, and so much more.

Besides the shopping, the only other thing that bugs me is how he pretends to hear me even when he doesen't. I hate having to repeat myself and sometimes I have to as many as 3 or 4 times. Most of the time I can deal with it but if I'm in an irritable mood, I get impatient. Anyway, at breakfast I was trying to tell him something and he couldn't hear me. After repeating myself about 3 times without success, I said, "You're lucky I missed you so much. I'd normally be irritated by now."

1:43PM: We're finally on the ferry. We don't leave until 2:30 but we had to allow time to return the rental car and ended up being early. We'll get home at 4:00 AK time (5:00) our time.

4:15 our time: We're part way home. The waters are rough. I'm glad I don't get seasick. The rocking is making me sleepy though.

5:15 our time: HOME At least back on our island. I'll be home in about 2 minutes. :o)

20 Hrs. and Counting.......NEVERMIND :o(

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas…these are the songs I’m hearing as I type this. Lucione brought her trumpet home today so I made her practice. She kinda grumbled around because she would have rather watched TV but I said, “You went though the trouble of bringing it home, you might as well practice.”

“Ooookayyyy,” she said.

She’s actually gotten so much better since she started. When she first brought the trumpet home, she was so proud as she announced, “I got my trumpet today!”

But when asked if she could play any notes, “I can blow in it,” was her reply. Hehe

My dad came to dinner again tonight. He likes my meatballs. :o) I always enjoy our visits and I kept encouraging him to come by more often. I hope he heard and complies. I would love nothing more than to have more time with him.

I think when Lucione puts her trumpet away I’ll take her for a walk. I love being out in the cold and she’s got $8.00 burning a hole in her pocket. We have a store here called Mini-Mart. It’s like a miniature grocery store and they sell fast food type foods. I’ll let her buy herself a snack or something.

I don’t know if I’ll have time to post in the morning…I’ll probably be too excited to think straight anyway. Haha If I don’t, you won’t hear from me until Friday evening at the earliest.


8:55PM UPDATE: I just hung up the phone with my husband. The doctors heard an extra heartbeat while they were hooking him up for his stress test. Twice. Now he's got monitor wires all over him until tomorrow at 4:30 so that they can see if it's a fluke or if he, indeed, has an irregular heart beat. They're not too concerned at the moment because once the exercise started, during the exercise, and following exercise, his heartbeat was fine. But now that they have him all wired up, he's got another appointment tomorrow and then another Friday morning. That means he won't be traveling back home until then. Which means I now have sub and a day off for nothing. He told me to go to Town anyway. Get away for a bit and he'd join me Friday. I may, I probably will...but now the queasy feeling in my stomach is back. This has been one rollercoaster of a ride and I've never been a fan of the scary rides.