Any Questions?

According to my source, today is Ask a Stupid Question Day. Others say it was on Tuesday. At any rate, does anybody have any stupid questions for me? No guarantee I'll be able to answer.

Déjà Vu

I had the weirdest déjà vu today. I walked into my computer lab at the end of the day to pick up my belongings and head home. I saw our maintenance guy in there. He was removing some outlets that were in (on?) my floor because they’re never used and people are always tripping over them. I said hello and walked over to my desk. When I realized I hadn’t logged off my computer, I sat down in my chair. While I was there, the night janitor walked in. I watched him walk across the room and all of the sudden it was like I was watching a re-run on TV. I knew where he was going to stand and exactly how he was going to lean on the table. Even before he did it, I knew how he was going to lean over and look at what the maintenance guy was doing down on the floor.

The maintenance guy looked up and said, “I’m removing these outlets.”

“What for?” the janitor asked.

“Boss wants me to.” He replied.

It was so strange. I don’t know why it felt the way it did, but it gave me the chills. It couldn’t have happened before because in my 12 years at this job, those outlets have always been in the floor and up until a month ago, I didn’t even know the maintenance guy. He just moved to town in mid-August.

I got up and out of there as quick as I could. Too weird.

Uncle Update :o)

I saw my uncle today! He came to see me at work. He's back from the hospital and all of his tests have come back negative. It seems that maybe his medications had a really bad interaction with each other which caused his temporary paralysis. He'll go back next week for a check up, but he looked soo good and I didn't realize how much I had missed smelling his cologne. I'm so happy now. Yay!

Maybe they should have cooked beef!

Family feud over chicken turns into gun battle

This is crazy! If you can't decide how to cook chicken, then cook something else. Simple as that. Sheesh!

The Gorilla

I almost didn't post today but I didn't trust myself to skip just one day. I'm exhausted. It's been a long day. Not just for me. My husband worked 11 hours straight today - from 9AM till 8PM. Tomorrow he's looking at a 14 hour day. He'll start at 6AM and work till dark, which is around 8PM.

He's working construction. He's driving a dump truck hauling rock. They're building a jetty. He enjoys driving, but the hours are not regular. Because of the job they're doing, they've had to work with the tides all summer so some days he'd work 4 hours, and some, like this week, considerably longer.


This is where they are building the jetty. 

I took this picture about a month ago. The pilings in the background are what remained of a wooden breakwater that used to be there. They are pulling them out of the water as they get to them. We already have 2 breakwaters here on the island but this being a fishing community, we have outgrown them.

My husband and I (and other members of our community) call the mountain in the background "The Gorilla." To us, it looks as if a gorilla is lying on its back. Do you see his profile?

We also have a mountain that has a profile of George Washington. I'll take a picture of that and post it some day. It's best to get a winter photo so George will have his white hair. :o)

I'm off to bed now. Goodnight.

My Husband the Hero

My husband and I went for a drive on Sunday. The weather was beautiful. We stopped at a creek to watch the salmon swim upstream. It’s time for them to spawn. Unfortunately, the tide was low and because we had such a dry summer, the creek was not as full as it should have been. Most of the fish were able to find their way through the maze of tide pools and dry sand. There were some, however, that were not as fortunate. It’s sad, at least to me, to see a fish flopping in the sand suffocating out of the water. Some of them were able to find their way back to water no worse for wear, but there were a few that couldn’t manage no matter how hard they tried. After watching one lose its battle, my husband decided to go down to the waters edge. I thought he just wanted to get a closer look at the fish. I’ll be darned if he didn’t jump right in and start throwing fish back into the water. He’d save one and wait for the next one to get beached and then run over and save that one. He did this for a good 15 minutes or so before he got tired. He was feeling a little defeated because he knew that some would die after we left but I lifted his spirits a little by telling him how proud I was of him. It also helped to know the tide would be coming back up soon.

He’s a big guy and is pretty quiet out in public. People are sometimes put off by him because he doesn’t always look approachable. That tickles me because I know the real him. Call me selfish, but I’m kinda glad that they don’t. I’ve got a big huggable, lovable, cuddly teddy bear all to myself!

Rainy Days and Mondays

No, I'm not feeling down today...but that song's been in my head all morning because it's raining so hard.

I am a little sleepy, though. For some reason I couldn't fall asleep last night and then when I finally did, I woke up every 2 hours.

I'm at work, but on a break. I don't have anyplace I need to be right now so here I am. Rambling on about nothing of any importance.

My sister-in-law is trying to pretend she's sick. I don't believe her and she knows it, but she tries anyway. My other sister-in-law is coming to town for a visit today and so playing sick is just an excuse to get out of work and visit with her sister.

I have a headache but now I can't complain because she'll think I'm faking. hehe

Can you tell I'm bored? I'm just typing thoughts as they come to me. I'll probably delete this later because it's so random it doesn't even make sense. But it's a way to pass the time.

My next class is science. I'll have one of the first grade classes. Remember my post about my nephew? It will be his class so it should be fun. He always manages to make me smile. Everyone, actually. The staff knows he's my nephew so when he does something that makes them laugh, I always hear about it.

I can't believe September is almost over already. It seems like school just started and it's already been a month. Where does the time go?

My husband is not working today. He's home baking bread. We don't usually buy bread at the store. He makes the best bread. The only thing is, he does not know the meaning of a small batch. He makes about 20 loaves at a time. To him, that's HALF a batch. At Christmas time, he makes a double batch (close to 100 loaves) and we give bread away as gifts. We tried to skip one year and people asked for it so I guess we've started a tradition.

Speaking of Christmas, it's almost time to pull out those Christmas CD's of mine. Yay!

I guess I better quit rambling and find something to keep me busy. Science isn't for another 25 minutes. I'll come back later and either delete this post or write another.

National Good Neighbor Day

September 26th is Good Neighbor Day. When I heard this, it got me thinking about the different neighbors I’ve had in my life. The most memorable were those from my childhood.

The first one I thought of lived on the other side of our narrow dead-end street. He lives in another state now and is a well known carver. I loved having him as a neighbor. He used to let me into his workshop while he was working and I’d watch as he created totem poles, masks, rattles, paddles, head dresses, and bent wood boxes. Each piece had its own story and I loved to listen to them all. When people would rave about the wonderful job he did, I always felt proud to be able to say he was my neighbor and I actually witnessed the creation of his wonderful art. Mind you, I was just a kid…no more than 10.

The first house on our short street was occupied by an elderly lady. I called her Grandma Liz even though we were not related. She lived alone and I spent many afternoons at her house. I don’t remember why I started visiting her, but I remember that she always made me feel so welcome. She had raspberries growing in her yard and I used to crawl under the bush where I could hide and eat my fill of berries. She always pretended not to notice my stained fingers when I would crawl back out and pretend I hadn’t raided her berry bush. When she passed away, our neighborhood was never the same.

The other elderly lady on our street was not as friendly, but just as memorable. She always had a dog. If one passed away, she’d quickly replace it with another. They were always small and they were always hyper. They’d irritate me by barking and yipping all day. There were salmon berry bushes bordering her lawn. Salmon berries grow wild here. If I, or anyone for that matter, tried to pick berries from “her” berry bushes, she’d come out hollering with a voice that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. I always thought it funny that she wouldn’t let me pick the salmon berries, but would let me pick her black currants.

Those are just a few of the neighbors I’ve had in my lifetime. I wonder if they knew how much of an impact they had on my life. I also wonder what kind of impact I’ve had on others. Have I been a good neighbor? I know that I haven’t been a “bad” neighbor. I’m always respectful of those around me. But other than that, I just don’t know.

Count Your Blessings One By One

Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

These words are lyrics from a musical called Godspell. I didn’t know that until I started singing to myself today and did a Google search to figure out what it was I was singing. I’ve never seen this musical so I don’t know how I know this song. I’m guessing I must have sung it as part of the choir in Jr. High or High School.

Anyway, I’m alone at home today because my husband is working. I haven’t been watching TV lately so it is very quiet in my house. It’s given me opportunity to just be alone with my thoughts. I was getting to a point where I was starting to feel hopeless. My uncle is sick, my sister is in the hospital and may be crippled for the rest of her life, I’m still not quite over my cold, and on and on and on. I found myself focusing on what was wrong with my life rather than what was right.

I’ve had a lot to deal with lately, but that doesn’t mean I’m leading a miserable life. I decided to take an inventory of my blessings, if you will, and this is what I came up with.

• Although I’ve had a cold the past week or so, I am in good health. I don’t have any serious medical problems to speak of and for that, I’m grateful.

• I have a job that I love. I wasn’t too sure about it when the school year started because of all the changes, but I’ve decided to embrace the changes and make the most of it. I’m having a great time and it’s nice to see the kids outside of the computer lab.

• I couldn’t have asked for a better husband. My friends say I’m spoiled. I say I’m “well taken care of.”

• I live in one of the most beautiful places I know. Not just because of the scenery, but because of the whole feel of it. We’re a small, tight-knit community and we always look after our own.

• I have a huge extended family so I’ve always got love and support when I need it most.

• I get along very well with my husbands family, too. They treat me like I am one of them and I have never felt out of place in their presence.

• I have friends who, knowing all my faults, love me for who I am and never fail to catch me when I stumble and fall.

• I have a roof over my head and it happens to be my maternal grandmother’s house. I still remember the day I said goodbye to her. We put her on a plane to Seattle for cancer treatment and she passed away in the hospital. Living in her house brings comfort as it is a constant reminder of my carefree childhood days.

You Said You Were Going to Read This...

So I hope you get this message. My computer keeps disconnecting and I can't get MSN Messenger to reconnect. Sorry about that. Was good to chat with you again. So tell me, what do you think? Feel free to leave a comment! :o)

T.G.I.F.

So here I am at work. Nothing to do and bored out of my mind. Today's Friday! Yay! Today's Payday! Even better! We only get paid once a month so I only get 9 paychecks a year. Needless to say, payday's a big thing around here. hehe

I'm still kinda stressing about my uncle. But I figure at this point, no news is good news. He was sitting up eating his dinner yesterday and his speech was not as slurred, so I guess he's getting better or at least not getting worse.

Turns out my sister has broken her hip before. She never did seek treatment so it didn't heal properly, if at all. Now that she's re-fractured it, they had to do surgery but if she doesn't get the needed therapy, she'll be in a wheel chair for the rest of her life. Financially, it's not possible for her to pay for therapy so I don't know what we're going to do. The only reason she's in the hospital is because of some kind of Free Adult Care program that states it's against the law to refuse care because of someones inablilty to pay.

The weather is so nice today. Clear blue skies and no wind to speak of. After almost a week of rain and high winds, it's a welcome break. In fact, I think I'll go home for lunch today just so I can enjoy the weather for a bit. The way my lucks been lately, it will probably be raining when I get off work.

What Else Can Go Wrong?

You ever heard the saying, “When it rains, it pours?” That’s the story of my life these days. I just heard from my mom. I’ve been unable to contact my mother in months. The uncle of mine who is in the hospital is her brother. She swears she hasn’t changed her phone number yet every time I dial it, a recording tells me the number is no longer in service. I send her e-mails at least once a week telling her what’s going on with me. I figure, if we can’t talk on the phone, at least she can read about what I’m doing even if she doesn’t have the time to reply.
So anyway, today I sent her an e-mail from work telling her about my uncle. She finally replies and says that she hasn’t changed her number and she’s going to wait by the phone to hear from me. (But she sent the e-mail to my work account so I didn’t get it.)
She goes on to say, that my sister (who will be 35 next month) has fallen and broken her hip. She is in the hospital and has to go through therapy otherwise she’ll be in a wheel chair for the rest of her life.
So yeah, I’m in a bit of a tizzy at the moment. I’m going to bed now. I’ve got a headache.

If You Could Change Your Name...

to anything you wanted...what would you choose and why??

Missouri man legally changes name to 'They'

Prayer Request

Please, whoever reads this, I ask that you say a prayer, or at least think good thoughts for my uncle. He was enjoying his coffee and toast this morning and when he stood up to leave the table, he couldn't use one half of his body. He's been medi-vacced to Ketchikan. They think he may have had a stroke. I'm extremely scared and worried, so please keep him in your prayers. Thank you.

Music

I just finished watching For the Boys. I think musicals are my favorite type of movie. Music has always been a big part of my life. My mom always sang in church. My aunt was the pianist of our church. My uncle was the choir director until he retired and my aunt took over. Two of my other aunts were singers.
I started singing in choirs when I was about 6. Mom would take me to choir practice with her. When she tells the stories, she says I was just as good as a tape recorder. I’d pick up on the songs quickly and remember them word for word, note for note. Once back home, my mom would practice and if she hit a wrong note or got the rhythm wrong, I’d be sure to correct her.
I couldn’t wait to get into Jr. High because I could join choir. I was in choir all through high school and in 3 choirs at college. One was the concert choir open to anyone interested in joining. The other two were by audition only. My only classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays were the two choirs I auditioned for.
All through high school and for a while after college I sang at almost every church service I attended. At the time, I went to the Assembly of God church and they had 2 services on Sunday, one on Wednesday evenings, and another on Saturday evenings. So I was singing approximately 4 times a week.
After I got married, I stopped. I’m not sure why. I think it may have had something to do with losing my aunts. When I thought of singing, I thought of them. I just couldn’t bring myself to sing without them.
Now, the only time I sing is when I’m alone or in my truck. Sometimes I catch myself singing along to whatever CD we have playing or the radio. My husband will turn up the music and when I ask if he’s trying to drown me out, he says, “No, I’m turning it up so you’ll sing louder.”
Anything having to do with music, I love. For the past 3 or 4 years, I've volunteered to play in an all alumni pep band at the high school basketball games. If I'm flipping channels and find a musical on, I always stop and watch. Anything from Hello, Dolly! to Sister Act. Musicals on stage are also favorites of mine. My mom was part of a theater group at a college near her home and she was in The Pajama Game, Flower Drum Song, Singin' in the Rain, and The Music Man.
When one of my cousins was 3, I taught her to sing Frosty the Snowman and her Headstart teachers were so impressed, she sang it as a solo at their Christmas program.
I guess the whole point of this that I love music. In any shape or form. I’m not sure why I just shared all that. I hope I didn’t bore anyone who happens to read this. :o)

YaYa

My grandfather was a well respected man. He was often called upon to give speeches at local goings on here in town. He was one of the few remaining who could fluently speak our native language.

His speeches were often filled with humor, but each one taught a lesson. It didn’t matter what the situation was, if you had a problem you could go to him and he’d impart his wisdom on you.

He was a speaker at my wedding.

His parting words were, “And now to my new grand-son, I have one thing to say. You have just left the Land of the Free and must now live in the Home of the Brave.”

He had us all rolling we were laughing so hard. A few months later, he became ill. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and because he never complained, it was too far advanced for any kind of treatment to help. He was too weak for chemotherapy and his cancer was inoperable so we just pretty much had to wait it out.

Even on his death bed, he found ways to make us laugh. He had a way to make anything humorous, even his down death.

He eased all of our minds when he explained to us that he wasn’t going to die. He said he had always wanted to be a cowboy and now it was time for him to “go west”. We put a little teddy bear in his casket. One dressed as a cowboy, hat and all.

He will always be missed. He touched the lives of everyone who knew him in some way. That was pretty much the entire town because his favorite pastime was to stand in the post office and watch people coming and going for at least an hour or two a day. He’d always greet you with a smile and a kind word. Never anything trivial, like the weather…his comments were personal. His way of letting you know that he noticed you and that your presence meant something.

Today was a great day. It was only made so because of a compliment I received. It was said in kind of an off-handed way but it meant the world to me and I will always remember the moment it was uttered.

I was in the secretary’s office when someone came in to visit with the secretary about some missing paper work for their child. When he entered, I said hello and commented on how I liked his new jacket.

He looked at me and said, “Thank you very much! I just got it in the mail yesterday. I can’t believe you noticed. That’s something your yaya would have said, I just know it. You take after him.”

“Yaya” is our word for grandfather. I learned a lot from him. He had a huge part in making me what I am today. I guess it’s more noticeable than I thought.

Half-Day

I worked half a day today. Not because of anything special. But because I tried to be stubborn and go back before I was completely well and quickly lost my voice. I went to the principal and told him I needed to go home because my voice was getting worse as time went on.

“What do you need your voice for?” he questioned.

Haha, very funny! I was at work long enough to teach 2 computer classes and 1 science class. The science class was fun. It was one of the first grade classes. They had library on Friday and were curious as to why I wasn’t there. I told them I was sick and that I had lost my voice.

One of the boys said, “Oh, you mean you had a horse in your throat?”

“Yeah, my throat was hoarse, alright. I couldn’t talk very loud even when I tried.” I told him.

“What happened when you tried to whisper?” he asked.

“Well, when I talked as loud as I could it sounded like a whisper so when I did whisper, you couldn’t hear me.”

He thought that was a riot. Then he noticed that my voice was beginning to fail me.

“Uh-oh!” he said, “It sounds like your horse is coming back!”

I took that as my cue to come home.

Keyword: ORGANIZE

I have this friend. I’m always complaining about my messy computer desk. Her response is always “Keyword: Organize.”
I thought of her today while I was organizing my desk. While doing so, I found some papers that needed to be filed away. That got me going through my papers and I found some poetry I had written a while back.
Most of my poetry is of the “cheesy rhyming kind”, as I’ve often heard this style referred to, and it usually comes at a time when I’m emotional in some way about something in my life. It's always been sort of theraputic for me to read what I write because I don't usually stop to think about what I'm writing until I've finished. I’m going to share one here tonight and it seems I was having a hard time dealing with something and needed to remind myself that things will get better. Sort of like “It’s darkest before the dawn” or “Only through struggle can you have success.” Anyway, before I over-explain myself, here it is:

This road called Life is difficult
It seems to change most every day
One day the sky is clear and blue
The next day, gloomy gray

But that’s what makes it interesting
And worth the uphill climb
Not always knowing what comes next
Never knowing what you’ll find

Though life’s not always easy
And the struggles pull me down
I won’t give up, I will not quit
I’ll find a way to rebound

My faith is what sustains me
And pulls me through hard times
My belief that the Lord guides me
Brings me peace of mind

Each storm brings a rainbow
From rain the flowers bloom
Up from the valleys peaks arise
Each sunset announces the moon

What's up with the Missing Sock?!?

Today was laundry day. Actually, every day is laundry day around here because my husband normally does it. But today was MY laundry day. So I go around the house gathering clothes and carry them to the laundry room. There were more clothes than usual today because one of my nieces spent the night on Friday and forgot to put her clothes in the wash and her sister came and showered here today.
Being that laundry is not usually my thing…I thought I was doing pretty well. Key word here is “thought”.
When I transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer, I take them out of the washer one item at a time. I do this because some of my shirts I would rather hang dry than throw into the dryer. Anyway, there were 6 pairs of socks in todays wash. 12 individual socks. I put TWELVE socks into the dryer.
So the dryer buzzes to tell me it’s done its job. I unload the dryer and bring the piles of warm, Bounce-scented clothes to the couch. I made two trips so that I wouldn’t drop anything…even made an extra trip to make sure I didn’t leave a trail of clothes. Nothing in the dryer, nothing on the floor.
Why, then, did I only have 11 socks to match up? I cannot find the missing sock. I even had my husband look in the machines and we searched the house between the laundry room and the living room. I guess it’s time to buy a hamper or something. We cannot find the sock and it’s driving me batty.

My First Sick Day

On Friday I missed my first day of work this school year. I tried so hard to go to work, but I lost my voice so there was really no point in trying.
I got my voice back and feel a bit better, but taking the day off has mixed me up big time. All day today, I thought it was Sunday. I hate when that happens.
So anyway, not much to say since I’ve not done a whole lot the past couple days. I hope I get over this cold soon and don’t get another for a long time.
I’ll try to write something more interesting tomorrow. Hopefully by then my headache will be gone and I can actually achieve some rational thought.

Work Break

This is my one day a week I only have one library class so I've got a 30 minute break.
Today has been a good day. The sky is blue and the sun is shining, but the wind is cool and crisp. I couldn't be happier. The cool breeze means summer is giving in to autumn which, in turn, gives in to WINTER. Call me crazy, but I love winter. I love that it's cold. I love the holidays. I just love winter.
Winter nowadays is not like it was when I was a child. I remember, as a child, being able to lie down in the snow and disappear. The snow was so deep, we could actually tunnel through it. Our climate has warmed up some, so if we get good snow, it's never as deep as it once was. That still doesn't take away from my love of winter, though. As long as we don't have a long wet winter with too much rain and slushy snow, winter will always be my favorite season. Most people I know cringe when they see the mountain tops turn white for the first time each year. I actually look forward to it. It hasn't happened yet this year so I am still anxiously waiting.
Hurry up, Jack Frost. I'm awaiting your arrival. The colder the better! :o)

So Sad and Maddening

Anchorage Daily News | Parents accused of brutal abuse

As someone who has always wanted children but for whatever reason has not had any, stories like this are very upsetting. These people started off as foster parents and eventually adopted the children only to turn into monsters. I really hope these children can recover from all that has happened to them. I'm sure they have many more scars than can be seen. The emotional trauma they have suffered is unbelievable.

More Dreams

I’m on a break at work. Today is going by pretty fast compared to how my week started. The computer lab is really hot, though. I only have classes until 9:30 but I can’t turn the computers off because they are used throughout the day by teachers for special writing projects and things. Having 24 computers running all day really heats things up in here.
One of my cousins works here. She is always talking about these dreams she has. She dreams about people and strongly believes that if you dream about someone you should tell them. If something bad happens in the dream, then you must tell the person before you eat your breakfast so that the dream won’t come true. I don’t know if I believe in all that, but she does.
Anyway, she came in the lab during one of my classes this morning. She didn't say a word, just stood there in front of me and she had this big grin on her face. That wasn’t her normal behavior…she didn’t even say her usual “good morning”.

“What?” I asked. She just stood there smiling waiting for me to stop what I was doing.
“What is it?” I ask again.
She finally said, “I have to tell you something, but I don’t want to upset you.”
“Just tell me,” I say to her.
“Okay, I had this dream…”
“Oh, no…do I need to sit down?”
“No, it’s not a bad one this time.” She said, still smiling really big.
“Okay, then…what is it?”
“I dreamt that you and your husband came to visit me.”
“Okay, we do that a lot…”
“But this time you brought a baby to show me.”
”Whose baby was it?”
“You were nursing it, so I’m guessing it was yours. It was a boy.”

She then turned and walked out. Still smiling. I’m not expecting. I have no idea where that came from. Oh well, time to go have my lunch.

I Hate Death

We lost another family friend last night. He was in his early 50’s and had a new grandbaby only a couple weeks old. He was holding the baby and then told his daughter to take the baby. He felt tired and wanted to take a nap. Ten minutes later, his daughter went to check on him and he wasn’t breathing. He had a massive heart attack.
My husband just lost one of his brothers back in June to a massive heart attack. He, too, was only in his early 50’s.
The hardest part about living in a small town all your life is dealing with the loss of others. Deaths seem to happen in 3’s. It’s kind of a morbid thought, but when there is a death, we all think to ourselves, “There’s going to be at least 2 more.”
We are all affected by each others losses. The town seems to pull together when things like this happen which kind of makes it easier to deal with. Sometimes, though, I wish I didn’t have to deal. Not that I don’t care, I just get tired of hurting. Is that selfish of me? Sometimes I think so. Then I start to feel guilty.
Our friend was a great man. He was always willing to lend a hand to anyone who needed it. He always had a smile on his face and never spoke a cross word to anyone. He was a pall bearer at my brother-in-law’s funeral.
I’m on my way now to go spend time with his family. That’s what we do here. We gather at the home of the recently deceased to support the surviving family in any way we can. I’ll bring a salad. We never go empty handed.
I just wish we could learn to get together like this during happy times, too.

Dancing the Night Away

Last night my niece had a dance to celebrate her 11th birthday. She insisted that the dance be 4 hours long…from 8PM to 12AM. She fell asleep on the floor back in April when her sister had a dance, but was adamant. She not only managed to stay awake, but she participated in the majority of the dances. There were a couple times she hid in a corner because there were slow songs playing and a boy she’s crushing on wanted to dance. She’s extremely shy and the fact that the chaperones consisted of two of her aunts, her mother, an uncle, and her 19 year old sister didn’t help matters any.
At about 11PM, she came over to ask how many more hours were left. She was getting tired, but still wouldn’t admit her dance was too long. By the time Midnight came along, the chaperones were spent and so were the kids.
It was fun to watch them, though. They had a ball dancing to and singing along with music I couldn’t even understand. It was a good night. I’m just glad I won’t have to do it again anytime soon.

What Do Dreams Mean?

I’ve been having some really strange dreams lately. In some of them, I find myself in strange situations in places I don’t recognize. I can’t figure out what I’m doing there, but at the moment I’m the most afraid, I spot someone I love in the crowd. It’s not always the same person…but always someone I care for and who means a lot to me. In other dreams, I’m alone in my bedroom…lying in the dark sobbing. I don’t know if I’m dealing with a death or some other kind of loss. I just know that I am so upset that I can’t bring myself to get up off the bed. I’m not even IN bed…just lying there fully clothed sobbing on my pillow. My loved ones come in one by one and say the usual “I’m sorry’s” and “I’m here for you’s” but I never know why. There are other dreams where I am so sure that I’ve lost a loved one. Sometimes it’s my mother or father, sometimes it’s my husband. I never see what happens, but in my dreams I’m always saying things like, “I can’t believe (s)he’s gone.” “What am I going to do without them in my life?” I wake up so scared and more than once I’ve shaken my husband awake just to make sure that he would wake up. I have no idea where these are coming from but I am getting to the point where I’m afraid to go to sleep. It’s getting to the point where I feel so drained and it’s really a chore for me to just get through the day from being so tired. Yet when I do lie down, I don’t want to close my eyes because I don’t want to have another depressing dream. I wish I knew where they were coming from. I wish I knew what I could do to make them go away.

Science Lab Haiku

Eighteen third graders
Excited geologists
Is it Friday yet?

The first Science unit of the year is titled “Soil, Silt, and Rocks”. The entire school is studying rocks in one form or another. For the most part, teaching in the Science Lab has been fun. Today was the most stressful day so far. The third graders were wired and restless. Trying to do a lab with antsy 8 and 9 year olds turned out to be quite the challenge. One table was goofy and chatty; another had a group who could not get along. Everything turned into an argument with them. Their lab should have taken about 20 minutes. At the end of their 40 minute class period, most had just barely finished. One table will have to finish up with me the next time they come to science so that the rest of the class won’t have to wait for them. I’m hoping that these kids are just testing the waters, so to speak. Trying to see just how serious we are about the limits we’ve set for them. Up to this point, they’ve never dealt with me outside of the Computer Lab. They behave for me in the Computer Lab…but in the Science Lab it’s like they couldn’t even hear me. I’m really hoping this is a temporary situation.

One Smart Puppy

MSNBC - Puppy shoots Florida man, deputies say

Maybe this guy will think twice from now on before being cruel to animals. If he owned the dog who gave birth to the puppies, I hope they took that way from him, too. In my opinion, he's proven he doesn't deserve to own a pet.

Blogger's Giving Me a Headache!

Is anybody else having problems? I couldn't edit or create new posts yesterday at all. It still won't let me edit...we'll see if this works and if it does, I'll make an entry later.

Click Me!

A friend of mine sent me this link via e-mail. Now the song is stuck in my head. Go ahead, click the link and see if it doesn't get stuck in yours, too!

In anything we trust!

$200 Bill


Okay, I know some of our bills are getting make-overs...but come on....a $200 bill?!? If the fact that we don't even HAVE a bill of that denomination wasn't a dead give away, ya think the "We Like Broccoli" or "USA Deserves a Tax Cut" signs plastered in the White House lawn would have been.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

"A day without laughter is a day wasted."
Charlie Chaplin

My nieces went back to their own home a couple of hours ago. My stomach still hurts from all of the laughing we did. The younger of the two had us all rolling all night. When I finally had enough, I asked her to stop.

She said, "But I don't want to. I like to make you laugh really hard."

When I asked her why, she said, "Because I like the way it sounds and I like to make you happy."

She must have sensed that I had needed a release. It was a long, stressful week at work. It's amazing, really, how sensitive children are. It makes me wonder sometimes, who's taking care of who.

I Love You More Than...

My sister-in-law is out of town tonight so I have my nieces staying with me. They are ages 10 (for about another week) and 12. My husband and I have this silly little game we play. One of us will say “I love you” and the other will respond with “I love you more.” When the older of my nieces was about 5, she started playing along. She still does and is so tickled if she says “I love you” and we forget to say “I love you more”. She doesn’t realize that half the time we forget on purpose. Hehe Well, the younger niece started to play along but with her the response is, “I love you more than you love me.” So anyway, tonight we took them for a drive. She told me she loves me and when I said, “I love you more than you love me,” she said, “Yeah, well I love you more than I love myself and I love myself very much.” This was a nice change. She used to say other things like, “I love you more than my socks” or “I love you more than red snapper.” One time she even said, “I love you more than my luggage.”

I guess I’m pretty tired tonight, I can’t think of anything else to write. Goodnight to whoever happens to read this.

Josickos

Part of my job duties this year includes leading a 50 minute writer’s workshop 4 days a week. The latest assignment for the students is to write a 3 paragraph autobiographical essay. The final paragraph was to include goals they had for themselves, both for this school year and in life.

One of the boys was almost finished today and I was reading over his shoulder as we were editing before we printed a final copy. I got to the third paragraph and when I reached the sentence about his life goals, I was stumped.

It said, “I would like to join an army with Jesus and his josikos.”

I didn’t even know how to pronounce this word and couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say. Looking at the word, I thought he meant “jaw-sick-ohs” and hadn’t the faintest idea what he was trying to say.

Finally, I asked him, “Jesus and his what?”

He said, “Jesus and his ‘joh-sy-cohs’ like in The Passion of the Christ.”

I still hadn’t caught on and said, “Let me think about that for a bit, it’s not spelled right but I’m not quite sure how to spell it. I’ll think about it and we’ll fix it later.”

I started to walk away and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

The boy wants to be in an army with Jesus and his DISCIPLES.

It's all in how you look at it.

There's a lady I have to work closely with on a daily basis. The last hour and a half of my day is spent with her. We get along, for the most part, but there is one thing about her that bugs me. She complains about everything. It doesn't matter if we're talking about work or our personal lives. There's always something to complain about.

I always try to point out the positive side of things to her. Sometimes she hears me but not always. I know it's not always easy to find the silver lining, but I always at least try.

I think it was Maya Angelou who said something like:

"What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it."

Kinda like, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I'm getting better about thinking positive about things. I slip every now and then, but I am making an effort. I'm no Pollyanna but I try not to let myself get carried away with complaining.

After all, I've got my health. I've got my husband and family. I've got friends. I've got a job which gives me the means to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. I've got a roof over my head. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Even on a day like today, when I feel drained and I'm dreading the 6:00 alarm that will wake me in the morning, I am blessed.

I hope you realize that you are, too.

Random Facts About Me

I can’t think of anything to write about tonight so I’ll just type random facts about myself for a few minutes….whatever pops into my head.

*I’ve lived in this same small town all my life.

*The only time I’ve left for a significant period of time, was to attend college.

*I went to college in Colorado. Colorado gets more snow than we do.

*I only have one sibling…an older sister.

*Unless you count my 7 step-siblings…4 step-sisters and 3 step-brothers.

*All but 2 are older then me.

*I like to do word puzzles to pass the time.

*I write a lot of poetry that never gets read by anyone but me.

*I collect Coca-Cola items.

*I collect Disney items.

*I play the clarinet.

*I sing…but not as much as I used to.

*I’ve had 15 operations…13 of them before the age of 5.

*I have vivid memories of being in the hospital at age 3.

*I’m allergic to cats. I think it may be a psychological thing, but I’m not sure.

*I write with my right hand but eat with my left.

*Winter is my favorite season. The colder the better.

*I like to read. Ann Rule and John Grisham are two of my favorite authors.

*When I was in school, people used to think my best friend and I were twins. People still mix us up sometimes.

*I collect movies. Counting VHS tapes and DVD’s, I have well over 800.

That's it for now. It's time for me to go to bed.