"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.

Well It's About Time!

So my husband finally called. FINALLY At work, no less. haha The principal pulled me out of Science to tell me I had a phone call. It was my sister-in-law in the superintendents office telling my he tried to call but got my voice mail. As we were talking, the principal answered the phone at my other sister-in-laws (the careless one) desk and then said, "Kerri, I am NOT your secretary! Your husbands on line 1." He's got a good sense of humor, though, and we're always teasing each other so I know I'm not going to get in trouble for this. hehe

I'm on a short break right now...one of my library classes got cut short and my next (and last class of the day) is in about 8 minutes.

My husbands appointment is in 2 hours. *crossing fingers* I'm really hoping all goes well.

Good Mornin'

I just got Lucione out the door to school. She’s got an early class where she is learning native art. The rest of the Jr. High and High school don’t start until 9:00. The elementary starts at 8:10 but I don’t go in until 8:30. I’m the last one there in the morning, but also the last one there at the end of the day.

I made a Caesar salad for myself for lunch. It was too big for my container so I had the extra for breakfast. Yeah, I’m weird…but a weird girls gotta eat too, no?

My husband’s doctor appointment is this afternoon so I’m a bit nervous waiting for him to call. I know it will all work out, and even if they do find a problem with his heart, at least they’ll be aware of it and work to correct it.

PLUS, it’s Wednesday. That means tomorrow is Thursday. That means he’s coming home. That also means I’m going to Town. Haha In case you can’t tell, I’m in a better mood today. Despite the fact that my sister-in-laws dog insists on camping on my porch and raising all kinds of ruckus with the neighborhood dogs. I had her come down and pick him up last night…told her the trouble he causes…but she didn’t tie him up so he was back this morning. *sigh*

Now it’s time for me to go. It’s after 8 and duty calls. I’ll try to post again tonight, but probably will not tomorrow. If we stay overnight (IF..yeah, right), I’ll post on Friday evening. Unless, of course, I take my friends advice and stay in Town the entire weekend as she suggested. But we shall see.

Getting Better All the Time

IF my husbands flight left at 5PM AK time like it was supposed to, he should just be getting his bag from baggage claim. He was supposed to leave at 4:30 but there was a delay. He's supposed to call again once he's settled wherever it is he's sleeping while in Sitka. I'm in better spirits tonight, thank goodness. I was getting tired of that weird mood I was in and the queasy feeling in my stomach has gone away.

My daddy came to dinner tonight. :o) I don't know why, but having him around makes me feel like a kid again. He doesn't treat me like one, quite the opposite, actually. But I always just feel peaceful and happy when he's near like I did back in my carefree childhood days.

I'm going to cook for him again tomorrow. I think maybe homemade meatballs. Something with hamburger, anyway.

Work today was not so bad. Felt like it was dragging towards the end. I think it's a combination of not enough sleep and the possibility of an overnight stay in Town. I say possibility, but I don't think there's much doubt in my mind that we'll do it. I just haven't told the principal yet. It's not like they'll miss me at work. I team teach two out of the three classes I have and the computer classes are only 1 hour each morning. Besides, we haven't been to Town in a while...it will do me some good to get away. I need to buy some Christmas wrap, too. Yeah, that settles it. We'll be staying overnight. :o)

Lucione has finished her homework so I'm going to find something to entertain us before she gets "square eyes". When she was little I'd tell her if she watches too much TV her eyes will become as square as the screen. hehe

Early Morning Nonsense

Lucione said her bed time was 9:30 so I put her to bed and got myself ready as well. I was in bed before 10:00 but couldn’t sleep. I got up about 10:30 and washed all of the 3 dishes in the sink and just as the water drained, the phone rang.

It was my husband. We were planning on meeting up in Town on Thursday. I was going to go over in the morning (taking a personal day off from work...is this turning into a habit?) to get my hair done and wait for his flight to arrive then we’d come home on the afternoon ferry. NOW, he says he wants me to take TWO days off so we can overnight and go see a movie.

Visiting a movie theater is a big treat for us because we have to actually travel to get to one. Not far, but its still traveling and we have to overnight. So going to see a movie takes some planning. The theater is small…only two screens…so choices are limited but when you don’t have a lot and its such a rare indulgence, you just take what you can get. This time around, our choices are Friday Night Lights and The Incredibles. When he told me this, I said, “Oh! I wanted to see The Incredibles!”

“Yeah, I know…that’s why I called. Maybe you should just tell them you’re going to take 2 days off and we’ll go to a movie.”

Now that he’s put that out there, I don’t even feel like working. I’m not motivated today. Once I finally fell asleep (after Midnight) I slept until 5:30AM. I didn’t get up till 6:00 hoping to catch a few more minutes but never did. I couldn’t bring myself to eat breakfast, but did pack a lunch. I’m sure I’ll be hungry by then. That’s a whole 5 hours from now. Sometime between now and then I’ll find my appetite.

I felt bad about cooking a pizza last night. Not just because I know I should have given Lucione a more nutritious meal, but because my dad called. My step-mother is out of town again. She leaves town a lot for business (she’s our town secretary) and my dad always complains about not eating while she’s gone because he doesn’t want to cook for just one. I’m always telling him to eat with us when he’s alone but he always forgets. He remembered last night. But he can’t eat pizza. *sigh* Guess I’ll have to actually cook tonight.

I think I’ll watch some TV before I have to leave for work…maybe force myself to eat some toast or something. I’m planning on leaving early for work today. I have to visit the ATM machine. I can’t go to the bank during bank hours because our bank is only open from 10AM to 2PM and I work during those hours. Oh well, I get to walk in the crisp morning air and listen to the frost crunch beneath my shoes. I hope your day is a good one. At least I think it's daytime. I can still see the moon. :o)

Miserable Monday

The house is too quiet. Lucione is doing her homework and will be leaving for basketball practice in a few minutes. I don’t normally watch a lot of TV. My husband has shows he likes to watch but with him gone, the TV didn’t get turned on.

I couldn’t bring myself to cook today. I threw in a frozen pizza. Yeah, I know…shouldn’t’ feed the kid junk food but at least I fed her.

Work wasn’t so bad. I kept myself busy so I wouldn’t have too much time to just sit and think. That’s when I’d normally pick up the phone and call home.

This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be feeling like this! It’s not like he left me. He’s got a doctors appointment and will be home in 3 more days. It hasn’t even been 12 hours since I’ve seen him. I’m being an immature baby and I hate it. Maybe if I actually get some sleep tonight tomorrow won’t be as bad. I was awake until after 1AM and then woke back up at 3:30. Dozed off and on but didn’t feel rested when I got up at 6:00.

Today was another cold day. Blue skies and cool temps…my favorite weather combination.

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I’m irritated with my sister-in-law today. She was planning on borrowing someone else’s video camera to take with her to the basketball tournament. She forgot to call them until it was too late so begged me to borrow mine. It was a Christmas gift from my husband last year. I don’t like for her to borrow things from me because, frankly, she’s careless. She’s always losing her purse, locking herself out of her home, forgetting things, etc. I knew if I let her use the camera, something bad would happen.

BUT, my husband is incapable of saying no to his family. When one of them says jump, he doesn’t bother asking how high, he just starts jumping till they tell him he could stop.

She left on Friday and came back on Sunday. She ruined my battery. Not the small one that comes with the camera, the big one. She dropped it. Twice. It’s being held together with sports tape. Somehow she was able to laugh about her clumsiness as she told me what happened. She asked how much a battery costs. I told her I had no idea because the camera was a gift.

And she still has my camera.

Sunday is Almost Over

That makes me sad because next comes Monday which means my husband is leaving town. I can’t figure out why I’m so uneasy about his leaving. It’s not like we’ve never been apart. I’ve gone to my mothers before and been there as long as 3 weeks before he joined me. He went away for training a couple years ago and was gone for almost 3 months. This is only for 3 nights. I almost teared up thinking about it tonight. I know I’m over reacting. But I can’t stop. I think since his brother died, I’m not as comfortable with us being apart. These tests they’re doing are just a precaution; a way to rule out or head off major heart problems. All of his tests up to this point have had good results. Nothing to worry about. SO WHY AM I WORRYING? This is going to be one long week.

It’s been raining all day. Not regular rain…really wet snow. You can’t tell its snow until it hits the windshield except that it’s really cold. As we were driving past one of our many lakes this afternoon, he gasped and asked, “What is that?” I panicked thinking he saw a dead animal on the road or something and started looking at the road in front and behind us. “Over there!” he shouted.



Sheesh…you’d think it was his first time seeing swans. Okay, we usually only spot one at a time, but still…no need to be so dramatic. Hehe There were actually 10, but one swam away. I guess it was camera shy. :o) 

I just hung up the phone. I told Lucione to get ready to move in and also had a little chat with Lindsey. Lucione played on both the A and B teams in the tournament this weekend. As a member of the A team, she placed 2nd overall. As a member of the B team she made the All-Tourney team. A successful weekend all around. Lindsey went to support her sister, but also got her hair cut. I asked her if it was cut short or if she just got a trim. Her reply?

“If you see me from far away and I’m not wearing pink, I look like a boy.”

She cracks me up.

Saturday Babble

It’s about 36 degrees right now. My kind of weather. This afternoon it was a bit warmer but not by much. There’s a wind blowing that adds a wind chill factor. I knew it was going to be a cold, dry day before I even looked outside. My hair is a great indicator of weather. If I brush it and it gets all full of static and drives me up a wall, I know not to be expecting rain any time soon. :o) As much as I love the cold, I can live without the shocks I get every time I reach for a door knob or anything else, for that matter.

The power company was having serious problems this morning. It started at around 7AM. (Why was I awake at 7AM on a Saturday morning???) The power went out for almost an hour. Once it came on, it continued to go off and on at irregular intervals until after Noon. It was averaging about once an hour, sometimes more. Needless to say, our house was quiet. I was afraid to turn anything on because there was no telling how long we’d have electricity. If we weren’t waiting for a phone call, we would have left the house sooner than we actually did.

The phone call we were waiting for finally came around 1PM. It was our niece Lucione. She’s on the Jr. High basketball team and they are playing in a tournament this weekend. She called to give us her latest results. They defeated their opponent and earned a berth in the championship game. Tip-off is in an hour. I wanted so much to see her play but, again, was feeling a bit selfish and wanted this weekend to be just me and my husband so I pretended I didn’t hear him ask if I wanted to jump on the ferry this morning. We’ll just watch the video tomorrow night.

Once we hung up the phone, we headed out the door. We drove to the other end of the island and took a little walk. I love breathing the cold air. The sky was blue and the world was peaceful. The ponds were starting to freeze and looked like glass jigsaw puzzles where the pieces were all sizes of triangles. I don’t think I noticed that before. I didn’t have my camera so don’t have pictures to share. We had a nice time, though, and if we didn’t have to catch the grocery store, probably would have wandered around a bit longer. We only have one grocery store and it closes at 5:30 on Saturdays.

My husband is definitely leaving on Monday. The weather forecast calls for snow showers tonight and tomorrow. We probably won’t get any, but the thing that worries us is the wind. It’s supposed to be blowing all week so taking a chance on the planes is not a good idea. You never know when they’re going to stop flying to wait for calmer conditions. The smartest plan seems to be leaving a day early to take advantage of the ferry. This will give him a chance to spend time with his sister but means an extra night for me alone. :o(

I’ve decided to have Lucione stay with me so hopefully I’ll be too busy taking care of her to realize I’m lonesome. Not that a 12 year old will need a whole lot of taking care of…but ya know what I mean. I’ll think of something to bake, or pull some games off the shelf or something. She finds great pleasure in sending my game pieces back to Home when we play Sorry! and likes to give me as many cards as possible when playing Uno.

Today was a good day. Michael and I just kinda lazed around all morning. It felt like a Sunday. After lunch we went for a drive. The sky was looking weird. Depending on which direction you looked, the weather was different. One way, the sky was blue with a few bright white clouds. The other way, the clouds were dark gray. At one point in our drive, we must have crossed that imaginary line because all of the sudden, the temp dropped a few degrees and it was snowing on us. Not much and not enough to stick on the ground, but it WAS snow! The first of the year. :o)

After our drive we came home and cooked dinner. Didn’t do anything worth mentioning after dinner. Now it’s 10:30 and I’m ready to relax and watch some TV or something.

Whew!

Now I can breathe and rest easy. I changed the URL so I can now view my blog from home AND answer comments! It was driving me crazy not being able to. I figure, if someone’s going to take the time to read what I type and then respond, I ought to be courteous enough to acknowledge their effort.

Now that the mess is cleaned up (I had to go back to prior posts and fix links so they’d go to the new URL.) I can relax and eat my dinner. I’ll come back later and write a proper post. I did respond to comments, though. Yay!

*Waving My White Flag*

*IF YOU'RE READING THIS, PLEASE REMOVE THE UNDERSCORE FROM THE URL AND RELOAD THIS PAGE, THANK YOU.*

Okay, I’m tired of butting heads with Blogger Tech Support and I hate not being able to respond to comments while I’m at home so I’m giving in. They win. I’m removing the underscore from my blog URL. So those of you who have me on your blog rolls (HA! All 3 of you!!) or bookmarked, if you plan to keep me on your rolls and want to go through the trouble, please update your links to my blog by removing the underscore from the URL. I’ll change it Friday evening. Hopefully, that’s enough time for those interested enough to see this.

Mini-Vacation...Sorta

I have today and tomorrow off from work. It’s time for Parent/Teacher conferences but since I don’t have my own classroom this year, I’m ducking out. Parents are never interested in hearing about the pull-outs (science, computers, music, library) anyway so my day is pretty much nothing but sitting around and occasionally waving to someone walking by in the hallway.

I also just wanted to be home. Back in June, one of my husbands brothers died of a sudden massive heart attack. Since then, the doctors have been keeping a close eye on my hubands cholesterol and blood pressure. On Tuesday, he’s traveling to Sitka to have further testing on his heart. I’m concerned because they said that the type of heart failure his brother had is genetic. I just need to be close to him for a few days before he leaves. He’ll only be gone from Tuesday (possibly Monday if the weather is bad) to Thursday, but I’m not too crazy about being alone. I just may have to have Lucione stay with me to keep me company.

So, anyway, I’m being selfish for the next few days.

He just came home from the post office. If you’ve read my blog from the beginning…or at least within the past 3 months or so…you know all about him and his gift-giving games. Well, with more than a month to Christmas, guess what? He came home from the post office today and had a box. Two, actually, but one was something I had ordered. The other, he says, is “one” of my Christmas gifts. And so it begins. Again. Haha

We’re off to take a drive now.

I’m apparently among the minority in my state AND my community. I’m feeling defeated today. *sigh*

I’m not going to be a baby about it, though. I’m not going to whine and I’m trying really hard not to pout. I keep reminding myself that even though I may be in the minority this time around, at least I had the opportunity to voice my opinion. I made the conscious choice and effort to make a difference and that’s what counts. Right?

It's Election Day...Did YOU Vote?

I voted before I came to work. The polls opened at 7AM and I happen to live right next door so it would have been silly to come to work without voting first. The nice thing about being in a tiny community on a small island is that no matter what time of day you choose to vote, there is no waiting line. Something I did notice, however, that is probably not common elsewhere, were the election judges. I’ve read other blogs recently where people were planning on bringing books to read while waiting to vote. Here, it was the other way around. I walked in to vote and the judges for 2 out of the 3 elections we voted for today had movies set up to keep them entertained. The table for our national election had a little portable TV/VCR combo thing and the table for our local council elections had a mini DVD player. That’s the first time I’ve seen something like that during elections and have a hard time believing it happens like that everywhere. Felt kind of sorry for the 3rd table that didn’t have a movie to watch. HA! I’d love to get paid $10/hr to sit around and watch movies all day.

Actually, no I wouldn’t. I have too much fun at the job I already have. Yesterday was a nerve-wracking day for me because I had to lead my first science lab. I knew the material so that wasn’t the problem. I was afraid the kids would act like they normally do when there is a sub. It was the 6th grade class and they can be quite rambunctious at times so I had no idea what to expect. Wouldn’t you know they were perfect little angels? They listened, answered my questions, and actually completed the lab with time to spare. They were even polite to each other! Phew! I know, I know… it seems silly for me to be nervous being that this is my job and has been for a long time. That’s just how I am. I get insecure when I don’t need to be and end up surprising myself in the end almost every time.

Illegal Character?

So Blogger tech support tells me that my blog address has an illegal character in it. I guess I'm not supposed to use an underscore. If that's the case...why have they let me use it for the past 5 to 6 months? Why can I view my blog from work and not from home? GRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I guess if I have to, I'll just remove the underscore...what a pain. Okay, so I'm only on 3 blogrolls...but that's beside the point. My point is, if an underscore is an illegal character then they should not have allowed me to use it in the first place.

Miscellaneous Monday

My weekend was extremely busy. Friday night we were busy getting our house ready for Halloween. Decorating the windows, sorting candy, and cleaning house. When I wasn’t cleaning, I was busy with my computer. I had to re-install everything and it’s telling me it’s virus-free. But I can’t view my blog from home. I can view it here at work and when I’m home I can view almost every one of my favorites. I can’t view my own or Jamie’s. I have asked Blogger but all I’ve received from them is an e-mail telling me they received my e-mail.

Our community celebrated Halloween on Saturday. (NO I did not wear a custume. I stopped wearing costumes in 6th grade. If you don't know why, it's somewhere in the archives. I'm lazy to link it. hehe) That was a busy day, also, because my niece Stephanie came to town and had her birthday party that day. My husband’s family loves to have family dinners; always big and always loud. I only stayed a couple of hours, I couldn’t last any longer.

Kids started knocking on my door around 6PM and continued until almost 11. I still have tons of candy left over, though. We do this every year. We buy enough, and then second guess ourselves and buy extra about the week before. Then we’re left with tons of extra candy even if we hand it out by the handful.

Today I have to lead a science lab alone for the first time. My partner is sick and I usually play assistant to her. She’s in the science lab all day and I’m only in there for 2 classes a day, so I do more one-on-one things with the kids while she leads the lesson. This is a lab we’ve done with 2 other classes, so hopefully I’ll be able to handle it on my own. There is a sub in there, but I’m basically on my own for this. Wish me luck.

The Never-Ending Battle

My computer is still giving me fits. I'm hoping to get it straightened out this weekend. I got the w32.spybot.worm and there is no removal tool for it, so I'm hoping I can follow the directions I printed out to remove it when I get home from work. I was so excited to be able to get online, that I forgot to install my virus protection before I connected. Although, I don't know that it would have helped if there is no removal tool? It's driving me nuts, though, so I hope I can fix things soon. I can't bring my computer to "the shop" because we don't have one here. I'd either have to package it up and mail it or cart in over to Town on the ferry. Right now I'm not willing to do either, so cross your fingers for me.

Jayleigh

I had a very vivid dream last night. It was about Jayleigh. This is the first time I’ve dreamt about a fellow blogger. I guess it’s because she’s shared pictures on her blog. The crazy thing is it also involved my principal’s son. Maybe because he, too, has red hair? Crazy!

I was in the house I grew up in. My principal, for some odd reason, lived next door to me. His son was at my house and he brought something to show me. I don’t remember what it was.

“That’s so cool! Where’d you get it?” I asked him.

“Oh! Jayleigh brought it for me.”

I sat there staring at his gift. “Hmmm, Jayleigh…that name sounds familiar to me.”

“Yeah, she said she knows you. She wants to come over. I’m supposed to see if it’s okay.”

Then I panicked. I grabbed a coat and told the boy to tell her to wait a few minutes. I ran outside and there she was. I was so embarrassed because for some reason, I had my coat on upside-down! I tried to walk right past her and pretend I didn’t know who she was but she grabbed my arm. I tried to fix my coat hoping she didn’t notice.

“Don’t worry about it. It's okay,” she said, and gave me a hug.

Once she did that, I was totally at ease. She and I talked for hours. I showed her all my favorite spots on the island. She was able to see some dance performances by some of our local native dance groups. We had a really good time together. I don't remember our husbands being a part of our adventures. Maybe they stayed home to watch Star Trek. hehe

I don’t know why I dreamt about her but I woke up in a really good mood. She’s had a sad morning so I hope if she reads this she cheers up some.

Quick Computer Update

My computer at home is functional. It’s not fully functional, but it’s functional. I still have a lot of programs to install but at least it’s working now. I tried the SP2 thing again last night thinking maybe it was because there was something else on my computer that it didn’t like. I had just re-installed Windows XP so I had a clean machine. SP2 still wreaked havoc with it. So this time I’ll skip it and just cross my fingers that it will continue working.

Oh, the Joys of Technology

My Terrible Tuesday did not improve any once I arrived home. In fact, it got worse. I have been avoiding SP2 like the plague because I’ve heard horror stories about it messing up computers. After I got home from work, I once again got the reminder to install and without thinking, I clicked “Install Updates.” I didn’t think about it until too late so I figured I’d wait and see what happens. When it started to install, it told me that it was making a backup in case I decided to remove SP2 later. I knew I had a recent restore point because I had checked the night before. I figured, okay I was hoping, I was safe.

After the day I had, I should have known I wasn’t. My computer did not agree with SP2. Not in any way, shape, or form. After I installed it, everything went haywire. My screen resolution reset itself so everything was HUGE. My mouse was working sporadically. The computer told me that it didn’t install correctly and I should remove it by going to Add/Remove programs. I did and things got worse.

I could not get it to do anything after trying to uninstall. My next step was to try and repair Windows. Once I did that, the monitor quit working. The computer would sound as if it was going to boot up, but then the screen would go blank and the light turned orange like it was in stand-by mode.

Once I got it booted in Safe Mode, I transferred my photos and documents to disks. I then attempted once again to repair Windows. It was still working when I went to bed at 11:30 last night.

This morning when I went to see what was going on, it was booting and rebooting itself over and over.

So before I left, I reformatted the drive and Windows was installing as I walked out the door. If I can't get it to work after this, I'm going to need a new window because I will not hesitate to throw my computer through the one I have.

Work so far is not so bad. I’m in a slightly better mood than yesterday. I just hope my computer works when I get home. I probably won’t post, though, even if it does. It will probably take me all night to reinstall everything else. Fun, fun, fun!

Terrible Tuesday

I’m irritated today. I don’t know why. I’m just in a funky mood. Things that shouldn’t bother me do. Things that normally bother me are really aggravating today.

I’m not talking a whole lot today. If I see a student misbehaving, I’m in the sort of mood where just a “look” is enough to send the message that they need to change their behavior.

It’s not just the kids, though. I feel like the other teachers are taking advantage of me and its really frustrating me. Not normally, but for some reason, today I just want to throw my hands up and walk away.

The kindergarten teacher has about 22 students. At the beginning of the year, we decided that she would have two computer days so that she could send half on Tuesday and half on Thursday. It was her idea because she wanted to work with small groups. But she isn’t working with small groups. I get all 22 twice a week. Not really a huge deal, except she’s the only teacher who gets two computer slots a week. I haven’t said anything because up until today, it didn’t really bother me. I enjoy the kids but it just occurred to me that it isn’t fair to the rest of the school…teachers or kids.

I only have computer classes the first hour of the day. The lab is open to anyone who wishes to use it for the remainder of the day but the teachers have to come in and supervise their students. I may be in the lab at different times during the day, but I’m not here to supervise kids. I’m here to fix technical problems or do research for a teacher. Sometimes I’m on a break. If I walk in and there is a class here, as soon as their teacher sees me, they leave. I have a sign-up chart posted by my door. It clearly states that if they sign up for a slot, they must remain in the lab with their students, whether I’m here or not. I need to be free to go into a classroom to work on a computer if I need to and I can’t leave students unsupervised. Aaarrrgghhh!

Another thing teachers do is have their kids hunt me down if I’m not in the lab. If they need to take a test, they hunt me down to ask if they can take it in the lab. If they missed their library day, they hunt me down to check their books in and check out another. I don’t mind doing these things when I have the time, but don’t interrupt my science class just to check out a book.

Geez, it’s only Tuesday?! I really hope I snap out of this awful mood. I can’t survive the rest of the week feeling like this.

Monday Sing-a-Long

I don't know what it is about me...but certain phrases or words get me singing. This is not a good thing when someone is pouring their heart out to me and I break out in song. Unless it's my sister-in-law, Janiece. She just sings along and it usually puts her in a better mood.

Aimee and some of her friends are planning a trip to Kansas City, MO in a few months. Everytime I read about it, I start singing Fats Domino's song

I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
I'm going to Kansas City
Kansas City here I come
They got a crazy way of loving there and I'm gonna get me one

Well today is Monday. As a child I used to watch The Mickey Mouse Club reruns on TV and Monday was Fun With Music Day. Now I've got their Monday song stuck in my head.

It's time for fun with music,
Fun with music,
Making music is fun.
Whether it's a song of home or some foreign land,
Music is the language we all understand.
We're all for one with music,
Fun with music,
And before we are done
Just wait and see,
You'll all agree
Fun with music is fun
Fun for everyone.

I've had this "problem" for as long as I can remember. So much so, that as a child, I used to change the lyrics depending on the situation. One time I was rollerskating with my cousin. She said something about the movie Grease which got me singing Sandra Dee. But that wasn't enough. I changed the lyrics and started singing, "Look at me, I'm Kerri Lee!" We started laughing so hard I'm surprised we managed to stay upright on our skates.

Laura

This time of year, with holidays approaching, I always find myself reflecting on my past. I find myself thinking back to childhood and remembering the way things were back then. The people in my life, things that seemed important, major life-changing events.

Today, I’m consumed with thoughts of Laura. When I was in the 6th grade, she was the Title I teacher at our school. I was not in Title I, but my mom worked with her so I got to know her very well. So much so, that I spent time with her away from school. She’d let me come visit her and sometimes she came to my house. I mentioned the time I got chicken pox. That was the last time I wore a costume on Halloween. When I returned back home, she was there and we snacked on steamed prawns before I went to bed.

As a child, I was extremely shy. I never spoke unless spoken to and even then I’d keep my answers short. Laura had a way that made me feel comfortable. My favorite days were the days she had recess duty. She’d wander the playground and allow me to tag along. We’d sing little songs together. One of my favorites at the time was “Jeepers Creepers”. When I was home with the chicken pox, she sent home little notes and gifts with my mom and I wrote cheesy little poems to thank her.

She was only here that one year and I was so upset when she left. I walked with her down the ramp to the plane and cried all the way back up. My dad took me fishing so I could just be quiet and deal with having to say goodbye to someone I was not ready to let go.

I guess she wasn’t ready, either. She left in June. My birthday is in August. She made a sun catcher for me and sent it to me for my birthday. I still have it. I’d get a letter from her every now and then. She invited me to her wedding, sent birth announcements for each of her children; she even sent cards when I graduated from 8th grade and high school. When she sends out her yearly Christmas letters, I’m on her list. We’ve exchanged a few phone calls, but not nearly enough.

Having her as a friend meant a lot to me. At a time when I was having trouble connecting with my peers, she found a way to reach me. Because of her, I felt accepted. I didn’t have to prove anything to her. I didn’t have to act a certain way to belong. I learned that being “me” was enough.

That was the greatest lesson I could have learned. Now that I’m grown, I try to reach out to kids who resemble the child I was. I never back away when they reach out for a hug. I don’t force them to talk, but am always attentive when they choose to. It does my heart good to know that I can make a difference, no matter how inconsequential my act may seem. I know from experience what it means to have an adult, someone who is not related or in a position where they “have” to, pay attention to me.

Knowing her made me a better person because she helped me feel safe outside my shell. I think I’m going to dig out my address book so I can tell her that.

FINALLY!

It feels like it's been ages since I've talked to my mom and sister on the phone.

Yesterday was my sisters 35th birthday. I couldn’t reach her, but she and my mom called me last night around 10PM. It was so good to talk with them again.

My sister is using a walker and her doctor told her she could try walking with crutches whenever she felt ready. I'm hoping this means she will heal and not have to use a wheel chair. She sang to me over the phone. Hehe Crazy, by Patsy Cline. She’s been practicing. I could tell.

My mom seems to be doing okay. But she sounded lonesome. I wish they could move home. I think she’d be happier here. They say they want to move but the time just isn’t right.

I was glad to have been able to speak with them, but also felt kind of empty when I hung up. I hate not having them in my daily life. Especially when trying to reach them on the phone is such a chore. It’s hit and miss, really, and we miss more often than we hit.

I’ve got to figure out what to cook for dinner. I’m in the mood for sweet-n-sour, I think. Just have to decide if I want to use meatballs or pork.

WooHoo!

I LOVE it when I try something and it actually works!

Can you figure out what I changed?

Lucione and Bud

This is Lucione and Bud. They keep each other busy constantly playing. This was one of the few moments they were still. Usually, she's chasing him with a squeaky toy or he's chasing after her. 

 

I guess they played too hard! The only time he's allowed to sleep on a bed is when he's with one of my nieces. 

Our mountains finally got their very first dusting of snow Thursday night. I snapped this photo on the way to work. 

Miscellaneous Babble

I just realized I went over 100 posts this week. That is just crazy. I guess it's not as hard as I thought it would be to do this on a daily basis. Hmmm...

My cousin is a substitute teacher in the 4th grade classroom today. She has a daughter in 3rd grade. It's Weird Hair Day in 3rd grade today. When she fixed her daughter's hair, she thought it was Weird Hair Day for the entire school so she showed up to sub with 3 ponytails on her head in weird places and all uneven. Oops! She's being a good sport, though, and leaving them in.

Our mountains finally got some snow last night. Yay! Just at the tops, but it's a start. Hasn't really warmed up as much as the weather reports said it would. I love the chilly air. Only thing is, that when it rains, the rain is ice cold. I'm not going to complain, though. It's easier to bundle up to stay warm then have to suffer through muggy rain with a raincoat.

My niece Lucione is going to stay with me this weekend. I sent her to the grocery store one day to pick up some of those Pillsbury biscuits in the pop-open cans because I was too lazy to bake biscuits from scratch. She came back with sugar cookie dough instead. So now she gets to bake her cookies. Next week is the last week of the quarter and she managed to keep straight A's her first quarter of Jr. High so we're celebrating. :o)

She and Alexys have their pep band debut at the volleyball games tonight. The past 3 years, I've been participating in an alumni pep band because the high school either didn't have a music program or all of the musicians were also athletes and unavailable to play in the band. Now that there is a music program, there are more kids involved so I'm going to step back and enjoy listening to them. Lucione was a bit disappointed to hear I wouldn't be playing, but I think the kids need their chance to shine.

My wrist is pretty sore today. I think my tendonitis may have come back. I've been doing a lot of installations on the computers here at work which requires a lot of mouse maneuvering and clicking. 22 computers is a lot of computers when it comes to tasks like this. Sad part is, I haven't even worked on all 22 yet so my wrist is only going to get worse.

It's time for lunch so I guess I'll quit babbling. It's Friday! Yay!

They're Not the Best Quality; I Didn't Want to Get Caught Photographing the Bathroom!

This is what I started with...for some reason it looks white rather than yellow? Anyway...I drew the lock and people still don't take the time to check before pulling on the handle. 


Obviously, I'm not the only one frustrated by this. The top sign was added by someone else. Even THAT is no help! 

The Birds

Have you ever seen that Alfred Hitchcock movie? I watched it with my mother as a child. I think that may have something to do with my fear of birds. They’re nice enough to look at as long as they’re not looking at me. Once they look at me, I feel like they’re plotting their attack.

We have birds in our building this morning. Wild birds. Not pet birds in cages. Caged birds I can deal with. These are live, wild birds who slipped in through an open door. They’re in the library. I sincerely hope they are not in there at 2:00 today when I have a library class. I’ve seen them flying around as I walk down the hall, but haven’t gone in there. If I get brave, I may go and try to get a picture of them. I brought my camera today for the sole purpose of photographing the restroom door. I’ll post that when I get home.

A Whole Lotta....Nothin'

Today has been such a crazy day at work. I was supposed to test 6th grade in reading, but they didn’t show up.

Then I go to science and realize we’re painting today. With 1st graders. 13 of them. Fun! I managed to stay free of paint spots despite the fact that one little girl insisted on shaking her brush every time she dipped it in water. Art is fun, though. They made clay beads and sand sculptures during their last two labs. Today they painted them and then we made sand paintings. I’m just glad it’s over.

Once I got out of science, I returned to the computer lab. I was supposed to install some programs, but one of the classes showed up unannounced. I’m supposed to let them use the lab for projects so I suspended my plans. Their big project of the day? Playing multiplication games on the internet. Sheesh. I so could have made better use of my time.

My sister-in-law just came in. She got a phone call this morning accusing her of trying to have an affair with another woman’s husband. It’s crazy. I calmed her down and told her not to worry about it. The woman who called is just paranoid and her husband knows she is faithful. I hope this doesn’t get too out of hand.

Don’t you hate it when you’re in a public bathroom and someone comes and jerks on the door? I even drew a picture and taped it to the door.

“This is what the lock looks like when the restroom is occupied. This is that the lock looks like when the restroom is vacant.”

I taped it right next to the handle. It’s on bright yellow paper. Do people pay attention? Not when I’m in there. I’ve already drawn the picture…what else can I do?

I’m actually in a pretty good mood despite the tone of my post. I better quit before I make myself crabby. It’s lunch time, anyway. Yay!

Head-Check Day

Ugh! Today was head-check day at school. I hate these days. It makes me feel all itchy even though I've no reason to be. If I wasn't testing this week, I might have considered taking a personal day.

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We had to buy a new water heater today. Our other one literally "burned" out. No fire, thank goodness, but a lot of smelly smoke. Just enough to scare us half to death. I had to spend $370 on a new one. It's times like this I'm glad the state of Alaska pays dividends and it just so happens I'll get mine with-in a week or so. Silly me forgot to ask for direct deposit. I could have had it last week!

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I can't get my mom on the phone so I have no idea how my sister is doing. That irriates me. My uncle is back at work, though. I'm very happy about that. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed our little chats each morning as he brings the mail until he wasn't there.

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I'm going to watch The Day After Tomorrow tonight. Right now, as a matter of fact. :o) See ya!

Freeze Warning

So they’ve actually issued a freeze warning for tonight. Winds up to 25 mph and temps down in the 20’s with “widespread killing frost.” Glad I don’t have a lot of outdoor plants to worry about. The temps aren’t going to stay that low for long, though. Supposed to come back up to the 40’s by tomorrow afternoon and back to rain by Thursday. *sigh* I’m so ready for cold weather.

I had a pretty good day at work today. I just wish my principal would have more faith in me. We talked back in August about testing the kids in reading and math at the beginning of the year and the end of each quarter. I do the testing in the computer lab. The kids only have 30 minutes in the computer lab each week so in order to test both their reading and math, I need 2 weeks. The 29th is the last day of the quarter so I started testing today. I’ll do reading this week and math next week. The results will be available for parent/teacher conferences the first week of November. Remember, the principal and I worked this all out back in August. Today after school, I was getting ready to leave and he runs after me in the hallway.

“Hey, Kerri! Quarter ends soon.”

“Yeah, I know…came quick, eh?”

“That’s what I was thinking. I’m going to need you to start testing.”

“I’ve already started.”

“You what?”

“I gave the reading tests to two classes already. They’ll be finished by Friday. I’ll start math next week. I should have started 2nd grade last Thursday because you want them taking the Early Lit test also, but I fell and didn’t work last Thursday. No worries, though. I’ll have them complete by the time conferences happen.”

“Really? You’re awesome. How’d you know I was going to ask?”

“You already did ask…during inservice.”

“Oh, yeah. Glad someone remembers things around here.”

So now I don’t know if I should feel good that he thinks I’m “awesome” or insulted because he thought I needed to be reminded to do my job.

Happy Birthday, Uncle!

This is my uncle. He was attending a traditional wedding in Seattle a few months ago. This picture was in the Seattle newspaper. I don't remember which one.

He turned 85 today. After church we had a party for him. It's always nice to get together with family. Especially for such a happy occasion.

He's my uncle by marriage. When I was in the 5th grade, my aunts "real" husband passed away. Soon after, she and this man became close and eventually married. I, being stubborn and thick-headed, was not willing to accept this man as my uncle. I refused to address him as Uncle. I blamed him for my uncle's death. Soon after my aunt divorced, he started drinking heavily. One night he had too much to drink, passed out, and never woke up. In my mind, he wouldn't have even been drinking if he hadn't divorced. It took me a few years to accept, not only his death, but my aunts new husband. I was in highschool by the time I allowed myself to get to know him and really accept him as family.

Later on, after I had become engaged, I said something about my uncle. My then soon-to-be husband, pointed out the fact that my uncle was his uncle. (No, my husband and I were not related before we got married. This man is my uncle becuase he married my aunt. He's my husband's uncle becuase he is his mothers older brother. Make sense?) Now we fight over him. When one of us says something about "my uncle" the other will say, "You mean, MY uncle!"

At any rate, I love him and have great respect for him. And just for the record, he's MY uncle. :o) 

The Seven Wonders of MY World

Most everyone has heard a reference to “The Seven Wonders of the World”. Can you name what they are? I can’t ever remember them all without looking them up. I know one is the statue of Zeus at Olympia, one is the Great Pyramid at Giza, I think one’s in Iraq.

My husband was flipping channels today and I heard someone say, “I would definitely include this in my list of the Seven Wonders.” Or something to that effect.

That got me thinking. What are my Seven Wonders? What seven things have shaped me? What seven things have influenced who I am? Are there even seven? As we were walking the beach today, I started forming a list in my mind. If I had to list seven things- objects, places, or events- that influenced my life in some way, what would they be?

Wonder #1 would definitely have to be my mother. How could it not be? If it weren’t for her, I never would have entered this world. She only lived with me until I was 12, but when I am with her, I see myself in her. More and more each time. Things from the way my hair curls to the way we eat our sandwiches. I sing like she does. We sound a lot alike. We both have strong work ethics. We both spend a lot of time taking care of others. I got my compassion from her. She also taught me patience.

Wonder #2, then, would be my father. He cared for me and my sister all by himself after my mom left home. He taught me to cook. I got my sense of humor from him. He also taught me loyalty. I know how to fish because of him. :o)

Wonder #3 is my husband. He has made me happier than I could have ever imagined. I didn’t know it was possible to love somebody this much. He spoils takes very good care of me. I don’t want for anything. He puts up with my moods and accepts my flaws. What more can I ask for?

Wonder #4 would be my yaya. With only an 8th grade education, he was the wisest person I’ve ever met. He taught me our native language. He taught me to respect others. He taught me that, no matter what, life is worth living to the fullest.

Wonder #5 on my list would be my church. Many of the important events and most memorable moments of my life happened at the church. That’s where I joined my first choir. It’s where I sang my first solo. My grandmother’s funeral was there. I got married there. My family has had receptions, baby showers, birthday parties, and bridal showers there.

Wonder #6 is this island I call home. This island, though small, is grand in beauty. It has beautiful beaches and majestic mountains. Crystal clear lakes and ponds are abundant. I can understand how someone from the “outside” might think this island of ours is boring or primitive (NO McDonalds, movie theater, or mall?!). That’s what makes it so special to me, though. Everything I need is here. I’ve got family, friends, a wonderful job, beautiful surroundings, and plenty to do (loving the outdoors helps). I can’t imagine living anyplace else.

Wonder #7 may sound silly, but it’s my computer. True, it’s temperamental and sometimes I can’t make it do what I want it to. But if it were not for this computer, I wouldn’t have come to know some of the people I do now. It saves money on postage and phone bills. It connects me to parts of the world I most likely will never see. It was just the tool I needed to find Blogland. :o)

Craig

I didn't blog yesterday? I so thought I did. Weird.

This is Craig. Big Harry Potter fan, if you can't tell from the picture. He's in 1st grade this year. I've posted about him before. He's such a bright child. He "seems" like he's not interested in school; like he has better things to do than learn. But if you just give him a chance to talk, he'll show you he was paying attention and he has retained what you tried to teach him.

He used to have a temper. Now he's sweet and lovable. Very empathetic, too. And protective of his sister.

One of our favorite memories of him is from his Kindergarten year. He was telling his yaya about his first day. When asked what his teachers name was, he said, "Mrs. Tullock"

"Mrs. Pollock?"

"No, Mrs. TULLOCK"

"Mrs. Pull-up?"

"Mrs. TULL-OCK!"

"Oh, Mrs. Pull-off"

"For crying in the bucket! I said, MRS. TULLOCK!"

Not exactly what his yaya expected. For crying in the bucket? No idea where that came from.

Anyway, the weather is beautiful and my husband is not working so we're going to go find something to do outdoors. I hope you all are having a great weekend. :o) 

My Little Tickle Monster

This is my niece Lindsey. Her sister Lucione took this picture at their oldest brothers wedding. Lindsey was a candle lighter - we don't usually let her play with lighters. :o)

She came to visit me yesterday after she got out of school. We watched Home Alone 2 together. I was careful not to move when she was looking at me because I was so sore that when I did move, I winced. When she saw my expression change, she'd come over and start to tickle me. I'm ticklish but usually I can control my laughter when I don't feel like being tickled. It never works with her, though. The way she tickles is funny so even if she doesn't manage to tickle me, I laugh. Once I let out the slightest giggle, she doesn't quit. She didn't know that her tickling was actually causing me to move more which, in turn, caused me to hurt more. All she knew was that I was laughing and smiling. That's what she wanted. I asked her to stop and she said, "No, I'm trying to make you feel better." After I thought about it, I did feel better. Laughter is a good medicine. Especially when administered by a child. :o) 

This-n-That

I stayed home from work again today. My leg is not throbbing like it was all day yesterday, but I’m pretty stiff and moving around slowly. With as much walking as I do throughout the school day, I thought it best I let myself just take it easy and rest for one more day.

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I’ve said it before, I am not very outspoken and sometimes find it hard to meet new people. The thing about blogs is you can get to know someone without exposing yourself. Just by reading the words of someone else, you get a sense of who the writer is.

I don’t remember whose I read first, but there is a circle of friends here in blogland and during my travels throughout this circle, I noticed the comments by a particular person were everywhere; always cheerful, kind, and thoughtful. I decided to visit her blog and this only confirmed my perceptions of her. She had, on that particular day, dedicated a post to someone else who was in need of a little support. It did not surprise me at all. I found myself thinking, “This is just what I’d expect from Aimee.”

So when it seemed obvious to me that she needed a little support of her own, I wanted to offer it. But how could I? She didn’t know who I am. She didn’t know I’ve been reading her comments and blog. She didn’t know I had been thinking about her; that her kind words for others had somehow affected me. But I felt it was something I needed to do.

I finally decided to send her an e-mail. I explained my thoughts and after some hesitation, finally pressed “send.” I had no idea how she’d take it. I feared she’d see it as creepy coming from someone she didn’t know or maybe not even read it at all because it came from an address she didn’t recognize.

Turns out she wasn’t creeped out. It actually made her happy.

So much so that she actually posted my e-mail on her blog! I cannot describe my surprise when I saw this. So much for anonymity! She and her friends were great about the whole thing. Turns out my original impressions about her were absolutely right. :o)

So thank you, Aimee (and Aimee’s friends) for the warm welcome. You made it possible for me to smile on what could have been a bad day. :o)

OWIE!

I am in so much pain right now I want to cry. Nothing drastic…I just slipped and fell. I stepped out my front door to go to work this morning and before I could even close the door behind me, I lost my footing and landed right on my left knee. My ankle is sore because of the way it twisted as I fell. My knee is sore, swollen, and bruised because I landed on it with my full weight. Pretty much my entire left leg is throbbing. I hope it’s “just” my leg and I don’t end up with a sore back as well.

One good thing, though…I have all day to read my favorite blogs! Haha

Time to put some ice on my knee…I’ll write again later.

As Long as it's Just My Hair!

Kindergarten just left and I just HAVE to type these two little stories out before I forget.

1. One of the little girls is quite friendly. She's always wanting to chat and always has a big smile on her face. Today she came over and was kinda giggling.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

Her reply? "Oh, I just noticed something. Your hair is getting old!"

Yeah,yeah, I've got some stray white hairs. They're quite noticable against the rest of my dark brown, almost black hair. As long as she thinks it's my hair that's old and not me.

2. There's one little boy in this class who is, hmmm...I'm not sure what the word is. I don't work with him enough to know if he's developmentally challenged or what the deal is. Anyway, they were lined up ready to go and he had his lips all puckered up. Whether or not he actually wanted a kiss or not, I don't know.

My nephew Jase, looking quite nervous, says to his teacher, "Teacher! Timmy's not keeping his lips to himself!"

*big grin* I LOVE my job!

(most days) hehe

Too Hot!

Ugh, the computer lab is way too hot this morning. It's making me sleepy. Too bad I don't drink coffee. I need a pick-me-up right now.

Speaking of Misheard Lyrics...

The 4th grade class just left the computer lab. I thought I was hearing things for a minute and soon realized there was a boy singing to himself across the room. As I listened closer, I heard:

Splish, Splash! I'm taking a bath in a long tub on Saturday night!

It was so cute! I wouldn't look at him because I didn't want him to stop singing out of embarrassment.

That reminded me of when I was a child. On nights when my dad put me to bed night we'd sing songs together rather than read a book (that was my mom's job). Songs like This Old Man and B-I-N-G-O. I guess I equated singing with church or something, because I'd end each song with "Ohhhhh Maaannnn!" Kinda like the "Amen" at the end of hymns, I guess. My sister didn't sing with us, but at the end of a story or one of her TV shows, she'd say, "The Edge!"

OK, back to work!

I'm in for a Long Day :o(

I am going to be soooo tired by the end of the school day today! I woke up at 6AM which is normal. BUT, I was still awake at 1:15 AM. I was afraid to look at the clock after that even though I was awake long after that. I don’t know what time I actually fell asleep. I’m okay right now, but ask me again at 2:45 when that school bell rings and I may have a whole different answer. I don’t even come home until 4:00. *sigh*

I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about cooking. I soaked some beans overnight and got them in the crock pot already. They’ll be ready to eat by 4:00 and I may be in bed for the night before my husband gets home at 5:00. hehe

Huh?

Have you ever heard the lyrics of a song and totally misunderstood them? Like hearing “Kiss this guy” instead of “Kiss the sky” and ended up being really confused because what you’re hearing makes absolutely no sense?

When I was small, I used to sing along with my mom all the time. I’ve mentioned it in my comments before. We’d sing Everly Brothers songs and harmonize. Well, when we’d sing Wake Up Little Susie, I always sang the chorus wrong and my mom never corrected me.

I’d sing “When are we gonna tickle your mama, when are we gonna tickle your pop, when are we gonna tickle our friends when they say, Oooh, la la"…etc.

It wasn’t until much later that I finally figured out it says “What are we gonna TELL” not tickle. I asked my mom one time why she never corrected me. She said, “Because you sounded so cute.” Gee, thanks, Mom! So glad I figured it out. Hehe

Tonight my husband and I were out for a drive. Two years ago I gave him The Ultimate 70’s CD set for his birthday and we were listening to 1974 tonight. I was whistling along with Then Came You by Dionne Warwick and The Spinners. He looked at me all puzzled and asked, “What are they saying?”

So I sang along and when I got to the part that says “I never knew love before. Then came you….” he laughed. I asked him what he found so funny.

He said, “I couldn’t figure out what they meant by Wing Dang Doo. That song never made sense to me before.”

I didn't laugh too hard at him, though. I was more relieved to find out he wasn't laughing at my singing. :o)

Here's Lookin at Ya!

EYE

Ewww! This is freaky!

Bud

This is our small dog, Bud. He takes a nap on Lindsey's bed every chance he gets. 


He loves to look out the window as we drive. 

Alexys

Basketball isn’t a full contact sport like, say, football but to go into a game thinking there will be no contact at all is just silly. Things happen. Players going after the same ball are bound to bump into each other. Everyone’s running at top speed. People trip and fall. Elbows, intentional or not, get thrown. Its part of the game…anybody who’s played knows that.

I mentioned a basketball tournament in an earlier post. My niece Alexys is on one of the teams. She’s only in 8th grade, but is pretty tall and has some good basketball skills. She played a game a couple days ago.

During her game, she and a player on the other team collided and the other lady fell down. She’s a little shorter than Alexys, but she’s 30 years old (she will be next week). Anyway, she wasn’t watching where she was going and she bumped Alexys and fell on her arm. Alexys immediately helped her up and told her she was sorry. The lady left the game and didn’t return. Now she’s got a cast on her arm because when she fell she broke her elbow. Remember…Alexys is in 8th grade…this lady is 30 yrs old.

I don’t know what she told her husband, but he goes up to Alexys yesterday and said, “See what you did to my wife?”

Alexys was crushed. She knew it wasn’t her fault. She knew she had already apologized but to have an adult come up to her and say something like that really stung. She’s playing again today. She almost didn’t. I hate confrontation but if I had been there I would have let him have it. How can you say something like that to a child? People get injured playing ball all the time. Granted, it’s usually a sprain or a pulled muscle rather than a broken bone, but you don’t blame someone else for your own clumsiness. He wasn’t at the game. Those of us who were saw the lady bump into Alexys. Neither one of them were looking at each other. Alexys was standing there playing defense and the lady just wasn’t watching where she was going. How is that Alexys’ fault?

I was so upset when she told me today. I wanted to hunt the guy down and give him a piece of my mind. I managed to talk her into playing her game today but it took a while. Now she's afraid to play hard. She doesn't want anyone else to get hurt and blame her. She loves the game and I really hope this doesn't ruin it for her. Geez, she's just a kid!

Either I'm losing my mind...

Or my pet over there is already acting up. When I checked this morning, it said it had 15 visitors, now it's up over 7,000. The rest of my sidebar was centered, now it's aligned properly. It used to say Kerri @ now it says This is My Pet. Hmmmm...

Meet My New Pet

I'm up way past my bedtime. Stumbled upon this blog pet thing and decided to give it a try. For some reason, though, once I added it to my sidebar, everything underneath it became centered. Guess I should learn html. Hmmmm...anyway, give him a click or two and he'll talk to you. :o) Not sure how long I'll keep him around.

Lindsey

This is Lindsey. She's the one we had all last weekend. She wanted a close-up view of the fish and this was as close as she could get without joining them for a swim. 

She and her sister are polar opposites. They always have been. One is calm, the other hyper. One loves her sleep, the other is an early riser (one guess which one!). Their tastes in food are always changing, but they're always opposite. I've seen Lindsey eat all her meat and Lucione eat all her vegetables. Then they'd switch plates and eat what the other left behind. Having them both at the same time is a challenge. I can keep up with Lindsey when she's here alone. But put them together and it's a whole different story. Now that they're getting older, it's not as bad. They used to fight constantly.

Lindsey is a lot like me. I'm not hyper, but she is shy and quiet when she's in unfamiliar surroundings. It takes her a while to warm up to new people but once she does, watch out! She does things around me she would never do at school or anyplace else public. I mentioned in one of my comments a few days ago how she serenaded me during dinner. Just suddenly started singing You Are So Beautiful at the top of her lungs. She definitely makes life interesting.

I Used to Think...

I used to think I knew what a perfect marriage was…
Then my parents got divorced.

I used to think my grandfather walked on water…
Then he got stomach cancer and died.

I used to think I was better off alone…
Then I met my husband.

I used to think there was no hope…
Then I started working with kids.

I used to think I knew it all…
I’m still learning that I don’t.

Friendship

I am not the most outgoing person around so it’s not always easy for me to meet new people. I’m not without friends, but my circle is small and tight-knit. I’m normally the one people come to for support or a listening ear. I am pretty quiet so sometimes appear to be withdrawn or stand-offish to someone who doesn’t know me. Once I get to know you, though, watch out because I shed my shell and there’s no turning back. :o)

My circle is small, and we are all different. I have friends who are older than me and friends who are younger. I have friends who are more extroverted and those who are as quiet as I am. I think that is what keeps us so close. We compliment each other in many different ways.

Being online has changed me. I have some friends online whom I’ve never seen and most likely never will. It’s become easier for me to open up because of these online friends. I can tell them things I wouldn’t tell the friends who surround me everyday. Maybe it’s a false sense of security. I’m hiding behind my computer screen rather than confronting things head-on. But the reality is if it wasn’t for my computer screen, I wouldn’t be sharing at all. I’m always the one doing the listening. I never do the talking. I’m the strong one. I’m the rock. I’m the dependable one. Being online, whether it is through instant messaging or posting on this blog, I’m free to say what I want. I’m getting better at sharing with people I’m with everyday. I don’t know that I’d be where I am today had it not been for these online friends. I’ve learned a lot about myself since I’ve been online.

If any of my online friends happen upon my blog, thank you. :o)

Lightbulb Moment

Have you ever had one of those “Ah-ha!” moments and then afterwards all you could say was, “DUH!”

My niece Alexys had one of those today. She and Lucione came to do their homework at my house after they got out of school. They usually work at the kitchen table but I was preparing my salmon casserole for the potluck so they opted for the computer room instead (although why they’d pass up smelling my freshly chopped onions is beyond me).

So they’re in here working and I come in to check on them. They had the lamp on but were still struggling to see their text books. I walked over to the window and opened the blinds.

Alexys blinked her eyes at the bright light and exclaimed, “Whoa! That makes a big difference!”

“Huh.” I said, “Who would have thought that just by opening the blinds you’d get more light!”

She has moments like that a lot. Not that she’s an airhead. She’s an A student and is always on the Honor Roll. She’s always thinking...but the really simple things stump her every now and then. She’s got a great sense of humor, though, and laughed at herself before Lucione or I even cracked a smile.

Potluck

We’re going to a potluck today. My cousin has been married 25 years. Gosh, that means he got married when I was 8…that’s almost three fourths my life. He’s really not old, so they must have married really young.

I’m going to bring a salmon casserole. I have to bring the same dish to all of our family potlucks because if I don’t, they ask for it. I’ve tried giving them the recipe but they say it doesn’t taste the same. That’s okay…saves me from trying to find new recipes. Hehe

I can’t believe the week is almost over already. Two more work days and it’s another weekend. It seems like I just posted about my niece and our weekend together.

There’s a basketball tournament starting tonight. Basketball is a big thing here. Everyone plays or has played in the past. If you don’t play, you watch…with a passion. It’s amazing how quick one turns on a family member just because they’re wearing a referee uniform and you don’t agree with the call. I’m so glad I don’t play anymore. I used to hate hearing the crowd heckle the refs. I don’t heckle and my husband gets an elbow in his ribs if he tries. We usually have kids around us so I don’t want them learning that from him. High school basketball doesn’t start until December. Between adult tournaments, high school, and little league, we’ll be watching basketball from now until about March or April.

This is turning into another one of those rambling about nothing posts so I’ll stop now.

The Calm After the Storm

I think the storm may finally be over. The wind must have been gusting more than 60mph because my house shook many times throughout the night and even this morning. Now the skies have cleared and the wind has clamed. The rain I don’t mind. The wind I can do without. I walk to work each day. It’s only a block and a half away, but I have to walk against the wind. So when I get there, my hair is a mess and my face beat red. Walking home is just as fun. My back is to the wind so I get blown down the hill almost at a run. My hair is so long that it gets in my way and I can’t see where I’m going. I must be a sight to see. I’m getting embarrassed just thinking about it.

Tut, Tut it Looks Like Rain

Hum for a Blustery Day
From: Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day
Written by: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
Performed by: Sterling Holloway [Pooh]

Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum
Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today

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It’s gusting about 60mph right now and the rain is pouring down. It’s a good day to stay indoors and cuddle up with a good book.

My problem is I can’t decide which book to read. I just finished a book by Perri O’Shaughnessy and don’t know whether I want to read another one of theirs or choose a different author (no, I did not use the wrong pronoun…Perri O’Shaugnessy is the pen name of two sisters who write as a team).

I think the cold I had in my chest has moved up to my head. I’ve had a headache all day and I sneeze whenever I try to breathe through my nose. I normally get sick just once or twice a year but when I do, it hangs on forever.

Today was picture day. I didn’t get mine taken. I try to avoid that at all cost. I pretended to be busy when I wasn’t just so they wouldn’t say, “Now’s a good time to get your picture taken.” At least I didn’t skip out on picture day like I did last year. Ha! I really was sick, though…honest.

This headache is really killing me.

Halloween and Costumes

Our community is celebrating Halloween on the 30th this year. The religious folk complained that it was on a Sunday, now the non-religious folk are complaining that it's on a Saturday. I think if people in our community took the time to really understand what Halloween is and how it started, this wouldn't be an issue.

I won't get into it right now, though. Now that I'm grown, I enjoy Halloween just because I know the kids enjoy it. I love answering the door and trying to guess who's behind the masks. I'm either related to them or have taught them at one point so it's pretty hard to fool me but they try anyway.

As a child, Halloween was a day I dreaded. I didn't enjoy dressing up and I was uncomfortable not being able to see who people were. If I heard a knock on the door, I'd run into my bedroom until I was sure they were gone. Silly, really, considering that I always watched horror movies with my mother and was never afraid.

I think I was afraid of the costumes. When I was about 3 years old, my uncle (the same uncle who was in the hospital a few days ago) was in our 4th of July parade. He dressed as a hobo and thought it would be fun to carry me as he walked the parade route. I didn't recognize him, though, so screamed my head off until he gave me back to my mom. After that, I was afraid of anything with a covered face. We went to the circus in Seattle one time. Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey...The Greatest Show on Earth. I'll never know just how great it was because as a child I had the uncanny ability to put myself to sleep when I was scared. Everytime I saw a clown, I fell asleep.

I went Trick-or-Treating until I was in the 6th grade. That year I dressed as a clown, believe it or not. The next day I woke up covered in chicken pox. I know that Halloween had absolutely nothing to do with me getting the chicken pox, but that was my excuse to stop participating.

Eve Merriam

Jayleigh posted a poem by Eve Merriam on her blog the other day. As a child, I loved her poems. Here are two that I remember.

Catch a Little Rhyme


Once upon a time
I caught a little rhyme

I set it on the floor
but it ran right out the door

I chased it on my bicycle
but it melted to an icicle

I scooped it up in my hat
but it turned into a cat

I caught it by the tail
but it stretched into a whale

I followed it in a boat
but it changed into a goat

When I fed it tin and paper
it became a tall skyscraper

Then it grew into a kite
and flew far out of sight...

Weather


Dot a dot dot dot a dot dot
Spotting the windowpane.

Spack a spack speck flick a flack fleck
Freckling the windowpane.

A spatter a scatter a wet cat a clatter
A splatter a rumble outside.

Umbrella umbrella umbrella umbrella
Bumbershoot barrel of rain.

Slosh a galosh slosh a galosh
Slither and slather a glide

A puddle a jump a puddle a jump
A puddle a jump puddle splosh

A juddle a pump a luddle a dump
A pudmuddle jump in and slide!

Busy Day

It’s almost 10PM and I finally found a moment to sit down and post. I have my niece for the weekend. The 11 yr. old niece. The hyper niece. The must keep busy constantly niece. Needless to say, I’ve had a long, eventful day.

It had a weird start. I woke up about 7AM. I went back to bed for a nap around 10AM because I got a headache and there’s nothing harder than keeping up with my niece with a headache.

I had a weird dream during my nap. I was going back to college. No idea what for, but I was a part of a group of 4 women. My step-sister was with me. That in and of itself was strange because she is married with 2 kids and lives in Washington.

We were in a poetry class. The professor was lecturing about a poem and then all of the sudden he switched gears and started quoting scripture. I was confused wondering why he’d change the subject right in the middle of a lecture. One sentence was about the symbolism in the poem and the next was a verse from Revelations.

I finally realized that I was sort of half awake. My professor didn’t change his lecture. Someone knocked on the door and there was a Jehovah’s Witness in the living room with my husband! They didn’t stay long, though. When my husband started quoting scripture right back to him, I guess he decided his words were best shared with someone else.

After he left we did some house cleaning and then took our niece out for a drive. We stopped at a couple beaches and let her explore since the weather was so nice. We watched fish swim up stream, a seal swimming in the bay, and spotted a “stork thing-a-ma-jig,” as she called it. I didn’t actually see it, so I don’t know what it was.

After our drive we went to the grocery store. I told her she could get herself one treat and when she saw the peanut butter slices, she thought that was the coolest thing since sliced bread and just had to have them. Turns out they don’t taste all that bad. Much like the peanut butter filling of a Reses Peanut Butter Cup but with a smoother texture.

I let her choose what we’d cook for dinner and she wanted nachos. We put all the taco fixings on top of some tortilla chips. Pretty tasty.

After dinner, we thought we’d take the dog for a walk out on the runway. By the time we got there, it was too dark and foggy to see so I had to follow behind with the truck to light their way.

Now we’re back at home, she’s working on homework and I finally have a quiet moment. Phew!

Holidays are Near

I can't believe it's already October! I guess it's time to start my Christmas shopping. I usually try to get all my gifts bought and wrapped before Halloween. In November, I sign and address all of my Christmas cards. That way, once the stress of cooking a huge Thanksgiving dinner is out of the way, Christmas is easy.

I never liked how my dad would wait until the last minute to shop for Christmas. I always ended up doing his wrapping and it was too stressful for me. I'd be there covered in tape, bows, curling ribbon, and gift tags while family members were stopping by to deliver gifts and by the time I finished wrapping, we'd be the last ones delivering late into the night.

What I remember about Christmases with my mom at home is the baking. She gave cookies as gifts every year and I always helped her bake. It was usually a lot of fun. The only cookie I didn't like to make were the jam thumbprints because my jobs were always chopping the nuts and rolling the dough balls in the egg whites. I didn't like the slimy, gooey feel of the egg whites. Like my mom, I give cookies as gifts each year but I haven't baked thumbprints since she moved away.

I believed in Santa Claus as a child. My mom always decorated the house the day after Thanksgiving (a tradition I follow to this day). On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my sister and I would sit down and write our letters to Santa. We always asked for 3 things a piece and we always got what we asked for. I was about 8 or 9 when I stopped believing and that was my sisters fault. She started snooping in my parents bedroom closet one night when she was home alone. She found a huge stuffed Yogi Bear. That was something she had asked Santa for. She told me about it and when I didn't believe her, she showed me. I was mad at her for showing me. On Christmas morning, she opened her Yogi Bear and cried. I never understood why. Was it because she had wanted it so badly she was happy to get it? Was it because she realized Santa wasn't real or because she knew that she was the reason I no longer believed? Was she feeling guilty about snooping? I never knew and probably never will.