Magical Thinking

Why did it take me so long to discover Augusten Burroughs? I've been reading his book Magical Thinking all week and it makes me laugh out loud. (LOL for annoying computer speak.) Has anyone else read this book? Now I need to backtrack and read his earlier stuff---Sellevision, Running with Scissors, and Dry.

I'm so happy I found a new obsession!

Get Your Read On

Celebrate Banned Books Week by reading a book.

Falling Apart/Building Anew

Let me tell you what doesn't work around here lately:
1. My car radio/cd player. Still. I'm starting to miss my tunes. I'll get on getting it reprogrammed soon.
2. Cellphone. Milk and cellphone in diaper bag=do not mix. I miss the cellphone, but since I can't use it during most of the day (being in class and stuff) it isn't that big of a deal.
3. Garbage disposal. I miss this baby! Casey, the bro-in-law and plumber extraordinaire, will hopefully fix that this weekend.
4. Which brings me to...the bathroom. The guest bathroom. Chris and I started demolition on the sucker last weekend. Tanner on phone, Saturday night: "So whatch y'all doin' tonight?" Me: "Tearing down the bathroom wall." "Alrighty then."
Do y'all know how weird it is to swing a hammer at a white tiled wall? How incredibly WRONG it feels? It's also not as easy as they make it look on Flip This House.
5. The friggin AC went out last week--luckily it was just a motor situation. Four hundred dollars fixed it. (Better than the C0pperfield sitch--needed a completely new one!)
6. I think the nail tech (low rent dude) I visited recently gave me a nail fungus in my BIRD finger on my right hand. Figures. I hope I don't lose my hand.
7. My overhead at school. I refuse to pay for a new bulb. I'm waiting for my allotted funds coming next week. Oct 1 and all that crap.
8. Of course the fridge (circa 1983ish) still irks me. The light that constantly blinks on it, telling us that the door needs to be shut. Ugh. HOWEVER, after the bathroom, we are redoing the kitchen floor and getting a new fridge. Thank you Lord. And yes, the floor near the fridge will no longer have that odd hump. I will move the body to a different location.
9. My neck, shoulder, and back are killing me. Perhaps because I've been swinging a hammer on tile. Ya think?

In other news, I watched some vintage movies that Mom and Dad unearthed and had transferred to a DVD. It was bizarre watching home movies that I had never seen before. You know, you get used to the same photos you grew up with, the same home movies you've seen over and over again. You get kinda accustomed to them. Then, POW you see some images of yourself as a child you have never seen, but maybe that you remember, and man. Parts of your brain stir and that innertube from Panama City Beach comes back to you. The anchor on it, the yellow rope. The bathing suit that kept riding up.

My favorite thing to watch was the birthday parties. It kills me that at my first birthday party and at the other ones too, the camera moves from the dining room to the adjoining living room to show five adults in their 70's finest smoking away. Smoking at a kid's birthday party. Love it. Gotta love the seventies. I also got a kick out of seeing the cakes I had at my parties. "You make that one, Mom?" I kidded with her, eyeing the smeared pink icing and the tin foil. Now I don't feel so bad about my Pumpkin (Kinda Sorta) Cake of Thanksgiving 04.

The Christmas reels were great too. Brought back that Christmas rush just looking at it.

The softball game reels=not interesting at all. "What made us think that we would want to view this twenty years later?" White girls at bat. Swing. Run. White girls at bat. Swing. Run. Etc. Fastforward.

So yeah. I tried to make this entry all themed and shit---past/unearthing/tearing down the bathroom/old Super 8 film, but I don't think I did a good job. Whatever. I'm tired. I'm taking a mental health day tomorrow.

I'll leave you with this:
Went to CVS last night. As we pulled in, a man nearly hit me and Patches as we got out of our car. Luke asked, "Who's that?" I said, "A BAD MAN!" We go inside, I get my stuff, come back out. A black man is standing near the entrance. Luke points at him and says, very loudly, "BAD MAN!" I hope the guy doesn't think my child is yelling "BLACK MAN!"

I hurry to the car, trying to shush Patches. He gets in one last "BAD MAN!!!!" as I shut his door.

Happy birthday

to Dale, my friend for the past 16 years. Here he is at...sixteen in 1990.

It's Him Again

James Frey continues to defend himself.
via Gawker

Just for you

Watch the little dude go!

Red Letter Day

My sweet Luker said "I love you" last night for the first time. Before, he just wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. ;) Big thanks go out to my mom who has been working with him on this.

Don't really know what to say about what happened today.

Kinda freaked me out. (Article that follows is from city paper, with stuff that could be googled left out.)

Police arrest former student


A former ***** High School student was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with making terrorist threats. ******, 18, was arrested at **********Street by officers in the ************ Police Department's School Enforcement Bureau. ********* allegedly told a female student at school that he planned a shooting at the school today, police officials said. *****will be placed in the ***********County Detention Facility under a mininum $10,000 bond, but police officials say they will seek a higher bond.

No words.

Ding Dong Transplant.

Five Goldfish and other stuff

Thank God that this baby was found.

Luke calls Reggie "Freggie." It oddly suits him. Of course, Dusty still calls Reggie "Mr. Rogers"...

I made a casserole tonight. Well, "made=premade, cut a slit in the plastic and slide it in the oven" Whatev.

I'm watching Dancing with the Stars tonight for the first time.

Frank and Luke argue like brothers. Frank enjoys eating Luke's toys; Luke gets upset and tells him, "Outside, Frank!"

Luke likes fish. Like, a lot. So Chris wanted us to get him some. We ended up buying five goldfish. That was not this past weekend, but the previous one. We now have three goldfish. It seems that we have been feeding them too much. Oops.

Milky...

If anyone's tried to contact me by cellphone, you can..ahem "hang it up." My cellphone was immersed in milk a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah. So...call me at home if you need me.

Sigh.

The Elevator Pooter Story

My husband Chris has finally updated his site...boy has he ever. Go read his latest.
PS. Don't forget to update your links from my old BETA site to this one. Thanks!

Sari

I used to read Sari's web journal back in 2000 and she was fascinating to me. I was just thinking about her, wondering what happened to her, when what happens? Rob (another journaler I have never met but have read for six years) finds her and links her.

At Nanny's Park (2 weeks ago)

"I'll kick your heiny." "Just kidding!"

Clothes Make the Woman (and the Patches)

Here are some sweet girls from my third period class. My third period gets the best of me. I start out with my honors kids, who are normally a dream (99 percent of the time), then I get my planning period, and then I have third. No IEPS and no additional teachers. I do have a parent who is the educational aide for her son, who has special physical needs, and like I was told earlier--this lady is a great cheerleader for me. She keeps my spirits up. Fourth period is my high blood pressure class, fifth is okay, and I'm coasting down with an easy and low key sixth and seventh period.

Ever have a day when you realize your clothing choice for the day was off--way off? Either you are dressed too warmly or you realize you just look like a moron? Yeah, that was my day Friday. My dress shirt was too big (a thrift store find) and my thin sweater that covered it was too small. So I looked weird. I was also hot. As in too warm. My hair needs cutting and it wouldn't do anything, so I had to pull it back in a ponytail and damn. I just looked uncomfortably moronic all day long. Reminded me of the time when I was a senior in high school and I realized that I had dressed just like a tube of Maybelline mascara. I had a lime green shirt on and pink pants (remember this was 90-91). I looked like I had jumped off a Harco wall display.

I've been all down lately--I think it's a combo of really getting my head around the fact that my grandmother is gone, the whole "baby is coming! Nevermind!" situation from last week, and then the 9-11 gut punch. To combat this depressarama, I went shopping this morning--a stop at the Kid's Attic (half off sale). I was surprised that I found quite a bit for ole Patches. He got new sweaters, pants, shirts and four pair of shoes! All for under 30 bucks. I was a happy camper. A stop at the school supply store finished off a good morning. I'm off again--we are finally gonna be remodelling the guest bathroom and I need to go look at tile. I can't wait to start!

Enjoy that Blockbuster movie tonight!

Microwave popcorn causes cancer? Huh?

Oh, to be young again...;)

Happy birthday to Carrie, who turns 24 on Friday!
AND to my former student (who is gonna be an English teacher!) from my year in Indiana...Crystal who will be 23! ANDDDD...my other former student (from Smiths) Adriane had a birthday yesterday! She's...25?

The Water is Wide...

Yesterday was a good day. Monday had sucked, so I was really relieved that Tuesday was a-okay. I had two students from "da Hill" come visit me right before lunch, and that was fantastic. I had been worried about the whereabouts of one of them and it was a relief to see that he was not in jail or dead. I'm serious here. He did drop out of school (the other big school in town) but he was working on his GED and he had a job. He seems well adjusted, compared to many of his other "Hill" peers. Tori, Sherm, and I looked over my scrapbook I kept of my time at the Hill. He kept pointing out different kids and telling me what happened to them. "She pregnant." "He had a car accident." "He in jail." "He sells weed and he got lots of tattoos." "She Earl's baby mama." "He gay now."

It was a fascinating trip down memory lane.

Later, I taught Macbeth and Lord of the Flies, then I got to spend SOME time with my husband and son before I left at five thirty to catch up with...

Kristy and Carrie at Starbucks. It was fantastic. The smells, the big comfy chairs, the coffee, the brownie (dang it was good) and the company. Kristy said it reminded her of college days, just sitting there shooting the breeze, and I think she's right. It reminded me of that plus Bookmonger days. Those were the days. The rain outside was a nice backdrop to the fantastic music they were playing. I heard a version of "The Water is Wide" and now, of course I can't remember the name of the singer (not someone I'd heard before).

Then Kristy and I had to head off to school for a (not very well attended) PTSA meeting. I think I had five parents show up. Nice, huh? I got a little work done though in the room and at eight, I got to come home to a nice dinner prepared by my man and I rocked Luke to sleep. Good day indeed. Busy, but good.

The water is wide, I can not cross over
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and i
Love is gentle and love is kind
The sweetest flower when first it's new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew
The water is wide, I can not cross over
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and i
And both shall row, my love and i

My Almost Non-Sentimental Entry about 9/11

There was a 9/11 assembly today. It was voluntary on the teacher's part. I decided to take mine, after they whined about it. I thought I'd feel like a bad American if I didn't take them outside to view it.

Wasn't anything to "write home" about. They raised the flag, then lowered it and that was that.
"I expected more." I said to my class when we got back. They agreed. Half the kids out there watching the thing just seemed to want to get out of class.

I was touched when I saw cars slowing down a bit in front of the school and the workmen who came out of the buildings across the street, I guess to watch the non-assembly.

Chris told me, "I'm tired of hearing Taps today."
Yeah. Me too.

Luke saw photos of the Twin Towers with the explosion and said, "Hot" (holding his hand in the universal child language that says "hot")
Then "Flag, Mama" when he saw another photo of the flag outside the Pentagon.

Kind of gets ya, huh? At least it did me.

5 years ago I was teaching at the inner city school, not even watching the tv that morning and not believing the hoodlums that told me something was going on in NYC... I was living at home with my mom and dad after a disastrous journey to Indiana, and there was no Chris and no Luke in my life. That right there makes me sad. I'm so incredibly blessed. Five years is nothing and five years is everything.

I would really like to go to NYC and see Ground Zero. It seems so smallish on tv. Have any of you guys been there? Tell me what it's like.

Donate to the Ta Tas!

My friend Hope is an amazing woman. Donate here and show your lurve.

This Year's Honors Class

Meet my lovely first period--my one senior honors class of 2006-07. They were born in 1989. Yeah. We are currently towards the end of Grendel and they are (for the most part) loving it. Except the part in chapter seven where Grendel describes...Wealtheow's...well you will just have to read it.

You Gotta Take it Quickly!

Pic One: "Here's my kitchen. Here are my Wiggles shoes."
Pic Two: "I'm outta here!"

My Beloved Monster & Me: Top Ten

My Beloved Monster & Me: Top Ten
Awesome. Does anyone I know have diabetes?

In the Land of Purple Squirrels

Week of Wondering

For the past week I've been absolutely convinced that I was pregnant again. I had all the signs (just like with Luke!): I was very nauseated, I was tired out of my mind, my boobs hurt really really bad, and I was all emotional. (There's more, but I don't want to get too graphic. I'm sure you'll thank me for that. Heh.)

So it's been a week of me and Chris going round and round in circles of "What if we are? What about daycare? What about this? What about that?" (Our plan had been to wait until this time next year to try again for a brother and sister for Luke.) We were kind of freaked out because we are really enjoying "where we are" right now but we would have been happy for another one as well. We were both really divided on it.

I took a co-worker's advice and headed to a "clinic" here in town today after school. I'd never been there before and I wasn't prepared for what I saw there. The parking lot was packed and a cop strolled up and down the sidewalk. I had to hit a doorbell and wait for someone to let me in. When I got in there, the waiting room was full of sad looking people. VERY gloomy. A tv was on; Charmed was "entertaining" the depressed group. I felt very out of place. When I was called back, I commented to the lady who (quite clumsily) got blood out of my arm, "Wow. I can't believe how crowded you guys are."
"Thursdays, we do procedures."
Procedures. The word kind of floated around the room.
She put the blood in the centrifuge and I headed back to the room o' gloom.
Five minutes later, I was told I owed twenty-five dollars and that I wasn't pregnant.

What was wrong with me earlier this week? Food poisoning? Stress? What the hell?
Chris and I are both relieved and a bit sad too. It's strange how you can feel both at the same time.

Is it just me?

Or does this look totally idiotic?

It already feels better.

Sorry for all the freakin' moving around. I swear. This is the last time for a while. Stupid beta.