My Year: Jentrospective 2006

January 06:
Saw Paul Revere and the Raiders in concert
I got my teeth whitened after several painful procedures. They are still doing okay but they don’t blind anyone.
I read James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces and the day I finished it, the scandal broke.
My cell phone was tossed in the toilet.

February 06:
I joined Myspace and learned how to spy on my students.
I learned studentspeak: “Bubbleguts” and “You look so contagious”

March 06:
Went to my first real rock and roll concert: Motley Crue in Huntsville
Chris realized one of his peers from high school was killed by his wife (the minister murder)

April 06:
I attended prom again this year: On the Wings of Love with my English teacher pals. We had a great time and I got drunk. Had to get a ride home from the special education teacher, which was very appropriate.
Stella moved on to a new home.
We met Crystal, Tanner’s now fiance.
We were part of Jennie and Dan’s wedding in Rosemary Beach and it was beautiful.

May 06:
We sold the Honda and bought a truck.
I read and liked Freakanomics
We overhauled the front yard with the help of Chris’s dad and the neighbor across the street (we used his huge truck to pull out a lot of the stumps.)We also brought forth a geyser.
I actually took part in graduation ceremonies with my seniors and I cried happy tears.
I toyed with the idea of teaching summer school and then decided not to.

June 06:
I lost a former student in a drunk driving accident.
I finally concede that denim shorts are not in style and that I’ve been wearing the wrong socks (aka scrunchy socks).
We went to Destin, Florida with Meg, Casey and Dylan and we had a great time except for that one night with no a/c and power.
I joined Freecycle and it’s been a good thing.
Luke and I discovered the Noggin channel.
We dealt with a rat problem.

July 06:
I once again hated the 4th of July.
My next door neighbor Mrs. T died. Her husband begins round the clock care.
I read A Tale of Two Cities and LOVED IT!
We joined the YMCA
I spent a week in Warner Robbins and hated it.

August 06
My Montero’s battery died outside Walmart and it sucked.
I learned what krumping is.
I did a rope course with coworkers.
Went to Poison/Cinderella concert in B’ham.
Former student from AHS committed suicide.
Granny Jones was diagnosed with lung cancer and died weeks later.

September 06:
Taught Gardner’s Grendel for the first time.
Read Burroughs’ Magical Thinking and liked it a lot.
Cellphone ruined because of milk.
The AC went out.
I thought I was pregnant.

October 06:
We had LOTS of car problems.
I’m sick a lot.
I got pregnant after realizing I wanted to be and I wasn't getting any younger.

November 06:
Read Running with Scissors and hated it.
We took Luke to his first AU game.
I became obsessed with Slater, aka Mario Lopez.

December 06:
I had nausea the whole damn month.
Five goldfish were murdered by Theo the cat.
Chris used the lady’s restroom at Whataburger on accident.
Loved Scott Smith’s The Ruins. You must read this. Delicious.

Some stuff and a question

Today was a big day for Luke. He got his official big boy bed. We finally decided to go ahead and buy Luke a twin mattress to go with the bed frame I used to use as a kid. We decked it out with Thomas the train pillowcases, sheets, and comforter and he is so thrilled. He took his nap in it willingly this afternoon which thrilled US. (Photo not of his room. Ha. Like it's that clean and free of toys/debris.)

We spent the day watching the Bravo marathon of Friday Night Lights (an awesome show I'm glad I gave a chance) and sitting around being sick. I have a stuffed up nose, cough and icky feeling. Chris has a back problem, fever, and stuffed up nose too. Luke, of course, is taking an antibiotic to get rid of an ear infection. We are just spectacular over here, I tell you.

Last night we watched Little Miss Sunshine. It was pretty good, but sure enough depressing in a few spots. I liked the grandfather and of course the teen son and Olive the dancing "beauty queen". Tonight we plan on watching The Descent cuz we wanna get scared. Reading The Ruins wasn't enough for me, I guess. (I had a nightmare last night based on that book.) I'm trying to push it on Chris and he has read the first few pages so we'll see if he gets hooked. If he doesn't, KC if you want to read it I'll bring it to you next week.

We got rid of our Christmas tree today. As it was hauled out by Chris, pine needles exploding all over the living room (thank God for hardwood floors), Luke said, "Bye bye tree." An hour later, he asked me, "Where did the tree go? I want back!"

He spent the next half hour breaking a couple of the nutcrackers that were waiting to be packed up. "I broke crackers!"

Okay, a question for you guys: What tv show, book, or movie have I GOT to watch in the next few months? What am I missing out on?

My predictions for 06 WERE

I will bold those items that came true.

1. Britney and K-fed divorce. I know, I'm going out on a limb here.2. A friend of mine with a blog will get married. ;)3. We will travel more.4. Eminem will either get beaten to death or will die in a freak accident.5. A friend will get pregnant and have a girl.6. Katie Holmes will not have a silent birth. It will be loud and very very scary. Watch out, Katie!

Here are the resolutions for 2006.
1. Chris and I both will watch our weight and we will both lose some weight (I'd like to lose an additional five) and firm up.2. I will keep a cleaner, more organized house. I actually have come a long way. Each month, I get better. I should be spectacular by the time I'm forty.3. I will continue staying away from negative people who drain me of all good juju. Also, I will allow those who are drifting away from me to drift. 4. I will stop trying to be nice to Omarosa because she sucks.5. I will buy at least one new white fluffy towel.6. I will visit Kristy C's church at least once.7. I will hang out with my "girlfriends" more. Hear that, girls? No more excuses!8. I will try not to have bad hair and I will slather on the makeup, cuz I'm getting old. 9. I will try to use the word "delicious" more, because really....it is a very delicious word.10. I will remember YOUR birthday.

Almost done with The Ruins! I've been reading it so fast I feel like I'm running. It was the same way with Scott Smith's last novel I read---A Simple Plan. I hope the ending doesn't disappoint. Chris keeps making fun of me, because every time he turns around, I've got my face in the book. Brendon and Max--I can't wait to send a few emails your way or read the spoiling comments on your page M, when I'm finished.

I'm officially sick. Woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and my nose is clogged. Nice. Especially nice is the fact that when you are pregnant, a lot of medicine is off limits to you.

Jasmine!

Happy birthday to my longtime pal Jasmine!!!
Pics are from 1988 (16 years old) and 2001 (29 years old)

And...We're back (disjointed ramblings as I try to get back in the groove of things)

We're back from Decatur. Rolled in this afternoon. Luke got quite a haul. A rocking horse that makes real horse noises from Papa and Mimi. Here's a pic. Luke's cousin Dylan got one too. They sat side by side on them while they watched Toy Story 2 in the playroom and they "raced" each other. Too cute.
The other big gift was the train table. Our bud Jennie gave us a huge boxful of brio wooden tracks that are compatible with Thomas the Train stuff and lots of other cool train stuff. That was a big hit. We had to set it back up as soon as we got in the door because the boy wouldn't let up. Right now he's running around the house terrorizing Reggie/Freggie the cat, yelling "Heeeee YAH!"
He also got a Diego tricycle from Pawpaw and Bobbie--he calls it his "CYCLE!!!" He got too much other stuff and now I'm wondering what I'm gonna do with it all. I need to go through a bunch of stuff and put it up in the attic for the next 'un.

Christmas brought a migraine for me--literally---on Christmas Eve I woke up in the most pain--I could barely move because it hurt to move. Guess it's pregnancy related. Then Luke got an ear infection and we spent the day after Christmas in a Decatur doc-in-a-box. Then Chris's back went out. I'm about to take him to another doc-in-a-box.

I'm immersed in my latest book purchase---The Ruins by Scott Smith. So far I am loving it. (PS Thanks Dad and Donna for my Books-a-million gift cards!)

It was so good seeing Chris's family again. I always have such a good time with them--I know a lot of people can't say that about their inlaws and I know I'm very lucky.

Hope everybody is well and I'll hear from you all again real soon as people come out of the post Christmas funk.

Merry Christmas Y'all! (Yes, I know Luke has weird hair in this pic, but I'm so rarely in a shot I had to use it.)

Hope you and yours have a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Thanks for reading me! :)

I'm tired of the Target and Macy's Christmas commercials. I'm starting to hate them. All the dancing and frollicking around. Give me a break.

Luke is sick this morning. No throwing up, just fever, which is surprising and also bad timing, of course. He's sleeping off his fever on the couch as I type.

Tonight my parents are coming over for our Christmas with them. Chris is cooking his delicious ham with cherries and pineapple. Yum. For my part, I bought a pecan pie.

Speaking of food...here's what I've been digging lately that's normally not my thing: mint chocolate chip ice cream, apples with peanut butter, peanuts in general, really cold lemonade, Capn Crunch with crunchberries (this urge hit me last night--don't know what that's all about--I haven't had it in years), and eggs.

I haven't had to move into maternity clothes yet, but I bet January will see that happen. I'm really dreading giving up my favorite Gap jeans, but I swear, I'm gonna order some Gap maternity jeans or Old Navy maternity jeans this go around because I was looking at my former maternity jeans and they are like...fake jeans. Ew. What was I thinking? I guess I was just desperate. I would like to get one of those long cardigan things that tie in the front (over a bump). I think I'd like that.

Do you ever wonder about stupid things like this? I've been wondering about the family dynamic between Nicole Kidman and her adopted daughter Isabella. Like, are they really close? What do they talk about? Do they make fun of Katie? Does Nicole really hurt over the fact that she didn't have Tom's baby? Stupid waste of time thinking about dumb stuff like this...

A Story from Chris

So, I meet my wife at Whataburger for lunch. As I am waiting on our food I decided to go in the restroom and wash up.There was something peculiar about this restroom. I immediately noticed there were no urinals, but I didn't care. I admired the unusual cleanliness and order this bathroom seemed to be in.Anyway, there were three stalls and two were occupied. I took residence in the available stall to the far right. At this point the beer and pizza from last night was talking so instead of peeing I thought, "let's get it on". I did my business and proceeded to the sink.As I am standing at the sink a person entered the restroom. It was a female and she seemed startled to see a man. I was equally startled but I thought, "what a frigging idiot" to myself as I finished washing my hands.Both stall doors open and a woman stepped out of each. It dawned on me that I was the jackass.I said DAMN IM SORRY and exited the restroom before I ran the risk of being pepper sprayed. As the door shut behind me I heard a very high pitched, but raucous laughter coming from the restroom.If you hear about the guy who went into the women's restroom at Whataburger in Montgomery, AL and proceeded to take a slam in the presence of other women, I am the guy.

Another Christmas pic for you. From the photo session with the boys for Christmas cards. That's Dylan, his cousin, trying to take control of the car. :) I love Luke's little white foot here.

So the Duke case is falling apart. Suddenly she's not sure that she can be certain that she was raped...I hope those players sue her and everyone involved for the emotional stress they've been through--reputations ruined, etc. Ugh.

Chris and I have been laughing over the Trump/Rosie thing. I can't believe some of the things Trump is saying on air. We are like, "Oh no, he didn't just say that."

Was sick again last night and this morning. Fun fun. Merry Christmas--from the peanut.

I really am at a loss with names. I like Owen but Luke and Owen is all "Wilson brothers", I like Noah, but I know of another pair of bros named Luke and Noah, I like Luke and Jesse, but that's too Dukes of Hazzard...as for girl names, I am just not in love with any of 'em. Too cutesy or too plain...

Luke's been saying "Oh Dear!" this morning. I've never heard him say this before. I guess he picked that up from his caregiver, Miss Pam. It's funny. "Oh dear! Oh gosh! Oh mannnnnn!"

Number Two

Well look at that! That's the first ultrasound of our second offspring! The technician measured from the "crown to the rump" to see exactly how far along I'm measuring. They said 9 weeks, instead of our assumed 10 weeks. Whatever. Then we (Chris came too) headed upstairs to talk with the doc, who is figuring on a c-section (and tubal! 2 in 1!) on July 20. That's one day after our anniversary. Cool. Anyway. There it is. Our little boy/girl in its little cave inside my body. The thing floating above it is part of the cord, just fyi.

PS: I've already started thinking of names, but nothing is clicking. Anybody got any suggestions?

A Christmas surprise! Came home to an Amazon package. Wondered, "Hmm. What is this?" Opened it up. Lisa M--you are awesome. She sent Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. I'm reading it right now. Loving the allusions to other poems like "The Red Wheelbarrow."

Crocodile Hunter with Ross the Intern

This makes me miss Steve Irwin a lot. Crikey. Thanks to my father-in-law for the link.

Breaking News.

Today was the last day of school until January 2. Yeah, teachers go back the day after hangover day. Nice! Students come back on the 3rd. Every year, they chop off more of our days. Soon we'll have year round school...sigh.

After my exams were over, graded, and put in the computer, I headed out to meet Chris for lunch. It was nice eating lunch out with adults and without any bells sounding telling us to move along. :) I am always amazed when I go out and see how the rest of the world lives...

Still bummed about the Mt. Hood situation. I really need to stop watching, but I can't turn away. Wish real life was like tv---have a nice conclusion to the Holloway case, this case, sigh..the OJ stuff. Maybe one day. ATTENTION: I would like to say to the media---saying that there is breaking news on Mt. Hood and then saying "the search has been called off" is NOT BREAKING NEWS. Breaking News is...we found a body. Geez.

I'd like to send a special shout out to the teenage girl who jumped in front of my Target shopping cart this afternoon and announced to her mother, "I'll get there eventually if I don't get run over." (As if this was my fault---you jumped in front of me, moron.)
Also on my "I'm giving you the finger" list: the old lady who cut me off as I tried to LEAVE the parking lot, the old man who was like VISA--he was everywhere I wanted to be, and the little girl who wouldn't get out of my way and was begging to be run over with her Spiderman pillow.

I think I'm done with my Christmas shopping. At this rate, I'd better be. I don't think I can take much more.

A truckload of Luke Mini-Stories

Story one:
Chris will sing, "You...You Got What I Need..." (song from the 90s) and Luke will sing with him. It's perfect.
Chris: "You..."
Luke: "You..."
Chris: "You got what I needdddddddddddddd...."
Luke: "Neeeeeeeed..."

Story two:
Jennie gave me PJ's old bear head on a stick the other day---like a horse head on a stick, but a bear. I put it in the corner of Luke's room while he was gone to my parents and when he came home I put him in bed. Five minutes later we hear him trotting down the hallway, holding up the bear head on the stick like a Lord of the Flies kid and the pig head. He later made me put it in the crib with him. An hour later I removed it--he had the head next to his and was clutching the stick.

Story three:
Continuing the Lord of the Flies allusions, I was outside blowing leaves out of the yard with Luke when he and I saw Reggie the cat appear around my parked car. Luke stopped, turned, pointed and shouted, "FREGGIE!" and dashed over to him. Totally reminded me of the beach scene when the kids stopped doing their crazy dance, pointed, yelled, "THE BEAST" and then pursued poor Simon.

Story four:
Luke calls Santa Clause, "Saws!"

The Hikers

I'm totally hooked on all the coverage of this story. I hope the other two are okay. So scary and sad. I keep doing "magical thinking" that they will be found okay. I know they didn't mean to get lost and stuck and all, butI still don't understand why anyone would want to go out and climb anything, especially in the cold, but everyone's got their thing.

Book questions

I've felt a real pull this week to re-read The Secret History. Maybe it's the chilly weather, I don't know. If you haven't read this one yet, ask for it for Christmas. It's a good one.

I still have The Secret Friend on my bookshelf. I started it a few years ago and got bored. Should I give it another try, those of you who have read it?

I'm almost done with Dry by Augusten Burroughs. I'm ready for a break from this guy, although Dry was better than RWS. My father-in-law asked me what it was about. "Uh, a funny look at re-hab..." was my reply. I realized how stupid it sounded when I said it out loud. Ha.

Anyone read The Kite Runner? I have a copy but haven't read it yet.

Ah, A Husband's Perspective on a Classic.

One of my favorite "holiday" songs-Dan Fogelberg's "Same Auld Lang Syne"--the holiday song that is sad sad sad, but also...heart warming! Chris just walked by and heard me listening to it.

"If I ever find out you are sitting in the grocery store parking lot with ZF drinking beer on Christmas Eve instead of here with me, I am gonna ask what the hell you're doing! Then, when I ask you, if you say you dropped your purse in the grocery store and you guys laughed until you cried, I'm gonna say get your ass out of that car."

Poetry Reading Tonight

Be there or be square.
Come meet some of my lovely children and enjoy some coffee. My co-worker Kristy and I will be there with our husbands as well.

Seven o'clock to eight. Village Coffee.

PS: Two good days! No nausea!!!

Happy birthday Kristy!

A huge happy birthday for my friend Kristy C! Ever since she came to work at LHS, she has been a bright spot. We love her! She is a sassy sassy gal who has gotten me hooked on Grey's Anatomy and so many other cool things. We also shared our pain and frustration over the James Frey crap last year as well as this week's new topic--did Augusten Burroughs lie about the "Finch" family in his novel Running with Scissors?

She also puts up with listening to my boring stories and complaints day after day. And that's really more than anyone should have to bear. So let's hear it for Kristy! Happy 28th bday!

Ready for the break.

I'm ready for my Christmas break... however, I have so much to do before then--get all my exams typed and copied, grade them, blah blah blah. I did get all my Christmas cards out during the past couple of days though. Today, after a painful teacher workshop at a local college (Powerpoint--need I say more?) I stood in line for about 45 minutes at the post office to get stamps and to mail my sister's family their Christmas presents. I brought a magazine with me because I knew it would be a waiting game. I stood there reading Time, specifically about the Russian spy who got poisoned, when I heard a lady say something to the lady behind me.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't mind if I got back where I was, would you?"
I'm thinking, I didn't see you back there. I keep out of it though.
The lady, a Middle-east looking woman, said in broken English, "You were not here."
I watch them out of the corner of my eye.
The other lady walked to the back of the line. I pondered this.
The foreign looking lady said to me, "She was not here. If she had been, she wouldn't have walked back there so fast."
Touche' I thought and smiled. I wondered if the line cutter was trying to get one over on the "OTHER" in line. Who knows? Whatcha think?

Feeling a lot better today. Not myself yet, but better. I ate too much at lunch during our much needed break from the Power Point Presentation From Hell and I paid for that one--queasiness for a couple of hours, but I just feel tired now.

*****
Two things from students:
"She's a straight up 304." Means she's a straight up HOE because if you put 304 in a calculator and turn it upside down it looks like HOE.

I asked them if they ever went driving around looking at Christmas lights.
"Naw, Mrs. C. I don't have the gas money for that!"
Sign of the times.

arghhhhh

Taking a break from sickness to post. Somehow it feels better to share my misery. Home again from work. After I throw up I feel better for an hour or so, then it starts again. This is SO a girl. A girl who is kicking my ass now and will for the next 20 something years.

I spent the last hour watching the Dawson's Creek episode where Jen dies and has to leave her baby here without her. I bout cried my eyes out. Never seen that one before. Holy crap.

They really know how to pull your strings on that show.

I stole the picture from here.

Luke's first masterpiece

I asked him what it was and he said, "A tree."

How right he is. A tree. (After a hurricane?)

Happy birthday

to my wonderful husband Chris! He's 32 today! I made a cake for him (even though it looked kind of sad) and we played Trivial Pursuit---Totally 80s with my parents after a dinner of hotdogs! Whoo buddy! We know how to party don't we? :)

Happy birthday baby!

Don't read if you have a nervous stomach.

What a strange weekend it has been. Saturday morning I woke up to two dead goldfish on the floor, one swimming in the bowl, and one unaccounted for. Then I looked over and saw that Theo, the "hunter" cat, was lounging on the couch...licking his paws. Oh boy. Disgusting. We didn't know he had stayed inside overnight, but I guess the cold weather made him hide inside after his dinner of Meow Mix. Then of course, he had fish for dessert.

We put him out but the last fish somehow died of a lonely heart in the bowl this morning. I was getting tired of cleaning out that fishbowl anyway...poor fish, though.

After discovering the fish murders yesterday morning I realized I felt worse than normal and threw up. That led me to feeling a bit better and I thought I could face the crowds out shopping for Christmas. I headed out with Luke. I did okay at Wal-mart, but started feeling kinda rough towards the end. The kind of sick where you can't even really focus on other people's eyes. Does that make sense?

So I went by my Mom and Dad's house (close by Wal-mart) and threw up there. Rested for a while, then felt okay. Then (shut up) tried to get some stuff done at Target. (I am so behind y'all, I don't even have Christmas cards ready at all.) Well I felt worse there and the crowds were enough to make me throw up, but I managed not to.

I had to get Mom and Dad to drive me and Luke home a couple of hours later because I didn't have the energy to drive. I was kind of scared.

Got home, Chris had gotten the bedroom and bathroom clean for me and I promptly puked for the third time. Disgusting.

I still don't feel right. This has to be something other than normal nausea. I must have picked up the bug that Luke had a few days ago. This sucks.

Tip of the Day

Don't eat a Sonic cheeseburger with lots of onions. I can't get rid of the taste or the smell emanating from my mouth. Oh my gosh.

Also---another free tip for you: when your kid gets a certain look in his/her eye, MOVE quickly. That way you can avoid the Exorcist explosion of vomit.

Enjoy!

Club T-shirt

Check it out! Kids voted on it. I think it's awesome. We got it from Imagemarket T-shirts.

All you old schoolers can relax now. ;)

Well it's official. I finally got in to see my ob/gyn today and yes, I'm pregnant. Like I knew. With this nausea, I was either pregnant or dying. Due date around July 14. Here's a pic I found online of a bambino at 8 weeks. Pretty cool, huh?

Glass

I did a very Mom thing today--I had to get tweezers and get a tiny sliver out of Luke's little foot. I'd never done this before. He broke a glass when I stepped out of the room for a MINUTE and when I got back, he told me, "I broke glass" and pointed. He had been trying to get into my grapes inside the glass. Darn hardwood floors.

I was nervous when I made him lay back and I took his little white foot in my hand. Running my hand over his foot, I could feel the tiny sliver poking up and a little bit of blood was there. I squeezed it, he whimpered,and then said, "No Mama!" Then I managed to GET IT! I was so proud of myself.

"I got it!" I exclaimed and squeezed his foot again. He smiled. "Mama fixed."

Oh my heart.

Nausea sucks. That is all.

Yellow Wiggle..Adios.

Bye bye Greg.

More from his first tailgate...

There are so many funny things about these pics. One is, of course, how NONthrilled Luke and his cousin Addison look to be posing for a picture together. Another thing is how funny Luke looks when he fell down trying to get Uncle Dave. The funniest thing to me is that we tailgated right outside a dorm where I used to live. I never would have predicted back in 1993 that I'd bring my child here to tailgate. I used to hate tailgaters.