Come on down!

Hello to all my buds out there who live in town...
Come to my HUGE yardsale tomorrow.Opens at 7. This is a multifamily sale to raise money for the literary magazine I sponsor at the high school.
Lots of little girls clothing (ages 2-5) and teen girl clothing too, baby boy clothing, baby items, lots of girls' toys, toychest, dresser/vanity, rug, lots of linens, lots of knickknacks (patty whack give a dog a bone), books, women's clothing (all sizes!!!), etc. etc.
Please come or tell someone who is into this kind of stuff to come on down!

PS IF you are ALUMNI, please come out and support us!!!!

No shit? Sherlock?

Are you aware that the character Sherlock Holmes has a drug problem? Cocaine specifically? And some morphine?

I learned that this week from a research paper. Astonished, I "looked it up."

My student hadn't been making this fact up!

Where have I been??? How come I didn't know this? I bet you knew this, Max. Aren't you a big Sherlock fan?

Also? This is the worst name for a children's snack I've ever seen. Heheh.

Separated at Birth?

My cousin David (to the left) is stealing my man's look.

Argh

Picture me drowning in research papers.

And planning a yard sale to benefit the magazine.

And doing the yearly PDP. (Teachers will get that one.)

And doing lesson plans.

And teaching class.

And dealing with whiny teenagers.

And two in diapers.

I'm tired.

You get the picture. More later.

Just in case you didn't know...

Jasmine and I have been cool for a very long time. Here we are showing off our coolness in August of 1989.

Barbarella: Mom's Cinderella Birthday

Click here for some pictures of Mom's 60th bday party.

A few weeks ago, Luke and Mom were talking about her upcoming birthday and she asked him what kind of birthday party she should have. Luke insisted that she have a "pink girl party---a Cinderella party." So she did. Luke seemed very pleased that his instructions were followed. He also kept us all on our toes, letting us know when it was time to eat the cake and open the presents. He seemed disappointed when Mom was opening the presents and a Spiderman toy never emerged. Funny guy.

We had lots of family over for the party and a surprise visit from some penguins. If you are interested in having the yard surprise thing for someone you know, contact me. My neighbors do it as a side job. They are great people and I'd like to throw them some business.

Funny thing about the "Chill Out Barb!" sign-----Chris was outside and these two boys rode by on a bike. One dude was on the handlebars. The dude on the handlebars yelled out, "CHILL OUT BARB!"

It cracked us up all day.

Happy Birthday Barb

Happy birthday to my mom!

In this pic (which I took last weekend) you can see that Barb (in the pink) is clearly violating the rules about NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE PLAY AREA. To her left you will see (or maybe you won't be able to, but yes it's there!) the illegal drink, sweet tea. Luke is oblivious to this crime.

Come Live With Me and Be My Love

Yesterday I started teaching Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh. For fun, I decided to do something different this year. I had the guys write modern day wooing poems like Marlowe's last night and today the boys read them out loud in class. Tonight the girls are responding to different poems, a la "The Nymph's Reply". Since this is a new assignment for me to give, I decided to try it out myself last night and it was a little harder than I expected. Obviously, fellow English teachers, the rhyme scheme is way off, but I tried....I shared it with the class today with the other kids' poetry and told them that someone who wanted to be anonymous from a different class wrote it. After they talked about it and tried to guess who it was I finally told them it was me. They thought that was pretty funny and it amazed me how surprised they were that a woman would write from the point of view of a guy! So that was a good lesson.

Here's my attempt at a modern version of Marlowe...

The Passionate Playa to His Shawty

Come live with me and be my love
And we will experience bliss.
I’ll take you for a ride in my gold Camaro
And you can enjoy my kiss.

And we will sit upon my couch
And watch CNN and Fox News,
Then on Sundays we’ll head on down
To my Mama’s church to sit on pews.

And I will buy you a bed from Rooms 2 Go,
And 300 count cotton sheets,
You’ll just have to scrub and clean
My lucky pair of dirty soccer cleats.

I’ll buy you a dress of pure silk
It will be red in hue
You will look so fine in it
I won’t know what to do.

I’ll buy you a necklace of the purest gold
I’ll get it from that place in the mall.
When I put it on your neck,
You’ll say, “Kiss me now, don’t stall!”

And if these things sound good to you,
Come live with me and be my love

In the morning you’ll go to work
And I’ll stay home and sleep
This arrangement will please us both
And from your mouth there will be not a peep!

So then, shawty, come live with me, and be my love.

******************

So now it's your turn. Do one from the POV of the Shepherd or do a reply from the POV of the gal turning him down...are you game?

You learn something new every day!

"When you enter a property take a deep breath. A cat urine smell is often associated with meth. Other odors to be aware of are ammonia, vanilla, solvents or metallic smells. These are warning signs." from Inspection Perfection

Teachers, listen up. If a student smells of cat urine, check it out (and by check it out, I mean contact a counselor...anonymously if possible so a possible meth lab can be busted and neglected kids can be taken care of). Cat urine smell could be a tip off that their parents are making meth. Check out these links.
Link 1
Join Together (Seems silly to hand out scratch and sniff cards---just say, "Teachers, think about the smell of cat piss!")

Or would that make too much sense?

Happy Birthday to Stacy

Happy bday Stacy! Have a glycorific day! :)

This pic is from Fall 2003, right before I found out I was pregnant with Luke! Stacy came to visit the highschool and take the kids to a pep rally!

**Just got home and saw this hadn't posted. Weird. Anyway, it was supposed to be up all day!!

:)

Random

The tornado sirens are going off. Chris leaves for a haircut and the grocery store. Typical! He is not scared of the sirens like I am. I cleared out a spot in the closet, ready to grab the boys and huddle.

That's a pic of Luke in Stacy's boys' room. There's little Papa in his seat. Have a good Sunday. This one over here is rainy and yucky.

Lost Links

So last night I caught up on Lost. That show...sheesh. I just can't quit it....I've invested too much time.

I normally don't do spoilers, but I've been wandering around the web this morning reading up on them. Here are some links for you, spoilery and regular...enjoy if you so desire.

NonSpoiled:

Lostpedia

The Tail Section

StationZerO

Lost Exposed

Spoily:

Dark UFO

Spoilerfix.com

PS: Spoil is a weird looking word if you keep looking at it.

Happy Valentine's Day

Some first period kids enjoy the Valentine's breakfast o' sweets I got together for them.

Here's what my students think about love...


Thoughts on Love by the class of 08

“He inspires me to write poetry.”—Anonymous, first period

“I knew I was in love once because every time I would see my significant other, a big smile would come upon my face and I couldn’t stop smiling.”—Anonymous, first period

“Love is the simplest and the most complex idea ever formed.”—BQ

“I believe in love. I believe love could dramatically change a person.”—BJ

“When I think about love, I think about inspiration, acceptance, and complexity…The pain love can leave behind can be so sad. How can something so beautiful hurt so much? I do believe in love though it is a trial.”---Anonymous, first period

“When I first saw him, I saw that smile and those blue eyes. I knew my life would never be the same.”—Amy

“You know you are in love when your heart skips a beat when they pick up the phone.”—anonymous, fourth period

“You know you’re in love when you think it’s cute when your mate farts. Excuse me.”—Devin

“We had to shake hands and that first touch, we both will always remember that feeling.”—Victoria

“Love is when you are watching a show that you hate because they like it.”—Anonymous, second period

“Love is like a grass stain on your pants. It’s hard to get rid of it.”—TB

“I believe that lust has overruled love. If you don’t mean it when you tell someone you love them, then just let them know you are using them for your own pleasure.”---Anonymous, second period

“If you really love someone, it shouldn’t matter how much money they make, how they dress, or what kind of car they drive.”—Ben

“The word love shouldn’t even be thought of unless you’ve known that special someone for at least six months to a year or even more. Love is a complex word that can grip your heart and never let go, so use it carefully.”—Courtney

“I knew I was in love when my boyfriend touched me and I got the chills and I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about him and a smile comes to my face.”—Summer

Jake and Jen update

Me and Jakers tonight.

Rainwater and...Ducks?

Monday morning we were leaving the house and spied a DUCK in the road. We are nowhere near water, folks. Weirdness. Theo the cat was crouched behind a tree, acting like he was gonna pounce if the moment was right. That duck was bigger than he was.

Oh, and the duck wouldn't move for that car. It had to go around him.

"He's my favorite Predator."--Chris

For the past week or so, Chris keeps sending me emails at work with the following:

"Sorry what I did."

"Know I did wrong."

"Oops!"

(click to see this guy)

He is referring to who he calls his "favorite Predator" from Dateline's TO CATCH A PREDATOR.

My favorite Predator is the guy who got caught going to McDonalds to meet a teen right after being caught at the "Chris Hansen" house the night before and then said, "I'm just tryin' to get something to eat!" He's also known as the guy who walked into the house naked.

(I know this is sick, but...) Who's your favorite predator??

Happy Monday to Ya

Common sense should have told him and others around him, "Maybe this video game is not for him..."
***
Anyone else kind of freaked out about how OLD Robert Shapiro looks in that commercial he's doing?
***
Jake has figured out how to get into a sitting position from a prone position. It was totally an accident. He looked surprised. "Hmph! What do you think about that?"
***
Me and Luke last night.
Me: That's not allowed.
Luke: That's loud.
Me: No, that's not ALLOWED.
Luke: It's not quiet!
***
Amy, you'll like this: I'm showing A Doll's House and Dead Poets Society to my kids for the first half of this week. I gotta have some grading time---rough drafts of papers are in, besides all the other crap we have to do for NCLB and other schtuff. ;) You wouldn't believe all the stuff online about teaching with Dead Poets Society. I was thrilled.

The Tale of the Odoriferous Old Lady

I don't know how mothers dressed their children before kid clothing consignment sales. I guess they had to pay outrageous prices or their kids had limited wardrobes. Mom and I had a "mother-daughter" Saturday yesterday and got some cute stuff for the boys at the KA consignment sale. Afterwards I asked mom to let me run into the grocery store to grab some dishwashing detergent. I ran in, Mom stayed in the car.

I grabbed the stuff and got in line. There were two lines---a very long one and hey, one that wasn't so long! I got in that one. There was a little old lady in front of me with very few things. So I'm standing there, checking out the ridiculous stories on all the magazine covers when I start to...smell...something. WTF? I realize that this odor is emanating from the little old lady in front of me. Let me describe the odor to you for a second. Imagine the following odors all mixed up: feces, urine, and Windsong.

I back up a little and put my hand over my nose to smell lotion instead of this horrid smell, thinking it won't be long and she will move on.
Wrong.
Cashier to old lady: This is buy one get one free. You want to get another one?
Old lady: Sure. They're right over there. (Points in direction of the pork skins.)
Cashier to bagger: Go get her some.
Bagger goes off in the wrong direction.
Inside my head? ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Old lady to no one in particular: He won't find them over there.
Minutes pass. I'm desperately trying to find a perfume ad in one of the magazines.
Dumbass bagger shows up with the damn porkskins. Finally.
By now I'm fighting a FOR REAL GAG REFLEX. I've backed up to the North Forty, to East Jesus, to...well you get the picture.
The old lady gets her stuff and shuffles off, leaving a green mist in her wake. (Okay, that last part I made up.)
The cashier next to the line I'm in brings out a can of Lysol, sprays it in the air.
She says to me, "I'm so sorry. I felt sorry for you back there."
I ask, "So I wasn't the only one who smelled that? Whoo..."
My cashier and the one beside her said at the same time, "She always smells like that."

When I got home I had to change clothes. The smell had attached itself somehow. ARGHHHHH.
GAG.

A Day in the Life

Watched a kid walk up the stairs today, stopping every second step to pull his low ridin' pants up. Redonkulous.
***
Female student, surveying the pics of the boys on my desk, "Your boys didn't get your nose."
"Uh, thanks?" :)
***
Male student, as he turned in his rough draft late, "You were nicer before you had kids."
I stood up, "FIRST of all, you didn't know me before I had kids. SECOND of all, that's not true, and THIRD of all, you don't talk like that to a woman." I got all FINGER IN YOUR FACE on him. It was awesome. He got lots of my pent up stressy anger. Heeeeeeeeeeeeee
He was all, "I'm sorry. I'm really...sorry."
"YOU BETTER BE!" FINGER still pointin'...
(Teacher face.)

Women, Weight, Three Hours, and Nerdy Jen

It's felt like a long week.
****
I read something on someone's blog recently that made me a little irritated. They quoted Madeline Albright (I think it was) who said, in regard to the fact that she thought all women should vote for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman and THEY are women: "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." (I might have paraphrased that somewhat.) Okay. This is stupid. I'm not gonna vote for a woman just because she's a woman. She could be the wrong woman. It's just as wrong for women to vote WOMAN just cuz as it is to vote for Obama just because he's black and you're black, or vote for McCain just because you are a white man and you want another white man in. Agree? Disagree?
****
I'm at a plateau with the weight loss. That sucks. I guess I gotta ramp it up some. Great.

I found myself with three free hours all to myself yesterday, after I had taken a half-day off to take Jake to the doc for his six month check up. Well, after I had already phoned it in (and believe me, it's hard to undo it after you do this) the doc office called, told me they were inundated with children with the flu at the office and the doctors didn't want their infant patients in the place. I'm glad they called! I don't want it either. DO NOT WANT. (Talk to the hand.)

So we rescheduled it for March, when I have spring break and I found myself with the reality of THREE WHOLE HOURS TO MYSELF!

What to do what to do ???

Should I shop? Surf the internet? Exercise? Watch TV uninterrupted? Read? CLEAN?

Sleep?

Hmmm

Sleep...

I went home when my sub came in at noon, did a little web surfin' on the INTERWEB and (almost guiltily) walked to the bedroom, threw the sheets to the side of the bed, took my shoes off, turned the bedroom TV to the low hum of CNN Headline News and took myself a nap. I woke up in time to go pick the kids up.
Sweetness.

What do you do when you have time all to yourself, ladies?
***I'm also adding a picture of Third Grade Jen. Enjoy! I know you will.

TV, Pregs, Five, and Obama

I know it's all about the presidential election these days, but you ever turn on the TV and, after flipping a million channels, say, "Please! Something non-election!"
***
The other night, speaking of TV...Chris and I were watching CNN and I asked, "You ever look at the candidates and think, 'This is what I have to choose from?' "
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I have 12 students who are either pregnant or already have a child. That's the most I've ever had at one time. It's like the motto of the class this year is: CLASS of 08---We Procreate!
One student is irritated that her baby is due two weeks after graduation; she is worried about being too big at the ceremony. I want to tell her that's the least of her worries, bless her heart. They have no idea. This same student, who is 18, has a 17 year old sister who is also pregnant. How can we make this CYCLE STOP????
****
Totally off subject,
Luke's favorite number is 5. When we are driving down the street he gets very excited when he sees a 5 on any sign or on anyone's tag. It's cute. He also says that 5 is "his job." I don't get what he means with that. Ask him sometime----"Luke, what's your job?" "Uh, five."
His favorite color is blue, he plans on being Spiderman when he grows up, and he's gonna marry me. He says "Baby Brother" will marry me too.
***
(Just added this at 1:00 pm)
Here's a link about the rumors that surround Obama. It was a comfort for me to read because I had heard some things that gave me pause. Now I feel okay about it. Chris said he couldn't believe I'm on the Obama train...Besides his stance on education and specifically, NCLB, I think that it's time a black man broke down that barrier, because it will make it easier for a woman to be president one day soon. However, obviously I don't want Hillary to be the first female president. She's not who we need.

My students have voiced a concern that they are scared that Obama will be assassinated. It suprised me that this issue has come up so often with my kids this week. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, living where streets and buildings are named after MLK, Jr. and everything seems to be dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement. Also, Obama being compared to MLK, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, etc. only fuels this fear.

Monday

For lots of awesome information on the breaking (!) Natalee Holloway news, go here. If you haven't seen the videos yet, please do!!!
***
In weight loss news, I updated the ticker over there to reflect the weight I still need to lose. I need to lose more than 15, I'm gonna go for 20! (Realized that two pregnancies make a body change the way it loses weight and where it comes off...hmph!)
I'm a little anxious over the Valentine's Day sweets--my willpower has held up for a long time, but it's funny how big heart-shaped boxes can scare me in Wal-mart. :)

At long last

Max, managed to get a little bit scanned. Enjoy the little bit I got up. Oh, and leave some comments, yo.

Southern Ghosts

The man in this picture is my mom's grandfather, John Leslie. My mom's father was born later, when he (John Leslie) remarried. This picture was taken shortly after the children's mother (Daisy) was put into Bryce Mental Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. From the records, it looks like all she was "put away" for was postpartum depression and related problems. She died there.

These children were put into the Alabama Baptist Children's Home in Evergreen, Alabama. Why he couldn't raise them, I don't know. He asked that they never be separated/adopted without each other. Thus, none of them were ever adopted; they grew up in the orphanage. So sad. I have to say, I also don't understand why he didn't get his kids back when he married my mother's grandmother and had two kids with her. The girl on the right side? Looks just like my mom when she was little. And yes, I think the little girl on the left is cross-eyed. Bless her little heart. That boy on the right looks very sad, and where's his hair? I have to say though---my great grandfather was a looker!

Breaking News. Jen Gets Political

Lightbulb finally went off in my normally Republican head. I'm hoping Obama gets the Democratic nod because I do not like Hillary and because I discovered this on Obama's website:

Reform No Child Left Behind: Obama will reform NCLB, which starts by funding the law. Obama believes teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in a timely, individualized manner. Obama will also improve NCLB's accountability system so that we are supporting schools that need improvement, rather than punishing them.

Since this is the issue that affects me the most on a daily basis, dude's got my vote.

Anybody want to try to sway me? Please educate me if I'm missing something here. I liked McCain until I realized he didn't see much wrong with NCLB. For shame.

1992

Treasure from the mysterious boxes...me and Hope, summer of 1992. I do not understand why we are holding up phone books.

We are 19 years old.

My eyes look weird as hell.
*****
Go visit my cousin's blog!!!
******
See the Natalee Holloway news? I need to set my crystal ball up at the fair!!!
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Today I was grading papers at my desk while giving my seventh period time to work on their rough drafts (research paper time). I smelled something. Looked over to a student, saw that she was painting her nails. I was like, "Have you lost your mind?" She didn't seem to think that what she was doing was peculiar.