Christina's Blog

My Hero!

2010-02-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

Some girls dream of vampires. I dream of Kryptonians.

I am a Superman geek. I admit it. I love Superman. Anyway you slice it, the man is hot.

I used to wonder what the heck was wrong with Lois Lane, not seeing the total awesome-ness of Clark Kent. I would dream of finding someone just like him. Tall, dark, handsome, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound . . .

And he's the strong silent type . . . he'll listen to a good rant, but willing to jump into action the moment I yell "Help, Superman!"

I've been waiting and waiting. Everyone tells me I'm dreaming. They say my expectations are too high, that there are no fairy tales. They tell me it's all fiction.

But he's out there. I know he is. My superhero is waiting.

Or maybe it's just Monday. I generally don't need saving on Tuesday.

Really, it could go either way.

My Mom

2010-02-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

We have decided to lock my mom in the house. Maybe forever.

On January 24th, I got a call from Sharlon. (Sharlon has been my best friend since 3rd grade and she and her family live in mom's ward. They are a big help in keeping an eye on her. My mom is 69, but likes to think she's 30.) Sharlon called me around 8:30 saying that she'd found mom laying on the sidewalk outside of church.

NEVER start a conversation with, "We found your mom on the sidewalk and I think you should get down here."

Turns out mom was fine but she had fallen and cut her hand pretty badly and her fingers were looking broken. I have 1:00 church so I wasn't even out of bed yet. I talked to mom, called Erin and we both raced to Rosepark. Thank heaven's for mom's ward. They gave mom a blessing and got us there and made mom sit still. She wanted to go to church.

We took her to the emergency room where they figured out the cut on her finger was to the bone (yikes!) and the pinky and ring finger on her right hand were dislocated and the tendons were torn (ouch!) and there was a scratch on her right eye. Which was black with some nasty broken blood vessels.

She looked like she'd been in a bar fight.

After hours of waiting, we took her home with her right arm splinted up to her elbow and a prescription for Lortab.

It was on November 24th that mom had a pacemaker put in.

So maybe we'll let her out, but not on the 24th of the month.

Mom's fine. She's got her splint off and is now looking forward to cataract surgery this summer.

I lied

2009-12-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

Remember when I said I would post every Monday?
Remember when I said not to believe a word I said?

There are five days of school until Christmas break and I so need a break. And all you full time workers can be quiet. You're just jealous and that's never pretty. I am speaking specifically to Autumn here.

A lot of teachers are saying how it feels like we just had Thanksgiving break, where does the time go, etc.

I didn't get a break over Thanksgiving. I didn't get a Thanksgiving. And I am grateful.

The week before, Mom went into the doctor where they discovered her heart was only beating 40 times a minute. It is appropriate to say yikes.

On the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I had parent teacher conferences which went to about 7:00 each night. So I couldn't help Erin out when she took Mom to the doctor's office.

So while I was teaching and conferencing Monday and Tuesday, Erin took Mom back to the doctor, and then to a cardiologist. After I was finished Tuesday I was greeted with the news that Mom needed a pace maker. Now. As in, Wednesday.

I had seizures Wednesday. This was not planned.

So Erin took Mom in for surgery, and I stayed home and watched North and South: Book One and let my brain do its thing. When I was done and Mom was out, Erin came and got me and we went to the hospital, where I fell asleep in the chair.

We brought Mom home on Thanksgiving. Erin went to be with her family for the first time that week and I stayed with Mom. We two sickies watched movies and slept. Our turkey dinner was microwaved chicken nuggets and we didn't care. Kathi and Ron and the kids brought real turkey and lots of pie later anyway.

Friday, we put up Mom's Christmas decorations so we wouldn't have to worry about it.

Saturday, I finally went shopping. All day. But it's done.

Sunday, Erin's husband Rob got sick so I stayed home from church and babysat while Erin took care of her family's health. The kids wanted to decorate for Christmas again (because it was so much fun at Mom's) so we put up our Christmas tree. It still looks like a 4 year old and a 7 year old decorated it.

Sunday night, we went to the Messiah sing-in at Abravenel Hall, and finally, finally some peace. Mom couldn't make it, so we took my dear friend, Sharlon, who had never been and kicked my butt on some of those songs.

The Messiah is powerful and singing it with the audience in Abravenel Hall was awesome, and over powering, and enriching. As always it brings in the Christmas spirit.

Mom is doing so well now that the cardiologist is talking about exercise plans. Before the surgery she couldn't answer the door without running out of breath. Erin said that all she needs are two new knees and she'll be like a 20 year old again. Her color is better, she is happier. I am very thankful for all the doctors and nurses who took care of her. I'm also thankful for Erin who did all the heavy lifting that week.

But, while I am thankful for everything that happened over Thanksgiving, except maybe the seizures, I need a break.

I'm Not Dead

2009-10-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

So It's been many, many, MANY weeks since I last blogged. Sorry. A little thing called life interrupted my life. I promise to try and blog once a week. I assure I have been ignoring all my friends on facebook as well.

I've had so many things to blog about . . . totally useless and unimportant stuff, but still, it made me laugh at the time.

Like last Saturday, when I cleaned my room. First of all, "cleaned" is being used very loosely here. I picked stuff up, I put my overflowing laundry basket in my closet and shut the door. It looked better after I hid some stuff. But what I discovered id I have way too many books.

I, like many people have a constant pile of books I'm getting to. the bookstore is my refuge from stress. In recent weeks We've had mid terms at school, not to mention the lead up to Halloween. Plus we had UEA weekend. Of course I went to the bookstore. I think I sent the Barnes and Noble families to college all by myself.

So as I was "cleaning" my room I discovered not one pile of books I was getting to, not two pile, but three. Three piles of books. and I am reading them. There are three or four romances, a couple of New York Times Best Sellers, children's books, historical fiction, a Harry Potter book, and a couple of fantasies.

I piled up 20 books altogether.

And it's not like I suddenly stopped reading and let things get backed up! I'm almost done with The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (not as good as Da Vinci Code).

I am not allowed back into a bookstore until I get these piles under control.

Or until report card stress forces Autumn to take me there.

Now I have some reading to do.

Priorities

2009-09-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

The time for season premiers is upon us . . . yay! We have a DVR now so you'd think that getting in all those missed programs would be easier.

Yeah, now we just have a longer list of stuff to record. Because we can.

When you have one TV, it really whittles down your list of options pretty well. Now our list not only includes both Autumn's favorites and my favorites, but some new stuff too.

So how do we prioritize? Is "So You Think You Can Dance?" more important than "Project Runway?"

And what do we do about Thursday night? Who wins, "Survivor" or "The Office?"

It's a mess.

I want to see if "Glee" is any good. Autumn wants to catch "Vampire Diaries." They both run up against other shows.

Luckily, "Smallville" moved to Fridays and so far, no conflicts.

I tell you, scheduling fall TV with a roommate is a job of work.

New Goals and School Daze

2009-09-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

The year has started and I apologize I didn't post pictures of my class before it was trashed by my 30 fourth graders. Then again, you shouldn't be surprised, I still haven't posted pictures of my "new" apartment.

At the beginning of every year, teachers are asked to reevaluate themselves and the jobs they're doing and make goals for the new year.

I hate this particular part of starting school. I never know what to write. I ruminate for hours trying to figure these goals out, you know, how do I become a better teacher, a better communicator, all that. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I could do better. It's the choosing just a couple of things to improve out of so many that always stumps me.

Happily, I found out I could write a goal concerning my health because it directly applies to teacher attendance (the bosses like you there). Since I already want to go to the gym, I decided to write one about going to the gym. While I was at it, I wrote in a bedtime, and I said that I would stop all work at 8:00 p.m. so I could destress, like you might do with a book or playing tetris. How awesome is that?

The state of Utah is supporting my laziness! (But now there are more reasons to feel guilty about not going to the gym today . . . sigh)

Books I've Read

2009-08-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

I was recently reminded of those long, hairy novels they assigned at the end of the year in English for you to read over the summer. I remember, I would be so excited to have my summer, and then, wham! Summer reading assignment. And it wasn't just some thin little thing I could get skim over in a few days. No, I remember my summer assignments being, The Odyssey, Grapes of Wrath, and David Copperfield.

Did the teachers really think I was going to read those books? Me? When I had all that free time to sit in the air conditioned Rosepark public library and read what ever was handy?

I perfected the fine art of scholastic procrastination over those summers. I would get my copy of the book in June, and then it sat on my nightstand until two weeks before school started. Have you ever tried to read the Grapes of Wrath in two nights?

So, I also honed the art of scholastic deception. Erin calls it cheating. I call it survival in honors English.

My cousins and my sister and I all went to West High, one year after each other, so we shared the required novels. My copy of David Copperfield looks pretty trashed. And I never finished it. The Odyssey is in two pieces. I didn't finish it either. So it certainly looked like I had read them. (Well, someone had).

Just one small way to confuse the teachers with my sneaky ways.

I also observed something else that helped me. If you listen very carefully in class, the teachers will tell you exactly what they want on a paper. For a B anyway. So I took notes, and skimmed and I am proud to say I never copied any one's work or read a Cliff's Notes version of anything.

And I got a B.

So, as I begin another school year, I think of all those kids, scrambling with their Shakespeare and their Dickens, and my heart goes out to Mrs. Barnes and Miss Fowler.

Of course they knew what I was doing. Because they are not stupid.

Happy Reading!

Sam And Holly

2009-07-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

It is usually Erin's job to report on her kids antics, but today I can't help it.

Yesterday Erin and I went shopping for my school clothes and her birthday present. In the middle of Wal-mart, Sam was behaving like a typical 4 year old, and trying every one's patience by whining "Mom, mom, mom . . . " Finally Erin said "I don't want to hear you say mom for one minute."

Sam didn't miss a beat, and whined "Erin . . ."

Holly and I went school shopping. I hadn't intended to buy anything for her yet, but when Erin went to take Sam to the bathroom, she started showing me all the cute things and pointing out which ones were in her sizes. when Erin got back, we had three outfits in the cart.

Holly SOOO has my number.

As summer winds down . . .

2009-07-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

If you can believe it, I have about three weeks left and I have to get back to work. The school will be open in August, but we have a really awesome principal who doesn't believe in working over vacations, so he may not let us in. I just can't think where the summer has gone. And then I think of all the reading I've done and the traveling I've done.

THAT'S where it went.

In honor of my wonderful summer, I thought I'd post a few pictures of this summer's "stuff" . . . the events that made it go so fast:

In June we went to Disneyland for Ezri's birthday. Ezri is Autumn's niece.

Sam also decided that he was "Buzz", not Sam. Who am I to argue with a child's life goals? So I got him a Buzz t-shirt in Disneyland.

Holly got a lot taller and lost a few teeth. She also learned how to ride a scooter.

Brittanie graduated so we went on a cruise to The Bahamas to celebrate. (This is what humidity does to my hair)

And Max is learned to move around and is cutting teeth . . . but he's not taking any of it very seriously:)

It's been a very busy summer. The best kind, because I was busy with family.

How I spend my summer.

2009-07-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Many people have the misconception that teachers are only in the biz to get three months paid vacation every year.

First of all, it's closer to 2 months when you account for meetings, workshops, faculty stuff, meetings, cleaning, conferences and meetings.

Secondly, I have plenty to keep me busy this summer. I have not been bored at all.

I organized my CDs. I play a lot of music in my class and until this year I didn't have an MP3 player or an iPod. (Which I recently learned you can plug into the microphones we use at work and play through the speakers and it's totally awesome!)

Anyway, since I now have WAY too many CDs (about 500+), I put them into alphabetical order every summer. I'm not obsessive about it. But this way, for the rest of the year, I basically know where a given CD should be. Nothing gets put back exactly right, but it doesn't get really messy until around Christmas, and I don't really do anything until summer.

Before:

After:

See. Very busy.

Anyone who knows me, knows I adore earrings. The dangly, chandelier earrings. I believe there must be a gene for this because my Grandma Baxter loved them too.

But they are a mess. So this summer, I went through my jewelry boxes (yes, that's a plural) and clipped pairs together, and tossed out old ones that don't have pairs.

Before:

After:

Too busy. Busy, busy, busy.

Or bored. With a dash of weird tossed in.

The Bahamas with Britt

2009-07-16T16:31:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't been as diligent as I should have been about blogging but there has been a very good reason. A couple of very good reasons. One, I have been trying to figure out how to download pictures from my new camera (oddly enough, it's labeled "easy share") and literally NOTHING has been going on. I could comment on the trouble I am having this summer finding reading material, but does anyone want to hear that again? (By the way, I just read The Last Lecture on the flight to Florida, and it was very good).

However, on the 8th I flew out to Florida with my sister Kathi and her daughter Brittanie for Britt's graduation trip. Britt decided she wanted a cruise to the Bahamas, which I just went on last year. After our trip to Hawaii last summer for Katelynn's trip, I think Kathi was trying to avoid the use of maps. We did take a lot tour buses and taxi cabs.

The trip was great. Not as fun as my first one, simply because I had seizures our first night out. they charge you just like an emergency room when you go to the infirmary. And because I have epilepsy, they wouldn't let me snorkel. That was a cruise wide policy, not the doctor's orders. I was pretty upset because I had already paid to snorkel and none of the materials we received beforehand said anything about this restriction. Worse than that, when I asked the guy at the excursions desk what other options were open to me (he was about 15) he said I could always sit on the beach and wade in the ocean.

Really? Can I?
I can fly to California in an hour and do that.

I also mentioned that I have snorkeled before, in the Bahamas and Hawaii, I own my own gear, and my neurologist recommends sights he thinks I'll like.

The 15 year old rolled his eyes.

Next time I bring a doctors note and I pack my own gear, hang the expense.

Oh well. There are idiots everywhere.

Ironically, they have no problem with letting an epileptic parasail. Maybe because it costs twice as much.

The point of the trip was to give Britt an experience of a lifetime, and I think she had it. Here are some pictures. I took about 80. I was very careful not to overwhelm everyone.

I love this picture of Kathi and Brittanie. It looks like they are sharing a joke.
Brittanie on the pool deck
This is me. Trying to make to the entry to Nassau. You can see I didn't get very far. Our ship is in the background. It was HOT! I changed into a skirt later on.

Brittanie and Kathi at Fort Fincastle. That's Nassau and Paradise Island in the background.
Brittanie and Kathi didn't want to wait for it, but I made them. I love a sunset at sea.

Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's private island.Kathi and Brittanie getting ready to snorkel. I love how dorky they look:)
Sitting on the beach with my feet in the water, just as they told me to . . . later Kathi let me borrow her gear and I snorkeled for a bit. Take that Norwegian!

Caribbean Blue . . . way too many people

WAY cool! It was so peaceful and the water looks so blue. Really worth it.

Travel Stress

2009-06-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't had seizures since December 10th, so Yea, Me!

But . . .

Every time I travel, even to the family reunion in Oregon, I stress. and stress is a major factor in causing my seizures. (Okay, so maybe that one might be cause for more stress, not less)

This last trip to Disneyland was a fun, breezy trip. And I stressed.

My family doesn't like it, but they're used to it. Now they have MP3 players and iPods, so they can shut me out. I also notice that more and more, my family avoids me during the preparation phases.

We all cope in various ways.

However, I am supposed to go on a cruise to the Bahamas with Kathi and Brittanie and we are no where near ready to go. Kathi hasn't even picked up her passport yet, which she had to expedite.

And now I am really stressing out because yesterday, Kathi asked if I would take over planning. She's been pretty sick and doesn't know what to do for a cruise. She assumes I do because I've been on one before. I let Autumn handle all the details then, just like I do whenever I travel with Autumn. Can't do that now.

So here is my to do list for today:

Rent a car because we missed the shuttle dead line

Book a hotel in Miami

Get passport numbers (hoping Kathi has picked hers up and Brittanie finds hers) and register for our cruise

Try not to stress

Hear's hoping modern medicine does it's thing and I have a non-stressful, seizure free, vacation

I don't think the 12 pack of Diet Pepsi is going to be enough today. I am definitely going to need ice cream eventually.

Disneyland and Photograpy Drama

2009-06-28T21:48:00.001-07:00

Autumn and I went to Disneyland with Autumn's sister Emily and Emily's husband Jason and their children Ezri and Riker (I think I spelled Riker right). It was Ezri's 4th birthday and we all had a fabulous time.

We spent three days in the park. We saw the fireworks and rode every ride Ezri would go on and managed a few adult rides. Of course, the kids' favorite place was the water park in California Adventure's A Bug's Life garden. I think this was the cleanest Riker got :)

For her birthday, Ezri went to the Princess Lunch and we got her a princess dress. What a blast!

Finally, on Monday, Riker gave up and fell asleep in my lap on a park bench. The kids hadn't slept before 10:00 for two days. That's when we figured we should leave before someone reported us for child abuse. We started home around 3:00. We got back on Tuesday morning at about 5:00 am. Since Ezri is Autumn's niece, I forwarded everything I took on to Emily and Autumn. The trip was a blast and there are many pictures and memories, but Autumn has posted most of those on her blog.

Erin has been trying to teach herself how to take a good photograph. So Saturday we went on an expedition with all three kids so Erin could practice. She also figured it was time to get one of them all together that looked nice.

This is what we learned. It is impossible to get a 6 month old, a three year old and a seven year old to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

Sam learned that boys can go to the bathroom outside.

So it was a big day all around. We all started out happy but after a lot of patience, the kids had it. The last pictures are a pretty accurate summation of how they all felt. Sam was more interested in dirt and making faces. Holly wanted to explore. And Max just wanted to be fed. Ironically, Holly and Sam are singing "We Are A Happy Family" in the picture where Max is screaming.

These are just my pictures. Erin's are much better. I spent most of the time making sure Sam didn't fall into any water or off of any walls, and holding Max.

In two weeks, I'm off to the Bahamas with Brittanie and Kathi. Then I've got to get back to my classroom and get ready for . . . wait for it . . . Fall. Where did the summer go?

Birthdays

2009-06-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is the week for birthdays. Holly turned 7 on the 15th, and Brittanie turned 18 on the 16th. Today is Orion's birthday, but I can't remember how old he is. I think he will be a sophomore. Maybe I'm in denial. My oldest nephew cannot be that old. Then again, Brittanie just graduated and Holly is going into the second grade, so I guess he can. Holy Mackerel.

For her birthday Holly wanted a scooter, so Erin and I took her to pick one out, and Nana and I bought it. This is her looking pretty snazzy. Sam wouldn't just let me take a picture of Holly, but he also wouldn't stop sticking out his tongue. Isn't Max a cutie?!

Every year, I also celebrate "Little Brother's Day" on Holly's birthday. I always felt left out on Erin's birthday when we were little. When you're one of two kids in a house, it's understandable. So when Sam was born, I started the tradition by celebrating "Big Sister's Day" with Holly. The idea is, when someone has a birthday, I don't forget that this is the day their siblings became brothers or sisters. So on Holly's birthday, when everyone celebrates her, I don't forget the boys. And on the boys' birthdays, I get a little something for the others.

Max is too little to care this year. But when I reminded Sam that Holly's birthday was his Little Brother's day he was pretty excited. So Holly got a pink scooter and Sam got (another) Lightning McQueen. Then Erin hung out at my place with the boys and I took Holly to the movies. Sam is pretty excited for his birthday in August. So is Holly.

Now, when I get old and infirm, I know I'll be well taken care of.
I bought their love.

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Electronics

2009-06-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

I have the title for a new folksong. "The Ballad of Modern Technology." I can hear Peter, Paul and Mary tuning up as I type it.

I mentioned that I left my digital camera at my sister's house two months ago. Since I got it back it hasn't worked. Right as the warranty ran out. Granted, Holly stepped on it in January, but really, is there a delayed reaction on these things? I highly doubt it. Since I have a vacation coming up when I will definitely want a camera, I went and got another one. (Anyone want a digital camera that works perfectly except the button to take pictures doesn't work?)

At the same time, My MP3 player keeps telling me that it's full. Even after I reformat it. There is nothing on it, nada. And yet the computer says it's full. A week ago it was only half full. I can still put music on it, but it's like having a car with a gas gauge that doesn't work. How do I know when I really am out of room?

I hate technology.

Growing up, my dad had a lot of different kinds of computers in the basement in various stages of destruction. He built and programmed computers. He was the Bluebeard of computers. I'm sure he made sure his new laptop didn't get a look in the back of the basement to see what was in store if it started giving him trouble.

He hated technology.

Mostly because it's built to breakdown. Like my camera and my MP3 player, technology seems to be built to breakdown if you look at it wrong. If dad was working on the computer at home, we couldn't run the blow dryer at the same time. Which Erin always forgot. And then we'd blow a fuse. and then Dad would blow a fuse. Because there are only so many times you can do that to a computer before it gets cranky. Granted this was 10 years ago in a house that was 100 years old. but you get the picture. Shouldn't computers be more adaptable to old technology . . . like 50 year old circuit breakers? Or fourth grade teachers?

Seriously. There should be a song. Dad really liked Joan Baez . . .

Summer

2009-06-08T08:25:00.000-07:00

School is out and for me summer is officially here. I realize that it doesn't start until June 21st, but honestly, when I know that I can stay up til one in the morning reading if I want because I can sleep in the next day because there's no work for me, that's summer time. (I fall asleep before 10 more often than not, but the possibility is still there) When I start going crazy looking for things to do, that's summer time. Forget what the calendar says. Set your clocks by my mental state.

I get bored faster than anyone I know, even my own students. I have very few plans this summer. I am going to the Bahamas for a few days in July, but the rest of my summer break is free. And anyone who knows me knows that this is always a problem.

For example, today I am surrounded by books, music, movies, crafts and the Internet. I have nothing to do.

And then I hear my mother's voice, from summers gone by:

"How can you be bored?"
"I don't want to hear that."
"You can always do the dishes."
"Go find your sister."
"Clean your room."
"You haven't read ALL your books"
"Go outside"
"Call Sharlon"
"Why don't you do laundry and I'll watch TV?"
"Go to the library"

Wow. They say that smells bring back the most vivid memories. I disagree. I think it's my mom's voice.
I have this sudden urge to find my sister and make tents in a backyard somewhere.
I absolutely feel guilty about not doing housework.

Love and guilt trips . . . they stay with you forever!

Last Day!

2009-06-05T04:11:00.000-07:00

Last year, on this very day, I went to school, cleaned, got all checked out, and then went home at 1:30 and moved furniture across the parking lot to our new apartment. This year, I moved two weeks early and I moved to Taylorsville. But this year, we had help from Autumn's brothers and sister, and her dad, and my brother-in-law Rob. So it went pretty smooth. Smoother than if it was just 3 girls filling boxes and dumping them on the floor and then refilling them. I am now a fan of moving vans and packed boxes.

Today our principal has listed as a "quiet day." He wants us to clean, and get ready for check out. We have to sign in keys and manuals and id badges and pay fines and return missing stuff that you didn't know you had and report damaged textbooks and damaged rooms and do a check out interview. It's a mess. Every year I hate the process. But it always seems to get done.

And my classroom set up is finished! I don't have any work days next year, so I had my kids help me this year and voile! . . . A complete room. We've covered everything with white paper so it won't fade over the summer. We've covered the books so they won't get too dusty. We've wiped down every surface and cleaned out every drawer and closet. We've stacked deskes and chairs and tables. (Seriously, how do you mom's get anything done without at least 23 ten year olds? :) )

So today, in my lesson book, I wrote "clean room" "Watch movie" and "community circle"
What do I do? 4 1/2 hours are stretching out before me like they never have before. A movie will take about half of that.
It is a little scary.

End of the Year

2009-06-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

I truly am sorry for not blogging sooner. I wanted to post pictures of the new place but my camera has been at my sister's since Rob graduated, and the batteries are dead anyway, and the place is still a mess, so the pictures will come later. But we're moved in and almost all unpacked. We moved Erin last week end. Hopefully everyone will stay for a while because we're all tired. Or at least I am.

Plus, it is the last week of school and I am struggling to keep the kids focused on learning. I know. I have to hold back the laughter every time I say that out loud too. It doesn't help that the CRT testing ended a month ago. We had to have almost everything taught before testing started so they could pass the test. The last few weeks have been a steady stream of social studies and novel units.

But this week is a mess. And I am already worn to a frazzle. It is Tuesday morning, and I haven't even left for work yet. But here's the schedule for the week. Maybe you'll get my drift:

Monday - regular schedule
Tuesday - Fourth Grade talent show (usually takes between 2 and 3 hours)
Wednesday - Field Day
Thursday - Awards Assembly
Friday - Quiet Day, for cleaning.

Notice that the afternoons are all open. So we get the kids all crazy and then I have to pull them together and teach math. Again, laughter.

But I imagine it has been this way since school began. I know the last week has always been this crazy. My one consolation is that on Saturday, I begin a VERY long weekend.

The Joys of Moving

2009-05-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

So I last complained about moving . . . again. But now that I've packed everything I can until the night before, I found many, many joys in knowing that I really am just passing through here.

1. I know I am not responsible for the funky smell in the kitchen.
2. I do not have to feel guilty about the amazing growth of weeds out front.
3. Since I've been eating take out ever since I packed the dishes, I really don't feel guilty about the dirty dishes either.
4. I am not longer worried about those unorganized bills. Done, and done.
5. I can get those extra shelves I've wanted and let the guys do all the heavy lifting.

See. there's always a silver lining.

And, if you're feeling like your life could use a little more service and maybe a donut or two, we're moving this weekend. We'll start at Autumn's and work up to my place. Come one, come all. Misery loves company.

Moving

2009-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I hate moving. And yet, here I go again. Last year at this exact same time, I was packing and moving. Except last May, I was moving my junk across my parking lot and reusing Rubbermaid containers. In 14 days I am moving from Holladay to Taylorsville. I am moving in with my cousin Autumn. And the important thing here is that I can't do a casual move like last year. I have to actually pack boxes. With lids. I can't just carry them to my new place, dump their contents, and then go back and fill up again. So I have been collecting xerox boxes at work. The five I got now hold half of my books. I packed my shoes in an empty Rubbermaid container. My belts and gloves and scarves and hats are in my luggage, and my bills and crafts were straightened up and repacked. I now have about 14 packed boxes, not counting the ones in the storage closet outside. I have taken down all my pictures and stuff in the living room. I am ready to pack the dishes and DVDs as soon as I get them all back.

I am no where near ready.

While I was getting stuff from the living room, I noticed that my roommate Kendra just got a new photo frame. Kendra is fond of the signs with sayings like "Stand for Something." They are all over our house. I don't hate them, but I like to joke about them. This new frame says "It's not where you go or what you do, It's who is beside you that counts." The frame doesn't have a photo yet, so my other roommate, Jessica, found one of herself, and set it in the inset of the frame where a photo would go. Not only did it break up the boredom of packing, I laughed really hard.

Now it looks something like this (I can't find my camera. Besides the batteries are dead. This will have to do):

It's not where you go

or what you do

It's who is beside you

that counts.

That's awesome.

I am going to miss these guys.

Appreciation

2009-05-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. If you think that's a bit much, the NEA got specific and said that Tuesday is National Teacher Appreciation Day. The voted on it and everything. Waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1985. So the Tuesday of the first full week of every May, tell a teacher how great they are. Every other day of the year, feel free to show us as much disrespect as you want. Isn't that why we have a Mother's and a Father's Day?

In fact, that's why my mom hates Mother's Day. She thinks every day we should be treating her like we do on Mother's Day. And on Mother's Day, she only asks for a cherry red 2009 Mustang convertible. If wishes were Mustangs . . .

Anyway, back to my appreciation . . . Someone hand wrote a bunch of signs for the halls. Most of them just say "Driggs Teachers are Great! Appreciate!" But my favorite, I like to think they started at 1:00 in the morning and got a little crazy with. I would have taken a picture of it but my camera's batteries are dead. It says something like this:

"We appreciate our teachers, secretaries, principal, aides, custodians, and lunch lady."

I think the word they were looking for is "staff."

Get out there and show how much you love your teachers, old or new. Believe me, with 22 school days left, we need can use all the encouragement we can get right now.

Spiritual Stories

2009-05-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

Recently, in General Conference, we were all reminded about the importance of Sacrament Meeting, and that if you are not getting anything out of it, it's your fault.

And then my roommate Jessica came home with story and I had the completely WRONG reaction. But, to rationalize, so did Jessica.

Jessica was in Sacrament Meeting with her family at a cousin's homecoming. Her aunt related this story in very dramatic terms with tears. If you've heard and loved it apologize.

A six year old boy was throwing brick after brick into the road, barely missing cars. One of the bricks finally hit a car and the driver got out and started yelling at the boy. "Why are you throwing those bricks?! Look at this dent?! Who is going to pay for this?! Where are your parents?!" The boy, with tears running down his face said "Sir, I was trying to get some one's attention. My brother is in a wheelchair and he has fallen out. I need your help." The man, feeling very humbled about jumping to conclusions, helped out the grateful children. He kept the dent in his car to remind him never to jump to conclusions again.

Okay. I know what I should think. Here's what I thought . . .
"What the heck is the kid doing taking his wheelchair bound brother to a place with lose bricks lying around?! One assumes this is a construction (or destruction) site. Not the safest place."

Jessica's dad thought "How could a six year old through bricks that far into the road?"

Jessica had the best and most logical thought:
"Wasn't there a pine cone around to throw?"

I guess I know what I need to work in Sacrament Meeting.

Graduation

2009-04-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

My brother in law graduated from the Marriott school of business today. He is now an MBA. Which is great. But the actual commencement was a little depressing.

I went directly from my class of fourth graders to the Marriott Center filled with people far more educated than me. In other words, within an hour and a half, I went from being the smartest person in the room to, well, not. That's an intimidating feeling.

But I started playing with Sam, my three year old nephew, and I began to feel a little more in my element. Then the commencement speaker got up.

Everyone knows that commencement addresses are supposed to be ignored. They aren't really meant for the audience. So while the graduates are (pretending) to listen and be inspired, their families take a nap. It's a time honored tradition.

Only one thing could make these speeches more boring.

PowerPoint.

That's right. This speaker used PowerPoint. Guaranteed to put more people to sleep than Ambien.

Next time, I'll mail the card.

Congratulations Rob! That's more work than I ever want to do!

Sleepover

2009-04-13T10:05:00.001-07:00

I am trying to be more diligent about blogging, because I know I hate it when everyone else forgets to keep their blogs up to date . . . Erin.

So my new goal, added to my burgeoning list (lose weight, exercise daily, scripture study . . . ), is to write at least once a week. My problem, like Autumn, is that I like to astonish. Or at least make people laugh. Unfortunately, my days are pretty mundane. Wake up, get ready, go to school, teach future leaders (or not) of the world, come home, correct papers, go to sleep. Riveting.

The last few days have been my spring break. If you're wondering why I'm not jumping and shouting, it's because this year has been a bit of a let down compared to last year's spring break. As breaks go, it's been fun, but last year, I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. This year I went to have my car's emissions done, some blood labs done, and I had Holly and Sam for a sleepover Friday night.

While both a cruise and a sleepover can be placed in the "fun" category of life, I think you will agree that a cruise is a little different than a sleepover.

We had a very rowdy time. We stayed up until midnight . . . not on purpose. We watched "Bolt" twice and "Enchanted" almost twice. I don't have kid food here so we went to McDonald's for dinner and we had boxed fruit drinks and M&Ms while we watched the movie. Remarkably, no accidents occurred.

Sam fell asleep around 9:00 in my bed. Holly was the night owl. While they were both excited about sleeping in their own sleeping bags, everyone eventually ended up in my bed to watch the movie. They both got to sleep in my bed. I got the floor. Around 4:00 Holly wanted to sleep in her sleeping bag, so I got my bed for an hour, and then I got up and showered. Which was smart because they were up and at 'em by 7:00 and I wouldn't have been able to shower until 1:00. I can hear all you moms saying you do that everyday. We had dry Lucky Charms and more juice for breakfast. Then we played on the computer and woke my roommates up. (sorry guys!) We played with our Happy Meal toys and watched Saturday cartoons until Erin came. By then they were grouchy because someone didn't get them to bed on time.

What did I learn from all of this? The floor is hard, but if you're tired enough you can sleep anywhere. Holly can talk to a brick wall. Sam talks in his sleep, just like his mom. Holly is smart . . . like scary smart . . . "This juice is better, see it is 100% juice" . . . What the heck?! It really doesn't matter how late I keep them up or what I feed them when I send them home the next day.

And sleepovers are just a different kind of fun than a cruise. Less sun and snorkeling but a whole lot more giggling.

Pictures

2009-04-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

I have pictures. Some are cute and some are just of my new hair cut which apparently is very important to see. (Settle down Sharlon.)

These first pictures are of Max, who is smiling and turned 3 months old yesterday. Erin took them and I think she did a great job.

You can tell he is a Wells. He looks just like Holly did, but he has Sammy's incredible blue eyes. What a cutie!

I have been learning new things this week. I have learned how to use a blow dryer and a round brush . . . at the same time. And I figured out how to use the timer on my camera, so I could get some pictures taken fast and post them. It is amazing how one haircut can change your life.

You may ask why I am tipping my head . . . I don't know. I really wasn't trying to be cute. Maybe I was trying to hide the open bathroom door in the back. It's more likely I am not used to bangs and I am flipping them out of the way.

I took a dozen or so pictures and these are the best of my hair cut, not of me. I took them at 5:30 in the morning, and I am not wearing makeup. I look, well, my age.

To answer your questions: No I didn't color my hair. This is my natural color. I cut out all the highlights from chemicals and the sun.

Yes, I donated to "Locks of Love."

No, I didn't cry. You should have seen how gross and damaged the cut hair was. I was glad to see it go.

Yes, I love it. It actually moves, and I no longer have headaches or neck aches from the weight of my hair.

Can you tell this has been a big deal all week? I forget that you should never do anything drastic to yourself when your teaching. The kids can't concentrate for days. The thing is, I didn't think it was that huge. I've had bigger changes. But even the teachers were a little freaked. On our field trip to Ballet West Monday, they sent people looking for me because they couldn't find me. I was standing right next to them, but they didn't recognize me. (Actually, I thought that was funny.)

So, not an exciting post, but at least the pictures of Max are cute.

Hair

2009-03-27T17:22:00.001-07:00

We have a hair problem at our house and it is mostly my fault. Okay, it is 99% my fault.
I have a lot of hair. And recently I have been very lazy about going to get it cut. For the past 18 months I've been lazy. The longer I went without taking care of it, the more damaged the ends got, the more I shed everywhere. It's in the dryer, the quilts, the carpet. It is driving me crazy, and it's my own hair. I can't imagine how obnoxious it is for my blond room mates to find long dark hair in their laundry. (That's what the lint trap doesn't get . . . sorry guys!)

I usually wear my hair up in a twist and a clip. It's fast and easy, and I can do it in under a minute. My hair has been too long to do that for about 5 months. I have had it in buns and braids. When it's down it just gets in the way. (And any guy who tells me how gorgeous long hair is, has never had to wash it getting all the shampoo out, dry it, and make it not look like the Duggar women did your hair. . . without spending hours in the bathroom.)

Today I had a Friday off work, and I thought, in celebration of not having skin cancer yet (by the way, I had two pre-cancerous moles which were burned off) I would go tame my mane.

So, when I went to the Paul Mitchell School down the street, and I said I wanted a change.

We cut 9 inches off my hair. That's a change.
And I can still put it in a ponytail and up in a clip.

The shock is starting to set in a little. But I have just realized there is a real plus to having short hair. I can procrastinate a haircut for 3 years now.

I will post new pictures when I get someone to take them.

Doctor's Appointment

2009-03-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

I have two doctors' appointments this week. One is with my neurologist to check my medication levels and the settings on my VNS implant. (If you don't know what that is just follow the link). Anyway, as scary and weird as that sounds, I am so used to it, that it doesn't phase me anymore. It's my second appointment that's making me a little nervous.

While I have brown hair, I have the complexion of a red head, and I have the freckles to prove it. I also sunburn, all the time. I have had no less then 5 blistering sunburns. I'm not counting the ones where there were only one or two blisters. I also have a lot of moles. Recently, with the weather changing, some of my moles started cracking and bleeding. I dismissed it as dry skin. One of my fellow teachers saw my arm and immediately gave me the name of a doctor to go to. She said I should have them looked at. So now I'm nervous.

But isn't that a little weird? One doctor wants to find out if the 6 medications I take and the implant in my chest are still working to control my epilepsy and myasthenia gravis. (By the way, this requires not a few tests).

The other doctor is going to look at my skin. As far as I know, no tests this week.

I guess it's the fear of the unknown. Like Star Trek.

That's me. Captain Kirk.

With neurological problems and cancer causing moles.

Birthday Plans

2009-03-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (March 20th) is my birthday and I turn . . . would you believe 28?

Yes, it's been ten LONG years since high school . . . all of you snickering can be quiet right now.

Maybe I am closer to 29 then 28. One tries to lose track of these things.

Anyway, the fourth grade team at school had a party for me last Thursday, because we knew we would be too crazy to do anything this week. They bought me lunch at Einstein's and Reese's Eggs and diet Coke and tulips and a gift card to Barnes and Noble.

It is spooky how well they know me.

So I now have no plans for my birthday. Unless the kids come up with something. My kids are all excited and they keep saying "I'm getting you something but I'm not telling what it is. I want it to be a surprise." What it actually means is, they have not gotten me anything yet, and they won't remember until Friday morning when they ask their parents if they can get me a diet Coke.

But those are my plans. And it's my fault. Because I got busy, and the 20th sort of crept up on me. I mean, Last Friday, it was only the 13th! I was just getting over report cards and parent teacher conferences! How can it already be the 20th!

I am literally at a loss. I feel sort of obligated to mark it in some way, but I can't think of anything to do for my birthday to make it stand out. Remember when it was easy? Your mom would invite some friends over, and you would have a sleepover and watch movies and eat lots of cake and ice cream?

Now I'm lucky if I stay up to 10:00 so I can take my medication.

(Okay, so maybe I'm closer to 30 then I've let on.)

I was going to take the day off of work, but I had to take the 24th off for a doctor's appointment and with state tests around the corner (It is March 20th tomorrow for crying out loud!) I didn't feel comfortable leaving the kids with a substitute for two days.

I think I'll leave work early, go to a bookstore, get something new, and stay up late reading. That seems like a great party to me.

Except I'll probably fall asleep before the news is over, with my glasses on, like my Grandpa Baxter.

And then it would be like every other Friday night at my house.

The toilet plunger

2009-03-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

We have a bathroom off our living room. It's one of those deals that just has a toilet and a sink so that guest can use it but they are not subjected to your mess. My downstairs roommates use it as their bathroom. (They have a shower downstairs, but no toilet. A man designed these places.)

My roommates are very, very, neat people. Thanks goodess. Because I need to be led in that direction. Sometimes pushed kicking and screaming. But I want to be there. I want my house to be tidy and comfortable. I want to be that neat and organized person. But I've ranted about this before.

The rest of the house looks lovely. Not like my room . . . either my bedroom, or my classroom.

Anyway, I came home and there was a toilet plunger outside the bathroom door, in the living room. My first thought was, "Oh dear, the bathroom flooded." And then I went about my day, not seeing anyone drowning or even home.

The plunger has been there all week.

I'm just noticing today, because as I've stated before, I am not the neatest person. It's a goal. We should all be trying to achieve something. This is my dream.

Back to the plunger.

What are my neat, neat, roommates thinking? That the plunger is too icky to go in the guest bathroom? Thus, the perfect place is in the living room? It is just so outside of what I have come to expect.

Maybe I'll shock them this weekend and clean my room.

And maybe unicorns and leprechauns will fly me away for a weekend at a spa.

Parent Teacher Conferences

2009-03-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

I know I just posted yesterday, and, please, feel free to scroll down and read that too. Autumn says it makes me sound like a geek so you will probably laugh.

But I had to share my preparations for SEP conferences, as we call them now. I always knew them as Parent Teacher Conferences. For the life of me, I don't know what SEP stands for, but that's what we call them.

Anyway, I have three of these conferences every year. The last ones were right around Thanksgiving. Spring SEPs bring out more decorations and student projects then any other time. Probably because we know we are not going to have to do this again until August and we are decorating. Like it is a party or celebration. You'd think the teachers were a bunch of seniors waiting to graduate.

Also this year, we have had an art special, who we have seen two times a month. In the entire year she has completed 2 art projects. I get that she only sees them a couple times a month, but she's a specialist. If she's not, they really should take that our of her title. She should be able to do better than that, right?

So not only did I hang up the quilt projects we did in our class . . . which were AWESOME, but everyone had to hang up the art specialist's stuff. In our case, we did self portraits. I am posting pictures of both so you can compare.

I did quilt blocks out of construction paper with my class. They had to use real pioneer quilt patterns, to make four 9-patch blocks. It required a lot of fractions and pattern recognition. They also had to choose colors that would work well together. Here are the results. I think most of them turned out pretty great (there's always a couple who do their own thing, like make up a pattern, or forget how to use a glue stick and scissors, etc.):

And here are their self portraits. They aren't bad but it took them 5 months to finish, and some still didn't finish. But who knows, I am not an art specialist. Maybe these are really good, and I am not trained to see it (they look nothing like my kids).

Mine are better.

Commercials

2009-03-06T06:16:00.001-08:00

I have become addicted to TV on DVD primarily for one reason . . . there are no commercials. I could really care less about the bonus features and such. There are no commercials. Honestly, that's why we buy them.

This all started about 4 or 5 years ago when I started watching reruns of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Don't laugh. I had a good reason. Among the first three episodes I ever saw was the season 2 cliffhanger. And it was on a Friday. So I had to wait all weekend to stew about everything. I happened to be in Media Play the following day (it was that long ago) and I saw season 3 on DVD so I bought it. Why wait?

Since then I have purchased the entire 7 seasons of Buffy, and all 5 seasons of Angel. then I branched out and started buying West Wing seasons, one at I time. I didn't want to look too shallow. I have all 8 now.

Now I own all the seasons for Alias, The Office, Smallville, and Lois and Clark. I have the first 3 seasons for a British show called MI5. I'm not sure if I want the others because they kill off everyone at the end of 3 . . . EVERYONE.

and I have watched everyone one of them multiple times. I can quote the Office and the West Wing, I can tell you who Rambaldi is, and which seasons of Smallville you can skip. The can draw family trees for Angel and Spike, and tell you how many times Buffy has saved the world from being sucked into some hell dimension.

But that just makes me look very very sad. And shallow.

So back to my point about commercials and how they can drive you to drink.

I watch regular T.V. on Thursdays to catch new episodes of Smallville and the Office.

Last night, I settled in to watch a rerun of Smallville that I had missed when I was using my opera tickets in January (see? Depth.) After 10 minutes I realized I had seen 3 minutes of the show and 7 minutes of commercials. I almost turned it off. The season will be out in September. I can catch the episode then. (And raise your hand if you hate Lana's new hair . . . Was she thinking this would be the new "Rachel Cut?")

But I decided to start keeping track in my mind of commercial time and show time. There were far more commercials. And Lana's hair is really annoying.

I can't help but wonder . . . is the economy getting to be so rough that the CW can't afford one hour of TV unless it 35 minutes of advertising?

I actually missed most of the show, because I was timing commercials, so if anyone knows what happened last night . . .

Welcome!

2009-02-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

For three weeks, I have been trying to mess with my room mates' heads. I have been really busy at work so this has been keeping me pretty entertained.

My room mate Kendra has a Welcome sign in our living room made of individual blocks, one for each letter of the word: W-E-L-C-O-M-E

Jessica and I thought it would be really funny to start messing with it, one letter a day, and see who would notice first.

First, we started to straighten them. Kendra had them kind of artistically staggered. Everyday, I straightened out one letter into a row rather than a zig-zag.

No one said anything and within a week, the whole word was straight as an arrow.

So, then I started jumbling the letters around, one letter a day, until I had spelled "welcome" backwards.

Seven letters, seven days.

No one said a word.

Then, I started turning them upside down, one letter a day. I got to the letter "c" (with it spelled backwards) when I found out that everyone had noticed and they were waiting to see what I would do next.

I believe the real joke was on me.

So were they laughing with me or at me?

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

At BYU we used to call Valentine's Day "Single Adult Awareness Day." Because when are you, or anyone else for that matter, more aware of your marital status? It used to bother me when I was home alone, or babysitting for someone who had plans, on Valentine's Day. I used to try and make plans with friends so I could say I had plans.

And then I started teaching and let me tell you, the glamour has worn off. After a class party you don't want to do anything other than go home with your xerox box of candy and valentines and homemade goodies, and crash. Also, when you're suspicious about which little germy fingers have been on your valentine candy, it takes the fun away from eating it. In fact, I eat very little of my valentine candy. Especially when it has been taped to a valentine card with three pieces of finger-printed scotch tape. But the candy that's wrapping has been overseen by someone responsible like a parent or the FDA, and not tampered with . . . I'll eat that.

(I do, however, read all my valentine's. Those are cute.)

And this year one little girl in my class who bought me flowers with her own allowance money . . . . ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! They are on my dining room table right now.

But back to my plans.

Because our class parties were on Friday the 13th (I love celebrating any holiday at school if it's on a Friday), I actually forgot today was Valentine's Day until a friend texted me. By then I had been laying around reading for a couple of hours. So I took a shower, put on some clean pajamas, pulled on some blankets and watched T.V.

Yep. That's what I did today. I was going to go out but that got canceled, so I didn't even get into real clothes until 5:00 when I wanted my Diet Pepsi.

I have finished two books, watched two made for T.V. movies, and typed this blog. And I am not in the least upset about a lack of plans. And I will tell you why:

Both movies featured Dean Cain. As I watched him I figured, I am not an actor who once played Superman and is now making movies for Lifetime. Things could be worse.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Blessings

2009-02-06T05:01:00.000-08:00

I know I just posted yesterday and I encourage you to read it. Mainly because I like to toot my own horn.

I just got finished reading my friend, Sarah's, weekly "Thankful Thursday" blog. Every Thursday she blogs about something she is thankful for. And I love to read them. Who wouldn't? It makes you feel good. I also just finished reading possibly the 100th "25 Random Things about you" list that someone was tagged with. And I got inspired. Rather than 25 random things, I choose to list 25 of my blessings. Of course I have many more. But these are the ones off the top of my head. If you want to be tagged, go ahead.
So here they are, in no particular order (how could you order blessings?):

The Church
The Saviour
my scriptures
My Dad and Mom
My sister Erin (also my best friend)
Katelynn, Brittanie, Mary, Lizzie, & Holly (My nieces)
Orion, Raiden, Jacob, Seth, Draken, Sam, & Max (my nephews)
Autumn and Emily (my favorite cousins and best friends)
Kathi, Scott and Valeri
a good education
a job I love
food to eat
a house
The temple
books, books, books, books, books
weekends
clean laundry
a good night's sleep
a funny joke
my room mates . . . all of them from BYU to now
Sarah, Rebecca, Praveena, Connie and Chris . . . extraordinary teachers and colleagues
my kids
my health . . . that includes my medication and my VNS implant, which keeps me healthy
a good movie with good company
a fresh, cold, fountain, diet Pepsi

Books

2009-02-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

I am an avid reader. I usually finish a book a week. But this week, after going to the bookstore with a gift card and spending more money than I should have, I can't seem to get started! I choose to blame Twilight,

I finished the Twilight series back in December, before school got back from Christmas. Then midterms and a new nephew kept me too busy to start anything new. But I was getting real antsy because that stupid story line kept going through my head.

I do that a lot too. I replay the plot of a book over and over in my head. If the book was fun to read, its a pleasure. If it was a really good book, I will just keep playing right on to that imaginary next scene, that happens after you've finished the book. (You know, "they lived happily ever after" and then they bought a dog and moved to Canada. Or something like that.) I started doing this when I was just a kid and my parents were reading the Little House books to Erin and me. It came in useful when I was a janitor at BYU, vacuuming offices from 4:00 am to 8:00 am. Anything to keep you awake.

And sometimes, I fix things I found wrong with the plot.

In the case of Twilight series, I was busy rewriting entire books. I've already mentioned my feelings about Twilight in my blog cleverly entitled "Twilight."

But still, the dumber the plot the easier you would think it would be to move on, right. Apparently not.

So, Saturday, I bought 5 books. I love bookstores and libraries. I love the smell and the quiet, and all the books! (I love bookstores just a little bit more because they let you keep your books). I can seldom wait the full drive home. There are exactly four lights between the closest bookstore and my apartment. Its the only time I pray for red lights.

I got home and started in.

Sadly, I have started all of them. I have made it to page 5 . . . of all of them. I just can't move on. They can't all be dumb and it wouldn't matter anyway because I've finished dumb books before (Breaking Dawn, for example). I finally came to the conclusion that if I reread the first book in the Twilight series, I would be over this slump. Most of the plot points that irritated me were later on in Breaking Dawn anyway.

I'm on page 5 of Twilight.

Why Exercise is BAD

2009-01-27T17:19:00.000-08:00

One of my new year's resolutions is to exercise 20 minutes everyday. Last spring I went to the Bahamas and in the summer I went to Hawaii and both times I was shocked and appalled at what I look like in a swimsuit. It had been a LONG time since I had put on a swim suit. Apparently with very good reason. It was not a pretty sight.

But I have two reasons to slim down.

I have a doctors appointment in March and they always weigh me. While I don't own a scale I do worry about this weigh in. Because my doctor has this skinny little MA who actually does the weighing and then gives me a spiel about how women "our age" have a difficult time losing weight. Like we're in some club together. (She probably wears a size 2.) Plus, I don't want to be one of those women who are classified as "our age" yet. That's what my mom says to my Aunt MaryEllen. People who talk about other people "our age" are old. Or at least older than me.

So it is discouraging on two counts. I get to hear my weight, and I get to be reminded about how I'm not getting any younger.

My second reason is that My niece, Brittanie invited me to go on cruise with her to Mexico this summer. So, once again I must pull on my swimsuit. Or not go. Yeah right.

So I am exercising. But here's the thing.

I AM one of those women who are "our age!" I know this because every time I start to exercise, things start to pop. My knees mostly, but all my joints are joining in the chorus by the time I'm cooling down. After my shower today I walked downstairs and my ankles and knees popped with every step. As I type, my wrists are popping. The vertebrae in my back pop as I sit down or stand up.

When did my body get older than my mind? I don't recall this process. It happened when I wasn't looking and I am not prepared for the consequences.

But, come hell or high water, in June I will be able to wear a swimsuit.

I'll still cover up because let's face it, the only thing scarier than my body in a swimsuit is my Utah tan uncovered.

Dishes

2009-01-19T13:57:00.000-08:00

The fineprint to this blog is, A) my room mates are AWESOME! and B) I have learned my lesson

I don't cook. I never eat anything that can't be cooked (AKA microwaved) and eaten in one dish. More often than that, I just hit the local drive through. I have terrible eating habits and it's beyond me how I am still alive. But that is another issue for another blog.

Because of my eating habits, I really never go into our kitchen. Really. Ask my room mates. They are used to this. If the garbage needs taking out, they just tell me. If they need paper towels or stuff, they tell me.

But with the new year, I thought I'd try something new, like eating regularly, and eating stuff other than junk. But I still only make easy stuff, like pasta. It requires only a couple of dishes to prepare if you do it right.

That's when I discovered the dirty dishes in my kitchen . . . meaning, I don't think anyone does them on a regular basis.

This is something I had never really noticed before. Because I only ever used one dish, I always washed and dried it by hand rather than let it sit. I figure this way, I was doing my share of the chores. This last week has been different. About four of the 50 dishes in the sink were mine. (Okay, I may be exaggerating a little, but only about my room mates' portion. I really only had four dishes in the sink. I hate dishes and will do anything, barring eating with my hands, to keep the dish count down).

Anyway, I think my room mates are secretly glad to have me in the kitchen, doing a fourth of the chores. Because the day after I started using the kitchen, and the dishes started to stack up, and I started to wonder how this particular chore was assigned . . .

They all left town.

So, after eating a meal of fettuccine, I cleaned up after fried eggs, broiled chicken, something else with pasta, something with cheese, and several bowls of cereal.

I think I have just been sent a message.

I'm glad I don't live with members of the Mafia.

Twilight

2009-01-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Okay. So everyone in the known universe has at least read Twilight. And they all have opinions about it. Even my classroom of 10 year old children, which sort of frightens me.

I read Twilight right after my roommate did. While she was reading it she would share little tidbits with me and we would not swoon so much as laugh until tears came.

He watches her sleep? Don't they call that stalking?

He's too good looking to be a model? Has anyone seen the models these days?

He has an alabaster brow! Someone has been reading too much Anne of Green Gables.

HE SPARKLES!!!!!

You know. Stuff like that. So I was kind of biased when I read it by myself. And it took me a month when it took everyone else about a day.
But I saw the movie, and I didn't think it was half bad. Bella didn't whine as much. The vampires were pretty cool. It was shorter than the book, so, plus. So I thought I would try reading it again. And I now have a different opinion.

I think I would have loved Twilight . . . 20 years ago. New Moon and Eclipse were okay. Again, as a teenager, I would have probably followed Edward Cullen to the ends of the earth. However, What the heck was Breaking Dawn about?! I could have written that book better. One of my students could have written it better. They just couldn't have spelled it. It was a waste of paper, ink and my time.

Also, I don't see his attraction to Bella. If I whined like that, I would never ever have a date. My suggestion for Edward would be this: she smells so good? Eat her. You've got an eternity to find someone less annoying. And, no Breaking Dawn, so plus.

But after venting this over and over and hearing people tell me they were shocked. (They were sure that out of everyone, I was the one that was supposed to love these books. After all, I'm the one who loves books, right?) I realized that I also have some books on my shelves that are pretty stupid that I read over and over. Because I love them. And no one else would understand. These books have no brain nutritional content whatsoever. But their spines are bent and the covers are torn. So, to those of you who love Twilight and can't believe I don't, I give you my list of marshmallow books to show you I too am shallow:

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: a sequel to Pride and Prejudice - this book is so poorly written and yet, I just finished it for the third time. Who among us hasn't wondered what happened after the wedding? At least now I know which boring parts to skip (anything to do with Wickham).
Prince Joe (and the rest of the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series) - These were some Harlequins I came across years ago at a used bookstore. The author has become rather famous and I like her newer books too but these are her first and best books. They are silly and sappy and corny. They are the only Harlequin Romances I own, back when a kiss was the steamiest thing in the book. Sigh.
Susanna and Caroline (and the rest of the Sunfire series) - When I was 12 I ordered Susanna from a Scholastic book order. It was a really thick book and it was about a 16 year old girl during the civil war. I ordered Caroline later. It was about a 16 year old girl who followed her brothers to the Gold Rush. There's a little romance a little of adventure and a lot of history. I read them until they were in tatters. Susanna's cover fell off and it was in two pieces. Then I ordered it on line a few years ago for $20. Yep. $20 for a paperback. People are collecting these books now. There are 32 books in this series and I own and love them all, but Susanna and Caroline are still my favorites.
The Other Boleyn Girl - I know this is thought of as a very good book by some people. It is even read in book clubs and the "themes" are discussed (I ask, what themes?). But it really is just about Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII and how dysfunctional that whole place was and I love to read it. I love that Mary Boleyn gets what she deserves (land, money, family) and Anne Boleyn gets what she deserves (dead). Who can complain with a happy ending?

Maybe there was no more room in my brain for the corny and the sappy when I first read Twilight. Maybe Twilight came right when my brain had reached it's capacity.

Or maybe not.

I've been thinking I might want to pick up book one again.

Still, should heroes and pixie dust ever mix?

Sam

2009-01-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

As you all know from my last post, Max was born Saturday. I neglected to say that he was a healthy 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 19 inches long. And, of course, he is adorable. But so are all my nieces and nephews. I mean, have you seen the pictures?! :)

Unfortunately, Sammy had a terrible cold when Max was born so he couldn't really be near the baby. It's a hard thing trying to get a 3 year old excited about a baby brother, and then refusing to let him touch his brother. But seriously, the kid was SICK. I went down on Sunday to stay with the kids while Rob was with Erin. And Sam, who is usually hell on wheels, laid on the couch with me all day.

This was taken at the hospital when we visited Erin and Max on Saturday. Can you see the oozing? This kid just looks sick.

I took a personal day on Monday and went down again to help. Sam was a lot better. still running at the nose a little, but getting into trouble and having temper tantrums, so, situation normal. My job was to keep the 3 year old whirlwind busy and relatively quiet while Erin slept after that first night home. All you mothers know that's not the funnest experience.

After watching Kung Fu Panda for the third time in two days, I desperately pulled out my MP3 player. (There's only so much I will or can take). Sam loves music and he fell in love with the MP3 player.

And I got these shots. What you can't see is him bouncing to the music. He would say "next" when he didn't like or know the song. It had to have rhythm.

His favorite? Route 66 and Life is a Highway from the Cars soundtrack.

He looks so "cool." Such a dude.

This is Sam singing along. He knew every word.

Where the Wild Things Are!

2009-01-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

"The night Max wore his wolf suit

and made mischief of one kind and another

His mother called him "Wild Thing!"

"And now! Let the Wild Rumpus start!"

Max Robison Wells

Nephew #7

Grandkid #12

2009

2009-01-02T06:18:00.001-08:00

Last year between us we had 6 new calendars after all the Christmas stuff was given and gotten. This year we had none. So yesterday, Jennie and I went out to get one for the kitchen. If you recall, last year we had a Studs and Spurs calendar. We were very sorry to see that particular calendar go. I think Jennie saved Mr. May.

But we found a calendar by a woman named Anne Taintor that we fell in love with. I actually gave it as a gift last year, so we got the new edition this year. This isn't your Mary Englebreit calendar. It's sarcastic, and very funny. I thought I would share with you a few of the months but I had to go online to get the pictures. Did you know they make calendars too large to scan? It's like they know someone is going to break their copyright.

(I'm not sharing all the months. Then what would I blog about in August, November and December?):

January: this just makes the picture a little scary.
February: My question . . . trial for what?

March: Very appropriate that this is my birthday month, eh?

April: Seriously, this reminds me of my roommate who is a natural blonde and doesn't have any gray hair. We hate her.May: I wonder who "plan A" is.June: :)

July:

September: We are thinking this should be framed and hung in our living room.

October: I love how tidy and organized the fridge is. Raise your hand if your fridge EVER looks that neat.

My Christmas

2008-12-29T09:14:00.001-08:00

Here's our Christmas Eve Chaos. To give you an idea of how this works, we eat, the kids leave to play video games or with the toys downstairs, and when the adults have the meal straightened up, someone just yells "presents!" It's the only time they come the first time you call them.
This is Sam, Holly (Erin's kids), and Lizzie (Scott's daughter) tearing into Christmas jammies. Erin is 8 1/2 months pregnant in back, opening Max's jammies with Valeri. Max is due January 3rd.

This is Valeri with all her boys: Raiden, Draken, Seth, and Orion. Mary's in the chair. She is Kathi's youngest daughter.
This is Sammy. He doesn't know the meaning of personal space, especially when he's around a camera.This is Holly and Lizzie. They are a year apart. Holly is 6 and Lizzie is 7. Here they are sporting new jammies and matching stuffed animals.

This is Draken, Valeri's youngest. He has the funniest little face, and the sweetest smile! He loves to give hugs.

Here are Kathi's kids showing off their jammies. Sorry the flash didn't work. I played with this picture in Photosmart because the flash didn't work but it is still a little grainy. But check out how gorgeous these kids are! And look how tall they all are! Brittanie is in blue in back. She's 17. Katelynn is in pink. She's 19. Jake is next. He's 13. And then Mary in green. She's 15. This is everyone. There are three of them who are taller than me: Katelynn, Orion, and Rainden. I love that some of them managed to look so teenage bored and excited at the same time. They love Christmas Eve Chaos (really, it's not anything like the parties normal families have with games and order).

As we were taking this picture, we asked if it was time for the older ones to give up the Christmas jammies . . .

. . . They all yelled "NO!" The boys in back, left to right, are Raiden, Seth, Jake, and Orion. Draken and Sammy are in front. The girls in back, left to right, are Brittanie, Katelynn, and Mary. Lizzie and Holly are in front. Notice how mad Sammy is in both pictures? He didn't want to get in his jammies.

Christmas Day, I went to Mom's and opened up my presents but no one else could make it in. So we did our little family Christmas on the 26th. The weather wasn't much better. Here is the before picture of my car:
And then after I shoveled and scraped it off (It doesn't look much better):

And then after I managed to pull out. Look how deep the snow is around where my car was.

Despite the weather, a wonderful Christmas. Now, what are we doing for New Years?

I vote we go to bed early.

Traditions

2008-12-24T04:29:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and I have been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions. I noticed that for the past three blogs I griped about Christmas. So today I want to share some traditions we have that I love.

Christmas Eve is very special to my brother and sisters and me. My dad was married once before he married my mom and I have two sisters and a brother from that marriage. Through the divorce agreement, Dad got the kids on Christmas Eve, so a long time ago, this became our family's big night. And we still get together every year. Kathi goes all out and buys toys for all the little ones, like she's a skinny, female, Mormon, Santa. And someone reads the Christmas story from Dad's bible before we eat. While we do have ham, it is supposed to be potluck, which means we end up having Doritos instead of potatoes sometimes, but that's okay. Every year, the kids put on their new pajamas and open their new books.
But Christmas Eve is more than a party for us. It is a time for the five of us to get together. We don't keep in touch all year like we should because we are so busy. But on Christmas Eve, when Scott walks in and hugs me and I know that this is my brother no matter what. Every year someone tries to change the day we get together. The individual families are getting bigger and that makes it a little harder. But eventually, we all seem to reach the same conclusion that this night is special to us for more than one reason.
It is a night when we don't have to be husbands or wives or moms or dads or a nurse or an architect or teachers or a student
It is our night to just be Dad's kids.

My second favorite tradition is singing. We are a musical family. We aren't necessarily great, but we're good enough. My cousins Autumn and Emily and my sister Erin and I get together and sing Christmas carols every year. We were in choir together in high school and learned to love singing together. I play the piano. We always finish up with "O Holy Night." Autumn served her mission in France, so she sings a verse in French, and by the end we're all in tears. Then we exchange some small gifts. Nothing says Christmas to me like music. Especially when it's my family singing

Finally, I wanted to share my Christmas Tree ornament's tradition. I started getting an ornament every year when I was 18. I made some, and I bought others. Some were given to me. The idea was that by the time I had my own tree, I would have enough ornaments to fill it. And I do. But I definitely have my favorites.
A few years ago, after my Grandpa Baxter died, we were going through his things and cleaning stuff out. Mom brought home the Christmas ornaments from their tree. These ornaments had been on their tree for years, since my mom was a kid. They are the old hand painted glass ornaments you can't get any more and I asked if I could have them to add to my collection. I have a little horn that wraps around a tree branch. It used to actually make noise, but it has long since worn out. I have a little teapot, and I have a glass bulb. All were my grandparents. I remember putting them on their tree, and my mom remembers putting them on her tree when she was little. I absolutely love these ornaments.

My Grandpa Pettit was a carpenter but an artist at heart. He loved to whittle, and years ago, mom gave me this little truck that had been on our tree. Grandpa made it as a Christmas gift and I remember loving the fact that it was a Christmas tree truck. I love the fact that I have something he made on my tree.

And this year, my new ornament was given to me. Indiana Jones was a gift from my roommate. He isn't traditional, but how fun is that!

As I was writing I noticed that everyone of these traditions was rooted in family. Even my ornaments are meant to be shared with others. So that's my most favorite tradition of Christmas. Being with family.

Merry Christmas!

I have my room back!

2008-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

I have this pet peeve that has to do with folding laundry. I hate it. I like washing clothes. Yes, I like it. But I hate folding them. That's when I wish for a house elf. Maybe Mr. May from our calendar.

The avoidance of this particular chore goes WAAAAY back. My mom used to separate our clean clothes and put them in baskets for us to take to our rooms. I generally left mine sitting on the washer and pulled out the clothes I needed.

Then mom yelled at me, and I would put them away.

I don't live with anyone who will yell at me anymore (mom tries, but it doesn't have the same effect over the phone) so I have had a laundry basket full of clothes I have needed to fold. I am proud to say that I recently put away. It took me an hour. Think about that. I am one person. The reason it looks so full is because I kept adding to it and than taking stuff from it. Not to worry though. I have now learned my lesson . . . for a few months at least. And then I will fall back into my slothful ways.

Before:

After:

The other half of my room has been taken up with Christmas presents since before Thanksgiving. I just haven't got around to wrapping them until this weekend. So that cleared out the other half of my room. And now my room is my own.

Before:

After:

Can you imagine the clothes and the presents if I had kids?

1 1/2 days

2008-12-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

I only have 1 1/2 days until Christmas break begins. Which is great. But do you know how NOT prepared I have been all week? Last Friday, while all good teachers were preparing for this week in their classrooms during lunch, so we could party after school, I was busy getting ready for the party. Then we partied like we were tired school teachers (we are some party people).
I never got lessons planned.
I'll admit it.
I've been faking it all week. But to be fair, so have the kids.
And tomorrow we have two assemblies. The dress rehearsal for our concert and the orchestra and band concert (always a crowd pleaser), and Friday we have two assemblies (our school concert and the Olympus High Madrigal Choir).
Then I will fill in my planner saying what I DID this week, and no one will ever know the difference. In case someone asks.
Like on a standardized test.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Maybe tomorrow I should teach some math.

See. Your kids aren't the only ones going a little crazy at school.

Merry Christmas! I'm off to get more caffeine.

Days of Christmas . . .

2008-12-17T06:06:00.000-08:00

First of all, kudos to Sarah and Sharlon who are both doing Twelve Days of Christmas blogs to keep them in the spirit. I can't tell you how much I needed that yesterday. And since my comments are WAY too long for the comment section, you guys will just have to read my blog:)

Yesterday I had to deal with the one thing I hate the very most about the holidays. I absolutely abhor the traffic. It is a deep loathing that I can't seem to get out of my system. Utah drivers are crappy anyway. I feel I can safely say this because I am one of them and I am a crappy driver. But at Christmas, we're all out on the road at the same time and it drives me absolutely insane. Maybe this is because all the Driver's Ed teachers were the football coaches. Honestly, what do you remember about Driver's Ed?

Yesterday, when it was still snowing terribly, we had a field trip to go on. The bus was supposed to pick us up at 9:00 but it wasn't there until 9:15. We had to drive from Holladay to the U of U, a drive of about 15 to 20 minutes. It took us an hour because of the other idiots on the road. (And the idiot driver?) Not an accident, just stupid people going too fast or too slow and inevitably causing me pain. An hour on a bus with 70 Christmas-hyper kids. Your head would hurt too.

And we were an hour late for our field trip.

After school I had to go to the pharmacy and finish up some Christmas shopping, and people were ignoring my blinker, my car, basic rules of the road, etc.

I got home and crawled into bed.

No Christmas spirit for me. No Red Ryder BB gun, or a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, or Zu-Zu's petals. It was me grouchy (should I say Grinchy?) So if any of you have some Christmas tips, (Sarah, Sharlon, anybody?) I could use them.

Something besides stay off the roads. I think I learned that one.

It's Beginning to Look . . .

2008-12-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

I am so sorry I didn't get a picture of our living room BEFORE we decorated for Christmas, but I'm fairly certain with a good imagination, you can picture it.

There are three girls living here. We have each collected Christmas stuff our entire adult life. Jennie has been married, so she has stuff from that. Jessica used to be an interior decorator, so she has a lot of stuff too. And then there's me, the collector. I have tried to buy a Nativity set every Christmas for the past ten years or so. So when we get out Christmas decorations, we have to be very selective. We have on apartment that will only fit one person's Christmas junk . . . barely.

Amazingly, not one of us owns a tree.

For a week we had Jessica's Christmas bins, and my Christmas bins in the living room. There were four Rubbermaid storage bins in our living room. All of them were opened in various stages of unpacking and packing.

Sunday, we got it all together and Monday, Jessica deep cleaned everything. And here are the results.

I only unpacked 8 of my 12 Nativities. And we borrowed my cousin's tree. But with the snow today everything looks so nice and Christmas-y.

So Merry Christmas in 11 more days.

Tight Spaces

2008-12-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

We had a field trip to the Church History Museum today to learn about pioneers. They actually do a really good job of teaching Utah history. They walk the kids through the different parts of a pioneer's journey. They get to pull a real handcart, label parts on a real wagon, talk to a real blacksmith, and then they get to see a life sized reproduction of what the inside of the ships that many European pioneers took to cross the Atlantic, before they began the journey across the continent.

The inside is small, and the bunks that one family could sleep on measured 6 feet by 6 feet. So my small group was invited to climb in and see what it felt like to be all crowded in there. There were 6 kids in my group and they were wiggling around trying to find room when the guide (an older sister missionary) asked them what they thought the pioneers thought about this arrangement (she was looking for something like, they disliked the lack of privacy or they were homesick). But I think NAthan hit the nail on the head. As he was climbing out, he said very clearly and LOUDLY,

"I think they probably hated it when someone farted."

Sometimes the kids get it right whether we like it or not.

Beware the Pinky Swear

2008-12-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

I am the Book Aunt. I get all my nieces and nephews a book for Christmas. And I really try and research the books because I want the kids to love reading. When the girls started high school, I told them that if they wanted something cooler, to let me know (because to me, there is nothing cooler than a book, hence, my wardrobe and weekends). And every year, I am told that they all do two things Christmas Eve: wear their Christmas Pajamas from Nana and read Aunt Nina's book. So, I am also the Cool Aunt. I buy their love.

However, when I started this little tradition 19 Christmases ago, I forgot some things that might be considered important. I probably should have been keeping some lists. You know, a list of book ideas I had over the year, a list of books I already got for each kiddo, and a list of what books were asked for. I also buy a Christmas picture book for each family every year. Now, every year I wonder did I already give them this book?

Those of you who know me are laughing really hard right now. Because I have NEVER been that organized. But I think about being that organized all the time. I really want to be that organized. Mostly it just makes me a little depressed. Chocolate and Diet Pepsi usually help.

Stop laughing.

This year, I got all 12 books before Thanksgiving. I got the family books on sale after Christmas last year. (that's the first time I have ever shopped for Christmas, after Christmas, but it was a really good deal).

Then my sister Erin called me this week and said that I might need to reconsider what I got Holly, her daughter.

Apparently, when I was babysitting about a month ago, I promised to get her a book called "Pigeon Wants a Puppy." I guess we pinky swore and everything. Erin was concerned because Holly was blissfully sure that her Aunt Nina was going to come through for her.

I remember taking her and Sam to the bookstore to look at books, but I honestly have no recollection of this encounter or the book. But Holly doesn't lie, and I googled the book title. It exists.

Dang. Not only are my organizational skills crap, so is my memory.
And my Christmas isn't as done as I thought.

So tomorrow, I'm off to buy "Pigeon Wants a Puppy" by Mo Willems.

Because you never, ever, break a pinky sworn promise.

For Unto Us

2008-12-03T02:47:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I bought tickets for my mom, my sister and me to go to the Messiah sing-in at Abravanel Hall down town. I went last year and it really brought the Christmas spirit in. So I did it for Mom and Erin this year to see if they would enjoy it. And at first it was a frustrating affair.

This is what I forgot.
A-There's no parking down town and B- my mom and my sister are pretty much immobile. Mom because of bad knees and stuff and Erin because eight months of pregnancy will do that to you. My original plan, without thinking, because it's what we did last year, was to park at the Salt Lake Stake building and walk. That would have taken hours. and what would I do if one of them stumbled? Since mom uses Erin and I for support, who do I save? The old lady (sorry mom) or the pregnant lady?

At the last minute I got my Uncle Jim to drive us there and pick us up. Thanks Uncle Jim! You are Awesome!

But to back up about eight weeks ago, when I first told mom about these tickets she said that she didn't like the Messiah. Who says that about a gift?
Well, my mom.
I believe that we all have a filter between our brains and our mouths, so we don't say every thought that comes to mind. I think mom skipped that line in heaven. I told her she was going and she would like it, because I already bought the tickets. Mom and I have a special relationship.
Maybe I'm missing my filter too?

When we got there, she told the people who were helping how silly it was to have a steep hallway, or a step down, or how uncomfortable the seats were, etc. And the ushers were so sweet to her, because she does walk very slowly so she won't fall. They were patient and warned her about slight rises or little steps down. But I was getting pretty frustrated with her. I think I need a dose of Erin's patience. Or Job's.

During the sing-in, whenever the audience sings, they stand up. Mom couldn't see the music very well to read the words and notes, because her diabetes has made her eyesight pretty bad. And she couldn't stand up that long so she sat and enjoyed the music. And then we sang "For Unto Us A Child Is Born."

Mom's favorite scripture ever since I can remember has been that one. I remember her quoting it to me as a little girl and telling me all those names for the Saviour: Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. When the introduction started She stood up and braced herself on her daughters and sang her heart out. There were tears in her eyes, and she knew every word. And that's when I knew Christmas was here.

Forget the shopping and the cranky people and the traffic. I thought that those were the signs that Christmas was here. They are just unfortunate byproducts. But my mom feeling the spirit and rising to her feet to bear her testimony of the Saviour with that song . . . that was pretty extraordinary. Christmas is here.

Because unto us a child was born.

Happy thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T05:36:00.001-08:00

'Tis the Season for many things . . . shopping, ignoring the very early Christmas decorations, cooking, eating. In my case, I have about three months worth of art that is pretty much expected of me. Think about it. If your children didn't come home with that really cute Halloween cat, or the paperbag Thanksgiving turkey, or the Christmas ornament made from toilet paper, you would be so disappointed. even though I know half of it ends up in the garbage.

Unless you are like my mom, who saved EVERYTHING.

When we cleaned the basement out after dad died, my sister and I had a system. We would let mom go through a box and oh and ah over the memories . . . "I remember when you made this in Mrs. Brown's class. Look how cute it is." etc.

Then, when mom dug deeper and found something else to get sentimental over, I would slip the 20 year old piece of glue and construction paper to Erin who would put it in a hidden garbage bag. I know. We're bad daughters. But that basement got clean. It took three months, but it got clean. And mom never knew until we told her a couple of years ago.

Ah the memories.

And now it's my turn to pass on that grand tradition of construction paper crap. I mean art.

So I got on line and found this great idea that my turkeys this year would be nontraditional. They would be "Turkeys in Disguise." After all, the farmer is after them, so why wouldn't they hide? (I obviously have too much time to sit and think, and a very active imagination) So, only a couple of feathers are showing (we taped feathers on the back as if the escaped from the disguise). And the kids could come up with whatever disguise they wanted.

So I give you, our turkeys in disguise.

I even laminated them so that in 20 years, when the parents are going through boxes of crap, I mean art, these will not have fallen apart.

Sorry

2008-11-20T04:58:00.000-08:00

So, sorry for my rant last time. You have to understand. I am a teacher and I have to be able to control everything, and everyone around me. Thank heavens classrooms are not democracies.

This week is the BYU U of U football game, and I am so anxious I could scream. You have to understand, I could care less about football. But my family is BYU fans from birth. I think something bad happened to my brother once, like a curse, when he rooted for the U. So I cheer for the Y even though I have never watched a game this season. Football is just a bunch of men running and falling, running and falling, and eventually they will blow a knee and take up coaching. This is what they aspire to. But hey, I teach 10 year olds and find completion in that chaos, so to each his own.

What gets me about this rivalry are the fans. Has anyone besides my sister and me noticed the difference between BYU fans and U of U fans? Of course I'm talking in generalities here, but my experience has been that Y fans can call the game a game and the rivalry fun, and leave it at that. The U fans get a little nasty. Again, this is in generatlities. There are the Y fans who are adamant that the Cougars are the Lord's team, and there are U fans who cheer for the Y when they play anyone else.

But here's what I'm dealing with at work.
There is a teacher has been wearing red and white all week. And letting us know why. Everyday.
When the U won one of their Thursday games, our principal played the U of U fight song over the intercom.
During Red Ribbon Week, when everyone was supposed to wear red, I heard everyday about how I was wearing red hahahahahahahaha.
Someone on Facebook sent me some nasty phrases and swear words regrding the BYU Cougars.

So, Saturday, after we lose, I will wear blue for the next week at school. I will burst into the BYU fight song at strange moments. I will pretend to forget the kids names and instead use the names of famous BYU quarterbacks and coaches. ("Hey LaVelle, I mean Katie"). And on Facebook, I will write on this person's wall continually with the chorus to the fight song ("Rise & Shout, the Cougars are out . . ."). Sadly, that's as nasty as I get.

Don't mail me any white powder.
Go Cougars!

2008-11-14T05:29:00.000-08:00

I don't even know what to title this post. I just know I have to say something. It's been rolling around in my head for a few hours now, and it needs saying before I go nuts.
Recently I was looking at the news while checking my email, and I read the updated story about the white powder sent to the Salt Lake Temple and the L.A. Temple. And then I read the comments people posted. Why I do that I will never know, because it always makes me mad. As we all know, only fanatics comment on news stories. You know the ones. There is no middle road for them.
But I kept coming across people saying the same thing . . . that we (insert adjective) Mormons were getting what we deserved. We are bigots, and we hate everyone. So many things go through my mind:
Have they ever met a Mormon?
What were they thinking?
Where are their parents?
Don't they know it is usually little old ladies and little old men working at the temple?

I wanted to shake them till their teeth rattled (not the temple workers, the guy who mailed the powder).

And then I remember what we have been taught (and there were quite a few nasty posts about Mormons following blindly). We love those that hate us. Period.
That is my hardest test. I want to run out there and show everyone exactly how wrong they are and how right I am. (Ask my sister . . . I am always right!)

So today, my mantra is, Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor.
I will not suggest to anyone that if they don't like it they can leave, because today I am trying to remember . . . Love Thy Neighbor, Love thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor.

I will not suggest we get out the handcarts and pack up, because today I am trying to remember . . . Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Neighbor.

Of course my sister will find this easier. She had years of putting up with me so it's second nature to her (Love thy sister, Love Thy Sister, Love Thy Sister . . .).

And then my sister will read this and call me and tell me to settle down. But by then it'll be OK because repeating that actually works.

Jessica's back

2008-11-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

My roommate Jessica is moving around now. She hasn't been for the past week. See, she threw her hip out of its socket. Then, on the same day, while trying to pop her back she caused two of her discs to slide up and down. It has been a week of misery and pain.

Oh, and by the way, she turned 26 On November 2nd. So Mom and Dad can't have her on their insurance anymore. OF COURSE her back gets hurt this week.

See, last Thursday, when it snowed, Jessica said she fell but caught herself. By "caught herself" she meant with her hands on the pavement. In other words, she fell and landed on her hands. That's when she threw her hip out of joint.

But we didn't learn that until later.

Because her back hurt, (ya think?!) she tried to pop it. That's when the discs slid out of place.
We were at work, so there was no one there to tell her "When you can no longer walk because of the pain, Go To The ER!" What was her choice? She lay flat on her back in her bedroom and cried. She couldn't reach the remote or the space heater for three hours. (I find it humorous that these were the two things foremost in her mind. . . I would have been calling ANYONE to take me to a doctor or a shaman or someone with Lortab.)

She couldn't work herself up to texting until 3:00. Yep, she was hurting that much. And then she asked me to stop by the 7/11 on my way home and get her something to drink. (My first thought when I found out what was going on - how are you going to use the bathroom after you drink all that soda?)

That day and that night were miserable. She literally could only move inches at a time and she would whimper the whole time. I heard her sneeze and then heard her cry for half an hour.

She still wouldn't go see a doctor. I often wonder how three such stubborn women came to be roommates. When Jennie and I threatened to carry her to a doctor, she said she would call.

On Friday she called a specialist, and got an appointment for Saturday morning. To make a long story longer, the doctor started looking at her back and said something to the effect of "Hey, your foot and leg shouldn't be sticking out like that." They put it back in the socket, sent her home, where she's been recovering. She's had to back twice more to have the rest of her back looked at.

But Jessica can't sit still very well. She has been difficult to keep in her room. She wants to cook or go get food, or go driving. Then her back hurts worse. Have you ever tried doing those things without twisting or bouncing in any way?

But on the plus side she has now watched every movie in our library. I am not kidding. Every movie. Even the Masterpiece Theater ones that a week ago she wouldn't look at.

So she can now bend, sort of twist, and sleep through the night. And she did it without pain medicine. Who turns down pain medicine? My roommate is either incredibly stupid, or a superhero.
Maybe a little of both?

The Election

2008-11-06T03:09:00.000-08:00

Now that the election is over I thought I would share with you who I voted for.

I didn't know who to vote for because I think they are both wrong for the job. (I was going to say "idiots" but I don't want to offend anyone.)

I thought that I might not even vote. I live in Utah. My vote for President never matters. But that's not an option in our family. My Dad used to drive to Provo when we were going to school to get us, take us home to Salt Lake City to vote, and then drive us back. Non-participation is not an option.

So I looked at the candidates.

There was Obama. They call guys with his kind of experience in the mission field "greenies" and the older missionaries play pranks on them. Do I want a greenie for President?

Moving on . . .

There was McCain. A war hero. A senator for 23 years. He's the older missionary that plays the pranks and annoys all the other missionaries and then looks good for the mission president. Yeah, no.

I could always write in. I thought about Mickey Mouse. He's cheerful, everyone likes him, and he gets himself out of tough situations rather easily with the help of a group of (admittedly weird) advisers. Plus he's photogenic. But could Disney World do without him?

Rather than choose one of these, I thought I'd vote for Nader. No one could get mad that I didn't vote, right?

But at the last minute I got smart. I decided to cancel out my sister's vote.

Democracy and Sibling Rivalry alive and well.

Halloween: Episode II

2008-11-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

So, my kids didn't get my costume. But more surprisingly Neither Did the Teachers!
One teacher said it was cute. She thought I was a "Candy Person." Huh?
One of them thought I was a Hippie. Were the Hippies in the habit of sewing candy on their clothing?

My kids were more interested in if they could eat the candy. I told them if it fell off, it was theirs. And as they day went on, it did fall off. I sewed them in rows, and once one fell, the entire row went. I started with 100 Smarties. I ended up with 43. Plus my earrings.

I had to tell my class that I was a "Smartie" pants. Once they understood, they thought I was brilliant. And then like the good little loud, sugar-high monsters they were, they told everyone. Loudly. In the hallways on their way to the bathroom. Or just yelling it from the door while waiting in line.

So word got around, and all was well. Or as well as it can be when you are marching in front of parents in ridiculous clothing. And they make you hold a sign that says "Ms. Pettit Room 12." We all feel so stupid holding that sign, we immediately give it to a kid, even though we're not supposed to. (Apparently the PTA is worried the kids might tear it. Of course they will tear it. They will probably hit several people with it. Please, it's a piece of paper on a yard stick. Make a new one next year.

Our Jr. Highs and High Schools had school off because it is end of term for them, so some of my old kids came. My bishop came.

That was fun. Or humiliating. I haven't decided.

Several former students came dressed a Jedi Knights. They told me they wanted to be like me, and where was my costume. I have fans!

Three parents in the parade asked where my Star Wars costume was and told me they specifically came to see that. Really? You come to the Driggs Parade just to see me dressed as a Jedi? How sad.

But now I don't have to try and decide what to be next year. Apparently the parents don't just expect me to be a good teacher. I must also be a force of justice in the galaxy.

I better replace the batteries in my lightsaber.

May the Force Be With You.

Halloween

2008-10-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said teachers hated Picture Day? That it was only third to Halloween and The last day before Winter Break?

Today is Halloween.

I have spent the last two weeks trying to figure out what to be for Halloween. An adult should never have to do that. Last night I finally went to the mall, to look at the costumes there. Everything there was "A Sexy (fill in the blank)." Yeah, I'm sure that would go over really well at an elementary school.

I called Erin, who made sure my clothes always matched in high school and college. After hours (really, it was hours) of talking and wandering, she suggested I get some smarties, tape them to my pants, and be a "Smarty Pants."

Why didn't we think of this last week? It's simple. I can wear my jeans and a T-shirt. I LOVE IT!

But if you know me, I can't do it half way. I never can.

You can't just wear any shirt. I found an old shirt that says ""To save time, Let's just Assume I know everything." Perfect.

I bought two bags of smarties, because more is better, right? Ha.

When the tape didn't stick to my jeans, I spent all night sewing 100 rolls of smarties to my pants. Yes, sewing. Yes, 100.

I made earrings from rolls of smarties.

Yep. My easy, simple, comfortable costume is now as heavy as two bags of smarties (I may need a belt), and it took me 5 1/2 to sew (last night and this morning.) And I now walk like a bowlegged cowboy.

Well, Halloween is the day to be what you aren't. I think I proved that.

I'll post pictures this afternoon, after the sack of Room 12 is over.

* and here I am . . . Thanks Jennie!*

Tagged

2008-10-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

This must be a new thing, or I have just picked it up. I say this because THREE people have tagged me this week on their blogs. Holy Cow people! When did tagging begin?

It's like those emails about yourself that you fill out when you don't want to work. You answer question about yourself like what color socks your wearing and what you last ate. Things I know everyone is dying to know. (you know you are!)

I was tagged with telling 10 random things about myself and one where you list five things about yourself in different areas of your life and one where all the questions are pretty much for married people (who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Does your spouse snore? Who pays the bills? What is your song?)

Since all the answers come right back to me . . . I can say that I sleep on the right side of the bed and snore after I have paid the bills, and my song is "Someday My Prince Will Come". . . I think I will skip that one.

And since I am inherently a random person, I don't think you would be at all shocked by anything I had to say . . . for example, I don't really check to see if my socks match everyday and I change my ringtone on a weekly basis so I'm that person who isn't sure if it;s their phone ringing.

So, to appease the blogging gods, I will do the five things about myself.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. I was substitute teaching
2. I bought my first car
3. Erin and I were living at home again
4. I interviewed for my job with Granite district
5. I went to Disneyland with Erin and Autumn and Emily

5 things on my to-list for today:
1. choir practice
2. church
3. nap
4. laundry

5 snacks:
1. Reese's peanut butter cups
2. chips and dip
3. ice cream
4. Pina Coladas
5. Popsicles

5 jobs I've had:
1. Schmidt's Pastry Cottage (not a baker)
2. daycare
3. summer day camp counselor
4. janitor at the Y
5. Teacher

5 things I'd do with a million dollars:
1. pay off the cards
2. make a down payment on a house
3. pay off the car
4. I would invest, but right now, I think I would but some under my mattress.
5. trip to (fill in blank)

5 things that made me laugh this week
1. The Office
2. Jennie
3. Jessica quoting Hitler ("Make the lie big, keep it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it" . . . she was talking about me saying she looked nice)
4. My class watching me sing the BYU fight song
5. Our walking field trip

5 things friends I tag to do this blog:
This is just mean, because I don't even know who reads it regularly, so
TAG - if you read it, you're IT!
Just let me know if you actually did it. I try to check your blogs regularly but remember how random I am? regular for me isn't always on a regular basis.

Walking Fieldtrip

2008-10-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today we walked from Driggs Elementary to Olympus High to see the first half of the musical "Into the Woods." Which the kids liked, but not as much as the walk there.

We left at about 9:15 am and walked for 15 minutes. Grades 1-6 went. That's everyobody but about 40 five year olds.

The principal came over the intercom before we left and made sure the students understood about the safety of it all. There are no sidewalks in this neighbohood, so they had to stay in a singlefile line in the bike lane. I was busy in the bathroom while he was talking, so I figured my kids were in the classroom being rowdy and ignoring him. They usually ignore me when I talk about safety.

But the kids totally listened!

While we were walking I was so busy worrying and keeping an eye on my class, that I didn't even look up and notice this darling picture until it was almost too late . . .

. . . 600 students walking singlefile along the road with their teachers, kicking leaves and enjoying a cool but not cold morning. Cars were stopping just to look. 600 students actually listened today! Holy Cow! I would feel like that teacher in "Dead Poet's Society" if I had had anything to do with this.

The kids were really polite, and well behaved. They would give me looks when I said something about "fieldtrip manners" like "Ms. Pettit, you're freaking out. Settle down. This one we've got under control."

Also, the leaves were gorgeous today for the first time, which added to the magic (sorry to get all corny but it's true).

So, While I'm tired and ready for a weekend, I am so proud of my Driggs' Dragons!

Our Ugly Couch

2008-10-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I posted a picture of my crazy roommate. My dear friend Sharlon noticed not the goofy pink feetsie jammies she was wearing (or the fact that she was wearing them at 1:20 pm) but that our couch was ugly.

All I can say is . . .
You only noticed the couch?!

Let me take you on a tour of our lovely abode. And remember, we moved here because it has been recently "remodeled."

Here is our couch. When I first moved into this complex we had a couch that a roommate picked up off the curb. I graduated from that to a Bean Bag (yes, a bean bag) and a chair my mom donated. Jessica got this couch and all the end tables for a song about a year or so ago. We had a cover, but that was uglier than the plaid.

But ignore the lovely 80's flashback of a couch and travel back in time further as you turn your attention to . . .

. . . The wood paneled wall. Which by the way is not sanded, varnished or finished in anyway. You can get a sliver by leaning on this wall. So all of those cracks are filled with cobwebs that will never come out. Not that we've actually tried.

Now our landlord did remodel the kitchen. There are new appliances, more cupboard space, and new counter tops and sinks and floor tiles. Our last kitchen had smaller cabinets that had been stained a dark walnut and then painted white. Who stains anything dark in a kitchen this small? And doesn't sand before they paint? This is much better. But can you tell what they didn't change?

If you guessed ugly fluorescent lighting you are correct! Check out the stains. And they hum. Loudly.

In the wind they rattle. I think if we were to lift one of the covers up, things would fall out. I'm not sure what things, but things.

A Weird Day

2008-10-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Jennie and I are having a really weird day. First of all, I got WAAAAAAAY too much sleep yesterday, and second of all, Jennie still hasn't gone to bed yet. It's 1:20 p.m.

Guess who has the boyfriend and who doesn't.

By the way, Jennie is in her Pink-Duckie-Jammies-with-the-Feetsies. I am fully bathed and clothed. Since 5:00a.m. On a Saturday. See, I told you. It's a weird day. And it all started yesterday. I blame Utah Educator's Association.

Yesterday, I went to take a nap at 3:00 because I am always wanting to take naps and now I can. It's UEA weekend. I woke up at 4:30 in a panic because I thought I missed my ride to a thing with my cousins and my sister, which wasn't yesterday it's today. Autumn had a good laugh at me over that. So I went back to sleep, and woke up at 7:30 in a panic because I didn't know if it was a.m. or p.m. It's the UEA weekend. Does it matter? Went back to sleep, woke up at 11:45 and took my meds and didn't wake up again until 4:45 a.m.

Jennie got off work and went to her boyfriend's house where she was all night (counting submarines in the Great Salt Lake) until she walked in on me scrapblogging at 5:30. Needless to say, we're both a little goofy. I am wide awake and ready to do anything, like clean the house and maybe weed, definitely maybe clean out the car, and then if there's still time, take over the world.

NEVER let me get too much sleep. I'm easier to handle if I am a little lethargic.

Jennie still hasn't been to sleep and she is going out again at 3:00. She'll be a joy.

Between the two of us, we've been singing and dancing and telling really dumb jokes. Apparently, Jennie is normal and I am not. Where Jennie, like most people loses brain function when they don't sleep, I lose it when I get the sleep I need. Between the two of us it was quite a show around here.

I finally sent her to take a nap. Her boyfriend will thank me.

Don't worry. This won't last. Erin, Autumn, Emily and I are staying up late tonight to watch Jane Eyre and eat spaghetti. I'll be appropriately tired tomorrow for church. Jennie and I will catch up on our sleep then.

But right now, I have another hour or so to do my laundry and solve the problems with the economy.

My solution

2008-10-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

I teach fourth grade which can be noisier than working construction at times. But I have found the best solution! and no one even thought to tell me about it in teacher school.

Yesterday, I was taping some art project together with masking tape, and I had an extra piece of tape on my finger, so I stuck it on the student's mouth as a joke. We laughed, and he said "I'm going to keep it there all day." Yeah, right.

Never underestimate the weirdness of kids.

Before I knew it, everyone in math wanted a piece of tape to put across their mouths. I literally taped all their mouths shut. The nut cases. I took a picture, which I can't post without parent's consent, so, sorry, you miss that fun image.

Maybe they were getting high on the adhesive.

But now you have a solution. Your kids loud and obnoxious? get out the masking tape. They'll love it!

Ode to Joy

2008-10-12T11:37:00.001-07:00

This how Bach should be performed! LOL!

Picture Day!

2008-10-08T05:47:00.001-07:00

Today is picture day. Only kids look forward to picture day. It comes right after Halloween and the Christmas Party on their list of favorite school days. Valentine's is only fourth because they forget it even exists until February 1st.

So I have to actually put a straightener to my hair and make up to my face. I have to wear contacts so the photographer doesn't yell at me to take the glasses off or put my chin down . . . and they do yell. You would too if you had to take 600+ pictures of uncooperative children in one day. Not to mention the uncooperative teachers.

And this morning I realized the only laundry I've done in three weeks is what was absolutely necessary. You know what I mean.

Therefore, all I have to wear today is jeans and nicer T-shirts (meaning the ones that have Driggs' Elementary slogans rather than Star Wars slogans on them) which I could normally get away with for one day until I got the wash done. But I will be in 22 class pictures. I should probably look a little more professional. I did find an older blouse that desperately needs ironing, but my iron was trashed during an art project involving crayons and watercolors.

So, Ms. Pettit's Room 12 of 2008-09 will be memorialized with 22 darling children and a teacher wearing a wrinkly blouse, the same jeans she wore yesterday, frizzy hair (because I ran out of anti frizz stuff), leaning a little because she is wearing uncomfortable boots that are grinding her knees to dust, and squinting because her mascara is irritating her contacts.

All in all, a fairly accurate portrayal of what my teaching career has done to me.

Sorry . . . and EWWWWWW!

2008-10-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

Alright. I have a job. I have roommates. I have laundry. I have my pet obsessions.

These things take TIME people. So, sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Get off my back and get your own obsessions.

So Today is Katelynn's 19th birthday . . . Holy Crap, where did those years race off to?!

And Friday was my roommate Jennie's #*th birthday. She blogged about birthday cake, because she didn't get one. (Hey Jennie . . . you can make your own, you have two hands and a working knowledge of the kitchen. . . I'll make the Pina Coladas).

Anyway, if you haven't looked at her blog, which I am assuming you haven't, because most of my friends don't know Jennie and the one who does won't read blogs, you missed this really creepy cake. (In school, that is called a run on sentence. Some teachers call it a runny sentence but that's almost as creepy as this cake.)

Yes. That is a cake in the shape of a baby. I assume it is for people who want to add that extra something to their baby shower.

But what exactly is that extra something?

The baby looks dead. And it looks like it has been dead for a while. Perhaps in a garbage bag?

So what are you really saying to the mother when you give her this cake? Isn't this cake encouraging people to cannibalize their children? After all, you're handing a pregnant woman a baby shaped cake and saying "eat up!"

And I would really like to take a vote . . . if you had to eat a piece of this cake, which piece would you fight for so you wouldn't have to eat the face.

Happy Halloween.

blogging

2008-09-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

My cousin Autumn and I have an ongoing argu . . . discussion . . . about blogs versus facebook. When she heard I started a blog she said I had betrayed her. I think she was over reacting a little. (She still hasn't read my blog).

I am on face book, but I don't understand it's popularity. Maybe it's because I'm not a kid, but how many times must I be invited to join in duck, duck, goose, or a pie fight? Or be sent a hug by someone I haven't seen in many, MANY years? What exactly do these things really mean? Autumn's position is that you can communicate back and forth better on Facebook than you can on a blog. (If you can even find your "wall").

And you don't have to read crazy people's thoughts. Hmmmmm. I wonder who she means.

So I wonder what she will say when she hears that I have discovered scrapblogging. Which is only natural for a scrapbooker I guess. I just spent all morning working on a new scrapblog, and I know I am going to get teased.

So first, shut up, and second, shut up.

I have decided that this is really neat and Autumn is dumb. There's only one draw back. While I like the final presentation, I don't like the final presentation. I like the music and transitions and stuff. It reminds me of the old slide shows we used to have at family parties.

But I love pulling out my scrapbooks when I want to and just pouring over them. A scrapblog is so much like those facebook piefights.

So a scrap blog is nice, for those of my friends who are actually interested in seeing pictures of my nieces and nephews and my various vacations. Otherwise, skip on down and just read this crazy person's thoughts.

Comments are appreciated.

See Autumn, we do communicate on a blog.

Smallville and other obsessions

2008-09-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Did you watch it?! The season premiere for season 8 of Smallville was Thursday. I turned off my phone, bought a Diet Pepsi and some other junk food and settled in to watch. It was OK. I was mostly excited to see Green Arrow in the opening credits. (Justin Hartley)

I usually miss about half the episodes of Smallville because I am, unfortunately, a Survivor fan as well. And they are on at the same time. I also love The Office, and while that is regularly at 8:00, it moves around. And no, I don't have TiVo. And I hate watching TV on a computer. There's something wrong about watching TV where you do work.

So it's all about prioritizing. During the Survivor season, it's all about seeing that, because there are no reruns. And you catch The Office at 8:00 when you can.

So I generally watch Smallville on DVD. I missed all of last season, so I did a marathon last week, and watched all 20 episodes. And they always leave you on a cliffhanger. But doesn't that make me better than the dork waiting all summer to learn what on earth happened with Clark and Bizarro?

Actually I did catch the end of the last episode in May, so I wondered, but mostly about what the heck got them to that point. At least I don't go to ComiCon to try and get spoilers. (Please, you go online, it's easier).

See, I have always been in love with Clark Kent. I loved Christopher Reeves. I really loved Clark Kent when he was played by Dean Cain, in Lois and Clark, and now my obsession is Tom Welling. (It would freak me out if he actually were 22 . . . ewwww). But have you seen his eyes. Seriously. Those are the eyes every Superman should have.

I think I have a superhero complex. But what girl hasn't ever dreamt of the Man of Steel, sweeping her off her feet. Sigh. Lois had all the luck.

They're saying that this is the last season for Smallville. I had better see some blue tights and a cape flying before they let Tom Welling leave this role. Then I will be happy to re watch my DVDs until someone else thinks up a new slant and I get all obsessed and weird again. I'm afraid there really may be no hope for me.

Help! Superman! Save me!

Cat's Cradle

2008-09-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

I realize I just posted this morning, but I have to tell you all about this darling boy in my class. I call him Cosmo because he always wears BYU T-shirts, and he told me that's all he wants to be called all year. He didn't used to wear his shirts everyday. Now I'm sure mom does laundry a lot more than she used to so he can. Either that or they made a trip to the BYU bookstore.

Anyway, this sweet child has discovered the game Cat's Cradle. Someone showed him how to start it, and I showed him the next step and now he plays all the time. I would expect this from the girls, but at lunch while they waited in line, not one girl showed interest and all the boys were asking him how to play. And at the end of the day, they were getting pretty good.

I love my class this year! I love how good they are and I love that they can surprise me!

Fourth Grade Olympics or How Teaching is a Contact Sport

2008-09-12T06:31:00.001-07:00

Fourth Grade can be rough. It's competitive and it's hard on the self-esteem. Especially on the teachers.
The first week of school we decided to have a Fourth Grade Olympics. We study Asia in fourth grade so it was timely.
Here's the reason we will never do this again.

One of the other fourth grade teachers is an athlete. She swims, plays water polo, and runs marathons. She is VERY competitive. I witnessed this last year during our softball world series. Which she will never umpire again if I can help it.
So, you can imagine, things got really . . . interesting.
When we planned this I "called" India as our country to represent. I worked with a teacher from India in the second grade for four years. I still work across the hall from her. I had access to some great stuff. A few days later, our overly competitive fourth grade teacher came into my room while I was teaching and said "We picked India, is that OK?"
My choices here are to be a poor example to my kids and say no way, or be a wuss and say okay. I chose to be a wuss. We hadn't even discussed the country issue in my class so they didn't know what they were missing.
I told the class that we would be Japan. Because I knew that the flag was easy to draw. And we spent an afternoon drawing red circles on white paper. I have talented children.

My overly competitive colleague got her hands on an Indian flag and then told me I couldn't get a Japanese one because she wanted to be the only one with a flag. It was one of those times when people say something and then they say "Just kidding." But you know they weren't. So I didn't plan on anything more than the paper flags we all made. I hate conflict. Besides. I am not an athlete. This is all about fun. Right?

All week, this other teacher was practicing the events with her kids. I kept forgetting. Oh well. I told them to practice at home. No biggie. I talked a lot about being good winners and good losers. I have a really sweet class.

What I forgot was that I have a Japanese student, and a student who visits Japan every other year with her family. And they came through on the day of the Olympics. Our class not only had a flag, we had Japanese treats and origami. My fellow teacher was not happy. I am not joking. She was really ticked off that my class looked as good as hers. It wasn't me trying. My class did everything.

That's what made it so awesome.

It was a mess to organize. She took it all a little too seriously. I did Olympics for four years when I taught sixth grade and you just need to play with the kids and realize that most of them are not athletes. She was yelling and getting mad because they weren't listening. I wasn't listening. Especially when she started trying to motivate them with the spirit of athletics and stuff. I motivate with candy.

So, I designated myself picture taker. That's how I got in trouble the first time. I took o finish line picture of the boys 100 yard dash. I showed it to her when I heard her results and knew she had the wrong kids. she said "That's why I hate those photos. They mess everything up." Before I showed her, the winners were all from her class. HMMMM.

Then I got in trouble because I only had 28 students that day and the other classes had 30 and I refused to run in the class relay. My fellow teacher ran with her kids. (yep. 30 kids ran one relay race. talk about chaos). I just asked if some of mine could run double legs. We hadn't practiced and I have a student who speaks French so I had to take time to explain to the students what a relay was. I was getting looks for not being prepared.

And then we won.

Oops. Didn't know we weren't supposed to do that.

In front of the entire fourth grade . . . that's 100 students . . . my fellow teacher says "You know you didn't really win that gold fairly, beacause you didn't have to pass off the baton as much."
Nice sportsmanship.

My class went back to our room, ate our Popsicles and danced to the "cars" sound track. Her class did yoga.

I expected this in Rosepark

2008-09-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

At 10:00 tonight I was trying to decide if I wanted to watch Intervention or Jon & Kate plus 8. And I was trying to decide how important a Diet Pepsi was to me (meaning, did I want to get up and go to the 7/11 to get it). Then I heard voices outside my window. My window looks over the parking lot. I left it wide open (whoops). So I looked out and I see a dozen people or so clustered around my car, which is parked right in front of our duplex. Upon closer inspection I see a police car. Blocking me in. And the cop to go with it.
I texted my roommates to make sure they weren't in any trouble down there. Then I came down stairs for a glass of water (for a better view from our living room window).
that's when I saw another cop car, paramedics, and a guy sitting on a gurney. Hmmmmm.
As I am typing this they are taking this guy away, and my roommate has just informed there were three cop cars, an ambulance, and a firetruck. She was waiting on the street to come into the parking lot for a while.

Who says there's never a cop when you need one. There's one blocking me in right now so I can't go get a Diet Pepsi.

I'll wait down here and see how this thing works out. Sometimes I miss Rosepark. The programming on TV tonight was looking pretty boring anyway.

Update

2008-09-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

I know everyone is dying to know . . .
My meeting was a total waste of time last night. We got all that information during a summer conference in June. And at my table I saw the following from teachers:

grading papers
planning lessons
texting (that was me)
sleeping
playing games on the cell phone
playing games with pennies . . . that's boredom

No one at our table was listening.

We were about to go when some yahoo at another table asked a question that made the meeting longer. My first thought was, "Shut Up!" My next thought was "You were listening? I wasn't that interested in June." But we left our information so we can get paid. After taxes I can probably go to a really nice meal at McDonald's. And we stormed the doors. One dude sat by some doors that were hidden by drapes and got out before all of us, while Miss Goody-Two-Shoes was asking her question. We were all jealous.

At least the dinner was good.

Just so you know what your tax dollars were going to last night.

I still missed Smallville.

Meetings

2008-09-04T06:23:00.000-07:00

I have a meeting tonight . . . from 4:00 to 7:00. What genious planned a meeting for teachers that is right after a work day, and lasts three hours? I can gaurantee three things you will see:

papers being graded
lessons being planned
games being payed on cell phones

I can also gaurantee that we will listen for about ten minutes. And no one will hide the fact that they aren't listening. Teachers make the worst students. I hope no one says anything important.

They finally had to offer dinner and $60 to people so they could get ANYONE to R.S.V.P. Anytime you have to bribe people to a meeting with food and money you shouldn't hold the meeting.

Teachers take their freetime very seriously.

Don't mess with it.

We get very cranky.

Plus, I'm going to miss Smallville.

P.S. If you haven't been keeping up with the comments on our stud of the month, Mr. May wins, and two of you lied and said you didn't like the muscle bound look.

Stud of the month

2008-09-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

My roommate has a "Studs 'n' Spurs" calendar, which is in our kitchen. Guys, we are three single girls. Don't mess with the cowboys in our kitchen.

So we changed over to Mr. September today and my roommate Jennie was authentically mortified. She compares all the "studs" to Mr. May. None of them compare apparently. I just think Mr. September looks a little dim, but lets face it. These guys aren't on our kitchen wall for their brains.

I'll let you compare:

Mr. May

Mr. September

A cluttered desk is a sign of . . .

2008-08-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

This has been a very strange week. We started school on Monday at 8:35 a.m. At 8:30 a.m. I had two brand new students walk through my door. I have 6 students who are brand spanking new to the school. Two are from out of state. And one is from France, who doesn't speak any English. Yeah! You can imagine, things were not as organized as I would like them to be that first day. However my desk doesn't usually get too bad until the second week of school.

Anyway, on Tuesday, the second day of school, I had to leave at 12:55 because I was sick. I don't get sick very often, so this was odd. But I went home.

Bless the other teachers who helped out, especially with my little French student. (How do you say, "Sorry your teacher ditched you while she was reading a story. Come here and silently pretend to read this book." in French?)

When I got in the next morning, feeling much better, there's this note on my desk from the librarian. She had come in to watch the kids and do a little teaching. The note said:

"I taught lesson 1.1 in math. We couldn't find your planner so we read the first chapters of Fablehaven. Hope you feel better!"

A teacher's planner is huge. It takes up the entire desk, and the two pages that are open show a full week. It is a difficult thing to lose. And here it is the second day of school and already people are telling me they can't find things on my desk.

I cleaned it that morning.

Happily the, the rest of the week was much smoother, the class is DARLING, and I need to learn French. Fast.

My windows face full west!

2008-08-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

You get ten points if you know where I got that title.

My classroom windows face west which is nice in the mornings. Things stay cooler (a relative term in Utah schools) until after lunch. And then the sun comes around the building. But by then we only have a couple of hours left. No one has died yet.

The problem comes when the district schedules parent teacher conferences between 4:00 and 7:00 in the evening. I was there for the last two evenings and it was awful.

So here is the first impression my parents have of their kid's new teacher:

no makeup (it melted around 4:10)
sweaty armpits (yuck!)
hair pulled in a scraggley bun (I had it all nice . . . and then I out it up off my neck)

They must think I am some sort of street person. But my earrings were new and really cute. If you know me, my earrings are very important to me. And I did wear a skirt and the outfits were nice. But I forgot to shave my legs. Let's face facts. In a parent teacher conference, no one cares what my legs look like.

The more I think about it, I was probably looked less like a street person and more like some hippie earth muffin. Nice.

Lemonade

2008-08-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

I was going to get a Diet Pepsi at our friendly neighbohood 7/11 when I passed this cute little lemonade stand. As I got closer I could see that it was run by two of my previous students. So, on my way back, I stopped and bought a lemonade for 25 cents. I had to. they were my little students and they saw me. I couldn't just leave them there with no customers.

Yesterday, my roommate and I again found ourselves in need of a Big Gulp. They know us by name at that 7/11. And once again there was a little lemonade stand out . . . only with more kids. And they were offering Jolly Ranchers for 5 cents. I think they have our number.

Dating

2008-08-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

I am 34 and still dating. My family is bored to tears of this topic. But think about this, I have been dating since I was 16 . . . that's more than half my life. I am really not good at this!

Anyway, this summer, since I have left my single's ward and went to a family ward, I decided it might be time to try the online thing. Holy Crap! Talk about taking an awkward situation and making it worse. At least with the blind dates I got set up on (as infrequent as they were) I had someone to vouch for the guy. Now I have the guy vouching for himself. Usually with very poor spelling and grammar.

I know some of you are going to read this and say "I know so-and-so and they met on line and they are now happily married with 12 children and another on the way."

Yeah. Whatever. I think y'all are lying.

Let me set everyone straight. I have talked to a few really nice guys. So there are decent guys online. I've even gone out. But they are few and far between.

The first guy that I talked to had the screen name of "hottestguy" and his first question to me was how I liked to kiss. It went downhill from there. I also talked to a guy who invited me over that night to makeout, this within five minutes of chatting. What the heck?! And what is with the 68 year old dude viewing my profile? Does anyone else find that creepy? A man with children isn't a problem for me, but a man with grandchildren is.

I am really not that picky. The criteria I entered into the LDSSingles site were pretty straight forward.

Human Male, 30-39, Average height, Average weight, capable of speech . . .

I'd also like them to be active in the church and temple worthy.

I fed my criteria into LDSSingles. They told me that there are 84 guys online within a 30mile radius of my zipcode. 84.

I was curious, and I asked how many women with the same criteria were online in the area. 500+

Yeah. The odds are not in my favor.

I guess there would be more if I looked outside of the valley, but I have a job that doesn't allow for any movement. If you leave the district you don't take any retirement with you, and you start at the next district as if you were a first year teacher. I'll only do that if I move to someplace like Hawaii or The Bahamas. (I have tropics and sun on the brain).

Amazingly, I am not that upset. In fact, I am alarmingly happy. For many years I have asked myself "Why me? Why am I single?" I now have the answer. After looking at many, many profiles of single men, I know the reason the Lord has kept me single is so that I'm not married to one of them.

So, I will go shopping, buy a new pair of boots, and feel good that I gave it a try.

And if you know of someone . . .

My Trick

2008-08-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

The worst/best job in teaching can be getting room ready for a new year. It is fun because you get to be creative, make everything clean again, and the room looks nice for maybe a week before people come in. It is the worst job because the school isn't airconditioned, and you have to do it in June or August. Putting paper on bulletin boards doesn't necessarily have me running to tell Mike at Dirty Jobs, but it is really awkward and you get sweaty and dusty really fast.

To finish a room, it takes me about a week, because I only work a few hours in the morning. Then I go home and take a shower.

Last May, the District and the State changed our standardized testing format. The students took them online. That meant we had to fit 13 classrooms into 2 computer labs. Thank heavens the little kids still take paper and pencil tests. This meant we started earlier and ended later. All this meant that my schedule for the end of the year was thrown out the window.

I was pulling out old lesson plans to fill the last three weeks of school. After you've taken the tests you tell the kids, "I know you don't have anymore big tests but this information is important too" they look at you and think "yeah, see we just took our tests for three weeks. We're tired. Our learnin' is done this year." (I blame "No Child Left Behind" for making the tests so dadgum important that even 10 year olds are aware that a failed test can "fail" a class, and enough of those can "fail" a school. I didn't tell them that. But I digress.)

So in May during the last week of school, out of desperation, I started putting up the next year's bulletin boards and I got everyone involved. They went up in one afternoon. (I had 35 helpers). I got worried that the sun might fade the paper, so we covered everything with more butcher paper. That took another afternoon.

So, now I don't have to put anything up in the August heat. And it looks really nice. Neat trick!

Just use the underaged workers. I paid them with candy.

Jessica's Adventure or: What Not To Put In The Microwave

2008-08-05T07:13:00.001-07:00

I wasn't going to post so soon. However, I have to share what my roommate Jessica did last night.

To begin with, on Saturday, Jessica was in a pretty severe dirt biking accident. On Sunday she was in a lot of pain and couldn't move around. My other roommate, Jennie, and I were getting ice for her banged up knee, heating pads for her back and neck and shoulders, and ibuprofen for everything else. She is pretty banged up.

The heating pads are where things get dicey. I have two of those flannel bags filled with rice that you stick in the microwave. They are fabulous when you are sore, because they hold heat forever and you don't have to plug them in. So, I stuck them in the microwave for Jessica's back, and because they can get too hot, I wrapped them in some towels.

Last night before bed, Jessica was saying how her back felt so much better but her legs were hurting. I suggested she try the heating pads again. She's mobile now, so she could do the microwaving herself. I told her to microwave each for about 5 minutes. About 5 minutes later, Jessica came to my room and told me my towel and heating pad had caught fire in the microwave, and was I mad that they were burnt. Because my first thought was for the towel and heating pad, not Jennie's microwave. Here's what happened:

Jessica put the heating pad wrapped in the towel in the microwave, which would only make it less likely to heat up, but not a fire hazard. Then she went to her room to wait. Which is sad because she missed the arcing. See, the towel was a Christmas towel with metallic embroidery.

Jessica came down to check on it, saw the fire, tried to blow it out, yep, blow it out, and when that just fanned the flames, she threw water on it.

Fire out, towel and heating pad burnt, microwave still working. As you can see, it wasn't a little fire.

P.S. Not one smoke alarm went off. I guess I'm buying batteries today.

P.P.S. Jennie wasn't mad because her microwave still works. She just made the new rule that Jessica can't use any electrical appliances without supervision. Jessica agreed.

Name Game

2008-08-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

My sister Erin and her husband Rob are expecting their third baby in January. They have some great girl names, but no boy names. This is because they are crazy.

Erin's choices for a boy's name are really red neck. She likes the following:
Jesse
Bo
Luke
Eli
Max

But these are better than Rob's choices. He like Buster and Barnaby. I am not kidding.

As a teacher, I have a different perspective. Because I have learned to really love some children and really "tolerate" some children, their names have special significance to me. There are names that I once loved that I can't think of now without thinking of the child I taught. I used to like the name James. Then I taught a James. I never liked the name Max until I taught two Maxes. Now I can see naming my own son Max. There are several boys who have impressed me so much I wouldn't mind using their names one day.

So I give to you, Erin and Rob and the world, my least favorites and most favorites, from my 9 years of teaching. (In hopes that perhaps you'll name your child after someone who doesn't have a car on cinder blocks in the frontyard and a stained couch on the porch.)

Please be assured that if your name is on here, and you were ever in my class, OF COURSE THIS ISN'T YOU. It's that other kid. You remember him, right?

Least Favorite Names:
1. James - Diligent in studying the effect of violent video games on his mind
2. Fred - Children should be seen and not throw things
3. Ian - Don't remind me, I know, you're smarter than me
4. Taylor - Just one second of silence. One. Just one.
5. Michael - If you touch another person . . .

Most Favorite Names:
1. Daniel - He sang "Sponge Bob" when he got an answer right
2. Max - This kid's gonna be a star . . . or a lawyer
3. Spencer - Do they really make kids that smart?
4. Nate - How do you tell a boy he's sweet?
5. A.J. - Best P.E. teacher in the whole fourth grade.

Really, there are only 5 least favorite names. I could have come up with a lot more than 5 favorite names.
So I guess I have been lucky.

I could have had a wonderfully talented and bright boy in my class named Barnaby.

Souvenirs

2008-08-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

I really have no news. In fact I'll bet Erin will post these pictures on her blog too. But they are so cute!

I love to shop for souvenirs. Not really for me. I have sadly come to the realization that there are only so many t-shirts I can own. So when I go on vacation, I shop for everyone else.

But the big fun this time was clothing. Come on, it's Hawaii!

Holly and Sam are my adorable niece and nephew. Holly is 6 and Sam will 3 in three weeks. They have been in Minnesota all summer and I have really missed them. These two are my sweethearts. Aunties really try hard not to play favorites but I have with everyone of them from time to time. And Holly and Sam and I have bonded over many things including teaching and learning how to give "wet willies", trips to the bookstore, and a long drive to Disneyland when the three of us shared a backseat.

Anyone who knows Sam knows he could really end up "hanging ten" some day. I can see Sam driving around looking for some good waves in his pickup with his longboards in back. So now he has the clothes. He just needs a pair of flipflops.

Holly is every inch the princess, unless she's giving you a "wet willie." So I got her something frilly. And here they are!:

I got Erin a lei made from nuts and painted with flowers (Holly is wearing it). It was much easier to get home than lei made of real flowers.

But my favorite find was a fluke. I called Erin from Hawaii and asked if her husband Rob would feel left out . . . was he dying for an Aloha shirt? Apparently not because Erin laughed.

Then at Pearl Harbor I found this great magnet. It was an old WWII propaganda poster. There is a picture of this plane crashed into pieces and it says "Warning! Consider the Consequences if You Don't Do Your Job!" Rob is in the MBA program at BYU. So Rob, you get a motivational magnet and the knowledge that I am openly encouraging your son to live on the beach and catch waves for the rest of his life.

Hope you like it! I laughed out loud.

More on Hawaii

2008-07-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

So I didn't get lost. I found my way home. I even navigated us to several touristy spots like Pearl Harbor, which I now know you can't go to because it is still a naval base, and the USS Arizona, which you can. Anyway here are some pictures. I took 170 pictures, so if you think this is a lot, you should take a look at my memory card.

The view from our balcony. We were on the North Shore of Oa'hu, which is always windy, and why they have such good surfing. I'm quoting the guide book.

The famous waves of the North Shore.Katelynn eating pineapple at the Dole plantation. It is as sweet as candy. We also had pineapple macadamia nut cheesecake on a pineapple upsidedown cake crust. Nope. I wasn't thinking of anyone but myself that day.
By the temple. We were really dumb and didn't get any actual pictures of the temple.
The drive along the east shore is all like this and right next to the ocean. It's the long way from Turtle Bay to Waikiki but it's worth it.Katelynn learning the hula at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Tahitian dancers at the PCC.
Katelynn was the only one of us to actually do the poi balls right at the New Zealand village at the PCC.

I am leaning on a tree, not because I want to look good for a photo but because the Polynesian Cultural Center is a lot like Disneyland, without the rides. There's a lot of walking on cement, and you will get sunburned and your feet will get tired. But the villages each have shows where you sit down, and then at the end of the day they feed you. And they have a great show. And there's people who dance with fire, so, plus.

This was in the Samoan village. Five guys RAN up the tree to get cocnuts. BTW, in Samoa, the men do all the cooking. I'm moving to Samoa.

The Pig! The luau was spectacular. The pork was greak. The fruity drinks were fun. We sang along to Hawaiin songs. Everything was wonderful. Except the poi. Katelynn is 18. She likes to do hair. I was her victim. She said it wasn't curly enough if I wanted to go to the prom. Whew! Disaster averted!

Okay, Diamond Head is this old volcano that your supposed to climb if you go to Hawaii, like you visit the Statue of Liberty if you go to New York. I made it as far as the second staircase.

Here's the story. Imagine the trail to Timpanogas Cave. Long, hard, paved, but doable. And always up. Then, add a staircase like the one at BYU by the Smith Field House. After 30 minutes of hard walking, now you have to do a lot of stairs. Still doable. Then you go through this tunnel, and there are exactly 100 more stairs, but it's like the guy who was building the trail got bored of switchbacks. These things go straight up. I quit. No view is worth it. So I sent my camera with Katelynn who took these pictures from the top of Diamond Head. So I'm a hypocrite, but this is supposed to be the best view of Waikiki beach.

This is the trail before the stairs. This was the easy part. After this, Katelynn wanted to go shopping for three hours in Waikiki. To have that energy again.
USS Arizona Memorial. I really liked these pictures. The sky is very pretty.

Vacation Photos

2008-07-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

It is 1:00 Salt Lake time, which means it's 9:00 Hawaii time. So I'll just post some photos now. I'll blog tomorrow. The cute 18 year old in my niece, Katelynn. I'm the other one with long hair and a sunburn. Her mom is my sister Kathi. She's in the picture at Diamond Head.

This is Katelynn, very enthusiastic about snorkeling. I had to tell her that unless you want to look really silly, you put that stuff on after your suit, and after you're in the water. We did have fun watching people try to walk in the sand with their flippers.

The three of us at diamond head. I think this is the only picture of all three of us. Notice Katelynn hiked in flipflops, the wierdo.

Katelynn at the Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Katelynn playing in the ocean by the temple.

Katelynn and me outside the Polynesian Cultural Center,

by the ocean. Everything is by the ocean.

Hawaii!

2008-07-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, My sister Kathi, my gorgeous neice Katelynn, and I are leaving on a jet plane . . .
We're going to Hawaii!
That was what Katelynn wanted for her graduation gift (along with tuition to the Y for the next 4 to 6 years). And the dear sweet girl asked if her favorite aunt would like to come.

Seriously, she really asked if I wanted to go with her.

My sister Kathi is one of four nutty daughters in our family. It is a sad statement when I say that my sister Erin is probably the most levelheaded out of the four of us girls. Come on guys, you know we're all a little crazy. The Happy, Fun kind. (Rob is just sad that I said it first).
And when my wonderfully crazy sister Kathi planned this vacation, she planned a car rental.
Now I have been on several vacations with my just-as-crazy cousin Autumn, where we rented a car. We learned early on there are two things I should not be allowed to do:
1) Drive in unfamiliar cities
2) Navigate in unfamiliar cities

I like to say I'm there for morale.

Kathi wants me to get us from the airport in Honolulu to our hotel on the other side of Oahu. I told Erin, she laughed. I told Autumn, she cried. So I bought a map.

When do they teach map reading in school? I teach fourth grade and we don't learn about this kind of map. I can recognize roads, but shouldn't I be able to see exits and stuff? Or like the pioneers, do we make our own for those who will come behind?

I have actually called people in Hawaii and they all tell me the same two things.
You can't get lost on the freeways in Oahu and some place great to eat.

That's what my dad used to say about the freeways in California. (But not a great place to eat part)

Maybe we'll just keep driving and driving. I now have a very long list of restaurants to visit, and we're bound to make it back to the airport sooner or later. We'll stop and eat, or stop and swim.
It's an island. I doubt even I could navigate us into the ocean.

Erin, and Autumn, I heard that.

My new place

2008-07-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

I moved out of my old apartment and into a fancy remodeled one right after school got out. In fact, the last day of school was a half day, and I came home and started moving right away. I moved that half day. That was a Thursday.
I moved all day Friday. That's when I moved most of my stuff.
That's also when I moved my mattress and boxsprings and learned that there are some things you should not do alone.
On Saturday my cousin Autumn came to help with the bigger things, along with my room mate's 72 year old father.
Yep. Four girls and a senior citizen.
We had been waiting for this apartment to be ready for 5 weeks. There wasn't a firm date as to when we could move in. The smart person would have started packing all the nonessential stuff right away. We went for ice cream.
Then one day our land lord calls up and says, "Are ya packed? You can move in this weekend."
So we had what my room mate calls a southern move. I call it a Mormon move. Basically, you throw things together in no particular order and worry about it when you unpack. I got three rubbermaid containers and I would fill them up with stuff, walk them over to the new place, empty them in a pile, and then go back for more. One of my room mates just barely got the last of her stuff out yesterday, after our lanlord came over to tell her they were ready to remodel over there and needed it clean.
So check out the pictures. These were taken about two weeks after the move. I'm impressed we did it.

So, I mentioned how many DVD's I have . . . here they are! They filled this book case. You can't see it here, but it is almost ceiling to floor, and the VHS are double deep on a shelf. Holy Crap! I think all three of us were a little shocked as I kept unpacking and unpacking and unpacking.

My room. And my new T.V. Notice I changed the pictures on the wall. The medeival stuff was getting a little tired.

My room . . . enough books? Another moving tip . . . books should not be packed in those big rubbermaid tubs. My back still hurts.

My room; notice that I now have real curtains, not a blanket tacked to the wall. My room mates say this is nicer.
My garden; I hate gardening. But Mom helped. Well, she helped shop for stuff and then told me where to put the stuff. She can't get down and garden like she wishes she could. Like I wish she could. The marigolds aren't blooming in this picture, but they are now. All the bushy greenery was there when we moved in. It's lavender, thyme, and sage. It smells so good out there in the mornings! Holly, can you see the bunny on the rock?

Lavender . . . it's blooming and really pretty now!

I'll send pictures of the kitchen when there aren't dirty dishes out on the counter!

My crazy life, My crazy family, My crazy friends

2008-07-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have epilepsy.
Don't freak out. I am not possessed by any evil spirits.
Erin, shut up. You too, Jennie.
Anyway, occasionally I have what we named "break throughs" when I was pretty little. It's just when the seizures and the meds don't work together and I have seizures for several hours, always at night. That's usually a good thing, because I don't miss work. The negative is that I don't sleep. And I have to take extra meds. So I am a little groggy in the morning. This happened last night.

So here's the problem (the seizures aren't the problem?!)
My family and friends are nuts.
They can't decide whether to make light of a pretty tough situation for everyone to handle, or to be serious and try and help. Since none of them are certified neurologists, mostly they worry a lot, which can be fairly amusing (when viewed in hind sight)

Here are some things my family and friends have chosen to do in the past, as well as last night:

My little sister, Erin, used to make me laugh right before I started having a seizure. I can't control what my face does during a seizure. The result was pretty gruesome.
Love ya Erin!

My room mate Jennie stayed up all night with me. It was a very sweet thought, but she slept in our arm chair. Now I have a cranky room mate. Next time, you take the couch.

My older sister Kathi stayed up, in case I needed her. She wasn't at the house with me, but she stayed up. Just several cell phone calls away (she doesn't wake up on the first call)

My mom stayed up all night too. She called me every half hour. Remember, I'm having seizures . . . answering a phone can be difficult. Then after they stopped, we talked for awhile about something else she was concerned about. I don't really remember. I just had seizures for several hours. I dozed through most of her conversation.

The people around me are crazy. Seriously.

But you know, Erin has also spent hours rubbing my back trying to relax those muscles. Jennie did that last night too. My dad used to do that before he died.

Dad and I used to talk about all sorts of things while I had seizures. He was trying to keep my mind off of what was happening, but I learned more about him and the church during those nights than in any Sunday School class. I miss that.

My family and friends are awesome. Wacko, but awesome.

And this morning, they're all late for work. And cranky.
I wonder what mom wanted last night.

Thanks you guys

Oh what do you do in the summer time?

2008-07-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hey family and friends! Congratulate me, I've got a blog, I'm caught up with the times!

Okay. So I teach school. From September to June, all teachers are dreaming of summer and what we will do when we don't have to get up and go to work. And then, after two weeks, we're looking around asking, what now?

Maybe it's different if you're married with kids. Maybe you ask after four weeks. But I only have two room mates and we all take care of our own messes pretty much. Even so, in the summer I realize I have a little more time on my hands than they do, so I do a little more than my share of the chores. It's fair. They take care of me during my nervous breakdowns when we're having our standardized tests.

But now I am looking at my clean kitchen, my clean bathroom, my clean livingroom, and I'm thinking "what now?" In the last 5 weeks since school got out I have accomplished the following:

moved to a new apartment (by myself)
helped my room mates move to our new apartment
planted a garden (why? I dislike gardening)
moved the computer to our new apartment
got lab work done that my doc's been askig for since last fall
went to the doctor's
read a little more than 3,000 pages in said 5 weeks
learned how to make a virgin pina colata and strwberry daquiri
threw a party and made said drinks
cleaned up from party without a vacuum
visited the book store 7 times

Yes. I am bored. To tears. Happily, I will be going to Hawaii on the 20th. My cousin is spending her vacation doing a Pioneer Trek. Dressed in Pioneer clothing. I may be bored but I'm not that bored.