Graduation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.