Enjoy the Ride

Long Time No See

2010-04-15T22:46:00.002-04:00

Wow! It has been over a year since I last visited this place. What a wild and bumpy ride! I survived and made it! I will try to get back to posting since things will never be normal. But I never really liked normal so I am ok with that!

Weekend Retreat

2009-02-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

My son leaves tomorrow for a weekend confirmation retreat! I am excited for this in his life and I am sad because he is growing up so fast. My it seems just yesterday my sweet handsome son popped out almost 10 pounds. Ok so he didn't pop~In fact he really didn't make birthing much fun for the first 11 hours! Just kidding! No I didn't have fun but he was worth it all. I just hate seeing him grow up and going through the same crap the hard way that I did. But.....that is how the circle of life goes. I guess I just worry about not doing a good job raising him. But only time will tell. Hope you have a great evening! I am going to watch Chris sleep~

I am what I am...

2009-02-23T20:13:00.002-05:00

I Am: Who I am.
I Want: Things that are beyond my reach.
I Have: A wonderful Family.
I Wish: The court case was settled.
I Fear: It will never be over.
I Hear: What I want to hear.
I Search: For answers.
I Wonder: How my kids will turn out.
I Regret: Not spending more time with my kids.
I Love: With all my heart.
I Always: Worry about my friends.
I Usually: Cuss like a sailor.
I Am Not: Ever going to be skinny.
I Dance: When no one watches!
I Sing: Whenever and wherever but rarely in tune.
I Never: Take care of myself like I should.
I Rarely: Extend myself outside of my comfort zone.
I Cry: At sad movies and when I get really stressed
I Am Not Always:Happy with myself.
I Need:Family and Friends.
I Should: Enjoy Life more and complain less.

I am Thankful!

2008-11-25T16:57:00.002-05:00

I know that I haven't been a good Blogger! I have been a little too busy with things. But I am so thankful for so many things and I want to state a few of these things. I am thankful for my wonderful family. My husband is the best! He does so much around here it is .... hard to name them all. He helps me around the house, cooking, with the kids, does all the shopping! I really could go on and on. My kids are the best a parent could pray for. Yes, we have our moments and I do want to wring their necks but for the most part I wouldn't swap them for any other kids. I am also so thankful for my Mom and Dad. Even though my Daddy is no longer living~they did a wonderful job being parents. I am grateful for the things they taught me, the morals they instilled and the lessons they let me learned the hard way. I am so grateful for my friends! I have some wonderful friends that truly listen when I talk, hug me when I'm sad, let me complain when I'm mad, and drink with me when I need to unwind. They are the best friends a person could ever ask for in this world. They are the kindd that you can't call to bail you out of jail if you were to ever get in trouble~only because they would be sitting in jail beside you because they were with you through the ordeal. No~I havn't been to jail but I know if I do I will go with a friend or too!!I am thankful for the job that I have and the lives of those lovely Kindergarteners that touch my life. I am thankful for my health and happiness. I am so lucky and God has touched so many aspects of my life and I am gratful of His presence. I want to wish all of you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving filled with love, friends, and family! Happy Thanksgiving!

Well~I'm Back!

2008-11-03T19:17:00.005-05:00

Sorry I have been MIA for sooooo long. I have had to take time for family, friends, and self. When I last posted I left stating my SIL was diagnosed with Breast cancer. Since then she has had a single mastectomy and will begin chemo tomorrow. I have left a lot of ups and downs out of this bog otherwise I would be typing for hours and hours. But the important parts are that God is in control and had been since the news hit. I am so glad that He is a part of Our life because it has made this so much easier on her and her family. She has the best spirit and attitude and it shows through her. She is awesome and strong! I promise to try and catch up with everyone and to post more often now that things are beginning to settle. Wishing everyone Joy for your Spirit, Peace for your Soul, and Love in your Life Always!

Wow!

2008-09-25T22:16:00.002-04:00

I write with a heavy heart and I am writing just so I can get my thought off my chest. I received a phone call from my brother tonight. Well~I assumed Hell had frozen over or he wanted to discuss putting my Mama in an assisted living center. You see although we live in the same town we aren't very close. Well I was wrong~way wrong. He wanted to tell me about his wife~they found breast cancer. Wow! You could blow me over with a whisper. It is not that I thought my life would not be impacted by cancer. But her Mom died at an early age of cancer and ever since she has annual test and scans just to be precarious. Some times she completes scan every 6 months because of family history. They asked me not to say anything but because they wanted to be able to notify certain people and they didn't want me to hear it through the rumor vine. But they are also doing more test, bone scans and gathering all data to make decisions. My heart hurts because she is a very very private person and she does not share personal issues and I know that they are all over whelmed. She has two kids (16 and 12 year old boys)and I am sure they are rattled. Oh well thanks for listening and if my cookie crumb friend reads my blog~please just keep it in your cookie jar until I know more. Well~I'm off~Good Night!

Home again Home again!

2008-09-21T20:39:00.002-04:00

We are home!Yeah!! I miss home! We had a nice weekend the mountains were nice~could have stayed longer! I do love the mountains! We went to the aquarium and taught my kids how to slide down a big hill on card board boxes! Which was priceless. I loved seeing my sister and her husband and their new place. Thanks to God it wasn't that bad! I still wanted to kill my sister and the way she treats my kids but my kids were wonderful! I couldn't have paid them to be better. My sister doesn't have kids and she doesn't know how to respond to kids but my kids made me proud! Oh well I'll post some pictures but I'll write more later

Family

2008-09-14T17:25:00.002-04:00

The expression ~You can't live with them and you can't live without them. That is what family means to me. I am going to visit my sister next weekend and I am very nervous. My sister moved this past summer to Tennessee. I have tried 2-3 times to go see her and her hubby but circumstances beyond my control has prevented the trip. I love my sister and her husband they are really remarkable people. My sister does not have any children and I am always nervous because she is not used to kids. My kids are kids 100% but they when even on their best behavior are....kids. It is not going to be good enough. I know they will screw up something and I am nervous. I am kind of glad my husbnd will stay here because he is like adding another kid to the bunch. Isn't that an awful way to feel~I am always wanting everbody to be happy and I always feel that no matter how my husband and kids are it isn't good enough to her standards. I know that sounds bad~but I feel that way. She tells me that us coming isn't a big deal but I know that it is and she probably isn't happy about all the company but I gave her the chance to say no~she didn't. To add to the fun~I'm taking my Mom. She doesn't travel well or often anymore but I thought that might help me out with the uncomfortable feeling. We will see~Keep your fingers crossed!

Halloween Is Coming!

2008-09-08T19:06:00.002-04:00

Sorry I know I'm ahead by a month but....I'm getting ready for a shoebox exchange. That is where I bring an October craft and enough supplies for everyone to make it and then I get to make an example of everyone else's treat. I'm excited so I am sending you the pictures of the Frankenstein and Mummy that I am bringing. Hope you like it! Have a great Day!

School

2008-09-03T18:40:00.004-04:00

Well I know that my blogging and my reading have suffered but....I blame having to work! It is really not that bad but I am PMSing so the weight of the world is on me today. I am on sensitive overdrive but ...I will get over it. I didn't get on here to complain but to share how my life continues to go in circles in the education world. I began teaching in this town in 1990. I taught the Mildly Intellectually disabled group~boy could I tell you some tales of those days. I learned a lot! I think I know a story for every child that was in that group but I will only tell you one ...A boy named Travis. He was a child with a drug addict mom who was not highly educated(5th-8th grade education). He had quite a bad temper but many reasons led up to all of his attitude issues. But Travis was all boy and got in trouble not just with me but any other adult at the school. This one day Travis was having a bad day and was about to be paddled by the principal he took off out of the office and for that matter out of the school. I looked up at the principal who was a short mean woman as if thinking she with all of her years of experience would offer words of wisdom~NOPE! She looked at me and asked "Oh no~What should we do?" I with 2 years of experience yelled "Go get your car and let's get him." I started running. Since you don't know the neighborhood I want you to visualize. The family circus cartoon when the little boy, Billy draws a diagram that goes around and around and around just to end up a short distance away from where he started. Well now picture a short white woman in an all black neighborhood, top heavy without her jogging bra, and I am not nor have I ever been a jogger. Oh~ the principal who is in a car....yeah she was of no help. After a 2 mile adventure through the projects~an area that was worse then the projects and back by the school then to his grandmother's house a mile from the school in a different direction~ I caught up with Travis~not the principal who was in the car. OH I must tell you in this area~not many people were working this particular day so.....they were sitting on the porch watching the dumb white girl try to catch the quick speed lightening little boy while they were drinking, smoking weed, and laughing them self off there stool. Well I tell you this story so that you will appreciate my day~I got a new student today. Guess what her father's name is.....yep! It is my old friend speed lightening...Travis! Hope you have had a great day! If nothing else~I hope you have had a laugh!

A Day with the Girls

2008-08-24T11:31:00.002-04:00

Wow! Even though Tropical Storm Fay has dropped lots of tree limbs, pinecones, and RAIN! Saturday was a fantastic day. For my birthday I told me friend Nadine I didn't want anything but a day with her and Beth stamping, gossip exchange and laughter. So yesterday that is what I got.Beth, Nadine, Stacie(another stamping buddy) spent the day doing just that. It was the best day I have had in weeks. I haven't made anything all summer and I haven't had time to make cards with my friend so it was a Fantabulous day! I didn't make as many cards as I should or could have but we did have a moment of weather excitement when we had a tornado warning! So after the excitement passed we stamped a little more. If my husband wouldn't have killed me I probably wouldn't have gone home til midnight! I enjoy that special time with friends unwinding about the world and laughing! I highly recommend it to all! Have a great wet weekend!

Another Year Older~but what about wiser?

2008-08-17T16:53:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday! Happy 41 to me but am i any wiser than I was 15 years ago? OMG I sure hope so. My husband doesn't know how to keep secrets but he kept a good one this time. I wanted to spend the day with my family and do a birthday meal with them and I made arrangements with my two best friends to spend an afternoon together soon doing what we like to do~stamping and talking. But without me knowing my Honey arranged for my 2 friends and their family to meet up at my house at 7pm to eat cake. OK~he let the cat out of the bag that morning when he came in with 2 10 layer cakes(Chocolate on chocolate and a keylime). No my friends do't have huge families ~ he couldn't decide what everybody would prefer to eat so he bought 2! My Mama came over early in the afternoon to eat cake and wish me Happy Birthday! Then to have my friends and their family that night!Last night as I sat looking around my den at my friends and listening to all the kids playing outside~I realized how truly blessed God has made my life. My Husband, my kids, my mama, and my friends. With those individuals and God on myside ~ I am one of the luckiest people I know. Fifteen years ago, I didn't have all of those people in my life ~I have trully been blessed! So please enjoy some birthday cake!

Please Don't Give Up!

2008-08-11T20:25:00.002-04:00

Alright the bells of school have rung or as I like to call them from one of my favorite bands "Hells Bells". I have been absent but it is not just because of school~Lightening zapped my house last week and got computers/modems/printers/tv/more. But I am not complaining we are spending more quality time with each other without passing the remote to the tv or swapping chairs with one another at the computer. School is getting in the swing and I am going to be back and among the techo world soon~I promise to catch up on all of my reading to see how all of you are doing! Peace be with you and I'll be sharing with you soon!

And then there where.....

2008-07-28T07:36:00.002-04:00

We did it! We found Sam the missing hamster within hours of him going missing. Then yesterday we officially closed the baby factoy! The daddy and first 6 babies were taken to the pet store. We kept Sam because we had already told Chris that he could keep one. We also kept Mama hamster and the Newest of the new babies. Just as soon as possible we are going to let those babies go to the pet store, too! But Sam is in a seperate cage so that we stay out of the baby making business. I am so happy. I never wanted babies. I trully enjoyed believing that we bought Debbie and Princess. Little did I know Princess would turn our life upside down by just being a Prince. Hope you have a Great Week!

Well, It happened!

2008-07-25T09:02:00.002-04:00

Remember those cute adorable hamsters that Mr. Honey thought was such a good idea to get in a set of two? Well Debbie and Princess turned out to be Debbie and Prince and they had a litter of 7. I have told my crew for weeks that it was time for them to go. The first time they took them~the pet store said they were too small. Now~it is too late! Debbie and Prince have decided 7 is not enough and this am delivered a new pile of babies. What in the Hell was I thinking? Now only do we have @7 more we have another problem. Sam ~ the small cute one my dumb husband told my son that he could keep......is missing! Yep! You heard correctly~Samis somewhere in a house that has 4 cats that love moles! Guess what! My son is beyond upset~I am trying not to laugh and Mr. Honey is still an idiot for getting 2!

Well I did it anyway!

2008-07-21T17:52:00.002-04:00

In 2 weeks I will have 2 3/4 days for preplanning and then school will begin~AGAIN! Well I am angry that we only get @ 3 days to unpack our room, redecorate, regroup for a new crowd, and plan. They know we will go up there to get it all done even though they are paying for 3 days. But I swore I wouldn't go up to the school to do anything. I was going to get what they paid for~But oh no! I couldn't resist. Jay helped me by painting my bulletin boards. Normally I just put up cloth so that it won't fade. The old stuff had been up for 7 years. And would still be up ~BUT they painted our classrooms so I had to take it down and it is expensive to do the 8 large boards. So I let him paint them. It is the color of Honolulu blue~hopefully it will keep the kids calm! Ha Ha!! But now i have finished making 23 new chair bags with the help of my Mama. not to mention made folders, envelopes, and much more. I have gotten on the computer and made info sheets,favors for open house, and more! I have probably spent two days working on things that I should be doing during pre-planning but there is just not enough time during those few days to do all this plus, schedule, plan, pull resources, books, etc. So there now I said it! I have vented and soon will feel better when I am not in a panic and everyone is wishing they had done what I did! Hope you are having a Smurfy Day!

No, no, no!

2008-07-16T08:39:00.002-04:00

I can not believe that the time is drawing near! School will begin in @ 3 weeks. It seems just like 2 weeks ago, summer started. I like to work but recent changes in the education program and systems just make me not like my job so much! I started teaching 19 years ago with dreams of making a difference. No~ I do not mean fixing every child that had special needs~I didn't think I was God! I just wanted to make a difference in one child at a time. I started in Special Education and knew that change for these students did not always occur rapidly and sometimes not at all. Well after @11 years, I made a change to regular education. That first year I thought I was teaching third year French. But I needed to change because I had started my family and I had several students that had passed away in those years due to their conditions. I just couldn't do it anymore. Well, Now I have been in regular education for almost that long and it has changed so much during those years.
It is amazing how we as a society look at test scores and realize that we are failing educationally. There are so many things that affect this change in our culture. Our teachers have pressure to make every child be able to master material, deal with behavior, social, personalities, cuts, headaches, bumps, and dogs that eat homework. Today, both parents typically work and sometimes more than one job. More parents are single parents and can't afford to always provide after school child care. Drugs and gangs are more commonplace than ever. Children have more good and bad choices to make than we can ever imagine. They are faced with all kind of pressures. Many kids come to school angry, hungry, tired, dirty and stressed to the max and that is assuming that they are children that have the ability to learn without putting forth a lot of effort like studying and doing homework. But not all two children are created equal and some children need extra support and changes to be made so that they are on a level playing field. That is when the decsion makers come in and dictate what and how we are to teach and pile on more and more paper work to cover our behind. Their ideas look good on paper especially when dealing with 20 "normal" students, whose parents participate in their education, and students that have no outside issues. BUT...those 20 children never exisit in the same classroom and especially in every classroom in every school.
I went into teaching to do whatever it takes to ensure I can help make a difference and to provide every child the opportunity to learn. I have always said that if the decsion makers would let us know what the children need to know and let us determine based on our children how to accomplish the ask. Let us get into the classroom and teach~get back to the basics. Let teachers do what they have been trained to do. Not all teachers are there for the right reasons, some just occupy space and give millions of worksheets, and are using the same strategies year after year after year. No two kids are created exactly the same and sometimes we have to regroup and try different activities and strategies to help everyone but...that is what we need to do. Sports so many time takes a priority over education and not everyone is going to be a football or basketball star but everyone does need to learn.
Well~ that is my soapbox today~forgive my ramble!

Art Weekend

2008-07-13T17:00:00.003-04:00

My daughter loves to draw and color and just be creative. I love to see her just be herself and have fun! A few years ago my son painted a picture and gave it to his Daddy. My husband loves that picture so much. I thought that I would let Sara do the same thing. That has led us to.....Art Weekend. She wanted to paint our cat Maggie playing on the grass. I have to say I did help a little but this is her work not quite finished! have a Great Weekend!

Ode to Lucy

2008-07-06T14:40:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I had the unpleasant task to do for my Mama. Her canine companion for the past 5 years had to be put to sleep. Last week I wrote about taking all of the cats and dogs to the vet for Mama. Well I joked about them calling Lucy a geriatric dog. But what I didn't share is that she had a seizure a few weeks back and then last Friday she had another and this time she didn't come out of it for quite awhile. They kept her for a couple of days and put her on anti seizure meds. Well they thought she would be ok and sent her home. But she wasn't~at some point she must have had a stroke and it was pitiful~well being the 4th of July we couldn't do anything until Saturday so.....Mr. Honey and I went to take care of it for my Mama. She couldn't pull or lift the dog due to her physical health and she had watched her for the past few days. She knew that her companion was not living the quality of life that she had been. The Doctor knew more was going in when Jay and I took her in and knew although we were struggling with our decision ~ we had made the best one for the dog. My son and daughter took it hard. I had told them the day before so that they could begin the grieving process. My son wrote this poem for his Gah~Gah (my Mama) and I wanted to share it!

Ode to Lucy

Lucy was a treasure in our lives.
We owe her our full gratitude for all the things
she did for us.
We will forever miss her but know she is here with us.
She has been a friend to us all.
She was there for us and Gah~Gah.
Linus was her adopted child and she will
Miss her like a baby leaving its mom.
Lucy will not die but will forever live on in our
hearts.

Thank you Suburbia!!

2008-07-06T13:50:00.002-04:00

Suburbia has given me a very sweet award. Then on top of the award she has taught me how to add it to my blog! I so appreciate the award and the help! I want to pass this award on to two others that have helped me to get in to the blogging world. One is my friend Nadine . She is my Best Friend and has been instrumental in my maintaining my sanity. The other person I want to give this award is Dot. Dot has given me alot of help when I started blogging and I had stupid questions and couldn't find the answers. She always has beautiful pictures and stories to share.
This award was created by Crystal over at Memoirs of a Mommy in honor of the heart donor who saved the life of Crystal's baby boy, Noah.

Crystal says: The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

I also want to thank Liz and Suburbia. I really enjoy escaping to the UK and reading about your world only to discover we share some of the same issues in life no matter what side of the world we are on. I really love that Sub. has a clock so that I can keep up with the difference in time!

Thanks again to so many who have helped me to get through to where I am today! I know what they say about teaching old dogs and tricks but ... Suburbia thanks to your tutorial I did get my award posted!!
Thanks!

Do you remember the easy Bake Oven?

2008-07-02T19:23:00.003-04:00

Alright~ How old are you? Do you remember the Easy Bake oven? I bet you had one and cooed with a light bulb just like millions of other little girls and some boys! Sara got one last year for Christmas and we haven't used it as much as we should. But... I must say the one I had 35 years ago is not much different from the one we used today. Mine was turquoise and had knobs that did nothing and a light bulb that cooked the food. Today it is Pretty in Pink but it still uses the same bulb. Sara and I cooked a surprise for the boys tonight. Jay has really really worked very hard this week and it has been a rough week for him so....Sara and I are trying to cheer them up with a brownie! Chocolate works for me! Especially Dark Chocolate! I hope it works for him. If it doesn't...just knowing that his little girl made it will do the trick! Have a Great Day!

Teaching Moments

2008-07-01T09:39:00.004-04:00

Yes, being a teacher you use any moment as a teaching moment. Even if is about sex to your own children. Today we go to Lowes to buy a female end to an extension cord. My 11 year old is laughing about it being called a female end. But it is my 6 year old that asks me why we call it a female end. So I simply tell her it is because it looks like a girl ~ it is shaped inward. And male ends stick out like boys. My son turns around and looks at me and said, "Really? I didn't know that! Wow!" My daughter said, "oh!" To her it was no big deal~she knows we are not created the same and she is ok~My son is at the age of sexual awareness and is a typical boy. That is when we headed to lighting to pick up lights. My 11 year old son~ starts staring and laughing at the lights.

What does it look like to you? Does it look like a boobie to you well it does to all of us. I am beginning to see how sex can sell everything even lights! I hope you will now never look at lights the same way again! Just remember when you see them and giggle everyone else will wonder what you are laughing at.

Found a Peanut!

2008-06-29T17:56:00.002-04:00

Actually I have 7 of them! They are currently driving their Mom nuts but isn't that what all kids do to their Mom! I am hoping that they will soon be ready to head to the pet store. They have to go quickly~everyone including the other pets are getting WAY to curious. My kids are trying to name them. The seven dwarf" were mentioned. I said we couldn't name them because we would get to attached. Too too too late! They have tried to convince me why we need another hamster. Remember I only wanted one to start with. After all, one can't reproduce by itself. So here those peanuts are or at least a couple of them. Enjoy the laugh~on me!

Princess and Debbie

2008-06-27T17:03:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time there was a Husband, named Jay. He wasn't thinking on this particular day. We had talked about one day getting a fish tank for our daughter like our son but I discouraged him and said no we have fish let's wait until she can help take care and get her a gerbil. Notice and reread the part about WAIT UNTIL SHE CAN HELP~he become deaf during those words hence, he didn't hear those words uttered. Less than 2 days later I have not 1 gerbil but....are you ready 2 hamsters~Princess and Debbie my Sara named them. Oh they were sooooooo......rats not a cute thing about them and I said one day.... not today and 1 gerbil not....2 hamsters. I know what is the deal with hamsters and gerbils~one has a tail and everybody know that the tail is the handle to catch them with. Now I teach Kindergarten and I know that 1 plus 1 equals 2. My wonderful hubby who is trying for Dad of the year says it is so they will keep each other company~So I ask..How do you know that you have 2 girls? Reply~the salesperson grabbed 2. I ask~What makes you think she is not an idiot? Reply~Now honey! So my family has 4 cats, 1 dog, too many fish, 2 kids (3 if you count my husband) and 2 hamsters:Princess and Debbie. Well~I hated to admit it but they were cute to watch and at night they sure did enjoy the wheel~nocturnal animals you know. Well my 11 year old comes to me about 3 weeks after the new addition arrives and yells for me to come quick something is wrong with one of the hamsters. I am not doing cpr on a rat of any kind "What is wrong? I ask. Chris tells me that one of them has something sideways on his butt~Hello? What did you say? He repeats now my 6 year old wants to come check it out. Well sure enough I am expecting to see Debbie giving birth......Nope.....Want to guess again. Remember this is the child who thinks he knows it all about puberty and sex right? Nope! I look expecting the worse and find ~ nuts! Yep! Princess is really a Prince. So at first I laugh and explain to my son that when we got the critters everything was too small and now they have grown and you notice them. That is when I realize that if Princess is really a Prince and we have Debbie tooo(Nope I checked she is like a Mounds candy bar~no nuts). Oh crap! WE could have babies. That exact moment~MY Hubby the love of my life ~The man that is going to start sleeping on the couch speaks "Oh yeah~the other nite I caught them "wrestling" wink wink and forgot to mention it to you. Oh well there is a reason I am fixed for a reason I have plenty to feed, dress, clean, I don't know nothing about birthing hamster babies. Until June 18th~yes they arrived! ALL 7 OF THEM! The ugliest, hairless, wiggly, peanuts you could ever imagine. So now I have 9 hamsters to go with the rest of my family~but I have convinced the family to take real good care of them. If they don't I just told them they will all make excellent food for the cats! It is working so far!! OK it is just a joke I would not harm any animal...(with the exception of my Hubby!) And we all lived happily ever after!

Take them by 2 and 3

2008-06-25T08:32:00.006-04:00

Or close to that! Yesterday was go to Mom's and help her take the animals for their annual shots/check up. Well~what an adventure. My Mama is getting closer to 70 and is as active as she can be with a severe deteriorating back condition can be. Although my younger sister hints around that people are going to consider her a crazy cat lady~she has a dog too! Just kidding! She loves animals! My Mama's dog adopted a cat so they go on the first trip. The Vet is new to the Dr's office and it felt like her first day. She went on and on and on about this dog being a geriatric~hello my Mama doesn't need to hear that over and over! This is my Mama's companion and is always there watching over her and makes sure she doesn't over do things. Anyway the first trip took 45 minutes and that was with no waiting in the waiting room and we were just there to get 2 shots each. I am glad this dr isn't by gynecologist or it would take a day or two for that exam. Well~Mom has 3 more cats that had to go so........
Now that leads to trip two. It took a lot of actual running around~her cats are strange and for some strange reason they don't like getting in a carrier to drive in a car to go visit a lady that is going to poke, prod, and then some more not so fun things. Oh did I mention of the last 3 cats~one happens to be 18 years old so she is really up there in people years. Her name is Itchy but that is only because she really acts bitchy~Can't wait to see what the dr says about this old girl. Well once again we hear the trio of cries going to see the dr. It really helps to have my 11 year old singing the same cry just lots and lots louder. Well with the exception that "Itchy" most things went well. She had to be sedated and have blood work but......... she is a geriatric.
I had a laugh about the day and it was a day just to take 5 animals to get shots. My dad used to say he wished that when he died he could come back as one of our animals because we take such good care of them. With the dog coming off her leash, the cardboard carrier that is 20 years old broke, 3 cats running around a two story house hiding under beds, hissing, growling, and spitting at you, and then you have my son who has chased them instead of just letting them just be and he helped them sing their loud crying sounds. That is when it hit me~My dad did come back but it was not as an animal. It was in my son! My dad would be so proud of him~he has some of those funny traits that he had and the compassion that my Dad didn't want people to know about, and his sense of humor that has made us laugh throughout the journey of our day! May your day be filled with love, life, and laughter!

One Out of Two

2008-06-25T00:24:00.003-04:00

This week my youngest has had daycamp. It is amazing what it is like to just have time with my oldest child. I forget that for 4 years it was just the two of us and we had so much fun. I miss that alone 1 on 1 time with each of my kids. When they are together they are always fussing and fuming and can't find anything to do. When they are alone they entertain themself and me. We have done nothing wonderful but it has given us that time to laugh and have fun. I have a hard time realizing that he is 11 years old and in just a very short time he will graduate High School. Then reality strikes and my daughter comes in from camp and realizes that we had time without her and so now she wants to plan some serious girl time. I know that they will one day be fighting on who gets stuck with me with I am old and I drool~but for now I am glad the fight is who can spend time with me. Gotta run~my day starts in a few hours and I want to enjoy it all before they try to lock me in an old folks home! May you have a blessed day and should it not smell like roses just remember it is the poop in life that make the roses stonger, bolder, and better!

Clear My Head

2008-06-18T07:32:00.004-04:00

Well I am trying to clear my head. For almost 3 years my husband and I have been working on getting things settled from being injured. I get tired of talking about it because I hate that it is constantly on my brain. But it is~Constantly there! I am so tired of this mess and yet it has consumed our life because it has caused us to regroup and rearrange our life and move forward. My kids have been affected by our stress. I have gained so much weight and Jay has just lost sleep. I can honestly say that I have been depresses and this summer have accomplished nothing. I eat, cook, and worry. What I really want to do is sleep and sleep and sleep. Just so i can avoid the issues. I guess the reason I am blogging this crap~is to unload, admit and move on. We had hoped big developments were to occur today. But once again~it didn't pan out. That is ok! I have had to regroup and re~evaluate and here is what I discovered. If nothing happens~I am ok! I do want things to be over. But I have seen so many ways the God has blessed my family and that is all that matters. God has seen us through this event with Jay not losing his eye or his complete vision,a new and better job for Jay, and a much stronger~but very stressed family. I do not care if I have to pay the medical bills that should have been covered by the former boss. I know in my heart and head we have played by the rules and learned from this experience. I do see this as a life lesson that I have walked away with strength, courage, success, and a stronger faith in God. I have always know that God would never give me more than I can handle and I doubted this during this time in my life but as always He saw me and my family through this tribublation. I am glad to know that with God on my side I can handle all things through Him. Now I have to get my butt up and get this extra baggage off my rear. And i know I can do this~but it is not going to be fun! I am grateful for my family and friends~they are the ones that kept my mind on the important things and they kept us in their prayers. That is a debt I will never be able to repay! Have a Super Duper Friday! I know I will now that I have gotten this off my chest~too bad it took me 3 days! See ya!

Here's a Spot ~There's A spot~Everywhere a Spot!

2008-06-16T14:59:00.003-04:00

You got to love summer! Last week we had Vacation Bible School at Church and we had so much fun. This week~I plan to get some serious cleaning! Well that is still the plan but....while we were watching a family movie I noticed something. My son had several bites on his arms and they were itchy~guess what not bites~Chicken Poxs! Or as I call it Chicken spots! My son is 11 and has been exposed dozens of times and had the shot~oh well. I have to laugh and I want to play connect the spots but he doesn't find humor in my playing with a Sharpie! Especially since the largest population occurs below the equator and I don't mean his cute knees. I shouldn't find humor in this but I have learned that laughing makes you stronger. At least this is a mild case and we are oh so lucky! So I am off to play a new dot to dot game! Hope you are having a great day!
Hope you have a Spot free day!

My Best Fish Story

2008-06-10T16:27:00.005-04:00

My sister moved about two months to Tennessee. It was nice she waited until about 3 weeks before moving to tell the family~she is an artist~it is all about the drama! Well at her old house she and her husband had a huge goldfish pond they made with blood, sweat, tears and ugly words~lots and lots of ugly words. The pond was beautiful and they did an amazing job. I asked when she moved was she taking her little fish babies with her~Nope! They were going with the house and that was that. Well I told her a dear friend of mine bought and shipped fish all over the country and could help if she changed her mind. Well~sure enough a month passed and she missed her wee ones and knew that No one was tending to the pond like needed as the house hadn't sold and these fish were going to die because no one was caring for them. Again~Do you want me to ask David to help~well no I don't think so. I could tell she ways swaying and didn't want to have anyone help her~because that might make her in debt to them and this we can't have. So....about 2 days later the answer became YES!! Do you think he could fix it where they could ride in a car for about 8 hours. Well ~ David is the bomb! Of course 20 body bags, an oxygen tank, rubber bands and some little blue pills later we could move a horse under water and he survive the trip. Well my sister and her Hubby were having to come this way for a wedding and could she stay for the weekend and oh yes~could I help catch 8 huge fish bag, tag and store them at my house for 48 hours and then bag, tag, and prepare them for their journey to Tennessee. Sure~why not ~what could possibly happen. Well 2 1/2 hours just to catch those slippery sap suckers and then we put them in a 15 gallon container to drive them to my house. One fish in particular had issues from the start. Every time we almost had him he would jump from the net~move briskly~it was almost as if the fish gods were trying to tell us it was not his time to travel. But did we listen~nope we are women~hear us roar! We after a lot of profanity and laughing caught him and put him with the rest of his bother and sister fish. Drove an hour to my house and put them in their weekend estate~my small not built by my hands but adequate fish home aka the dog's large water bowl. Well we being women were proud that we had managed the task at hand and although it took some doing got them the the 1/2 way point.
Well~things went well for about 45 minutes. My son went to go check on the new friends only to discover that the one that we had a hard time catching originally had committed suicide. I told you we should have listened to the great fish gods. Well what do you do~laugh that was all we could do at least 7 of the other guys were still living~can't mourn for the dead just rejoice for the living and hope that they continue you to do so! Well Sunday morning came and it was time to put David's instructions and supplies to good use. We took a huge bag put enough water to cover the fish and then added a little more, added a little blue pill~not that kind but something that helped them reduce the stress of the trip and enjoy the ride~kind of like Prozac for fish~added pure oxygen and then banded the top. This went smoothly for fish 1,fish 2, and fish 3, and then we ran out of pure oxygen. Could this get any funnier oh yeah~David is out of town. CRAP! Now how are we going to do it since I don't know any old folks with an oxygen tank. Well we call David and he tells us we really don't have to have pure oxygen we could just let air into the bag naturally ~it SHOULD work. Well what else could we do. Well we finished packaging fish and got them on their way to Tennessee. Well I could not help but call that night to make sure there were no more casualties. Believe it or not the rest arrived alive to their new home!!Moral of the story~just buy more fish instead of trying to travel with them. You will grow to love your new fish as much as you loved your original fish!

Summer is Really Here!

2008-06-05T10:35:00.002-04:00

I feel like I have been absent for a long time and haven't caught up on anyone~but I am back! summer is here and I have already read 2 books and in the process of my 3rd. The kids are getting on each others nerves but... not bad enough to go pick weeds in the yard. I feel that so much weight has been lifted and now I can be a Mom for the next few weeks. That is something I love! I have officially begun making my list of the things I want to accomplish this summer! I have high hopes for these next 2 months! I hope that I get alot done but maybe even Mr.Honey, the 2 kids, and me can get away for a couple of days to unwind and have fun! Gotta run but "I'll be back!"

Ding Dong the Kids are Gone!

2008-05-24T20:15:00.002-04:00

I am sad believe it or not~I am going to miss this years students. I am glad that school is out~I am so ready to just be a Mama for a few months. I love teaching ~Hate the paper work! But I have had several kids this year that have touched me like I didn't expect. We have connected in a way and it was hard for me to hug them and watch them leave for the last time in Kindergarten. Now in a couple of weeks I will be receiving a new bunch of kids that will offer something to help myself grow even more. It is amazing what I have learned so much from a little 5 year old soul. I am blessed by the kids I teach. They always seem to teach me something every year! Well got to go for now~but I'll be back!

The End is Near!

2008-05-13T19:38:00.003-04:00

So Sorry I have been MIA! It is that time of year where the Kindergarteners are nuts and I am even more nuts. I am going through DT's I haven't checked any blogs or written any in way too many days. I would love to say that I am through but being anal retentive individual~It is not all completed the way I want it to be~but there is only 8 make that 7 days left of school for the kids and 10 school days for me. In the past 3 weeks I have tested more than 40 kids I don't know 20 kids that are in my class. I have filed, found, created, scored, located, graded, written, lost, and more papers than I care to count. But the end is near and I will miss this group of kids.
I am sorry that I didn't wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day! I was being spoiled by my family! They really made me feel beyond special~I am so lucky!
Hopefully, things will be back to "Normal" soon! Hope you all have a great week!

It all started with a test!

2008-04-30T21:07:00.002-04:00

Well for the past 3 days all the K teachers at my school(5) have been going to the local daycare to test the upcoming K for next year. We do this as a service to help us during registration to make things go smooth and quick. It has taken us to @ lunchtime before getting back to the school~yes it is nice being with adults and having a break from routine. BUT I like teaching because I like my kids. Well when I walked into the school I saw my kids for @8 minutes after their lunch and they loved and hugged on me as if we haven't seen each other in a month. It is nice to be loved! Well, I took them to their hour block~which is my planning time and they go to PE and another 30 min. activity. I have alot of testing I have to do to end our school year on the 19 students that are in my group(regular and inclusion students), plus report cards, plus teach/review, plus prevent injury and maintain order. I need to be an octopus and do alot of multi tasking to get everything done. OH!I forgot that we only have 16 school days to get this done. I forgot I have meetings I have to go to that we keep me out of my room for 4 1/2 days in those 16 days. Well during my planning I have started making a to do list that is now 2 legal pages long and this is only for school stuff! Oh~please don't feel sorry just start laughing it gets better. Well when my kids finally get back in the class from PE, we go to the potty and get water. We finally finished and I thought I would try to at least teach one Math lesson before the day was over. We get ready to start Math and the fire alarm goes off. Well I just laughed~I am tired so my laughter turned to tears. This whole time I get my class, grab the roll, and exit to the hall. A friend asked me did I want them to close my door. I looked and knew who the last child was and said yes because she was with me. I am still laughing while leaving the building because I didn't know if any kids were out and I was laughing because I was trying to teach. Anyway we get outside. I am checking the roll and the teacher that shut my door walked up to me. She has my cutie Josh. She said you left him in the bathroom I saw him coming out when I shut the door. OK ~18years of teaching I have never lost or left a child. I have had them run away from school but I was running behind them but I never left. Well I am at this point laughing and crying to the point my students can't figure out the deal. My Josh looks up at me and says with very wide eyes,"You left me on the pot!" I looked at him and said that he had asked to go 10 minutes ago I thought you came out. (The bathrooms are located in our room.) I am so .........stressed this time of year but this is not like me. I am a child counter at all times. But it happened ~It was a drill~and He knew to go outside and find me!
Well~If this had been the end of my stressful day I would have been happy! But then my hubby called and left me a voice mail to call him ASAP. I called thinking is was trivial and he said I had just been summoned to court duty~Monday! So for those of you who know me I am FINE!! Hope your day was less stressed than mine!! Hope you have a Smurfy Day!
S~

Poor Rick

2008-04-29T18:36:00.001-04:00

Rick was in trouble. He forgot Valentine's Day. His wife was really angry.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that
goes from 0 to 200 in less than 10 seconds, AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!"
The next morning Rick got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up
she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in
the middle of the driveway. Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out
to the driveway, and brought the box back in the house. She opened it and
found a brand new bathroom scale.

Rick has been missing since Friday. Please pray for him

All Good Things Must Come to an End!

2008-04-27T17:40:00.002-04:00

Well I hate to say it but this is my last day...of spring break. I have done nothing this whole week~I mean nothing! I have enjoyed it so......much. My family and I have just vegetated and enjoyed the fact there was not a schedule to keep and we did our own thing. It was kind of sad that Mr. Honey did not get the chance to be off while school was out~but that is a good thing because that means he is staying busy. Which in turn means we can pay bills. It is so depressing how tired my family and I have been. School has been long with a lot of changes for me. But ho hum~ I just don't want to go back to the rat race for 18 more days. I will survive but I hope that my family will get away this summer for some fun~who knows? Well we only have a few more school days to find out! Hope you have a great week!

Me

2008-04-25T17:50:00.003-04:00

Have you ever thought about how much you like yourself? I know there are probably 101 things I would love to change about myself~starting with my waistline. But who am I and what made me ~ me? I had a loving Mom and Dad that were married until my father passed away. My mom is a recovering alcoholic with alot of anal retentive tendencies. I am so.....anal retentive. I am the middle child who wants to fix the world, curses like a sailor~or worse, teaches an inclusion kindergarten class, mother of two, wife of another middle child....but do I like who I am? Well because you are reading this post ~you have no idea how long I have paused before answering that question. LOL! It is true.. I did have to ponder it but....I do like myself. Nope, I am not 110% satisfied there are so many things I would change about me. I would be skinny and in shape and the best Mom, and Wife, and daughter that I could possible be. Not in that order but I do see alot of things I would change~but I look at ho much I have transformed throughout these 40 years. I have to say I turned out ok. I have always been a fighter ~even when I was in the 7th grade when I got detention for beating up 3 boys. Not lady like but they pissed me off! I remember when Mr. Honey and I broke the news to my Mom and Dad that we were going to get married and my Dad went through the roof that in 3-4 years when he didn't want me any more ~ he couldn't bring me back with my 4-5 kids and expect my Daddy to help me. I think what my Dad meant was~he wasn't ready for his first daughter to get married! I laughed my tail off! He called me the next day and told me he was sorry not for what he said but for HOW he said it. I have been married for 13 years and despite wanting to return me because I am a stubborn, hard headed, anal retentive, always want to be right kind of a person~he has kept me. I have grown up more in the last 13 years than I did in the first 27 years of my life. My Dad died less than a month after we got married ~ don't get me wrong that was hard losing my Dad who was my dearest friend~but it was then that I realized how lucky I am for having the life that I have had because it has made me into the person I am. So I have some issues I would like to change but that's ok I think there will always be room for change. I am not perfect at anything~but I am me and that is the only person I can be. So for those folks that have a problem with me~tough that is who I am and who I will always be. Like Flo on the 80's sitcom use to say if you don't like it "will you can kiss my grits!" So if you are a person like I used to be and worry about what people think of you~stop worrying about it! Just be you and remember that God don't make no junk! If you are a person who reads children's books than I recommend a book that John Lithgow wrote called "Marsupial Sue". In the book Marsupial Sue wants to be anything but a kangaroo. But she learns a very important lesson.

"Marisupial Sue.
A lesson or two:
Be happy with who you are.
Don't ever stray too far from you.
Get rid of that frown,
So waltz up and down
Beneath a marsupial star.
If you're a kangaroo through and through.
So do what kangaroos do."

You can't please all of the people all of the time but you do have to be and love you! Well that is my therapy today! No I am not always so....sappy. It is just where I am today!
Have a Great Today!

Sassafras

2008-04-24T12:34:00.002-04:00

Last night after writing that long post, I was relieved that my youngest asked me to read her a bedtime story. She chose the story and it was Sassafras by Audrey Penn. It is a story of a skunk that doesn't want to play with anyone for fear he might make a little stink. Through the story he learns that we are who we're meant to be. The stink is apart of the skunk and the stinger is a part of the bee for a reason. Every creature is special as a way of protecting it. God doesn't make any of us in a haphazard way. There is a reason we are the way we are. The life lessons, trials and tribulations we go through in our life are the things that help us become who we are meant to be. Now we don't always learn the lessons in a timely manner, sometimes we need remediation, sometimes multiple opportunities are necessary to get the lesson learned, and most of the time a friend helps us through. Aren't we lucky that God is in control and understands that sometimes we are slow learners and need lots of patience. To borrow a quote from Sassafras "we are who we are. That's the way it should be. Even smelly-old, stinky-old, funky-old me!" Hope you have a great day just being you!

I am so FINE!

2008-04-23T16:53:00.002-04:00

Here I go again~I think a colon cleansing would be much easier and much more fun than a soul cleansing. Church is my subject today! I have so many fun memories growing up in the church. First, crush was with a boy named David at a church youth lockin at a church a town away. Then there was Charlie my much older crush~he was 4 years older and didn't know I even thought he was cute. But as a child we went every Sunday and I loved going. went to church camp, Epworth, and participated in many different areas. I grow up Methodist and I have a pin that was given for every year I had perfect attendance~I had 18 years of perfect attendace.
Then I went to college and I never found one that made me feel like I belonged. I tried Baptist, Methodist,etc. I didn't care which denomination. I wanted a church that felt like family. I graduated and moved to a town near my home town and didn't try to find a church. I still read my bible and prayed~in fact I prayed more than I had done earlier in my life. I just quit finding a place to belong. Well, I moved again a year later to another town close to my home town. I went and visited several churches but I didn't really try to belong~I guess I liked being an outsider looking in and saying this just isn't me.
d To skip ahead several years~I met Mr. Honey who had grown up baptist and didn't have a church he called home either we were a perfect match. Well this Methodist married that Baptist by a Presbaterian in a Methodist church. I have always said that God has a sense of humor~there is more to that story but I won't go into it today. My Hubby and I settled down in the Methodist Church and we now have 2 kids~several years have passed by now. I have seen several preachers come and go and one in particular that I hated to see leave. He was a minister that had gone through many ordeals that made him know what everyday ordinary people have experienced in life. He had even gone to jail when he was younger and dumber. But that is not my story to tell~I just hated to see him leave.
My grandmother has always tried to tell me that the preacher is not the church. But the preacher that is currently at our church thinks he is the church. When my Hubby was injured I called the church to cancel an appointment and explained to them what had happened. But the pastor nor associate pastor or anyone other than my 2 friends that also go to the same church even called to check on my husband. Our former ministered called but not my current. It was almost 3 weeks after my husband's injury right after we had talked with our former pastor that the new pastor called to tell us he didn't know how to get to our house but how was my husband. I know i should let this go but I am struggling with this. We live in a modern world~telephone, email, cell phones, I work at a school less than a mile from my church~He never tried to contact us. It took our former pastor to call him and tell him to make contact. Instead of him just saying I am sorry~he blamed the fact he had lived in this town for 3 months and didn't know his way around. Ok~Susan let this go! Well this same pastor has been here for 2 years and I have quit going to church because I have a problem with him. He has changed evertything about our church he has taken money from programs like the children's daycare,scouts, etc. and puts it into programs he and only he wants. I know this sounds stupid. Jay's mom almost died back in October and again we called the church. Again we called the church and the preacher was going to stay in touch. We never saw him up at the hospital when we were there~he was up there one morning early and went back to pray with her but he didn't check on Jay and talk with him about the fact his mother may or may not pull through. The associate pastor did follow through and talked with us and for that I am glad!
well that leads me to the fact that my family and I are not attending church. With the exception of my 2 close friends no one seems to notice we aren't there. The Sunday School classes that my kids are in haven't bothered to even send a note saying they have been missed. No calls from the preacher or anyone asking is everything ok? Are ya'll having a rough time? Nothing?! Why? If they need something they call me or my hubby~But they can't call me or check on me just because... Now who am I punishing for not going? Me but most of all my children. That makes me mad. I know get over it and get on with it. That is where I am today. I want to be important enough to be missed~I know my hang up with the preacher is all me and I am going to have to grow up and let it go. But is it wrong to want someone to say hey we missed you today. That is what a family is all about being concerned and caring about what is going on.
Sorry this is so long winded~Nadine when you read this and I know at some point you will~Thank you for caring and always noticing when I am absent. I know I got to let it go~it is what it is. I am trying to let it go now with this cleansing! We will see!

Back To the Basics

2008-04-22T16:37:00.002-04:00

Well for weeks I have put off typing about life~instead I have focused on funny tales. I guess when life hits me like a Mac Truck backs up and runs over me repeatedly I remove myself by pouring myself into funny tidbits. For a minute or two it gets my mind off of me. I have always done this~believe me you don't just turn 40 and pick up new habits. Otherwise~my hubby would be retrained. All my life when life got complicated I would focus on anything other than me. For the past two years my life has been tumbled around like and ADHD fart in a tornado. My hubby of 13 years was nailed by his boss~literally. It was a 8 penny nail to the eye. Thanks to God~He did not lose his sight or his eye. Mind you he has constant headaches and his vision is declining but....it could have been so much worse. His boss who promised that he would make this right and take care of all medical bills lied~told us one set of lies for the first year. Jay went out on his own and has learned a lot about his former boss that makes my stomach churn. In these two years we have grown closer~none of his bills have paid by his former boss~we have been battling this with lawyers~going out on his own has been wonderful but ~ stressful none the less. For the past few months we have been trying to get this issue behind us and it will in time. Just not in my time. I have so many things that I am grateful for~Jay taking a leap of faith in himself and taking a chance to go out on his own, the fact we have grown closer, I am grateful that we are doing alright financially through this endevor. Last year we took a financial planning class to try to get out of debit~get rid of credit cards and put back for emergencies.I had not reached that financial Peaceful place when we went out on this leap of faith. But God has not let us fall flat on our face~we hace a few bandaides and some scrapes. But we are doing alright! I guess the purpose of this post is that this is one of my recent frustrations. For the next few days it is my goal to post the things that have gotten me to always say "I am fine!" If you do not know what fine means in my dictionary~Fu@@ed Up, Insane, Nuerotic, and Emotional! For the past few weeks I have been very very FINE!! But I have been my own shrink for years and if I don't get this crap out it will drive me nuts and take away from my normal charming disposition! If you know me I know you are laughing your behind off! Ok~it will make me feel better!

I've Got to Go...

2008-04-20T10:51:00.002-04:00

A man traveling by plane was in urgent need of a restroom facility, but each time he tried, all restrooms were occupied. The flight attendant, aware of his predicament, suggested he use the attendants "ladies room" but cautioned him "DO NOT PRESS ANY OF THE BUTTONS!". There next to the paper roll were four buttons marked respectively:
WW
WA
PP
ATR
The man finished his business in the restroom facility but his curiosity got the best of him. He carefully pressed the WW button and immediately a gentle flush of Warm Water sprayed his bare bottom. We thought, "Wow, these gals really have it nice."
So, a little more boldly he presses the WA button. Body temperature Warm Air blew across his wet bottom and dried it comfortably.
"Aha," he thought,"No wonder these women take so long in the bathroom with these kind of services!"
So he pushed the next button, PP, with anticipation. A soft disposable Powder Puff swung below him and dusted his bottom lightly with talc. "Man, this is great,"he thought as he reached out for the ATR button.
When he awoke in the hospital, the morphine was just wearing off, so in confusion, he buzzed the nurse to find out where he was and what had happened. He explained that the last thing he remembered was intense pain in the ladies room on the plane.
The nurse explained,"Yes, you must have been having a great time until you pushed the Automatic Tampon Removal Button. By the way, your penis is in the trash can by the door."

The New Priest

2008-04-17T19:29:00.002-04:00

The new priest was so nervous at his first mass, he could hardly speak. Before his second appearance in the pulpit,he asked the Monsignor how he could relax. The Monsignor said, "Next Sunday it may help if you put some Vodka in the water pitcher. After a few sips, everything should go smoothly."
The next Sunday the new priest put the suggestion into practice and was able to talk up a storm. He felt great! However, upon his return to the rectory, he found a note from the Monsignor:
1. Next time, sip rather than gulp.
2. There are 10 commandments, not 12.
3. There are 12 disciples, not 10.
4. We do not refer to the cross as the "Big T!"
5. The recommended grace before meals is not "Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub. Yeah God!"
6. Do not refer to our Saviour Jesus Christ and his apostles as "JC and the Boys".
7. David slew Goliath, he did not kick the shit out of him.
8. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are never referred to as "Big Daddy, Jr., and the Spook!"
9. It's always Virgin Mary , never Mary with a cherry.
10. Last, but not least, next Wednesday there will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peter's, not a peter pulling contest at St. Taffy's.

Worm Song

2008-04-16T21:00:00.002-04:00

I was reading Suburbia's blog tonite about talking to a worm and I got tickled. It reminded me of a song we sang as kids. If you know it sing along!Nobody likes me, Everybody Hates meGuess I'll go eat wormsBig ones, Fat ones, Juicy ones and black ones,Guess I'll go eat worms,First ones greasy~went down easySecond one stuck in my throat.Third one rustedFourth one bustedFifth one tried to run~SQUISH!!!!Now the song is stuck in my head~I am beginning to think that teaching kindergarten in affecting my mental state! Have a Happy Day!

Inspiration from a Sparrow

2008-04-15T18:38:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time there was a little sparrow, who hated to fly south for the winter. He dreaded the thought of leaving, his home so much, that he decided he would delay the journey until the last possible minute. After bidding a fond farewell to all his sparrow friends, he went back to his nest and stayed for an additional four weeks. Finally the weather turned so bitterly cold, that he could delay no longer. As the little sparrow took off and started to fly south, it began to rain. In a short time, ice began to form on his little wings. Almost dead from the cold and exhaustion, he fell to the earth near a barnyard. As he was breathing what he thought was surely his final breath, a horse walked out of the barn and proceeded to cover the little bird with fertilizer. At first the sparrow could think of nothing except that this was a terrible way to die. But the fertilizer started to sink into his feathers, it warmed him and life began to return to his body. He also found that he had enough room to breathe. Suddenly the little sparrow was so happy he started to sing. At that moment a large cat came into the barnyard and hearing the chirping of the little bird began digging into the pile of fertilizer. The cat uncovered the bird and ate him! This story contains three morals:
1. Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
2. Not everyone who takes shit off of you is your friend.
3. When you are warm and comfortable, even if it is in a pile of shit, Keep your mouth shut!

Fathers Can Learn alot from their Kids

2008-04-13T16:12:00.002-04:00

The past few weeks I have been very extremely stressed! So to help me not eat the house down I have soul searched funny tidbits to make me laugh~This one is long but all mothers will appreciate the humor.
A San Diego father identifies 35 truths he learned from his children:
1. There is no such thing as childproofing your house.
2. If you spray hairspray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 4 year old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing pound puppy underwear and a superman cape.
5. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20 x 20 room.
6. Baseballs make marks on a ceiling.
7. When using the ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw a ball up several times before you get a hit.
8. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on.
9. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
10. The glass in a window (even double pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
11. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh-oh", it is already too late.
12. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke~lots of it.
13. A 6 year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 60 year old man says it can only be done in the movies.
14. A magnifying glass can start a fire even on an overcast day.
15. If you use a waterbed as a home plate while wearing baseball shoes, it does not leak. It explodes!
16. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2,000 square foot house almost 4 inches deep.
17. Legos will pass through the digestive tract of a 4 year old.
18. Duplos will not.
19. Play doh and microwave ovens should never be used in the same sentence.
20. Super Glue is forever.
21. MacGyver can teach us many things we don't want to know.
22. So can Tarzan.
23. No matter how much jello you put in the pool, you still can't walk on water.
24. Pool filters do not like jello.
25. VCRS do not eject PB&J sandwiches, even though TV commercials show they do.
26. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
27. Marbles in the gas tank make lots of noise when driving.
28. You probably don't want to know what that odor is.
29. Always look in the oven before you turn it on.
30. Plastic toys do not like ovens.
31. The fire department in San Diego has at least a 5 minute response.
32. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make an earthworm dizzy.
33. It will, however, make a cat dizzy.
34. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
35. A good sense of humor will get you through most problems in life(unfortunately, most in retrospect).

I have always thought that laughter is the best medicine! So laugh often even if you have to laugh at yourself! Hope you have a great week!

You May Have Been Teaching too Long If?

2008-04-10T18:54:00.002-04:00

Well it is the time of year that if you teach you grin and bear it! We only have 25 more school days left!!! Yeah! So I found an old funny that I thought I would share!
10 Ways to know if you have been teaching too long?
1. You think Caffeine should be available to staff in IV form.
2. You believe no one should be allowed to reproduce without having taught primary school for at least 5 years.
3. You encourage a parent to check into home schooling.
4. You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac.
5. When out in public you feel the urage to snap your fingers at a child.
6. You believethat "shallow gene pool" should have its own box on the report card.
7. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
8. You believe chocolate is a food group.
9. You believe the staff room should be equipped with a valium salt lick.
10. You can't have children because there isn't any name that won't elevate your blood pressure.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Serenity Prayer

2008-04-08T18:26:00.003-04:00

I love the Serenity Prayer for so many many reasons. It really is so simple to remember and easy to memorize. But the message it brings is so powerful. Well if you do not know it~here it is.

Lord Grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.
So many times in life the difference is in the knowing what you can and can not change. Well being a teacher at this time of year I have been given a serenity prayer with a twist. Please know this is written in fun and not to offend in any way.

A Prayer for the Stressed!
Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I can not change,
the courage to change the things I cannot accept,
and the wisdom to hide the dead bodies of those people I had to kill because they pissed me off today.
And also, help me to be careful of the toes I step on today
as they may be connected to the butt
that I may have to kiss tomorrow!!

I hope your day is not going quite that bad~but if you have had one of those days I hope this bought you a little smile. Have a great day! And remember if you aren't into exercise it takes more muscles to frown than to smile!!

Wishes

2008-04-07T16:40:00.002-04:00

I was looking for some words of encouragement for a coworker that has lost both her Mom ans Dad within the last 6 months. I came across this poem that spoke to me and I hope it will speak to you.

Wishes
I wish for you...
Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Gentle hugs when you doubt,
Faith so that you can believe,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
And love to complete your life.

I asked the Lord to bless you
As I prayed for you today!

To guide you and protest you
As you go along your way....
His love is always with you
His promises are true,
You know He will see us through.
So when the road you're traveling on
Seems difficult at best..
God will do the rest.

(borrowed Author unknown)

May today find you well and if you are not well may you turn it over to God and let Him guide you through it. Have a great today and a Fantabulous Tomorrow!

Enjoy the Ride

2008-04-02T19:30:00.003-04:00

Life is like a ride in the country with the windows rolled down. You don't know what you will see or what adventures you will embark upon ~you just enjoy the ride! NO everything that you meet in life is fun or enjoyable. But do you like all of the sights and smells along the country ride. I don't think so~Skunk smells and cow poop! I think those are the times in our life where we hit that bump in the road or that large hole in a bridge. We have to regroup and continue to trudge ahead! Just like the skunk smell that lingers for what seems like miles sometimes are rough patches seem to never end. It is hard to smile and pretend everything is wonderful or even just ok. That is why we have friends! They are the air freshener in the car. They are not always in the view but the scent of them is always around to lend a hand, shoulder, or ear. Now everything on your journey isn't a bump~so many times things are smooth sailing! You just have to hold on, know that God will always ensure that you have enough Gas to make it through the trip. Besides whether your journey is smooth or bumpy, God has something in the journey to help strengthen us and help us grow. There is nothing better than rolling the windows down, cranking the music up and traveling in the country with the wind blowing in your hair. It doesn't get any better than that! So when life throws a curve at you~just sit back, crank the music up, and enjoy the ride.

My Friend

2008-03-30T20:08:00.004-04:00

I am so lucky to have some really good friends but I want to share about my friend Nadine. She is a remarkable person, wife, mother,daughter, and friend. Today I went to a birthday party she was having for her 9 year old daughter. She was having a webkin party. If you do not know what a Webkin is then let me tell you. It is a stuffed animal that has a code on his/her tag. You use this code to get on the computer to play games and get points to earn things for your virtual pet. Well it was the hottest party in town. Today we pampered our pet. You brought a pet or Webkin and you got a bed and blanket. You made a crown, personalized collar, and a decorated foam visor. Then you went to see Dr. McQuack to have Pet physical(wish mine was that quick and easy) and then you went to wash at the Salon. It was the most fun a bunch of young kids could have in a 2 hour period. I keep telling Nadine she would make a killing be a party planner! She is amazing and anal retentive and that makes her even better! Well I know Nadine checks my blog occasionally so that is why I am posting this~she always blows off compliments and she is her toughest critic so I am sending her kudos through my blog! Nadine you are wonderful! And today was so much fun for all the kids and the adults, too!

TGI Weekend

2008-03-29T20:52:00.002-04:00

Why does it seem that the weekends fly by so fast! We have had a busy one just running errands going to birthday parties and getting ready for my son's 11 birthday! I hate to see how time speeds up the older I get. I would love to slow the weekends down because that is when my family is all together doing the things we enjoy! I want the times with my children to last becuse they are growing and changing daily! I want to always be able to hold my youngest and rock her to sleep~She is 6 and fast outgrowing my lap. I hope that we will build fun traditions and good memories that last them a lifetime. So they can pass them down to their children! Hope you have a good weekend! Enjoy your family!

There are 3 kinds of Eggs

2008-03-24T18:46:00.002-04:00

Someone wrote a book about All I needed to know in Life I learned in Kindergarten~ well they must have been a teacher. I learned about the 3 kind of eggs we have in the world from a 5 year old Hispanic child. We were talking about Easter and hunting eggs and my student "Dana"(name is changed)explained she had been hunting the not real eggs. I tried to clarify for the other students and said, "Oh you were finding the colored plastic eggs?" NO! Not those the not real kind! I was quickly told. Well in trying to understand what she was telling me I learned about the 3 kind of eggs. (1) Fake eggs also known as plastic (2) Chicken eggs (3) The not real ones that you have to "crap the shell". "What?" I said. "Don't you mean the ones you crack the shell because they are boiled?" "NO! I didn't say that you have to "crap the shell~you know they are white and green kinda!" OH now I think I get it. Dana you mean these are eggs that you get from a chicken or buy at the store and you boil them! Then you "CRACK" them. She quickly let me know that those eggs did not come from a chicken they are not real and yes~you crap them open! Well as there are 4 adults in my class rolling on the floor I tried to get her to say "crack"~she reminded me that is what she is saying and that no chicken to going to give me an egg like that! Well to say the least I think that she was talking about a boiled egg and it is white and the yolk if not broken does have a slight green look if boiled for awhile~however at my house we crack and not crap the shell on a boiled egg. I never did convince her that it was a chicken egg not I am going to show her how to take an egg show her it raw and then boil another and show her what will happen. But as for me I had a smile on me face all day! Dana is quite a funny child who is very expressive! I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Things you learn at school!

2008-03-20T20:02:00.003-04:00

This school year had been an adventure!Just when I think I have seen and witnessed it all~another student steps up to surprise me again! Yesterday a student that I have received less than 10 days ago reminded me how a 5 year old thinks. Tina* (I changed her name) has a difficult time staying in her chair, completing a task that take over 1 1/2 minutes,has no impulse control, and extremely challenged in maintaining an attention to any topic. Nope~I did not say she was ADHD~I am not a doctor and can not diagnosis this condition. But if I were pretending to be a Dr for the purpose of this blog~you bet your bottom dollar she is ADHD to the extreme. Tina came to me with a very long list of referrals to the office from her previous school(double digits). But I have grown to love Tina ~she has gotten under my skin. Her life has been rough with a lot of foster care and moving around. Who couldn't help love this child. She is not mean or hateful~she just can't stick to any one thing without an adult to guide or hold her hand through the task. Now let me tell you about our day. Tina was at center time with her partner so that she goes and does what she is suppose to do. However, my para was sick and she is the glue that makes this partnership work. I was trying to complete my last reading group of the day when I noticed Tina was at the writing center with glue. I don't keep glue a the writing center it was suppose to be on the shelf. I asked her to put it up and she did. I explained that the writing center was for writing. She put up the glue. Within minutes I looked up she has a different bottle of glue~I again told her to put it up and told her we didn't need glue today. Again she put it up. While trying to complete a running record of a child's reading from my group I again saw another bottle of glue~instead of saying anything. I got up took the glue and said to Tina to clean up and sit down. I reminded her that 3 times I had told her not to use the glue. She told me she found those glue bottles that she didn't get the glue out again! I asked her to clean up and si down because I was almost finished and it was time to get ready for lunch. I went back to finish with the student I had been working with when I heard a loud "oh, my Lord!" When I turned to see Tina again with a bottle of glue with the entire top off because the top wouldn't turn and a new bottle of glue 1/2 gone. It was on her paper, the table, her shirt, and the floor. Nothing that fussing wouldn't matter and killing her wasn't going to help the "sticky" situation. I stopped reading went to the table to clean. Oh she helped but kept telling me I needed to get better glue bottles~ I cleaned and the students got ready for lunch! Well at lunch Tina and I sat together to discuss the fact of the matter. She apologized and was sweet. I reminded her that I had told her three times that she was not suppose to have the glue. Her sweet brown eyes looked up at me while she hugged me with pizza covered hands and innocently said~"Well, I guess you should have told me four times." I smiled hugged her back and said"yep~I guess that might have worked!" You know she was probably right if I had told her 4 times instead of 3 I probably wouldn't have cleaned up glue! I hope you are smiling~because that means that Tina has touched your heart as much as she has touched mine! Have a great night!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T18:49:00.003-04:00

I have always enjoyed this fun day! But 14 years ago this day became even more special to me~I met my Hubby! I met him at a local Pub and had nothing to do with him for 2 months. But when I finally gave in to his quite charming ways~I was engaged within months and married him that December~Nope I don't recommend this type of courtship but......I am truly blessed because this Irishman was meant for me and I am so grateful! Wishing you and yours a truly blessed day!

Easter is coming!

2008-03-12T21:22:00.003-04:00

Well my family and I are getting ready for the new tradition we started last year! Glow in the dark Easter Egg Hunt! All you need is a flashlight, basket and a bunch of plastic eggs with a strip of reflectice tape. My children had so much fun that last year we hid eggs up into the summer! This year we have invited our extended family~two couples that are closer to us than our own family and their kids to join in the fun! We are excited that they will come and join us for supper and the HUNT afterward! The best part is the only kids that know about the fun is mine! I hope they keep their mouuth shut~but some how I doubt it! I know we will have so much fun! These two families have provided mounds of supports to Jay and I these past 2 years. Jay was hurt at work by his boss~to make a long story short~Jay's boss has lied to us and so many and has refused to pay any of his bills. Our friends have been their for both of us and listenedd when we were frustrated, tired, angry, etc. We can only hope that they know how blessed we feel having them on our side! I know that Jay and I hope we can always be there for them and their families! Enough of the sappy stuff! I will try to get pictures of Friday nite! If your get bored with the same old egg hunting You need to try this it provides fun for ALL ages!

It seems like Forever!

2008-03-09T11:17:00.002-04:00

I have been all out of sorts. I have had the flu and I have had a hard time getting back in the swing of things!I haven't visited anyones blogs nor have I written anything for weeks. We have had girl's weekend! The boys went over night for a campout at a state park and Sara Michael and I have had a little girl fun! We enjoy this time away from the boys~don't get me wrong we love them but we need down time. I have had such a week. I have had a student that was suspened for destroying my classrom and she returned on Friday. Friday went beautifully as I expected as this child just has these few times where she has major tantrums~but this isn't about her it is about me! I got to have her grandmother in my room all day too! I also got a visit from another set of parents on Friday to help me with their child. It made me feel like everyone was watching how I teach and I was under the microscope but the other parents came because we had talked the day before because of my concern that their child has extremem difficulty staying on task. I do not think that she can control her lack of attention but I did not know they were going to visit on Friday while this other lady was here! You would think that I would be happy that Friday was over but Monday I get to have this child that was on suspension Mother all day! She couldn't meet until Monday for us all to get together and establish a behavior plan. And while I am venting I had a new student enroll on Thursday that has many issues on her own. I do not listen to other teachers when they complain on student's behavior~but this young girl has been through so much from foster care and back with her parents, and she is immature and can't stay in one place for more than a minute. I have always ended up with lower students at my request because of my educational backgroud but this year not only do I have students with academic issues but behavior issues and I am the inclusion classroom for our mild and moderate intellectual kids. I have had a very tough year and I am ready for summer~I am not usually this way. Normally I love teaching and the challenges that I meet. I know I am blessed to have the students I have because I have something to gain from them and they have something to gain from me. This year I don't think I am providing them what I am suppose to~I feel like I am letting them down. Oh well enough of me focusing on me! Hope you sprung forward your clocks and have a wonderful day!

Back From the Land if the Ill

2008-03-02T11:15:00.002-05:00

Well~It happened! I go the flu. I tried to tell myself I had a viral infection but....I know that I just lied to myself.I now have all the love and compassion to all of those poor folks who have had the flu! i do hope that you are feeling better. It has taken 2 weeks but I am back among the living and will be back to my blog soon!
Stay Well and aaway from those nasty germs!
S~

Happy Birthday

2008-02-15T20:37:00.005-05:00

You know most of us love a good party. Each of us have our own reasons~birthdays, anniversary, retirement, etc. But my Mom has a birthday coming up that is more special than her actual birth or her belly button birthday. Tomorrow my Mom will celebrate 20 years of being Sober! If you would have asked me then would I think we would ever get this far~I would have laughed my head off! I thought that my mom finally went through the motions to get me and my family off her back. Little did I know what that very strong woman could do. I am not going to bash my childhood~like most folks I know it was as disfunctional as every other house in the neighborhood. We were lucky My siblings and I had both a mom and dad in the same house. But we did have a little secret~like many families do and it wasn't cousin Bob stepping out of the closet. There were sad times and a lot of funny times. It took me awhile to forgive but I have not only have gotten to know and love my Mama very much but we are friends. I would love to say that my siblings are supportive of her and AA but I can't worry about them~afterall it is not about them! All I can do is show my support and let her know that every year I grow more proud of her. She always says that she is one drink away of being a drunk again and that she could slip at any point. But I know that this is something she strives very hard to succeed and I am so excited for her. I am not sure but if I had to bet this birthday is probably a little bit more important than her belly button birthday! If she slipped up tomorrow would I hate her and this disease again! No ~ I would support her all over and help her reach this place all over again one day at a time! So Happy Birthday Mama!

A Day of Love

2008-02-14T20:53:00.002-05:00

This has been one wild ride! It started so early when my kids jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen table for us to share Valentine cards. You have to understand my children never get up first call~unless it is Christmas or April Fool's Day. I went to school where there were 400 kids hooked on ~~acid~~ excitement! Today was fun, loud and ... well fun! I love kids~not always my job but the kids are so worth it. Then tonight we did dinner and a movie at home! My family ordered pizza and watched "Snow Buddies". My daughter loved her valentine surprise. Now that they are in bed and it is for once quiet in my day....I reflect on how truly lucky I am. I have an awesome family and friends. I have supporters/friends/readers that visit my diary/blog and offer kind words and support to me. They don't even know me but they are out there with encouraging words. So I want to let you know how much I appreciate you! Thanks for caring, sharing, and reading! Hope you have a day filled with love and happiness!
Good night!

Day of Love

2008-02-13T21:43:00.003-05:00

What is love? It is picking up your underwear off the floor~putting up the dishes~an unexpected surprise~spending time with your family. But these are just a few things. I love Valentine's Day! I think that it is my favorite holiday~It is a day to show others how special they are to you! To me everyday could be Heart Day! I am so lucky to be married to my sweetheart! He trys so hard to make being a Mom easier~not everyday~but most days! He helps me cook, clean, wash clothes, and more. He knows that I have a stressful job and he tries to help me out! I am so lucky to have him! Perfect? No, but there is not a perfect person on this earth~ Perfect for me ? Yes! He compliments me! I am so lucky that our life encircled each other! We have our moments and sometimes even our days~but when the sun goes down he is by my side and always in my heart! I hope that your Valentine's Day is filled with love!

Friendship

2008-02-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, I thought that the more you had the better things were. You know that if given the choice 2 scoops of the worst tasting ice cream was always better then 1 scoop of the best ice cream. Because everyone knows that 2 is better than 1 or is it? It wasn't until I got older when I realized that quality is so much better that quantity. I have always been a person that seemsed to stay to themself and be on the outside looking inward. If you know me you laugh because you see the loud outspoken person but that is because I don't mind stepping out of my comfort zone around you. I have never allowed too many people get close to me~many reasons but if asked how many friends I have~I can count on one hand annd maybe use another finger or two. Now~please understand this is not a complaint. Instead I think of how blessed I am to know that I am lucky to have people I can count on and complain to. Last night my 2 dearest friends and I went out and saw a movie and had dinner. We were celebrating one's birthday and enjoying each others company. It was so much fun! Several times my mind wandered off to the fact that I have been very blessed to have such good friends and I know that one day there is a very good chance that one or both could move away due to their spouses job. Now I could sit and complain how unfair it is that God would place 2 very special people in my life just to snatch them away when I finally have let them into see the real me. But... I instead know that with everything that life has to offer I have to thank God to have let me be at the right place at the right time to have met both of these people. I also know that no matter where this world leads or takes us these 2 people will always be a part of my life. I know that I am truly blessed because it doesn't matter whether I want to vent or need a hug I can always count on the support of these 2 friends. I am so lucky to have friends that accept me for who I am and love me anyway! I hope that you are as lucky as I am to be blessed with friends that will be there for you. I have said on occassions that a friend is one who you call to bail you out of jail but a Real Friend will be sitting in the jail cell with you. Not that my friends and I do things that would get us arrested~but I know that no matter what I can get in to my friends will be right there with me! See how lucky I am!

Politics

2008-02-05T19:49:00.000-05:00

I am not a big political voice~but I learned from my Dad a simple rule about voting! My Dad and I use to stay up late and talk about everything! I would have said that he was my best friend and when I lost him I feel like I lost a lot! But for those that didn't know him they missed out on a large funny man that could teach you something without realizing he did it and you not realizing you learned until later on down the line in time. I always get on a soapbox but not usually about voting. My story is quick but I hope it makes you think down the line. One night we were discussing someone that was in the government. As I vented to why I liked/didn't like this person my Dad listened. After my ramblings ~ my dad asked me did I vote for him. I said I didn't vote in that election because i knew that my vote wouldn't matter. My Dad stopped me right there and said to me~"Well Since you didn't vote~your opinion doesn't count!" When asked what he meant, he explained he didn't care if my voted counted against his person or was for his person. What mattered is that I voted and put forth my effort to help make a decision. If I wanted to fuss about the government than it was my job to educate myself as best I could to learn who might or might not do a good job and sometimes you vote for the lesser of two evils~just as long as I voted for someone. He didn't care if my vote counted against his vote just as long as I voted! He said if I was going to take the time to complain than at least if I voted my complaint was acceptable~he might not agree with it~but at lest I took the effort to take part! Well it is Super Tuesday and I made sure my family had voted. We voted early last Friday! So I do not care who you voted for and if your vote counts against me just do what you need to do! So I hope you voted! Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Stamping Projects

2008-02-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

I promised to post my pictures from stamping~ So I hope you enjoyed. The birthday calendar is cool~Use a business card holder, roll white cardstock and cut. Use labels to put names and birthdays~put labels on the card. My friends suggested using labels to put their address on the back so that it is handy when you get ready to send a card!The bugs and kisses was an idea we found off of splitcoast stampers. I got with my friend Nadine and we made these for our classes and children's friends. We made 75 of these cute things in a couple of hours on Sat. afternoon. Hope you like them! Have a great beginning to a very Smurfy Week!!

Therapy

2008-02-02T12:24:00.000-05:00

Well I got a wonderful large dose of therapy last night! Thanks to all of my stamping buddies! It is nice to laugh, laugh some more, almost wet your pants and cry with a group that gets together about once a month. WE gather in the name of stamping~we really do stamp and create things but...we also discuss topics that can make your nose hairs curl! I love it~you can be yourself and those around you accept you for who you are and love you despite it! We made a PMS Survival kit, a cute card and a small business card sized birthday calendar. But the best part is being with friends and enjoying each others getting the chance to socialize not worry about your kids and have fun! These women are quite amazing~we come from many areas and walks of life. We discuss many issues from education to waxing things that I never would have dreamed of waxing! But it provides each of us a chance to let our hair down, vent, laugh, and even cry if we need to cry. I haven't taken pictures~but I promise I will. I just got home from stamping Valentine surprises for my class and Sara Michael's class. I will take a picture of it all and post them tomorrow! Have a great evening!

TGIF

2008-02-01T16:42:00.000-05:00

I am in a funk and no matter how hard I try I can not escape so.....sorry for you I am hoping if I spit it out on this page maybe it will help my feelings and release me from their bindings. I am in a frustrating job~I am not going to rehash why~if you teach have taught you know. But I have been trying to talk to my husband to explain the frustration and to let him know that I am not happy at the moment with the positon that not only pays my salary but that allows us as a family to have insurance. He being male~hears I had a crappy day! Even though I am trying to say I need a change in my life. He hears sometimes when I talk but he is not listening ~I know that not all men really listen and to give him the benefit of the doubt he has had a lot going on in his world for 1 1/2 years. In under a 2 day cliff note version~My husband was litte4rally nailed in his eye by his former boss and for two years we have been fighting to get this man to pay for his eye surgery, loss of wages for being out of work and for future medical bills which will hopefully but probably come because of the severity of the eye injury. I have supported him going out on his own and through all the legal mumbo jumbo that goes along with this very involved issue. All I want is for him to listen to me be frustrated and be a sounding board. Not to toot my own horn but with the exception of a couple of times I have kept myself strong sometimes too strong through this fight for justice~but right now I don't want to be the strong, positive, and everything is going to be happily everafter person. I want to be the ofther person that I am usually not. I know this too shall pass and my disposition will adjust for the good. But every now and again I don't want to be the grown up~I just want to be a 5 year old who is mad because somone took their sticker. Oh well~ sorry for the hum drum post~I am going for my saw dust therapy tonight~I have a stamping night!!! So I will post my ~~therapy~~ crafts later! I hope that you have had a magical week but even more I hope that you have a funfilled weekend!

I am in a Funk!

2008-01-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

Will I am in a funk~I am frustrated as a teacher! I teach for many reasons. I love children, I love that smile and sparkle they get when they understand something for the very first time, and I love to teach! BUT......I am so ~~frustrated~~ angry with all the new paper work my state/system is adding and I am being taken away from the teaching part of my job. I loved teaching Special education~challenging but Oh so worth it. I left Sp.Ed. because the paper work began to become the larger portion of the job and teaching was not as important to the powers that be. Please don't get me wrong I know for purposes of CYA~covering your assets, paperwork is necessary. But with new standards and requirements our regular ed classrooms have individual education expectations for each of the 19 children in all subjects that I have on roll. Now I have written IEP's (Individual Education Plans) for my SpEd students and the difference between the two~In SpEd my numbers were much lower. I believe in making teachers accountable and make them take classes to keep them up to date in new things that are effective~but just because there are some poor teachers out there~don't punish us all! I believe in documentation and accountability and being able to show evidence of a student's level of abiity. But I also believe parents need to be accountable for showing that their child is important by taking an ACTIVE role in their school work. I believe in assessment~not so much for grading but to see what a child can and cannot do~but it should be there to help in my planning on the next move. No two children learn the same, start at the same starting point or progress at the same rate. Good teachers are always monitoring to see where children are and if there is progress or problems. As a teacher I want to go in my room and teach, explore, inspire, excite, intrique and encourage but I don't think that those things are as easy to do as they once were~I miss those days! I don't like to sit down and write plan after plan after plan of things that might help this child or could work with that child. I want to go into my room and reach each child where they are right this moment and take them as far as we can possibly go. Instead of making things look good on paper I want to work the magic. I know I have prbably contradicted myself in this entry~I am frustrated so forgive! Bottom Line instead of talking a good talk I like to walk the walk~the walk is where you are getting the job done instead of just making it sound good! Oh well~thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I hope that everyone has had a Great Wednesday and an even better Thursday!!

What else can happen Wow what a day!

2008-01-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well I stayed home today! My sweet daughter was running fever agin. ~~Not to complain~~ I am frustrated since this is the 5th time since September that she has been on medicine. We have had allergies, ears, throat, upper respirtory~over and over and over. I hate it for her because I am out of magic tricks and answers as to why she is still not well! Anyway~I just needed to vent~We will be home again tomorrow~as she was running fever again tonight! So if you don't mind~please send some prayers for her healing. Thanks because I know tomorrow is going to be a much better day!

Cards

2008-01-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

Dot asked me if I had any of the cards I have made and she made me so excited! My dearest friend Nadine is a Stampin Up Demonstrator and we have classes once a month to make cards/projects. Whatever we create I try to always keep~so that I can have something to look at when I try to make cards when I am home alone! So all of the pictures that you see today are cards I made while at a Stampers 10 meeting. Or I made them after I went for a day of stamping at her house~Talk about therapy! It gets no better than 2-3 friends getting together to create projects for the Holidays or just make cards to have on hand. I always say a day filled with stamping is a very good day. I can not take credit for any of the ideas~they belong to many other people. Hope you like!

Project complete

2008-01-26T20:15:00.000-05:00

This was not my best work but I wanted to complete one so that I can have a guide to go by and work out all the kinks. Here's the rough first cut ~ I will be making a couple of changes and will try to take a better picture of the final one before I give them away on Valentine's Day! Sorry the pictures aren't better! Have a good night!

Time for some Stampin'

2008-01-26T18:08:00.000-05:00

Well~I haven't stamped anything in weeks!!!! AWwwwwww...I need some saw dust therapy. I so love to stamp! It is through rubber stamping that I met my dearest friend~for which I am sooooo Thankful! I have not stamped anything since I made my husbands business christmas cards and the family christmas cards. So tonight I found a project I am going to try for Valentine's Day! I will post a picture as soon as I finish. Hopefully~it will turn out as cute as the picture! Hope it is not too cold where you are and if it is....I hope your fire is as warm and toasty as mine!

My Daughter

2008-01-24T21:14:00.000-05:00

I have a beautiful 6 year old daughter. I am a very proud mom of two children and I am proud of both but my daughter....She is a go getter! She loves her dad and will go and do anything he wants to do. In fact, he hung the moon..up until recently. She is becoming quite girlie in her ways. I blame my dearest friend's daughter~Bailey. Since she has come into my Sara's life she has taught her to care about what she wears, how she looks, not to leave without lip gloss, etc. It really tickles me. When I was her age I was very foofoo frillie but as I aged like when I turned 22~ I became me~no frills just me. When I put my make up on in the am~I don't check it until the next morning when I put it on again! I am hair challenged~thankfully my hair curls but now Sara cares and I am not much help. Well whoever said you can't teach an old dog new tricks~I am now learning! Now when the boys go off camping for Scouts we have girl weekends and we do nails and hair. I love it! No, not the foo foo stuff Just spending fun time with my child and making good and happy memories~or at least I hope. I know being a parent fails to come with an instruction guide and I know I will fail both of my children many times over in their life. But,I know there are some things that I do that are right and I have to say thanks to the people that taught me~my parents! Challenge for today or tomorrow: Do something special with your kids or grand kids~Go make memories and have fun!

Looks Like We Made It...

2008-01-23T19:48:00.000-05:00

Wow! We made it to the 100th day of Kindergarten!! I really had a great time to day! We counted fingers by 5's to 100, jumped 100 times, drew pictures of 100 things we could eat, made a special snack with 100 items, and shared our 100 collections we brought from home. My favorite part~when the one child who truly gets on my nerves asked me this innocent question, "So today is the last day?" I am sorry but I so wanted to say~Yes! I have always said that God gives me the students that I am suppose to have~but as I have come to know these are the kids that have something to teach me! I truly have learned a lot this year from my kindergarteners! For instance when your noise sounds funny~you should go home because you are sick. If a child asks you whether you and your husband hibernate~before answering ask him what exactly do you mean. When a child asks you can you have your baby at school so they can watch~the answer is always no! If a child asks you to rub cream under his poopec (sp?) The answer is still ~no! I hope I can always find humor in my classroom because when the humor is gone~~~it just want be a fun place to teach or learn and I will have to pack up my toys and retire! I hope you have a Smurfy Night!

A Sad Note

2008-01-22T20:23:00.000-05:00

If asked~I would call myself a optimistic individual! But...I would also say that I see myself as a realistic person,too. I got a call tonight about a teacher that I worked with 5-6 years ago had passed away. I taught with her for only a few years before she moved away but her death caught me off guard. I am not saying that we were the closest of friends and were in the same circles. What I am saying is this mother of 2 under 45 years old died. I am not going to get into the whats or whys or hows. What this entry is about is making the most of today. We have to always live for today and make the most of every minute of this day. Who is going to care when I am dead and gone if my house needed to be dusted(Which it does~and at this moment I don't care). What does matter? My husband and my children, who do not come first often enough. My house, yard, clothes, car are not things that are going to matter. I want to take the here and now and build traditions, values, and most of all memories to pass on to my love ones. I know that when it is my time to go I want to be ready and I don't want people to sit around and cry. I want people to sit back, laugh telling stories of stupid /crazy things I have done or said, and know that I have enjoyed living my life! I hope that I don't waste a minute of today worrying about what color my new lipstick needs to be. I do want to lose some weight and become healthier but it is not so that string thong bikini will look good this summer. For those of you who know me and know that I am no where near a size 12 much less a size 2~I am sure that visual image has made you laugh! So for my thought for today~who cares if your bra and underwear match or if your house is cleaned~think about what you want your family and friends to remember or think about when they think about you after you have moved on from this world! No one knows how much time we have~so live in the now and live for yourself today! Make today all you can be!

Vacation?

2008-01-21T16:20:00.000-05:00

I wouldn't call it a vacation at all. I would call it just having a nasty cold! Today is the first day I have been up in 3 days! I don't recommend it to any one wanting to take a few days off. I did visit a few sites and saw some beautiful snow pictures! We didn't have any snow but it has been cold for the past few days! I still will say that this cold weather is my favorite time of year! Afterall, cold weather doesn't make you sick~Germs do!! Have a great start to a wonderful week!

Thanks Sharon!

2008-01-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

I want to say a Great Big Thank you to Sharon! She tagged me with my first award for making her day! I have tried to figure our how to attach people's site to their name and I need the bloggers for dummies! I can't figure it out but I do want Sharon to know how much I enjoy her site! Her award made my day! I also want to say thanks to Dot and Paulie who have also made my day! You ladies have visited my site and I appreciate it! Thanks~I have started this to give me an outlet and some sawdust therapy as my hubby calls it. I have enjoyed it and you guys have helped! Thanks Sharon!! You have really made my day!

Students from the past

2008-01-15T20:16:00.001-05:00

I am so excited! I just watched a news piece about the special needs class at the High School. this particular class ran a coffee shop and sold to the students and teachers. It was teaching life skills and money management. Plus so much more!! The reason it excited me is because at least 5 or 6 of those kids had been in my preschool sp. ed. class and that is so much what I stressed to those parents. Let them be as independent as possible don't do for them what they can do for themselves. To me that is one of the most important thing for them to learn. Don't set limits and have high expectations. I loved watching those kids do things they could and interact with others and how others accepted them for who they are and not look at them as if they are limited. I am not trying to say that it is me that put them where they are~I was just a small input many years ago(13 years or more). What I am excited about is the fact I was right in what I was trying to teach the parents and the students. Just because there is a label doesn't mean you have to be limited. A label is a word. These children that have been touched in a very unique way by God have hidden gifts and talents that we (the normal people) won't always fully understand. We just have to accept them for where they are and take them as far as they can go!
For those of you that have set the goal to try to lose weight and get healthy!!! I just want to toot my own horn~ Since January 1st I have walked 3 miles everyday but 2 days!! I don't think that I have lost more than 2-3 pounds but I am sticking with it!! I am trying to stay positive!! Have a Great Week!!!

Winter

2008-01-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

In this part of South Ga we experience warm winter weather and chilly winter weather. I LOVE cold weather! I would love to live in an area where it stayed cold for 3/4 of the year. If my husband and family would move further North~I would love it! But since we are located in a region that doesn't see snow and rarely experiences extreme cold weather we have to learn to enjoy what we get. On January 4th the temp dropped into the 20s and gave Jay and I the excellent chance to freeze the tree. Most folks have no idea what I mean by that~but once you see it the idea makes a grown child smile! We take a sprinkler and we place it on a tall ladder and let it spray the tree during thr freezing hours of the night! In the mornign when you wake up you have a beautifully iced tree! The kids love it! Well my hubby was concerned about wasting all of the water since we are in a drought~so we only left the water on for a couple of hours. I hope you like the pictures of my kids enjoying it as it melted! I hope eveyone has had a fun and restful weekend and a wonderul adventurous week!

Christmas is Finally Here!

2008-01-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

Well~Christmas is finally here! My Husband wanted a canoe for Christmas. He doesn't ever have any suggestions when it comes down to Christmas or Birthday. this year hands down this is what he wanted~well I thought it was a good idea and something that I could do. BUT... it was not going to be here by Christmas! He is a big boy and was ok with that. Well it arrived and today he and the kids put it in water to try it out!! They did have a great time it was worth it just to see their smiles! Hope you have a Great Day!

Kids!

2008-01-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

I love kids! It is amazing that after 18 years of teaching just when you think you have seen or heard it all a new child enters your life! I was eager to come back after the holidays! But all of my kids were excited about being in school and excited about seeing me and their friends. OK ! So they were probably more excited about seeing their friends than me! Since not all families are created equal~I do not come back from the holidays asking for what that were given for Christmas. Instead I ask each Kindergartener to name one thing they did or someone they saw or something special that happened. I love 5 year olds! Unlike a lot of adults that I know and work with, these students value time with family and friends more than stuff! Most of my children shared about someone they played with or something they did or how much they missed their friends. I wish that all of us could learn something from these thoughts. We get so caught up in stuff and things and we forget the value of time and friends. I know that at the beginning of each year that God puts the children in my class that I am suppose to teach. But in reality it is me that needs those kids. Every year I learn new things about myself an about life! So I guess this is true~Everything I needed to know about life I learned from a Kindergartener!

Losing Weight

2008-01-08T19:48:00.000-05:00

What is it about January that we all decide that now is the time to be healthy? I am trying AGAIN to get on the healthy bandwagon. I get soooooo frustrated with that whole thing. I think it is because I give up too quickly and get tired of looking of those size 3 barbies I teach with talk about their size 3 jeans are snug. Since I teach during the day it isn't an issue but at night with 2 kids, 3 cats, fish, 1 husband, and 1 hermit crab (that is still living~I think) it isn't as easy. My husband(whom I really with our my heart love) kills my diet with eating those wrong things and wanting junk food in the late evening! So this time I decided that WE are ALL going to work on this problem. Jay and I both weigh more now than ever(Even when I was 9 months pregnant) and my kids eat more than they exercise and it will catch up~sooner or later. I have learned that I can not do this alone~friends help! My friends are support to me and I have them to push me on when I can't do it. By myself it would be easy to splurge and quit walking. My goal is to walk 4-5 days a week and watch what and how we eat. I am pushing the water and I am going to start writing down all that I eat throughout the day so that I will count everything! I am going to lean on my family and friends when I get frustrated and hope that this time I will be successful and so will my family. If you are reading this and you are trying to lose weight or get healthy~my prayers and good wishes go to you! Be strong in your fight but most of all keep a sense of humor! have a great night!

Friends

2008-01-07T17:18:00.002-05:00

What makes a friend a friend? What determines a friend over an acquaintance over just someone you know. If I were to count the number of friends that I have it would take one hand and a couple of fingers. I know many people and I have a lot of acquaintances, but my friends are rare, few, and very special. I got the joy of sitting in a long workshop today filled with everyone in my school system. I have taught for 18 years in both regular and special education so I knew many people that attended this meeting. But when it came to wanting to visit and enjoy the company of those around me~there was only 1 that I considered a friend. It is amazing how superficial people are and where there priorities are in life. Maybe it is because I turned 40 this year or the fact that friendship is more than superficial show and tell. I love to people watch and I love to sit in a crowded area and look and listen to those around me. It is amazing to the things you hear and see. You realize it is not the number of friends you have ~ It is the value of the friends you have. I know that at any moment at anytime of day or night that I can call those 6-7 friends and they would not hesitate to do anything for me or my family. I am so wealthy and it is not with money it is with the friends that I am so fortunate to have. They are there when I call and listen when I talk. They do not pretend to be my friend for the moment or while certain people are around. They are truly friends. Don't get me wrong it is nice to know a bunch of people from church, school, work, etc. but always know who are the ones that are genuine and be grateful for them. I am lucky and blessed! One true friend is more valuable the a vault full of money. Always remember to let your friends know that you appreciate them and that you, too will be there for them. Challenge to whoever is out there reading~Do something special for your friend just to let them know you love them and are grateful for them. Have a great day! And if you want to have some fun~people watch!

Electricity

2008-01-06T18:27:00.000-05:00

Where would we be without electricity? Cold, dark, hungry are things that come to my mind! Well today our power went off~yep~I should have gone to Church as it happened around 12:15pm. You would think since it wasn't freezing and the weather wasn't bad that the power would be on in an hour or two~ya think? No! We just got it back on about 22 minutes ago. Now the big question how many people does it take to get the electricity back on.......drum roll please..... It takes 4 Huge truck, 3 regular trucks, a piece of equipment and 8 or more working people not to mention after several hours without power at least 15 neighbors to supervise their work. And if not to make the matters worse do you really want to know why the power went off~ANTS! No not the woman that is your mother's sister the small red kind that make large hills. Well since this was my last day before going back to work~I sure had a great afternoon! I did go walking 3 miles again today so at least I am trying to stay on track! But.....if it weren't for my dearest friend I probably wouldn't have gone today! So I am lucky to have a wonderful and caring friend like Nadine who knows just how to encourage without making you want to hurt her! Have a smurfy day!

New Beginnings

2008-01-05T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well call me a follower or just jealous! Several folks I know have Blogs and seem to enjoy having an outlet so...... I decided to give it a shot! We will see how it goes. This is a new year and full of new beginnings and fresh starts. I am married and have two wonderful kids. We have decided as a family to start becoming healthy this year. This will be a challenge and I am going to need this space to provide me an outlet for the good~the bad~ and the ugly! We have walked 3 times this week and I hope that we will continue. But this is the first week so we will see how the year goes! I am a teacher and school starts back soon. Believe it or not but this will be a good thing because I think we will do better when we go back to a routine! This year will be a year of new beginnings for me. I do not really make resolutions but I do have a few wishes~positive attitude toward my job, patience with my family and a promise to try to become healthier for myself and my family! If you know me I love the expression~Enjoy the ride! That is what like is a ride and along the way there are dips, curves, holes and crashes! so we have to sit back and enjoy the ride and learn from those things and people that we meet along the way! Have a Great Day! Hope you come back as this is still under construction!