Well, not his semi but he can drive his car short distances, he's got the doc's ok to do it. I'm amazed - God is working miracles right in front of me. How cool is that?
Just a side note - sorry I've been so long winded the past couple of posts, seems to just come spewing out sometimes. I'll try to keep it shorter from now on. No one prob reads the long posts anyway. hehehe
Happy Memorial Day Everyone!!!!
This post has nothing at all to do with Memorial Day.
Ladies, you will more than likely identify with this one because at one time or another, most of us have screwed up our hair with dye.
Ok, here's the deal.... I have medium blonde hair. In the summer, if I'm outside a lot, it lightens up to almost a blonde-white. Fine, no problem. Except when winter rolls around & my hair starts to grow out and then I have dark roots and everyone then thinks I bleach my hair. So, I thought this time I'd darken the ends of my hair (it's long) so when I put it up I didn't have really light hair on one end and darker hair on the other. Before I'd always dye the roots to match the ends, this time I thought I'd color it my natural color (darken the ends to match the roots).
What a mess!!! I got the medium blonde hair dye and went to work. When I got out & dried my hair, I almost died!!! MY HAIR WAS BLACK. I cried, I yelled, , I cried some more & then went to church that evening with my new "Goth" look. I could've died.
Today rolls around and I can't stand it anymore so I go back to the store, get a lightener to get the black out of my hair. I left it on an extra 10 minutes and what do I get? Dark reddish brown hair. I still look creepy but at least it's a color that goes with my skin tone and I don't have that "Goth" thing going on anymore.
Of course it is, it is constantly changing, we're always moving toward a goal (hopefully). Last Thursday's conversation with our new director really floored me. For those that didn't read that post, I was informed that we (my co-teacher & I) don't really teach anything to our class of preschoolers.
I have been praying for several months for God to show me what direction he wants me to take as I feel I am at a crossroads (again). I have prayed for a sign. I think the directors' comment was the sign I've been waiting for.
If I can get it all in place, I will be heading back to college this Fall. I had the qualifications and the education to teach preschool & didn't need the BA. So, I didn't bother. It's now time to do it.
I know our new directors comment is false, I do teach, I do make a difference however, I won't be doing it for her anymore.
I walked into work last Thursday and it was quiet.... how nice you say. However there is one problem, silence is something you NEVER hear at a day care, even at nap time.
We had a power surge the night before & the day care was closed for the day. We had electricians checking everything, the fire marshall was there, we had to have all the duct work cleaned out because of the smoky smell that permeated the building and of course our licensing agency, Dept. of Children & Family services (DCFS) was there to oversee it all. What a zoo.
The cords on the surge protectors that plugged into the walls were melted to the electrical outlet covers. So, the staff spent the day cleaning up, scrubbing walls where there was smoke damage, and general cleaning.
It was during this cleaning spree that the new director stopped in to talk with my co-teacher and I. After 30 minutes of discussing the new curriculum that my co-teacher & I were working on for next school year, I was shocked to learn from woman with NO background in education, that we didn't really teach anything in our classroom. I said nothing. I was too angry. As the old saying goes, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
I am seriously reconsidering my future at this preschool.
Somehow, the demon (AKA "Sparky the Hamster") has figured out how to get this latch between the cage and the wheel completely OFF the cage. She grabs the lip of it with her teeth and forces it up until it pops out of place and lands about 4 inches away on the table. Now she's working on pushing the wheel (attached in the same mannor as the cover) out of place which will give her a nice clean get-away.
This is the brand new, over-priced, escape-proof (HA!) cage I purchased exactly one month ago. I am soooooooo ticked-off.
Satan's domain - looks like a hamster cage doesn't it? Well friends, I'm here to tell you that what appears to be a cute little red hamster is really Satan himself. If it's not the devil in disguise, it must be one of his minions.
I have highlighted in red, the area that Satan uses as his escape route.
Mom, at Dad's urging, left on a medical missions trip with a group from our church May 14th. Mom is a registered nurse. Our church took a group of 30 people (mostly doctors, nurses, dentists & optometrists) to Honduras. Mom's return date was May 21st. Dad wasn't supposed to be released from the physical rehab unit until May 25th at the earliest. Mom figured she'd go since Dad was really pushing for it and he was clearly out of the woods health-wise. She'd be home before he was released.
My sister came up from St. Louis to help me with running up to help care for Dad the week Mom was gone. The doctors sent Dad home last Thursday! Mom called from Honduras to let my sister & I know that hurricane Adrian had missed them (thankfully) only to have Dad answer the phone! They both got a big surprise.
So, Mom's mission trip was a great success, Dad is home and my little sister is back in St. Louis. However, by the time anyone reads this, baby sis will be on her way to see her hubby in Costa Rica. Hopefully by the end of July all the immigration papers will be cleared and he'll be able to come back to the States with her. That's been over a year process in itself & that whole mess could be enough to fill up 5 blogs for a year!
Work really stunk today but with everything else going so right, it's really easy to just blow it off and not care. The rest of the week at work isn't looking much better but, again, I couldn't really care less. I'm so excited that God has worked a miracle by healing Dad so quickly (even though he's still got a long road ahead of him) that the little stuff at work that usually makes me so nuts because it is sooooooooo infantile - it's just not getting to me today. Let's hope that lasts.
Anyway, happy Monday everyone.
Well, with Dad on the mend, I decided it's time to post something else for a change. This however, happened the in the wee hours of the morning the day after Dad's accident.
Sparky (the aliens' hamster) is an escape artist. I've suspected for some time that Holly (the cat) has been helping Sparky out, but I have yet to catch them "in the act". Sparky tries from sundown to sunrise to chew through the metal bars of her cage. It's one of those cute "Critter Trial" over-priced cages with all the brightly colored plastic tubes and stuff you can attach to it.
Well, dear Sparky has figured out that if she chews on the little latch-type cage door hard enough and long enough, it will vibrate the door open & she's free. I was just lucky enough to be walking past the cage & saw the little beast in action so I popped her back in her cage. Then I took a twisty tie from the bread and twisty-tied the hairy little monster's door shut. HA! Now try to escape. I went to bed feeling VERY superior.
3:30 am rolls around & I can't sleep worrying about Dad. I got up, played a bit on my computer and as I was getting toward the end of the game I was playing, I saw something out of the corner of my eye & it wasn't the cat. Holly was sleeping on the back of the chair using my head for a pillow.
I get up to investigate thinking that we had mice again. What do I see? Sparky sitting in the middle of the living room floor looking at me!!! I scooped her up in the only thing that had a lid - a water bottle that clips on the kids bike frame - screw on the lid & put it on top of the stove.
As the water bottle is jumping around on the stove, I check out the cage. The only possible way she could've gotten out is to squeeze that fat, sausage body of hers INBETWEEN the bars of the cage. This is NOT a small hamster. The next day I go to the pet store and found a hamster cage that uses all the plastic tubes & stuff that we have but the main base of the cage is solid plastic with little air holes in it. Escape proof.
So now I have a $6.95 hamster that eats $8.00 worth of food each year trying to chew her way out of $60 worth of plastic. Something here just doesn't add up..........
It's been a few days since I've posted anything on Dad. Saturday he was moved out of ICU and today (Tuesday) he was discharged to a rehab unit at the nursing home where Mom works. He'll be in there with physical rehabilitation for a couple of weeks but he's doing great. To put this in a little better perspective, Dad wasn't supposed to be moved out of ICU until yesterday - and he's now in rehab working his way toward getting home again.
I said it before & I'll say it again - it's the power of prayer!
Thanks to all those out there in blogger-land that have been praying for us.
AAhhh................. God is good.
It looks like Dad will be out of ICU and into a regular room by Monday. Again, prayers answered! He will be in the hospital for about another week total & then should be able to come home. We are soooooo excited!
Thank you all again for all your prayers and support. Dad has a lot of rehab to go through to get back to his old self but he's pulled through the hardest part & is on the road to recovery.
Between running to the hospital and having computer problems, it's been a few days since I've posted an update on Dad, however, I have good news to report.
Yesterday, Monday, they extibated (spelling??) him and removed the feeding tube as well so he's off the ventilator! He had a rough night last night (meds were making him queasy) but that's under control and he even sat up on the edge of the bed for a couple of minutes after dinner tonight. Since his throat is sore, he's still in the soup-and-liquids food category but it's better than that feeding tube.
Now the fun starts - tomorrow: Physical therapy! He is gonna be sooooooo sore and soooo crabby tomorrow night when I get up there. Oh, yeah - that's another thing, he can barely speak because of his sore throat but he did manage to chew me a new orifice in my backside about taking too much time off work. He's getting ornery - that's a good sign for sure!
Thank you to all who have prayed and are continuing to pray for Dad and our family - he is proof that prayer works. A man of his age, in his physical condition (heart trouble) that gets injured that badly usually gets intibated (on a ventilator) and that is the beginning of the end for them. No so for Dad and I believe it's all due to the power of prayer friends.
God Bless you all.
Imagine the look on my face when walking by the newspaper rack, I get my first glimpse of the accident scene. Up to this point, I had avoided newspapers for that very reason but tonight I saw them & it hit me very hard.
Dad is still in serious condition in the neurological intensive care unit. He is however, stable. No big changes to report. The absence of bad news is, in fact, good news.
I'll keep you all posted.
Dad took a turn for the worse this morning. He went into respiratory distress. With the injuries to his chest & lungs, they were now swelling due to the trauma caused in the accident. His chest cavity and lungs were filling with fluid and putting pressure on his heart. So...... They put under with some heavy meds and then put him on a ventilator. For the next four days (minimum) a machine will be breathing for him. He will be unconscious due to the meds (this is to keep him comfortable) but not in a coma, just deeply sleeping.
It was really scary to see Dad lying there unconscious with all those tubes coming out of him. It shouldn't have bothered me so much - I saw him after his triple by-pass surgery 8 years ago and that was worse. I guess the memory of it fades after awhile. It's very disturbing to feel so helpless.
Thank you to all those who have left comments and to everyone for your prayers - I really do believe in the power of prayer and I know God is listening.
By the way Opie - his name is John, my kids call him "John-John" ( a story for another time as to why).
Better than good - great! Dad is doing much better than expected. They got the bleeding into his brain stopped, his lung will heal on it's own and is re-inflated, the 7 broken ribs, broken collarbone, the 4" laceration across the back of his head (requiring staples) and the bruising all over his body will just take time to heal. At this point, he is still in the neurological intensive care unit of the hospital. He is stable, aware of what is going on and even teasing some of the nurses! They are allowing him semi-solid food which he actually wants to eat (even if it is hospital food!) which is a big deal to him.
Bottom line: As long as there are no complications with his heart, he's out of the worst of it. Thank you all for your prayers - I know it made a difference. I could feel it, I know Dad did too. God Bless you all.
A little more accurate info on the accident itself:
As Dad was passing the farm tractor, it made a left turn into Dad's truck just behind the front wheels narrowly missing the fuel tank. This caused Dad to jack-knife and roll the truck. We're not sure if it went completely over or not but when it came to rest after sliding for over 200 feet, the cab and trailer were lying drivers side down. In the course of the accident, the trailer came close to coming through the cab but stopped short of it, the truck & trailer took out an electrical pole with a transformer on it and hit a natural gas main so that was leaking. We just thank the Lord that there wasn't any fuel leaking from the truck, only some oil. The EMT's had to go through the front windshield of the truck to cut Dad out as his leg was pinned under the steering wheel and then they removed him from the rear window of the truck. He was then taken by Lifeline helicopter to the hospital. And get this - the owner of the company whose employee was responsible for the accident - he called the hospital to check on Dad! How cool is that?
Thanks again for your prayers for Dad & my family. Who says the internet separates & isolates people? It's brought me a whole new family to add to what I already have.
Dad is in the neurological intensive care unit at the hospital. He has 7 broken ribs (not 3) and in addition, his collar bone is broken and there is an extensive laceration behind his left ear that required a considerable number of stitches. He is still bleeding from the chest tube (put in due to the punctured lung).
How did the accident happen? Dad was driving his semi on a local, rural, 2-lane highway. He was following a farm tractor and pulled out to pass it. Without making a signal of any kind, the tractor pulled off the highway into a field making a left turn in front of Dad's semi-truck. They hit in a "T" fashion - Dad's truck and trailer rolled. The farmer, we understand, is not hurt. Thank the Lord for a very large blessing there. This accident could've been instantly deadly for both men.
To anyone that may read this post - my family desperately needs your prayers tonight.
My father drives semi part-time and was doing a run this afternoon when he was involved in an accident about 30 miles from home. He has three broken ribs, a punctured lung and is bleeding into his brain. At present, he is stabilized and in the ICU of a very good local hospital. He also has serious heart problems and this makes medicating him quite difficult. They need to stop the bleeding into his brain - however, causing his blood to clot this quickly could cause a heart attack. His heart is only working at about 28% of capacity so even a mild heart attack could kill him.
Thank you all for your prayers - I know Dad will be able to pull through this with the power of prayer.
Dad circa 1937 - This is one of my favorite pictures Grandma B sent me! Daddy was sooooo cute! hehehe
Isn't this sooooo cute??? Easter 1968. My Grandma B made matching Easter outfits for my sisters and I. I'm the little blonde one with my oldest sister holding my baby sister.
Grandma B, age 89 and my only living grandparent now, sent me tons of family photos this past week. Some are really old (pre 1940) and some are not so old (my children as babies) and there's everything in between. Over the next weeks/months, or whenever the urge hits me, I'll pick a personal favorite and post some of photographic family history for my blogger family to see. I hope you all enjoy.
Well, not really name it, but I have been informed of the origins of a little song we've all sung since children at camps and Sunday Schools around the world......... "Kum Bah Yah"
Billy: Miss C, I know where the song "Kum Bah Yah" came from!
~C~: Oh, really? Where is that Billy?
Billy: From Jesus' disciples of course! (sighs in exasperation)
~C~: How do you know that?
Billy: 'Cause some really bad, mean people stuck Jesus on a cross and put nails in his feets and then in his hands too and then when he was crying for us 'cause we didn't listen to God, his disciples sang "Kum Bah Yah" to him.
~C~: Is that so? Where did you find that out?
Billy: My Grandma told me so, 'cept for the song part, I just figured that out. It was that or it was at the last supper..... That was the last time Jesus ate with his disciples before some really mean guys stuck him on that cross and put nails in his feets and hands. That's when they sang it, yeah, at that last supper thing.
Some days, I really love my job.
My son, now 8, got to go shopping for his new bike today. I showed him which ones would be the right size for him and then let him pick. It was a difficult process........The bright blue one? The shiny red one? He finally decided on a electric green & black Mongoose.
When walking it through the store to the checkout you'd have thought he'd bought a new Harley the way he was strutting! He got an even bigger grin as he actually got it out of the store to go to the car. He was too funny - everyone we met in the parking lot on the way to the car wished him a "Happy Birthday", each time his little chest puffed up a bit more. I thought he'd explode before we got home and got it out of the trunk so he could ride it.
We (my preschool class and I) set a leprechaun trap yesterday. We baited it with VERY shiny pennies and one gold-foil covered chocolate. We left signs up such as "Do Not Enter" and "Stay Away" because everyone knows that leprechauns don't like to follow directions and are very curious little creatures.
When we came in today, evidence of the little man dressed in green were everywhere! He had been all over our room leaving a trail of gold dust wherever he went. The best part of all - the trap and been set off! We caught him! (or so we thought)
As I carefully lifted the shoebox, the other teacher waited on the other side to catch him in case he tried to make a quick getaway. Alas, upon opening the trap, we discovered he had taken the shiny pennies and had eaten the chocolate coin. To top it off, he left the foil wrapper behind just to mock us!
We were sure he was still lurking about in the room so a little later we started looking around for him only to discover he had turned the toilet water GREEN! About that time, a child saw a little green hat run quickly behind the toilet and we lost him after that.
To learn if he was still in our room or had moved on to another classroom, we decided to make some pistachio pudding. The powder comes out of the box white, but if there is a leprechaun in the room when you add the milk, it turns green. So we set to mixing and would you believe this - IT TURNED GREEN! He was still here in our room!
There were several other sightings throughout the day and a number of children heard him making scratching noises around the hamster cage area at nap time (Hummmmmm wonder if Clover saw the little green man?), but no one caught him.
A child from another room also saw our leprechaun and a friend dash behind a tree on the playground - I was shocked to learn there was another one lurking about.
Maybe we'll catch them next year & get their gold. If they don't give it to us, I have a little boy that wants to keep him in the hamster cage and feed him hamster food and crayons until he tells us where it's buried.
Happy St. Pat's Day everyone!
Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show?
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 6 weeks.
Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum, and a class of 28 students.
Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with ADD, one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three will be labeled with severe behavior problems.
Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create materials accordingly.
They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences.
They must also supervise recess and monitor the hallways. In addition, they will complete drills for fire, tornadoes, and shooting attacks.
They must attend 100 hours of workshops, faculty meetings, union meetings, and curriculum development meetings.
They must also tutor those students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the TAKS tests.
If they are sick or having a bad day, they must not let it show. Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into their program.
They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment at all times.
The business people will only have access to the golf course on the weekends, but on their new salary they will not be able to afford it anyway.
There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to 30 minutes. On days when they do not have recess duty, the business people will be permitted to use the staff restroom as long as another survival candidate is supervising their class.
They will be provided with two, 40-minute planning periods per week while their students are at activity classes. If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials at this time.
The business people must continually advance their education on their own time, and pay for this advanced training themselves. This can be accomplished by moonlighting at a second job or marrying someone with money.
The winner will be allowed to return to his or her job.
Well, after 2 1/1 years of peace, my ex-husband and his parents have found where we live. He knows where I work, the kids school schedule, everything. Can I do anything about it? NO. Just because he has dug into every crevice of my life and knows my schedule better than I do, he's not really stalking me (according to the local law enforcement officials). They all three can call my unlisted phone number, drive by my apartment as often as they wish (even though they know nobody else in this town) and send as many letters to my home as they wish. I can do nothing. None of them have actually SAID they were going to do anything to harm me or my children so I can do nothing. Aparently it does not matter that none of them have any legal rights to me or my children. They can do whatever they want to harass us.
I have taken great pains to hide my actual address. Legally, my address is listed as that of a relative. My phone number is listed under a friends' name. My lease is in a fake name (and my landlord is aware of it, he's very understanding). Yet the fact that my ex-husband was able to dig through all this and find me doesn't mean that he's trying to terrorize us, at least to the legal system it doesn't.
I have decided the innocent looking little girl that started in my classroom two weeks ago, is definitely, without a doubt, the child from hell.
She will shove kids right in front of you and deny it to the death. She pinches, kicks, trips, and otherwise physically abuses the other children and will innocently deny any wrongdoing.
Today was the topper on the whole thing. My aide is doing a craft project with a few children, I'm working on handwriting with others, the rest of the class is divided up into various play centers. The sweetest little girl in class asks to go to the bathroom, of course, I say yes. I look up a couple of minutes later and Damien's sister is hanging on the bathroom door laughing while Sweetie is in the bathroom crying to get out and banging on the door franticly. The child from hell trapped the little girl in the bathroom! Of course, that's a time-out in the naughty chair.
Not an hour later, a little boy, also very sweet, is waiting his turn in line to go potty before nap time. He squats down to look at something he sees on the floor and the child from hell gives him a swift kick in the butt, knocking him face first onto the floor. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt. Again, another time out.
The afternoon proceeded to get worse, she tried to trip me, then another child. Various questions posed to her were answered with things like "DUH!" "Whatever!" and "HELLO?? Didn't you understand me the first time?" All this kind of mouthy talk out of a four year old child.
I've never seriously considered harming another human being in my life - up until now. My tongue hurts from biting it, my fists are in a permanent clenched position and I've ground my teeth down to little ivory nubs. Geez I love my job some days!!!
Screw the double, I'm drinking the whole bottle tonight!
Happy 101st Birthday to Dr. Seuss!
We celebrated today by eating, you guessed it - Green Eggs and Ham!
Green food dye in eggs makes the most disgusting pile of scrambled egg crap you ever seen in your life. Kids EAT IT UP! The grosser it looks, the better it must taste. Which would explain why children eat dirt and bugs but not green beans..........
I have no idea why and can't find the origions of this but it's supposed to be good luck. My 6th grade science teacher, Mrs. Maxon, used to tell us "Rabbit, Rabbit!" the first day of each month. We loved it, thought she was kooky too. Anyway, "Rabbit, Rabbit" everyone!
I'm sitting at the computer, reading blogs and minding my own business when I realize that Clover's cage is on the floor of the dining room and she's making little squeaky noises. I investigate. What do I see??? SPARKY!! She's chatting with Clover about how to get into the cage for a little dinner & drink. Clover, being very happy to be safe and caged, has no idea how to get out to let Sparky in.
I set Sparkys cage on the floor, door open and place a huge bowl of mouth-watering hamster kibble inside (the far side of the cage of course!). Pretty soon she ignores the fact I'm sitting on the floor next to the cage & comes to check it out.... the smell is too tempting. Sparky starts up the little ramp that is her cage door, realizes it's a trap and tries to turn around and run. HA! I anticipated that and was too quick for her - I flip the door up & shut sending Sparky flying across her 12" wide cage only to land in the kibble. She's too happy to have food to worry that she's been caught.
Sparky's caged again, mission accomplished.
That hairy little beast is an escape artist! She's gotten out of her hamster cage again. I hope we find her before the cat does!
I started my day thinking "Thank God it's Friday!" I've been fighting off bronchitis and battling the cough from hell all week (makes for a great night's sleep). There was a full moon this week, add that to 19 preschoolers & you've got a killer combo (literally).
It's the last Friday of the month so it's P.J.'s day & we usually only have about 12 - 14 children, not our usual 18. I love Friday. Everything was crusin' along just fine until I'm pulling into the parking lot from lunch, my cell phone rings - it's alien #1's school counselor - he's been in a fight on the playground & is deep in the poo-poo. I get that settled and walk back into my classroom and the little critters are STILL awake - they should all be napping soundly by now. Then I realize I still don't have the monthly classroom newsletter done (due yesterday!) so I run out and finish that off quickly. I come back, give a few of them "the look" and for the most part, they quiet down & go to sleep.
Nap is over, kids are up, snack time is done, we're down to 8 little critters and life is good until........... we find out that another teacher has to leave early so "a few" of her little critters will be joining ours. My aide goes down to find out how many "a few" is and comes back with EIGHT of them! Our numbers have doubled and the fun has just begun.
It's a bit hairy but we muddle through and about 4:30 my aide leaves me with 6 kids - NO PROBLEM! (HA!) Who knew that the intestinal tract of a 4 year old child held enough of anything to plug up the sewer system of the entire building!
O.K. well, maybe not the whole building but it sure made one big mess in our bathroom. One toilet in our bathroom overflowed and continued to do so every 10 minutes for a half an hour! I spent 30 minutes cleaning up that crap (no pun intended) then had to send someone else's aide to go get disinfectant to mop the floor with. Geez what a way to end the day. I need a drink, make it a double.
@ +70 degrees
Texans turn on the heat and unpack the thermal underwear.
People inIllinois go swimming in the rivers.
@ +60 degrees
North Carolinians try to turn on the heat.
People in Illinois plant gardens.
@ +50 degrees
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Illinois sunbathe.
@ +40 degrees
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Illinois drive with the windows down.
@ +32 degrees
Distilled water freezes.
The Wabash River water gets thicker.
@ +20 degrees
Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, and woolly hats.
People in Illinois throw on a flannel shirt.
@ +15 degrees
Philadelphia landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Illinois have the last cookout before it gets cold.
@ +10 degrees
People in Miami all die...
We from the Land o' Lincoln lick the flagpole.
@ -20 degrees
Californians fly away to Mexico.
People in Illinois get out their winter coats.
@ -40 degrees
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Illinois are selling cookies door to door.
@ -60 degrees
Polar bears begin to evacuate the Arctic.
Illinois Boy Scouts postpone"Winter Survival" classes until it gets cold enough.
@ -80 degrees
Mt. St. Helens freezes.
People in Illinois rent some videos.
@ -100 degrees
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Prairie Staters get frustrated because they can't thaw the keg.
@ -297 degrees
Microbial life no longer survives on dairy products.
Cows in Illinois complain about farmers with cold hands.
@ -460 degrees
ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero in the Kelvin scale).
People inIllinois start saying, "Cold 'nuff for ya?"
@ -500 degrees
Hell freezes over.
The Bears win the Super Bowl!
I'm sitting here, minding my own business & catching up on some blogs when I see something move out of the corner of my eye.... it's Bubbles (the hamster). She's just cruising along, three rooms away from her cage.
Alien #1 (oldest son) grabs a glass to catch her in, she runs under the backpack left lying on the floor (it's usual spot). Alien picks up the backpack, Bubbles doubles back past the cat's water dish.
I move my foot, scare the hamster & it jumps straight up, landing in the cat's water bowl. She quickly recovers and dives for the ever-growing pile of crap next to the alien's boots. The alien trades in a glass for my good Pyrex measuring cup & captures her. The wild beast is returned to her cage.
You have no idea how funny it is to watch a 4-inch long hair-cover sausage waddling along and suddenly jump straight up. It looked like a loaded spring had been released right under her and she went straight over the edge of the cat's water bowl.
My life, never a dull moment.
It's been a long time since I've even been online. Between work, my car and all the garbage with my children, there hasn't been much time for blogging. So.... let's see about a little update here....
*car has been fixed (again), I got it back a couple of days ago
*youngest son has lost a couple of teeth
*older son has had his first detention (didn't turn in book report)
*my friend, the model, is getting married & I'm helping plan the wedding
*still searching for counseling for the aliens
*we have a new hamster (Sparky)
*kids let Sparky loose in the house 2 days after getting her (found her 3 hrs later)
*Mom had the flu
*Mom got better, Dad had the flu
*Dad got better, I got the flu
*Sister is still trying to import her husband from Costa Rica (they were married last October)
*I was stupid enough to get my naval pierced (what the hell was I thinking???)
*Job is going o.k. I guess, still looking for work elsewhere
*Still can't find a date (If you're single, age 35 - 50 & are gainfully employed, drop me a line.........just kidding!)
Not much happening as you can see.
I am looking for a new name for my blog so..... if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.
Now I'm off to catch up on blogs I haven't read in a long, long time......... until later.
Well, the insurance company totaled out my car (cosmetic work only), I bought it back and added another $400 to the tab and paid to have my baby fixed. I got my car back last Thursday at 5:50 pm. I was thrilled! The engine that starts in any weather and runs like a dream. I was on cloud 9. The fact that it looked nice again was just icing on the cake. What I really wanted was the fantastic engine that was in it.
Coming home from work tonight, I hit another deer. I've had my car back one week and I hit another of those damn hairy beasts. I didn't kill this one & what's worse, it was a young one.
A plain-clothes (I later learned) state officer happened by as I was hanging up with the 911 operator and stopped to see if I was ok. I told him I was fine but the police needed to shoot the deer because it was still very much alive and trying to escape with it's back end crushed. He identified himself as an officer, showed me his badge and then waited while I turned away before he fired a shot into the deer to end it's suffering. But one shot didn't do it and he had to shoot it again.
He had to stay around until the local officer came because he'd discharged his firearm and had to report it to another officer. He also made sure I had a ride home before he took off & left.
I wanted to walk up and kick that damn thing in the ass I was so mad!
My insurance man is so pissed.I know I joke a lot about the kids being aliens and the silly crap at work, deer "hunting" with my car but this post isn't any of that. The stress of the last several months has gotten to me. This isn't a pity-me post or anything of the sort. It's a place to vent which is why this blog was begun - a place for me to say whatever was on my mind, happy or sad, silly or serious. If no one likes what I have to say in any of my posts, they can move on & not return to my blog, my feelings won't be hurt, it's their choice. Just as it is my choice to let forth tonight with some serious venting.
In the Fall of 2002, with the help of the police, my children and I were rescued from our home. My husband had been terrorizing us non-stop for almost 24 hours before I was able to get a safe moment to call 911 for help. I almost didn't live until the police arrived. I find child porn on my computer and turn my soon-to-be-ex into the police for it. ( A year and a half later, I have to fight to get my PC out of the evidence lock-up. They never even looked at it. The police said I was just trying to "get even" with him.)
Three months later, I moved out of my parents home where we had been staying since our rescue and I started a full-time job. Life was looking up. I was having some trouble with the boys but nothing serious and was trying to get counseling for all of us after the abuse I had suffered at the hands of my soon-to-be-ex-husband. I managed to get weekly counseling sessions with a pastor who had his degree in family counseling - I thought this would be perfect. He turned out to not understand anything about domestic violence and within 6 months, I fired him.
My job turned sour, the kids got a little worse. My divorce became final it was now one year later, Fall 2003. We had been attending a support group at our church and it was helping us heal, slowly, but we were on the mend.
The local domestic violence advocates became a rather attractive alternative for help. Again, it didn't take long for things to go sour there. The children's counselor basically blamed me for my ex-husbands' abuse of the children and myself. That brought that "counseling" to a screaming halt. She had managed to undo everything my church group had accomplished. And work was getting worse by the second.
By March of 2004 I had quit my job because of the total disregard for regulations regarding the safety of the children there and the licensing agency's lack of interest in the violations. Add to that the owner/director had a horrible temper, drank on the job, rarely paid us on time, frequently bounced paychecks and was in general an ass.
May rolled around and I still hadn't found a job. I was living off of my income tax refund and a little part time clerical work at a local temp agency. And the children were getting worse with their attitudes.
By early July, I had to quit going to our church group because it cost too much in gas money to drive 45 minutes each way to get there and I still didn't have a job.
Mid-July rolled around and I finally got a job, with a significant pay cut and a 45 minute travel time on the end of each day in a car that sucked gas like it was free. I could barely pay my bills but at least I had a job.
September - kids are not off to a good start in school, already teachers are complaining about missing homework assignments and their attitude at home is really bad. Total lack of respect for me. I'm getting to the point of feeling seriously depressed. Late September brings to light my worst fears, my ex-husband molested both children. I file all the reports, talk with the police and family services people and in all the mess, end up losing four precious days of pay which I could ill-afford to do. My boss is not sympathic to my situation and basically tells me to suck it up and leave my personal problems at home. Thank you for being so understanding you b*tch. So much for working for a Christian organization.
I'm now officially a mess and end up on anti-depressants and the children are getting worse. There is little help out there for single moms with very little cash. I know you're all going to blast me with all the social service agency names in the book that will "help" me. I've been through it all and there is little or no help for me unless I'm willing to take a significant amount of time off of my job to accept their "help". I can't pay the bills on what I earn now, I sure as hell can't pay them working part time folks.
October - my uncle dies
November - trash my car hitting a deer, and the kids are so bad I'm considering foster care at this point.
December - I hit another deer totaling my car the Tuesday before Christmas. Grandma died, we buried her the Sunday before Christmas. The children are getting worse by the second. My employer could only worry about if I was gonna miss any time off so close to the holiday - did I "really need to attend that funeral if it wasn't going to be on the weekend?" Yes folks - I was actually asked that question by my boss. After all, it wasn't like it was my parent, it was only my grandparent. After several months of waiting to find out if the police will arrest my vile ex-husband, the news comes to me - Yes, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigating the claim believes my children. No, the police will not be doing anything about it.
Now it's January 2005. At a significant cost to me, I did get my car repaired. Christmas was anything but truly joyful for me, it seemed rather hollow this year. The stress and depression are becoming overwhelming to me. My oldest son is becoming more aggressive by the day and my younger one is following in his footsteps.
The finding of guilty by DCFS was supposed to be a victory. They were supposed to not only find counseling for my children and myself, but they're to be paying for it as well. To date, I have been able to make contact with the man that took the report one time. Help was promised "right away"......... three weeks later, nothing. My children do nothing but fight with one another, frequently it becomes physical. I am beyond being able to function as a normal human being. I am seriously void of most emotion. I've gone so far as to having to call the police on my oldest son (age 10) for beating the crap out of his 7 year old brother. They basically did nothing - no blood, no foul. It doesn't seem to matter that at least twice a week I'm pulling kid #1 off of kid #2 and sitting on him until he can calm himself down
And so, here I am. Sad, depressed, alone, frustrated. I am at the point I don't want to get out of bed in the morning and if I get fired for not coming into work, who cares? I am beyond caring. I have fought so long to get help for my children and I, all to no avail. Don't ask me a thousand and one questions of "have you tried _______ agency?" or "Acme Agency will help anyone" or whatever. I have called, and called, and called. I have knocked on doors, begged, pleaded, yelled, cussed, cried, you name it. Unless I am willing to give up my job, I will not get counseling for us. Period. If I give up my job of my own free will, no social service agency will help me because I "quit". It's a catch 22 - I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't. Such is the story of my life. No I don't have family to help - that is another story in itself. If it weren't for the garbage there, I probably wouldn't have gotten into the sorrid mess I'm in now.
Again, I don't want your pity. Pity doesn't help me. I just need to let it all out. I'd like to say I feel better after spewing the garbage that is the real essence of my life but I don't. Yes, I'm a Christian however, faith is a difficult thing to have after a period of time of being beaten down. Not impossible, but in my case, next to impossible.
I just heard something you NEVER hear in our small town of 4100 people - the fire engines take off out of the station a few blocks from our apartment, sirens blaring.
The last time anyone heard that was almost a year ago when the elementary school I attended burned to the ground. The staff managed to get all the students out and there were only minor injuries suffered by the firefighters themselves. All staff & children were safe. It was such a big deal that it made the news in New York - one of the daily morning shows aired it.
Crap - now the ambulance and police cars are screaming past - this could be very bad.
Well, the aliens' hamster, Bubbles, is (un)officially the hamster world record holder for stuffing the most Chex cereal pieces into her cheek pouches.
The aliens, not to be out done by my students, managed to her THEIR hamster to stuff 11 - that's right folks a big eleven pieces of cereal into it's cheek pouches without blowing up!
I can't believe my life has come to this - blogging about hamster-stuffing. geez.
Today I took a little of the stale Chex to work for my students to give to the classroom hamster, Clover. I told them what the aliens had done giving the hammy at home 7 of them to stuff her cheeks. Bad idea.
Next thing I know, my students are shoving piece after piece of cereal into the hamster cage for Clover. She managed to get no less than 10 pieces of cereal crammed into her cheeks before giving up!
Clover decided to take her treasure up the steps to her exercise wheel for storage. She's a hamster after my own heart. Her exercise wheel is where she makes her bed & stores her food. I think if she were human, she'd eat chocolate by the pound and be my best friend.
I knew it would happen sooner or later, my students were messing around the hamster cage at work, in my rush to get home to the aliens, I didn't check the door on Clover's cage. I came into work to find the neat stack of light green construction paper strung all over the science table, some of it half-covering the front of Clover's hamster cage.
As I started to walk across the room, I realized the cage door was open! I asked my aide where Clover was and she gave me a puzzled look. When I told her what was wrong, the entire class ran over to the cage. NO CLOVER. However, there was a huge pile of construction paper she had helped herself to to make new bedding before she left on her little adventure into the classroom.
As I picked out the big pieces of paper, I saw her. She was in her cage the whole time. It seems the came out long enough to destroy the better part of 6 large pieces of construction paper, dragging about one whole sheet into her cage, made a nest and went to sleep. It had to have taken her all night to do it from the looks of things.
Odd little creatures.
I gave the aliens a partial bag of stale corn & rice Chex cereal to feed to the hamster, figured it was ok to give her, it's grains.
The little beasts give her one after another until she's got 7 whole cereal pieces stuffed in her cheek pouches! Then, brilliant creature that she is, the hamster crawls into the little tube connecting the bottom of the cage to the "penthouse". All you hear is a loud cereal CRUNCH as she shoves her head into the tube & climbs up to her sleeping/storage quarters.
It may be my imagination, but I think the aliens (AKA: that which I gave birth to) used my needlepoint scissors to trim the hair on the hamsters butt.
First, the snow never happened - we were supposed to get a half inch of ice on everything and then be covered by another inch or so of snow. We got very little ice and a few flurries, thankfully, nothing closed.
Big news of the day: My 10 year old son got into his first fight over a female. He and his brother take the bus to a daycare provider's home after school each night (much to their dismay). The boy sitting behind him (age 10) was picking on his little sister ( age 5). My son turned around and told him it wasn't nice to pick on girls even if they were your sister. So the kid starts picking on my son. Still my son sits and takes it. Then the kid starts seriously poking and pinching his little sister and shoved my younger son off the bus seat into the aisle. That's when son #1 jumped into action. He told the kid if he was gonna hit someone, it had better be him, not a little kid. So, the bully hit him. My son pounded the tar out of the kid just long enough to make him stop hitting then jumped off and ran to tell the nearest adult what had happened: the bus driver. All this garbage took place over a 15 minute period on the school bus while it was in motion.
I am proud of him for defending the little girl. I am proud of him for defending his little brother. I'm glad he controlled himself enough to only fight as much as he had to in order to end the fight. He thought I'd be furious with him. All I could say is, "Sweetie, your heart was in the right place. Mommy doesn't like to hear you hit someone but you did it defending someone weaker. You did the wrong thing for the right reason.
Great, we've got a winter weather watch out starting Monday (tomorrow) night and running through Tuesday night. I've got this little weather program that's rather nice (and free) called "Weather Bug". It very kindly keeps me up to date on the weather in my area when I'm online.
We better not get hit with so much snow that I miss work again. I can't afford it.
I'm sure the kids would be thrilled to be out of school again and testing the durability of their new boots and sleds though. hehehe
Well, it finally stopped snowing completely yesterday afternoon at about noon or a little after. We got a total of about 9 or 10 inches of snow, they had more further North of us. The kids were excited to get back to school and I was going nuts shut up in the house - glad to be back to work if only for one day.
Oh, well work a day, off a couple, work a day, off a couple.......... it's an easy life but rough on the paycheck for sure.
Ok - yesterday was cool, now I'm ready to go nuts being home, shut in and unable to even get to the store for chocolate which I am seriously craving. I need my fix or I'm gonna go through DT's pretty soon.
Again, I'm not so sure that my employer is thrilled with my choice to remain off the horrid roads in the area but that's her problem, not mine. I can't get fired for it, I can't get in any trouble at all for it because again, the local police are advising no travel at all.
And the snow is still falling.......... I thought it would've stopped by now but it's still coming down.
Whoopie! School's closed again. This time it's do to the storm that has hit much of the upper Midwest and stretched East. The daycare where I work is far enough South of where I live that they didn't get the snow, school closings, or the bad roads we got. Work was open. I think they were a little ticked off that I wasn't going to brave the snowstorm and drive 20 miles to work in the mess. It started snowing last night about 5:30 p.m. and it hasn't stopped yet. We could get up to 12 inches of snow before this is all through on Tuesday so the roads are only going to get worse. I figure if the county and state police are advising I keep my car and my butt parked at home, who am I to argue?
The kids can play in the snow and I can sit on my butt for a change and play on the computer -to heck with the dishes - I'm taking a snow day too today. :)
Thankfully, school was back on today & the kids were really excited to get back to school and see their friends, show off new clothes and brag about who got the coolest toys. Life is good for them.
Well, today was the kids first day back at school after Christmas vacation and due to an ice storm, school was canceled. So my kids spent the day at the daycare playing video games in their new Christmas clothes. They were so disappointed they didn't get to show off their new clothes to their friends.
How did you toast the coming new year? I toasted the new year with a dose of Nyquil and a box of tissues at about 8:30 December 31st & went to bed. Woohoo! Big party for me! lol Damn sinus infection. Oh, well.
My big plans for the evening were to sit in front of the new DVD player with the kids and eat junk food on the sofa until we all burst from the salt & sugar intake. We did manage to eat a large quantity of junk food and watch some movies, Mom just left the party early. The aliens were up until after 10:00 p.m. watching the boob-tube.
Hope all my fellow bloggers have a great new year!
I can't find it. I find battery wrappers, little bits of cookie crumbs, smushed bows, discarded instructions, balls of tissue paper, empty candy wrappers, shredded parts of wrapping paper, discarded remains of a helicopter box, clothing boxes, racecar track, various sizes of cars, mini air hockey game, coloring books, colored pencils, various Spiderman gadgets, miscellaneous board games ........ but no floor. It'll be next Christmas before I can clear a path to my tree to put away ornaments and store the tree!!!
I was given many lovely bath scents, scented body lotions, colognes, scented candles and bath soaps. Each one smelling more beautiful than the last. But now I wonder, do I need to get stronger deodorant? Are they trying to send me a subtle message? Do I stink???
Mom & Dad gave me a new drug for my children. You can buy this at Wal-Mart among other places, usually on sale if you watch for them. No Rx needed. It's called "DVD/VCR combo". It's a miracle drug. It instantly stops fights the minute you plug it in & turn it on. It's easy to hook-up, one push of a button and it's turned on. I love it.
Only one problem - it's just like the Rx with the childproof cap that only a kid can get off...... I got it hooked up, no problem, got the DVD in it and when I looked at my TV screen, I froze. What the heck is that? The 10 year old alien, exasperated, took the remote from my frozen hand and said, "Push this one Mom" then handed it back to me with a sigh and a shake of his head. Where the hell did he learn to work one of these?? We've never had one! Don't laugh at me, I'm the one person on the block that COULD set the clock on the last VCR we had. What's wrong with me that I can't figure out this thing? I'm officially a dork in my kids eyes.......... I have reached a new height (or a new low?) in parenthood.
I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind words and prayers for my family and I as we go through this holiday season, this year without Grandma B. It really meant so much to me. I pray you are all blessed ten times over the way I have been blessed by your kindness.
My son put the whole thing in perspective Christmas Eve....... "Hey Mom! I just realized something................ Great-Granny B gets to spend Christmas with Jesus! She gets to be with him on his birthday!!! " (silence) Then whispered in a low voice filled with awe....... "That is SO cool!"
Out of the mouth of babes. Merry Christmas everyone.
Smack The Penguin Click on the Yeti once to start & again to smack 'em. The ASPCA is going to start investigating me soon.........
Poke the Penguin
Singing Horses click once to start, once to stop
By the way, I really really love penguins but that first one is too much fun.
I need a life.
Well, you asked - so here it is!
Burfica:
1. My favorite candy bar is a snickers (can't get screwed? Have a snickers, it's got nuts and it really satisfies - thank you George Carlin), favorite sweet is a Waldorf Astoria cake (sin on a plate!)
2. My favorite religious Christmas song is Silent Night, and a fun Christmas song I like is "I Want A Hippo for Christmas" (recorded in 1953)
3. My favorite animal in the whole world would be a cat because they're just like women (even the males). They're beautiful, spend a lot of time primping, they are self-sufficient for the most part, can be high maintenance if they want to be (but really aren't), loved to be pampered and last but not least, they're brilliant and rarely, if ever, wrong. ;)
Gama:
1. This Christmas I will be spending the holidays with my parents at their home (about 5 miles from where I live). The boys and I will spend Christmas Eve quietly with a friend and her son eating oyster stew and watching Christmas movies. Christmas Day the family will gather at Mom & Dad's for the day with about 12 people in attendance. My sister, her new husband and step-kids will be absent (They'll be in Costa Rica).
2. My favorite color is pink, second is blue.
3. My favorite day of the week is Saturday (I get to sleep in and go to church too).
Alekx:
#1) Is binge eating chocolate considered an extreme sport?
#2) My dream career...hmmmmm..... own a preschool/daycare. I like to be bossy hehehe.
#3) Vibrators or ticklers...... ah, what's a tickler?
We had a great time with the kids at the school Christmas party. One little girl's mom sells "Tastefully Simple" (gourmet goodies) and we had a great big bag filled with wonderful things! Many children brought us tins with cookies and tons of home-made Christmas cards (the most special gifts). Of course, they all brought us tons of love.
(o.k. enough of the cute color thing, it's too much of a pain!)
One little boy in particular was rather clingy with me today & he usually isn't (at least not with me). He told me he thought Miss Colleen needed extra hugs - who was I to turn him down??? :)
After shoving them full of cookies & juice, playing games, singing songs, opening presents and making magic reindeer food (looks suspiciously like dry oatmeal & glitter) - we sent the parents on their way, got the children semi-calm to eat some healthy food for lunch and put them down for a nap. A very good day indeed.
Had a better day today, not missing Grandma so much, thinking about getting the last-minute shopping done Thursday (off work Th & Fri!! yippee!) since I couldn't do it last weekend (see previous post....)
I'm driving North on IL Route 2 on my way home from work, visions of credit card bills & Spiderman stuff dancing in my head, munching on an open tin of cashews when, out of nowhere - another Northern Illinois native commits suicide with the help of my 1992 Buick. Sh*t - I lost the other headlight.
**My car still wasn't fixed from the last time I hit one of those damn things.
**The county police are ready to call the game warden on me!
**Dad is pissed that he had to pay for a hunting permit to get deer & I didn't.
My co-workers are never gonna believe this.
The shock of my grandmothers' death wore off tonight. I finally was able to just sit down and cry. To just say outloud to no one that I missed her and loved her. I feel much better even though I'm in a bit of a funk still........ it's going to be a different kind of Christmas this year.
We left Saturday morning about 11:00. Dad & Mom drove the boys and I down to southern Illinois with them. There were so many family members already staying with aunts, uncles & cousins that Mom & Dad stayed with my other grandma and got the boys and I a hotel room in town.
The family wake was at 4:30, it was difficult for all of us. We went over to my aunt & uncles for a bite to eat, visited for an hour or so with my grandma at her home, then Dad took us back out to the hotel so the boys could kill a bit of energy in the pool playing.
It had been four hours in the car for them, another hour at the funeral home and then another couple of hours cooped up in the house with family. They were good but ready to blow. The swim did them good, a treat out of the vending machine and a soda, then cable t.v. cartoons to relax. We were asleep by 10 pm.
Sunday we slept in (7:30 am), had breakfast at the hotel and got ready for the funeral. It was back over to my aunts to have a quick bite of lunch and then get to the funeral home my 12:30 pm. We shook hands with a sea of people. It was wonderful to see that my grandmother had touched so many other lives the way she had touched mine.
The service was beautiful. A celebration of her life, not mourning our loss - we celebrated her going to her eternal home in heaven with the Lord.
My 10 year old son tucked his favorite watch and an "I love you" note in the casket with his great-grandma. My younger son, age 7, had a lot of questions about death.
Why was she cold? What happens to the blood when you die? How come she doesn't feel real Mommy? (HE chose to touch her hand after asking if it was alright.)
She's cold because the part of her that made her warm to hug went to heaven to be with Jesus. Your body needs the blood when it's alive, when you go to heaven, you don't need your body anymore so you don't need the blood. (He didn't ask where it went and I didn't offer.) She doesn't feel real anymore for the same reason she doesn't feel warm - the loving, warm part of her that we liked to hug went to heaven to be with Jesus. Not the best answers but he's 7, he doesn't need biological facts that would scare the crap out of him. It's confusing enough to deal with death for the first time.
The service at the cemetery was brief due to the -15 wind chill. We all held up fairly well most of the day. Mom broke down in the car before we left. She didn't want to put her mother into the cold frozen ground.
The ride home was quiet. I'm still in a little bit of shock, unable to cry too many tears.
Grandma had a great life, she witnessed the invention of so many things. She experienced the depths of poverty and hardship, she experienced the good life. She touched thousands of people along the way. She will be missed.
Grandma B had another massive stroke last night. Mom got the call about 10 pm. She's gone home to be with the Lord.
I saw this on another blog I read frequently and although I haven't made any recommendations or asked any questions of her yet, I thought I'd go ahead & post it here. I don't really expect any responses but I thought it would be fun to do and see if anyone leaves a comment on this one.
1) First recommend to me:
A) a movie
B) a book
C) a musical artist/album/song
2) Ask me any three questions you want, anything at all.
3) Go to your blog (if you have one), copy and paste this and allow everyone to ask you anything.
Grandma B suffered a massive stroke last night. She's basically in a coma and we're waiting for her passing. I can't believe she came through the surgery so well only to have this happen. The doctors don't think she'll make it through the night.
My Grandma B, who will be 96 years young next month fell and broke her hip. Her surgery was Friday and she came through it well. We're concerned about her blood pressure and the risk of a fatal stroke though. Until 2 years ago, she lived in her own home and was still driving! We moved her into an assisted living facility because of blood pressure regulation problems. Her health did not require regular medical attention in a nursing home until about 7 months ago. Serious problems started when she broke her hip.
My preschool class had their Christmas program (along with the rest of the daycare) at the church today. I was thrilled to see almost 4oo people show up! The church was packed - standing room only. The children looked so adorable in their Christmas-best. Little girls in frilly dresses, velvet, and little red bows in their hair. Little boys with dress pants, sweaters and ties. It was all way too cute.
My class sang "Silent Night" (which I also taught them the sign language for) and they sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". We put big red pom-pons on popsicle sticks so they could have a "red nose" when they sang the song. Corny I know, but you only had to hear the giggles of the parents know they loved it.
The afternoon was topped of by over half of the attendees gathering in the basement for cookies, cake and punch. I enjoyed getting to talk to some of the parents in a less formal atmosphere than usual and meeting some of the parents I hadn't met before. (Usually Mom OR Dad is the pick-up and drop-of person & we never get to meet the other one.)
All in all, a wonderful day.
Researchers at Stonybrook announced they had completed a study about males who used laptop computers. This was not your gaming, surfing kinda study. This study had to do with male sperm and laptop computers. According to the study, if you use your laptop on top of your lap, you're killing your sperm (if your a man that is). The heat generated by the laptop is disintegrating the little guys. To be less than delicate, you're not even shooting blanks. You're not shooting anything.
So, forget the expensive, painful surgery guys, just get a good laptop and surf away!
I've been home sick the last two days with tonsilitis, sinus infection and larengitis....... but no strep!
whoopie.
I am soooooooooooo bored.......... I've played my Pharaoh game through two levels, updated this blog, I even washed dishes & cleaned the cat box!
I want to go back to my crappy job and let small children wipe icky stuff on me again. I need human contact....... and I think I'm starting to cramp my cat's style being home all day.
Listening to the older alien tell the younger alien proper removal techniques of the gumball lodged up his nose is too funny. Well, it's funny for me since I have no social life.........
"You gotta plug the other side of your nose and blow like your shooting boogers out - that will make it come out.........
(sounds coming from room, icky ones)
NO, blow HARDER! HARDER!
(silence)
You're not trying and I'm not going to pick it out for you, go see Mommy.
(silence) HEY! Don't pick it up and eat it now, it's got boogers on it!
MOOOOMMMMM! He's eating it!"
Where did my life go soooooo wrong?
Where are the sweet little darlings I gave birth to? They've been replaced with aliens. The younger of the two aliens impersonating my children (age 7) shoved a gumball up his nose. Why?
Well, it's Monday and we had another kid get sent home, this time with Impentigo (spelling?). It's a strain of the strep virus. That brings our grand total to seven kids. (And my throat is getting worse........ this does not bode well for me.)
We sent two more kids home today with strep........ some have called in over the last few days and our total is up to six children sick with strep....... we were disinfecting the room today. My throat has been sore & I've got larengitis...... I hope I'm not getting sick too.
Looks like that huge mouse was alone....... still don't have another one in the traps I set yet and the cat food isn't dissappearing at an alaming rate anymore. Thank heavens.
We sent a little girl home today because she wasn't feeling well.... turns out she had strep throat and was breathing all over us all morning...... great now I'm gonna get it.
Weather man said we'd have light flurries with NO accumulation. Well Einstein, it took me 10 minutes to clean 3" of no accumulation off my car. It took me 50 minutes to make a 30 minute drive because the no accumulation hadn't been plowed off the roads and no accumulation was coming down so hard I couldn't see 3 car lengths in front of me. I think it would be time for the weatherman to quit his day job. I wouldn't recommend the psychic hotline as a replacement career either.
I wake at the crack of dawn to see my two kids staring at the closed desk drawer. They keep saying they can hear the mouse in there messing around. I tell them no, if it's in there, it's in the trap and it's dead.
To prove my superior intelligence, I open the drawer. There's the trap, upside down with a HUGE mouse caught in it's grips. I reach in to pick it up (careful not to touch the diseased beast) and as my hand gets almost to the trap, the mouse moves, I scream, the kids scream.
Hell of a way to start my day. So what do I do? I go downstairs and get the bigger of the two lesbians to come get the still squirming carcass out of my house for me.
I'm such a weenie.
I went out today after work and bought the most expensive trapping equipment I could find. Four mouse traps for $1 at the Super $1 Store. Ha! I'm ready.
I baited the trap with the hairy beasts' favorite (or so I'm told) food, peanut butter. I set the trap. I carefully put it in the drawer where the pound of cat food was once stored by the creature. I start to shut the drawer and SNAP - dammit, it went off. Open drawer, reset trap, shut drawer more carefully, go to bed.
I am the great white hunter!
Ever wonder how some of the stupidest blogs get listed on "Blogs of Note"? About half of them are pure stupidity. One recently was a listing of names that someone thought sounded "funny". I read them, not funny. As I update my blog, I go in and read other recently updated blogs. There are so many good ones out there. Some are funny, some serious, but lots of good ones.
If you read back a couple of months, one of our hamsters was MIA for a week or so. We found it's hiding place in the sofa a couple of weeks back (long after it died and was buried).
Our cat has been going through food like there is no tomorrow and I can't figure out why she's so darn hungry all of the time. She's gone through about a pound of cat food in twice the time it normally takes her to eat it.
Tonight I open up my bottom desk drawer of my old wooden desk to pull out a little used floppy disc. That's when I saw it. The pound of missing cat food. At first I thought it's where the hamster made his cozy little home for a week then it dawned on me - the missing cat food. Holly hasn't been eating it, someone/something has been storing it for her!! Huston, we have a mouse. YUCK! I don't want mouse poopie in my desk!!!!!
It has become tradition that when my sister comes up to visit, the boys and I go out for pizza and a movie with her. The kids get to pick the movie. Did we see Polar Express? No. Did we see The Incredibles? No. Christmas With the Kranks? Nope. What epic masterpiece did we spend our hard-earned money on?? Spongebob Squarepants. That's right folks, I spent 90 minutes viewing a brainless yellow sponge.
My advice, have a couple of drinks before you go see the movie, it's less painful that way. Also, if you happen to be a pink, male, starfish with very little brain, here's a tip: fishnet stockings and spike-heeled biker-chick boots don't scream macho if you know what I mean.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I got to see my sister for the first time in months and the boys loved visiting with Great-Granny. My niece announced her pregnancy (much to Great-Granny's surprise!). We had a great time. It was wonderful.
Thanksgiving eve is here and we've already got 2" of snow on the ground. It's beautiful!
My favorite little girl in my class has asthma and needs breathing treatments twice daily at school I got everything set up for her and was ready to leave her in the hands of my teaching assistant so she could take her nebulizer treatment & then lie down for nap. I had a long morning and was ready for my lunch break.
I tell her good-bye & I'll see her after nap. As I turn to walk away, C.B. reaches up and takes my hand. I look down at her and she's starting to cry. So, my special little sweetie sits on my lap, takes her meds and holds my hand the whole time while her head is resting on my shoulder.
I get her laid down for nap, put away her nebulizer equipment & look up at the clock. Just enough time to grab a sanck bar from the kitchen and clock back in. It was the best lunch break I've had in a long time.
So, what did you do for lunch?
1. Sister got married to her boyfriend about a month ago in Costa Rica (his country of birth & for now, residency)
2. Niece, married 09.04.04 is now pregnant with child #2, congrats sweetie!
3. Decided to quit my job and go back to college full time starting January of 2005.
4. Mom had rotator cuff surgery and is recovering nicely.
5. The older son's report card came home 11.05.04 and he was in the "F" free zone this time.
6. Got an estimate on the deer remodel on my car, could be a total loss. :(
7. New brother-in-law may be bringing at least one of his children to the States with him when he arrives (hopefully) later this month.
8. Had a lunch date - it was awful. Won't go out with him again. Nothing like having him want to discuss sex over a FIRST date and at lunch no less....... it was terrible, horrible, gave me the creeps.
9. Made a new friend, a Lane Bryant model - she's not overweight for her height either, it's weird she models for big women's clothing. Either way, she's beautiful inside and out and I'm happy to have her as a new friend.
10. Still haven't heard from the police or DCFS regarding the abuse my children suffered at the hands of my ex-husband. Phone calls are not returned by either agency.
11. I have a hundred things to do to try to get stuff together so I can get back to college and I can't seem to get organized.
12. I spend entirely too much time playing Pharaoh and writing in this blog.
13. Dad would've liked to gotten the deer I hit with his shotgun instead. That way we could've eaten it.
After serving out her sentence in the school-age classroom of the day care where I work, she has returned home. Reformed, no longer a killer in my children's eyes.
What actually happened is that she wasn't being taken care of by the teacher in the room or the children so I lied to her & told her my kids wanted the hamster back because they missed it so much. She let me take it home again.
Upon returning home, Bubbles was welcomed with open arms by both boys and is happily nesting back in her cage again.
I think if I hear one more joke about deer hunting from my co-workers, I'm gonna scream! Either they make a huge joke of it or gape in horror at the sight of my car (still road-worthy although missing most of the front bumper & grill). I still feel I am blessed. God saved me from a hundred things that could've gone wrong to cause me further injury.
I think I must be in mild shock still. It is funny to note that in talking with a co-worker about the accident, I was most ticked-off at the fact that the deer had the nerve to remove one of my two deer whistles with it's dead body. $3000 worth of damage to a car that is probably not even worth that much & I'm whining about $15 in deer whistles that don't even work in the first place? Guess you had to be there to see the humor in it.
I prayed that God would guide voters this election year more than He ever has before. My prayers were answered.
Most of the young girls I work with (many claiming to be Christians) are horrified that Bush won. I do NOT understand how you can claim to be a Christian and still vote for a Democrat. Maybe one day I will understand but as for now, I do not.
The mock election held in my son's 5th grade class put Bush as the winner before 3pm yesterday. Wise children. My son was very excited to be able to take a peek inside the voting booth (a REAL voting booth!!!) when I went to vote last night. The men and women running the show there were pleased to see someone so young have such an interest in the whole process.
The kids then waited in the car with my father who drove me there (after hitting the deer, I was left with only one headlight on my car & the rest of the bumper, lights & all are strewn all over the highway). As you leave, those who vote know, you get a little "I Voted" sticker to wear. As it was late & the polls were close to closing, she gave me a couple of stickers for "those darling future voters" I had waiting outside for me. The kids thought it was great!
... but I only hit one.
I did it. After living my entire adult life (and most of my childhood) in Northern Illinois, I finally polished off one of the natives with my 1992 Buick.
It's rutting season, for those who don't have hunters in the family, the deer are mating this time of year and have more hormones running through them than a bunch of high school kids on prom night. This also means they are all over the place and you will frequently spy them (hopefully) at the side of the roads.
Not tonight. I hit that sucker and WHAM! Bambi was dead. I was very lucky. The larger of the two (both were does) escaped which means I only hit an average sized doe. I saw them in time to slow down so the impact wasn't as great but I'm gonna be sore tomorrow for sure.
Thank you God for looking out for me tonight. There are a hundred things that could've happened to make this accident deadly for me, but, it wasn't. My car is pretty badly damaged and as old as it is will probably be totaled, true. I am alive, I walked away. My children weren't in the car when it happened. People were nearby to help me out right away.
The best news of all - I still got to the polls in time to vote for George W. Bush!
God is GOOD. Thank you for keeping me in one piece. Thank you for keeping my children out of the whole thing.
