A Post About A Whole Lot Of Nothing

Okay, the picture has nothing to do with my post. I just thought it was cute. I don't have anything I'm just dying to share this morning. I looked through all my downloaded pictures for future blog posts and nothing really caught my fancy. I think that because I'm starting class on Monday, I'm feeling like I should make the most of any time that I have left this weekend. So I guess what's in order is a series of updates...

1. Sam has turned out to be gimpy. David has been working with him this week and it looks like he as a condition that won't improve. He'll attempt to return the horse this evening and get his money back. It's too bad too....he's a really cute horse.

2. The fam from Denver will be coming in on Monday. This would be my brother and David's sister (who are married) and their daughter Sable with her husband Tim and their son, Jayden. That doesn't leave me much time to do the necessary cleaning that is required if people step into my house. Melissa (my sister-in-law) is real picky about stuff being clean. Ah....the pressure!

3. I've been hanging out at Wendy's house swimming at her pool. It's been fun. I won't be able to do that today because I have to go to Kosciusko this afternoon to meet with some family and eat lunch. I do have a plan to meet with some friends at Wendy's on Saturday for a cookout. Should be fun. I'm bringing my famous deviled eggs.

4. Note to self: buy ingredients for deviled eggs today.

5. I start school on Monday. It runs the entire month of June from 8-4 each day. That's all I'm going to say about that.

6. I got my hair done the other day. I love the color but I told Tracy to do whatever she wanted with my hair cut. She didn't cut it short, she put layers in it for "extra body." Now that I'm home and trying to deal with my own hair, I'm having difficulty getting it to look any way other than retarded. I can't use a blowdryer--I just don't have those skills. I can get hair dry with it but I still haven't mastered how to straighten hair with it. I'm not sure if I should suck it up and wear a pony tail for the summer or if I should make an appointment with her again and ask her to show me what to do or to cut it so I can deal with it. Oh, that's right.....I have class starting on Monday, so that's out......it'll be July before I'm able to make an appointment. Great.

Well, looking back over my updates, it seems my life is very dull. As depressing as that should be, it actually feels nice to not have any drama going on right now. Remind me of that when I complain about feeling restless or bored.

Wisdom from Dog the Bounty Hunter

Man....I can waste time! I just love summer. Too bad mine is only going to be a week long until July. As I said in an earlier post, I enjoy developing my domestic side during the summer. Just this morning I made coffee and breakfast for David and then washed all the dishes! This is huge for me, in case you didn't know. In the summer, everyday feels like Saturday. I woke up, got Raelynn off to vacation bible school, went and got my hair did, walked around Wal-Mart for way too long, and am now home blogging and watching "Dog, The Bounty Hunter."

My attraction to this particular show makes no sense. I've never had a ticket or any other type of run in with the law. I've never needed the services of a bail bondsman. I guess it's sorta like my attraction to watching "Cops." I don't watch that one too much but for some reason I'm really interested in watching the apprehension of some of these people. Dog has had his share of hard times...some in the past and some in the not so distant past. I think that because he has a shady background, you can watch him and feel like he's been right where these people are. He's really not my type of guy at all, but I really enjoy watching this show. It's one of the few reality shows where you can actually tell how "trailer-y" the stars are. Beth's (Dog's wife) dresses really trailer park like and she's dyed her hair platinum blond. She's often in need of a touch up on her roots. She also has these outrageously long nails with some really intricate designs painted on them. I don't want her job, don't want her husband, and don't want her life. But between all the sleazy people and guys with long hair and tats, it makes for some really interesting TV. David can't stand it. He's sane like that. Me...not so much.

One thing I have to say for Dog and his crew....they do try to get these people straight once they've captured them. The ride from the scene of the apprehension to the jail is usually one filled with Beth and Dog counseling the perp and the perp usually cries. Who knows if they actually listen...I'm betting that the perp they just apprehended is high on something and probably doesn't know their own name. If you watch the show long enough, you'll see Dog's wisdom. The funny thing is....it makes sense.

Some of my favorite "Dogisms" (quotes from Dog)

"When mercy is shown, mercy is given."

"I believe strong in God."

"Never-do you hit a woman."

"My grandfather would say they're all helpable if they wake up this side of the dirt."

"There's one guy running this show and his name has three letters..and those letters are G-O-D."

How can you argue with that logic??? The answer....you can't. Watch the show and you'll see what I mean.

Mudslides Aren't Fun (and I'm not talking about the drink!)

As I was looking through the pictures that I've downloaded for future blog posts, this is one I meant to write about sooner. I'm guessing in this case it's "Better late than never," so I'll do my best to share my thoughts.

Mudslides (and no I don't mean the frozen drink) are not attractive or fun. Most people think of mudslides as being present in mountainous regions or perhaps in third world countries after a bad storm. This is all true, but I've found that we have those here in StarkVegas on a much smaller scale. You see, my school is built on a hill. As a matter of fact, our compound is often referred to as "The Hill." My school is old. These two things put together makes for a bad combination during heavy rains.

Several years ago (before I moved here) my school had another wing built in between the two existing wings. Back in the day, each one of these wings was a separate one grade only school. When the addition was built the two schools merged into one school. All three main buildings are connected with covered outdoor walkways. (Ironically, I was hoping that when I moved from the Keys, I'd get to teach at a real school that was totally enclosed. Little did I know that I'd be working in the same type of school here in Mississippi.)

Somewhere during the construction of the new wing, someone decided to put small wood boards along the edge of the sidewalks. These boards where put in so that they acted as a small retaining wall from the dirt on the upper side of the sidewalk. Over the years, many students have used these boards as their own personal balance beam and the result has been that the boards have lost their usefulness at retaining the dirt. When it rains, even a little, the mud slides down the sidewalk and makes a huge mess. Since my classroom is in the wing that is the farthest away, we get to walk through this mud several times a day. If you add to that the fact that when it rains, we get drenched, it makes for an unpleasant trip.

To compensate for the mud, they have laid down plywood on top of the mudslides so that we can walk over the mud instead of through it. This works a little but still doesn't keep the mud from flying up behind you as you walk. It just seems like something could be done. I'm not sure what it is, but perhaps if the right people were around during a rain storm they'd see what I'm talking about. That doesn't usually happen.

On a different note, I will say that I'm glad to have a job. With budget cuts and hiring freezes, some people are having a hard time finding a job or keeping the one that they have. In all things, I'm blessed. If walking through some mud is the worst I have to endure, then I say.....bring on the plywood, people! Watch me walk over the mud!

Sam, summer school, and other things floating through my mind

OUR NEW PONY, SAM

This is a picture I found on the Web that looks just like the pony we got today. Raelynn named him "Sam." I think the horse in this picture is a miniature, so it's lots smaller than our horse. When I think of how big a pony is, I imagined it would be much smaller than I found they actually are. Sam looks just like our other horses, just a little shorter. We already have 3 horses, so you might be wondering why we got another one. So a little background is in order here....

David loves horses. He grew up with them and had always wanted one (or more) when we moved to Mississippi and got some land. We got Cricket from David's dad. We then got Megan from David's sister. Megan and Cricket hooked up a couple of years ago and gave us a surprise that we named Magic. David has worked with all of these horses, so it's not like they're wild or anything. In the course of his horse whispering, he has also been working with Raelynn and her riding skills. So far, she hasn't really developed any. She has managed to fall off all of the horses we have. I think that each time she's fallen, she's the one that is responsible for the fall. So David wanted to continue working with Raelynn and just figured that if we got a shorter horse, that any potential falls would be less and thus Raelynn would be less scared. We bought the horse from a guy down the road that shows horses and is a horse dealer. Originally, David wanted to get rid of one horse when we got this one, but after having them around for several years, they've really grown on me and I can't imagine not having them all. We're going to see if our 4 acres can sustain 4 horses. Hopefully it will so none of our horses will have to find a new home.

So that explains the new addition to our family. Yes, I have a camera, but my computer runs really slowly and since I also have STUPID DIAL UP it makes it really hard for me to load pictures from the computer to my blog. But I did a real good job of finding a good picture of what Sam looks like so you get the picture.

SUMMER SCHOOL

David and I are both enrolled in summer classes. We are both currently pursuing our masters and are getting a little tired of the perpetual feeling of never leaving school. David is taking an online class this summer and working on his comprehensive finals. I am taking the National Writing for Thinking Project's summer institute. It meets everyday in June from 8 to 4. It's 6 credit hours and they pay the tuition. Free is good. We've already had an orientation meeting a week or so back on a Saturday. I didn't really have a good time. I'm hoping things look up for this class, otherwise it's going to be a long summer. Whenever I think of summer school, I always think of the movie of the same name with Mark Harmon. Somehow, I don't see my class as being anywhere as interesting as this movie. If you haven't seen it, you should rent it. It's fun.

SUMMER READS

I always look forward to reading some books over the summer, especially since I don't have lots of time to do that during the school year. So far, I've read all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. My students love these and I can totally see why. There was one part about Shel Silverstein that had me laughing for quite sometime. The book that I'm currently working on is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I've already read this book, but with the movie coming out this summer, I want to be refreshed of the story line. After Harry, I'll read the two books I have by Jodi Picoult--Salem Falls and My Sister's Keeper. The latter of the two books is going to be a movie so I figured that I'd read it before seeing the movie. My friend, Kathy S., highly recommended this author, so I'm going to take her word for it. I recommended the Twilight series to her and she read them. She didn't fall in love with them like I did, but I won't hold that against her.

HOUSEHOLD CHORES

During the summer, my domestic side becomes more dominant. I actually like to spend time cleaning and organizing stuff. There's a great feeling ithe the cleansing and purging your place of unnecessary stuff. The thing is, I like to do other things in the summer like sleep, read, and watch TV so sometimes I put cleaning off. I really need to work on being more consistent in this area. I'm currently thinking about starting with the kitchen, followed by the bathrooms, the living room, and then the bedrooms. I usually don't clean unless I'm really upset by something, but during the summer, it's something I enjoy doing. I think that cooking also falls into this category. In the summer time, I don't mind it.

SPENDING TIME WITH FRIENDS

This summer I'm looking forward to spending time with Wendy and her family at her pool and also hanging out with Kathy S. If all goes well, I may be swimming with both Kathy and Wendy in Wendy's pool. Currently, Kathy is on a beach trip and Wendy leaves for a beach trip on Wednesday. When Kathy returns, her son has surgery scheduled and at the end of the month, Wendy will go to the beach and visit her family in Pennsylvania. So finding time when we can all be together will be a challenge. The summer usually flies by and I'm hoping to spend some of it with some of my favorite people.


SELF-IMPROVEMENT

This is something that I have often tried to do and have yet to stick with consistently. I need to take better care of myself. I need to eat more healthy and exercise more. I have a couple of health issues that would be greatly improved by eating better and reducing my mass. Then there's always the other smaller things I need to do for myself, like moisturize and take care of my feet. I don't know if I don't do these things because I'm lazy or because I don't really care for myself. Either way, this body isn't getting any younger, so I should start taking care of it now, so I'll have an easier job of it later in life. How does everyone out there manage to go through all their beauty regimes without losing their minds? It seems that for me, it would just add to my list of things that I don't remember as it is. If anyone out there has any suggestions or tips on this subject, I'm be interested in hearing them.


MY BIRTHDAY

David asked me the other day what I wanted for my birthday. My birthday is coming up and I never seem to know what I want. I thought that this year I might like getting an IPod so that I'll have something to use when I start back jogging. I'm not really what you'd call techno savvy, so I'm not sure what the IPod entails. Do I order music from ITunes on the computer, download them and then put them on the IPod? Do I use music from CD's that I currently have, download them on to the computer, and then put them on the IPod? We have a computer (obviously since I'm blogging on it) but I'm not sure if between our STUPID DIAL UP or capacity to handle any new programs, whether getting an IPod would be a bad idea. Oh...to be younger and more in touch with technology.... If you guys have any tips out there, let me know. If you can think of something that I should get for my birthday other than this, let me know.


In the meantime, enjoy your summer. I know that's what I'm doing with mine.

I'm Craving.....

One of my favorite places to eat when I lived in Key West was Miami Subs. It's sort of like a Subway in that you can order sub sandwiches, but you don't get to watch your sandwich go down the toppings line. You tell the people what you want on your sub and they put it all together for you. I like a good sub sandwich. And when I want one, I go to Subway. I didn't mention the other item Miami Subs makes that I adore: gyros.
I know the picture is big, but you won't get the essence of the gyro unless you can clearly see what it is made of. Miami Subs has a rotisserie of meat (I think it's a combination of beef and lamb) and they slice off pieces and put them onto some pita bread with sliced tomato, red onion, and tzatziki sauce. And it's the sauce that makes the meal.




It's been six years since I've been to Key West and just as long as it has been since I had a gyro. There is no Miami Subs in Starkville. I've inquired around, and was told that Dave's Dark Horse Tavern sold gyros and a couple of weeks ago, I met some friends there and tried one. It was fair, but not tasty enough for me to go back or to satisfy my craving for a decent gyro.


So I've been looking online for recipes for tzatziki sauce and found several of them. This afternoon I made a batch of the sauce. The ingredients that make it great are: plain yogurt (which I had to strain--a new thing for me), sour cream, garlic, salt, pepper, dill, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice. It's now sitting in my fridge so all the flavors can come together. I bought some steak strips and some pita bread, so we'll have the home version tonight. Hope it'll be as tasty as I remember so I can enjoy it while I'm watching the season finale of Survivor.




Well, it's time to cook the steak. Keep your fingers crossed that my gyros won't make me or David sick. Have a great week everyone!

Mother's Day Weekend

I've tried several times to write a post, but haven't been able to finish it. I'm not sure why that is. Anyway, I'm determined to finish this one. You'll have to bear with me if the topic(s) seem to drift....

Today is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely ladies out there....both those with and without children. Even if you don't have kids yet, you might one day, and even if you don't, I'm sure there are lots of people that you've been a shoulder to lean on, very much like a mother.

My Mother's Day weekend has been great. On Friday, my husband and daughter sent me flowers to school. I love flowers. David gave me flowers a lot when we first got married, and then they've sorta tapered off. Don't blame him, I really see his point. First, the flowers die. They're real nice but they don't last. Also, David buying me something with "his" money is ridiculous because it's really "our" money. And David is really a practical person. If you need tires for your car, he'd rather buy that for your birthday since it's something you need. When he does send flowers, he knows how to do it. You always send the flowers to work. You get extra credit when you do that. That way, everyone around you can enjoy them too.

After school on Friday, David and Raelynn came by school and took me out to dinner. We went to Mugshots, one of my favorite places. I had the Walker burger which has crumbled blue cheese and a smear of blue cheese dressing on it. It's really good. I substituted the fries for fried pickles. If you've never had these, you're missing out. Some places have fried slices, some have fried spears. I prefer the fried slices.

Later, my friend Kathy S. came over and we walked and talked. She is one of my favorite people. She's so funny and we think a lot alike.

On Saturday, I was hoping to go to the movies, but that didn't pan out. (Side note...I was trying to organize a girls outing since David isn't a big fan of the movies.) I'm going to go sometime, even if it's by myself. I just really want to see "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past." It looks cute. I ended up picking up flowers for my mom, and they delivered them to her with the gift I got her: wind chimes made from antique silverware and silver service pieces. Mom said she loved it!

I did, however, go to a late lunch with my friends Carrie and Ashley at Applebee's. I always enjoy being around them....we have so much fun together. (They are also some of my favorite people!!)

On Sunday morning, I awoke to Raelynn telling me that she had made me breakfast in bed. She had made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and brought it to me in bed. She also managed to pour me a glass of milk without spilling anything. We went to church, where moms were recognized again, and Raelynn showered me with gifts...a pillow she made, a pink bear, and a lovely red rose. After church we went to eat a quick lunch at Arby's. David and I both enjoy the Rueben sandwich they have there.

In just a bit, we are taking my parents out to eat at the new Mexican restaurant in town. I love Mexican food. This has been a great weekend and I've felt really special. I hope that all moms out there have had similar experiences. When you see your mom, whether it's Mother's Day or not, be sure to give her a squeeze and tell her how much she means to you!

Grading Papers....Fun.

Grading papers is something that has to be done if you're a teacher. Something that most people don't know, is that grading papers can really snowball on you. You have to stay on top of it or it will pile up on you in no time. It tends to take longer to go through the stack once it piles up than it does to avoid working on it.

Some times I work better than others. This weekend was a good one. David and Raelynn went to see his dad on Saturday, so I had the house to myself. I woke up feeling pretty crummy and it took me awhile to get going on the papers. Once I got going, I ended up grading a humongous stack of papers. I watched a couple of movies as well, Hannah and Her Sisters (I didn't think it was so great) and of course, Twilight again (in case you don't know, this movie and book rocks.) I even had time for a short nap during the afternoon. I really like days that like....you get stuff done and have no pressing engagements. You can take a nap if you want to. And I did want to.

We went to church this morning, after dressing Raelynn in her Hawaiian stuff. It was Hawaiian Day at church for the kids. Raelynn seemed to enjoy it and I briefly thought about dressing up myself, but I didn't want to scare anyone. It was raining really hard when we left church but we ended up going to Wendy's for lunch and then headed home. I graded some more today, but slowed down enough for a walk to my mom's house.

I've yet to tackle the makeup work. It takes a lot longer to grade makeup work than it does a whole set of papers. The kids don't seem to understand this, no matter how I try to explain it to them. I think they must believe that the papers get graded by themselves...either that or the grading fairy visits me often. You might be saying to yourself that I just shouldn't grade late work. That usually is my policy but if I didn't grade it, then their grades would be skewed. It's a never ending cycle for me as to what to do....I still have no answers. All I know is that grading the late papers is nothing compared to getting the work out of the kids. That's something I wish I knew how to solve.

Anywho.....sorry that this post is pretty dull. My weekend wasn't that thrilling....just many hours of writing with a marker and using my EZ Grader to crunch the numbers. I'm going to go now and see if I can finish up....I feel a snowball of ungraded papers coming my way.

I Hope You Dance

Have you ever heard that song by Leann Womack? The words are great and it gets me every time I hear it.


Today was crummy. No details...I don't want to bore you...but it was a bad day. At one point I felt I was outside of myself and looking in. Surreal moment. My wonderful husband took me out to dinner and now, many hours later, I feel better.


I was scanning the TV, and ran across the movie, Selena, with Jennifer Lopez. Has anyone out there seen this? I really like it. As you may know, I was born and raised in Key West, and even though I'm not Hispanic, I can really relate to the music, culture, etc. I was raised around it. And man oh man, what I wouldn't do for some decent Cuban food!


In the movie, there's singing, of course, and dancing too. Once upon a time, I was a dancer. I did it lots in high school. I was on the high school's dancing drill team and went to the high school dances each week. I never had a boyfriend or even a date in high school, but I did enjoy dancing with my friends.


I miss those days. My husband isn't much of a dancer. I think he slow dances just fine (and we've only done that a few times) but he admits he's not a big fan of dancing. I love it. I wish there was a place I could go to hear some great dancing music and groove with my girlfriends. I'm a fan of two stepping and line dancing too. I do have to admit that I'm not so great at the two stepping...but I'd like to try. There's something about moving and swaying to the music that takes your mind off of everything else. I really miss it.


In the meantime, I think I'll go in my room, turn on my CD player and dance. I hope you dance too.