3 Doors Down

Woohoo! The new 3 Doors Down Album came out. We have it, of course. I'm giving it a listen now. I found this website, where you can listen to some of it.
You should go buy it.
Now. Go!
Why are you still here?

hmmm.

I saw a lady at the gym the other day, on one of those Elliptical Machines. If you do 'em right, they'll kick your ass. She was moving rather sedately, reading a book. I instantly saw a LOL caption below her:

"Exrciz- yur doin it rong"

Island Salad

I had a really great time Saturday, even getting quite drunk on Chocolate Vodka. There must have been some strange Brain waves going around, since three people had the Chocolate Goodness. Zonker (YAYYY!) even brought Cherry Vodka to mix with it. Mmmmmmm. Ellison and SWMBO came, much to our delight, and we decided to trade recipes- Island Salad for that Wonderful Cake he brought. I tried to email it to them, but I don't have his address. If you see him, tell him to stop by here and get the recipe. This can be doubled or trebled or quadrebled quite easily.

The party was a hit, but I did not make nearly enough of this stuff. Here is my recipe. I got it by watching this really great guy make it when we were in the Bahamas. This is so incredibly easy to make, but comes out so very, very fresh.

6 tomatoes, somewhat firm
1 medium onion
3 bell peppers, I like to use different colors to make it prettyful, Red and orange give it a milder flavor than the green
limes
oranges
sea salt, or kosher, 'tis up to you
pepper- I use jalapeno, but habenero rocks,too.
3-4 cans minced clams

You can spend much time slicing and dicing all the veggies, or you can pulse them in a food processor. I do each veggie separately and make sure I don't over-do the pulse. I put the veggies in a colander (you have several of those, don't you, Ellison?) to drain thoroughly. It's important to get the liquid out, since you'll be adding citrus back in later.
I put 3-4 cans of minced clams in there to drain as well.

I chop the jalapeno by hand, adding a liberal amount of sea salt to the mix to release the flavor and heat, Scovilles, anyone?

Mix it all up in your favorite bowl, and then add the juice of several limes and at least 3 oranges. Taste and add heat and salt as needed.

Chill and serve with the beverage of your choice.

Voila!
Holder

Babble babble babble

So we're on Day 3 of Virus 2008. We have runny noses and general malaise and lethargy. Can you have both of those at one time, you ask? You can if you're five and eat little of nothing to begin with.
I'm busy trying get the house ready for Saturday. I've ordered mild weather- Sunny, but not hot. It looks like it will be delivered on time.

If you know me and know where I am, consider yourself invited to the BBQ. We're celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary. At least drunk dial us.

It is currently 63 degrees here, in the middle of May. At least the house will get a good airing out.
Speaking of airing out, on the way home this morning ( I actually made it to work for about 2 hours before having to leave) Re-Pete sneezed, coughed, and farted all at the same time. Then said, "Ewwww, that stinks" and then giggled at herself.

Whilst I'm babbling about nothing in particular, I had a dream the other night that there were these two people- broccoli people, that were chasing me while I was at the county fair. I was standing by the dart throw when I saw them. They were Very Tall, as some broccoli people are, I guess. They were hybrids, not the short fat kind, but the tall skinny kind- Rapini, I think. I remember on had a fuchsia top. Not a shirt, but her/it's flowery part was fuchsia. I was a little jealous that she had that color and I didn't. Someone standing beside said she looked "pretty cool." I turned around to run off.... and that's all I remember.

Now, I know dreams have hidden meanings. Do you guys (all 3 of you) have any thoughts as to what my dream might mean?

Antibodies and entero viruses

I learned something new today. Entero viruses can affect more than one part of your body, apparently. Re-Pete has tonsillitis (swollen tonsils) due, probably, to an entero virus. I thought it was the entero virus that gives you diarrhea and the pukes. Now, it can also give you a sore throat.

Ewww.

Which led, of course, to a discussion on why viruses only make you sick once and the role of antibodies in your bodies. No funny quips this time, drats. Pete's usually good for a funny quote, she just thought the information for the antibody would be kept in the brain, I guess because that's where memories are kept. Makes sense. But of course, antibodies are proteins and the instructions or "memory" for those are stored in your DNA.

Man, I'm smart, huh? Mayhaps we need a refresher from Dr. Doches. Haven't seen her in a while. Maybe I can get her to do a post on memories in the body.

Makes a Certain Kind of Sense

You just never know what will come out of my children's mouth. This time it was Pete. The conversation went something like this:

Pete: Do Chickens eat worms?
Mom: I'm not sure. They do on TV but that that doesn't make it real. I know they eat grains.
Re-Pete: Birds (pronounced bo-wuds) eat worms.
Pete- Some birds eat dead things. Like vultures. If you lay really still they'll come peck at you.

...... Bou blink .....

Mom: I'm pretty sure you have to have that dead-smell for them to peck at you.
Pete: Or if your hugging a dead person outside and get that smell on you and then you lay down really still.

...... crickets chirping in the silence....

Mom: Maybe so.


Reminds me of a shirt my sister used to have:

If you can Dazzle 'Em with Your Brilliance,

Baffle 'Em with Your Bullshit.

Expanding her vocabulary

Re-Pete learned a new word today. From of the boys at school.

Sex. She doesn't know what it is, "but boyfriends and girlfriends do it"

Great.

My babies are leaving the nest.

Literally. The baby birds that are nesting under the back porch are learning to fly. I can't believe how big they've gotten!

I know they're crappy pictures, but it was late afternoon and all I had was my cell phone.

There are six birds total I think. I picked them up to put them back in their nest. And no, it's not true about the Momma killing the babies if you touch them. If your hands are dirty or you squeeze too tight that'll be enough to do the trick.

I'll tell you one thing- there's not much room left in that nest!

Ack!

The day started out quite well, no blood or whining, we left on time, got to work on time. Then a teacher told me about a new policy- "credit recovery". Students with a 65-69 average can come in during post planning and complete an assignment to get those extra points.

I have a twitch in my right now.

It doesn't matter all the other stuff that we have offered and the student hasn't taken advantage of- in the last 15 and a half weeks of school.: extra credit, extra time, retake quizzes for full credit, correct tests for half credit, tutoring, progress reports, Saturday school. We are only supposed to give work for excused absences. But now we are required to give this recovery work.

I know- I'm taking Thursday and Friday off, but I'm coming in on Saturday for 14 hours to make up the time- I won't lose and sick leave that way, I can "recover" my hours.

At what point are students held responsible for their own actions?
God, I am so sick of this.

Checkit:

Students will rise to your level of expectations. If you lower your expectations, students will not have so far to rise. Kids are kids. It is total BS to give them yet another chance. I don't even want to hear about that "one student who'll pass" That kid will pass anyway, because he/she will do the work all along.


And while I'm at it, at some point in your life you figured out that you are part of a community, and that there are acceptable behaviors and unacceptable behaviors. Like, don't spit on a sidewalk, people walk there. Or, you can't solve all of your issues with violence. You have to learn to use your words, and to hear the words of others. I have a junior who has really gone off half-cocked over some horse-playing. The horse playing had been fine for several days, then Bam, it's not and the Junior is charging the freshmen and won't back off until the freshmen gets hit and pushed. Both students got the same consequence, but the Junior just won't stop. To the point where there will be more consequences. Freakin' Drama Queen. Go ahead and hit the kid so we can send your ass to jail so we can finish the year in peace, fer' crying out loud.

Bunny Speak

Last weekend Re-Pete was a super spy, complete with gadgets,(I tried to put a link to Hubby's site to the picture of her gadgets stuck to his back but alas...)

This weekend she was a bunny. Complete with bunny language:



"Boing Boing" means "I love You"



and



"Ching Ching" means "Watch me"



Heh, what will she think of next?

Curiosity

I had to go to the doctor the other afternoon, seems I've developed a case of the galloping cruds in my sinus passages. Antibiotics were called for, and since I'm still not Queen of the World, I have to go to the doctor for all my bacteria popping goodies instead of just getting the prescription called in.

My doctor works with her husband in the same building. He's OB/GYN she's a general practitioner. It's kinda fun to try and guess which door the people waiting in the chairs will get called from. You know- is she pregnant or sick? Oh, I bet she's just having a Pap today and so forth. Then the teenage couple walks in looking lost, and we know she's pregnant, right?
I'm a people watcher for sure, just can't help myself. I like knowing information about people, it makes them more real, I guess.

And no, I'm not a busy body, I'm just curious.

A nice hot soak

After a few minutes of channel surfing (which always drives the hubby nuts. So much so that I sometimes go in another room to do it) I finally settle on Anthony Bourdain. He is such a lady's man, am I right? Wouldn't you love to throw back a few drinks with him? He was in Japan, and he went to a Ryokan {{Hello Ellison}} and had several meals there. But before he did, he enjoyed a soak in a hot spring.

Naked.

So there he was, all alone in this steamy bath with a gorgeous mountain view...

Naked.

Day-um.

Be still my beating heart!

Although it still did not convince me to eat blow fish. Just saying.

Please, Mr. Postman, please!

So Re-Pete has written her brother a letter. No, I did not take this picture in a mirror. This is how she wrote it. Is she a genius or what?

I put the address on the other side along with the stamp and put my own little "see other side" message just in case some rube thought it was a joke.

A long time ago, before we even had dirt, I was a wee girl in the 2nd grade. I had a uncle in prison. It's true. Well, I actually had two uncles in prison. Both of my mother's sisters married men who ended up in the slammer. I would write one of them letters on that greyish paper with the blue and red-dashed lines. We called them tablets in those days. Remember those? Are those even still made? They were wider they they are long.
So, I wrote him letters, 'cuz he wanted to hear from a seven year old he hardly knew.

I found a few of those letters when I was ten. My handwriting was so neat and even. With tales of swimming and our dog, Popcorn.

But seeing those letters in my Mom's nightstand made me realize my folks weren't really sending those letters to him. Which is probably why he returned to a life of crime once he was released from jail. If he had only received my letters (said with my forehand on my forehead and a pained expression) He probably wouldn't be the schitzoid he is today, with his drug-induced glassy glaze....
but I digress....

I dare you to write out a name completely backwards- from right to left with the letters backwards as well. Okay, maybe you can do it easily. Don't gloat to me. No one likes a sore winner...

Let's just hope her brother doesn't need a mirror to read whatever is in there...

Will you always love me?

So I'm tucking Re-Pete in last night, we read The Berenstain Bears B Book, complete with beautiful baboons and bubbles and banana boxes. After our book we snuggle and talk.
"Mommy, am I your baby?" (We have this conversation on a regular basis)

"Yes, you will always be my baby. And I will always love you."

"Will you always love {the Marine} and {Pete}?"

"I will always love all of you. Even if you drew on the walls, I would still love you."

"What if I made you mad?"

"I would still love you."

"What about Daddy? When you're mad at him?"

And a teaching moment appeared!

I explained how even when people get mad at each other, we still love each other. How we work through our anger. It was wonderful. She has this habit of holding her up and wiggling her fingers slightly when she's processing something. It's so endearing. There we lay, her head near my shoulder, her favorite blanket around her, those fingers twitching. Finally she gave a sigh of contentment, and snuggled into her blanket.

Ahhh, the sweet moments of motherhood.

On a related note, have you ever read I love you, Stinkyface?

Sheesh, have I been an absentee landlord or what? I've been working some crazy hours lately, accomplishing some stuff. Really don't have lot to say.
I tried to stay away from television on Earth Day for fear of seeing Al Gore. My head spins and vomit spews... not pretty, trust me. Yeah, I know, clean up the planet, recycle, use less fuel.... yada yada yada. And it's true. I live and work in the same community. I keep my heat and AC at decent levels. We've instituted a recycling program here at the compound. I drive at the speed limit (mostly) to conserve gas. Hell, I'd fart in a bucket and use it for fuel if I could figure out a way.

Our "new" principal is now our "old" principal, and the "new new" principal came in today and told us he couldn't wait for next year and all the "fun we're going to have". To which the "old old" principal replied that he could start now. That was nice.

Great. I hope that by "fun" he means having a set a rules that teachers are expected to enforce and students are expected to follow. And maybe a masseuse once a week. Now that would be fun.

Let's just hope I can keep my head down. Do my job as best as I can and don't talk to anyone else. At least I'll be in the new building and have nice facilities. At least new desks and clean windows. No graffiti for a few days in the girls bathroom.

Hellfire, indeed!

Today started so great, the girls were in a good mood, even singing. We left on time, a rarity. I listened to some good tunes on the way to work, got to my duty station on time, even had a few kids greet me as they passed by. One of my more bubble-brained student told me she was "getting much better at driving" (one of the many reasons I like to get to work early is I get to avoid the student drivers).

so then it just went to shit. At the end of the day, I am just left feeling very disappointed in the administration, a parent, and several students.

So, I'm off to continue working on my time travel machine. I think today needs a do-over.

A whole new meaning

Today I was yammering on about velocity and we got sidetracked about gas prices and such (and who doesn't?) We were looking at the following:

given that:
-according to Clark Howard, most cars are most fuel efficient at around 60 mi/hr.
and
- for every 5 mi/hr above that you are traveling you lose 10% fuel efficiency
and
- for every ten miles you travel and every 5 mi/hr increase in speed you only gain about 1.5 minutes (do the math!!!)
and
- gas is a motherfucking cocksucking gottdamming holy effing sheepshit BATMAN $3.39 a gallon
-a car with 25 mpg would gain an extra 65 gallons for doing 65 instead of 75 in its daily doings, which for my car is about $10. Moral being slow down, save money, not really worth the time gained.

And then it happened.

I gave out directions for our activity and we began, everything went swimmingly, when suddenly a student asked me a question. Seems she'd heard from "somewheres" that your car used less gas if you slowed down and could I explain that to her.

Gives a whole new meaning to

"secure the student's attention before proceeding"

Bless her heart...

sightings and other news

Sorry about the lack of posting. My computer crapped out on me. Now I have to get up in the middle of the night to get on my husband's computer to post.

I was standing in line at the store today and happened to look at the woman in front of me, just a side glance really. And she looked so much like my mother I almost called her "Mom"- Sort of took my breath away, it did. My mother died 5 years ago this month, so it was a shock to my system.

In other news, my very good friend is finally able to move away, for which I am very glad for her, but very, very sad for me. She is moving literally halfway around the world. Can't get much farther than that.

People in my life continue to amaze me by their acts of kindness. I have witnessed people being very good to one another, which gives me hope.

I still live in fear of my husband's death. I know, freaky. I just can't shake the feeling that he will die before me and that I need to somehow practice being without him. Gah, it's awful.

I betcha you're really happy you stopped at my site today, huh? You know where you should go for a better read? Rachel Lucas' site. She always cracks me up.

I'll be better soon, and I'll share some more from that book about scientists I'm reading.

It's cold in in Hilton Head. And there is some sort of sleeping sickness going around. Like one of those little dwarves has gone and invaded here. The food has been good, and the company. We've even managed to pack 13 boxes. Out of about 2,000, I would say. Sheesh.  

We were near Paris Island today, kinda cool. 

Must. Get. Up....