"Tell me somethin good"

I was supposed to have the weekend to myself...but, mother nature had different plans. JJ was supposed to go to his aunt's in Philadelphia....but, due to a snowstorm, greyhound canceled it's runs. Braden was supposed to leave Friday night for a scout camping trip, but that got postponed. So much for R & R.
It seems that the Gods of Misfortune are determined to wreak havoc with our lives. Keith has to have back surgery. He'll be out of work for at least a month. Just what we need with these higher mortgage payments we've been having to make. Not to mention that back surgery has certain risks involved.
On the same "oh woe is me" note, my computer is acting totally screwy. It's about four years old, and I think it's on it's last leg. It keeps freezing up...for a long time. When it goes to screensaver mode, it takes about ten minutes to get it to "wake up" again. I've deleted as many files as possible and moved all my pictures to an external hard-drive, trying to free up space, but it takes forever to do anything.
There was a bomb scare at Braden's school on Thursday. He found "bomb in school" written on the bathroom door in the morning. So, he did what he thought was the responsible thing and went right back to class and told his teacher. After the students were allowed back in the building, he was called to the office and grilled about it. They practically accused him of writing it himself. "How did you notice it?" "You know we can dust for fingerprints" "You know a bomb threat is a federal offense". They thought it was odd because it was early in the morning when he found it. He told them it could have been in there since the day before and no one noticed it then. He also said, "If I did it, do you think I'd run right in to the teacher and tell her about it? That would be suicide." He also told them that he likes that school and if he really wanted to stay home, his mom would just let him stay home. He was pretty worked up when he got home. I never even got a phone call about it.
So, that's what's down with me. What about you? Tell me something good.

HGTV Junkie

On the weekends I watch a lot of HGTV. I have it on while I'm cleaning, or cooking. I love Candice Olson. And David Bromstad. I used to love Kenneth Brown, too, but he doesn't seem to be on anymore. That Chayse Dacoda girl from "Get It Together" is pretty good too. I like "Find Your Style", but something about Karen Macaloon's mouth bothers me. And as far as Carter Can....he can!
I can't stand Constance Ramos. I don't know why, but I find her extremely irritating. I also don't like Lee Snyder from Design on a Dime...he seems way too full of himself for me. I'm not sure about Vern Yip...he's too nice, I think.

"Ice ice baby...."

We got out of school early on Tuesday, because of snow. [Sidenote: One of my students was doubting that we'd have an early dismissal, and wanted to bet me on it. After I told him that we couldn't bet money, we agreed on this - if we didn't get out early, I'd have to come to school on the next school day wearing clothes that didn't match. If we did get out early, he'd have to come in with his shirt tucked in and his pants pulled up to his waist. Trust me, his pants haven't seen anything above his behind in years. I WON!!! I can't wait to see if he follows through.] We had Wednesday off, because of ice and a two hour delay today because of ice. I'm starting to feel like Spidey, but it's due to ice, not snow. The kids are dying for a good snow storm. We've only had about three inches at a time here, and it's always followed by ice. It's hard to play in ice-covered snow.

I have book group tomorrow night, which I'm looking forward to. I may have mentioned this before, but we read "Ella Minnow Pea" and the author is phoning in. I'm looking forward to it, as I really enjoyed the book.

Nothing new on the mortgage front...it's still "be patient". Not exactly my strongest suit.

Braden had a girl from his German class over yesterday to bake something for their German Party. Why they were coming here, I don't know. She was supposed to bring the ingredients, and I was to provide the "hard goods" - oven, cookie sheets, mixer, etc. Then the day before, she asked Braden if she had to bring everything. I told him to tell her that I had all the baking basics...flour, sugar, eggs, etc. She showed up with this recipe for a German Black Forest cake. And that's it. The recipe called for a ton of ingredients that I didnt' have. So I scoured the internet and found a recipe for Berliner Pretzels. They are a shortbread cookie that you shape into a pretzel. You should see how some of the pretzels look...more like globs. The girl was very nice, and I could tell that Braden had a crush on her.

"Jesus love me, this I know..."

One of my favorite students, B, is applying to a college in Florida. (She's the one who will be the first person in her family to graduate high school) Because she's registered, she has an email account through her college. She figured out what our emails are at school...it's not too hard...first initial, last name, and has started sending me emails. But, the emails aren't really from her, they're from God. She knows I know they're from her, but she keeps sending them. I think they're hysterical, which is why I think she keeps sending them. (Sidenote: the kids start with 4 tokens a day, and if they keep a certain percentage, they earn rewards)

Here, in order, is what they've said:

"What's up...B is the best student in the world...she is the only kid in your school who don't do drugs...please this is from God...yes the one God. Never take another token from her again."

"This is God I am very angry with the way u have been acting lately. I want to inform u that on Feb 1, Friday, tomorrow u must buy R and B some candy because I am God and let them do everthing they want or u shall feel my wrath!!!!!!!!!! P.S. Please do not take any token from JD he is a Giants fan."

"Hello. This is God once again. I see that B was a very good student today. I think that she should not stay for detention tomorrow. Me and her have many things to do. Like go to the library. Also, baby jesus said hi."

Shining, gleaming,streaming, flaxen, waxen

Well, I bit the bullet and got my hair cut short. I chose what I thought was a really nice cut. See the picture on the bottom.

What I got is something totally different. The back and sides are very much shorter, and the top is only about 2" long, where in the picture it's probably about 4" long. What I got looks like the picture on the top. Not that it's a horrible look, it's just nothing like what I wanted.

I spent last night crying and fuming. The worst part is it can't be fixed because she made it too short. It will take months before it's long enough to look even close to the picture.

Why do I have bad luck with hairdressers? This woman has been coloring my hair, and trimming it for about a year and always did a good job in the past.

At school today, one of the boys said, "Miss, you look like Halle Berre..." and while I was saying thank you, he added, " 's mom!" Nice

Green Eggs and Ham

Read Across America is coming up the beginning of March, and once again, I'm trying to come up with ideas to get our kids interested in participating. Last year, the class that read the most books got to throw pies at the principal, which they loved!
This year, we have a new, younger principal who is a little more open to challenges. We discussed a couple of things, then I sent him the following email, to try to narrow down what he'd be open to.

(note....Halamar is an employee there, who they call MiniMe, because he follows the principal around, and fancies himself an administrator; Mrs. Steele is a pregnant teacher who isn't especially cared for by administration because, while she's a great teacher, her paperwork leaves a lot to be desired; Mr. Breidenthal is an ex-military Treatment Specialist who no one would want to spend the day working next to; Mr. Stambaugh is our gym teacher, who has to weigh 400 lbs.)

In honor of Dr. Seuss:

Would you consider eating a bug?
Or would you drink them from a coffee mug?
How would you feel 'bout kissing a frog?
If not a frog, how 'bout a hog?

You could don a tiara and pink tutu
Wear it while playing the kazoo
You could wear it in your auto-moblie
Or while you dance with Mrs. Steele.

As a highlight to your great career
Would you hand out lunch in scuba gear?
Would you like to do it dressed that way?
You wouldn't have to do it everyday.

Maybe you 'd rather milk a cow
I'm sure Halamar could show you how
Sitting on a little stool
Just don't get milk all over the school

You could wear one of those sumo suits
And wrestle with some possible recruits
Maybe we could enlist Mr. Stambaugh
I wonder which one of you would fall.

Or just sit you on top of that great dunk tank
We'll stay on hold with the local blood bank
We'd do it early so it's nice and cold
But before you think we're completely sold

Would you like a room with a fantastic view?
Get further away from this whole crew.
Move your stuff - your desk, your chair
To the parking lot, "Ahhh, fresh air!"

For the day you'd do your job outside
With maybe Mr. Breidenthall by your side
Your whole office set out in the grass
Being ogled and leered at by every class!