This always happens...February ends, March begins, the sun shines, and before I know it, mid-May is here and I don't even know what happened to April. Between school - the one I where I am the teacher, the other school - the one where I am the student, live-arm baseball, coach pitch baseball, 12 and under soccer, throw in a birthday party, G's track season, laundry, and life, I seem to miss the idyllic days of spring - not to mention completely ignoring and neglecting this blog.
Well, at least May does bring some guarantees - -less than a month of school (high school, that is), my last graduate class (whew! why didn't I stay in school at State back in the 90s when I had the chance?), and only a few more weeks of ballgames and practice.
Its a good thing I have summers free - well, relatively free. I need the time to recoup, rest up, and rejeuvenate, so that I can get a running start for next August, and keep that pace going all the way through until NEXT May!
And, hopefully, I will be much more regular with my updates and comments here on the blog.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
In Character
I am discovering, in a wierd, self-inflicted torture kind of way, that after 37 years of life, I am now allergic to strawberries. How does that happen? What little switch flipped in my body to suddenly revolt whenever I come into contact with this fruit?
It all started back in December -a wierd outbreak of pimples (more than I ever had when I was 16) and then the dryest skin ever. Over the past few months I have experiemented with changing everything that touches my face - make-up, cleanser, moisturizer, laundry detergent, etc - and now I think I have narrowed it down to strawberries. Monday night I sliced some for the boys to eat with the hamburgers we had for dinner. Tuesday afternoon, I ate 1/2 of one as I was cutting some for M's snack.
Yesterday, I woke up to see a stranger in the mirror! Red splotches, little bumps - not a pretty sight. I packed on the moisturizer, and laid off the make-up, hopeing it would all clear up quickly...nope. So, last night, I loaded up on Benydril lotion and pills...anything to help the new additions to the landscape of my face. Needless to say, all the Benydril knocked me out - -I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow, and didn't move all night long.
This moning, I overslept - thanks to the benydryl, I'm sure - and raced into the bathroom to get ready in a flash to make it to school before 7:00am. My new blowdryer packs quite the punch, and I haven't yet mastered the art of wielding all this power at such an early hour. So, I 
am trying to camoflague the remians of the strawberry rash, style my bed-head, and get to school on time. Guess what? I end up singeing part of my hair because I am holding the dryer too close! A nice-size chunk sort of falls off as I ran my hands thru that part of my hair! Now, I have the burned, broken hair to go along with the red face and look just like the Bride of Frankenstein. How appropriate that I have adopted this new look, just in time to introduce the novel Frankenstein to my seniors as their final novel assignment of high school. Boy - the things we teachers do just to engage our students and capture their attention!
am trying to camoflague the remians of the strawberry rash, style my bed-head, and get to school on time. Guess what? I end up singeing part of my hair because I am holding the dryer too close! A nice-size chunk sort of falls off as I ran my hands thru that part of my hair! Now, I have the burned, broken hair to go along with the red face and look just like the Bride of Frankenstein. How appropriate that I have adopted this new look, just in time to introduce the novel Frankenstein to my seniors as their final novel assignment of high school. Boy - the things we teachers do just to engage our students and capture their attention!...maybe next spring Ishould consider reading something a little less frigtening - and definitely stay away from the strawberries!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...
...often go awry.
OK, so much for bragging about my leisurely Spring Break plans, or lack there of. As I was complacently contemplating a week of bliss and relaxation, I didn't realize what actually lay in store for us this week. ...a new deck.
G and I have been talking about, d
rawing plans, making lists, etc for a while now for a deck for our back yard. Ever since Ike came through, our once serene shady backyard has become a barren desert of grass and weeds, desperately missing the shade and personality of the 80 yr old pecan tree that became a casualty of the storm. So, some time after we got home from church on Sunday, G and I were talking about the week ahead of us, and somehow we decided that it would be a good idea to begin our deck. It was Sunday, after all, and we had the whole week ahead of us. So, we started by ripping out the old brick patio under our lone oak tree, whose roots have buckled the bricks worse that poorly laid carpet in southern humidity. That chore took all of day 1. On the bright side, G got to enact some of the boys' favorite folk legends....he was John Henry as he swung the sledge hammer to break up the concrete under parts of the patio, and Paul Bunyan as he carried countless 1x6s into the backyard.
After this first day of hard, but productive work, we thought the rest would be downhill. Then, reality set it. The delivery on day 2 came at 5:30pm...almost too late to do much good. Day 3 was interrupted by dr's appts - - total of 6 shots, and most took it like a man :) - - and then day 4 was my day out with friends. Throw in a dentist appointment, two baseball practices, and G's track practice everyday, and time soon became a precious commodity.
So, here we are on Thursday, the deck is about 85% completed, and the week is 90% over. What happened to my rest and leisure?..maybe my sore muscles, broken fingernails, and scrapped shins give away the answer.
I guess I'll just have to spend some time relaxing on the new deck ( when it reaches 100% ) and find that leisure and bliss that I missed this past week. In the meantime, though, I think I have some shopping to do, to make this deck a new source of serentity for our backyard.
OK, so much for bragging about my leisurely Spring Break plans, or lack there of. As I was complacently contemplating a week of bliss and relaxation, I didn't realize what actually lay in store for us this week. ...a new deck.
G and I have been talking about, d
rawing plans, making lists, etc for a while now for a deck for our back yard. Ever since Ike came through, our once serene shady backyard has become a barren desert of grass and weeds, desperately missing the shade and personality of the 80 yr old pecan tree that became a casualty of the storm. So, some time after we got home from church on Sunday, G and I were talking about the week ahead of us, and somehow we decided that it would be a good idea to begin our deck. It was Sunday, after all, and we had the whole week ahead of us. So, we started by ripping out the old brick patio under our lone oak tree, whose roots have buckled the bricks worse that poorly laid carpet in southern humidity. That chore took all of day 1. On the bright side, G got to enact some of the boys' favorite folk legends....he was John Henry as he swung the sledge hammer to break up the concrete under parts of the patio, and Paul Bunyan as he carried countless 1x6s into the backyard.
After this first day of hard, but productive work, we thought the rest would be downhill. Then, reality set it. The delivery on day 2 came at 5:30pm...almost too late to do much good. Day 3 was interrupted by dr's appts - - total of 6 shots, and most took it like a man :) - - and then day 4 was my day out with friends. Throw in a dentist appointment, two baseball practices, and G's track practice everyday, and time soon became a precious commodity.
So, here we are on Thursday, the deck is about 85% completed, and the week is 90% over. What happened to my rest and leisure?..maybe my sore muscles, broken fingernails, and scrapped shins give away the answer.
I guess I'll just have to spend some time relaxing on the new deck ( when it reaches 100% ) and find that leisure and bliss that I missed this past week. In the meantime, though, I think I have some shopping to do, to make this deck a new source of serentity for our backyard.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Spring Break '09
S -sleeping as late as I want to
P - probably going to the zoo one day
R -realxing at home
I - ice cream eating
N - new clothes shopping
G - going for a pedi and sushi with the girls
B - breakfast at 10:00am
R - reading just for fun
E - eating dinner on the back porch
A - allowing everyone to stay up too late
K -knowing it is only a sample of what is to come in June
ahhhh, I love being a teacher.....for so many reasons :)
P - probably going to the zoo one day
R -realxing at home
I - ice cream eating
N - new clothes shopping
G - going for a pedi and sushi with the girls
B - breakfast at 10:00am
R - reading just for fun
E - eating dinner on the back porch
A - allowing everyone to stay up too late
K -knowing it is only a sample of what is to come in June
ahhhh, I love being a teacher.....for so many reasons :)
Friday, March 6, 2009
Take it Like a Man
I am blessed with healthy kids...we don't catch the flu, rarely have colds, and have, thankfully, outgrown ear infections. So, we rarely go to the doctor. In fact, we have even gotten out of the habit of annual check ups, or well visits. So, being a mom, I figured it must be something we should take care of and made appointments for all three boys...probably mostly to allieve my conscience.
Well, I was telling the boys about their pending medical rendevous, and someone asked if there would be shots involved. Trying to be positive ( because noone here has outgrown their adamant dislike of injections and the pain they cause) I said I wasn't sure, but if we have to get them, we would grin and bear it and "take it like a man." That was last week sometime.
Yesterday in the car, we were discussing our plans for next week, and I reminded them that we had Dr. appts next Wednesday. M, in a kind of small voice from somewhere in the back seat asked "Could you tell them to keep it turned to child, instead of man, until I get just a little older?" I was confused...turn what where? What was he talking about? Then I realized...when I told him he was going to take the shot like a man, his 7 year old brain conjured up a man-sized needle! So, I explained to him what I meant, and that he wouldn't have to take a super-sized shot. Needless to say, he was much relieved.
Now, let's just hope that between the three of them, noone needs a booster shot......but chances are, some one will be taking it (somewhat) like a man when the nurse comes in with the needles and bandaids next Wednesday.
Well, I was telling the boys about their pending medical rendevous, and someone asked if there would be shots involved. Trying to be positive ( because noone here has outgrown their adamant dislike of injections and the pain they cause) I said I wasn't sure, but if we have to get them, we would grin and bear it and "take it like a man." That was last week sometime.
Yesterday in the car, we were discussing our plans for next week, and I reminded them that we had Dr. appts next Wednesday. M, in a kind of small voice from somewhere in the back seat asked "Could you tell them to keep it turned to child, instead of man, until I get just a little older?" I was confused...turn what where? What was he talking about? Then I realized...when I told him he was going to take the shot like a man, his 7 year old brain conjured up a man-sized needle! So, I explained to him what I meant, and that he wouldn't have to take a super-sized shot. Needless to say, he was much relieved.
Now, let's just hope that between the three of them, noone needs a booster shot......but chances are, some one will be taking it (somewhat) like a man when the nurse comes in with the needles and bandaids next Wednesday.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Ready or Not, Here I Come!
5 1st graders + 2 big brothers + cookies & ice cream + 1 scavenger hunt + 2 toilet paper mummies + 1 bottom-busting ballon race + 5 hours of sleep = a happy birthday sleepover for M.
Boy sleepovers are sooo much different than the girlie affairs I remember from long ago. No make up or beauty pagents ( weren't Stephanie S.'s parties always the best, though??), no one gets their feelings hurt, no one locks himself in the bathroom. Boys can entertain themselves for hours with a few cars, a deck of cards and some video games ( no matter what age, right guys??). Hide and seek is always the favorite at our house - but the blue glow sticks kind of gave away everyone's hiding place.
Rites of passage are synonomous the world over. Every culture has those events that are anxiously anticipated, and which bring about a greater respect for the certain individual by his peers. The big birthday sleepover must be at the top of the list for 1st grade boys. However, I am happy to report that this rite of passage has been successful and no lions were killed, no wolves skinned, no vision quest completed...just a bunch of 7 year olds having fun and keeping me on my toes.
Happy Birthday, M! - we love you
Friday, February 6, 2009
Too Soon
"Come away, come away, death
And in sad cypress let me be laid"
Twelth Night (II, iv)
William Shakespeare
He will always be a smile on our face, a story in our mind, a love in our heart and a wisdom in our soul. We love him always and miss him already.
1935-2009
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