Mindless Writings

So, now what?

2012-01-18T21:53:00.000-06:00

During my "spa day", they found a couple more polyps. Depending on what the biopsy shows, I might not have to have another spa day for THREE years! Whee.

On the "other" end of the spectrum, I have a rather large hiatal hernia that, apparently, could be the source of the Vitamin D deficiency as well as the anemia. I don't know how that occurs, and since I was coming out from under anesthetic, the dr. was not overly interested in explaining to me how it all fits together. I began babbling about an iron supplement I found that is absorbed in the stomach as opposed to the intestines and he literally just let me trail off . . .

What's funny about the hernia is that I do not have acid reflux. One would think that one described as large and potentially needing a surgical repair, I would be having a bad case of reflux.

Doctor recommendation: no more blood donation. O-o-o-kay. Not a fix. Oh, and take iron. Do men really understand what iron does to one's body? You know, the ones with the morning "shit, shower, and shave" mentality? No, they don't. Men have it way too easy.

Sorry, I gotta go. Got to round up my broccoli, Cream of Wheat (45% of the daily recommended iron dosage), and Absopur, as well as things to combat the dastardly effects of iron.

Oh, and other doctor? Yes, it was VENTRICULAR tachycardia. No, it was NOT SUPRAventricular tachycardia. Don't insult me. I know from whence I speak.

Alone with my thoughts.

2012-01-15T22:05:00.000-06:00

January 15. The night before tests. 2nd time in 2 years that I've had to do this. The dreaded prep.

The first one when I was 50, they found 2 "sizabla" polyps, whatever the hell that means. Coudn't tell me much, just that I have to be checked again in 2 years. The timing for this round, however, comes with an additional test to try to find the source of the anemia I've been suffering from for a spell. I'm Vitamin D deficient and anemic. My blood count is low enough that the great and mysterious "they" think I'm bleeding internally. That said, no one was in a great hurry to figure it out as this appointment comes 3 months after consultation.

Medical community. We just hurry up and wait when this tangled network gets involved.

So, what am I thinking, suspecting, dreading? Well, always the Big C. However, I've always been pretty proactive on testing so if it is there, I'll have the upper hand on it. What I'm suspecting, though, is pernicious anemia as there is a genetic component. If that is the case, Vitamin B12 shots don't sound so bad, do they?

Anybody out there? Doubtful. Just me and my thoughts.

Oh, my!

2011-10-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

How is it that I used to blog on a weekly, if not daily, basis and since the advent of Facebook, I have forsaken my blog?

I need to get back to it! Since I'm an empty nester now, I'm sure I can find the time.

I am in the processing of updating my iPhone to iOS 5. We're just a few minutes away from experiencing the latest and greatest Apple has to offer. I simply do not know how the Apple creators consistently top themselves, but they do.

Poking around on YouTube, I discovered some things Apple is working on, including contact lenses and glasses in which a person can view amazing things on the inside of the lenses. I wonder if they have a program accepting guinea pigs, because I would certainly be a guinea pig for the glasses! I think the term they use for some powerful enhancements is "augmented reality". I already live an augmented reality so I think I would be an excellent candidate for such technology!

I will try to update soon. I've lost my fan base! I'll have to do some serious updating!

Announcing:

2011-01-30T20:26:00.000-06:00

The establishment with which we are concerned about employees is MORGAN STREET BREWERY in St. Louis, MO. We want them to dismiss a bouncer whose first name may or may not be Chris. We don't want money, we don't want to pursue anything legally, we just want him gone.

Any of you with young adult daughters will thank us when he has been dismissed.

Protecting our children.

2011-01-30T16:27:00.000-06:00

A week ago, my daughter was assaulted.

She was in a bar on Laclede's Landing in St. Louis. While she was going up some stairs to get her coat and her friends to leave, a man shoved her and her friend and referred to her as a fat bitch. She pushed him away from her. Since he was passing down the stairs and it was crowded with people, he proceeded to reach over people and grab her arm to drag her with him. He shoved her to the ground.

She has bruises on her upper arm, her knee, and a cut and bruising on her ankle.

And it seems to be OK with the owner of the establishment and the St. Louis Police Dept. Because the man was a bouncer.

How do I protect her from this type of thing?

MADD For Mike and Relay For Life

2010-04-09T19:56:00.002-05:00

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=15436138&pg=personal&fr_id=22234

So, I'm going to Chicago on June 6 to walk on Marissa Collier's team in memory of her dad, Mike Collier.

Then I'm going to walk in Relay For Life during Father's Day weekend in memory of so many others.

I hope you can join us, either physically or spiritually.

Thanks.

Picture it . . .

2010-03-28T20:18:00.002-05:00

Imagine me running around--dusting, sweeping, cleaning. I turn on the water, pull out the nozzle to rinse out the sink, and the nozzle comes off in my hand and I'm squirted square in the face with a stream of water. And you know how it is when someone is suddenly surprised. It takes a moment to react.

I finally turn the water off. Drenched, I wipe off my glasses and look around. I have water dripping from the ceiling, running down cabinets, and on the counter three feet behind me. Obviously, my reaction time is a touch delayed these days.

So, here I am, wet from the top of my head to about my waistline.

Friday

2010-03-26T23:06:00.002-05:00

Overheard recently at dinner as two glasses of iced tea sat on the table, only one with any sips taken:

"Grandpa, I thought we established that was MY iced tea!"

What is wrong with me?

2010-03-24T00:03:00.003-05:00

My tummy hurts. It's midnight. I'm afraid to got to sleep. Afraid I'll awaken spewing like a volcano. Anyway . . .

Last Thursday and Friday I had the chance to go to the Illinois Reading Conference in Springfield. Eye-opening and overwhelming. Things I learned:

-Men do not teach reading. At least they don't go to conferences about reading.

-Mad teachers have no problem calling fire marshals. The popular speakers' rooms filled up quickly to overflowing. And then men wielding badges ran those sitting along the edges and down the aisle out.

-Don't look a salesman in the eye if you don't want to be cornered.

-Magic key in the magic lock chances to win stuff is just one more opportunity for the world to call you a LOSER!

OK. Maybe in a future blog I'll compare and contrast all the different reading stuff we're expected to teach/test now.

However, to end, the best line of the day was a direct slam against No Child Left Behind, which has some other name now, and the subsequent Response to Intervention that is a very complicated method of tracking/"helping" kids that deals with lots and lots of tests. It goes like this: Just because you keep weighing the pig doesn't mean he gains weight.

And there you have it, folks. Just because you keep weighing the pig doesn't mean he gains weight.

OMG! Two days in a row?

2010-03-22T21:07:00.002-05:00

Let's see. I cannot continue the Keith prom/poker/curfew saga, because not enough time has passed. So it'll be odds and ends.

Overheard at a recent day-long ladies' event: "Oh, I am so glad my husband let me come to this all day!" EXCUSE ME? LET ME COME? What freakin' century do we live in? I almost launched but regrouped, quickly realizing I might be in the minority here.

Since when does someone have to be allowed to spend an innocent day creating? Her husband probably hunts and does manly stuff without asking HER permission!

The idea!

Spring . . . on its way?

2010-03-21T22:55:00.002-05:00

OK, over the last couple days I've wondered what's been missing from my life. It's the blogging. I really have to think about more than just a quick blurb when on facebooking.

Laurel has had a rough year. This semester was supposed to be the fun one. The one in which she took some classes just for her. Unfortunately, it didn't end up that way and she's taking a 2nd semester of Latin. It's about doing her in.

On the up side, she was inducted into the Golden Laureate Honour Society a few weeks ago. On top of that, we got word that she recieved the Theater and Dance Honor Student Award. This award has a few $$ attached to it. Not much, but every little bit helps.

Caroline is doing an internship with the Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis. She runs around in steel-toed boats, carhartts, and hip waders. I can't wait until she sees her first snake or snapping turtle!

Keith had in indoor meet at Illinois College and threw the shot 52'4", which is an inch off his best. So, a good start to the season. However, he pulled a muscle and it's been giving him painful spasms. There was an indoor meet at Eastern yesterday and while trying to warm up, he was afraid he would be causing more trouble, so he pulled out of the competition. His throw at IC qualified for the Indoor State meet already, so he didn't need yesterday's meet. We just need to get him healthy!

Don continues to have high blood pressure when he's in season. We better start measuring to see how high it is. I think I'll double the life insurance policy just in case.

So next up: will Keith ask someone to the prom? Maybe just as a friend? Will he win or lose the next poker night? Will he get home by curfew after the next UFC?

The Blog After Christmas

2009-12-28T11:39:00.002-06:00

I got a message from a friend reminding me I don't blog anymore. I am facehooked!

Last time I posted was August 24.

So, since then I have:

--taught the most wonderful group of 2nd graders

--been to many football games (including 2 beyond the regular season)

--had a colonoscopy

--moved daughter #1 home in a hurry

--gotten through a diagnosis of skin cancer with daughter #2, then rediagnosed to a precancer instead

The first item on the list is self-explanatory. The 2nd item says we had a wonderful season, Keith had a stellar Fall, and we got into post-season play. The 3rd item is simply one more reminder that I am getting old. However, I woke up during the procedure and then they knocked me out again. I had two polyps, one small and one large, and I get the honor of going through the whole thing again in two years.

Going on to the next item, Laurel had a horrendous living arrangement with one of the roomies stealing food, "borrowing" items without asking, never picking up after herself, basically slovenly. There was a proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, and we moved her home.

And finally, Caroline found a mole that was a little weird in November. She read an article in Cosmo, of all magazines, and watched it for a little while, then asked me to get her in to see her doctor over Thanksgiving break. The doctor took a biopsy. On Dec. 4, we were told it was malignant melanoma. From there, everything was a flurry of activity. Appointment with a dermatologist, who sent the biopsy to someone who specializes in dermatology biopsies. Then an appointment with a plastic surgeon, with a recommendation to not only excise the area, but also shoot dye at the site, track the pathways, and take the first lymph node to test for cancer.

The 2nd biopsy reading showed that it was not cancer. So that man sent it to a specialist who only reads melanomas. A few days later, the specialist also agreed that it was not melanoma, but a rare cell change that was considered a precancer.

So, Caroline still needed to have the area excised, which she had done on Christmas Eve. She's doing well, and her butt continues to be shipped around the country this side of the Mississippi.

We're looking forward to a new year. Too much loss in 2009.

I'm just sayin' . . .

2009-08-24T21:40:00.003-05:00

OK, my whole reason for blogging tonight was to show off my new watermark for photos. However, I can't get it to work. I'll get it figured out. Just not tonight.

I missed out on my Sunday-before-school-starts-complete-and-utter-depression because I was so stressed about the classroom that I went to school at 7 in the morning and started working. I quit at 5:30 to do a new teacher dinner and talk about the tornado, then went back to school until 10:30.

But, I pulled it off. I cannot believe it. Don't open the closet in the classroom, though, as you'll be in danger of being crushed by the things stuffed in it. I will probably spend the rest of the school year looking for all the stuff I stashed.

Some walls are bare, I have to admit, but it's because I don't like the plain-Jane look of some of the English posters and have decided I need to jazz 'em up.

We met our students tonight. I think it's going to be a pretty good group. None of the parents seemed like they had a hidden agenda. They were relaxed and friendly.

So now, since I've taken my beloved Ambien, it's time to pull back the covers, put on the face mask, put in the TMJ splint, and close my eyes. You know, I have no clue what I look like when I go to sleep. The hose on the face mask isn't long enough for me to look in a mirror. I must be a sight!

Calm before the storm.

2009-08-08T22:09:00.003-05:00

I started looking at my calendar. It went from not a whole lot to a ton of stuff to do in two short weeks.

Primarily, I've got to do some baby shopping! Four in four days, another one around the 18th, and even more sprinkled here and there! And you know what? All four of those babies were C-section. That's weird. And all early. Also weird. And all just before the full moon. Hmmmm.

Monday starts with a professional development day, as does Thursday--which incidently heralds the state fair. Stacie & kids coming in this week. Meetings, dr. appts., football starts Wed., and somewhere in there, a classroom has to get set up! My lovely cohorts in crime have declared my room a crime scene! See the type of people I have to deal with?

I realize it's the end of the summer just in my reading practices. I'm gravitating toward the new reading series manual, educational catalogs, and other like materials. Weird.

New air conditioner is working quite nicely. With the 90+ temps today, the old AC would have run non-stop. This new one is cycling on and off not terribly often! I can see the dial on the electric meter slowing down considerably. The house has more even cooling. I guess we were so used to the uneven temps from room to room, we were just blaming the house and not the appliance.

OK, that's all. More later.

Oh, my goodness!

2009-08-02T14:14:00.002-05:00

It's been almost 2 months since my last blog. So much has happened, and nothing has happened.

Those of you who know me well know we all had a heart wrenching loss this summer. So many of my thoughts have been consumed by it--actions by others in a moment (or maybe a lifetime) of stupidity that can end life in a split second and leave survivors to grapple.

Trying to look at the silver lining, a woman in San Diego got a new lease on life when she received our friend's liver. Sharon not only lives on in the faces of her daughters, the hair color of her granddaughter, but physically in a woman in San Diego. Another good thing is that those of us who work together got slapped in the face with a dose of reality. Awful things don't just happen to others detached from us, it can happen to us. We are closer and more tender with each other. Let it last.

Turning away from our heartache, my children are all healthy and happy. Laurel is thinking about spending a year in Japan. Don's a little iffy about it but I think we should let her stretch. She was never meant to be closed in to the confines of Illinois, or even the US. She's traveled twice across the Atlantic, so now it's time for the Pacific. My only request is that she visit Kyoto. And take pictures or videos of an authentic geisha.

Caroline conquered Calculus 3 and English 2 in eight weeks at summer school. She didn't finish as well as she wanted but we kept reminding her of two facts: these classes were double-paced in their delivery and the actual GPA doesn't transfer. Just the credit. Since she was working 20-30 hours a week on top of it, we think she did just fine.

Keith is looking forward to another football season. He's ripped. His weight is down and his height is up. He also works a bunch of hours and has been kept busy with that as well as weights and football maneuvers. Oh, and he threw a couple books in there, as well.

Don has been with Keith most of the summer doing the football stuff.

I STUPIDLY took two distance-learning classes with the notion they'd be, well, not easy but certainly not as difficult as they are! They're driving me crazy! And yet, I blog.

So, all too soon, my end-of-the-summer depression will set in, with the peak being the-night-before-the-first-day-of-school depression. I need to buy some new jammies to stay in all that day.

And there you have it. I'll try to be better, but Facebook is so stinkin' appealing.

I'll try to get back to the blogosphere.

2009-05-06T23:08:00.002-05:00

My H1N1 Wanna B virus Type A has finally run it's course as of yesterday. I'm feeling much better.

Today was busy with much to do after school.

The first Thursday of the month stinks for me--and it's of my own doing. I start off with a very early morning meeting. We all know what a morning person I am, so it's a chore. Then the course of the school day, then another after school meeting which I have to forego due to an outside-of-school meeting.

Then off to Edwardsville to pick up my baby girl. While the baby girl being home is nice, her stuff won't be--and I was too late in reserving a storage place here in town to take the stuff straight there, so it has to come home. Gr-r-r-r.

OK DOKEE. I'm kickin' it and heading to sleep. Got books to read. I'm now on Thunderstruck by Erik Larson after having read Devil in the White City and Isaac's Storm, also by Larson.

Both books I've read are not easy reads. Devil parallels the rise of the 1893 World's Fair and all the intricacies involved in getting it built against the rise of one of the first, if not THE first charged and tried serial killer through his carefully designed house of terrors built for the sole purpose of murdering young women who came to work at the fail.

Isaac's Storm give a tremendous amount of detail about the weather readings of the hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900, virtually destroying it. People had no idea it was bearing down on them and had no excape options.

OK, I'm signing off now.

Unfaithful.

2009-05-03T22:08:00.008-05:00

I have probably lost my readers since I haven't posted since Easter.

I think I've announced before that I discovered Facebook. Unfortunately, it's been to the exclusion of all other forms of communication.

So, the track season, as well as the school year, are drawing to a close. Unfortunately for the shot and discus competitors in this area, there are four very good throwers the compete over and over. They just kind of switch places as winners. It's like a mini-state competition over and over.

That said, the four have a somewhat relaxed competition and are forming friendships.

The four young men seated on the ground are the area's best throwers.

Here is Keith with the young man from down the road (Riverton, that is).

Anyway, the next few weeks, both in track and at school, are going to be busy. This round of pseudo H1N1 virus that I have is getting in the way a little bit.

Been awhile.

2009-04-09T21:18:00.003-05:00

So, Spring Break starts Friday at 1:45 p.m. Wish I had plans to go somewhere. But that's OK. Instead, I'll plan our Spring "Stay-cation", which is such a stupid term.

1. Go to Tuscola for the Williams Family Easter Egg-stravaganza. Don's parents used to have Easter Egg Hunts for the kids. It started out little and got bigger and bigger, eventually expanding into two hunts. One was a free-for-all hunt for the grandkids and the other was sets of very carefully counted eggs, in assigned colors. So, Keith might look for only blue eggs. Thank goodness there were 5 egg colors available.

2. Go to the Pitman Family Easter Dinner. Marsha's house. Ham. I hope I remember to take something.

3. (But really with a #1 priority) Taxes. I've got 5 days left, don' I? All the stuff is in one place, at least. After all these years, I finally formed the habit of throwing all tax-related items in one location. All I've got to do outside that is download prescription printouts and explanation of benefits totals.

4. Give some of the rooms of the house a good cleaning.

5. Get the dead stuff out of the yard. You know, the dead squirrels, birds, mice, and such that collect up over the winter. Or is it leaves and branches? Probably a little of both. There was one year where the dang nasty starlings set up housekeeping in our downspout. How stupid was that? We could hear them. Anway, after a good downpour, I needed to get those nasty things out of there. I was tearing out nesting material, then dead birds. Then, fright of frights, abour four of the little devils came shooting out of there and flew away. I think my heart stopped momentarily. Then there was the starling momma that kept climbing into our grill and making nests. Plural. I'd go out to grill, open the lid, and starlings would fly out at me. And the dang grill was a heaping mass of straw and grass! Hamburgers, anyone?

6. Get the BB gun ready. Remember the starlings?

7. Start the new books which will arrive any day now. I love Amazon. And I don't buy many NEW books anymore.

8. Spend one day doing nothing that resembles work.

OK, that's all.

Track Schedule--at Cathi's request.

2009-03-22T17:27:00.002-05:00

3/28--@ Athens
4/2--Home vs. Rochestester/Auburn 4:15
4/7--Home vs. PORTA/Lutheran 4:00
4/9--@ Riverton 4:15
4/16--@ Riverton (again) 4:15
4/18--@ Pana 9:00
4/23--@ New Berlin 4:15
4/25--@ Rochester 9:15
4/30--Home 4:15
5/1--Home 4:00 (Sangamon County Fresh/Soph Meet)
5/4--@ Athens 3:30
5/5--@ Auburn (Fresh/Soph Meet) 3:00
5/8--@ Rochester (Sangamon Co. Meet)4:00
5/12--Home 3:00
5/13--Home 4:00
5/18--@ Glenwood (Capitol Area Honor Roll Meet) 5:30

Illinois College Indoor Meet 3-6-09

2009-03-08T21:24:00.001-05:00

What's wrong with me?

2009-03-01T10:17:00.002-06:00

No, seriously. What's wrong with me?

The week after we got back from Vegas, we got a postcard in the mail saying group had been praying for us. Now, I appreciate prayers and I am not complaining.

It makes one think, however, if it's related to our visit to Sin City. Or is something more sinister going on?

Since this time, I have been asked the usual questions, "So how are the girls? Are they liking school? How's Keith? He's really getting big." Etc., etc. But then, the conversation invariably ends with , "But, how are YOU doing?" with an emphasis that makes me guilty about simply saying that I am just fine.

I lost a former co-worker, and a friend has been diagnosed, but I have no knowledge of any new health issues.

So, either people have heard something that may not be true, or they think I've wigged out, or they know something I don't, like, one of the kids or Don has done something bad and people are afraid to tell me.

Help me out, peeps.

I am not making this up.

2009-02-22T23:37:00.002-06:00

I joined Dad, Marsha, and Burke at the Auburn Pancake & Sausage annual breakfast. My. I'm the only one in Auburn who did not look older!

Anyway, sucking down pancakes and coffee just chillin' with the hometown crowd. All at once, CRASH! Breaking glass and cracking wood. We all kind of just looked around and the guys next to the wall were looking at the glass on the floor around them from a picture that had gone shooting off the wall. It took probably a half a minute (not a couple seconds) for everyone to realize that the crash came from OUTSIDE the building, not inside.

A man jumped his car over the railroad tie used as curbing and crashed into the building. He was much older. I felt so bad for him. I'm sure he is feeling totally humiliated. A lot of damage to the building and car. He may very well lose his license over this and since there was no one in the car with him, I suspect he is alone.

So, while no one was hurt, it was sad all the same.

Well, well, well, well, well.

2009-02-17T21:56:00.002-06:00

Long time, no write. What has happened?

VEGAS, BABY! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED!

Now, I'd been there in '02 for my brother's wedding. It struct me that the place was so clean and unclutterd. The skyline was clear and beautiful. All I can say about that is that they're botching it up. There are some huge buildings going up that I simply do not think will add to the "look" of Vegas. They certainly will not add to the elegance of the Fountains of Bellagio.

Add to it all the snow Vegas saw this winter. The desert plants apparently do not like snow. They were hit pretty hard.

That's all the whining. Except that the penny slots were not kind to us. We're such big spenders.

I discovered that I could get tied to Blackjack pretty quickly. I likee. Especially the blackjack machines. You lose your money much more slowly.

So, back to the good stuff. Lemondrop martinis at the lounge in Bellagio. Mm-mm-mm. It's the sugared rim. Brings me back to my youth with the sugar-coated lemon drops.

Pretty, blue drinks at the Voodoo Lounge overlooking all of Vegas. Reminded me a lot of the view of Chicago from the lounge in the John Hancock building, except there was no black hole in the east due to huge lake. Monica, I've gotten a good recipe for the Lemondrop, but what was the name of the blue drink? Do you or Scott remember?

Planet Hollywood, without question, had the very best brunch buffet. Belgian waffles made to order, flaming crepes made to order, omelets made to order, pizza made to order, and cotton candy on a cone. I am not making this up. Cotton candy on a cone. I didn't think you could buy it like that anymore! I've just seen it all smushed (very technical word) in a baggie. Needless to say, Monica & I had cotton candy on a cone. After the Belgian waffle. After the flamine strawberry crepe. And after some other stuff, too. Name of the restaraunt was Spice Market. In Planet Hollywood, which we liked because they played rock music we liked.

The Venetian is amazing to wander through. Well, there's no point in naming them all. They're all amazing. Tropicana brought back an aura of yesteryear, as did the place across the street from Bally's. I think it was called Bill's.

The highlight, the peak, the ultimate, if you will, was the show we saw. Cirque du Soleil has several shows going in Sin City. The one we went to was called Love (on Viv's recommendation) and it was all Beatles music.

There are many ways to describe this show: overwhelming, too much going on (only in that you can't see it all there's so much to look at), demonstration of physical talent, heart-stopping, elegant, wild, right out of John Lennon's acid trip, and I could go on.

The thought that continues to strike me is that these performers are expected to do gymnastics, acrobatics, trapeze stuff, dance, but that is not enough. No. Four of them had to also learn how to rollerblade to go crazy on a series of tight ramps that stage hands had difficulty putting together. Now, does that sound like a safe thing to do? No.

So, anyway, we got maybe one picture of the two of us together. I wish we had taken one together in front of the fountains, as they are my favorite thing in Vegas.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

2009-02-05T00:04:00.002-06:00

It's midnight as I type.

Good--my friend, Michelle, got through her mastectomy successfully and received the initial good news that they think no nodes are involved. The tumor is estrogen sensitive, which offers up more "lucrative" chemo options.

Evil--the thoughts I'm having about Sin City.

Good--I got my Ambien refilled today.

Evil--I was out of it last night and only slept soundly until about 2:00 a.m., then it was fitful (or fit full, I've never been sure). Dreamt that our big boss was mouthy with a police officer and got tossed into jail and that there was a huge water leak in our house and someone coming in to survey the problem asked if we had a lot of money.

Good--I woke up.

Evil--the thoughts I have about a most irritating person. I don't even talk to her.

Good--I don't even talk to her.

SINCITYSINCITYSINCITYSINCITYSINCITYSINCITYSINCITYSINCITYSINCITY!

Sin City, Baby!

2009-01-19T21:46:00.002-06:00

In August, Don turned 50.

It'll be my turn in February. To celebrate, we are going to Vegas over that Presidents' Day weekend. Today's temp in Vegas? 65. It warms my bones just thinking about it.

Two things at the top of my list to show Don:

1. THE FOUNTAINS OF BELLAGIO!!!! There is nothing like them. Amazing.

2. The ceiling at the Venetian. Again, amazing.

Add to the the M&M store. Just kidding. Don would not be overly impressed by it. A certain someone tells me I MUST see Thunder Down Under. Here again, I don't think Don will be AT ALL impressed by that! Monica and I might enjoy it, though.

So, there you have it. Our next great adventure.

I've been unfaithful.

2009-01-11T00:23:00.003-06:00

It's been several days since I posted. It's not that I haven't been on the computer. Far from it.

I have discovered Facebook.

It could become an addiction, or it could be a passing fad. I don't know. But the push toward being unfaithful to my blog could be my self-indulgence.

I acquired an iPod Touch. Oh, my! What a tech toy! It's like carrying around a miniature computer. If you can get a wireless Internet connection, you can check anything there with this little gadget. I've got my blog, Facebook, email, weather, maps, pictures, all kinds of cool stuff.

Anyway, that's it. Coolness beyond belief.

Just her luck.

2009-01-01T00:46:00.000-06:00

Baby girl #1 has issues with stairs yet again. Took the last step the wrong way. Two breaks of the bone that connects the little toe to the ankle. She's in a lovely little boot.

She is now complete. Two breaks in her lower left extremity, two in her right, one in her left hand, one in her right arm. Every extremity.

Go figure! Happy new year to her.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T23:14:00.002-06:00

The stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped, the kids have opened their Christmas Eve pajamas. Breakfast is ready to bake, and A Christmas Story has commenced.

Here's a wacked-out story. Last Thursday, prior to the onset of freezing rain, I went to Walmart. As I was checking out, this older guy with long hair (past his shoulder) was pushing a cartful of stuff he'd already paid for. Something was wrong, though, as he was asking the clerk question. He wandered away. I finished checking out and was standing at the end of the checkout lane when this guy broadsided my cart with his cart. Purposely.

I asked him if there was a problem and he kept stomping, up and down, until he got hold of a Walmart employee and yelled at her.

Can you believe the cajones of some people?

Up to my eyeballs in paint.

2008-12-06T23:07:00.002-06:00

Yesterday morning, I was in the classroom and reached out for a paper from a student when a muscle spasm grabbed me right under the left shoulder blade. Made it through the day, didn't sleep much, then found the magic hands of one Michelle Seif. I am feeling MUCH better!

In the meantime, I am covered with paint as I insist on not getting any Christmas decorations out until the playroom is painted. Two coats of primer went up last weekend. I finished with the very soft white coats tonight and will move on to the navy blue and orange stripes tomorrow.

So then we need to move on to yet another baseboard extravaganza. I hate dealing with baseboards.

But I digress. It's looking like Don & Keith will have permission to start bringing down some Christmas decorations tomorrow afternoon. All I know is that it'll be a load off my mind to be finished and get that room organized again.

Water, please stay away.

Oh, Stacie, . . .

2008-12-02T10:03:00.001-06:00

. . .I have my Christmas cards all ready to go! Do you?

Don't have a room painted, but by golly I've got my cards done.

Will I be the first, instead of the last, to mail them?

The race is on.

This the Charleston but Disco is my favorite!

2008-11-29T22:27:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

And yet another!!

2008-11-29T22:23:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

OMG, I can't help myself!!!!

2008-11-29T22:21:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A little elfin magic . . .

2008-11-29T22:13:00.002-06:00

To view the last email, my automatic recipients, you have to click on the blue Mindless Writings link.

I absolutely crack myself up!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

2008-11-29T22:10:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving Video

2008-11-28T23:09:00.003-06:00

OK, it's over 8 minutes long and it's only important to the family. The photos were much better quality, but that has to be sacrificed to upload to YouTube.

So, cross your fingers and hope this works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoRaZno520

Van Gogh

2008-11-26T20:20:00.000-06:00

Yes, Van Gogh was at the Festival of Trees. So my three sweet and silly children thought it might be funny (OK, it was funny at the time) and replicate how Sunflower Boy would have felt immediately after he realized how badly he screwed up.

Teeth

2008-11-25T09:37:00.002-06:00

Well, Caroline has two fewer teeth as of this morning.

So now she's downstairs, cheeks packed, totally messed up from the meds that knocked her out, and taking it easy. I may take her phone away from her so she can get some rest.

Dr. said she'd be good to go to chow down on turkey Thursday. We'll see.

Got all caught up on paper grading while I sat in the office waiting for her. A silver lining . . .

Twighlight

2008-11-23T20:29:00.007-06:00

Well, I finished the book about 40 hours after I got hold of it.

The 2nd book is waiting for me to be started shortly.

I place full & complete blame on Phyllis Sanderbeck for this. I had ignored all the hype. The girls were "in" to the series and I ignored them, also. Then Phyllis convinced me I HAD to read it.

The book amazes me because the beginning is so slow to start--but seductive all the same. Sucked me right in. Like a vampire sucking my blood.

Yet, I don't really have a wish to see the movie. Certainly not at theater prices. I'll wait until it's on DVD or HBO.

New Stuff

2008-11-22T19:23:00.003-06:00

OK, if you get my blog by mail, you need to click on the blue words, Mindless Writings. I found this really cute place for blog backgrounds and decided it's not too early for winter stuff. I'll probably change a trillion times now.

Caroline is home. Laurel gets home tomorrow. The boys just left for St. Louis and their big Rams-Bears adventure.

I picked up paint to hopefully paint the former play room.

I've been sucked into reading "Twighlight". I'm half done and I got the book yesterday. I suspect I'm hooked. In fact, I've got some reading to do.

Classroom Update

2008-11-16T22:05:00.002-06:00

I think I'm getting this classroom thing down. Only spent about 2 hours at school today. And it was totally just organizing and jotting down notes--not the overwhelming feeling of helplessness as I would sit and wonder what in the hell was I supposed to be doing with them.

Paper grading is caught up, centers are laid out, lesson plans written up. All I have to do is a little photocopying during my planning times tomorrow, and I'm set for the week.

The classroom minigarden is ready for harvesting. I'll be taking some salad dressing tomorrow and start cutting and washing lettuce. I think we'll be able to harvest from now until Thanksgiving. Then we'll see.

I don't expect the kids to gobble it down, but I do expect them to try it. On Western Day when we had things the kids had never tried before, I asked them to take just a little. Some ended up coming back for seconds. Each and every one of them tried something they didn't think they'd like. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

I think our next crop will be herbs. Since one of the seed pods is mint, I think we'll have iced tea with a mint leaf squeezed in. That should drum up some childhood memories for me. The herbs may be more for the experience of testing smells. I'm not going to make a gourmet dinner for them just to get a bit of basil sprinkled on top.

So, that's my life...

Bloodletting

2008-11-12T23:06:00.002-06:00

Blood bank called me yesterday. They must have been absolutely desperate since I have not donated in years.

Asked Keith if he wanted to donate. "OK." His Dad's view: he's too young. "Don, the girls donated when they were 16." "No they didn't." "Yes they did." "I think he's too young." "Don, you throw your son to the wolves on a football field but you don't want him to donate blood? Give me a break!"

So Keith donated. I went first and it took awhile. Just about the time I was done, they brought Keith back. He filled the bag quickly. It turned out to be too quickly. They had to keep him reclining and juiced him up. He pinked up pretty fast, though.

Good news for me? My iron count was 42!!!!! I knew I wasn't craving ice anymore (although I enjoy a good chew now and then). But 42? A far cry from the VERY anemic 11 I was sporting a couple years back. Don's Dad was going through chemo and he & I would compare iron counts. I think he "beat" me with a 10.

And Keith's iron count? 51! Wowzers! He might find donation refreshing like his Aunt Monica. We knew he was pumping iron, but he must be absorbing it!

So now that the bloodbank knows we've got 3 B+ donors, they'll be calling all the time. Caroline and I with our oh-so-common 0+ won't get called so often.

Whatever we can do to help, though.

Coming up--skyrocketing insurance rates.

2008-11-02T22:37:00.001-06:00

Keith turns 16 Friday. Driver's license.

There was snow on the ground the day he was born.

My baby girl.

2008-11-02T22:31:00.002-06:00

I so proud. Really. I could never do make-up like that.

Update

2008-10-29T22:38:00.002-05:00

Almost all grades put into computer for the end of the quarter.

Former student won't be on House until December 2nd.

My classroom is a trainwreck.

Keith's grades were good.

That's all.

Jury Duty Part 2

2008-10-28T21:35:00.002-05:00

There is no Part 2. Jury commission called me today (not me calling the recording) and told me my services are no longer needed. I am a total and complete jury reject.

I am so exceedingly sad. Not.

*&^%$$@!@#@$$%^&&**Jury Duty

2008-10-27T20:40:00.002-05:00

So, I went to jury duty for the first time ever. Pretty boring. Just hurry up to get there, then wait.

I was sent to a court room for a civil trial. Lawsuit. I do not know why I wasted everybody's time. I really thought I could be fair. I really thought I had put Laurel's injury behind me. But there it was, bubbling under the surface of my soul. And it boiled over. It wasn't nice and it wasn't pretty. "Mrs. Williams, do you think you can follow all the directions I will be giving to the jury?" "I think so." "Mrs. Williams, I need you to know so." "I know I can if you don't tell me that 13-year-olds are not responsible for their actions." "Mrs. Williams, you seem kind of bitter." "You are very perceptive." "Can you tell me more?" "The whole experience offended me, especially the way the judge held sidebars that everyone in the room could hear."

I was dismissed.

So there you have it. I cannot be fair in a civil trial. I am a civil trial failure. Today was an epiphany of sorts. If I'm called back Wednesday, which is a possibility, I won't waste anyone's time. I'll say upfront that I cannot do it. That's the part I feel bad about. I wasted people's time.

OK. Gotta stop. Maybe I'll go take my blood pressure now.
I feel so rejected. Not.

Six Degrees of Separation . . .

2008-10-25T20:24:00.002-05:00

. . . or less.

Last blog about She? Grandmother to a high school volleyball team mate of Caroline's. I had seen her at numerous games. She didn't make it. Three degrees of separation.

Dr. House? Two degrees. Former student (as the rumor goes) is being featured on this week's episode of House. Chris Stapleton. He was on an episode of X-Files some years ago as well as J.A.G. His birthday is the same as mine, also.

Obama? Two degrees. (However, this is kind of a cheat because I only know someone who shook his hand.)

McCain? Have no clue. I might know someone who shook his hand, but they're not bragging about it.

Clinton? Two degrees. (Again, someone I know not only shook his hand, but had a picture taken with him.)

Nixon? My Daddy shook his hand. One and a half degrees.

So, think about your own degrees.

Somewhat traumatic day.

2008-10-23T22:06:00.003-05:00

Had the annual today. Sort of.

Dr. Bradley came in, did the standard question-answer thing. He checked my heart and lungs. Then there was a long pager tone coming from the nurse's station and he said, "Oh, no." As he opened the door to leave there were nurses rushing toward him saying, "She coded." He was visibly shaken and that was the last I saw of him. There was a buzzing up and down the hall as the nurses kept repeating to each other, "She coded."

So, the she. Was she someone he had operated on that day? Was she a mother in labor? Was she a baby?

All evening I've been thinking of she. Hoping she came out of it. Hoping I won't read about she in the obituaries in a couple days.

. . . and the end of the quarter looms.

2008-10-22T22:11:00.003-05:00

Sure wish I spent the evening grading papers like I planned. DAMMIT! I'm gonna pay dearly this weekend.

That is all. Carry on.

Here's baby boy playing center in the JV game last Monday. #55

My sweet baby.

2008-10-14T22:43:00.002-05:00

As I've been transferring VHS to DVD, I've been watching and reminiscing. Things to ponder:

--I allowed Stacie & Joel to climb over big boulders carrying my baby girl.

--We travelled from Illinois to Texas then Oklahama with (shudder) a 4 month old! Whose bright idea was that?

--Listening to videos of Laurel crying still grabs at my heartstrings.

--Keith had a tendency to pop Rachael in the head and none of us seemed to notice! And I mean, he'd look at her, walk over to her and bonk her right square on the forehead! And none of us caught it! Over and over he did this. Now we understand why poor Rachael is like she is.

--Both the girls were a hoot at Christmas, "OH-h-h-h! It's just what I wanted!"

--Mary Ann has spent the whole of her adult life staying away from cameras.

That is all for now.

I'm a happy camper.

2008-10-13T10:14:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I really kicked in the ass and dug into cleaning mode. Living room is super clean AND rearranged. While all this was going on, I would run over to the computer hooked up to the VCR where some old family videos were being transferred to DVD. There were tapes of Dad's I had never seen before! After I get them transferred and duplicated for various siblings, I might try my hand at Youtube again and post clips of my sweet Laurel when she was two. And my sisters with their 80s big, curly hair. And Monica sucking on a pacifier. And Marsha telling naughty jokes.

So today's goal: the kitchen and grocery shopping. Not necessarily in that order.

I've been feeling totally overwhelmed by the whole living room-kitchen thing since July's flooding fiasco. I'm just not bouncing back from stupid stuff like I used to.

I feel if I can get those 2 rooms under control, I can dig into repainting the play room and start it's conversion into Keith's muscle/Bears room and organized storage for my stuff. Then the family room will only need sweeping and dusting, and we'll pretty much be back to using the whole house.

OK. Off to start things.

That's it.

2008-10-09T22:20:00.002-05:00

That's it. I'm going to ask my doctor for a referral to an allergist. Went out with the kids for about 40 minutes. Beautiful, clear, slightly breezy day. Was really enjoying myself. Within an hour, I was having a full blown allergy attack. Now, believe it or not, this is a fairly recent event for me. I used to get allergy sniffles, but this is punctuated by sneezing so bad I'm a little afraid to drive. And it's literally like my nose is a steady stream of running water.

So, the sneezing started by noon yesterday and by 7, I was miserable. By the time it got through to me that I might have gone into a sinus infection in a record time, it was too late to see the doctor at Prompt Care. So, I suffered through the day and headed to the doctor today. I was surprised when I found out that it was a very fast turn around
I'm tired. Ambien kicking in..

Homecoming 2008

2008-10-07T21:07:00.002-05:00

My baby boy and his date.

Oo-oo-oo!

2008-09-25T22:32:00.001-05:00

NEW GREY'S!!!!!!!!!!!! Two hours of heaven!

No freshman football on Thursdays, no volleyball games, JUST GREY'S!!!! I feel like I'm leading a normal existence of TV.

Life is good.

Where do I start?

2008-09-23T20:57:00.002-05:00

Missing my girls. Missing my boys (even though they spend every night in this house.) Missing an organized life. Missing warm water.

Yep, headed to the shower this morning and it didn't get warm. Hm-m-m-m. Don got home from his morning run. Told him we had no warm water. He took a cold shower. He called the repair guy. I met repair guy right after school. Replaced a part. We now have warm water. Do not know the cost as repair guy will bill me. Unsettling feeling.

This all leads me to reflect on my life. I don't know why. Just what is a normal life for me? I go from one trainwreck to another. I think it's high time for me to have the chance to be bored for a little while.

A life with no broken water heaters, no broken sump pumps, no 7" rainfall in 14 hours bullcrap, no car wrecks.

So now I should look at the positives. No injuries from car wrecks, no water heater replacement, no structural damage from floods. I am now off high blood pressure med, heart med, and cholesterol med. (However, they'll have to pry the Ambien from my cold, dead fingers. That's more important to me than, well, a lot of stuff!) My husband and kids are healthy. My life does not suck. Just have sucky things happen. Do you know I hate the word suck?

OK, that's enough rambling. I'm off to "suck" down some Ambien!

A Day to Rejoice

2008-09-16T22:22:00.002-05:00

Appointment with the cardiologist. Heart rate 68, B/P 120/72, EKG showed everything beating as it should.

NO MORE MEDICATION!!!!!!!!!!!!

NO MORE CARDIOLOGY VISITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Unless I need him.)

All in all, a good day.

Nothing.

2008-09-14T23:35:00.002-05:00

Too tired to write anything. And lousy sinuses paining me again.

No water in basement! Muhahahaha!

Working at school tonight, minding my own business, when the fire alarm went off. Well, I didn't dally. I got the hell out of there. Fire department came. No fire, but it got my heart racing foor a spell.

That's all. I'm tuckered.

Fran

P.S.

2008-09-02T22:14:00.002-05:00

I want to add that I work for the hottest, beautifullest, handsome-est superintendent in the whole world. I am typing this of my own accord with no coercion, threats, or conflict of interest whatsoever.

That which I will now admit to . . .

2008-09-02T21:54:00.002-05:00

. . .so about a week or so before school started, I went over to work in my classroom in my cute little car. I guess I thought the butt end of the car was sticking out too far so I pulled up closer to the curb.

S-s-s-c-c-r-r-r-a-a-a-p-e!

The sweet little bumper of the sweet little car was sitting on top of the curb. Hm-m-m. Thought I better back up.

S-s-s-c-c-r-r-r-a-a-a-p-e!

I hopped out of the car and checked and checked and checked, no scratch, no dent. Thought I dodged a serious bullet on that on.

The next day, I came bebopping around the car from another direction and I found it: my poor little bumper was kinda hanging on the passenger side. Oh, the humanity! I pushed it back into place, sort of. Then I tried to ignore that it ever happened.

Don got an appointment for his cute little car to have an oil change. I decided since I was going out there with him anyway, and the fact that it was completely silly to try to pretend that it never happened, forced me to have an estimate of the damage.

The service department called me to tell me that, yes, I had broken a series of clips that held the bumper in place. I said, "OK, go ahead and drop the bomb. What's the damage?"

The voice at the other end said, "$35."

You gotta be kiddin' me. I was ready to speed out there and write a check REALLY fast before they changed their minds. However, when I finally got out there to pick up the car, the estimate had not changed.

Finally, our dirty, rotten luck is finally beginning to change.

A couple weeks have passed. . .

2008-09-01T17:23:00.002-05:00

Let's see. I have 22 busy 2nd graders. Caroline went to college. Laurel was already there. Football has officially started with 1 in the W category. Keith started varsity. I puttered away the weekend first with a full-blown allergy attack and then babying myself because--poor me--I had an allergy attack.

I have done a little cleaning (very little) and a lot of shopping. Wish these people around here didn't have to be fed so often.

I'm going to school now to get ready for the week. I'm a bit overwhelmed with the material. I feel like a first year teacher all over again.

This week's 2nd grade HeeHee: we had our first spelling test in sentence format and I told the students that if a spelling word came at the beginning of a sentence it had to be capitalized. Some only capitalized it if it came at the beginning of a line (not a sentence), some just flat out didn't understand, and then there was the one sharper-than-the-average-bear variety who thought it best to simply capitalize every single spelling word. I suspect I'll have to get up pretty early in the morning to keep one step ahead of this one! That's OK. These are the ones that make it fun!

So, off I go to spend the rest of my Labor Day (until the new Closer starts) at work.

First week of school.

2008-08-22T22:16:00.002-05:00

Twenty-two brand new 2nd graders, #1 daughter not feeling well, #2 daughter joined her sister at college, #1 and only son had a football scrimmage, #1 and only husband and I going to a concert Saturday night, no rest for the wicked or the weary.

Being thankful.

2008-08-15T09:08:00.003-05:00

Blog reader: Interesting title to her blog today. What could Fran be feeling thankful about?

Fran: My health and well-being. Quite literally. Thankful I did not wake up in the hospital this morning.

Blog reader: Oh, my! DO TELL!

Fran: OK.

This week has literally been a whirlwind! Getting classroom ready (got lots more hours to go), going to meetings, getting last minute dr. appointments in, and volunteering at the state fair as part of a fundraiser for the football team.

What was I doing--you might ask. Shoveling shit? I guess you could call it eventual shit. Selling salt water taffy. And everybody wants a sample! And I've been accused of being a (shutter) Republican for not giving an old fart a sample. Said he would have bought 10 boxes if I had just given him a sample. Same guy came back a couple hours later and asked if he could write a check. Another gal told him we couldn't accept checks. He then deduced that this stand must be owned by Republicans. Yes, it was Democrat day at the fairgrounds. So that was the first night. I stood or walked for 7 hours and was completely zapped but couldn't sleep because of the achiness.

Which brings us to last night. I was put in the Dummy stand, so called not for the IQ of the person working the stand, but rather that it doesn't have one of the taffy-making machines in it. I was all by myself and had to deal with the people of ill repute asking what all the flavors were and was it really made fresh today and the infamous, "Could I have a sample?" knowing full well that they had absolutely NO intention of buying any taffy. I also had a run-by tooting. I am not making this up. A HUGE man, so big he was using a walking stick for balance, hobbled up and said, "I bet you've never had this before. A run-by tooting!" He proceeded to show me his backside, wiggle his very big ass at me, and then walk away laughing." I have no idea if he passed gas, either by using my sense of hearing or my sense of smell, since I was a few feet away from the donkey petting farm, which were both braying and pooping.

I had a marriage proposal (I think he had just left the beer tent). Asked me if I was single and when I said, "No," he said, "Too bad. I'm rich, too." Yeah, whatever.

But the highlight (or lowlight depending upon perspective)was when I was finished and meeting up with the group of people who road in together. By this time, all the night workers were taking over. A mighty scary bunch. I was walking along the edge of Main Street and a car was coming toward me, then veered at me, and kept coming. I remember thinking, "this must be someone who knows me" then realizing this car wasn't going to stop. He stopped just as I was folding over the hood. So there I was, spread eagle on the hood of the car, but I wasn't hit because I think I was using my hands to push off. Anyway, two freakazoids were in the car, the one of the passenger side looking mighty freaked out(on top of alredy being freakish). They were both stunned. The driver, and I am not making this up, had his right eye glazed over. I yelled, "What do you think you're doing?" They took a placard off the rearview mirror and held it up. I yelled, "You think that just because you have a parking pass you can run over people?" "No, no! It was blocking his view!" Looking at the man with his glazed-over eye, I suspect he had more issues with seeing me than just a dangling placard. They never apologized but they were as freaked out as me. However, the fun part started when groups of black people started moving toward the car yelling at them for not being careful and they could have killed somebody and somebody should call the cops . . .

So I skidaddled out of there and it took stomping for quite a few yards, looking for a police officer and finding none, before it really sank in what had just happened.

I met up with my group--and there were no less than 20 police officers. Outside the beer tent. Keeping the drinkers safe.

The clock is ticking . . .

2008-08-03T15:24:00.002-05:00

I'm sure glad I had the first half of the summer to get some R&R, cuz the last half is gonna be crazy. I expected as much with ONLY getting ready for a grade-level class, getting 2 girls to college, getting a high schooler outfitted, etc.

But add to that the flood, and you've got packing up a whole house level full of sh**, I mean stuff, living out of only 1/2 the house, moving everything into a couple rooms downstairs for new flooring to be laid, then moving everything into that newly-floored room so that the other 2 rooms can be laid, that's enough. Right?

But, no, the flooring guys took down the baseboard. One more project. One more hassle. One more major irritation. In reality, it's just a little thing. But it's the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

So, off we go. So much to do, so little time. I see an all-nighter at the elementary in my future, which is the way I always used to organize my classroom back in the pre-air conditioning days. At least I don't have to roast the first several weeks of school.

Oh, got a jury duty summons for Aug. 25th (the first full week of school) but was able to beg off until the end of October. So all is not bad.

DAD--IF YOU'RE GONNA FREAK OUT, DON'T READ ON!

2008-07-30T21:56:00.003-05:00

Eye check-up day. Me, worse. Keith, worse. And "issues" with differentiating the colors green and red. Laurel, better. So much better the optometrist asked that she have a blood sugar test to make sure she's not pre-diabetic. So, Keith's close to color-blind and Laurel has a new worry.

OK, Dad, if you're freaking out, stop.

So, I'm not letting Caroline have her eyes checked.

Former Students

2008-07-26T22:30:00.000-05:00

No, this isn't a picture of a former student. This is what you might expect if you have a former student fix a waffle for you. Eight years old forever!

Thanks, Amy Bracey!

Thursday

2008-07-25T00:35:00.002-05:00

OK, maybe possibly hopefully I headed off illness and just suffered a horrendous allergy attack.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday--I took a horticulture for teachers class...Kinda cool. It's going to be a fun year with the kids.

Monday night? Horrendous. I'm not even going into detail. Just suffice it to say that I cried. Some things, and people, are so unfair. There aren't many people I hate. I dislike quite a few, but actually hate is another matter. I have a few new people to hate. Terrible, terrible, terrible. It may be a very, very long seven years to retirement.

Enough.

Here we go again.

2008-07-20T20:43:00.002-05:00

Sneezing, sniffling, pain and pressure. And I'm limited in my allergy med possibilities.

Started the summer with sinusitis and it looks like I may end the summer the same way.

Isn't summer in Illinois just grand?

Here's a funny.

2008-07-15T20:13:00.001-05:00

Ed D. Poo emailed this to me:

TWENTY NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1 .. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't .

2 .. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.

3.. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

4.. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke .

5.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.

6.. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me.

7.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder .

8.. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe .

9.. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are missing.

10.. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes .

11.. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.

12.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.

13.. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

14.. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.

15.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

16.. Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!

17.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up!!!!

18.. Procrastinate Now!

19.. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?

20.. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

21.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.

22.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!

23.. They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken .

24 ..He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.

25.. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.

26 .. Ham and eggs...A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

27.. The trouble with life is there's no background music .

28.. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.

29.. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

Ah, so much truth.

Good start to the week.

2008-07-15T19:40:00.002-05:00

Laurel is home. Itty Bitty is better. I think the two events have something to do with each other. He's been at her side every minute since she walked in the door. Went so far as to curl up in her suitcase and go to sleep.

The basement is drying out. Got a dumpster coming tomorrow to take away more evidence of yucky waterlogged stuff. Evans is only going to charge us for 3 days of equipment rental. I guess that's my frequent flyer discount.

By the way, have I told you all how I love my car?

The upside of anger.

2008-07-13T20:28:00.002-05:00

I think that's a movie title.

Anyway, Itty Bitty had a GREAT DAY! I think we're starting to figure out the food and the method of delivery so the food goes in his tummy, not all over my sister. (He let her have some recently.)

We've backed off on his steroids so he's not drinking water like he's never seen it before.

OMG! We weren't thinking! When the water started entering the basement, we should have loaded the dogs up with steroids and let them go to town!

OK. That's all. I'm really liking the MGD 64.

How often do I have to post this?

2008-07-13T13:50:00.002-05:00

It's rain. It's only rain.

Then why am I coming to hate it so much?

Power stayed on. Sump pump ran merrily. Stupid water came in through the front door. Like it was invited.

There was water from our front door out past the intersection and up and down as far as the eye could see. Don waded to the end of the drive and the water was just below his knees. I was terrified when I saw headlights because I was afraid the wake would send even more waves of water into the basement.

So at 2:30 in the morning, I was on the phone to Evans Restoration--again. You leave a message and they call you back. When the guy called back, he said, "I recognize this voice." (I RECOGNIZE YOUR VOICE!?!?!?)

So then, where's my frequent flyer discount?

If the stupid water isn't bad enough, and even though it was a weird weather pattern, in the midst of it all the realization hit--we can't sell this house. We cannot sell this house.

Not that we're looking to sell it in the next couple years, but one always wants the option available.

Even though we have lived here for 18 years, and even though we had not seen water in the basement for the first 16, and even though every one of the stupid floods came about from very weird, encredibly once-in-a-lifetime type stuff, when a buyer asks, "Have you ever had water down here?", we have to say, "Yes, 3 times." I guess we can be amused by how creatively they exit the walk-through.

Maybe we should put it on the market just for the fun of seeing panic & fear in the eyes of potential buyers. Hm-m-m-m. Sounds like warped fun.

If we won the lottery, I'd bulldoze the place.

I still love my car, though. Maybe I'll move into it. Just enough room for Itty Bitty and me. Those other people are on their own. It bet the car floats in water, too.

What a week.

2008-07-10T20:17:00.002-05:00

Itty Bitty has been sick. We've been treating it as allergies but he kept getting worse and worse, with what appeared to be a very VERY bad sinus infection.

We finally had a specialist look at him, up close and personal (meaning down his throat and up his nose), and if the little fart didn't have everything about him shorter and smaller than the rest of the world, it turns out he has a soft palette that is too short. So, food has been exhaled before it gets around all the twists and turns. I guess we'll go to canned food, rolling it into balls, and having him reach up a little to eat it so it slides all the way down.

We had absolutely the worst cast scenario going through our minds: polyps, tumors, whatever, so it's been a worrisome week.

I know, I know, he's just a dog. But remember. I wanted another baby which is physically impossible but I didn't want anymore teenagers and Itty Bitty was the answer. So, my 8 pound baby boy is better, home, and not in pain or having to have bad decisions made.

I'll sleep better tonight.

Hey!

2008-07-07T21:27:00.002-05:00

Long time, no type.

If a person can love an inanimate object, I love my little car! It's fun to drive again. Doesn't feel like a chore.

At Weight Watchers last week, the facilitator told us about a new Miller beer that was 64 calories to equal 1 point. I found it tonight. It's watered down, but has the distinct Miller Light taste. I can deal with watered down for one freaking point. I can also get dead drunk for about 4 points!

Actually, unless it's very hot, I'm good for about 2 beers at a time. The Cardinals-Cubs game in St. Louis Saturday was hot. That being said, I only had 2, but they went down so smoothly!

The new stadium was nice to visit. Where we sat was in the shade and breezy, which was nice.

Laurel tells us she got to see the Westminster Boys Choir in London and said they are amazing singers. She's seen so much. She cracked me up with one of her emails. She thinks her mother is as worldly as she is. She was talking about going to some town and she said, "You know, WS's birthplace." Well, her stupid mother scratched her head for awhile until she figured out that L meant William Shakespeare's birthplace. I have yet to admit to her how stupid I am.

OK. I've caught everybody up on mindless matters.

Yours,
Queen of Not Alot

. . . and for Don's 50th:

2008-06-29T17:05:00.002-05:00

"Born in the USA. I was Born in the USA."

The Boss. August 23rd. St. Louis.

And none of them there look alike bands featured in Sunday Morning.

Itty-Bitty continues to have health problems. He spent the day at the vet's Thursday, no issues. Bring him home and Friday was good until we closed the house up to run the air. He's been sick ever since.

So today has been a day of pulling up an area rug, scrubbing down hard surfaces, vacuuming soft surfaces, washing pillows and blankets--anything to give him some relief.

He was 5 yesterday. Too young and little to be dealing with this.

The past week.

2008-06-27T21:12:00.004-05:00

Well, we couldn't decide whether to get the Nissan Versa or the Sentra. So we got both.

The van was not nickeling and diming us to death, it had cut an artery open in our budget and was bleeding us to death! So after some serious, and I mean SERIOUS, number crunching, we determined that two new, fuel efficient, NEW little cars would not be much more than what we were paying for one gas guzzling van.

So, first is Don's and then mine. Colors are accurate.

Relay For Life 2008

2008-06-22T15:50:00.001-05:00

A funny.

2008-06-21T11:11:00.002-05:00

My sister knows a county music teacher who was teaching little ones songs about the tortoise and the hare. They were discussing reptiles. One little girl raised her hand and announced that her Daddy had a reptile dysfunction.

Maybe Mommy & Daddy should talk when absolutely no one is around. Out of the mouths of babes.

Itty Bitty has been to the vet--again. Sinus infection and further digression of his neurological condition. He's five years old. We're not to the point of having to make any decisions. He may level off. Will probably never improve. I wanted another baby and since that was a physical impossibility, I got a puppy. And he's my baby. We'll just do what we have to do while his life has quality. May have to make decisions by the end of the summer, or another couple years, but not today.

So, could be better, could be worse. In the realm of things, not too bad. And the reptiles in this house are functioning just fine. TMI?

Wednesday

2008-06-18T21:42:00.002-05:00

After reviewing some of my blogs, I realized I've had one long headache since the last week of school. I finally decided to do something about it.

Janis gets her kinks out with massage and when she had a cold, she had the gal massage her sinuses. So, I decided to try it. I'm concerned about having to take antibiotics several times a year and thought maybe this would be something to try.

I've had 3 massages. The first two didn't seem to do a whole lot, then the chiropractor worked on me a couple times, and tonight I can say I've been headache-free for about six hours. And I haven't been draggin' around here, so I think we're getting somewhere.

No resolution yet on the truck. We're looking at a Nissan Sentra or a Versa to replace it. I loved my Nissans. It'll be nice to get back to one. But we don't have to do anything right now. Laurel is in London so we have the use of her car. But we haven't needed it much.

OK, that's all.

Count 'em.

2008-06-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

Four insurance companies involved in our ongoing saga.

What a great day!

2008-06-16T12:10:00.002-05:00

NO headache!

NO air conditioning running! Not too hot, not too humid, just right.

NO pressing deadlines!

SUMMER! Now this is what I'm talkin' about! Planted some stuff, ran some errands, stayed on track for Weight Watchers. All in all, a great start to the week!

Got Laurel off on her big adventure to London. The flight was on time and must have been pretty smooth. She called when she got there and then again last night for Father's Day. She was nervous because she was travelling alone, but you wouldn't know it by watching her.

That's all for now.

2008-06-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

The "sandwich" affect of having the truck pushed into the neighboring car.

2008-06-11T21:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is Don's back window.

2008-06-11T21:46:00.000-05:00

Greetings! How's your summer going? Our's is going.

My most frequent phrase: YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN' ME!

2008-06-10T20:30:00.003-05:00

Beautiful day, wasn't it?

Don took the 98 truck for an evaluation of some funky sounds coming out of it.

The bad news: $1400 in damage.

The worser, badder news: as he was getting ready to bring it home to think about it, a garage employee was bringing another customer's truck around and plowed into the back quarter panel of our truck and shoved the whole thing into the car sitting on the other side as well as breaking the back window of the truck. And Don was in it.

Don was unhurt, but this whole thing has MAJOR HASSLE written all over it--who's insurance covers it, since the truck needs repairs what will the estimated value be, etc., etc., etc.

Yet another WTF moment.

This HEADACHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

2008-06-08T20:36:00.003-05:00

Why, oh, why do I have such unending sinus pain?

I think I'll have to break down and do something about it tomorrow.

Sangamon River has just about closed off Peoria Rd. Of the 4 lanes, one was closed and I suspect the water is still rising.

This has only happened twice before since we've been teaching in the district. When the kids were pretty little (I think it was the year the Mississippi tore the crap out of the midwest), Lois, the kids' step mom, took them down to play on the river bridge because she said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It did it again somewhere around 2002 and I took Keith down to romp on the bridge, and it may just happen again. The kids are too big to romp on the bridge anymore.

OK. Motrin time.

My baby boy holding a baby boy.

2008-06-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

See? The big kid has a gentle side!

Feeling Rotten!

2008-06-01T00:21:00.002-05:00

Starting the summer with the infamous summer cold. Ear, throat, head. Ow, ow, ow.

Went to a wedding of a former track runner of Don's. That was nice.

I really have nothing of relevance to type. Never stopped me before, did it?

It's been a few days.

2008-05-29T22:00:00.002-05:00

Had a long entry typed for the blog last night. Computer froze. Got too bored to retype it.

I think everything is packed. My new room has much available to me since the retiring teacher left TONS of stuff. That's the way I'm gonna do it when I retire--leave most everything. I'll take some hardback books, like my Shel Silverstein collection, to read to grandchildren but I won't take much else but my gnarly self.

Eight years, baby!

Had a woman sit at my table tonight who said someone asked her if she was 40 and she was highly insulted. Now, we both have sons the same age but I guess it's a matter of perspective. I told her if someone assumed I was 40, I'd be elated!

Damn, I'm so close to 50! I want to do something like Sandy did when we all joined her in Destin, FL, for her 50th. I want to go to one of the Beaches all-inclusive resorts but what with the gas skyrocketing and the fact that we'll have two in college, I'm not sure it would be prudent to do something just for me. Maybe I can talk Don into just going to Vegas.

I don't feel like I slept last night, even though I'm pretty certain I did but it sure doesn't feel like it now. So I took my beloved Ambien a little early.

Mickey, I plan to be asleep at 3:00 a.m. so no need to call me when you can't sleep.

My eyes are drifting. Nightie night.

WHEW!

2008-05-20T19:41:00.002-05:00

The phone works!!!!

The battery doesn't, but I quick replaced it and I'm up and running again. Battery was less than the deductible on the replacement insurance.

After an alcohol germ-killing rubdown, all is well.

When it rains, it pours . . .

2008-05-20T09:28:00.002-05:00

Survived The Graduation. No one was murdered for insubordination. Everyone kicked in to get the job done. It was a beautiful day. Only a couple white-trash air horns.

Caroline got notification today that she has been awarded the Bunn Memorial Scholarship for $1,000. Laurel got so little and I was kind of wondering how in the world we were going to afford the two girls in college at the same time. We've put money aside every month for at least 15 years but it just didn't seem to go very far in the college world. So every one of these helps.

Took Itty Bitty to the vet yesterday. It's been two and a half years since the stroke and he still gets around pretty well, but his neurological connections are starting to digress. When it all happened, no one told us what the long-term prognosis would be, and neither did we ask. We blindly assumed that whatever movement he got back would always be there. Unfortunately, one of the things that can happen is a calcification at the site of the bleed that can cause a bulge in the disks which in turn puts pressure on the nerves. So we're starting steroids to try to keep him physically mobile.

I dropped my phone in the toilet this morning. I DROPPED MY PHONE IN THE TOILET THIS MORNING! Do you want to use it?

That's all for now.

Friday Evening

2008-05-16T20:41:00.003-05:00

I WANT MY VAN BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been two weeks in this stupid loaner car.

Tonight was baccalaureate and it was a very nice ceremony.

Part of it involved a piano solo by one of the seniors. It was heart-stopping.

And now we know why she got a full ride music scholarship to Western. Very impressive.

That's all. I've got a headache.

Bragging Rights--again. (Edited)

2008-05-14T22:40:00.004-05:00

Well, a lot to brag about this week. I certainly hope my friends out here in the blogosphere love me enough to put up with me.

Monday Keith had the distinguished honor of participation in an invitation-only meet. He set a PR (personal record) in shot put (48') but had a devil of a time in discus. We're looking at sectionals this weekend. Of course, I won't get to see much of the meet because baccalaureate has been set for the same evening.

Last night was honors night and Caroline faired pretty well. Caroline was recognized by both the Army National Guard and the Marines for her athleticism in relation to her academics. Imagine our surprise when we suspected that she might have signed enlistment papers without our knowledge! But she didn't. Whew!

She received the calculus award. And the Orlene Drobisch Moore scholarship worth $500, renewable.

She was named Student of the Month for April. After all the students of the month were brought up, they then introduced the CEO award for $500, the Director's award for $750, and finally, the student of the year award for $1250. Caroline is blessed to have been named Student of the Year. We're so happy for her.

You can see the banks dedication at: http://www.wsbt.net/StudentoftheMonth.html

So, back to reality. The dogs stink and will get baths tomorrow. I'm taking Friday and Monday off as pre- and post-graduation stuff. I'm overwhelmed by paperwork and dreading the end of school. I got a questionnaire from the jury duty commission, which means jury duty is soon to follow. Bathrooms need scrubbed.

So, there you have it. You can have your head in the clouds but you still have to put your shoes and socks on every day.

2008-05-10T19:44:00.001-05:00

This has to be, without question, one of the very sweetest Teacher Appreciation gifts I've ever gotten. It was in a used gift bag with a Hershey's chocolate bar that had melted and hardened along the way. I'm not quite sure why this sweetie used the paper shape for the note, but I can tell it's absolutely, completely, from the heart. No adult intervention. It doesn't get any better than this.

Wouldn't ya know it . . .

2008-05-05T18:22:00.001-05:00

. . .it's not just transmission fluid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeminy Friggin' Christmas!

The Dreaded Threes.

2008-05-05T09:57:00.002-05:00

So, a week ago Friday, you found out about the tree limbs falling down around the garage. Then Monday, I had to have a plumber in, after hours, to replace the kitchen faucet (we're talking major, water spraying leak), and then Saturday evening when Care & I headed out to her prom destination, we hopped in the car, turned it on, put it in reverse, nothing. Drive, nothing. Turned car off and on (don't know why but it works for computers), nothing.

Hopped in the little car and as we were on our way, I called the local car mechanic and said, "Tow it outta here. Keys are in it." He tried to tell me to put the key under the mat and I barked, "Nobody's gonna steal it!" Frankly, we'd be money ahead if they did.

So, the car is gone. If it's transmission fluid, no biggie. If it's the whole dang transmission, we're screwed.

The good news--it's the third thing. All of us who are incredibly unlucky, or have been involved in law enforcement or emergency rooms know that they always come in threes.

The Big Day

2008-05-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

I started this day with an extra jolt of caffeine--about twice as much as I usually take in.

When we got up, it was absolutely gorgeous outside. By the time we started the beautification process, the temp had dropped and the clouds had rolled in.

The day was long, since I was only there as a cash register and observer. I think you will agree it was well worth it.

Now the long night begins. No sirens. They send me over the edge when my kids are not in my presence.

2008-05-03T22:49:00.000-05:00

During.

2008-05-03T22:47:00.000-05:00

Before and After

2008-05-03T22:45:00.000-05:00