Nice End to Spring Break Week

Okay, today I did very little. I have gone through some more stuff. This will go on for quite some time. I actually got to go out to our storage unit and get the warm weather clothes out and replace them with the cold (well, as cold as it gets here which is not very) weather clothes. I also got out the sandals. This means that there will be a cold front coming this way. That's okay.

I am hoping for a good report and small bill from the folks fixing my car. The guy must've been on spring break, since he was off as I was last week. It should be a fuel filter or sensor of some kind. Please, oh please, oh please, let it be C-H-E-A-P!

The Child is at his dad's home, so it's been VERY quiet around here. Supermom is in there working on some silly paper for her creative arts class. It seems quite ridiculous. Most things she does without complaint, but she's been pretty vocal about how silly this one is. Reason #2554 I'm glad that I didn't go through a traditional school of education.

Nice Day!

Well, today we returned from Bubba, Sr. and Granny's. We spent the night with them after going to see the new nephew. He is absolutely adorable! He bears a striking resemblance to the Roaming Gnome, Finder of Travel Values, or maybe it's a little of Mr. Magoo I see in him. It doesn't really matter, because he's precious. My brother seems to be quite the good papa and his wife, my sis-in-law is nothing short of amazing! A baby seems to do that to people. New perspective, new responsibilities.

I am into Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? by Peter Walsh. It's quite the revelation. This, along with Dave Ramsey, my new guru, is helping me get myself together. The book is quite interesting and I've needed to do this (get all the world I live in together) for some time. I spent some time tonight cleaning some clutter away. It's really very liberating. I dread it, but it really was a treasure finding experiment. I actually found a lot of jewelry that I haven't worn because the silver needed to be cleaned. Done. I didn't make a list, I just gathered clutter from several surfaces in my room and dealt with it. I threw away some gifts that people I love gave me. They'll never know. I am having small pangs of guilt about it, but I'd never use what I threw away, and I don't think anyone else would either. In a week or two, I won't even remember what that stuff was.

I am giving myself a gold star for the day.

Good night!

A Day Close to Perfection

Today, I took a trip with Snoopy to Tybee. It was a perfect beach day. It was quite warm (low 80's) with a nice, cool wind. We didn't leave until about 11:30. Since we're so not tan, we don't need much exposure. Plus, I'm not one of those people who goes to lay out from sun-up to sun-down. I just like to spend time in the sun, with sunscreen, for a while. We spent about three hours out. Oh yeah, cooked lobsters have nothing on me. I used sunscreen, but underestimated the power of heat from 93, 000, 000 miles away. I had Supermom put aloe on my back and I did all the other affected areas.

Then we ate at Spanky's. I'm usually all about Stingray's, but wasn't really wanting shrimp today. We both had the chicken fingers. Snoopy had the spuds, and I had the fries. Spuds are sliced cross-sections of potato (add an "e" if you are a Dan Quayle fan) which are battered and delightfully fried. Yes, I know this isn't moving my plan from yesterday forward, but you know, it could have been worse. I also had a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, so I was pretty good otherwise.


Prior to leaving the beach, I went and took a minute and walked into the surf. It's just something I do symbolically. That's the same ocean crossed by so many. I like to dip a toe in just to connect with all those who've been on it or in it. The bacterial level was acceptable today, so it wasn't too bad.

On the drive home, I programmed the music from Snoopy and my i-pods. It was a 70's spree! "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" and "Lowdown" are just two examples. It was great. I got home, showered the beach off me, doctored the burniness, and now am in bed blogging listening to Doug Gottlieb talk NFL draft.

'nuf said.

Fantastic Blog

I got here by going through a blog then to another and another. I find it to be very funny.

http://www.guardedlyoptimistic.com/2007/01/fruit-risk-vs-reward-analysis.html

Sorry if you've already dined on the mental awesomeness.

StrUGHgle!

How ironic is this?!? The very week I thought I'd have nothing to worry or think about, I am really struggling with a lot of things. I have been grieved by my many issues. My house is cluttered, my weight is up, and I am feeling generally CRAPO about myself. Today at lunch, Hippy Chick confronted me on how I've let my diet GOOOOO! We ate a very nice lunch at a good spot in town. (Incidentally, it was a nice tarragon-tomato soup, a whole-wheat wrapped turkey sandwich with romaine, tomato, onion, and cranberry relish. There was a little mayonnaise, but not excessively much. I had the fruit with it. Yum. Good and good for me!) I really want to get it all together, but it's so hard for me to get all areas of my life together. I've talked about this before. I'm not sure why I feel like this.

Hippy suggested I do a food diary. The thought of this horrifies me. My immediate reaction was that I can't do anything with regularity. Do I just refuse to have responsible adult behavior? Why do I feel the need to refrain from taking responsibility? I'm going to work on this. Maybe, if I don't take responsibility, then I'm not to blame for my overweightedness/fatness. But it really doesn't matter. I am fat and if I want to live healthfully, I've got to do something about it NOW. My plans for the New Year didn't materialize as I had hoped. How about the wording of that last sentence? It's as if I expected the Resolution Fairy to grant my wish. Actually that sentence should be something more like, "I didn't follow through on my New Year's resolutions. I didn't take the actions necessary to bring them to fruition."

Now, the next step is: How can I do what I need to do?

What do I need to do?

1) Eat good food.

2) Exercise with regularity.

3) Have some type of accountability with both food and exercise choices.

Well, I'm going to go mull my epiphany over. Thanks, Hippy!

I Hope You're Watching This!

I hope that you're watching Work Out on Bravo. There's a new episode tonight at 10. It's about a bunch of grown-ups who are in competition for attention. There's a handful people who are approaching sanity. Tops on the list of sane peeps is Agostina, Greg B., and Erika J. The rest are just crazy. Not to say that it's not an entertaining show.

The best part of the show is watching them train people. They have some really good ideas, since they charge out the proverbial WAZOO for the training. Check this out here.

Nobody does the drama like Bravo!

Nephews from A to Z

Check out these cute little faces! My little neps. The Child is cheesing it up big time and The Newbie is just getting accustomed to this wonderful world. It's apparently extremely tiring. I was informed by my brother that The Newbie is advanced for his age, just as his cousin, The Child, is. I guess it runs in the family.

The Newbie couldn't let The Child outdo him. He tried to come into the world old-school style, but he then pulled the old switcheroo. He decided that if The Child got the sun-roof style entry he wanted to try it out too. So, he did. Mom of The Newbie and the dad, my brother, are still tired, but doing quite well. The Newbie has had a few challenges, but in his week and a day, he's doing well.

I'm laid up today. I can hardly turned my neck. My shoulder and neck are conspiring against me. Ow. I wonder what will befall me for tomorrow. Boo on my spring br-aches! I'm watching Young and Restless. It's obviously enriching my life.

I downloaded the Lady Antebellum CD last night. It's really good. They're a somewhat new country group. I'm liking them.

I'm going to take some ibuprofen and take a nap to see if my neck and shoulder will be more cooperative.

Spring Breakin' It

Hi kids!



It's nice to not have anything really important to take care of. It's quite entertaining to be able to do what I want. This morning, because my car is being a bit unreliable, I took my sister to her practicum/field experience and then nephew to his daycare/school.



My foot is giving me some trouble, so I'm not going to the gym to see if I can get some relief. It's been a great foot for forty years. I'm not harboring any ill will towards it, since it's borne more than its fair share of weight for most of those years. I just wish it wouldn't pain me so. It feels bruised, but there's no bruise. I'm just hoping for the best.



I think I may spend some time this week planning my classes for the rest of the year. I can see the final destination for the '07-'08 school year. It's been pretty good. Our students did pretty well on the GHSGT (Georgia High School Graduation Test) for the most part, although the test seemed REALLY easy to me. I'm not sure what is going on at the Georgia DOE. I am excited about our new curriculum for next year, but am not sure about the tests. Are they just a formality? I mean it's good for me, since they are more simple, but why give a test that's SO easy. I'm not wanting my students to fail, and it is a basic skills test, but wow. There weren't many slightly difficult problems. Or maybe they were just really prepared? Hmmm.



I went to Chick-fil-A this morning. The dark roast coffee they have is quite tasty. It's nice to go to a fast food restaurant that really stresses customer service. I don't know if I've ever encountered a person who was disgruntled or unfriendly there. It's nice to be able to go somewhere and not be "helped" by someone who appears to be pissed off that I came to get some food at their restaurant.



This weekend was really good. Yesterday, I did essentially nothing. On Saturday, Mrs. C. and I went and worked out at 8 a.m. That is a great way to feel as if you've accomplished something on a Saturday. Then, since it was the one-year anniversary of a local book store, we stopped by to get some books. Well, I've wanted the Peter Walsh book Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat since I saw it. I special ordered it, since they didn't have it in stock. I also picked up a few other books and a Snuffleupagus for The Child. (To hear him attempt to say Snuffleupagus is delightful.) Anyway, I got a couple of other books and proceeded to the counter. The proprietor told me to pick a balloon to get my discount. I chose a lovely lavender balloon. When I opened up the discount paper attached to the balloon, it said 100%! I was overjoyed! the place is really good. They focus on service. And now, since amazon.com makes you wait a week-and-a-half to get your stuff for free and the discounts aren't THAT good, I've professed to patronize these folks. They charge nothing for special orders. They are the BOMB! After that, Mrs. C. and I enjoyed a fantastic latte with sugar-free caramel. I've never had that combo before, and HOW DELICIOUS! That afternoon, Granny and Bubba, Sr. came over to see The Child.


Well, I'm going to go pick up my sis from her school. More later . . . ?

10:53 a.m. Just got back from picking up sister. Stopped by Hippy Chick's salon to get some Bare Escentuals essentials!

The dude who runs our community did some mowing today. It's SO about time! When the dandelions are taller than a toddler, it's mowin' time.

I'm still reading In Cold Blood. It's good. They've finally found the killers and are interrogating them separately. So good. Creepy as can be though.

I'm looking forward to reading a book that they were giving away. They gave customers preview copies, since they can't sell them. The book I chose was The Somnambulist. It's really interesting. I'm still trying to make myself read Lonesome Dove. I'll pick it up, but can't seem to get into it. I guess it's just my normal deal of when somebody suggests something strongly, I have a tendency to NOT want to like it. I'm just "o'nery" that way.

Well, I'm gonna go see what I can polish off of In Cold Blood.

Peace out and pig snout.

Two Wins for Me

Well, today was the last day before spring break. It is also the day before prom. So, it's really been a fun day. I didn't help with prom decorations, but I was there to make sure that no mayhem occurred. It's really good because I have a very big, booming voice.

Also, my geometry people have picked it up and start doing their work. It's 13 1/2 weeks in, but at least they've started.

This next week should be fun, even if I don't do anything!

Declaring spring break officially here!

Coming Up for Air

Okay, it's Wednesday. I'm coming up for air for just a minute. Our week is going as well as can be expected, considering the mania of prom this Saturday.

Our principal has left for a larger school. One of our assistant principals has resigned. She didn't get an interview for the open principal position. I am not sure why. According to the job description, she met the qualifications. At least one person was interviewed did not meet the qualifications of the job description. Politics is CRAP. I hate the way it effects education. Rarely do people in the trenches get asked to be involved in policy matters. So, if something is awry, teachers are usually stuck with it. The policy's been set in motion and law-makers seem to think that it'd be a mistake to change something. Grrrrrr!

I've got to get some lesson plans done, so I'll scoot for now.

Have a good rest of the week. Things are good!

So, I Lied.

Hey. I just had a really good walk and wanted to log the mix my i-pod decided that I needed. I thought having a record of this may be good for future reference. Here it is:

Dirty Little Secret - The All -American Rejects

Who Knew - Pink

Sensual Seduction (edited version) - Snoop Dogg

Get Up - Ciara f. Chamillionaire

Kick Push - Lupe Fiasco

Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado f. Timbaland

How to Save a Life - The Fray

Because of You - Ne-Yo

I Don't Wanna Be in Love - Good Charlotte

Run-Around - Blues Traveler

Music - Madonna

Original Fire - Audioslave

Stronger - Kanye West

When You Were Young - The Killers

Overkill - Men at Work

We Run This - Missy Elliott

Space (live) - Hootie & the Blowfish

(When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me - Sean Paul f. Keyshia Coles

Elevator - Flo Rida f. Timbaland

How Far We've Come - Matchbox 20

This was a WALK, strictly. Additionally it was outside, since it is a gloriously pretty morning here. I am worn out! I need to work outside more often. Perhaps I can do this four times this week? I think that shall be a goal.

When was the last time you heard Overkill by Men at Work? That is a great song to walk or run to. I forgot how wonderful those Aussies were/are.

Also, I bought some vanilla-flavored stevia. I'm going to try and see how it works in oatmeal for my brunch today. It's good in my Zingers to Go peach-flavored green tea.

That's about all I've got right now. Maybe I'm not as through with this as I thought!

Yeah, I know.

Well, I admittedly suck. Again, blogging isn't ringing my bell as it used to. I guess that I'm pretty much exhausted and anticipating my spring break week after next. When will May 23 arrive? I'm guessing I'll be back to blogging my happy ass off then. Don't be too surprised if I don't really check in very much prior to that. The end of the year for school is ridiculous. All the banquets, awards ceremonies, etc. Bye-bye for a while.

Peace out.

FYI the Chefograph of Ace of Cakes is AWESOME. I LOVE Duff.