Good to Go!

More Food

2011-07-16T20:39:00.002-04:00

I've been doing a lot of cooking this summer.I've included some pics of the recipes that were fairly successful below.

We begin with Ropa Vieja a Cuban dish of shredded beef, spices, peppers and onions. I serve it over rice with tortillas. It takes about 4 hours to make this, but it's delicious and very hearty. You start by boiling about 2lbs of flank steak with celery, onions, carrots, garlic and a couple of bay leaves. After that, you take the beef out and let it cool - you need to make sure it's cooled completely or you'll burn your fingers when you shred the beef. You reduce the boiling liquid, saute some garlic, onions, green peppers, jalapenos, add some cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper. At that point, you add the beef back to the reduced liquid, stir in the sauteed veggies and add a can of tomatoes, let simmer for an hour or two and enjoy.

Next we have a very simple dish. This is a homemade pizza that the kids like to call "spaghetti and meatsauce pizza." There is no spaghetti on this pizza. There is the meatsauce that I normally serve over spaghetti on top of the pizza with pizza cheese and viola! spaghetti and meatsauce pizza. There were no leftovers of this dish.

This poorly taken picture is of spinach and mushroom ricotta stuffed chicken. No one liked this dish so I probably won't make it again. I thought it was pretty tasty so if I lived alone or only cared about myself, I'd make it again. I also ended up with a metric buttload of the ricotta mixture left over and have no idea what to do with it...so I bought some phyllo dough and am going to layer it for a spanakopita kind of thing. No one will eat that either. but I think it'll look pretty and I know I'll eat it. Go me...I like food.

This next dish was a huge success. This is my Four Cheese Stuffed Shells dish and this was devoured by the family. It was crazy easy to make. I also think it will be replacing my lasagne dish that I normally make for new parents as a gift of sorts. What were the four cheeses? I thought you'd never ask, thanks. I used low fat ricotta, parmesean, mozzarella and (here's the kicker) asiago. I also came up with a recipe for a simple tomato sauce to accompany the shells. It's pretty simple - saute onions and garlic (with salt and pepper) in a little bit of olive oil till they're translucent, add a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, allow this mixture to steep for about 20 minutes, then add some chopped fresh oregano and you've created a pretty tasty marinara type sauce all your own that will taste 100X better than prego or ragu. The Rapunzel Barbie cup is John's. He loves drinking his milk out of that stupid thing.

The next dish was really fun to put together and will definitely be a "do-over." This is shrimp etouffee. I made a nice chocolate-colored roux, added the celery, peppers and onions. From there, I added some clam juice, spices and then the shrimp. We served this over rice. Next time I make it, I'm going to try it with chicken and andouille sausage instead of the shrimp. Not because I don't like shrimp, but because shrimp is expensive, time consuming and the things are bottom-feeders that look like cockroaches on the bottom of the ocean floor. More and more shrimp are kinda starting to disgust me and I don't serve them nearly as often as I used to...

And...that's it for now. I'll cook again. There are people who live in my house who expect it from me. I try not to disappoint them...

Summertime...and the cookin' is easy...

2011-07-02T19:30:00.004-04:00

I've been doing a lot of cooking the past couple of days, well, weeks really. I invented a recipe for keylime shortbreads (too popular to keep around long enough for pics), made homemade doughnuts, a festive 4th of July trifle/parfait type of thing and took a basic recipe for chicken tetrazini and made it low fat and a little healthier than usual.

Here is the parfait. I made a white cake mix, folded vanilla pudding into homemade whipped cream, made a berry compote and added fresh uncooked berries to layer in this recipe. We'll add sparklers to it on the actual 4th of July and celebrate.

Here's the tetrazini and I'll quickly admit the photo makes it look like it was a little dry. It was not. It was delicious. Instead of adding cream or milk to the bechamel sauce, I instead used lowfat chicken stock and it was very good. I also grilled the chicken breast for added taste and sauteed the mushrooms with minced garlic. This was freaking delicious and with the exception of one modest lunch-sized portion for the next day was gone within minutes. I was very happy with the outcome of this dish.

I'm planning to make a few new dishes for the family this summer. I'm thinking we'll go for a nice and spicy shrimp etoufee next. Because I feel like taking pics and posting stuff right now, you'll probably get to see the stuff soon, assuming I keep posting stuff. Stay tuned!

PS. There is no beef sauteed with peas and onions in the parfait.

Oh Come ON!

2011-07-01T21:58:00.003-04:00

So, we're going to Chicago with the kids to catch a Cubs game(bc they're playing the Reds) in early August and we're planning the trip and places to eat and such...a trip to the Field Museum, Wrigleyville, probably walk along Michigan Ave.

And, I'm trying to find the best breakfast in Chicago. I Googled "Chicago Breakfast" and found a site with the Ten Best Breakfast's for the area and was very disappointed with the result.

Original Pancake House? Really? A chain restaurant gets the #1 vote? I can go there while sleeping in my own house.

So - anyone know of a great breakfast place in Chicago near Wrigleyville that isn't Lou Mitchell's?

The food really has been good...(tldr)

2011-06-21T21:40:00.004-04:00

It's a long read and I'm fairly confident only one loyal follower will read this in its entirety, but here's the email that was submitted late last night to present the issues we've been having with this camp....

Mme. President,
Greetings from the 2011 Gainesville Camp! We felt that we needed to report to you the current situation at the camp so that you can be fully aware of what is going on as well as we felt if we didn’t start writing this stuff down as we went we would never be able to adequately capture the true atmosphere of the working environment.
FIRST: The positive notes…..
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for paying for us to stay in a hotel! We have had rather challenging couple of days and have needed the opportunity to unwind and relax in a comfortable setting with reliable Internet service. Also the quality and quantity of the food being provided by the University support personnel has been wonderful so far. They decided to also provide lunches for us and the participating teachers (this may not seem as impressive after you read the rest of this report) in addition to providing breakfast snacks. In addition, the people in the Materials Science Department with whom we have worked have been very cordial and the graduate students (especially Jessie and Nigel) have been outstanding with helping us when needed (once they were made aware that we needed help). The lecture room is a nice size with working technology and the lab (room 115) is a bit small (probably could only really accommodate about 14 participants) but located just around two corners on the same floor as the lecture room. Did I mention the food was good?.......

SECOND: Our challenges so far……
Amy, Becky, and I have worked hard to heed the feedback provided by Jim and Margaret (last year’s teachers) and satisfy all of the logistical and procedural requirements of the University (all that were communicated by Tinkerbell to us) and have tried to make sure that you were copied on our email communications. For example, I pressed for the correct procedure to get a rental car for us and Tinkerbell made our reservation with the negotiated provider, Avis, and took care of the requirement to have a special voucher prepared for me so give to the Avis counter so that the University would be billed directly. However, I still had to remind Tinkerbell on June 9th that I had not received that voucher. Tinkerbell had the voucher overnighted to me in CA and I received the voucher the day before I flew to FL for the camp. We have also submitted all paper work prior to arrival at the camp (by a few weeks) as requested by Tinkerbell in order to secure payment of our salary for the week.
• I had requested to Tinkerbell that we meet on Saturday afternoon so that we could look over the past supplies and get a few things organized prior to the arrival of participating teachers on Sunday. This request was denied because we were told that they have always met up with the lead teachers on Sunday prior to the start of the camp and that seemed to work. For the record: THIS DID NOT WORK nor should this practice be continued in the future. If you are going to have a camp that starts on Sunday, the University must make arrangements to have at least a 3 hour work session on Saturday to complete a local shopping list based upon the final inspection of the current stock of chemicals and consumable items. We were not able to get into the building of the camp until 1pm on Sunday afternoon (participants were scheduled to arrive at 3pm). When we arrived, we opened up the lecture room the lab room and proceeded to locate the past supplies. The location where the past supplies had been stored was empty. [A new faculty member had joined the department in Jan. and had taken over the lab where the supplies had been stored. That individual wanted them removed and another professor was asked to remove them. The faculty member who was asked to remove the supplies is on vacation in another state and has also accepted a position at another university for the fall so there didn’t seem like there was a strong motivation to attend to such details.] After a few phone calls the supplies were finally located strewn in various boxes on the floor, on a counter, and randomly placed in a metal storage unit in a lab (room 264) across the hall from the previous location. We finally secured access to the past supplies around 4:30 pm (that was 1 ½ hours AFTER the scheduled start of the camp). Moonblossom informed Tinkerbell to take photos of the condition of the supplies and we assume some feedback will be given to the out-going professor that this type of movement should not happen again (I guess this out-going professor will be strongly encouraged to not to do something like this again at his FUTURE university???? Not sure this will help future ASM camps). FYI. The supplies were labeled as “MSE Teacher Supplies” so if you have groups here in the future they will need to ask for the supplies by this name NOT by “ASM Teacher Camp” supplies.
• Amy had been informed by Tinkerbell that that Moonblossom, the department advising director, was going to give a short presentation on Sunday night as part of the opening meeting. Amy was informed at 2:30pm on Sunday that Marsha was NOT going to present to the group (30 min prior to arrival of participants) because she was going to reschedule to a later day. However, Moonblossom showed up to eat with the group at 5:30pm on Sunday and only interacted briefly with Amy and Bruce but did not talk with any of the participating teachers. Tinkerbell informed us that they usually do the oobleck on the first night. This news came as a surprise to us since we had been told that the participants only got a brief intro to University procedures etc, had a meal together, and then checked into the dorms. We were still unaware of the location of the past supplies and had not be able to do ANY local shopping because Tinkerbell had to be with one of us at WalMart to make the purchase on the department p-chard, but Tinkerbell couldn’t get away because we were all looking for the missing supplies (are you starting to see the pattern?).
• Since we discovered that we were expected to actually DO something with the participating teachers on Sunday night, we located the supply of Raku clay and thought we could also do the cement pucks activity. Upon further investigation the raku clay was too dry to use that night (we needed to re-hydrate the clay overnight) as well as the fact one of the teachers didn’t arrive until about 4:30 so prior to that we only had 2 participants.
• Now for the big shocker….. As just mentioned we only have 3 participants at this camp. One participant was encouraged by Tinkerbell to come down to the Gainesville camp (but this teacher lives in Atlanta), one participant has done the year 1 camp 3 times prior to this year (this is his 4th time at a year 1 camp and he says he is coming to the year 2 camp –name is Westminster , and the last participant came from Australia [after further questioning though he had flown in two days earlier to spend time with friends in San Francisco so if ASM had known such information, the foundation could have re-directed him to another camp, even if you needed to pay a re-booking fee for him). We are not trying to be conspiracy theorists but it seemed to us if ASM had been adequately in the loop on the registration list, the foundation could have easily accommodated the three participants through other camps and not needed to run this camp.
• After the meal, Daylily, another member of the Department support staff who was assigned to help us during the week, took the participants to the dorm to sign in. The 3 of us and Tinkerbell went up to the location of the past supplies and decided to use that room as our staging area and began to pull out supplies for Monday’s agenda. We worked to make the sodium acetate demo solutions as well as the copper (II) sulfate solutions and finally left the University at about 9pm.
Monday (things continue to be interesting)
• Monday morning a grad student by the name of Nigel was located and, we later found out, had helped out previous camps (there was a large group sigh of relief upon this discovery of personnel). When we got to talking to Nigel, he informed Becky that he had not been called until 11pm on Sunday night and asked to help us out. Nigel had no idea that we were coming this week even though I had asked Tinkerbell on more than one occasion (both verbal phone communications and written email communications) to try to ask if any graduate students were available because we had been informed by past master teachers that these students were a huge help to the program. This gets even better. Guess who called Nigel to ask him to help? It was the professor who is out of state on vacation and not returning to the university in the fall (this request we assume was initiated as a result of Tinkerbell calling the professor to try to find the missing moved camp supplies). Regardless of how he came to help us….there continues to be much rejoicing at his presence among us!
• Another day in the life of the Gainesville camp…. At one time during the day there began to be a gathering of high school and graduate students outside of our lecture room. Come to find out, this other department faculty member had followed department procedures and reserved our lecture room on the on-line room scheduling site. Our program was NOWHERE on the master schedule. This faculty member graciously worked to find another location so the six of us could continue on our journey through the curriculum in the same room.
• We had provided Tinkerbell with a list of our local shopping items on Sunday night before we left the building. However, at about 12:30 pm on Monday I had to inquire of Tinkerbell if she had gotten the local supplies on the list. She told me to give her the final list and she would go. A bit confused, I went back to the lecture room to find the list right where we had given it to her on Sunday night. I handed it again to Tinkerbell and said that I really needed the balloons for the afternoon session to do an activity on bonding. She called to the campus book store and was unable to find a close location to purchase balloons. She also noticed that we had ziplock bags on the list and proceeded to go over to the department supply closet and see how many bags they had. I was finally able to convince her to just purchase everything on the list and if we didn’t need all of the bags, they could use them up over time for normal department use. We finally got our list of local supplies about 3pm on Monday afternoon (I had already gone through the bonding demo and we used tennis balls for the activity which kind of worked -- we made due).
• Also to note: we have NO tours confirmed of the department (we were able to get a lead through the efforts of Nigel. Amy is going to follow up on this tomorrow), we have NO field trip planned, we have NO ASM contact at all, we have NO faculty contact or greeting other than Moonblossom who never ended up talking to the participants yet and who is the department advisor and not an active teaching/research member.
• On a positive note…. I realized once I got here that I had worked with Dr. Appamattix Stonwall in the MSE department through the POGIL national meeting two years ago and he had helped me get some resources for teaching materials science. I’ve contacted him and he is scheduled to share with the group on Thursday morning. I also am scheduled to have lunch with him on Thurs. to talk about his POGIL work as well as I am planning to probe his take on the teacher camp at UofF. Come to find out, Appamattix is the Assistant Department Chair so he is in a position of leadership for the department.
So What Now….
We are all doing well so don’t worry about us (did I mention we are REALLY thankful for being able to unwind in a comfortable hotel room?). Becky and I are learning a lot about the pacing and preparation for the week’s activities and feel this experience will prepare us well for our next camp. We honestly are feeling very concerned about the magnitude of financial expense the foundation is incurring for this learning experience for us. As mentioned earlier we feel that the needs of these teachers could have been adequately met with an earlier intervention and much less money spent. We all talked about the items shared above and I somehow got elected to put them down in writing to you but I believe I have captured the main ideas we had discussed tonight at dinner.
My suggestion would be for you and Chuck to discuss how you would like to use us while we are here on site. Obviously we are going to deliver the curriculum to our 3 participants (who we feel are extremely engaged with the material and are having a very positive learning experience) but I thought you might want to have one, two, or all three of us try to get a quick meeting with the chair of the department to ask a question like, “We have enjoyed working with the teachers this week but we were wondering how you (as the department) envision this teachers’ camp fitting into your vision for outreach to the K-12 community?” I think we would just want to hear from their perspective and then if they asked, provide feedback like, “Well, we didn’t get a strong sense that this program with a priority or even an interest to the department. In other locations we are greeted by at least one faculty member as well as some representative of leadership in the university as well as having a “go to” faculty member who wants to see more materials science introduced at the middle and high school level. We didn’t feel such an interest here. We are not leadership with the ASM Foundation but we would like to hear from your department’s perspective what could be done to better fit into your outreach priorities and improve the camp in the future.” I think this location struggles from (and we have some personal thoughts on why this might be) marginalizing the perspective of the leading teachers and thereby not acknowledging that this camp has some severe challenges which need to be addressed.

Bottom line….. we think you at the foundation need to take a long look at how you want to proceed with this site in the future. I think this department is a strategic partner due to its prominence in the national materials science community but you may need to re-think what the best way to partner with them looks like. The department here might need some help re-casting a vision for impacting the K-12 education community.

I know this communication is rather long but we felt we wanted you to be fully informed of the situation so you can make some immediate decisions on how you want to use us while we are here.

Not Just Yet...

2011-06-20T21:53:00.003-04:00

The saga of Material Science Camp continues. I'm not going to go through the bullet points of a
ll the crap we're dealing with yet because it's being composed in an email right now and I plan to copy and paste/remove names, etc. and then share it with you.

Right now, I'm in a hotel room listening to the girls in the room next to me open the adjoining doors to my room and talk about how they can't get in my room. I'm considering opening the door and just standing there to freak them out next time they open the door.

See you tomorrow...

Settling down...

2011-06-19T11:20:00.004-04:00

Moments after I finished writing yesterday's blog post, my phone rang and the lead teacher for the Material Science camp was asking me if I wanted to meet to plan the next couple of days of the camp in the lobby of our hotel.

Plan? Are you kidding me? Hellz yeah I wanted to plan...I needed to do something to stop obsessing...

So, we met and I took some notes and felt scads better. I went back up to the room where the boys were all still asleep. I showered and got ready to go out to dinner and grab some Diet Coke and a bottle of wine for the week. The boys followed suit and we were out on the town.

We found a fun sports bar on campus called The End Zone and were fully immersed in University of Florida fun. In fact, we got to watch Florida play in the college world series while we ate. And while no one opted to take the Gator Cup Burger Challege...we did eat alligator.

So, pretty complete Florida experience for dinner. The female wait-staff at The End Zone dressed in Hooter's style attire, tights, royal blue shortie shorts, an orange Gator's t-shirt cut into a v in the front and tied up in the back to reveal their stomach and back a little, and some bizarre variation of woolen knee socks with royal blue, orange and white colors. The boys were bummed we happened to get the only male waiter in the place.

From there we went to Publix for groceries, and then to some cross bt a Dick's Sporting Goods and a Deveroe's for the boys. We got ice cream and called it a night. When I got home, Return of the King was on TNT so I was able to drift to sleep dreaming of Aragorn jumping of the Corsair's ship with the men of the mountain and all was well.

Till we got to the University of Florida this morning, of course...but that's for another post. Stay tuned till tomorrow...

It's Been A While...

2011-06-18T15:29:00.003-04:00

Today, I find myself in a hotel room in Gainesville, Florida the day before I get to teach my first Material Science Camp.

Had I written this post earlier in the week, I'd have mentioned how excited I was to get to camp and how much fun I was planning on having at The University of Florida working with teachers so that they can bring Material Science into their classrooms.

I started teaching Material Science this past year and it's a great class. It focuses on Metals, Crystals, Corrosion, Composites, Ceramics and Polymers. It's just a semester and it's lab intensive.

ASM International funds classes each summer for teachers like me so that they can recruit more high school students to become Material Science engineers...you know, people who make stuff. Making stuff drives the economy and is important and there are a lot of different jobs out there in this field so spreading the word is a good thing.

Anyway...now I'm a fit of nerves. I'm in the hotel room with my husband, son and son's friend. They're all asleep bc we drove through the night after the boys played a baseball game last night at 8:15. I'm wearing the same clothes I wore all day yesterday still. I tried to sleep for the past hour but couldn't seem to drift off completely...kept rousing thinking about the events of the past 24 hours:

The little one was supposed to come with us
At 2:00 yesterday U of Florida said she wouldn't be allowed in the lab
I had been upfront about bringing her since I was assigned this camp and suddenlythey decided she couldn't come yesterday.
My car was in the shop and wasn't ready till 1:30 yesterday afternoon
None of our phones worked for some reason for about 5 hours yesterday afternoon
We scrambled to get my mom to take care of the little one for us while we were gone
The oldest and his friend are going to Florida State tomorrow for a week long baseball camp - my husband is taking them and flying back home on Monday evening
While I was in Gainesville, the little one was in my mom's car as it got rear-ended
I talked to the other two teachers from the ASM camp and they have heard reports of 13, 8 or maybe as few as 3 teachers for us to teach at the camp this week
I haven't slept for more than 90 minutes in a row in the past 33 hours
I haven't eaten anything more than a bite of my husband's breakfast sandwich since midnight last night
I'm about as much of a wreck as I think I've ever been in my life...

I know sleep will help once it comes as will getting through the first couple of days of camp...but until then, I'm a lunatic.

Where's the cat?

2011-03-27T20:58:00.000-04:00

I hate posts about people's dogs. (Yes, I know I've done this...) And greeting cards with dogs or cats on them...and omg, don't get me started on that whole "I can haz cheezburger" bull crap...I hate dogs and cats wearing clothes and all that stuff.

But this was funny.

I feel for the guy. I mean...what's up with having the kitty treats in the house if there's obviously no cat?

So...this doesn't make much sense

2011-03-26T20:37:00.002-04:00

My husband spends approximately 22 hours a day on Ohio sports forums online...he's got updates sent to his phone, he knows the new basketball coach at your school weeks before it's been announced in your community, he knows coaching positions are open before the coach in question announces their retirement...it's a thing and 119/120 times, I hate it.

But sometimes, he mentions something that isn't necessarily sports related and I take notice.

Like tonight...he brought up this little gem involving our retarded governor. (My apologies to actual retarded people)

Apparently, Mr. Kasich has offered Bob Evans 8 million dollars to move their headquarters from New Albany, Ohio to Columbus. No jobs will be created, no gain for the state of Ohio...no idea why this is a good idea for the state or for tax payer money. But, hell, he's governor and he loves their coconut cream pie, I guess.

At least now I know where the $8million short fall from the state to the Princeton City Schools is going. That should help assuage the emotions of the teachers who found out they were cut today.

Yeah...that should help.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T21:54:00.003-05:00

I don't care how big the bouquet of flowers you got yesterday was...your man did nothing compared to this guy's work.

He's the bird you wish your man could be...

Damn...that's how you get a lady...

Um...what the heck?

2011-01-04T19:28:00.003-05:00

So birds are dropping dead - midflight - from the sky in Arkansas. The reports state that there have been thousands of them. I know it's Arkansas and all, but I've visited the state and there's some really pretty country down there.

Early reports state that the birds died from blood clots due to a blunt trauma. Suggestions of heart attacks due to being struck by lightning, or "something like that." I know there were bad storms in Arkansas on New Year's Eve, but I'm not buying that. I don't have a viable solution, but I'm not buying lightning strikes so intense that the vacuum created was enough to kill thousands of birds at the exact same time the exact same way in the exact same place. I mean, I might by it, because I really don't know all that much about light waves and the energy created by a lightning strike and a scientist did say it.

But then it happened again in Louisiana like 3 days later!

In this instance, people walking down the street were getting hit in the head by the birds. The birds are dead or dying when they hit the ground...I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda freaked out.

Oh wait...maybe things will be okay. Mike Seaver says they will, anyway.

This is my dog...

2010-12-26T16:37:00.002-05:00

Before the kids opened their presents, the dog was able to see what santa sent her. My husband put her bag under the tree along with all the other gifts from santa before we went to sleep Christmas Eve night. My dog was able to smell her gift of snausages immediately and wanted to open the gift right away.

We've got the indoor electric fence around the tree however and the bag was within the perimeter of the electric force field and the dog wasn't able to penetrate the barrier. She cried and whined and barked at the tree until we took her to bed.

Then she paced and paced Christmas Even night until we finally let her open the package Christmas morning...as you can see, she was pretty excited.

First Day of Break!

2010-12-22T20:58:00.008-05:00

It's Christmas again and my kids are finally on break with me. I've been on break since Friday, but since the kiddos didn't go to school till after Labor Day and I've had kids in the classroom since August 16th, I got a few days to myself this week.

It was awesome. I got all the shopping and wrapping finished on Monday. I got a little alone time on Tuesday and Wednesday which was very enjoyable as well, went to lunch on Tuesday with a great friend...and now we're all home for a week and a half.

I've got lots planned for the break. The holidays - Friday and Saturday - are packed with fun. Cooking, fun with family - pics to come later - and presents! Going to hang with the coolest PHS alum to attempt trivia next week, dinner with an old friend on Tuesday, cleaning and organizing, a fun New Year's Eve party, making low fat soups so I drop a few pounds in the New Year, and basically just enjoy the fact that I don't have to wake up at 4:45am for the next 10 days.

Tonight we decorated the sugar cut-out cookies. I spent last Friday night rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes, so the irritating part was all finished. And tonight, we were able to just decorate. It was awesome. The oldest invited his girlfriend over (same one as mentioned this past June, btw...)and we decorated away.

It was nice doing it with the kids. We got a nice variety of decor. Some are traditional and some look like a 4 year old did them and some look like santa...

Some look like a pirate...

And...some look like an alien...

OH! I almost forgot...tomorrow, the little one and I are going to see The Nutcracker. I've already seen her ballet class's rendition of it this past weekend, though...

Happy Holidays, everyone!!

Thank you, universe.

2010-12-05T20:40:00.005-05:00

I have a nail in the sidewall of my driver's side rear tire. I didn't know this from a flat tire, but because a concerned citizen at Target took the time in the cold, windy parking lot to write me a note and stick it in my windsheild wiper.

Thank you, unknown kind person, for your concern. You have probably saved me a disasterous drive to school and maybe even helped to protect my daughter as well. I wouldn't have looked at that tire and it could blow because of that nail.

My plans for the car tomorrow involved driving to school, taking my daughter to ballet and then home again. At no point was a trip to Tire Discounters on my mind and that tire could have blown at any time during those trips tomorrow.

I've called on a bunch of favors for tomorrow so that my family and I can keep our schedules of work, ballet, baseball weights, study tables, walking, etc... My best friend (he hates it when I call him that)is taking me to school and to Tire Discounters afterwards (at a time I dictate, mind you), my brother and sister-in-law are getting the car and taking it to Tire Discounters for me during the school day so that it's finished when I get dropped off. So...aside from the money I'll be out, and an extra errand after school, my day will barely be affected by this inconvenience.

It's funny...this entry started off as me wanting to bitch and vent about my misfortune...but once I got started putting my thoughts to words, I realized that I'm kinda lucky.

No one got hurt...I didn't wreck my car...I have a whole bunch of people in my life willing to help when I ask and need them so I can go about my day as I originally planned.

I'm really lucky. Kinda sad it took a nail in my tire for me to realize it.

My decision...

2010-11-03T21:27:00.002-04:00

I'm gonna go gray.

I have very few gray hairs for my age. The ones I have aren't gray so much as white...and I kinda dig them. I think they're pretty, so they're gonna stay.

I'm not going to do anything to alter the color of my hair. I never have and I'm pretty sure I never will.

I'm a very vain person. I can tell you where every mirror is between my house and my classroom and I check my look in them regularly. I don't leave the house without wearing mascara...I wear colored contacts so my eyes look more blue...or green if it's that kind of a day...I don't like to go to the grocery on a Saturday morning without showering...all kinds of vanity in my world.

But the hair color...that's gonna go naturally.

My preference...

2010-11-01T21:08:00.003-04:00

Oh god...my heart's all a-twitter. I know most people will tell you that a pitcher's duel is boring, but I disagree.

This year's post season has been won (and lost) by the pitchers. From the outstanding work of Halliday and Oswalt - admittedly agains The Reds, which sucked as a Red's fan, but you damn those boys owned us - to Wilson's inability to throw a single strike in San Francisco, I've enjoyed the hell out of watching the commanding performances of pitcher after pitcher.

Tonight is no exception...Lincecum and Lee are in complete and total control of the mound - both of them. We're into the 5th inning as I type this and Lincecum is already up to 6 strike outs. Lee is just behind him with 4...I love it.

Hell, I don't care if no one scores till it's after midnight...make those pansies at the plate work to get on base. Don't let them break your rhythm, boys...

This is some great stuff.

This Just In...

2010-10-20T08:24:00.003-04:00

Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod...

Like I didn't already have enough issues with office supplies...like I wasn't already a whore for all things Sharpie...they had to go and make the pencil better...

Early reviews are in from the oldest (who inherited the office supply crave gene from his mother) and from me and...

THIS PENCIL ROCKS! Most fun I've ever had with a pencil...I'm going to use this pencil again and again...It was much better than CATS.

Thank you God of Sharpie...

Worst Food Ever!

2010-10-01T21:43:00.003-04:00

It's Friday night at 9:45 and I'm home alone enjoying the comedy stylings of Jim Gaffigan while surfin' the net and eating some pretzels. I'm not going to eat all the pretzels because I promised I'd make the Take 5 brownies for the bake sale at Volley 4A Cause this Tuesday - wear pink, Vikings!

I've had a full day so the relaxing and eating of pretzels was earned in my opinion. I worked a full day, went to the grocery store for the family's week of food, emptied the dish washer, painted the faces of two junior high girlies with blue and white for homecoming spirit, walked my regular route, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, washed all the kitchen countertops with the antibacterial stuff, and mopped the kitchen, hall, foyer and bathroom. So yeah...I'm surfin' the net and eating pretzels - suck it.

Did you know Monica Bellucci is older than me?

But I digress.

So I'm watching Jim Gaffigan and he goes into his Hot Pockets routine and I get hungry. I go to the pantry to grab the pretzels and on the bottom shelf I see the worst food ever.

Candy Corn.

Why is it the worst ever? If you have to ask that, I can't talk to you anymore. It's waxy and pretty much tastes like straight Karo Corn Syrup. There are so many other things you can do with sugar and corn syrup, what the heck was the inventor of candy corn thinking?

I remember the first time I tasted the crap. It was Halloween and some evil soul in my neighbor hood had purchased smallish bags of about 20 candy corn to pass out to the little Batmen and Underdogs and Sweet Polly Purebreds...

After the little baggie had passed inspection and my mom declared it free from razor blades, straight pins and LSD I was excited to try it. It's pretty! I won't deny the attractiveness of the faux-food...it is very pretty. It was awful. It was the worst thing I had ever tasted. I did not finish the bag. I threw it away.

So...if it's so awful and I haven't eaten it since I was 6, why is there a bag of it in my pantry, you ask? Am I part of the American population who just buys crap because it's indicative of a holiday? Do I also buy fruitcake at Christmas? Pickled herring for New Year's? A King cake for the beginning of Lent? (okay, that last one is kinda tasty, the purple sugar is the best) No, I do not buy those things.

Ever.

The bag of candy corn on the bottom shelf of the pantry was purchased by my husband. It was purchased because the oldest gets extra credit if he brings a bag of candy to his French teacher. The husband went to Target for a few items on Sunday afternoon and "extra credit bag of candy" was on the list. This is what he brought home.

It's still on the bottom shelf of the pantry because the oldest knows damn well no one wants that crap and is probably afraid that his French teacher will deduct points from his grade if he brings it in.

She should. It's the worst candy ever.

Idiot

2010-09-08T22:01:00.003-04:00

You really need to re-evaluate your train of thought if even Sarah Palin knows it's a bad idea....

Baby why don't we go?

2010-07-27T19:58:00.005-04:00

...Per Chemguy's request and because I've got some time on my hands, here's an update on the botched vacation:
After a long weekend of searching, the husband of 20 years (tomorrow, in fact) found a different home for the families to rent for our vacation this year.

We are not in the original home, and yes, we've pressed charges on the crook who owes us money. We spent a Saturday on the phone getting to know the good people at the Monroe County Police Station and it looks like we might get our money back at some point. My sister, her husband, and her children are not with us - and I'm not sure we're on speaking terms, or if we ever will be again...but my mom and dad, my youngest sister and her two friends are here and we're in a home along the Marvin D. Adams waterway in Key. Largo. While it's not the beachfront, infinity pool we thought we'd have this week, we're making due.

We rented a boat the last two days and rode up and down the Keys. We went as far south as Islamorada and had a freaking blast. We saw dolphin, manatee and got to snorkel and fish and docked at a great little dive restaurant for lunch. We crossed from the bay into the Atlantic Ocean and docked at a sandbar and swam for about an hour.

It didn't suck...I can tell you that.

Today, my husband, my son and I took the boat we rented back to the marina and stopped at every bar along the water we could find.

That didn't suck either.

Ah...it looks like we're screwed.

2010-07-16T17:28:00.004-04:00

Things look unbelievably bleak for the calencoriel clan vacation this year. We're scheduled to stay in Key Largo from July 24th - July 31st with my mom and dad, my two sisters and my niece and nephew.

Mom and dad sent the check for the remainder of the rental fee to the guy at the rental office last week via certified mail and according to the tracking number, the check never got there. Apparently the address on the contract they sent us in February was wrong, so the postal system is sending the check back to mom and dad. We've been trying to call the guy at the rental office since Wednesday to see what's up and he refuses to get back to my husband.

I called him this evening, you know, to put a woman's spin on things and I actually got a call back (twice). Here's what I found out:

a. When he didn't get our check by Saturday of last week, he rented out the unit we reserved to someone else
b. He's got all kinds of properties he can rent to us
c. He's trying to get things resolved
d. He'll call us tomorrow to let us know what he's been able to figure out
e. He had no idea we had 12 people in our party
f. I should have known something was up when he had the word elegance spelled wrong on the website.

Yeah...not very encouraging, is it?

So...we've googled him and it looks like he's got quite a reputation and it's looking like we're not going on vacation next week. It's also looking like we won't be getting our money back without litigation.

I'm not feeling very optimistic regarding what he's going to tell us tomorrow when he supposedly calls us back.

What do you think?

More Stupid...

2010-07-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

What the hell...?

Seriously.

Stupidest Song on the Radio/Rant

2010-07-12T21:43:00.003-04:00

I am a mom of a tween and a young teenager. I typically let them choose the radio station we listen to during our many travels because I like to stay hip, you know, for the kids. The new car has XM, so I'm getting to hear lots of new current stuff which is cool but it also forces me to listen to crap like this...

To answer your question, Hayley, Yes, you can pretend that all you want. Pretending that the lights from an airplane are shooting stars so that you can wish on them will make the wish come true just as quickly as if you wished on an actual shooting star.

Because wishing on a shooting star and that wish coming true is a COINCIDENCE.

So wish all you want. Wish on fireflies - they light up. Wish on the flashing lights of police car or bambulance for all I care, it's ALL PRETEND. Meanwhile, I'm going to wish you go back to Paramore and make more songs about stealing boyfriends and stuff like that.

That is all.

PS. Sorry Joey, I know you're kinda hot for her and all, but these lyrics are so stupid I had to say something.

wierdness

2010-06-25T17:23:00.002-04:00

No pics here...just some words of release. No idea how to symbolize what I'm feeling with a photo...

I've got some serious anxiety right now...butterflies in the stomach...lots of uneasiness...and I think I know what's bugging me and if I put it out here and get it out of my head, I might feel a little better.

Serious wierdness 'round here and I've got to do something to get it off my chest or I'm gonna freak out.

The little ones are growing up big time and momma isn't dealing with it very well...at least not right now.

The oldest has a girlfriend and even though things haven't progressed beyond a hug good bye it's just another step in his growing up and away from me. I know I'm not always going to be the only woman in his life and I don't want to be...and who knows how long this little bit of puppy love will last, but for now, I'm sharing the kid a little.

She's a nice little thing, very talented and smart and wow - very pretty...plus, she laughed at most of my jokes while we all hung out today, so there's nothing wrong there, which is awesome. It's not like he's brought home some tattooed, drunken skank or anything. Besides, the kid told me last week before I met the girlfriend that I'd really like her - "because she's exactly like you, mom." Maybe I should refer to him as Oedipus in this forum from now on...

Anyway, back to me. Summer means lots of stuff to me, #1 being spending more time with my kids. I told them both recently that I really like them as people...and I do...I think if I knew these two and they weren't my kids, I'd still want to be friends with them.

My son is terrific for me. He's good for me to be around. He is grounded, calm and very seldomly is he anxious. He settles me when I'm freaked out about things without even knowing he's done so. This summer, my husband has been coaching my daughter's softball team and as a result, I've been on duty for the boy, pretty much exclusively. I get to ferry the boy back and forth to all of his baseball games and tournaments and camps and things so we're hanging out a bunch...and it's nice.

My daughter makes me feel important and needed. There are times when that little one is a cyclone of anxiety. Bizarrely, settling her down helps me settle down. Seeing that fault that we both share magnified in the little one helps me realize how I deal with my own issues and I think it helps us both.

So...they're growing up and becoming less and less dependent on me...and that's what I want. I guess I just don't want to watch it happen before my eyes in three short weeks of summer break. It's kind of incredible how much more I can see it when I'm not distracted by everyone else's kids...

Chemguy and I talk about our students who work with us on Pasta for Pennies and how we kind of look at them as if they have expiration dates sometimes..."Oh, so and so is a sophomore...we've got them for three campaigns" The oldest starts high school in the fall...his expiration date is set. I know how fast things will pass for him now. I've watched 5 groups of kids go from 9th - 12th grader and it passes in the blink of an eye.

I just want to put time on hold for a while...keep them here, as 12 and 14 year olds. I know I can't...all I can do is enjoy them as much as I possibly can in the next 4-6 years and try to keep pushing them toward independence. Hopefully, they'll want to come back and visit.

Hopefully, I won't smother them before they leave for college...and hopefully neither will be living in my basement after college.

It's a hell of an experiment...too many variables...not enough control...and I have no idea how to know if I've done it right. I probably should have written a more a testable question.

More on that later...for now, the butterflies are gone and I'm not freaking out about the kids right now.

Thanks. : )

Did I Miss Something?

2010-05-20T21:14:00.002-04:00

Okay loyal readers...what's up with Ryan's outfits on The Office lately? I've been trying to figure out the whole dork thing he's got working, but it seems like he would have made those clothing decisions with some type of intent.

So...if anyone knows the dillio, I'd love to know.

Green Porno

2010-05-13T14:17:00.003-04:00

Big Thanks to Liz from my 9th bell class for pointing these little clips from The Sundance channel out to me today.

Basically, you've got an accomplished actress who knows a thing or two about the courtship rituals of various species of animals. She is also more than willing to dress up like various species of animal and graphically re-enact these rituals so the images are crystallized in our brains...forever.

It's incredibly entertaining and educational.

But I'm pretty sure I won't be sharing these in my classroom. Technically PG rated stuff...no chili pepper warning or anything...but I don't know how comfortable I'd be showing these clips to a class full of 16 - 17 year olds.

Especially the salmon one...

Owner Loyalty

2010-04-28T09:27:00.003-04:00

Allow me to introduce Hyundai number 5 for the Calen Clan. The newest edition comes to us as a result of the fact that mom's taxi service has caused the differential/transmission on the current model to just about quit and the cost to fix it sans warranty just didn't make as much sense as getting a new car. The original plan was to purchase a new car before summer ended anyway, so we just stepped things up a bit.

Anyhoo...the new ride is freaking SWEET!!! It's got keyless entry, push-button start - wierd, like driving a robot, hands-free phone - also wierd and the voice recognition isn't recognizing my voice just yet so I can't call you by saying your name yet, seat warmers in ALL FOUR SEATS, and the safety rating is one of the highest in its class. Check the Edmond's review.

I considered and test-drove three other models before choosing the 2011 Sonata: A Nissan Rogue, the Hyundai Tuscon, and the Hyundai Santa Fe. I hate driving in the snow and wanted 4 wheel or all wheel drive. Those models all felt like trucks, would have cost way more and got about 10-15 mpg less than the 2011 Sonata. And...the Sonata now comes with stability control and traction control and since I really only find myself in dangerous snow 2-3 times a year since I'm a school teacher, I didn't want to give up gas mileage for something I might not need...ever. Some of the reports I've read said that highway mileage can reach as much as 40 mpg and it's even got the thumbs up from the peeps at Greencar.com

The car I wanted wasn't available on the lot the day we signed the papers so we had to wait about a week to actually pick up the car. There were plenty of cars with the robot-like features I purchased on the lot the day we signed the loan, but I wanted a special color so much to my family's chagrin, I waited. Last night, the car finally made its way from the plant in Alabama to the dealership in my area and I picked up my car in the Black Plum Pearl with the camel interior. My car is the same color as a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and I'm kinda excited to be driving it around.

Let me know if you want to go for a spin and I'll see if I can fit you into my already full taxi schedule...

What a Saturday

2010-04-18T21:41:00.007-04:00

value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hjbRzoOWLyo&hl=en_US&fs=1&">
I've blogged about baseball a bunch. My guess is that even after I'm finished with tonight's post, I'm not going to be finished blogging about baseball either.

This weekend was West Side's opening day. It's a big deal in Hamilton. They welcomed back the 11 year old state championship team. They welcomed back the 12 year old state championship team...and the oldest got his name announced and got to walk around the park like a big shot...again.

Mr. Red was there. The Miami Redhawk was there. It was a little chilly, but it was sunny and pretty and a great day for baseball. It was good to hang out at the park a bit and not care about who won or who lost because my kid wasn't playing - for the first time in 8 years.

But that wasn't the best part. The best part takes a bit of explaining.

Last July, in the middle of All Stars, one of the moms had a baseball with her and asked me to have the oldest sign it. All the boys on the team were signing it, she explained, for a little boy who had just been diagnosed with Lymphoma on her younger son's baseball team. The little guy was in for the fight of his life and had asked if the All Stars would sign a baseball for him to take to the hospital with him when he had his stem cell transplant. With my heart in my throat, I said that of course he could do that...and had my son sign the ball. I reminded the oldest how lucky he was...

Then one day this past fall, my daughter was all up in arms about finding as much of her Bengals swag as possible because she wanted to wear it to school and gave me a permission slip. Her principal was planning a surprise visit to one of her school mate's homes. It was the same little guy who had been diagnosed with Lymphoma in the middle of the summer. He was fighting the chemo pretty hard and was having some rough days. My daugher's principal felt he had to do something to lift the kid's spirits so he convinced the whole school to dress in Bengals apparrel, got "Who Dey" to show up and got a football signed by Carson Palmer to be taken to the kid's house in the middle of the day. The kids were out in force, as the embedded video shows, and everyone felt like maybe they had helped the kid through his day.

I hadn't heard much about the little guy till Saturday afternoon. After they announced the state championship teams, after the little league pledge had been read, after the singing of the national anthem and the raising of the flag, the ceremonial first pitch had to be thrown.

And who was on the mound, in full uniform because his cancer is in remission? Yep...that same little guy who was diagnosed less than a year ago.

He's back at school now and waiting the 5 years necessary for his cancer to stay away so he can be placed on the "cured" list. The good people at west side also decided to rename Field 1 after the little guy for this season. He's got a sign up and everything.

It's not often that I get that big of an incentive to keep working for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and I'd probably keep working on the campaign regardless of the events of this past Saturday...but it was pretty incredible to know I'm part of a school that's contributed so much time, energy, talent and money to this remarkable organization.

And it renewed my commitment to keep fighting...to stay relentless for the cure.

Narcissism

2010-04-06T20:48:00.003-04:00

I'm about as narcissistic as they come. I'm pretty sure everyone looks at me everyday and notices every thing about me. You know, do my shoes match? Is my part straight? How many days in a row has she worn those earrings? How fat do I look? How bad is my breath?

So...today, my left contact tore and it was pretty irritating, so I had to take it out of my eye and replace it with a spare.

No big deal you say? Well...today my contacts were the green enhancers and the spare contact I changed into was clear. Which means I had one green eye (the enhanced version) and one bluish-gray eye(genetic requirement version) all day.

And no one noticed.

How could that possibly happen when I'm as important as I know I am? I mean what else could they possibly have been thinking about?

I know...I'm as shocked as you all have to be.

In other news, this looks delicious.

Entertaining

2010-03-14T23:01:00.004-04:00

I don't often post links nor embed videos, but the oldest has brought these two to my attention this weekend and I've enjoyed the heck out of both of them...

Does anyone know what Leeroy needs from this guy? And wow...seems like a lot of work to get a bunch of eggs...and what the heck does Divine Intervention mean? Do you have to earn that? Do the mages just have it?

And yeah...32.33 (repeating, of course) % success is always enough to make me stampede into the bowels of hell or wherever it is they go...

Stay tuned later this week for other examples of Leeroy's courage.

PS. I got carded this weekend. Really never thought that would happen again. You have no idea how that made my weekend...Dayton is my new favorite city. Forever.

My Snow Days

2010-02-16T19:48:00.003-05:00

I am a science teacher. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that to you all few times.

We've been off a bunch the past two weeks due to record snows in the area. I've been able to catch a couple of episodes of Charmed - two were ones I hadn't seen before! Heck, it's snowing right now and my street is snow covered making me wonder about my chances for school or at least a two hour delay tomorrow. Crazy stuff...

Anyway, we've spent the last two days at Casa de Calen shut in and working on the oldest's science fair project. He designed an experiment changing the masses of the balls in Newton's Cradle to see the effect of mass on reaction time. He's got two other partners and he's been telling me all along that the work's all be split up equally.

Interestingly, it was not. He wrote the entire thing...He spearheaded all the work times and organized when everyone needed to get their portions completed. He asked his father to make the apparatus you see at the top of this post - three versions, for the three different masses. He asked me to have the boys over when they were having trouble isolating their question.

The project is due tomorrow. I was out of town this weekend so I couldn't help him work and the other two boys met to work on their portion of the project and my son couldn't attend because we couldn't get him to the meeting with the kids. According to my son, those kids got all their work done and he was all nervous about his part of the deal.

So we started working on it yesterday. It wasn't like we were going anywhere...and then I found out what he had assigned it to himself to do and what he assigned to the other boys. The oldest had only allowed the other two boys one assignment each. One of the boys was allowed to do the "materials and methods" and the other was allowed to make the tables and graphs. Great delegation, I know.

So...I asked him about it. Why didn't you guys split up the work a little more evenly? Why are you writing everything? Why are you in charge of buying the trifold?...and putting it together?

The answer surprised me...because I didn't trust anyone else to do it... Really? You're the one with control issues now? You're the one who needs to make sure your fingers are in every part of the assignment?

Wow...didn't see that coming. He actually took charge and did the entire thing himself. He was even angry with me when I said glue would work instead of rubber cement - that wasn't going to be good enough for him. He apparently has standards for his own work.

I know...I'm blown away.

Modern Family

2010-01-20T22:26:00.001-05:00

Seriously...if you're not watching, you're missing something.

Football and Potatoes

2010-01-19T22:05:00.003-05:00

I'm looking for a red velvet cake recipe. I've got one and I made a bunch of cupcakes with it, but I don't think they were moist enough...so I'm trying to trouble shoot the recipe over at Food Network.com and I stumbled upon this...

aren't they adorable??

Ah, well...

2010-01-04T04:47:00.001-05:00

My attire clearly has no effect on the outcome of a Bengals football game.

You're Welcome, Bengal Nation

2009-12-27T16:06:00.003-05:00

If the Bengals had won any of their last two games, they would have clinched their spot in the play-offs and given the city that has supported their abysmal existence an early Christmas present. Instead, we had to wait for that to happen today against the Cheifs.

Because the Steelers ended up winning against the Ravens, the win wasn't even necessary at the end of the day, but it's always good to control our own destiny with a win - especially at home and in December.

I don't look for the Bengals to go very far in the play-offs this season. I'm honestly just thankful for a winning season this year. It was way more fun to watch and know the team actually had a shot at winning their games this season than the last four years. Usually, I'm a college football kind of girl, but that leaves me with little to watch in December when the Bengals suck patiently waiting for the Buckeyes to disappoint in whatever bowl game/national championship game they'll be playing in each year since 2002. So having the Bengals DO something and knowing they've got a shot at a post-season win or two has been refreshing to say the least.

Now, to explain the title of this post. As mentioned, the last two weeks, the Bengals needed a win to clinch their spot in the post-season and they fell short both weeks. Even with the emotions playing into last week's difficult loss on the west coast (RIP Henry), the Bengals weren't able to put together enough offense to outscore the Chargers.

I blame myself for this.

Pretty much each week of the season, I would come home from 11:30 mass and don my Carson Palmer jersey, my Bengals helmet earrings and either my orange and black striped knee socks or orange argyle footies. I wore this attire when they beat the Browns, Steelers and Ravens for all 6 wins. I didn't wear it when they lost to the Raiders. Coincidence...of course. My apparel has nothing to do with their ability to score, to defend, to intercept, to run back kick-offs...how could it?

I didn't wear this when they lost to the Chargers or to the Vikings the week before. I wasn't going to bear the responsibility of their losing this week. No. That guilt would not be mine. I was going to do what was needed on my part to make sure they won today. As I type, I am wearing the jersey, the earrings and the orange argyle footies and the Bengals are sporting a very respectable 10-5 record and are on their way to the play-offs.

So, you're welcome, Bengals nation. I'll do my part for the remainder of the season. Promise.

Play me, I'm Yours

2009-12-16T21:24:00.003-05:00

Just got this little tidbit of info today from NPR. I've heard a couple of the stories they've done on the whole "Play me, I'm yours" tour. Basically, pianos are left on downtown city streets for the public to play. The pianos stay for a brief period of time and then they find permanent homes in the community. The artwork is the brainchild of Luke Jerram and I've been fascinated with the stories presented.

Today, my local npr station, WVXU, announced that it's sister station, WGUC will be bringing the exhibit to Cincinnati in August of 2010!

So...I am totally playing "Heart and Soul" as soon as I happen upon one of the pianos this summer.

just sayin'

So far, so good...

2009-12-03T22:54:00.002-05:00

Just a quick little update after that last exasperating post...

1. Only 15 more IA's left to grade...and I've only had them for 4 days. I can breathe again.

2. Christmas cookies WILL be made on Saturday evening - the little one and I are hanging out together while the men are at the basketball game and we will be baking fools.

3. Christmas decorations will go up on Sunday - inside and out.

4. Everything I needed to do this week both at home and school got accomplished. I don't know where the energy came from, but it was there and mentally, I'm WAY better than I was on Sunday last week.

5. Just for fun, I've posted my favorite pic from last week's Thanksgiving festivities.

The Most Suffocating Time of the Year...

2009-11-29T21:22:00.003-05:00

Damnit...it's happening again. I spent nearly every minute of Thanksgiving Break making sure it wouldn't it, but it's happening again. Yep. Three weeks of hell till Christmas Break. I got the senior IA's graded, finished the laundry, cleaned my entire house, cooked Thanksgiving dinner for my mom, got every chore I could think of finished, plus found time to hang with my kids and go to the museum and out to dinner and all that jazz only to have tonight come along and remind me of all the stuff I still have left to do before Christmas.

Every time I think about the fact that the junior's IA's need to be graded after tomorrow night, I start to hyperventilate.

I hate the fact that the entire semester is finished before Christmas. I hate it. I'm starting to hate Christmas more and more the older I get and adding the end of the semester to the fun that is a mom trying to pull Christmas out of her butt is no fun at all. The whole working mom thing is no fun at all. None.

I didn't want Christmas to shake down this way...but with school obligations, the oldest's basketball schedule, the little one and her ballet, and the husband's constant obligations at his school doing basketball stats and another 8 meetings he won't tell me about till the day of, I'm drowning...and Thanksgiving Break isn't even over yet.

My kind of town...

2009-11-28T19:55:00.011-05:00

'bout a month ago, the family and I took a quick little jaunt west to Chicago for a weekend.

It was a gorgeous weekend, crisp autumn air, pretty lights along Michigan Avenue, nice breeze off of Lake Michigan, and I got to see Katydid as a special bonus.

Here's how things shook down.

The husband got a great deal on a really cool hotel on Priceline. Check out The Avenue. We only paid $90 a night and we were 1/2 a block from Michigan Avenue - right around the corner from the Nike store. It was a tall hotel - forty floors with a pool on the roof. The kids were fascinated with the whole 40 floors thing.

First night, we had pizza at Gino's East. It was the first Chicago style pizza for the other three and they were very impressed. The whole drive up, I kept telling everyone not to eat, to save the hunger for the pizza...they didn't believe me. And then, it came. We weren't able to finish it, but what we did eat, we enjoyed.

Next morning, we grabbed a cab and went to The Shedd Aquarium - another favorite of mine. I've been three or four times, so I was very excited to show the kids the oceanarium and the show. The show has changed since I've seen it last (10 years ago, go figure) and now it's even cooler than ever. The show at the oceanarium features dolphins, belugas, sea lions, red tail hawks and penguins. The sea lion came right up to our seats, as did the hawk. The oldest has always been fascinated with hawks, so having one an arms' length away was a pretty big deal for him - even as a jaded 13 year old. When he was little, he loved the zoo. We went once a week. He was a zoo overnight camper, went to zoo class for at least a week each summer and drew lots of pictures of animals all the time. It was cool to see a glimpse of that little boy again.

After The Shedd, we walked to The Navy Pier. This was the most challenging part of the trip. The hubby typed in the address of Navy Pier onto the GPS of his phone and said the total mileage was only like 1.2 miles from The Shedd to Navy Pier...so it's not like it was far. However, if you listened to the little one, you might have thought it was going to be an eighteen mile trek across the desert during the dry season with a large dung beetle hot on your tail. It was not that bad. It was a really nice day and it was really pretty on Lake Michigan. We're really happy we made the walk, but the kids still act like they were abused.

We did a little shopping on Michigan Ave, met Katydid by the Hancock building and ate a little gelato and took off the next morning. We're going back again this summer. We've got plans to visit the Field Museum, do more shopping, go back to The Shedd, spend a little more time at Navy Pier, and enjoy the pool that was on the roof of the hotel.

A Bit of Advice

2009-11-18T05:07:00.003-05:00

If you stupidly cut your finger really bad, don't put the bandage on too tightly in a way to overcompensate to stop the bleeding. You might not sleep very well for two nights and it will be no one's fault but your own.

Blood is an important thing and all your body's tissues need it. When they're not getting enough of it, they let you know and it's incredibly painful.

Stupid...

It's getting very interesting...

2009-11-16T22:09:00.005-05:00

I'm really enjoying the fact that the Bengals are having a winning season. Two wins against the Steelers is pretty much enough for me to qualify the season as a success. That's good stuff.

I'm also enjoying the fact that the Bengals are looking toward making things a little more interesting this year. Signing Larry Johnson could be an extremely beneficial (and affordable) move for the team. According to the pic above, the guy can fly...

I know I'll be rooting for him against the Browns on the 29th of this month. I'm also happy that this year when I get to make my annual trip to PBS the game is going to matter.

Oh, and favorite line from the MNF announcers tonight: "I'm waiting for Brady Quinn to DO something..."

yes...and so is all of Cleveland.

I believe...

2009-11-12T20:34:00.003-05:00

I grew up Catholic, went to Catholic school and church every Sunday and holiday. While I don't subscribe to every single doctrine of my church, I do believe in a higher power. I don't know exactly where my belief begins and where it ends because I question lots of biblical teachings and know that, rationally, lots of it is complete bull.

I also grew up in the United States where church and state are supposed to be separate. In my little Catholic school jumper and saddle shoes, I learned how we are all free to practice our faiths as wish. And even though the only faith I ever came into contact with was my own, I believed this happened in my country. I knew there were other churches in my little neighborhood and I knew people attended them and I was fine with that.

I'm not threatened by the beliefs of other people. I'm fine with the fact that other people believe things different from me. I'm also fine with the fact that some people don't believe at all. Great, awesome, welcome to America where we can all believe what we want and no one hurts each other or has to practice their faith in secret.

We can even put up billboards:

Oh wait...not in Cincinnati we can't. In Cincinnati, if you put up a billboard like that, you get death threats and you have to take it down within 48 hours. Yeah...you get death threats from the people who believe in God and are supposed to be Christian. I remember a song we used to sing in Catholic school "They'll know we are Christians by our Love." I remember hating the melody but thinking the lyrics were a nice message...that a Christian would be so obvious because of their unconditional love for each other and the rest of humanity. I'm pretty sure even Catholic school jumper and saddle shoes Calen didn't believe you were supposed to make death threats against the non-believers. I'm pretty sure even that Calen knew that making death threats (even to people who are publicly admitting they don't believe in God) isn't very god-like or Christian.

And I'm pretty sure lots of other people know that too...

New Shoes

2009-11-10T20:54:00.003-05:00

I need to buy some new gym shoes. The ones I've been using are getting pretty worn and I'm starting to feel the familiar warning signs of shin splints so I'm going to need to get a new pair pretty quick or my legs are going to start hurting to the point where they keep me up at night.

I'm usually a Nike or Saucony kind of girl when it comes to the walking shoes, but the ads for these Reebok Easy Tones promise that your legs and butt will look better just from wearing these shoes. So...I'm gonna give them a try. I walk for 45 minutes every day in regular shoes and my legs and butt look presentable.

In these new super shoes, maybe that super model career I've always dreamed about can finally come true.

Bleak

2009-10-18T18:11:00.003-04:00

Ugh. Crappy weekend all 'round.

Not one team I care about won this weekend - all the way to my son's middle school game Saturday morning.

I just got to spend the day at "Thanksgiving Dinner" with my mother in law

I'm not finished grading the Human Environmental Impact papers yet.

The ones I have graded have depressed me that the polluted planet is in for certain demise.

I have to spend tomorrow at an all day inservice.

Ugh. At least the weather was nice...I think I'll go for a walk...

O H I O

2009-10-15T22:32:00.000-04:00

The pic of the four of us on the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom was better. Especially because we had to do it twice since we spelled it backwards the first time through the ride. Good thing there wasn't a long line that day.

Illegal in 37 states...

2009-10-14T21:35:00.002-04:00

...it's probably not, but it should be.

Check it out. I'm pretty sure you can see me drooling from where you are right now. I don't know when...but I'm gonna make this. There will have be lots of people around to eat it so I don't die of a heart attack the day after I make it.

Hey Chemguy - If I make this think I can lure you away from the book burning?

For Joey

2009-10-13T21:40:00.006-04:00

Just in case you're up laaaaaaate again and need something to read...or just to look at and because I know how much you love Disney at Christmas. I mean, come on...it's the Grand Floridian's Gingerbread House! Maybe next time I'll just post all the pics of the different Christmas trees in all the parks and at all the resorts. Yeah...I'm gonna get started on that right now. Stop back again tomorrow.

Haircut

2009-10-13T04:56:00.001-04:00

Tonight I get my haircut. I desparately need a little style and pizazz added to the the do.

My hair has been long since I was 11 years old. (past shoulder length)

Anyone think I should get it cut short?

The Trifecta!!!

2009-10-11T20:26:00.004-04:00

Each weekend of the fall, I hope that the trifecta of football wins will occur. In order for this to be acheived, all three football teams in which I'm interested need to win.

It happened this weekend!

PHS 21 Oak Hills 20

OSU 31 Wisc 17

Bengals 17 Ravens 14 (really didn't think this one would happen)

I know...it's like I won the lottery. Now, if our upstairs shower was working and I wasn't about to be $800 for a plumber, it'd be darn near perfect.

PS. If you're interested, you can print off today's picture and color!!

Dont' get me wrong...

2009-10-07T04:59:00.002-04:00

...I abhor waking up at 4:45am each morning of the school year. However, this morning when I looked out of my bathroom window, the moon was so bright it was causing the trees in my back yard to cast shadows on the grass. It looked pretty freaking cool...

So stuff like that helps.

I don't know where this came from...

2009-10-05T22:31:00.003-04:00

I don't know where it came from. I don't know why this is a dream of mine...but somehow I've got this fantasy of spending Christmas with my family in a tiny little cottage in a foreign country somewhere...

Okay, honestly I know two things that may have planted this scene in my brain. One is from a now defunct online comic and the other is a picture painted in my head from a book that I once read. In the first, the online comic author took a hiatus from his ridiculous posts over the Christmas holidays bc he was going to a cottage in Poland where his internet connection was going to be spotty at best. The idea of being so isolated during the most holy day of the year...only communicating with the people of the village, taking some solitude and thinking about the "reason for the season" intrigued me. I imagined a Christmas morning like that in Whoville...people holding hands in the town square, singing carols and then retiring to our tiny cottage, cooking a small bird and enjoying the family around a hearty fire.

The other impetus for this fantasy of mine is a specific chapter from HPDH...yes, Harry Potter. Shut up. Seriously...the picture painted of Godric's Hollow on Christmas Eve as Harry and Hermione explore the cemetery of Harry's ancestors is absolutely gorgeous. The town pub, the lights from the tiny village, the snow, the comraderie of the townsfolk is so heartwarming...it makes me want to go to there.

I don't know that I'll ever pack up the family over Winter Break and whisk them off to some eastern block snow packed cottage...or even enjoy Christmas in some tiny village in England...but the idea is there, and that's a good thing.

Come and see both of our buildings

2009-10-03T18:38:00.004-04:00

I have been to Cleveland on a number of occaisions and I've enjoyed every visit.

Probably because people like the guy who made this video lives there...

23-20

2009-09-27T19:19:00.003-04:00

Bengals top the Steelers for the first time in 9 years at Paul Brown Stadium.

That is all.

Where da money at?

2009-09-27T00:40:00.003-04:00

I don't know that what I have to say tonight is any more important than Leonidas chocolates, but I'm gonna go ahead and post about it.

Okay...so here's the deal. I'm all good with the bailout and I think it's good for the economy and for the nation.

I just need to know why we need all the signage. I mean...why? Do we really need all the signs for the work that's being done? Is that part of the whole the bailout package? Not only are the roads going to be fixed, but we're going to point out all the bailout expenditures possible...

?? Can that money go to Darfur? Or maybe to anywhere else but signs pointing out where my bailout money is going??

Found This Today...

2009-09-24T20:47:00.005-04:00

Looks like a big box of delicious to me. Plus, you can get this stuff sent each month. Chocolate every month - new chocolate every month.

Sent

to

your

House

PS. I really don't like any of the characters on the new Survivor. I'm only going to be able to give them one more week before I decide this season's a wash.

PPS. In other news, I'm 40 seconds into The Office and it's as ridiculous and as offensive as ever. I'm going to count how many times I say Oh my god...this season - update coming later.

Furious

2009-09-08T20:50:00.003-04:00

Today President Obama delivered a 20 minute speech to the students of our nation. Yes. He talked to young people in the hope that a man of mixed race, from a broken home who faced the adversity many of the young people in our schools today face could inspire the school aged children of our nation to succeed - no matter what.

Districts around the country set up alternative plans in case students didn't want to watch/listen to the leader of our nation, sent home permission slips and came up with spur of the moment policies to deal with the fact that a president wanted to speak to our children.

And my own children didn't get to hear him speak. No policy statement came home, no information saying I needed to DVR the speech if I wanted my kids - who I foolishly sent to school today - to hear the president of our country speak to them. Nothing. I almost understand giving the option of not watching the president speak, but to completely deny the opportunity? I'm at a loss.

I am absolutely furious.

I have also already found the speech like 10 different ways online and have watched the speech with my kids already...but still...what the hell?

What?

2009-09-07T13:39:00.001-04:00

Like I wasn't going to add the SocialVibe link to my blog too? I'm fairly certain anyone who reads Chemguy reads me as well and I'm pretty sure there's no one out there reading my stuff and not his but whatevs...Alls you have to do is click on the link and answer a question and whoever is sponsoring donates $$ to the LLS.

It's like Free Rice without all the annoying questions. Speaking of Free Rice, they've added more quizzes not just the english vocab stuff - last night I amazed the little one with my knowledge of the Periodic Table.

What Up WIth the Energy Level?

2009-08-29T22:36:00.003-04:00

I'm an old woman. I'm still functioning, but I'm old. So old, in fact, that the next time you see me wearing my eye glasses (not contacts), know that I'll be wearing bifocals. Yep, bifocals.

I'm old.

Yet...my energy level this weekend has not indicated that this is the case.

Yesterday, after working a full day, going to the eye doctor and grocery store, I went for my walk, made the kids dinner then proceeded to stay up till 11:30 cooking dinners for the next week. We've got Italian sausage rigatoni bake all lined up for later this week and I've got two awesome appetizers (seafood dip and a bean dip) all ready for tomorrow at my mom's pool.

I finished all the laundry for the weekend and will probably go as far as washing the bathroom rugs tomorrow.

I've graded all the work I brought home and all I have to do for tomorrow is go to church, make lunches for the week and go hang out at my mom's.

It's not even 11:00 pm and I can't think of anything new to start to work on right now and I'm not even tired.

Not even a little.

Thing is...I know come Monday morning, I'm gonna be beat.

You might be surprised...

2009-08-24T17:08:00.003-04:00

This post is inspired by a recent post on another blog I follow. My fellow blogger added two posts this weekend, one consisted of songs that made her absolutely blissful and the other was of songs that took her emotions to the sadder side of things.

While running an errand, the first song embedded came on the radio and immediately the volume was up as loud as it could be and I was singing right along - all angry like I was ready to fight the man.

Which is hilarious considering that as a white, 42 year old, mother of two, I pretty much am the man.

It doesn't matter my demographic, however, this song rocks out loud and will be blasted from my radio any time it comes on.

Be warned though, my man Trent does drop an F bomb at about 4 minutes in...it's a live performance after all and I'm sure he's mad as hell.

The next song also gets blared from the speakers of my 4 door Hyundai Sonata with sunroof and driver side power seats. I'm guessing I look like an idiot...but I'm good with that. I embraced my nerd-ness a long time ago.

This next one is embarrassing, but still fits the criteria of makes me turn up the radio as loud as possible and sign it as loud as possible. Oh, and it won't embed in the format I want you to see so you're gonna have to click to see what it is...

And we end with my absolute favorite. If the kids are in the car, the oldest actually takes the male vocals for me and we have a rockin' duet.

I know...you wish you were me.

I have to say this might be the most fun I've had putting a post together since I've been singing along while the songs played in the other tab open while I typed.

Good times at Calen's house this afternoon...

I don't know about you...

2009-08-21T21:51:00.003-04:00

...but I'm really afraid of this creepy chick

and according to the rest of the interweb, I'm not alone.

No Williamsport for WSLL

2009-08-14T05:03:00.003-04:00

In the words of the Head Coach - "We Came That Close"

It was an incredible ride while it lasted, but the boys were sent home by Indiana last night in the regional semi finals.

Go ahead and click the link for the whole story and stop back later this weekend for my thoughts on the summer and what it meant to my son and to our family.

School Starts Tomorrow...

2009-08-11T21:32:00.003-04:00

ditto

It's not exactly the same, but it's darn close.

Stardom

2009-08-04T15:07:00.002-04:00

Last night, Channel 5 News stopped by baseball practice and put this news story together.

Just in case you're interested in checking out the story, here's the link. They make the boys out to be pretty studly.

What I failed to mention...

2009-08-02T13:15:00.008-04:00

2009 Champions - Hamilton WSLL

In my last post, I mentioned that I was out of town at a baseball tournament for the oldest. What I failed to mention was that the baseball tournament was the Ohio State Little League Championship tournament and the winner would be representing Ohio at the Little League Great Lakes Regional Tournament in Indianapolis. The winner of that tournament goes on to represent the Great Lakes Region at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.

The boys won the state tournament. They're going to INDY for regionals. The oldest is going to get to stay at the Little League facility for at least a week - longer if they make it to tournament play. He'll stay in dorms with 72 other 11-13 year olds and play baseball, watch baseball, practice baseball and probably not think of his mom or summer reading or anything else for a week and a half.

This group of boys has never won the state title. I know lots of teams can say that, but not where my kid plays. A district title is expected from our All Star teams in each age group each year. We send two teams in each age group to districts and a win is expected from these kids. It's crazy, but it's what they do in Hamilton. Being able to finally win the state title in the year when Williamsport is a possibility is fantastic for these boys. To say we're excited for this opportunity in the Calencoriel Home is an understatement.

The oldest and I have talked about this the entire year. He's talked about making sure he gets as many Facebook friends as possible, wanting to link himself to baseball playing kids all across the country. He wants to get cell phone numbers and Facebook addresses in Williamsport too so he can be as international as possible. He is so excited to talk baseball to kids from our region as well as the MidWest region since both tournaments are played in INDY. He'll get to meet boys from all over.

I've been careful not to blog about the summer and all the baseball. Stupid superstitions kept me from doing so...not wanting to jinx the boys, etc. Each morning up at state when the team had a game, I'd wake up sick to my stomach, nervous about the game. When you're as much of a control freak as I am, it's difficult to let go and hope that your kid will get what he's been hoping for even though there's nothing you can do to help make it happen for them. The older he gets, the more this is going to happen and I'm going to need to get better at letting him fight his own battles or I'm gonna die early.

Some of our superstitions were fun though. I had to bring the oldest a waffle from the complimentary breakfast in the lobby bc I did it the morning of the first game and they won that so of course, that's why they won.

We had to hold our reading sessions the afternoons before each game bc we did it the afternoon of the first game and they won that, so of course, that's why they won.

The boys involved in the reading sessions had to sit in the same places in our tiny hotel room bc we did it that way two afternoons, and they won those two games, so of course, that's why they won.

The oldest gave me his phiten before each game since they couldn't wear them on the field and I wore it the first night and they won so of course that's why they won and I had to wear it during every other game after that.

I'm sure there were more superstitions going on in the other 12 rooms of the little Days Inn where we stayed. (The manager of the place actually posted "Go Hamilton" on the marquee for the boys and came to each one of their games.)

Its been the summer of baseball - one we've planned for and one the oldest has worked for. Let's just hope that in another month I'm blogging about Williamsport.

If you're interested in following their progress at regionals, check it out - or just drive up to Indy, admission is free!

Full On Nerdacity

2009-07-27T15:58:00.004-04:00

I am a horrible person. As I type this, I'm sitting in a $52 a night Days Inn in Kent, Ohio at 3:58 in the afternoon on a Monday. I'm at a baseball tournament for the oldest.

The hotel is crappy, hideous decor and a tiny-ass little outdoor pool. I'm pretty sure the bites all over my son and I aren't from working outside on the roof of the shed on Friday evening, but are from bed bugs in the room. (I can't find the little buggers, but I have been looking). Last night while we were sitting out on the sidewalk next to my room, we're pretty sure we witnessed a drug deal going down. And a bear was spotted in the parking lot on the survelliance camera. So I'm feeling really safe right now. (Did you hear that? BEARS!)

Anyhoo, none of that has to do with why I'm a horrible person. The reason I'm a horrible person is because I've trapped three of the kids on the oldest's team in my hotel room to make them work on their summer reading. They've got a 350+ book to read and they are on pages 23, 34, and 62. They have to answer 70+ questions about the book and then write a 5 paragraph essay on one of the characters in the book before they go back to school - oh, and there's a test their first week back.

I hate this. I hate making my kid read. He should want to and he doesn't. So...here I am, forcing it upon him. I've also promised the other moms that I'll work with their boys as well, so now my destruction has taken two more souls. I bought the boys highlighters so that they can highlight passages that support the character qualities of Fiver and Hazel (they're reading Watership Down if I hadn't mentioned) to help later when they write their essay. I also bought them Post-It (tm) tabs to color code the three different character values they see in Fiver or Hazel.

I know the kids will be happy they read this week. I know they'll be happy tomorrow after we discuss a couple of the questions they have to answer. But I can't help feeling like this is just mean to do to them.

Oh well...we're meeting in my room tomorrow at 3:30 as well for more reading fun.

PS. The crappy hotel does have free wireless and a fantastic manager that has opened the pool for the team after closing hours and has been insanely accomodating to everyone of us up here, so I'm not checking out and into the Hampton Inn across the parking lot even though it's A LOT cleaner.

Update

2009-07-26T00:32:00.002-04:00

I own these bad-ass dolls now.

This makes me potentially the coolest nerd ever.

I also now possess triquetra earrings and am seriously contemplating a triquetra ankle tattoo.

I was a very Charmed birthday...

Enjoy yourself...I know I did.

2009-07-24T00:18:00.005-04:00

Okay, so the little one and I just spent the last two hours on this site...clicking away on any link that struck our fancy.

She petered out long before I did. I'm a much bigger nerd, apparently. The cool Griffindor friendship bracelet I'm wearing is testimony to that fact.

Especially because I got the cool Griffindor friendship bracelet last week at the midnight showing of Half Blood Prince and haven't taken it off since.

It all started when she innocently asked me when Harry, Ron and Hermione's birthdays were.

Yes, of course I knew Harry's - next Saturday, same as my Grandpa's in fact. But I had to look up the others...and then the fun began.

I love summer.

Oh, btw...is anyone else enjoying Tosh.0 on Comedy Central as much as I am?

Ron Weasley has Swine Flu

2009-07-07T10:51:00.002-04:00

...no seriously, check it out.

Looks like he'll be making a full recovery though, and will be well enough to attend the premiere of Half Blood Prince next week.

And holy crap, could Emma Watson get any prettier?

Oh, and as a post-script from last week's post, the good people at TNT decided to air Charmed at 8,9 and 10 every week day, so I can watch it three times a day now and I'm way happier about all things Charmed, now. Yay!

Disgruntled...

2009-07-02T23:05:00.003-04:00

In their infinite wisdom, the powers that be over at TNT decided to stop airing the afternoon Charmed episodes.

I KNOW!

Now, the only time Charmed is aired on TNT is at 8:00 am and 9:00 am, weekdays.

I'm not sure how I'll be making it through the rest of summer...I guess I'll just have to fill my days with painting my children's bedrooms, organizing the kitchen cabinets, folding laundry and finishing the ironing instead of sitting in my family room eating Dove Promises, drinking Diet Coke and watching those witches and wishing faeries, leprechauns and gremlins were real...

Maybe someone will buy me those cool action figures from the episode where Chris sent his Elder father to Valhalla so he could fight off the demons who were going to turn Wyatt to evil (btw...evil Wyatt is WAY hotter than good Wyatt) and then I can just play with the dolls instead of watching it.

Yeah, because that won't be sad...

In case you piss off your dad...

2009-06-29T07:01:00.001-04:00

Found this early this morning over at Toothpaste for Dinner and thought I'd share.

I know I'm going to show it to my kids for use the next time they piss off their dad.

I wonder if it'll work if you upset Mrs. Ritzie?

PS. One week till IB scores are available!

Wednesday Night Poker

2009-06-25T00:09:00.009-04:00

Sometimes after dinner it seems like it would be a good time to teach the kids Texas Hold 'Em with random candy you have in your pantry.

Here we have the initial bank with which we all began. The Jelly Bellys are the soda pop combo - 7-Up, worth $1; Orange soda, worth $5; Root Beer, worth $15; Grape Soda, worth $25; Dr. Pepper, worth $50; and Cream Soda, worth $100. The Hershey nuggets were worth $500 and the marshmallows were worth $1000.

Things got pretty serious:

Clearly, he didn't want us to be able to get his "read."

Unfortunately for the oldest, I know his bluffs all too well - being the mom and wife of your opponents is helpful. First of all, everyone thinks you're going to play things safe because you're the mom and they all think they're all mysterious and I'll never know if they actually have cards in their hand or not. I've been reading these people's minds for the past 19 years. I know what they're thinking and when they're thinking it.

Needless to say, I was the big winner:

That's right...that's three marshmallows you see in my winnings. I rule.

Things devolved pretty quickly after my big win. The husband just started eating his winnings...

The little one was pretty disgruntled with her lack of skills...she's bound and determined to learn the game though...we plan on buying more Jelly Belly's at The Jungle this week and we'll get a few more pieces to ante.

I'll let you know if her poker skills increase during the summer.

NPR's reach knows no bounds

2009-06-24T00:12:00.003-04:00

I love npr. I started this blog just so I could point out the cool stuff I hear from time to time on npr. My love for all things npr is not absolute, however.

I hate Car Talk. Those guys aren't funny and I don't really think they actually help anyone. I think they're more interested in talking about themselves than trying to actually help someone who is calling a radio show for help with their car instead of going to - god forbid - a mechanic for help with the car.

And their voices are annoying.

But then I saw this while flipping through channels one afternoon and decided I needed to rethink my hatred because there's no way they can be all bad if they're going to guest star on one of the all time greatest children's shows in PBS history.

...everyday when you're walking down the street...

Jedi or Ninja?

2009-06-18T08:15:00.002-04:00

I'm sure you've seen this already, but still...this is great stuff.

and Keith Olberman can't pronounce Miyagi correctly...just sayin'

Mom, interrupted...

2009-06-12T21:28:00.003-04:00

Well, let's see - what have I been up to all summer that's prevented me from blogging regularly?

I've been organizing and driving the oldest to all his activities. I've started and stopped more activities this week and even though I've accomplished many things, I feel like all of these things have been done half-assed because I haven't worked from start to finish on any of them for an entire day.

The oldest had baseball and basketball camp all week - and a day of school on Monday. I had to get him to camps and then take him from one camp to the other and then to baseball practice or to a baseball game every day this week. It's been frustrating because I have to keep stopping what I'm working on to get him where he needs to be meanwhile, he's not doing a damn thing to contribute to the overall organization of the house.

So far, the following things have been organized. Let me clarify, organized means that I've taken everything out of said area, cleaned out the area and thrown out the majority of the clutter and then put the things deemed worthy of keeping where they belong. Sometimes, I even buy a new storage container for the items to be kept. That's when it gets exciting.

Okay, so here's what I've done:

1. Cleaned the deck. Scrubbed the grill, the picnic table and chairs, and disinfected a cooler that is now housed on the deck for outdoor dinners.

2. Organized the pantry. I have WAY too many bags of various kinds of chips for cookies. Look for a post on baking cookies later in the summer. I plan to give said cookies to G-Race and Allie bc I love them.

3. Organized/cleaned the fridge. Mostly just organized. I did a really good job of this during spring break and have kept it clean since so it was just some maintenance organization and nothing like last year's battle with the Kracken of yogurt. No puking this year...go me!

4. Organized/cleaned my closet. All my sweaters are folded and in stacks of matching colors. I own no blue sweaters. I also have too many black sweaters and too many red sweaters. All my hanging clothes are organized by color and type. I have no red skirts. I don't know why...my closet is very monochromatic. Patterns do not exist.

5. Organized/cleaned the laundry room. This was a huge ordeal last year, but this year it was merely reorganizing the stuff that was down there. I have 22 items that need to be ironed before school starts up again. There is time for this. This is not that time. I'll let you know when it's finished...

6. Organized/cleaned the garage. This is the true accomplishment because it involved cooperation on the part of the husband. This does not happen easily. He's a packrat and I lit a fire under his ass to pitch LOTS of stuff...and it happened. I no longer cringe when the garage door opens. Everything currently housed in my garage is actually something the family uses and is needed.

7. The little one's room is organized and the only clothes in her room are clothes that fit and (and here's the kicker) are clothes she'll actually wear. Good times there because the little one did this all herself - props to her for that. I tell you, the kid organizes the crap out of things. I'm employing her to help with my classroom later in July because I know she'll put stuff in better order than I'll ever ever think of even on my best organizational day. She's turning into a spectacular little chick...

8. Successfully avoided going back into school. First time EVER since becoming department chair. I have answered phone calls from the head dude at PHS, but I haven't gone back into the building and I'm proud of myself for that. I do have to meet with a pretty important dude at CO on Tuesday, but I agreed to that so it's cool.

What's on the slate for the rest of the summer? Well...we have to organize the oldest's room. The kid grew a foot this year and very little will fit him when back to school time hits in late August.

Both kids want new paint in their bedrooms, the little one's (who is now 11) decor is Disney Princess and she desparately wants to express herself in a more mature manner.

The oldest is currently sporting The Ohio State University and wants to go with a Big Blue theme...he's also written on his walls with black Sharpie so we'll need to deal with that.

There's a bunch of stupid crap on top of my refrigerator. I don't know what it is, but I'll be getting rid of it...or at least storing it somewhere more appropriate than the top of the refrigerator.

I'm going to go through the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and maybe getting some new stuff to put in there...bc I dig new stuff.

Last but not least, I'll be straightening the guest room. This is last because once that's organized, there's nothing stopping the mother-in-law from visiting...and that's another post.

In addition to all of this, I'll be getting the oldest to all his baseball related activities. All Star try outs are Monday at 6:30...keep your fingers crossed, and I'll have lots of pics of the team and the tournaments throughout the rest of the summer. (fingers crossed...of course)

The little one has her ballet recital on June 21st so there's lots to do there too. Her costume is insanely gorgeous...don't worry, I'll post a pic where you can see the tutu, but not be able to tell which one she is...

btw...the pic at the top of the post has nothing to do with the post, it's just more funny from xkcd.com and it's pretty much the cleanest "your mom" joke they have on the site so I went for it.

It's summer...turn off the computer and do something!!

What Else Do You Do During a 5 Hour Rain Delay?

2009-06-10T10:30:00.001-04:00

If I knew what I wanted, I'd ask for it....

2009-05-05T21:45:00.003-04:00

In case you were wondering, here's how a perfect Mother's Day would shake down for me.

Wake up at 7:00 am. (what? if it's gonna be a perfect day, I want to experience all of it...)

Go for a run, but actually run the whole thing instead of copping out and walking half of it.

When I get dressed, my jeans skirt from high school fits again.

When I get finished getting dressed for the day, Starbuck's in waiting for me on the deck. Only it's just like I want it and I didn't have to tell anyone or write it down first.

All the laundry is miraculously finished and folded and the kids have put their clothes where they belong.

The lunches are made for the week and I didn't have to do it.

All the blogs I follow have new entertaining posts and I have time to look at all of them and even click on the links

My fantasy baseball team wins its match up for the week - oh wait, that's been happening I'm in first place right now. Yep...little old me giving all the boys a beat down...

I go out to lunch with my mom and sisters - we sit outside and drink wine and eat salads and order dessert. (and my jeans skirt still fits)

I go to the ballpark and watch the oldest pitch a no-hitter and hit a homerun. (He's done both, but in different games)

The little one and I spend some time hanging at Target and Staples shopping for office supplies, cute jammies and Hello Kitty lip gloss

Every closet and drawer in the house is magically organized and all the crap I've been wanting to get rid of has magically been recycled or donated and is no longer in my house.

All my students pass their IB test - this could happen by Mother's Day this year, but I won't know until July.

For dinner we grill out and enjoy a beautiful spring evening

Then, we turn in and find out that TNT is broadcasting all three episodes of Lord of the Rings and I drift off to sleep while Aragorn is steadfastly fighting orcs and Gimli and Legolas are counting their dead at Helm's Deep...

(and there's a water main break at school on Monday but we don't have to make up the extra day off...)

Hey - a girl can dream, can't she?

I Wish I Was Making This Up

2009-04-30T18:49:00.003-04:00

Two days ago, my husband - varsity softball coach at a local high school - got kicked out of the game. This was the first time in nineteen years as a head coach that he was removed by an official. The husband has a temper, I won't pretend like he's mr even-keel or anything like that, but he keeps it under check.

I guess he got angry enough to raise his voice at the official in question and got the boot. He was pretty irritated, but was starting to deal with it.

Until he got the "official letter" the umpire submitted to the state today. Here it is, faithful readers, in all it's illiterate glory:

This game went 11 innings and we were before extra innings when this happened. Hamilton at bat with runner on second base. I'm behind shortstop in my possition. Ground ball where play is at first base. Ball beats runner to first base. I call runner out. Nothing said runner advances to third base. With two outs ground ball, close play at first base, again ball beats runner andI call batter-runner. Out, third out of the inning. On my way back to my first base possition I stop at second base to clean it off. Coach * is yellowing at me that I blowed two calls at first base and cost his team a run in that inning. I brought it to his attention that when the ball beats the runner to first base that is an out so I never blowed any calls at first base. He kept yellowing at me and I told him he needed to move on. He got in the dugout and started yellowing at me again. I told him he needed to leave. He yelled some more. I again told him to leave. He went behind the dugout. When we got ready to start the inning I noticed him observing the game. I told him he had to leave sight and sound. He dissapearer. The first base coach never questioned either call that I made at first base.
Later on during the game Coach ** is watching the game from beyond the fence in left field where the outfield fence and the sideline fence meet. I don't think this is allowed but I wasn't going to stop play to make him leave. He wasn't bothering anything but wasn't suposed to be there according to ejection protocol number 7 on back of this report form.

Like I said, the first base coach never reacted to either call that I made at first base during this inning.

* - our last name was used here.
** - our last name was used again, but spelled incorrectly.

He also used an incredibly ridiculous looking font. Yes, Chemguy, even worse than Comic Sans.

So there you go boys and girls. If you flunk out of English class you can always go into officiating softball for a living.

It's Overwhelming

2009-04-19T20:03:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was intense. In fact, the last two days were intense. As my day at school ended on Friday, my other job began. I left school at 3:00 so that I could get home in time to walk before I grabbed the kids from the sitter. Then I made dinner and we were off to Thompson Park to get the little one's softball uniform, then to the oldest's baseball practice. After dropping him off, the little one and I ran a few errands and then it was back to the ballpark to pick him up. He was invited to a party, so we dashed home so he could shower. While he did, I cleaned a bathroom. Then we jetted back to the west side of town to take the oldest to a party, and then it was back to the house to finish cleaning and 'round 11:00 when I wanted SO MUCH to go to sleep, it was back to the west side to pick up the oldest.

The next day, I was up at 6:30am so I could walk and get my kids to their baseball/softball games after making them a nice nutritious breakfast, of course. After dropping the oldest off at his game - one hour and fifteen minutes before the game started - the little one and I were off to cash checks so I have the cash on hand for the pizza party for Pasta for Pennies on Tuesday.

So, once the games started I was pretty much all set. All responsibilities were taken care of and I was able to enjoy my kids. It was great. I was thrilled to be able to actually relax and watch the games because I had done all my chores. It was nice. It didn't hurt that both kids won their games and performed very well.

The oldest pitched two shut-out innings(the boys are only 40 pitches the first week of Little League) and hit a homerun. The little one stole 4 bases and scored twice. It was an absolutely beautiful day and completely enjoyable.

There are times when I'm really happy I'm so obsessed with planning, if I wasn't, I wouldn't be able to get anything accomplished and I'd never stop to enjoy the important stuff. Yesterday, I did and I'm gonna work a little more diligently to make sure I enjoy as much of this year's baseball and softball season as possible.

30 Sunsets

2009-04-11T15:00:00.011-04:00

As promised from yesterday, I have a bunch of sunset pictures to post. In Key West -for those who don't know - you celebrate the sunset each night. There's a special place to watch called, of all things, Sunset Pier, and they serve drinks and food and when the sun has finally set, everyone cheers.

I took some of the pictures with the specific intent of using them as my wallpaper background on my computer, so the sun is setting in the far right so that if you decide to steal the pic (and seriously, feel free to do so)all your icons will be on the left. It will be perfect for computer wallpaper.

While taking the pictures, I commented to the nice lady next to me that I thought cameras should have a special sunset setting. Then I started clicking the buttons on my camera and found out that my camera actually has a sunset setting. So, I used it and took 30 pictures...and one of my mom and lots of people crowded around our table taking their own pics of the sunset.

So, anyway - here are my sunset pictures. Hope you enjoy...

In Case I Look Fatter Next Time You See Me...

2009-04-10T20:51:00.004-04:00

...I went to Key West with my mom and sister earlier this week - got back around midnight on Wednesday, in fact.

We had a blast. It was hot and sunny while it snowed back in Cincy. I got sun poisoning while everyone back home wore winter coats, mittens and scarfs.

We also ate a lot. I found the cuisine setting on my camera, so here's a little sampling of the food we ate on the trip.

I ate this at the Charlotte Airport on our way home. It's a portobello roasted red pepper and fresh mozzarella burger. It was tasty and it was at this point that I realized I shouldn't eat another french fry until May.

This is my sister's Mahi Mahi sandwich with Key Lime mayo at the poolside restaurant at our hotel. This was our lunch before we took the cab to the airport for our trip home.

I decided to go for the turkey club for my last meal in Key West. The tomatoes made the sandwich.

A fried shrimp Po'Boy at Fogarty's on Duval St. This was my dinner on Tuesday night and it was fantastic.

My sister went all out on Tuesday night with a Crab Cake, grouper filet, mashed potatoes, asparagus and hollandaise sauce. I tried a bit of the grouper and it was tender, flaky and perfectly seasoned. My sister devoured everything else.

My mom's blackened shrimp wrap. The pic doesn't do the quantity of shrimp in the wrap justice. It was choc full of shrimp and my sister and I didn't hear a word from my mom until her plate was clean.

The Ahi Tuna encrusted in peppercorn appetizer. My mom refused to touch it - no raw fish for her...which meant my sister and I got more...This dish was particularly yummy.

This was our lunch on Tuesday afternoon. My mom, sister and I split this ginormous plate of nachos before heading to the hotel pool for the afternoon.

One of the more attractive dishes of the trip. These are fresh baked croissants from Croissants de France on Duval St. There were only like 14 different kinds of croissants to chose from and I swear I could have enjoyed a cafe au lait and a different croissant there every morning of our trip. Pictured here are the spinach and feta croissant (in the background-my mom's breakfast) and the apple cinnamon croissant (my sister and I split that one).

So there you go...my trip in food. If you plan a trip to Key West someday, let me know. The island is only 2 miles by 4 miles and I covered nearly every inch while there this April. I can tell you where to party - even though that really wasn't our gig while on the island - where to eat, where to shop, and where NOT to go.

Tomorrow - freaking spectacular sunset pics. (I found the sunset setting on my camera too!)

What Did I Google??

2009-03-30T21:36:00.003-04:00

Each time I log onto my Google account, as is the case for everyone, there are a number of ads that appear in the margins. Typically, the ads have something to do with the topics of my emails.

For example, in a recent email exchange with an online cartoonist while asking permission to use one of her recent graphics for a test or quiz, the ads are for X-men, Gurney's Seed and Nursery, and a GI Joe Boxset. Once you know that that the cartoon was of a seed germinating, the fact that a seed and nursey made the cut doesn't seem all that bizarre.

But most recently, the following ad has been appearing on nearly every website I visit from my iGoogle page - including the iGoogle page, my Gmail page, and this evening Food Network's page included it on the ads. The ad appears as follows:

"I cured my yellow teeth" Read the trick discovered by a mom to turn yellow teeth white! And then here's the link.

My teeth aren't yellow. I do drink coffe, but my teeth still look pretty good. I don't have gum issues, I never had braces so I don't have uneven coloring on my teeth or anything like that. I haven't talked to anyone about wanting to whiten my teeth or anyone who's teeth I think should be whitened.

No idea why this ad keeps haunting me...

Not Waxing Poetic This Year..

2009-03-24T18:55:00.003-04:00

It's 6:55pm. My alarm went off this morning at 4:40am and I haven't stopped since - school, meeting, walk, get the kids, make dinner, supervise homework, fold laundry, and now...I want to crawl into bed with a glass of red wine and grade IB Biology tests. (Just one glass, that won't mess up the grades too much)

Instead, I'm about to change my clothes for the third time today and we're off in 15 minutes to get to baseball practice on time.

And today is WAY easier than yesterday...

Dogs...seriously...just have dogs. One day I'll take the time to really expound on the whole idea of motherhood and why you should seriously think about whether or not it's something you want to do...

Advice from the boy...

2009-03-14T07:30:00.001-04:00

This is a pretty clear cut piece of advice and I think everyone will agree with the boy on this one...

"When dribbling a basketball between your legs, be careful not to bounce the ball too hard..."

Bonus with this week's post - print off the picture and color it in!!!

nobody's better...

2009-03-07T21:51:00.005-05:00

nope

I can't imagine there are better people than the kids I get to work with every day.

Today was one of those days when you look at your life and the people in it and you're so happy you can't breathe.

Thanks for the day, kids.

Advice from the boy...

2009-03-07T07:44:00.000-05:00

This was overhead after his first day of middle school while talking to his little sister when she asked "...so, how is middle school?"

"Be careful when you're putting your lock on your locker. You really have to check to make sure it's not on there backwards. It takes a lot longer to work the combination"

I'm sure I'll have more information on farts next week...he is 12.

The WebMD Menance

2009-02-28T18:45:00.003-05:00

Last night the oldest came down with a fever. Aside from the fever, the only symptom being reported is headache. He's in relatively good spirits, has eaten during the day and enjoyed checking out the Fail blog with me.

After he was done mocking America, he decided to go to WebMD to type "headache" and "fever" and "chills" in as his symptoms.

I spent the next 45 minutes convincing him that "FLU" which was the number 2 hit on WebMD was his most likely disease. Assuring him that he was not suffering from Ebola, Marburg or any other hemmorrhagic fever was a fairly easy task. But then he started looking into the insect transmitted diseases like Lyme Disease, West Nile Virus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Malaria. I was able to help him realize that malaria and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever weren't real threats due to geographic issues...but he's got enough intelligence to know that Lyme Disease or West Nile could actually be geographic contenders and then he started asking questions about incubation periods.

I got him to understand that it is winter and there's very little chance he was bitten by an infected mosquito in the summer or early fall, but it just took 6 months to manifest itself into full-fledged disease. He asked about menningitis, shingles and mono. I shot the first down since he was just vaccinated against it last year and bc he was able to touch his chin to his chest easily. I then looked for blisters to reassure him and checked his lymph nodes to assure that mono was also unlikely. He just had the flu.

Then he started asking questions about Leukemia - also on the list. That's when I took the computer away.

Knowledge is power...but you really need to temper the information on the internet with reality.

He's sleeping now...I hope he feels better tomorrow.

Advice from the boy...

2009-02-28T07:30:00.000-05:00

Today's information is mostly relevant to middle school students who attend school in a building that is 50+ years old during winter.

"Don't fart on the radiator - it spreads..."

I've included a radiator diagram for those of you interested in the flow of the current.

Advice from the boy...

2009-02-21T07:29:00.003-05:00

Welcome to a new weekly feature on Good to Go! titled
Advice from the boy... in which I hope to impart some important life lessons to my loyal readers. These are all statements of advice, warning, and sage wisdom from the mouth of my 12 year old...

And we begin with this:

"Never spray Axe body spray to cover up a fart. It doesn't help"

A list

2009-02-04T21:12:00.003-05:00

I'm typing this up and then hitting the sack...snow days wear me out!

This is a list of places I really want to visit before I die, but know I won't. The won't part is because of cost and who I'm married to...unless I travel to some of the places alone or with my sister I'm out of luck for a couple of these.

But anyhoo...here's the list.

Napa Valley - or Sonoma Valley

Fiji - and drinking only from coconuts

Kenya - safari

China - mostly the great wall, of course

Norway - on a boat in a fjord.

Tuscany

Loch Ness

Gombe, Tanzania- hopefully Jane will be in camp

Greece

France - aside from Paris

Really?

2009-02-03T22:03:00.002-05:00

Another snow day, eh? I love the fact that the forecast was only for 1-3 inches and we ended up with like 8 inches of snow. Seriously...8 inches of snow. It took me two hours and twently minutes to get home this afternoon. My car's a beast though...I barely skidded at all. Of course, I don't think I ever exceeded 5 mph the entire journey so that probably helped.

I think I'll watch 4 episodes of Charmed tomorrow and wash the bathroom rugs.

I should probably grade the Transgenic Techniques papers too...at least I have time.

We'll finally know...

2009-01-30T15:34:00.002-05:00

The recent snow/ice storm kept me indoors for the past few days and so a lot of television was watched in addition to accomplishing a lot of household and school related tasks.

One preview for a new reality show on Animal Planet was shown pretty frequently. A new show depicting all the trials and tribulations of America's unsung heroes...Horse Jockeys. That's right...we always knew there was an untold story at the track. Well, on February 6th, those secrets will be revealed.

I think this is definitely a sign that there are too many reality shows on television.

It Snowed a Lot...

2009-01-29T17:46:00.001-05:00

The tristate was just hit with a crazy 48 hour storm. It was nuts. Snow, ice and then more snow. People are without power, the roads are still a mess, my district is officially out of snow days and it doesn't look like things are going to be clearing up anytime soon since the temperature is going to be hanging right around 20 degrees.

So, to counter these things, I decided to post a couple of pics from the recent trip to Key West.

Ah...I'm warmer just thinking about it...

For G-Race

2009-01-29T16:50:00.002-05:00

Happy swimming!

Update

2009-01-28T17:26:00.003-05:00

So - I made the oatmeal cherry cookies.

They suck.

Not enough moisture - they're not chewy at all, and well...that is the mark of a perfect oatmeal raisin cookie. I followed the recipe to the letter and everything. The oven temp was perfect, the butter creamed nicely, but the cookies are puffy, not flat and chewy. I think there was either a misprint on the recipe or their idea of good cookies and mine differ significantly.

I'll try again, of course. I've found a couple of other recipes online that included more butter and eggs and about the same amount of flour and oats, so I think they might work a little better. But for now, I have a tub of fluffy, crunchy, albeit well-flavored oatmeal cherry cookies I'll be bringing to school tomorrow.

I know they'll be eaten there because a very wise person once told me that the value of food increases exponentially at school.

PS. My cookies looked nothing like the ones pictured above. I would have included a pic of my disasters but I unfortunately left my cool new camera at school.

PPS. While I'm giving updates, this also just in from the little one: "Mommy, when I grow up I'm going to have a chihuahua, a little cat and maybe a hamster." Guess daddy doesn't get to visit...

New Favorite

2009-01-12T09:55:00.004-05:00

I've always had a thing for cherries. When they come in season, I buy a bunch, sit on my deck and eat them spitting the pips across the backyard. I pit a bunch and freeze them and use them in smoothies, pies, etc.

My favorite flavor of Skittle, Starburst, Nerd, Jolly Rancher, Chewy Jolly Rancher, Laffy Taffy, et. al is cherry.

I love cherries.

And now, these exist in such a convenient form - and they're good for you! Filled with antioxidants, fiber and low in calories. I can't wait to try them in this recipe. Assuming of course I don't eat the entire bag before I find the time to make the cookies. Expect them in G-burg, Chemguy and cross your fingers that I share.

Seriously?

2009-01-05T22:05:00.003-05:00

Seriously? Those are the band uniforms for the Texas Longhorn marching band?

And then they butchered the crap out of Led Zepplin's Khasmir on national TV.

They suck.

The Christmas Dinner

2009-01-04T09:24:00.010-05:00

I know...I'm a bit behind, but here are the pics I promised you all on Christmas night:

so many lights the camera couldn't keep focus...

the Christmas octopus...what celebration would be complete without?

Nativity scene in a fish tank...and none of them had scuba gear...
the chick in th blue shirt is wearing the reindeer antlers...she was pretty cool, though
The pre-dinner prayer. I mostly took the pic bc the clock was in full view and you can see how freaking early dinner in the retirement community is...
Tiny little lizard in my son's hands. This little guy hung around us all day on Christmas...

So, there you go...that was my Christmas. Did I mention the pics of the lighted houses were taken from the back of a borrowed golf cart? Yeah...good times in the trailer park/retirement community. We left for Key West the following morning at 3:00 am.

More on that in my next post. See most of you tomorrow!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T20:12:00.002-05:00

The camera is in the van ready for the trip to Key West tomorrow. We're leaving here at 2:45 am, so I'm not unpacking it right now...pics from tonight's rolicking Christmas dinner at 4:00 (not 4:30, that would have been WAY too late) will be posted Saturday evening. I'll also have pics of some pretty intensely lit trailers from the subdivision.

Here are a couple of things to look forward to:

the fish tank nativity set
the Christmas octopus
a forest of pine trees among the palm trees
too many blow up figures for one plot in a trailer park
an old drunk woman wearing reindeer antlers
oh yeah...it's been good times so far

For the record, it should be colder at Christmas. I enjoyed the crap out of getting a little sunburned on Christmas afternoon, but it didn't feel like Christmas at all today.

Hope you all enjoyed your surroundings as much as I did today!

Hacked into the interweb...

2008-12-24T21:47:00.007-05:00

So...I'm sitting in the living room at my mother-in-law's having successfully hacked into the wireless of the retirement community where she lives, so I thought I'd update again.

I've included some pics of our morning in Atlanta in case you're interested. We made really good time getting to the middle of Florida and the little one is pretty geeked at the prospect of getting to go swimming on Christmas morning. In all honesty, I'm kind of looking forward to that myself.

When we got to my mother-in-law's, the heat was on even though it was 85 degrees outside so my husband and I broke into a sweat bringing the bags into the house. And...the only beer in the house was Milwaukee's BEST. But, I'm in Florida and wearing a T-shirt on Christmas eve, so I won't complain.

Tomorrow we get to go to the community buffet, at 4:30pm of course. I'll take lots of pictures and should be able to post again tomorrow night. My goal is to find the most preposterous Christmas sweater and post it for you all.

See...now I'm building the anticipation for tomorrow night's post. See you then. Happy Christmas, everyone!

PS. The little one was able to convince grandma to turn on the air conditioning, so visions of sugar plums may dance in my head this evening instead of sweating to death after all.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-23T21:57:00.002-05:00

This year the family and I decided to travel during our hella long Winter Break. We traveled to Atlanta today on our way to my mother-in-law's. We narrowly avoided a heck of an ice storm from what I've heard from the people back home. Our first stay is at The Glenn Hotel. It's a boutique hotel and my husband went to Priceline, quoted $80 and got a heck of a deal on a pretty fantastic place. It's a pretty nice place, complete with complementary Maxim magazines that I promptly hid from my 12 year old. Both kids have already showered and donned the complementary robes as well. We went across the street for dinner to the CNN Center. There's a food court over there, and although the Sports Bar I went to 5 years ago had gone bankrupt, we were able to grab some dinner at a decent Mexican restaurant. Bizarrely, the waiter did not mention anything about my blue eyes this evening...

Tomorrow, we leave for my mother-in-law's. We'll stay there for a few days, and then we're off to Key West. While in Key West, we'll be staying at the Casa Marina, another Priceline find. We're taking the kids on a water adventure. I'd link to it, but the little one is reading over my shoulder while I type and we're surprising her and her brother with the trip. I'll link to it later...maybe even a full out post after the "water adventure." The water adventure consists of the following: breakfast, snorkeling along the US's only coral reef, water sports - parasailing, jet skiing, water trampolines and mountain climbing slides. Okay, she took off for a sec - here's the link to the water adventures. Then there's lunch and complementary beverages on the way back to the dock. I know, I'm pretty geeked about taking the kids.

Then, back to the mother-in-law's for a bit of laundry and regrouping before we head to the happiest place on earth. That's right, Disney. We'll be staying at Port Orleans - French Quarter. We'll be there till the new year, ringing in 2009 at Epcot Center. We'll head back home the next day, keep your fingers crossed for nice weather to get us home on time.

I've got scads to do when I return on the 1st - starting with putting some P4P raffle items together on the 2nd, and probably spending the entire day at school on the 3rd...but for now, I'm on vacation with the family and I'm going to do my best to make the most out of this time together.

Promise.