You can't contain the power!

Remember when I had the premonition that something costly would go wrong because we got a bonus and tax refund? First was the car wreck, next the transformer blew out on the A/C, and yesterday the refrigerator died. As we were contemplating buying a new fridge, Alan asked me to please not make any more premonitions. He's just jealous of my powers.

Today - a much needed lift

I'm tired. I'm ready for this assignment to be over. I'm ready for my own class. I'm tired of there not being enough hours in the day to get everything done and tired of the job spilling over into my time at home. I'm tired of copiers getting jammed, meaning the activity you developed, planned and prepared to teach that morning will not get done. I'm tired of so many things right now.

But I'll never tire from hearing, "Oooohhh, Mrs. Schaeffer - I GET IT now!" Or having a habitually off-task kid say, "Look how much I'm getting done today, Mrs. Schaeffer!" Or the girl who walks in every single morning with a scowl on her face (most likely from her home life) finally reply back to me with "Good Morning." And then there's the special needs girl who went from being noticeably uncomfortable around me to asking me if I'd walk next to her to P.E.

Then I get home and see on Bailey's myspace that she loves her mom and I'm her hero. ME, someone's hero.

ALL of that happened today, IN ONE DAY. It couldn't have been better timed.

Amateur

I need to work on posting pictures that aren't Ginormous when someone clicks on them. I'll see what I can do...

The back porch is where we'll be spending a lot of our time in the evenings until the mosquitos get here and/or it gets too hot to be comfortable.

An Overdose of Pictures

Because I LOVE SPRING and maybe also I was getting carried away with my camera. I like the bird hidden in the first picture. Could he be any fatter?

Quick, get a picture before they die.

I don't have a good history with plants. The ones I planted last weekend, which include these in the guest house windowbox, are still alive after 5 days. Maybe there's hope for me yet. We've had some rain this week, which provides a good protective barrier between the plants and my lack of know-how.

Happy Birthday Alan!

Fredericksburg

This is what we like about Fredericksburg - quaint outdoor places to eat and peoplewatch. And the mark of any good vacation is how often you get to eat.
We ate a lot.

We did manage to do other things though, like visit the Becker Vineyards Winery outside of town.

Had to stop and get a picture of Alan's mighty and impressive guns.

Our hotel in Kerrville was really nice. And oh, there was this one added amenity:

Only in Texas.

When it rains, go to the mall

I'd like to see a little less of this tomorrow:

Three straight days of rain set me back a bit on my Spring projects. Still, I've managed to stay pretty busy around here, not to mention sneaking in some shopping with Bailey. Don't you love it when you're standing at the register having your items rung up, and you've done the calculation in your head so you know how much it should be, and then the salesclerk tells you the amount and you're thinking they've made a big mistake (in your favor). I acted all cool as if I knew that shirt for $16 was going to ring up $3.90. It was already a bargain, but whoa! So I took my bag and got out of there as quickly as possible, thinking I had really gotten away with something.

I swear to this day that the salesclerk at Wet Seal a couple years ago who sold me the $80 long jacket (suede, mind you) for $5 was absolutely WRONG about how the special sale was supposed to work. I felt like I was stealing something by letting her do it, but in my defense I questioned her no less than three times. That same day Alan went back and got me a $40 corduroy jacket for another $5.

By the way, if you're looking for the perfect length cami to wear under shirts, Gadzooks has them for $3.99.

A busy week, but still a much needed vacation

Instead of being on my way to D.C. for Spring Break, I'm going to be spring cleaning and working in the yard. Sounds like a fair trade to me. Uh-huh.

So I started yesterday with pruning rose bushes and unruly shrubs, pulling weeds, and cleaning off the back porch that gets covered in dirt everytime we get one of those West Texas dust storms. I also attempted to mow the yard, but the mower wouldn't restart about mid-way through, so I now have a half-mown yard. (If you're wondering why in the world I was doing the mowing instead of Alan, it's only because he's sick.) And since it's been raining since last night, I'm stuck inside for today. But tomorrow I'm getting back out there, laying down some Preen (thanks to Elizabeth's suggestion), and pulling more weeds in the front.

Alan's dad is supposed to be coming this week, and we might take him down to Fredericksburg for some German food and beer. I'm also planning on getting estimates for the body work on the car and hopefully getting it in the shop. I wonder if the insurance company would hook me up with an Escalade for my rental?

I was just about to finish this post when it started thundering, really raining hard and then hailing. So of course I had to make it a Kodak moment instead of doing the smart thing and shutting the computer down:

Scapegoat

Update on accident. Did you know that it's much wiser to plow head-on into a vehicle that has pulled right out in front of you, rather than avoid the collision? I'm apparently the only idiot who thought crashing straight into someone at 45 mph and risking serious bodily injury, not to mention certain total destruction of my car, was NOT the thing to do. I can't believe I have a degree. And teach school.

My poor baby

Less than a week ago I made a prediction. We knew our tax refund and yearly bonus were going to be hitting the ole' checking account at any day, and both at around the same time. I said to Alan, "Mark my words - as soon as we get the money something BIG (i.e., expensive) will come up." And by come up I don't mean we will merrily go shopping for something fun and exciting, especially since both deposits are already earmarked for student loans, extra mortgage payments, etc. Au contraire. By come up, I mean this:

This one went in the police report as a hit and run. I bet within 15 minutes of the accident I was remembering my prediction. I hate to sound so pessimistic, but I just call 'em like I see 'em. All of this took place about an hour before we were supposed to be leaving town for Bailey's volleyball tournament in Lubbock.

However...if forced to find the positive, it's this: Finally a fender bender that wasn't my fault!