All over the place...

I am really a boring blogger lately. Nonexistent is probably a better term. I don't know why my brain is lifeless and blank, but I'm guessing it has a little to do with how much I'm NOT at home doing fun things, like watching HGTV or picking up a new pasta recipe from my friend, Giada.

I'll skip the teaching stuff from last week. Over this past weekend, Alan and I painted and really-and-truly-this-time organized the garage. Prior to painting, our garage had perhaps the two ugliest colors of green you could ever choose for garage walls. Mint green on the lower half, pukey pea green on the top. And honestly it looks like the garage was one of those afterthought additions to the house - one that is designed and constructed by an amateur at best. So we spent a whopping $5 on a gallon of wrongly-mixed paint or whatever it's problem was, and painted the garage an off-white. It took Bailey about a day and a half to notice the change.

Speaking of Bailey, we're headed to Amarillo this weekend for her volleyball team's first club tournament of the season, and we're pumped! We love the tournaments. Unfortunately, I just found out tonight that my little sister Ashly will be in town from Virginia this same weekend, so we're going to miss seeing her. What bad timing.

This is random, but if you need a little pick-me-up, I suggest watching last week's episode of Rob & Big and their adventures in training Minnie Horse.

Do work!

It always feels good to get a lot accomplished. Thanks to Dr. King for the long holiday weekend, Alan and I reorganized the garage, got laundry done, painted the interior of the guest house, and did the "deed." You know, grocery shopping. And I got a cazillion papers graded. I think that says a lot for us, or mostly me, considering HGTV was tempting me with a marathon of House Hunters International today.

Now I'm pooped and needing a good night's sleep before starting the week tomorrow. It's gonna be another Nyquil night.

I have to blog 7 times this weekend to make up

I should have a dozen funny or interesting stories from teaching this week. I don't. I should have SOMETHING to talk about. I just don't. My brain is over-saturated to the point where I can't pull anything of interest to the forefront. Everything's foggy and I'm tired. But I feel good about the week (now that it's over) and hope I improve a little each day.

What I really don't like about this whole working thing is having to wonder who's going to pick up Bailey everyday, when am I going to get to the store to get bread and detergent, what can I throw together for dinner that isn't from a box, when in God's name will I get these papers graded, and then every day's highlight: when can I get in my pajamas, wrap up in my blanket on the couch and watch House Hunters or Rob & Big?! I LIKE BEING HOME. But I kinda like those little kids at school, too. I wouldn't want to walk away from this until I see if I can become much better at it.

Still...we just added some more channels to our cable today and boy, does that make home more enticing. :-)

If you love Jesus, CALL FIRST!

There are a couple of very attractive, young, hispanic Jehovah witness ladies that are bound and determined to catch me at home at a convenient time someday to tell me all about The Lost Kingdom. But they don't have a good grasp of the "convenient" part, since they boldly show up unannounced like every other religious group of visitors tend to do. Twice I had wet hair from a shower, another day I was on my way out, and today I was braless and in pajama bottoms. So I either don't open the door, or I do and tell them it's not a good time. Strange how churchy visitors feel the message they're bringing gives them the right to show up at a stranger's house unannounced. Anyway, I really do want to talk to these ladies, and not because I need to hear about The Lost Kingdom. It's likely that I'll have students in my class someday that practice those beliefs, and I could use some info on how to be a little more sensitive to it.

Obviously, I know they're never going to call first. But I'm not likely to be out of my pajamas at 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays either.

My learning curve feels like Mt. Everest right now.

Feeling a little overwhelmed after my first week of school. And I did what every teacher says not to do - I brought work home for the weekend. Papers to grade, lessons to read, logs to fill out. Funny thing about teaching is that you have similar tasks that people in other industries have, such as paperwork, data organization, phone calls, plans to prepare, etc. The difference is, you don't get time during your workday for these tasks. You're sorta busy with 18 little humans that demand almost every minute of your day. I'm really trying to manage my time, but I just don't have the experience yet. Still...it's such a cool job!

Soon

A week and I haven't posted? This whole working thing is really cutting into my priorities. I'll have to work on getting back to what's important. :-)

Um...

Look, this is just the way nature produces the butternut squash. You have a dirty mind. Or have you recently watched Superbad, too? If you have, then you're excused from your immoral thoughts because there's no way you could have just watched that movie and not thought of such things. Anyway....the butternut squash. The vegetable that took me half an hour to peel, slice open, clean out, and cut up. That's a LOT of time in the kitchen cutting up one vegetable, and I'm not exaggerating. And get this - it cost $8. Yes, it was a four pound squash and yes, it turned out to be heaven in a gourd, but still...$8 for a single vegetable?

I can only hope that some frozen food manufacturer out there has done all the work for me and has mass produced this veggie all chopped up in a nice convenient bag. Because that creamy mashed butternut squash we had with dinner tonight? Wow. It was that good. But not good enough that I'll buy another one of those phallical looking vegetables and go through that again. Oh, I forgot the best part. A very elderly lady behind me in the checkout line took one look at my gourd and said, "Well, it looks like you're going to have some fun with that squash."

I don't make this stuff up.

The little things

You'd think I was unwrapping a present each December when I get these mugs down from the top shelf of the cabinet. I forget about them for most of the year, when they get pushed in the back by all the non-seasonal, non-holidayish, or company logo mugs. But I'm so excited when I get to use them again, and unless they're both dirty at the same time, they're the only mugs I drink my coffee from all Christmas season. We got them one Christmas a few years ago from DeeBee, and they're like the gift that keeps on giving! Unfortunately...it's time they get pushed back again.

Some more Okies we love

Is it any wonder we love hanging out with the Richardson's?





Joe and Heather (and Dillon!) came through town while visiting family and helped us ring in the New Year's. We watched "Superbad" New Year's Eve, which I have to say is the perfect movie to watch with people you know really well. 'Cause you're going to hear more in two hours about a guy's tools and how he wants to use them, share them, etc. than you might have thought possible. Good times. :-)

We spent two days eating, drinking, and being dorks with two people who keep us young. I hope they never grow up.