Working after hours found to be potentially hazardous to one's health and well-being

No, there's no new study out. This one comes from personal experience! First, a little background. I'm sick--ugh! I've had this weird cold/allergy thing going for a couple of weeks now (nothing new--seems like everyone is suffering with seasonal allergies these days) but it got worse this weekend. Fever, general ickiness, etc. I would have called in sick today and spent the day trying to rest, but I didn't have a recent sub list at home and I didn't have the energy to come up with the plans for the sub. So I drug myself out of bed and on down to school...such a lovely day! bleh! Early on I decided not to try and repeat today's wonderful experience.

A sick day. ahhhh, I never take sick days. Those of you who are teachers know why teachers hate taking sick days but for those of you who don't share in our lovely profession, I'll explain. One sick day = twice as much work. First, you have to prepare lessons that the kids can do independently...while you're feeling awful. And then after that blessed yet brief respite--when you're still weak and lacking in patience--you get to come back. Showered with multitudes of questions along with alot of whining about how awful the sub was, you return to your desk--now covered with all of the busy work you created to keep them busy before you left! And even if the busy work is legitimate, it still takes the rest of the quarter to wade through it all. Boo, sick days...but I digress.

So I decided that tomorrow was definitely a sick day. Amazingly enough, I found a sub who was excited to sub! She's a soon-to-graduate education major who just interviewed with our principal that morning at UL's teacher job fair. She seemed friendly and competent which made me feel better about leaving (hopefully the whining won't be too bad when I come back...and they all knew why I would be missing if I weren't there tomorrow. I made it abundantly clear that I was NOT feeling well and would not be putting up with their crap! They were actually somewhat subdued.) So, now that the sub was in place, I had to write up my lesson plans. A test for Church History (gee, I hope it make sense! I was a little loopy when I was working!), a unit review for English, and a few other assignments that of course took twice as long as they normally would because I couldn't think straight! I'd hoped to have finished up by around 6pm...but nearly two hours and a near death experience with our copier later (That copier was about to meet his maker!!), I was done.

Ok, this is where life gets interesting. Our building is a fair walk away from the parking lot--maybe 25 or 30 yards. It was dark and my car was the only one in the (rather poorly lit) parking lot. I was about 1/4 of the way to my car when I see a man running full-steam across the parking lot...and he was heading in MY direction! Several thoughts ran through my mind when the image finally registered. Is this a joke? Is he trying to freak me out? What is he gonna do when he gets over here? Well, about the time that last thought was registering another thought quickly came--I don't want to know!!! So I ran back to the building, fought with the dag-gum stiff lock, and finally got inside the door. When I looked back from behind the protection of that lovely locked door, he'd made it up to the sidewalk about 10 yards away from the building, but he had slowed to a kinda strut before he turned off and started walking toward one of the other buildings. I didn't stay at the door to watch him!

I went back to my classroom to calm down and after having the dumb thought that I'd just wait a few minutes for him to leave, I had the much brighter idea that I should call the sheriff's office and ask them to escort me to my car! So that's what I did. And here I am now, a couple of hours later, heartily promising to NEVER stay at school after dark again!! Watch it folks! Staying late at work could potentially be hazardous to your health!

me = over Kelly Clarkson

Now, don't get me wrong. I like Kelly Clarkson just fine. I guess it's that whole journey from obscurity to the first American Idol bit that has endeared her to many of her fans, but she seems like a nice, normal person. And I own this CD--it's a great angry CD. My problem is with those blessed radio stations that seem to think that the world's not right if there's not a Kelly Clarkson song playing somewhere at any given moment! Seriously, I flip through stations a lot and I probably heard a Kelly Clarkson song at least four times in my 45 minute commute! With the threat... er, promise of more to come in a teaser as I was driving into the parking lot of my apartment! Seriously, I don't get radio programming these days...


And on a separate but related note, I must say that I really like the Garden State Soundtrack. It's mellow and cool...just like me! ha!! ok, just kidding, but I do like it. I'm not knowledgeable enough about current music trends and styles to discuss it with any intelligence here, but listening to it makes me calm and happy...so it works for me!! The Shins have two songs on it and I believe they're sort of 'trendy indie' at the moment. And I do love Such Great Heights by Iron and Wine. You may know it best as the song on the kaleidoscope m&m's commercial. All-in-all, a great CD.

And those are my picks and pans of the week! haha!!

Now that I know how to post videos! :)

So how much IS $9,000,000,000,000?

Can you even fathom this?! Congress sets new Federal Debt limit: $9 trillion dollars. And if you're wondering how much the current Federal Debt is, here is the US National Debt Clock. All I gotta say is WOW!

My new most favorite commercial(s)

Please tell me you've seen Volkswagen's hilarious new ''Un-Pimp My Ride'' commercials. (If not, you can watch the ads here, here, and here. The one shown above is my favorite!) I think they're freakin' hilarious! If you've zoomed past them on your TiVo, you're missing out!! I wish I knew how to post the actual video on my blog...Aunt Debbie, any help?! :)

update: Thanks Aunt Debbie...I guess it helps to scroll down the page, huh?! ha! I appreciate the help!!

Strange Associations

It's funny how we unconsciously carry some of our childish understandings well into adulthood. I think it was about 3rd or 4th grade when my PE class had a health lesson on drugs and that was probably the first time I heard of steroids. I guess that maybe Nurse Lawson was telling us about how steroids made muscles get bigger and I assumed that a steroid was something that looked kinda like a muscle. Since then, for some strange reason, when I hear the word steroids, I get a mental image of something that looks kinda like cracklins or pieces of beef jerky. I'm sure I'd taken medicine by that point and I don't associate other drugs in pill form with any type of food but even now, when I hear the word steroid, I picture cracklins or beef jerky! Strange, I know...

Here is another one: For a long time I thought that if you blew your nose and flushed it down the toilet, it would mess up the plumbing. I know where I got this one. When we lived in Crowley, we lived out of town so we had a septic tank. I remembered dad had to 'dig out' the septic tank a few times--certainly not one of his favorite activities--so after one of those times, he gave us firm instructions to be careful about how much we flush down the toilet. He gave the example that, if you blow your nose, throw the tissue in the trash can instead of flushing it. I realize that it was because he didn't want extra stuff in the tank but at the time I made a connection between snot and plumbing problems. It wasn't until college that I put two-and-two together...I didn't go around telling people that snot clogged the pipes, but I realized that that I subconsciously held that belief (more specifically, that the bacteria in the plumbing would maybe feed on the snot and somehow make some kind of mess that would clog the pipes--that was actually the whole belief that I held on the subject!) Yeah, I guess I had a bit of an imagination! ;) Did anyone else do this?

My Deep and Ponderous Thoughts on...Toddler Toiletries

Perhaps it's been all of the daytime TV I've been watching this week, but my interest was recently piqued by the number of commercials featuring products for children that were just not around when I was a kid. The most intriguing have been the 'toddler toiletries' lines that seem to be popping out all over the place! (It's amazing how all these companies have their great ideas all at the same time!) Johnson & Johnson has Johnson's Buddies and Kimberly-Clarke has Huggies Clean Team.

In a recent release (I'm guessing more for stock holders because it was very much about the bottom line, if you know what I mean), ole Kimberly-Clarke had this to say:

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) announces it is extending its successful baby toiletries into the underserved toddler market with the launch of Huggies Cleanteam bath and body products. The new product line, which features trademarked, letter-shaped characters called Alphamals, helps moms teach toddlers how to keep clean, while having fun at bath time, meal time, potty time, or on-the-go.

"With the launch of Huggies Cleanteam toiletries, we believe we will further drive category growth with exciting, innovative solutions that help moms teach their kids the importance of being clean, while having fun in the process."

You can read the rest of the article here.

The article for Johnson's Buddies is more of a press-release introducing the mass market to the wonders of their new product line. They use statistics to prove the necessity of this product line: "Bath time for toddlers is often thought of as a fun time for parents and kids alike, but in a new national survey, a surprising 54% of toddler parents do not view bath time as 'quality bonding time with my child' and nearly half cite styling a child's hair as most often 'difficult.'"

Johnson & Johnson had this to say: "Our customers have told us that JOHNSON'S BUDDIES products feel a real need for them... Our research shows, for example, that when babies become toddlers, parents put away baby shampoos and use shampoos that are formulated for adults, which can be inappropriate for young children. JOHNSON'S BUDDIES products give toddlers a line of bath and grooming products that are just right for them--and that's just right for parents."

Now I don't have kids, so maybe the claims of both companies are valid. Maybe kids need to learn how to have fun while keeping clean and that bath time has been lacking in those opportunities for parent/child bonding...but I have a few questions/concerns. And as this is MY blog, I guess I can voice my thoughts! :) So here we go:

1. I never realized that 'bath time' is a rough time! I thought little kids liked baths? I realize that some are scared to put their heads in the water (and my mom had a pretty good way of solving THAT little problem, right Erica?!) but I've done my fair share of babysitting and I have three nieces and two nephews...and bath time has always been a joyous time! The anguish typically came when it was time for the bath to end! Throw in some old plastic Mardi Gras cups and a little Mr. Bubble and we're in for hours of bathing fun!

2. Didn't they already have 'no tear' shampoos and 'no more tangle' spray? I know mom bought plenty of that stuff when I was growing up (I had rather long hair and I do remember a tangle or two in my childhood). Why is it now necessary to have foaming hand soap and 'bath mitts' (and FYI, the kid in the commercial with the bath mitt is a LITTLE cheeky for me--I'm all for gaining independence, but HE is a little mouthy!) When I was growing up, we used Dial soap--the GOLD kind--and a regular ole' washcloth...and we LIKED it!!

Now I may be a little paranoid about current marketing techniques, but doesn't this all seem like a grand scheme to eke even MORE money out of those well-meaning parents who think that good parenting means giving their child everything that these companies say they need to have to be happy and healthy?! Feel free to leave your own thoughts on the subject! I'm curious as to what others think of these amazing new products. ;)

Awwwwhhhhhh, Cher les petit Chiens!

Yeah, I'm not sure why I'm trying to speak French...but there are lots of free online translation pages if you're ever interested! They have come in handy from time to time!! :) Anyway, I thought I'd post a couple of cute pics of the puppies.


This is Buster! He belongs to our friend Brian. He's a feisty little sucker, alright!


This is Erica trying to convince Damon of how fun it would be to have a new puppy! She's holding Rosie, the sweetest one of the bunch. Rosie is probably going to Glenn's Aunt Ruth, so I guess Erica missed her chance!

Alright,I have several more pictures, but I know that not everyone is gonna want to see them, so I started a flickr page. You can get to it by clicking on the underlined words or by scrolling down the sidebar until you see that block that has all the little pictures in it. Click on that and there are bunches of pictures of the little cuties!!