Well...APPARENTLY my blog has been getting a little boring lately!

Just yesterday we were discussing my blog and my dear, loving sister told me that my blog was a little boring lately...and I must say that I agree. I haven't quite felt up to my random self these days. As I was quietly pondering what I could do to spice things up a little, it dawned on me! I have just the thing!! So without further adieu, I give you...





What Erica and Damon do with my camera when I'm not around!!! :)













These last two are kinda dark, but I just thought they looked neat.

Silly Me

I've been running around like a fool, singing the Hallelujah Chorus and all, and I forgot to mention that I'm on Spring Break--well, it's Mardi Gras break for everyone else, but I teach at a BAPTIST school, so they give us the rest of the week off and call it Spring Break. Hey, you don't see ME complaining!! :) I have big plans to do a WHOLE LOT of 'nuthin' and I can't wait to get started...actually, as yesterday was pretty much pointless, I guess I already have!! :) Bring on the slovenliness! Look at that, it's my break and I'm still using big words! ha!

Don't know if it's true, but, if it is, it makes for a good story!

As they were driving to yet another dinner, Albert Einstein mentioned to his chauffeur (who resembled him) that he was very tired of speechmaking. The chauffeur said that he had heard that speech so many times, he could give it himself...so Einstein let him do it! At the dinner, Einstein wore the chauffeur's cap and jacket and sat in the back of the room. The chauffeur gave a nice rendition of Einstein's speech. After the speech, a pompous professor asked a question about antimatter formation. Without missing a beat, the chauffeur said, "Sir, the answer to that is so simple that I will let my chauffeur answer it!"

Stress Relief

I love having this little fella around! He's great to hug and kiss on when the day has been rough! And things have been rough lately. Nothing big...I just feel like I'm being nibbled to death by goldfish. Erica and I met for dinner last night and I had a good ole' 'therapy session' thanks to Grayson! ;) He was 2 months old on the 20th and he's a lot of fun. He's starting to watch things and really respond. He's sleeping in this picture, but I'd like to think he's dreaming of his 'Aunt Beff' ;)! Erica keeps reminding me that I'm gonna be leaving this summer (for camp) during a really fun time--but I tell her that if she'd like to pay me around $300/week...I'd be happy to stick around! Ah, the joys of private school teaching...all the stress for even LESS money! :) I know, I chose it! No need to remind me. But a summer job is a definite boost to the income.

Anyway, today was a fun break from the stress! ha! That's kinda funny considering that another teacher and I took the 9th graders on a field trip to New Orleans, but it was a lot of fun to just 'play' with the kids. I've missed that. They drive me crazy on a regular basis, but they're a fun group of kids. We toured the Cabildo and the St. Louis Cathedral...I'll post some pics tomorrow. I'm afraid that the trip has pretty much wiped me out!

Distracted

I don't know how, but every once in a while I manage to talk myself into believing that I'll actually get more work done if I go down to CC's to work. Of course once I'm here--laptop plugged in, coffee prepared, earbuds in--I realize that I'm completely delusional! I really just come to 'look studious' and people-watch! If I were really intent on getting down to work, I wouldn't bother connecting to the internet--but I spent 10 minutes at home before I left trying to locate a LAN cord to bring with me (my wireless doesn't work at CC's for whatever reason!) Yeah, I obviously had BIG plans to work! ha!! I wish coffeeshops would have been big when I were in college...I SO would have been one of those ppl who commandeer a table and set-up house! :D Speaking of, these college kids look so young...when did I get so old?! How did this happen? I realized the other day that the kids I taught as highschool freshmen would be seniors in college right now! That blows my mind! Where has the time gone? And what have I been doing with it?! That question haunts me often these days. Ok, this post is quickly becoming introspective so I'll leave you with that thought for now. (And NO old jokes Andi!!)

Woo-hoo...a DATE on Valentine's Day!!

I had a great date for Valentine's Day! We left early so that we wouldn't have to wait and we picked a little, out-of-the-way sushi place that my friend Brian had recommended. Neither of us had ever been but we were definitely glad that we went. The sushi was great and the company was even better! After dinner we went to Barnes & Noble to browse the books and have some coffee before my date had to get home...to her husband! hahaha! I had a lovely time with Joni--my best friend since fourth grade. According to Joni, we've been friends since third grade and best friends since fourth. We had a nice visit, no crowds, and some great sushi...all in all, a lovely evening! Thanks for being such a swell Valentine's Day date Joni!

And the blind shall see...

Their eyes are open!!

Saturday Dose of Randomness

It's been a while, so here's a little randomness for your reading pleasure...and my blogging delight! :)

I am turning into my father! I received a movie last night (thank you Netflix!) and as I write, it's playing for the third time! I remember when I was a kid, Daddy would play the same movie over and over again on Saturday afternoons...it wasn't every Saturday. I guess maybe when he was stuck in the house because it was raining or something, but it's a definite memory. It was usually some movie that he liked but had seen too many times to count, so it would just play continually and he'd stop from time to time, watch some scene, and then go back to whatever he was doing. The movie I remember him doing this with best was Dune. I still don't know if I completely understand that movie, but I've seen it (or parts of it) more times than I can count! I thought Kyle MacLachlan was SO cute! Anyway, it's something I think of every time I do the same thing...

Speaking of Dad, I read a story to my 7th graders yesterday. It was this paper that I'd written in an Advanced Composition class in college. The assignment was to write about some event or experience that taught a greater truth or 'bigger picture' lesson. I wrote about the day my dad died and how that taught me about the transient nature of life. I thought about posting the paper on my blog last year, but it's kinda long and I rather morose. Anyway, I made the mistake of mentioning the paper when we were talking about expressive writing in my 7th grade English class a few months ago and several of the girls have been hounding me to read it ever since! I'm not sure WHY they were so interested, and I told them several times that it's somewhat depressing, but they wanted to hear it. We finished a Lit unit earlier this week and as I hate starting a new unit on Friday, I took the time and read the story. It had been a while since I'd read it and it really brought that 'big picture' lesson home to me all over again...and it was a little embarrassing that it was happening in front of my 7th grade Literature class! My friend Jen wrote about the way God's been speaking to her in themes and the same has been true with me as well. It was just neat that God would use something that I had written to remind me of a lesson that He is re-teaching me now! Pretty cool...

Speaking of yesterday, after listening to my junior girls talk about their mothers...I have decided NOT to have children!! :) They were saying all of the typical, "my mother drives me nuts" things and OF COURSE their mothers are the worlds worst. (Sorry girls, not trying to downplay your angst. It's just that it's a song sung by adolescent girls the world over!) I used to really want to have children. I thought that was THE thing to do when you grew up. You got married and had kids. I've been doing other things for so long that I'm really beginning to re-think those childhood dreams a bit. I'm not saying that I don't want to get married or have kids anymore. I'm just realizing that there are other options and that I can't allow myself to think that marriage and kids is the be-all, end-all! I guess I've just decided to accept the role as the fun, eccentric aunt...which means I need to start doing cooler stuff! Otherwise I'll be the old-maid-English-teacher aunt! That means I need to start traveling more and collecting weird things with which to fill my home because weird--oh excuse me eccentric--aunts need to have neat, weird things in their homes! Speaking of home...

I hate my apartment...more specifically my kitchen...even MORE specifically the fire alarm that is hardwired into the ceiling in my kitchen! I cannot bake anything without this thing going off and it drives me crazy! I have to do this thing where i bump the air conditioner/heater on so that the intake vent will suck up the hot air (it's right across from the oven) any time I need to open the oven...it does not matter if the oven door is open for two seconds, or 15...that darn alarm goes off! And it's not a weak, 'hey, there might be a fire' kind of alarm. It's this obnoxious "OMG, you're burning down the whole freakin' complex!" kind of alarm! I've never heard my neighbor's alarms so either, 1. they don't bake, 2. we have well-insulated walls, 3. I am doing something terribly wrong!. There is never smoke (because I do know HOW to cook!) so I can only guess that it's detecting the hot air. Ugh! So aggravating!! AND the darn thing is wired into the building, so no batteries (which I guess is good from a 'it might save my life' standpoint, but frustrating otherwise.) So baking in the apartment is a LITTLE frustrating which is sad because I enjoy baking...

So I'm tired of all my default dishes and, while 'picking up a few things' in Albertsons the other day, I decided to try something a little different. I saw those little individual-sized pre-made pizza crusts and so I thought that would be fun! I began to think otherwise after I went through the check out! I think I could have bought two or three regular-sized pizzas with what it cost to buy the stuff to make my own! But it was fun! I make a mean ricotta and Roma tomato pizza! :) ...In a very frustrating kitchen!

Alright, I've run out of ways to connect my random stories. The movie I'm watching for the third time today is Must Love Dogs with Diane Lane and John Cusack. The movie I just sent back to Netflix was Under The Tuscan Sun with Diane Lane and lots of cute Italian men. ;) Apparently, there is a "divorced woman rediscovering life and love" theme going in my movie-watching these days. Not sure why as I'm not a divorced woman...but maybe I need to rediscover life and love? That could be it. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that I have had a long-time crush on John Cusack. Love him! Since Better Off Dead...! I realize that he's playing a part in all of these movies but there is something about his personality that creeps into his roles and I think it's cute! But someone once told me that you're not supposed to call guys cute...so it's attractive?! Anyway...

Alright, I think that's enough randomness for today. I'm sure I'll be back with more some time soon!

A Valentine's Sentiment from The Office

I think The Office is one of those "love it or hate it" kinds of shows, but I love it! While I am intrigued by the everyday going-ons of the Dunder-Mifflin group, my favorite part is the story of Pam and Jim. Pam, the receptionist, is engaged to Roy--the big lug in the picture. Roy is very much the stereo-typical insensitive boyfriend type. Jim (the guy leaning against the wall) has a huge crush on Pam and the two would make SUCH a cute couple...if only Pam would realize it! ...if only Jim could work up the courage to say it!! ...if only Pam would see that Jim values her WAY more than her putzy boyfriend does!! ...if only I'd get a life!!! :) It's a funny, off-beat show and Jim is definitely my favorite part...and that whole Jim/Pam storyline is great too! ;) It plays on Thursdays at 8:30pm on NBC. If you are a fan, I'd very much like to recommend the Dunder-Mifflin newsletter--highly entertaining junk mail! Just thought I'd share!

Satan dwells here

Well, not here as on this page...and not in my heart either! :) But I am beginning to believe that that Lucifer himself is residing in my computer! I've had this sucker only 13 months now, and it's been acting all sorts of crazy lately! Seriously, I think it's possessed!! Last month it just decided to reject my wireless card (rookie mistake: I didn't think I'd need to spring for wireless access...who really needs wireless?! Little did I know that only two months later I would be screaming, "ME!! I need wireless!!") so I'm forced to sit on the floor two feet away from the stinkin' DSL modem so that I can plug in directly! (and no, I'm NOT gonna go buy a longer cord--I refuse!! I'll just sit on the floor and whine about it!)

And then this afternoon it just decided that it didn't want to be on the internet! After spending twenty minutes on the phone with my friendly Indian customer service agent, I decided that it was not my service that was screwed up, but my sweet lil' computer!!! ugh! After trying everything I could think of (I'm not super computer savvy, so it wasn't that much!) I gave up and decided to work on some of the homework that I've been dragging back and forth for days. After my pouting had run it's course, I decided to try "one last thing" and low-and-behold, it worked! So here I am, blogging away like a fool...I've got to get this in before the NEXT thing goes wrong!! So...I don't suppose any of you faithful reader just happens to be a computer genius who'd like to donate his or her time to clean up this lovely little mess of a computer?! yeah, I didn't think so! ha! Oh well, I guess it's making me a stronger person!

Remembering, "Who's on first?"

My Aunt sent me this and as I have been lax in posting this week, I thought I'd leave this as a somewhat humorous peace offering. I think it's funny! :)

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on...If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, "Who's on First?" might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START".............