More Touch-Ups

ProBowl on the TV--NFC totally dominating :(

As if I haven't done enough with this house, I did some more touch-ups this weekend. It's amazing that you can live with something that needs to be fixed for years, and then fix it for the people who are going to move in after you. It doesn't make much sense, but I think that most people are the same way.

When we moved in (probably the first week) we put in the microwave. Since it didn't fit under the cabinets, we shortened them. Then we didn't have doors on those cabinets. We half-heartedly looked for someone to make some, but never followed through on it. So last weekend Hubby put in wood dividers on the sides so you can't see into the adjacent cabinets. This weekend I painted the interior of the cabinet to match the other doors. Now it is a "display area" for some of my Fiesta bowls.

Last weekend we also had carpet put down in all three bedrooms. We ordered a window to replace one (that was broken even when we bought the house). The wrong window came in and we're waiting for the right one. Then I think we'll be ready for the realtor.

So much work!!! And of course on top of it all I'm teaching 4th grade full-time. Last week I had to grade 76 narrative essays. I guess if I don't want to grade it, then I shouldn't assign it. I'm not complaining. I absolutely love my job! I probably won't write about work much because I'm not going to talk about my students. If I'm not posting as much as I used to, it's just because there's so much going on. Be patient!

How to Get Your Kids to Talk

Leave me alone!

Go away!

I'm busy!

It seems like whenever I want to talk to the kids, they don't want to. How can you get them to open up? Here are some phrases that work like magic to get their tongues wagging:
     "I'm on the phone."
     "What a great song! I haven't heard this on the radio in ages."
     "This is the worst headache I've ever had."

New Leadership

Alabama State Flag

Our new governor was sworn in on Monday. Here is what he had to say. Really?!? I thought he was elected to be governor of the state, not pastor of the state. Why was this even brought up in a political speech?

Promotion?

Smarty announced that next week at work she gets to be the cow. She's not sure about being the cow. "Some kids are afraid of the cow. Some of them throw their food at the cow."

Ahh... job stress.

A Return to Normalcy

Yippee!

Tomorrow we finally get to go back to school! Everyone is ready. This forced vacation was pretty stressful on everyone. Unlike our long, lazy summer vacation, this past week was gloomy and depressing. In the summer we know we're supposed to be out and enjoying ourselves. When you get a week off for snow, you just feel like you're missing something important and are anxious to get caught up.

On top of it all we had a holiday today. I think that MLK Day (or REL Day here in Alabama) falls at an awkward time even without figuring in the weather. You have a good long Christmas break and are ready to get back to work and then Bam...you get a short work week because of MLK Day. Then comes February, which you would think would fly by, with its shortage of days, but it lasts twice as long as any other month with its cold, overcast weather. I think that February is the "Month" of more stuff than any other month just because people want to make it less depressing and slow. (February is Heart Health Month, Dental Awareness Month, African-American Month, and I think it might even be Postal Workers Month--I know all this because I used to teach kindergarten and for some reason these were themes we had to touch on each February along with Valentine's Day and President's Day.)

Enough about February. For now I am just ecstatic that we are returning to a regular schedule tomorrow.

A Change in Mood

Today was not turning out well. Out for the fourth day, and got the call there's no school tomorrow (except for teachers). Then I got a call from the flooring people who are supposed to be putting in our new carpet. They couldn't come after 3pm or on Saturdays to measure or install. That about sums up the times I'm available. I called Lowe's (where we purchased the carpet) to cancel the order and they said they would work on finding another installer.

So to improve my day I decided to escape from my life for awhile. There's nothing like a good movie to pick up my mood. One of my favorites is Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. If you've never seen this you should rent it. If you have Netflix you can stream it instantly. (I love Netflix!!!)

Inside joke: Granny you be the ship, I'll be the ahoy!
Good times!

During the movie another flooring place called. They are measuring this Saturday and installing next Saturday. Hallelujah! That much closer to being able to put the house up for sale.

Another Great Date

Today is 1-11-11. A few minutes ago, Mr. C also informed me that it was 1:11 pm.

Now about the snow. Here is what our backyard looked like yesterday morning. It is pretty unchanged today, but the snow on the roads has melted off.

We had a kitty visitor during the snow storm--see the prints

We got out to the store today and had to pass over the bridge. Nothing, and I mean nothing, had been done to the bridges. I think they plowed up to the bridges and then stopped, because the road is pretty clear and then the bridge is a frozen, slushy mess. (When I say plow I mean with a bobcat or other construction implement.)

What a mess!

Since Walmart was still out of milk, we had to go to the local (more expensive) grocery store. This is the only place I had trouble driving. When I was pulling out of their lot, which is about a 45 degree incline, I kept spinning the wheels and couldn't get out. I just backed up, waited for the traffic to clear, and then pulled out from the bottom of the hill.

Smarty is leaving for work in a few minutes. As we were out driving earlier, I was giving her all the pointers I could. I hope I didn't scare her too badly! I'm sure she'll be fine. (Fingers crossed).

As I was sitting here typing, I just received the call that school is cancelled again tomorrow. UGGG!

Winter Update

I know some of you are interested in knowing how the weather is going. Here's a picture I took of the front porch about 30 minutes after it started sleeting. It's hard to see, but the surface is completely covered and slick. You can see the ice better on the bricks than the concrete.

No school tomorrow. We'll have to make it up President's Day--UGG!

Still hoping we don't lose power. Hopefully the sleet turns to snow soon!

Winter Weather

Marvelous and Mr. C in the Indiana snow

The forecast is calling for 4-6 inches of snow north of I-20, ice south. Of course that may change as the front actually rolls in. Absolutely no food left at the store. We went shopping tonight and had to go to the gas station to find milk.  I'm just praying we don't lose power, since we don't have gas or a fireplace. I'm starting to sound like a true Southerner, fretting about the winter weather.

The Colts just lost. Crappy weather and no more football. What a depressing time of year. That New Year's Resolution to be positive isn't working out so well for me.

Giving, Charity, and Working

I seem to be acutely affected by whatever I am reading. I'm not sure if I'm wording that correctly, but I'm too lazy to look it up. What I mean is that I can get totally into a book, while I'm reading it. Afterwards I'm able to distance myself from it a bit and think about it more objectively. The last two books I've read (I'm not done with one of them yet) are almost completely opposite.

The book I finished right before Christmas is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. First of all I'm proud to say that I finished it in five weeks, only renewing it once. This was not a good book to read at Christmas time. At least not for me. One of the themes in the book is people expecting hand-outs to meet their needs, rather than working for their bread. Drilling that idea into my head is not conducive to me putting money into the Salvation Army bucket. This book is 1176 pages and I'm not going to explain it to anyone who hasn't read it, but let me say there are a lot of ideas presented you can think about for a very long time.

For Christmas I recieved A Secret Gift by Ted Gup. This is a true story about an anonymous offer to provide 150 families with $5 right before Christmas 1933. The donor made his offer in the newspaper and asked people to write and tell him of their circumstances and why they needed the money. I have not finished this book yet, but I am really enjoying it. The people who recieved the money never learned the identity of the donor. Only recently when Ted Gup found the original letters in his grandmother's things, has the truth come out. The mysterious donor was his grandfather. I find the letters really enlightening. They shed a first-hand account to the problems people faced in the Great Depression. (I know that is such a Sarah Palin sentence, but it's been a long week and I'm not fixing it.)

I am in a more giving mood now. Only the Santas with their buckets are all gone.

My Artsy Guy

Mr. C has been busy being artsy. I wish he would spend as much time on his school work, as do his teachers who told me about it at lunch today. (Oh what fun to work with my kid's teachers. He's never going to get away with anything!)

This week Mr. C started back to guitar lessons. He is planning on singing/playing Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day at the school talent show. Unfortunately he thinks that by wanting to play he'll actually be able to play. He is not fond of practicing.

He is also planning on entering a drawing in the talent show. See the picture at the top of the post where he is working diligently on it. Some things he will spend hours on.

Another artsy project he has recently completed is making this moose head to hang on his wall. Smallest moose I've ever seen.

Back to School

Today was the first day back to school. Teachers only, no kids. I think I have everything ready for tomorrow, but I'm sure there will be some glitch. Think positive! Everything will be just splendid and run smoothly!

My kids stayed home and entertained themselves today. I'm not sure what all they did, but I do see that the webcam is open and pointing at the NanoBot Habitat, so more than likely Mr. C made movies. When I got home he was playing "shoot each other" with the neighbor and their airsoft guns. Yes, he had his goggles on. S went off to school to study for a test and M was sleeping. That's about it for our last day of Christmas Break.

Happy 2011

I think it is so cool that today's date is 1-1-11. In ten days it will be 1-11-11 and in ten months it will be 11-11-11: probably the coolest date.

Anywho, every year we write out our New Year's Resolutions, seal them in an envelope and open them the next year to see how we did. We opened them today. I did pretty good with mine: Read Bible/ pray daily, be positive, find a job I like, and move somewhere normal. The family says I still need to work on being positive so I guess it goes on next year's list. 

In regards to today's picture. Mr. C got the dime in the cabbage so he can expect to be prosperous in the next year. I think he gets it every year and he has yet to make his fortune, however he wants for nothing.

I wish you all the best for this 2011!!!