Drama, the Middle School Kind

GreenBlue negotiates with Agent Pink for the release of Molly Pitcher, Davy Crockett, and John Henry

We went to Mr. C's drama performance last night. There were 18 different skits by 6th and 7th graders. Eighteen. The students wrote, made props and backdrops, and wore costumes. There were some laughs. It was what you would expect from middle schoolers. Mr. C's play was about tall tale figures being held prisoner in the future. He was Davy Crockett, with a coon hat and cardboard rifle. I don't think Davy Crockett is a tall tale character, but he appeared in most of the 6th grade plays. The 7th graders had to use Greek gods.

Getting Ready for Christmas

While in Indiana I took the opportunity to get Granny and Grandpa ready for Christmas. Since I live so far away, I don't get the chance to decorate the graves very often.

Hubby and I won't have any such fancy graves. The kids already have instructions what to do with us. He gets cremated and scattered somewhere scenic, like Yosemite. I get taken to a green cemetery in South Carolina and dumped in the ground as soon as possible, because I won't be injected with all kinds of preservatives.(Preservatives for dead people?)

Thanksgiving Visit

We had a good trip to Indiana. We met a new nephew/cousin.

We saw lots of cousins, but didn't have them sit for a "traditional" photo. This is the most I could get at one time.

We visited and played games. I was never on a winning trivial pursuit team or euchre team, but I'm sure there was plenty of cheating going on. That's the only explanation for it I can think of! We all had a good time anyway.

Odds and Ends

There is a lot going on here. The big thing is that Smarty is home for the week. Yeah! I would put a picture of her on here, but it would be her sleeping and she probably wouldn't appreciate that.

These two have gone off to Atlanta today, to tour Georgia Tech. M is pretty sure she doesn't want to go there, but she was invited for a female technology day and I thought it would be a good experience to see the campus.

This is what my camera looks like. The battery door doesn't stay shut, so I've fixed it with a rubberband. How ingenious. Maybe I should go to Georgia Tech. I am so whiny about my camera because I started a new blog and am very irritated with the quality (lack thereof) of my pictures. I'm sure there are more important things.

Oh, and I should probably mention that we bought a house. Here it is. We will close on it, January 5th. We have already put our 60 day notice in to the apartment complex! This house is in our very favorite neighborhood. So while we won't be building and getting mountain views, we will live in a great area--lots of kids, nice neighbors, pool, close to school.

That about does it for now. Since we are heading to Indiana for Thanksgiving, I'll probably take a break from this blog for awhile.

Another Reason to Be Proud

At least for Hubby. I don't have a picture to go along with this article. I always get irritated with people who comment on the end of articles. I think they are competing to see who can sound like the biggest dumbass. Anyway, Congrats VW!!!

Mutlitasking

Some things I could be doing besides waiting on the phone.

I am currently on hold with a mortgage company. Our bank sold our loan and we have to send payments to a new bank, but the new bank hasn't contacted us with where to send the payments. Nice. I have been on hold for10 minutes and 29 seconds and counting. Right now I am listening to the theme song from Gone With the Wind, intermittently interrupted by a robowoman telling me my call is important and someone will be right with me.

My suggestion to businesses who have long wait times is to put something entertaining on while you wait. Maybe Ellen DeGeneres or Graham Norton. Then people wouldn't be in such a bad mood when they finally get to talk to a real person.

Still waiting. Fourteen minutes and 41 seconds...

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

Look closely and you can see "fringy" at the bottom of the pic.

And this is where you can find it today.

Friday is my sheet washing day. I have learned that when I make up M's bed she likes her "fringy" blanket under the flat sheet.
Today she is off to Alabama for her monthly visit with friends. It's almost like we share custody with them.

Traffic Revision

This post goes out to my cousin, who thought that it was interesting to find "speed humps" in Belize. This sign is on a road in Georgia, warning of a speed hump ahead.

***New topic
I don't usually comment on real stuff, like the news, but here is a story that you may have seen today. What a mess our country is in financially. It is hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The problems in Alabama are caused by corrupt politicians, no doubt about that. But does that mean that this kind of thing is confined to Alabama? Unfortunately I don't think so.

Back in Class, Sort Of

This is a cow at a rest stop. I am not writing about a cow at a rest stop.

I started a journey back in September. In order to renew my Tennessee teaching license I have to take a class. I figured since I had to go back to school, I would start working on my Master's degree.

It would be totally boring for me to list all the hoops I've jumped through to get to the point of registering for classes. If you have ever dealt with anything remotely bureaucratic then you can imagine all the paperwork, phone calls, meetings, emails, etc.

Fast forward to today. Before I clicked on the final button to register for class, I decided to call the state licensing agency to make sure the class I had chosen would fulfill the requirement for licensing. This is the conversation that followed:

Licensing Lady or LL: How much are you paying to take this class?
Me: Over $1000, for three credit hours and all the fees.
LL: Have you heard of ed2go?
Me: No.
LL: It has professional development courses that you can take for $90 each. They take six weeks to complete. If you take two that will fulfill the requirement to get your license renewed.
She gave me the website and detailed instructions for the paperwork she would need when I complete the courses.

I signed up around 12:30 and finished my first lesson before 1:30, with a 100 on the quiz. Yeah me! Only 11 more lessons (and another course) and I'll have my license back. Then I get to go out job hunting again.

Oh, about graduate school. I plan on going eventually, once I have a job and can pay for it. I've been accepted into the School Leadership: Reading Specialist program which is 36 hours. That's a lot.

My Little Brit Kids

M in her new formal dress. Nothing to do with this post.

When we moved, we had to get rid of our dish and switch to cable. The package we have has about 1,286 channels. That may be a low-ball estimate. Anyway there are so many channels that we can't ever find anything to watch. It is overwhelming.

We have found the channels that are our old stand-bys. Discovery, History, the networks for news. I still have a hard time finding the Weather Channel and I can only watch HGTV if I come across it by accident. We do have a guide, but it takes so long to scroll through that it isn't much good.

The upside to this is that we have found and memorized the number for the BBC, which we have never had. I think the BBC is our new favorite channel. We have become total Whovians, and even caught up on all the old episodes of Doctor Who on Netflix. Mr. C loves Top Gear. There is an American version, but he prefers the British version.

The result of all this Brit TV is that the kids have started saying things like, "I think we should go on holiday to Montana." Mom has become Mum or Mummy (especially as Mr. C imitates The Empty Child from The Doctor "Are you my mummy?"). Every once in awhile an unexpected word or phrase pops out of them. It keeps life interesting.

More Rowing

We went out to watch the Head of the Hooch Saturday. Weather was perfect. Even though I don't know anything about rowing, it is very entertaining to go and see them race. This is the second largest race, behind Head of the Charles, in America. Enjoy the pics.

1965 boats entered to race and 15000 people in town to compete or support their team

Bringing the boats in after a race. The lady in the orange pants was directing traffic from two docks. The boats need a lot of clearance to get lined up.

Three teams passing close to each other. The boat in the middle dropped behind right after this shot. They move so quickly that it is hard to get them in the picture.

View from the bridge

Building?

We met with a builder today. His business has several floor plans to choose from. I found one that I liked better online so he is going to draw up plans that combine one of his plans and the plan I like. We are trying to stay close to 2000 square feet, although we have to put it on a partial basement (due to the slope) that adds about 1500 unfinished space.

Here is the plan I like. Only take off the screened in porch, deck, and one of the garage bays.

Here is the plan that we are adapting it from.

We are just at the beginning of this very long process, so who knows how it will all turn out.

Boats Coming In For the Evening

We went out to look at the leaves this weekend. We have had cool (cold-30s) nights and warm days. Perfect for creating a fall tapestry.