A promise is a promise...

so without further ado I present to you...

A MUCH LIGHTER POST!

aka

Ten Things Tuesday!!!

Today we have Ten Random Things Around My House!

 Rachel, the Wandering Jew

 Flubber magnet on my fridge

 The only way Eeyore ever smiles!

 miss raven's living room toys

 delicious, yummy yarn that I can't wait to use

 one of my birthday cards :)

 my Cowboys scoreboard clock--LOVE it!

 what?  doesn't everyone have an action hero of their favorite author??

 pink flamingo in the bathroom.  yes, it really is that dusty.  sigh.

this was made by a student for me :)


(ok.  I could not for the life of me figure out how to get the same size font under the last picture that was under the other nine.  Sorry about that!)

So there you go.  Your "light" post for the day! :)



Who were you...

in high school?

You know!  Everyone had a "label" in high school.  What was yours?  Don't worry...I'm about to tell you mine.  I am many years out of high school now so it doesn't matter anymore.  Right? 

Wait. 

Are you at all remotely like me?  Does the thought of high school still send you into a cold sweat?  Are you one of those people who avoid reunions at ALL costs?

I was the "wannabe" in high school.  I wanted so badly to fit in with the "popular" people.  Of course, I never did.  I went to a small school (K3-12th had about 180 students total) and, no matter how hard I tried, I was always an outsider.  I can clearly remember that, in high school I thought I was a whale.  Of course, it didn't help that I got that impression from other students.  Looking back, I can't believe that I ever thought that, especially in light of the fact that the person who I thought was my closest friend was actually a little "larger" than I was. 

Sigh.  Why are we so mean to each other when we are young? 

Except.

Does it ever end?  I know of adults who are just as mean (or meaner) as teenagers.  Sometimes it's worse with adults because they can be way sneaker about their meaness then teenagers.  Why are we like that to each other?

I find myself telling students over and over that there is no reason why they can't be nice to each other.  You don't have to be "BFF" with everyone but you also don't have to be hateful.  Yet, how often is it that adults don't practice what they preach?

How often is it that our workplaces are filled with adults who constantly gossip about each other; only looking out for "number one"?  Why do we model the same behavior that we tell our young to avoid?  Talk about being hypocrites.

Why do we allow our young to watch shows on TV that glorify gossip, backbiting, backstabbing, etc.?  Why do we watch it ourselves?  Why do we glory in the suffering of others?  Why do we put others down to make ourselves seem better?

Christians are taught to "be kind to one another"; even the unsaved claim to follow the "Golden Rule."  Taught.  Claim to.  Hmmmm.  I wonder.

I wonder what this world or even this country would be like if we all practiced what we preached in this area.  What would our workplaces be like?  In this age of "bullying", what would our schools be like if we follwed the "Golden Rule"?

I wonder.

I promise a much lighter post tomorrow.  Right now, my heart is heavy for my young people.  Not only do they grow up to fast, but there are precious few good role models for them anymore.  Sometimes I wonder if we are fighting a losing battle.

I am determined to go down fighting.  They mean too much to me to just give up.

wordless wednesday....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.....

...NO, not to me.  That was last week.

Happy Fabulous, Amazing, Wonderful, Beautiful Birthday to her:

I LOVE YOU BESTEST BFF IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!!!!!  THANK YOU FOR BE THE AMAZING, WONDERFUL, FANTASTIC, FABULOUS, BEAUTIFUL PERSON THAT YOU ARE!

Today is my BF's birthday and I wish so much that it was last year and I could be celebrating with her.  We cave gone through much in the last year, have we not, BFF?  I haven't seen her since LAST JUNE and I miss her horribly.

I promised myself that this would be a (mostly) happy post today.  Seeing as how I was Miss Grumpy-Pants in my last few.  So.  Here is a re-cap of last weekend:

Friday:
Who am I kidding?  We are NOT going to discuss a work day.  (Except for towards the end of the post but I promise, it will be worth it.)

Saturday:
miss raven and I got up early.  I pretty much already knew what I was going to do that day.  (Disclaimer:  I had planned on doing something else but chickened out at the last minute because I was afraid of getting lost in an unfamiliar place.) I went to have a bagel and coffee at Panera and then visited Barnes and Noble.  I got a couple of magazines, a lovely cupcake cookbook, and a medeival fiction book.  Then I went to Old Navy.  Surprise!  They weren't open yet.  Really?  On a Saturday?  You don't open until 10:00?!?  Sheesh.  My BFF called and I forced gently encouraged her to open the present that I sent.  She liked it.  I rock.

Old Navy opened and I scored four new dresses (they were SEVEN dollars each!) and a new pair of pants.  Then it was time to get my birthday present!  My dad sent me a gift card to Best Buy.  I got a KINDLE!!!  I wasn't going to...I really, really like books and holding books, and smelling books, and buying books, and reading books, but the idea of having something as convenient as a Kindle was intriguing to me.  I caved  like a wet noodle.  And. I. Love. It.  LOVE IT.  I have already downloaded several books--some were even FREE.  Free = good!

Went to Borders to use a gift card, went to Petsmart to get treats for the girlie, went to Target to get a little of this and a little of that, then finished up the morning at Safeway for groceries. 

Sunday:
CHEESECAKE FACTORY.  (aaaaannnnnddddd...there goes the diet.  sigh.)  I had the best meal, though!  Warm pita bread and white bean hummus, thai chicken wraps which were so amazingly good that I came home and have recreated them the last two nights for dinner, and white chocolate, macadamia nut, blondie crust cheesecake.  Calorie overload.  Did anyone lose five pounds this week?  Just wondering because I think I found them.  Please contact me should you want them back as I am more than happy to send them to you.  I'll even pay for the postage.

Monday (technically not the weekend, but still...):
Ok.  Today was the day from H-E-double hockey sticks, so I am not going to depress/bore you nor am I going to whine.  I am going to tell you the two best things that happened to me:
     1.  One of my teachers brought me a homemade cheesecake for my birthday.  She makes incredible cheesecakes so I feel very, very blessed to have gotten one.  It's peach with a gingersnap crust.  (Did I say I found five pounds?  I think I meant fifteen.....)
     2.  I went back to Safeway (I forgot some stuff on Saturday and also needed to get a couple of things to re-create the chicken wraps).  I had a coupon for $2.00 off 1/2 lb or more of Millstone coffee.  It just so happens (thank you, Lord, because you knew I needed this after my day from, well, you  know.) that they still had the Holiday Peppermint coffee and I wanted to snap up another bag.  I finished my list and went to check out.  Not only did I not have to wait in line but the cashier scanned my coffee coupon TWICE!!!!  Cashier WIN!!!!!  I got FOUR dollars off my coffee.  So happy and so needed after yesterday.

And that concludes our weekend re-cap.

Have you noticed that I now have 15 (13) followers?!?  Whoo-hoo!!!!  Lol!  How sad is it that I am that excited by that?

The Biggest Loser is on, I have laundry to fold, a hat/scarf order to crochet, and a diva to adore.  Good night!

:)

Sigh...

It's my birthday.  I'm supposed to be happy and all but, try as I might, I'm not feeling it.  Maybe it's the weather--it's a dreary, rainy, nasty day.  Maybe it's the stress at work--issues that happened today didn't make it any better.  Maybe it's the whole idea of another birthday--I'm now 39 and pretty much feel that I have nothing to show for my life.  I'm not married, I have no children.  I try not to let that bother me but, on days like today, when I am reminded that I am yet another year older and still alone, it hits me hard.

People at work were very nice today.  I got some flowers, a few cards, a gift certificate to Amazon, and a new Cowboys fleece top.  The seniors threw me a "surprise" party and, when I got home, there were a few cards waiting for me along with a gift card to my lys (local yarn store).  Because, as we all know, I can never have too much yarn.

My brother and sister-in-law called this morning and the kids sang Happy Birthday to me.  That was one of the highlights of my day.  I almost cried.  My BFF and her girlie also called (and blasted my eardrums) to "sing" to me.  That was nice, too.

Currently I am waiting for some (healthy) Chinese food and some (unhealthy) buffalo wings.  On a side note--does it ever strike anyone else as odd that Chinese places sell subs and buffalo wings and fries and stuff or is it just me?  miss raven is sleeping on the sofa behind me and we are watching The Day After Tomorrow (perhaps not the best choice with the flooding going on outside).  I am working on a new crochet project with some gorgeous yarn.  This is going to be all for me.  It's a good thing I don't have any ice cream because, if I did, it would be ALL gone.

Happy Birthday to me.  Sigh.

Wordless Wednesday...

(and it's a good thing because I am in a foul mood today.  I'll explain tomorrow, maybe.)

Followers, Commentors, and boringness...

Before we get into the real post I must address a few things that were posted in my comments:

1.  Yes, "phantom commentor" the follower known as "Freddie" is technically a follower three times.  We won't get in to how that happened.  So, yes, that means I really only have eleven twelve (I suck at math) followers, even though it looks like fourteen.

2.  BF, cut your nails, girl!  Seriously!!  Bwahahahahaha!!! :)

Now, on to the REAL POST.









Yeah.  I wish I had something exciting to blog about today.  Um.  I had a two hour (incredibly boring and mind-numbing) meeting today.  I also had a meeting after school.  I drank a lovely cup of coffee this morning and had a yummy lunch.  I came home, took care of the diva, and heated up leftovers for dinner.  I did the dishes and am now blogging and watching PTI.  Oh!  and I made pudding.

I'm so boring!

Goodnight! :)

I feel obligated...

Now that I have FOURTEEN, yes, fourteen followers, I kind of feel like I need to blog more.

Well, maybe not, but here I am anyway.  :)

I am still holding out for Spring-like weather.  I had to throw salt out on my deck this morning because it was a wee bit icy.  I wasn't liking that too much, and, let's be honest, neither was she:

Lest we forget, this is how she feels about the cold weather:

And I pretty much feel the same way.

I am ready for warm and flowers and warm and flip-flops and warm and warm and warm.  Did I mention warm?

Spring Break seems very, very far away.  I am hoping to have a repeat of this:

again this year.  The warmer the better, of course.  I'm not sure what I am doing yet but hopefully the beach will be somewhere on the List 'O Things To Do.  Along with yard work and hopefully some garden planting.  I am planning on some semi-raised gardens this year.  I would like to do three, one for flowers, one for veggies, and a small one for herbs.  Not sure quite yet if it will work out because what I want might end up being a little pricy.  I may have to ditch the flowers this year and concentrate on the front flower bed/drainage issue.  We'll have to see what happens there.

I don't know about you but I am so glad that Monday is pretty much over.  I am just about to eat some honey nut (not-really) cheerios and some pumpkin spice pudding.  Oh yeah, it's good. :)

Danger Alert!...

With FOURTEEN followers I could be dangerously close to getting too big for my bloogy-girl pants.

No, wait.  That's just from the tacos I ate yesterday, silly me.

;)

Seriously, though.  Whoo-hoo for the big 1-4!  And welcome to the new follower!  So glad you are here and I hope I don't bore you to death.

On another positive note...I lost 1.8 pounds last week.  WIN!!!!

(I ate tacos and chips/queso from California Tortilla yesterday.  FAIL!!!)

I did not gorge on other foodstuffs in my house last night even though I was sorely tempted to do so.  WIN!!

Currently I am watching Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom.  I have to be honest.  I LOVE Harrison Ford.  It is hard for me to decide which man I love more....Harrison Ford or Sean Connery because, honestly, they both give me the vapors (how's that for a good Southern girl?).  Temple of Doom is my least favorite of the IJ series, although the new Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a close second. 

(Ewwwww....evil witch doctor/heart grabber-outer dude just fell into the crocodile infested river.  Boy, were they HUNGRY!)

I was watching the NASCAR race in Vegas.  My man Tony (#14) lead most of the race aaannnnndddd came in 2nd.  Can I just tell you how much that bites?  He thought so, too, although in a bit more of a *ahem* graphic manner.

miss raven is sitting next to me on the couch trying mightly to guilt me into moving so she can curl up in the heated throw.  She looks at me with all the longsuffering she can muster and sighs like I am breaking her little heart by making her wait.  I'm so mean like that.  She was especially unhappy with me a little while ago when I made her go outside to potty.  In.The.Rain.  What was I thinking?!?!

I have to go back to work tomorrow and I had a thought today.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could go to sleep tonight and wake up on Friday?

Just a thought.....

Oh, the shame....

Once again I have been (mildly) chastised by my BFF for not being a faithful blogger.  Once again I am sorry.

I'll try to bring you up to speed by being completely random:

--Tuesday was the first day of Meterological Spring.  I marked my calendar.  Did you mark yours?

--Yesterday was my dad's birthday.  Yes, I mailed him a card AND a gift card.  And yes, I *am* his favorite.

--Although Tuesday was the FDOMS it hasn't gotten any warmer.  I think I will go ahead and blame the Groundhog for that.  Sounds reasonable to me.

--I have 5 hanks of gorgeous yarn that I can't WAIT to use.  I may or may not have bought some more yarn tonight.

--Ok.  I confess.  I did buy more yarn tonight.

--I now have THIRTEEN followers!  Who says that 13 isn't lucky??  Welcome to you all. :)

--miss raven loves the heated throw in the living room.  Sometimes more than she loves me. 

--I have a new addition to the family.  A Wandering Jew.  Her name is Rachel and I hope I don't kill her as she is very pretty.  All purple and green and silvery.  I beg her every day to please not die.

--I went grocery shopping tonight and, although I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted a big old container of Chinese take out I settled for a Lean Cuisine frozen pizza.

--I am getting VERY worried that there may be an NFL lockout.  You just don't know.

--I have made a change for next year.  I am happy about the change.  Others are not.  I'll tell you about it sometime late May or early June.  Don't worry.  I'm not moving...again.

--I had plans for this weekend.  They fell through.  I am very sad about that.  I will attempt to console myself by crocheting, watching Despicable Me, and eating Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia Fro-Yo.  And maybe blogging.  So my BFF doesn't get mad at me.

: op