Oh, this could get interesting...

Jesse Ventura is at it again. Makes for an entertaining show, anyway.

Girl's day out

So my friend from work and I are going to see Neil Diamond. When I was about 12 or 13, our little town got cable. I must have watched The Jazz Singer on HBO twenty times if I watched it once. We are ditching the kids and heading to the big city for the day, to explore the Global Market and all the Thrift Stores! Wheee! I'm ready for a little break. We'll head into the cities for a quick trip this Sunday to attend Thing 1's mission trip church service, and there's a free concert next Wednesday night that I'll take the kids to see. Neil Diamond is July 20, so there's a little variety coming up in my life. Not so many getaway opportunites for iPastor, but he has a new obsession in the form of Frets on Fire. He's been geeking all over getting it to run well and rigging a guitar for it, so he's in his happy little element.

Ten on Tuesday...

for today was 10 favorite movie characters. I can only come up with Fezzik from The Princess Bride, and Arnold Beckoff from Torch Song Trilogy. Lame.

Wastin' time

Trying to get all my 'net surfin' out of the way while I am with MIL tonite/tomorrow. Then when I get home I can go right to work and get stuff done. Yeah, right...

Don't know what I'm missing?

We missed Blogstock this weekend. When we couldn't go there, we accepted awesome Twins tix from a friend. We missed this 'cause of the stupid fire alarm company. *whine*

It's oh so quiet...

After a very quiet shift at work, I packed the Things into the car and we drove over a town for fireworks. There were lots of new things to see. It seems like every year there's a new effect or color. At the end of the show, there was a batch of extended fountains, and then a whole barrage of...poppers. No booming crescendo of bright white percussion. Just poppers. I was a bit let down. We usually park on a side road, so we take the big loud barrage as the signal that the show is over. This Year it was the distant cheers of the crowd signaling that the flag had been lit. Certainly couldn't tell by the show...
Now I must go; Red Green is on!

Funny how that goes...

So I guess it's a good thing we didn't head to NE, as the fire alarm where iPastor is security supervisor has gone wonky. The alarm company, which specializes in fire safety, ironically has no on-call staff to come service its faulty system, so security has to increase patrol for fire watch. Hurray. Makes it very hectic for him, as he has to keep checking in with his skeleton crew and make extra rounds. I picked up a couple of shifts since we're home anyway, but I don't expect it to be busy. It's like a ghost town around here.

Hrumpf

Off to MIl's, and not Blogstock. Oh well, life happens, I guess...

Proud mama...

The kids are catching my singsnap addiction...

Here's Thing 3 (on my account):



And Thing 2:

Roto Rooter, that's the name...

Gave up and called the septic guy to snake out the drain. He chewed up something about 2 feet beyond where I'd been able to run the snake. Oh well. It forcced my hand at cleaning the basement before he came though, so that's an improvement. It was our first 90 degree day here, as well, so it wasn't a bad day to be knocking around in a cool basement. This lookin' on the bright side ain't such a bad thing.

35/100

OK, so these are the top 100 movies from 1983-2008. The tiome period denotes them as "new classics." I've been interested in some of these. I've thought of watching some of these. I just never get to it. I'd be interested in seeing iPastor's list of this, with remarks.
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)(Does sleeping through half count?)
3. Titanic (1997)(Does it count if I didn't care about Jack or Rose)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995)
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Matrix (1999)
13. GoodFellas (1990)
14. Crumb (1995)
15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
16. Boogie Nights (1997)
17. Jerry Maguire (1996)
18. Do the Right Thing (1989)
19. Casino Royale (2006)
20. The Lion King (1994)
21. Schindler's List (1993)
22. Rushmore (1998)
23. Memento (2001)
24. A Room With a View (1986)
25. Shrek (2001)
26. Hoop Dreams (1994)
27. Aliens (1986)
28. Wings of Desire (1988)
29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
30. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
31. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
32. Fight Club (1999)
33. The Breakfast Club (1985)
34. Fargo (1996)
35. The Incredibles (2004)
36. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
37. Pretty Woman (1990)
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
39. The Sixth Sense (1999)
40. Speed (1994)
41. Dazed and Confused (1993)
42. Clueless (1995)
43. Gladiator (2000)
44. The Player (1992)
45. Rain Man (1988)
46. Children of Men (2006)
47. Men in Black (1997)
48. Scarface (1983)
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
50. The Piano (1993)
51. There Will Be Blood (2007)
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)
53. The Truman Show (1998)
54. Fatal Attraction (1987)
55. Risky Business (1983)
56. The Lives of Others (2006)
57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
58. Ghostbusters (1984)
59. L.A. Confidential (1997)
60. Scream (1996)
61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)
63. Big (1988)
64. No Country For Old Men (2007)
65. Dirty Dancing (1987)
66. Natural Born Killers (1994)
67. Donnie Brasco (1997)
68. Witness (1985)
69. All About My Mother (1999)
70. Broadcast News (1987)
71. Unforgiven (1992)
72. Thelma & Louise (1991)
73. Office Space (1999)
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
75. Out of Africa (1985)
76. The Departed (2006)
77. Sid and Nancy (1986)
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
80. Michael Clayton (2007)
81. Moonstruck (1987)
82. Lost in Translation (2003)
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
84. Sideways (2004)
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)
87. Swingers (1996)
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
89. Breaking the Waves (1996)
90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
91. Back to the Future (1985)
92. Menace II Society (1993)
93. Ed Wood (1994)
94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
95. In the Mood for Love (2001)
96. Far From Heaven (2002)
97. Glory (1989)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)(Does halfway through count?)
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)(Does sitting on the shelf waiting to be watched count?)

Weary

If I wasn't working this weekend, I was at MIL's, except for a brief stint at church.
Thing 1 and her great-auntie returned from their mission trip tuckered out and happy. Auntie relieved us with MIL, then we were off to supper at FIL's. Finally got home to discover the sewer backed up again. The drain was empty and dry, but evidence on the floor proves that there is still a slowdown. Now it is time to go rent something longer than 25 feet, 'cuz I've had it cleaned out and running twice, so the problem must be farther out. Not what I wanted to be doing when I got home tonight. If you want some real entertainment before bed, though, try googling "sore cat nipples." (Neosporin and bitter apple, in case you were wondering)

Zzzzzzzzzz

Two jobs today. Recliner time with MIL in between. ZZZZzzzzzzz.

44/100

Lifted from a friend...
The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.

(edit: although I did this in a cut/paste, some ambiguity in the source I got it from (ie "they" who?) led me to do some backtracking. It seems as if this top 100 was compiled by the popular vote by the BBC. Certaily subjective, and subject to taste, and imperfect (both Complete Works... and Hamlet? Likewise The Lion... and Chronicles...?--They're all inclusive.) Imperfect though it may be, there's merit in every selection, and it's fun. So there.)
Entire List:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - listened to it
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Running in circles

Some days I feel like I'm getting nowhere.

Time sink

iPastor bought me a new toy. iRemember. It is seriously addicting.

Fewer days like this, please...

Holy cow. I had to snake out the basement drain again. I accomplished that successfully, but when I was rewinding the snake, I pinched the heck out of the underside of my arm in the spring-loaded feeder.
Now for a bit of a flashback. One day at Job 1 I was visiting with a regular customer, when I bobbled a dish I was carrying, but made an impressive save. When she commented on it, I remarked that I had dropped many dishes over the course of my 23 years hauling food, but I had never dropped anyone's order before they got it. Not two weeks later, I flipped an order of nachos with an impressive spin that rivaled the coin toss at the superbowl. We fast forward back to tonight, when Murphy must have decided I was due to make up for lost time. As I came into the dining room at job 2 with two plates, my right shoe caught the loop of my left shoelace. I had on some real speed, and as I felt the solid tug of my dignity being yanked dead in its tracks, one thought had time to flit through my brain before I hit the ground: this cannot be happening. I did a rather impressive belly flop. I was carrying mexican, which is huge and double plated on heavy duty platters. The ridge under the plates landed solidly on my inner knuckles, sandwiching one firmly in bruises and slicing the other open. The other side of that platter fell across my other forearm and left a bruise under a minor burn. I have rugburn on my elbows, and every time I turn around I notice a new battle scar. My back is already stiff and I must have jarred my jaw to give myself a lovely headache. I will be so sore in the morning. My almost-40-year-old body is not meant to carpet dive. For all the comments I suffered about being so generously endowed that if I ever fell forward I would bounce back up, I was sadly let down. I hauled myself up and made sure no customers were in the blast radius, then hobbled off to bandage my finger and my pride. I guess I should look on the bright side. The sympathy tip bounced up to 25% for a while and at least I wasn't carrying cast-iron fajita skillets.

Off and running...

...into a new week. Two jobs, then MIL duty.
A friend of mine wrote something interesting:

...'stress' is an over-used word that we as a society have chunked up to escape feeling and being with our uncomfortable feelings.

Stress is a result of interacting with and experiencing life, a process. What we have done with it is make it a noun, a thing that can be acted upon. Can you put stress in a bucket and show me what it looks like? No, because the only way we know it is there is as a byproduct of what we experience.

Over the past two generations or so we seem to have lost the language for what we are feeling. We go to extremes, I'm angry or I'm happy, with no middle ground. In that either/or, we've managed to dissociate and not feel anything or label it as stress.
What happened to being miffed, pissed, annoyed, frustrated, spiteful, all the degrees of feeling unhappy before you hit anger and rage? What about being pleased, amused, joy-full, peace-full, happy before you hit bliss, passion, love, joy and peace?

This works on both an emotional and grammatical level. Not only do people miss all those in-between feelings, we ignore the vocabulary for shades of grey, as it were. Indeed, something to ponder. How specifically can you name what you are feeling right now?

More days like this, please...

Recharged at church today: good discussion, good friends, and good fellowship. We came home and hopped onto a couple basement projects and made some progress, then cleaned up and went to MIL's for supper with B&SIL. The juggling of schedules and responsibilities is starting to wear on us, but this afternoon it was pleasant just to be together in the sunshine in the back yard.

Big Day in a small town...

We doubled the population in town today as folks gathered for our pastor/neighbor/friend's auction.
You may remember me mentioning here that Alex went to Florida with some friends, Roland and Jeannie from church. These folks raised their own three kids, and frequently hosted exchange students in the same program we do. They were also foster parents. They travelled to Florida every year over Christmas break, taking along whichever exchange student or foster kid they had at the time, and usually a few extra friends. While they were there this year, they started sniffing around for jobs and got themselves hired at a boy's ranch. When they got back, they invited their children home to pack up some family heirlooms, filled the van with bare essentials, sold their house lock, stock and barrel to our pastor, and followed their calling to Florida. They spend 8 days on duty and 4 off; we get email updates on the off days that its going fine, but its a brand new world, even for a guy who knows everything...
We have a small church in a small conference, and our pastor is expected to be bi-vocational. Bob has been a carpenter/handyman for many years, and so has Roland. Bob also has a couple rental properties. The auction cleaned out years of accumulated tools bought for one project, duplicates, and other stuff a couple inching closer to retirement can afford to do without. There was also a real lesson in what can be left behind. Rol and Jeannie spent years acquiring beautiful collectibles, but they left them all behind in a heartbeat, and really don't seem to miss any of it (except Rol has found a couple projects around the ranch he wishes he had his tools for; I hear they have Home Depot in Florida, too...) Oh well, if you can't take it with you when you leave this life, you might as well not pack it along to Florida, either.
I made it home spending only $63, which is good for me at an auction. I got some trunks for my international travel-themed entryway/piano/no useful purpose room. I paid $5 for a bridal shower's worth of corningware and cut glass. I paid $4 for two baskets of stuffed animals to get the two brand new laundry baskets. I made the kids give most of the stuffies away, but they had just as much fun with that as they did with the stuffies. I bid $3 for a floor fan, but got a really ugly footstool and some carpet squares lumped in with them. I'll put the footstool out by the firepit to use until its old and rotten enough to throw into the pit. It's all good.
Off to work again, then hopefully get something done around the house.

Rolling into the weekend...

Starting out mellow with MIL, then it's a two-job day. Tomorrow I help out with neighbor's auction, then off to job#2. Sunday I hope to get some stuff caught up at home, then back on duty with MIL. Whew! That being said, I'd better get off my butt. I brought along some laundry, and I need a shower! TTFN!

Happy Trails

We got Alex to the airport to find her flight had been cancelled, but they had already booked her through on a better flight that skipped a transfer in Chicago. So with a few tears and lots of hugs we sent her on her way.

Our family in the city is not unlike the Beverly Hillbillies. Any trip through the metro is punctuated with exclamations about the stores and restaurants we don't have at home. This leads to conversations like this one:

"Look, a Barnes and Noble."
"Even better, there's a Northwestern Books across the street."
What's the difference?"
"NW is like B&N with more Jesus."

The Time has Come...

We packed into the van and headed for the NW metro suburbs today. After a lovely day at Grand Rios, and supper at Famous Dave's, we wound down around a lovely fire at iPastor's auntie's house, and tomorrow we will awaken at the butt crack of dawn to see Alex off on her trip back home. As an added bonus(???), Thing 1 is staying with auntie to go on a mission trip for 10 days to SW Colorado. It will be very quiet around our house...

Spinning...

Lately if I am not at work I am with MIL. Nothing is getting done at home. It's summer. My kids want to go hang out with their friends. I don't blame them, but we need to strike a happy medium somewhere. I am completely frustrated with the situation, and to top it off my sewer backed up in my basement. Yuck.

I love a parade?

Yesterday was the "grand finale" of the local celebration, Fiesta Days. As we were returning from the next town south, where the wedding reception was held at the local casino, there were people everywhere. In recent years there has been a move to bring more of the celebration back downtown. The park has undergone renovation and the local railroad history club has revitalized the depot, turntable and yards. All of those were in full swing with music, activities and people as we made our way back home. I settled in with MIL, completely content with the prospect of an afternoon spent snugly in a recliner, or perhaps on the deck in the sun. In the background, I could hear occasional sirens, horns and bass drums reminding me of the festivities a few blocks away. I was surprised to find myself wishing I was there. Usually about halfway through viewing a parade I find myself reflecting on the inanity of watching a procession of cars and people go by. It is a bit odd, when you stop to think about it too much. Despite that, parades draw people together. No matter how big a homebody one might be, I believe there is a certain aspect of human nature that is drawn to a crowd. Whether it is simple curiosity, a deeply embedded seed of desire to be part of a larger whole, or a fear of missing out, something makes a person want to join a group of others. As I sat comfortably settled in a sunbeam, the occasional rumble from downtown tugged quietly at the back of my mind. It was a curious sensation, but the comfy chair prevailed.

Whew!

The wedding went off without a hitch, MIL did awesome and had a terrific time. After teasing my SIL mercilessly about her waterworks (she cries at supermarket openings) I lost it as I watched BIL and an usher walk MIL to her seat. She looked beautiful and she was so proud of her grandson. I was so glad she made it, and sad to think she probably will not be there for my kids' weddings. I managed to compose myself in time for the ceremony itself, and the duet with step-bro-IL went well. We partied 'til the cows came home; the Things had a blast with all their cousins and new friends. Hard to drag 'em away, especially when the DJ saved the classic rock for the end of the night. The couple was adorable, and life is good here. Back to the rat race tomorrow. For now I'm glad to be on duty with MIL, 'cuz we can have some lovely mutual nap time in the matching recliners.

Away we go...

Rehearsal and dinner went fine, now I am trying to get my wits about me with a little internet/coffee time, then get the ball rolling on getting the family out the door and ready. Should be a fun, if hectic, day.

And the winner is...

I took the closer one.
Now I have to go get ready for nephew's wedding rehearsal tonight and big festivities tomorrow.

Complications

At about 9:15 this morning, interview #1 came through with an offer. Half-time. This did not make things easier. Poop. It's much closer and less hassle, but after factoring in commute, etc., the pay is $10k less. Chewing on it...

Big fun

Job interview #2 took place across the border in SD where my brother lives. They have an awesome swimming pool there, so the kids came along and hit the mall while I interviewed, then we went to the pool. The weather was not as nice as promised, so half of us opted to go across the street to the putt-putt place where we enjoyed a game of Klingon mini-golf. We came out with a net loss of one ball in the water hazards, recovering one of someone else's after we lost two of ours. The sign board at the putt -putt said it all: Summer here?
The local landfill had a "clean-up" sale the past two days, with big discounts on expensive items to dump like tires and appliances. iPastor hauled two washers and a dryer out of our basement, and had the kids load the tires from our shed into the truck. I grabbed the dehumidifier when I got home and hauled it with the tires. The weather here was crappy. I guess it was violent and dangerous in other parts of the state, so I'll deal with crappy. Got home to a power outage, followed by a brownout. All our condensers and compressors seem to be working just fine, so I guess its all good. Now I seem to have acquired a herd of OPK (other people's kids) downstairs, and there is raucousness ensuing. Off to herd the cats.

Decisions...

Job interview #1 seemed to go fine, but I haven't heard anything yet. Job interview #2 started out feeling really great, becoming a little awkward, warmed up, and ended with an offer. Yay. Involves a long commute/possible move, slightly less base pay with slightly more extracurricular bonus. I am hoping to hear back from #1 before I accept. A job in the hand...etc. It could be a logistical nightmare, but the second job has more drama and theatre stuff. Coolness. Everyone there was really friendly, but during the admin interview, he "went to script" and feedback shut down from that side. As soon as he put the clipboard down, it was all good again, and when I went for the next part of the interview with the principal team, it was very casual and comfortable. So I think it's a go, but waiting just a little longer to hear from the other school. It's a difference of 50 miles, so it's worth a wait, I think.
Now to stop pacing...

The big event at our house today...

Just what I needed...

Good times

Tonight was our very casual backyard bonfire "farewell" for Alex. Next Friday is nephew's wedding; the following Wednesday we head in to the metro to spend the day and night, then drop her at the airport at 6am on Thursday. It goes by fast.
Neighbors, church friends and family gathered for a lovely evening outside. We finally burned through most of our branches, etc. Boys being boys however, it was decided that bigger is better:



We'll miss Alex. How can you not miss such a classy lady?

I just wanna bang on me drum all day...

Had a nice day today. Picked up MIL and went to a shower for nephew's bride to be. It was a lovely time with all my girl Things and friends and family; we had your typical brunch and presents sort of affair. We got MIL home safely, came home and changed into grubbies and started in on housework and supper. The whole family was home for supper for once, and we visited and had a lovely time. The phone rang about 6:30 for me. It was Job 2. I should have been there at 5. I completely spaced off going to work. Luckily, it wasn't very busy and the worst consequence was some serious razzing when I got there. I felt pretty stupid, though. It stayed slow, so I headed to MIL's about 9:45, where iPastor and I had some recliner and TV time before he headed home to tend the kiddies. Now its quiet here, and I have access to Food Network. ALton Brown calls, so I bid you adieu.

Minnesota's state bird

The kids' group from church had a little campout tonight. My kids are miffed that they can't stay over due to a bridal shower for nephew's wedding, but the park is so close I let them go out for festivities tonight. We've had a week of rain, and the mosquitoes hatched with a vengeance. it was absolutely stupid how thick they were. They kids were coated with OFF and still came home looking like lepers with so many welts on them. Yikes. They had a blast though.
A couple more job interviews next week. Woot!

Bloggable moments

So the other say I lost my keys. I retraced my steps again and again. I went back to look in the car, where I most likely tossed them. I was now 20 minutes late, and Thing 4 was cranky; if I went to look in the house he'd follow me in and whine, then he'd follow me out to the car when I looked there and whine come more. I was worked up to a pretty good lather when I heard the friendly voice of the Cosmic Junkie greeting Thing 1 from across the lawn where he was retrieving tools from storage in the neighboring shed. "How's it goin'?" he asked, and I blurted "Sh*tty." as I dumped a bag onto the seat to search its contents, and dumped my sad, sorry story on the ol' CJ. "I can't find my keys." "You mean those keys there?" he said, pointing to the keys that absolutely WERE NOT THERE (or in that bag of aforementioned junk) THREE SECONDS PREVIOUSLY. I just gaped at him and shook my head. ""Just here to help." he said, and ambled off. Darndest thing.

Wordless Wednesday

So what's all this about retirement?

Lessons learned

We were back at Home Depot this morning. The reel mower we bought last time really does cut like crazy, but we need a new weed whip, too. After hemming and hawing a bit, we decided to forego the $30 electric start. Wrong answer. I can't get the bugger started by myself. Despite the diminutive hausfrau using the tool in the picture on the box, the dang thing needs a harder pull than I have in me to fire up. Maybe a hot, muscular body builder. In my case, it was the old, chain-smoking dad of the neighbor with the Minnesota belly. Once the neighbor got it cranked for me, I whipped like a madwoman until the string broke and I had to turn it off to fix it. Then I couldn't get it going again. Rats. Oh well, guess next time we'll just have to hire me a hot young gardener...

Monday Again

Funny how it keeps rolling around. Did 2 shifts with MIL, with a bout 10 minutes in between to make supper and shove some laundry through at home. No big changes. More of the same. Bleah.

Nonissue

For cryin' out loud... Rather than try to explain all this, I will send you here and here to see for yourself. In the comments section of the Tribune, someone asks whether this man would have the same problem if his name were Johnson. They don't know how close to the truth they are. I am not very proud of my city government right now.

Saturday checklist

Scrub basement floor. Check.
Mulch one more flowerbed. Check.
Blow tire on van. Check.
Leave donut at home. Check.
Trade vehicle with iPastor. Check.
Lose brakes on pickup. Check.
Go to bed and start over. In progress...

Charity?

It's funny what illness brings out in people. MIL has been inundated with food and offers of help. I just cleaned her fridge (AGAIN!) and tossed various bits and blobs of food. Most people have been really gracious. Case in point: last year MIL took bids to pave her decrepit blacktop driveway. The contractor hemmed, hawed and didn't show up until about 3 weeks ago. When he was done, he came in to check with MIL who said, "Are you gonna send me the bill?" to which he replied, "No, I think God's telling me to donate it." He went on to say he wasn't sure, but who wants to take that chance. ;)
Then there are those other responses. There was the lady who stopped me at work to ask about MIL. " I need to bring her carmel rolls," she said, "She loves my carmel rolls." I replied that indeed she does, and she had a pan earlier in the week. "Someone else brought them?" she said, "well I know she craves MY rolls, so I'll have to bring some by." Oh my.
Most people are very kind, though. Our pastor's wife decided WE needed some TLC and brought us Tuesday suppers for a month. It was much appreciated, and helped to take a little bit of hectic out of our lives. Hopefully I can pay that back some day.

All the cool kids are doing it...

Curse you Groovy Mom and FlipFlopBossyBritchesRockerMom. Peer pressure is awful.



Anyway, this is the result of my first outing at Singsnap. I had to do some futzing with my technical settings, which in my case means putting the speaker closer to the mic and standing in different places to not overblow the mic. I think at one point you can hear our cat, Fuzznut, on background vocals. I guess I need to add to my timewaster list.
(plus the transvestite picture for Jeff's amusement)

A little late for Memorial Day but...

...this one smacked me in the face while browsing tonite. Lifted from FARK.com, titled "Two Kinds of Goodbye." Ouch. Click to embiggen and read text.

10 on Tuesday: Time Wasters

Oh, dear...

I could lump them all together under one Evil Category: The Internet. If I did that, however, I'd have to come up with nine others, so I'll list my biggest time wasters from the 'net, and maybe some real life stuff, too.

1. Blog reading. Of course I read all your blogs to gain valuable information and pearls of wisdom from them, so that's really time well spent, non?
2. Scrabulous. Just one more match...
3. Rand Mc Nally Road trip planner. I spend more time planning trips than we actually spend on the trips when we finally take them.
4. My firepit. I can diddle out there for hours burning various and sundry bits of stuff from the yard (for recreational purposes of course, because of course I know it's illegal to burn yard waste) but unfortunately, it never seems to improve the condition of the yard.
5. iTunes. I can always find something to look for. Lots of performance tracks to browse. Interesting podcasts to subscribe. Bad.
6. icanhascheezburger.com
7. fark.com
8. YouTube
9. startribune.com
10. My bathtub. Soapy warm bubbles calling to me...

OMG!

I was trolling trough old blogs to find posts for the blogstock book. On a lark, I typed in an ID I thought might lead to my very first blog, and lo and behold, I found posts from August to December of 2001. It said I had last posted in 2007, but I think I was using the same domain but posting with other apps. I had blogger set up to use the template but post remotely to our site. I need to reconfigure it to post to blogger, because I can currently only access the posts through the editor. Watch for a linky. Or maybe not. The posts might suck.

Stormy Sunday

Morning Thunderstorms rolled through before church today. They were actually rather nice thundershowers; except for the mugginess it's been nice today.
***
The extra time at MIL's has been good for catching up on movies. MIL has DirecTV. Last night iPastor took the batch that had not yet seen Indiana Jones to see it; the rest of us watched Pirates...III. Then I watched Next and Pride and Prejudice before I finally pried myself off the couch and went to bed. Sweet. Tonight I hope to get some reading and paperwork done. There are a million things I should be getting done at home before I go, so I'd best get back at them.

Update 6:45pm.

Whoa. Counting blessings today... Prayers for these folks. So far no deaths reported. Let's hope it stays that way. AP just reported one while I typed. Poop. Enjoy your weekend folks, while remembering these people.

Gone with the wind

As could have been predicted, my apple trees bloomed this week, thereby guaranteeing strong winds to blow the blossoms off. Oh well.
***
Weekend has blown away, too. No-one else is available to stay with MIL, so our family is tag-teaming around work, and we are going nowhere that we had hoped. Alex also has strained ligaments in her ankle, so she is puffed up and sore, so it would have been awkward to get out to Arnold's Park or anywhere else. I did want iPastor to get over to Home Depot for a mower, though. We're working on knee high by the fourth of July in the yard. While we were out, someone came by and helped mow a little. I had asked kids to clean up the yard in anticipation of the mowing. They did not comply, so whoever helped mowed around the junk. Around the bikes. Around the lawn chair. It's fairly hilarious. Time to tag off with iPastor.

No go

The job hunt continues. Drat.
Not much else going on. Two job day today, then our family spends Saturday with Elsie. Should be a nice weekend. Enjoy yours.

Nervous Nellie

I think the interview went well. It felt good. It's a VERY small district (this year's grad class was 25) but that's very cool. Until they decide to consolidate, anyway... The good news is that they hope to decide by tomorrow, or early next week at the latest, depending on when they can get references called. Nice not to have to be on pins and needles too much longer.

This is weird...

So I've mentioned before that we have a MAME. It looks something like this:


Imagine cords and a keyboard coming out of the coin slots on the front of the machine (Thing #4 refers to this as the "Big Bachine") Imagine typing on this keyboard while manipulating the various trackballs, fire buttons and joysticks to navigate the internet. This is what happens when my kids hog my computer... I suppose it IS their turn, after all, but still...
***
I hd a lovely little allegory last week when I was too frenzied to type about it. iPastor and I were bringing dogs in out of the rain. He brought in Tiger, and unleashed him and his furry, mud-encrusted paws while he went back for another dog. Needless to say, I had big, muddy pawprints all over my floor. He wandered all through the downstairs before heading to the mudroom for food and his bed. Had iPastor left the leash on, he would have guided Tiger right to the same spot, much quicker and with less collateral damage. How much like that are we? Humans have a guide, or "leash" if you will, in the Bible and it's commandments. When we stick to them, things go much better for us. When we "free" ourselves from that yoke, we make a big mess of things lalong the way home. Often, we wind up back at a save haven, but not before we've muddied our path quite a bit. Just a little something for y'all to chew on. (Don't worry, I'm not after JD's pulpit...)
***
Decided exactly what I wanted to wear for the interview tomorrow, then tried t on (Thankfully!) to discover it looked like crap because it doesn't fit right. So off to the Evil*Empire I went, where nothing they had fit, either. Did find something I liked in the wrong size. So it goes... Managed to scrape together an outfit; got it in the wash ready to press and go first thing in the morning. This interview is 37 miles away, which is relatively close when talking rural school districts. Better get my loose ends tied up before morning. Nite!

Tuesday, Grommit...

Didn't get much of anything done. Started to putter around the house, but got called to MIL's. Had a nice visit, watched Dr. Phil's brat camp (my kids look like angels in comparison) then came home. In the meantime, I got an email to go for a job interview Thursday. Yay. Now to find clothes that fit...

Woohoo!

Only one job days all week until Friday, and I actually get all day tomorrow off! What'll I do with myself? No more dishes; my hands are hashed.
A job in the neighboring school district came up on the boards today. Our little town actually sits within both districts, so we have two different buses go through town every day. Our first exchange student went to that school because we were out of openings at our school. I would love to find something so close in the neighborhood. The next closest one I've seen is half time, the next is 37 miles. Anyway, keep praying on the job situation for me. I want to make sure I go where I'm supposed to, and I hope to be able to discern where exactly that is.
I'm either hearing a really echo-y nailgun or a dog with a weird bark. Maybe both. Someone is working on re-roofing the decrepit little store downtown. They keep some weird hours.

Day of rest my foot

Had a gorgeous day here that I used to try to catch up the stuff I couldn't get done earlier in the week. Tried to rally the kids for some help but that was an exercise in futility. They were too enamored of the nice weather themselves to be much help. One helped finish with mulching of a flowerbed, and the other made a small pile of yard clippings that never got picked up and disposed of. I sat in the shade and shaved a dog. Poor thing couldn't see. The winter coat was pretty thick, not unlike shearing a sheep. Now all the other dogs will make fun of his bad haircut. Hopefully by July he'll be grown out enough so I won't be ashamed to take him to Marilyn for a real cut. Did some trimming and clipping in the yard, and tried to get my garage-sale trimmer to start. Pastor Bob will check it out for me tomorrow. The yard is nearly ready to bale, so I may as well wait. Off to herd the cranky kids to bed. Best bet is to let cranky mom get there first.

Done!

Two tired but happy dancers, and two parents chilled to the bone from standing directly under the AC vents in the back of the auditorium to produce the !*&@%&^!! dance video (that pays for the lessons...) Viscious circle.

Dance Mayhem

Two days of long rehearsals and two equally long shows. AWOL until Sunday...

Little things...

Today was full of little things. I didn't get anything big done, but lots of little things. Sent off two application packets. Mulched a flowerbed. Wrangled kids for some help in the yard. Scrubbed the basement stairs. Did some laundry. Worked a little. Looks nice when I write it all down.
***
Little things also have a way of surprising you. Something like writing the date. Like yesterday. It happens every year. Writing a check, dating a paper, I suddenly realize its May 14. The day my dad died. 26 years ago. It always catches me off guard. The I feel guilty. Because I don't remember what day my mom died. I know it was the first half of December 1989. Maybe because she died a sanitized death in a nursing home hundreds of miles from me or anyone else in her family, rather than collapsing in front of me. I don't know. It makes me feel bad. I owe her more than that.
***
We're supposed to be compiling favorite blog posts for a book of Blogstock attendees. I've been cranking out such drivel for the sake of Blog 365, and previously NaBloPoMo, that I can't think of any favorites. Do you guys have any? Look back in the archive linkies, or comment if you liked the one where I wrote about ________. I'm supposed to send them by May 23rd, so be snappy about it, would ya?

Hump day.

So how ya been? Busy here as always. Had choir concert for the oldest girls and worked most every day. Been sending out resumes and having phone interviews. Sleeping lots. It's a good thing.
Not much to report. iPastor's mom is no better, but no worse either. She came along to the concert.
I've been tucking some bloggable bits (tm) in the back of my brain to drag out later, but I'm tired and want to go to bed! Nite!

10 on Tuesday

Today's topic: Ten things I'm really good at
Hard to do this with a sense of humility... Oh well, I'll take a shot at it.

1. Singing
2. Acting
3. Making really beautiful children
4. Embarrassing those children in public
5. Prepared public speaking (impromptu, not so much, but I can do it in a pinch)
6. Planning trips. I love randmcnally.com, hotwire.com and sidestep.com
7. Napping anywhere. Car, mall, you name it, I can get comfy and catch a few zzzzz
8. Eating. For you D&D geeks out there, I have a plus 2 cast iron stomach of holding.
9. Taking care of the elderly. I got out of it, but I rock at it.
10. Making up songs for my kids.

That was hard. Try it and see.

Insightful...

Why are married women heavier than single women?
Single women come home, look in the fridge, then go to bed.
Married women look in the bed, then go to the fridge.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today dawned sunny and with much more promise than yesterday. Job 2 was an absolute riot; full speed ahead from the word go. Everyone was out for Mother's Day. Unfortunately, in one instance this included a family with grandma, two couples and seven overtired and cranky children. Those poor kids did amazingly well, considering the protracted wait. The only exception was the apx. two-year-old girl screaming her lungs out for the majority of their stay. We brought crackers, fruit snacks and colors, but that little one was too far gone. Grandma looked too frail to be much help, but dad could have taken her out to the car. As it was, the Moms' "special" meal consisted of lots of "Whisper!" "Sit down!!" "Eat your food before you get a treat." kissing pinched fingers and wiping spilled water. Their Mother's Day next year had better include the dads staying home with the kids while the mom's pick up grandma and head out for cocktails ALONE.
One of my most interesting Mother's Days was iPastor watching the kids so I could take my cruiser to test and tune at the track, then head over to Watertown to race. Very thoughtful.
When I got home, I got out and started a fire in the pit while I cleaned up the yard a little. Then I got my hands dirty and planted the tomatoes and peppers I started earlier. Then I had a lovely bubble bath to get the smoke smell from the fire off me!
My kids had their first adventure biking the seven miles to town. I may never see them again. Argh. They have tasted freedom under their own power.
Off to bed now. Job hunt starts in earnest tomorrow.

Rainy

Nasty, dreary cold rain all day today. Yuck. Job 1 was very slow, but we spent our time cleaning and prepping for tomorrow. After Mother's Day, Job 1 isn't open Sundays until fall. Yay!
I am too tired to come up with anything good to post. Maybe tomorrow.

Craziness comes in assorted flavors

So, the classroom work is done. Now time for the paperwork. Also, while I was out turning in finals, I got a call for an interview. Cool.
iPastor has been holding down the homefront. We survived prom. We've done several with exchange students. Hopefully a couple years until my own need to go, unless they start dating upperclassmen. Thing 1 already has her prom dress picked out. She needs to save her pennies, though, because it's this:

The kid has taste, now she needs a date who'll wear a kilt well.
Off to catch up on the neglected stuff around here.

Frazzled

So what's new? Still plugging on school until later tomorrow. Then maybe I can poke my head up for air.

Still writing

That's about it. Got an extension. The light is at the end of the tunnel...

Better...

After work I had a lovely soak in the tub, then went to lie down for a few minutes and wound up sleeping the clock around. I sound like heck, but I feel much better. Now off to write.

Sick

Like I needed this on top of everything else.

Sunshine!

Got MIL into the car and headed to the local drive-in and out for a ride around the lake. Now it's off to Job2 and then to wait for the "bring me home from After-Prom party" call.

Lost Friday

Often when I am working at job 1, there is quiet time when I compose lovely posts in my head while I clean and stock. Think I can ever come up with these gems while I'm at a keyboard?
Worked two jobs today, ran home for a change of clothes, now I am at MIL's for the night. Her keyboard has a gitchy M, so spellcheck lights up like the proverbial Christmas tree. I am completely uninspired tonight, so I'm off Bloghopping.

MayDay!

Indeed. Many meanings to that word. School work got completely sidetracked yesterday, but iPastor and I got some really good time in to explore some stuff, and just catch up on the mundane details of life.
Right in the middle of my finals crunch, I got a very positive and entirely unsettling follow-up call on an interview I had at the job fair. No firm offer, but a really good vibe that opens up a can o' worms, because it involves a move. A big move. Trying very hard not to overthink this, and to keep a careful eye and ear to any leading I am getting. Prayers along these lines are appreciated.
Alex has Prom #2 this weekend, and we are so scattered and hectic I hope we don't lose too much in the shuffle.
Thing 3 helped her brother take care of May Baskets this evening. They had a good time. Cute as bugs. No pics this year, though.
Off to reboot for tomorrow.

Still plugging

Got the assignment posted for online class, now I'm off for a two-job day. Looking at another late night/early morning combo, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. More tomorrow, maybe from MIL's. Hopefully, they'll head to their lake place for the night instead. She's really looking forward to getting out and about a bit, so I hope the weather cooperates.

Countdown...

I pulled my first all-nighter in years. I think the last one was 2004 when I had a final project for my speech methods class due. Technically, this was a "most-nighter"; I did get a nap from 3-5 am. I got the project and paper done, and by comparison with what I saw in class it should fare pretty well grade-wise. I cranked out some discussion posts for the online class, watched part of Jane Eyre in authors class, got free pizza at the final NTSO meeting, then crashed on the couch in the NTSO lounge for nearly three hours. Yay couch! I pulled my brain back together, ate some leftover pizza, gathered some online sources for the medium-sized paper, then went to night class. I have really enjoyed that class, but I feel bad because we are all so draggy by the time we get there. Got home safe and sane, and snuggled in for a family movie and some alone time with iPastor. Not a bad day overall. Just don't like having to cram so many crazy days in a row.

Hell week

It's finals time. AAAAUUUUUUUGHHH!
One week of class left. Four classes to wrap. One assignment, one quiz, three small papers, one medium paper, various deadlines, eight shifts at various jobs, a couple shifts with MIL and peripherally monitoring the household (iPastor is taking the bulk of that for now, Thank God!) until Tuesday, May 6 at 8pm when the last two papers are due. Yikes. I hardly have time to be doing this, but sanity must also be prioritized! ;) Off to crank out the paper and project due tomorrow.

Homeward bound

After service this morning we'll hit the road home, where I have to finish the resource unit I did not work on in my free time here. (I really did have a use for the laptop...) The sun is out and it promises to be a beautiful ride home. Hoping to save some stories for the dearth of quality content once finals start rolling in. ;) Happy trails!

Saturday

The speaker has been starting out the sessions with excerpts from this little book. Very cute, and good for a laugh. She follows up with awesome teaching. Lots of good things to say. She's also written a devotional based around my Bible-reading format of choice (an OT & NT selection and Psalm or Proverb each day) so I bought myself one as a present. Found the kids some trinkets out thrifting (new-with-tags!) and watched a fun video from this gal before bed. I need more days like this! (without the four-hour drive to get here.)

Retreat!

We left home in a miserable, cold rain and headed east to drop Alex off for her prom in Buffalo Lake. Just as we dropped her off, Julie's husband called to tell us it was snowing so hard at ome that he couldn't see across the yard. By then, the rain for us had slowed to occasional drizzle or mist, and that's how it stayed until we got to Austin, home of the Spam museum. Think I'll skip that and go thrifting. We have an awesome speaker named Kathy Slamp. After the first service, I met up with the Oskalosa farkle champ and we had a game. Too much fun. Now it's time for bed. Gotta sneak back to the room like a penitent teenager. I wanted to bring the laptop for free wireless, but iPastor had other plans.
Nite!

Like sands through the hourglass...

These days slip by so fast; I blink and they're gone. Went to school, then off to stay with MIL. In between, I have to get ready for women's retreat this weekend. I am ready this year. I need a battery recharge to last through the next few months.

Oh dear...

I met up with family after our various shifts at work or with MIL. iPastor had taken Thing 1 to the Evil*Empire. She and her sister soon came down to model her new shorts. SHORT shorts. Driver's ed is coming up this summer. Short shorts. A booty to put in them. Oy. I am so OLD.

Ten on Tuesday

Today's ten on Tuesday: Ten things I love about my life.
I tend to blog about how hectic my life is; the "I can't believe that just happened" moments or the crazy hoops we jump through to make ends meet. Despite these occasional rantings, there is a lot in my life to be happy about. If I sit and reflect, I feel mostly content. Although the reasons may be a bit difficult to articulate, I'll give it a shot.

Ten Things I Love About My Life:

1. I serve an awesome God, and I am saved by His grace.
2. iPastor rocks. He's been my partner in crime (and punishment) for 17 years. We've had typical spousal highs and lows, but I have never for one second questioned his commitment to our family. To beat a cliche to death, he is as constant as the north star. He drives me batty some days, but I don't know what I'd do without him. And he shares his Ben and Jerry's with me. That's love.
3. My kids rock. They are the funniest, smartest, most talented young people I know, and it is a delight watching them grow, although I wish they wouldn't do it so darned fast.
4. My church rocks. There is not a person there who would not come immediately to our (or anyone else's) aid if we had a need. We have conservatives and liberals, and everything in between, all believing on the promises of the Bible and hanging out, studying the word, and enjoying each other's company.
5. We are part of a huge extended family. My kids have a whole network of people that love them and care about them. It is so cool to have allies in life.
6. Spring is here. The yard is greening up, I can get out in it and dig or just sit in a sunbeam and soak it up. I have a fire pit and an Adirondack chair, and I'm not afraid to use 'em.
7. I am almost done with school. Really. Finally. I mean it this time. I can see it from here.
8. I can start looking for a teaching job.
9. My dogs are always happy to see me. The cats are, too, I suspect, but they'll never let on.
10. I am a blogger. I can dump my junk here, happy, frustrated or mad, and someone out there can connect with it. Some even connect enough to leave a comment. I can share a word of encouragement or a joke with someone maybe thousands of miles away, or right next door. Having this outlet helps make my life great.
10.

Happy Birthday Thing 2!!

My little clone turns 14 today. Not so little anymore, I guess; she's just as tall as I. She's about half as big around, though.
She has blossomed into a quirky comedienne. Although she could hardly get a word in edgewise, she's never been one to stand serenely in the background. Thing 1 loved to sing and perform for the camera when she was tiny. Thing 2, did, too, with a little help. We have a home video of Thing 1 performing, when along comes Thing 2, shoves her firmly out of the way, and takes the stage for herself. Thing 2 writes fan fiction and illustrates comics in her spare time. She is developing into a lovely young lady before my very eyes. Happy Birthday, Thing 2, Mama loves her baby...

Home stretch

Tagged off with iPastor this morning, headed for church, then work, then home to my pit of a house where I struggled unsuccessfully to enlist some help before coffee hour at church. That failed miserably, so I concentrated on enjoying the fellowship. Upon returning home, it was discovered that Alex had not yet seen The Princess Bride, a cultural omission that was immediately corrected. So we did get something important accomplished.
Now it's time to crank out papers and projects. I only have to drive to school 4 more times. I have no written finals, just papers to turn in, so it's time to shift into overdrive.

Tired

Spent most of the day with MIL. When iPastor woke up after night shift, he came and I went home and did 15 minutes worth of yard work and took a lovely bubble bath , then headed off to job2. Now I am back for the overnight.
On the way home Monday from the hospital with MIL, we made a gas/potty stop. I was in the back with all her bags, so I grabbed what looked like a grey sweatshirt off the top of one of her bags to wear into the gas station. I had to wrestle quite a bit to get it on; it seemed rather long When I finally got into the bathroom, I noticed the problem. It was a housecoat. Everyone else wears their jammies to WalMart, I may as well take it a step further.

Topsy turvey

Blogging from MIL's house. We're tag-teaming with her boyfriend to make sure someone is here 24/7. So far so good. She tires out easily, but she's glad to be home. We're glad she's here.

Insidious

We have a MAME. It's iPastor's toy, so I don't always pay a lot of attention to it. It has a lot of great old games on it from our misspent youth. Thing 4 likes it. He's been running around the house humming a little ditty from a game. Imagine this:
but in a sweet little boy voice. It's lodged firmly in my brain. Curse you, Pengo, curse you!

Wordless Wednesday

Windy

So the part of the state where I go to school is notorious for wind. The ante was upped a bit today. I ran out to the bread store between classes to stock up for the freezer, and their door had ripped right off the hinges. When I returned to campus, the doors where I came in had been banging so hard that the strut between them broke. It was hard driving into it in the morning, but the wind pushed me home.
Got back to town just in time to wait for the dancing girls to finish their pictures. My least favorite day of the year. Hard to herd all those kids into all those outfits and pose them. Got home late. Time for bed!

Jiggety jig

iPastor and I buzzed into the cities and stopped for a quick visit with Elsie. We checked into our hotel, then tried to decide where the heck to eat. We decided to walk down the Nicollet Mall to Market BarBCue unless something better caught our eye. We'd had a great day at job one, but that put us on the road late and some places were closing, not to mention those "bar and grill" establishments that chose to remain closed on Sundays. We did go all the way to Market, which was pretty good, but not up to Famous Dave's standards according to iPastor. I could not convince him to stay for karaoke (though it sounded like they had some good singers) so we headed back, and got to watch the late WCCO broadcast news from the back. Who knew they kept the lines looking nice on a lady's jacket with a big black binder clip in back?
This morning I went to the cattle call education job fair while Kyle got his mom squared away. Her sisters took her partway out of the city while he picked me up, then we met up with them and brought her home and got through the initial visit with hospice. She is so happy to be home! We're happy she's here. A good birthday gift for iPastor.
Happy Birthday to my favorite movie star, now appearing on DVD in the role of "Blurry Hands"

Happy Anniversary to Me!

iPastor and I are off for a few hours away from the kids.
WHeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Hey...

How did this day go by so fast?

So it goes

The weekend is bearing down fast. I'll work Saturday night, then lunch on Sunday, then we will leave for the metro for an anniversary evening out. We've just learned that while I am at the ed fair on Monday, iPastor can meet up with his mom and ride along as her boyfriend brings her home. She's been hospitalized since March 2. We're ready to have her back, and face the road ahead together.
For now, it's been a two job day and I'm shot. nitey nite

More Slop

Really wet, rainy, windy snow playing havoc with the internet connection tonite. Getting ready for the weekend. Lotsa jobs, then off to Mpls. for the education job fair. Pray for a job for me!
Otherwise, we seem to be passing a bug around the house again. I am desperate for open window weather to banish the germs with fresh air. Yuk.
Off to bed now!

This never happens...

iPastor and I both have the evening off, as does Thing 1. No school or church activities. I'm gonna go hang with the fam!

Blogger in draft.

Ooooh. Blogger has more toys. I need to keep from mucking around in the dashboard and playing with all the widgets. Time sink. Bad.
***
Seen around campus...

Why would a custodian-type person, find or be otherwise informed of a puddle on the floor, go get the "Wet Floor" signs to place around the puddle, but not bring the mop to wipe it up?
***
I am reading a rather hateful book for Gender and Sexuality in Literature class. I spent some time this afternoon Googling up the author, Edmund White. Rather, um, interesting. But better than the book. Of course, I went off on linky tangents and wound up checking out pictures of Alan Rickman, as well, but those are the hazards of Googling. One of my classmates in the aforementioned class is currently teaching a class in which he has his students Google themselves partly "Because it sounds kinda dirty to tell someone you googled yourself in class..." We take our fun where we can get it, I guess.

***
iPastor is off for the day at his mom's care conference. Hoping for some encouraging news when he comes home. Since we're down to one car I had to hitch a ride to school this morning. Not too big a deal, as the aforementioned classmate is from my hometown, so it all works out in a lovely little serendipitous kinda way.

News

So when I got to work yesterday the boss was watching this.
What's the world coming to when people are getting their butts kicked by turkeys? Gotta be a sign of the apocalypse or something.

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

iPastor ran to the Evil*Empire and got dessert for potluck, saving me a drive or baking session, so he rocks. After potluck we both had the day off and just puttered around the house.
The secondary vehicle broke down, and is too old and beat up to bother with fixing. We paid $200 for it 4 years ago, so we've gotten more than our fair share of use out of it. It has so many nickel and dime problems I'd hate to fix the one and then be faced with the rest. I'll probably get back what I paid for it at the junk yard. Now we have to be even more serious about carpooling and bike riding until we can replace it with something reliable. Gotta keep the other one in running order as well, it's getting to that questionable age. Yikes. Better keep working!

Pooped v2.0

Two job day today, tomorrow is potluck and we're on for dessert. One of us has special music tomorrow as well, but I can't remember who, so I need to throw something together just in case. I think it's actually Thing 2's turn, but she may not have anything prepared, even though we talked about it earlier in the week.
I need to go get ready for Sunday. TTFN

I'm Old

Thing 2 has her 8th grade formal tonite. Pictures when I get them uploaded.

Spring is in the air, mud is on my floor

The sun is out and the temp is heading to the mid 50's. Thing 4 and I wandered aimlessly around the yard for a while, picking up garbage uncovered by the melting snow. I made the calculated decision to have muddy dogs and put them out in the sunniest (least wet) part of the yard for a while. They were just itching for OUTSIDE! The neighbors are out trying to rake down their parking ruts, while their kid wheels around the yard in the battery-operated jeep that Thing 4 covets. We have an old one in the shed; I should see if it could be resurrected. We need to do a little "goin' fishing"to get the shed cleaned out, meaning the trailer needs to be hauled, meaning the hauling vehicle needs to be emptied, yada yada yada.
I returned to the bike store yesterday with the two older Things in tow and found a couple of used bikes for them. Now we can pass down a bike to Thing 3 and remove the various bike bits from the aforementioned shed. I have learned my lesson about buying bikes from the Evil*Empire. They fall apart.
Time for another shift in the yard. Can't pass this weather up...

I ::heart:: Runnings

Runnings is a regional Fleet and Farm outlet. We buy lawn mower blades and occasional bunnies there. They have been expanding lately, whenever possible buying old Wal*Mart buildings. Our town is no exception, and the corporate moving crew is in town moving them across the road from the old store to the new. They put them up in hotels and feed them all over town for a week. They've been at job 2 twice this week. Tonite my tab for them was over $400. They tipped VERY generously. I can pay for my online class this week! Woot! Off to bed. Just submitted homwork for said class and I am sleepy!

Ten on Tuesday

Today's Ten on Tuesday is Ten Things You’d Fix in Your Home (if you had the time and money) If time and money were of no concern, there are only a few things I'd do around my house:

1. Apply turpentine to floor
2. Light a match
3. Throw it in
4. Move to Florida