Believing we can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height.

I just bought a bunch of Lionel Richie tunes for my iPod.

I read Strega Nona by Tomie DePaola to my kids today. I saw Tomie DePaola years ago in person at a library conference at the University of Mississippi. I have always been a fan of his.

I finally finished The Poisonwood Bible on Saturday. I am now on The Secret History by Donna Tartt from Mississippi (new), I Took A Lickin' and Kept on Tickin' and Now I Believe In Miracles by Lewis Grizzard (re-read), and Little Women oh, come on, you know who this is by (re-read),

My daughter was in her room hitting her TV. I go in there and find out that it's because the sound won't work. She's in there with her bottom lip poked out at 14 years old. I take the remote from her and change the channel. The sound on that channel and every other channel besides the one she had it on had sound. That shut her up.

We bought groceries, since our cupboard was almost literally bare.

I'm tired.

The end.
 

Tonight my husband played the violin at a wedding. It was in a part of town I had never been to: Jackson, Mississippi is bigger than you think. Actually, this was in a suburb, Flowood, which is north of Jackson, and I live in Richland, which is kind of east-ish. The wedding was at a great big antebellum (pre-Civil War) house. I am sure that when this couple planned their outside wedding, they felt fairly safe picking a late April date. Usually late April is the best time to have an outdoor wedding: any later and it would have been too hot until almost November. However, this IS Mississippi, and weird things happen. It was so cold that hubby could barely play the violin and had to tape his music to the stand to keep the pages from blowing away. I'm not complaining, mind you. I like it when it turns cool unexpectedly, but I know the bride couldn't have been thrilled. Rain was threatening too: I wondered whether the facility had an alternate plan or not. I was worried that it would start pouring down any moment.

I always feel a little sorry for people who are just getting married. They think they have hit the jackpot, but they have a long row to hoe.
 

My mother got a new dog today. Welcome to the family, Belle! She is a little belle, too: a precious little cocker spaniel.
 

Matt's ear hurts. My mom is taking him to the doctor.

We have thunderstorms in Mississippi today.

I have been assigned to tutor in third grade every morning from 8 to 10. I don't mind this at all. I usually sit at the back and work with one or two of those who need special help. However, today there is a substitute in the room. She talks in a monotone. I stayed in there until she gave me a headache, then skedaddled. I am currently hiding out in the computer lab.

I received my evaluation from the principal yesterday. She has never been in my room a single time to see me teach, so I have no idea where she got her information.

Today is the last day of school until Tuesday - Easter Break. Hooray!

I am still on The Poisonwood Bible. It's good! Also, Kira-Kira, which is technically a children's book, but it won the Newbery Medal. As a children's librarian, I try to keep up with these things. It IS an entertaining book, I've never read either of these before.
 

So much of life, it seems to me, is determined by pure randomness.
Sidney Poitier

I went back to work today.

I got elected to help chaperone the third graders on a field trip. They went to a play at the city auditorium based on some of Grimm's Fairy Tales. The beginning and ending were cute. I dropped off to sleep in the middle. No wonder. We had ten thousand steps to walk up: there are a bunch of steps to climb before you even get in the building, then on top of that, we sat in the balcony. Plus I don't feel totally well yet. I guess, technically, I am over the flu. It's hard to explain.

I don't feel present with myself. I haven't since last week. Everything feels surreal to me. Going back to work felt especially so. I suppose this is an after-effect of being sick.

Emily and Matt had choir practice. Anna Claire and I took that opportunity to watch two episodes of Scooby-Doo on the couch together. Wimzy watched with us. Actually, she slept and we watched. This helped me feel more normal than I have been feeling.

We had thunderstorms this evening. After work, I was watching the wind blowing the grass: it caused a ripple effect. It was neat. Sitting on the couch watching TV while it rained and blew outside was super-neat.

I went to Kroger store and purchased some of their Denali Maximum Fudge Extreme Moose Tracks ice cream. I had a bowlful with two hazelnut creamers poured over it. Hallelujah! Heh heh.

What I am reading:
All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver




 

Nothing induces a major frenzy
Like coming down with the influenzy

~Mrs. Whatsit

I now have the flu. Matt now has the flu. Anna Claire is coming down with the flu. Emily hasn't gotten it yet, but she is in her room coughing right this minute. How is hubby, you might reasonably ask? Just fine. The killing part is that all three kids got flu shots.
 

My husband has the flu. The flu! Normally he procrastinates going to the doctor, and in all honesty, he rarely gets sick enough. Most of his illnesses get well about as fast as they would with a doctor's appointment. Last night, though, he was miserable enough to want to go to the emergency room.

The flu! Can you believe it?
 

1. I made my last car payment Monday! That's a big weight off my mind. My car is ten years old and has 143,000 miles on it, but I own it!

2. My school had Spring Break - a whole week off! Today is the last day. I suppose it will go by in about five minutes.

3. Since my grandmother died, my mother wound up with all of her stuff. My grandmother HATED to throw anything away. One thing my mother wound up with was a whole bunch of towels. She decided to divide these with me. Let me tell you one thing about my mother: it's no use to try to tell her anything, like that you already have more towels than you need. I went ahead and carried them with me and I suppose I will find a place for them eventually. Right now, they are still in the trunk of my car.

4. One good thing that my grandmother had was an old diary. I was helping my mother try to go through a few things the other day and I found it. I had never seen it before. It went from around 1942 to 1944. I couldn't keep my eyeballs off of it. My mom was born in 1943 and that was one of the entries. Memaw stayed in the hospital for nine days afterward - that was how they did it back then. That sounds good compared to my little three days when my kids were born!

5. I made up the bed with my husband in it this morning. I do this more than you think. I'll tell him around 10,000 times to get up. For some reason, having the bed made up around you helps in the waking up process. I just heard him go get a shower. Ha! Good for me.
 

Chocolate is the first luxury. It has so many things wrapped up in it: Deliciousness in the moment, childhood memories, and that grin-inducing feeling of getting a reward for being good.
~Mariska Hargitay

Double Chocolate Chip

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 small instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 T. vanilla
1/4 C. water
1 Butter Cake Mix
8 oz sour cream
1 package of chocolate chips

If you are a chocolate addict, this is the dessert for you! It's great if you have to take a dish somewhere. I always bake mine in a Bundt pan. It doesn't need icing. Bake it at 350 degrees for . . . well, mine always takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to bake. Bake it until it pulls away from the pan. Also, I love the Baker's Joy spray. Supposedly it has the flour already in it. Spray in the Bundt pan first for a perfectly turned out cake.