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 |  Welcome to Whatsit's Wild World. |
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Sometimes I think we're all tightrope walkers suspended on a wire two thousand feet in the air, and so long as we never look down we're okay, but some of us lose momentum and look down for a second and are never quite the same again: we know. ~Dorothy Gilman The Tightrope Walker |
| Work Three weeks until Spring Break. That's fourteen more days at work. I'm ready to find the Fast Forward button for Time. Kids Soccer, soccer, and more soccer. Laundry All caught up. This may be a first since I had three children. Dishes They're caught up too. Can you believe it? Me neither. What I'm Reading I'm still on Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster. Common Nonsense A collection of columns by Andy Rooney. Loud and Clear A collection of columns by Anna Quindlan. Let me make one thing clear . . . . . . as to why I "have time" to read so much. I have two bathrooms - that's two books. I have a kitchen table - anytime I sit down to eat, I get a page or two read. I carry one around in my car for those odd moments. I never just sit around and read, ever. Well, last week I did - I sat down in my rocking chair and read for about ten minutes before being compelled to get up by one of the many situations that come up around my house. It was the first time in years I had done that. |
| I am having one of those days. They seem to come more and more frequently. What kind of day is that? Well, I called my assistant principal and said that I was taking an I'm-sick-of-work day. I said that I know you aren't supposed to say that, but that's exactly what it is. She's the type person you can say stuff like that to. She said, "Well, the truth is the truth, and believe me, I understand." It made me feel good that she validated me on that point. So, then I had to go tell my husband that I was taking a day off. He thinks I take too many days off in relation to how many I have available. He is probably right. Anyway, I went in there and told him what I told the assistant principal. I said that he could get mad if he wanted to, but that wasn't going to help my stress level, which is what this is all about. He actually managed not to get mad, or if he did, he held it in just for this morning. I'm sure I'll hear about this in some future argument, though. Nothing is ever over in our relationship, it always comes back to haunt me. Oh well, it has developed my "I don't give a damn" skills to a fine point. Every Sunday at church, they go ahead and give my husband his check for that week. Monday was President's day, so he cashed his check yesterday. We're big believers in operating with cash - I think a checking account is nothing more than a necessary evil. So, there we were with cash-in-hand. We filled both of our cars up with gas (both of us were almost to the fumes point). stocked up on groceries, and have a little left over for the weekend. Now I feel set, at least for this week. Just having a full tank of gas gives me a lift. Groceries have gotten so expensive I go through the store adding everything up on the calculator on my cell phone. I have a few chores to do today, mostly washing clothes, but for the most part, I just intend to rest. I am almost at my breaking point, and nobody around me is interested. Okay, whine over. For now. |
| What's odd We had three little girls at church, my daughter and two others, who turned eight last week. Bethany turned eight on Monday, Ellen turned eight Saturday, and Anna Claire turned eight yesterday. How weird is that? What I'm reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Maybe, Maybe Not by Robert Fulghum Still on The Cat who Wasn't There by Lilian Jackson Braun Health I've had a severe sore throat for about five days, but it is finally going away as of this morning. Kids Matt has a soccer game in about thirty minutes. He has his soccer uniform over some warm-ups. Anna Claire reported that everybody was suitably impressed with her pierced ears at school today. Emily lost a tooth Saturday. The tooth fairy forgot to come Sunday, unfortunately, but remembered by this morning. Work We had what's called a "learning walk," which consists of people from the administrative offices walking through the school, sitting in classrooms, and generally poking their noses everywhere. Then they report to the principal what they think. I am SO thrilled that they did not come into my area, but my first class wasn't until 10:00, and they were about ready to wind it up at that point. The verdict? The principal wouldn't come out and say so, but evidently it was not great. I'm not sure what specifically they said was wrong. I know one thing that they said was that the teacher's assistants weren't doing any work. I'm not sure which teacher's assistants they were looking at, because those women work their tails off. You can't just look into a classroom and expect to get any kind of idea what's going on. You have to be in there day in and day out. I'd like to see any of them deal with our jobs for one week. |
| Anna Claire's birthday is tomorrow - she will be eight years old. For weeks, she has been talking of getting her ears pierced. We had come to the decision that she could get them pierced for her birthday - my mother said she would pay for it as her present. That's all Anna Claire has talked about: getting those ears pierced. We decided to go this afternoon instead of waiting until tomorrow. It got down to time to go, after going to McDonald's for lunch. All of a sudden, Anna Claire decided that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all, to have this procedure done. She got a pouty look on her face and said. "Mama, I'm worried about getting my ears pierced." After all those weeks of talking, now that it was time, she was scared. I was a little surprised by this, because usually once she makes up her mind, that's the end of it. Now she was going in the extreme other direction, because she was really acting like she was going to refuse to get them done. Mama said "Let's just drive up there and then we can decide." This was a good idea - it got her into the car. Then when we got to the store, and she actually got in the chair, she decided she might as well go through with it. She squeezed her eyes shut and it was over before she knew it. And I'm glad it's over with!  What surprised me was how much it cost - $36.00. I had no idea it was that much. Good grief. And I wasn't even the one paying. But she looks as cute and grown as she can be, and now she's glad she has pierced ears. |
| What I'm Reading Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy by Rumer Godden The Cat Who Wasn't There by Lilian Jackson Braun. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman. Just Got Through With Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw - better than I expected. New Nicknames for the Kids See if you know where these came from. Emily - Rumpelteazer Anna Claire - Jennieanydots Matt - Mungojerrie Update My grandmother is much better. I told you she was in fantastic health. She will probably outlive me. My mother was worried about catching the pneumonia from her, but so far she seems to be doing fine. Latest Concotion Last night we had the tail end of about 8 or 9 loaves of bread - not sure how we went through so many. By the time you make five people a sandwich, that's half the loaf, especially if daddy eats two. Anyway, I had bought a nice, new loaf and wanted to get rid of all those miscellaneous bread pieces lurking around. So I crumbled them up and mixed them with several eggs and the tail end of a jug of milk, along with some sugar and cinammon. I baked the whole thing for about 35 minutes. It gave me the big head because it turned out so good. I didn't measure any of it, I just threw it all together. Feeling Virtuous Because . . . . . I went to the Kroger grocery store and found Bunny Bread for $1.00. It's usually almost three dollars. Feeling Puzzled Because . . . . . . lately Matt has been being extra-hardheaded. My husband says he got it from me, and I say he got it from hubby, but the truth is he was double-dipped. Since Christmas, Matt has come out of his shell on the misbehavior, which is unusual. I'm used to general-little-boy-goofiness, but this is different. Is there something about little boys turning six years old that make them act this way? I haven't been able to figure out any outstanding event that would have triggered it, life has been on an even keel lately. Last Night on TV Usually I am not a TV person. I think everything on TV is dumb, most of the time. But last night, before hubby got home from church (the kids and I played hooky), I found Sense and Sensibilty. Actually it was Part Two. I was sorry I missed the first part, because it was a stunning show. I've never read it, but this rendition of it was fabulous. There was nobody famous in it, which was probably why I liked it. And That Is The end. Y'all have a great day! |
| Every year the Dixie National Rodeo comes to the Jackson Coliseum in February. Part of this is a wagon train that makes its way through the whole state until arriving at the Coliseum. The wagon train had stopped to camp at Coal Bluff Park. Most of them have trailers to sleep in. One couple was found dead in their trailer one morning earlier this week. They think it was carbon monoxide poisoning caused by the heating unit. The wife was our music minister's niece. Their children were 7, 5, and 3. http://www.wapt.com/news/18639776/detail.html The funeral is tomorrow. We are going. It breaks my heart, these three children being left parent-less. They had been staying with other family members. Somebody please explain this to me. |
| More big head Gail won on Jeopardy again today. This goes to show that we DO have smart people in Mississippi. I'm the other one. Not so great news My grandmother has walking pneumonia. She has always been in fantastic health, except for glaucoma, and a bout with breast cancer which came and went pretty quickly. However, pneumonia at 83 years old is something to worry about. She's not in the hospital, but she got two shots and a prescription. Work Our students left at noon today (professional development) and they're out tomorrow(parent-teacher conferences). It's nice to be at work with no children, I can get some things done. I have been put in charge of Accelerated Reader. This is a computer program that tests children on books they've read, then gives them points if they pass. It's up to the teacher to reward them for how many points they get. Since there have been about 6 librarians in ten years, it hasn't been maintained. I had to unenroll about 500 - really and truly 500 - children who are no longer at our school, and now I have to enter about 200 who are there now. Around 175 of our current kids are already in there. It's a good thing I like doing stuff like that, plus I think AR is a good program that would benefit our children. Otherwise it would be a chore. Kids Emily and Matt started back to soccer practice, Hooray! They can work some of their energy out. Anna Claire and Matt have a Valentine's party tomorrow night. Yeah, I thought that was funny too, when they started that a few years ago, a Valentine's party for Kindergarten through Second-graders at night. But it gets rid of them for a while, and they have a good time. Upcoming Guess what we have planned for Valentine's Day? A soccer tournament for Emily and Sam is performing a wedding. Also, Anna Claire's 8th birthday is the 15th, so we have to throw a celebration in there somewhere. I may have to take that Monday off. |
| http://www.wapt.com/news/18620205/detail.html This link is about Mississippi native Gail Flemmons appearing on Jeopardy this afternoon. My husband and I used to go to church with Gail, and she came to our wedding. We were in the same Sunday School class for about two years. This is giving me a serious case of the big head, the fact that I know somebody that will be on TV. |
U - G - L - Y You ain't got no alibi You're ugly! Yeeeeaaahh, you're ugly! This is exactly how I feel about the new color scheme. I liked the pale yellow. I'm STILL not sure why it had to depart. Did they take a poll before they did away with the old color scheme and came up with this peculiar version of ugliness? If they did, I never saw it. What would be ideal, to my mind, is if everybody could set their own color scheme, at least for their own area. I know less than nothing about setting up a website, so I'm not sure how hard this would be to do. I do know that I have seen other blogging sites where you could do this. For free, too. I normally like purple, but this is hard on my eyes. It just seems to me like it could look better. Just one woman's humble opinion. |
| Most people have their obsessions. My personal obsession is books. I grew up as an only child, so I read a lot. I don't have any idea if I popped out loving books, or if the fact that I was alone most of the time during childhood and adolescence turned me onto them. Probably the fact that my mother read to me every day as a little child helped. Nobody else in my family growing up particularly liked to read except me. My mom would read sometimes if she found something that struck her, and my Papaw would read Louis L'Amour and every other western he could lay his hands on, but that's about it. I'm the one that loves books, collects them, re-reads them, and talks about them. One good thing about this is that my kids love to read and be read to. The see me walking around with a book in my hand, sticking them in my purse, having stacks of them in my car and in the bathroom, and reading at the table, and they have followed my example. Even Anna Claire, my not-particularly-academically-inclined child, loves to read. If I have done nothing else, I have turned my kids onto reading. Another thing I like is lists - the top 10 this, and the 10 best of that. I also love making lists. So of course, one of my favorite things is a book list. Recently I blogged about re-reading the same things over and over. I have decided I need some new stuff to read besides what I am already as familiar with as a good friend. I've been printing out book lists. I'm going to try to make it my business to read what's on them. Here's what I printed out. The Newbery Medal winners I've read quite a few of these. The Newbery goes to the best children's book of the year. In the nineties, when I was a children's librarian at a public library, I decided to become familiar with them. Most of them are pretty interesting, but some are as dull as an old pencil, and make you wonder why they won. I wanted to be able to recommend which ones were good and which weren't. People don't want to waste time reading a bad book. Except me, of course - once I start a book, even if it's boring, I make it my business to finish it. The Newbery Honor books These are the runners-up to the Newbery Medal. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction There are also several other Pulitzer categories - Non-fiction, Biography, Drama, and no telling what else. I'm concentrating on Fiction right now. Lonesome Dove is on the list. I've read that, and it's really good, so I know these aren't just some old musty, funky, "literary" works. Guess what else won the Pulitzer that I was surprised about? Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Movies Based on Books My favorite from this list is the book Field of Dreams was based on. The book is called Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella. It's very baseball-ish, but I'm not particularly a baseball fan, and I still enjoyed it. There's a lot in the book that didn't make it into the movie - for example, the main character, who was played by Kevin Costner, had a twin brother who worked for a carnival. Reader's Digest Condensed Books My mother had dozens of these. While I didn't read every single one, I read a good many, especially while I was at home alone during the summer. Then I discovered that you could probably check the real book out from the library and get a lot more enjoyment out of it. I have two favorites from this list: Full Disclosure by William Safire, and I Take the Serenity by Daisy Newman. |
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Well, it is the time of miracles I guess.