Hodge Podging for the First Time!

I've been wanting to join this hop for a while, Joyce asks such good questions, and when I came across one of my favorite Bloggers Rebecca's replies here today, I knew this week was my week.  Okay, while that's all really true, I've been feeling both wordless and censored of late, so this seems like a good way to dislodge some thoughts as well as avoid any hot button issues.

1.  Have you ever played golf?  Any interest in playing?  Do you have a significant other who loves to play?  Did you watch the Masters this weekend?


Years ago, one of my brothers attempted to teach me.  He said I had a natural swing, and that amazed me because I'm not a natural at anything athletic.  I was into it, one lesson's worth, until I 1) found out how much golfing costs, and 2) remembered that I had give up mini-golf just because I was really awful at it. Eventually, the ball is expected to get into that hole.  Par five for a whole hole is negated when I need 8 strokes on the green alone.

Brad used to play golf, but it is damaging to his back, so his never used golf shoes are going on Craigslist.  I found out he has said shoes while the men watched the Masters and I struggled to stay awake on Sunday afternoon after a delicious lunch.

Sidenote:  I once went to the US Open because I had a crush on Ben Crenshaw.  I was 15, he was cute.  That is the total of my fandom.  Decades past and pretty boring.

2.  Hats are back in fashion this spring...how do you feel about wearing a hat?  (FYI--I'm not talking baseball caps.)  When was the last time you wore one?

I have a dry scalp.  Hats, even baseball caps, drive me crazy because they make me itch so.  I also have naturally wavy/curly hair.  You think straight hair gets flattened by a hat?  Try Bozo hair!  My husband loves for me to try on hats, but we've yet to buy one. I really don't know where (I'd be able to stand) to wear it.

3.  On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being "proficient" and 1 being "I'd starve," how adept are you at using chopsticks?

If chopsticks were the only utensils to use while eating and fingers alone were not allowed, that would be a two--I'd be a size two.  Is that what you mean?   If I could stab the food with the end of stick, I'd get some nourishment but it would be awfully tedious.  Cheerios would be a challenge...

Years ago I went to London where I stopped one night to eat Chinese food.  I asked for a fork, and I was mocked by my server. Eye rolling is universal says this American who was eye-rolled by a Chinese woman working in England.

4.  Has technology taken over?

Taken over what?

5.  In the course of a day, how often do you look in a mirror?

If rear view mirrors don't count, then not many.

I look in the mirror quite a bit when I'm getting ready for work--have you even noticed that outfits that seem great in your mind don't always look so great on the body holding your mind?

After the morning, I don't look again until I'm home that night.  I'm a teacher, I'm just too lazy busy.  If I'm lucky enough to get to a bathroom during my day, there's only time to go and wash hands.  Nothing else.

6.  Tulip or daffodil? 

Tulip.  I kick myself each spring for not planting tulip bulbs the previous fall.  Confession?  We're not supposed to plant anything, we live in a townhouse and there are rules, but I plant anyway.  Just not tulips.  Yet.

Later today* I will post a photo of my tulips centerpiece from Easter.  I snapped photos of them this morning, but my school laptop is not being receptive to my decision to download them. Next year my own will be in that vase, with you as my witness!  (Can you hear the resolve of Scarlett O'Hara in that proclamation?) 


7.  I am proud of myself for  __________________.

Giving blood.  Can I move this one to number one?

I AM PROUD OF MYSELF FOR GIVING BLOOD!

I understand there are some people who medically cannot give blood. But bluntly put, most can but don't.  Yes,  I've had bruising.  Yes, I've been turned away (for low iron). Yes, I usually get a headache. Yes, I hate needles.  (For Pete's sake, who likes needles?) 

But I go to give.  I'm so happy to do it, I cry when there is success.  The people who work for Heartland, where I donate, are amazing.  If they have to stick me a number of times, I let them.  Giving blood saves lives. The pain I feel is nothing compared to what any of the recipients of my donation are enduring.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

(I'm feeling very parenthetical today.)

*Done 6:28 PM

Horace and Then Some

     It's Friday, and even though it's summer, I'm fragmented.  But it's a good kind of fragmented.  It's summer, so what's there to complain about?  Except that it's going by way too fast.

~~On Monday morning, we had a ridiculously strong thunderstorm.  It sounded like the siding was blowing off the house.  Instead, a baby robin blew out of a tree in our little yard.  I didn't find him until Tuesday.  My neighbor showed me how to feed him, and I believe we saved his life. On Wednesday I fed him again and named him Horace.  His mom started taking care of him later that day, and he just may make it.  Here's what he looked like when I first found him:

~~Mom flies away any time we go near our patio window, so here's a view from our upstairs office window of her and the plate of mushy bread plus two worms from my compost bin. Can you see her?  She's the big lump on the left.  (Plush green grass, eh?)

~~We're having a party on Sunday because Mac is home.  I bought these plates at  Dollar Tree.  I love Dollar Tree, the only store where everything is a dollar.  I figure, to be green and eventually frugal, I'd spend the $36 to get these and never have to buy paper or plastic plates for a party again!  (Local?  Feel free to borrow them.)

~~Napkins are paper though.

~~Plates (check), napkins (check), know what I'm wearing (check), not much food purchased  but some planned.  Brad's cleaning the house, love that, so as soon as I hit "publish post," it's party planning time.

~~Mac brought his girlfriend Anneke (like Monica without the M) home.  She brought me a hostess gift, wrapped in repurposed paper (love that).  It's an apron she made.   Of course Mac had to tell her I don't like seafood, and these are Louisiana crawfish, but I think it's so sweet!  (I thought they were lobsters.)

~~My friend Andi is working on obtaining a grant.  Andi taught at our school for two years, read at my wedding (explains the photo), and since moving districts has been doing a different job in a different school every school year since fall of 2007. She's worked in two different schools each day, taught two different grade levels, and she's done a stellar job!  She's had more flexibility than this ol' gal ever could find.  This year she's going back to school from a maternity break to another new position, a 4/5 split!

     Please click on this link and search her by author name (Andrea Peterson) to vote for her grant proposal.

~~Last night I posted a running question on facebook. I've been getting stitches and wanted to know how to avoid them.  This morning I woke to such great advice from about a dozen runners.  I love my friends.  I went with a banana and some of this juice for breakfast, waited 20 minutes to run, and...no stitches!  Not only that, I ran two miles and ran non-stop for 30 minutes.  This is better than I've done in this new attempt at reaching a 5K.  So I am so pleased.  A nanner a day...

~~Here's one of my next projects?  Can you tell what it is meant to be once finished?

~~I seriously love the dollar store.  Specifically, as stated above, Dollar Tree.  I found these DVD's for Brad's grandkids. Bible stories and praise songs.  And I like the cardboard sleeve versus the plastic case.  Can't wait to get them in the mail!  (Should we send them all at once or one every other week or so?)

~~A realization hit me this week as I was discussing sewing with Little Lizard King.  I realized I liked completing my simple little tote project, and hope to sew another project, because I finished it.
     In my job, I don't really and truly finish anything tangible.  We get through things, I spend precious time with my kids, then I send them on their way, so I don't ever feel like I have a finished product.
     Perhaps sewing will keep me from teacher burn out?

~~Thanks to Mrs. 4444 for allowing me, once again, to spill.

Bits and Pieces aka Fragments

So...I've been running.  And lately I've been sweating.  To keep that burning liquid out of my eyes, I bought this:

Yep, a moisture wicking headband that reads "Slow Runners Club."  I may be the only member, but I'm a proud one! Thanks to Beth Zimmerman and her share.  If I decide to hate running, I'm going to have to continue since I've made a fashion (!) investment now.

The kids have to come to school on Monday for the last day.  That's just dumb.  (We have to go on Tuesday for a half day.)

I have enjoyed each blog comment I received this week.  I blog to converse, and people have been "talking."  I don't have a lot of readers, but I do have a lot of "conversers."  Apparently, that's a made up word...

Edy's Berry Sherbet...the best sherbet there is.  (Or if you're from around here, you probably say, "sherbert.")

The vice I told about last week, without really telling you about it, well I've been successful at avoiding it for 8 days now. Woo hoo!  Thanks for your prayers.

My husband put together some storage shelves in the basement. On them he stored all the tools he's been working with in the kitchen and living room for over a month now.  The room is done.   I see the above Woo hoo and raise it with another!

I'm gearing up to give blood tomorrow.  That means iron pills, broccoli, red meat and lots of water.  I usually have to pee about eight times before giving.  The hydration helps the techs find my veins.  As soon as they pull a pint, I'm off to the john again.  Then it's time for Gatorade and cookies!

I wore what I thought as the cutest dress to a shower last week, and I didn't get one compliment.  (Shallow, I know.)  Then at church that night, a pastor's wife chased me down to tell me she loved my dress.  I was so pleased.  (Shallower, perhaps?)

Now for some real pieces, I came across a blog, Knit by God's Hand, written by Rebecca Jo only a few weeks back and we blog-bonded. (Let's see, she's a believer, she knits and she runs.  Not sure why we like each other.)  I added her to our "Dose of Fiber" group on facebook because she knits (far away in Indiana so she can't come to knit and nosh with us), and she sent these two rectangles for our group project.  The photo does NOT do them justice, they're a lovely cornflower blue.

I found this pencil on the floor at school the other day.  It's perfect, can you tell what it says?

Yep, He loves me even though I'm shallow, sweaty, run slow, don't always think the nicest things (my vice thing), and eat too much sherbet.

Thanks Mrs. 4444

Hugs, flowers on the vine, and sandals--variety is my spice!

     You can tell this one is straight out of the camera because it's so blurry!  This is my friend Gail hugging her niece and great-niece right after arriving at her surprise birthday party last Saturday.  The girls, who are about five, were soooo patient waiting for Aunt Gail.  They were so happy to see her, and as soon as the hug was over they yelled, "NOW we can eat!"

      My husband bought this vine for me because it blooms in my favorite color, and this week it bloomed!  Had to make it a two pic SOOC post!

     And now for shoes!  I skipped Dani's hop last week because the weather had been so iffy, I just couldn't get into sandals--yet I was so ready for sandals.  That changed on Monday when we hit the 80s, and I wore these Soda brand shoes with a little Old Navy sundress and tank.  The seed beads don't sparkle much in this pic, and there's some detail on the back that doesn't show--I couldn't get a photo of it without making my ankles look like an elephant's.  Bad enough you can see that I color in the lines with my "Dim Sum Plum" OPI polish...But their flat and girlie and comfy--and THEY'RE SANDALS!!!!  (Finally.)

Friday, Friday, Friday oh Friday...and I'm splintered...fragmented even

•  Have you seen the commercial where the taste buds are clamoring for Snickers ice cream? I get the idea of wanting ice cream and of cheering for ice cream.  But if taste buds can emote, can cellulite cells?  Are they thigh high and cowering in fear every time our buds have a pep rally? 

• Also,while I'm thinking of commercials did you see the one for Memorial Day at Sears where the guy opens his smokin' briefcase and it's actually a barbecue grill?  The fine print reads, "Do not attempt."  Seriously, someone had to tell me this was not a good thing to try out?

• I certainly don't get blog posts that are made up solely of photos borrowed from pinterest.  What's that all about?  I know, I know I'm a curmudgeon.  Give me a year and I'll catch up to what's cool. That's how long it usually takes me.  I am so not cutting edge. 

• In effort to be more Web savvy I asked to be invited to pinterest; I was accepted (phew, don't they know how uncool I am?) and now I'm really confused.  A place to share pictures, okay, but then people share those same pictures on their blogs?  Picture me my eyebrows furrowed, I'm lost!(Should I post a photo of that?)

• I only directly linked one video to this post because I can't very well be critical of people who post only pinterest pictures when I'm only posting youtube vids.  How hypocritical would that be?

• Answer?  VERY!

• My favorite sandwich of late, Panera's mozzarella and tomato panini. (But I've never had one this obviously cheesy.)

• My complaint of late, over air-conditioning.  I'm just getting used to being not cold and I'm now cold.  Inside.

• Vandy shared a term I plan on using all summer and beyond, "TABs," tasty adult beverages.  I'm a lightweight, one drink is enough, and it helps that my husband never drinks so I'm always safe with that one, but I do like them tasty!

• My "to do" list for this summer is growing, and I couldn't be more excited!  Now to stay on a schedule and get things done: tutoring two days, running, hill climbing, Christmas crafts, new recipes (any recipe is a new recipe to this gal), some sewing (eep), learning to crochet...can't wait! 

• I have gone cold turkey on a vice this week, I'm not going to share here what it is, but it's better that I completely avoid it.  So if you could pray for me, join me in prayer for this one, I'd love it--and God will know what you're talking about!  (It's nothing that was illegal, unhealthy or immoral, I promise you, just something that wasn't good for me emotionally.)

Mrs. 4444, I thank you for hosting Friday Fragments, it's my mini-therapy

Glad to be real:

Also hopping here...

Suddenly Tuesday

I'm so not with it as far as random goes, today is catching me by surprise, but here's the minutiae that comes to mind:

Random grad student shtuff: The folks at LSU sent me a parking pass!  Aren't I lucky?  Actually, they sent it to Mac at his home address here in IL.  Hm, should I keep it?

Random Dose of Fiber shtuff:  I'm learning how to knit.  It's slow going.  Yesterday I got together with my girls, my Dose of Fiber girls, and we laid out the blanket we're working on for Warm-Up America and Ronald McDonald House. 

It's going to look great.  

We have 24.5 completed rectangles (note the skein in photo below), and we need 49.

Random explanation shtuff:  Why do I always say I'm "learning" to knit when I've been at it for more than a year now?  My rectangle, my only one so far, is the baby blue one in the first position second row from the bottom.  Can you say "simple"?  I knew you could.  Very. Slow. Going.

Random winter accessory on the first sundress day of the season shtuff:  Helen, group member and friend, gave me this scarf, and since it matched my dress, I wore it while I stitched and ate cook-out food.

Neato slip-knot feature!

Goes so well with the tank top, tank dress and love beads, eh?

Gorgeous colors. Next I learn to crochet!

Random Fashion Note:  As mentioned above, it was warm enough to wear a sundress yesterday!!

Random Run Ellie, Run shtuff:  Can you believe no one from Couch to 5K reads my blog, and therefore no one responded to the open letter I posted here?  Anyway, I tried the 20 minute thing on day three of last week, and it wasn't working.  But...I am happy to say I have decided to continue to push myself to goals I think I can reach. Yesterday, I ran 9 minutes, walked 4, and ran 15.  And it felt GOOD!  So I'm sure 20 is coming very, very soon.  And that after that, 21, 22, 23...you get the picture.  Feel free to cheer me on, I need it.  Any color poms will do...

Random Shocking Shtuff:  On Saturday, we attended a surprise 50th birthday party for my friend Gail.  Was  she surprised?  You be the judge...I believe her mouth may still be hanging open!

For more random thoughts, run over to visit Stacy...

So Fitting for this Friday

     My facebook status earlier this week read, "Scatter.  Brained."  It's still that time of year, the end of the school year when two words collide, in this case '10-'11 and '11-'12.  Assessments, planning, field trips, sectioning, packing, grading, copying, oh yes, and still teaching too! I think my next update should be "More. Scatter. Brained." 

     So thank you to Mrs.4444 for letting me be who I need to be today.  Thankful, exhausted, and fragmented.  Not in that order...

~~I have two pimples on my chin.  I'm 50. Should this even be happening any more?
~~My good friend who is nearly 20 years younger has two in the same spots.  We are zit sisters, separated at birth...
~~Made us laugh, but she's a tired teacher too, so there you go.
~~The other day, I was walking past the computer lab where the first graders were working, and there was an image of Bear on the screen, and I started to cry.  This is a special bear from a series of books my son, turning 25 in August, liked as a child.  And the very last book my mom read to him the day she died was...

~~I've been dreaming about my mom a lot, missing her a lot lately.  Almost 20 years.  I can't believe I have lived this long without my mom.
~~For quite a long time, I've wanted a double shepherd's hook in my garden. So I got two hanging baskets ready and went to buy my hook.  Brad stuck it deep in the ground in seven places--no small feat in our little patch of yard, and it kept bending.  Eventually it bent completely, as in lying in the grass, over.  So these are my sitting baskets sans hook, for now...(the white is bird poop on the gerbera daisies, nice natural touch--literally, eh?)

~~Looking forward to the weekend, especially Monday when my "Fiber" girls get together...
~~She's not one of my fiber girls, still she makes some amazing things.  Check out Cecily's blog and enter to win a gorgeous quilt, check out her envirofriendly sandwich wraps or some of the other fun and lovely things she creates.

~~Like much of our nation, we were stormed on over the past couple of days.  Wednesday night was bad.  So bad I couldn't sleep for a couple of hours.  On the way to school yesterday, the same route I've taken most days for four years, a stop sign was missing.  It was disorienting.  I thought of people hit by the stronger storms, how disoriented they must be by the lack of trees, signs, cleared roads, second stories, roofs...and I prayed a harder for them.
~~May those of us who have remained safe through this tumult called spring thank God for our simple worries.

From Top to Bottom

     This week has gone by in a blur.  While I was blog surfing one evening, instead of the zillion other things I could should have been doing, I came across a Saturday hop I looked forward to joining, SOOC, Straight Out of the Camera Saturday.

    

     So here's my photo of the week from yesterday's field trip to Feed My Starving Children.  It's the end of our time there, we'd been packing food for over an hour, had cleaned up all the work stations and now the students were waiting to pray over the food in the hope it would arrive in, in this case Haiti, safely.

If you'd like to see more photos from this amazing experience, please click here to go to my classroom blog!

Thanks Amy, for this photo opportunity!  I hope to join again and again.  

Thinking of this hop will make me take more pics!

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Hm, now onto my usually Saturday depths...my shoe post.  You know I love my Satruday shoe share with Dani over at Living Outside the Stacks, so I pondered this week just what shoes to feature.  I decided on these, my oh-so-fun polka dot rain boots.

     My friend Annemarie gave them to me last fall because I was worried my once-a-week crosswalk duty way out at the end of the school's driveway would find me ruining at least one pair of shoes.  I was certain I'd be caught out there in a deluge at least once this school year.  I was delighted to receive them and I kept them at the ready, right next to my desk all year.  Once made their owner, I really wanted to wear them.  I so wanted a raining duty day!  Except, guess what?  Not a single drop of rain on a single one of my duty days all year.  Three duty days left.  "So you're sayin' there's a chance?"
     I may just pull them on on the last day of school...just for fun, rain or shine.  How do you think they'd look with pink shorts and a white peasant top on June 13th?

This is a fun hop, come on, show your shoes!

Friday Fragments for the First Time

     Okay, on Tuesday I was random, on Wednesday I shared shared words, yesterday I sort of quoted something I heard on the radio...where's the real me?  I'm here, but I'm feeling scatter-brained and fragments seem to be a perfect fit.

Thank you Mrs. 4444

• I am taking part in blog hops this month in particular, because I've decided this is "Making Friends May."  I am strengthened by my little blogging community.
• This time of any school year is befuddling and emotional--wrapping up this school year (with fun and mega-assessments) while looking ahead to next year without really be ready to think about it.
• My to do list at home is causing me stress. This is dumb, there's nothing stressful on it.  It's just long.  It will get done.
• I lied...working on my recertification is making me stick my head in the sand.
• This week, a male teacher's wife had her baby.  While she was laboring, an email came out to ALL of us telling us when she was at "a 7."  I'm okay with not knowing the particulars.  It doesn't offend me, but isn't that a little TMI?
• On Tuesday night I sat here and wrote a long blog post about my situation (or lack thereof) with my sister.  I read it to Brad and he listed reasons to not publish it.  Smart man.  But boy, you missed out on some REAL writing.  I actually do have that ability.
• My kids at school are totally into the card game Children's Authors.  I love hearing them talk about Laura Ingalls Wilder, Hans Christian Anderson, and Beatrix Potter as they play.  They ask for inside recess just to play!

• Today 4S goes to FMSC.  Hairnet pictures can't be far off!
• My husband has been working on the great (our only downstairs) room for five or six weeks now.  (I'm afraid to verify the date...) It's going to look nice and smooth, but I think resurfacing the walls may put him in a straight jacket.  Next, the master suite.  Eep.
• My tomato plants are looking, um, weathered.  So much for starting them from seed.  And last weekend I planted my zinnia seeds, but it was so windy, they may have blown to the neighbor's yard.  Ashlee, be on the look out for blooms...
• What does fondant taste like?
• Right now I'm reading Juliet Fay's new book. The Paris Wife and Rob Bell's Love Wins are next.

• Now that I'm working on this Couch to 5K running plan (turns out there are a few, and some are harder, but since I'm into this one now for 4 weeks, I'll stick with it), I am not able to read on the treadmill.  I'm losing reading time.  But I hope I'm gaining much more.