Meet Me on Monday

Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!



Questions:

1.  Tomorrow I am _________
going to be super busy.  One bright spot:  After tomorrow, only 2 more Mondays before Summer Break!

2.  When is your birthday?
March 29th.

3.  What are you currently excited about?
A new school assignment.  While I really hate to leave one of my schools, I'm being assigned to the newest school in the system (this is the first year it's been open).  I've heard great things about the principal, and the technology is up to date!

4.  Do you have any secrets?
I'm an open book.  I can keep a secret, but mainly because I've got so many other things going on, I can't remember what the person told me!

5.  What do you normally eat for lunch?
A lot of times I'll eat leftovers from supper the night before.  If I don't have any leftovers, I'll take a sandwich and an apple.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's Wednesday, so it's time for the Hodgepodge...because I can't think of anything to blog about on my own!

1. William Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated on April 23rd...when did you last read Shakespeare? What's your favorite Shakespeare play? 

The only play that I think I've actually seen is Romeo & Juliet.  Sad, but true.  I did see this in October when CH & I went to London:

 Sadly, there were no plays going on when we were there.

2. What food(s) would you recommend a foreign visitor try when they visit your home country?

Oh my.  Barbecue, maybe?  Moon pies for sure!

3. What's a lie you often tell yourself?

My boys are perfect. 

4. What's something you're good at that might surprise us? Remember this is a family friendly blog!

Oh, gosh.  I have no idea!  I'm pretty much an open book...y'all already know all of my secrets!

5. Who is your favorite animal character from a book?

Geez, Joyce...could you have made the questions any harder this week?  Maybe I should've thought of something to blog about on my own!

I'll have to say Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, because I just can't think of anything else right now!

6. April showers bring May flowers...do you have a green thumb?

Ha, ha...no.

7. Speaking of rainy days...which one of the following activities would you most want to spend time doing on a rainy day-

sort photos and create albums

bake cookies

read a good book

hold an all-day movie marathon

organize closets, cupboards, or bookshelves

try a new recipe

fix something that needs fixing

Hold an all-day movie marathon.  Yep, I'm real exciting like that!

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

TCAPS are this week, which means that speech therapy is hit or miss.  I have to administer the test to small groups and/or read-aloud, as well as help with make-ups.  It's a nice break from the routine, and it signals that the end of the school year is almost here!  (3 more Mondays!)  At one of my schools, every student was given a cap with a big "T" on it.  (T-CAP...get it???) Since the students' scores factor into the teachers' evaluations, a lot of the teachers have been a lot more stressed this year.  This has been circulating around:

 

Meet Me On Monday

Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

Questions:
1.  I keep putting off _________
Calling for my annual gyno appointment.  With it being this late in the school year, I'm going to wait until summer break for the appointment, but I need to go ahead and  make the appointment!

2.  What is your current weather?
Right now (at 9:00 p.m. Sunday night) it's 48 degrees!  The mountains may get snow tonight, which is really bizarre.)

3.  What is the nicest room in your house?
We aren't a formal kind of family, so I don't know that any of our rooms are "nice" in the fancy way.  My living room is nice and big; we spend most of our time here:

 or here:

 (If anyone has any ideas about our living room, please feel free to comment!)
4.  What jewelry do you never take off?
My wedding rings and upper earrings.

5.  Do you eat a snack before bed?
NO!  If I did, I'd probably weigh 300 pounds!  :)

The End of An Era

Okay, let's try this post again and see if I can remember exactly what I said before!

(for photo credits, please click on the picture)

Yesterday marked the End of an Era for Lady Vols' Fans.  The Lady Vols haven't had a new coach in 38 years.  When (then) Pat Head took over the reigns as head coach, she was a graduate student and the players were very close to her age.  Pat did it all:  coach, trainer, bus driver, uniform washer, and fund-raiser.  She not only made the UT Program the premier ladies' college basketball program; she put Ladies' Basketball on the map.

I was 12 years old when she took over.  I remember watching a basketball game on tv when I was in high school.  Pat was staring down a player in her famous icy stare, then called a time out.  I told my mom that if I was that player, no way would I have wanted to go over and stand next to her. Pat was a yeller, but a very efficient one:  there has never been an NCAA Tournament without the Lady Vols, 1098 wins out of 1306 games,  8-time National Champion, 2 basketball courts bare her name (UTK and UT-Martin); she is the winningest coach of all time (Duke's men's coach needs 181 wins to catch her).  With all of that, probably her most impressive record is the 100% graduation rate of players who stuck with the program for their college career. She has been known to sit in class with players having a difficult time, as well as having players miss a game due to upcoming tests. Her players are required to sit in the front row during class. She was asked a couple of times to consider being the men's coach, as well as a coach for WNBA teams. Her heart was with the Lady Vols.

Pat Summitt is the epitome of class.  When a competitor (who is known as "he who shall not be named" around here!) openly criticized her for not continuing the rivalry, she refused to address it.  Anytime something happened to another sports team on campus, one of the 1st responses would be, "Pat wouldn't have allowed that to happen."

So, you can imagine everyone's dismay here in Big Orange Country when, in August, she made the announcement that she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia-Alzheimers type. While she refused for anyone to throw her  a pity party, it was disheartening for fans to see her on the sideline, sitting in a chair, allowing one of the assistant coaches to take over her role.  Even more sad was her obvious absence from interviews.  A couple of times when she was interviewed, her lack of word finding skills was apparent.  Maybe it's just that we didn't notice it before.

Pat is a tough woman, for sure.  A few years ago, she had a raccoon on her back porch; she went out and chased it away, dislocating her shoulder in the meantime.  She has shown us that she has a good sense of humor: After then men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl showed up at a Lady Vols game topless and wearing body paint, she returned the favor at a men's game by dressing up as a cheerleader, leading "Rocky Top" as well as some cheers, and was the top of a pyramid that included now-head coach Holly Warlick and assistant coach Dean Lockwood.  She is legend...wait for it....dary!

She now has a new title:  Head Coach Emeritus, which means she will no longer be on the team's bench (per NCAA rules).  It's not going to be the same without her.

Pat Summitt IS the Lady Vols!

@#$%H!

I had one of my best posts EVER started this morning, and was just about to finish, when ....POOF!  A finger hit the wrong thing and erased the whole bloomin' post!!!  AAARRRRGGH!
I hope to be back with it tomorrow!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Spring is in the air (at least in my neck of the woods) and the birds are singing...what's your favorite bird?

To eat or to look at/hear?  (ha, ha...just read Joyce's post about eating duck!) I love seeing Cardinals in the winter, especially on the rare occasions when we get snow.  Then there's the chickadee.  They are really pretty little birds. Swans are absolutely beautiful; so graceful.  And, how can I forget the hummingbird?  Those little bitty birds are just chock-full of energy!

2. Speaking of birds...do you tweet? If so tell us your screen name and we'll come flocking to your Twitter site. Even if you don't let's all pretend here that we do-in 140 characters or less, sum up your week so far

I have a twitter account, but I'm not very faithful about tweeting.  I did tweet one of my favorite meteorologist's coworkers, and she answered my tweet!  (More on my favorite meteorologist in #8!)

My screen name:  tnslp29

I also play WWF & Hanging with Friends (mpkcoop), so look me up!  My newest addiction is Gardens of Time.  I'm tnslp in the Aries Guild.  If you haven't played...don't.  Highly addictive! 

Summing up my week:  PAINFUL!  As in sciatica...can barely walk...multiple trips to the chiropractor.  It's getting better slowly but surely.  At least I'm able to stand up straight!

 

3. Its been reported recently that employers are not only viewing the facebook pages of potential hires but they're also requesting your facebook password to have a look at what you've kept from public view. What say you?

We've told the boys many, many times to be careful about what is going on their FB and their friends' FB pages.  It could be a make or break situation.  On one hand, I think that what a person does in their personal life is their own business, but on the other hand, if an employee's work is suffering, a little looksie on their FB page might explain a whole lot!

4. It's April and you know what that means-Major League Baseball is back in action. What's your favorite baseball movie? If that's too hard, what's your favorite sports themed movie? 

"Field of Dreams" was pretty good, but I'm going to have to go with "Major League".

5. Something else this season brings-asparagus. Yes please or no thanks? If it's yes please what's your favorite way to have it prepared?

I have only eaten asparagus a couple of times...I can take it or leave it.

6. What drives you? (Don't you love how I sandwiched that one in between asparagus and jugglers???)

Competition.  Seriously.  And having a goal.

7. April 18th is International Jugglers Day...can you juggle?

Ha, ha, ha....no.

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

Last Wednesday, my favorite meteorologist paid a visit to one of my schools.   Here we are back in 2010:

 Here's a picture from last Wednesday:

Notice anyone missing? ME!  Oh, the girls in the picture had great fun taunting me with the fact that he was there on a day when I'm not!   We love our meteorologist! 

Hunk of Burning Mulch

Sunday a fire broke out at a place in the Big City that stores mulch and other organic material.  The fire is 9 acres big.  It shouldn't affect us, right?  Up until this morning, I hadn't noticed it. This morning I smelled it as I left for work, and I noticed a haze in the direction of the Big Town.  The news said that the winds had shifted a bit, so I figured it meant it was away from us.  I'm sure we've all seen the big pile of mulch that appears to have steam coming from it.  Apparently the mulch at this place has caught on fire before, but because of lightening strikes and even spontaneous combustion a couple of times, but it's never been this big.  And this morning it was reported that run off from the water got into a creek and has killed some fish.
They're doing what they can to get this out:  they even had some fire trucks from the airport come in and try to put it out.  Apparently a back hoe (that they brought in to try to break through the mulch so the firefighters could spray the actual fire) was the one that broke the barrier and allowed run off in the creek, which runs into a river, which resulted in the dead fish. So, his duties have changed to try to build back up the barrier to save the fish.  Poor guy!  If it was a mistake, he must feel awful!
The more they spray water on the pile, the more smoke.  Businesses and residences have been told to turn off the HVAC if it brings in outside air, and the fire dept. captain advised to watch for carbon monoxide poisoning, even though the material is organic.  It's expected to continue burning for days.

 Photos by Mark McIntyre, special to the News-Sentinel

So...has there been anything exciting going on where you live?

Meet Me on Monday

  Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

Questions:

1.  Right now I could really eat _________?
Chocolate.  I've significantly reduced my sugar intake, and I honestly would like a piece of some good chocolate!
 
2.  Full length pants or capri's?
I LOVE my capris in the summer!  And at school (work) where I can get away with it!
 
3.  The best smelling men's cologne (women's perfume for the guys playing) is ________? 
Oh, may.  I have no idea what any of them are called!  CH doesn't wear cologne, and I don't think the boys do either.  MS & YS will wear some Axe body spray from time to time, but that's about it.
 
4.  What is your favorite kind of Cheesecake?
Chocolate, of course!  Or, just give me "plain" cheesecake!
 
5.  What TV Show do you currently never miss?
Big Bang Theory.  That show is just hilarious!

Follow Friday: It's Baaaaack!

YAY!  Java is back with not just Follow Friday 40 and Over, but also Meet Me On Monday!  I've really missed her, and am so glad she's back!

How sad is this:  On Tuesday, one of my schools got a couple of new copy machines.  My other school got the same kind of machine a week or so ago, so I knew how to work it.  It looks a bit intimidating:  It's much bigger with more buttons that could be pushed.  Anyway, there were signs on them as well as an e-mail letting us know that we weren't to use them until the secretary and bookkeeper were trained, and then they trained us.  Wed. morning, I had a meeting and needed to make a copy of the paperwork.  Sure, I could've waited until later in the day, but with me being so OCD anal, I had to do it right then.  I told the secretary that I had used the machine at my other school, so she (or maybe it was the bookkeeper) said I could show them real quick how to use it.  So, off we went.  We all got a good laugh when we got to the machine because it wasn't turned on and I had no idea to turn it on!  I don't think they had a lot of confidence in my ability to use the machine!  I showed them how to make a very simple copy, and then commented that I had something to blog about.  Well, that brought on an outburst, along with some comment about me not having a very exciting life!  I love those ladies!  The office is always full of laughter (almost always, anyway!), and they have such a great sense of humor.  I've worked in schools where the office staff was stuffy and not very friendly, and I'm here to tell you that when you have an office staff like we do, it makes going into the office a lot more fun.  My other school has a great office staff, too.  The secretary there has become a good friend through the few years I've worked there.

Okay, now you know what to do:  Visit Java and link up!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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 past weekend?

I didn't watch the Masters...how boring is it to watch golf???  CH used to play when we lived in SC, and I played a few times.  I could tee off pretty well, and putt half-way decent...it was the in between part that I wasn't so great at.  When I was pregnant with YS, CH & I went to a golf course for our anniversary.  At one hole, I teed off and it was beautiful.  Until it hooked (or was it slice?) and headed toward a beautiful house that was all glass on the side.  Some prayers were quickly said, followed by a loud thump.  I was good enough of a shot to hit their trash can, which was full of dents!
Then there was the time (again, when I was pregnant with YS) when CH & I went to a local golf course.  We were in the back of the course, and of course, I had to use the facilities.  Except there were no facilities to visit, and there was NO WAY I was going to make it to the front of the course.  I did what any pregnant lady would do:  we walked over to a bank, CH held my hands so I wouldn't fall, and I took care of business.  I'm just real thankful there was no one else around!
Now, my in-laws:  there are a couple of good players!  Both my MIL & my FIL have had holes-in-one! 

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 am NOT a hat person.  I'm not real crazy about hats.  A lady who read at Easter Mass on Sunday had on a hat, and my first thought was that it looked kind of ridiculous.  (Yes, I realize I was in Church and I judged.)

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

 Definitely a 1.  CH & all of the boys can eat with chopsticks like pros, but not me.  I just can't get the hang of it.

4. Has technology taken over?

Let me put it to you this way:  One day at school, I got the picture cards out with one of my groups.  (I had been using an app on the iPad)  Their response: " Yay!  We get to use the cards!" Interesting, no?

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

I look in the mirror in the morning to put on makeup and make sure my hair is decent, then I might look in it just a couple more times during the day.  I'm definitely not one of those who checks the mirror every hour.

6. Tulip or Daffodil?

I love daffodils...they are one of the first signs of spring.  BUT, I have to go with tulips.  They're just so dad-gum beautiful!

7. I am proud of myself for __________________.

Getting back into playing a flute.  I'm having to retrain myself to look ahead in the music, but I'm getting there!  I think I'm going to be ready for the community band in September!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

So many random thoughts are going through my head!  I'll go with this one:  

I forgot to add this picture yesterday:

  Isn't it a beaut???  If you've been reading for a while, you know how much trouble I've had with the heating/cooling at one of my schools.  In the winter, the air came on.  The custodian (I'll call him Chester 'cause that's his name!) had to get on the roof and switch it over to heat.  The heat would come on, but after it turned off the air would come back on.  There were days I spent in my room with a coat, scarf, and gloves on.  

When it got warm a couple of weeks ago, the air wouldn't turn on.  The heat came on and stayed on.  Up on the roof went Chester with the same result.  He finally decided that I needed my own thermostat, and he needed to bypass the computerized thingy.  They came in on Monday and installed it.  How great is that?  And just in time for this cold snap we're having!

Snapshots

Here are a few pictures I had in my camera:
First:  a sign that we saw in the big town.  I commented that I wondered what kind of show a "Puta Bridal Show" was.  If you don't know what "puta" means in Spanish, look it up!  CH looked and said, "It says 'Put a ring on it'!"  Guess you see what you want to!  

 Next:  Dogwoods in my next door neighbor's yard.  These are right next to our driveway.  I'm glad he has the money to have a gardening service keep his yard nice!  It gives us something pretty to look at!  The picture doesn't do the pink dogwood justice; it was absolutely gorgeous!

Then we have a skink that Pepper chased up the wall on Easter.  She was still in a plant looking for one (or maybe there was another one) as this guy made his escape.

And then:  A picture of MS with his Alleluia Egg Treasure & YS checking out the skink with me.

 Finally:  Pictures of the Church.  I snuck in yesterday before Adoration and took these.  (You can click on the picture for a better view.)

I didn't notice where the sun was shining when I took this picture.  Pretty neat, huh?

I guess I've run the whole gamut from the sign to the altar!  Hope everybody has a Terrific Tuesday!

An Almost Perfect Easter

THE TOMB IS EMPTY....ALLELUIA!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter weekend!  Yesterday was an "almost perfect" kind of day:  A beautiful Easter Mass with wonderful music followed by a birthday lunch at IHop.  The weather was beautiful:  low 70's with a few clouds, but mostly sunny.  My ham for dinner even turned out wonderful!  The only thing that was missing was OS:  he wasn't able to come home this weekend because he had a couple of projects to finish up.  Did I mention that he will be a college graduate this time next month?  I think he's getting excited to be finished with that chapter of his life.  I know CH's wallet is!  

One thing I learned from Christmas is that as the kids get older, some traditions have to change.  But, there are a few that I will NEVER change:  the boys will always get a basket (I even made OS one...my sister is going to take it to him later in the week when she comes for a visit), they'll always search for the "Alleluia egg", and we'll always have a Bunny Cake...even if it is someone's birthday!

At our house growing up, we didn't have an all-out Easter Egg Hunt:  we had one egg that was hidden, and whoever found that egg got a prize.  When I was little and all of my siblings were still at home, the egg was hidden twice:  once for the younger kids, and once for the older kids, just to make it fair.  We continued the tradition with our own kids; usually OS finds it but since he wasn't here, the other 2 had a fighting chance.  It seems only fitting that MS was the one to find it, since it was his birthday!

As we were leaving for lunch, we saw our 60-something next door neighbor with a bag in his hand, looking in his bushes.  I jokingly asked him if was hunting Easter Eggs, and he said, "yes ma'am. Every year" as he picked one up and put it in his bag.  Some traditions should never change!

Yesterday was MS' birthday:  he's no longer a teenager.  We relived his birth for him (although he's heard in a MILLION times!), and we laughed about his shenanigans when he was little.  He's a stereo-typical middle child:  full of energy and enthusiasm.   It's hard to believe that he's 20!

Oh, and:  5 more Mondays left until summer break!

Field Trip Day

Oh, how I love Field Trip Days!  Not going on one, but having one of the grades going on one.  All. Day. Long. 
The 2nd grade went to the Justice Center (aka:  jail and court) yesterday.  I'm fairly certain all of them came back.  The best part was that 2nd grade is the bulk of my caseload.  I saw a total of 2 groups yesterday; yep, only 4 kids.  You would've thought that I would have gotten a whole lot done with my spare time. 
The first thing on my agenda was to retrieve my laptop from the Central Office.  Last week I got this wicked message on it, and after a phone call was told that it was bad.  When I got back to school with my laptop, the charger wouldn't go in.  As I looked closer, I realized that it was the power supply to a different brand of laptop.  GREAT.  Anything that I wanted to do on my laptop wasn't going to happen.  No Pandora.  Luckily the radio got good reception yesterday...you never know in the mountain school. 
Yesterday was Tuesday, and you know what that means:  TLC!!!  And, since the 2nd grade teachers weren't there, we had plenty of food.  One of the 3rd grade teachers made 3 different kinds of quiche, and another teacher brought in a yellow cake with chocolate icing.  On top she had chocolate chips and peeps circled around it.  Very cute.  I preferred to call the chocolate chips "peep poop".   (I live in a house with boys, remember?)  We had one little teensy incident:  One lady decided to get another piece of quiche, so she heated it up.  That wouldn't have been a problem, except that she also had a peep on her plate.  I really, really wish I had my camera with me, 'cause that was one sad looking peep!

Quickie randoms

Just a quick post to let everybody know I'm still here!  It seems like there just aren't enough hours in a day lately!
This morning was bus duty followed by a 7:45 observation.  Mondays are crazy anyway, so this just added to the craziness.
CH informed  me yesterday after a late lunch (my birthday lunch since we couldn't all get together for a dinner) that my birthday is officially over.  I think that when you turn 50 you should get to celebrate for a whole year!  OS wasn't able to come in; he's busy at school, getting the last month of his college career in and planning on life after college. 
One of these days I hope to get around to catching up with my "regulars"!!!