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?

Saturday Rugby

MS should know how much CH & I love him:  we braved the cold weather Saturday morning to watch his last Fall Rugby Game.  After his game, we told him that we weren't staying, and he said something along the lines of, "Well, yeah, it's really cold out here."  The boy's a genius, I'm telling you. 
They didn't play on the same field where they usually play; the games on Saturday were sponsored by the rugby team in the big city.  Only the game wasn't played in the big city.  It was played out in the sticks, in the middle of nowhere.  Among the trees.  The name of the park:  Possum Park.  NO.LIE.  The Rugby Team's Name is...you guessed it...the Possums.  The name fits perfectly for their field.  I thought about getting a picture of the sign as we were leaving, but didn't ask CH to stop.  I did, however, manage to get a picture of this:

 Definitely a unique hat. Yes, that is a possum on top of his head.  Don't worry, he's not that crazy or redneck; it's not his pet, it's a stuffed animal.   Here are a couple of pictures of the game, so you can get an idea of the surroundings:

A field in the middle of the woods.  And you thought I was joking.
And, just to show you how classy of an establishment it is, check out this picture:

The final score was 54-0.  MS made 2 scores.  One of the opponents got a yellow card.  There was some cussing involved.  
Spring season starts February 5th in Tuscaloosa.  Apparently that's the real season.  I'm still learning; by this time next year I should be a pro at being a rugby mom!


**Sidenote:  For those of you missing the Random Dozen, go visit Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.  She's starting a new random; questions should be up Tuesday night (if I understood correctly). YAY, JOYCE!

Another Random Post

There is a huge problem with starting school as early as we do.  Yeah, well, there's the whole heat thing, and the whole "starting school in the middle of summer" thing, but there's another problem.  Transfer students that receive any kind of special education services will often come to school without  a current IEP (Individual Education Program).  An IEP is the child's program.  It includes the student's certification, date of re-evaluation, present levels of performance, accommodations/modifications that the classroom teacher needs to incorporate, goals/objectives, and how much time the student is suppose to be in special education.  If a child transfers in during the year, it's not that much of a hassle to get the needed information.  However, since we start so early, most of the school systems that the students are transferring from haven't started back yet.  Therein lies the problem:  We aren't able to get records.  So, we have to take the parents' word that they were receiving services, write a "30-day IEP" so that we can evaluate and determine if the student is eligible under the state's guidelines.  More work for us, more meetings for the parent, teacher, and principal  to attend.  Word of advice:  If you're the parent of a special  needs child or have a child who goes to school speech therapy, take a copy of your child's IEP, evaluation report, and eligibility report to the school when you register.  That would be a current copy, not one that is more  than a year  old.  If you can't find it, contact the school and let them know you need a copy.  They are bound by law to give you a copy.
*climbing off of my soapbox now*

It was too hot yesterday to even think about turning on the oven or even the stove.  We had flat bread sandwiches for dinner.  They were delish!  And they didn't heat up the kitchen!  Lemonade Cheesecake was just the right thing to top it off.  This recipe came in my e-mail from Kraft today:

Lemonade Cheesecake

1 pkg. (8 oz) fat free cream cheese, softened

1tsp. Crystal Light Lemonade Flavor Drink Mix (1 packet of the "On the Go" mix was 1 tsp)

1/4 cup milk

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip Free Whipped Topping, thawed

1 ready to use graham cracker pie crust

Beat cream cheese and drink mix in bowl with mixer until well blended.  Gradually add milk, mixing until well blended.

Stir in Cool Whip; spoon into crust.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.

It has just the right amount of lemon in it for me.  I'm guessing if you want more of a lemon taste, you could add some more Crystal Light to it.

Speaking of  lemonade, did you hear about the 11 year old in the big city next to where I live who raised $12,000 for an organization who feeds families in the area?  Last year he raised around $4500, but got started a little earlier this year.  Restaurants in the area allowed the boy to put jars near the cash registers, and a bank agreed to match up to $1386 that was collected on one day.  Good for him!

The head football coach at UT  (that's the real UT- Tennessee!) talked to the press Wednesday after practice.  I don't know how great of a football coach he is (his dad is the legendary Vince Dooley of UGa fame), but I really like what he says!  The heat must've been the topic of the day, because he addressed it and said something like:  "It's hot.  So what?  It's hot in Louisiana (where he was the head coach at La. Tech), Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, and Athens.  So what?"  I think he was tired of everybody talking about it.  He did mention that he didn't notice it was hot; he thought it was rather pleasant.  Here's a clip  of his talk.  It's kind of long (a little over 5 minutes), but if you don't watch all of it, at least watch the first minute.  I don't think he's going to coddle these boys!  LOVE HIM!

In the News

I did this a while ago, and thought it was time for another installment of things that had happened in my neck of the woods that were newsworthy.  Or somebody thought they were, anyway!


1.  A couple of weeks ago, in a small town about an hour, hour & a half away from here, 6 women held a man captive in a thrift store (until the police could arrive).  Why?  He had been watching women try on clothes through a peep hole!  Way to go, women!


2.  Remember the bear story:  a bear was euthanized because he bit a tourist who had gotten too close to him.  The tourist was trying to get a picture of the bear, and the bear ended up biting him on the foot.  Well, Mr. Tourist was back in the news last week: he was being cited for "disturbing a wild animal".  What did the tourist have to say about the bear dying?  He said it was unfortunate, but apparently it wasn't his fault.  You see, he blamed  people that  may or may not have fed the bear in the past for "taming" the bear.  He apparently wants to be some kind of hero, because he said he was glad  it was him  instead of a kid.  The bite didn't even draw blood, but I guess a bite is a bite.  Here's the kicker:  The tourist had just received his degree...in Environmental Studies  Hmmmm...


3.  In another town about an hour away from here, a man robbed a bank, then proceeded to crash into 3 police cruisers, tossing the evidence out in the road as he crashed.  He flipped his truck a few times after  he decided to cross the median to go the wrong way down the interstate.  His name?  He told them it was "John Doe". No police officers were injured, but "John" will be going to jail...after he gets out of the hospital!


4.  In the big city close by, the city council  put off voting on city residents having chickens used for laying eggs.  There will be a limit to how many they can have (6), and the residents have  to keep the coops clean and smell-free.  Okay, let me say this:  How in the world do you keep a chicken coop from  smelling?  The council did approve goats in a couple of parks.  They will be used for eating the kudzu that apparently are taking over the parks.


5.  I don't get the newspaper delivered to the house;  I check online for the news.  The picture that was on the online front page edition of the newspaper showed 2 local girls in front of a movie poster.  Guess what the movie was?  (I'm sure most of you guessed correctly!)  Eclipse.  One middle schooler (who was wearing a shirt with "Wolf Girl" on it) was quoted as saying, " He's awesome, because he's a real man — he don't sparkle".  Really, newspaper?  Could you have not used quotes and paraphrased what the girl said...with correct grammar?

So, has there been anything outside of the ordinary in your newspaper lately?