Hot & Steamy Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. How often do you check the weather? How do you check the weather?

On a "normal" day, I'll usually listen/watch the weather with my favorite meteorologist in the morning.  Just in case you forgot what a cutie he is, here's a reminder:

 I say "normal", because if there's a chance of snow (which equals snowday, a day off!) I'll look at it several times/day.  You've heard the saying, "If you don't like the weather, stick around 5 minutes and it will change"?  That is applicable to the area around the Small Town.  They could call for a blizzard one minute, and change it to rain the next.

2. Since this is volume 84 of the Wednesday Hodgepodge, and since I got married in 1984, and since I'm attending a wedding this weekend it only seems right to post something related here.

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Agree or Disagree. Why?

I met my husband in Sept. of '83, and we got married in May, '84.  From Jan. to April, he was in Tx. going to Army Medic School, so we didn't even see each other for about 3 months of that.  We definitely didn't know each other's "defects", but after 28 years of marriage, I'd say it worked for us.  

3. Do you like to dance? Have you ever taken dance lessons?

In my house, yes, although the boys seem to be embarrassed even when there's no one around.  I've never taken dance lessons, and it shows!  I don't think it's this bad, though:

4. Fresh from the oven peach pie or home made peach ice cream? Pick one.

Not a big fan of peaches, either way.  If I had to pick one (which apparently I do!), I'd say pie.

5. Should people accept unfairness and learn to make the best of it?

ABSOLUTELY.  Not everything in life is fair:  put your big girl panties on and get on with it.

6. The top five all time summer movie blockbusters (released between May and August and grossing at least 100 million dollars) are-Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars (the original), Ghostbusters, and ET. Which one's your favorite?

Ghostbusters:  "We came, we saw, we kicked its a**!"

7. If given the chance, would you like to visit the moon?

Are you kidding?  There is so much of this world I haven't seen!

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Laika loves the game of "get on the couch and see if mama will give up".
 
As one of my sil said:  she's just all kind of cuteness!

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! 

Little Friday

I'm going totally random a day late!

What is "Little Friday"?  That would be Thursday.  I guess it makes people feel better when they can have 2 Fridays in a week.

I found the most awesomest banana muffin recipe, courtesy of Cat Can Cook.  To get the recipe, click here. The only thing I did different was use 5 bananas, just because that's what we had.

We finished watching The Tudors.  If you haven't seen it but may be interested, be forewarned that it should not be watched with little ones around.  I'm sure the makers thought they had to show everything in the first season to get people to watch it, but personally I don't think it was necessary.  It was neat to watch it with a computer nearby to check the historical facts.  They seemed to do a pretty good job with sticking to the facts.  Now that I know I can watch "Pillars of the Earth" through Netflix, I'm going to get caught up on that.

I saw that Rick Fox was voted off of DWTS Tuesday night.  I didn't see him actually get kicked off since it was election night and we opted to watch The Tudors instead.  Poor Rick.  I'm really surprised Bristol is still there.  I hate to sound like a coldhearted gritch (new word courtesy of southlakesmom at I didn't know THAT!), but I think they were going for the sympathy vote for Jennifer Grey.  I get that she hasn't been done with chemo for that long, but she does have the dance training, so I'm thinking that with her being in jeopardy last week, the producers thought they had to do something to keep her from going home.  Brandy:  Can anybody be more full of herself than she is?  Get a grip.

I can't believe I forgot to participate in A Wee Bit of Me yesterday. I saw it last week at A Defined Life but completely forgot about it Tuesday night.  I'm hearing some rumblings about other people starting up a new meme, but I don't think it's happened yet.  Any suggestions?

MS had his first voting experience on Tuesday. Going into the building he said he didn't know who to vote for, so we stopped at the sample ballot outside the door so that he could review it.  

The meteorologist says we're in for some cold weather by Friday:  the high is only suppose to be around 49.  And, we may see some flakes flying around.  Guess I'd better get the hot chocolate ready for the rugby game on Saturday!

The meteorologist wasn't my favorite meteorologist, but it was his co-worker...who I met last Thursday at the football game.  Yes, I have no shame.  One of his sons is on the football team we played, and another son is in their band.  He said the tv station asked him to do a remote broadcast from the game, so he jumped on it.  He was such an incredibly nice guy.  I should've had the camera guy take a picture.  Maybe next time!

How I Wish It Would Rain

How long has it been since we've had rain at my house?  My favorite meteorologist says we have a yearly deficit of over 6 inches.   You can hear the grass crunch when you walk on it.

Remember the clover field we had in our backyard that was a feast for the baby bunny?  Well, this is what it looks like now:

 Even the weeds are screaming:

Yep, everything around here is singing this song:



Oh, the summer pattern of hit or miss showers/thunderstorms.  It misses us more than it hits.  I can look over the field in front of our house and see it raining in the distance, but it always seems to blow right by us.

Before you get all excited, those flowers in the picture are our next door neighbors.  Who spends a lot of money on the upkeep of his yard.  (His grass isn't crunchy.)


Last night the wind blew, we saw lightning, and we heard thunder.  "This is it!" I thought, making plans in my head about what I was going to say about it in my post (since I had written the above yesterday afternoon).  Guess how much we got?  Nothing.  Nada.  Zilch.  I absolutely couldn't believe it.  And, this morning, I woke up to the girls' water bowl hitting the side of the refrigerator.  My schnauzer was trying to get the very last drop from her water bowl.  At 5:30 a.m.  Waking me up.  So, being the good mom I am, I got up and filled up her bowl while she eagerly awaited to get the wet stuff to quench her thirst.  'Cause it's awfully dry here.  And hot.  The cool front that supposedly came through last night bringing with it less humidity and temps in the 80's?  I'll believe it when I see it, because right now, at 6:30 a.m., it's 72 degrees with 93% humidity.

I want to thank everybody for your kind comments, words of encouragement, and prayers for my back.  I had been going to the chiropractor but stopped going in April.  (Okay, just let me say this:  I know there are people out there who think they are complete quacks; I used to be one of them.  But, since I had been going, my instances of IBS have been practically none-except for a couple of very minor episodes- and I had been feeling great.  So, I really think there may be something to it.)  Well, I went back on Friday, and he said I definitely aggravated it.  (Thanks, Dr. Obvious!)  He adjusted me, and I went back for another adjustment yesterday.  It's so much better; I'm about 80% back to normal.

For Today

Yesterday was a Professional Development Day.  "Just what do teachers do on that day?" you ask.  Well, if you're a teacher in my school system and you've already done your  extra 12 hours of  PD, then the answer is, "Anything we want!"  Yep, I had another day off!  The only thing is that with the weather being so nice, I could use another day...or 2...or 3.  Spring fever has hit hard.  Maybe it was being in SC over the weekend, with the dogwoods blooming and the pollen dusting the cars.  Maybe it was that it was so warm and beautiful, but I had to go to the grocery store and do laundry so I need another day to do more "stuff".  I'm voting on the second "Maybe".  And, my favorite meteorologist says it's going to cool down on Thursday, so you know it's going to happen!  I haven't changed my winter clothes out just yet. I wait until I absolutely have to because it involves at least 2 people (excluding myself):  I have to have them pick up the big screen so I can scoot my cedar chest out, then quickly take my clothes out and dump the other clothes in.  We keep saying we're going to get a stand for the tv, but I really don't have anyplace else to put the cedar chest, so I'm not pushing the issue. 


FOR TODAY

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Outside my window...I can see the first hint of daylight

I am thinking...I really would like to have another day off!

I am thankful for...my husband and my boys


From the kitchen...my lunch box is packed

I am wearing...my jammies (getting ready to get ready for work!)

I am creating...nothing at the moment, other than larger messes that need to be cleaned up!

I am going...to clean off my desk once again!

I am reading..."The Two Minute Rule" by Robert Crais


I am hoping...that we have a good day

I am hearing...the birds chirping

Around the house...my men are still sleeping and the girls have laid back down after their outside time

One of my favorite things...visiting with friends

A few plans for the rest of the week:soccer games, meeting at the high school for  the new trimester plan, band competitions (so I do get another day off!)

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
Here's a picture of MS "giving a shout out to his peeps":

He's a pretty funny kid, but this wasn't an original idea...we heard it on Blue Collar Radio on our trip this weekend!
Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek into my world!

Meteorologist and Random Dozen

Before I get to the Random Dozen for the week, I have to share this with y'all:
Yesterday morning I had the news on.  I absolutely love this one meteorologist:  he's young, very good looking, really nice, and wonderful with the kids.  He's been at one of my schools before (one of the 5th grade teachers has him up at least once a year so we can get some "eye candy"!), so yesterday morning I thought, "Next time he comes to school, I'm going to get my picture made with him."  I was in the Principal's Office in the afternoon admiring a picture of her and Pat Summit (the greatest women's basketball coach ever), and I look up, and guess who I saw!!!  I couldn't believe it!  I told the principal that I needed to get a picture of him!  So, she grabbed the camera, and said, "Well, let's go."  I about fell out, y'all!  I told the Meteorologist about my thought that morning.  He was so very nice and acted flattered.  Apparently my face and neck were really, really red.  The secretary said that was the reddest she had ever seen me!  I told them I coincidentally was having a hot flash, but I don't think they bought it.  I had to turn on my air conditioner when I got back to my room!
Okay, so here it is:

Isn't he just adorable?  And, look, he has his right arm around me! Okay, okay (fanning my face!), enough of that!  I'm fairly certain I made a huge, gigantic fool of myself!

So, without further adieu:







1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet?
    I think I have a pair of boots (that I used to wear when we camped a couple of times) that are around 8
    years old.

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety?
    (Again with the red face!) I just bought 4 boxes today.  I have 3 boys + my husband, so I'm allowed, right?   

    Besides, I was helping out a friend who had to buy $300 worth for her daughter to sell.  She 's a bit of a 

    procrastinator!  And, why is it that the cookies look so big on the box, but when you open them up, 

   they're so small?  Oh, back to the question:  Do-si-dos, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Dulce de Leche.  I would've 

   bought thin mints (they're the best when you pop them in and let them melt in your mouth!), but she didn't 

   have any of those.

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to?
   Nope.  I don't think I'm graceful or coordinated enough!

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager?
    Mostly, yes.  There were times when I would ditch the babysitting because I just didn't feel like it.

5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see?
    When are the Oscars and what are the movies nominated?  (Oh, sorry...I guess I missed them!)

6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself?
  Having it done myself...then I don't have to watch.

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why?
    Sunday...the laundry should be done, so I get to relax!

8. Do you miss anyone right now?
    Not at this moment.

9. Do hospitals make you queasy?
    Nope.  But, my husband (who was an Army Medic) doesn't like them.  Weird, huh?

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you.
    Hmmmm...if we're going sensible, I  would say Target, except for electronics.  Then I'd say WalMart.  If 
    we're going for non-redneck, I'd say IKEA.  I've never been in one, but I know what's in there!

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items?
     TP and paper towels:  yes.  Everything else: no.  Some of the store  brands (especially with food) are 
     better than the brand names, and they are cheaper, even if you have coupons.

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels?
    Looking into someone's eyes when I'm telling someone how I feel.  For some reason, I get a little 
    embarrassed when it's done to me.

Okay, that's it for this week!  Jump  over to Random Dozen and join the fun!