Saturday, November 26, 2011

being sick


I hate being sick
especially when I'm on break
after Thanksgiving
and all the doctors in town are on break too.











Saturday, November 12, 2011

Veterans Day program


We've been working on this program since August 15:
Memorizing Presidents of the United States- all 44
Learning the choreography - 5 songs/one per class
The words and music - 7 songs,
speaking parts- 45
collecting veterans photos, scanning, & renaming- 173
emails to parents- 7
handouts- 87
ordering Freedom t-shirts- 114
rehearsals on stage- 10
rehearsing with TU student soloist- 2
dress rehearsal/performance for Elementary School/ ECLC- 1
taking photos- 389
creating the video and fixing mistakes in the video- 4
Frustrated yelling during rehearsal-everyday
Tears during performance- incalculable
Worth it????
Yes!



Monday, October 24, 2011

I MUSTgo to bed early


I say this to myself EVERY WEEK NIGHT!
But life intervenes...
and laundry,
and fixing lunches,
and balancing the checkbook,
and answering emails,
and vacuuming dog hair,
and loading the dishwasher,
and playing freecell,
and angry birds.
Actually, all things considered, I blame those nasty pigs!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Rainy eve


I love when a cold front comes in
with rain
and thunder.
The wind is blowing
leaves past my orange pumpkin lights
and Bucky, afraid of the thunder snuggles next to my feet.
All the lights in the house are out
except for a candle casting an eerie glow.
I just my girls were all little again
and we are sitting on the couch with the blanket
wrapped around us in a safe cocoon.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Glimpse of the Future


I'm sitting here watching OU football on TV
in the recliner
on a Saturday night.
Ellen's at a retreat
Mary Beth's in Norman
Katie's in Dallas
Ron's asleep on the couch
Bucky's asleep in his crate...
I just had a glimpse of my future,
it isn't pretty.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Dog hair irritations


We have a dog.
He is part golden retriever and
part great pyrenees.
He is a very hairy dog.
This must be the time of year he "blows" his coat.
There s dog hair EVERYWHERE.

I vacuum the dog hair.
The next day I vacuum more dog hair.
The dog hair is so bad it clings to the little felt pieces Ron puts under the furniture.
My chairs all look like they have hairy dog feet.

I cannot go to school wearing black pants.
If I do I look like I have hairy legs.
I have to use duct tape on my black pants.

When I use the "furminator" on our dog
I get fistfuls of dog hair.

Once a year we get our dog shaved.
I don't think he likes it.
He acts embarrassed when we go for a walk.
I feel like Delilah to his Samson.

If I could just figure out a use for this renewable resource.


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Restaurant snob


So we go out to dinner tonight, surprise, huh?
But we don't go to our regular Thursday night hangout
Why, you ask???
For a completely dumb reason
Ron changed out of his nice work clothes and thought he
looked too much like a bum to eat at Charlestons.
Our first thought is Delta
but on our way there we see Red Lobster.
The first tip off that this would not be a Charlestons type dining experience
was the number of people there with tatoos, shorts, and men with ponytails.
Hmmmm, I guess I figured I truly had become a restaurant snob
when the lady at the next table asked,
"How many shrimps do I git on that there jumbo platter?"

Yikes!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Dinner


I made dinner tonight.
Now you may think, so what?
Well I have raised the standard of "legitimate excuses" for not fixing dinner to such a high level that some consider it to be an art form.
Here are my favorites...
1. I'm too tired
2. The meat is still frozen
3. I have this coupon for...Rib Crib, Delta, etc.
4. Let's finish up these leftovers
5. How about dinner out so we can have valuable one on one time.
6. I'm not very hungry, I think I'll just have a bowl of cereal
7. I have to go to rehearsal early so Ellen and I already ate (at Senors, of course)
8. Geez, there's nothing in the refrigerator (this always works a few days before payday)
9. The Shooks are inviting us over for dinner
10. I've had a BAD DAY!!! (this will always work!!!)

So, since I rarely cook dinner, Ron is very appreciative of my culinary efforts. If fact tonight he said, "You made dinner?? I thought we were going out!"

DAMN

Saturday, September 17, 2011

I love my grown up girls



We can go to lunch (and it's not Wendy's)
We can go shopping (and it's not the Disney Store)
We can ride around in a car (and I'm not driving)
We can have a pleasant conversation (and I'm not the referee)

My husband is sad... because they are growing up too fast (and I'm not!)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Why I love autumn



It’s not summer

Long sleeved jackets

College football games

Candy corn at Walgreens

Knee high socks

Halloween decorations

A bag of candy corn

7:30 a.m. sun down the middle of 21st street

Bright blue skies

Afternoon sun shining through bright orange leaves

Candy corn

Sitting on the back deck with the cool north wind on your face

Saturday afternoon nap with the window open

The harvest moon

Colorful candy corn

The sounds & smell of the Fair

Knitting a scarf

Did mention candy corn???

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I don't feel 55

As they are walking up the stairs I just start singing and dancing and they can hardly contain their excitement, “When midnight strikes on Halloween the strangest sight you’ve ever seen…”. I must admit, I’m excited too. Who would have ever thought that a first grader’s enthusiasm could be catching?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Escape

After 19 minutes in class a first grader says, "I need to use the bathroom" and suddenly everyone is desperate to escape from your room. Yeahhh surre, you need to use the bathroom; you just want to roam the halls, meander down the stairs in search of nothing, just to get out... funny, I know exactly how you feel.