Signs of Spring

*sigh*

I think there are many who would agree with me that spring is overdue, so I thought I would share a few signs of spring today to balance out the furthered sombre mood after the sad news again today. This school year has brought a great amount of grief to those around me, and as spring appears, I can't help but be reminded of the ever-changing vicissitudes of life. Let us all remember that life is fragile and to appreciate the present moment.

Social Web Moment . . . ?

Gwen Bell asks what the best social web moment of 2009 was.

As a teacher, I don't have any time at work to spend time on the Internet, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to because of our filters. (Fortunately, we're supposed to be getting filters that will allow our high school to have its own settings: high school students don't need the same filters as first graders do. My students can often not get to information about the war in Iraq because it gets filtered out as graphic. Nevertheless, I won't be able to engage in social networking sites from work, which is a good thing because that's just the kind of thing that can eat up my entire day.)

At home, I get some time on the Internet, but with two kids, I don't have a lot. I already spend too much time doing the few things I do, so I try to avoid getting wrapped up in a lot of social interacting online. I do use Facebook and was part of a Flikr 365 group until I bailed in April. But it wasn't like I made great friends from that group. I joined a couple scrapbooking groups, but didn't spend enough time online to develop relationships, and on one, I couldn't stand the immediate flame-warring I saw.

So since I do not have a best for this category, I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures from this holiday season.

Watching Them Grow Part II

My lil' guy will be three next month! It's amazing how quickly time flies.

With his birthday approaching, I have been thinking a lot about how he has changed. He is a peculiar lad who gets very attached to certain things and certain routines. It's usually sweet and cute, although there are times it can make things difficult. Nevertheless, I thought I would share some of his cute quirks:

• He sleeps with a paci, two silky blankets and as many trains as he can cram into his bed.
• He loves to kiss me.
• He likes to take his Thomas train to the park and send it down the big, curly slide. In fact the above picture of him and his train was taken at a park.
• He is terrified of showers, spiders, nail clippers, and sitting on the toilet.
• Every morning when I get him out of bed, I dress him and then hang him upside down as I carry him downstairs. Once in the kitchen, I set him down and get him a granola bar. He sits in my chair at the table, but with his Thomas mat in front of him. (This is an example of one of his goofy routines. He isn't super flexible.
• He likes to sit on my lap while I surf the Thomas web page.
• He copies much of what his older sister does. If she says she has a stomach ache, he says he has one. If she says she doesn't like her dinner, he says he doesn't like his.
• He loves to be read to, which is one of my favorite things to do with him.
• He loves parks and the Children's Musuem.

Anyway, we're looking forward to Halloween, which around here is Friday because Saturday is Nevada Day. We get Friday off. WOOHOO!

Happy Nevada Day and Happy Halloween!

I decided to do a quick post add some pics to the blog. I guess I haven't been feeling very wordy lately.
DS enjoying a popsicle. DD and our friends daughter who has the best smile ever.

May daughter has her own sense of style.

She's a goofy kid.

I started a 365 picture a day project and belong to a Flikr group to keep me honest. They can be found here http://flickr.com/photos/25121555@N08/. I'm hoping to improve my phtography skills and get some great pictures of my family and my life. Check it out every now and then.

Happy New Year

It's January 1, the first day of 2009. Here's a little bubbly for you all to enjoy.

I know I should be reflective and thinking about goals and whatnot for the upcoming year, but I'm not. I usually totally dig that kind of thing. Just not feeling it this year for some reason.

For the following year, I know I want to continue my practice, to meditate more and work on being more mindful on a daily basis.

I joined a 365 Flikr group, so I'm hoping to do a pic a day for the year. I found that when I've done this in the past for a month, I have improved my photography skills and gotten some killer photos. Let's face it, some of the best photos don't come from holidays and birthdays.

And of course, I want to lose weight and get healthier. Yada, yada, yada.

Happy New Year to you and yours. :)

Shame! Shame! Shame!

Our big, beautiful beast of a black lab mix tangled with a skunk last night. Yes, he stinks, although the hydrogen peroxide/baking soda/dish soap mix made a good dent in the stench. Yes, our house stinks. Yes, I worry that I stink.

The worst is that he has a cut on his nose, and his rabies shots were outdated. I had taken in our little dog, but the big dog weighs almost as much as I do. I can't handle him when he panics at the vet's. Husband was on the spot for that, and unfortunately it hadn't happened.

Yes, we are sore, loser pet owners. Yes, we're hating ourselves right now. Yes, we are ashamed.

So we get a visitation from the county animal control on Monday. The vet doesn't think he was bitten, but we may still have to quarantine him. FOR SIX MONTHS! (People, get your pets' vaccines up to date, if they aren't already.)

We also paid $150 for some test to see if he has enough rabies antibodies to fight off an infection if he did happen to be exposed. Meanwhile, he has to stay outside, all by himself, away from people and the other pooch until we hear from animal control.

BIG :(

Random Life Updates

Sorry for the funky formatting. For some reason, blogger isn't allowing me to separate my paragraphs today.

We threw a 40th birthday bash for my friend S. Happy 4-0!!! Yesterday was spent recurperating. I realized that once you reach a certain number of attendees at a party, you are no longer able to do much of anything but host. My mistake was serving mojitos. Next time we have a big party, the drinks will go like this: "The wine and beer are over there." Smaller parties allow for the mixed drinks.

Anyway, I think everyone had a good time. S got a lot of loving attention and some good loot. She does so much for us and our kids that I wanted to do something nice for her.

Meanwhile, my son has been very mommy-clingly lately. When I shower, he pounds on the shower door and cries, "Mommy! Mommy!" When I go to the bathroom, he sits outside the door and cries. If I'm doing the dishes, he's either attached to my leg or in my arms. I love that he's cuddly and adoring of me and know very well that will change before I know it. Nevertheless, I get tired and just want a moment of peace when I go to the bathroom.

He isn't sleeping well either. He's up for hours at a time in the middle of night. I've been pretty tired lately. He could be teething or experiencing growing pains. At least I'm not working right now and can give him the attention he needs.

J's Compleat Works of Shakeseare opens this weekend. They were only given three Sunday nights by the production company, which is about as bad as you can get, especially for a show that requires a certain amount of audience participation. Comedies are much better with crowds. So they're going to rerun the play for a different theater group this fall. At least it won't weeks of rehearsals again.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

10 Goofy Things My Son Does

1. The words frog and foot come out sounding like fuck. It's a lot of fun when you're out in public and he starts pointing and yelling, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"



2. We count the stairs when we're going up or down. He likes to count on his own now. Five is his favorite number: two, FIIIIIIVE, sick, FIIIIIIVE, one, FIIIIVE.


3. He loves to straddle and sit on the dog. Fortunately, he's gentle, and so is the dog.


4. He likes to carry a spoon around. Couple that with his obsession with his pacifier and his blankie, and you've got a boy with busy hands.


5. His dancing looks like fast squats. It's as if you are watching an '80s aerobics video in fastforward mode.


6. He slowly crawls his way up the stairs as if delaying his own torture. But if you take his blankie and throw it upstairs, that slow crawl turns into an impressive scurry.


7. He loves to say goodbye to things, as well as people. When we left McDonald's the other day, he said goodbye to the table, the bench, each slide, the play ground in general, and the pile of dirt on the floor that he kept rubbing his feet in.


8. He wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. (Man! That's a hoot!)


9. He loves to turn off fans, which frustrates my husband to no end.
10. He says Ahhhh! whenever he hugs someone.

Just some pics today

Not feeling wordy today. Thought I'd share some pics.

We are so lucky to live near one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Random Thoughts

• Quail are cute.


• My email has been touchy, and I haven't received some messages people have sent me. This is particularly frustrating in that I have been communicating with some people I know, but not well, and I don't know if they responded to my messages or not. I don't feel comfortable asking if they received the message.


• Do I ask people if they got my email?


• If they haven't gotten it, then it makes sense to ask.


• If they have gotten it and have responded, it makes sense to ask.


• If they have gotten it and have not responded, then I'm an irritating person.


• I like red.


• Toys have invaded our home. (waving white flag)


• I like the music to the movie Once.


• Yes, I am a complete dork.


• DH and I are attending AP conferences all week up in Tahoe. I'm nervous. Why?


• Maybe I'll be the only one there who doesn't know some element that's necessary to the AP Language curriculum, like whether an author is using a zeugma or what a meme is (or how to spell it).


• I don't like feeling stupid.


• I like to swim in the summer.


• I am hoping DH will allow me to hire a couple babysitters for my friend's birthday party that we're throwing for her.


• People would have more fun.


• But drinking around students is NOT cool.


• So maybe not.


• My friend turns 40.


• I wil be 38 in November.


• That sounds so old.


• I don't feel old.


• For my 40th birthday, I want to get a tattoo.


• Of a lotus flower.


• I had a monkey mind yesterday.


• I don't even get emails I send myself.


• That's just weird.

Cabin Fever (Whine Warning)

So I've avoided blogging (aka whining) about the smoke in my area. People have lost homes; one firefighter has lost his life. It would be inappropriate to complain about the smoke when others are truly losing due to the fire.


But the smoke is becoming oppressive here, and I'm going to whine.

Last night ashes were sprinkling down on us. If this is what we're dealing with, I'd hate to see what it must be like on the other side of the Sierras.


I am getting some serious cabin fever. DD has asthma, so for weeks I have taken her outside very little. Little did I know that the smoke was only going to get worse. Fortunately, we made it to the beach yesterday for a couple hours before it got too bad. Today, however, started with a bright orange sun and a sky so smokey that I thought it was ready to rain.


It's summer, and I love the outdoors and even the heat to a certain extent. I want to take my kids to parks, out for walks, and to the beach. Instead we find ourselves entertaining one another inside. I get cabin fever. They get cabin fever. They are OD'd on mom, and I'm running low on creative things to do to entertain them.


I get a day off tomorrow. I'm scrapbooking with a friend at the scrapbooking store and then working the Obama booth at some outdoor thingy. Saturday, I'll be much happier to entertain my offspring again.


DH has been gone for rehearsals for The Compleat Work of Shakespeare, Abridged. I am thrilled about this show. My DH is a very funny man, and the Complete Works series can be pretty darn funny, too.

Graduation

We went to graduation today and participated in the "teacher tunnel," where teachers stand and applaud the seniors in their procession. It was a wonderful moment that made be a blubbering fool when I saw students I know worked hard to be wearing their caps and gowns with pride. I don't feel I can post pictures of people who haven't given consent, so I am including this one picture that doesn't reveal any identities.

Congratulations, class of 2008!

Pic Happy

I love taking pictures of my kids. Here are a few from preschool grad and from the Ashland trip.