While Kenny gave me my big present earlier in the week, he had another much-wanted present to give me away last night: the Little Mermaid DVD! This is possibly my favorite Disney movie of all time, yes, I like it even better than Lion King. I now feel really bad because I gave him socks and undershirts. When you do laundry, you kind of notice things that need replacing. Don't yell at me, he also got a leather coat and the box set of the 5th season of Hogan's Heroes. I guess the coat and Hogan's Heroes don't make it a total drag of a Christmas. There is also one other thing I got him, but since it is a gift for a person who reads this blog, I'll have to tell about it later. Let's just say it was on Jay Leno, it cracks us up, and freaks out the cats.
For all of you old school Jim Henson fans, I purchased a little gift for me last night as we finished up our Christmas shopping: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. How many of you remember this movie? Being the Jim Henson nut that I am (box sets of the Muppet Show play a big part of my DVD collection), I had never seen this movie on DVD. I remember seeing on TV when I was really little, but I haven't seen it in years. It's headed home in my bag for Christmas to introduce it to my nephew Robbie who loves the movie Kermit: The Swamp Years. The next generation is discovering my sister's, brother's, and my love of the Jim Henson characters. I miss those shows, especially Sam the Eagle, Pigs in Space, Animal, Beaker, etc. Good times.
For everyone who is traveling this weekend, be careful. Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with friends and loved ones.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Update
I know I haven't posted in a while, but it's been a crazy month. December always seems to be a crazy month and things just kind of get away from me. However, while not amusing, here's what's been happening.
1. I now have a new water heater. It took almost three weeks, but they finally managed to put one in. The new water heater was installed the same day Kenny returned from Dallas. Coincidence, I think not!
2. Interesting holiday ornaments. We recently had our Title I Parent meeting. Since I hate talking in front of large groups, and I especially hate talking to parents (I know, kind of weird since I'm a teacher- that's kind of where that phobia began!), I ended up staying with the kids and setting up one of the activity stations to keep them busy. I made dog biscuit ornaments with the kids. Naturally, I made up one before hand for them to use as a guide, but as kids will do, they "didn't need no stinkin' guide". I have never seen more one-eyed reindeer in my life. Christmas trees across Union, MO are decorated with cyclops reindeer. Strangely enough, they were kind of cute. One of my students gave me a truly creative, many-eyed reindeer. I'm calling it the Reindeer of God, since it has so many googly eyes it is all-seeing!
3. My early Christmas gift from Kenny was a new Ipod. WOO HOO! I have wanted one for years, but as you all know, I'm too cheap to buy one for myself. He assures me that it didn't cost too much money since he bought it at the Apple Outlet store and plus he's been saving up to buy me one. As he told me though, it's kind of a Christmas present for the both of us since we'll both enjoy taking it on trips instead of CD cases. He gave it to me earlier in the week because he thought it would probably take me that long to figure out how to work the gadget. Unfortunately, I'm not very technologically adept, so I'm still working on it. However, I have discovered that I need to update my USB port card. So, like an idiot, I'm going to Best Buy today, read off the paper what Alice (our family computer whiz) told me to write down and buy, and then hopefully install it without blowing up my computer. She swears it's so easy a monkey could do it blindfolded. We'll see!
4. Today, I get to visit with my friend Clint, whom I haven't seen in a while. Tomorrow I head home to Malden to spend the Christmas holiday with my family. Then on Thursday, I'm headed to North Carolina to spend a week with Sebrina and Joe. I'll have the digital camera with me to hopefully take pictures of the crazy places I see. This time I'll try not to delete the pictures I take, as I did with the turkey pictures at Thanksgiving! One day I'll have a handle on technology!
In any case, if I blow myself up replacing the card on the computer or I run out of time before I leave, here's wishing you a Merry Christmas!
1. I now have a new water heater. It took almost three weeks, but they finally managed to put one in. The new water heater was installed the same day Kenny returned from Dallas. Coincidence, I think not!
2. Interesting holiday ornaments. We recently had our Title I Parent meeting. Since I hate talking in front of large groups, and I especially hate talking to parents (I know, kind of weird since I'm a teacher- that's kind of where that phobia began!), I ended up staying with the kids and setting up one of the activity stations to keep them busy. I made dog biscuit ornaments with the kids. Naturally, I made up one before hand for them to use as a guide, but as kids will do, they "didn't need no stinkin' guide". I have never seen more one-eyed reindeer in my life. Christmas trees across Union, MO are decorated with cyclops reindeer. Strangely enough, they were kind of cute. One of my students gave me a truly creative, many-eyed reindeer. I'm calling it the Reindeer of God, since it has so many googly eyes it is all-seeing!
3. My early Christmas gift from Kenny was a new Ipod. WOO HOO! I have wanted one for years, but as you all know, I'm too cheap to buy one for myself. He assures me that it didn't cost too much money since he bought it at the Apple Outlet store and plus he's been saving up to buy me one. As he told me though, it's kind of a Christmas present for the both of us since we'll both enjoy taking it on trips instead of CD cases. He gave it to me earlier in the week because he thought it would probably take me that long to figure out how to work the gadget. Unfortunately, I'm not very technologically adept, so I'm still working on it. However, I have discovered that I need to update my USB port card. So, like an idiot, I'm going to Best Buy today, read off the paper what Alice (our family computer whiz) told me to write down and buy, and then hopefully install it without blowing up my computer. She swears it's so easy a monkey could do it blindfolded. We'll see!
4. Today, I get to visit with my friend Clint, whom I haven't seen in a while. Tomorrow I head home to Malden to spend the Christmas holiday with my family. Then on Thursday, I'm headed to North Carolina to spend a week with Sebrina and Joe. I'll have the digital camera with me to hopefully take pictures of the crazy places I see. This time I'll try not to delete the pictures I take, as I did with the turkey pictures at Thanksgiving! One day I'll have a handle on technology!
In any case, if I blow myself up replacing the card on the computer or I run out of time before I leave, here's wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Life in Apartment Land
Let me start this posting by saying that I am thankful everyday that I have a roof over my head. Having said that, I will now begin my mild rant on the "joys" of living in an apartment complex.
1. Non-soundproof walls! If I can hear my neighbors and EVERYTHING they do in their apartment, surely they can hear me as well. I simply assumed that they would figure out that if they can hear me, I can hear them, thereby adapting their behavior accordingly! I miss sleeping and lack of sleep makes me a very cranky teacher!
2. A new apartment manager who is a complete jerk: my water heater started going on the blink Thanksgiving weekend. Phone calls were made on Monday and I stopped by the office where he wasn't keeping his scheduled office hours, repeatedly, to get maintenance there to see if it was the element or the whole water heater. On the Wednesday following Thanksgiving, the apartment manager says that he can't get the maintenace man into my apartment because he doesn't have a key, and that if I don't give him a key, he's going to drill my lock, replace it with a new one, and says to me, "You'll get the key at my convenience." Approximately 20 minutes later in a rambling, one-sided conversation, he says to me, "I didn't think anyone was living in your apartment (what - are you incapable of reading the lease I signed in August?) so I was really surprised when I unlocked the door and saw all of your furniture and your pets when I was showing a prospective new tenant the vacant 2 bedroom apartments." To which I pointed out that he said he didn't have a key, so how could he have opened the locked door? He became really angry and rude and said he'd be over at my apartment by 5:30p.m. to check the water heater himself. I go home, move everything away from the laundry closet, and Kenny and I about throw our backs out trying to move the washer and dryer. 5:30 comes, no apartment manager. 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30, no manager. We move everything back because we both need to get out the front door to go to work the next morning. At 10:30, the manager knocks on the door and says he's there to check out the water heater. Okay, let's pull everything out again! He just turns the water heater temperature up, so now instead of having 2 minutes of warm water, we have 4 minutes of warm water. We also make sure that he has a key to get into the apartment and ask him to let us know when he's going to come in with the maintenace man or another repairman so we can lock up the cats. By the way, in my lease, it says that the apartment manager is to give us at least 24 hours notice that they are coming into the apartment, unless it's an emergency, and we are allowed, and encouraged, to be there when the manager comes into the apartment. Cut to last night, my phone rings again at 10:30. It's the manager who informs me that the maintenance man will be at the apartment at 5:00a.m. today to look at my water heater. He says that he'll probably turn off the electricity to the water heater, see what's going on, and hopefully will get it fixed by this afternoon. I get up at 4:30 this morning, get dressed, and move as much as I can out of the hall. 5:00a.m. comes around, no one shows up. Since I had early morning duty, I locked up the cats and left at 7:00 to go to work. I have absolutely no idea if anything has been done in my apartment or not. The manager also implied last night that I should have let them know the water heater was going out as soon as I noticed it, but he wasn't surprised that I didn't "being a female, and all." I guess not being able to perform a mind meld to notify him that my water heater would start going out on Monday from my parents' house in Malden on Thanksgiving is a particular flaw that I would not have if I were a man. For all of my intelligent male friends, ignore this next comment and don't accuse me of being a male basher. Just remember, I only bash the idiots and in that respect, no gender is safe. Save me from stupid, egotistical males who have short man syndrome and think that just because something goes wrong in my apartment, because I'm female, I am too stupid to let them know in a timely manner. Personally, I would like hot water from my faucet that I don't have to heat on the stove to do such things as dishes and take a bath! So would Kenny, my male roommate!
3. The drug dealers living in the apartment across the street: I yearn for the days when the tenants across the street only had affairs on their significant others! In the summer, I was able to watch a real live soap opera being played out when a woman came home and caught her husband/boyfriend in bed with his other girlfriend. Let's just say, the girlfriend ran out of the house half naked, the guy wasn't far behind, and the wife began tossing all of his worldly possessions out the door. Now, I get to watch all of the deals going down, which freaks my dad and brother out.
I can't wait to get a house!
1. Non-soundproof walls! If I can hear my neighbors and EVERYTHING they do in their apartment, surely they can hear me as well. I simply assumed that they would figure out that if they can hear me, I can hear them, thereby adapting their behavior accordingly! I miss sleeping and lack of sleep makes me a very cranky teacher!
2. A new apartment manager who is a complete jerk: my water heater started going on the blink Thanksgiving weekend. Phone calls were made on Monday and I stopped by the office where he wasn't keeping his scheduled office hours, repeatedly, to get maintenance there to see if it was the element or the whole water heater. On the Wednesday following Thanksgiving, the apartment manager says that he can't get the maintenace man into my apartment because he doesn't have a key, and that if I don't give him a key, he's going to drill my lock, replace it with a new one, and says to me, "You'll get the key at my convenience." Approximately 20 minutes later in a rambling, one-sided conversation, he says to me, "I didn't think anyone was living in your apartment (what - are you incapable of reading the lease I signed in August?) so I was really surprised when I unlocked the door and saw all of your furniture and your pets when I was showing a prospective new tenant the vacant 2 bedroom apartments." To which I pointed out that he said he didn't have a key, so how could he have opened the locked door? He became really angry and rude and said he'd be over at my apartment by 5:30p.m. to check the water heater himself. I go home, move everything away from the laundry closet, and Kenny and I about throw our backs out trying to move the washer and dryer. 5:30 comes, no apartment manager. 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30, no manager. We move everything back because we both need to get out the front door to go to work the next morning. At 10:30, the manager knocks on the door and says he's there to check out the water heater. Okay, let's pull everything out again! He just turns the water heater temperature up, so now instead of having 2 minutes of warm water, we have 4 minutes of warm water. We also make sure that he has a key to get into the apartment and ask him to let us know when he's going to come in with the maintenace man or another repairman so we can lock up the cats. By the way, in my lease, it says that the apartment manager is to give us at least 24 hours notice that they are coming into the apartment, unless it's an emergency, and we are allowed, and encouraged, to be there when the manager comes into the apartment. Cut to last night, my phone rings again at 10:30. It's the manager who informs me that the maintenance man will be at the apartment at 5:00a.m. today to look at my water heater. He says that he'll probably turn off the electricity to the water heater, see what's going on, and hopefully will get it fixed by this afternoon. I get up at 4:30 this morning, get dressed, and move as much as I can out of the hall. 5:00a.m. comes around, no one shows up. Since I had early morning duty, I locked up the cats and left at 7:00 to go to work. I have absolutely no idea if anything has been done in my apartment or not. The manager also implied last night that I should have let them know the water heater was going out as soon as I noticed it, but he wasn't surprised that I didn't "being a female, and all." I guess not being able to perform a mind meld to notify him that my water heater would start going out on Monday from my parents' house in Malden on Thanksgiving is a particular flaw that I would not have if I were a man. For all of my intelligent male friends, ignore this next comment and don't accuse me of being a male basher. Just remember, I only bash the idiots and in that respect, no gender is safe. Save me from stupid, egotistical males who have short man syndrome and think that just because something goes wrong in my apartment, because I'm female, I am too stupid to let them know in a timely manner. Personally, I would like hot water from my faucet that I don't have to heat on the stove to do such things as dishes and take a bath! So would Kenny, my male roommate!
3. The drug dealers living in the apartment across the street: I yearn for the days when the tenants across the street only had affairs on their significant others! In the summer, I was able to watch a real live soap opera being played out when a woman came home and caught her husband/boyfriend in bed with his other girlfriend. Let's just say, the girlfriend ran out of the house half naked, the guy wasn't far behind, and the wife began tossing all of his worldly possessions out the door. Now, I get to watch all of the deals going down, which freaks my dad and brother out.
I can't wait to get a house!
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Passings
This is a picture of my friend Sandy Compas. Sandy was tragically killed in a car accident Sunday near her Little Rock home. When I first met her, Sandy was an Ursuline nun. She later left the convent, but continued to work as a director of adult religious education for the Little Rock diocese. In a strange twist of fate or timing, whatever you wish to call it, I received the phone call about her death as I was returning home from the post office where I mailed her Christmas card. Like so many of us do with friends and acquaintances, she and I exchanged e-mails, Christmas cards, etc. but we hadn't spoken on the phone in quite a while. As usual, it was something both of us were going to get around to, but just never found the time to do. Unfortunately, now there will be no phone calls ever again.I'm not sure what I can say, or should say. I go between being shocked and numb, to crying, to questioning why this had to happen to such a good person. I know we, as Christians, are supposed to believe that God has a plan for our lives, but I'm not sure I can find a rhyme or reason to this in God's plan for Sandy. I'm just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that she is gone, a person who devoted her life to bringing others to Christ, while others who tear the the image of Christ and religion down are left. When I told my mother last night, she said something that I've been struggling to accept, "Mayb e God leaves the others to give them another chance to become the kind of person that Sandy was." I just hope that I can learn to accept this and become more like she was.
Please keep Sandy, her family, and those of us who were blessed with the joy of her friendship in your prayers. We're all going to need it for a while. While I was looking for this photo, I found a letter from Sandy where she was giving me some ideas to use in the freshman religion class that I used to teach at St. Anns. In the letter, she had included a copy of a poem by Christina Rossetti called "Remember" that I think expresses the essence of what she would say to those of us she left behind if she could.
"Remember" by Christina Rossetti
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no longer hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more, day by day,
You tell me of our future that you planned.
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterward remember, do not grieve,
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Turkeys and Pumpkin Pies
Thank God it's Tuesday/Friday!! The past week and weekend have been extremely long and I'm glad today's the last day of school for this week. I left last Thursday morning for the Missouri International Reading Conference at The Lodge of the Four Seasons at the Lake of the Ozarks. While this is always a good conference and I learn so much when I attend, the pace of the workshops leaves very little down time and I'm always exhausted when I get home on late Saturday evening. On the plus side, I was able to meet the authors Patricia McKissack and Marc Brown, so my niece and nephew are receiving signed copies of Flossie and the Fox as well as Arthur's New Puppy, Arthur's Chicken Pox, and Wild About Books. The authors were great. Patricia McKissack did a dramatic reading of part of Flossie and the Fox while Marc Brown talked about traveling on Air Force One with the First Lady to attend the first Russian Children's Book Festival. Apparently there is a separate compartment on Air Force One where she can go in to smoke, even though no one else is allowed to smoke on the airplane. Isn't it interesting that the rich and famous do not have to follow the same rules as everyone else - like there's a big shock! Also, the choice of food on Air Force One, according to Mr. Brown, appears to be Dove Bars, since that was in big bold letters at the bottom of the menu for the plane. There is some random trivia for you, whether you needed it or not.
Tonight, I will be baking pumpkin pies. I have finally convinced my mom that one of us needs to bake the pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For several years, my mom told my cousin Donna (who has two masters degrees, yet can't seem to hold down a job and has a tendancy to walk into walls in my parents' house that have been there for 30 years while exclaiming that she didn't know that wall was there- go figure) that, "Of course, you can bake the pumpkin pies!" She has difficulty seeing, but apparently, she mixed up the sugar with the salt. As a result, we routinely had two beautiful pumpkin pies sitting on the counter and when my sister, brother, and I would cut into them and load them up with half a can of RediWhip (honestly, is there any other way to eat pumpkin pie), we'd take our first bite and promptly spit the pie out in unison. For about 3 years, we were jipped out of pumpkin pie. It got to be a joke, so much so that Sebrina's mom once fixed us a contraband pumpkin pie that we sneaked into Roy's house so we could eat good pie! According to my mom's decree, one of us now has to make the pie since we didn't appreciate Donna's efforts. It's not that we didn't appreciate the effort, it's just that we all really like pumpkin pie.
Tomorrow night, I will be heading home to help Mom shoot up and rub down birds so my dad can fry turkeys like a crazy man all Thursday morning. I'll try to remember to bring home the digital camera so you can see the carnage that my mother's kitchen becomes on Wednesday night. There are so many turkeys in the house that night that we could make the German family version of that Peter Gabriel video with the dancing chickens! Oh well, fried bird is excellent.
In any case, I hope you all enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, even all of the crazy preparation that goes along with the feast!
Tonight, I will be baking pumpkin pies. I have finally convinced my mom that one of us needs to bake the pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. For several years, my mom told my cousin Donna (who has two masters degrees, yet can't seem to hold down a job and has a tendancy to walk into walls in my parents' house that have been there for 30 years while exclaiming that she didn't know that wall was there- go figure) that, "Of course, you can bake the pumpkin pies!" She has difficulty seeing, but apparently, she mixed up the sugar with the salt. As a result, we routinely had two beautiful pumpkin pies sitting on the counter and when my sister, brother, and I would cut into them and load them up with half a can of RediWhip (honestly, is there any other way to eat pumpkin pie), we'd take our first bite and promptly spit the pie out in unison. For about 3 years, we were jipped out of pumpkin pie. It got to be a joke, so much so that Sebrina's mom once fixed us a contraband pumpkin pie that we sneaked into Roy's house so we could eat good pie! According to my mom's decree, one of us now has to make the pie since we didn't appreciate Donna's efforts. It's not that we didn't appreciate the effort, it's just that we all really like pumpkin pie.
Tomorrow night, I will be heading home to help Mom shoot up and rub down birds so my dad can fry turkeys like a crazy man all Thursday morning. I'll try to remember to bring home the digital camera so you can see the carnage that my mother's kitchen becomes on Wednesday night. There are so many turkeys in the house that night that we could make the German family version of that Peter Gabriel video with the dancing chickens! Oh well, fried bird is excellent.
In any case, I hope you all enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, even all of the crazy preparation that goes along with the feast!
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!
Last night, some friends and I went to see Spamalot (http://www.montypythonsspamalot.com/) at the Fox (http://www.fabulousfox.com/). All I can say is if you are a Monty Python fan and you love musicals as well, try to get tickets to see this show. We laughed until we hurt! I'm still humming tunes this morning. Funny, funny stuff!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Fun Fall Roadtrips
This past weekend, Kenny and I decided to take a much needed road trip. We forgot the digital camera, so unfortunately there are no pictures to share. However, as usual, we always seem to encounter wonderfully stupid people and find ourselves in such exotic locals as Iowa. But I digress, so without further ado, here are the highlights.
We left Washington on Friday afternoon, hoping to make Quincy, IL before nightfall. Around Troy, we decided we were hungry and found a Burger King so we could purchase the lovely Italian Chicken Sandwich. We placed our order without any complications until we pulled forward to pay for our meal and obtain our food. The payment part was no problem. A very polite young lady took our money and gave us our change. Then she disappeared somewhere in the back of the restaurant. Meanwhile, we are patiently waiting in the drive through lane for our food. Approximately 5 minutes pass. She finally returns to the window, pops her head out and says, "Are you all waiting?" Kenny and I look at each other, then I'm sure we gave her a look that said, "Surely you can't be that stupid." In a strangled voice, Kenny told her that we were waiting. Then she wanted to know what we were waiting on, and we once again repeated the order. Then she said, "Did you guys pay yet?" Keep in mind that she was the one who took our money and we were the only customers at the restaurant, so it's not like she had 50 customers to wait on. Again, Kenny told her, slowly, "Yes, you took our money." We finally got the sandwiches and left without cracking up or making a mean "Here's your sign" joke ala Bill Engvall. However down the road, Kenny said he wanted to say, "No, we're just driving real slow." in response to "Are you waitin?"
We made it to Hannibal where we decided to stop and make some purchases from the Fresh Ayre pottery shop. While browsing in some of the other stores along the main street, we noticed that the Mississippi Queen was docked at the river front. Having not really paid much attention to the news lately, we didn't think anything about it until we were in one of the stores and this guy comes in looking really panicked and asked the sales lady if the Chamber of Commerce had called her yet? She told him she hadn't recieved any phone calls from the chamber. He told her, "Well, they're calling everyone telling them to disinfect anything the boat people touch because the ship has docked because they're all sick and throwing up!" They both turn and look at me and Kenny, to which we both yell, "We drove up in our car!" Deciding that with our luck, we'd catch whatever the cholera steam boat had carried into town, we quickly leave and as we're driving out of town, we see store owners everywhere armed with cans of Lysol spraying everything in sight.
We made it into Quincy with plenty of day light left. We had read an article about a month ago about scenic fall drives to take and it listed Quincy as a place to visit, due to it's six historic districts and approximately 2,000 homes/buildings of architectural and historical significance. Neither of us have ever visited Quincy, so our plan was to visit the visitor's center to pick up a city map and information about what to see. The visitor's center was closed. No problem, we decided to check into a hotel and then find somewhere to eat and make it back in time to catch the baseball game. We figured we could come back in the morning and pick up the info then in time to go exploring. After an exciting World Series win, we had a wonderful night's rest and breakfast. Heading out at 8:45 for the visitor's center, we hoped we would find the information we sought. No matter what time we tried to go to the visitor's center, it was always closed. Our hotel had no brochures or information about the historic buildings either. We drove around for a while, and saw some interesting buildings but since we weren't really sure where anything was, we decided to head out to Navoo and check out the restored Mormon settlement.
I assumed the restored Mormon settlement was run by the Illinois Conservation Department, much like historic sites in MO and other places around Illinois, such as the Old State Capital or New Salem. OH WRONG! This place, while very pretty and neat to visit due to it's historic nature, is completely run and staffed by Mormons and apparently the majority of visitors are Mormon. We have decided that Navoo is like Mormon Disneyland. Approximately 90% of the cars had Utah license plates. The elders and their wives were very nice, always answering any questions and were very friendly and welcoming. However, they kept asking us if we had found our ancestor's in the family and land records and as we were touring some of the buildings in the old settlement they kept talking to us about Mormon history and religion and asking us questions like we knew what they were talking about! Outside of what we learned about the Mormon exodus to Utah in some history classes, neither of us know the detailed history of the Mormon faith. We weren't really sure whether or not we should tell them we weren't Mormon, just keep our mouths shut and play dumb, or what to do. All of the people who worked there and all of the other visitors were Mormon and they automatically assumed that we were Mormon too. But as we had both had a deer in headlight look, you could kind of see some of the elders and other church members trying to figure us out. Basically we think they thought we were the worst Mormons they had ever met! As Kenny said, he now knows what non-Catholics must feel like when they go to Rome! However, if you're interested in history and historic preservation sites, this is a neat place to go. The rest of the town was apparently bought and settled by a French Icarian community when the Mormons decided to head west to Utah. So, on the west side of town, you have the restored Mormon settlement where all you can buy to drink is spring water or root beer. On the bluff heading into downtown Navoo, you have the Catholic Church and the restored Mormon Temple side by side, separated by an alley. On the east side of town, there is a Casey's and a winery. Kenny and I figured out that if you want to get hooch and caffiene, you have to head to the east side where all the French Catholics settled! Still, it's a neat place to visit.
After an afternoon of dodging religious questions that we had no idea about, we decided that we were hungry and quickly found out that Navoo only has two places to eat and nothing opens up until like 5:30 in the afternoon. We decided to venture into Keokuk and find food since it's really close to Navoo. We finally found food and drove around Keokuk, finding the statue of Chief Keokuk, which has his remains in the base, in a park overlooking the river. Keokuk is kind of a sad town. You can tell that it was once really prosperous, but it's kind of depressed now. We did find a lovely Catholic church, All Saints, which is on the national historic register, and attended Mass there. Since we were tired, we decided to spend the night in Keokuk. After checking in, we decided to go find supper and quickly realized that outside of fast food and a questionable looking Chinese restaurant, Keokuk has very little in the way of restaurants to choose from. We decided to venture on to Fort Madison where the information in our hotel room said that there was a casino. Neither of us like to gamble, but casinos typically have a buffet. Since Kenny is fond of buffets and I like to have a variety of vegetables to choose from, we figured this might be a nice change from a burger and fries. Once we got to Fort Madison, we couldn't find the casino. We finally stopped at a gas station and they told us that the casino was up in Burlington for six months. Northward to the buffet! We found the Catfish Bend Casino, and the best thing I can say is the rolls and the scalloped potatoes were good. Plus there is a Wendy's in Burlington, so I was able to purchase a Frosty which I haven't had in a long time since most of our Wendy's in the St. Louis area have closed.
On our way back to Keokuk, we saw the funniest sign of our trip. It was a large billboard advertising "Visit the Hellmart in Farmington, Iowa for all of your gift needs!" What a name for a gift store. On Sunday, we returned to Washington after enjoying another one of our nerds unite road trips!
In the spirit of road trips to find strange, weird, or just unique things to see, my friend Joe Glenn sent me a wonderful website for locating the many oddities and roadside attractions to see in every state! Good fun, it sucked up about an hour and a half of my evening last night. I'm now wanting to plan a trip to North Dakota, since they appear to have a large number of large homemade things like a giant turtle riding a snowmobile and people made out of bales of hay! Here it is for your time-wasting pleasure: www.roadsideamerica.com Enjoy!
We left Washington on Friday afternoon, hoping to make Quincy, IL before nightfall. Around Troy, we decided we were hungry and found a Burger King so we could purchase the lovely Italian Chicken Sandwich. We placed our order without any complications until we pulled forward to pay for our meal and obtain our food. The payment part was no problem. A very polite young lady took our money and gave us our change. Then she disappeared somewhere in the back of the restaurant. Meanwhile, we are patiently waiting in the drive through lane for our food. Approximately 5 minutes pass. She finally returns to the window, pops her head out and says, "Are you all waiting?" Kenny and I look at each other, then I'm sure we gave her a look that said, "Surely you can't be that stupid." In a strangled voice, Kenny told her that we were waiting. Then she wanted to know what we were waiting on, and we once again repeated the order. Then she said, "Did you guys pay yet?" Keep in mind that she was the one who took our money and we were the only customers at the restaurant, so it's not like she had 50 customers to wait on. Again, Kenny told her, slowly, "Yes, you took our money." We finally got the sandwiches and left without cracking up or making a mean "Here's your sign" joke ala Bill Engvall. However down the road, Kenny said he wanted to say, "No, we're just driving real slow." in response to "Are you waitin?"
We made it to Hannibal where we decided to stop and make some purchases from the Fresh Ayre pottery shop. While browsing in some of the other stores along the main street, we noticed that the Mississippi Queen was docked at the river front. Having not really paid much attention to the news lately, we didn't think anything about it until we were in one of the stores and this guy comes in looking really panicked and asked the sales lady if the Chamber of Commerce had called her yet? She told him she hadn't recieved any phone calls from the chamber. He told her, "Well, they're calling everyone telling them to disinfect anything the boat people touch because the ship has docked because they're all sick and throwing up!" They both turn and look at me and Kenny, to which we both yell, "We drove up in our car!" Deciding that with our luck, we'd catch whatever the cholera steam boat had carried into town, we quickly leave and as we're driving out of town, we see store owners everywhere armed with cans of Lysol spraying everything in sight.
We made it into Quincy with plenty of day light left. We had read an article about a month ago about scenic fall drives to take and it listed Quincy as a place to visit, due to it's six historic districts and approximately 2,000 homes/buildings of architectural and historical significance. Neither of us have ever visited Quincy, so our plan was to visit the visitor's center to pick up a city map and information about what to see. The visitor's center was closed. No problem, we decided to check into a hotel and then find somewhere to eat and make it back in time to catch the baseball game. We figured we could come back in the morning and pick up the info then in time to go exploring. After an exciting World Series win, we had a wonderful night's rest and breakfast. Heading out at 8:45 for the visitor's center, we hoped we would find the information we sought. No matter what time we tried to go to the visitor's center, it was always closed. Our hotel had no brochures or information about the historic buildings either. We drove around for a while, and saw some interesting buildings but since we weren't really sure where anything was, we decided to head out to Navoo and check out the restored Mormon settlement.
I assumed the restored Mormon settlement was run by the Illinois Conservation Department, much like historic sites in MO and other places around Illinois, such as the Old State Capital or New Salem. OH WRONG! This place, while very pretty and neat to visit due to it's historic nature, is completely run and staffed by Mormons and apparently the majority of visitors are Mormon. We have decided that Navoo is like Mormon Disneyland. Approximately 90% of the cars had Utah license plates. The elders and their wives were very nice, always answering any questions and were very friendly and welcoming. However, they kept asking us if we had found our ancestor's in the family and land records and as we were touring some of the buildings in the old settlement they kept talking to us about Mormon history and religion and asking us questions like we knew what they were talking about! Outside of what we learned about the Mormon exodus to Utah in some history classes, neither of us know the detailed history of the Mormon faith. We weren't really sure whether or not we should tell them we weren't Mormon, just keep our mouths shut and play dumb, or what to do. All of the people who worked there and all of the other visitors were Mormon and they automatically assumed that we were Mormon too. But as we had both had a deer in headlight look, you could kind of see some of the elders and other church members trying to figure us out. Basically we think they thought we were the worst Mormons they had ever met! As Kenny said, he now knows what non-Catholics must feel like when they go to Rome! However, if you're interested in history and historic preservation sites, this is a neat place to go. The rest of the town was apparently bought and settled by a French Icarian community when the Mormons decided to head west to Utah. So, on the west side of town, you have the restored Mormon settlement where all you can buy to drink is spring water or root beer. On the bluff heading into downtown Navoo, you have the Catholic Church and the restored Mormon Temple side by side, separated by an alley. On the east side of town, there is a Casey's and a winery. Kenny and I figured out that if you want to get hooch and caffiene, you have to head to the east side where all the French Catholics settled! Still, it's a neat place to visit.
After an afternoon of dodging religious questions that we had no idea about, we decided that we were hungry and quickly found out that Navoo only has two places to eat and nothing opens up until like 5:30 in the afternoon. We decided to venture into Keokuk and find food since it's really close to Navoo. We finally found food and drove around Keokuk, finding the statue of Chief Keokuk, which has his remains in the base, in a park overlooking the river. Keokuk is kind of a sad town. You can tell that it was once really prosperous, but it's kind of depressed now. We did find a lovely Catholic church, All Saints, which is on the national historic register, and attended Mass there. Since we were tired, we decided to spend the night in Keokuk. After checking in, we decided to go find supper and quickly realized that outside of fast food and a questionable looking Chinese restaurant, Keokuk has very little in the way of restaurants to choose from. We decided to venture on to Fort Madison where the information in our hotel room said that there was a casino. Neither of us like to gamble, but casinos typically have a buffet. Since Kenny is fond of buffets and I like to have a variety of vegetables to choose from, we figured this might be a nice change from a burger and fries. Once we got to Fort Madison, we couldn't find the casino. We finally stopped at a gas station and they told us that the casino was up in Burlington for six months. Northward to the buffet! We found the Catfish Bend Casino, and the best thing I can say is the rolls and the scalloped potatoes were good. Plus there is a Wendy's in Burlington, so I was able to purchase a Frosty which I haven't had in a long time since most of our Wendy's in the St. Louis area have closed.
On our way back to Keokuk, we saw the funniest sign of our trip. It was a large billboard advertising "Visit the Hellmart in Farmington, Iowa for all of your gift needs!" What a name for a gift store. On Sunday, we returned to Washington after enjoying another one of our nerds unite road trips!
In the spirit of road trips to find strange, weird, or just unique things to see, my friend Joe Glenn sent me a wonderful website for locating the many oddities and roadside attractions to see in every state! Good fun, it sucked up about an hour and a half of my evening last night. I'm now wanting to plan a trip to North Dakota, since they appear to have a large number of large homemade things like a giant turtle riding a snowmobile and people made out of bales of hay! Here it is for your time-wasting pleasure: www.roadsideamerica.com Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Compromise
Wedding planning, much like marriage, is all about compromise, or so I hear (about the marriage part that is)! While Jen and my mom felt the dress I picked out was too casual, they did like the Alfred Angelo site, (thanks Brooke!). Here is the one Jen chose along with going for a darker color. Now comes the heinous measuring and fittings! Oh well, this is the last bridesmaid's dress I'm wearing, ever.
Being Mute
I have lost the ability to speak! This is day two of an unscheduled vacation due to some bug I have managed to pick up from the 110 rugrats that sneeze and cough on me regularly. On the plus side, I woke up this morning with only a very low fever, not the hallucinating kind that I've been experiencing for the past two days.
What I hate the most is missing school. I think this is a particular mindset of teachers. I know that I am replaceable, believeme, I sometimes think a trained monkey could get as much accomplished with the kids I work with as I can. What I hate most is the mess you come back to along with the snide comments from other teachers in the teachers lounge (lounge, right, I tend to call it the complaint department, but it has the best microwave in the building to heat up my lunch) which will go something like this, "Well, did you have a nice vacation?" I'm sorry, actually going to a beach and being warmed by the sun, cooling off in the waves is my idea of a vacation, not sleeping for two days, unable to breathe, smelling like Vicks vapor rub, feeling like my throat is on fire, and running a fever while experiencing the alternating joys of sweating and then having chills. Not my idea of a "vacation".
What finally pushed me over the edge was the faculty hayride. This annual event is always a fun time. I had not felt too chipper for most of last week, but I just kept eating cold medication and kept pushing. I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good, and decided to go on to the hayride that night since I had to bring the chili cheese dip. I went and had a good time, but I have a feeling it was just a little too chilly, even by the bonfire and my body decided to put the smack down and go, "That's it, you're going down!" I managed to make it to Mass the next morning, but I can't tell you much about that. Nothing like going to church while being out of your head! Some people would say it makes the whole experience less painful! Upon returning home, I went to bed, where I have been for the past two days. There is my exciting life. I wish a plague on all the rugrats and the makers of Lysol. I guess I got the one germ that missed the 99.9% germs killed! I'm going back to bed, I'm feeling kind of woozy.
What I hate the most is missing school. I think this is a particular mindset of teachers. I know that I am replaceable, believeme, I sometimes think a trained monkey could get as much accomplished with the kids I work with as I can. What I hate most is the mess you come back to along with the snide comments from other teachers in the teachers lounge (lounge, right, I tend to call it the complaint department, but it has the best microwave in the building to heat up my lunch) which will go something like this, "Well, did you have a nice vacation?" I'm sorry, actually going to a beach and being warmed by the sun, cooling off in the waves is my idea of a vacation, not sleeping for two days, unable to breathe, smelling like Vicks vapor rub, feeling like my throat is on fire, and running a fever while experiencing the alternating joys of sweating and then having chills. Not my idea of a "vacation".
What finally pushed me over the edge was the faculty hayride. This annual event is always a fun time. I had not felt too chipper for most of last week, but I just kept eating cold medication and kept pushing. I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good, and decided to go on to the hayride that night since I had to bring the chili cheese dip. I went and had a good time, but I have a feeling it was just a little too chilly, even by the bonfire and my body decided to put the smack down and go, "That's it, you're going down!" I managed to make it to Mass the next morning, but I can't tell you much about that. Nothing like going to church while being out of your head! Some people would say it makes the whole experience less painful! Upon returning home, I went to bed, where I have been for the past two days. There is my exciting life. I wish a plague on all the rugrats and the makers of Lysol. I guess I got the one germ that missed the 99.9% germs killed! I'm going back to bed, I'm feeling kind of woozy.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Alternatives in Bridal Gear
Many thanks go out to Brooke for providing me with a link to another site for bridesmaids dresses. I have managed to pick out a much better dress than the one that was originally chosen. Keep in mind these are separates, so use that wonderful thing called imagination and put the two together.
In any case, I find these options more appropriate. Plus, I could actually see myself wearing the top again. Put it with a pair of black pants and it will work. Keep your fingers crossed that Jen will go for this outfit.
There have been more encounters with the store I originally went browsing in to check out the dress options. Our counselor at school, who generally tells it like it is in no uncertain terms, found out what had happened. She found out what I did and asked me when I was going to stop being so nice to people. I told her I guessed I would continue to be a doormat for stupid people for the forseeable future until I managed to develop a spine or finally went postal. Unbenownst to me, she went on an internet mission to find out the contact number of the store's headquarters. While she was unable to find any way to contact the store's headquarters, she was shocked to find numerous websites devoted solely to relating horror stories from people who had dealings with this chain. Still miffed about what had happened to me, she proceeded to call the store and talk to the manager, relating my unfortunate encounter with the sales bimbo. She came to tell me the manager wanted me to call so she could personally apologize. I told her I couldn't believe that she had called the store, that it wasn't that big of a deal, and that I figured the best way to get revenge was to not give them my business and discourage other potential patrons. She looked at me and said, "People have no right to treat you like that. If you continue to let people like that get away with bad behavior, they will continue to treat people poorly."
I just don't want some stupid girl to lose her job because she had a bad day. The sales bimbo was awfully young. Who knows, she may need this job. At the end of the day, the incident wasn't really that big of a deal. It was just another example of how rude and stupid people can be. While telling Kenny what the counselor had done and how I hoped the girl hadn't been fired because she was rude to me, he responded, "Quit making excuses for people who need to be held responsible for their behavior!" Would her getting reprimanded or even fired teach her a lesson. I doubt it. You can't fix stupid, well most of the time. Unfortunately, as comedien Ron White says , "Stupid is forever!", usually.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Another Bridesmaid Dress
Yes folks, here it is, another bridesmaid's dress that I will once again purchase and never wear again! Someone always assures you that you could shorten the skirt and it will be nice to wear for formal situations (like I attend so many formal functions)! Yeah, right! Be that as it may, take a look at this dress and then try to remember what I look like. For those of you who can't, rest assured that I definitely do not resemble the model. I might more accurately resemble a pale green, extremely large Nerf ball in this dress. Actually, I think the Nerf ball would be more attractive in this dress than I will be. For those of you who are wondering, my brother and his fiance have officially set their wedding date for March 17th. I had never planned to be in another wedding, but Jen has this brilliant idea for my sister Carol, Jen's cousin, and me to be her bridesmaids. When she announced her plan this summer, Carol and I were gritting our teeth and agreeing to be in the wedding. I promptly began planning how I could step in front of a bus and end up in some cast to get out of being in the wedding. Heck, I don't even want to be in my own wedding, so why in the world would I want to be in this one! A look from my mother, even if I am over 21, can still instill the fear of God into me and I have resigned myself to trying to fit into this stupid dress and trying to hide as much as possible from the camera!
Without sounding too bitter, I must now relate the incident that occured when I followed Jen's suggestion to go look at possible bridesmaids dresses here at a national chain of bridal/formal stores here in St. Louis. They guarantee on their commercials that you'll love them, but I quickly found out that they love skinny people, not fat people! On a Saturday two weeks ago, I decided to go get this initial look over with and see what was available. Dressed in shorts (hello, it's Saturday and I have to dress up all week) I went into the store to have a look at the dresses. I quickly realized that nothing had sleeves. I decided to ask a sales lady if there were any dresses with sleeves available in the color Jen wanted. When I finally got the airheaded sales lady's attention, she acted quite put out that I was bothering her. I guess discussing the latest conquest she brought home the night before from some club was more important than answering a customer's question. Here is a paraphrased transcript of the conversation:
Sales bimbo: "Can I help you?" (bored inflection)
Me: "I have to be in my brother's wedding in the spring and his fiance wanted me to come look at the bridesmaids dresses? Do you have any dresses with sleeves?"
Sales bimbo: "Does she have a particular style of dress picked out?"
Me: "I have no idea. I assume that's why she wanted me to come look." At this point, I have figured out that I'll probably need to speak slowly to cut through her hangover and intelligence void.
Sales bimbo: "Well, I don't think we have the size you'll need to fit in any of our dresses."
Me: Complete and utter speechlessness. Imagine a deer in a headlights. Finally, I am able to respond "Okay."
At this point, I had a sudden vision of me snapping this skinny, blond, former cheerleader in half. Then I envisioned myself sitting on her and turning her into a grease spot of her former self. I decided that she wasn't worth going to jail over, so I ended up simply saying "Thank you." (for being insulted, mind you) and leaving the store. Once I reached my car, I quickly calculated the distance to Ted Drewe's and the comfort only frozen custard can provide. I ended up getting a diet soda instead since I was still smarting from the whole "We don't have your size" comment.
As I drove home with my tail between my legs and crying, I got to thinking about how you can never really escape the changing room in gym class because you encounter the same situation just cloaked in a different setting at various points in life. Think back to gym class. You always had to dress out. For the skinny girls, it was no big deal. For the rest of us with junk in the trunk and pulling a trailer, you tried to shrink as small as possible and change as quickly as possible. At some point in your PE career, one of the skinny bimbos in the class would make a snide comment about the size of your thighs, butt, arms, etc. or laugh at you and whisper to her friends. You were totally humiliated and wished the floor would open up and swallow you whole. That's how I felt after my encounter with the skinny saleslady in the wedding store with all of the dresses for the beautiful, skinny people. What's really sad is that even with all that I have accomplished, even though I know I am a person of worth and value, it still hurt my feelings. I would love to be one of those people who can come up with a really good response when encountering idiots like this person, but I don't think quick on my feet. Also, you don't want to stoop to their level of stupidity and hatefulness, but sometimes I wish that I had a tazer or cattle prod and could shock some sense into people!
I'll keep you posted on how the dress situation goes. I hate this dress, so I'm going to try to find an alternative. Maybe I can convince Jen to let us wear the same color and pick out different styles of dresses. I will definitely not return to the store from whence I was sent away in humiliation. If anyone has any suggestions about stores between St. Louis and Memphis that would be better to check out, I'd appreciate the information.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Going Home
This evening, I drove down to Malden to spend the weekend with my family. Basically, I drove down to bake and decorate Halloween cookies with my nephew, Robbie (aka "The Bobchuck"). While this may seem a bit early for Halloween activities, he has been wearing his bat costume for approximately 2 weeks now and has managed to talk my mom into decorating the house for Halloween. Apparently, it has also been decorated for 2 weeks as well. Isn't it amazing what your parents will do when they become grandparents! In the spirit of fairness, when my brother and I were younger, my parents were both teaching, so the idea of having tons of decorations was not on the top of their list. I now can completely sympathize with them, since I'm thinking I'll do well to buy candy for Halloween and then manage to put up a Christmas tree and decorate the apartment before the end of Christmas break. But it still amuses me to see all of the festive decorations!
Since moving away from Malden, I can now honestly say there are some things that make me feel nostalgic when I return. As I drove down tonight, I had the moonroof open on my car. Upon leaving Dexter and heading south on 25, I could smell the defoliant used on the cotton and could see the large, rectangular, white bales sitting in the fields due to a wonderfully bright full moon. The closer I drove to Malden, I could start to see the lights from the racetrack north of town and then, as I drove down Business 25 in town, I could see the lights on at the football field where the Friday night game was ending. The traffic leaving the ballgame is about the closest thing Malden can claim to having a traffic jam. For all 4 years of high school, I never missed a home game due to being in band, but oddly enough, I never paid much attention to the games. What I remember most is spending time with my friends. I learned no great love of football or even a great devotion to my alma mater, but I did learn the value of friendship. Now the things I remember most about the games were laughing at something one of our four band directors said, how Sebrina's hair could defy gravity and gale force winds, and Kevin's rendition of "The Little Mermaid on Crack".
It dawned on me tonight that once my parents are no longer here, what will there be to draw me back to this place? The friends I grew up with are gone, off to bigger towns where there are more jobs and better opportunities, less prejudices and expectations to live up to, or reputations to overcome. Once my family is gone, there will be no reason for me to return to this place. The sad reality is that my hometown is slowly dying. The Federal Mogul plant is shutting down at the end of this year. The school, while nice, is no longer in the same State classification that it was when I was in school. Promises of new industry and factories are just that, promises and empty ones at best. The reasons for the decline are many and depend on whom you talk to. The people I knew as a child are either moving away, or sadly, passing away. Things are no longer the same and it just drives home to me that time is passing, I'm growing older, and you really can't go home again. No one tells you how true that is when you leave for college. It's only when you try to return that you truly learn that lesson. Even when I returned to live in Malden and teach in the area for seven years, it wasn't home anymore. I never felt comfortable here after leaving. However, I miss seeing cotton fields when the bolls are opening. I miss the taste of a perfectly ripe watermelon bought from a roadside stand at the edge of a field. I miss the friends of my youth and regret that I didn't spend more time with them enjoying the fun and laughter they gave me, and I wish I had let them know how much they meant to me. We are all so busy now. We have scattered out over hundreds of miles and several states. Some I keep in touch with, others I have lost contact with and have no idea of where they are, and others I read about through their blogs. Our lives are now in other places besides here.
Do I dream of returning to live in my town? No, this is not the place where I want to retire. This is not the place where my life is, or probably will be, carried out. I don't want to raise my children here. I want to live in a place that is bigger, with more opportunities, more diversity, and more anonymity than is offered to you in a town where everyone knows everybody's business, public or private. Yet I miss the way the cottonfields look like snow in the light of a beautiful harvest moon.
Since moving away from Malden, I can now honestly say there are some things that make me feel nostalgic when I return. As I drove down tonight, I had the moonroof open on my car. Upon leaving Dexter and heading south on 25, I could smell the defoliant used on the cotton and could see the large, rectangular, white bales sitting in the fields due to a wonderfully bright full moon. The closer I drove to Malden, I could start to see the lights from the racetrack north of town and then, as I drove down Business 25 in town, I could see the lights on at the football field where the Friday night game was ending. The traffic leaving the ballgame is about the closest thing Malden can claim to having a traffic jam. For all 4 years of high school, I never missed a home game due to being in band, but oddly enough, I never paid much attention to the games. What I remember most is spending time with my friends. I learned no great love of football or even a great devotion to my alma mater, but I did learn the value of friendship. Now the things I remember most about the games were laughing at something one of our four band directors said, how Sebrina's hair could defy gravity and gale force winds, and Kevin's rendition of "The Little Mermaid on Crack".
It dawned on me tonight that once my parents are no longer here, what will there be to draw me back to this place? The friends I grew up with are gone, off to bigger towns where there are more jobs and better opportunities, less prejudices and expectations to live up to, or reputations to overcome. Once my family is gone, there will be no reason for me to return to this place. The sad reality is that my hometown is slowly dying. The Federal Mogul plant is shutting down at the end of this year. The school, while nice, is no longer in the same State classification that it was when I was in school. Promises of new industry and factories are just that, promises and empty ones at best. The reasons for the decline are many and depend on whom you talk to. The people I knew as a child are either moving away, or sadly, passing away. Things are no longer the same and it just drives home to me that time is passing, I'm growing older, and you really can't go home again. No one tells you how true that is when you leave for college. It's only when you try to return that you truly learn that lesson. Even when I returned to live in Malden and teach in the area for seven years, it wasn't home anymore. I never felt comfortable here after leaving. However, I miss seeing cotton fields when the bolls are opening. I miss the taste of a perfectly ripe watermelon bought from a roadside stand at the edge of a field. I miss the friends of my youth and regret that I didn't spend more time with them enjoying the fun and laughter they gave me, and I wish I had let them know how much they meant to me. We are all so busy now. We have scattered out over hundreds of miles and several states. Some I keep in touch with, others I have lost contact with and have no idea of where they are, and others I read about through their blogs. Our lives are now in other places besides here.
Do I dream of returning to live in my town? No, this is not the place where I want to retire. This is not the place where my life is, or probably will be, carried out. I don't want to raise my children here. I want to live in a place that is bigger, with more opportunities, more diversity, and more anonymity than is offered to you in a town where everyone knows everybody's business, public or private. Yet I miss the way the cottonfields look like snow in the light of a beautiful harvest moon.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
It's Over!!!
So, I survived my experience with the root canal. I took my "happy" pills as prescribed and felt very woozy, warm, off-balance, and generally kind of out of it. While I remained awake for all of the procedures, there was little to no pain. The worst part was the first numbing injection. After all was finished at the dentist's office, I spent the rest of the day asleep with my head on an ice pack to reduce swelling. I must say that I won't mind going to the dentist if all visits go as well as the last two. We've come a long way in making dental procedures much more patient friendly.
Now, for a personal complaint. I love the show "Scrubs" which is typically on NBC, but is not on the schedule for the fall line-up. As usual, NBC won't say exactly when we're going to have the new season start, but it will "hopefully be sometime this winter". Why is it that when one of the major networks actually puts on a funny show that people enjoy, they don't keep it on the air or keep it in a regular time spot? I guess I'm going to have to get my Scrubs fix from Comedy Central, which will be convenient since it's right before The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. But still, I find the current slate of TV programming rather abysmal, what with the racially divided Survivior, Dancing/Singing/Duets/ with the Stars, Big Brother, etc. Don't we have enough "reality" to deal with in real life without putting on stupid, non-reality shows at night? As a teacher in one of the most meth infested counties (and where apparently your neighbor has no qualms about stealing your new baby) in the U.S., I don't need any more drama. How about some good, old-fashioned entertainment?!?
Now, for a personal complaint. I love the show "Scrubs" which is typically on NBC, but is not on the schedule for the fall line-up. As usual, NBC won't say exactly when we're going to have the new season start, but it will "hopefully be sometime this winter". Why is it that when one of the major networks actually puts on a funny show that people enjoy, they don't keep it on the air or keep it in a regular time spot? I guess I'm going to have to get my Scrubs fix from Comedy Central, which will be convenient since it's right before The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. But still, I find the current slate of TV programming rather abysmal, what with the racially divided Survivior, Dancing/Singing/Duets/ with the Stars, Big Brother, etc. Don't we have enough "reality" to deal with in real life without putting on stupid, non-reality shows at night? As a teacher in one of the most meth infested counties (and where apparently your neighbor has no qualms about stealing your new baby) in the U.S., I don't need any more drama. How about some good, old-fashioned entertainment?!?
Monday, September 18, 2006
Trips to the Dentist
Well, I have now joined my friend Bob in adventures with oral surgery/dentist work. Yesterday, I was enjoying a tasty gooey cheese burger (ala gooey cheese burgers and gooey cheese fries from Dairy Queen/Dakota's for all of the Malden folk) from a local restaurant here in Washington called "Dairy Delight" when I discovered I had broken a tooth. Obviously, I freaked out and quickly made an appointment with a local dentist here in town ASAP this morning. One dental exam, cleaning, and filling later, I am now sitting at the computer because I have been so numbed that I look I have palsey and am drooling that I am avoiding all mirrors in my apartment. However, I also have an 8:00A.M. appointment on Wednesday for a root canal on a tooth that had only had minor twinges when eating ice cream! On the plus side, my new dentist here in town, Dr. Tobben, does oral sedation. As a result, I have a lovely bottle of 3 pills (one of which I will take tomorrow evening before I go to bed and the remaining two I will take one hour before my "procedure") to quote "get me in the mood for a root canal". Like Bob, I am replaying all of the root canal horror stories in my mind as Dr. Tobben is telling me what's going to happen. Seeing the look of panic and terror on my face, he calmly asked me what I was thinking, to which I replied, "PAIN!!!!" and related a horrible dental experience with a dentist at home who told me to quit being a sissy as he drilled/filled my tooth after only 2 shots of novacaine before it was completely numb! Dr. Tobben looked at me and said the best words someone who hates dentists can hear, "There's no reason for people to suffer and be all upset by dental procedures anymore. I promise to make this as easy as possible." To prove his point, he proceeded to repair my broken tooth with very little pain and called in my prescription for my "happy, sedated, dental procedure" pills. Apparently, I'll be awake, but according to the dental hygenist, I'll be loopy and really won't care what they do to me. Sounds good to me! Give me the drugs!!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Funny Times
Here are some funny stories from my messed up life that you will enjoy.
On Thursday, one of my students sneezed in class. While this is no big deal,
this kid has ISSUES! His issues are so large that he has an aid, Mrs. K, who must accompany him to all of his classes because you never know when he's going to toonce out. All of a
sudden I hear him holler out, "Mrs. K, I need to go to the nurse!",
(read with a mildly retarded voice and inflection) to which she replies,
"You don't need to go to the nurse, you're not sick." Then he
drops the bomb, literaly, when he yells, "But when I sneezed, I CRAPPED my
pants." Now, imagine 14 other kids and me in my special reading class with
looks of panic, disgust, and fear for what's going to happen when he
stands up all over our faces. This is the caliber of students I have in my
program this year, and I'm supposed to have them reading on grade level by
the end of the year. Right, and I'll be a thin, world-famous super model by
Christmas. Needless to say, I am going today and investing in large
quantities of Lysol wipes, sprays, cleaners, and air freshners,etc. Heck, I
may even get one of those candle warmer things and plug it in all the time!
On a more fun note, Kenny and I got to go to the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and
Young concert here at Riverport/UMB Bank pavillion on Thursday night. Just
for point of reference, this was Kenny's first rock concert. The concert
was great, they sounded just they do on their records, and they played from
7:30 until 11:00, so it was time and money well spent. Here's where it gets
amusing. First, about 50 people walked out of the concert, I guess because
they were offended by the political songs/comments/images. My thought was
what did they expect from an anti-war group from the 60's whose concert tour
is called "Freedom of Speech 06". While you may not agree with their
politics, you should know they have no problem speaking their mind and do so
freely, so why people were shocked, I'll never know. On the positive side,
they were very pro-veteran, (from all wars: Vietnam, Gulf War I, and the
current one), but were questioning some decisions that have been made in
recent years and the reasons we were given for those decisions.
But here's where it gets funny. Let's just say there was a very strange smelling,
thick cloud hanging over the crowd. Kenny goes, "What's that smell and all
of that smoke?", to which I reply, "Don't worry about it, just breathe
deep!" Some of these people at the concert looked like they hadn't left the
commune since about 1968. Great for people watching if that's your thing,
even better if you enjoy watching drunk/stoned people your parents' age. At
intermission, I decided to spend an outrageous amount of money and buy a
soda which would cost me 89 cents at McDonalds. There was a lady, about 65
or so, who was walking in front of me. All of a sudded she stops and yells
out, "I smell REALLY GOOD WEED!" and takes off in the direction the cloud
which wafted over toward us. And the older generation complains about the
younger generation's drug problem.
When the concert was over, Kenny and I made it back to our car with no problem, since we had paid attention to the little parking flag in our row and we weren't stoned out of our minds.
However, many of the older concert goers were stumbling around hitting the
buttons on their keypads trying to find their cars. Horns were going off,
lights were flashing, trunks were flying up all around us. The best part
was when a guy who looked like Cheech and Chong's love child walks by our
car and says, "Dude, where's my car?" Good times, good times!
Hope all is well with you all. Enjoy the great weekend weather.
On Thursday, one of my students sneezed in class. While this is no big deal,
this kid has ISSUES! His issues are so large that he has an aid, Mrs. K, who must accompany him to all of his classes because you never know when he's going to toonce out. All of a
sudden I hear him holler out, "Mrs. K, I need to go to the nurse!",
(read with a mildly retarded voice and inflection) to which she replies,
"You don't need to go to the nurse, you're not sick." Then he
drops the bomb, literaly, when he yells, "But when I sneezed, I CRAPPED my
pants." Now, imagine 14 other kids and me in my special reading class with
looks of panic, disgust, and fear for what's going to happen when he
stands up all over our faces. This is the caliber of students I have in my
program this year, and I'm supposed to have them reading on grade level by
the end of the year. Right, and I'll be a thin, world-famous super model by
Christmas. Needless to say, I am going today and investing in large
quantities of Lysol wipes, sprays, cleaners, and air freshners,etc. Heck, I
may even get one of those candle warmer things and plug it in all the time!
On a more fun note, Kenny and I got to go to the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and
Young concert here at Riverport/UMB Bank pavillion on Thursday night. Just
for point of reference, this was Kenny's first rock concert. The concert
was great, they sounded just they do on their records, and they played from
7:30 until 11:00, so it was time and money well spent. Here's where it gets
amusing. First, about 50 people walked out of the concert, I guess because
they were offended by the political songs/comments/images. My thought was
what did they expect from an anti-war group from the 60's whose concert tour
is called "Freedom of Speech 06". While you may not agree with their
politics, you should know they have no problem speaking their mind and do so
freely, so why people were shocked, I'll never know. On the positive side,
they were very pro-veteran, (from all wars: Vietnam, Gulf War I, and the
current one), but were questioning some decisions that have been made in
recent years and the reasons we were given for those decisions.
But here's where it gets funny. Let's just say there was a very strange smelling,
thick cloud hanging over the crowd. Kenny goes, "What's that smell and all
of that smoke?", to which I reply, "Don't worry about it, just breathe
deep!" Some of these people at the concert looked like they hadn't left the
commune since about 1968. Great for people watching if that's your thing,
even better if you enjoy watching drunk/stoned people your parents' age. At
intermission, I decided to spend an outrageous amount of money and buy a
soda which would cost me 89 cents at McDonalds. There was a lady, about 65
or so, who was walking in front of me. All of a sudded she stops and yells
out, "I smell REALLY GOOD WEED!" and takes off in the direction the cloud
which wafted over toward us. And the older generation complains about the
younger generation's drug problem.
When the concert was over, Kenny and I made it back to our car with no problem, since we had paid attention to the little parking flag in our row and we weren't stoned out of our minds.
However, many of the older concert goers were stumbling around hitting the
buttons on their keypads trying to find their cars. Horns were going off,
lights were flashing, trunks were flying up all around us. The best part
was when a guy who looked like Cheech and Chong's love child walks by our
car and says, "Dude, where's my car?" Good times, good times!
Hope all is well with you all. Enjoy the great weekend weather.
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