I need to date James Bond

I saw Skyfall last weekend. And, oh my, but that James Bond is delicious. I really want a piece of that pie, but I digress....

I have decided that I need to date a James Bondesque kind of guy. He’s really the perfect man for me.

Good looking, but not insanely handsome. I’ll admit it, I like a pretty face. If a relationship is going to last, I need a face I delight in seeing.

I’d like the guy I date to be taller than me (even when I wear heels), but I realize too much height might be wasted. So a 5’10 man is plenty tall for a girl that stands at 5’4. (That would be the Daniel Craig James Bond, the others were admittedly taller.) Taller is ok, shorter really isn’t.

Knows how to wear a suit and looks good doing it, yeah, I’ll take that.  Looks great in swimming trunks. Looks great naked ; ) Um, yes, please.

Who wouldn’t want a guy that knows how to handle himself and knows how to handle a gun (this is Texas after all.) I bet he can fix shit too. That is sure to be useful. 

The man likes his vodka. Yes, I prefer a Cosmo, but how sweet is the martini, cosmo love connection? 

He also doesn't mind spending money. I like that in a man, and near as I can tell, James Bond is paid very well by her majesty. He probably wouldn't even notice my propensity to spend too much money. Perhaps he even has someone to do the accounting for him. Even better.
Never married. The more I date, the more I think I’d rather have them never married.  I’d like a man with no weird ex-wife baggage and no weird kids baggage. And n weird I just got divorced baggage.

I’m not objecting completely to the baggage issue. I know we all have baggage of some sort by this time, but I’d like the baggage to be leather and nice looking rather than a bunch of plastic bags of trash, if you know what I mean.

That James Bond. He’s not desperate to get married, not even close. So if it turns out I REALLY DO have commitment issues there will be no pressure there. And he’s very independent, so I don’t have to worry about him being clingy. What’s not to like?

And THAT is why I need to date James Bond...or someone very much like him!!

I'm making plans to take over the world.

Alright, not exactly. I've been at a Journalism Convention for 3 days. Some of the sessions have been terrible, some ok, a couple have been GREAT.

Currently I'm the yearbook adviser trying to keep the newspaper adviser and her staff from destroying the Iphone app and website part of the program. I'm here with the video tech teacher who would be willing to do things, but she has kids that look down on broadcast (they are making films. Not really. They talk about it, but they don't actually produce much, but they have attitudes.I'll tell you that much.)

I went to a session about merging the programs. They took the newspaper and turned it into a news magazine. (Quite frankly, I think it will be much better received and a great way to improve coverage.) The newspaper and yearbook classes are actually taught as Media. I LOVE that. It is what is going on in the real world, it would better prepare these kids for college. It would make our programs better.

I sent a note to the principal's secretary requesting a meeting. Told her it wouldn't take 30 minutes, I just was planning to take over the world and thought I should give him a heads up. Mooohhhhaaaaaaa

Fall JEA Convention

Traveling with 12 kids, Blondie and I arrived in San Antonio yesterday afternoon.

Today is a day of workshops as is tomorrow. The kids are doing a good job of splitting up and taking notes so as to get maximum benefit from our time here. I'm doing a great job of well, fiddle farting around.

I did go to an indesign session that wasn't really well organized and was all over the place. He was a presenter that could use some ADD meds if you ask me.

 Blondie and I have gotten some work done trying to set up our new asset management system that we hope to use to keep track of the all of the equipment for which we are responsible. We've had it on the library system, but they got fitty and threw us off. So, we are setting up new.

There aren't sessions in the late afternoon, so my kids have gone to the mall for a bit. Hopefully they won't find themselves trouble...just a bit of entertainment. In the meantime, I still have 8 million questions trying to figure out how to do these massive projects I've taken on utilizing Indesign and the magic it holds ; )

 I also checked in on the dogs. Gracie was sleeping in the Zen Den with all of the old dogs. And Buddy, well once again, Buddy was in time out. This time, he DID start the fight, so hopefully he won't be booted completely for being a bad seed. A little time out never hurt anyone...

 Back on Sunday to the regularly scheduled chaos. hahahaha

Playing with Fonts

Some how through all of the shenanigans of learning HTML code for the website and learning all this other crap for indesign interactive documents and epubs...I've started playing with fonts.


So a nice font different from the usual could go here (ribeye in this case) and the fact I can't get all of my fonts to work properly... that only makes me a little crazy.

Sadly, I can't get the rest of my cool new fonts to work. So I'll have to deal with it later. It's Later. haha. Near as I can tell I need to use one word fonts for it to work.For instance, Kristi a lovely script.

Condiment is a casual font, almost like a hand writing.

Unkempt is a nice clean font, and it has a bold option. I need to remember that it will really slow down load time of the blog though. Hmmm.

Pompiere is a lean tight font.

Combo is narrow. I like how different fonts give our words different feelings.

Schoolbell is a fun name. If I can match the right font with the right words, think about how much more impact the words can have.

Redressed seems like a good font.

Sevillana is a very scripty font.

Ranchers is a nice thick font.

Montserrat has a regular and bold option too.

Alice is a basic serif font, but different from the usual fonts on blogger.

And in other news

Yesterday, Blondie and I had a moment to chat. It was while we were waiting to get a call back on fixing a computer program that I shouldn't have had to purchase and that we aren't actually in control of, but I digress.

We started talking about dating. I find it to be a beating. People are weird, and when become intimate they become weirder quite frankly. The more you know about someone ...the more you realize the number his parents did on his psyche. Not kidding.

The key, per Blondie, (and I think she may be right) is to date in the here and now. Literally to date for the free meals and, if I'm lucky, mildly interesting companionship. I know that sounds terrible, but to date with any thought of long term is setting oneself up for disappointment.

Once again...it comes down to expectations are a problem. Literally to have expectations is to set oneself up for disappointment. And I'm actually getting pretty good at not having expectations, but I guess they are still there in the back of my mind.

I am the queen of the short term relationship now that I think about it. 3 months IS long term for me. And the ending of the relationships... there's another one that is foolish to expect anything but the worst of behaviors. Let's see... I've been told I'm boring, just had a guy disappear with no call or anything, been dumped via text (fairly recent with the side of it's not you it's me, and you deserve better. Come on now, you can do better than THAT).

I wonder if there is a form I could make potentials fill out. Like a contract of good behavior. THEN my minimal expectations would be listed out. No surprises, no questions. Just this is a minimum standard of good manners if you want a piece of this ; )

Gotta go...I'm starting my contract...

Feeling Weird

As always, I have an inordinate amount of work to do. Yet, I sit here with my desk pretty much cleaned off staring at my computer. So, I figured what the hell, might as well write.

Only I'm not sure of what I want to write. I think I have heart burn. My life is giving me heart burn.

Thanksgiving is approaching, so everyone is asking what I'm doing. Nothing is the answer. Am I seeing my parents? Doubt it. They haven't talked to me in about two months. When I called them last. To ask a question about meat. And then I got off the phone before my mother could say something condescending. Usually along the lines of "You don't have enough money to buy meat. You should pay off your bills first." Or something else equally insulting.

It feels weird. I admit it. On the other hand, it is impressive the way she can take any topic and make it be about money and my being an idiot. It's a talent really.

It's a little weird the way people get freaky about the fact I'm not doing anything for Thanksgiving. Makes me feel like a loser, which I don't feel like in and of the fact I'm not doing anything. I'm ok with it, but it seems to upset others. Kind of the way most of my life goes now that I think about it.

In the meantime, I have piled on the projects that all require immediate attention, and as it turns out skills with Adobe Indesign I don't quite possess. So, I am watching a ton of videos all day and reading my books ordered from Amazon in an effort to figure out HOW to do all of these various things.

In other news, my yard is a full out leaf zone. Needs to be raked desperately. I raked for about an hour yesterday, got 6 bags of leaves covering maybe 1/4 of the front yard and then showered and took Benadryl in an effort to stave off the allergies and sneezing that follow on the heels of yard work EVERY STINKING TIME.

So, I'm still sitting here. Thinking about everything I need to do. Not wanting to do any of it. Feeling guilty for not doing it, but knowing. Today? Nothing else is getting done. I've now moved on to watch Elementary on the computer.

I can rock 11:30 like nobody's business

Well, it's true, and we all know it. I'm not a night owl. Lord knows, I can go to bed at 8pm and be perfectly happy. I might get up pretty darn early, but it's more of a self-preservation thing. I have to have alone time at  school to get my brain wrapped around the day or I'd kill someone. (Ok, well, that is also preservation of others, so THAT's necessary any way you look at it.)

I will say that once my day starts, the wheels come off and I am running like a mad thing until the end. Seriously. I can't keep up with everything I am trying to do. Unfortunately nothing seems to be going away. It just keeps piling on...and on...and on.

Ug. That's all I have to say on the subject.

Tempus Fugit

Alright, so I'm not doing all that well at blogging every day, but at least I'm thinking about it more and getting back into the swing of things. As such, I stopped this morning to think about my life as a blogger.

I started blogging April 19, 2006. So it's been a while. Pretty impressive. This is my 803 blog post... probably not that many if you average it over six years, but Lordy have I covered a lot of ground.

I've always wanted to be a journaler... but I was never very consistent. Turns out, blogging was more of my thing, so once I discovered journaling online, I became better about writing. And it is cathartic. It feels good to think about my life, my believes and my choices in the context of reflective ponderings. It's also a nice way to keep up with the big things that have happened.

I've lived in 6 places in 6 places in 6 years. Sold 3 houses. Had my heart broken a couple of times. Buried 5 pets (that doesn't sound very good for the pets, does it?!) Traveled to Japan, Europe at least 4 times, gone to the Virgin Islands and multiple destinations in the U.S.

I've overseen the completion of 5 yearbooks and written a coffee table book as I work on the 2nd edition of the coffee table book, another yearbook and a Centennial celebration book for the district.

I've made friends, lost friends, fought with friends and learned to be a better person because of my friends. I've had an online stalker for a couple of years who I very much hope has gotten her own life by now, but there is really no telling.

I've taught hundreds of students. Mostly girls. And I pray that I have done more good than harm. I hope I have taught them how to be strong independent women. How to stand up for themselves, how to ask questions, how to problem solve and to never quit.

Yep, time has been flying by. If my calculations are correct, I have about 10 years until I retire. Hard to imagine. Probably won't. What else would I do? So, here's to the future. Hope it is the ride that I've had so far. Cause it's been pretty damn good.

All this learnin' is starting to hurt my head

There are a couple of projects going on in my world that are requiring me to put great thought into the process.

In addition, I am using Indesign in multiple ways that I have not used it before. Expo facto my head hurts. I am watching video tutorials ALL DAY LONG. It's unbelieavable. I'm excited about what I think we'll be able to do with everything once I figure out how to make it work, but in the meantime, it is killing me.

Everytime I take a step forward...I'm writing down something else I have to figure out before I can actually move forward, if you know what I mean.

If I spend too much time thinking about all of the freaking projects I am actually trying to complete, it makes me twitchy. So, I'm going to go back to watching my videos. And trying to figure out what the hell I am doing.

The Netti Pot

I  have a Netti Pot. I loath the Netti Pot. For one thing, after using it in the morning, if I bend over at any point during the day, salt water runs out my nose. Not attractive. For another, I'm just never all that certain that it really works. I'm just pouring salt water up my nose for no good reason.

All that to say,  I don't use it regularly. I use it when I'm sick, and I'm trying to get well. I've been sick since last Sunday. I mean sick. I've been taking everything I can get my hands on. That includes using the netti pot.  This morning I used it. For about 15 minutes. For about 15 of the most disgusting minutes ever. My nasal cavaties are a cesspool of infection. It was unbelievable. I should have taken photos.

I'll be going to Minute clinic this afternoon for antibiotics.

Reality is harsh

If you know anything about education these days, you know that there are one hellofa lot of testing days. It means the entire faculty gets moved about to be testing administrators never in our own classrooms. Don't know why that is, but it is.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself in a room staring at a poster for about 4 hours. The poster basically said, "Reality can be harsh. It can be cruel and ugly...What is important is not to be defeated, to forge ahead bravely."

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was true in almost every arena of life, and it is so important for the kids to appreciate the truth of it as soon as possible. Applying to colleges, joining sororities, failing classes, dealing with coworkers etc etc. are all opportunities to learn the truth of that poster.

The world doesn't owe us anything. Life isn't fair, and you can't always get what you want. How often have we heard these phrases? One of the most important lessons we can learn in life is how to meet adversity with dignity and move on. How we handle defeat and adversity says so much about who we are. The very core of who we are reflects our abilities to deal with the harshness of reality.

Reality is sometimes we don't date in high school, it's not until later in life that boys appreciate who we are. Sometimes we don't get asked out by the guy we like. Some times we get into a big ole raging fight with our friends. Sometimes things just don't happen the way we would like for them to happen.

We pick ourselves up, we dust ourselves off, and we live another day.

Already blown it

Well, hell. It's Sunday, so that means I missed writing yesterday. Honestly, I need a more interesting life for this to work. I also need to not be sick and praying for death. Hard to have deep thoughts when one is constantly contemplating which part of the body is most miserable.

So, in my defense, I've sick since last Sunday. I've been taking everything I can get my hands on all week. I'm better, but i still have a bit of a headache. My voice is still scratchy. I do not feel so great.

Being ill is definitely messing with my plans to stay on schedule with alllllll of the things I'm trying to do.

Watching bad TV all day yesterday and today was not part of the plan and yet, I can't stop myself.

Currently, I'm watching Million Dollar Rooms. It's making me salivate. I really miss having a decent restroom. Let alone a fantastic one.

Ok, maybe I can do better tomorrow.

This is not easy

Here's the thing. I don't necessarily mind committing to blog every day, it's just I don't have a life that supports blogging every day. I mean, come on, let's face it. I can talk about my gastric issues daily, but I can't imagine that is reading material anyone wants to see daily.

I could write about things going on at school, some of which is fairly juicy, but I'd rather not get fired.

I could write about the house...except I haven't done a ding dong thing since the last time I wrote about it, so you are pretty much up to speed there.

I continue to try to balance the multiple projects that I have in the pipe...not sure of how well I'm doing there.

And I'm recoving from a nasty little allergy/illness/sinus infection.

I can go out and try to stir up trouble so that I have something to write about, but that seems wrong.

Maybe I'll get into a contemplative mood and write about profound topics of interest... or not. We'll see.

NaBlPoMo

Hmm, Day one of National Blog Posting Month. I have nothing interesting to write, and yet, here I sit. With fingertips on keys. With nothing to say.

I'll go with a short pithy story.

When I started my current job, I followed in the footsteps of a woman national known in scholastic journalism. She had basically been fired for things that appeared in the yearbook. It didn't help that I'm pretty sure the principal at the time loathed her.

She threw a pool party for the yearbook students the night before they were meeting me on the first day of school. I really, really don't like her. I think she did a lot of crappy stuff that made my life more difficult because she was pissed at the school.

Recently she started following my school twitter account. Really? Couldn't believe it.

Then I got an email that said she would be coming to visit me last Thursday to talk about the publishing company for whom she now works.

I ignored it. I was busy, I had stuff to do, and I was going to be out Thursday anyway.

Would you believe? She freaking showed up that Thursday. Unbelievable!