Couldn't forget this

So tonight we FINALLY get the internet. Skype is our friend and calls are made. I'm ready for bed, getting snuggled down when Andrea, on skype, talking to Michelle starts telling of some of our adventures. I really need to video her telling our adventures. It brought tears to my eyes to hear them aloud.

The next time anything good happens, I'm making her tell the story and then I'll just upload it.

Contemplations on baby showers

This past Saturday I got to go to the baby shower of my really good friend Anonymous. She's a shy thing, and she doesn't like the limelight, so I know to a certain extent she had to be uncomfortable with all of the attention being on her, but I loved getting to be a part of celebrating with her.

I wasn't sure of whom I would know at the shower, so first, let me say that when my eyes locked on to the wife of a friend of mine, I zoned in on her like a shark with a laser on its head. Bless her heart, she then became the recipient of all of my funny comments.

For instance, can someone explain to me why we say congratulations to women that are pregnant?

Cause, sex, (from what I've heard) not that tricky, and from the number of unplanned pregnancies in this world, not sure it's deserving of a standing ovation. I will acknowledge for the people that try for a really, really long time, maybe they DO deserve congratulations in a "wow, glad it final took" kind of way.

And, congratulations on finding a way to totally lose ALL disposable income for the next 20 years or so.

Congratulations on entering a world of constant laundry, cooking, cleaning and poo? (I've entered that world as you well know and that isn't so much of a congratulations as a bless your heart, you poor dear.

Congratulations on bringing another being in the world that you are guaranteed to some how mess up but you don't get to know how, although eventually this being will let you know how you permanently scarred him?

Ok, sorry back on topic. It was a lovely baby shower. Someone gave her a wooden fish. It had sharp pointed edges. I'll admit, not the first thing I would imagine giving at a baby shower. Best part? She wasn't there, she dropped it off before going to another engagement, so the rest of us where left to wonder, whiskey tango foxtrot? We think there is a sweetly sentimental meaningful reason to this gift, but we don't know that for sure just yet. Might have wanted to leave a note. Just saying.

The mother-to-be I have to tell you looked stunning. She had on this great cream sweater. Her hair was adorable, and although she says she's as large as a house, I have seen the large pregnant women, and she is not on that list. I can't wait to see the pictures from the shower. Hint hint she writes hoping anonymous will forward the one with them together.

Gifts given? Diapers (designer jean diapers people, really?), blankets (lots of blankets), clothes (so cute, little boy clothes - even camo!), toys, car seat, that portable kid storage thing people love so much, stuffed animals, and chocolates. Pretty good haul. Almost makes me want one. haha. Kidding.

At any rate, I can't wait to babysit. Big fun. Play with the baby. Chill with the baby. Leave the baby when I'm done.

Big spring break fun

I am actually impressed with my total ability to do nothing this week. I am sucking air out of the atmosphere and returning nothing but carbon dioxide. Worthless. I did, however, go to lunch with friends, a lot.

Monday, was lunch with Anonymous. I'm crazy about her, but I haven't gotten to see her much since she no longer works with me. Monday, we did what we could to make up for lost time. We went to lunch...for FIVE hours. Poor people at the restaurant thought we were never going to leave.

She has been a busy girl. She and her husband (who I am madly in love with) bought a house a couple of years ago. She says it was the real estate agent, but that house is like an HGTV series. Good bones, but absolutely nothing when they bought it. Now? Well, now it is a totally rockin' house. Gorgeous! I totally should have taken pictures to post, but she's all shy and shit and probably wouldn't have let me. Not to fear. I'll be back and take stealth pictures. It did make me yearn for a house again, but since I still have a fair about of debt to pay off, best not just yet.

I would like to add that it is only my lack of blogging on certain subjects that gave me anything to talk about since she is a follower of the blog and therefore actually feels that she is keeping up with my life just fine, and since she thinks she is living Groundhog day, she doesn't have so much going on. I am here to tell you, she could blog plenty! So, here is my shout out to Anonymous. I love you! Let's do lunch again soon!!!

Tuesday was lunch with the boys. Robert, aka the Silverback of the group, was all amused with himself because he has come up with a new term. EOD as in

"So what's the EOD?"

"What?" I say

"What's the EOD?"

"What?"

"You know, what's the excuse of the day." Smart ass. I ordered steak. So there.

Wednesday was lunch with K. I need a decent moniker for her, but all I can ever come up with is "You know, my friend, K. She's cool as shit"... CAS? Na, gonna have to stick with K for now. As always, I enjoyed getting to see her. Since she attended the St. Pat's party, we were able to talk about the bitch coalition. A little about Mr. Potential, and random other topics.

Thursday was lunch with Mimi, Aimee and Lindsay. The fun thing about that? They are the family of the Lout. So, glad he is gone, but what a great family. Lindsay is getting married this summer, and I'd love Mr. P to go to the wedding with me, but I see great opportunity for awkwardness... these are all members of the ex's family, the ex that I want nothing to do with and who caused so much unhappiness in my life, and his family, that I'm really crazy about. Sigh.

Happy Bday to Me!!

I admit it. I love my birthday. As I've said before, as much as I hate turning 40, it beats the hell out of the alternative. And for being such a beating of a bday. It actually has been very delightful. It started with my BFF arriving in town on Friday.

Back up, actually it started with 3 doctors appointments on Friday all further bringing home that I am now old and old people have lots of doctors appointments and things falling apart. Sad, really.

But AFTER that then the BFF arrived. We went to dinner with our parents and then headed down to my house. We went to see Valentines Day on Saturday, and she met Mr. Potential. That made me very happy because I most definitely wanted them to meet. In the meantime, every time I turned around she had another little gift for me. It was a non-stop bonanza of cute stuff.

Saturday night we ordered out, watched a movie and did a whole lot of nothing. Pure. Greatness. She headed out Sunday to return to her familla, and I was taken to dinner. He gave me my present which was a very nice gift card to a local spa Exhale. I have heard many fabulous things about it so I am totally excited. I like that he knows what I like : )

Monday morning, I got up put on my"It's my birthday tiara" and headed to school. I actually have two tiaras because I think it is good to have choices, and I have to admit I usually get a headache by the end of the day because the thing is a little tight on my head, but I am telling you it is virtually impossible to have a bad day with a tiara on your head. You should try it.

By 6th period, I have to admit I was vibrating with excitement to see what the kids had gotten me. I knew they had something up their sleeve. I was dying to know what.
Yup. Shoes. Very tall. Very pink. Very glittery. Oh. My. Soooo Beautiful. 5 inch heels. I actually couldn't walk in them. Craziness.
Tttthhheeennn as if that wasn't enough, my sweet big sister sent me a flower bday cake. As she pointed out, it is the perfect cake for me since actual cake makes my stomach cramp up like a bad case of food poisoning (thank you very much don't I love not having a gall bladder) this cake is very pretty but it won't pain me!
In addition, she sent the CUTEST bear ever. He now sits in my office and makes me very, very happy. I thought about taking him home, but since we all know the damn dogs will gnaw on him if I take him home, he will keep me company at school. He is sooo soft and cuddly. That is good, since weirdness at school which will have to be another post is going to have me clutching my teddy bear a lot!

So, as much as I adored the shoes, I couldn't actually walk in them. My ankle actually had NO bend from my leg because the heel was so high. The editors very sweetly took me to the store to exchange for shoes I could actually wear. A little more toned down, but I will wear them A LOT. And I will think of how sweet my kids are to get them for me! I made it home in time to take care of the dogs and then go to dinner with Mr. Potential.

I got all sorts of Facebook love all day (SO MUCH FUN). And I would like to add festivities continue through the week! I'll post more later!

Once upon a time. . .

There was a girl. She was ready for a change in her life, so she took a job for which she was totally unqualified. When she got to her new job, she met her #1 coworker: The Penguin. One cranky woman that Penguin. No love loss there. Within a year of the new job, the building was under construction.

The girl, knowing a little about what happens when there is no oversight on big projects, kept her eye on things as her part of the building was modified. Luckily when the contractors started to lower the ceilings from 14 feet to 8, she begged and pleaded and they left them tall.

BUT when she saw that a WINDOW, A FREAKING WINDOW was going to go in between her new office and the penguin, she no, please, please no. But she was told it was too late. The parts had been ordered. So, the window went in. It didn't open. It was just a window between two offices of people who really and truly did not get along.

So, the girl quickly got to work and had a cork board made to cover the window. It was a great cork board. For many years she added to the papers that hung on it. See the cork board below.


Eventually, the Penguin left. But she was replace by Scooby Doo. Yeah, he was fairly harmless, but he was also a total idiot. She could barely stand to look at him, let alone talk to him, so the board remained.

But theeeennnn, she met Blondie. It was love. Blondie was super cool. Fun, interesting, entertaining; basically everything you could want in a team mate.

So, The Diva mentioned to Blondie that there was actually a window between the two offices. Blondie got a gleam in her eyes and agreed that a window would be a GREAT Thing. So, arrangements were made to take the bulletin board down. The glass remained, but they had high hopes that they would be able to sweet talk the building engineer into helping them get a sliding glass window for between their offices.

But then they decided that they really couldn't wait. They had fun calling each other and being on speakerphone, and it kind of made it seem like they were in the same room. However, it just wasn't enough. They wanted more. So they sweet talked some more. . . and the glass came down. . . SAY HI TO BLONDIE the rockinest office mate in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was our first day without glass. We agree that it was a GOOD day, much better than before. Things are looking up I tell you : )

Ramblings on Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas everyone!

What can I say? Left to my own devices, I ramble. I'm sitting in my red velvet chair looking out the back window at the yard as it fills with snow. A fairly unusual sight in my part of the world, and I've gotten to watch it snow twice this December. This one is more of an icy snow with high winds, so not quite as enchanting as the first.

I've been working diligently this week emptying my storage units and trying to fit all of my crapola in the house. It's not really working. I look at each item and contemplate its value as well as the chances of selling it on Craig's list or in a garage sale . . . all I can say is a lot of my prized possessions are going to find themselves on the auction block. This is about to be the season of reducing inventory.

I have to say I am pleased with the way the year ended. Well, mostly. I am renting (not as magical as I thought it would b) but I ask you where were all of my damn friends when I was waxing poetically about what I was certain were the joys of renting vs. owning??? In the land of keeping their mouths shut, that's where.

I like the house, it is small, but it is a great location. Walking distance to lots of places to eat (important since I STILL don't have a working stove), 7-eleven and the magical slurpees, my new work-out place and a dry-cleaners.

I also like that it is new and warm. Even when the heat isn't on it is a good 20degrees warmer than my former abode. And the bathtub? Well, the bathtub is to die for. FABULOUS!!

I think it will do me good to settle in, work on reducing debt, not spend money on a house or stuff for a while and simplify in general.

Remember my friend, Jim? As I reflect on the year, I find myself thinking about how my social life has improved 10-fold from knowing him. Beyond the fact that he is an excellent movie companion, he has these great dinners that I get invited to regularly. They are mostly dinners for his neighborhood pals, but he is kind enough to let me come anyway. I might add, he has great neighborhood pals.

I went to a Christmas party a couple of weeks ago at his neighbors across the street. If I could find a way to take photos of the W's house without being a total stalker, I would do it. They are minimalists, with money, and a great 1950's circa art deco style house. Lots of windows and cool furniture. Of course their party was fabulous, cause people that cool have to have fabulous parties, don't cha' know.

Fun side note, while there I chatted up with other neighbors (equally as cool, no wonder I couldn't find a house there when I was looking, clearly my cool quotient isn't high enough yet!) At any rate, Big D asks me if it is weird that people I don't realize are reading my blog are reading my blog. . . hmm I think, no because I'm pretty certain there are only 5 people reading the damn thing and I'm related to 4 of them.

(Quick side note, as I write this Fergie's Glamorous Life has just come on . . .as it begins Sabrina begins to howl. I love that song and the damn dog is adding her own soundtrack. Geez)

Back on topic, Big D tells me he actually reads the blog ?what? turns out last time I saw him I threw out what the blog was, and son-of-a-bitch he remembered the address and went to it. Cracks me up. Now I have to think about the fact that before he might have suspected I'm a total nut job but now he KNOWS I am. At any rate, I say hats off to you Big D for sticking with it. Once I start dating again, I'm sure things will improve. . .which brings me to what I shall fondly refer to as Suicide watch 2010. (Only slightly tongue in cheek cause let me assure you I am TOTALLY traumatized by the fact I turn FORTY in February.)

It hurts me to even type it. Yes, I realize there are many people older than that who might or might not have been traumatized by their own turning of 40. Trust me when I tell you I am beside myself. Many reasons for that which I'm certain I will reguritate about at some point, just not now.

Oh, yeah, back to Jim. So, last night he had one of his dinners. He had to set up two big long tables for everyone. It was so much fun. Everyone is interesting and fun, and it is like a great big family. Without a doubt, I am very grateful for Jim.

I have more rambling to do, but I'm about to have my very special mac and cheese Christmas dinner. Yummy. So, maybe more tomorrow. . .

Another trip with Blondie

Well, our adventures in Journalism conventioning have begun. We arrived yesterday afternoon. Blondie and I were greeted at the airport by the BFF. She, in case I haven't mentioned it lately, is the coolest. She brought Cranberry Juice (for my morning medicine routine) and crackers. And great big hugs which I have been needing desperately. Her very existence is God's gift to me.

Once my other friend, Mrs. Jostens arrived, we headed out to grab a taxi. Cab driver, a lovely man, managed to take our conversation on the beautiful fall foliage into a discussion of politics. We said, "Gee the leaves are beautiful" and he said, "They look better since George Bush left." huh.? He continued on his happy monologue regarding GB.

We arrived at the hotel, still confused by the ramblings of our cab driver which segued to his love of Hillary Clinton for standing by her man by the time we were exiting the car. We mentioned to the front desk personnel the strangeness of the cab ride, and son of a bitch if he didn't start chastising us about talking about politics in DC. Really?

The room is great. With three of us sharing, there was some concern re: size. It is great. sofa, two chairs, two beds and a desk and chair.

We went to a fabulous steakhouse in the W hotel. Sooo good. The hotel has a rooftop bar that is very hip, trendy and cool. (I'm lucky they even let me in.) Dinner was courtesy of Mrs. J. Thank you!!

This morning we got up and headed over to the convention. Today's cab driver rocked cause he knew where there was a 7-11 on the way!

Oh, and by the way, last night I was able to talk to the drummer. I've known I needed to gird my loins and just ask what the deal is. He confuses me, it seems liked he isn't all that in to me, but he does call and ask me out. So, yeah, not that into me. Totally awkward and uncomfortable and really no fun. Not to mention totally an ego killer and heart crusher. Yes indeed the good times continue to roll for the Diva.

Oh, this you won't believe

So, I work in a high performing district. The kids are go getters, most of the teachers are pretty high-end professionals. A by-product of that is that we seem to find new trends, old trends? and jump on bandwagons. Well, our current one is a doozy. Most of the high school went through this "training" process for 2 days this summer. Those of us unable to go this summer got to go this week and then some are going in January.

So, I have been, a little . . .bitter. The "training" is about making the class "engaging" designing a class/lessons/etc that the kids have ownership of, are committed to and paying attention to. Hmm, sound like a yearbook class anyone? I'm pretty sure I would have to totally screw my job up to NOT have all of that going on in the yearbook room.

At any rate, I've been twittering my lack of enjoyment. . . So, at the end of today our district's people got together to write "what we learned." Best part of that? Everyone agrees we've learned nothing, but we sit and work on coming up with dribble that they want to hear.

It is my educated guess that the people in charge of this conference went on to Twitter and maybe other "social networking sites" looking for comments about the workshop. Turns out they found some . . . but maybe not the warm-fuzzies that they were looking.

Turns out after most of the high school teacher's left the middle school teachers were talking (one almost in tears) about how the people leading the conference went up to them and said someone from our district was twittering negative things about their conference and it was unprofessional and it made all of us look bad. Really?

They knew it was me. The post that said, " Things went downhill suddenly when website I went to started playing country music loudly and I couldn't turn it off" EVERYONE in the room heard the music. Two presenters came over to help with sound. Trust me. They knew who I was.

My thoughts? If they want to go looking for comments, they should prepared to get said comments, good, bad and indifferent.

They have something to say, bring it. I didn't write anything I would say to them. I do think the conference is hellish. I'm not having any fun. Such is life.

Really? Picking on middle school teachers? Of course I got calls from 2 of the high school teachers that stayed to hear the middle school teachers letting me know. It's good to have friends.

AND the worst part is I made my posts private which plays right into their hands. I'm sure that is all they really wanted. For people to NOT find negative comments when they type in the name "schlectinheimer" (name changed to protect the whiney.) Bugger.

Best part: once again I started confession to those in charge because I dont' want them to find out from someone else that I did something. So, let the middle school AP know and the high school AP. Both laughed. Neither seemed surprised that I had gotten myself in trouble.

Totally annoying and stupid. That is how today was. Can't wait for tomorrow . . . twitters should be priceless

ships and more ships

Many topics plague the mind of the Diva these days. Certainly dating. Anyone who reads the blog would know that. The gall bladder (yes, lack thereof) also fills many posts.

In addition, I’ve been struggling with ideas regarding relationships. What makes a good one, how they last, the ones you can’t escape, and then the ones that I would never want to escape.
Relationships are difficult. All relationships. It doesn’t matter how much love is there, how much history exists or how often sex occurs. As we get older, it gets even more difficult. Everyone knows this, right?

I started blogging about 3 years ago. In the beginning it was so family and friends could keep up with the “search for a home” and then the “trip to Japan.” Eventually, I blogged to get things off my chest. I liked it. Writing into the abyss about all sorts of topics and issues, I have relieved all sorts of stress. Recently, I realized that blogging can be difficult when I find the issues I want to get off my chest involve the very people that read my blog. Awkward to say the least.

It is difficult when I want to write about things that I have no desire to discuss. If I write it, I take a chance of someone wanting to discuss it. Usually I talk to the people closest to me about the same stuff I blog about because, well, I'm a talker, but sometimes I want to write without talking. I could start a new blog, but I don’t really want to do that.

So, what I find is that I have periods of not blogging and I have to think about what the crux of an issue is before I write. I can’t just tell the tale, I have to distill the issue and really figure out what I need to get on paper, as it were. There is a bit of finesse required as I write about the things that matter to me.

We begin and end with the family. These are the relationships that define who we are and how we operate. I love my family. I have very strong principals and values because of them. They are also capable of driving me totally and completely insane. I’ve had a really good time Twittering lately because I’m getting to keep up with both of my sisters this way. Sure we could talk on the phone, but then what would I twitter? LOL I am a youngest child of a wildly intelligent family. I proudly say that I am the dumb bunny of the family because that still makes me smarter than a whole hellofalotta people; just not any people to whom I’m related.

I think I’ve pretty much beaten the romantic relationship study into the ground, so I won’t waste time on that dynamic here.

Friendships are a very powerful type of relationship, especially in the life of a single girl in the city. There are all types of friendships. Wikepedia even defines friendship for us.

Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more people. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism. Their tastes will usually be similar and may converge, and they will share enjoyable activities. They will also engage in mutually helping behavior, such as exchange of advice and the sharing of hardship. A friend is someone who may often demonstrate reciprocating and reflective behaviors. Yet for many, friendship is nothing more than the trust that someone or something will not harm them.

Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:
• the tendency to desire what is best for the other,
• sympathy and empathy,
• honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart,
• mutual understanding.

In a comparison of personal relationships, friendship is considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association can be thought of as spanning across the same continuum.

The interesting statement for me is that a friend is someone who you trust will do you no harm. I think of the friendships that I have had that ended abruptly, and I can say, almost down to a one, that they ended because I felt that they would do me harm or had already done me harm. I don’t mean physical. I mean mental. Close friends, like family, know the weaknesses and fears that we usually keep hidden from the world. When they push those buttons and strike out hatefully, it is painful. I will say what I have always said. If I want someone to be mean to me, to hurt my feelings, to treat me like trash, I can go to the family. No need to go outside of the bloodline for that.

Family is forever, friends don’t have to be. And sometimes they aren’t. I am lucky as hell that I have a best friend who has truly been the very definition of a friend to me. I hope that I am able to do friendship justice for her too. Frequently people begin a relationship with high hopes that it will become a true friendship, but perhaps they aren’t able to maintain a mutual understanding or they don’t end up being truly empathetic for each other. So, although they start well, they can’t maintain.

I think there are times that we try to demand more from an “association” friendship than the relationship can bear. Everyone cannot be our intimate friend.

Work friendships certainly help make the work place more fun, but it is always important to remember that they are work relationships. Push comes to shove, people will put their own work interests above friendship. That’s ok. It is just important to remember that is how it usually happens. Work relationships can work as friendships as long as work and the friendships don’t intersect. It is important to not expect a work friendship to be more than what it is. I’ve had some great work friendships through the years. Some have managed to transform themselves into a different kind of friendship, but most exist for a time and then fade or the friendship keeps the same low intimacy level but lasts for a long time.

Geographic friendships are usually neighbors. I’ve lived where I didn’t know a single neighbor and I’ve lived where I love all of my neighbors and where I’ve really enjoyed most of my neighbors. Rather be where the neighbors are fun, friendly and part of my support system. Again, most of those friendships end when you are no longer neighbors, but every once in a while you will manage to remain friends past the geographic relationship.

Certainly, the BFF is a driving force in my life. This girl knows ALL of my secrets. She reminds me of why it is important to think before I speak, the benefits of showing good manners in all situations and how lonely I’d be without her. Even though we haven’t lived in the same town in years (and not in the same country for 24 months) we talk regularly (loosely translate that as every day please) and she is always there for me the same way I will ALWAYS be there for her.

We have often discussed that having a BFF has saved us, but also perhaps made us more willing to walk away from a bad relationship. I look at that and think over and over, that I am lucky to be in that position. When a relationship goes bad, it is a painful and awful thing. It is sad and heart wrenching at times. However, keeping a friendship that isn’t working is like keeping a man who needs to be gone. It is a mistake and it is our various fears that make us keep people in our lives that aren’t doing us any good.

What life has taught me is to follow my heart and try to keep it simple when I can. I’m not saying that relationships of any kind are easy, but that relationships should be simple; straightforward. Trust in God and believe that I am following the path for which I am intended even when that takes me in a different direction than I might have imagined. Sometimes I intersect with someone else’s life and run parallel, sometimes we merge and then part. Some have been with me from the beginning and will continue to be a part of me for as long as I live.

So, on this my 570th post, I am grateful for all of the relationships in my life and all of the people that have come and gone. I am glad that I have been able to learn from almost everyone who has entered my life and that I continue to learn from the people most important to me.

Analysis of 3 with 8

I'm not sure that I have much. I'm a little nervous about doing too much analysis because as usual I feel myself starting to get a little freaky. The best bet for keeping myself from getting freaky is to take deep breaths and not think too much about it.

We had a nice date. After dinner at Fish City, we went over to The Balcony Club and closed the joint down. I haven't been up that late in a really, really long time.

The worst part about staying up so late was getting up so freaking early because the dogs don't care if I got enough sleep, they are waking up at 6:30 either way. Auugghhh. I was headed towards Oklahoma City to hang with the BFF by 8.

Basically my analysis at this time is that I am avoiding thinking about it. Yea me.

Stations of the Cross

Each year during Lent I attend St. Jude's Catholic Church for stations of the Cross. I do this for several reasons.

1. My friend attends St. Jude's. The Catholics are a little tight on the communion thing if you aren't Catholic. If you are Episcopalian (I am) or Catholic, you basically attend church for the communion, so I'm less inclined to go to a service with Communion. Stations doesn't, so it works out. We usually try to get dinner before or after, but we've had a little trouble making that work this year.

2. The priest there, Father Church, used to be Episcopalian. In fact, he was my priest while I was growing up. It is terribly unfortunate that he became dissatisfied with the Episcopal church and stood up one Sunday and said we should all be Catholic. It did not, as you might imagine, go well. It tore our little church apart and created A LOT of hard feelings. Still, I have great memories of him and growing in my faith through and because of him.

3. They have the most beautiful stations of the cross I've ever seen. In fact, I snagged the booklet so that I could show at least one of the images. In the back there is an informational piece about the artist. It reads:

The pencil sketches were drawn by a young Texas artist Cody Harrington. Cody, age 22, was commissioned to paint the fourteen Stations of the Cross to hang in the archways of our new building. It was decided that the pencil sketches submitted as design concepts were so magnificent, that paintings would be too overpowering.

The images represent Cody's interpretation of the Mel Gibson 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ. The adaptation from this genre brings a unique sense of motion to the Stations of the Cross, creating the illusion that you are there. From these images, we are able to see the reaction on the faces of the people in the crowd, the cruelty of the guards, the sorrow of the women and the surrender of Christ.

4. Besides being my priest, Fr. Church (isn't that a great name?) gives great sermons. For the Stations, he is talking about the last 7 phrases of Christ and why they were so important. He has always done a great job of helping to place events of the Bible in historical context so that events are even more powerful and full of meaning than they are on their own.

5. I love Stations of the Cross, and the church I attend doesn't do them. I think they really help to remind me about what kind of person I want to be and why it is so important to stay focused on what I believe.

I'm in Love

Ok, don't get excited. It has nothing to do with the search for Big Love. It has to do with my job's near perfection being marred by working with a total dumb ass. You ask how? Please allow me to explain.

Well, as many of you know, I currently teach with a total dumb ass. Words cannot express how much he makes my head hurt. Examples would only touch the surface of how bewilderingly stupid he can be. There are no descriptors descriptive enough to get across what I think of him. However, if you need examples please go here, here, and here. (Actually, it's probably not even worth the effort, just go with me, he's a dumb ass.) This year there is a new teacher at the middle school teaching Journalism. She is intelligent, funny, hardworking. Blah, blah, blah. Today she came by to spend the day seeing what happens at the high school level etc. She mentions that the previous teacher had given her a shout out that she was coming back to town. (Feeling her out as it were for job options.) I stare at Mercy with the wheels grinding so hard smoke was coming out of my ears. I have an idea.

I say,"That is great, she could come back and take the middle school job, and you can take Scoobie's job." From that point forward we were done for. All we could think about was what needed to happen to lose Scoobie and how MUCH FUN we would have working together.

Seriously the only bad part of my job (ok, besides the occasional totally wacked out parent) is having to work with a newspaper adviser that sucks. I have had teaching jobs with someone I really got along well with (here the closest I've gotten is teaching one period of English teaming with a teacher I love, but that doesn't fully fit the bill) and it can really make a job tons better no matter how good it is to begin.

We have now solved the problem of whom would take her place at the middle school, now I just have to get Scoobie out. I called my Josten's man, and he was downright ugly.

"No," he says. "I'm not going to help you, then I'd have to work with him." Ok, fine, good point.

But I say, if you could even find out about job openings with schools that use that other crappy ass publishing company, then we could get rid of him AND you wouldn't have to work with him. He snorted. So wrong.

I'm telling you Mercy and I had a great time all day. We have lots in common, we live near each other. We think alike (scary for many, I know.) It would be so much fun. Sigh. Dream, dream, dream.

Stay tuned. We will continue to formulate the plan.

Fun with Nails

This weekend I hit the end of my proverbial rope with my nails. I mean they are short, stubby, ripping at the base. It is awful. So cruising around killing time with Daisy, we spotted a nail salon and decided to go in. There isn't much that can be done when your nails are short and worthless, and since I have been on a dating kick I figured if I'm going to do something extra, nows the time, right?

I have posted before about the joys of the nail salon. There are many posts that can be made from these experiences - Cha cha, you find the well of creativity drying up . . . I say go get your nails done!

I have loved the You Tube clip of comedian, anjelah johnson talking about the nail salon ladies. Mostly because she nails (no pun intended) the average nail salon employee.



Please be aware that when I sat down to have the solar nails done, An (that was her name) promised me, and I quote, "Don't worry. I make you look beautiful." Thank you that is all I am asking to have happen.

So, the process begins.

I realize there are ladies out there loving their long ass nails. But seriously, how do they get anything done?? I even shot a vogue pose.

After gluing them on, they sent me over for my pedicure. I tried to get pictures of Daisy, but I kept getting the stupid nails in the picture and it was hard to work the camera. Oh, and the massage action was on the chair, so the first three pictures were totally blurry until I realized what the problem was. After the pedicure was finished, I returned to get more work done on the nails. (Yes, those are pink camo pants I'm wearing.)
The rest of me didn't look any different, but I did really like my nails when she was done.
As we were getting ready to leave, I stopped long enough to get this guy working on the base of the desk. Apparently there are other uses for nail polish that we don't always appreciate such as hiding flaws in wood or laminate as the case may be.

Daisy started filming the process, and we talked about what was happening etc. As you can see, it didn't work, so you just get the realization that it didn't work. So much for professional videography. I enjoyed the part where An (girl doing my nails) took her face mask off because she didn't want to be on youtube with the mask on. I kid you not. AND we missed the part where she buffed my nails with an electric buffer and nearly buffed off a layer of skin. oopsy.

Buddy, the 40lb lapdog

Buddy is delusional. Totally and completely delusional. He thinks he is a lapdog. I had one of my favorite people over, and she was climbed like a mountain by my dingdong lap dog. Can you see my poor friend? No, no, you cannot. You can see the magazine that she was flipping through when Buddy decided that he simply had to be sitting in her lap. Of course now that I study the picture I realize you can also see my complete inability to choose a paint color and that I haven't cleaned off my desk in a really long time. Damn.

I guess I should be grateful that Sabrina is happy just getting on the bed, she doesn't feel a need to actually sit in everyone's lap. See, there now she is able to go back to reading the magazine. Now that Buddy is esconsed comfortably on her lap.

Feeling Urban

Yesterday Randy and Diana and I made plans to meet up in old Plano. This is big fun for me because I take the DART train up to Plano, walk over to the pub, and then when I go home, I have a 45 minute period to contemplate life, if you will, before getting back in the car to drive home.

As always, Diana was dressed to the nines. She got the very cute dog purse for Christmas. The interior of the purse matches her jacket, or should I say, her jacket matches the purse. We have been to this pub before, and I say with great confidence that they make the BEST cosmos that I've ever had. I mean, ding dong freaking good. I'm slightly flushed from sun and cosmos cause it was like 80 degrees yesterday and I had a couple of their yummy drinks.

Do I look bowlegged in this picture? I'm thinking I might.

This is probably my last hurrah for a while since school starts tomorrow. sigh. I thinking I'm sliding into a funk as I write.

Curse me and my foolish ways

Sooooooo, yes, I dragged myself out and ran. Well, not run so much as walk and what I hoped was a brisk pace. I had two layers of pants on, three layers on top, an ear muff, hat, scarf and gloves. The clothing alone added an extra ten pounds. Who can run with that kind of extra weight?????

I ran a little bit, but it was running with long bouts of walking.

Got him and Scott, my handyman extraordinaire came by and asked if I wanted to go to lunch . . . yes, it is a well-known fact that I have no life at this point, and I'm up for pretty much anything.

I went to see Quantum of Solace with another friend. Oh my. Why, Lord, can't I have Daniel Craig . . . or someone very similar? Yowza.

I'm basically walking like a 90 year old woman at this point. Slowly and with pain when I get up and down. Sigh.

I've promised myself tomorrow I stay home and ACCOMPLISH THINGS. We'll see how that goes.

Life in the fast lane

I went to the mall for the first time in FOREVER today. I met my friend, Cindy for lunch. I got there early and thought I'd kill a little time. I killed the bejeezus out of it. I wandered intoWhiteHouse/Black Market , where I found a really cute skirt, dress and pair of shoes. No, Mom, you don't need to know how much I spent. Luckily, Cindy showed up soon after, and I stopped hemorrhaging cash at least long enough to eat.

I did get a couple more things after lunch, but hardly enough worth mentioning.

After that I headed off to the doctors which was rather anti-climatic if you ask me. He came in said the incisions were healing nicely, I could go back to normal activities and all was well. hmph. I ran by Roseanne's after that because I wanted a second opinion on how I looked in the dress. (You can't really trust those retail chicks. They are just after a buck!)

The vote was I looked good, so kept the dress. As it so happens, it is Roseanne's bday this week, so I'll wear said dress when we go out. While I was there, I got a call from my neighbor Linda about a make-up (big wig make-up artist in town). I think she might have to schedule x number of appts cause she did make mention of the convenience of having friends to be able to schedule. At any rate, Roseanne felt that she too was in need of a make-over, so we both have appts for Friday.