luvthebearcats

Hee Hee

2009-07-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight EAK and NEK and I went for a bike ride around town. At one point NEK looks over at me and says "I can smell that gas stuff that comes out of cars."

I said "You mean the exhaust? That smell that comes from a car?"

He said "Yes, I love the smell of exhaust in the morning."

Then about 15 seconds later he said "I love the smell of pancakes in the morning too."

I love that boy.

NEK

2009-07-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have to say that my seven year old sometimes cracks me up. You can judge for yourself.

Last week NEK and EAK both got new bicycles as they had outgrown their old ones. When I asked NEK if he thought the bike was gonna work for him he told me "It's very manly!".

Then, today as we are riding bikes:

me: "NEK, you can stand up and pedal up hills now? Good job, buddy!"

NEK: "Yep, the girls will like!" (with a wink and a nod and a shitty little grin)

Ok, so maybe you had to be there.

"You can't say shut up...."

2009-04-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

When our dear little sweet EAK was very young, like 2, she was told not to say certain things. For example, she was told that it was not ok to say shut up, or butt, or fart, or any of those "naughty words". So.....one night when she was about 2 1/2 or 3 we came home close to 10 o'clock and the phone was ringing. DH said "what the hell is going on here?".

Well, EAK of course said it too. So we had to remind her not to say that either. So, of course she used to like to say out loud periodically "You can't say butt, you can't say shut up, and you can't say what the hell is going on here".

She also made up a song that went "I cannot say shut up, I will not say shut up...."

Well, to this day she does not say "naughty" words. She doesn't say shut up, she doesn't say fart, or butt, or any of those words.

Tonight NEK was messing with her and as he walked past she said "quit it, you little bastard." I about fell over!! My goody goody little EAK just said "bastard"!!

ME: "EAK, what did you say? Did you just call him a little bastard?"

EAK: "yeah, why?"

ME: "EAK, you can't say that word. It's like a swear word, a naughty word."

EAK: "Oh. Sorry, mom. I didn't know."

She wasn't even kidding!! She didn't know it was a swear word! I mean in first grade she told her teacher that she would sometimes think naughty words in her head, but never said them out loud. She was even sure to tell me a few months ago about how a book she was reading had the word "h-e-l-l" in it, but it was ok cuz she just skipped over it.

I had to giggle. It made me laugh that the girl who doesn't say naughty words just called her little brother a bastard.

hee hee

Definitely Male

2009-04-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

I know, I haven't blogged in like FOREVER! I've been sooooo busy! First I got hooked on Facebook.

Then I started reading the Twilight series. Right now you are saying one of these things:

1. I LOVE THOSE BOOKS!! or
2. I'm not into vampires.

Well, I'm not into vampires (well, I wasn't before), but those books are AWESOME! My husband says they are like "crack". He's right, I couldn't put them down. I'd read them again if I hadn't loaned them out. Seriously, if you haven't read them, you need to.

Ok, enough about that for now, I need to get on with the purpose of my post.

The other day I walked into the living room and NEK was sitting on the couch. I happened to notice that he had his hand down his pants.

ME: NEK, get your hand out of your pants. Why do you have your hand in your pants anyway?

NEK: It just feels good down there.

He's male.....definitely male.

Please help me!

2009-01-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

If you've read my blog very long, you may know I have weight issues. Yes, you could say I'm sometimes obsessed. I have, however, stopped weighing myself every time I go to the bathroom. I only weigh myself three times a day now. Really, that's good for me. Anyway, I lost about 36 pounds several years ago and haven't had to work very hard to keep it off. I could eat pretty much what I wanted and I was fine.

Until about a year and a half ago anyway. My doctor put me on some medication that made me hungrier than normal. I gained 15 pounds and didn't really care. At one point I finally decided that I would rather be thin and off the medication, than keep gaining and be on it.

So, I started working at losing the 15. Ok, I didn't really work that hard. I'd lose a few here and there and then would gain it back. I know I'm not fat (just chubby around the edges), but I decided that since we are going on vacation the middle of February, I want to fit into my favorite bathing suit and not have it look too awful terrible.

The first of the year I started working out. I'd do the elliptical for 20-30 minutes, do about 100-200 sit-ups, and started lifting weights a little bit. I lost a whopping ZERO pounds. NADA. NOTHING. No matter how little I ate or how many days in a row I worked out I lost nothing.

I then decided to go back to my "weight watchers" days and started eating like I did when I lost weight way back when. I only have 7 pounds left and can actually button one of my favorite pairs of capris that I'll want for my trip.

This is what I need help with: DH just went in the kitchen and I could tell he was getting a snack. He asked if I wanted some apple crisp with ice cream. YES I WANT SOME! HELLO! I LOVE SUGAR! MY MIDDLE NAME IS SUGAR! (ok, you are right, my middle name is hot tamales. I'm sorry for not being honest.)

I did not have any. I just started chugging some water instead. Can someone please help me tie him down so he'll stop torchering me by making me watch him eat stuff like that???

LOL

2009-01-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

You have to go read this post about my niece, Pdub. It's the one titled "Privacy Please!".

imabeerkat.blogspot.com

It SERIOUSLY made me laugh out loud!

'bout that time of year

2009-01-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

That's right.....it's about that time of year again. The time of year when I tell you where I'm going on vacation. I love vacation. Especially when it's in the 20 below zeroes out today and I'm gonna go somewhere where it's usually about 75-80 or so during the day.

Unfortunately, when my DH decided to switch jobs, the new company does not send us on trips. Luckily though, they pay him more, so we decided to go ahead and take a trip anyway. We even have friends who are going with us so it will be that much more fun.

So.......I'll be laying here on this beach for five days. At home right now it is well below zero and we can't go outside with any bare skin uncovered. In exactly 29 days I will be here.....in the warm sun.....drinking an umbrella drink.....in Cozumel. Life will be good.

Spit!!

2008-12-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

No, I seriously mean it. This time it was spit, not shit. A little boy came up to me after recess on Thursday.

Boy: "Mrs. Kallem!!"

Me: "Um.....what honey?" as I am seriously wiping globs of spit off my face.

He looked at me as if he wondered why I was wiping my hand across my face.

Would one of you please hire me? I can't continue with the body fluids! I made a bad choice!! I realize that now!! Please, someone! Please!!

Why kindergarten teachers don't get paid enough

2008-12-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

I know that teachers get their summer off, plus we get days off at Thanksgiving and a couple weeks at Christmas. However, I don't get paid shit for what I do. Yes, I just swore. (Ok, I've sworn before.) Let me just give you a quick look at last week in my classroom.

Monday: I was standing by my desk helping a student. Another student was on his way past me to the other side so that he could work one-on-one with me. As he went past I noticed his runny nose. As I turned to sit down in my chair I looked down and noticed some "gunk" on my pant leg. I used my hand to wipe the "gunk" off. As I did, I realized that yes, it was that boy's snot. SNOT. On my pants. From a 5 year old boy. SNOT. Not MY snot. Another child's snot. On my pants. Now it was on my HAND. SNOT on my HAND!! Ew.

Thursday: It was rest time. (Yes, they have rest time. They lay down on their little rest mats and color while I work at my desk with snot boy.) Anyway, one of my kids (not snot boy) comes up and asks to go to the bathroom. I told him he should have gone to the bathroom 5 minutes ago when we had bathroom time. I told him he could go, partly cuz I didn't want him to wet his pants, and partly because I smelled something not very nice and assumed it came from him.

However, that boy was in the bathroom like 30 seconds, so I knew he didn't need to poop. Unfortunately, the smell became worse and worse in my room. I finally decide that someone must have pooped their pants. I got up and started wandering around the room to see if someone had wet pants. I circled the room twice but couldn't see any wet pants and couldn't tell where the unbearable smell was coming from.

The lady that helps with one of my students with special needs came in and did a little search also. We couldn't figure out who it was. So.....when rest time was over I stood over near the shelf where the mats go and kind of "watched" their pants as they went past. Finally I realize this poor little girl in front of me is very slow to get up. I notice on the back of her pants that it looks like caked on light brown dirt. Then I see this "dirt" on the carpet and on her rest mat and a chunk on the floor.

I did the old "Oh gosh honey, I think you must have stepped in something at recess and now it's on your pants. Why don't you go down to the nurse and I'll call to have her get you some clean ones." I had to call the nurse and then call for the janitor to come in with some carpet cleaner and a mop. It was even smeared all over the wheel on the bottom of the shelf near where the poor thing has her rest spot. At this point the entire class was plugging their nose and talking loudly about the terrible smell. Well I didn't want this little girl to feel bad so I had to shush that whole thing.

When she came back from the nurse she still smelled terrible. My associate ended up taking her to get a clean shirt and told me that it was also all over her hands. Well she had been using her crayons and pencils and such so it was all over them as well. So, later I had to clean all of it off her rest mat, throw away her whole school box and give her all new supplies.

The next day my room still reeked. BAD. I realized there was still some "crap" on the wheel of that shelf. I cleaned it with bleach as best as I could. Finally, the following day the smell was gone.

I may not work 12 months, but I think between the snot and shit I deserve a LOT more money.

To Tell or Not To Tell.....That is the Question

2008-11-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

Last year in December, EAK's teacher came into my classroom and told me she was concerned about EAK. I was thinking she wasn't getting her work done on time or something. No, someone told her "the truth" about what happens the end of December. I guess she was nearly in tears. Her teacher smoothed it over, as did I later when EAK talked to me about it.

Tonight EAK came and said she needed to ask me something when NEK wasn't in the room. When he left she said "Do you think that _____ is real? Cuz some of the other fifth graders say he's not. They say their parents 'ruined it' for them." She went on to explain that some of them said they had walked out to their living room and saw their parents putting things out with ____'s name on it.

I didn't know what to say!! Do I tell her the truth? Do I let her keep on believing? What if her friends start laughing at her for still believing?? I remember green3 having this issue last year when her son was in fifth grade. I can't remember what she did so I need to ask her later tonight.

When I told her that parents sometimes have to put things together for ____ cuz he doesn't have time to put everything together if there's lot of pieces. I said if you don't believe how do you get gifts? She almost looked like she could cry.

What do I do? Should we take a vote?

Hot Chicks

2008-10-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

This morning it was 19 degrees out so my kids needed hats and gloves for recess. Well, NEK could not find both of his blue gloves with the flames. All he found were blue mittens, and he did not want to wear mittens.

Yesterday he borrowed two stretchy gloves from me....one was blue and one was black.....but they worked. Today, he did not want those mismatched gloves OR the mittens. Since he couldn't find both "flame gloves", EAK let him borrow a pair of her gloves instead.

However, they were turqoise. Very much turqoise. They looked like girl gloves. My boy, who is afraid he will not look cool sometimes, was going to wear turqoise girl gloves. This was our conversation:

Me: NEK, are you sure you want to wear those? They look like girl's gloves. Why don't you wear those ones you wore yesterday?

NEK: Mom, it doesn't care.

Me: What?

NEK: It doesn't matter.

Me: Do you think the kids might laugh when they see you wearing girl gloves?

NEK: Mom, the hot chicks chase me at recess. They don't care care about my gloves.

Ok then. Wear the turqoise gloves.

Zac

2008-10-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

My son's 1st grade teacher came up to me in the hall laughing today and told me what she saw on her white board. The kids have to sign their name if they have read a book and need to take a comprehension test on it. She said she looked up and this is what she saw:

She asked who wrote "Zac Efron" (if you don't know he is the guy in the High School Musical shows). My dear sweet little NEK said "I did."

He's such a funny little turd. =) She took a picture of it for me so that I could save it.

So innocent...

2008-09-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

The other day my cousin sent me an e-mail about a tiger at a zoo. Supposedly there was a female tiger that had a litter of cubs, none of which survived. In the story the mama tiger's health began to deteriorate because of what they thought was depression. The zoo called around to other zoos to see if anyone had tiger cubs that needed mothering. After finding none, they instead found a litter of baby pigs. Below are the pics of the baby pigs with little tiger skins over them.

Now, I thought the whole thing seemed pretty ridiculous and made-up, but the comment I got from my innocent little EAK was priceless.

EAK: "What's that?"

Me: I told her the story.

EAK: "Oh, I thought a tiger and a pig had gotten married."

So innocent.....

Finally!

2008-09-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

I finally did it! I downloaded pics off my camera! I know, I know. I'm amazing.

So, here's our little EAK singing at the Iowa State Fair. If you remember from one of my past blogs EAK won third place in the sprout division (12 and under) at our town festival's Bill Riley Talent Show. Because the first and second place winners had already won at other talent show's, EAK got bumped up to perform at the State Fair.

She did a wonderful job singing and had lots of fans that came to cheer her on. She didn't get to advance to the semi-finals, but she's hoping to go again next year! Here are a few pics of her:

Who cares about the fingers!!

2008-09-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

I know, I haven't downloaded the State Fair photos. Back off!

Anyway, last night EAK came home and said "Mom, I have math homework, but Dad's gonna have to help me with it cuz it's like percents and fractions and stuff."

Of course I asked why Dad had to help. Her response was "Mom, you still count on your fingers."

So....I count on my fingers. God gave them to me, I should use them if I need them, right? I only use them for subtracting and adding. I can multiply and divide without them just fine.

Well, she just had Dad help her with the percents and fractions. Now she has number stories she has to write and Dad "doesn't know anything about those". Can I please help her?

No, I did not say I'd help! I said "How can I help when I count on my fingers????" Her response was "I'll think you are smart at math for the rest of your life."

Too late! Anyone that dogs me on the finger counting is out of luck!!!

Patience

2008-08-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I know. Now I've had two people getting on me for not blogging! I'm actually very busy this week. Unfortunately I had to go back to work. I HATE working! I am sooooo much better at NOT working. I truly wish someone would pay me for sleeping. I would be rich.

My classroom is almost ready. Just a few more things to hang up and then I'll call it good. I have 19 cats to herd this year. I mean, I have 19 kids in my class. 19! Holy buckets! That's a freakin' lot of kids! Yes, I know, lots of classrooms are used to that many, but our district tries hard to keep class sizes small, especially in our elementary building.

I do have some important blogging to get to though. EAK sang at the Iowa State Fair last Friday. I need to download pics to my computer!! I promise to do it this weekend! So, please continue to be patient with me for a few more days!

"Sarah"

2008-08-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

I know a girl. Her name is "Sarah". She seemed to think I needed to get going on my blogging. Oh yeah, I saw her comment on my sister's blog.

Now, although I have not blogged much lately, I'm not sure if Sarah even has a blog at all. So.....how can this "Sarah" think she can get on ME for not blogging, if SHE doesn't have a blog at all. If she does have a blog, I do not know anything about it, thus making it obsolete in my mind.

So I'm thinking I might hunt down this "Sarah" and hurt her.

* Only read this next part if you are NOT "Sarah":

I'm not really gonna hurt "Sarah", but I bet right now that little skinny wimp is scared. I am SO in her head right now!

Lots of Bad and One Really Good

2008-06-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged much lately. Lots of things to blog about, but most of them were too sad or scary to think about.

First the bad:

We lost a very good friend, one of DH's best friends in fact, a few weeks ago. It was very unexpected, as he was not ill, and it has affected a lot of people in our town. He was only 41, married to a very sweet lady, with two boys (5 and 2). He was a great guy. We are all gonna miss him very much. His friendship meant a lot to DH and a lot of our other male friends.

Then we had a little scare with my mom. She was having some intestinal issues and we thought there was a chance of cancer again. She had cancer several years ago and made it through that free and clear. Luckily this week we found out her doctor does not believe there's cancer, just wants to do more tests on her other issues.

Next, my face. Had to go get that skin cancer spot taken care of. On the side of my face over by my left ear, fairly close to my hair, I now have a huge hole. Well, EAK said it was like a crater. It's almost like someone took a small melon baller and scooped out some skin. (Bet that wouldn't taste very good!) I have to say, it HURTS! It doesn't help that when I go to bed I cover it with a bandaid and some antibiotic and I'm allergic to bandaids. The latex free ones even bother me. Oh well.

Now the good:

Our dear sweet little EAK, who loves to sing, entered the Bill Riley Talent Show at our town's summer festival last Friday. It was actually her 10th birthday too! Anyway, she sang "Play My Music" by the Jonas Brothers. She just sang a Capella (however you spell it), which if you don't know, that means with no music. She was AWESOME! I was so impressed. I mean I know she's a great little singer, but I thought she was truly AWESOME! Lots of our friends even came to watch which was so great.

Anyway, she got third place in the younger kids division. They first place winners in each division get to do their "talent" at the Iowa State Fair in August. However, the two girls that got first and second place had already qualified to go to the Iowa State Fair at other talent shows. So....EAK got bumped up and gets to perform at the fair as well. Needless to say, she's very excited! We are too! Her goal in life is to be a famous singer, so this is going to be wonderful practice. Woo hoo!

Enough for now, I'll keep you updated on our star!

Crap!

2008-06-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

So, this "summer off" thing isn't working out like I'd like it to. My list for four things I'm doing this summer is not going as planned.

1. I've only gotten to sleep until ten ONE TIME!! I've been getting up about 8:00 a.m. every morning. IT STINKS!

2. You know the whole "I love the sun and I know the risks of skin cancer" deal. Well, I had a spot taken off my face about ten days ago and guess what......yep, they're pretty sure it was skin cancer. Damnit. Now I have to go in and they are gonna freeze it or something. Don't tell anyone, but I'm still gonna be laying in the sun this summer. Yes, I'll continue to use my sunscreen. I always do. They said the skin cancer spot could be from being in the sun when I was a child.

3. I rode 14 miles the other morning on my bike! We've had a lot of rain and strong winds lately so I haven't gotten in as much riding as I would have liked.

4. One box of hot tamales down (yes, I bought the box yesterday morning and finished it last night), several more to go!!

That Time of Year

2008-05-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

It's finally here. I thought it'd never come. It's that time of year............WHEN I DON'T HAVE TO WORK!!!

My Friday Four (which I have neglected to do for let's say..........forever) has to do with what I'll be doing the next 2 1/2 months.

1. SLEEPING: Sleeping is one of my talents. I sooooo ROCK at sleeping! I can go to bed at 10 p.m. and sleep until 10 a.m. the next morning. Sometimes.........even later than 10 a.m. My wonderful little darling children will get themselves up, turn on the TV, and possibly make themselves some breakfast. All the while, I am fast asleep snuggled in my comfy bed. I heart sleeping.

2. SUNNING MYSELF: Yes, I know the sun is not good for you. I know all about the risks of skin cancer, but I LOVE the sun. I like to make my children some lunch, then put on a little sunscreen, grab a bottle of water, a good book, and the ipod, then head out to my chair on the deck for an hour. There's nothing more relaxing than laying in the warm sun reading a good book. I know, I know, I'll be a wrinkled old lady someday. I'll just hope that DH loses his vision.

3. BIKING: I've really started to like riding my bike. Last weekend we rode like 23 miles and I actually survived. I'd love to replace my junky bike with a new one to make my rides more pleasant, but $500 is a lot of money. Think of all of the hot tamales I could buy with $500. I'm hoping the double KP's will invite us for another ride!

4. EATING HOT TAMALES: 'nuff said.

Brilliant

2008-05-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

My boy is in love with toast. He prefers jelly, but if you are out of jelly, just butter will work. He ate toast for lunch all weekend I think.

He has loved toast for several years. However, for awhile he had forgotten his love of toast, but it has come back to him. Yes, he's back on the toast.

It's 9:24 p.m. right now and he just asked me for toast....again. I told him that since he is going to the sitter tomorrow (since I still have school and the kids are done) he can take two pieces of bread like he used to and that LM would make him toast just like she used to when he was in preschool and went there every day.

He said "That......................would be brilliant."

I don't know what happened!!

2008-05-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already, you need to check out some more Crawl for Cancer stuff on my sister's blog. If you don't know how to get there, you need to click on this http://imabeerkat.blogspot.com. She put two more posts on with more pics.

I do have to say that I do not know what the hell happened to my hair in that pic of us wearing maroon colored shirts. It looked like shit. Ew. Ew. Ew. Must have been when I was growing it out. (Note to self, do not grow out hair ever again.)

Best Crawls Ever

2008-05-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Since my sister has not added anything to her blog about the best Crawls she's been on (the ones with me along), I decided to add a bit of info about them.

I do not have any pics of my first crawl, but I do have a funny story.

My favorite story is about my sister's pants. She was veeeeerrrrry drunk and her pants were too big. Not only did she keep falling down, but so did her pants. I kept having to pull them back up for her.

My favorite story about my second Crawl involves my sister and her friend J.

During the Crawl we use black sharpies and write funny stuff on each other's Crawl shirts. I guess J decided to color in the tattoo on my sister's back with a black sharpie. Not the back of her shirt, her BACK. The funniest part of that story was that my sister didn't realize it until at least the next day when she noticed it in the mirror.

So here are a few photos I found. Yes, we are all hot.

me and my sis in our funny sunglasses

my bro-in-law and J (the tattoo artist)

All of us girls at one of our bar stops.

I'll be sure to have pics for you next week!

I'm so pumped!!

2008-05-11T18:21:00.001-07:00

Yes, the time is near. I'm ready to pack my clothes right now. I have my bag of funny sunglasses ready to go. I have foam letters all bagged up . I have ten pairs of awesome earrings all bagged and ready.

Where am I going you ask??

Well, it's Crawl for Cancer time again. I've been reading my sister's blog and she's had a couple of posts lately about past Crawl's she's been on. I'm hoping she'll do a few posts of the BEST Crawl's she's been on (the one's I was along for) soon.

I'd like to put some pictures on of our last Crawl, but my dear sweet DH bought me a new laptop and my pics are all on the old one still. So......you are just gonna have to keep checking my sister's blog if you wanna recap of my last Crawl.

This year I'm pumped cuz I'm a team captain. Yes, a CAPTAIN! I'm IN CHARGE of people!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE to be in charge of people!! You can call me "the Skipper" if you want. My sister is the captain of a team again, too. I like to refer to her as "Gilligan" though.

Not all of my friends are coming though. One has her daughter's pictures this weekend and is scared that her husband can't curl hair. I say curling irons are over-rated. One is preparing to move. Packing boxes? Just throw your shit in the trunk. Another has a son with a birthday. He'll have more!!! Then one in particular probably has nothing going on. She has just chosen not to join us. I would like to name her thegreen3funhater.

I do believe that I'm going to have to make up nicknames for everyone on my team so as not to give away their identity in future posts. I've got "Big Red Mama" who already has a name. I just asked DH if he had any good ideas for a nickname for one of the other girls. He offered the name "Bubba". I was like "Bubba? Why would Bubba be a good name for LN?" He said "Because you call big fat guys Bubba and she's such a little bitty skinny girl, so it's an opposite nickname." Ok, I'm gonna just keep thinking for one for her I guess. Maybe during the Crawl some good names will come out. So....I'll keep you "posted".

My Grandchildren

2008-05-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

EAK went over to play at a friend's house today and DH was helping at the district track meet here in town. That left me home with my little buddy. I decided that since NEK really wanted to go to McDonald's to get a new Speed Racer toy that we'd make a quick trip through the drive thru.

This was our conversation at one point:

NEK: "We're gonna have to keep this even if we don't need it anymore."

Me: Puzzled look on my face thinking he's talking about the big green truck.

NEK: "Cuz when me and Dyani have babies they can sit in."

I look back at him and he's pointing at the booster seat he still sits in cuz it makes him taller to see out better.

(Dyani is a little girl in his class that he has written love notes to and received love notes from during the school year.)

Me: "Oh, you and Dyani are going to get married?"

NEK: "Yep."

I'm glad he's planning ahead about being a responsible parent that uses booster seats, aren't you??

Shampoo

2008-04-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

Every time EAK takes a bath she does the same thing. After she washes her hair she yells "Mom? Is my hair ok?"

I used to get up and go check to see if she had washed out all of the shampoo. After a year of doing that and knowing that she was good at rinsing, I began yelling back "Yes" without even going in there.

For some reason, she is ok with that. However, the other night I yelled back "No, you need to rinse one more time!" She yelled back "Mom, you can't even see it!"

No honey, I can't.

Fast forward to the next bath:

"Mom, is my hair ok?" I hear her yell out.

From my chair in the living room I say, "Yes, honey. You can get out now." She did.

Tonight:

"Mom, is my hair ok?" I hear her yell.

"You still have a little on the left side!" I say.

"Mom! You aren't even in here!"

Exactly.

The Prank

2008-04-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

It was bedtime at our house for the small ones. They, of course, were sleeping in the same bed, as usual. Anyway, Emily was looking for this little bitty dog thing that she sleeps with. I was helping her look under the covers and we could not find it.

She reached her hand under her pillow and pulled out...........Noah's dirty underwear.

He began to giggle as she yelled "Gross! Is that dirty??"

He said "Yes, I wanted to play a prank on Emily."

Well played my little friend......gross......but well played.

Huh....

2008-04-24T19:42:00.001-07:00

same chin....

Do you think they are related?

What color are your eyes??

2008-04-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Are they brown? Blue? How about hazel? Well, mine are usually green with blue spots. Depending on what color I'm wearing they may look more blue than green.

However, about a week ago one of my kindergartners came with "pink" eyes. Today we had kindergarten round-up. (That's when next year's kids come for a visit.) Anyway, two of them came with "pink" eyes.

I am pretty sure in the morning, I will also have "pink" eyes. I'm pretty sure that I can look at someone with pink eye through a telescope and still get it. I should buy stock in pink eye medicine. I usually keep a bottle of the drops in my purse cuz I get it so often. I once went to our school nurse and said "What do you think about my eyes? I think I'm getting pink eye." She said no, no pink eye. I went to see my doctor at the end of the school day and he looked at my eyes with his little flashlighty thing and said "Yes, you are getting pink eye." Um, I know!!

So....I'm practically a pink eye doctor. However, I can't write my own prescriptions for the eye drops and I'm all out. So, now I have to pay to go to the doctor so he can affirm my pink eye and write me a prescription. I know I have it, so why do I have to go ask a doctor for sure. It's a waste of my time. I KNOW I HAVE IT! I HAVE HAD IT A MILLION TIMES!

Well, anyone out there a doctor? Can you just call in a prescription for me? It'd save me a $15 doctor visit!

Please??

Seriously??? WTF???

2008-04-16T15:35:00.001-07:00

This is so wrong, so very, very wrong.

Friday Four

2008-04-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't been blogging much lately. Too busy I guess. Too much on my mind I guess. Anyway, this post is gonna suck so maybe you should stop reading now and instead go order yourself something nice on ebay.

Anyway, here's my Friday Four.

Four things that really SUCK lately:

1. I know I don't get a lot of traffic on my blog, and most of you also read my dear friend green3's blog, so you probably already know what I'm going to write as my first thing that SUCKS lately. Anyway, it SUCKS that green3's dad passed away. He was such a great guy. Both DH and I thought so very much of him. He always went out of his way to say hello to me and was always welcoming to us when we would go to his house at the lake. Last year he allowed a zillion of us and our zillion kids into his home with open arms. He didn't act like the father of one of our friends. He acted more like one of our friends. Green3, you had a great dad. I will truly miss him too.

2. I have another dear friend, Traci, who's sister is battling cancer. I mentioned her in a previous post. Though I have never met Lori, if she is at all like Traci, she has got to be a wonderful person. The end is near for Lori, and I wish so much that I could say something to help Traci and her family.

3. Several years ago my mom had cancer in the lining of her uterus. She had a complete hysterectomy and radiation just to be sure. Anyway, she went in for her usual check-up with her cancer doctor and told him her troubles lately. He decided to do a CAT scan and x-ray of her chest to be sure nothing was wrong. Now, I'm 99% sure in my mind that she does not have cancer in her lungs and bones like she maybe thinks. However, what if????

4. I have been to 9 funerals/visitations in the last year and a half. 9! That's insane! It started with Treye, then went to Grandpa Burt, then an older lady we used to live beside here in town, then the step-father of one of our good friends, then Libby the lady from work who I watched die, then the husband of one of my co-workers, then the mother of two of our very good friends, the father of another one of our friends, now green3's dad, and when God takes her, we will go to Traci's sister's funeral. That will make 10. 10! That doesn't even count another friend who's grandfather passed away whose funeral/visitation we did not go to. It's almost unbelievable to me. Had we gone that would have made 11.

This SUCKS.

Clean Sheets

2008-03-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I washed the sheets and blankets on my bed. Is there anything better than snuggling down to sleep in freshly washed linens? Um, no. Especially when your spouse is in Illinois for meetings and you know you can just enjoy the clean smell and go to sleep! It was going to be heaven.

That is, unless at 1:30 a.m. two children show up next to your bed. One, NEK, wanted a glass of water and the other, EAK, didn't feel very good. I felt EAK's head and she felt cool so I sent her back to bed. I got NEK some fresh water and put him in bed as well. He said "Don't tuck me in though." I was like "No blankets?" Nope, no blankets. Odd, but I was tired so I went back to bed.

A bit later EAK comes in and asks to sleep with me. In my mind I'm thinking....you are getting the same sickness that I just got over and you want to sleep in my freshly washed linen covered bed??? SERIOUSLY??? Ok, get in. We got the puke bowl just in case. In the process I noticed NEK was still uncovered and was awake. I felt his head. Yep, burning up. Yep, 102 fever. Gave him some Motrin and he wanted to stay in that bed and not come in to mine. Good, only one kid's germs ruining my fresh linens.

As I'm laying there waiting for EAK to throw up, NEK comes in 30 minutes later. I have him climb into the middle. Did he keep scooting closer to me for the next 3 hours and continue too kick and push me? Why yes. There's nothing like the freakin' edge of the clean linened bed!!

So, this morning about 8:30 they go to the living room to watch TV. A few minutes later I hear NEK yell, "Mom, EAK is throwing up!" Great! I have to get up at 8:30 and it's spring break. I was planning to sleep until at least 10:00. Ok, I was hoping for 11:00!

Now I have to tell you squeamish people to stop reading and switch to a different blog because you should not read this next part. Go squeamish people, go.

I think they are gone. If not.....too bad for them! Anyway, so I have NEVER been a squeamish person. I love to watch surgeries performed on TV. I love gross stuff. Poopy diapers never bothered me. Puke has never bothered me. Today, I nearly threw up myself two times. That was the WORST smelling puke I have EVER smelled. I seriously gagged twice the first time she puked. The second time I gagged again. I felt bad, but I had to try and hold her hair, look away, and not breathe. I think I'm turning into some kind of pansy or something. Is that even how you spell "pansy". I think I may be a pansy for not knowing how to spell pansy!

AAAAHHHHH! Not to mention DH is coming back tonight and my whole night of sleeping in clean linens alone has been ruined!!! Am I going to hell for saying all of these things? Not to worry. I've done enough other bad things that I was already destined to go there anyway.

Enough for now.

Love,
the Pansy

The Letter

2008-03-10T19:26:00.001-07:00

I have a very dear friend, Traci, who's sister Lori is suffering from cancer. They update a website for her every night to let friends and family know how she is doing. I know I don't have a lot of readers, but if you would stop over and give her a happy thought or prayer I'd sure appreciate it. She doesn't know me at all and may not know you, but the more prayers she has, the better! Her website is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lorikruger. You can tell her that "Susan the Stalker" sent you. She'll know what that means.

Anyway, I like to add funny little stories to her website to cheer her up. They are usually stories about my kindergartners. Tonight I left her a story about NEK. I thought you all would enjoy it as well.

So.....tonight after school NEK has a piece of paper and pen and asks me how to spell "fairy". (I was pretty sure he wasn't writing that about another boy.) Then he told me he needed to find the movie "Parent Trap" so he could spell "parents". He told me he was writing a letter to God. I figured he was asking for "Fairy Godparents" just like Timmy Turner on the TV show "Fairly Odd Parents".

When he finishes his letter he asks for an envelope and a stamp. He didn't want me to read the letter so he sealed it, and then brought it to me. On the outside he had written his name in the top corner like I said and had written "God" in the middle. He had EAK put "write back" on it, then he added "AND POOT BUBL GUM IN IT" on there as well. hee hee! EAK also mentioned that he put two jelly beans inside before he sealed it.

I let NEK put the envelope in the mailbox, but then I went to get it earlier. This is what it said:

"to God
FRum Noah

i WiSh i HaD FaiRy God PA ReNtS

OK God"

My son, isn't he soooo cute!

Shut Up

2008-02-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

My niece.....I love her. I'm just thankful I did not teach her this.

I will teach her bad stuff in the future though!

Happy Birthday Treye

2008-02-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

If you've been reading my blog for very long, you probably already know the story about Treye. (I think before I've always called him TAB, his initials in my other posts.)

For those of you that don't know, Treye was killed on Aug. 19, 2006 when he tried to break up a fight at a party. He was stabbed and killed by one of the other guys who had a knife. Since that day, that young man has been charged with first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Treye's birthday would have been tomorrow, Feb. 19th. He would have been 20 years old. Below is a tribute video they had made to honor and remember him. To those of you who don't know me and didn't know him, it may not mean much to you. Though DH and I didn't see him much after we left college, we always got updates on how he was doing. I wanted to add this video to my blog to let Treye "know" I'm thinking of him.

They're Growing!

2008-02-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

No, I don't mean my chest! It's my eyelashes. Yes, eyelashes.

Let's go back a few weeks to my trip to PV. Have you ever flown on an airplane? Have you seen how they handle your luggage? Whenever we fly I very carefully pack everything so that nothing will spill, nothing will get too wrinkled, and nothing will break. Then those "monsters" that work behind the desk throw my bags up on the conveyor belt. Not to mention the guys out heaving them onto those big carts and then onto the airplane. Hello??? Luggage isn't free! Plus my personal belongings are in there as well! At least try and be careful!

Fast forward to my first morning in PV. I sleep in a little, get up and shower, curl my hair, and proceed to putting on my makeup. I know a lot of people with lots of eyelashes that are long and beautiful. Mine, however, are not. What few I do have are very short, so I use my eyelash curler and lots of mascara.

So....here I go with my right eye. I curl it and when I put on my mascara I thought I noticed there were fewer eyelashes than usual, but I move on. Then I go to my left eye and curl. I happened to look down and notice tons of eyelashes stuck in my curler. I immediately look up at my eye. Sure enough, like 1/3 of my eye is bald on the top lid. I looked back at my curler and notice it's really bent. It just broke off a bunch of my lashes. Luckily they just broke off and I didn't feel it.

Now I know it wasn't like that when I put it IN my luggage. I wonder how it happened to end up like that AFTER I got it out.

Well the good news is, they are starting to grow. My eyes make look back to normal in say....6-8 weeks.

Word to the wise, always check for bent eyelash curlers after flying.

Kindergarten Love

2008-02-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight at the dinner table NEK and EAK were talking. All I caught was that NEK was mad about something that happened at school. EAK came over and told me that NEK made a paper for a little girl, DT, in his class and she threw it away.

A few minutes later I found a paper in NEK's backpack that was folded in half like a card. It had NEK's name on the front and lots of little hearts. On the inside were more hearts and some stars.

I asked NEK where he got it, and he said DT made it for him. Then he said that he made one for her and she threw it away. He was quite miffed about it. I told him not to worry because she was probably just embarassed, cuz girls get embarrassed sometimes. I said she must really like him since she made him a nice card too. His only answer was "Yeah, well I wrote I love you on it and she threw it away!"

I'm not too worried about his broken heart though. Just over the weekend he had out his toy phone and was pretending to call someone. I asked who he was calling. He said he was calling a little girl from his class. I asked if he knew her number and he rattled one off. When DH got up to get a drink I had him look up the number in the phone book. It was really that little girl's number. No, it was not DT, it was MA. My little boy's got a long string of women I guess!

I got it!

2008-01-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

I finally got it to work. Darn computer.

I just wanted to put on a few shots of our trip to Puerto Vallarta. It was so nice to be in upper 70/lower 80 degree weather when it was below zero back home. I have to say I'd move south in a heartbeat. I'm a warm weather girl and laying in the sun is one of my talents.

This first shot is of our hotel. We were on the eighth floor. That's practically the penthouse, right?

This second photo is the view out our room window. It was nice to be able to have the balcony door open and listen to the ocean whenever we wanted. One day DH and a couple of the other guys were down on the beach riding the waves on little boogie board things. I swear I could hear them laughing and yelling clear up in my room.

This is the view I had nearly every day as we sat in the pool bar. There's nothing better than an all-inclusive resort where you can drink all you want without having to hand over any cash. (Don't tell any of these people that their pics are on my blog. They may not be happy with me. I wasn't gonna put a pic of me in my swimsuit on here though. I'm not that crazy!)

One day a bunch of us went to ride 4-wheelers. Our guides took us out in the country, up in the hills, etc. We rode through several large and small puddles of what appeared to be muddy water. Some thought there was more than mud in those puddles, but I'm sticking with my own theory. The only shoes I had that I could wear were my shiny, new, white, fairly expensive tennis shoes. Needless to say, they are now mucky brown fairly ruined tennis shoes. I wore a white t-shirt thinking I could bleach the mud out. I just trashed it instead. It'd cost to much for that much bleach. I opted not to add the pic of me wearing my helmet and goggles. I was NOT looking hot that day.

We stopped in this little town to use the restrooms and get a drink. Here's a pic of the guys from our group and our two guides.

On our ride we went through this area where there were lots of cows, a few of which were dead. The cows would just sit right along your path and some wouldn't even flinch when you went driving past. DH and I actually got close enough to one that I was able to slap it on the butt. Funny!

When we got up into the hills we stopped at this little restaurant. They had THE BEST nachos and margaritas that I have ever tasted. (Not sure if the meat came from the dead cows, but it was good.) There was an agave field there, which they use to make tequila. We got to sample some of their tequila as well. It was quite yummy.

One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was one night when we were taking taxis into town. There were twelve of us so we had three taxis there. I stepped right up and asked who was the fastest. One of the drivers pointed to another one of the guys, and I immediately said "Then I'm with you." Now, I'm only 5'3" and everyone else that was going to get in the same taxi as me was very tall. Well, I of course took the front seat and they all crammed in the back. Seemed perfect to me. Anyway, off we went on our race to the bar.

Our taxi driver spoke just a little English, but got us there first. The speed limit through most of town was 60 kilometers per hour. We were doing like 120 through traffic. He was weaving through cars, driving around cars in the front at a red light so he could turn right so he could swing over to a side-street so he could get through the light. The radio was blaring and he was dancing around. Was it safe? No. Was I slightly inebriated? Yes. So....it was awesome. He even let me talk to our friends in one of the other cabs on the c.b. I'm not sure taxi racing would go over well here in our town, but there it was great.

Ok, one last picture. It's the sunset looking out of our room. It was just a little bit of paradise.

Let me know if you'd like to go to the Dominican Republic with us next year!

D*mn It

2008-01-30T19:38:00.000-08:00

I have all of these beautiful pictures of my vacation, but I cannot get them to download onto my blog.

If I do not blog again sometime within the next month, it means you need to come and check on my computer, as I may have smacked it with a hammer.

Friday Four

2008-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

I have been trying really hard the last several weeks not to discuss this on my blog. I do not want to upset anyone, make anyone cry, or hurt anyone's feelings. However, I'm to the point now that I really feel I must get this off my chest. So, I thought I'd express my feelings in my Friday Four.

1. I know we just had Christmas, but sing part of "Silent Night" in your head to get the tune going. Did you do it? You really have to do it or this won't work. Ok, now imagine me singing this song: "Vaaaacation. Vaaaaacation. In ten days. I'll be warm. Green3'll be in Iowa, Imabeerkat in KC, I'll be in the suuuuun, drinking daiquiris, it is alllll freee for meeee, drinks, food and tan lines for me."

2. Now sing the tune "Wheels on the Bus" in your head. Got it? No, you got it? Now change the words and imagine me singing: "I'm gonna be in Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta. I'm gonna be in Puerto Vallarta, laying on a beach."

3. Now, sing "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Work We Go". Got that one? Now imagine me "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the beach I go, free drinks, no work, no kids for me, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho, hi ho"

4. Now sing "Ring Around the Rosie" to yourself. Now do "Puuut on your swimsuit, lay doooowwwn by the pooool, margaritas, daiquiris, until I fall down."

I so totally rock. I should've married Bon Jovi.

Too Busy

2008-01-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been posting lately. Not that the six of you that read my blog really care, but I have been busy. Reeeeaaaalllly busy. First there was Christmas. Then there was New Year's Eve. Then, report cards. Next, came the smoke detectors.

What? Smoke detectors? No, no fire. Just annoying beeping in the middle of the night. It all started one night last week when I was sound asleep. All of a sudden I wake up when I heard it beep. I got up, walked around the whole house and realized I didn't smell any smoke. It didn't beep again so I figured it must have just been DH snoring and I just THOUGHT it was the smoke detector.

Then this week DH has been in Illinois for meetings. Tuesday night (or should I say Wednesday morning) at 2:30 a.m. I woke up from a beep. Yes, I thought "SHIT!" I did the search for smoke again and found none. Then I remembered that our smoke detectors also detect carbon monoxide. I waited for another beep and didn't hear one, so I laid back down in bed. Then 30 minutes later....beep.

Now remember, DH isn't home. What do I do? Who do I call? I know you're thinking "the battery is dead, you need to change the battery." I thought of that too, but I also thought about the fact that our detectors are wired through the electrical wires, so there's just a battery backup.

I tried to call DH twice, but did not wake him. No, he didn't leave me his hotel number. (He never remembers to. I figure he doesn't want me to track him down at his girlfriend's house.) So, should I call my dad? Do I call 911 in case I DO have carbon monoxide?

Finally at 3:30 a.m. I decide to call the gas company. The man on the phone agrees that he should send someone to check. While I waited for the guy to come all I could think of was how I was gonna have to call green3 and wake her up to let us come over if we did indeed have carbon monoxide. My stomach was really hurting at this point.

So, about 4 a.m. a nice man comes to the door. (Luckily my hair was not standing up on one side like it normally does.) He's been here before when we had a slight gas leak from the fire place. He checked everything out and found no carbon monoxide. We finally find out that even if your detectors are wired electrically and have a battery backup, they still must use some battery and they will beep periodically when those batteries get low.

I felt soooo bad. That poor guy had to come tell this dumb girl that she needed to change her batteries at 4 a.m. My mom would be proud.

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-24T21:19:00.000-08:00

We hope you have a wonderful, safe Christmas

and New Year's with your families!

Repeat From Last Year

2007-12-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

This post may sound a lot like one I wrote last year, but it's not my fault. I can't help it that my favorite Bearcats are so freakin' AWESOME!

Today on ESPN 2 at 11:00 a.m. you can once again watch my Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats play in the Division II National Championship game.

They were champs two years in a row in 1998 and 1999, I believe. Then the last two years we have gotten beat in the Championship game by the exact same team. (We beat that team last week in the playoffs.)

You can see that NEK and EAK wearing DH's old jerseys and I do hope that you, too, are wearing Bearcat green!

B..E..A..R..C..A..T..S....Bearcats, Bearcats, GOOOOO Bearcats! (No, I was not a cheerleader.)

Friday Four Continued from earlier

2007-12-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

2. thinner thighs, arms that don't flap in the wind, and a little less pudge around my belly - nuff said.

3. for NEK to never grow out doing things like putting on headphones and listening to Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" full blast and singing, dancing, and laughing at himself. I think they made the movie "Happy Feet" because of him.

4. for EAK to continue with her dream of being a singer...she is writing her own songs and her uncle T has said he will bring her down to the radio station where he works so she can record them onto a CD...she is sooooooooo pumped.

Oh yeah, and world peace.

Friday Four

2007-12-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

I just realized today that it has been forever since I did a Friday Four. I'm so, so, so, very, very sorry. All six of you who read my blog are probably very disappointed in me. I'll try harder.

Anyway, so here's my Friday Four.

FOUR THINGS I WOULD WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IF MONEY DID NOT MATTER:

1. a lifetime supply of hot tamales - think of it...those cinnamony (yes, that's a word) little red candies...all the time...whenever I want one...I could keep them in the big green truck...on both doors so that I could eat them when I'm driving AND when I'm a passenger...I could keep them next to this chair where I read blogs every night...I could keep them in my desk and sneak them during the day when the kdgers aren't looking (yes, I already do that, fake coughing and sticking one in your mouth is hilarious)...I could keep them next to my bed...in the medicine cabinet...I could make a water-proof pouch for the shower...I could make a little pocket protector to keep them in so that the red doesn't rub onto my pockets then I'd always have them right there with me ALL the freakin' time!!!

I'll be back, I need to run to the gas station to get something. I'm not saying what.

Only NEK

2007-12-05T17:03:00.000-08:00

EAK, NEK, and I were at the mall walking through Claire's. EAK was trying to point out things she wanted for Christmas. As we walked past a big mirror, NEK casually looked over, pointed at himself with both hands, smiled, and said "Lookin' good." I said "What did you say?" He looked back in the mirror and did it again. I almost wet my pants.

Christmas Tree Re-do

2007-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we got our beautiful Christmas tree decorated. DH put on the lights, I put on the bead garland, and the kids put on the ornaments. It actually looked pretty good!

Then yesterday I came home from work exhausted, just wanting to sit down for a bit. I walked into the living room and found my tree..........laying flat on the ground. I wish I could have gotten a picture of EAK's face when she saw it.

I had to take off all of the ornament because I had to fix the lights and beads. Luckily only two ornaments broke and no water spilled on the carpet.

When I got home from school today I fixed the lights and beads and told the kids they could hang the ornaments again......they didn't want to. I guess smiling and remember each ornament as you hang it up is only exciting once a year, not twice. Does this mean I can pack them up until next year??

Dance Dance Revolution

2007-11-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

You know I've had a rough couple of weeks, right? So has my friend TB. She was right there helping Libby as well. Well tonight she called and invited me to a "Dance Dance Revolution" tournament. I believe "Dance Dance Revolution" is one of those floor mat things that you hook up to your TV and then you dance on it or something.

I'm just saying, that kind of tournament could be fun, especially if you add in a little mango tequila and pineapple juice. Woo Hoo! I can hardly wait!

I'll be taking pictures for sure! So check back next week! (If I can find the cord to plug my camera into the computer that is!)

This is NOT my hat!

2007-11-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

Let me first say that I HATE to cook/bake. I HATE it. I truly HATE it. There's no doubt about my hatred for cooking/baking. I like to EAT food, not prepare it.

However, this is what I've done the last few days, not including anything I've done for my own family for meals:

Sunday: made a cake, made brownies, made veggie dip, washed carrots and grapes, got chips and salsa ready, and got jalapeno cream cheese and crackers ready

Monday: washed and cut radishes, made dip, cut broccoli, cut celery, cut four loaves of french bread

Tuesday: roasted a turkey (at school), cut it off the bone, made a pan of corn bread (with the kdgers), made a pumpkin pie (also with the kdgers), made cupcakes and decorated them to look like turkeys

So.....I want to be done now. I don't want to cook/bake/prepare any type of food again for a long, long time.

I've never been one that liked to cook. Ok, you are right. There was a period in my life when I was in jr. high or high school and my best friend and I would make Smores in the microwave constantly. THOSE I love to make.

Pets

2007-11-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

This morning on the way to school this was the conversation in the big green truck:

EAK: "If I still had my pet fish, Cleo, what would we get her for Christmas?"
Me: "Um......fish food? A couple of marbles?"
NEK: "You know I have some pet rocks. (pause) And I'm not afraid to make them fight."
Me: "What did you say, buddy?"
NEK: "I have some pet rocks and I'm not afraid to make them fight."

OK then.

Update

2007-11-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I'm still struggling with Libby's death. Yesterday I thought I was going to have a breakdown and needed some counseling. Today, it was better. I haven't cried all day.

Over the weekend we heard the coroner's findings from the autopsy. Apparently, Libby had been having seizures for I'm not sure how long. She also was on medication for her heart. After she died the coroner found that her seizures were actually caused by her heart condition. The walls of her heart were thickening. On Thursday I guess she had a massive heart attack. Her heart just stopped. She maybe only lived a minute or two afterwards. I was told that we did all that we could and could not have saved her.

I was still wondering about the breaths that I KNOW that she took. I did some research online yesterday and read about something called the "death rattle" or something like that. It said that sometimes when a person takes their last breaths it has a "rattly" sound like they need to cough. As soon as I read that, I knew. Those breaths that I heard her take sounded just like that. I just thought it was her taking deep breaths to get more oxygen, but it was actually her last breaths before she died.

Do I still second-guess myself sometimes? Yes, and I know that I will for the rest of my life. However, if I had to go into that kitchen again another day I would do the exact same thing. One thing that does give me comfort is knowing that if Libby's heart had not given out that day, it probably would have another time. I would have much rather had it happen right there with us, rather than when she was driving, or home alone, or home with just her children.

As for the nurse who second-guessed us....my friend TB had a "chat" with her today. She explained to her how inappropriate she was and how she had no right to question us since she was not there and didn't even ask us what had happened or why we did what we did. She went around and "apologized" to everyone in there that day, except me. However, to one guy she supposedly said that she was "told to apologize so that was her formal apology". I'd still like to hit her.

Tonight EAK and NEK were in bed and I thought they were asleep. Pretty soon I heard NEK sobbing. I went in and asked what was wrong, but he kept saying he didn't know. Finally I got out of him that he didn't want me to die. I guess the poor little guy understands more about death than I thought. Hopefully after a few days things in his brain will calm down, and he'll "forget" those scared feelings for now.

Thank you to all of you for listening/reading. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers of all of my friends and family. I will try and go back to my normal blogs where I dog on green3 and imabeerkat soon!

Worst Day Ever

2007-11-09T19:46:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a long post, and I apologize, but I need to write this in hopes it will make me feel better, because yesterday was the worst day of my life. I was walking out of the secretary's office at school (my good friend TB is the secretary) at about 1:30 or so. I hear someone down by the lunchroom say that one of our cooks (Libby) was having a seizure, and they had called 911.

TB and I immediately went to the kitchen and found the other three cooks around Libby as she lay on the floor. They had her on her side like I knew you should do with someone having a seizure. One of the cooks was yelling for someone to do CPR and she was pretty hysterical. She said Libby had moaned a few times when they found her down on the floor. Then I saw her take a breath and thought "OK, she is taking breaths, she's just unconscious, we don't need to do CPR, just try and get her to come out of it." We began tapping her and calling her name. I saw her take at least three more gasps of breath and thought I could tell that her diaphragm was going up and down as she lay on her side.

It was a minute or two later when the Chief of Police showed up. I was so relieved because I knew he would help us. When he came in I turned back to Libby and we explained what had happened. I looked up at her face and watched her turn blue. TB checked and said she now couldn't feel a pulse. The Chief ran to get his defibrillator from his car. As he was getting it ready I continued to tap her and say her name. I was right down in her face and she just looked dead. I've never seen a dead person before, but I could see no life in her eyes.

I believe the First Responders then arrived right away and I got out of their way. They did CPR on her for at least 30 minutes and had to shock her again several times. TB and one of the other cooks and I just stood back and watched and helped when needed.

In the meantime, our school was kind of in "lockdown mode". No one was to leave their classrooms as they did not want children in the hallway seeing what was going on in the kitchen or seeing the ambulances. (My children were in guidance at the time.) As they continued to work, Life Flight was called and was to land on the back ball diamond at 2:00.

I went down to the guidance room to stay with my kindergartners about 1:55. The guidance counselor then left the room as they were going to take the daughter to meet Life Flight at the hospital. I heard the helicopter come, but waited forever before I heard it leave. They didn't take Libby in the helicopter. It was too late. We continued in "lock down" mode for another 45 minutes at least, so that they could take her body away in the ambulance and have everything cleaned up before students were released to be in the hallways.

This whole time I was second guessing myself. Did I do what I should have? Should I have started CPR? No, she was taking breaths. I didn't think we should do it on her when she was taking breaths. But what if she wasn't getting enough air? Hell, I'm not a nurse, I'm not a doctor, I'm a kindergarten teacher! I did what I thought I should do! But what if it wasn't enough?? What if it's my fault that she died?? I just continued to second guess myself as I tried to keep it together so my kindergartners didn't know that anything was wrong.

After school we had a meeting so that all the staff knew what happened. When I left that meeting I just lost it. Again, wondering if I could have or should have done more. I went to check on TB in the office and had to wait for her as she was in with the family. When she came out she told me that our school nurse (who had been at the middle school when all of this happened and got to our school about 20 minutes after it happened) had come up to her and asked "Why didn't you do CPR???" Then our nurse proceeded to go to the paramedics and ask them if it would have made a difference if we'd done CPR.

Um, hello. YOU WEREN'T THERE! I'm already second guessing myself, I don't need you judging or questioning us! I just saw a very sweet 38 year old mother of three die! Maybe an "I'm so sorry you had to go through that" or "I wish I could've been here to help" or even a hug. I am so beyond angry at her for saying that. I have to live with this memory for the rest of my life and will always wonder if I did what I should have.

This morning we had another meeting to discuss how/what to tell our students as they all knew Libby from breakfast and lunch. I had several people come and hug me because they knew I had been in there with Libby when she died. That's the response I would have given to someone else that would have been in my place.

Today or tomorrow the family is supposed to get autopsy results. My fear is that what I did or didn't do allowed her to die. Could I have saved her if I'd done things different?? I know I need to stop second guessing myself because I know I saw her taking breaths. I truly did not believe we needed to do CPR at the time.

All I can see in my mind now though is her face from when I leaned down that last time to try and get her to come out of it. I remember her arm falling to the side of her head as we rolled her onto her back. I remember the blood on the floor under her head. I remember looking into her lifeless eyes and wanting to just scream. Every time I think about it I cry.

Vanilla

2007-11-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's not great, but it's kinda funny. Right?

Crazy Busy

2007-11-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

My life has been way too busy lately. I can't wait for next week so it slows down. I've been working hard on assessing my kindergartners all day and then doing report cards. Tuesday night I had parent/teacher conferences and have them again tonight.

Plus I've had lots of doctor appointments to figure out what's wrong with my knee. Yesterday I had surgery to repair a tear in my meniscus. My doc also had to smooth out the back of my kneecap and my femur, which were rough instead of smooth I guess. He said that roughness was genetic. Guess I'll have to yell at my mother.

Today I'm home watching soaps with my knee up. It's all bandaged up so it's like ten times it's normal size. Plus I have on a TED sock. If you don't know what that is, it's like white tights, only it's just for my one leg. Oh yeah, I look hot. I have to wear it until Tuesday, but at least I can take off the bandages on Saturday.

I'm trying to decide what to wear for my conferences tonight. None of my dress pants can fit up over this huge bandaging. I have one pair of capris that fit over and then I have some work-out pants that fit. Hmmmm, try the capris and pretend that one leg isn't white, or go with the work-out pants and look totally unprofessional. Hopefully they'll just be looking at my face.

Crawl for Cancer

2007-10-22T19:10:00.001-07:00

There aren't a lot of organizations that I really ever really donate money to. The American Cancer Society is one of them. My mom had cancer a few years ago and my Grandma died of cancer when I was in high school. So.....last year when my sister asked me to come to KC and do a "Crawl for Cancer" with her, I of course said yes. Then I went and did the fall crawl, which was a couple weeks ago.

What's the Crawl for Cancer? Well, you get a team of 10 people together and you have five bars you are assigned to "visit" where you get four pitchers of beer for your team to drink at each. Then there's an after-party at one of the bars. Every year my sister's team has a "theme" that they do. This year she chose funny sunglasses. I know, I looked HOT! The money you pay to be on a team goes to cancer research. Great cause, great fun. What more could you ask for.

I'm so excited that I think I have talked a bunch of my friends into going with me for the Crawl next spring. I don't know if this person is up for it because it may not be in her budget. Maybe if she cuts out her daily 10 Mountain Dews she could save up to go.

Thought you might enjoy a few pictures from our fun!

me and my sister

All the girls at our first stop

my bro-in-law and my sister's longest friend Nellie

me, Megan, my sister, and Nellie

Friday Four

2007-10-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Four things I did NOT do to hurt my knee:

1. I did not hurt my knee from falling or having poor balance after several yummy beverages while tailgating at a football game. I did do those things, but that is not the reason for my knee pain.

2. I did not hurt my knee during a late night "adventure" with DH.

3. I did not hurt my knee from exercising (I do not exercise).

4. I did not hurt my knee while pole dancing, though there was a stripper pole in the "Magic Bus" I rode in over the weekend. (More about my weekend another day.)

* Just for the record, under your kneecap it should be smooth. Mine however, is rough. That is the reason my knee is hurting. I will be going in on Halloween to get it fixed up. My incredibly cute doctor told me I should take a few days off after my surgery because my work requires me to be on my feet all day, getting up and down off the floor with the kindergartners. He even said he'd write me a slip for a week off if I wished. I was SOOOOO tempted on that one.

Last night DH explained to me that one of his friends went back to work the next day after having my same surgery. This friend's a high school p.e. teacher, not a kindergarten teacher. I was quite offended when DH went on to say that this p.e. teaching friend has always been athletic and has had many injuries.

Well, has he ever been 5'3" and 130 pounds and given birth to a 10 pound baby? Then my dear DH, don't imply that he's tougher than me. Thank you very much.

White

2007-10-17T17:19:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I told you I'd let you vote how you like my new look. However, I like it better with a white background than any other way. So..........I'm leaving it like this for now. Hope you don't mind.

I just can't figure out why "an iowa mom" is green under my favorite blogs and the rest are written in black. I'd understand if "green3" ended up in green for some reason, but oh well!

Bed Sheets

2007-10-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

An extremely modest man was in the hospital for a series of tests, the last of which had left his bodily systems extremely upset.

Upon making several false alarm trips to the bathroom, he decided the latest episode was another and stayed put. He suddenly filled his bed with diarrhea and was embarrassed beyond his ability to remain rational. In a complete loss of composure he jumped out of bed, gathered up the bed sheets, and threw them out the hospital window.

A drunk was walking by the hospital when the sheets landed on him. He started yelling, cursing, and swinging his arms violently trying to get the unknown things off, and ended up with the soiled sheets in a tangled pile at his feet.

As the drunk stood there, unsteady on his feet, staring down at the sheets, a hospital security guard, (barely containing his laughter), and who had watched the whole incident, walked up and asked, "What the heck is going on here?"

The drunk, still staring down at the bed sheets in amazement, replied: "I think I just beat the shit out of a ghost."

Sorry

2007-10-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

My knee hurts so this is the post you get today.

Drunk Dialing

2007-10-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

I admit it, I have a bad habit. When I'm out having fun drinking, I drunk dial. I even drunk text. I can't stop myself. It's almost like my phone jumps into my hand screaming "I dare you to do it!"

This weekend my sister and I did the Crawl for Cancer in Kansas City. You get a group of 10 people together, pay an entry fee, and go to these different bars and have some beer. The money goes to cancer research. It's a great way to get younger people together and to make money for such an important cause. It's unbelievable to me how many people do the crawl.

The only bad thing....me......later in the night. Well, quite possibly the whole day. I think I drunk texted several people during the day and then drunk dialed the same people who knows how many times that night. I also blame my sister. She didn't stop me, and in fact, joined in.

Do you do that? Well, maybe you don't drink. If you do, do you drunk dial/text? It's quite funny to find out the next day what I said/wrote. I think this weekend when someone didn't answer I yelled at her for "not being on her phone like white on rice". My dear sweet DH doesn't enjoy my bad habit. He gets pretty annoyed. I think he just shakes his head and goes on loving me anyway.

So, I'm begging for your help. If you have heard of a DDA (Drunk Dialers Anonymous) meeting that I could go to let me know. If not, give me your phone number and I'll call/text you next time too!!

2007-10-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Wanted

Dead or Alive

Crimes committed:

Wearing a prison shirt when not in prison

Having a female hairdo when not a female

Wearing ugly glasses

If you have seen this man or know of his whereabouts,

please contact green3 because she resembles him.

OH YEAH!

2007-10-09T19:19:00.001-07:00

What? Did you think you had clicked on the wrong blog? Oh, yeah. It's still me. I'm just looking better these days.

Who needs a contest to win a new template, when you have a good friend like green3 to help you out. I can't decide on my color scheme though. I've narrowed it down to two different ways. What I need from you, is your vote. Look at my blog today, then come back in a few days and see which you like better. Then, you need to leave me a comment and let me know.

Your choices will be:
1. white background
2. green background

Let me know in a few days! Thanks so much green3!! You totally rock!

40 before 40 (or before I die)

2007-10-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

A lot of people (or maybe just one or two) are doing a "40 before 40" list. I'm just saying, there's not a lot of different things I want to do before I'm 40. Yes, I'm a lazy piece of shit, I know. However, there's a lot of stuff I wanna do in my lifetime, that I can't necessarily get done in the next 5 years. Some things I may not do until after my kids are off to college.

So, I'm doing a list of 40 things that I want to do before I die:

1. sky dive
2. go hiking in the mountains
3. grow longer legs
4. lose these tree trunks that I call my thighs
5. get rid of my love handles
6. get another tattoo
7. maybe even one more tattoo after that
8. pay off my student loans (that's a before I die, not before I'm 40)
9. buy a new Ford Mustang
10. buy a burnt orange Avalanche
11. see my kids graduate from high school
12. have my kids get scholarships for college (unless they want loans like me)
13. switch to a different grade to teach
14. write a children's book
15. see my kids play high school sports
16. talk one of my kids into being a Bearcat
17. look really good in a bikini
18. be able to eat whatever the hell I want and not gain weight
19. see EAK get her dream of becoming a famous singer
20. watch NEK play for the Dallas Cowboys (that's maybe his father's dream)
21. have cute hair
22. go to Australia
23. see Niagara Falls
24. learn to scuba dive
25. swim with dolphins
26. go back to Hawaii
27. take a trip with all of my friends to a beach somewhere (w/out kids)
28. buy a speed boat
29. teach my kids to water ski
30. go snow skiing
31. go white water rafting
32. go to a pro football game (preferably the Cowboys)
33. weigh less than 130 pounds (I'm close, but it's killing me)
34. travel overseas to France, Switzerland, etc.
35. watch my kids grow up happy and healthy
36. not be at a loss for what I'm going to write on my blog
37. continue my yearly trips to the Ozarks with friends
38. buy a hot tub
39. dye my hair a pretty auburn color with dark red highlights
40. pee in green3's pool (wait, I already did that this summer)

That's it! I made it to 40! Yes, some of them are stupid, but I made it to 40! Hell, I'm adding 41!

41. crash another wedding! LOL

The Mafia

2007-10-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering how my weekend went. It was of course, awesome. How could it not be? We won the game! It came right down to the end. Plus I got to spend quite a bit of time with my best friend Georgie. (I hope you are reading my blog, like you said you would!)

Anyway, the game was great, the jello shots were great, the beer was great, the jambalaya was too freakin' spicy for my sweet little mouth, and the wedding reception was awesome. What? Did I say "wedding reception"? Yes, I went to a wedding reception. Well, we kinda crashed a wedding reception.

It was seriously like a scene from my favorite movie, Wedding Crashers. You know how they are crashing receptions and dancing to the song "Shout"? Well, we were sitting outside the lounge bar in the hotel and heard a wedding reception going on. A few of us decided it'd be great fun to join in on the dancing. So, we kinda quietly walked in, went to the dance floor, and began dancing to "Shout". Then, we quietly walked out. Two people with us even snuck some cake. It was damn good cake. After we walked out, they locked that door. We giggled. They weren't smart enough to see that there were several other doors right next to it. Duh.

Anyway, so I'm headed into the bathroom and was talking to a girl from the wedding (the bride or groom's cousin). I asked if we could come in and dance, she said sure, but she was leaving. Well, I come out of the bathroom and some sweet older lady brings me a take home box filled to the top with every kind of cookie imaginable. I realize right then that this must be an Italian wedding. (I just heard about cookie tables at Italian weddings the week before.)

So anyway, this older lady tells us we should have these cookies and that yes, we should go in and dance. Then a bridesmaid comes out and I ask her if we can come dance. She says she doesn't know, but she'll check. A guy comes out next and we ask him, but he's an ass to us. "If you would've spent 15 thousand on this wedding you could've come in!" Um, ok, I was just asking. Then the bride and about 5 other people come out yelling at us that we didn't spend 15 thousand and we weren't coming in. Ok, I was just asking, no big deal, we won't come in then. They went in and slammed the door. I'm pretty sure I said a nasty word at that point.

Then, the best part. A very Italian guy comes out that looks like he's part of the mafia. He had dark slicked back hair, his shirt was unbuttoned half-way down his chest, and he had on a big thick gold chain with a medallion on it. He was all like "Is there a problem here?" (Imagine him with a deep voice acting like the mob boss.) I said no of course, that we just thought they were having fun so we thought we'd ask if we could join them. Since we were told no, we didn't come in again. No big deal. "Alright. Otherwise we'd have to call security." I nearly wet my pants from laughing.

I'm just thinking that if it would've been my wedding, I would've been all like "Hell yeah, come in, eat, drink, dance!"

I'm pretty sure I should watch my back. I think Vino has put a hit out on me.

Friday Four (or Five)

2007-10-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Four (or five) things that drive me crazy:

1. Kindergartners that boss ME around. That doesn't go over so well with Mrs. Luvthebearcats.

2. Missing all 40 minutes of my guidance class time so I got very little time to get stuff done today.

3. Society's idea that people should be thin. Fat would be so much funner and easier. Can you hear those twizzler and tootsie rolls screaming my name from the pantry??

4. Having short legs! I have a pair of new jeans that I LOVE, but they were kinda long. Green3 said I had to have them hemmed. Now, they LOOK hemmed. I am so gonna hit Green3.

5. The Pitt State Monkeys thinking they are gonna win on Saturday, when we are so gonna kick their a$$.

Wednesday Funny

2007-10-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

My conversation with NEK this morning:

Me: "NEK, we need to do something about your cough. You are coughing a lot this morning."

NEK: "No Mom, it's ok."

Me: "No buddy, I really need to take care of your cough. I don't want you coughing all over your friends today."

NEK: (freaking out) "No Mom, I don't want you to put a bandaid on my mouth!"

Me: (laughing) "NEK, I'm not gonna put a bandaid on your mouth, I was going to give you some cough medicine."

NEK: (walking into the bathroom where I was) "Oh, ok."

Which one?

2007-10-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend DH and I will head to Arrowhead Stadium (where the Kansas City Chiefs play) for our annual Northwest Missouri State University/Pitt State football game. I can hardly wait! I'm dropping the kids off at my parents house Friday night and heading to the stadium Saturday morning. Yes, you guessed it, there will be more jello shots. Yum!

I was looking through pics from last year and found this one of all of the guys who played about the same time. Can you guess which one is my DH and which one was my roommate for a summer?? Don't cheat and look down at the answers!

Did you pick this guy?

Nope, I'd only marry him in his dreams. He and I would kill each other if we were roommates.

Did you pick this guy?

Nope. I loved his brother for awhile though.

Didn't know him well enough at the time to live with him.

Did you pick this guy?

I hope not cuz he wasn't in the picture.

I wish he read my blog to know I put this photo of him on the internet!

Did you pick this one?

He's the best roommate I ever had. Never asked to borrow my clothes! I know what you may be thinking, but his girlfriend was also my friend and she lived across the street.

Did you pick this guy?

Yes, that's my sweet pea. Yes, I'm pretty sure he was half-drunk.

Let me know how you did! I hope you didn't cheat!

I Kid You Not

2007-09-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

Today in kindergarten we were working on the beginning sounds of words. Anyway, so the kids had to look at the pictures on their page and then write the letter that it starts with.

So I'm helping this little girl with each one, knowing full well that she has had very little experience with letters and sounds and probably doesn't know any of the answers. I'd say "Iiiigloo. Iiiiiiiigloo. Do you hear the sound at the beginning? Iiiiiigloo. Iiiiiiii." (That's me making the short Ii sound.) Each picture I'd have to tell her the answer and then show her how to write each one.

Well I get to a picture of a dog. I say "Dddddog. Dddddog. What sound do you hear?" I kid you not, she said "Woof, woof."

I almost wet my pants trying not to laugh.

Homecoming Week

2007-09-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

It's here. It's homecoming. I have to say that I slightly enjoy homecoming week. I LOVE the toilet paper in the trees. Even when I get it I love it. Of course, in our new house we just have four tiny little trees, but I'm ok with toilet paper in them. I love all the hype from the kids and the paintings on the business windows uptown. All the school spirit is awesome.

What I don't love though, is the elementary school's idea of dress-up days. This year we get favorite team day, crazy hair/hat day, pajama day, inside out/backward clothes day, and then school colors day on Friday. Now Friday I can handle. I'm all about wearing Bulldog blue and white on Fridays of football season. I do it even if I'm not going to the game. But I HATE the rest of our days. I mean the high school kids get Toga day. Wouldn't it be hilarious to see kindergartners in toga outfits? That'd rock! They also get unsightly plaid day! I'd love to do that! I bet they have some nice stuff at Goodwill. We really need to jazz it up a bit in my building or let me wear something that I wanna wear for once.

This is my list of how I think the days should be. Yes, it's things I don't get to wear to school that I love:

1. Favorite holey jeans day (I love my holey jeans.)
2. Hooded sweatshirt day (Hooded sweatshirts are NOT just for outside!)
3. Sloppy XL t-shirt and DH's old boxer shorts day
4. Slutty bar whore shirt day (I have some favorite shirts I only wear to the bar. My friend TB calls them my slutty bar whore shirts.)
5. Tattoo day (I'm tired of trying to hide mine.)
6. Inappropriate shirt day (I'd love to wear my "Jesus Loves Me and My Tattoo" shirt.)

Now this is a list of things that would crack me up:

1. Lacy negligee day (I'd have to buy some first.)
2. Underwear and bra only day (I'd scare people.)
3. Hooker outfit day (yes, that's different than slutty, I wonder if green3 would let me borrow her hooker boots.)
4. Wet pants day (Why not look like the kindergartners for once)
5. Turtleneck day (Who looks good in a turtleneck? I mean really??)
6. Drunk day (Man, kindergartners would be a lot funner if I could be drunk.)
7. Sweaters with Stars Day (imabeerkat -- that one's for you!)
8. Toilet paper on your shoe day
9. Commando Day ('nuff said about that one)

Ok, I'm tired and can't think of anymore. DH is refusing to help me. Good night.

Guilty

2007-09-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

We found out late this afternoon that Joe Johnson was found guilty of first degree murder for killing Treye. That means a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole. The jury only deliberated for about 6 hours or so I think. I'm glad that they could see what happened and what needed to be done about it.

I have to say I was very relieved. If I hadn't had 11 kindergartners staring at me as I got off the phone I probably would have broken down into tears. I just wish for Dud and his family's sake that the verdict could bring Treye back. As Treye's family said, there really were no winners today. However, I'm glad that Joe is being punished for what he did.

On a happy note, Treye's favorite football team was the Miami Hurricanes. DH was watching it a bit ago and the Hurricanes were winning 31-3. I'm sure Treye is looking down with a big grin on his face!

What the ??

2007-09-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, you prolly read my blog about the trial. I spent one day sitting in on it and would've liked to have been there more. I've been reading the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier for daily updates. This kid, Joe Johnson, that killed Treye, had all of his friends testify against him. They said he had a knife and that he admitted to stabbing Treye to them. Well, Joe has plead "not guilty". He was on the stand today and says he was drunk and doesn't remember anything, just knows what his friends have told him.

Well, I have to say that I've been drunk before. Maybe even a couple times. There are even moments during my drunken stupors when I can't remember things. However, I think I'd remember stabbing someone, running off, cleaning up and borrowing clothes, and calling the cops three times saying I'd stabbed someone. What the hell! Idiot.

Can anyone on the jury actually be thinking to let him off? What can his defense attorney even be thinking? Is this a case of the defense attorney saying "this kid's guilty of taking Treye's life, if I let him plead not guilty cuz he wants to, he'll for sure to go jail like he deserves"?? I just don't get it at all. Why else would you ever think to have him plead not guilty when all fingers are pointing right at him? "I was drunk, I don't remember."???? You're still guilty of killing Treye even if you were drunk; and you deserve to spend the rest of your life in jail (or worse in my opinion).

Friday Four

2007-09-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

Four things that will make me happy on Saturday:

1. Being kid-free at the Iowa State/Iowa game in Ames.

2. Being kid-free at the Iowa State/Iowa game in Ames.

3. Being kid-free at the Iowa State/Iowa game in Ames.

4. Jello shots while I'm kid-free at the Iowa State/Iowa game in Ames.

Life is good!!

The Trial

2007-09-10T19:47:00.001-07:00

Last Friday the trial began for Joe Johnson, the young man who stabbed and killed Treye, the 18-year-old son of our good friend Dud. (You may remember my post back in February when Treye would have turned 19.)

I used to babysit Treye when he was 4 and 5, back when we were in college. He was the ringbearer in our wedding, as well. That night, Aug. 19, 2006, Treye tried to break up a fight between Joe Johnson and another guy, when he was stabbed in the heart. He died that night trying to help someone he didn't even know.

Tomorrow a friend and I are going to sit in on the first-degree murder trial for this Johnson kid. I have always thought that sitting in on a court case would be very interesting, that is, if I didn't know any of the people involved. I'm truly hoping for no pictures and not too many details. I've already read newspaper accounts of the trial where Treye's friends and other kids at the party talked about rolling him over and there being blood that was uncontrollable. As much as I want to support Dud and the rest of the family, I am concerned about hearing more details. I have a horrible picture in my mind already, and the more details I hear, the worse those pictures in my mind get.

I do think I want to actually see this Johnson kid's face, though I'm not sure how Treye's family doesn't just jump up and grab him by the neck. I have to say that I wish the death penalty would be the verdict, though I know that's not possible. DH and I have talked about how if this guy gets off now, he will end up in jail later. Anyone who leaves a party because he heard someone make a racial slur, goes and gets a knife, and comes back looking for that person will be in jail someday, whether it's now or later. After stabbing Treye, Johnson supposedly threw the knife in the sewer, borrowed clothes from a friend so that he could discard his bloody ones, went home, called his ex-girlfriend, and played video games. That is the mind of someone who does not deserve to be out on the streets, as he will hurt someone again.

All day long DH and I hope to hear that there has been a plea-bargain and the trial is over. I want so much for Dud and his family to get past this trial and begin to heal. They say the trial can last about 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm afraid that their healing will have to wait. Please say a little prayer for Dud and his family, as well as a prayer that the jury makes a good decision as to Joe Johnson's fate.

Scratch Scratch

2007-09-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

If you could catch this guy or his 1 billion friends that are living in my yard and garage, I would TRULY appreciate it. My arms, legs, neck, face, and head would also appreciate it very much!

First Day

2007-08-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

Green3 had her first day pictures posted of her boys today.

I thought I'd better dig a little harder to find my camera cable to download my pics as well.

So, here they are finally. I know, I know, they are both adorable.

NEK - first day of kindergarten

EAK - first day of 4th grade

Winners!!

2007-08-25T20:13:00.001-07:00

Ok, so yeah, my sister beat me to this post. If you want to read her version you can, but you don't really need to. Mine is better because I care more than she does. I mean, I was a B'cat Sweetheart and she was not! I gave everything for my football team. (Well, I didn't give everything, though the boys seemed to think some girls gave more than others.)

Our first football game was Thursday night. The game was stopped for weather, then they began to play again. They had to stop again due to lightning, and they decided to call the game altogether. Yes you are right, we were considered the winners. I mean seriously, there were just a few minutes left in the first quarter and we were ahead 21-0.

The officials called us the winners. Well, yeah, we're winners. No one needs to tell us that! Our big game at Arrowhead Stadium where the Kansas City Chiefs play is coming up on October 6th! Can't wait for another big win against the Pitt State Monkeys! Last year we beat the Monkeys 41-14. Check back later to check the score!

Friday Four

2007-08-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Four of the all-time best movies:

1. Karate Kid (the first one) - How can you not love Karate Kid?? We're actually watching it right now. I remember hanging posters of Ralph Macchio up in my room when I was younger. Remember when Daniel is on his way to pick up Ali with his mom driving the green station wagon and it won't start? Wax on....wax off. Paint da fence!

2. The Pirate Movie - Have you seen this one? It has Kristy McNichols and Christopher Atkins. Man was he cute, even with that head full of blond curly hair. My best friend and I used to love to watch it. It was a musical and was pretty dorky, but if you haven't seen it, you must try and rent it or buy it! I don't own it, but I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I saw it in a store! The best part is when he's down in the ocean getting the treasure and she's pumping the air down to him so he can breathe. That song they sing rocks.

3. The Parent Trap (the original version) - I have this one on VHS and DVD in my closet. I even tried to get my aunt to cut my hair like Susan and Sharon in the movie when I was younger, but couldn't get her to do it. I can still recite every line of the movie. EAK hates watching it with me because I can't NOT recite each line.

4. The Blue Lagoon - Now I know you've seen this one. If you haven't, you must have grown up in a bubble. Hey, this one had Christopher Atkins, just like The Pirate Movie! I am still baffled at how those two grew up on that island and then had sex. Would two people who never had sex ed. or TV really know to do that?? Hey, how about if we try this tonight? Wonder if this fits here? Seriously. Crazy.

Kenny

2007-08-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

Just watched a show on GAC and I just gotta say "How can you not love this man?" I mean, I wouldn't trade DH for him or anything, but I love his voice and his arms. What do you think?

I Made It!

2007-08-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

Just wanted you all to know that I made it through my first full day of kindergarten today. I'm healthy, happy, and didn't need a drink when I got home! Woo hoo!

NEK also made it through his first day of kindergarten (not in my class though). He seemed to have loved it! He's excited for "yellow day" tomorrow.

EAK says that fourth grade is her very favorite. She was a little nervous last night, but it turned out great! They have lots of chances to earn prizes and treats. What more could one of my kids want in life??

I'll have pictures of their first day soon!

Sniffle, Sniffle

2007-08-14T11:22:00.001-07:00

Today....sniffle, sniffle......is the last day......sniffle sniffle.....of my summer vacation. Sniffle sniffle. That means.....sniffle sniffle.........that tomorrow........I have to get out of bed before 9:45..........sniffle sniffle.........like I did today.

Sniffle

Sofa King Funny

2007-08-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

I've heard about this skit, but hadn't seen it until I found it tonight. It's Sofa King great.

Friday Four

2007-08-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

FOUR THINGS THAT ARE BUGGING ME

1. SNORING: DH snores. He snores a lot. He used to just snore when he had a bad head cold or when he slept on his back. Now it's about every night and no matter what position he's sleeping in. It makes me insane. He said "Honey, just imagine every snore is me saying 'I love you'." I said "Well, once is enough and you can say it a lot softer."

2. THE NUMBER 35: My birthday is next Wednesday and I will be 35. I do not like the number 35. It doesn't bother me that I'm going to be that old, I just don't like that number. I didn't care for the number 22 either, or 31, or 33. I like the number 34, so why can't I just still tell people I'm 34 until I get to 36. I like the number 36. 35 is just a dorky number. I know, I'm weird.

3. WORK: I have to go back to work next Wednesday (yes, on my birthday). We have to spend our first couple of days in stupid meetings when we'd much rather be working in our classrooms. It takes FOREVER to hang all of that stuff up on the walls, make name tags, write lesson plans, etc. I'm not sure how I am going to get up at 6:15 again. My body likes 9:30 much better.

4. MY THIGHS: I have chubby thighs. No, I really do. I tried on about 10 pairs of jeans today in one store and nothing fits my waist and my thighs at the same time. I have a little waist, which is great, but it's frustrating when nothing fits my thighs. I've been trying to slim those tree trunks down, but it's not really working. Think I should start eating more to thicken up my middle??

EAK

2007-08-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

My dad scanned these two pics of EAK when she was little for my sister recently, and then she e-mailed them to me. I thought they were too cute not to share them with you! I love going back and remembering how my kids looked when they were little.

14 Years

2007-08-02T14:13:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe it, but Tuesday was my 14th anniversary. DH and I have been married 14 years! That seems like a very long time to me. I thought I'd be nice and try and write 14 things about him. Here goes:

1. his feet don't stink

2. he helps with laundry

3. he tries hard to make my steaks and burgers how I like them

4. he is a wonderful singer

5. he puts up with me when I'm grouchy

6. the football players at the high school love him as their coach

7. he loves me when I'm fat AND when I'm skinny (at least he says he does)

8. he loves our kids

9. he's cute

10. sometimes he lets me hold the remote control

11. he doesn't have a hairy back

12. he buys me wonderful presents

13. he is thoughtful of others

14. I love him too.

Why Is It My Job?

2007-07-30T19:25:00.001-07:00

Yes, I need to vent for a moment about being the mother.

So DH coaches football here in our town. He's just a volunteer so he doesn't get paid. He does it for fun and for the kids. He goes to practice after work until at least 6:00 whenever he can. Then he's gone every Friday night while I'm with the kids. He had a meeting Saturday morning from 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. or so, and then another meeting for an hour tonight.

So, here's the deal. In October I am going to do a Cancer Crawl with my sister in KCMO. He doesn't want me to go. Well I told DH tonight that I was prolly gonna leave right after school that Friday cuz I think my sis is having a purse party that night and then the crawl is Saturday. Here was our conversation tonight:

Me: "I'm probably gonna leave right after school that Friday of the Crawl..."
DH: "What are you gonna do with your kids?"
Me: "What are you gonna do with them? I'm gonna be gone."
DH: "I have football that night."
Me: "So, why is it my job to find a sitter when you are here with them? I'll be out having fun, you'll be out having fun. It's not like you're gonna be at work? Why can't you be in charge of finding a sitter? Why is it my job every time? They are your kids too."
DH: no response
Me: "You know I'll do it, I always do it."

When do I get to be the father??? Not that he doesn't do anything, cuz he does. He helps with dinner, he does the laundry, etc. But I hate that crap like tonight! Why the hell is it my job?

12, yes 12

2007-07-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

It really was 12. I'm not even kidding. In fact, it was a little over 12 if you want to know the truth. Not 12.5, but a little over 12. I still can't even believe it myself. It took me 50 minutes, but I did it.

What did I do you may be asking? I rode twelve miles on my bike without stopping today. I almost stopped after about 3, but sucked it up and went the whole way. Now, that may sound like nothing to some bike riders, but it was awesome for someone who hates to exercise.

(I may never do it again though.)

Friday Four

2007-07-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is my second post of the day. I think I may be feverish. However, I couldn't skip my Friday Four. Several people have asked me to put a Mr. Linky thing on the bottom so others can join in, but someone's gonna have to tell me how to do that, cuz I've got no idea how.

My Friday Four for today is a list of things I hate doing, but I did them today anyway:

1. DUSTING (Why do we do it? You can wipe the dust, walk away, come back in two minutes and it's there again. Is it some kind of torture for mom's or what? How in the heck does it come back so quick? I think I should just leave it there. I could always tell people what my mother always says "If you're gonna write in my dust, do not put the date.")

2. TOILETS (Let's think about toilets for a second. Who makes most of the mess on the toilet? The men and boys! So why is it the moms that most often clean the toilet? I don't spray all over the place or miss and hit the floor! Not even once have I done it!)

3. SWEEPING (Why is it that every time I sweep the kitchen and dining room someone will come and eat and get crumbs everywhere? EAK is the messiest eater. For heaven's sake girl, you are nine, please learn to eat over your freakin' plate! She's a little angry because her one job this summer is to take the dust buster and clean up around the table after every meal. "Why doesn't NEK have to do anything???", I constantly hear. Well, cuz I'm mean, that's why.)

4. MAKING THE BEDS (I have never understood this chore. Who cares if you make your bed? You are just going to get back into it this evening and it will get all rumpled up again. Beds are supposed to be comfy places to sit and lay down. When you bed is made it does not look all comfy. Now, I only make the beds when people are coming over, it's not an everyday thing for me. More like once a month.)

I actually cleaned the whole house, but these four were my least favorite things. My house sure smells and looks better now though!

Opening Night

2007-07-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

EAK has the dream of becoming a famous singer someday. She really believes that she will be on American Idol. Well, for now, she's happy with community theater.

About a month ago she began going to musical practice for the show "Oklahoma". Though she missed about 5 practices while we were on vacation, she got caught up and opening night was last night. Even though she's only in the chorus and is only on stage for about a total of 15 minutes or so, she loves it. (I can say she doesn't enjoy the outfit though!) We have a show tonight and then one more tomorrow night. It's so fun seeing all of them up on stage.

EAK and THREE in costume

I'm Proud of Me!

2007-07-25T11:36:00.001-07:00

For those of you that don't now, Ragbrai is going on this week. It's a bike ride across the state of Iowa. I've never done Ragbrai, though DH did when he was in high school. We have a couple of friends who actually went and rode a couple of days this week.

Well if you've been reading my blog lately, you know that I did a bike ride in Okoboji the end of June. (Those liar liars mentioned in that post are the ones that did part of Ragbrai this week.)

Since then I've decided that I really enjoy riding my bike, so I went and bought a new one because my other one was a piece of junk. I bought a new seat, a new little bike bag that goes under my seat for my phone, and a helmet too for when I wanna ride on the main roads.

So...........this is the kicker. I have actually been riding this week for EXERCISE. Yes me, the hater of exercise has been exercising by riding a bike. I rode 9 miles Saturday, 8 miles Sunday, 8 miles Monday, and 8 miles last night. It's like my own personal Ragbrai! I wanted to try and ride 100 miles before next Monday. I don't think I'll make it, but maybe at least I'm building some muscle in my jiggle thighs in the process. Woo hoo to me! I so totally rock. Ha ha

Me and the Hubs Meme

2007-07-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

I was tagged to do this meme with 8 things about me and DH. Hope I can think of that many!

1. We met at Northwest Missouri State University at a party.

2. He likes to tell the story about that same party where he and another guy were sitting on the couch with my friend Kelly and I and were hitting on us. Unfortunately for him, Tony sat on the end, then me, then DH, then Kelly. So.....who do you think he was hitting on?

3. Before we were married we once had no money at all, no credit cards, no checking account, and only a loaf of french bread, some butter, and some cheese. Guess what we had for supper.

4. He proposed to me in the parking lot of the Catholic Church in Ames, IA, after we ate supper at Country Kitchen. Whatever I ate made me feel sick to my stomach so I didn't know why he felt the need to drive around afterwards. Now I know.

5. We got married in 1993 during a flood. We cleaned 8 feet of water out of our basement a week or two before the wedding. Luckily, the water in the town where the wedding was to take place was turned back on the day before the wedding. We weren't sure how I'd go to the bathroom in my dress in a port-a-potty.

6. We will have been married 14 years on July 31st.

7. DH puts up with me very well. I get angry and yell at him and get very grouchy sometimes. He rarely raises his voice at all, even when he's really pissed at me.

8. Boy, I could just keep adding more than 8, but I'll stop at this one. I just asked DH what else I should write about us and he said "that we're a couple of sexy bitches". I then said, "Do you really want me to say you are a sexy bitch?". Too funny.

Ok, now I tag bkjrhardy and imabeerkat to make their list! I'd tag momof4greatkids to do one, but the last time she posted was like March 12th. Maybe her fingers are all broken. Green3, I'm surprised you haven't already done this one! Anyone else want to do it too? Let me know if you do, cuz I'd love to read it!

The Lake

2007-07-20T19:42:00.001-07:00

Someone, who will remain nameless, told me I need to blog more than once a week. Honey, do you not remember that it is summer? I am on VACATION.

Ok, that vacation mostly means I sit around on my a$$ and watch TV, or shop, or lay in the sun, but still, I'm on vacation. Who blogs when they are on vacation? Don't you wait until your vacation is over and then blog about it?

I'll be blogging all the time after my vacation is over....which will be the middle of August. Ha Ha Ha!

No seriously, I have been away from home for 10 days. Yes, 10 days. Poor green3 had to come and water my plants for me.

First we went to the Lake of the Ozarks without kids and stayed with friends like we do every summer. We had an AWESOME time. My good friend bkjrhardy even kept me safe while I did the "I'm the king of the world" thing on the front of the boat after having too much to drink. It really wasn't my fault that I had too much to drink though. We went to our favorite bar "Dog Days" and listened to Dale Blue sing. I have to drink that much to really enjoy myself being his tamborine girl. You have to go see him if you are ever down there. He is fun. Plus, it's not everyday that you get to be a tamborine girl.

After our wonderful week with them, we went and got the kids from my parents and headed back to the Ozarks once again. DH had meetings all week and the kids and I hung out by the pool and ate free food. It was fun, but not near as much fun as the week before without kids.

I have only been home for two hours and look how I'm blogging about it! I know, I know, it's a miracle.

Here's a pic of DH on the tube behind the boat, DH and the guys, and me and the girls on the boat from our fun week with our friends!

Friday Four

2007-07-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Four of my favorite drinks

1. Malibu Rum with a dash of Pepsi (just enough to make the drink slightly brown)

2. Margaritas made with Mango Tequila (they are a lot less tart)

3. Flower Pot (frozen, not on the rocks)

4. Sunset Passion Colada (at Red Lobster)

The whole list makes my mouth water. No, I am not an alcoholic. I'm just real thirsty!

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

2007-07-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

We have some good friends who like to ride bikes (bicycles, not motorcycles) They like to go up to Lake Okoboji and do this 25 mile bike ride every year. Well a while back, they asked if any of us would like to go on the Okoboji ride with them. Sure, I'd like to go. Sounds like fun!

So, I start riding my bike more around town here to get myself ready because they tell us that the ride is like riding around town. They said you ride a mile-and-a-half and then stop for a beverage (the good kind of beverage), then ride another mile-and-a-half and stop for another beverage. They said they usually didn't ride the whole way.

DH and I were thinking this was gonna be a lot of fun. I mean, we kind of like riding bikes and we really like drinking beverages. What's not fun about that?? So off we go on our bikes. It was seriously like 100 miles before our first beverage stop. Then another 100 before our next one. At one point it was hilly enough that I said "screw it, this isn't a race, they can wait for me" and I peddled along like a grandma. I wasn't sure if I needed CPR or an IV and oxygen.

Two million miles later we were finally at the end of our ride. I was hot, I was sweaty, I was.....not that tired. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't that tired. I even had the strength to drink a few more beverages.

Can you believe that my legs didn't even hurt the next day??? It was a miracle from God.

You might be asking if we will we go on the ride next year? Yes, we will. If they'll have us back that is. I'll ride more before then and get a better bike. Plus I'll get my liver better prepared for the beverages.

So even though those liars tricked us into going, I still love them.

Construction Workers

2007-06-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

I think you should know that people have been yelling at me for my lack of posts. All I can say is that I am sorry. I've been very busy lately. I get up by 10, shower by noon, then lunch, then my soaps, then a snack, instant messaging my sister and green3 throughout this time, then supper. How can I possibly sneak a post into that time? Sheesh! I'll try harder though, I promise.

So, here's your post for today:

There are two new houses going up in my neighborhood. Actually they are on the two empty lots to the south of me. I have to say that the only thing I have had to complain about is the scraps of garbage blowing into my yard.

Whenever I mow (oh yeah, I forgot to mention mowing in the above paragraph) I have to stop and pick up garbage that has blown into my yard before I mow over it. The construction guys play music, but not too loud, and I can't hear anything they say. I can even sleep through the hammering and trucks in the morning. (They like to start work before I get out of bed sometimes. I should talk to them about that.)

Well, I received this e-mail from a friend and it made me laugh and be thankful for my construction guys. Hope you enjoy it too:

Here's a truly heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little 5-year-old girl and some construction workers that makes you believe that we CAN make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time.

A young family moved into a house next door to a vacant lot. One day a construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot. The young family's 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and spent much of each day observing the workers. Eventually the construction crew, all of them gems-in-the-rough, more or less adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had coffee and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.

At the end of the first week they even presented her with a pay envelope containing a couple of dollars. The little girl took this home to her mother who said all the appropriate words of admiration and suggested that they take the two dollar "pay" she had received to the bank the next day to start a savings account.

When they got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young age. The little girl proudly replied, "I worked last week with the crew building the house next door to us. "My goodness gracious," said the teller, "and will you be working on the house again this week, too?" The little girl replied, "I will if those assholes at Home Depot ever deliver the fucking sheet rock..."

Stories like this just bring a tear to your eye.

Friday Four

2007-06-22T13:35:00.001-07:00

There's a whole group of bloggers that like to do "Thursday Thirteen". On Thursdays they post a blog with 13 of something. What I want to know is what if you can't come up with 13 of something? Why not the "Friday Four"? Or the "Tuesday Two"? Well, I'm going with the Friday Four today. Here it is:

Four Things I Hate About Today:

1. It's raining.
2. There were tornadoes.
3. I didn't get to lay out in the sun.
4. NEK needed help with the syrup today, so I had to get up before 9:00 a.m.

Oh, woe is me.

3 Funnies

2007-06-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Three things I heard today that made me laugh:

1. While I was laying out by green3's pool today (as she was inside working), "green" came over and sat in the chair next to me. Several times he said "This is really relaxing." Green is like 7 1/2 or something like that. He was right, it was really relaxing.

2. EAK came out of her room and asked "Mom, am I overweighed?" I was like "Um, overweighted?" She saw on a subway commercial that such and such amount of kids in the U.S. are "overweighted". No honey, you are not "overweighted".

3. NEK, who is 5, was climbing down out of big green truck and said "I wonder when I'll have five o'clock shadow." (I about wet my pants.)

2007-06-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is for all the people who give me crap about my tattoo:

2007-06-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Did you watch the video on my post from last night about lower back tattoos? Well I commented that I'd have another post to go along with that one tonight. Well, the post I had planned will have to wait. An Iowa Mom asked me if I would have a picture of my tattoo on here tonight. Well, I didn't have one, so I just posted a picture of what part of it looks like. (I also have a vine that runs across in-between these two.) Any guesses what this means?

The top part says NEK's name in Hebrew and the bottom one is EAK's name in Hebrew. I won't tell you what a lot of people say they mean. When I have had to much to drink I often tell people it means "Kiss my a$$."

Come visit me tomorrow and I'll have my very favorite saying on here that I had planned for tonight.

I Love Being White Trash

2007-06-06T20:29:00.001-07:00

One of our friends sent us an e-mail recently with this skit on it because he thought of me when he saw it. Then DH sent it on to nearly all of our other friends because he thought it was hilarious. DH does not like my tattoo and some people (green3) call me white trash. It doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, this skit IS hilarious.

However, after seeing it, I am now wishing that my lower back tattoo said "Juicy". Be sure to check my blog again tomorrow as it will be a continuance of this one.

We've Been Busy

2007-06-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you know it's summer vacation and you guessed it, I did nothing today. However, the last few weeks I've been busy finishing up year-end kindergarten stuff. We also had NEK's preschool graduation.

Here he is in his little paper graduation cap with his preschool teacher. Isn't he adorable?

This past weekend EAK had her dance recital. Doesn't she look beautiful? She did a wonderful job in all three of her dances.

Luckily, tomorrow I'll be doing nothing again. I knew it was a good thing to choose teaching as a career!