Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
It's Hard To Be A Grown-Up
I got one foot out the front door today before I realized college instructors normally should wear shoes to work.
That's all.
That's all.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Teal is the new Green
I say teal is the new green, because it is too cold out to wear my green t-shirt and I have no long sleeved green clothes. Which is a travesty, because of my hair. However I am wearing a four-leaf clover necklace, so quit pinching, already.
So I had a great scare Thursday night. It was nearly midnight, and I was waiting up for Josh to come home even though I had to be up early the next morning. Well, I had been obsessively watching NCAA games all evening, and I was not about to turn off the tv and go to bed when No. 1 Carolina was only up by four against #16 Eastern Kentucky. Seriously. Anyway, I hear leaves crunching in the backyard, but I couldn't see out the back window. I turned out the living room lights and turned off the tv and tried to peer out again. Magic jumps up on the couch arm and starts to growl, and then I hear dead silence. She hops off the couch and hides under a table. Useless cat. Anyway, the footsteps resume, and I notice they sound heavy, but cautious. In other words, too big for the stray cats and too careful for a dog. I don't know what kind of crazy (wild) animal it might be. The elusive upstate cougar? An escaped horse? A meth addict looking for a porch to sleep on?
Or, none of the above. I went out and looked around under the windows this morning. I found tracks of at least two deer and possibly three. One is big and another small, so I expect a doe and a baby. Neat! One of the tracks is very, very heavy and I wonder if a buck wasn't with them as well, because it is so deep in the ground. I don't expect them back anytime soon, or at least not until the begonias recover. I hope they steer clear of cars in the neighborhood.
So happy St. Patrick's Day, beware of marauding begonia-chomping deer, and a private message to Nick: Anything less than a 1600 and you're voted out of the family, dude. :)
So I had a great scare Thursday night. It was nearly midnight, and I was waiting up for Josh to come home even though I had to be up early the next morning. Well, I had been obsessively watching NCAA games all evening, and I was not about to turn off the tv and go to bed when No. 1 Carolina was only up by four against #16 Eastern Kentucky. Seriously. Anyway, I hear leaves crunching in the backyard, but I couldn't see out the back window. I turned out the living room lights and turned off the tv and tried to peer out again. Magic jumps up on the couch arm and starts to growl, and then I hear dead silence. She hops off the couch and hides under a table. Useless cat. Anyway, the footsteps resume, and I notice they sound heavy, but cautious. In other words, too big for the stray cats and too careful for a dog. I don't know what kind of crazy (wild) animal it might be. The elusive upstate cougar? An escaped horse? A meth addict looking for a porch to sleep on?
Or, none of the above. I went out and looked around under the windows this morning. I found tracks of at least two deer and possibly three. One is big and another small, so I expect a doe and a baby. Neat! One of the tracks is very, very heavy and I wonder if a buck wasn't with them as well, because it is so deep in the ground. I don't expect them back anytime soon, or at least not until the begonias recover. I hope they steer clear of cars in the neighborhood.
So happy St. Patrick's Day, beware of marauding begonia-chomping deer, and a private message to Nick: Anything less than a 1600 and you're voted out of the family, dude. :)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
I'm (Not) Gonna Soak Up the Sun
I will not yield to you, country/pop songs! I refuse to soak up the sun, Sheryl Crowe! Damn ye, oh hated UVA/B rays! I will avoid you like the plague of locusts you are!
That said, I'm headed to Daytona, folks! Whoo-hoo! I just got my letter yesterday. I'm to be an AP reader for U.S. Government and Politics - you know, the written tests high schoolers take to get credit for an advanced course. Josh says it "isn't fair": they're getting a better deal than they realize, because I read so fast. My response: Well, my response was lost to the annals of history as I excitedly thumbed through the "hotel amenities" and activities lists.
The beach is 400 feet away from the convention center we're staying at. I know where I'll be at 5:00 every afternoon. Burning to a crispy fritter while narrowly escaping fearsome marauding dolphin attacks, no doubt. So the actual reading is from 8:30 until 4:45 every day, and then it segues from "working" into "vacation". The convention center looks nice - all oceanfront rooms, and several pools. In April it will house the NCAA finals. Maybe Tyler Hansbrough will leave his face mask, and I can have a keepsake to sell on Ebay.
Here's what I've packed so far:
Sunscreen, #45, 1 gallon
Facial sunscreen, #45, 1 quart
Sunscreen lip balm, #45, 1 pint
Protective hat, a la Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music"
Large protective t-shirts, dark, to prevent sun exposure
Large protective short pants
Sunglasses, Jackie O or grasshopper style, to shield face
Aloe, 1 gallon tub
Probably a swimsuit will come in handy too. As soon as Josh sees what I'll be wearing on the beach (all of the above), he'll realize he needen't worry about my week alone with all those stereotypically male-modelish hot U.S. Government teacher geeks. :) NASCAR, beware!
That said, I'm headed to Daytona, folks! Whoo-hoo! I just got my letter yesterday. I'm to be an AP reader for U.S. Government and Politics - you know, the written tests high schoolers take to get credit for an advanced course. Josh says it "isn't fair": they're getting a better deal than they realize, because I read so fast. My response: Well, my response was lost to the annals of history as I excitedly thumbed through the "hotel amenities" and activities lists.
The beach is 400 feet away from the convention center we're staying at. I know where I'll be at 5:00 every afternoon. Burning to a crispy fritter while narrowly escaping fearsome marauding dolphin attacks, no doubt. So the actual reading is from 8:30 until 4:45 every day, and then it segues from "working" into "vacation". The convention center looks nice - all oceanfront rooms, and several pools. In April it will house the NCAA finals. Maybe Tyler Hansbrough will leave his face mask, and I can have a keepsake to sell on Ebay.
Here's what I've packed so far:
Sunscreen, #45, 1 gallon
Facial sunscreen, #45, 1 quart
Sunscreen lip balm, #45, 1 pint
Protective hat, a la Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music"
Large protective t-shirts, dark, to prevent sun exposure
Large protective short pants
Sunglasses, Jackie O or grasshopper style, to shield face
Aloe, 1 gallon tub
Probably a swimsuit will come in handy too. As soon as Josh sees what I'll be wearing on the beach (all of the above), he'll realize he needen't worry about my week alone with all those stereotypically male-modelish hot U.S. Government teacher geeks. :) NASCAR, beware!