speaking of a's and z's

here is the beautiful azalea that grows beside our garage. we've had it for over 5 years, and it has never grown taller (it stands approximately 18 inches high). it does, however, produce the most brilliant magenta flowers.

from a to z

a- is for the apple pie i was craving last night at 8:30, which prompted a 16 mile round trip to buy one (an apple pie, that is) and a gallon of bryer's extra smooth vanilla ice cream. yum.

b- is for blogging, which i'm finding difficult to do lately. it's a time thing...there's simply not enough of it...

c- is for the columbus dispatch crossword puzzle which i will be doing when i finish this blog.

d- is for the darvocet (4 darvocet, to be exact) that one of my students ingested before coming to school last monday. i didn't ask him IF he took anything, i asked him bluntly WHAT he took, and he told me the truth. he wound up in a hospital later heaving up charcoal (used to induce vomiting) and the darvocet.

e- is the for the eighth grade promotion dance that i will be chaperoning this friday. "e" is also for the electric slide which i WILL do at said dance, much to the chagrin of my 8th grade niece, taylor. :) heehee...

f- is for fast-pitch softball, which kate is playing. she's learning how to pitch...and we're gonna need ALOT Of practice. :)

g- is for "grey's anatomy". it's back. 'nuf said.

h- is for happy bunny. while some of his stuff is too edgy and sassy, his other sayings crack me up.

i- is for ian, who knows he's a charming looker, and uses that to his advantage.

j- is for "juno", which i watched over the weekend. great, quirky script.

k- is for kate, my bonny red-head, and also my date for the 8th grade dance.

l- is for "lars and the real girl", which is next on my dvd rental wish list.

m- is for mowing the lawn, one of my favorite things to do in the whole world...but man, with the price of gas, it's going to be an expensive pleasure! (phyllis, i haven't forgotten about you, by the way ~ i will mow this week, i promise!)

n- is for new balance tennis shoes. when leo saw my comfy orange and white "dogs" a few weeks ago, and noticed the "N" on the side, he asked me: "since when do you wear ZIPS? i didn't even know they still made those!" uh, turn the "Z"over there babe...it's an "N".

o- is for the ohio achievement tests, which my students are taking (two weeks late) starting tomorrow. it's a long story, so here's the short version: the ODE screwed up. royally. click here to read the long version.

p- is for my favorite perfume which i just ran out of...dolly girl by anna sui. julie got me hooked on it. (i gots to get me to a victoria's secret, asap!)

q- is for the quintessential stupidity of NCLB (no child left behind), which is ridiculously obvious during OAT week. my students are mandated by law to have an IEP, an INDIVIDUALIZED education plan. the law says, you have to provide special services for these kids who have learning disabilities...these kids who are DIFFERENT. but THEN the government says you have to test them all the same way ~"one size fits all". can you spell C-O-N-T-R-A-D-I-C-T-I-O-N? governor strickland, if you're reading this, i officially invite you to have a cup of coffee with me sometime...we need to talk.

r- is for the reds (cincinnati, you know, baseball) who are in a terrible skid right now. :( time to go buy some talent, boys.

s- is for snoopy, who is all over my classroom...comic strips of snoopy, greeting cards with snoopy, my snoopy mouse pad, snoopy computer wallpaper, snoopy posters, snoopy name plate outside my door. snoopy is sly, smart, and sarcastically lovable.

t- is for teacher appreciation week, which is may 5 - 9. my favorite teachers in school were mr. robert "gene" lewis (7th and 8th grade science), mrs. zoa craumer (algebra I, II, and trig), and mr. richard craumer (chemistry and physics). maybe i'll be on someone's list of favorites someday...

u- is for underwear. i need new underwear. i'll buy it when i pick up more perfume at victoria's secret. (see "p" above)

v- is for my new vera bradley purse. :) yay! raspberry fizz pattern. libby style. right on!

w- is for the whippoorwill ian correctly identified calling in our woods last week

x- is for xm radio. how did i ever drive a car without it? my kids are now able to identify some great 80s songs. their current favorite: "should i stay or should i go?", by the clash.

y- is for yerramilli. smita yerramilli, a former student who sent me a graduation announcement this past friday. i have several sweeties graduating in a few weeks whom i will miss terribly. you can see the lovely smita by clicking here.

z- is for the unexpected zzzzz's i took this weekend. i napped. what's up with that?

it's held together by masking tape

my camera, that is. i have a little canon powershot digital camera that i earned with my credit card points. less than a week after receiving it, i dropped it on the sidewalk and cracked the battery cover. of course, the battery cover wouldn't close tightly enough to maintain enough pressure for the batteries to power the camera...but with just enough masking tape and a little pressure from my hand, it will take pictures...(and if you click on the photos below to view them "large", they're not too bad).



bleeding heart. can you honestly think of another living thing on the planet that is more accurately named?



i have my most emotional and spiritual encounters when lilacs bloom. yes, that sounds crazy, but...i don't know. there's just something about them. tonight, when i smelled these lilacs, i literally raised my fists in the air victoriously and called out, "yes!!! thank you god!!!" then i cried like a baby and praised him for the yearly miracle.



the butterfly above and i played hide-and-seek for at least ten minutes. he was not intimidated by my presence, and happily gathered pollen while i talked to him incessantly.



i wish i could eloquently and poetically express the pure and abundant joy god's lilacs and bleeding hearts and pink dogwoods brought me this evening. but alas, i am no poet. so instead, i'll lift these lines of worship from jennifer knapp...

sing alleluia, sing alleluia
praise the father above
sing alleluia
sing alleluia, sing alleluia
for his infinite love
sing alleluia

praise to the giver of good things
merciful father, holy king
join with the angels, sing out loud
praise him who reigns above the clouds

o praise him (when the morning comes)
alleluia (for the rising sun)
o praise him (when the day is done)
alleluia (praise the Lord of love)
o praise him (alleluia)
alleluia (alleluia)

all creatures of our god and king
lift up your voice and with us sing!

beautiful kate

my red-headed, free spirited baby girl...happy birthday! i love you!

so i had this dream last night...

that jen ford bleached my hair white-blonde, then proceeded to give me an afro. she then parted my afro hair down the middle and gave me two large poofy "pony-tails" on either side. only they weren't traditional pony tails...they were more like giant blonde mickey mouse ears. afro mickey mouse ears.

(no kidding. i promise i had this dream.)

then, she became incredibly angry at me because i didn't like the way she had done my hair. and we were on three locks road near chillicothe and she called the police to have me arrested because i was being mean about my ugly hair. leo picked me up in a get-away car, but we were pulled over by the patrol within seconds. they captured me and placed a red and blue wire up one of my nostrils and pulled it out the other one. this wire, they said, was like a gps system, and if i tried to get away they would be able to track me down by sending a signal to the wire that was in my nose.

so the wire was put in, and it embarassed me, so i pulled it out and went to a steakhouse where my dental hygienist was eating dinner. i told her husband that jen ford was mad at me because i was a jerk about my blonde afro. the police then discovered i had removed my wire, found me in the steakhouse, and inserted another one into my nose. my dental hygienist's husband told me not to worry about it...i looked okay, even with the red and blue wire hanging off my face.

then i woke up.

and i've been worried all day that jen is still angry at me over that afro.

dream interpretation, anyone?

suzanne's card

“When we cast our bread upon the waters, we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action..." - maya angelou

party time ~ excellent

my wonderfully loving niece, taylor, organized a birthday party for me today at school and invited some of my favorite 8th grade chicks! we had a great time! these girls exemplify just a few of the reasons why i love my job so much. yes, junior high kids are wired and hormonal...but we also have some amazing parents out there raising equally amazing, grounded, and responsible children with terrific senses of humor and compassion for the world around them.

here they are, in all their glory...

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