Moving On

On Friday, May 25th, Offspring graduated from elementary school. We were all very surprised and gratified to see that Offspring was one of the students awarded a Presidential Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. We're so proud of her. Congratulations, Offspring!

Eight Things

The lovely and talented CCW tagged me a while back for this "Eight Things" meme. Here are the rules:

-Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
-At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
-Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here goes:

1) I love to sing. I usually sing along with whatever CD/radio station I'm playing in the car, and I usually wear my iPod and sing while I wash dishes. I did lots of musical theater back in college, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Juggling Freak gets shaky and queasy when he hears "We Need A Little Christmas," though. Brings back bad memories for him.

2) I have very thin fingernails, and whenever they grow very much past the tips of my finger, they tend to shred, and I end up having to either trim them or bite them off because having a shredded nail drives me up the wall.

3) I read books of all types, from trashy, bodice-ripping romance novels to archaeology textbooks; but my favorites have to be mysteries and "period books" -- those books that are set in a specific time period, like Edward Rutherfurd's "London" or "Sarum", or books about medieval life or ancient Egypt. I like being taken back to another time, another place. I'm fond of Steven Saylor's "Roma Sub Rosa" series featuring Gordianus the Finder, and Lynda S. Robinson's Lord Meren Mysteries all about Egypt in the time of the boy king, Tut.

4) My husband and I used to do medieval reenactment. I made a lot of our outfits, and I must say that he looks darn good in tights. (Okay, so that's only peripherally about me, but so what. And, I really do think he looks good in tights.)

5) I haven't done it in a while, but some of the skills I learned out of that period of medieval reenacting were how to make my own soap and perfume. It's very time consuming work, but I enjoy it. I gave out homemade soaps one year as holiday gifts, each tailored to the recipient by scent and other additives. For example, my mother loves all things related to the sea, so hers was scented with coconut (to remind her of sunscreen) and had generous amounts of sea salt to help scrub off the peeling layers on her feet from the abrasive sand.

6) Based on that old "use your childhood pet's name, and the name of the street you lived on as a child" formula, my porn star name would be "Bandit Paradise." I find that hilarious.

7) I'm a very picky eater. I have that pesky, life-threatening seafood allergy going for me, so there's a whole menu section that I can't have. I'm not fond of a lot of vegetables, so I tend to make very basic, very mild recipes while my lovely spouse then loads his own portion heavily with every spice known to rupture esophaguses. (What *is* the plural form of "esophagus?" "Espohagi"?)

8) I love nuts. I will eat just about every nut that you put in front of me *except* cashews. I may be the only person on the planet who actually dislikes cashews. I love almonds and macadamias especially. I will go to the Fresh Market on the rare occasion to splurge and buy the large tub of almond butter. That's a "luxury purchase" for me because it usually costs about the price I'd pay for an entree in a restaurant. I love the chunky peanut butter, and I will be selfish on occasion and make brownies with walnuts because then I get more of them. If I make plain ones, (or nutless wonders, as JF calls them) they disappear far too quickly. Of course, no brownies are ever what you would call "safe" in our household, nuts or no.

So, that's my list . I hope I haven't scared any more people off with it. I won't tag any specific people because so many of you have done it already. If you are interested in doing this meme, please feel free!

Insert Your Favorite Personality Here

As seen at Phantom Scribbler's:
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Your results:
You are Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker 67% C-3PO 65% R2-D2 65% Yoda 61% Jar Jar Binks 59% Obi-Wan Kenobi 58% Han Solo 58% Jabba the Hutt 57% Chewbacca 57% Princess Leia 53%

You value your friends and loved ones, but can sometimes act recklessly because of your emotions. Occasionally you resort to whining. You look ahead to great things for yourself.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)


Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Test




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As if one personality quiz wasn't enough -- it's a twofer!

Your Score: Arthur Dent

DON'T PANIC

You are constantly humbled by your universe, your world, and (let's face it) probably your toothbrush. There is one small consolation, however. No one knows the value of an Altairian Dollar quite like a hitchhiker and no one knows the value of life quite as well as you.

Link: The Hitchhiker's Guide Personality Test written by donquixotic on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Sadly, It Rings A Bell

Lately, Offspring has been requesting that we TiVo the reruns of the old "Drew Carey Show." She first discovered Drew on watching reruns of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and thought that it would be fun to watch those as well.

Several have been slightly raunchy, and I was glad that she just didn't "get it" when a recently-shown episode featured more adult humor and understanding failed her. We're now watching with an eye out for anything that we may have to fast forward for after recent mentions...

In one particular recent episode, Drew's brother Steve is set to marry Drew's archenemy, Mimi, the very next day. Drew and his family and friends gather around for a family meal to welcome Mimi into the fold. Drew's elderly Uncle Alfred is there, and the conversation that ensued made me choke back laughter AND tears because it's like it came straight out of any one of my own family gatherings. I keep trying to tell you people that I come from a family of loons, but you seem to think that I'm merely jesting. Here's proof positive:

***
Drew's mother is talking about getting all the family together for a picture.

Uncle Alfred: "I took the wrong medicine, and I'm going to have an erection in about an hour."

Drew's Mother: "And we can't have that ruining another family photo!"

***

Juggling Freak darn near fell off the bed laughing. He said that he thought that the whole comment could be applied equally well to either my own father, or my stepfather. Sad thing is -- he's right. For more proof, I direct you to the tale of my brother's college graduation.

And you people thought I was making it all up!

Go. Now. You Will Not Be Disappointed.

In keeping with my tradition of ranting via blog post about being overweight in America, I hereby refer you all to Amy, who has expressed, in this three part series, all I could never quite form into cogent thought.

Go. Read. I promise that you won't be sorry!

I Just Don't Know What to Say

Most of you who know me from other blogs know that I'm going through a bit of a personal crisis right at this time. I appreciate all the emails and well-wishes more than any of you could possibly know. Please don't be alarmed if I take a few days off from blogging to try and decompress a bit.

I'm not "jumping off a cliff" on hiatus, I'm more like "figuring out how people put two and two together and get eleventy kajillion" kind of on hiatus. Things are just baffling and emotional right now. I'm sorry to be so obscure, but there's that pesky pseudo-anonymity thing and the fact that I like actually getting a paycheck. As for the tumbleweeds, I didn't want anyone taking my silence for something more ominous than it really is.

Hopefully, I'll be feeling more like my regular self in a few days, and I will be back in the swing of things before any of you even realize I was gone.

To my loyal "fake friends" out there, your support and kind words are helping me through a really rough patch, and I am forever indebted to you. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

My Visual DNA

Everyone I know seems to have done this Visual DNA thingy recently, and being a total, dyed-in-the-wool lemming, I had to do it, too. Here are my answers:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I'm Pretty Sure *That* Wasn't It

Yesterday, we took our kiddos on an outing to the aquarium. Our classes in the past have always enjoyed this field trip, and our class this year was no exception. They had a great time, noses pressed avidly to glass to watch all of the sea creatures. Our girls were mesmerized by the seahorses and the boys spent when felt like hours tracking the progression of the shark.

I drove my car to the field trip, having obtained special permission, since I get seasick while looking at a glass of water. I get car sick, plane sick, bus sick, and often even feel queasy when I watch Offspring play her first-person, point-of-view video games. I used to ride the bus with all of the other teachers and students on field trips, but I was freaking the kids out when I'd have to get off the bus at the end of each way of the journey, hie myself off to the closest bush, and vomit. So, it was decided that it would probably be in the best interest of EVERYONE if I just drove my own car.

After we loaded the bus for the return trip to school, I scooted off to pick up lunch for the adults. I pulled into a restaurant that has a carryout service, and waited for the waitress to come to my window so I could tell her that I had already called ahead, and that our orders should already be waiting. It was a little past noon, and the carry-out area was already full of cars, waiting to place or pick up orders. There was only one waitress on duty, and she was obviously swamped, so I settled back to wait. A car parked directly in front of me got its order, paid, and pulled away from the curb. Shortly after, another car, a white Pontiac Vibe, pulled into its place. The waitress motioned to me that she knew I was waiting, and did likewise to all of the other patrons. The lady in the while Pontiac became annoyed when the waitress didn't immediately bound over to her window for her order, but disappeared into the recesses of the restaurant instead.

On the waitress' next trip outside, she delivered some orders, and took some others. The Pontiac lady became even more annoyed at the fact that she actually had to wait her turn, and rolled down her window and began to knock on the roof of her car to attract the waitress' attention. Never mind the fact that I had arrived before she had -- it was apparently too long for her to wait. The harried waitress scurried over and took her order, and then came to me and took mine. She then hurried into the building to place the new orders and to gather mine.

After a few minutes, another waitress finally came on duty, and stepped outside to make sure that everyone had been taken care of. Keep in mind that not five minutes had passed since Annoying Pontiac Lady had placed her order. She knocks on the side of her car to attract the attention of the new waitress, and complains loudly that she was still waiting on her order. "All I ordered was cheese sticks and a coke," she brayed. I looked on, with mouth agape, as she sends the second waitress in to hurry her order along. After another few minutes or so, the second waitress hurries out with her order, and the Annoying Lady pays her bill and backs out of her parking space. As she pulls away, I see a large "What Would Jesus Do?" bumper sticker emblazoned on the back of her car. Now, I'm not real conversant in what Jesus would or would not do, but I'm fairly certain that He wouldn't have approved.

Random Junk

*So. Effing. Tired. I have no idea why, either. My students are all well aware that we have very few days of school left, and are all over the place. We had visiting Pre-K students come to visit yesterday, and *they* were more together than our kids were!

*The ankle continues to heal, though it's very stiff in the mornings, and I'm trying to do exercises throughout the day to build the strength back up in it. Most of the discoloration is gone, though there is still residual swelling.

*I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I will continue with Girl Scouts next year. I want to tell some of the parents to take a flying leap, but some are decent. and, I love the girls -- that's not the frustrating part. It's just a lot of work, and most of the time, some of the less involved parents make it out to be more hassle than it needs to be. The one main reason that I'm still on the fence about it is Offspring. I feel sure that she would drop out of the program entirely if I weren't involved, and that would be a shame. She loves what we do, and she's one of the girls who actually benefit from it. She does the work, she enjoys the meetings, and she feels a sense of accomplishment when she earns a badge. I've stuck with it for six years for her sake. I'm wondering if I should stick with it for another year. I want to do it for, but I would be just as happy if some others didn't return. Is that terrible of me?

*Got a GREAT picture back from a Girl Scout Mother-Daughter event -- I may have to scan it and post it later, if I have the time.... I was not able to attend this event due to being laid up with the foot, but Offspring went with my mother, the Hell's Granny. Mom chose (wisely, I thought) not to dress in her Harley-Davidson gear and screech up to the event on her Hawg. Offspring got to spend the night with her after the party, and had a great time.

That's all for now. I have to go get in the shower. I made a pinata for Cinco de Mayo for our students today, and I'm covered in Elmer's Glue.