Never a Boring Day

Here's to another New Year!

2008-01-03T19:46:00.000-06:00

Wow, what a busy year 2007 was! I'm sure this year is going to be just as busy as last year. Quite a few things have changed for me since my last post eons ago. I switched jobs from a bank teller to an insurance agent in training. It has been an interesting month switching to a field I know nothing about. I am slowly learning the art of quoting auto insurance. The one thing I have learned quickly is that it is never a boring day at the agency.

This summer my grandmother remodeled the kitchen. She built a new bar with shelving for storage. We also laid a new laminate flooring that looks like cobblestone. We are almost done with that project, and are moving onto the bathroom next.

The weather has finally turned into winter around here. I've had to chop ice the last couple of days. It is going to warm up by the weekend. I won't miss chopping ice. Until next time.

Sailing with Pirates Again

2007-05-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

While in Tulsa, my uncles, cousins, and I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. This was an experience all in itself. It was a huge theater filled with true fans. I think half the crowd was dressed as pirates. You have to understand that I live in a rural area. I don't see a lot of originality in wardrobes around here. Everyone dresses 'normal'. Sure, there are the different clicks at the school, like goths, preps, country, etc, but no one parades around in costume unless it is Halloween or Homecoming. Every time Captain Jack Sparrow came on the screen, the crowd erupted in cheers and screams. I enjoyed the movie and think it was the best of the three. Since my brother hasn't seen it, I think we'll go sometime this week. Maybe this time I'll be able to hear the movie. I also doubt I'll see any pirates in the audience, but who knows what surprises will be in store.

Graduation Season

2007-05-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

I've just returned home from a very long and busy weekend. My cousin on my mom's side graduated from high school last Thurs. night, so we went to Tulsa for the weekend. It was fun going and spending time with family that I only see a few times a year. It's only about a 4 hour car trip, which isn't bad at all. On the way down, we stopped at the arch across the highway. As you might have guessed, there was a McDonald's inside where I started my Shrek glass collection. The only one I didn't get over the weekend was the donkey glass, but I ordered it on eBay as soon as I got home.

There were a total of 68 kids in my cousin's class, which made for a long evening when they announced different things for each senior (like where he/she was going to college, who he/she would like to thank, etc...). The coolest thing about the whole evening was the bag pipe band the led the procession/recession.

On Friday my uncle took us to Jenks to do some antique shopping. I found a store called Peace Frog Store where found some cool frog shirts for my grandpa and cousin.

We spent the rest of the weekend visiting and shopping at the mall and a Super Target. My mom hadn't been to a Super Target, so we had to take her.

When I got home Sunday (my birthday), my grandmother told me the cat got trapped in my room for a day and a half before he was missed, and crapped. She didn't clean it up, why I don't know. Luckily, he chose the middle of the floor where it could be easily spotted. Needless to say it was the worst birthday present I've received to this date.

Today I unpacked and cleaned on the house. It's almost spotless, or as spotless as it will ever be :-)

Been A Long Time Gone...

2007-05-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

To quote a favorite band of mine, it has been a long time. I recently looked at my blog, and realized that so far I've averaged a post a month. So from now on, I'll try to do better. I've been busy lately. On the weekends we've been fixing fence and cleaning up limbs. The farm is starting to look better.

Last week I got my hair cut and colored. It is scarlet with blonde streaks. I like the color, but will probably go toward a brownish-red. The scarlet looks purple under the lights at work. I've received a lot of complements. It is sure a change from my natural blonde color.

I am keeping close tabs on Dancing With the Stars. I am a big fan of Apollo Ohno, and I really hope he wins. I'll also be glad when Billy Ray leaves. He can't dance, but he sure tries. It's also fun when my worlds combine. Meat Loaf actually performed on the results show last night. He is one act that I'd love to see in concert.

The weather has finally warmed up. It has been a wet spring so far. The news reported that the drought for this area has ended and hopefully it will stay that way.

I switched cell phone providers, so now I can actually use my phone. Not to worry for those who have my number; it remains the same.

I finally watched Happy Feet. It was really funny. Robin Williams is at his best doing at least 2 different voices. I might eventually get the soundtrack if there is one.

Well enough ramblings for one day. Until next time....

In like a Lion

2007-03-05T20:36:00.000-06:00

I hope the saying that March in like a lion and out like a lamb is true, because it started off with a bang and flash of lightening. The usual gusty winds have blown in the the first of the month. We've already had a severe thunderstorm with wind and hail, and several tornadoes touching down throughout the state. I've been keeping busy with cleanup around the place. We are still cleaning up after the ice storm, and probably will for months to come. I helped my dad drop a pecan tree the ice storm split in half. He cut with the chainsaw, while I pulled on it with a rope. My grandmother is starting the process of remodeling her kitchen. She had the heating and cooling guys come and move vents so she could build new cabinets. I think it will be a fun project. Until next time.....

A Night of the Grammys

2007-02-13T20:40:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy month. We lost power for 6 days during the worst ice storm in a long time. It was fun for the first 2 days, but got tedious after that. It sure makes you appreciate what you have (like electricity). Winter has finally arrived with a vengeance. A lot of limbs litter the ground and that's what we've slowly started picking up around the yard. It finally warmed up enough this last weekend to get some of the yard cleaned up. I've also been helping cut and stack wood. I'll post some pics when I finally get them downloaded on the computer.

Now about what I'm actually posting about.....

I watched the best Grammy show I've seen in a while. The Dixie Chicks ruled the night. I am so happy they won. I especially loved Natalie's use of the Simpsons' quote. They've been really put down by people who call them un-American. The beauty of this country is that we have the right to speak our own minds without the fear of repercussions. The Dixie Chicks exercised that right and were treated horribly.
Another favorite group of mine, the Red Hot Chili Peppers won several.
I also thought the live performances were good. I'm even seriously contemplating buying Justin Timberlake's CD, but don't tell anyone. :-)

Winter Wonderland

2007-01-13T17:36:00.000-06:00

Well, we are iced in tonight, and looks like we will be for the next week or so. The weathermens' forecasts were right this time. I was hoping they would be wrong, but that didn't happen. It was my Saturday to work, so my dad was nice enough to drive me since I didn't want to get my car out on the ice. There was only one tree down in our gravel road, but we had enough room to drive around it. In Richland, a lot of people were without power, including my grandparents. However, the bank had power, but we kept running into computer problems. We ended up closing at 10:30 instead of the usual noon time. Crews were busy cutting down limbs/trees that were on the power lines throughout town. My grandpa lost the top out of his nice shade tree, so he'll have a hard time staying cool in the coming summers. At least it didn't land on the house like other homes did. There were several car causalities. And the bad part is, we are supposed to get freezing rain on and off until Monday.

The End is near

2007-01-11T21:22:00.000-06:00

I just got through watching another good episode of The O.C. It wasn't the greatest episode, but it's good to see if Ryan and Taylor will really make it as a couple. She has her moments, but she isn't as whiny and messed up as Marissa was. I just hope they end the show in a really good way, and not as a let down like the final Friends episode was.

In other news, I found out that I get 2 weeks of vacation this year, and I have to take the 2 weeks all at once. I have started planning a vacation that involves a circular pattern through several different states. I'm sure I'll talk more about it as my plan becomes more clear. It's always fun planning a dream trip.

It also looks like we are going to get another winter storm over the weekend. The weather men/women are calling for ice. Hopefully it will miss us. It sure is an inconvenience trying to drive on that stuff.

Just another night in the O.C.

2007-01-04T21:19:00.000-06:00

I got hooked on The O.C. in the middle of the first season, and try not to miss any new episodes. Well, I missed the last new one, so tonight I was pleasantly surprised to see Kevin Sorbo playing Ryan's dad. Now, I have always thought Sorbo was a hunk as Hercules. Sometimes it's strange how different worlds come together. Who would have thought Hercules was Ryan Atwood's father? I was never a fan of Marissa's, so I'm happy to see that Ryan is moving on with Taylor. Taylor has grown on me like Marissa never could. Now I'm hearing the the series finale will be in Feb. I hate to see a good show end, so maybe it could move to the CW network.

In other news, I received an unexpected surprise today. After lunch I found out that I received a bonus, and boy was it a nice one. It's nice now to have a little extra cash in the bank for a rainy day.

Starting off the new year right

2007-01-03T19:10:00.000-06:00

Yes, it has been a while since I've been here. I admit that I've become lazy, but I am trying to fix that. The holiday season is finally over thank goodness. I love my family, but I'm happy that the craziness is over. My cousin and I decorated my Nan's house. We put up her 7 ft tall tree that hasn't been put up in 3 years. It was nice to see the tree back in front of the window. She hasn't really felt like going all out with decorating since my papa passed away. I truly enjoy decorating for Christmas. It has to be my favorite holiday.

With the beginning of the year, I decided to clean my closet. There was a lot of stuff in it that had been there well over 20 years, and wasn't being used anymore. The same cousin that helped put the tree up, helped put the decorations away in the attic. After we got the decorations put away, we brought 2 old family trunks that belonged to great grandparents down to start going through them. I've decided that I want to know as much family history as possible while there is still someone here to tell me. One of my many hobbies is genealogy. I have big dreams of tracing my family back as far as possible.

As for resolutions for the coming year, I don't think I'll make any. I'm not big on the resolution idea, and probably wouldn't follow through with them even if I had them. Until next time.

George Michael and the Village People

2006-10-10T21:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight I laughed the hardest I've ever laughed at a tv program. As you can tell from previous posts, I love Dancing with the Stars. Tonight was the best episode so far this season. The celebs were doing the Rumba and Samba. Joey is one of my favorites, but I don't know what got into him tonight. I think Bruno summed it up best when he said that Joey's dance was a cross between George Michael and the Village People on a cruise to Australia. Joey used the George Michael song, Freedom, and I felt he was channeling George way too much.

My favorite is Jerry Springer. I get teased by family and co-workers for voting for him every week, but I don't care. I love seeing him have fun even though he isn't a good dancer. He brings comedy to it, and I laugh every time he dances. This week the v neck shirt and fake tan really cracked me up. My mom even laughed the hardest she's ever laughed watching this show.

I can't decide who I really want to win, since there are so many good dancers this season. I've also give up guessing who is going home, since there have been so many surprises. I thought Willa and Sara would go home before Vivica, but that wasn't the case. Until next time.....

Belated Birthday Party

2006-10-05T21:07:00.000-05:00

Tonight we finally got around to having a birthday party for my mother. Her birthday was on the 26th of September. We decided to wait until my brother came home, and her birthday gift didn't arrive until earlier this week. I made an ice cream cake for her. It turned out pretty good even though I am not a master cake decorator by any means. My brother and I got her season 5 of Charmed, Curious George, and a couple of Cows on Parade figurines. My cousin got her a little chicken that sings and dances to the chicken dance. It was really cute. We all had a wonderful evenings.

Playing Hooky

2006-10-04T22:16:00.000-05:00

My brother decided to come home instead of going to Germany for his R&R. Since he had an eye appointment today, I decided to use some of my sick leave to take him to the appointment. We had a very nice day. He chose to eat at McDonald's (wouldn't have been my first choice). We had some time to kill before the appointment, so we drove out to Bennett Springs State Park. As the name suggests there is a spring. The park is well known for trout fishing and its hatchery. You can feed the fish in the hatchery, which is what I did while my brother watched. We went to the park store, where I found a cute pair of rose earrings. I enjoy spending time with him, and will miss him when he goes back.

Tonight I watched the results show for Dancing with the Stars. I thought for sure Sara Evans would be going home, but I was wrong again. I'm just glad Jerry survived another week. While he can't dance, he sure is funny and has a fun time trying to dance. I don't know how much longer he will last, but I will keep rooting for him as long as he remains.

I'll close by wishing a friend a Happy Belated Birthday. She finally caught up with me and ushered in her quarter of a century year. Until next time.....

It's Official, now I'm insured

2006-09-19T21:15:00.000-05:00

Now that I have been working 3 months, I am now insured. This makes feel better because one of these days, I'm going to do something stupid and end up in the emergency room. I'm not the most graceful person in the world and could probably break something just by walking across the room and tripping. At least now I will have some insurance. My age group is one of the highest for uninsured people. It's hard to find a job anymore that comes with insurance. More needs to be done in order to make sure that insurance in obtainable and affordable for everyone. But enough about insurance.

Tonight was the 2nd week of Dancing With the Stars. I'm torn among several different stars. On one hand there is Joey from Blossom and Mario from Saved By the Bell. I loved watching these shows growing up. I think Willa Ford will only get better if she can manage to keep from being voted off. I guilty pleasure is Jerry Springer. What he can't do with his dance steps, he makes up for with his personality and performance. It's one of the better reality shows on tv right now in my opinion.

The Results Are In

2006-09-13T20:25:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the results show on Dancing with the Stars. The special guest was Tom Jones. I didn't really know what Tom Jones sang, because I'm probably too young to be in his fan base. I'm not knocking older people, but he's just not someone I grew up listening to. You have my parents to thank for that. They always played rock and country, staying away from the pop and folksongs of the 60s. Anyways, as he was singing his songs, I realized that I've heard them before without knowing who was singing them. I feel better now that I can put the song with the artist. However, this doesn't mean that I'm going to run out and buy Tom Jones cds.

In sad news, at least for the 1 Tucker Carlson fan, Tucker was the first star voted off. It didn't surprise me that he was the first to go. The man did do a good job of showing that he could dance. What did surprise me was that Willa Ford was one of the 3 with the lowest scores. I thought she would beat Sara Evans and not have to worry about being kicked off this week. Willa did a pretty good job of dancing, but I guess more viewers voted for Sara than her.

Not much else is happening around here. I had a pretty calm day with nothing out of the ordinary happening. I was supposed to go to a sewing class this weekend, but it was cancelled. Instead, I'll be working my normal Saturday shift. Until next time..........

Fall is in the air

2006-09-12T21:49:00.000-05:00

This week is starting out a little slow at work, but I'm sure things will pick up as the week comes to a close. I have been getting up and around earlier than usual to take my mom to work. We are down to 2 vehicles instead of the normal 3. They just about break down faster than my dad can fix them. My diabetic grandmother seems to be doing better after spending the weekend in the hospital getting her blood sugar under control. She will be back on her feet in no time.

The weather is starting to get cooler. I love Fall when the leaves start changing color, and the temperature drops to a mild range. It sure makes for good sleeping weather.

Last week I got an email from my brother. He surprised us by saying he's coming home instead of going to Germany for his R & R. Thank goodness, because I still hadn't come up with a gift from Germany that I wanted. It will be much better seeing him in person.

Tonight I helped my 11 year old cousin clean his room. We got a little bit accomplished, but I had to cut it short to make it home in time to see Dancing With the Stars. I love watching that show, and I don't know which couple to root for. The most surprising dancer was Jerry Springer. He did a lot better than I thought. I am going to predict that Tucker Carlson won't make it to next week. I might be wrong, but he wasn't that great of a dancer.

It's me again, Margaret

2006-09-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm back from. I have been really lazy lately and not in the mood to post anything. Several things have happened in my life over the past several weeks. 2 weeks ago on this coming Saturday, I had my cousin cut my hair. I was tired of long hair, and it was 10 inches long. On a previous post I mentioned that I was growing it to cut for Locks of Love. Well, it was the right length, so off it came. Now my hair is short and curly. It does a natural flip out curl that everyone just loves. I'll be glad when it gets a little longer and doesn't have so much body to it.

I had to work the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, so I didn't get to head out of town for a 3 day holiday. I did manage to get some cleaning done, and other things around the house taken care of. I also bought some goodies to send in a box to my brother one of these days. He's getting ready to go to Germany for Oktoberfest, and I'm trying to think of a gift I want him to get me. I haven't had any luck yet.

On Tuesday my nan and I noticed that our cat was looking really sick. She took him to the vet on Wed, but he died before the doc could help him. It was really sad. Even though she never was a cat person, she took a liking to this one. It seemed he suffered from some kind of poisoning, so who knows how that happened. She says that she doesn't want another house cat, but I figure I'll give her a couple of months or so and have my Dad bring us one. She can't be too mad if I'm not the one to bring it home, or so I hope. I really like cats, and would like another one. Besides, I really think it would be a good companion for her.

I recently got a start of Amish friendship bread. It is similar to sourdough, in that it takes so many days to work the dough up to bake a loaf of bread. This bread takes 10 days to work up. I've done it once before, but I don't know how long I'll keep a start. It can get tedious after a while having to bake every 1o days. But the bread is sure good.

For those of you who noticed my Ray Stevens reference in my title, I found a web site you might enjoy. Its Me Again, Margaret Enjoy until next time.

I'll be glad when this week is over

2006-08-24T20:31:00.000-05:00

This is one week that I will be happy to see end. It has been a long week with several stressful things happening at once. My diabetic grandmother decided to go into a short diabetic coma, but the paramedics and doctors were able to wake her up. She is doing better now. My one means of transportation isn't running like it should, so my dad will have to look at it when he can. And to top it off, I received an email from a friend telling that 2 of her committee members for her thesis are leaving. One of them is also on my committee. I'm still not sure where that leaves me or the rest of the fellow students who have this person on their committee. I'm sure all will be revealed in good time. I'm happy for this person, but it sure could cause me problems that I don't really need right now. I did have a couple of good things happen this week. I got an email from my brother. I'm still trying to figure out what gift I will request from him when he goes to Germany in October. The other thing is that I found a birthday gift for my cousin. I'll explain about the gift when I give it to him in October. Stay tuned to find out what happens in my life that seems to become more interesting everyday.

Almost indestructible

2006-08-03T19:04:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago I had a small crisis on the way to work. My purse spilled out in the floor between the seat and the passenger side door of the truck. I thought I got every thing picked up, but that wasn't the case. Apparently when my cousin opened the door, my cell phone feel out on the ground. Either I ran over it, or my uncle did. Normal phones would have been crushed in a million pieces, but not mine. The only thing that happened was my clip broke, and there is a small dent in the back of the phone. It still works just fine like nothing ever happened. Any other time I'm sure my phone would have been crushed. It makes me think of Nextel commercial about the crime deterrent phones. If you can run over them without breaking them, just think how bad a criminal would hurt after having one hurled at him. Of course with my luck, I'd just miss the criminal I was aiming at. Here is a link to the commercial I'm referring to for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about. It is one of my all time favorite commercials. http://www.mobiletracker.net/archives/2006/02/06/sprint-crime-prevention-commercial

It didn't work...I fell off the earth again

2006-08-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know that my avid readers are itching for me to get back to posting more often. The trouble is that I haven't felt like I've anything to post. Most of my daily life had been boring. I get up, go to work, come home, and start the process over again. I did finally hear for my MIA brother, who could or could not be in Iraq. My mom got an email saying something about Afghanistan, so I'm not sure where he is. It was good to hear his voice, and he sounds like he's doing as well as any person is stuck in a hell-hole like that.

Cousins have been taking over the house for weeks at a time lately. They sure do enjoy spending time at the farm with Nanny. Before long it will be time for school, and we will rarely see them. If only we could keep enough food stocked for them. They sure do eat the cupboards bare. Oh well.

It's time to pick produce out of the garden. Tonight we all pitched in and picked cucumbers, okra, and tomatoes. Before the end of the week, we'll probably be able to pick green beans. It's nice when there are several people to help, because the work can be almost too much for one or two to handle.

The weather has been hot and humid. I don't think it will cool down from the high 90s before the weekend if then. We finally got some long lost rain last week, and hopefully will get some more soon. The farmers around here are starting to feed hay bales already, and that doesn't bode well for the winter.

I know, I rambled on and on, but at least I finally posted something. Happy now? :-)

Trying not to fall off the face of the earth

2006-07-06T22:27:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post, and I was afraid I was starting to go MIA again. Work has been keeping me busy this week, thank goodness. It's actually been quite steady at the bank. I like it better when it's busy and I don't have a lot of time to twiddle my thumbs. It's also been a short week with Independence Day interrupting business hours. I have this weekend off, so that's another bonus. I've also been busy after work helping with the grandparents and other stuff. I went to a cousin's house on Tuesday to get my hair trimmed. I've been growing it out to give to Locks of Love, but it has to be 10 inches or more before they will take it. Well my hair is 13 inches, but I'm letting it grow out just a bit more. When it is cut, my hair will have a lot of body and will bounce up shorter than the actual cut. I don't want it to be too short, so I'm waiting. Hopefully by the end of the summer it will be long enough to suit me. I've already got the new hair cut and highlights picked out.

Tonight I went to a cousin's baseball game. The team seems to be getting better, or the teams they play are worse. I haven't made up my mind which one is true. I've also been getting a box ready to mail my brother. I'm having trouble getting the DVD burned, but hopefully I will get that done tonight. I'm aiming to get it in the mail by Saturday if not sooner. I've also been catching up on talking to friends I haven't talked to in a while. I'm trying hard to keep up with everyone, but it can get challenging when we are spread out so much. Well there is no rest for the wicked, so I will write more soon.

A nice quiet night at home

2006-06-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Finally, my busy week has come to a halt. I've been running around all week until tonight. I've done everything from hauling limbs, returning movies, to going shopping every night after work. I spent one evening with my mom and grandma until my grandfather returned from a baseball game. We had a nice visit. I'm getting better at being a bank teller. It's nothing like rocket science. I should be ready to take over the drive-thru pretty soon. Today I went in an hour later and stayed until 5 to help with the drive-thru this afternoon. After work I visited with my uncle and cousin in from Tulsa for the weekend. I haven't been doing anything the rest of the night except getting ready for a busy weekend.

Just another Tuesday

2006-06-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

It was just another day, with not much happening around here. I took some pictures of the drag races to work and showed some of my co-workers. They thought the pics were really neat. I had a slower day at work than yesterday. I thought I almost got an envelope jammed in the mail machine, but luckily I was able to retrieve it with no problems. The mail machine and I don't really get along. It usually doesn't stamp some postage, or stamps on the wrong side of the envelope. Oh well, that makes my day that much more interesting. After work I played a couple of rounds on the playstation with my cousin. I got him a drag racing game, and he sure enjoys beating anyone that plays him. We finally got a little rain shower this evening. Every drop helps. I'm getting things together to mail a package to my brother, and hopefully will drop it in the mail by Thursday. Sometimes there just seems like too much to do, and not enough time to do it. The cartoon has nothing to do with anything. I just thought it was kind of funny.

The Drag Races

2006-06-26T20:50:00.000-05:00

I spent the weekend doing something I really love to do. I went to the NHRA Drag Races in Madison, Illinois outside of St. Louis. My dad has a camaro that he drag races at a little track, but Madison is where the big boys and girls come out to play. When the top fuel rails go by at 300 mph plus, you can feel the bleachers vibrate. This year we had really good parking. One of my dad's friends works for a motor and parts company that is always at these events, so he was able to hook us up with tickets and parking in the pit area. We set halfway down the track, so we had a pretty good view of the races. I had a really good time walking around and looking at the cars. On Sunday I was even able to get my picture taken with John Force, one of the top Funny Car drivers, and Erica Enders. Disney made a movie about her junior drag racing days, but now she runs with the big boys and girls. I also like the fact that more women are making names for themselves in this sport. Even though it was a long, hot, and tiring weekend, it was worth it.

I survived my first week on the job

2006-06-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

I never pictured myself as a bank teller, but I'm finding that it's not very hard. I've actually done pretty good for never having worked in a bank before. Sometimes I get tired of counting money. I've also seen many people that I know. I didn't realize how many acquaintances of mine use that bank. Not much else is going on. I'm getting a box ready to send to my brother. I got a wall-hanging done for a cousin to give to her secret pal. It turned out really nice, and I got to use my embroidery machine. I'm finishing out the night watching Casanova. It has Heath Ledger in it, and since he's a favorite actor of mine I thought I would watch it. So far so good.

Happy Father's Day!

2006-06-18T20:17:00.000-05:00

Boy has this weekend been busy. Friday night after my parents and I got off work, we hauled hay. Unfortunately it wasn't the big round bales, but the small square bales. This meant that we had to drive around the hay field and pick up the bales and stack them on the trailer. Luckily the guys who baled the hay helped us, or we would have been there all night. We ended up with 2 trailer loads. We got one trailer unloaded before we quit for the night at 11.
Saturday I had to work until noon, but came home to help finish unloading the second trailer. My uncle and cousin helped with this load, so they were almost done by the time I got there. I think we put almost 300 bales in the barn. By the time we were done, I was wondering if the cattle and horses were worth all that work.
This morning we put new fly tags in the cattle's ears and vaccinated them. We got done around 1 in the afternoon. It was hot, but now we won't have to fly tag again until next year. We still have 5 cows left to do at a later date. I know, I know, it doesn't sound like my dad had a fun Father's Day with all the hard work he had to do, but at least he won't have to worry about it not being done. We had a nice Italian dinner with my grandmother, my other grandparents, and my uncle and cousin.
My dad and I finished the evening by going fishing in the pond. We had a nice time even if we didn't catch anything. Either there are no fish, or they didn't like the polish sausage I was using as bait. The only thing that would beat that would have been fishing with my dad, brother, and grandpa. Well, my grandpa has been dead for 3 years. My brother is in Iraq at the moment. When my brother comes home, he can come fishing with us. Everyone needs to go fishing with their fathers at least one Father's Day in their lives.

First day at my new job

2006-06-13T21:21:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day as a bank teller. It doesn't seem like it's going to be that hard of a job once I get the hang of things. I did a couple of transactions with a little help from my trainer. I get an hour for lunch, which is enough time to go harass my grandparents. I've also seen several people I know or who know my parents. I can see myself sticking with this job for a while. It will be nice not to have to find a new job due to job termination or moving like I've been doing the past 7 years. It's also nice not to have to flip burgers for decent pay around this area. I've always wanted to keep banker's hours, and now is my chance.

Spring Cleaning: Better Late than Never

2006-06-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

Since there was a break in the hot weather, I decided to start cleaning on the garage. There is hardly any floor space anymore, because everyone just throws down anything and everything. At first glance the task looked overwhelming, so I just picked a corner and started cleaning. Halfway through it looked as if I was making a bigger mess, but now you can actually see a difference. There is a lot more work to be done and a lot more treasures to find (depending on my definition of treasure). Maybe someday it will be clean enough to fit a car in or set a quilting machine up.
Finally after numerous job interviews and let-downs, I got a call today telling me I was hired. I start as a bank teller tomorrow. If you would have asked me what job I pictured for myself, bank teller would be no where on my list. I do business at this bank, and was talking to a friend who works there. He asked what I'd been doing, and I said looking for a job. Well, there just happened to be a vacancy, so I filled out an application. I'm pretty good at following the signs the universe lays in my path, so I didn't pass this opportunity up. It was a good thing. This means less than a 10 minute commute back and forth, and decent pay for a small town. It can't be all that hard to give and take money.

Buy me some peanuts and cracker-jacks....

2006-06-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, it's been a while since my last post. My avid readers are starting to complain about the lack of postings, you 2 know who you are :-) Not much has been happening around here lately. We are still working on fences, and the chore list for the farm is being updated daily. I've been job hunting, but nothing has turned up yet. I have a couple of prospects, so something will eventually turn up.

Tonight I attended a baseball game of a cousin. I think the age group is around 11-12. I usually don't enjoy baseball. I know, very un-American of me, but oh well. This game however was very comical. Both teams were having a really off night. The pitchers couldn't pitch and the hitters couldn't hit. There was one boy who is tall and big for his age that surprised the whole crowd by making it from 3rd to home with two opposing players trying to tag him out on either side. He ran back to 3rd, but the other team dropped the ball. He ended up getting a run. I thought my cousin was going to trip and fall off 2nd and get tagged out, but he ended up getting a run. It was the best baseball game I've ever been to. This shouldn't be surprising since I don't go to many. Oh in case anyone reading cares, my cousin's team squeaked out a win.

I think I could use riding lessons...

2006-05-28T22:05:00.000-05:00

Today I celebrated my birthday, even though it was actually yesterday. A lot of family members came to lunch at my grandmother's house. It was nice to see and visit with everyone. I even received a couple of gifts, even though I told everyone not to get me anything. I got a new blanket and some dolphin figurines to add to my collection.

After almost everyone left, my little cousin wanted to ride the horse. Well the horses are turned out into the woods, so we didn't know if we'd be able to catch them. As luck would have it, they came to the gate, so we walked down and let them into the field. My dad got the saddles and got 2 of the 3 horses ready to ride. He and my cousin rode for a while and then stopped to rest. He asked if I wanted to ride Goodie, while my cousin rode Rascal. Now, I don't ride at all, and I've never ridden Goodie. After contemplating for a second, I decided to. I managed to get on him by using the tailgate of the truck. He stood still while I got on him, but then I found out that my feet couldn't reach the stir-ups. My dad wanted to fix them, but in order for him to do that I had to get off the horse. I decided not to, which was a huge mistake. I made it up the road and was going down the slight hill in the field when Goodie decided he wanted to go see the other horse that was left behind. I was trying to turn him the other way, but I didn't understand the directions that my dad was giving me. To make a long story short, I ended up falling off the horse. My mom says that I landed on my shoulders first, then my head, and then my butt. All I know for sure is that I could breathe for about a minute and my head and right leg hurt. In fact, my leg will probably be really sore tomorrow. Other than that I'm fine. I learned two things: First, my 8 year old cousin is a better horse-woman than I am. And second, I believe milk really does a body good. It's a good thing I get a lot of calcium, or I would have broken an arm or leg. I think next time I'll start with shorter stir-ups and practice riding on flat ground before tackling hills or mountains.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2006-05-27T20:37:00.000-05:00

Yes, today is my birthday, but it was like any other day. I don't know why, but birthdays aren't any big deal to me anymore. It seems like all the important milestones have been hit so far. I mean, my 16th was awesome, because it meant I could get my driver's license. Then 18 meant I could vote and was now considered an adult. Then 21 came and I could legally drink. I think so far, my 21st was the best, and not because I drank myself sick. In fact, I didn't drink any alcohol on my 21st birthday, but I was in Paris. What can beat that? Now the 25th one is here, and it's no big deal.

This birthday was just an ordinary day for me. I finally got my herb garden planted, so hopefully I'll have some nice herbs. I just have to remember to water it. I spent the rest of the day cleaning, because I'm having a birthday dinner tomorrow and some of the family is coming. It should be fun. I wouldn't celebrate my day any other way.

I'm sure future birthdays will be as awesome as previous ones, but if not that's okay too. I'll just be happy to celebrate however many birthdays I have left in my lifetime.

Building an Herb garden

2006-05-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get back in the habit of posting everyday. Lately I've been lazy, and not posting anything. This might be good, since I don't really do anything interesting. Today I got in and worked outside really hard this morning since we are supposed to get rain for the next 2 days. A cousin helped me unload 80 lbs. bags of concrete out of my grandmother's truck. I'm not sure how many bags there were, but I do know that they were heavy. We then loaded posts in the back of the farm truck to use for an herb bed. I love to cook with herbs, so I decided to grow my own. We got the posts put in place and I filled it with dirt. After we got that situated, he helped me hook a chain to an old rotten electric pole that fell in the yard, and I dragged it to a burn pile in the field across the road. After doing all this, we decided that we'd worked hard enough for one day, so we cleaned up and went to town to do some shopping and eat out. We also took 2 of my cousins home, but still have one staying with us until Monday. The kids sure do like to visit with Nanny on her farm.

Barely watching the ACMA's

2006-05-23T21:28:00.000-05:00

The Academy of Country Music Awards show was on tonight; one of many music awards shows out there. I'm all about new things, but I liked it when country music awards shows were in Nashville. Hello, it's the country music capital unless you are from Branson, MO. To me, this isn't such a thing as country music anymore, because most of the new stuff is too much like pop. I do like some new artists out there like Keith Urban. I am watching and listening to most of the show because Reba McEntire is hosting. My favorite duo of all time Brooks and Dunn are winning a few awards, and up for Entertainer of the Year.

Not much is going on in my world. We are still working around the farm doing fence repairs and other small jobs. Since school is out, various cousins are spending days with us. My grandmother is teasing their parents about enrolling the kids in school here next year so she can keep them. I have a job interview later this week, so hopefully that will work out. Until next time....

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T21:33:00.000-05:00

It's that day of the year when all the mothers are honored. I love to buy gifts for others (when I can afford to), but I love to buy things for my mother. She hates surprises, so I love to make her antsy with anticipation while waiting to open her gift. I wouldn't let her open it until this evening, because I was going to record it to send a video to my brother in Iraq. Unfortunately the camcorder battery was dead, so I'll just have to do it some other time. He and I have been getting her the Charmed series on her birthday and Mother's Day, because she loves the show. She now has the first 4 seasons on dvd. We also had dinner at my grandparents' house, and had a nice visit with everyone. We don't often show our mothers how much they are appreciated, so I'm glad someone was smart and established a holiday to do that. I know how much I appreciate my mother, and am always happy to show her so.

No longer MIA

2006-05-08T15:22:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. I've been busy either working at school, or on the farm. If one fence doesn't fall, another one does. Luckily we have the electric fence done, so that can be crossed off the to-do-list. I've also been hunting for a more permanent job than substitute teaching, but not having much luck there. Something will eventually turn up. I'm still taking embroidery classes, so hopefully I'll get around to making something for my friends to show them all the neat stuff I'm learning. Well, this post is going to be short since I have a cousin's DARE graduation to go to. I just wanted to get back in the habit of posting in case all of my readers (probably only 2) have been wonder where I've disappeared to.

Damp Monday

2006-04-24T21:29:00.000-05:00

It finally rained here last night, so there wasn't any use to doing outside work today. It was too muddy to work in the field, and too wet to burn leaves. Instead I stayed inside most of the day. I played with the embroidery machine this morning and re-did some class exercises that I hadn't gotten quite right. This afternoon I picked some asparagus and pulled some onions that we let go too long. After school was out, I tutored my cousin for a little while. I spent the evening with my parents and played with their cat.

Not a day of rest

2006-04-23T22:35:00.000-05:00

Today was the planned day to work on the fence. My parents decided to wait until my grandmother got back from church before starting. So until we went outside, I did a little cleaning up inside. I was tired at looking at a dirty kitchen floor, so I decided to sweep it. Well, I couldn't help myself, so I mopped the floor too. We got a citrus pine-sol that smells really good. It doesn't plug my nose up like regular pine-sol. After lunch, we went out to the field. I trimmed cedar trees with the chainsaw and helped put up the new stretch of fence. We got it clipped in several places before it started sprinkling. We figured it was getting ready to rain, so we called it quits. My grandmother and I will go back and finish the fence sometime this week. At least the way we have it now, none of the cows will go through it. This evening I used my embroidery machine to monogram a chef shirt for my cousin for his birthday. Our uncle wanted to send it to him, because my cousin is really into cooking. I vegged out the rest of the evening and watched T.V.

Never should have gotten out of bed this morning...

2006-04-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

This will be a combination of the past two days worth of activities. Yesterday I got up and got ready to go fix fence, but got a last minute call from the school. I got ready in record time and ended up being the shop teacher for the day. Now, no need to worry, when there's a sub the students aren't allowed to go and work in the shop. They watched movies all day. After I got home, my grandmother and I decided to go check on a stretch of fence after a neighbor said she saw a cow out in the road the previous day. My grandmother went to open the gate, and it fell off the hinges. Well in my hurry to get to her, I slipped on the loose gravel and fell on the running board of the truck (It's the board that helps you step up into a truck that sets higher off the ground). I landed at an angle, so I was lucky I didn't break my tail-bone. I guess I had enough padding not to break anything. So far no bruise, but it really hurts.

This morning was one of those mornings where it would have been better to stay in bed. My grandmother came running into the house saying we had a cow and calf out in the road. Well we managed to herd them back into the field, and then checked the fence to see where they got out. We found it down in 3 spots, so we patched it until we can get time to fix it. We have another fence that needs our more immediate attention. Yesterday 5 calves found a hole in it, but luckily they came back in after a gate was opened. We got the wire ready to fix it, but will have to wait for my Dad to help. After a busy morning, we went shopping because the pantry was bare. We were so tired that shopping wasn't as fun as it should have been. The rest of the night I have crashed and done nothing. Tomorrow will be the day I learn to fix fence. I think my family has a secret goal of turning me into a farmer.

Sewing Class

2006-04-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

I missed posting yesterday, but I won't regale you with the boring details. Instead I'll skip to today's events. I started out the morning by opening a new account at the bank. After that it was time to substitute, but I didn't know who until I got to school. It turns out that I substituted in my cousin's fifth grade class. He was shocked to see me as his teacher, so he basically ignored me and was good. He was probably afraid I would tell on him after we got home. The kids were good for me. It was my first experience with fifth grade. After school, my grandmother and I went to our sewing class. I have a new embroidery machine that I am learning how to use. My sample from the class was so horrible that I am going to redo it at home when I have the time. I'm glad I went to the class and think I learned something. I can't wait until the next class. As soon as I do the sample over again, I post a picture. I think once I get the hang of this embroidery machine, I'll have a lot of fun.

The army came to town

2006-04-18T20:53:00.000-05:00

I substituted for the computer teacher today. He also teaches a 7th grade social studies class. The first class ended up watching some of Dennis the Menace. No matter how many times I've seen that movie, I still chuckle at the funny parts. The second class was in the middle of a made for TV movie, when they were interrupted to go play in the army semi-truck that came to school today. On this truck the army has equipment valued at over 2 million dollars. There is a tank and helicopter simulator. There is a laser gun target practice, and other fun stuff that the kids got to play around with. They just started taking a state required aptitude test, so this was a nice treat for them. One of the soldiers said that the toys were part of the army recruitment resources they had at their disposal. For those interested the army recruitment headquarters is at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. After I got home, I didn't really do anything the rest of the night. I just couldn't get motivated to do a whole lot. We are in a tornado watch until 11 p.m., so hopefully nothing severe will pop up. I think it is going to be a dangerous tornado season.

It was an Indiana Jones type day...

2006-04-17T20:48:00.000-05:00

As anyone who has seen the movie Groundhog Day knows the main character relives the same day over and over again. Well, that's how my day seemed to go. I substituted for the high school math teacher today, and her lesson plans were to watch a movie. Well, she only had 2 movies to choose from and I didn't feel like watching Robo Cop. I chose Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Now, I truly enjoy the Indiana Jones movies. However, today in all 4 of the classes I showed it in, we watched the begining and got to about the same point in the movie all 4 classes. By the end of the day, I felt I could recite the first half of the movie word for word. I got to where I just zoned the movie out and finished the entire National Geographic magazine I had brought with me to read today. I'll close with my favorite quote from the movie:

Sallah: Please, what does it always mean, this... this "Junior"?
Professor Henry Jones: That's his name. [points to himself]
Professor Henry Jones: Henry Jones... [points to Indy]
Professor Henry Jones: ... Junior.
Indiana Jones: I like "Indiana."
Professor Henry Jones: We named the *dog* Indiana.
Marcus Brody: May we go home now, please?
Sallah: The dog? You are named after the dog?
Indiana Jones: I've got a lot of fond memories of that dog

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

This morning started out earlier than usual for me. I was up by 6 a.m. in order to get ready for sunrise service. There are only 3 churches in town, and every year they have a community sunrise service. They alternate the service every year so it is in a different church each year. It was nice to see the church full this morning with various denominations. After a good service, we had a breakfast, and I saw a lot of people I knew. I got several compliments on my outfit. My grandmother made me a beautiful butterfly jacket out of pink silky material. We got pink material to make a dress that we thought would match, but after trying them on together they didn't look right. A couple of days ago we found some blue material, so on Friday night and Saturday morning she worked on a blue dress. The finished product was gorgeous. I ended up not wearing the jacket to regular church service, because by then it had warmed up too much outside to be comfortable in a jacket. After church, I spent the afternoon with my parents. Tonight we had dinner at my other grandparents house. All in all, it was a good day.

The thunder rolled and the lightening striked

2006-04-15T20:51:00.000-05:00

Most of my morning was spent at a soccer game. My cousin's team ended up winning 3-1, but it sure was a long game. When the first half was winding down, it started to thunder and lightening. The refs decided to call a 15 minute wait to see if it was going to rain or not. Well, the kids could have been playing those 15 minutes and been done by the time it started to rain, but that didn't happen. Now, I know those rules were made for a reason, but the teams on the other field continued to play during this time, so I don't know what was up with the refs for our field. The game got over just as the downpour began. I'm not complaining about the rain, because we really needed it around here. In fact, it would be nice to have a steady rain for 2 or 3 days to wet things down a bit. I didn't do much the rest of the day; just some laundry and housework. I also watched Remember the Titans and am kind of watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the umpteenth time.

Coloring Easter Eggs

2006-04-14T23:07:00.000-05:00

Today started out like yesterday. My grandmother and I worked on the electric fence, while my cousin played and was our gopher. We are pretty close to being done, thank goodness. We stopped around 10, because it was getting warm, and my cousin and I had an appointment with my other cousin to color Easter eggs. We picked out the coloring yesterday, and I didn't realize how many types of dye were now available. When I was little, the only thing available was the type of tablets you drop in vinegar and then somehow have to figure out how to keep your egg on the weak metal egg dipper without dropping and cracking the egg. How times have changed. I think there were at least 10 different types of coloring. We finally decided on speckle and marble coloring. We had a fun time coloring eggs, and came up with some interesting color combinations, like green and pink, purple and pink, yellow and pink, and the list goes on. There were even some eggs with all the available coloring on them. We only had three casualties that fell in the floor due to slippery fingers. It brought back childhood memories of coloring eggs with my little brother. You're never too old to color Easter eggs. I spent the evening watching The O.C. with my mom. I don't know what we're going to do when she's finished with season 2 and season 3 isn't out on DVD yet. We'll figure something out, or start a new TV series that I own.

Fixing Fence today

2006-04-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

This morning was an early morning. Since we knew it was going to get hot today, my grandmother and I got up early to fix the electric fence. The cows have started riding the fence and sticking their heads under it to get at the green grass on the other side. To stop them from completely destroying the fence, we are re-wiring an electric fence to keep them out. Hopefully after getting zapped a time or two, they will leave the fence alone. We worked hard until 10 and then got cleaned up to go to town. We did a little shopping and picked up a cousin who is staying a few days with us. We all were completely wiped out by the time we got home.

Before we left for town, I had a major bug infestation in my room. The termites decided to come out and play in full force. I would estimate they were over 100 strong. We sprayed some bug killer on them, but I was left with a mess in my room. After we got back from town, I stripped my bedding, wiped off my desk, vacuumed up termite carcasses, and sprayed the baseboards and window again to keep them from coming back. I don't want to wake up in the middle of night covered in termites. I finished my evening watching a Disney channel movie with my cousin about 2 sisters trying to save the family dairy. It wasn't a bad movie. I think the name was Cow Bells.

Slowing down a bit today

2006-04-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

Today I didn't work as hard as I should have. It was kind of a lazy day for me. I spent the morning surfing the net for online activities for elementary kids. I needed some activities for my cousin to do during our tutoring session today. I found some age appropriate things. I also tried on the Easter dress my grandmother is making for me numerous times to make sure everything is right. This afternoon we did a few things outside, but it was too hot to work hard very long. I think it reached 85 degrees today. I picked my cousin up from school and brought him to my house for a while. We looked at some of the online activities, and after we were done we played Monopoly on the computer.
Tonight while reading a friend's blog, I did the belief quiz she had posted and came up with some interesting religions that I matched according to the quiz. Here is the link if anyone is interested: Belief-O-Matic; you might be surprised if you take the quiz. The results might not correspond to the type of religion you participate in. If anyone takes it, she's interested in your results. Here's her blog: The "zed" word. Don't say it! Let her know. Forgive me if my blog tonight is similar to her's , but I thought it was an interesting quiz.

Here's my results:

1. Mahayana Buddhism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (94%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (93%)
4. Liberal Quakers (92%)
5. Theravada Buddhism (85%)
6. Jainism (85%)
7. Hinduism (84%)
8. New Age (83%)
9. Reform Judaism (81%)
10. Taoism (73%)
11. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (72%)
12. Scientology (69%)
13. New Thought (68%)
14. Orthodox Quaker (68%)
15. BahÃ¡'Ã Faith (68%)
16. Sikhism (68%)
17. Orthodox Judaism (64%)
18. Islam (57%)
19. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (55%)
20. Secular Humanism (55%)
21. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (36%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (35%)
23. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (35%)
24. Nontheist (31%)
25. Jehovah's Witness (25%)
26. Eastern Orthodox (24%)
27. Roman Catholic (24%)

A little hard work does a body good

2006-04-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

I've been busy the last 2 days. Yesterday I substituted at a local highschool as 2 different teachers. It wasn't too bad, and the kids were good for the most part. After I got home, I just vegged out around the house for the rest of the night. I tried watching the Moses movie on ABC, but it lost my interest after a few minutes. Today my grandmother and I worked really hard all morning. We are trying to get the yard cleaned up from all the leaves and sticks. A tree at the corner of the yard was cut down last fall, and we finally got the limbs and what little wood there was picked up. I even fired up the chainsaw by myself to cut some chunks of wood into smaller pieces. Around noon, we decided that we'd worked hard enough, so we quit for the day. This afternoon I tutored a cousin who needs a little extra help in understanding that he needs to turn his school work in. It might be a long learning experience. It's not that he's not smart, but I think he is lazy about getting his work in. Tonight not much is going on. I made a cd of pictures to send to my brother. I'm also in the process of making a dvd of home movie clips to send to him to let him know we miss him and think of him while he's in Iraq. Unless school calls tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be hard at work doing things around the yard. I'll be so happy when everything is caught up, if it ever is.

Family Fun day

2006-04-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

This morning I got up and helped my grandmother tidy up before some family members arrived for dinner. She swept the kitchen, and I mopped for her. My parents were the first to arrive for lunch, which was surprising since my mom is usually late to events. The cows came up from the woods, so my dad fed them some hay. I took some pictures to send to my brother, so he can see what his calves look like. The babies are so cute, and curious. A few got up close while I was taking pictures. I got to see a cousin I hadn't seen in a while. I also got to see a cousin who will turn a year old in a couple of weeks. He is the happiest baby I've ever been around. After company left, I fired up the chainsaw to cut up some limbs of a fallen tree in the yard. My dad had to show me how, since I've never started let alone used a chainsaw before. You will be happy to know that I didn't injure myself in anyway. I rounded out my day watching the drag races on TV with my parents, who came over for leftovers for supper. I found this picture while looking for an image of a chainsaw, and thought it was funny. That just might be my sense of humor, I don't know.

Something I'd never seen before....

2006-04-08T21:23:00.000-05:00

The weather fooled me today. It looked nice and sunny, but when I stepped outside the wind chilled me to the bone. It was windy and chilly today. I went to a soccer game this morning and found out that I wasn't wearing warm enough clothes. Somehow I managed to survive :-) This afternoon I attended a wedding of a sister-in-law to one of my cousins. The main color theme was camouflaged. Now, I know that this might sound weird and not very appealing, but the camouflage was actually okay. The flower girl's dress was made entirely of the camouflage with tan ribbons to accent it. I found myself liking her dress. I never thought I'd say that the bridesmaids dresses could have used more camouflage. They were made of a pale green top and a pale green skirt with the camouflage running through the skirt. I thought it would have looked better if they'd wore full camouflage skirts with the pale tops with a camouflage band running around the top of the top. It was a nice wedding. Afterwards, my grandmother and I came home and started cleaning and cooking. We are having a family dinner tomorrow, so this gave me motivation to clean. I don't want anyone saying we never pick up after ourselves. On a surprise visit, they'd find out that we usually don't.

Friday Fun

2006-04-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

None of the schools called today, so I spent the morning working around the farm. I tried to fire up the chainsaw to cut up some tree branches, but I couldn't get it started. I'm going to have my Dad show me how. He always makes it look so easy, so I don't know what the trick is. Instead of that I helped my grandmother rake up leaves and sticks to put on the burn pile. I finished out the morning putting out mole poison. You can't walk around the front yard without tripping over mole mounds, so I'm trying to get rid of as many of the critters as possible. They are nuisance, and are destroying the yard. I'm afraid they'll move to the garden next. I checked on my herbs I'm growing in seed trays before planting them outside, and they are growing quite nicely. I learned the trick of mixing the super small seeds with sand and sprinkling the mixture over the seed trays. This trick works very well, and I have seedlings sprouting. After working hard all morning, we decided to go to town. While there, I found some pink material to make an Easter dress out of. Hopefully it will turn out nice. We also bought the cat some kitty treats, which he absolutely loved. I rounded out the evening watching TV with my mother.

Welcome to the world of sixth graders

2006-04-06T21:33:00.000-05:00

This week I have spent everyday in the elementary substituting for various teachers. Today I was back with the sixth grade class I was with on Tues. I don't know if they just got used to me, or if they were more hyper than normal, but they were sure noisy. They are a good group of kids, but they make me realize that I never want to be a sixth grade teacher. There is just too much drama with that age group. They are constantly worrying about looks and boyfriends/girlfriends. I am so glad I am not that age, and would not want to be that age ever again. They all have their little groups that they belong to, and I just don't miss those days. Today I had to teach a worksheet about the stockmarket, and what happens when the prices go up or down. It took a while for them to get it, but I think they finally did. I don't remember ever having to do stuff like that in 6th grade. Tonight was a lazy night, so all I really did was watch tv. I did manage to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I love to cook, and chocolate chip cookies are my favorite. There is nothing better than eating one fresh out of the oven. I taped The O.C., so I'm sure I'll have something to say about that tomorrow night. We are in for another round of severe weather, so hopefully no tornadoes will touch down.

Ah... Wednesday

2006-04-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

The best thing about Wednesday is that it means the weekend is almost here. It would probably mean alot more to me if I had a 40 hrs, Mon-Fri job, but I still look forward to the weekend. My Wednesday was spent doing housework during the morning hours, and hanging out with a group of pre-schoolers since the teacher had to leave early. I always find preschool to be a fun place, because you never know what ideas the kids are going to come up with. These kids were good, and fun to be around. I spent a lot of the afternoon helping the aide work on her college geography worksheet, which was over Middle Eastern geography. This is one area that I hardly know anything about, so it was kind of challenging. We had the book to work from, but some of the questions the professor came up with were no where to be found in the book. I don't know where or how he came up with them. After I got home, I picked some fresh asparagus for supper. My parents came over to have supper with my grandmother and I. We had a huge roast that the two of us didn't want to have to eat by ourselves. My mom brought me the pencil that my cousin got for me. You may be wonder what's so great about a pencil. This was a gourmet pencil that smelled like chocolate milk. One of the classes is selling them for a fundraiser, and have several different flavors to choose from. I had asked for the cookie dough one, but they were out of those. I'm going to have him check to see if they are getting anymore in. These pencils really do smell like the real items, like cinnamon, grape, caramel, etc... They are also made out of recycled newspaper. I know, it doesn't take much to impress me. Oh well!

Wading thru the Poison Ivy

2006-04-04T20:57:00.000-05:00

Today I was supposed to be with the preschoolers again, but the substitute that was coming in for a sixth grade class didn't show, so I spent my day with sixth graders. Suprisingly, they weren't that bad. When I was in high school I was a teacher's aide for the sixth grade, and those kids were mouthy and horrible. This gave me the impression that kids at that age are like that, so I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't have any problems with these kids. I had to teach them how to use the interest formula i = p x r x t, so hopefully I didn't screw them up on that. There is a reason I became a history major and not a math major in college. After I got home, I spent the rest of the evening raking leaves, and mixed in with those leaves was a whole mess of poison ivy. Well, I'm deathly allergic to poison ivy, so I didn't touch it or stand in the smoke after I burnt the leaves. Hopefully this will keep me from getting it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Just Another Monday

2006-04-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of hanging out with pre-school aged kids. For the most part, they were pretty well behaved. The little boy that usually gives subs a hard time was good today. We made homemade play dough and made snakes. The kids had a blast, and I have to admit I did too. I also ended up reading several books to them while they ate their snacks. Not much else happened today. I came home and set the trash out for pick-up tomorrow, and am having a lazy night. I did fill out a couple of job applications for a more permanent job while I work on my thesis. I was looking for a picture of play dough, and had to laugh when I came across this one. I could see myself doing something like this poor guy in the cartoon. Enjoy. Until tomorrow...

Spring Forward

2006-04-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

It is that time of year again for Daylight Savings. I love when the clocks change in the spring, because that signals the beginning of longer evenings. My favorite time of the year is the longer days of spring and summer. When it gets dark, I automatically think of sleeping, so when the sun is out longer I want to stay up longer. It was a really windy day all day today, so I'm glad Nan and I got the leaves raked yesterday. There were severe weather storm warnings for our area, but luckily it only hailed for a few minutes. This evening I picked some fresh asparagus, and boy was it good. I just love picking fresh produce from our garden. It is so much better than store bought, but maybe that's just in my head.

Fun in the sun ... or not

2006-04-01T22:19:00.000-06:00

Today was a gorgeous day, with sun shining and a light breeze for most of the day. I spent my morning at a youth soccer game. I think most of the players were 11 or 12, with a few younger ones mixed in. It's also a co-ed team, with some girls that are more aggressive than the boys about kicking that soccer ball. It was a good game, and the team I was rooting for won. I think I enjoy watching soccer more than any other sport. The rest of the day was spent raking and burning leaves, since it's going to rain tonight and there was no wind to fight against. I decided that I wanted to get a little sun, so I put some shorts and a tank top on. Since I'm fair skinned and burn easily, I should know better than to go out without sun block on, but I didn't put any on. Boy am I paying for that now. I'm pretty sure that my sunburn has gone from pink to crimson. To get the sting out I even doused myself with vinegar and then lathered myself with lotion laced with aloe vera. I'm sure that by tomorrow I'll be even redder and more sore. Maybe this will teach me to wear sun block next time.

Just call me the task master

2006-03-31T23:57:00.000-06:00

Since I've come home, I've been substitute teaching until I find a more permanent job. Today I was an aide for a second grader that just needed to be reminded to stay on task. The more I substitute the more I enjoy teaching. I said that I would never teach, but I might have to rethink that in the years to come. I really don't have any plans to pursue that until I finish the degree I'm working on. Tonight was a pretty uneventful Friday night for me. I watched a couple of movies with my mom. We watched The Man, which was quite humerous at times. Eugene Levy was in it, so he reminded me of a friend's father who resembles him. I also watched The Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson. It was an okay thriller, but the previews made it seem alot scarier than it really was. I love watching scary movies, but not many of my friends enjoy it. My mom doesn't like them at all, so she didn't make it to the end of this one. My brother is really one of the few who actually enjoys watching them with me, and he is too far away in Iraq at the moment. So ends another thrilling Friday night.

Let the wind roar

2006-03-30T20:07:00.000-06:00

Well, it's another night of severe thunderstorm warnings for central MO. Luckily, the tornadoes are north of us for now. Tornado season isn't my favorite time of the year. It entails many restless nights on my part. I am the self appointed storm watcher for my family. They mostly laugh at me, but I don't care. Enough of the storm rant... I live for Thursday nights when new episodes of The O.C. aires. It is one of my favorite shows at the moment. Tonight's episode was better than previous ones had been. This one held my attention for the whole time. I like that Marissa and Ryan aren't together, because I'm not a big Marissa fan. I think the character is whiny, and drags everyone down around her. I wish she would learn to stand on her own two feet and stay away from the drugs and alcohol. Then, I think I would like her. She has too much emotional baggage, and can't cope well for me. I kind of like her and Volcheck, but we'll see how that plays out. Sometimes I hate him, but other times he is almost human. I can't wait to see what's in store for next week.

Very Tiresome Day

2006-03-29T22:05:00.000-06:00

I had one of those days where I didn't do a lot, but what I did was hard work. Shade trees are nice to have for the hot Missouri summer days, but they also shed a lot of leaves in time for spring cleanup. I spent most of the morning doing odd jobs around the farm. My grandmother and I turned a gate, that was on upside down, right-side up and fixed the gate latch. We then spent a great deal of the day raking leaves out of the flower bed and front yard and burning them. There's an old saying that smoke follows beauty, so I must be drop dead gorgeous, because I couldn't get away from the smoke no matter which way I turned. To finish out the beautiful spring day, I cleaned half of the barn out. There is a bunch of loose hay on the floor, so I swept some of it out for the cows to munch on. As if that wasn't enough to do, Nan and I went to town this evening to grocery shop. You know you've worked hard when shopping isn't very appealing.

Finally back up and running

2006-03-28T19:34:00.000-06:00

Finally after a weekend unable to post, I'm back. Our little town just recently got DSL, so before that you had to use dial-up. Well, we just installed DSL on our new computer, and it hasn't been working properly. After a week of talking to tech people and threatening to cancel service, we finally got a technician out to look at our problem. You are supposed to put a filter on all the phone lines so the DSL doesn't interfere. The one place I forgot to look was the back of the satelite receiver. Well, once that was fixed the DSL seems to be working much better. The rest of my day was filled with doing little odd jobs around the house. I helped my grandmother transplant some roses to my parents' yard. We also planted some herbs in trays to get them ready to plant outside. I'll be so glad when the weather warms up and spring finally arrives.

Random News of the Day

2006-03-24T22:57:00.000-06:00

So this blog is probably the most boring blog out there in cyber-world. I'm just a very boring person. Today I helped a 6 year old pick out new shoes. Let me tell you, I think I had more fun than she did. We found some shoes that had some Disney princesses on them, and lit up. It almost made me wish that they made these shoes in my size. I'm always a sucker for Disney, especially any thing with Belle from Beauty and the Beast. My night was less exciting. Since most of my friends live elsewhere and I don't hang out with those whom I went to high school with, my Friday nights aren't very entertaining. The most entertainment my Friday night had was helping my Dad put hay out for the cows. Not much scares me, but put me in the middle of adult cows hungry for hay and that makes me a little uneasy. We usually feed the cows large round bales, but we are trying to use up some small square bales that are getting pretty old. This requires spreading the bales out and cutting the strings so the cows don't eat them. When the first bale hit the ground, I was surrounded by 10 gigantic cows all hungry for some hay. They finally dispersed after we spread all the hay out. I spent the rest of my evening watching the end of The O.C. Season 1 with my mom. I love this show, and have managed to get her addicted to it also. My dad even watched some episodes, but I doubt he'll ever admit to that. Ah, the excitement! But I wouldn't have it any other way.

My very first blog

2006-03-23T19:09:00.000-06:00

I decided to create a blog so all my friends could keep in touch with me if they so choose to. We all live in different spots with different things going on, and it's hard to keep in touch all the time. Hopefully no one gets too bored. I just moved back home to work on my thesis. It's the only thing keeping me from a graduate degree. Hopefully I will get it done. Anyone who is a grad student knows that this can be the worst part of grad school. Hopefully future posts will be more interesting than this one.