Christmas Delayed

So we finally got around to opening presents at 10p.m. on Christmas and we continued on Sunday morning. Brandon was tickled by his present from me. A while ago I wrote about how Brandon has a crush on local weatherwoman Alyssa Corfont. Well I e-mailed her to ask for a signed picture to give to him for Christmas - trust me that e-mail was hard to write because I wanted to avoid Brandon appearing like a stalker. But at any rate, she agreed to send me the picture and I got it framed along with a picture of yours truly. Brandon laughed and totally appreciated the gift and both pictures are sitting on his night stand next to his new Taylor Swift CD. You can definately tell who his favorite people are in the world.

Yesterday was the viewing for Mary Lee's mom. I felt awkward. "I'm sorry" just doesn't cover it. How can I possibly explain how bad I feel about how everything happened. Mary Lee JUST graduated from college and her mom was only 54. There should have been many more wonderful years in their future. I just hope and pray that Mary Lee's mom knew God and that she's with Him right now. It's still sad for Mary and her her sister, but at least they will see her again one day and their mom is living without pain. One thing I know for sure is that Bette was loved. There were so many people at the viewing that it took me and hour and a half to get through the line and there was still no end in sight.

Christmas Eve Update

So, winter break officially started on December 16th with about four inches of snow topped with some freezing rain. I was down with that. I stayed home and hung with Colby. On Friday I thought about taking the little man to daycare, but decided I didn't really want to leave the house. We pretty much stayed home all weekend and did a whole lot of nothing.

Tuesday we took Colby to daycare so we could clean the house without him tearing it up behind us...I'd like to say it's spotless, but it isn't. The good thing is, is I got to make his special candy for his stocking - I dipped marshmallows and prezels in almond bark and topped with sprinkles, pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Wednesday was pretty nice. Brandon and I took Colby to daycare again and commenced on a lunch date. We went to Olive Garden for lunch and then we went to see True Grit. The movie was surprisingly good, though if you're looking for some sort of happy ending that isn't the movie to go watch, though if you like dry and sarcastic humor, this is the perfect movie for you.

Thursday was not as nice. We got a text around 4:00 that Nick's girlfriend, Mary Lee, was at the hospital with her mother and that her mother was dying. Mary Lee's mother had, had breast cancer which had metasticized (sp?) into her lung. She developed a mass in her other lung. I got to the hospital about 4:30 and she passed away around 5:00. It was very upsetting because Mary Lee is only in her early twenties and just graduated from college. It will be really hard to go on without her mother as the two were really close. I just keep praying that everything will work itself out in the way it should. Along with all that, I had to eat my words (don't you hate it when you have to do that?). I told my mom last weekend that I wouldn't really hurt myself if I fell on the ice (I don't know...maybe I was thinking I wasn't old enough to break a hip), but guess what, I fell on the ice on the back patio and twisted the heck out of my ankle. I'm still limping the next day.

So now it's Friday, Christmas Eve. I made some stellar looking cookies that I didn't want to take to church because they were just so pretty (I'll post some pics when I find my camera cable). I also got a bit bummed because my evening didn't look too exciting and I missed my family. It was looking like leftover pizza and whatever terribleness comes on tv on a Friday night. Then, on the way to church Brandon's mom invited me and Colby to go to Wytheville and meet up with Jaime, Derek and Tommy. I quickly agreed to go because it sounded like a LOT more fun than what I had going on.

Tomorrow is Christmas and Brandon is working...but it will be okay I suppose. Even if we have to push the festivities back to Sunday, it will be okay. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Cold, Sick and Poison Control

It's 16 degrees outside as I type. It feels like zero. I'm sick, Brandon is sick, the dog is sick, but not Colby, though I'm not sure that's great or not.

Yesterday I had to call poison control for the first time ever. I had taken some Nyquill on Sunday night and left the bottle on the kitchen counter...yeah, the "child proof" bottle. I went to take a shower on Monday morning, got out and Colby was nowhere to be seen. I walked toward the kitchen and smelled the Nyquill and discovered the ENTIRE bottle spilled all over the kitchen floor in it's green gooy wonder. I asked Colby if he'd drank any of it, and of course he said yes, though there wasn't any on his face. I called poison control and she said to give him some cereal and watch out for him getting drowsy. She said he would have had to of drank 3 ounces of the stuff for it to be toxic, but I assured her that there wasn't any way he drank 3 ounces because I cleaned up A LOT of Nyquill. The floor is still sticky!

Yesterday's Adventures

I did two things yesterday...

1. I sliced the heck out of my thumb on the kitchen slicer. I know, I know you're supposed to use the plastic holder thingy to slice your veggies, but that's near impossible with a bell pepper. Brandon got me smallish bandaid and I put it on, stirred my veggies and then determined the smallish bandaid wasn't going to cut it. It bled for like 20 minutes even using Brandon's awesome first aid kit gauze.

2. I finished my Christmas shopping except for maybe some randomness. Brandon watched Colby and I took my wounded self to Target where I got Colby some other random stuff and bought my secret santa gifts for school. Plus I bought some beautiful cardigans for $15!! You can't really beat that! And I got some extra surprises for Brandon - he already got his big gift - a .308 Savage rifle - so he need some things he didn't know about...I'm so proud of myself...I'm sneaky! I'll explain after Christmas.

And shhhh...don't tell Brandon, but I turned the heat up to 69 degrees and turned both sides of the heater on because I shouldn't have to freeze in my own house when I'm wearing pants, socks, slippers, a tank top, a real shirt, a cardigan and a blanket over my legs. The tip of my nose is cold though :-(

O Winter How I Hate Thee

I have come to the conclusion that I hate winter. There is nothing awesome about it. Sure it is pretty sometimes, like when I can sit in my house and watch it snow or appreciate how the snow makes everything clean again, but then I have to go outside and the wind takes my breath away in a terrible, terrible way. Then I have to deal with nasty salt road sludge dirtying up my windshield with my wiper fluid frozen. Then I hear money going out the window every time my heat comes on, which is much more frequently than I desire. Then I sit in my freezing house wearing a sweatshirt over a sweater and wishing it were the depths of summer. Winter sucks. I still haven't put up my outside Christmas decorations and won't for the foreseeable a future. I mean the high for the next couple of days won't make it above freezing with winds gusting near 40 mph. And it's not even officially winter!! Summer, you can't get back fast enough! I miss you!

Tacky or Awesome?

So, there is this house in Shawsville that apparently thinks that giant inflatable Christmas decorations are awesome. And apparently more is better. Their whole yard is full of them. They are like a beacon to those with no holiday spirit and I bet they have the electric bill to prove it. At any rate, that is what the main picture on my page is - a small snipet of what their whole yard looks like. Enjoy!

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

It is cold outside and I am not happy about it. I hate walking outside to have my breath taken away by a blast of cold wind. With the weather so chilly I'm not sure when I'll put the outside decorations up because I'm sure not going to freeze my butt off just to hang some garland and lights.

But, Brandon did dig the tree out of the attic and we decorated it on Tuesday. I know it's an incredible waste of electricity, but it's very pretty now that we don't have to stash it behind the love seat. Surprisingly Colby doesn't mess with it much and Hershey couldn't care less about the tree. Colby did however discover how good a candycane is. He pulled one off the tree and tasted it and said "Mmmmm" before asking for more. Today I had to work really hard for him to not eat another one...all that sugar can't be good for such a little boy!

Christmas Shopping

I feel pretty awesome about the status of my Christmas shopping this year. I've bought nearly everything I want to buy and have put off buying some big purchases so I can make those on Black Friday while visiting with my family. I'm going a little different this year with things that I've made personally. That's always a little iffy in my book because if they don't like it then that's all on me...but I hope that they appreciate it more because I made the effort.

Speaking of visiting with my family, I can't wait to get out of Radford and spend Wednesday to Sunday in Hampton. I also cannot wait for a break from my students. I feel like I might kill someone if I don't get some quality time away from them. I don't mean to gripe, but the teenagers in my classes are just so disrespectful and hateful that sometime I wonder why I do what I do. I wonder if it's just a low socioeconomic area problem or just a problem with teenagers in general. Either way if they don't change their ways they'll have a hard time keeping a job, having a stable personal life and in general they will be a burden to society, which is sad and frustrating to me. At any rate, I am glad to take a break from that and I hope when we get back in December we'll be able to tolerate each other better.

Randomness

The weather here has been amazing for mid-autumn. Usually it's getting pretty chilly even during the day, but it's been getting into the mid to upper seventies during the day lately. It's nice enough to go outside with just a comfy sweater on.

We have finally discovered what gets Hershey to stop barking...a large cup of water poured over his head. He doesn't like that at all. Whenever he sees the orange cup, he usually stops barking or jumping or whatever he's doing. Maybe one day I will be able to clean the muddy paw prints, nose prints and slobber off the back door. We'll see though.

I'm having one of those cranky days today. Everything is frustrating and irritating today, which is frustrating and irritating. Colby whining and not following directions really gets my blood boiling. What is so hard about following directions? What is so difficult about sitting in his chair and eating his lunch? And what is so hard about holding my hand in the parking lot? I know, I know, he's only 2 and a half...but still. I can't wait to get over these terrible twos.

Adventures in Red Pepper Jelly

My mother-in-law buys this amazing red pepper jelly and she often pairs it with cream cheese to make a dip. Unfortunately she can't get the jelly around here. So...I thought maybe I could find a recipe to MAKE red pepper jelly and then give it to her for Christmas, so this past weekend I canned my first jelly. It was not hard to make and it wasn't even hard to can and guess what?! It was DELICIOUS!!! I took some leftover jelly over to her house on Sunday (I couldn't can that last half a jar) and let them try it and she said "It tastes just like the other stuff I buy." I was thinking cha-ching!! I took a jar to Bible study yesterday with a block of cream cheese and some veggie ritz crackers and everyone loved it! I felt like superwoman :-) So, here's the link to the recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Red-Pepper-Jelly-236699
Don't let the word spicy fool you. It has a little kick, but I don't really like spicy foods and I LOVE this dip. If you like it hot, add some more red pepper flakes. It makes me want to try new things with cooking more frequently :-)

Chilly!

Brrr...it's chilly! I was laying in bed with my face poking out of the covers so I could breath thinking that it was awful cold out there. So when I finally got up and looked at the thermastat...Brandon had set it on like 62 degrees! No wonder I was freezing! When I looked out the window it was frosty outside. Fall is definately here and it is clear winter is on the way.

Well, we just finished the first nine weeks at school. I was really concerned because I only had 7 A's before I put in their research papers. I'll have fewer after that, that's for sure. I have about the same number of F's and it is very clear that several students will be repeating my class next year because they have averages in the 20s. I was really disappointed in those students. None of them are stupid, they're just lazy. It made me wonder when expectations were like in middle school and when asked it seemed like if you came to school, you passed. That is so irritating! It does not prepare them for high school where you actually have to do the work to pass and if you don't you take it again. If I was principal, I think that middle school passing culture would have to go.

Colby's hair after a drive with the window down.

Being silly at mommy's birthday party!

My happy family!

Christmas in October.

Isn't Colby's outfit so fashionable!!


Today I worked the three little pigs concession stand at the game. The game was a bit lop-sided as we beat the crap out of Duke, but it was fun...sort of. I haven't really been into the last few games for some reason. I mean I love Tech and Tech football, but it's hard to get interested in games where we blow the other team out of the water.

Currently I am typing on a keyboard with two loose keys. The 'F' key and the 'T' key were yanked out by a certain two year old by the name of Colby. I did find out that you can order new keys online $5 a key. That can get expensive after a while!

Homecoming!

I opened the back of the car and was like "Hmm...a case of toilet paper. What...don't we already have a case of toilet paper in the bathroom? Is Brandon saving TP in case of the apocolypse?" When I called he said no he wasn't stockpiling TP for the apocolypse, yet, he just forgot he'd already bought some and bought some more.

This week was homecoming week. As the sophomore class sponsor I had to meet with my officers, come up with ideas for decorating, buy the supplies and stay after school to supervise and do a little helping. Our theme was cartoons from the 90s and our assigned cartoon was Spongebob Squarepants. It was really a piece of cake. On our wall we created the houses of the different characters connected by a road and the cartoon logo, on the locker ends we painted the characters, over the lockers we hung jellyfish and bubbles and on the banner we had two of the characters playing football amid a sea of bubbles. Usually it's difficult for anyone to beat the seniors, but we beat everyone! Yay sophomores! Though, Ironically enough they misspelled sophomores by spelling it sophmores. In the end we added an apostrophe so it was soph'mores. It was funny.

Bark Collars and Homecoming

So as mentioned before, Hershey has a small barking problem. Well, I guess the proper description would be an ANNOYING barking problem. So, one of the teachers at school let me borrow her bark collars. We tried the citronella spray one first. The smell is supposed to deter the dog from barking. So it would spray, he would see the spray and try to attack and there would be more barking until it quickly would run out of spray. It was funny, but I really just wanted a fix for the barking, not comic releif.

In other news I'm gearing up for Homecoming week. Last years homecoming was dismal. The kids in the tenth grade class sucked it up big time. This year my tenth graders are fantastic! Official decorating doesn't have to happen until next week, but they're already working on it this week! And I hardly have to do anything! It's great!! We'll see if it continues, but I'm crossing my fingers that it will!

C for Car, D for Dog

On Saturday I went out to Lowes and Walmart and came home. While out I bought four cinderblocks to block off the hole between the house and the fence that Brandy and Niki previously got out and Hershey soon discovered. While outside with Colby I decided to move the car and get the cinderblocks out, but when I turned the key...nothing...no click...no nothing. I sort of panicked. Brandon was at work, I was supposed to be in the nursery at church today, and everyone in Brandon's whole family was busy. Well I called around and eventually the lady in charge of the nursery said she'd cover for me. Brandon's parents came by this afternoon and helped me get a new battery so thankfully we're good to go.

Hershey has barked so much that he's hoarse now. He's behaving better with Colby, though he still thinks he should be an indoor dog. I ordered him a crate so that maybe he can start sleeping indoors and maybe he'll be a less barky dog. I was going to buy a crate at petsmart the other day, but they were way too expensive, so I ordered one from walmart online, but we'll have to wait until it gets here to find out if that will work. While at petsmart I checked prices on obedience classes - $109 for an 8 week class. Not so bad I suppose if he learns some manners.

Surprise!

We adopted a dog. He's a chocolate lab named Hershey and he's adorable! He's about 4 or 5 months old and rambunctious. He needs to get used to being around Colby and Colby needs to get used to being around him because right now Colby and him have a love hate relationship. I'll post pictures after I take them!

In other news, we finally signed the paperwork to refinance our mortgage. That will save us $150 a month...now if only the IRS would give use the $8000 it owes us.

Happiness and Sadness

Shortly after I wrote my last post I got the call that Brandon's grandmother had passed away. It was sad, but at the same time she was at peace so that was good. However there is one awkward thing: She's being buried at Arlington National Cemetary because she was in world war two, but they have a huge backlog and the funeral can't take place until October 21st! I think that's crazy!

Over the weekend Brandon and Colby and I went to the outer banks for his cousin Jaime's wedding. She was getting married on the beach at Kill Devil Hills. It was a really nice ceremony and you couldn't ask for better weather (except maybe not as windy!). Jaime looked gorgeous! At the reception I discovered that nobody can get under your skin better than your own child. I discovered this when Brandon got so angry and frustrated with Colby that we had to leave. But it will be okay - they were back to best buds by the next day. On our way there we decided to travel through North Carolina. It was a nice drive...it took the same amount of time as going through Virginia with fewer traffic headaches. On the way back we went through Hampton to visit with my family for lunch, which was nice since I hadn't seen them in over a month.

Oh, and...Go Hokies! I'm proud of my team for shutting out BC at BC. Hopefully they'll take out North Carolina at North Carolina and knock them off of #23 and maybe inch us closer to the top 25.

Crazy Sad Week So Far

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I posted! So my weekend was good. I got a sitter for a couple hours so that I could go work the Three Little Pigs stand at the VT game. I earned $75 by wrapping bbq sandwiches in foil...but the best part was that I got to watch the entire football game on the jumbotron, incerceptions and all! I won't lie...I wasn't very enthused on the first couple of drives, but once the defense and offense started turning their wheels it was all over for ECU.

On Sunday I cooked one of our pumpkins from the garden. I got twelve cups of pumpkin!! That's a lot of pumpkin. I froze most of it and left out a few cups because I had plans for it.

Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse this week when Brandon called me at work yesterday to say that his grandmother had a massive stroke Monday night and they had taken her off life support. As of right now, she's still hanging on. Apparently her heart is healthy as a horse, but she hasn't woken up or anything since the stroke. I hope she doesn't linger...I think she's wanted everything to be over for a while so that she can forget all the problems of this life. At any rate I haven't really been able to be very helpful except for cooking food. I've had to keep Colby and Colby can't really go to the hospital (what's this tube? Ooops) so food was what I could do. I made a fabulous pumpkin dump cake...super good! Here's the link: http://www.momswhothink.com/cake-recipes/pumpkin-dump-cake-recipe.html

Craziness and more Craziness

I had a very scary experience yesterday when I went to Walmart (no...I didn't have to wait in line for 3 years nor did I see anything gross). I was talking to Brandon on the phone as I was walking in. All the sudden I heard a thud and looked up just in time to see a woman flying off the hood of a car. I was like "Holy $*%! I'll call you back!" I hung up and made the first 911 call of my entire life. The woman who got hit was a Walmart employee. She was really shaken up, but I think her only real injury was her ankle. The woman who hit her failed to look left again before she turned. I couldn't tell if she was a Radford student or not, but best guess she was. When all the managers started rushing out and I heard sirens I excused myself because the crowd was getting crazy. I hope she's okay, though.

On a more positive note I'm really excited about tomorrow. At the Tech game last Saturday I stopped to say hi to one of the ladies who runs a concession stand at the stadium who I used to work with in Covington. While working up there she asked me to help with concessions a couple of times so when she saw me last Saturday she asked for my phone number again just in case she needed extra help this season. Well she called me yesterday to see if I wanted to work and I was thrilled! It's a lot of fun working concessions there. I can occasionally see the jumbotron and listen to the game, plus I keep my math skills sharp and get to earn a bit of money. It's fun times! I got a sitter to watch Colby for a couple hours, which is a little nerve racking because it's the first time I've left Colby at home with a stranger, but the girl goes to my church and may have kept Colby in the nursery before. She's going to watch him until he goes down for a nap and then she can go...Brandon will be home napping anyway and should be able to handle it after Colby wakes up until I get home.

In Other News...

So I haven't blogged since last week...mostly because I didn't want to blog about the football game on Saturday. I was really excited to go to the game. You always expect something good on a home opener against an unranked team, but unfortunately my expectations were not met. First of all it rained the entire game. That wasn't so bad because we had ponchos with us courtesy Brandon's mom. My shoes, socks and butt were the only parts of me that got wet. Other people were stupid and didn't bring anything with them to keep themselves dry like some girl wearing shorty shorts and a tank top...not smart! Then the Hokies lost...to JMU...yeah...JMU. Unfortunately the highlight of the game was the stupid JMU student who tried to rush the field. He jumped over the rail, lost a flip flop, somehow cut his ankle and he got grabbed and forcibly removed by a sheriff. That's pretty sad that, that was the highlight of my game. Oh well, it only football. VT has plenty of other things going for it, but right now lots of Hokie fans are just miffed that in two games we went from ranked 10th to not even in the top 25.

On another note school is going well. I sort of wished someone would come by and take a peek in my classroom during 1st and 4th blocks. My kids were on task working on a group project to prepare themselves for their test on Thursday. I felt like super teacher...but alas no one was there to witness it.

Randomness

So I've been having a really random day, so here goes.

I used to love Enrique Englasias...he used to sing the best songs like "Hero", now he's singing trash. I hate his new song and I hated hearing it on America's Got Talent. However, I do love America's Got Talent. If you haven't had a chance to watch it, Fighting Gravity, a group from Virginia Tech, has made it to the final four. They are really cool so watch next Tuesday to see their final performance before the final...you won't be disappointed.

I've decided today that I love cooking with Campbell's soup. There are so many yummy dishes I can make with a can of Campbell's soup. Try this one. Brown a pound of beef add one cup of water, a can of beef broth, a can of cheddar cheese soup, 2 cups of pasta like penne, and a couple tablespoons of ketchup. Simmer until the pasta is tender. Sprinkle cheese over it when you serve.

I've seen this commercial several times tonight while watching TV. It's a Cox commercial trying to sell their local phone service. The interviewer asks some shmuck if he knows that with Cox if the power goes out the phone still works. The shmuck is like "Really?" Duh! The phone always works when the power goes out no matter what service you go with!! It makes me laugh every time.

Tired but Excited!

The main headline of my life - sooooooo tired. There's something about teaching that is really draining me. Or maybe I'm just not used to doing this after a summer of relaxation. My classes are okay...I have one block of students I need to whip into shape, but my other two classes are golden. The ironic thing is that this one class that's so crazy and immature isn't even my biggest class...it's just the class right after lunch. You may think they would be tired after refuling their stomachs, but you would be wrong :-)

In other news, the Hokies lost on Monday :-( But it was a very exciting game after the first quarter. I'm really excited because I get to go to the game on Saturday against JMU. I think it might be an interesting game thought others think JMU is going to get killed. All in all it doesn't really matter, I'm just excited to go to a game. I know my dad is reading this while making his I-hate-Blacksburg-and-Hokie-football face, but I think being in such a jazzed up atmosphere is just plain fun. I can't wait!!!

Almost Felt Like Fall

It has been a most glorious day today! It almost felt like fall with the cooler temperatures and the low humidity. I swear the sky looked less hazy. I'd like to say that I really got out there and enjoyed it, but aside from taking Colby to the park and planting some bulbs before putting down mulch, I didn't do too much enjoying. I napped all afternoon after planting and started reading a new book - a new young adult book that gives an interesting take on werewolves. I think I'm unsatisfied because it's almost just like Twilight except the heroine is admirable and the overall plot isn't all the different, just the details are different. I don't know, maybe there will be some sort of twist to it, who knows!

Mockingjay

I just finished reading Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games series. True, all three books are mean for a young adult audience, but I cried my way through the last chapter. Some critics on a website I frequent seemed disappointed by the ending, but I was very satisfied with the way it all ended and would recommend it as a good read for any young adult or adult. Gwen, thanks for suggesting it.

However, I think I'm feeling overemotional because Colby was VERY whiney tonight. He pretty much whined nonstop since I got home today. There's only so much whining one can put up with without wanted to scream or lock yourself in a room with a soundproof door. I was quite relieved to put him to bed and go outside to plant the mums I bought yesterday. Tomorrow I hope to plant the bulbs I bought and put out some fresh mulch. Fun times.

Adventures Around Town

Since I last posted I had a great weekend. Brandon, Colby and I went to the Radford vs. Pulaski football game on Friday night. Four alums that were in the military parachuted onto the field before the game bringing the game ball, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately the rest of the game wasn't so interesting. Radford had a pretty good lead when we left after the halftime show. Halftime was kind of fun - they played Bon Jovi "Dead or Alive."

On Saturday we all went shopping for a little while at Once Upon a Child. Once Upon a Child is a consignment shop just for children's cloths and I love it! I can buy great clothes for a great price and feel good about not adding to the massive waste that's already taking over the world. I bought seven pairs of pants and a reversable winter jacket for $50.

On Sunday we went out to eat at Olive Garden for dinner - excellent as always. Plus I had leftovers for an equally excellent lunch on Monday. BTW, I don't know anybody who can nag so much about not getting a third plate of pasta as Jerry Gill.

Today Colby and I went shopping for towels. I have some thoughts about redoing our bathroom, thoughts that Brandon isn't all the excited about because they would involve a lot of work (installing a window and creating recessed shelving). But I think I can do both projects for an excellent price so I think it would be totally worth it. Plus it would make the bathroom look 100 times better and make it twice as functional. So to get started on my thoughts I bought 6 bath towels and 6 hand towels for $62 at JCPenny....is that a good price?

All Students at School

Today was the first day of school for all students. That meant that the ninth graders had...gulp...seniors to contend with. I don't think any freshmen ended up in lockers or trash cans, so that's good. I did however have to call a couple parents today. One kid was acting crazy and the other was sleeping in class (on her first day!) I feel like I need to jump on this stuff early. I can't afford to have any crazy classes with 20+ students in each class. It sort of makes me miss Covington when one year I had a class of 6 children. Those were the good old days...sigh.

Today was a two hour release day, but I still felt very pooped by the end of the day. Thankfully I got to come home and take a nap, but I still feel pretty tired as I type. I'll be going to sleep soon I suppose.

New Ninth Graders

Today was the ninth graders' first day of school. I have a brand new group that seem pretty bright. I only have a few repeaters including one kid who has failed English nine three times already, which is really crazy in my opinion. The only drawback this year is that my class sizes are really crazy. Right now I have classes of 21, 21 and 22. Next semester as of right now I have a class of 27. That's a crapload of ninth graders. I may have to kill somebody.

I'm very optimistic though. It's going to be a good year without the craziness of co-teaching. And I got a closer parking spot...what could be better than that!?

Colby started back to daycare this week. On the first day he got bitten...poor guy! He seems to be enjoying being back, so that's good.

First Official Day of School

Today was my first official day back to school. We started the annual round of staff meetings, professional development, and room cleaning. Our new superintendent is really into Marzano strategies (Marzano is the name of some big guru of teaching skills) so now we have to go over Marzano strategies. I'm okay with that...Marazano strategies are things that good teachers have been doing for years anyway.

I did realize today that I cannot stand working with people with bad attitudes. Attitudes within our department can sometimes be negative, but we're usually pretty upbeat. Others, though, are irritatingly negative all the time. How could you even get up in the morning to come to school if you feel that negatively about your students, their families and your schools? Sorry for my negative attitude toward negative attitudes :-)

Boys at Beach

Colby and Brandon are at the beach, I on the other hand am at home because I have to be at work tomorrow. It's strange to have the house truely to myself for the first time since I've been married. I almost cried at church today because our preacher was told us to think about something that gives us joy and felt sort of mopey because the joys of my life were at the beach without me! But I fought the tears because I've promised myself I wouldn't cry or be mopey. I would enjoy the peace and quiet and freedom of being able to do what I want when I want to do it. And so I am :-)

Veggies

We finally got to pick some corn! We planted some silver queen corn, a variety that my grandfather grows that is quite tasty, and today we shucked a small batch of it - enough to fill a gallon plastic bag. It's not as big as granddaddy's and some of the ears are going to go out for the birds because they don't look good, but the one's that are good look really tasty! I'm excited.

We also picked our first watermelon. It's about the size of a basketball and sounds juicy inside! Our pumpkins are going crazy in our garden. The seed packet said that pumpkins need six feet of space on all sides, but I'm convinced it needs twice that. It grew from one side of the garden to the other, all the way down the potato hills, through the corn, over the fence and is starting to reach it's tendrils into our neightbors yard. We have two pumpkins that are already starting to turn orange and others that are still green. There is a giant one growing in the corn that has yet to turn orange...it'll be really big! There are two growing on the fence so Brandon is having to make slings for them so they don't break the plant. I think we'll have some awesome jack-o-lanterns and hopefully one or two for making pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread.

Oh! And I'm going to make zuchini bread today! Mmm...tasty!

We recently got a call from Colby's nutritionist and his phe level was a .8, which is REALLY low. I was nervous about this test because he'd been getting about 300mg of phe for the 3 days before (300 is the top level of what he'd previously been allowed to have) so now we can step it up to 350! This means he might be able to eat some higher phe foods!

Okra Adventures

So yesterday we decided to try some fried okra. Brandon planted a couple plants out in the garden and we had a big bag filled with the things - they looked like green hot peppers. So We followed a recipe and fried them up and proceeded to eat them. They tasted pretty good on first taste, but then you started chewing and chewing and chewing...and then you had to spit out the fiber that was left because you definately couldn't swallow it...but if you did you'd be REALLY regular. It turns out bigger is not better when it comes to okra and if you wait until they are too big they turn "woody". So if you're planning on harvesting okra, make sure you harvest them when they are two to three inches long like we plan to do in the future. They'll be good eating when they are not "woody".

Good Weekend

This was a good weekend! Colby and I went to Stepping Out in Blacksburg on Saturday morning. Stepping Out is a big festival where everyone busts out their arts and crafts. I thought some of it was outrageously expensive ($18 earrings made out of plastic beads? Please.) but I thought there was some really cool stuff (Yes, Gwen, I did see the VT sock monkey, but didn't check the price :-) ) I got started on some Christmas shopping and got a really cute purse for VT football season! It's a little girl's denim skirt that's been turned into a purse with a VT belt in the belt loops and a VT strap. The pockets are usable! It was super cute and very unique. I know I'll only be going to one game, but I'll be prepared for the entire season!

After spending the entire weekened with Colby, Sunday morning is when my nerves start to get frayed. His continuous penchant for touching everything had me raising my voice and running away from me while trying to get him dressed had me frowning and irritated. It's a good thing there's church, which gets me back in a good frame of mind to deal with a high energy two year old.

I Can Conquer the World

Some people feel like they can conquer the world after they...save someone's life, or learn something really hard, or finish something like a thesis. But for me I feel like I can conquer the world after shopping and spending thriftily. My budget for putting together 15 baskets for the international students was $550. I spent $508 and ended up buying towels, a lamp, hangers, candy bars, goldfish, oreos, bottled water, water bottle, pens, pencils, highlighters, notebooks, laundry detergent, toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, soap and a laundry basket. I felt like a superstar when we we put those baskets together and they looked awesome! Beyond that, I think any student would love to get one of those baskets. It's my hope that they really feel blessed because it was a blessing to shop for them! Colby was with me and he did a great job. He only got antsy after I started filling my third cart! It was sort of funny because a couple of the Walmart employees were looking at me like I was crazy and they were like "Do you need help?" I was like "Yeah!" That was the longest receipt in history, but I guess that's only to be expected when you buy 75 spiral notebooks!

Crazy Storms!

Today we had our first doozey of a thunderstorm. I was in the Christiansburg Office Max and heard it thundering. I thought I should get out before I got drenched going to my car. What greeted me outside was a full out electric storm. When it rained it poured so I decided to stop and wait it out at a different location. The whole time I was like - please don't hail, please don't hail. When it cleared enough for me to be comfortable I drove on home. Pulling onto Martin Ave. I noticed that the tree near the beginning was shredded all over the road. Our neighbors flag was down and draped over their car and our flag pole was bent and on top of the truck, one of my hanging plants was on the sidewalk, what was left of the sunflowers were bent over and a limb fell out of one of the trees behind our fenced back yard. Thankfully the gazebo was still in good shape and the corn is still standing. We're bracing for round two as I type.

While I was out I got a new battery for my watch. You may think that's a small thing to write about in my blog, but the battery has been dead for like 8 months, so that's pretty awesome. I also got my ears pierced. I can finally say that I'm a grown up...mostly!

I'm excited to go shopping tomorrow for a project my church does. We make baskets full of stuff to give out to international students that are attending Radford University. We hope it will help lead them to our church and hopefully to a life with Christ. I get to buy stuff for 15 baskets that college students might appreciate, especially if they are new to America. It's a fun challenge to buy some nice stuff with only $35 dollars per basket that I hope others will appreciate.

In Gear for School

Still no dogs. I'm not hopeful that they will turn up at this point, they've been gone too long.

I'm thinking about getting my act in gear so I'm ready to go when school starts. I'm considering getting my ears pierced and I'm thinking about when to go get my hair cut. I'm also mentally going through my wardrobe to think about where my weaknesses are as far as clothes. Oh, and I bought a beta for my classroom! I had one my first year so I decided to get another so that I can add a little life to my classroom. I think I'll name him Romeo :-)

Pups Still Missing

Well, the dogs are still missing. I've done everything I can think of to find them short of going door to door. I'm pretty bummed. I look out in the back yard and I expect Brandy to be there, but she's not :-( I miss that pup. I feel like someone has picked them up and they aren't making any effort to return them. I figured someone would call animal control if they found two dogs with collars that looked well taken care of. But I guess all people aren't as good as others.

Well, this past weekend Brandon had his ten year high school reunion. I think Brandon was bummed because most of his good friends from high school weren't there, but it was interesting to see a group of people ten years older and see how they've ended up. Apparently some haven't grown up much judging by the amount of drinking and white boy dancing going on. But I really enjoyed the music...it was like a weird trip down memory lane. It sort of made me interested in going to my own reunion, but I won't be going since Brandon is working. That's okay though. I'm sort of like Lindsey - I don't appreciate people who never cared a lick about me in high school acting all nicey nice well after the fact. It's not genuine and it's iritating. Maybe by my twenty year I'll be over it.

Runaway Dogs

Brandy

Niki

Our dogs are officially runaways. They got out of our yard sometime yesterday or Wednesday night and they have not returned. I've gone to look for them twice, I called Radford and Montgomery County Animal Control and I looked on the lost and found for the Roanoke Times and Craigslist. Sometimes they get out, but usually they return when they get hungry. This is the longest they've been gone at one time. I hope they turn up, it's upsetting because I really like those dogs and Colby keeps asking about them. Plus I feel like a failure. I mean who can't keep track of two medium sized dogs that are really friendly? Plus I just spent $130 at the vet to get their shots and whatnot and they just up and disappear! If you see them or know of someone that might have taken them in, call me at 540-230-7880.

Quasi-stay-at-home Mom?

So maybe sometimes I could be a stay at home mom. I finally made a loaf of bread for Colby that tasted good! I've already tried once and my mom has tried at least once - all dismal failures until today. I'm pretty proud of being able to do that because buying low pro bread is uber expensive. I already spend $100 on four boxes of cereal, 3 boxes of pasta, 4 cans of muffin mix and 24 small bags of chips. All of that might have cost $30 if it wasn't low protein, but...sigh...

Not Stay-at-home Mom

I have determined that I could not be a stay at home mom. I would be too bored to do it. I find I like the problems that teaching ninth grade English poses and I like solving them. In the midst of my summer break I find myself reflecting on last semester and thinking of new ways to do things and organizing things in my head and creating to-do lists for the first weeks of school. It's not that I'm eager to go back to school, the problem is I'm bored hanging out with Colby all day. It's monotenous. Go to park, lunch, nap, play, dinner, play, bedtime. Next day, go to library, go to Walmart, lunch, nap, play, dinner, play, bedtime. I love hanging out with Colby, but just not so many days in a row. I've been throwing in side trips to random places just so I can maintain my sanity, like we went to Panera yesterday. But, I suppose if that's the only thing to complain about in my blog...I'm good!

Oooooo That Smell...

This past weekend Colby and I went go visiting in Hampton. We had a nice drive down on Friday and when we arrived, my dad introduced me to their new Wii. I played ping pong and bowling against my dad, he smoked me on ping pong, but we were pretty evenly matched on the bowling. I beat him on a regular game, but he beat me on the crazy gauntlet of spinning bowling balls, which I maintain is sort of unfair because I'd never played that before :-) On Saturday I played some more Wii...I liked it :-) Also on Saturday I got to hang out with my grandparents. Colby was such a showoff for everyone that night, but a loveable showoff. On Sunday we hung out in the morning and Colby and I drove back to Radford. The biggest news on that trip: It was HOT! On Saturday and Sunday the high was over 100 degrees. The house was so hot that I had to sleep downstairs or sweat to death upstairs...guess which I chose.

While I was putting the carseat back in the RAV before leaving I thought I smelled something bad. I looked around, didn't see anything and shrugged thinking that maybe I needed to clean the car seat or something. Later down the road, the car was really stinking and I was like, "What the heck is that?" Then it dawned on me...on Friday I stopped outside Richmond to change Colby's pooey diaper...and then left it in the car for two 100+ days!!!! EWWWWWW! So I stopped and tossed it (sorry to Dairy Queen) before heading up the road with a much better smelling car!

Summer is Getting Shorter and Shorter

Lately I've come to a realization that my summer will not last forever and if there's something I want to do, I should do it! So this weekend in a spur of the moment decision I decide to take Colby and go to Hampton for the weekend. Sure, we saw my parents last month, but it seemed like it was rushed. Plus my parents just bought a Wii and I want to play it! Plus it would be pretty funny to watch them play it :-P I was also thinking that come August I would be pretty busy with traveling and starting school and all that jazz.

In August we're supposed to go to Hilton Head. I think Brandon and I decided to drive seperately so while I drive back to go to school, Brandon and Colby can stay for a few more days and enjoy the beach. I originally thought I was going to be able to stay at Hilton Head longer, but as it turns out teacher workdays start on a Tuesday and not a Wednesday and I thought my supervisors wouldn't be too happy if I missed the first day of teacher workdays. Oh well...I already go to go to the beach for a week and it was glorious, so I'll take what I can get before I go back to school.

Summer Update

So, my summer has turned out to be pleasantly uneventful. I've been happy to report that I've read three books since returning from the beach, which is probably more than I read all of last summer. If you like "what if.." fiction, you'll like S.M. Stirling and his books about The Change. They're fairly large, so if don't start reading them unless you have lots of time.

I finally finished my summer class, which I'm ecstatic about because I was sick of working on this online group project. I don't mind working with my group face to face, but I'm certainly disliking this online thing. Oh, well. It puts me closer to getting my masters degree. Oh! And Radford is thinking about starting a doctorate program for Ed Leadership so if I should decide to get that I'll be Dr. Julie Gill! :-) However, I won't lie...writing a thesis scares the poop out of me.

Well, our backyard garden is doing very well. We have pumpkins, watermelons, lettuce, green beans, eggplant, potatoes, and corn growing very well. One pumpkins will be the size of a basketball very soon. The corn looks a little raggeddy, but I think we may get some eventually. The front garden isn't doing well at all. I think we dropped the ball on preparing the soil. Live and learn I guess. At least it rained again today for a fair length of time.

Rain is a Good Thing

Today it rained! Normally that's not so exciting, but when your grass looks like it might have come directly from the desert, rain is a good thing. Plus we've been jacking up our water bill by watering out plants all the time. Of course it had to be pouring when I went to get groceries today, which was little bit of wet bummer, but okay.

So we decided to keep encouraging Colby to use the potty, but he's apparently not ready to actually do it yet. Hopefully when he goes back to daycare a little peer pressure will help him decide he wants to go. Then I won't have to buy diapers anymore, yay!

Potty Training :-/

This week I have fully committed myself to getting Colby potty trained. Unfortunately, Colby has decided he's going to be VERY stubborn. His stubborn streak isn't terribly surprising- I mean he comes from two stubborn parents, but I thought by day 3 he would have at least peed in the potty by now. So far we've only been able to get him to sit on the potty and that's mostly by bribing him with sour patch kids. I'm thinking that maybe he's not 100% ready to be potty trained so I think after this week if we haven't made any progress, I'll back off.

This week has been VERY hot. Today's high was 99! Colby and I and sometimes Brandon have managed to make it to the park most mornings to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures. Also it gets him tired for his nap. He hasn't been getting to sleep for his nap well lately so getting him tired is definately a helper. I hope by the end of the summer we'll have a decent routine...just in time to destroy it!

Handywoman Julie

I wanted to hang some shelves in Colby's room, but I wanted some square and rectangle shelves. I couldn't find any pretty much anywhere, so I decided to make them. They're not perfect, but I think they look pretty darn nice and they add a nice touch to what will eventually be Colby's room.

Random Flowers

So, there were these random plants growing in the front flower beds, but I didn't know what they were. I only knew that they didn't look like the rest of the weeds in the yard. So I left them to grow to see what came up. Well, it turns out they're sunflowers! When we got home from the beach one was looking pretty as you please!

Greetings From the Beach!

Greetings from Dunkin' Donuts in Nags Head, NC! We've been having a fantastic week. We've been hanging out on the beach, playing in the water, hiding out in the house when it's hot, reading books, playing with Colby, and eating excellent seafood. The water has been surprisingly clear and a perfect temperature and not rough at all. As a matter of fact the waves haven't even been good for boogy boarding so that means they're perfect for Colby. Colby has been having a lot of fun hanging out with Gwen and Jordan and playing on the beach. I wish that boy would sleep in more, but Brandon and I have been trading off getting up with him. Unfortunately I've been really stuffy so I haven't been sleeping well so even when Brandon does get up with Colby, I can't enjoy it much. But I'm glad to be away from the same old same old in Radford. I'm enjoying vacation time!

Big Boy Bed!

Well Brandon and I got industrious the other night. On Tuesday we moved the old dresser to Colby's current room and we decided to take apart the crib. We put up one of the twin beds in Colby's current room and since Tuesday he's been sleeping on a big boy bed. When his new room is ready, hopefully we can move him over with not a lot of problems since he'll already be used to sleeping on a real bed. We're leaving for the beach tomorrow so hopefully when we get back we can get his new room together and get him moved as we start the odyssey that is potty training.

I'm still really excited about the beach, but sort of bummed that a couple of my friends won't be there. Gwen and Jordan will probably be sick of us by the end of the week :-) I hope that next year my other two friends can come!

Room Clean? Check! Grades Done? Check!

So my room is clean, my grades are done, I have nothing left to do except look forward to going to the beach. I'm curious to see how Colby does at the beach this year. Will he sit on the beach towel and play with his trucks or will he want to be up and going nonstop. I personally would prefer him to play with his trucks when he's not splashing in the water. Chasing toddlers down the beach is not my idea of fun. Adios school!

School's Out For Summer!

Hey everyone! I know it's been some time since I last posted. I started an on-line class and since I spend so much time on the computer for the class I'm less likely to be on it for personal use (as you can tell!) Plus I've been reading an interesting series of books. Imagine the year is 1998 and all electronics, cars and guns stop working. These books suppose what the world would be like if that happened. They're interesting. The first is Dies the Fire, then The Protectors War and last Meeting at Corvallis. Plus after teaching my students The Road, I'm more interested in reading Post-Apocolypse books.

My students' last day at school was last Thursday. I always feel a mixture of relief and sadness at the end of a school year. Since August I've been working my tail off to teach them something and I'm glad thats over, but I also don't know what I'm going to do with myself over the summer. And I think I'm going to miss my fellow teachers. I think the daycare Colby goes to will be glad to get a break from him for almost two months. He bit some poor kid on the face the other day! I hope this summer he'll break his habit of biting and learn some more words.

Over the last several weeks we've been working on cleaning up the spare bedroom for Colby to use. I'm hoping that after the beach he'll transition to that room so that his baby room can be used for future Gill babies. I've finished most of the shelves I was making, they just need to be painted and hung and then the background painted green. I'm excited to see the finished product! Hopefully it'll look like I'm a home dcorating genious!

Summer is in Sight

I swore today after my last class that between now and the end of the year I was going to kill a student or at least severely maim one. I don't understand what gets into their heads when they see summer looming just ahead. Lately they've been thinking that rules don't matter, that grades don't matter and that treating others with respect doesn't matter. It's very irritating to me especially because I've been giving them easy crap to do just to boost their grades and they've been not doing it and instead it's hurting them because they're taking zeros!

In other news, Colby's room is completely painted. Now I just have to clean all of Brandon and I's crap out of there and do some serious cleaning and decorating and we'll be good to move him over - though I thought I'd wait until after the beach trip because he'll be sleeping in the pack and play at the beach. I'm so excited about the beach! I can't wait!

Good Day :-)

Today was a good day. I was sort of relaxed with my kids since they had just finished up SOLs. We did stuff, but it wasn't hard. I made a duct tape purse in fourth block. My kids were amazed at my duct tape abilities and were totally paying attention to me. Now I know what I need to do to get them to pay attention - play with duct tape!

We also had our weekly eating frenzy for lunch. I made a recipe of a fruit salad that is in Colby's PKU cookbook and took it. I really liked it, but it seems that the other teachers didn't like it so much. That's okay I suppose - more for me.

Colby was cranky when we got home. He fussed about silly things and wouldn't give Brandon a hug and a kiss before he went to work. Brandon was really frustrated and I think Colby hurt his feelings. Maybe one day he'll learn that his actions as well as his nonactions can hurt people's feelings.

Colby and Sandals

I've been trying to find some sandals that Colby will wear and I bought some yesterday on my trip to Walmart. They are cheap and tacky looking, but I thought that Colby would find them less restrictive and comfortable than the other ones I bought. So I put them on and he wouldn't stand up. I set him on his feet and he refused to move, he stood there fussing. When he finally moved he picked his feet up really high like he was afraid he was going to fall. I couldn't help it - I laughed. But I changed his shoes so he'd be happy at daycare today. He was back in the bite log today and he didn't get a sticker :-(

The English teachers were ogres today. I made on of my girls cry, another teacher caught a boy cheating, yet another teacher sent a kid to the office for blatently using his cell phone right in front of her. I know it's almost the end of the school year, but do we really need to have all this drama!?

Tuesday Update

So, as you all know our school system has fallen on hard times with budget issues. I was really scared that one of our English teachers was going to lose her job, but we found out today that she is getting an English job at the middle school. And because of retirements and some shifting around, the history teacher that is in my room during first block isn't going to lose her job either. I have also succeeded in making myself more likely to keep my job - I passed my Praxis II in Earth Science, so I'm now certified to teach Earth Science!! Yay me!! I'm really comfortable with English, so I don't know if I necessarily WANT to teach earth science, but now I can if it became necessary.

Brandon is back on night shift so I'm back to getting the bed to myself. By the time I get used to that he'll be back on day shift and I'll have to get used to that. Things have been going pretty well for Brandon...nothing out of the ordinary for him. Of course he had all of last week off, so I think he was enjoying that! He got all the veggies planted though and I think some things are starting to sprout. Yay for summer veggies!

Colby was back in the bite log today, but he's doing SO MUCH BETTER since he switched classrooms. He's picking up more words and manners and starting to string his words together, though right now his sentences are only "Night, night...pup." We'll get there eventually and then I'll want to go back to the quiet days :-)

PKU Picnic

Today we went to the annual PKU picnic in Charlottesville. I was feeling sort of blah about going because of the drive, but I'm glad we went. We got to meet the newest families that have been blessed with PKU babies, plus we got some really awesome stuff for Colby. He's been getting pretty high on his phe's lately, so hopefully we can remedy the situation with some low protein substitutions. He's also starting to realize that he's eating a little different from the other kids. The other day when I went to get him from daycare I discovered he'd poured juice on his cereal so that he could eat his cereal like the other kids. I discovered from a mom at the picnic that we could use nondairy coffee creamer halved with water for him to use with his cereal. I'm going to check with daycare and see if that is doable for him.

Oh, and this guy who's got kids with PKU had a creamery make ice cream for the kids with PKU. It tasted great! I was surprised. Colby wasn't really sure what to make of the coldness of it, but he ate a couple of bites. Plus I discovered a Menonite place nearby that might have the ingredients to make more ice cream and another place in Harrisonburg that also might have the ingredients. The key ingredient that is hard to find is Richwhip - it's like Coolwhip, but a lower amount of phe. If you see any in the frozen food section, let me know! At the picic he really enjoyed the mushroom burgers and the chocolate strawberries, but upon returning home, he wasn't all that enthralled with the concept of the sandwhich.

Colby's Appointment

Yesterday I took the day off so that Brandon and I could take Colby to his appointment in Roanoke. Every six months we meet with his nutritionist and geneticist to make sure everything is going okay. Yesterday everything was going great so we had nothing to worry about. We got to go driving around our old haunts in Roanoke and we went to Three Little Pigs to eat lunch before heading back to Radford. When we got home we chilled for the rest of the day. All in all it was a really good day and I didn't miss my students one single iota.

Better Sunday

Well I'm glad to say that Sunday was a much better day than Saturday. He was still more fussy than I would have liked, but it was an improvement on Saturday. He napped from 12 to like 4:30 which was pretty awesome.

Today at school was pretty good. We started The Road and some of my students were getting into it. There was a line in the story that said "You remember what you want to forget and forget what you want to remember." At least two classes commented that, that was so true. I was pretty proud they were paying enough attention to make a comment :-)

Colby the Fusster

I forgot to mention yesterday that I'm super pumped that Friday Night Lights is back on NBC. I love that show! There's something about the characters that I really enjoy and usually something cracks me up and warms my heart. So watch the show so they don't cancel it! It's on NBC at 8 on of course Fridays!

I have to admit I've been a bad mommy today. I was not patient, I was not calm, I was istead VERY frustrated. Colby would not stop fussing today. He fussed about EVERYTHING. Espcially this morning. He wanted to go for a walk and about 8a.m. we did. There was a garage sale going on down the street where he got some new cars, but he didn't want to go home so I carried him kicking screaming back down the street to our house. We went in the back yard for a little bit and he wanted to go into the garden area and fussed when I wouldn't let him. We came in for juice and when he had the juice he wanted to go back out, but I said no and he fussed. After a little while I got tired of listening to him fuss so we went for a walk around the neighborhood. We stopped again at the yard sale and again I had had to carry him home kicking and screaming. I decided to go out to Walmart - he pitched a fit when I went to put him into the cart. The only place he was actually good at was Lowes and Chick-fil-a. He fussed about napping, he fussed when he wanted to eat, he fussed when he wanted juice, he fussed when he wanted his blanket. I need to train him not to do that, but instead I just wanted to scream and yell, but I didn't because I realized it would only make me feel better for a second and it would make matters worse in the long run. Whoever nicknames the twos terrible definately called it right. I love that kid better than myself, but geez...I could do without all that fussing it makes me cranky!

19 Days and Counting

As of today I have 19 school days left. 2 are exam days so they practically don't count! I'm pumped to be almost done with the year. It's been much easier than last year and I REALLY like what I've been teaching lately. Going from a seven period day in Covington to a block schedule in Pulaski has been a hard transition, but I think I've finally got it. I'm nervous about the last unit though. We're going to be reading The Road, which is a really dark book about the end of the world. I think my boys will like it a lot, but I think my girls will be bored to tears. After doing Romeo and Juliet with it's mushy romance it might be a nice change, but we'll see.

Plants and Teen Drama

Today was a dreary day, but at least I won't have to water my plants today! Fortunately I actually have plants that need to be watered...it frosted Monday night! I was sure I'd find shriveled up tomatos and peppers, but they're still alive and kicking. I still need to replant the squash, but I'll get around to it sooner or later. I also need to work on the other flower beds...but I've been feeling so LAZY. Especially after school - after dealing with teenagers all day I don't want to work in the garden.

Oh, speaking of teens...one of my students, "Jenny" was dating this scumbag named "Tommy". I encouraged her to break up with him because she's a sweet girl who could definately do better. Today another student walked up and said "Thanks for telling Jenny to break up with Tommy. Now she's turned lesbian!" I was like whoa. Then another student said, "Mrs. Gill turned Jenny lesbo!" Now I was horrified. I told him not to say it like that because it sounded SOOOO WRONG! Eventually they dropped it after I practically screamed at them that I didn't care and I hadn't even seen Jenny in two days. Teen drama...sheesh!

200th Post!

Wow...this is my 200th post! I feel like I should have confetti raining down on me and I should be giving away some cars or something. Who knew that this would be such a constant thing for me - thanks Gwen for inspiring me to do it!

Today I decided to take Colby to the doctor. He's been VERY out of sorts as I mentioned in a previous post and he's had some red splotches in his diaper area. Turns out he has another yeast infection and he might have had a virus. Plus the doctor gave me some drops for possible pink eye, but I don't really think he has pink eye so I'll wait until tomorrow morning to start the drops if his eyes still look gunky. Maybe without the yeast infection he'll feel less cranky. Cross your fingers!

Happy Mothers Day to all you mommies out there! This mothers day finds me hanging out with Colby the Fusster. He's clearly hit the terrible twos because everything is a reason to fuss. Not enought space to run his truck in front of my legs - fuss. You can't pick him up right that second - fuss. Need to change his shirt - fuss. Wants his pretzels instead of whatever's on his plate - fuss. But them sometimes he does something so incredibly cute like clap happily at the end of a song, or cuddle while he's drinking his sippy, or give a random hug or kill and it reminds me that this to shall pass. He'll only be two for a year and then we'll have new problems to conquer.

My parents came to visit yesterday. They brought our brand new shed. It's super nice and cute and we'll finally be able to get all the junk off our patio so that it'll be usable for entertaining (when the wind's not blowing 100mph) Leveling it out is proving to be an interesting endeavor, but I think Brandon will be able to figure it out. The wind was blowing like crazy yesterday. Picture us trying to slide plastic panels down the wall supports from the top. Pretty funny picture huh :-)

A Book Meant for My Age Level

I just finished reading "The Blindside", the book that the movie by the same title is based on. I thought it was just going to be a book about some guy names Michael Oher, but as it turns out I learned A LOT about football. Being a girl, I don't know how football really works except from what I learned by watching it on TV and in person, now I have a much greater appreciation for the game. If you think football is all about how manly you can be and brute strength, you need to read this book because it will totally change your mind. It was one of the best books I've read recently and Michael Oher...there's something special about him. I think it's his ability to forget his past and not let it rule him. I wish we could all do that more often.

In other news if Colby goes biteless tomorrow, it'll be two weeks without a bite!

Colby has Allergies

The past two days Colby has woken up looking like a hot mess. His allergies must have kicked in because he woke up snotty and with crusty eyes. He was so cranky this morning that he just stayed home with Brandon. I hope he feels better in the morning because cranky baby equals stressful morning.

Last week we got a patio tent. While Colby was napping Brandon put it up and this evening after Colby went to bed we strung the lights that go with it. It looks pretty cool. I can't wait to clean up the patio and maybe do some entertaining out there.

Amazingly enough I had a chance to read a few books over the weekend. I've been working my way through the Percy Jackson books...yeah I know they're for like middle schoolers, but I wanted to see what they hype was about. They books are based onthe premise that the greek gods are real and they have "relations" with humans like they did in ancient days. The stories follow the life of one boy, Percy Jackson, who is the son of Poseidon. The books are okay, especially if you know a lot about greek mythology. In the second book I was able to predict what would happen next because it was just like reading The Odyssey. But I have this nagging irritation as I read these books - How does God fit into all this? Wouldn't a kid get really confused if they were trying to figure out this religion thing while reading these books? I guess that's why they make parents. I also see why the concept of God would have been so appealing to ancient Greeks and Romans - who wants to worship a bunch of gods who are only out to serve themselves? Don't ge me wrong, these books are good for kids to read as long as there are some helpful adults around to answer questions and as far as I'm concerned, if they read anything it's victory.

Weekend Activities

This weekend I decided to go ahead and plant the veggies we started inside. I don't know if we did a very good job starting them because they are all looking very struggling and it's not because of the weather. The weather has been beautiful and not cold in the least. Oh well...if they don't look better by next weekend, I'll just hit up Lowes or Walmart for some new plants and I'll start fresh with the squash and zucchini. On a more positive note, the onions look like they're doing well.

Tomorrow is the last class for my school law class. We're going to turn in our study guides, listen to the last presentations and then I'll be done. I have to say that though the subject matter was sort of dry, I learned a lot. I think in the big scheme of being a principal, this was one of the most relevant topics. My next class will be online, so I'm not so sure it'll be as stimulating, but then again who wants to actually GO to a class in the middle of summer?

Celebrate No Bites, Come On!!

Sorry I've been a SLACKER lately. I just haven't had much interest in sitting in front of the computer this week. But we've had some pretty interesting things going on lately.

First, Colby has not been in the bite log for a solid week! I was so proud of that little guy :-) He's been a good boy lately. We're really get the hang of this holding hand thing and though he sometimes has trouble listening, a trip to time out usually fixes the problem.

In other news our electric bill got into the $70 range, we're getting a shed next weekend, and we've been contemplating getting a patio tent so that our table and chairs would be more usable. I thinking of planting our veggies this weekend because it's supposed to be uber nice. Oh, and Friday Night Lights is back starting next week!! So excited.

At school things have been going well. We're in the midst of figuring out Romeo and Juliet and learning poetry terms. Over these last two years I've come to realize that our school has several pretty serious problems - drug use, student dress, teacher consistency, senior graduation rates, and supporting our students in general. Maybe this is how it is everywhere, but our administrators have chosen to not focus on these serious problems, instead they have chosen to focus on keeping food in the commons and not in the rest of the building. I find this disappointing. We have students that are high as kites, others who are wearing shorts barely long enough to cover their butt, some seniors are in danger of failing and some kids are just plain struggling and we focus on food? Hmm...

Crazy Dogs and Thermostats

So the dogs have been off their lines for the last two days. They did a good job staying in the yard...until this evening that is. While Colby was taking a bath some of our neighbors brought the two delinquent dogs back. They wer both promptly placed back on their lines. I guess we'll try leaving them on the lines for a couple of days and then gradually taking them off again. Maybe one day they'll learn that if they stay in the yard like they're supposed to, then we won't put them on the lines.

In other news, recently Brandon bought a new thermostat. It was one of those fancy one's that allow it to get hotter/cooler when we're not at home and a comfortable temperature by the time we get home. Those kinds of thermostats are more energy efficient, so I was all for it. Unfortunately he installed it and it didn't work. He reinstalled the old one and now it doesn't work either. I called a heating and air person to come out and see what's wrong - I just hope that Brandon doesn't take it personally. He tried to do a good thing...it just didn't work out as planned so now we need someone to fix it. It happens to us all.

An Ode to Prom

Whoa, I can't beleive it's been so long since I posted! Especially since I chapperoned prom on Saturday! I think prom went well...let me let this quote sum everything up. It was the end of the night and I went to sit on the stage next to a fellow English teacher. She leaned over said, "You see that girl over there?" I looked. "Her ass hasn't left a boys crotch since I've been sitting here." Yup...that sums up my views for the night. I don't understand this nasty dancing and I sure don't have any solutions on how to fix it, but I guess if dresses stayed down and hands weren't anywhere inappropriate (for the most part) then we've accomplished something. For now I say adios to prom until next year...yeah, I can't handle any more MTV/club-hopping-wannabe dancing until then :-)

Prom and Delinquent Dogs

This week, teachers from the English pod of have been really involved in prom decorating. Yesterday I got to go to help because Brandon was on Colby duty. I must admit that I miss decorating for dances. There's just something about making something look nice so that students can have great memories. The kids were working hard and I could tell that it was eventually going to look really nice on Saturday night.

So, as you know, our two dogs are juvenile delinquents. Brandy was expelled from doggy daycare and Niki had to be put on a line because she kept jumping the fence. Well, now Brandy decided she was going to go under the fence where Brandon tilled for the new garden. Now we've been having to put them BOTH on a line before we leave the house. We usually let them off now while we're home. It's so annoying. Why can't they be happy in OUR yard?

Colby's Birthday!

So, Colby turned two on Saturday. We'd already started celebrating his birthday the weekend before when I visited my parents. We got some great presents, but the most useful present came in the form of a fixed toy box. My dad fixed my old toy box so that it wouldn't fall on Colby's head and we used it on Sunday to store all of his new toys including a bowling set and some big legos. The present he's played with the most so far - the toy vaccum cleaner :-)

Last week I went to Bible study and we learned about work. Did you know that God created us to have a job and to work? And he didn't create us to complain about it? I'd never really given it much thought until that night, but after that, I noticed how much people griped about work and how often I wanted to gripe about being at work. Then I realized that God would not have created me to work and then not given me the energy or drive to get it done. I hope I can remind myself of that daily - then it'll make things a lot easier :-)

Plant Day!

The last couple of days have been BEAUTIFUL!! It's been up to the high 80s and in Roanoke it got up to 90. Today I got to plant all of the plants I bought at Lowes last week plus the plants mommy got me for Easter. They were all a little dried out, but it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so they'll get a good soaking. I hope the plants look beautiful when they are established - Brandon and I went to a lot of trouble to pull the existing plants out of the front flower bed and I'll be devastated if it just looks terrible when everything is said and done, but I don't think even I can screw these plants up. We shall see.

Spring Break!

This weekend was great. I got to hang out with my family for most of Sunday and Colby got to see family he doesn't normally see. My parents were excited to have Colby over, but I bet they're glad he's gone so that they can rest :-) Colby is certainly a joy, but he can wear you out!

On Saturday Michele and I went to go see Clash of the Titans. It was pretty good, though I was disappointed at the ending. It had plenty of action and mythical creatures to keep pretty much anyone interested.

I only wish that I had the rest of the weekend off like some other teachers whom I will not name :-) Oh well! I'll take two days!

Left Lane Blockers

So, I left late on Friday to go visit my parents. We stopped twice, once for gas and once to change Colby's diaper so it didn't explode while he was stuck in his car seat. The drive was relatively uneventful and pleasant even as I switched stations often in search of good driving music which I usually found. I will say though, that lately one of my biggest pet peeves is Left Lane Blockers.

Left Lane Blockers are people that don't get over even though the people behind them are going faster than them. Sure, it's not against the law to hang out in the left lane, but it's a courtesy to move just like it's a courtesy to move when someone wants to merge onto the interstate. I myself am notorious for getting in the left lane and cruising, but I move when someone comes up behind me. Here's why: 1) Let them go and clear out the cops, 2) You don't know who is behind you getting angrier the longer you sit there - it could be a felon with a gun and I for one don't want to take that chance, 3) people drive very crazily to get around Left Lane Blockers and I'm sure that plenty of accidents are caused because of this. So if you're in the left lane and you're going slower, move over!

Spring Break!! Woot!!

I am pumped to be off for four days!! Today I'm going to hang out with Colby, go to the park, go to Once Upon A Child, plant some flowers while Colby is napping, cook some steaks and then travel to Hampton to visit my parents. The weather is supposed to be FANTASTIC this weekend! On Sunday I'm going to church with my grandparents and then we're having Easter dinner/Colby's birthday celebration and we'll be taking Colby to an easter egg hunt (although he won't be able to eat much). Brandon and I already put together Colby's Easter basket last night, so we're set. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

When I walked out of school today I rejoiced because the sky was blue and spring was definately on it's way. I've had a really runny nose...but that's just a reminder that flowers will be blooming all summer and the temps will get higher. After a winter where we literally spent a month below freezing, I'll be ecstatic to see temps in the eighties and ninties. The only thing that made me cringe was the fact that tomorrow I'll have to be in my windowless room attempting to teach to teenagers who don't listen. Maybe if I texted them they'd process what I'm telling them? I don't question the path I've choosen often, but today I was honestly fighting back tears of sheer frustration. We're reading a play that is in normal language, language that normal southwest Virginian's speak actually! It's got plenty of conflict between the characters and it's sarcastically funny at times and we go over everything as it happens, yet I still hear "I don't get it" and "this is stupid" and "who is _____ (insert character name)" and "what's going on in this play". ARGH!!! I feel like screaming at them to pay attention and suck it up. We're also working on research papers, which is probably the tenth level of hell. You know they make t-shirts that say "What level of hell is this?" I think I'll buy one for the times we're in the computer lab and they complain that they can't find any research (they're researching major historical events!!) and they don't know what to write down for their works cited. Sorry to be a bit of a downer today, but sometimes I have to vent!

Oh, and I changed the settings on my blog so anyone can post a comment, not just other people who have blogs, so feel free to tell me to suck it up and enjoy the weather!

Gardening

Today we tilled out a section of the back yard so that we can grow a bigger garden. I say we, but Brandon did most of the tilling because when I tried it, it was definately harder than it looked. I don't feel like it should be that hard, but it is on ground that has never been tilled. We didn't get to do the front flower beds or the small raised beds...I guess I'll be doing it by hand. Maybe I can get a manual tiller for cheap at Lowes. I bought my first plants of the spring today. I bought a snapdragon hanging basket and some small butterfly attracting plants to put out front. I'm still contemplating what else to put out front. I have a feeling that we're going to have a good growing season and one of the teachers at school said I could borrow her pressure canner, so it's going to be awesome well into the fall and winter too!

Doggy Daycare Expulsion

Today Brandy got expelled from doggy daycare. I take her to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays where she goes to the small animal class to hang out with the kids taking that class and the other dogs in daycare. Well, today they had a new dog down there and Brandy decided that she was going to put that dog in it's place. Apparently Brandy bit through the dogs ear and there was lots of blood. They put Brandy in a crate for the rest of the day except for when they took her out to go outside. Brandy is sort of our English pod dog so all the other teachers were heartbroken that she wouldn't be back, they were sure it was the other dog's fault and they even jokingly asked a principal if she could get a due process hearing :-) I joked that everyone in my family has a biting problem :-) I'm not super concerned. Doggy daycare was good for her to get some attention and socialize with other dogs, but without it, it makes my mornings less hectic. The teacher said that if she had a job next year, that Brandy could come back and that she'd schedule her to be with dogs she get along with.

Ironic Happenings

Thankfully it's been a while since I've had to break up a fight at school, but today I made up for that. Last week I had two girls telling me that they were bff's, but today one was punching the other and they were both calling each other sluts and whores. Oh how things change. Thankfully I didn't really have to get between them, the agressor stopped when I hollared at her. I was sort of mean when we got to the office and told the agressor to wipe the smile off her face because what she did was stupid and immature. Ironically enough, the fight errupted while we were in the middle of reading a story about Gandhi and his non-violent philosophy :-)

By the way, I was trying to teach my kids about irony and I talked about the song "Ironic" by Alanis Morisette. They had NO idea what I was talking about. That song came out in the late 90s, they still play it on the radio and it was a BIG deal when that album came out. I think I'm getting old since music I used to listen to in high school is considered oldies.

Forking Some Oranges

Today I had to stay at school until 8p.m. for parent/teacher conferences. Conferences are such a waste of time for us, though I wish they weren't. I wish I had so many parents that I had to beat them back with a stick, but for some reason parents think that when their children go to high school that they don't need to be as involved. If anything, I think parents need to be MORE involved. I also think that the lack of parents coming to conferences is an indication of how uncaring parents are right now. A lot of my kids from home lives that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy and it's sad. I feel sorry for kids whose parents can't spend twenty minutes at school talking to teachers.

In other news, Colby is back in the bite log, though I think this time he was hungry and wanted his snack. Colby also came to school for bit to eat dinner and the teachers were impressed by his fork using ability, he can spear an orange like it's nobody's business.

Lesson Learned

You know, I've learned a really important lesson about being a principal over the last couple of weeks. As you know I'm getting my masters in educational leadership and hope to someday become a principal. I've learned that principals walk a fine line between advocating for students and sticking up for teachers. Lately one of our principals hasn't been walking that line very well, which has stirred up some angst among some teachers including myself. It's not a great situation when a principal practically interrogates a teacher over an accusation from a parent over something as simple as calling a girl's yellow pant ridiculous. A - I didn't say that, B - if I did say it and hurt her feelings, why can't she ask for an apology, C - calling her pants ridiculous wouldn't even make it on the top 100 list of mean things a teacher has said, and D - the girl, when asked, couldn't even remember what the principal was talking about. Another teacher was interrogated over a much more serious accusation (it turned out that the teacher didn't do anything wrong), but I learned a very valuable lesson: Each time she has interrogated someome, her trustability erroded. Being a principal is tricky. I don't know why I want to do it to myself, but someone has to take the lessons learned and put them to good use.

Over Sickness

It took me a ridiculously long time to get over being sick. I didn't feel well all week until today - better late than never I guess. We didn't really get to do much in the yard even though the weather was beautiful. On Saturday I DID get to take Colby to the park and I got to open the back door, but I fell asleep on the couch while Colby was napping so I didn't do anything outside. Today I got to put our zuchini and squash plants into larger containers, but I mixed them all up and I'm not sure what I transplanted and what I didn't - guess I'll find out when they sprout some veggies :-)

On Saturday I went shopping and got Colby and I some Easter outfits and today I put away several weeks worth of clean laundry, so did get some stuff done. Next weekend we're hoping to rent a tiller and get our gardens taken care of. We're trying not to jump the gun though on planting. I wouldn't want to plant something and then have it zapped by frost. But things are looking very green!

The Biting Odyssey

So, whatever Colby had the other day, he gave to me. I was sick all day Sunday and I haven't felt too well the last couple of days. Last night on my way to class I refused to back down on a close parking spot (we both had our turn signals on, but mine was on first!) and I was about to freeze to death sitting there listening to him jabber about the budget. I hate being sick. Unfortunately Brandon also got it and had to take the night off last night.

I've written from time to time about Colby's bite log craziness. Well, now it's getting bad. He bit some poor kid in the back and left a pretty good mark so they decided to move him up to the 2 year old classroom. The director of Colby's daycare hinted that if that didn't help the problem, then he might get put on a 2 week probationary period when he wouldn't be able to come to daycare (!!). I really don't want that to happen. I don't know what I would do. But it would be pretty funny to tell a teenage Colby that he was on probation when he was two.

Sick Baby

I hate it when Colby is sick...I get thrown up on as much as anything (and he threw up 8 times today). I had to take Colby to school for one period because Brandon was sleeping so he could work tonight. My kids were nice to him, but I'm sure they were grossed out by his throwing up. My it'll be birth control...there's a thought!

We're working out the details for our summer beach trip. Looks like we'll be staying at the same place as last year, which is good because it was convenient and cheap. I'm excited about the trip!! I hope that everyone can come!

Busy, Busy

It seems like I've had a lot of stuff going on lately. On Sunday we celebrated Brandon's grandmother's 90th birthday. On Monday I had class. Last night we had Bible study. Tonight I had to go to Walmart because there wasn't a thing in the world to eat tonight. Also I finally mailed our taxes so maybe we can get our sweet return soon. I also feel like the everything in the future is going to be busy. Colby has pictures on Friday and I have a ladies night to go to, Sunday we're eating lunch with friends, next week we go to our super long schedule at school, Brandon and Lindsey's birthdays are on St. Patricks Day, the first week of April is Easter so I'm going to visit my family and the weekend after that is Colby's birthday...whew!! It's crazy busy!

Oh, and I just found out that our super long days only add up to 3 school days and I'm supposed to stay until 5:10 on Mondays. I'm not staying until 5:10 - I have class at 6:30. An hour and 20 minutes is not enough time to pick up Colby, go home, eat dinner and then drive to class. I can't be done.

Parenting Award

Today was good. One of our resource officers whose wife used to work in the English Department decided he was going to cook chili for us. So we decided to bring in some fixins to go with the food and as always, it was an awesome spread and all delicious. Colby was in a good mood too, so that makes things even better :-)

When it comes to Colby, I've been getting the feeling lately that God is just blessing us all the time. We have a daycare situation that is great, Colby is a really good kid, we've been given good advice and had the courage to use it. I've realized that some parents let their 1-2 year olds go to bed at 10:00 PM (!!!), can't get their children to eat vegetables, and let their children run their household. While some of that may be true of us sometimes, it's not usually true, which makes me feel really good. I'm only taking note of this now because it may not be the same in the future and I might as weel enjoy it while it lasts!

Updates

Last weekened we went to visit my family in Hampton. It was a pretty good ride with Colby. We only had to stop once each way, which is excellent for a toddler that didn't sleep much. I think he made my parents REALLY tired!

So, to make up for our many, many snow days, we're adding 40 minutes to our school days starting March 15 and going through May 28. I just want to say...that's a LONG time to spend in school, but at least we won't be going to school until July and I can finally make vacations plans!

My RU class is starting up again. Last night I wanted to stab my eyes out with my pen I was SOOOOO bored. School law, while totally necessary, is COMPLETELY boring!!

Friday!!

You know, I was so pumped to get out of school yesterday with the knowledge that I wouldn't be back until Monday...turns out everyone can share in my joy because school was cancelled today :-) So now I'm at home enjoying an early arrival :-)

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I was PUMPED to get out of school today. I have the day off tomorrow because I took a personal day so I can get a head start on going to visit my family this weekend. I haven't been to Hampton since Novemeber, entirely too long in my opinion, but with the weather and holidays and such, it's been hard to make long journies. I'm nervous because I usually travel with Colby on long trips in the evening, but this time it will be full bright outside. I suppose we'll have to stop several times.

So yesterday was a really terrible day for Colby. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed, threw a huge tantrum when I dropped him off at daycare, exploded a sippy cup when we got home by standing on it, and had to go to time out several times. Thankfully today he's been much better. He was his normal happy self and I got several kisses :-)

Got the Giggles

When I went to pick Colby up this afternoon, he was barefoot and wearing this ridiculous looking onesie. Apparently he'd had a pooey accident and he didn't have any extra clothes. I giggled a little at his outfit - the pants only came down to midcalf and it was clearly meant for a child much pudgier than Colby. I wish I'd taken a picture so everyone could share my giggles :-)

Job Worries

Today I went to a meeting about the school budget. It made me really nervous. It seems like they're definately going to make personell cuts starting with people on provisional licences (that's not me), moving on to annual contract people (not me either) and then based on seniority (an issue for me because I only have two years). The issue for me is if they decide to consolidate the middle schools, which it seemed likely, they would try to keep teachers with a higher seniority if they are certified to teach other things. So a middle school teacher who is certified in English with 20 years experience can be placed at the high school and bump someone like me out. It made me very upset, but I felt better when I got home and Brandon had made dinner.

Barnes and Noble Adventure

I have to say that usually Colby is great in public. We almost never have meltdowns at Walmart or restaurants, but today was different. We went to Barnes and Noble, which is normally his favorite place because he can run around the isles and it doesn't normally bother anybody. He doesn't mess with the books so I'm content to follow him around and do some browsing at lightening speeds. Today Colby found the Thomas the Train toys in the kids section. They leave it out for kids to play with. I was perfectly content to let him play for a while, but then he started getting frustrated with them and throwing them so I was going to take him somewhere else in the store and let him run around, but he started screaming. I think I should get the mom of the year award because I just calmly picked him up, carried him wailing through the store right out to the car. We then went home where we went for a peaceful walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the weather. I had other things I wanted to do while I was out, but I'll be darned if I take a cranky baby anywhere else after the show in Barnes and Noble.

Polar Plunge

Yes, this is Brandon with no shirt and a towel around his waist in the middle of Februrary - he had just completed his first official polar plunge. This plunge was to raise money for the Special Olympics, so at least he did it for a good cause :-)