Back from the A. T. L.

Just spent a weekend in Atlanta with my friend from the good ol' days...DD.  So this post is for her...a thank you note to DD.

Dear DD,

I had the best time in Atlanta....well, Roswell, this weekend.  It's just what I needed.  A short getaway with lots of talking and laughing.  No one makes me laugh like you do.  Deep belly laughs...the kind that make my stomach cramp.  And that is what I am most thankful for. 

I appreciate you picking me up from the airport late, late Thursday night.  And staying up with me to talk until 3 a.m.  Between the sips of wine and the talking, I'm not sure we were even stopping for breath....or really finished a thought....

but it was perfect.

I got the quick tour of your new house that night and slept so good in that comfy guest room with the fresh sunflowers just for me.

My favorite part of Friday was waking up in your house and then spending the first hour and a half just drinking coffee with you and holding Paulie.

Heading out your front door just a short walk to the cute restaurants and shops is so "urban" and I loved it. Now I can imagine your life in Roswell....because I've been there.

I fully intended to pay for all of my meals, until you grabbed my face and told me I was not even allowed to get my money out all weekend for meals.  I couldn't begin to pick my favorite meal because they were all delicious.  However, after the Friday meal I did enjoy watching the band and dancing on the tiny little dance

floor....so that evening stands out as the fun one.  

 Chip and DD...check out the grinner in the background.
Really?

Me....taking in the cultural arts.

The dance floor was about 4 feet x 4 feet so while it may look like I was right on top of the band...it was more like I was at the edge of the tee tiny dance floor. 

Okay, maybe I was in the band's personal space.

But you were right there with me. 

Thank you.

I love the choices you made for your new house....

Your colors are so soothing.

And your backsplash is beautiful. 

 I love that all of your interior doors are painted gray.

I would paint mine black...but it would be easier to just move.

I am thankful that I got to spend time with Blake and his sweet girlfriend.  He is a gentle giant...much like the little boy I knew on Country Place Drive.  I am making you a promise now that we will make it to one of his games during his college football career.  I'll be on the lookout for the schedule.

I'm sorry I missed seeing your first born.  But you can tell him that I love him and will see him this summer.  I look forward to spending time with him. 

I loved that I got to go to your sister's house and see her and her children....and then visit your church on Sunday where I saw your other sister and her kids.  You have found the perfect place to live and worship and I know you will find much happiness there. 

I am bringing back with me some new memories, some pictures of our weekend, and a refreshed spirit because I shook it up with laughter.  In a perfect world, we would live down the road from each other so I could get that more often.  I held back the tears until I got home and went to dinner with Chuck.  He gets it...he knows how much I love you.

Thank you for everything.  


Love, J

D, Me and Paulie 

A few pictures and notes for my memory keeping...

Salt Factory was our first choice for dinner on Friday night
but it was closed so we went to a place called Inc.

 

 This sign on Salt's door explained why.

Incontinence can shut you down.

Fortunately they got that under control

and we had lunch there the next day. 

The Pie Hole

(you know you want to say "shut your pie hole")

....after a piece of pie, there is a Pilates Powerhouse

right next door...as you can see from the sign behind.

Adorable antique trashcan lid. 

And a quick story from the airport....

While using the restroom (on land) one more time before heading to the gate,

 I was in the stall and the song coming through the speakers

 was Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." 

Other than the song, it was quiet. 

Right as Whitney is building up to that highest, strongest note....

the girl in the next stall starts singing along with her.......

as high and as loud as she can!

Really...it was startling...and it was just all of a sudden,

 like she couldn't help it.

Unfortunately for those of us in the room,

she missed the note.

  It came out like a cow in distress.

I wanted to wait her out so I could get a good look at her

...but I had to get to the gate.

If I were her, I wouldn't have come out until dark.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

May you have your cake...

and eat it, too.

Honestly, I don't really know what that means. 

But it's what comes to mind when I see this picture.

You have always been and still are the fairest of them all...with the prettiest blue eyes.

I love you more than you will ever know. 

I hope you always have what you need and most of what you want.

Kiss. Hug. Squeeze.

February 24, 1988, was a very, very good day.

George

George Washington's birthday is February 22.  And it is this

 that we celebrate all these years later.......

now just called President's Day. 

In honor of George, the kids learned some facts about him today. 

Then they wrote 3 of those facts on a hat fashioned

 like the Liberty caps worn in George's day. 

 

Fact 1:  He is the fodr (of our country).

Fact 2:  Gorg Woshingtn marreed Mrdu. (Martha)

It was probably at this point, that Martha took over. 

 Because we all know behind every great man is a wife telling him what to do.

Listening to the lessons this morning, I also learned that George was a farmer and liked to fish.  Probably out of necessity rather than hobby.  They didn't have Taco Bell or Kentucky Fried Chicken back then.  If you wanted it, you grew it or fished for it.

We really do owe our ancestors so much.  We are the spoiled rotten off-spring for sure.

Next up....Western Day.  For those not familiar with

 this time of year in Houston.....it's Rodeo time. 

 And whether you own a ranch, herd cattle or ride horses,

 this is the time of year that you dress like you do. 

On a little side note:  Chuck had the flu so this weekend was spent dodging him and spraying Lysol in his path.  I had the shot so I am hoping that protects me.  He will get the shot from now on, I assure you.  He was sick and not happy about it.  

I smell Play-Doh... it must be Friday

On Friday mornings, the kindergartners get to play with Play-Doh after they come in and finish their very important morning jobs....unpack, sign in and move their lunch clip. 

 So the smell of Play-Doh is in the air and it means the weekend is just hours away.  Ahhhhh.

Shortly after the morning announcements and the pledges to the flags of the United States and Texas, one of the teachers came to show me what one of the students had made with Play-Doh this morning.  The teacher was grinning and the student was beaming with pride. 

 This blog post fell in my lap. 

Me:  What is it?

Girl:  It's Baby Jesus on his birthday cake.

 Me:  What is that?  (And you know what I'm referring to....)

Girl:  That's his birthday candle.

Me:  (nodding my head to the girl while pulling my mind back out of the gutter...)

Then pointing to the things up by Baby Jesus' head, I asked......

Me:  And what are these?

Girl:  Tacos.

(duh)

Who knew Baby Jesus ate tacos?

More like slept on a bed of tacos.

Honestly, I am still studying this picture and trying to see a birthday candle when I look at it.

************

And while I have you here, may I be the first to wish you a

Happy Presidents' Day!

February 21, 2011

The 2011 Edition.

Text from Will

"Obviously I've learned nothing these past 20 years."

(with this photo attached)

That's the kitchen in his apartment.  The white stuff is bubbles coming out of the dishwasher.  What happens when you put liquid dishwashing detergent in the dishwasher and run it?  This.


I'm not sure if this is sad or funny.

Sad...because I did the same thing once.  Multi-tasking in the kitchen while talking on the phone, I put the liquid stuff in....I found out after the dishwasher was started.  I remember how long it took to clean the mess up.  I think I used Crisco oil and ran the dishwasher again.  Thinking the soap and oil would cancel each other out. Didn't really work....so then I had oily bubbles. Sad.

Funny....because I can laugh about it now. And funny because Will took a picture and sent it to me.  Meaning he is laughing at himself. 

The good news is I bet that floor got mopped.  That probably doesn't happen often in a college apartment. 

Sugar Happened

Yesterday was the big Valentine's Day Party.  Other school districts had it earlier on Friday...but ours was on the actual day. 

A Monday.

A party on a Monday.

A party with lots of sugar on a Monday.

I don't think you need to be told how Tuesday went. 

Sugar happened.

A chocolate cupcake topped with lard and sugar. 

A side of goldfish to cut the sugar.

Washed down with juice....sugar water if you will.

 Candy Conversation Hearts.  "Text me."  Really.  It says that.

A Valentine craft.

Valentine Mailboxes.




Today was about coming off of sugar.

Headaches anyone?

If you ask most people what was one of their favorite days in their elementary years...
they most likely will say Valentine's Day. 

If you ask a teacher, she will most likely forget how fun it was as a child
 because she's suffered through a few of them as a teacher.

 

It's always fun to get the kids hanging from the ceiling. 

But bringing them down can be hard.


Next up. 
Western Day.


By the way, I asked Chuck how Valentine's Day was at his work. 
He said noone even mentioned the word.

That sums up the different worlds we work in.

Happy Valentine's Day....

Cupid is on his way.  In fact, Cupid struck my kids last night

in the way of an online transfer into their checking account. 

 Oh, how I miss the days when Cupid would bring them some

 candy and a movie in the form of a gift wrapped package

waiting for them at the breakfast table.

 But Cupid is getting old and can't get a package

 in the mail on time. 

When I texted Cameron to let her know that Cupid

 had put some money in her account,

 she texted right back....

"Yayy and I thought I hated single awareness day"

So whether you call it Valentine's Day

or

Single Awareness Day

....I hope you get lots of chocolate.

Three Day Weekend

At this time yesterday, the house was full of 11 people.  A huge meal had been eaten and the board games were pulled out.  The reason for the gathering was Jordan and Chris' visit from Phoenix. 

J & C got in on Wednesday evening and the college kids drove in on Thursday....before the bad weather was to hit.  The unsnowy Snow Day gave us all an extra day of togetherness.  Maybe that's why the house seems extremely quiet this evening.  It's been extremely loud for 3 days.

But a good loud.

Cameras were going but rarely mine. I was the hostess so I was a little sidetracked.  I did manage to take some shots while we were playing HeadBanz.  A fun game that I couldn't play very well. 

The weekend's over.  Everybody's gone home.  

WRAP YOUR PIPES

This isn't too far from the truth.  Give us 100' and thick humidity....we know how to act.  But freezing temps? 

Sore Throat

The kindergartners bundled up and endured a short recess out in the 32' weather.  Coming in, they were red-cheeked little whiners.  All of them were complaining about how cold it was!

I was handing out the sympathy comments left and right until one walked by me crying.

Me:  What's wrong?
 
Nate:  (can't talk...crying too hard)

Me:  Try to stop crying and tell me what happened.

Nate:  Jake hurt my feelings.

Me:  Well, tell him he hurt your feelings.  Let's go find him.

After finding Jake.....

Me:  Jake you hurt Nate's feelings...can you tell him you're sorry?

Jake:  Well........(he starts crying, too) he hurt my feelings.

Third Boy pipes in:  Jake hurt my feelings, too...

AND he made my throat sore because I had to yell at him so loud.

Me:  (Made eye contact with the teacher to let her know it was all hers.....and left the room)



We don't handle the cold very well.  Apparently our feelings are extra sensitive at 32'.

Recipe for Chaos

*Take 180 kindergarten kids and place their hand-made hats on their heads...

the  hats that have 10 strips of contruction paper with 10 things on each strip.

Because it's the 100th DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!

*Plan a Round Robin Day...where each class rotates to a different classroom every 25 minutes to do a different activity pertaining to the number 100. 

The teachers stay in their own class and the kids move around. 

This drives them extremely crazy because.....

wow.....they've never been in this classroom before!

By now they should be hopping around.

*Add to the mix, Western Square Dance Day!  The P.E. classes have been hard at work learning square dances and line dances and today was the day for the parents to attend the show.  Mix 100 Day hats and western attire thoroughly.  Add in parents coming to school.  The chaos is almost at an all time high.

 *To the 100 Day hats and Western attire/Square Dancing in front of parents, add in the possibility of a "snow day" coming.  This is especially exciting to the teachers who are becoming more and more frazzled by the minute.  Now the teachers are giddy at the thought of a day at home in their pjs. 

 Giddy teachers and excited kindergarteners make for perfect chaos.

*Just one more item needed.......

....a 100 Day snack mix.....hand-made by each child. 

You will know that chaos has been reached

when you hand them their own bag of snack mix.

The squeals are ear piercing. 

You would think it was a meal fit for a king. 

Chaos has been accomplished.

Oh......and it was also Groundhog's Day.

  But who had time to care?