Get Me Outta Here!

Not the real kid

Today was the first day of school and my day off at Magpies so I promised my teacher/friends that I would come help out with kindergarten lunch.  By the time I got there at noon, the teachers and kids seemed to be handling the first day pretty well.

Except one little boy...who could be heard crying from 2 rooms away.  Apparently he had been crying all morning...off and on...louder and softer....but never stopping completely.  I promised him I would find a sticker if he would quit crying and that worked for a few minutes.  But then he cranked back up.

Twenty minutes later in the cafeteria....I am helping him through the line...he's crying the whole time.  Ignoring, ignoring, ignoring....just going through the motions of getting his lunch and walking to his table....showing him where to sit.  Then I move on to help others.  Happy others.

While still crying at the lunch table, I went up to him again and tried to console him.  Everyone else who had handled him was pretty frazzled by now....including me and I had only been there 30 minutes.

Me:  You need to eat or you're going to be so hungry.

Him:  waaaaaa......I'm not hungry..........waaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Me:  You really need to eat....so stop crying.  The day will be over soon.

Him:  waaaaaa......Call my mom.....tell her I'm bad......             I don't care.....            tell her anything........       waaaaa.........                                just get me outta here!            waaaaaaaa

Okay...I'm not laughing about his crying ....but you have to admit that's pretty funny.  Tell her I'm bad...I don't care....


And just so you know, back in the classroom after lunch I actually saw him not crying.  Of course, I got to leave so not sure how long he stayed that way.


Yes, I miss that stuff. 

But walking out to my car in the most dreadful heat permeating off the cement...sweat rolling down my face and neck...I smiled to think I didn't have to do car duty ever again. 

Cooking

This is Will's last week at home before returning to Stephen F. Austin University on Saturday.

Me:  Will, name 3 of your favorite things I cook and I'll cook this week.

Will:  I can't remember anything you cook.


Sadly, he's not being sarcastic.  My cooking mojo has been off for years....since the youngest hit highschool and everyone was in and out but never in at the same time for dinner.  And I was always, always trying to cut out carbs or sugars or basically anything that tasted good.  It just became too easy to eat out or bring home something.  My idea of supper was handing over my debit card.

In my defense, Chuck grills on Sundays and I do cook maybe once or twice a week.  More like once. 

But I do love to cook.  And I do love looking at new recipes.  Especially on Pinterest.  So maybe I'll get back in to it this year. 

Maybe.

A Peek at Magpies Cypress....

I finally took my camera to work on Friday so that you can see this beautiful place called Magpies.  It is truly a gift store....whether the gift is for a wedding, a birthday, a new baby or yourself...you are sure to find it here.  I wish you could hear the music and smell that candle but at least you can enjoy a little eye candy.  This is just a peek...there is so much more and no way to capture it.  Please come see for yourself if you happen to be in the area.

For the home...

Candles, furniture, art, mirrors,

serving pieces, Sid Dickens, crosses,

 pillows, lamps, accessories,

picture frames, custom florals

and much, much more.

For her...

 Boutique clothing, purses, Vera Bradley, 
leggings, jewelry lines including
Pandora and Brighton

as well as Patty Clarke....a teacher and artist who is also a Houstonian...

and way more than I can list.

 And while it's not pictured below, there is a lot of Jon Hart

for him...as well as for her.

 Called slim because it's only 5 calories a serving.

For the babies...

JORDAN...LOOK!

...and lucky grandmothers...

...sweet lovies to hold on to that pacifier in the night...

For the seasons...

For moms on the go...

Smell goods...

Tyler candles, Aromatique, Lollia and Poo-Pouri to mention a few.

For the cook...

Some beautiful cookbooks... because even though she can look online,

what she really loves is to read the cookbook like a novel.

Funny, sweet and sentimental cards....

For teachers...

And to ponder...

A Pointless Post

I have been thinking alot about this little blog.  Like everyday.  I come in here to check email and facebook and read a few blogs....then think I should do a post.  

I have been meaning to post something...anything... but honestly, I can't think of one thing to post. 

I could tell you that I love my new job but my feet ache at the end of the day. 

I could tell you that I am getting to know all of the other employees a little bit better every day.  I am hearing a little bit of their "story" each day....where they grew up, how many kids they have, their likes and dislikes.   And I am letting them in on mine.  They figured out I like to talk...turns out I'm good with customers because of that very trait.

I could tell you that the customers are so nice....really nice.  Well, maybe one was a little grouchy.

I could tell you that Will's apartment full of furniture is sitting in my dining room waiting to be loaded on a U-Haul trailer next Saturday.  It was supposed to be this Saturday but the trailer couldn't be promised before 11:30 a.m. and with this heat, that's way too late to start loading a trailer.....drive 3 hours and then unload it and take stuff up to a second story apartment. 

I could tell you that I went to see The Help and absolutely loved it.  So well done.  It took me back to my childhood....the clock on the wall, the hats and gloves on the women, the cars.  It was heartbreaking and funny at the same time. 

I could tell you that I know all my teacher friends are getting ready for "meet the teacher" tomorrow and I wish I was there to help them.

But this is just the ins and outs of the dog days of summer.  Shift change.  Summer ending.  School starting.  Summer over.  New job started. 

I am feeling so blessed right now that I have a new job...and that it overlapped my last paycheck from the school system.  I know there are others out there with real problems.  So I will not complain about my feet hurting, feeling like the new kid on the street, that one grouchy customer, Will's piles of stuff in my dining room, or missing my teacher friends. 

Don't give up on me.  I haven't gone anywhere...just having the creativity zapped out of me in other ways right now. 


My friend sent me a funny video to watch this week.  Loved it.  So if you need a good laugh....go here.
Priceless expressions on the faces of these men.  And the subject matter?  Well, you'll see.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ed64755ab1/her-first-period

It's My Day Off!

My new job started last week.  I am loving it. A real defining moment of the week was on Thursday when I heard Dan Fogelberg singing through the speakers on Pandora.  And not just once, but 3 or 4 songs played.  And then.....Carol King Tapestry.  There was a moment that I felt like I might be in heaven.  As that will be what's playing in my heaven.

Y'all my new boss loves Dan Fogelberg as much as I do! 

I have gotten used to having the summer off for the last 7 years but those are history now.  However, what's replaced it may be even better!

 MONDAYS! 

I will have Mondays off.  I can sleep in, go shopping, do lunch with friends, do laundry or housework (not), make a doctor's appointment. Should I stop?  You get it.

The summer is coming to an end around here for Will, too.  He heads back to Stephen F. Austin in a couple of weeks and is excited to finally be moving in to an apartment after 2 years of dorm living.  We are gathering free or used furniture for him and he was lucky enough to snag a used leather sectional from Blake.  It's in mint condition considering Blake grabbed it from a dumpster and then lots of college guys lived on it for the last couple of years.  And I'm pretty sure a Grizzly Bear and a Lab lived on it, too.

This thing is huge.  Hoping it fits in his tiny one bedroom apartment.

It's even a sleeper sofa.

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are in this sectional's future.

Last week, we tried to get the dogs groomed but their Rabies shots had expired....in May.  So Chuck and Will took them to PetSmart and got them all caught up.  Several $$$ later they were up to date and heart worms and flea medicine were in stock for the next 6 months.  They didn't have time to groom  them, so we were going to take them in this weekend.  But........after spending that money last weekend, we groomed them ourself.



I have the claw marks to prove it....if the bad grooming job doesn't prove it enough.  It's not that I mind grooming the dogs, it's the hair up the nose, in the eyes, in the mouth and all over the house that I mind.

Oh, and the vet told Chuck that Dixie has cataracts.  Really?
We thought she had the prettiest glowing eyes.

I'm not making light of this, but when a vet tells you your 12 year old dog
has really bad cataracts, are you supposed to ask about cataract surgery? 

And this one still has her wart over her eye...the wart that the last vet at PetSmart called cancer and told us it needed to come out as it would probably invade her eye socket. And Chuck and I got teary eyed and tried to come to terms with her having one eye and us having no money in the bank.

But the biopsy ($$$) came back negative.

 This vet called it a wart. 

Love PetSmart.

 Just keep going back until you get the vet

 that tells you what you want to hear.

Will's worked hard this summer at the YMCA....in the heat...with little to no complaining. 

He loves his job and basically we never see him. 

 I know he's home if there's a new pair of shoes in the pile by the door.

He comes in from work and heads back out or goes straight to bed.

 

Even the mama birds have to deal with trash in their nest.

This nest was in our backyard and I saved it. 

 It's on a plate with a glass bell over it. 

 I love that it has trash intertwined with the twigs. 

This mama knew how to just go with it.

 

I hope you have a bell jar...

a cloche, really...but who can pronounce that?

It makes string look like art.

I'm off to do whatever I want to...it's my day off!

Don't hate....I'll be doing laundry.