March Madness

As of yesterday at 4:00 pm, Spring Break began!  There's a lot of nothing going on around here but I have 2 college kids in the house this morning and a week of relaxation in front of me making me a little giddy. 

A couple of  other things that are making me giddy.....

First thing...

Yesterday I was working with one little boy....one on one.....because this particular boy cannot finish his work in the classroom.  Ever.  As in "no finished product thus far this year" unless he is assisted by someone.  This boy is sweet, cute and smart.  But his focus is always on anything but the paper in front of him.  He can spend 20 minutes staring into his crayon box with a wondering look on his face like, "what did I come in here for?"  Boy, do I relate to that.

This boy also has a lot of spit in his mouth.  Like the kind of spit that makes bubbles and hangs at the edges of his tongue and the corners of his mouth.  We might too, if we didn't have the involuntary mechanism to swallow now and then. 

So as I'm working with him, he looks up to say something to me and a huge spit ball flies out of his mouth and on to my sleeve....right below my shoulder.  I see it flying out with my peripheral vision, but I continue to look at his eyes. 

He looks at my eyes, at my sleeve, at my eyes, at my sleeve, at my eyes, at my sleeve.

Me:  (with a smile and a very nice voice)  You just spit on me didn't you?
 (not fussing, just asking)

Him:  (looks me in the eye, looks at my sleeve, looks me in the eye, looks at my sleeve)

He never said a word.....just all that eye movement for like 30 seconds.

We just moved on.........but I'm still laughing about that. About his eyes darting back and forth...at me, at the spit, at me, at the spit.  And the good news is he finished his work in record time with me sitting on him (figuratively speaking).


Second thing.......

Lady Antebellum last night!  70,000 of us were in an intimate setting to watch the concert.  I wish I would have brought my good camera with the zoom lens and my binoculars...but all I had was the camera on the cell phone.  



In my head, I still feel like the young girl I was....but it's times like this that I realize I have aged and am over some of this kind of stuff.  It took longer to get to the rodeo and get home from the rodeo than the whole thing lasted.  Lots and lots of being herded into lines.......lines of cars in traffic on the freeways to waiting to get on the Metro Rail to walking in lines to get in to Reliant Park........blah, blah, blah..........then within a couple of hours reverse it and do it all again.  Getting 70,000 people in to this place and out of this place takes a lot of lines.  Moooooooooo.  Moooooooo.  I know how cattle feel.

We were treated to some great food and cold beer and leather seats....so I am thankful for that.  Just wish I would have brought my binoculars.  If you're going to see something like this...I like to see the detail. 

It's amazing to watch the transformation of the place from being a rodeo arena one moment then a concert arena next.  Modern technology.  High tech rodeo. 

One last thing....my eyes.

I got glasses in 3rd grade, contacts in 7th grade and Lasik eye surgery at the age of 41.  I was legally blind without correction and the Lasik surgery was the best thing I ever spent money on.  I have loved being contacts or glasses free for the last 12 years.  But recently I have been squinting to see detail and my night vision is worse.  I have an appointment with an opthamologist on Monday (whoo hoo!  Spring Break outing!). My eyes are dry and my vision clears up as soon as I put drops in.........but the second the drops are dissolved....which only takes seconds.......my vision is about 20/40.  Not so bad....but not so clear either.  If I'm going somewhere at night and I need to see the name of a street in a neighborhood, I'm crawling up to the intersection like the little old lady who only takes her Cadillac out on Sunday mornings.

So last night I dream that I go to the eyeglasses place and spend hours picking out some frames.  As I go up and down the walls of frames, there is a little dog hanging around me.  I ask about him and they say I can have him because he just showed up there.

I leave without the dog because I know Chuck will be so mad if I come home with a dog.......then the place calls to tell me my glasses are ready and I'm so excited to pick them up! 

I get there and they are clear glass in the frames.  Yep.  I picked out the frames BEFORE I went to the eye doctor.  ha. 

That was one scary dream....because the dream continues and I had to tell Chuck that I got the frames before the prescription.  I just knew he wasn't going to understand.....so I spent a good part of the dream scheming how I was going to tell him about this mix-up.  Oh, and how I was going to tell him about the lost dog that I ended up bringing home with the new frames.  How could I not...it was still there....and was so happy to see me when I returned.

Whew........it is said that our dreams are made while filing away all of our conscious and subconscious thoughts.  True here.  I've been thinking alot about this eye doctor appointment and mourning the thought that I will be going back to glasses or contacts...and one of my co-workers lost her dog for 24 hours this week and we were all in pain for her.  An honest person found it and the dog was returned. 

My dream was a huge mix of all of this.  Sorry to bore you with it here...but I wanted to write this one down. 

It's also funny that I worried about Chuck getting mad.  That guy doesn't get mad.  But if there is anything that gets him a little grumpy....it would be spending money wastefully (my full time hobby ...wink) and too many animals in this house (hello?  Have you met our family pets?).

To all my good friends and co-workers in the area.......I hope you have a wonderful week off! Here's hoping the days are long...in a good way. 

A Day at the Spa...

...for the dogs. 

I should preface this by saying I completely understand if you click away.  And roll your eyes.  And say, "Really?"  But this is for my kids.  Who call home and ask how the dogs are doing.  Not how I'm doing.  How the dogs are doing. 

I can say that 2 out of 3 of them are doing way better this evening after their day at the groomer's.  Chuck treated them (really me...the resident cutter......groom doesn't really describe what I do to them) to a good grooming.  This isn't something we do very often so it was a real treat...for ME.

These dogs aren't very pretty to begin with (although very lovable), but they are way prettier now.  And I should be ashamed that I let them get this bad.......but we've had a cold, cold winter and they needed their fur. I did cut Maggie's bangs one night because she couldn't see out of them.  But other than that it's been awhile. 

Maggie...Before.  She looks like something related to Big Foot. 



Maggie....After.  She's feeling extremely light.

Dixie....Before.  I called her name so she would look at me as I took the picture. 

She took the name calling to mean I would play ball with her. 

She stays ready for someone to play. 

And we're sooo over it.

Dixie....After.

Sadie...Left out of the fun.

She looks depressed here but that's her everyday look. 

Scared/Depressed/Anxious. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.

 You are his life, his love, his leader.

 He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.

 You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."

- Unknown

Giddy Up Cowboy!

All things Texas this week in kindergarten.  Wednesday was Texas Independence Day and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is in town.  It might surprise most of you outside of Texas to know that not all Texans ride horses and rope cattle.  But we can put on our boots and bandannas and head to the rodeo and act like cowboys and cowgirls for at least a week or two out of the year.

Chuck and I have been invited to attend the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in an executive suite in Reliant Stadium next week to see the rodeo and Lady Antebellum in concert.  That's how we do the rodeo in Houston, Texas.  Airconditioned suites, giant screen t.v.'s and all you can eat buffet.  And the shopping!  Miles of shopping in the Reliant Center.  It's tougher to be a cowgirl than you think.

Our invitation was to either attend on a Tuesday evening or a Friday evening.  I immediately said Friday because this cowgirl doesn't do late nights on Tuesdays....no matter how good those cowboys look in their tight Wranglers.  I found out after choosing Friday that the band would be Lady Antebellum.  I bought their c.d. this week so I could listen to their songs....other than their hit song "I Need You Now."
Last night while on our way out to eat, I plugged in the c.d.  Chuck asked who it was....I told him Lady Antebellum...the band that's playing next Friday when we're there.  He said he recognized the song. 

And then he said with a sigh of relief, "Oh, good.  I thought it was Lady GAGA we were going to see."

Pop culture and Chuck don't really mix.

So back to the kids....
 

Thursday's Listening Lesson: A Cowboy

This was one of the most complicated lessons yet.  Lots and lots of pieces of construction paper involved....meaning there were a lot of scraps left behind from cutting the previous pieces.  The finished work is always so telling.  Some hang in there for the whole activity.  Some just start doing their own thing.  Some excel in cutting and gluing.  Some would rather be doing anything but cutting and gluing. 

A cowboy has 8 seconds to hang on to the raging bull let out of the pen.  See which cowboy you think made it and which ones got thrown.....

Thrown....lost one arm and a boot. Remaining arm dislocated. 

 Looks a little scrambled but still smiling. 

Probably that heart flower on his hat that makes him happy. 

 Thrown...Lost his vest, his leg, his gun holster and his bandanna....but still smiling.

This is one tough cowboy.

Thrown...Despite his very tiny head and elephant legs, this cowboy survived.

Who knew Jason with the Hockey Mask from the Friday the 13th series was a cowboy?

I bet the bull was scared of this cowboy.

If you can't find a crayon for the eyes and nose, just dig a hole with your pencil.  

Thrown....but survived with only a scattered bandanna

....and some floppy bunny ears.

And we have a winner!  8 seconds on the bull and still on...

half a bandanna...but the rest intact.

*****

I was feeling real good and real manly. 

 Until a real cowboy walked by and

told me I had my hat on backwards. 

 So much for my career as a cowboy.

~ Michael Biehn ~

American Actor