End of the Year Fun

Thanks to Carly for this link

What Famous Person Do You Look Like?

My top 5 matches were:

Katie Holmes, Rene Zellweger, Madonna, Julliane Moore, Liv Tyler

There were about 3 or 4 more others that were there too.. but I can't think of who they were at the moment. You do have to register to get your results, but hey, it's free.

Have fun. It's a great way to flatter yourself, let me tell you.

And Happy New Years!

The Final Countdown...

As we reach the final hours of 2005, and the last few days of my "December posting binge", I've taken some time to reflect on the year and look ahead at the one to come.

I've decide to reflect on the past year in tomorrow's post, and focus on 2006 today. I've found that even after 5 years, having a 20 at the front of the year instead of a 19 still is foreign to me. It's such an abstract thing that I can't wrap my mind around it. It constantly amazes me. I have a "Wow, I can't believe we're in the 20's" kind of light bulb moment. I can see this for maybe 2000, and 2001..but c'mon now. I need to get over it already. I do often wonder what they'll call this decade. "Classic hits from the 80's, 90's and ....?" This stuff will keep you up in the middle of the night.

Back in Black

On my way up to the shower earlier (I love vacation) I noticed a gaggle of birds under my bird feeder. I stopped to watch a minute and went back to my desk. The boy got me a bunch of field guides for Christmas this year. One is Birds of New England, one is the National Audubon's Field Guide to New England, and I also got several quick reference guides. I was interested in knowing for sure a few of the birds that I've wondered about As I stood there, I noticed my bird feeder was empty. I went out to fill it, planning on taking a shower and then coming back to see what birds had come back to feed. After I came in, I was looking through the bird book, trying to determine if I have American Goldfinches or Pine Warbler's that visit (non-breeding winter plumage is hard to ID with) and out of the corner of my eye saw a flock of $#%@ pigeon's fly off in a huff. Wondering what sent them scattering (and secretly grateful) I discovered this under my feeder.

On the Third day of Christmas.....

Now that Christmas is over, I find myself reflecting on how it went this year. I should correct that, as Christmas is not over, the season has really just started..but the big day is over. Here are some observations:

Wrapping as I shopped was one of the best choices I ever made. It was nice to head into the last two weeks before hand and be able to answer "Yes." to all those who asked if I was ready, and had I finished shopping, and when answered yes, asked if I was done wrapping also. There is nothing fun about staying up until all hours wrapping on Christmas Eve. Forgetting what you bought and being just as surprised as the kids when the open the package is so much more fun.

Time Marches On

Eleven years ago, in the wee hours of daybreak, a small child entered this world into the scared and eager arms of his parents. I remember looking down upon his little head, and marveling at how this tiny little creature could possibly be mine. I was overwhelmed with the giant responsibility of caring for this baby boy, and scared to death that I would screw it all up. After all, what did *I* know about raising children?

I will be the first to admit. It was hard. Harder still was trying to find the balance between job, significant other, baby and day to day life. Eventually the job went. While that was a little better it was still hard. Being a young parent is very difficult. It's hard to take care of a child when you are barely done being one yourself. You lack the knowledge and experience that age brings.

Phew

Everyone needs a day off to recover.

Regular scheduled posting will resume tomorrow.

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours... Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of Tums

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house....

Well, Ms. Thang has the stomach flu. She's been sick with it since Wednesday, although yesterday she was much better, so I'm not sure what happened. She woke up today and it was back in full force.

She feels crummy enough that we skipped going to Grammies house for lunch and gifts this year. You know someone feels bad when they give up getting presents.

I'll play my drum for Him...

(sorry it's dark, I took this photo yesterday after school, and this is as light as I can get it without ruining the picture)

I might have mentioned before that I am in a steel drum band. This is the drum that I play until I can save up enough and buy myself a shiny chrome one. It is a chromatic lead, and provides the melody to the songs we play. Out of all the drums that make up a steel drum band, the chromatic lead has the most notes, about 27.

Well done good and faithful servent...

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." II Timothy 4: 7

I have a quote that hangs above my craft area that reads, " I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday." (unknown). I have had it hanging there for a bunch of years now, and I read it on occasion, when I think to. But during the past few months, I have thought of it often. More so the past bunch of weeks, when I knew my time doing that hard thing was running short.

Today was my last day. The past four months have been the hardest four months of my school career. Juggling two different programs, and 15 different kids, along with various other factors made for many long hard days. 15 different kids isn't hard per say, except that 4 are autistic and 1 is mentally retarded and a good day with those boys is still worse than a bad day with most. 

Singing by Candlelight

For four decades, a wonderful treasure has been hidden away in 2 tiny towns in the bottom corner of our state. For forty years there have been generations of families learning music from this fabulous lady pictured to the left. For forty years she has been threatening kids that if they didn't sing with the group, they were going to sing by themselves. And for forty years she has inspired children to play instruments, sing loudly and learn lines to plays that yes in fact they would be able to remember the night of the show.
On top of all that, she has taken on the huge task of teaching grown adults to play steel drums. If you've ever worked with grown adults, this is no easy feat. Adults get cranky and set in their ways. Learning new things is hard, unlike when you are a child and you just do it. She doesn't take no for an answer. She doesn't let you second guess yourself, and when she asks you to join her group that's already started, and you mention that you don't know if you could do it and catch up with the group she just looks at you and says, "So you'll be there Wednesday at 6:45?"

There is something to be said for silence and solitude. Sometimes I think I would miss the people, and the interaction.. but other times I think of how nice it would be just to be quiet and alone.

Today I have a headache. You might remember I had a headache last week. I think it's stress. I believe that is job related, and I am going to test that theory over vacation. Maybe I will start keeping track of my headaches and visit with my PCP. But I really think most of it's stress.

Naughty or Nice?

Today's blog is brought to you by 6 minutes left on the laptop battery, and a server that is still broken.

You Were Nice This Year!

You're an uber-perfect person who is on the top of Santa's list. You probably didn't even *think* any naughty thoughts this year. Unless you're a Mormon, you've probably been a little too good. Is that extra candy cane worth being a sweetheart for 365 days straight?

Were You Naughty or Nice This Year?

Things that suck...

Or, how I spent my holiday gift from my dad.

(the boy went and broke the server, so I can't access my photo's, therefore today you'll have to close your eyes and pretend there is a pretty Christmas photo here.)

Anyhow, where was I. Oh yes. Things that don't suck. Like my vacuum cleaner. We bought our vacuum cleaner about 5 years ago. Paid around $70 and picked it cuz it was light and cheap and we don't have many rugs so why not. Within the first 2 weeks the belt broke and I didn't realize, so I wasn't really cleaning my rugs. Since then, it's slowly gone downhill to the state that it is now in. It sounds like ... well.. like someone should take it out back and put it out of it's misery. It lets off a funky odor, and it sucks. Plain and simple. Actually it doesn't suck worth a damn and that's the problem. Even the little man gripes about having vacuuming as a chore cuz the stupid thing is just so horrible.

A few holiday letters

Dear family,
I am sorry that I grouched at you on the way home today. I was a little peeved (ok, so more than a little) at your Grammie and you can't seem to spend an hour and a half in the backseat without making me rue the day you were born.. so sometimes I get grouchy. I'm much better now, but I'm still mad at Grammie.


Dear chocolate colored baby alpaca yarn,
I love your squishy goodness. You are the nicest yarn I have ever worked with, and I can't wait to see you wrapped around my boys neck keeping him warm. I am sorry that you are half finished in my knitting basket, but I was dead tired by the time I was ready to turn the rest of you into a knit-able ball last night, and I just didn't have time today. I plan to ball you up tonight, and hopefully have you knitted up soon.

Since we've no place to go....

It's a mess out there. First it snowed, then it sleeted, then freezing rain pinged off all the windows, then it poured, and now it's snowing again.

And all this means...another snow day! That makes one Friday that we will have been in school during December. I tell you, I could so get used to having Friday's off. Earlier in the year when the price of oil shot through the roof, we surmised that if we went an extra hour and a half a day, we could drop to a four day week and have Friday's off. Save some oil, enjoy a long weekend. I am so for that. Especially after the week I had.

So today, with no where to go and nothing pressing to do, I am enjoying a nice quiet day off. Cookies are baking in the oven, a scarf for the boy is being knitted, and working up rather quick I might add, and this whole mess should be done this afternoon and not mess with our weekend plans.

Blessings to ya

An Irish Christmas Blessing
God grant you lightness in your step,
a smile on every face you meet,
Loved ones gathered at your hearth,
and at your door, good friends to greet
A holy hymn upon your lips,
a window candle burning bright,
And may the Good Lord bless your
Heart and come to dwell there
Christmas night.
Adapted from an Irish Christmas card by Kearas
*the boy took this photo of one of the pieces of my village.

The light after the storm

After the storm, comes the sun. After the darkness, comes the daylight... after a raging headache, comes the feeling of being a normal human being again. Today is a much better day.

I am sorry if my last posts were whiny and miserable. That is how I felt, and it showed everywhere. Not in the spirit of the season at all.

I took this photo Friday, after our big storm. I was out shoveling for the last time, and all of a sudden the sun came out. I love the sunlight glistening off the snow. I snapped this picture of my house because I loved the fresh untrodden snow look. And it just seemed so festive.

Today's post..brought to you by the number 7

There are seven more days until Christmas Break. Seven more days until we leave school for 11 glorious days off. Seven more days of doing that HARD THING that is slowly but surely sucking every little bit of life out of me. Seven more days. Which feels like an effing lifetime right now.

See, it's not really that many. Except that it is. Especially now. During this hard and hectic time of year. And I did mention that there is a full moon this week? And a snowstorm coming? And this headache that I've been fighting since yesterday, did I mention that?

So, with only seven more days to go, which is roughly 49 more hours (but who's counting, and didn't they mention 10-12 inches of snow Friday?).. the powers that be, or not to be, decided to mess with me. Because why leave well enough alone. After effing with me all damn year, why leave the last seven days alone, and let it end on a somewhat decent note. So today we got a notice at the end of the day..about a shuffle. They like to shuffle me. Apparently I am too efficient (which is something the boy has been telling me for 12 years now) and I do my job too well, and they need me to pile more on to the plate for these last seven days.

Because when I switch back to straight special ed, and boring things like, oh, helping kids learn how to read and figure out math, and learning states and capitals.... this group will miss me. And so for these last seven days working in the Autism program (and I love those boys don't even mistake me for one minute on that) they are going to make my afternoon hell. Because they do only get me half a day, and can't I do a whole day's worth of stuff in that time? Because that is what I've been doing since the end of August , so I really don't mind do I? And I am so good at it , and we do appreciate you. And oh, by the way, you're going to be taking on a boy for the next seven days by yourself.

Thanks for the goodbye, I won't miss you either.

The Moon shines down....

Thursday is a full moon. Unless you work with kids, this probably doesn't mean much to you. When you combine it with the fact that we have 8 more days of school until vacation, it's a very pressing bit of information. I took this photo last month during the full moon. The moon shines across the way over my neighbor's house. He works with kids too. We don't care for the full moon much. Except that it's gorgeous around here.

On other fronts, my Christmas knitting is almost done, my baking is almost finished, and the festivities started this past weekend.

Do You Hear What I hear?

This is one of my favorite songs.. no matter who sings it. Kenny Rogers, Reeba, Vince Gill. Just love it.

Till the Season Comes Round Again

Come gather around at the table
In the spirit of family and friends
And we'll all join hands and remember this moment
Till The Season Comes 'Round Again

Lets all try and smile for the picture
And we'll hold it as long as we can
May it carry us through, should we ever get lonely
Till The Season Comes 'Round Again

One night, holy and bright
Shining with love from our hearts
By a warm fire, lets lift our hands high
And be thankful we're here, till this time next year

It's a wrap

Or actually, it's a scarf. I knit this for my favorite sister in law for Christmas. I used this pattern for the Irish Hiking Scarf, and Lion Brand Wool-Ease in the Fisherman color. Considering I started it last month, I should've been done a lot sooner than yesterday. But you know how it goes, other things come up, etc. etc. I apologize for such a crappy photo, but it was the best I could get.

I plan on making this hat to match, in the same yarn. She wears a grey wool coat to work, so the plan was to give her a nice hat/scarf set she could wear with it in the winter.

This was my first cable project. I don't know what kept me from starting cables sooner, they really are easy.

I'm dreaming....

Remember what the gate looked like early this morning?? Here it is, over a foot of snow later.

It was quite a storm. I shovel in shifts.. so instead of shoveling over a foot of snow at once, I go out usually 3 times and shovel so that I'm only doing 4-5 inches at a time. Much easier on my back. The last time I went out before it stopped snowing it was coming down so hard you couldn't see. I finished shoveling in half an hour, and when I went back to the driveway to come into the barn, I measured 2 new inches of snow on the driveway I had just cleared. That's impressive.

Let it snow..Let it snow....

There is nothing more glorious than a snow day that falls on Friday. Well, almost nothing.

The snow is coming down at a pretty good rate, and they are calling for a foot to fall by 3pm. Looks like we'll have our white Christmas this year.

I hope you enjoyed my silly little poems. As promised, here is the "recipe" if you'd like to write some of your own. Kids really get into this, and we have a bunch of different holiday poem recipes that we are using at school. I thought it would be fun to just pick one and see how many different versions I could come up with.

Holiday Poetry pt. 4

Christmas
Presents piled under the tree
Fresh bread, warm and chewy
Loved ones voices on the phone
Foods that bring back memories
Soft sweaters and new books
Christmas

Holiday Poetry pt. 3

Christmas

Houses decorated with festive greens
Meatballs simmering on the stove
Children laughing and giggling
Chocolate fudge, vanilla eggnog
Holding hands in quiet prayerChristmas



The photo is of my dining room. Notice the window... it's snowing.

Holiday Poetry pt.2

Christmas
Children's eyes aglow with wonder
Pine and Cinnamon mix in the air
  Churchbells ringing, Choirs singing
Ooey Gooey Cookies
Bows and paper, tape and tinsel
Christmas

Holiday Poetry pt.1

OK, so we are doing holiday poetry at school. I decided for each day this week (no, M-Thur) I will post a different version of the same type of poem. Your job is to try and figure out the recipe for the poem. (which I will post on Friday.)

The photo is of my outside lights. We have lights inside on the porch too, but you can't really see them. I'll post those on a different day. Next year we are replacing that fence (same, just not falling apart, and white) so ignore the fact that it looks like it should be in a Halloween photo and not a Christmas one. OK, here's the poem.

Christmas
Twinkling Lights that look like stars
Cookies baking in the oven
Bells ringing out carols
Sticky sweet candy canes
Festive paper, smooth and shiny
Christmas

Oh the weather outside is frightful

There's something a little sad about Sunday. Friday is exciting, because it is the end of the week and the start of the weekend. Saturday is exciting because it is full of possibilities and a whole day off to do whatever and stay up late. Sunday is the end. No matter what you do on Sunday, having to go back to work tomorrow always looms over you like a dark cloud. (Well, I have a dark cloud that looms over me anyhow but that's a post for another day.)

So here we are. Sunday. About to start another week. BUT.. we only have 14 more school days until Christmas break. 

I Believe in Santa Claus

After a long day, I've apparently watched too many Christmas specials. ABC Family has a fabulous 25 Days of Christmas line up, and I'm currently watching The Year Without a Santa Claus (which has my favorite songs, "I'm Mr. Icicle, I'm Mr. 10 below..lalala) and enjoying every sappy minute of it. I tell you, it's not Christmas without these old shows.

I did score my very favorite movie today on DVD however, during my shopping travels (all the shopping is finished except the boys gifts for me, and that's on him.. hooray!). Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas on DVD, and it's the original 1977 version, not the edited one that started showing in the early 80's and is the one I have on VHS. I'm just tickled, but the boy says it was on his list of things to get me, so I feel a little bad about that.

Deck the halls and falalalala

Holiday Checklist:

1. Deck the halls (outside): Done.
I've since given up on my plan to run lights and pine garland up the posts and across the entrance, due to not having an exterior light on the outside of the house. The boy says we can do it over the summer, but I dunno. I think I've moved past this idea.

2. Deck the halls (inside): Done. Oh wait. I have to switch my village over from fall to winter. I have a Dept. 56 village (Season's Bay which allows you to change the accessories to match the seasons, not the house) that Dept. 56 decided to retire right as it was about to get to big for my allotted spaces. Perfect.

Farewell to Fall

Yes, I know that fall doesn't officially end until Dec. 21st but my brain officially puts it to rest on December 1st. The leaves have all fallen off and been raked up several times, the trees are barren and snow has already fallen. I took this photo last Saturday. The pumpkins used to live on my front door step, and they were awaiting a trip to the pit to become target practice for the boy and his friend across the street. They were good pumpkins, but frozen pumpkins make for bad pies.

Reach Out

clicky clicky

How Observent are You?

Yah, as if...

Your Observation Skills Get A C

You tend to notice the big things in life... But the details aren't exactly your forte

How Observant Are You?

Oh, just do it ....

Cheesy internet Quiz brought to you today by the letter 10, and the color Pink (or Laurie)

TEN random things you might not know about me:
1. I thrive on order. Chaos makes me a little crazy.
2. I grind my teeth. I know, it's horrible, and I hate it. But apparently I can't stop.
3. I could live on Cheese and Fruit. Love cheese, in all shapes and sizes.
4. I suffer from PTSD and panic attacks. Although, this year has been pretty mild. Maybe I'm getting better.
5. I like lists. No, cross that. I love lists. See number 1.
6. I hate Halloween. Don't have a real good reason why. I just do.
7. In the Chocolate Vs. Vanilla depate, Vanilla wins everytime. Real Vanilla Bean..not that French Vanilla cr@p.
8. I do yoga. And pilates. Never both on the same day. I shoot for 5 times a week. It doesn't always happen, but it helps keep me sane, especially with the work I do. And on the days that I don't fit it in, I have beer. Beer helps a LOT.
9. If I had to do it all over, I would. Every little minute detail of it. I am better for it.
10. Being cold makes me grouchy.

Patience my child..

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. For those of you not in the know, there are four Sundays before Christmas that make up the Advent Season, which is the time we prepare for Christmas. Each night, starting on the first day, a candle is lit and a prayer is said, as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. An advent wreath includes 3 purple candles, and a rose (or pink), and every week you add another candle until the 4th week when they are all lit together.

My children made this wreath, and I'm rather proud of them. Oh, don't get me wrong, they argued and bickered and I sure didn't feel spiritual as I thought about how I'd like to kill them, or at least hang them up by their toenails..but they did a good job. Tonight we will light the first candle before dinner, and reflect upon why we celebrate Christmas.

Or is it Christmas?

I took this photo at 10am yesterday. We got about 4-5 inches of snow before it was all said and done. It looks rather lovely out there today with the sun glistening off the snow. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. Don't spend too much money today, and enjoy the leftovers!

The Friday 5 will be taking a bit of a break this week so I can work at crossing off my list of things to get done before we go see Harry Potter this afternoon.It's about half done already. Not bad seeing as it's only 9 am (but before you grumble I have been up for 3 hours). For those of you asking for photos, don't worry. The blog with be littered with them all month, as I plan on using them to accent my December posts.

Give thanks.. with a grateful heart

I have a few issues with Thanksgiving as a whole. What started out as a celebration of living, and gratefulness..has turned into a hyped up excuse to eat until you're sick and watch football. Oh, and we can't forget the big shopping sales.

When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was a lot of family, some that I only saw 2 times a year, stuffed into a tiny apartment eating turkey and enjoying each others company. And for us kids, it meant awkward moments with relatives we barely knew, good smells, and lots of fun and giggles in the back room. And then I grew up. And things changed. And people got older, and the celebration moved. And it was OK. A little weird, and still awkward, but OK. This year, our celebration will be small. The family is scattered all over, relatives have passed on, and others barely hold on to life. But we will be grateful for the time we have together, and the memories will hold us until the next time we see each other, be it a few weeks, months or even a year.

I'm a turkey..you're a turkey...

Ok, Carly tagged me.. I won't tag anyone else..but for your reading enjoyment:

It's Thanksgiving. Would you rather host the party or be a guest?No thanks. I host enough parties in December that I am quite happy to skip the turkey. Besides, it's turkey. How creative can you be with turkey. Besides, the boy doesn't like to wake up to the smell of turkey cooking. We happily go elsewhere. And the year that isn't possible anymore, we'll be having something else. Like baked zitti and garlic bread. Or sumthin.

What's your signature side dish?
Right... I travel to the house of someone who likes to be in control of the WHOLE thing. I don't have a sidedish.. I bring a desert. Might be pumpkin pie this year. Might not.
Do you watch the Macy's parade? Why or Why not?
I watch a little of it. It starts around the same time we have to leave.. so we watch some of it. I enjoy the floats.

Will you be doing Christmas/Holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving?
Not this year. I have. And for the past few years I have gotten up at some unruly hour..but nothing this year is making me want to hit the stores at 5am. I will still get up early, but instead will enjoy a nice breakfast with my boy, and then start some decorating.
What is the next movie you plan to see in the theater?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Friday.
What do you want for Christmas?
Snow Shoes. I'm considering these, but also these. However I think I might get the most use out of the first pair, as they are more of an all-terain type of shoe. I just wish they came in Taragon Green.

It's not Christmas until __________ is on TV.
Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. That is by far my favorite Christmas movie ever. I own it, so I can watch it whenever I want. I also like the newer version of Miracle On 34th street.

It's all about the pie

(love these stupid little quizes)

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet Those who like you have well refined tastes

What Kind of Pie Are You?

It's begining to look a lot like......

C H R I S T M A S

I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I know. But it was 50 degrees outside today, and as that is not normal for the end of November. So we took advantage of the nice day and put up our wreaths.. and the lights across the porch, and the lights/garland/bows on the fence. If we can figure out a way, there will be lights and garland around the front door again this year (hasn't been since we installed the outside lights and have no exterior power out there). I have given up on lights around the frame of the house.. and am quite happy with how it works out.Besides, I like how the wreaths look better. Especially now that the house has been painted. They really pop out, where as before they kind of blended in a bit. Friday is the day we decorate the rest of the house/porch and start playing Christmas music. Although, as we only have 2 days of school this week (hooray for short weeks!) I might do the porch on Wednesday like I did last year. That is a project in itself. 

5 things to be happy about

1. Sunshine coming through a window. Especially this far in the cold north. Winter is a hard time of the year for me. 80% of our days are grey and dreary. I think if we had more sunny days, I'd actually enjoy winter.

2. A silent, peaceful room with a rocker in the corner. I actually have a room like this. The rocker isn't in the corner, but it's a nice spot to retreat to when the rest of the house is loud and crazy. My goal for next spring/summer is to finish sanding all the old stain off and refinish it. It was a gift from the boy one year for Mother's Day, and I treasure it for the thought that went into it during a difficult time.
3. The smell of a wood fire burning on a cold, crisp day, and seeing the swirls of smoke come out of the chimneys. I love the smell of a wood fire, and I love that most of the houses around here burn wood, or pellets.. and a cold morning you can see plumes of smoke as far as your eye can see.

4. Homemade soup; bubbling softly, warming the house with delicious aromas and comforting your tummy on chilly nights. I love homemade soup. Once the weather gets chilly, we have homemade soup once a week until it warms up again. Usually, if time allows we have homemade bread to go along with it. It is one of my favorite cold weather traditions. Tonight we are having beef stew. nights.

5.The soft, peacefulness of Christmas music. It's getting to be that time. Thanksgiving is almost here. And while I was doing errands this morning(7am is by far the best time to shop), I happily hummed along with the Christmas music playing out of the speakers.

Sometimes...

Sometimes, you have to do things that are hard. Things that you don't want to do, but are required to do anyways. Sometimes the powers that be determine that you need to be tested, to be put through the ringer, to see how you come out on the other end. And even though you could pitch a fit and scream and whine, you do the hard thing anyways. Because you are who you are. And you have a work ethic. And even though you don't want to be doing this incredibly hard thing, you do it anyways. And you do it the best that you can, and you do it with a smile on your face. Well, most of the time.

And then, just when you think that you can't possibly do it one more day... that the powers that be were wrong, and you aren't the person for the task, and it's too hard.. emotionally and physically and what on earth were they thinking.. when you've reached the end of your rope and you feel like if you could just let go things might actually get better...

They get a little worse. And you are tested harder than you thought you ever would be. And there are meetings and people talking, and bickering and fighting. About you. And you hear these things and second guess yourself and wonder what on earth you were thinking when you agreed to do this, and why didn't they pick someone else, and who cares if I was best match because I. Just. Can't. Take. It. One. More. Minute.

I may be a bigger dork than I thought

(note, I always hit shuffle on my ipod. Always.)

I give, for your laughing enjoyment, the top 10 songs played on my ipod.

1. Hero-Enrique Eglasias
2. All Out of Love-Air Supply
3. The Right Kind of Wrong-Lee Anne Rimes
4. Dancing Queen-Abba
5. Straw Hat and Old Dirty-Bare Naked Ladies
6. One Way or Another-Blondie
7. Shut Up-Bloodhound Gang
8. Wrapped Around- Brad Paisley
9. New York Minute-Don Henley
10. Estranged- Guns N Roses

I need....

So I read about this game today, where you go to google, type in "_____(your name here) needs" and post the first 10 replies. Now keep in mind, a lot of people have already played this game, so you have to sift through the links that are other people's blogs of the game. Ok, here's mine.

1. Beth needs prayers. Boy do I ever. A few prayers that I can get through this year and make it to June with my sanity in tact would do just fine thanks.

2. Beth needs your vote at Foxsports.com. Umm.. well. The only sport I've done latley is walking, and I don't think they have competitions for that. So thanks, but no thanks.

3. Beth needs a first floor bedroom. Well, as a matter of fact, I have a bedroom on the first floor of my house. And the way my knees are working latley (or not), maybe that bed will come in handy.

I'm blue.. la da dee da da la da deee da da da

Your Heart Is Blue

Love is a doing word for you. You know it's love when you treat each other well. You are a giving lover, but you don't give too much. You expect something in return. Your flirting style: Friendly Your lucky first date: Lunch at an outdoor cafe Your dream lover: Is both generous and selfish What you bring to relationships: Loyalty

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Home of the brave

Thank you doesn't seem like enough.

Happy Veteran's Day

Five things I love about You

1. The things you find photo-worthy. Like these little birds that were hanging out under my bird feeders one day. They aren't anything spectacular, their color is pretty drab.. yet you got it in your head that the group of them on the ground was worth a shot. I see them every day, and I'm not sure I would've taken the picture. I snap the bright red cardinal's that visit, and the little yellow birds, and other bright birds that I don't normally see. You on the other hand, have a whole different perspective on things. Now that you have your own camera, I enjoy going through the files and seeing the world through your eyes. You've become quite a good photographer. I wonder why for years I had a hard time getting you to take photos with my camera.. but I see now that digital was obviously better for you.

2. The way you gather me close, when I feel like I am going to shatter into a million different pieces, and hold me tight until I can stand on my own two feet again. No one in my life has ever made me feel as safe and loved as you do.

Everything you NEVER needed to know..and then some

(*I might not post for a while after this.. phew!)

Age: 31
Height: 5'51/2
Natural hair color: brown
Eye color: golden brown
Number of siblings: I have a whole crapload, natural and step
Glasses/contacts?: I wear purple glasses. I would wear contacts, but I have multiple vision issues and that prevents me from being able to
Piercings: one diamond stud in my left ear
Tattoos: just one, colors starting to fade after all these years
Braces?: nope, saving my pennies for when Ms. Thang needs hers

Hmmpph

Not sure how I feel about this


Colon
You scored 46% Sociability and 23% Sophistication!

It doesn't bother you when people make anatomical jokes about you,
because you're laughing right along with them. True, you cannot be
called gregarious, but within your domain you're secure for a very
simple reason: you know that nothing can ever replace you. You have a
quiet confidence, and a love of simplicity. You should be a bit leery
around the dash.

Take the stupid test for yourself, and see which punctuation mark you are

It shoulda been me...

(note, this post is mostly whining.. see prior post about being hormonal, and add being late to that)

So for the past 10ish years I have participated in a football pool. It started out a fun thing with the family, and has graduated to a full blown money involved-50 people thing. I used to win a lot. Back before the money. In the days of circle your picks on a paper and we'd all compare on Monday night. FFWD 10 years. I haven't won a single week since money became involved. It is still fun, but it would be nice to win. Once. This week, I almost had it. Up until Yesterday, I was going to win. I had the points. I had the team picked, they won the damn game last night. And because we have a tie-breaker score pick for the Monday night game.. someone else won. My brother's Father-In-Law, who picked a few more points closer than I did OK, not a few. TWO points. I picked 57 points. He picked 59 points. The game was a total of 61 points. I pouted all morning. I know it's rather childish, and frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn. I honestly expected to wake up, log on and find out I won. Seems the planets are aligned all wrong.

Rake your effing leaves already!!!!!

Maybe I'm just cranky. Or maybe I'm hormonal. Or it could be that the fluid in my ear that is making not only my ear hurt, but my throat along with it (and did I mention the dizziness?) is causing an imbalance in my mood. Perhaps the moon and the planets are lined up just right and the tides are pulling my good karma out to sea. Whatever it is.. I feel a little irrational.

See, last weekend we raked. I might have mentioned that we had a lot of leaves. We got half the year cleared, and most of the other half in piles. Then the week went by, and the places that we already raked, filled with leaves again. Not as many as we started with, but enough to make me grumble as I re-raked. I glared across the street at my neighbor's yard, and all his un-raked leaves, and continued raking.

We are the champions.. my friend

The sun was just coming up over the field when the players arrived. It was 8:30am and the first playoffs of the day were here already. A look of relief crossed the faces of the team as they looked around and realized what team they were playing against. You could almost hear them thinking aloud. "Well, we've beaten them twice already, we can do it again."

The game started, and the team played hard. Each time a goal was scored there was jumping and cheering on the field. Maybe a little too much, but hey when you're young, a win is a great thing. The other team was getting discouraged. They had adopted a "why are we even bothering attitude", despite getting 3 goals against us. Sometimes it's hard to play against your friends. The kids manage, and the other team gave a half hearted attempt at playing back. But in the end, we beat them 7-3.

Look Ma... cables!

So I'm home from school today. I've felt pretty crappy all week, but for various reasons needed to be there the past few days. Yesterday before I was getting ready to leave, as my throat called out for mercy and my world spun as I stood up, I decided I wasn't going in today.

So this morning, after the kids left, I spent a few quality hours camped out on the couch watching morning TV on ABC, and knitting. This is the Irish Hiking Scarf, whose pattern can be found here. I started it this morning, and this photo represents about 5 pattern repeats (plus 2 more rows). It's going to be a Christmas present for my SIL, whom I love, and judging by the speed that it's working up at (so much faster than that sock on those little toothpicks with tiny string) I think when I'm finished I'll make myself one. She's a wash and wear kind of gal, so I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease, with size 8 needles. I think I'll use Cascade 220 for mine, in the same color.

Stop the train.....

"When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you "

This song hits a cord so deep that I could adopt it as my current theme song. Work is kicking my arse this year. It's gotten so chaotic and overwhelming, that I can't look past the current day. I can't think about the meeting next week, or a book report my son has coming up, or the project that my daughter is about to embark upon.. because right now I am just trying to get through each day. I am trying, and trying, and no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get up for air. Doing the work of 3 people is a lot on a good day. Doing it day after day after... sucks the very life right out of you.

And so it goes...

In honor of Halloween being tomorrow, I give you sleeping cat in a fall basket. I don't care for Halloween, so this is the best I have to offer. I won that basket in a raffle earlier in the spring, and it is sitting on top of a heater in my kitchen. The cat, who loves to sleep there sans basket, decided that if the basket was going to be in her way, made the best of the situation and has taken to sleeping inside. Whatever works right?

A little re-cap of how the weekend went. I feel you deserve this after I posted what I planned to get done this weekend. In retrospect, I realize that my goals were a little lofty, and I forget to take into consideration how TIRED I was on Friday when I posted this. Being tired affected my baking. I did get applesauce made, and some of it's in jars in the freezer to gift away during the holidays. I also managed chilli in the crockpot today, and the boy made bread. Not quick bread, a nice honey wheat to go with dinner. I think I'll take a few nights this week and do the baking I had planned. We'll see how it goes. Yah, and the cleaning? I must've inhaled a few too many fumes Friday.

5 things I will be doing this weekend

1. Freezing. Our last soccer game is tomorrow. This is a make-up game for a game that has been rained out twice. It was supposed to be playoff weekend. Let's not think about soccer next week in the cold days of November. It's just not right. And we are supposed to get snow tonight. Yehaw. Remind me again how it's fun to play soccer in the freezing cold?

2. Raking. See prior post about why I NEED to rake this weekend. In fact, I'm starting as soon as I'm done typing. Too many leaves. Must rake.

3. Errands. We do errands every weekend. OK, so *I* do errands every weekend. But yesterday Micheal's opened up a new store down in the city. Guess where I'm going Sunday? Can you spell Grand Opening Sale? Oh, and did I mention it's a payday? I'm sure I need something.

In which we find rambles

1.The weather has been awfully weird around here this month. We started out the month with summer like temps, then we had some flooding and major rains, and yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground. Actually, when I went to bed on Tuesday night it was snowing. Not that snow in October is unusual around here, but I haven't even raked my leaves yet. (waiting for those last hold outs to fall off) I decided last year that multiple raking sessions were out, as I don't have time anymore, and the boy recommended raking all at once once there were no leaves left to fall. He even helped and I figured, hey, why reinvent the wheel right? As much as it conflicts with my OCD tendencies to have a messy leafy yard, the help is worth the wait. We plan to head out this weekend and clean it all up.

What is your lover style?

Maybe being home is a bad thing

Click here to take the lover quiz

Here's my results: (wonder what the boy would get?)

The Devoted Lover

86% partner focus, 28% aggressiveness, 45% adventurousness

Based on the results of this test, it is highly likely that:

You prefer your romance and love to be traditional rather than daring or out-of-the-ordinary, you would rather be pursued than do the pursuing and, when it comes to physical love, your satisfaction comes more from providing a wonderful time to your partner than simply seeking your own.

This places you in the Lover Style of: The Devoted Lover.

The Devoted Lover is a wonderful Lover Style, and is perhaps the best Lover Style when it comes to developing a long-term, caring and rewarding relationship. The Devoted Lover is a treasure to find, though it is sometimes difficult to time establishing a relationship with one just right; usually, this is the last romantic relationship you'll need to find, so sow any wild oats first.

In terms of physical love, the Devoted Lover can be shy at first but gradually warms and eventually can be a thrilling partner who knows every need of his/her partner. Given a strong and loving relationship, and the right lover, the Devoted Lover can be a delight in bed.

Best Compatibility can probably be found with: The Suave Lover (most of all) or the Classic Lover, or the Carnal Lover.

Just another manic Monday

It was a busy weekend. I skipped the Friday post to go play with pumpkins and this photo is a view from the boy's camera. It was a little on the cold side, but we ran into some old friends and had a good time in spite of that.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of soccer and errands and cleaning and other such busy-ness..and in the hustle and bustle of it all my little gal was fighting a cold she's had since last week. I tried to convince her Saturday that playing in cold icky weather wasn't in her best interests, and yes in fact her soccer team would survive without her, but alas she is a trooper and played anyhow.

Ye Olde Fort

Every few years, I find myself on a field trip to the Fort at No.4 in Charlestown NH. It's a rather fascinating place, and while you'd think going to the same place every few years would get old, I see and learn new stuff each time we go.

It was a little cold at the fort today. The sun was out, mostly. But the wind blew hard and as you are mostly outdoors, or in old wooden houses that are poorly fit for winter...alongside a river, you can imagine for yourself. I'm glad to be home and in the warmth of my house.

Wake me up...when the school year ends

I find myself stuck in the middle of an impossible situation at school this year. It grows increasingly more difficult the further into the year we get, and the level of my stress continues to rise until some days I think I'd be better off running away. Somewhere tropical and warm would fit the bill, along with a personal massage therapist to work the tension out of my neck, along with some of those great tropical drinks with little umbrellas. Lots of little umbrellas.

I service two special ed programs this year. One for kids with learning disabilities and such, and the other is for kids with autism. That is a district program that is housed in our school, and one that is short staffed this year. They went through some major staffing changes last year, and I got sucked in to work in the program half time. Which leaves my other program with me half time. This causes all kinds of issues, because the autism program trumps the special ed program. If someone is out, I get pulled for a full day, as they have to meet a certain amount of staff by law. However, when I get pulled out, it affects a far larger number of students in the regular special ed program. So you can get the gist of the problem here. Green Day's song has become my theme, and I just change the month and hum it when I'm having a particularly horrible day.

The light at the end of the playground

At the far end of the blacktop, at the top of a hill overlooking a field, with a lone mountain as a backdrop, sits a wooden structure that has stood the test of time. It has withstood rain, snow, wind, children, teenagers and starstruck lovers. It is a testament to parents and teachers who raised funds and then put their love and sweat into erecting a new playground for their children and future children to play on.

It has nooks and crannies, benches, tires, a bridge a fire pole, a slide and several climbing area. It also has broken boards, rough edges, dry rotted tires that contain hornet nests and railings that give splinters daily. The kids love it, but it needs a bit of work. A little TLC, some elbow grease, a sander and some new paint and it will be as good as new. Or at least a bit better.

Bella Luna

Sometimes, just when you feel like you can't take it for one millisecond longer, the god's smile down on you and suddenly it's not so bad.

Sometimes, after you've sunken into a low, morose slump, feeling like it will always be gloomy and grey, the storm breaks and a light shines softly in the distance.. drawing you back from your dark solitude.

Just before dinner tonight it stopped raining.

5 things I'm currently pondering

1. 9 days of rain. It has been raining, non-stop (either regular rain, pouring, or a drizzle) for 9 days now. That is 9 days with no sunshine. 9 days of damp, cold air. 9 days of everything being wet. 9 days of high water and overflowing rivers and flood-watches. We don't need more rain. In fact, I think we've hit our water capacity for the year. I better not hear the words "drought, or fire danger" for a long long time. My weather girl currently shows it to be mostly cloudy and a tad sunny with no rain. She lies like a rug. If it were currently such, I can tell you I wouldn't be logged onto the Internets.

In which we find Wednesday

Hard to believe it's Wednesday already. Having a Monday off sure throws your week into a tailspin. So in the randomness of the week, we have some random things to post on.

* Today is the day we turned the heat on. I feel like we should hold some sort of ceremony, marking the latest day we've EVER turned the heat on in the almost 9 years we've been turning our own heat on. I feel this is quite an accomplishment. If it wasn't so damned damp and rainy, we might've made it a bit longer, but the damp was just sinking into my bones. It's amazing what a little heat will do for your attitude.

Hey Brother Noah.....

Friday afternoon, before we all headed out for a much needed long weekend, a few of us were standing around talking about our what we planned to do with our time off. Some people had a wedding to attend to, some of us had soccer and in-laws, and drinking was discussed readily.

We also talked about how the coming rain showers were probably going to ruin a lot of our plans. Some of us (we won't mention any names, *cough*) hoped it might pour so we could skip soccer and make our hellish day a bit easier. Someone else asked when the rain was supposed to stop, and I mentioned that I had seen the 5 day forecast and they were calling for rain every day. Someone else, who shall not be mentioned, piped up that when we got rain for that many days they started thinking of Noah and the ark.

5 things I won't miss about this week

Huzzah! (that's an English phrase, didja know that?) It's Friday. I love Friday. Not as much as I love Saturday and Sunday, but I love it just the same. We've discussed my not cooking dinner, and the beer, and the joy that comes at the end of the work week.. so we don't need to revisit that. Some weeks I love Friday more than others. This was one of those weeks.

If I had to rate this week, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best rating, and 1 being the worst... I'd give it a -3. If we can teach five and six year olds about negative numbers now, I can use them to rate my week. Hate you new math. And whoever heard of adding left to right? Anyhoo, that's a post for another day. This one is all about things I won't miss from my week. Here we go.