Sunday, February 25, 2007

The neighbor strikes again!


So on Valentine's Day, the dreaded neighbor from across the street came and paid Mark a visit... (if you look back to November 3, you can read the first part of this story). He was complaining again about how our dog's barking disturbs him. He admitted that we limit Pepper's time outside to 15 minutes about 3 times per day, yet even that small amount of barking was driving him crazy......
So, my sweet husband who is light years ahead of me in neighborly instinct.... went to the pet store to weigh our options. He considered a shock collar, wherein we would have to shock our baby each time her barked. Then he considered some new do-hickey that squirts the dog in the nose when he barks (too expensive). Finally he settled on this classic nylon muzzle.
When I arrived home from school that day I was shocked to see my sweet puppy obviously agitated by this foreign contraption. But regardless of my feelings on the topic, each time that I put him outside I attach the contraption to his head. He is still able to bark with it on... it just kind of limits his range of motion therein keeping his bark at a lower pitch.... you know, less yappy. You can also see from the photo that he can get his prodigiously long tongue out of it. The neighbor has conceded that he can live with this new arrangement. I am debating on whether I should put this picture in his mailbox with "Are you happy now?" scribbled on the back.
What do you think?

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Home

Our whole family went to Angel's Camp to our little condo for the week. It was soooo nice to be there. I am not sure what I should call that place... I guess the closest I can come to reality would be "our second home". We had great times visiting friends in Tuolumne County and productive times working on the "old house" which we are still trying to sell. On Tuesday I sat at the table and felt my world expanding beyond it's narrow range in the company of many dear friends and lively conversation. On Thursday I went to Columbia Elementary and spent the day popping in on eveyone's lunch hour and later into their classrooms... I felt like I smiled for the whole 3 hours I was there. It just felt so free-ing to be among trusted friends again. I miss that school so much and pray that I will find that connectedness at my new job. I am giving it time and prayers, and I guess I should throw in a little more effort too.

But going back to my "word" for the year.... remember it was "FULLNESS".....

This trip really helped to re-fill my soul.

So thanks to Joanna and Rick and Steph and Greg and Lori and Anne and Maryanne and Kristin and Shelley and Robin and Laurie and Don and John and Karen and Karen and Terri and Cherub and Michelle and Carol and Natalie and Stacy and Suzanne and Scott and Liz and Sharon and Julie and Lisa for the light you brought into my heart during a stormy week.

Of course, being present in the moment, I didn't take a picture all week....

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Inspiration

Anna Quindlen : ...but the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three on them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4, and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in a hurry to get on to the next things: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.


Pablo Casals : Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.


Mother Teresa : It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Contentment

is settling in to me again. The last few weeks I have been suffering from malcontent. Just a sense of my life being out of kilter.... feeling flat..... sloth like.

This week that feeling has been floating away. I feel more free.... less overwhelmed... more hopeful.....

This cycle of emotion is one I am bothered by. I wonder if the way I feel is "normal". Is it depression? Is it hormonal? Is it just LIFE?

Sometimes I feel such a dichotomy inside myself....

I want to whine and snap and complain, yet still be considered "nice"
I want to cry and lean, yet still be considered "strong"
I want to be alone and isolated, yet not feel "lonely"

Luckily, (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) this snappy, crying, isolated ME only comes around at home. Mason says I have a split personality... I seem like a completely different person at work vs. home.

I try to be the best ME I can be all the time, but sometimes there's just not enough oxygen, not enough energy.

And then I wonder who the real ME really is.... If I were a character in "Shallow Hal" would I be seen by Hal as a gorgeous, thin beauty or a wrinkled up old witch?

Then I remind myself that I have been created with the potential for good or bad inside myself and I need to rejoice and strengthen the good and accept and work through the bad. I am a work in progress, and I am LOVED just the way I am.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

No Words


My Valentine

I guess we're going on 20 Valentine's Days now, and I can truly say I love him more every year. It's not because of his expert shopping skills.... This year I asked him to think of a way to show me how much he loves me and he bought me a watch. He said I am always running late and needed to be more aware of the time....

but deep down he really wanted to buy me the ULTRA expensive camera I've been pining away for... we just can't afford it right now. The TAX man came knocking on our door today (before Valentine shopping) and we owe money to the fed and state.... we are officially rich now, so we have moved up into yet another higher tax bracket. (I keep wondering if we are so rich, why can't I afford to buy myself a new pair of jeans without using credit? But that's off the topic)

Back to my valentine.....

Here are a few reasons why I love you on this night....

1. You spent the day helping your mom run errands even though you didn't really want to.
2. You are distressed that you didn't have time to vacuum the carpet.
3. When I heard you and Mason laughing out loud at a movie it made my heart do a little flip-flop.
4. You finished all the pages in our little "Just the 2 of Us" scrapbook.
5. You are a kind neighbor.
6. You are working hard to get into shape.
7. You are smart.
8. You work really hard and are dedicated to your job.
9. You are taking me to Sonora next week so I can see my friends.
10. When you breathe on the back of my neck I still get goosebumps.
11. You know just what to say to make me laugh.
12. When I am cranky and whiny you love me anyway.
13. You cuddle me every night when you are asleep.
14. You said "Thank you for a nice dinner" even though you didn't really like it and had to drench everything in Ranch dressing.
15. You washed my car today even though it is raining.
16. You are getting little crinkles around your eyes, and they look great on you.
17. You know me better than anyone, and you still like me.
18. You always ask how my day was.
19. I miss you when we are apart.
20. I can always count on you... you are my rock.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

The 101st Day of School

The 100th day of school is a HUGE deal in the Kindergarten world. There are celebrations and activities galore. Our 100 day was yesterday....... I had so much to do it carried over into today. Here is a list of our 100th day doings:

Days 98 & 99-
Counted and ate 100 Cheerios (or took them home in a ziploc)
Made 100 day crowns with 10 strips of paper and 10 stickers on each strip
Wrote and illustrated "I could eat 100 _____"
Made a class book with 5 stars on each page..... ( actually came to 105, but in a regular class of 20, it would have been 100 stars)
Students counted and brought collections of 100 items to school


Day 100-
Read all time best 100 day book: Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th day of Kindergarten
Made adorable paper crafted portraits of our 100 year old faces and dictated the sentence "When I am 100 I will ...."
Made a snack of 100 items (10 each of 10 items)
Made a necklace with 100 fruit loops on it
Found 100 Hershey kisses hidden around our classroom with numbers written on the bottom and placed them on a 1-100 chart

Day 101- (held over due to wild and crazy behavior on day 100)
Counted 100 cookies shaped into a snake and ate 1 cookie each
Played with 100 balloons.

And, an activity I planned for today: wrote a pseudo paragraph about the 100th day of school....
consisting of the following.....
Completed this sentence: The 100th day of school was _______.
Then illustrated a series of 3 activities in boxes with these words under them.... First, we _____. Then, we _______. Finally, we ________. (Adults wrote for most kids here, a few did own writing.)
Completed this sentence: It was a ______ day.


Here is my paragraph:

The 100th day of school was rainy. First, we ate too much sugar. Then, we all lost control of our senses. Finally, we almost made the librarian cry and gave our teacher a headache. It was a poorly planned day.

Note to self: limit sugar intake on 1st rainy day in weeks!!!!

Oh, and just so you know, next week looks like this: Monday-birthday, Tuesday- field trip, Wednesday- Valentine's Day, Thursday- birthday. I hope I survive!!

Monday, February 05, 2007

I Can't Believe it!!

I've been germed!!

Unfortunately, one of the 32 times sneezes that has been aimed my way in the last week, succeeded, and I am officially sick. I spent the day hyped up on DayQuil, and I still think I had a fever. It was not a picnic. Tomorrow I have to have all of the teachers in the school in my room for a staff meeting, so my room MUST look nice, but I left work at 3:15 without doing any extra cleaning and came home to take a nap. I did this so I will have the energy to watch 24 tonight. A GIRL HAS TO HAVE PRIORITIES, YOU KNOW! I will just put all the clutter that's on my desk into the closet. No one will ever have to know!

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Oh Happy Day!!!!

Today when I opened my email I was greeted with the most luscious news........


THE NEW HARRY POTTER BOOK IS BEING RELEASED ON JULY 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am quite crazy about these stories and have been lurking around various wizarding sites for months trying to get a snippet of information, but now I have it! From Borders (where I just preordered my copy) and JK Rowling's site as well!

Oh Happy Day!!!

Now I just need to make sure I am not disturbed for about 48 hours beginning on July 21 at 1:00 am, and I will finally know how the story ends!