Moi, This Week

I am trustworthy and honest
I want a real home
I wish life was not always so full of obstacles
I hate hypocrites
I miss my family
I hear what I want to
I wonder if I will ever be truly satisfied with anything
I regret not thinking before I speak
I am not growing up, ever!
I dance to almost anything
I sing in my truck
I cry when no one can see me
I am not always patient
I make with my hands new fence when my ponies tear it down (this evening's project...)
I write whenever I can
I confuse myself with love
I need to accept my downfalls
I should appreciate more the forces in my life
I start too much
I finish everything I start

Hopefully something exciting occurs this weekend. I was supposed to patrol for fires, but funding fell through, so now I just have to be available if one does start. I have 5 days off and don't know what to do with myself! I suppose I can get a lot done with the ranch, but it would be nice to be a little bit social at least. I'd try and make a date with Chris but I think he may be a bit mad at me at the moment (see above, lines 6,7 and 8). Though I'm really hoping that isn't the case...
I was thinking of going to Greeley for a rodeo if I had a friend there, but unfortunately I can't get hold of him, so that's out. Plus I really want to stick to the forest if there's another fire. I need a new truck and can't pass up the H-pay or overtime!
Long frustrating week...4 10's can really get to you sometimes...but having Friday off is worth it. Sorry I haven't been very insightful lately, it's hard after a long day in the field to be articulate.

Oh yeah! Almost a week ago Izzy (my little Manx cat) had two kittens! This is a step up since last time she only had one. Yeah, my Tomcat's not gay! I'll get pics up since they aren't as newborn ugly as they once were and their eyes are almost open. 2 cute!

Fizzlin' Out

So I was released back to IA (Initial Attack) late Saturday night. It was a bit of a relief after working a 16 hour shift. We got stuck on top of the mountain when the fire jumped the line. Had to wait until the helicopters had dropped enough water to give us a route down. Then it pooured yesterday which was a bit of a Godsend sinc homes were being threatened. As it was we had already evacuated all the livestock and homes nearby. So from what I know in work this morning the fire is more or less out. I dropped off the film from a camera I dug up yesterday, so I should have pics up by next Monday at the latest.

Burn Baby, Burn!

So I've been complaining all week 'cause Chris has been working on the biggest fire in CO so far for the last week which is only about 60 miles from my house - that I'm not on because out forest is too high risk to lose any resources to another area...so today I get called up for my very own fire about 15 miles from my house! Yeah! I'm hurrying up and waiting for the rest of my crew! I'm going to try and dig up a camera since I forgot mine! Wish me luck!

Surprise!

I'd better not be a eunuch, I like boys way too much! So 70/30 is split down the middle huh? Hmmm...is it me or is that math a bit off? Rejecting traditional rolls. I think that sums it up in a nutshell...

You Are 70% Boyish and 30% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

ME!

Thank you all for your great time wasting ideas! I hate these last 15 minutes in the office...helps soooo much!

danielle is the real winner
danielle is too sexy
danielle is now at work
danielle is on her way to hide in the "girls bathroom" to drink her vodka
danielle is willing to risk it
danielle is missing
danielle is alive
danielle is cracked
danielle is sure that chuck will save the universe one day
danielle is not most people
danielle is also known as 'little miss sunshine'


And my personal favorite:

danielle is a sassy little 13 3/4" sable & white bitch who thinks that everyone should stop and pet her

What McLeod Needs

Stealing bright ideas from Yeimy and having been very inspired today at work...

1. McLeod needs patience
2. McLeod needs a life
3. McLeod needs to go grocery shopping REALLY, REALLY bad
4. McLeod needs to chill out
5. McLeod needs to be productive at work regularly, not sporadically
6. McLeod needs to sleep right now
7. McLeod needs to win the lottery

Hmmmm...Vewy, Vewy Interesting...

So who asked if I had dates lines up when I got home? Hell Yeah! Two days spent with Chris this weekend ;)

Anyway - started with the Forest Service last week and have been trying to adjust to the new schedule. I'll get there, just give me time!

Big Fire near us. Hopefully I'll get called up. Our FMO (Fire Managment Officer) just headed out to check if we were needed, but my guess it's going to be a big fat no. Kicker is I bet Alamosa Volunteer Fire was called up and Chris is there since he's not texting me back. Bummer. I'm way jealous.

Your Linguistic Profile::

50% General American English

25% Upper Midwestern

10% Dixie

5% Midwestern

5% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I'm Baaaack!

So we all got back without a hitch! Definitely need to go back and visit again and spend some more time in certain areas...maybe travel the Mediterranean again.

Did you know...?
Four jobs I've have had in my life:
1. Lifeguard
2. Ski Patrol
3. Firefighter
4. Teacher
Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Gladiator
2. Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
4. River Runs Through It
Four places I have lived:
1. Calumet, MI
2. Birmingham, MI
3. Port Huron, MI
4. San Luis Valley - Colorado
Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Don't have t.v.
Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Greece
2. Turkey
3. Germany
4. Baja California
Four websites I visit daily (or more like weekly now):
1. Hotmail.com
2. Blogger.com
3. All my AGD links!
4. EBay
Favorite foods:
1. Chinese
2. Crab legs
3. Italian
4. Tamales
Places I would rather be right now:
1. Back on the Mediterranean
2. Baja
3. On Vacation
4. Out to dinner with someone since I have NO FOOD in my house!

TSM Lives in Greece Too!

Yes! The Shopping Monster lives in Greece also...and Turkey! He's very well traveled and I'm broke until the end of the month. Yeah for me! Maybe there is a big Shopping Monster family spread across the world and they all keep track of where we are traveling so as to attack when we least expect it?

But I did bring back some wonderful jewlery, museum reproductions, art...etc...It seems I HAD to have certain things for both myself and others. Oh well. I thought I would let you all know in case anyone was thinking they may escape him by jumping continents. I do recommend letting the shopping monster take over in Greece though if you have the chance...and Turkey.

Interesting experience I had over there with another woman who came along as her school's sponsor that I need to share. After leaving Ephesus we went into Kusadasi to hit the bazaars. When we stepped out of the taxi a man approached us to shop diamonds. He brought us, and her husband, into the back rooms where the EXPENSIVE stuff was (maybe we looked rich?) and literally drapped us in diamonds. Luckily the Shopping Monster must have been on a Turkish Coffee Break and I managed to not buy anything. But it was quite the experience to be wearing about $100, 000.00 worth of diamonds on my body for even a short period of time...Now I thik I need to marry someone rich and go back to Turkey and shop...

Pictures!

As we wrap up our trip, we have all decided we want to stay in Greece just for the ice cream. It is unbelievable here! It's so good! Ok...off the ice cream trip...the ruins were cool too ;) And pictures are following!

Overlooking Patmos from St. John's Grotto
As mentioned before, this was a rather spiritual island. Not large, but very quiet and rather uplifting is one managed to get into the Grotto when very few people were there.





The Monestary of St. John
At the monestary the women (and men) are asked to keep there shoulders and knees covered out of respect. Unfortunetly we didn't have enough time on the island to get a chance to go through the monestary, but did get to view it from the outside.








Ephesus
Unbelievable! Just amazing to think of such a huge civilization simply not existing anymore. The ruins are incredibly preserved and the marble statues and carvings are beautiful!











Approaching Santorini
I wrote about this yesterday as well, but this is the volcanic chain of islands that used to be one island and a site historians believe could have held the lost city of Atlantis. The towns are all built on top of the island as it is a fairly steep slope to the top. Cable cars and mules make the run up and down regualrly, or you can choose to walk...which is quite the climb. The girls and I choose to ride mules to the top and back, though a few opted to walk down!

Riding the mules to town!
A view of the back of the mule as we approached town. There is a rather good walkway up upon which we rode, but it seems crazy steep when looking over the edge!

Temple of Posiedon
Very cool, but we were all very tired while here. Thankfully there isn't too much to see other than the landscape and we did get a double decker bus for the trip and sitting upstairs while riding along the coast was cool. And yes, we did get a closer look at it and I have many more pictures I will post in an album or slide show soon!

We're off early, so this is my last blog from Greece! Wish us a safe and happy trip back to the states!

Ciao - d

TODAY it's my Birthday?

As usual, I've been cursed on the big day. I fell asleep early last night after a long day with a headache and forgot to put my luggage outside the door to be taken off the ship. SO, when I awoke at 5:30 I was in a bit of a panic and extremely embarrassed about something I'd been reminded to do about 50 times. The good thing is all the kids got their stuff together alright. Anyway, once I handled that situation, we had debarked and I managed to get separated from the 30-odd people I was with in an extremely small bus terminal. What I can't figure out is how I did this, but after about 20 minutes I was convinced I'd been left behind and was now stuck at the port in Pireaus. So I followed good advice of the lost and stayed in one place and low and behold after awhile some one I knew bumped into me. I couldn't help but think about how I'd been joking about staying in Greece as a birthday present to myself and had told the kids not to worry if I disappeared...but I was just joking!
So techinically the day is just starting back in the states and I figure I have some time to make up, but I think I'm going to enjoy a belated birthday because we leave at 3am to catch our flight and I'm tired! So I'm going to bed and will pretend it's today tomorrow once I'm back home.

Ghetto Cruise Ship

The kids are all in compliance that now that we are off the ship we can complain about it. The service was okay, but everyone we dealt with were extremely friendly and helpful, so we didn't feel right voicing our complaints too loudly while there, but there were some interesting occurrences.... I NEVER had hot water. The bathrooms were so small you couldn't turn around, and the shower was a 1.5 x 1.5 foot space you pulled a curtain around. There were a million other students with sponsors who let them run wild. The elevator broke to the 10 the floor. They ran out of towels; don't ask...I think the laundry broke. My boarding pass was wrong and was another sponsor the whole time...a guy no doubt. Nano was claustrophobic in a 7 x 5 room with three other people...So needless to say, other than sleeping we spent a LOT of time away from the cabins and up on the deck or on land. But it was memorable, interesting and we did enjoy it despite the set backs...and like I said, everyone was very friendly...either that or they were laughing at the silly americans the whole time...hmmmmm...

Ship Ahoy!

Despite having pics to load, I'm not becaus ethe service is WAY slow and I'm not paying a ton to miss walking around the island. I'll try and get them up another time...maybe in Athens. We landed in Crete this morning but didn't do much of anything. We just finished riding mules up to Santorini, which was quite the ride! It is amazing here. The city is on top of the mountains, so you can walk, take a cable car, or ride mules. I'll post pics of that tomorrow if I can while in Athens. Santorini is the site of the fabled isle of Atlantis. The island chains were formed from a volcanic eruption around the 1500's BC. A chain of Tsunamis and earthquakes preceded and followed causing the center of the island to sink. Ruins have been found that are quite advanced off the coast. This is our last day at sea and we will debark in Athens tomorrow morning around 7:30. We have an trip out to the Temple of Poseidon and then get to bed early for our 6 am flight out. It has been a great trip and I think everyone has really enjoyed it. Patmos and Ephesus were profound sites to visit for me. The grotto of St. John was amazing. In Ephesus the ruins were massive and it's just hard to comprehend how large this civilization from so long ago was. I promise to get pics up!

Picture Update

We have been in Rhodes all day today and debark in about another hour to sail to Crete. Unfortunetly I won't have pics from here since I took all of them on a film camera. But I did go snorkling today with some other students as a chaparone while my kids checked out the old city and layed on the beach.

Thought I'd update some pics...

At the Acropolis...

Zeus' Temple. We never got any closer than this, but it was pretty impressive anyway. One of the oldest temples in Athens.

Mycanos on the bay....

Mycanos from Little Venice...

Will update with Patmos and Ephesus tomorrow if I get a chance! We're having a great time and getting a great taste of Greece. I would definetly love to come back to a couple different places to see in more detail. Hope everything is well at home! Be back soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!

Gobble, Gobble!

We are in Turkey! The keyboard here ıs a lıttle dıfferent, so forgıve me any typos! I also cannot post any pıctures because there ıs no CD drıve, but I have a ton from the Acropolıs whıch I forgot to post yesterday, Mycanos, and Patmos where we spent the mornıng, and Ephasus where I just got back from walkıng though.

After departıng Mycanos yesterday nıght, we traveled overnıght to the Island of Patmos where we took a short excursıon to the Grotto where St. John wrote Revelatıons, and took a short walk up to the monestary. The Grotto was very humblıng and Mom, tell Uncle Jım I bought a candle for hım there.

After leavıng Patmos, I spent the late mornıng and early afternoon lyıng by the pool whıle the kıds caught up on some sleep as we traveled to Kusadası. Upon arrıvıng here we splıt to shop and travel to Ephasus wıth some other people ın the group. The bazaar here ıs HUGE! The shoppıng ıs awesome and I want a Persıan Rug! I fıgure I can hold off untıl I actually have a house to put ıt ın though. As ıt ıs I have a really hard tıme passıng by a lot of the jewlery.

I have to say, thıs trıp so far has been more than memorable and defıneltly educatıonal. I have enjoyed every mınute of ıt and our schedule ıs as such that ıt ıs also very relaxıng and we are not rushed at all. After we leave tonıght we travel to Rhodes where we wıll spend all of the day tomorrow. I am lookıng ınto a snorklıng excursıan for the kıds durıng the mornıng. If I have tıme I wıll stop at an Internet cafe and post pıctures of the last few days.

Ruins, Ruins Everywhere!

As a correction, I know it's Hadrian's Arch...just a Typo.

Anyway, we spent Sunday traveling to Delphi, a three hour trip one way through the Greek countryside. Looked a lot like Colorado! Mountains, Alfalfa Fields and Magpies!

We hiked up to the Oracle at Delphi in the Temple of Apollo. Supposedly according to historians and geological surveys, the 'oracles' chewed hallucinagenic herbs and sat over a crack in the ground that released toxic gases, hence the 'prophetic' advice they gave. Most of the ruins have original inscriptions and are very well preserved despite the razing and burning by the Romans when they introduced Christianity.

Interestingly enough, we drove along the road where Odipus murdered his father, the King of Thebes, which set into motion the prophacy his father had been told that he would murder him and marry his mother when he was born. Myths to us are fact over here.




We departed this morning for Mycanos, from which I am typing this! So I'm going to cut this short so as to get more pics as the sun sets!

I Want A Vespa!

No pictures yet today, but we rose at about 7:30 am (I was up at 6:15 I guess...no jet lag for me evidently...), had breakfast and headed out for a tour of the city and the Acropolis. Our tour guide was horrid, and myself and the director answered more questions about Greek Mythology than she could, so, oh well. All I can say about seeing some of these ruins up close was...humbling. It was amazing to see where democracy was born and walk up the same marble walkways men such as Marc Antony and Julias Ceasar once stood, not to mention Homer and so many other fathers of the Republic.

Currently I'm sitting in an Interest 'cafe' updating everyone who's probably been so patiently waiting. It's been a fairly long day so far...almost 5 pm here, so most all of you are just getting up. We shopped all afternoon in the Plaka district. Hit up the Harley Davidson shop and picked up some museum copies of artifacts....very cool.

Anyway, look for another update and more pics in the next few days!

Oh, Question of the day...who can tell me what a Vespa is? You get the satisfaction of knowing what everybody rides around out here when they aren't on a motorcycle or attempting suicide by riding in a Taxi.

Here, There and Everywhere!

Hello everybody! We have made it to Greece safe and sound! After meeting Thursday morning, we all threw our luggage in my truck, kids in a vehicle, and headed to Denver! Our flight took off Thursday evening and 8 1/2 hours later we landed in Frankfurt, Germany. During our trip we were fed non-stop, drove our flight attendant crazy asking for refills on the water (they should have just given us the whole bottle!), watched Failure to Launch (which was pretty funny and I recommend), and did flight aerobics while Jaclyn mimed along to Kelly Clarkston songs.


Sorry the pics are blurry, but we were doing aerobics....remember?


Our layover was quick and painless...or at least it was for my students. I was trying to get another student added to our flight and ran all over the airport looking for someone to help us after being re-directed a few times. He couldn't make it, but at least we got him all set up to be picked up in Athens later last night.

We met up with another school from the Springs and their three students on the flight, and once we landed in Greece we were added to seventeen students from NM. Our flight arrived around 5 pm local time, which means it was only about 7 am back in Colorado. After meeting our director and getting a short bus tour of the city on the way to the hotel, we finally got to make ourselves at home and take our well deserved showers! I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of the afternoon.

Once dinner was over we headed out for an evening on the town. We got to learn how the subway works here in Athens and then took a look at Adrian's Arch and the Acropolis all light up at night.



Alph Gams, I had to take a pic of the subway sign...notice the first 3 letters!

The man standing by the Arch was a Greek Orthodox monk who just happened to walk by while we were there and stopped to admire the view. Adrian was a Roman General who loved Greek so much he built the arch to commemorate his founding of the 'new' city located the right of the arch, while the 'old' or Plaka District lies to the left. The subway too 15 years to build because when they were digging they kept coming up with a ton of archeological artifacts dating as far back as the 17 Century BC! It was pretty amazing to see some of the artifacts on display.

Afterwards we had an hour or so to check out the changing of the guard at the parlimentary building and Greece's tomb of the unknown soldier. It was pretty impressive. I jumped ona bus and headed back tot he airport at midnight to pick up Marty and hear his layover stories before finally making it back to the hotel at 1:30 and get some sleep!

Exhausted!

Wow! What a week so far! Monday was the last day of classes, but school technically was in session through Wednesday. So, instead of 'school' we went to 6-Flags down in Denver on Tuesday (not even HALF as good as Ceder Point!) and then spent the day at the sand dunes and the mineral pools yesterday. I never want to get on a bus that often, for that long EVER again! It was a ton of fun though and for the most part the kids were fairly well behaved. But man am I TIRED!

I just finished getting my grades finalized, so for the rest of today and tomorrow I'm 'cleaning house' so to speak! I have to remember a CD player for tomorrow though, it is way too quiet in here without the kids running around. It feels so good to be done teaching for the next three months. It'll be nice to have a full three day weekend without worrying about having to grade papers and how long I can get away with working on a Monday morning before students figure out I'm in.

This also marks a period during which I won't have a ton of time to update my blog as often as I have been since I refuse to pay for the internet at home. Since I live so far out of town I can only get dial-up, and that's so darn expensive I figure I can put the money to better use somewhere else. I promise to log in at least once a week though and keep everyone updated on my summer adventures with the Forest Service, fires, and Rodeo. I also plan on keeping a daily log while in Greece at least. We leave next Thursday (June 1st) so make sure you check out my adventures overseas!

To my Seniors...Because I Care

Too Much to Take in...

Though in retrospect this weekend was largely uneventful, it was a bit overwhelming. Since I danced at the college this weekend I crashed at Chris' Friday night since I'm broke and couldn't afford to keep driving back and forth. All the shows went very well, and I loved seeing some of the younger students in the school involved with other extra-curricular activities in the valley. I also was paid some very nice compliments from the owner/director of the dance studio who used to be a New York dancer. Yeah for me!

I spent ALL day yesterday in mud up to my knees putting in irrigation fence in the ditches to flood my fields. There was a lot of rock moving to weigh down the edges and a lot of splashing around with the dogs who were living it up in the water. Once the fences were in correctly the ditches backed up with very cold, very clear mountain water that felt great too cool off in! It was a super hot day out and surprisingly very humid for what we term desert conditions, so it was the perfect job for the weather. Maverick isn't so sure about the swimming bit yet, but he'll warm up to the idea I'm sure! He was so funny trying to take flying leaps across the ditch after the other dogs and landing smack in the middle of them. So my fields are flooding, The Boss is happy and I got to work on my tan while 'working' all day yesterday!

On a bit of an overwhelming note, my uncle Jim is back in hospital. A little over a year ago he had some major heart surgery and some complications with it to top it all off. Though he seems to have been getting somewhat steadily better, yesterday he had what the doctors think was a stroke. My dad left me a message and I talked to my mom last night but they didn't know anything for certain yet. That's what seems so hard about living out here...being so far from those I love. So please put a prayer out that everything turns out alright. It's a bit much for me from 1500 miles away.

Miscellaneous Information and Rantings of a Wednesday Morning...

First off...vote of the week: How many of you out there think you can base the start of a possible relationship off with only being able to see each other at completely random times because you both work crazy hours? Wait, there's more: and when you do get to see each other, it's to crash in front of the tv to watch the news or a movie where you both usually fall asleep because you're exhausted. I'm just curious, and frustrated. I just feel like it's hard to get to know someone in such a 'controlled' situation. Do you think I should bring this up as a possible conversation between us, because I think I'd really like to get to know this person a lot better.

GO COWBOYS!

We took our Cheer and Dance pictures a few weeks ago and I just got them back. Sorry they're in B&W, but I' m too busy to scan the color copy and this is all I have. For you Packer fans, our colors are Packer Green and Gold...go figure! Big squad eh? But big enough for a manager! Had some issues with coaching this team this year. The biggest one was lack of discipline and self-motivation. Sound familiar? They didn't want to keep their grades up or practice. So I made them do homework instead of practice until they hated that so much the grades stayed up and we had practice instead. Reverse psychology does seem to work occasionally...

One of the reasons I'm so crazy busy this week is that I'm dancing in the production of Cinderella at the college this weekend. I'm more or less living in Alamosa until Saturday night because of it. Though I'm no longer a ballerina, I do still enjoy jazz and tap. Love it actually, though it doesn't replace figure skating. Just wish the studio was closer to my house so I could afford to dance more than once a week. Though I'm by far not the oldest dancer at the academy, I do have class with quite a few high schoolers who get a hoot out of the fact that I'm a HS teacher here in the valley. Occasionally this make me feel somewhat ancient, but usually I feel much younger 'cause this old maid is kicking their butts on a regular basis! What I don't understand is why these girls aren't in better shape? When I was in high school I was in the best shape of my life!

BORED AT WORK?

Cool web site with some really fun links to games and puzzles to kill time with. My students use this site all the time and I'd rather have them challenging their minds with games such as these than cruising through MySpace. I also have visited during my planning periods when I just feel burnt out from grading papers or way long days... ;)

'SAFER' HIGH?

We've had some issues here at my school and in the valley concerning the misuse of 'legal' drugs. This is dealing with the distribution of prescription pain killers, over the counter items, as well as the abuse of drugs used to control depression, ADD, ADHA, and so on... Despite having a few meetings about this issue and dealing with the students in question, I continue to see this as a possible problem. Surprisingly enough, I ran across an article concerning the exact same problems our school systems up here have been dealing with. So this seems to be more widespread than even I thought, and is actually becoming a nation-wide problem. Is this anything else anybody has heard of? Check out the article and pass on your comments. What worries me is there is some serious mixing of these drugs with alcohol out here. What seems to be a 'safe' high to these students could actually cause some serious liver, kidney and heart problems, not to mention whatever else could occur when you mix drugs...

Finding Romance...

Dating, or even finding a date to begin with, has become a rather difficult thing nowadays. Following up with Heather's blog earlier about internet dating I ran into an article dealing with the strange ways people find true love, and why this occurs. It sort of goes along with my whole soapbox of not selling yourself short when it comes to meeting 'significant others', and the scientific aspect of it all. Hence to every rhyme, there is in fact, a reason...quite interesting really and highly recommendable!

Who knew? Crazy love facts
Wait till you hear the fascinating facts scientists have uncovered about how and why we humans fall in love.

So Far, So Good!

The cuts on the highway on the way into Saguache. Isn't all that much out here!


Mondays usually are a bit of a disaster for me, but so far this one seems to be running fairly smoothly. I'm attributing this to the fact that I have bribed my students with the promise of watching movies for the rest of the week if the entire class has caught up with their work, or at least is on their way...Despite the fact that our computer administrator cannot seem to ever keep anything working for a full day at a time, and there are bunches of things that need to be printed out and the printers are not working...I'm keeping a pretty positive attitude!

Interesting weekend as usual. Though I would have killed to be in NY with all you ladies for the bachalorette parties, I imagined it to be quite an interesting time! One the home front: I managed to wash my truck, and it rained. Fortunately I see this as a good omen and I'm going to wash my truck more often since we need the moisture out here! I had my next to last calf...1 more to go! Finally! And I put my mare, Rumba, in with the stud so I should be expecting by next Spring!

Question of the Day: What's worse than a fat, drunk guy following me around asking me to dance every 2 seconds?
Answer: A fat, drunk lesbian following me around asking me to dance every 2 seconds. Ahhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Only in the San Luis Valley do all the teachers get together to go to the bar and watch their superintendent and 2nd grade teacher play in a band and then get hit on by a lesbian. To top it off they had the gig in what I'm carefully terming, 'a bar that is usually frequented by a significant amount of immigrants from another country....' So our theme song was, 'Play That Funky Music White Boy', and I actually got out of there without getting my butt kicked two nights in a row...speaking of which...yours truly DID actually get into a bit of a rumble Saturday night at the country bar when some big 'ol dude smacked my rear end...more than once...he was warned and then just about got his butt kicked after he did it again. I was a bit too small to do much damage though. Full moon so maybe that's why some really strange things were happening...Needless to say I'd be more comfortable if things like that didn't happen.

Murder in the First

My new mantra: School needs to be done, school needs to be done, school needs to be done...
So I think school needs to get out sooner than later because I'm going crazy. I'm not really having a problem with the energy going on right now with my students since I want out as much as they do (and bribes work), but I am having a problem with letting loose my seniors in this world. And I don't mean this in a good way. First off, I believe the problem stems from them having had 4 different English teachers in 4 years. I've had them for the last year and a half and have been trying to teach them literally everything they should have learned since 8th grade but haven't. Talk about a challenge. The wall I've run up against is that they don't care. They really don't care and almost all of them are going to college and they don't even know how to cite work correctly because they'd rather except a bad grade from me than re-work it into something acceptable. Because they're LAZY. Capital L-A-Z-Y! I suppose I have a very hard time relating to accepting 'just good enough'. I talk about pride, I use examples, I mention integrity, but there is just no getting through to a couple of them in particular. And this makes me feel like a failure in that department, especially when I know what they will be up against next year. It's not worth the fight with their mouths when I have brought it up, or the murderous rage that comes over me when these 'lovely young adults' (yeah, right!) can't refrain from calling me names when they begin to question why they are failing my class. As if it's my fault for them not doing the work. Like I tell 'em...I already graduated, it's not my grade!

The only thing making me feel better is I'm not the only teacher in the school with this opinion. In fact, I seem to have less trouble than even they do.

On much happier notes:
1) It's 'Friday' for me and the weather seems to be lookin' good for the weekend!
2) My friend's band is playing in Alamosa on both Friday and Saturday night.
3) It's teacher appreciation week and I got both fresh cherry pie AND strawberry shortcake this week! Not to mention all the other goodies left in the lounge for us...
4) 1 more full week of school! Woohoo!

Mother Knows Best

Remember growing up and mom had lots to say about your dating life? Well, mom still has lots to say about my dating life, and the older I get guess what? I keep finding out she's right. I'm a big advocate about not selling yourself short, and hence have become a bit picky about whom I'm dating. Surprisingly enough, once I've upped my standards I've met some really, really great guys. While reading the 'news' today I ran across a great article for gals and guys alike about dating advice. For once somebody got it right. EVERYONE single (and even those of you who aren't) check it out!

Mother Knows Best

Not So Smart Marketing Ideas

I Just ran across this article today concerning solutions to dog anxiety. Actually, Maverick's been doing just fine at home, but has gone on a chewing kick so he's no longer allowed to stay in the bathroom anymore and has to be kenneled while I'm at work. He's free all night though and has done great so far and wakes me up to go outside. My little boy's so smart! Anyway, so I ran into this article and couldn't help but think what crazy ideas people come up with! It starts out alright and the picture seems appropriate, until you find out it's the cover art...

Many dog owners are bedeviled by their pooches' symptoms of separation anxiety:Ripped couches, mangled shoes, or even more disgusting acts apparently aimed at retribution for leaving Fido home alone all day.

Now one Atlanta based company has the solution for your spiteful Spot — designed to be "a play date for your dog." The video, fetchingly titled The Dog Tales, is "designed to entertain today's pampered pooches while their owners are away." The Dog Tales DVD features a myriad of mutts yapping and yelping. Thank goodness you're not home to hear it. Buyers even have the ability to record their own voice to help soothe the distressed dog.

Ok, crazy idea, but I've seen worse. I mean, they have doggy day care, so why not a video for your mutt at home to keep him company?...despite the possibility of driving your neighbors' crazy...plus how long does this video run? Doesn't seem feasible for those who work all day. But the next line is where it lost me. Like I'm going to sit down and watch TV with my dog,
for my dog:

The $21.95 DVDs are subtitled "in human" for "those of us who don't speak bark."

No word if the disc also comes with behind-the-doghouse commentary.

I say, invest the money in a few chew toys, or better yet, save up and get a decent run outside so the dog has a lot of things to pay attention to while you're gone. Brings a whole new option to curling up to watch a movie on a Saturday night though doesn't it? I can see it now..."honey, why don't you come over and watch this great new video Maverick and Dixie picked out?" LOL

25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP

I thought some of you could possibly relate to some of these, know someone who could or at least get a good laugh like I did (and yes, I can relate also). Surprisingly enough it was sent to me from another MTU graduate. Go figure.

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@.. kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset,
rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good shit."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking "Oh shit what the hell happened?"

Supercat!

My little Manx jumped up on the counter this morning and hid inside the Walmart bag I had there. Unfortunately she tried to crawl out the wrong way and morphed into supercat! I finally took pity on her and took it off after she ran around the house with it chasing her for awhile. It was like a parachute when she jumped off the counter.

Great weekend! Went shopping Friday and found another dress, so now I'm all set for Greece! Went down to Pueblo Saturday morning to watch my friend Kelly at a wild horse racing clinic. Took some pictures, drank some beer and soaked up some sun. Had a ton of fun and met some great people. Can't wait to meet up and party with them again! Kelly thinks I should be a rider so I'm thinking maybe I'll learn. I miss rodeo and would love to get out doing it regularly again. I stick a horse pretty good so I figure why not?

Coming home Sunday I drove through the Canyon River Gorge where some of the best white- water rafting can be found in Colorado. Definitely need to be doing that this summer. Anyway, while driving I heard this loud 'thump' and lo and behold just below the road on next to the river were a bunch of Mountain Goats. Luckily my camera was available! The two rams on the left were going at it and the noise they made echoed through the whole canyon. It was way cool!

Jealousy

Yup, we've all been there. Jealous of your man (or woman) out with their friends, doing something without you that you wished you'd been asked to do, or you're simply cranky pants and need to vent on something...and an otherwise nonjealous moment seems like a good opportunity. Jealous of friends? Occasionally I go there, but usually it's in a good way. The way I figure it, life's just way too darn short to get worked up over stuff concerning significant others or friends. If you don't trust the person, why be associated with them?

This is stemming from a couple of things I've noticed this week with various acquaintances and my response to a few things. I started with a blog the other day making a comment about living the single life, and how unhappy many people seem to be unless they are permanently attatched to somebody else. Of course I'd love to have some serious relationship going again if the circumstances were right, but why complain? So I'm making the best of what I've got in the now, and I'm happy! Jealousy? Let's start with myself first...if I had to say I was jealous of anything at the moment, it's my friends who live close to town, or in larger towns and are either making comments to get my rear-end out of here and somewhere closer to a city while their having a grand 'ol time in a bar somewhere, or to come on down and visit with them. Occasionally this is doable, but 8 or so times out of 10 I really can't afford to be traipsing back and forth into town just to be social. This does have it's pros though: I don't spend much money on social situations for a start. So I'm just calling this jealousy a good test for my determination to stay on track money wise, and make the best of it all when I do get out. Other jealousies? The beautiful children you all seem to be popping out! But that's a good thing!

An observation I made earlier this week concerns a close friend of mine who can never seem to make a decision about doing much of anything without running it by her boyfriend first. This is a great, beautiful chicka who is a ton of fun to get out with, but since that hardly happens I've quite asking her to join me on the weekends as much as I used to. She can't seem to go more than 10 minutes without talking to that boy and he'll call if she isn't calling him. Needless to say, makes for a difficult conversation. Love? I think not. Possessiveness is more like it. How can you NOT trust the person you supposedly love? to me, keeping tabs on someone is not only a waste of time, but how BORING! I mean, wouldn't you all get tired of wondering, worrying, arguing...I mean, how much anxiety is that! Let's die young over 'love'? Maybe I need to get her to consider what she thinks 'love' really is...

Another situation I was a bit involved with that got me quite angry actually...I have a friend who lives down in the city who was quite interested in me last fall. Despite enjoying talking with him and e-mailing back and forth, I never really felt he and I would make much of a good couple, especially after considering our very different lifestyles. Since we were only friends I casually mentioned hooking him up with a friend of mine since I felt he was a great guy, albeit not for me. His response, "I'm interested in you, not some friend and wouldn't appreciate being passed around your social circle." Hmmmm...ego? So we lost contact for awhile 'cause I thought that was just silly since I thought I was paying him a compliment. Anyway, we get back in touch a few months later, I make a few comments about how great of friends we could be if he quits with the constant flirting, and we continue on with the friendship. I'm assuming this is just fine, but he pops in the other day with a totally unacceptable, somewhat jealous comment (by my standards) about something he read on my blog. It wasn't funny, or teasing and hit a pretty sore note with me. I mention this, and how it wasn't funny; his reply? He just tore me apart and said something pretty nasty. My God! I wasn't asking for an apology, though it would have been nice; simply asked him to consider how others may interpret what he says. So I guess he quite hasn't given up thinking we could be more than friends-which I'm pretty sure I don't even want to put any effort into anymore. What a waste.