Check this out! This guy has an incredible grasp of perspective drawing and also uses some seriously expensive pastels to get these done! I love stuff like this! I’ve considered having a sidewalk chalk competition in my Art classes for fun! That would be so neat! Maybe if I have a day with nothing left to do and it’s not raining….
This blog entry is for the lowest common denominator of my blog readers.
This morning someone (I won’t specify who…but it wasn’t Josh) was sitting cuddled up with Henson, when she farted. A stinky one. Henson looked up, sniffed the air, then walked about 15 feet away, sat down and looked at me me with a strange look. (ahem! Did I say “me?” I meant to say “the person”). I didn’t think that human farts affected dogs. Apparently they do.
I guess I learn new things every day. Some things just prove to be more useful than others….
I’ve been freaking tired lately. It’s like I get 9 hours of sleep a night and I’m still dragging through the day. I suppose it doesn’t help that I have like 9 ka-jillion things I’m responsible for so that taxes the little energy I have. Oh well.
Oh, a recommendation: I started reading this book over Christmas and I’d really like to recommend it to all the women out there. I usually don’t like “woman” books (although I think this book largely applies to men too…just don’t read it in public or you’ll look strange). It is a really great book and I taught my small group a section of it tonight. They thought it was really cool stuff. If you do get it, let me know what you think!
My butt hurts. I couldn’t figure out why…then it dawned on me. On Thursday I had to spend 8 hours sitting in a hard plastic chair as I learned how to use a crappy program. There are some perks to the program…but there are some serious design flaws. For example, whoever programmed it decided to rename “columns” to be “tasks” and “rows” to be “sets.” What the heck? If I need to redefine words in my already standard vocabulary to use your program…you suck. Pure and simple. Anyway, I get to be the friendly messenger who teaches this program to the rest of the people at my school (here’s to hoping no one shoots the messenger). And my butt hurts from that stupid plastic chair. I don’t know what hurts more, my butt, or my heart for knowing that such crappy software not only exists, but is widely used in our schools. Oh the pain.
This recipe makes a ton of salsa, but I’m a fan of making in bulk so I don’t have to cook as often! Enjoy!
1 28 oz. can of Hunts diced tomatoes (w/ roasted garlic)
1 15 oz. can of Hunts diced tomatoes (regular)
1 small can of Green Giant Sweet Corn Niblets
1 small can of pitted black olives
1 small can of mild green chiles
Chopped fresh green onion (to taste…I use about 1/2-3/4 cup)
Chopped fresh cilantro (to taste…I use about 1/2 cup)
Salt (to taste…I use about 1/2 tsp.)
Tabasco/Cayenne Pepper/Hot Sauce (to taste…I usually use none cuz I like the flavor of the veggies by themselves!)
Optional: Add Cumin, Lime Juice, and/or Chili Powder to taste.
Mix above ingredients in a bowl, stir. Put in blender (can only fit about 1/2 mix at a time) and blend to desired consistency. Serve w/ tortilla chips. YUM!!!
Well…the end has come. Let’s just say that the desktop on my beloved computer (her name is Savannah) is supposed to look like this:
Now, imagine it with a broken windshield spider-web effect right over the “X” of “X2.” Imagine Wolverine’s face spliced into several pieces by this “glass” (if you can bear the thought!) Imagine a few obnoxious green and red lines moving vertically over the left side of the screen.
I set my computer (in it’s bag, of course) on my chair yesterday. It fell off the back of the chair. I think the corner of my power adapter got smashed into the middle of my LCD monitor.
Now the torture…how long do I continue using it like this? Can I bear the thought of separating with her for three days while AppleCare attempts to repair her shattered face? Savannah is the only computer at my school on Panther…dare I switch to *gasp!* OS 9 for those dark days? Will I be forced to share a computer with Josh??? I mean…will I be forced to beg Josh for a few minutes of time on his computer (if any time remains)??? When will this nightmare end!?!
The time where I sit down and unwrap the numerous gifts given to me by my beloved students. I got some cool stuff like giftcards. I got some interesting stuff like miscellaneous trinkets and knick-knacks. And, as usual, I got an insane amount of candy. One student even gave me a 3 pound box of truffles. Wow. That’s a lot of truffles.
So, Josh and I sat around tasting everything to determine if it was nasty or if it was worth putting in the giant bowl of candy (I’m talking the size of my popcorn bowl…for those of you who have seen me eat popcorn, for those of you who haven’t, it’s a really really big bowl). The sorting is complete. I’m bringing the bowl to work to set on my desk so my students can help me eat it. I think it would be horribly wrong for one human being to consume that amount of candy by themselves.
There is always some guilt associated with receiving candy from students. Part of me is very greatful that they were kind enough to think of me during the holiday season. When I eat the candy, I feel guilty about the amount of sugar I am consuming and imagine it going straight to my hips. The hips that I work all year round to maintain at a healthy size. When I don’t eat the candy, I feel guilty for not honoring the gift that was thoughtfully picked out by my students who are, according to me (and I also believe that I am the ultimate authority on this subject), the awesomest students in the world. So, I have resolved to share the candy with others, nibbling here and there myself, using it as a conversation starter and a reward with others.
Mmm…insane amount of chocolate…. garallllllaaaaraaaghghalalalllllrraaraghgharllll…..
Henson has the trots, Montezuma’s revenge, the runs, the crazy poopies, the squirts, the nasty-stankies, the ‘rhea. He had them several times yesterday, and woke Josh and I up at 3 a.m., 4:30 a.m., 6 a.m., 9 a.m., and 10 a.m. to run out and go. He has gone several times since then. Problem is, Henson has a plane to catch back to California in the morning. I have removed his food from him (which is probably more torture than the furters for Hensa). He has water. I have cancelled my plans today to make sure that he is resting and getting outside when he needs to. Poor little guy.
Well, no offense to everyone in MN who I know and love, but I’m ready to go back home to California. I wish I could take you all with me, that’s true…so this comment has nothing to do with you. I’m just not the super social-crazed person that Josh is. I need down time. I need time to work. I miss my classroom. I miss my house. I miss my painting and my drawing that I was working on before I left. I miss my Bible (which I left on the coffee table). I have hung out with more people during this trip than I have over the last 6 months with my California friends. Doesn’t that sound insane? Life is so much quieter for me there. Now, if I lived in MN, it wouldn’t be a super-cram-everyone-in time because I would live here and could just hang out with people leisurely. That would be the ultimate.
Some of my trip highlights since I spoke last include hang out time with the geek friends (Nathan, Jeff, JoeBuck, and Luke). I like them because they’re fun and a little crazy. Josh & I went skiing w/ Jeff, Eddie, & Aimee. That was awesome. I haven’t skied for at least 5 years so I was pretty rusty getting into it. I had a nasty spill down the end of a black diamond hill which, while painful, was also strangely invigorating. I enjoyed jumping off the jumps on the wimpy hill. Josh, Neal, and I had a lovely dinner time at Carrie’s place. She has a new condo which she has decorated up w/ the hippest of style (complete w/ Pier1 flair). I hung out w/ Josh’s family, including the new beautiful Elise. We went to Kevin & Abby’s place last night where we saw Henson and Speak (yes, Speak has his own blog) run all over the place. They were quite funny together. It was great to see Kevin & Abby again, they spruced up their house quite nicely. I had lunch with my mom. Ummm…and some other stuff. Good times. I’m quite exhausted now. Josh wanted to plan more stuff for today and I was like, “DUDE! Let’s just do nothing for an afternoon!!! PLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASE!!!” So, I guess that’s what I get to do! Yay!
I got to see Helen today, and her splendid husband Eric. It is so good to see people you have a history with. Helen is one of the few people who has seen me go through many life phases and has had the guts to stick around through them all. I don’t see her often, but when I do, I feel that same connection that has kept our friendship together through the years. What a joy.
First, H & E were late coming to our house, which I was very thankful for since I decided to take a random nap before they came. Then, we went out to eat at Old Chicago for lunch. We saw the movie Big Fish (directed by Tim Burton, starring my second love Ewan McGregor). It was a nice movie with mixes of fantasy/tall tale, and some depth to consider. After that, we hit up the Holidazzle parade in Minneapolis which was dazzling. Then dinner at Chevy’s, then Border’s bookstore hangout fun time.
The best part was just the laughing and sharing. The catching up. And the laughing. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m very thankful to have friends that are there for you year after year after year. And they’re great at being friends. And you always smile when you think of them. And they help you to understand what joy means. And they don’t think you’re a dork when you act silly (because they’re pretty silly too). What a blessing, what joy.