Saggy, Baggy Pants

This is homecoming week where I teach. That means each day the students dress up according to the theme of the day. Monday was nerd day...didn't need to dress up for that. Tuesday was sports/college team day...I wore a Seattle Mariner's patch. Wednesday was superhero day and today was 80s day. Well, I got Wednesday and Thursday mixed up. Yesterday I dressed preppy style: khaki skirt, knee socks, sweater around my neck, collared shirt with the collar pulled up, "pearl" necklace...you get the idea. When I realized it wasn't 80s day, I took the sweater off and fixed my collar. I decided I'd just wrap Monday through Thursday into one day: a super, nerdy, preppy sports fan (my shirt had my son's college logo on it).

Because I wore knee socks with my skirt, I wasn't wearing panty hose. And all day long I keep thinking of the picture of the elephant on the children's book "The Saggy, Baggy Elephant" because that's how I felt.


So when I got home from work, I went straight to Wally World and purchase a pack a size smaller. All day long today I felt like yelling through the halls what my brother said in the store many years ago when he was around 3 or 4: "New Underwear!"

Today, life was good!

Tagged Again!

Steel Magnolia tagged me Thursday. I have to answer 8 questions then tag eight bloggers with 8 new questions. Here are the questions/answers:

1. What is your favorite season and why?

Fall is my favorite season. I love the crisp, cool mornings and the warm afternoons. The smell of fires in the fireplace, cuddling, sleeping late on Saturdays when L goes hunting, the changing colors of the leaves, and sweaters. I got married in October and instead of flowers on the wedding cake, my sister and Mom (who made the cake) used edible fall leaves. It was very pretty.

2. Do you have a Bucket List and what is one thing you have on it?

No, I don't have a bucket list.

3. Do you go to Starbucks(or another coffee chain) and what is your favorite drink there?

No, but I have been to Starbucks a few times. A couple of times I went to meet some friends/classmates to work on a project.

4. What book are you currently reading(or just finished)?

Moneyball

5. Do you take pictures? What kind of camera do you have and share a current picture with us!

Do I take pictures????!!!!! I have too many!! I've tapered off now that the boys are grown, but there are still too many!

I used to use a Nikon 35mm, switched to HP digital then to Kodak. Now I use the Kodak and Sony. The Sony is both video and still.

Since hunting season is just around the corner, I thought I'd share this picture of L and N with the deer they killed last Thanksgiving. (And, yes, we eat the meat or give it to a friend or "Hunters for the Hungry".)



6. What is your favorite genre of music and favorite group, band, individual from that genre.

I really like all types of music, however, heavy metal and gangster rap is at the bottom...the very bottom. Which means I really don't have a favorite group, band, or individual.

7. Where was your most favorite vacation and what made it your favorite?

My most favorite vacation had to be in 2002 when N was a member of a traveling team that made it to the national finals (most were between their junior and senior years of high school). The finals were in Orlando, FL, home of Disneyworld. We had not taken the boys there before. The team made arrangements for each family to rent a condo (new condo complex--very nice). We saw baseball games and went to Disneyworld and MGM Studios. N went with part of the team to one of the waterparks so L and I took C to Universal Studios. One day I took C to the Blizzard waterpark (got to see Goofy there!).

It was a favorite because each of the boys got to do pretty much what they wanted, we got to go to Disneyworld and see some baseball. (The fields where the boys played is the home of the minor league team in Orlando. The minor league team was practicing one day and some of our boys were "hanging" on the fence watching. I'd say many of them were dreaming that they were out there!)

8. What is your favorite thing to cook/prepare and share the recipe.

Uh, this one is hard, because I don't really like to cook. There isn't really anything that I fix that I would call my favorite. So, I'll share what I made tonight.

Broccoli Ham Ring

Now I must pick 8 bloggers (bet you can't guess who one of them is!). Your questions are below.


Life in a Small Town
From This Side of the Pond
Land of Fluff
Belly Blogging
Tempo and Speed
The Frat Pack + Me
Auburn Chick
Sincerely Shannon

Now for your questions:

1. What would you say was your best age?
2. Do you read the Bible?
3. Who is your favorite Biblical character?
4. Who is your favorite author? What book by the author was your favorite?
5. Who was your favorite teacher? your least favorite?
6. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
7. Do you think today's tv shows are better or worse than the ones you grew up watching? Please explain your answer.
8. What do you like to do most on the weekends?

Please answer the questions and tag 8 bloggers with 8 new questions.

Have fun!

What Season is It?

The teacher said to little Johnny, "Johnny, please name the four seasons." Johnny stood up straight, smiled, and with much confidence said, "Deer season, rabbit season, turkey season, and duck season!"

A couple of weekends ago, L and I travelled west. We passed, or were passed by, vehicles that were flying those orange and white window flags with a big "T" in the middle. We travelled right passed the stadium exit and kept travelling west, because we were going west...way west...as in the other side of the state west. We weren't going to a football game, we were going to a baseball game. And this past Saturday, I was just checking the football scores...and listening to a baseball game. We went to a baseball game last Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

So just what season is it? Well, it may be "football time in Tennessee," it is still baseball season in this household. The seasons overlap. N is home for now but will be leaving Sunday to go to Arizona to play in a pre-fall league (16 games--gone about 4 weeks).

And the weather?!! Wow! High 50s, low 60s in the morning to low to mid 80s in the afternoon. Sounds/feels like fall to me...my favorite season.

Then we'll start hunting season...then the holiday season...then tax season.

What season is it where you live?

9/11

My sister posted a wonderful video on her blog about 9/11. I'm going to ask you to follow the link to her blog.

As an aside, we must remind our young children what 9/11 is. My students are juniors and seniors meaning they were only in second or third grade when this happened. Many don't seem to understand the true significance of this event. We must never let our children forget!

Here is her blog: http://mary-lifeinasmalltown.blogspot.com/

God bless America!

Hitting Too Close to Home

On Monday of this week, around 9:00 am, a man entered a high school, held a gun to the principal's head. The School Resource Officer (SRO) calmed the man enough for the principal to escape then led him away from the cafeteria and the library filled with students to the science pod. The Sheriff's Department arrived. The man brought the gun back out and the deputies shot him. He died some time later. All faculty, staff, and students were safe.

Did you hear about this? I heard about it around 10:30 Monday morning. This is a true story. It happened at a high school in the county I live in. A school that I passed by on my way to work on Wednesday. A school about 20 miles from the school where I work. A school where my son's school team played. A school where I know one of the teachers.

The SRO acted quickly. The Deputies arrived promptly. The school was locked down quickly. But there were students who heard the gun shots. The students knew the lock down was not a drill.

We had a lock down drill today. And I heard the principal say we will have many more this year. Last year we had one lock down and that was when the drug dogs came. The year before we only had one lock down, again when the drug dogs came.

Monday's incident was too close for comfort. I'm thankful we have an SRO. Can you believe that when the Sheriff requested more money from the county commission for SRO officers, the request was turned down? I remember reading a few years ago that the schools may have to for go having SRO officers. Maybe the Sheriff needs to find out how many people in the county are on anti-depressants, how many students live in unstable homes. Maybe that will help get the money. (The man did not have a student at the school. His motive has not been determined. But I did hear that the man "was not right." And that he was arrested a few years ago for possession of a weapon.)

Please continue, every day, every morning, to prayer for our public schools...for the safety of our students, faculty, and staff.

http://www2.tricities.com/news/2010/aug/31/incident-sullivan-central-high-school-ar-479580/