Jealous

     I am jealous right now.  Jealous of my husband who is now fast asleep on the couch.  Jealous of the dog laying at my feet with not a single care in the world.  Jealous of my son that only has homework a few times a week.  Jealous of the teachers that I work with because they already have their teaching certificates.  Jealous of my mom who is now retired and can clean her house whenever she wants.  I'm going to close this short post because I'm turning as green as the freakin' Hulk.

WTF??? Lesson PLans????

Sooooo, this is my first semester taking core classes for Elementary Ed, with the exception of Children's Lit. last semester.  I have been working in a school for almost 7 years and have never really seen anyone use a lesson plan.  Not in the true sense, anyway.  Not only that, when I talk to teachers about them, they say "jump through the hoops, do them, and know that you will probably never use them again".  I have many friends that are teachers in different schools...high school, junior high and elementary, and they all say the same thing!  So, for one of my final projects, I have to do a Unit of Study with at least 5 lesson plans.  Interestingly enough, I have never done a lesson plan before, and until now, I really hadn't even seen one before!  And putting standards on them?  It's almost like being given a math story problem, one that needs to be set up like a fraction multiplication problem to solve it.  Only you have never been shown how to do a fraction before.  That's how I felt.  It's a little better, now...thank god I work with a teacher that just went through the Secondary Ed. program.  I also took a sick day yesterday (pre-planned with my awesome boss) and spent 12 hours on homework.  They say that the harder things are for you to learn, the better they will stick with you.  I will NEVER forget lesson plans, I guess.

Hannah

     She is slick black from head to toe, and so soft she feels like a brand new stuffed animal.  She has these sad-looking brown eyes that really aren't sad.  She puts her head on my lap as I sit on the couch, still as can be with only those eyes looking back and forth.  If that doesn't get my attention, she brings me one of her wet, stinky toys.  She absolutely loves my husband.  In the mornings, when we go to wake him up, she acts as if it is the first time she has seen him in months.  We all have our roles in her life: Shawn is her master (he's sure as hell not mine!), I exercise her and Koby is her playmate.  She is completely spoiled.  70 pounds of sweetness and love curled up on the floor like a cat.  We got her three years ago; I made quick work of it when Shawn started asking if I wanted to have another child.  Hannah was the perfect fit!!!  My big, lovely Black Lab.
    

Life

     Well, I finally filled out my FAFSA.  It took all of about 15 minutes...why did I put it off for so long?  I really hate the fact that I procrastinate.  I'm down to the last 4 weeks of classes, but then I remember "Oh, hahahah, joke's on me!  I have all freakin' summer to go to school!!!"  April 30th is my orientation for the summer PACE (Ashley, let me know how yours went!) and I have no idea what to wear.  Since I work in an alternative school, I get to wear jeans and t-shirts...basically whatever I want.  The letter said to dress as I would for working in the classroom.  I'm pretty sure my usual attire wouldn't work.  I suppose I'll have to do a little shopping.  Oh darn!
     On another note, my husband almost has the drywall in the basement done.  Saturday he threw a huge fit and threw tools and kicked chairs.  I refused to help him with it anymore.  He found a guy that was willing to do it with him for cheap; it ended up working out for the better, anyway.  After the drywall is finished, we texture and paint, then tile the bathroom floor and the area around the wood stove.  Then comes the carpet.  I've already bought the furniture, it's been out in the shop just sitting there all wrapped up.  This is really hard for me because I love to decorate.  When am I going to have time to paint?  To tile?  What about going shopping for wall stuff?  I wish I had some idea of what to expect for the summer.  Will there be a crap load of homework every night?  Lots of papers and lesson plans to write?  I've never even been shown how to write a lesson plan.  I don't know what the hell I've gotten myself into.  To top it off, Shawn wants to rip up the front and back lawn to put in a sprinkler system this summer.  That's great because I have ideas of what we're going to do as far as landscaping goes, but I sure as hell didn't think it would be THIS summer!  People keep asking me "How are you doing all of this at once?"  I think it's because I have no time to think about NOT being able to do it. 
     The saying goes "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger",  I'm going to be a freakin' bodybuilder by the time this is all said and done.

Student Led Conference

     It started out pretty well...hit some bumpy spots, then ended well.  A grounding for the week-end, but Koby actually is fine with it.  It's not that he has bad grades, all A's and B's, it's the zero's on the assignment reports out of each class.  The B's are low B's.  Seems he has a bit of an issue with organizing.  "Oh, I still have that assignment, it's in my locker" or assignments that should have been dome as homework, but were forgotten then handed in incomplete.  I know he's in 8th grade and 8th graders are as close as they will ever be to being incapable of learning things (this is a proven fact through brain research!!), but he has GOT to get this figured out!  This is the last year of credits that "don't count".  In August, I will officially have a High School Student.  We also found out that he has lunch for the next two weeks away from the rest of the students.  Turns out that he and one of his friends were shooting air soft beebees through pens that had the ink thing removed (hopefully that makes sense).  Lovely.  Koby told us at the conference tonight, and Shawn laughed and said "Uh, yeah, that's not a good idea".  Boys and men really aren't very different from each other.
     Here's the good stuff.  Koby's math teacher told us that one of the things that really sticks out to him about Koby, is the fact that every day, Koby says "Hi" to him in the hall.  He told us that there aren't many kids that do that.  Another teacher calls him "gopher" because he pops up all over the classroom...visiting other students.  That's something we've been hearing about for years :)  His social studies and language arts teachers absolutely love him, even though he's a bit too social during class.  All in all, his teachers think he's great.  We also got his DRP test scores (Degrees of Reading Power) and this year he's at a 72.  The highest the chart goes is to 63...that's a 12.8 reading level.  My 8th grader has a college reading level!  He scored in the 88th percentile for the nation.  Not too shabby!  Seeing that, cushioned the blow with the zeros.  H might be grounded, but I think we'll still hit Dairy Queen! 
     On a different note, today was Shawn and mine's 14th Wedding Anniversary.  I'll write about that in my next blog...I've got to go spend time with my hubby.  I'm even deciding to turn in my Reading and Writing assignments tomorrow instead of tonight.  Priorities, you know!

Steam

     I am losing steam.  Actually, let me rephrase that...I LOST my steam.  I have not blogged since Spring Break...I feel like such a loser!  I keep saying to myself, "tonight" or "I'll just do it while I'm at work", but it doesn't seem to happen.  I get to the point that I don't even want to open up my laptop.  I don't care if I have any assignments or not (of course I DO!!!), I just want to be done with school.
     That's all I have for now; just trying to get back into the swing of things again.  I'm sure tomorrow night I'll have something interesting to blog about since Koby's Student Led Conference is tomorrow night.  Crap.
    

Dr. Scratchley

Today, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop on Prescription Drug Abuse in Adolescents, by Dr.  David Scratchley.  He's a world renowned clinical Psychologist and neuro-something-or-other (he studies brains and the effects of different drugs on the brain).  This is the guy Dr. Phil calls for info!  Although all of his topics were really good (and relevant) he was great about focusing on what the group wanted to learn about.  He's so knowledgeable about what is going on in the world with children/adolescents and drugs, that the workshop is more of an "a la carte".....you just pick what you want.   One of the main issues we struggle with in the schools is Marijuana.  This just happened to be one of Scratchley's immediate topics of study.  Within a week or two, he should have an editorial coming out in the Seattle Times.  To him (and I agree), the use of marijuana is becoming extremely dangerous to the development of our youth.  Before, there weren't many studies completed on the effects of using the drug;  recently, the statistics have been coming in and they're not good.  If you get on YouTube and look up "david scratchley marijuana", you'll get some really good information.  If you ever have the chance to go see him speak, do it!  He's awesome!

I am soooo behind!

     It has been a long time since I've blogged...I don't even know where the time has gone.  It's now Spring Break, but it doesn't seem like it.  Why have S.B. when early the next week projects are due?  I also found out that I have to fill out some application for the Teacher Education Program, and there's like 2 essays that I have to write,  then I have to turn in some form or something.  I can feel my old habits starting to creep back...procrastination, procrastination and procrastination.  I haven't even updated my FAFSA yet.
     I'm now sitting here with the TV on, watching Jillian Michaels scream at some poor heavy dude.  I can't stand that woman.  What an irritating mouth she has.  Well, I think I'll go rest my cranky head.  Tomorrow will be more HSPE testing at my school...thank goodness I get to go to a workshop about working with drug-afflicted teens instead!  Maybe that will give me something informative to post about.

Blizzards

I'm not talking about snow and wind and black-out conditions, I'm talking about Dairy Queen.  All week, I have been craving an Oreo Cheesecake Blizzard.  Now, as I'm writing about it, my mouth is watering.  I've been stuck on this one for a while.  Of course I always have to give the new ones a try since I know that my old faithful will always be there, but they never come close.  I tried the Nutty Banana Blizzard -  pretty darn good; Pecan Pie Blizzard -  crap...didn't even come close to a Pecan Pie; Oreo Mint blizzard - this would have to be my second favorite; Cake Batter Blizzard - not bad; Pumpkin Pie Blizzard - once a year is good, and countless others.  Still, nothing compares.  The Oreos are super crunchy and the cheesecake comes in big chunks.  When you pair that up with creamy ice cream from Dairy Queen's special secret recipe, you have a feeling similar to being in the world's largest mall with everything on sale...75%off!  I can't wait for tomorrow evening, I'm giddy with apprehension!

Things that make you go hhhmmmm...

I forgot that I was going to blog about this:
     A couple of week-ends ago, I was running with my dog down by the river.  i was over on the Clarkston side where some of the levy kind of turns into a road, then back to levy again.  It's not really a road for a bunch of traffic, it's more to get from one parking lot to another.   Anyhow, as I'm running along, sweating my ass off and coaxing Hannah, I look ahead and see a minivan driving with a dog running beside it.  I squint my eyes to get a better look because I can't quite figure out what I'm seeing.  As I get closer, yep, it's just what I suspected...someone taking their dog for a run and doing as little as possible for themselves.  I don't get it.  I'm a little nervous, I can't tell for sure what the demeanor of the dog is and it's not on a leash (that would be because the owner is in the vehicle!).  Getting closer...it's an old dog, no threat.  I sneak a peak in the minivan as I get up next to it, still running, and see a very large woman driving with her very large pre-teen daughter in the seat next to her.  I doubt if my look of disgust was masked.  Disgusted because they are heavy?  No!  Disgusted because the mom is modeling some very self-destructive behavior?  Absolutely.  What happened to wanting better for your kids?  Unbelievable.

Irritated

This will be a short one!  I'm irritated and when I get like this, nothing that I say can be any good!!  It's after 9pm on a Saturday night, my husband is on his way home from a day of skiing in Schweizer, my son went snowboarding with him, but is staying in Coeur d'Alene with a friend, and I'm waiting for a youtube video to load for my Professional Foundations in Education class.  Really?  9pm on a Saturday night and this is what I'm reduced to!!!  Here's the irritating thing:  on my way home from the gym this afternoon (my one and only outing for the day...my life really sucks right now!), I got behind a Chevy Impala.  It was a pretty nice car, but I think it got my attention because the driver was kind of swerving a bit, like he was trying to pick something up off of the floor, or dial a number or something.  The driver looked to be maybe a teenager or VERY early 20's, he had his hood up, of course, no big deal.  What got me was that the "Impala" on the trunk of the car had been given an extra "P" at the front making it look like "Pimpala"!!!!  Puke in my mouth!!  Seriously?  OMG that stuff seriously irritates me.  Like it's cool to have women that are paid for sex and then give you the money so that you can farm them back out again.  Wow, you're awesome.  Wish I was single so I could date you.  Well back to my homework!

Things I miss...

Since starting school this last fall,  I'm starting to figure out there were a lot of things in my life that I  took for granted.  For instance:
cleaning my house
watching American Idol (I'll get updates from Ashley)
evening jogs
talking to my husband
talking to my son
reading a book that I actually WANT to read
cooking dinner
going to Spokane
being in a good mood
not having a stupid cold
a small student loan payment
having sex with my husband
drinking wine and watching a movie (I still drink wine on the week-end...I just do homework instead of the movie:) )

Why am I doing this again?  Oh Yeah!  I'm going to make tons of money!!!  LOL :)  Have a great week-end everyone, I'll be blogging again tomorrow to make my 3!! 

Emotionally stressed leads to physically sick!!!

I can't freakin' believe it!!!  This is the 3rd time I've been sick this school year!!  In my normal life, I would get just a small inkling of a cold for a day or two, then it would be gone.  In my six years at work, I have called in sick 2 times.  Once was yesterday.  I went to work at 7:30 am and my Director sent me home at 7:35 ( I guess I didn't "call"in).  I laid down on the couch before 8 and slept until 4pm.  I got up 1 time to let the dog in..not to pee or get something to eat, just to let the dog in.  I have never in my life done that.  The only thing that has changed for me is the added stress of college.  It's not like I didn't know that stress could make you sick, it's just that I have never experienced it before.  I feel like I am always sick!!!  The thing that really pissed me off was that a friend went and bought some Peanut Butter Snickers for us to try, and I CAN"T TASTE IT!!!!  Now I'm going to have to buy a whole bag myself.  I probably should give something up to lighten my load, but I'm not willing to.  I guess I'll just be sick until I'm done with school and bitch about it as long as I can on this damn blog!

I love my job

Really, I love my job.  I am so thankful to have a job that I like to get up in the morning for.  I know that for most, my job would be a challenge to love, but for me it's easy.  I have had a BAD job (maybe another blog, if I'm brave enough), so it makes me appreciate what I have even more.  I work in an alternative school with grades 9-12+.  The students are awesome.  You know, I love learning, but having a strength in one specific thing (math, science, history) is not something that I am really familiar with.  I have always been a good reader and writer ( I do love to do both), but more of the social science stuff (psychology, sociology) is what I'm good in.  I started out as a Psych. major, then got pregnant and knew that at least 6 more years of school just was NOT going to happen, moved to Kinesiology and figured out that that was a dead-end (for me anyway), then took a 12 year break.  I started a job at the alternative school about 6 years ago, and here I am.  Funny the path life takes you on.  I kind of feel like I've gone full circle.  Since I was in 7th grade, I knew that I wanted to work with at-risk kids.  My husband even used to be one!!!  Now, that's exactly what I'm doing.  Not all of my students are at-risk, but most are.  I love them;  I think of them as "my kids".  I think that's why I love alt.ed.  My classes are small, the kids feel comfortable asking questions and they are very open.  Some of the stories I hear teachers telling of traditional classes and students, make me cringe.  I would not survive and it's no wonder these kids didn't either.  They come to us because they were not successful, for whatever reason.  Honestly, I think it's because the classes are too big and they aren't able to form a relationship with the teacher.  That's where I come in.  My specialty is not math, science, or history, it's forming relationships.  I get to do that every day and I love it.

Very Random Blog

     Crap.  I have not blogged since last week. My life, work, school load overwhelmed me last week.  I cried a little, too.  3 papers and a whole S*&%load of discussion posts pushed me to the edge.  Over the week-end, I left the house to run my dog, go to Wal-mart and Costco.  The rest of the time was spent on homework.  My son is home with a 101 fever, my husband is asking me "when we are going to clean the house", my dog is shedding and for some reason, my back is breaking out!  This really pisses me off because I wear tank tops to the gym every day.  Who wants to look at nasty zits?  I'm 36 years old!  Really???  WTF (Why The Face, in case you were wondering)!
     On another note, I made my own Seared Tuna for dinner last night and it turned out really good.  It's a pain in the butt to eat healthy when the rest of my family doesn't.  During Super Bowl, I made Paula Dean Mac and Cheese.  Sour cream, cheddar cheese soup, 5 cups of shredded cheese, butter, whole milk; there's not much better than that.  I had 4 bites of it (they were big bites).  Tonight, the weasels had pizza for dinner, I had a salad with chicken breast. Moving on....
     I was talking with one of my students today, he was telling me about taking 8-10 Unisom pills and driving around with one of his friends.  Can you even imagine?  I asked him "what makes you guys think to even do that stuff?  Do you think bout the fact that it's medicine and you can die from an overdose?"  "Nope".  He told me about the junior high schools (one is where my son goes) and the availability of whatever drug you want.  My son will be in 9th grade next year, this freaks me out.  He knows kids that he thinks smoke weed, but as of yet, no one has approached him.   Hopefully, we've done a good job of teaching him right from wrong.  My student also said "make sure you always know what your son is doing and you know who his friends are...and his friends parents".  It's what we do anyway, but it's nice to hear a teenager tell me that we're dong the right thing, especially when they are speaking from experience.
    

    

A shout out for the "only child"!

You always hear things about the "only child".  Spoiled rotten, can't share, selfish, inflexible, demanding, blah, blah, blah.  I am an only child and I am none of those things.  Well, maybe demanding sometimes but I prefer to call it being assertive.  My son is also an "only child" and he is wonderful.  I'm not saying that because he is my son, he truly is wonderful.  At 14 years old, he still gives me hugs and kisses in front of his friends.  He still thinks it's cool to ride around with me, too!  We do like to crank the tunes, although I can only take so much Tech Nine; there's maybe 2 of their songs don't offend me.  He still cuddles on the couch with me and I can still guilt him into going to Wal-mart with me when Shawn won't.  Every single year in grade school, he was invited to the "New Student Ice Cream Social" because he always befriended the new students and kept them as his friends (I do think there was a little ulterior motive....).  They always, in turn, invited him as their friend to the social.  Going to Parent-Teacher Conferences, the teachers always talk about Koby's willingness to help other kids (sometimes disrupting others) and his awareness of other people's feelings.  He is also funny as hell.  One of his friends wrecked on his bike, then just laid there.  Koby flew the bird right in front of his face and asked him how many fingers he could see!  How clever is that?  Hopefully I don't sound like one of those parents that puts a beer can in their baby's hand, snaps a picture, and thinks it's the funniest thing ever (yuck!!!), but really, that's pretty funny.  Even though he is my 14 year old "only child", he is one of the best people I know.

Wal-Mart

You know, I got to thinking, maybe we're all looking at this Wal-Mart thing the wrong way.  It's always so easy to talk about how much we dislike our weekly trips (yes, I have to go weekly), the people in their over-sized sweatshirts with Disney character pajama bottoms and slippers, taking up the whole isle so they can mill about for the best deal.  It's easy to complain about the screaming toddlers with the parents that let them stand up in the cart and the 9 year old's that are popping wheelies and clipping us in the heels as they ride our asses.  Oh, so easy to be disgusted with the lack of hand wipes that are supposed to be awaiting us at the entrance, but never are;  watching as a fellow human sneezes in his hands, then white-knuckles the cart handle as he has spent time searching for the very one that doesn't clunk-clunk-clunk as he pushes it.  Could we possibly look at Wal-Mart in any other way?  I say YES!  This giant mega store is a living, breathing, FaceBook!  Where else can you go and see people that you haven't seen in 10 years?  Who needs a class reunion?  Go to the superstore!  There's even a way to "block" those that you don't want to see...very, very quickly turn around and go back the other way.  This takes a bit of practice, you'll also have to be aware of which isle they're heading into next.  Wal-Mart is also the one common bond that we all share.  No matter what our socioeconomic status, ethnic background, sexual orientation or religion, we all shop at Wal-Mart.  It is a community "melting pot", a culture almost within itself.  Hooray for Wal-Mart and its inhabitants!

UGH!!!

I SO do not want to do any homework.  As a matter of fact, I really don't want to do anything but read an Elizabeth Lowell book and eat a cheesecake.  It is 7 P.M. on a Friday night.  I just read the most boring chapter ever in my Diversity Issues textbook and I have to try to post something interesting I found in the reading.  It's not that I don't think diversity is important, it's just that this particular chapter of reading was extremely uninteresting.  It's only chapter 2 and I'm afraid that the rest of the book is going to be the same.  My husband is sitting here watching pre-SuperBowl stuff  drinking a beer and my son left a little while earlier on his way to Coeur 'd Alene with a friend.  Their lives seem so much easier than mine. 

Go Steelers!!!!

     I guess I probably should put a plug in for my team...go Steelers!  My son's room is painted bright yellow with Steeler's team stuff all over the walls.  My husband, Shawn,  has been a fan since he was just out of diapers (slight exaggeration).  I never really started watching football until Koby started playing in the 3rd grade; after I learned a little bit about it, I started watching it on TV with them, too.  It has kind of become a family thing for us.  Whenever there is a game, we get our gear on and gather in the living room to watch.  I think this is what I love best about football.  I'm even finding that there is a bright side to Fox not signing with Direct TV (not a bright side, maybe, but a positive way to look at it).  My husband figured out that if we take Koby's TV and put it in our camp trailer, plug the trailer in for heat, stove, microwave, fridge, etc., we'll have a nice comfy place to watch the game.  Now all I have to do is get enough homework done so that I can enjoy it!  I know there's some Packers fans that are going to be reading this :) but, you know, I had to put my plug in!!!

The lightbulb finally clicks on...

     Isn't it funny how you don't "get" something until several days later??  Well for me, try several years!  I co-teach a class called "Discovery" that is sort of like a group counseling session.  The students talk a lot about family life, friends...good and not-so-good, school struggles, drugs, etc.  I learn so much from these guys, it's almost made me less sympathetic for the average person and their struggles (including myself).  During one of these discussions, we were talking about channeling negative experiences into positive energy and motivation.  I was telling them about my upbringing; I wasn't abused, just a little neglected.  I can remember CPS coming to my school and talking to me about my home life, my neighbors didn't really care for my single, red-headed mom.  She always had the door locked and the music blaring when I got home from school, leaving me to bang on the door and scream at the top of my lungs until she heard me and let me in.  We didn't have much food around the house, even though she could well afford it.  I spent week-ends with my grandparents in Pomeroy...they would pick me up from school on Friday and bring me back on Sunday afternoon.  I loved my grandma.  My mom re-married when I was 9, much changed for me and my home life after that, for the better.  Now, let me back up a bit.  My mom met the love of her life when she was 19, that would be my dad.  He was 2 years (I believe) older than her, that would make him 21.  They were married and had me when they were 22 and 24, living in Alaska, my dad was in the Airforce.  My dad was diagnosed shortly after with malignant melanoma (very aggressive skin cancer) that started from a mole on his forehead.  The Doctors didn't know much about it then, and told him, prior to diagnosis, that he must be cutting himself shaving.  He was very sick for 4 years, my mom took care of the both of us and held down a job as best as she could.  There was no family even close to us in Alaska.  By the age of 29, my dad died.  My mom was 27 and had spent the last 4 years of her life taking care of the man that was supposed to be with her for the rest of HER life. 
     About 3 years ago, when I was talking to the students about knowing what kind of mom I wanted to be because I didn't have that role-model growing up,  I finally figured it out.  What the hell?  I can't even imagine losing my husband at the age of 27, left with  a 5 year old in a state not even remotely close to any family.  Not to mention the last 4 years of my marriage is struggling to do whatever possible to make ends meet, always hoping for a miracle.  My mom did the best she could for me.  She might not have won any Mother of the Year awards, but she has sure made up for it with my son.
    

People That Don't Have A Clue

How is it that some people just don't have a clue?  I get it with teens, but adults?  If someone tells you that you are a jerk, you can blow it off, but if several people from unrelated areas of your life tell you that you are a jerk...then you probably are one!  I'm coming across this in one of my jobs.  I can't mention names or places of business, but the whole thing is a joke.  I have been at this job for over 12 years and although the staff constantly changes, the couple never does.  If people, no matter who they are, don't like to work with you, I'm guessing there's a reason.  This couple was here 5 years ago, then were "sent away".  They are back with a completely different staff, and still have not changed any behaviors and feel that everyone is out to get them.  I know I'm speaking in code, but my point is this: if someone from your work place says that you are a butthead, if your friends are not your friends anymore because they say that you are a butthead, if your insurance agent doesn't return your calls because they know that you are going to be a butthead...get a clue!  YOU ARE A BUTTHEAD!!!!!!!!

Today

Today is one of those days that happens about once a week.  It's a day that I feel completely overwhelmed.  I don't know where to begin...I can't see any means to the end.  I'm going to a board meeting for an assignment (I got a heads up that this would be a quick one because of the bond levy), it's still a terrible night for me to have to stay late.  The work on my desk is piling up, homework galore from my classes, my son has a wrestling thing Wednesday night AND all day Saturday.  Did I mention I HATE wrestling?  I have a problem with yelling, screaming parents that have veins popping out of their necks.  I have decided as a parent, that I do not have to go to every single function under the sun.  I think I'm setting a great example by staying home and doing my homework; he's 14 and knows that I'm back in school to finish what I started so long ago.  My husband is really good for that kind of sports stuff, anyways.  I think he's the one that misses me being there more than Koby does.  He feels that he has to go to everything under the sun and sometimes makes me feel like I'm being "not the best mom" because I don't think I need to be there every time.  I guess part of it is how he was raised; no family support, he got himself to and from any practices or games he may have had when he was involved in sports.  He doesn't think about the fact that I'm involved in everything else...just not always the sports stuff.  It's not that I don't think it's important, I just really have to pick and choose right now.  Plus, like I said, I do not like wrestling.  Football is good.  I am still overwhelmed.

This probably won't be a very long blog, but I'm going to  write about something I saw this evening that kind of upset me.  It's the type of thing I seem to be seeing more and more often with teens.  Right around 5 p.m., I went to the bank ATM to grab some money for my son (it never ends) for a birthday party snowboarding trip.  There was one car ahead of me; I always stay at last one car length behind the person at the ATM, my husband tells me that this is proper ATM etiquette...whatever.  The driver was a girl, probably around 17 and the passenger was, I'm assuming, her boyfriend.  As she went to put her card in the slot, she dropped it and it went underneath the car.  She opened her door, but of course she could only open it a few inches since she was pulled up right close to the little building.  I could see the young man (using the term loosely) next to her, flailing his arms around like he was yelling.  The passenger door flew open and he started barking orders at her.  She backed up the car as she was told, he bent down and picked up the card then threw it at her open window.  What a little jerk!  I wanted to jump out of my truck and knee him in the groin!  Then he was yelling "Get out!!  Get out!!"  So as he went and sat back in the passenger side, waiting to be chauffered around, she obediently went to the ATM, by foot, and made her transaction.  I was so irritated seeing him puff out his chest and belittle the girl behind the wheel I could have easily beat the crap out of him!  What bothered me even more, was the fact that I was thinking "If I get out and say something, will he pull a gun on me?  Could he have a knife?  Will they follow me home (on his orders) then destroy my property?"  I hate having to think about these things.  It makes me sad for the girl, sad for me and sad for the world.

Christmas Present from Grandma

A couple of years ago, my husband and I received the most hideous Christmas gift ever.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to open up a present that is so unexpectedly ugly and act like you like it?  I thought I was prepared for anything until Shawn reached into the box and pulled it out.  We both looked at it, looked at each other and were not able to make eye contact again until we left the family gathering.  "Oh, wow...it's really...pretty!" I sputtered.  Shawn was speechless as he set it on the table.  "Well, plug it in so you can see how it looks, and dim the lights!" Grandma said.  Shawn did as he was told; I could see a smirk forming at the corners of his mouth.  With the lights off, the rest of the family oooohed and ahhhhed, probably saying prayers of thanks that it was going home with us.  I'm going to do my best to explain it to you, but please realize that there is no way that I can do it justice with words (I'm going to have to ask my son to teach me how to post pictures).  Honestly, I don't even know what to call it...a lamp? a nightlight?  On top of a fat plastic base, about the size of a cereal bowl turned upside down, sat a bouquet of bright pink roses.  Mixed in with the hard silk flowers were plastic sprigs that looked similar to fishing line.  The difference was that these sprigs were thicker and stronger; they were able to stand on their own.  As soon as Shawn plugged the monstrosity in, I realized that these were lines of fiberoptic lights.  Not only did the sprigs light up, but so did the flowers!  As the "bouquet" changed colors right before our eyes, the base slowly rotated, giving us a full 360 degree view.  Something caught my eye as it was making its second rotation, something that I had not yet noticed. I squinted my eyes and peered through the jungle of lights.  There, hot-glued on the stem of a rose, sat a fairy.  I looked closer....the fairy had horns!!  What the heck??  The wings were so high up on its back, they looked just like miniature horns poking out from the top of its head!  I don't know how, but I managed to hold in the giggle that wanted so badly to escape.  It helped that Shawn had not yet noticed.  From that point on for the rest of the evening, all I could think about was what kind of unfortunate, yet believable accident was going to occur to keep that thing out of my living room.  Actually, I didn't want it in my house, period!  It gave me the same kind of creeps that clowns do.  I just knew that the "horned fairy" would be visiting my nightmares. 
As luck would have it, a month later we got a puppy.  She liked to chew.  The creepy light has been out of commission for quite some time.  More luck: it was bought in Arizona at a craft sale :)

What's wrong with this picture?

     To me, one of Life's Great Mysteries, is food.  Not food in general, but the taste of food.  Somewhere along the way, things got terribly messed up.  I don't know how or when, I just know it did.  Why is it that the better the food tastes, the worse it is for you?  And vise versa...if the food tastes like rabbit pellets, you can bet it's good for you.  It is mind boggling to me that we crave what is so bad for us.  Take a McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, for example.  This would have to be one of my favorite fast-food burgers - 740 calories and 42 grams of fat.  Cheesecake?  1 slice = 350 calories and 24 grams of fat.  My favorite dessert, Pecan Pie, 452 calories and 32 grams of sugar.  Even a measly, plain old Krispy Kreme donut is 200 calories.
     Now let's look at the other end of the spectrum: Veggies (without Ranch!!) 25 calories a serving.  Please.  The Ranch helps them move down your throat.  You can have a hamburger that doesn't actually have any meat in it, that will only cost you 100 calories.  Have you ever eaten All Bran or Fiber One?  The latter is actually a little easier to swallow, but either of them have only 60 calories in a 1/2 cup serving.  Believe me, you really don't want to eat much more than that in one setting.  That 1/2 cup has 14 grams of fiber.  Tofu is about the healthiest of them all.  You can mix it with anything and it will mimic the taste and also give you a protein boost.  Just don't mix it with something that doesn't taste very good, it will make it taste worse.  The great thing is that you can eat a' 1/4 BLOCK of the stuff and it's only 88 calories! 

I wonder how these will taste?

 

TOFU CHEESECAKE

Printed from COOKS.COM

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Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,171,156172-251196,00.html
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

1 c. ground walnuts
1 c. oat flakes
1 c. almond meal
4 tbsp. tamini
3 tbsp. maple syrup, salt

FILLING:

2 lbs. tofu (firm)
1 1/2 c. maple syrup
1 c. corn oil
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. Arrowroot
2 tsp. salt

Blend filling.Press the mixed well base into an oiled springform pan. Pour in tofu mixture. Bake 1 1/2 hours at 375 degrees or until golden and firm. Let cool overnight. Top with fruit preserve or fresh fruit. (Obtain some ingredients at health store.)

	Sugar Free Pecan Pie This Sugar Free Pecan Pie is easy and a nice alternative those folk who can't have the regular version. It's also easy and fast to make.
	Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 1 hr Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

• Crust
• 1  (15-oz.) box Pillsbury® Refrigerated Pie Crusts
• Filling
• 5 teaspoons sugar substitute for baking
• 1  cup sugar free breakfast syrup
• 1   teaspoons vanilla
• 3  eggs
• 1   cups pecan halves
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F. Place pie crust in 9-inch glass pie pan as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie.
2. 2 In large bowl, mix eggs with the sugar substitute. Stir in syrup and melted butter. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust.
3. 3 Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is puffed and pie is golden brown. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Store in refrigerator.

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Trick or Treat

     I love Halloween.  Costumes, make-up, decorated houses, scary music and....CANDY!  I remember every year as a little girl preparing for the big night.  I had a dresser in my bedroom that had three large drawers; the bottom was cleared out just for my candy.  I always took a pillow case as my "Candy Carrier" because there was no chance of it breaking and spilling my precious cargo.  Another important use of the pillowcase was that it could be used as a weapon.  Yes, I did say weapon.  There was a very unsavory character that lived in my neighborhood who was known to steal candy bags from unsuspecting victims.  The night this fellow tried to take my candy, was the last night of his reign of terror.  I swung with all of my might and connected right with his noggin!  The best part was that the neighbor up the street worked for Pepsi and always gave out cans of pop...I was fully loaded.  Luckily for him, the Baby Ruth's, Snickers and 3 Musketeers cushioned the blow.  I never saw him out on Halloween again, at least not in my neighborhood!
     With such fond memories of this particular evening of the year, you can imagine how excited I was when my son, Koby, was about 8 years old and agreed to let me trick-or-treat with him.  When I say "with" him, I really mean "with" him!  I am about 4 ft. 11 in. in height...are you following with me now?  Koby had never really been much of a go-getter when it came to trick-or-treating and I felt it was my duty to show him how it should be done.  I was giddy with excitement.  Werewolf mask, camo pants, boots, red flannel hunting shirt, I was ready to go.  My husband just shook his head, what else could he do but drive us to our destination.  The evening was wet and cold, but the streets still looked like a scene from E.T.  There were sugar-frenzied kids everywhere and parents that looked like they wanted a drink (I'm quite sure there was some of that in their coffee mugs).  We parked the car, picked a house, went to the front door and rang the bell.  I was shaking and giggling like a high-school girl.  As an adult, I was afraid of being found out and at the same time, excited!  Koby was right next to me as we said "trick-or-treat" in unison; my son and I.  Turning away from the house and walking towards Shawn, my husband, we started laughing...hard!  I couldn't believe that I was doing this!  Now it was time to get down to business.  "Come on Koby, let's go!" I hollered as I ran to the next house, his little legs doing their best to keep up.  After about 10 houses, running as fast as I could get him to go, he began yelling from behind "MOM!  Wait for me!  You're running too fast!"  I quickly went back to him, horrified that he had called me "mom".  I looked around but no one had seemed to notice.  I realized that in my excitement, I was running the Halloween right out of my son!  It was time to give him a break.  There was something else that I needed to do.
     Some friends of ours lived in the neighborhood and I wanted to pay them a visit.  As we came to their driveway, I told Shawn and Koby to wait out by the street.  I walked to the door with my pillowcase in hand and rang the doorbell.  The mask was so hot I could hardly breathe and the craziness of what I was doing made it even worse.  I waited.  The door opened and both Penny and Dave were standing there in front of me in my werewolf costume.  No one else was at the house but me..."Great costume!  Do you like gum?" Dave says.  "Sure!" I say.  He gives me a handful.  "Thanks JackA$$!!"  Their mouths drop in disbelief as I drop with laughter, pulling off my mask.  Now you see why I had my son wait by the street with my husband, a little adult humor never hurts!  We still talk about it and laugh (Penny, Dave and I) and Koby and I do the same when we talk about our trick-or-treating escapade.  My husband still just shakes his head.

What to Write???

I took my dog for a run this afternoon (yes in the wind!) and all the while I was trying to think about what I was going to write in this blog.  I thought it would be nice to have a blog about a certain topic, kind of like John in "Marley and Me" who always wrote in some way or another about Marley.  I do have a black lab...but she's pretty boring as far as dogs go.  The other thing I was thinking about as I was running against the wind was how crazy I had to be.  Why in the heck was I out here????  It's because things are different once you hit 36.  One of my students was laughing at the fact that I looked like a 17 year old from behind.  Well that's all fine and dandy, but what does that mean I look like from the front?  I always took youth for granted, I guess, or at least I never really gave it much thought until I turned 36.  I think that's why I like working with teenagers, they keep me young at heart, up to date, and teach me things that prepare me for the 14 year old that I have at home!  But...that doesn't help with laugh lines.  Running outside in the wind with my dog to stay in shape doesn't help with laugh lines either, although it does make me feel better.  There's something about turning 36 that made me start spending a bunch of money on face and eye cream, too, something I would have never done before.   And buying "In Style" magazine!  Isn't it a little too late for that now?  Does the saying "better late than never" apply?  Oh, this is a good one - I started paying A LOT of money for a pair of jeans.  I never did THAT until I turned 36, either.  I do try to use a 20% off coupon whenever I have one :)