Sunday Indulgence

For most people, Friday is the Weekday favorite; for me, it is hands done, Sunday Morning!
Jennifer does not understand. But I love to sit in my basement, turn on the TV and watch CBS News Sunday Morning with a nice hot cup of coffee. Ahhhh. Bliss.
I love the variety of tidbits, sort of like a broadcast version of the Sunday paper. It starts with a run down of what's to come on the show for the morning. It covers the headlines, the fine and performing arts, interviews, as well as more in-depth stories from headlines. These stories do not focus on the already known stuff. They go deeper and broader and are just so much more relaxed than the hard-nosed interviews of the typical newscast. They focus on the little known interests of the interviewee. And opinions! Commentators Ben Stein and Nancy Giles deliver their opinions with wit and humor that keeps me begging for more! And I can't leave out Bill Geist doing his human interest stories and Mo Rocca! The whole show just makes me see the world in a much more colorful way. Kind of like looking at the world through a Kaleidoscope. I can see all the different angles of a story or a person or a subject. And it always ends with a nice 60 second clip of a tranquil scene from nature. Ahhh. Nice. My Sunday Morning is just not the same with out CBS Sunday Morning Show!

New Camera

Here are some pics from the new Nikon D60

Alone with Granny?

Jennifer decided to take a road trip this weekend and asked if I would take care of Jorden. Finally!! I thought, I get Jorden all to myself! What to do first?! Of course I said yes! I was talking to my very good friend Angie and as it so happened, Friday was beautiful, and Monsters VS Aliens was showing at the Calvert City Drive-In. Although Jennifer said Jorden had already seen this movie, she said it would be fine because he LOVED it. Pay Dirt!! We made plans and at 6:00, Angie and her family picked us up. We stopped or rather drove through at McDonald's because although they are famous, I can not stand the hamburgers at the drive in. We got our food and headed to the drive in. Even though the movie did not start until 8:00, it was getting full already! We parked and got unpacked. The kids, all 5 of them headed out to right underneath the movie screen to play. Kids were everywhere. Ahhhh. Nice! Angie and I talked and ate. Kids played, played, played. Ahh, nice. Then the big spot light came on to let us know that the movie would be starting soon. We gathered the kids and as the screen lit up, Jorden froze, stared, then screamed in terror! I scared Granny!! Keys home. Drive! Drive! I took him to the bathroom and talked and calmed him down. We went back outside and it started all over again. I called Gramps to come get us. I told Angie I was headed home and not to worry. I was going to wait by the ticket gate. So we walked. We told the little guy and gal that Gramps was coming to get us because he was scared and they offered us a rain check. I said no, that we got our $5.00 worth from 6-8. I sat down with Jorden and we were watching a June Bug. A bug flew at my face and I swatted. Yea, mistake! I felt a sting right next to my upper cheek. Wonderful. I got stung by a wasp. David, you remember my hand last summer, don't you? At least it was me, and not Jorden. Gramps gets there a few minutes later and Jorden practically flew out of my arms through the window. "Monsters! I scared Gramps!" We got home, I put a tea bag on my face and we all went to bed! What a Night!

Getting Closer

Our basement is getting closer and closer to finished. Eddie came over this weekend and completed the fireplace and it looks awesome. Next will be the floor, then the suspended ceiling.

Finally

I couple of years ago, I went to the dentist with a tooth ache and was informed I needed a root canal. Fine. I got the root canal and a few months later had to go back. The tooth was dead and needed to be pulled. My worst fear had come true! I have dreams of losing all my teeth! I have a friend named Dr. William Cusack. He specializes in tooth implants. He made me an appointment and I headed to Peoria, IL. In October, I had the implant "root" placed. I received a call from my dentist, Dr. Nick Cocke. The rest of my tooth was in and ready to be placed!! Yay! So Wednesday, I left school a little early and I now, once again, have a full set of Pearly Whites! And the worst part of the entire process?? Getting that tooth pulled! It was horrible!

Back to Normal; Sort Of

Today was the 2nd Monday, in a row mind you , that we had school! Nice. I was rushing around this morning, gathering my "stuff" for school when I glanced out the window. Hummmm... What the goat! There licking the ice off my door handle of my car was a goat. Hummmm... I step outside and this goat comes running! Don't panic, I tell myself. I s l o w l y walk towards the goat, who is still running towards me. Don't panic again I tell myself. I begin to talk to the goat, pretty much the same way I talked to Jorden a few weeks ago. "Hi there, funny looking goat. Where did you come from?" Goat now nipping at my knees. "Come on sweetie; lets go home" Me walking down the driveway; goat not moving, watching me leave. Goat moving over to the nice tuft of grass, chomping. I swear he is looking at me sideways! Ok. Now what? I go back inside to get the stuff I was gathering. Come back out, the goat, yet again, begins a trot toward me. Hummm... So I get in my car to leave and as I am driving down my driveway, this goat is running alongside of my car. Really! So I slow down and roll down my window and coax him to keep on following me. As if he needed coaxing! I drove across the highway to Mary's house. She has a small petting zoo so I just assume he belongs to her! Get out, knock on her door, Goats looks around, Mary comes out and goat takes off. Mary says, nope not hers. I say, Well, I got to get to school! hehehe Goat is hers now!!!

No School for HOW LONG?

Someone said that someone said that someone said the our Superintendent said we would probably be out of school for 3 to 5 weeks. What was I going to do with no water and no power for 3 weeks! I really enjoyed the first few days of power silence. Although I must say that I did not like not knowing what was going on. After the 2nd night, ATT crashed. No cell phones either! I did all I could do in my yard. Elisha's husband stopped by to check on us and the kids. Where's the kids? They split! They were off to find bigger and faster hills for their sleds! Glen volunteered to get his chainsaw out and saw some tree limbs out of the road. I did not say no. We got our warm gear out and Glen sawed and we stacked. After about 2 hours and only 2 trees stacked; Glen had already finished all the cutting up, we had to go in and warm up. Have ever played Pick up Sticks as a child? You know the game with bright colored sticks that you spill out of the can and then try to "pick up" one at a time? That is what it was like picking these tree limbs up off the ground. I would tug at one that LOOKED like it was on top only to be met with resistance because actually it's top was under other limbs. And unlike pick up Sticks, all these "sticks" looked exactly alike!
I finished stacking all the tree parts on Sunday morning. And on Monday morning, I did the only thing I knew to do: got on a plane to see Jorden, Jennifer, and Joey!! I have been here for 2 days and I am loving it. As of Tuesday Night, 90% of Livingston County Residents were still in the dark. But not me!

Not all Work

The kids had a blast! Chase was the first to brave the bitter cold!

Timing is Everything

We have been working on the basement since Thanksgiving. Our goal is, was, to have it finished by Turkey Season, April 15th. I say "was" because the whole basement has been put on hold so that we can concentrate on clean up from Ice Storm 09. However, I think there is still a possibility of getting it finished. The most important thing that was complete was our GAS fireplace. Although we have no power, we had heat! It was 4 degrees outside but Elisha and I were nice and toasty as we cooked our evening meal!

Ahhhh, the comforts of home...

Oh What a Difference 24 Hours Make

As the day wore on, the ice continued to fall. Sleeting, Freezing rain, all Day! Elisha and her kids came over around 10:00 because they did not have electricity and I did!! Yea! I should not have gloated too much for so long. By 4:00, I too, did not have electricity.

When outside, you could hear the trees falling to the ground, literally. Every two minutes, you could hear a loud crackling followed by a crash. And another tree or limb was down. By the next morning, it was like a war zone outside with a 4 inch blanket of snow on top! A tornado could not have left so much tree destruction to so many!

Delmus's Side YardLooking at Delmus's Yard from across the streetDelmus's beautiful Red Bud.

Right Between the Eyes

I have had a running bet with my ITC/Speech guy at school that we were going to get hit with something major the second to third week of February. Yea, well it came early. It started out early Wednesday the week before the actual storm. Our 4th Grade weather authorities (Script written by Traci Goss), started mentioning the possibility of some “messy” weather on the way for the following week; please stay tuned for further updates. I was thinking, “Oooh, what a way to get those kids hooked!” Then I got home and low and behold! Same newscast on channel 6! Ok, I’m curious. Went to Jean’s Saturday and watched the news and it was there again, this time it stated that we would more than likely get the edge of an ice storm however, the storm track is still forming and transitioning so again, stay tuned. Monday was a normal day. A winter Storm Watch had been issued. No problem. The day was pretty normal. We had a 4:00 SBDM (School Based Decision Making) Council meeting. We opened the blinds to keep an eye out on the weather. By the time we left (5:30) it was colder but no precipitation. Turned the weather on and heard the news: A Major Winter Ice Storm was taking shape to hit Western Kentucky right between the eyes. Got a txt message from our principal Sheri Henson; No School tomorrow. Heck yea!! No School tomorrow! I’m going to stay up late and watch TV! Yea right! I went to bed at 9:00 with one last look out the front door. Nothing! Once Again, nothing but HYPE! When I awok the Tuesday morning, oh how Beautiful all the trees looked! That was not very long lived.

Success

We had our District Middle School Governor's Cup (Academic Meet) on Saturday. Three of my 6th graders got to compete with the team. They were down as alternates for the written exams and would play on the quick recall team. As it turned out, only one student was needed for the written exam. SHe did not place. However, we were undefeated in the Quick Recall competition! We finished first in quick recall and second over all. YES!! We are headed to Regional Governor's Cup on Saturday, Feb. 14th.

What's Going On

School. WOrk. Work. Work.
HAve I told you all that I am teaching a group of 4th graders math this year? I am enjoying it for the exception of missing out on my 1st graders. I hope that I get a differnt schedule next year. I am also the Jr. Beta Sponsor. We are sponsoring a Red Cross Blood Drive on Feb. 19th. Our goal is 60 Units but my personal goal is 100. I think we can do it if all our car riders parents come early. I was thinking about setting up cookies and coffee and maybe some OJ. I'm also the yearbook editor. I spent this past weekend putting the pages together. I have it all laid out now all I have to do is get the pictures on the pages. I am planning on doing that this Saturday when I am at the Governor's Cup. Oh, I am also th eAcademic coach for 6th Grade as well as the JV Middle school Academic coach. Our 6th grade team came in second in the region and now our Middle School Team plays with 4 of our 6th graders on their JV team. I am our school's Relay for Life team captain and we have our big fund raiser coming up the end of February. We are selling portrait packages for $10.00 which we get to keep. The company gets their profit from the sell of additional packages. I also sit on the Freinds of the Library board as the treasurer. We have been trying to get a library here in Livingston County for the past two years. We are very close. We have a meeting on Tuesday with the Fisical Court. They are either going to approve the 4 million joint County Offices building or they are going to cut the library and only build the County Offices. I will keep you posted. I still have to do my REAL job as a library Media Specialist! I thought teaching was suppose to be a 8 to 3 job? Yea, right!

trees, trees, and threes

While I was looking for pictures of me to add to my "death folder", I rang Jennifer and she introduced me to Picasa. I think that it is preety cool. I will like doing my photos like this some. This is from our trip to California. We all had a ball!!!

Kitten

Kitten seems to be getting bigger as he gets older! The poor kitty has been "missing" the litter box! In his defense, he is old! Going on 17 years old. So he is losing teeth, and I guess, losing a little of his eyesight. So to help him out, I got him a JUMBO cat box. No way to miss now!

FIrst of All

You all suck! My family that is! I am trying!

Next: Look at what we got done this past weekend. And when I say"we" I really mean Kevin! There was not much I could do so I worked on the yearbook layout, sitting in the chair, right next to the fireplace. We are waiting to hear back from our Sheetrock guy for the ceiling on the right side of the room. The left side will be a drop ceiling. Then the rock on the fireplace, then the floor! I vote for a darker wood floor. WHat do you all think?

Kevin was a very busy bee for my last week in Hawaii. He studded out the basement completely! He also got the fire place box and logs in as well as ran the copper line for the propane. Oh, did I mention he set the propane tank as well! When I got home, we picked up some Norwegian Pine for 65 cents a square foot and went to town. We have decided to have a nine foot ceiling in the first part of the basement and a 7 and a half foot ceiling on the other side. It will look so nice! We were given a log of Black Walnut. When we picked it up, I was thinking, yea, I know why you're getting rid of this! It was narly and ugly! THEN, we got it planed. OH MY OH MY! It is stunning! And it will be even better once I put a nice satin clear coat on it! We are hoping to get it done before Turkey Season (April 15th). Because if it isn't finished by then, it will be between Turkey Season and Deer Season that it gets done next Fall!! LOL