My Friend, Flicka, I mean KENNEY!!! (Or My AWANA leaders are the BEST!)

Okay, let me tell you a story. I work in AWANA at my church. AWANA is a children's program. I am the director of TNT, which is the 3^rd through 5^th grade kids. We have a commander, which is the person in charge and we have leaders. Apparently, that's the chain of command – Pastor, Commander, Director, Leaders. . .I'm a horrible director, but they tolerate me. We have a new commander this year who is working REALLY hard. His name is Kenney. All of my leaders are FABULOUS but my ladies go way "above and beyond." We are having an afternoon tea for our girls this weekend and you wouldn't believe all the stuff my ladies are doing. I guess I've known Kenney for years, I remember when he and Holly got married and when their girls were born, but I have never worked with Kenney much until two years ago when I left the teens to come work in AWANA. Kenney was one of my leaders but he's moved up now and I've gotta say, he's impressing me. He is working really hard to be a great commander and he's doing a great job. I know he's a great dad and I don't know any dad except maybe my own, who is so crazy about his girls. Sounds like a great guy, right?? Now, I need to explain something. Kenney is one of the rabid Gator fans. He gives me all sorts of grief about being a 'Nole and that's just one of those things we have to agree to disagree on! But other than that, he's a pretty good guy.

    So last night, my ladies gave Kenney and I both a present. They were the same size and shape so we opened them together. I heard one them say, "I hope I didn't put the wrong name on the wrong package" but I didn't think much about it. We opened our packages to find . . . a blue Gator apron for Kenney and a beautiful, fabulous, garnet Seminole apron for me! We were both so impressed and I was touched. (I think Kenney was too, but it's easier for me to show it.) Of course, we had to take pictures. . . What incredible thoughtful gifts! I'm truly blessed to work with such great people!

I miss our babies

Today was our church Fall Festival. We have a lovely couple at our church who own a 2,000-acre ranch in Polk City, and for the last several years, they open up their home and ranch to our entire church family, as well as all our friends for a fantastic Fall Festival. Don and Tammy (the ranch owners) know everybody in the world, and they have all kinds of fun stuff for people to do. They have those big round hay bales that kids get to play on and hide in, they have hay rides and swamp buggy rides, skeet shooting, horse riding, greased poles to climb and other things. Last year we had chicken and greased pig chasing. It is just loads to fun. Today we had beautiful weather and it was just a great day.

I had a meeting to go to this morning, and didn't get there until right at 3:00 this afternoon. I was scheduled to be the adult in charge of the inflatables – a bounce house and one that was all sorts of games. When I got there, I was walking around and I looked over and Trevor, one of my nursery little ones was running right towards me, with his arms held up. He crashed into me, I picked him up, and he wrapped those little arms around my neck and just hugged me. It was so sweet. He said 'Hi Ms Sandi." It was precious! Now, you need to understand, in the nursery, he's somewhat ambivalent towards me . . . We play together, and we read books together, but he's never greeted me like that in the nursery. It literally warmed my heart. As I was leaving the ranch, I thought about that sweet little boy hug some more and I realized something. I miss my nephews and niece being little! My nephews are 24 and 18 and my niece just turned 11. I was a little sad on her birthday when I realized she had outgrown the toy section for birthday presents. I had a rather depressing birthday two days after hers, so I was somewhat overwhelmed anyway, but it hit me again today. I miss being able to buy them cute little presents. Now, they are too big for cute little stuff. They like different things. I miss getting hugs from little ones. . . My niece does still run up and expect me to pick her up and hug her, but she's HEAVY!     I can only hold her for a few seconds. The nephews outgrew me holding them a LONG time ago. I miss that sweet smell of freshly bathed little ones. I know things never stay the same, but it still makes me sad. I want my babies back!

Get a degree, find a man, etc, etc, etc. . .

Have you ever noticed the facebook ads that pop up on the side of your page? I started paying attention to them just lately for the first time. I'm not talking about the friend suggestions or the things that my friends are fans of, I mean the sponsored ads. Today, my three ads are:

Increase your salary by working on a graduate degree

It's time to try eHarmony

He's single. Are you?

 

When I clicked for new ones, I got these three:

Too many friends? Try match.com

Become a fan of Explorica.

Go back to school with Argosy University.

 

These disturb me for several reasons. I've got no problem with facebook making some money – none at all. What kind of creeps me out why they think I'm interested in some of these things.

My profile said I was a grad student at FSU for 2 ½ years – why do they think I want to do that anymore???

I guess because my profile says I'm single, they think I am just desperately waiting for someone to come along and rescue me from the pit of despair that is my life.

And why on EARTH would I want to explore the world with students?? Especially 6^th graders – not in this lifetime. . .

P.S. When I spell checked this before sending it to my blog; my spell check knows how eHarmony is supposed to be spelled. How creepy is that???

PS X 2: I also hate that it asks you why you don't want that ad any more. Here are the possible reasons:

    Misleading

    Offensive

    Uninteresting

    Irrelevant

    Repetitive

    Other

They really want you to tell them why you don't like that ad, so they can give you one that is better suited to you.

NO Control or Why I LOVE my farms. . .

Ok, I admit it. I play Farm Town and FarmVille on facebook. They say admitting is the first step in fixing the problem. I'm addicted to both those games. I must apologize to all my friends who are NOT farmers, who get notifications whenever I farm. (HINT: You can click "HIDE" and not have to see then anymore.) I worry about my farms, I try and figure out what makes me the most money and I spend LOTS of time arranging, rearranging and making my farms look nice. I know it's too much and I've been trying to figure out why and Friday during our 90-minute meeting, which lasted 45 minutes too long it hit me. I had an epiphany. I have to start by saying this: I do not consider myself a control freak. I have been told that I try to control other people (never been my intention!)and that I want everything my way. I do not ever try to manipulate or twist situations to get what I want. I could give you a list of people who are much more manipulative and controlling than me and try to control everything around them, even to the food that other people eat! That is SO not me! I am bossy, and I do sometimes think my way is the best way, but not always. (Other people may disagree with me, but I don't care!)

Here's my epiphany: I feel completely out of control in my life. At school, I can't get all my stuff done at school because other people dictate so much of how I spend my time. We have so many people telling us what to do and some of them have no idea what we do every day, but they are telling us what we are doing wrong. , I can't get my students to so what I need them to do, and it is a constant struggle to get them to do anything. In most of my class periods, I spend more time being a referee than I do teaching. I feel like I need a whip and a chair. After almost nine weeks of school, my students still haven't' learned to come in and get their folders off the shelf. My students have broken and/or "lost" eight pencil sharpeners this year – two of which are electric. We probably aren't getting a raise AGAIN this year, and that means not even getting our step for teaching another year. This is my 16^th year and I'm still being paid for 13. I wanted a media specialist job really badly and had my eye on one, but the county put somebody there- again, nothing I could do to change it. I know, I know, I'm just supposed to be glad I have a job and I am, I thank God every day that I have a job. However, it annoys me to no end to have people who got their raise and make a whole lot more money than I do, doing a job that has NOTHING to do with students tell me that constantly. There are several other personal issues that make me feel helpless and that bother me, but I'm not going into details now.

Here is the other part of my epiphany. I love my farms in Farm Town and FarmVille because I am completely in control there. If I want to make a river, I make a river. If I want to bulldoze all my fields and put down new ones, I can. If I want to have elephants on my farm, it's OK. Now, I'm collecting purple hay bales, with the plans to make something with them later and it's OK. I can buy a house, pink fences, whatever I want to do. I can check on my friends, water their plants and get ideas for my farm. I can have llamas, sheep, and plant and tend all the flowers I want. In my real life, I can't grow anything, but I have tons of flowers on my farms. I have benches by lakes and a pink hammock between my river and my lake.

So, again to those of you who are not facebook farmers, I'm so sorry if my farms annoy you. I think they are my sanity.

So, what’s new?

I got my diploma in the mail today. It is a beautiful thing – much bigger and more impressive looking than my first college diploma from USF. My friend Sheila just ordered her husband a new diploma from FSU, (something happened to a corner of his) and she told me how much bigger his was than hers, but until mine came today, I didn't realize how right she actually was. It is huge and it's gorgeous! I need a nice frame to put it in, (that might be a nice birthday gift for next month family!!!) So, now I have a degree and I have a diploma, and I have a LARGE birthday looming right over my head. Is it any wonder I feel a little depressed? Today on the way home from school I almost fell asleep driving home and it's only 7 miles from my school to my house. So, I came home and took a nap. Big mistake! It's now 12:08 and I'm still awake. Tomorrow I'll wish I hadn't stayed up this late. I got up from my nap, found some dinner and did my 40 minutes of sweating like some sort of wild creature. I'm trying really hard to be careful what I eat and to get 30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week. Last week, I did pretty well, but I did eat some snacks last weekend I probably shouldn't have. I did (GASP) share a package of Reese's Peanut Butter cups with my niece – and then we had calzones from our favorite place. I know, we're horrible and probably deserve to be fed nothing but grass and twigs for the rest of the week. . . I don't know if anybody reads this, and if you do, I'm not sure why you care to read the mindless, pointless ramblings of my mind, but I'm going off on a tangent here. I feel beat up, bruised and battered. Not physically, but emotionally, I'm just "wrung out." I've got nothing left. I feel like at this point in my life, I'm not doing anything well and that nothing I do is good enough to make other people happy. That's a very depressing way to feel, all the time. I'm frustrated with my job; I'm frustrated with the whole system. I have some personal issues that I'm dealing with, and I'm not handling those well, which is another source of frustration and confusion. I miss my friend Mrs. Smith, and I hardly ever get to see her much, which is ridiculous, as she only lives 15 minutes away. Crazy as it sounds, I miss my friends from FSU, and it doesn't quite seem right not to talk with them regularly. Now, I realize that comparatively speaking, I have no reason to complain. Our prayer list at church is pages long of people who have much more serious problems than I do, people suffering with cancer and trying to struggle through, sick children, and people who've lost loved ones- I actually have no reason to be so at odds. But I just feel discontent. I know that I'm supposed to "whatever state I'm in, therewith be content" and I'm trying, but it's just not working. I am trying to count my blessings, instead of sheep, but I still not doing well. I'm also not sleeping well at night, which makes everything worse. My sweet friend Amy suggested I take melatonin, and it works pretty well, but sometimes I think I can sleep, so I don't take it, and then it's too late. But the amazing thing is, as I type this, I'm feeling more and more sleepy. Maybe, just maybe I can go to sleep now. . .

An amazing thing happened today. . .

Today was Open House at school. I hate the day of Open House. I don’t mind Open House once it starts, but I hate knowing its coming. I just dread the LONG day. I also worry about talking to parents. I know, it sounds stupid – I talk to people all day. But, when it comes to parents, I always worry. It always turns out OK, but I always worry. Today, I was extra stressed, because I’m off my laundry schedule. I share a dryer with my sister, and my washer is downstairs in the garage. I KNOW this sounds like a stupid thing, but when it’s raining, (which it has been after school for a few days) I HATE going downstairs, in the rain to the washing machine. I usually do my laundry on Mondays, because my sister is organized enough to do hers on the weekend. So, for years, I’ve been a Monday laundry person. Last week was Labor Day, and we were at the beach, so no laundry. The week before, I had the flu – not the swine flu – but a cold, icky flu-type sickness. I so did not feel like traipsing up and down the stairs doing laundry. As you can probably imagine, I’ve been way behind on laundry. This morning, I left three loads of laundry in baskets just waiting. I came home to this: one laundry basket of FOLDED clothes and a STACK of clean clothes on hangers. I guess there is a laundry fairy after all!!! I think it’s pitiful that I’m paying someone to do my laundry, when for 2 ½ years while I worked full time and worked on my Master’s degree, I could get it done. Now, I’m just working, (which I don’t feel like I’m doing very well) and I can’t keep up. What’s wrong with me?? Ok, I admit, I’m off topic, but I just had to share the laundry miracle that happened at my house today!
Below are pictures - my empty laundry baskets and one full of folded clothes, and then the stacks of nice clean clothes on HANGERS!

 

 

 

 

No self-control. . .

I really wanted a pedicure. I've been pondering it for a few days. But, I had to make a Wal-Mart trip. I needed a few things and ended up at Wal-Mart. So, having no self-control, I stood in the book aisle pondering and I did it. I bought the book I lost. I decided to forgo the pedicure and bought the Nora Roberts book instead. If you read my last blog post, you know I was frustrated beyond belief, because I bought this book in July and was ready to read it again, but couldn't find it. I bought it again. No self-control. . .

I’m irritated.

Okay, I'm irritated beyond belief. I am one of those people who reads books over and over again. One reason I re-read books is because I read very quickly, and sometimes in my rush to get to the end and find out what happens, I miss things. So, I read the book again later and can focus on the little things. In July, I think, I bought a book by Nora Roberts, who I LOVE. I love her books because often, she writes series books, most usually a trilogy and I love that I get to read about the same people again. Well, this summer the first book came out in a new series, that's actually going to be four books. This is the Brides Quartet, about four women who run a wedding service. It's a different book, first of all, because of the size and shape. Many of her books are all the same size and shape, and this one is thinner, but a larger book. I'm ready to read it again – and here's the irritation – I CAN'T FIND IT!!!!!! I have gotten out of bed three times looking for that book. I went to Wal-mart today, and almost bought it again, and I just couldn't do it. But I'm still irritated because I can't find my book. I guess I'll just have to get it from the library, I just requested it, but I'm still number three on the list. I'm telling you, I am just so irritated with myself, because I want to read that book and I want to read it NOW. I have a hard time with non-instant gratification, when it comes to books. Maybe it will still turn up.

I hate being sick!

I’m sick. I hate being sick. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, a stuffy head and general all purpose YUCKINESS. I actually called my doctor and made an appointment. The good news is he said that I “probably don’t have swine flu.” That’s good news, right??? He sent me home with a prescription that is supposed to take care of the stuffy head mess. My sister graciously picked it up for me and it is the nastiest tasting stuff ever. I think it’s supposed to be grape flavored, which is not exactly my favorite taste anyway. I’m supposed to take it every four hours, but my 11 – something dose last night made me nauseas, so I dry-heaved for 10 minutes, which did lovely things for my stomach muscles today. I went to work, but left halfway through and came home. I slept all afternoon and want to go to sleep again now. I’m not going to school tomorrow either, and hopefully, this will knock out whatever it is that’s gotten me so icky, nasty feeling. So, with my stuffy head, and sore throat, I’m going to sleep now.

My best friend’s child – a Marine!

My best friend in the whole wide world is Laquita. Laquita and her husband Kerry, have three sons: Derek, Landon and Casey. In June, Landon left home for Parris Island for Marine Boot Camp. Landon has always been a unique child, a typical middle child, with his own set of quirks. When he was little, he was obsessed with weather and was convinced a tornado was right around the corner. When he was nine, I believe, he decided he wanted to be a mortician when he got older, and began to perfect his craft even then. I've NEVER seen a child so aware of funeral homes and hearses. He actually got an invitation to an Open House, after a local funeral home redecorated. He's just always been his own person. . .

A couple of years ago, he decided he was going to go into the Marine Corps Reserve, but it just wasn't the right time. This time, it was. He didn't tell his family that he was going into the Marines, until he had all his ducks in a row, and everything was set. Before it even seemed possible, he was gone.

Laquita has shared some of his letters with me, and the growth in him has been amazing! It's evident even from his letters that he's grown up a LOT. Saturday, at my dad's birthday party, she told me that according to his schedule, he should have been in the midst of "The Crucible." I have watched the Military Channel enough to worry about him. We prayed really hard for him!

She called me today, and finally, after 9 weeks, she got to talk to him. I can't imagine what she must have felt like to get to hear him, and know that he was safe and sound. He told her his feet are blistered, and that he's NEVER been through anything like that ever in his life. In all this time, he's never once complained or said that he hated boot camp. Laquita and Kerry will be traveling to his graduation this weekend, and he comes home for 10 days. He's decided to choose active duty over the reserves, which scares us! But I can't wait to see him! I think we will all be amazed – he left us a boy, and he's coming home a man.

Surprise!!! A birthday party!

Today is my dad's 70^th birthday. We (my sisters and I) decided to attempt to have a surprise birthday party for him. It took a lot of planning, and quite a bit of fibbing. . . Ok, flat out LYING, but we pulled it off. Robyn told Daddy we were having a surprise graduation party for me! It was his job to get me to my "surprise party" and although he didn't know, it was my job to get him his surprise party. It was really funny, we walked in, people yelled "Surprise!" and he was looking at me. When they all started singing Happy Birthday, he finally realized that it wasn't a graduation party. . . The look on his face was priceless! I think our friend Melissa started taking pictures, and I hope she got that look on his face. We were so afraid that some of his friends would spill it, I actually picked one by name I thought would mess it up, but no one did. I think we really surprised him, which is hard. He is good at surprising us, but I don't think we've ever gotten him the way we did today.

My dad is the greatest dad in the world. My sisters and I always knew that our middle sister was our Mom's favorite child. That seems a little disloyal to say, but it really is true. My aunt says that perhaps my middle sister just needed her more, but my older sister and I always felt that way. But, our dad, on the other hand, had almost a magical way – if you asked any of us who was his favorite, we all thought we were. That's an amazing thing. Our dad has pastured three churches, been an associate pastor at another, and started a mission. He is a fabulous pastor. The really funny thing is that he messes up his words and says the wrong thing to the wrong people all the time, but people aren't offended, and it's usually funny. But whenever someone is hurting or in need, He always knows just the right thing to say to people who are hurting, and knows when to say nothing, just to be there.

Today, I think he was very emotional. I think he got a little "verklempt" several times. We invited a lot of people, and the best ones came. It was a great party. Everyone just talked and laughed and ate and talked and laughed and ate. My dad did not have an easy life growing up – his dad was an alcoholic, and he just disappeared one day. By the time my grandfather resurfaced, he and my grandmother had gotten divorced, and he had remarried, and so my dad had stepbrothers younger than his own children. I don't know where he learned to be such a good dad – but he is. I'm glad we had the chance to do this for him.

School Day 1

Well, day one of the 2009-2010 school year is over. Overall, it was a pretty good day, actually not too bad at all. I have HUGE numbers of students, which is good for our school, but not so good for me personally. If we have too many, we'll gain a unit, like we did last year. Of course, it took until after Christmas to find and hire that new teacher so. . .

One of the teachers at my school wrote a fabulous blog post about testing at school. You can read it here: http://lizaanne42.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/a-rollercoaster-week/

She said it much better than I ever could and I wish that everybody who makes decisions about education could be forced to read her blog. I also think that everyone who makes education decisions should have to read the book "The Report Card" by Andrew Clements, but who listens to me????

Women of Faith

I just got home from Women of Faith. In case you don't know, WOF is a two-day women's conference, held in different cities every weekend. It is fabulous, wonderful, exciting, I can't think of enough words. There is something special about when women get together – and this conference has LOTS of women. We sing, we worship, we laugh, and of course, an arena full of women, we cry! This is my third year; I didn't go last year because it was too close to school starting. It is a great time of bonding with friends, having your spirit renewed and being reminded of the vast, endless love of God. There is a worship team, speakers and special guests. You can check out the website here: http://www.womenoffaith.com/

The speakers get to sit in a special part of the arena called "The Porch." I'd like to get to sit on the porch during one of these conferences. (BTW, I feel I need to explain this:
I have a list of "dying wishes" – the things I'd like to get to do if I were to find out I were dying. I guess it's technically a "bucket list" but I don't know how to go about accomplishing these things. Sitting on the porch is one, as well as having Barry Manilow sing "Sandi" instead of "Mandy." The third is to get to be the guitar tuner for Steven Curtis Chapman - but that's another story!)

Patsy Clairmont is always a hoot and has people nearly rolling in the aisles. This year she pulled as hard at my heart as she did my funny bone. Sheila Walsh is such a marvelous speaker that I tend to forget what a fabulous singer she is, and then she just blows me away. Marilyn Meberg always gets me unexpectedly and I can't always explain why. I love how she can be perfectly serious one second and laughing the next. We got to hear Lisa Whelchel, (yes, Blair from the TV show "The Facts of Life.") We met a new Porch Pal, Lisa Harper, who taught the Bible, as I've never heard before. Sandi Patty sang for us on Friday, and we had Mandisa sing for us, as well. I would LOVE to hear Sandi Patty and Mandisa sing together, as they both have voices that just fill up the whole place, but I don't know if we could stand it. I admit freely that I have NEVER watched an entire episode of American Idol, but honestly, what is wrong with people??? Why didn't Mandisa win? She has been gifted with a fabulous voice and boy, can she dance! I think God has much bigger plans for her than American Idol, which I know that some diehard fans of the show can't even imagine. This year Luci Swindoll wasn't at our conference, and that would be the only thing that made this year's conference perfect. I love her and I think we could seriously hang out sometime. . .

Our special guest was Steven Curtis Chapman who I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. He is a gifted songwriter and performer; I mean the man has like 51 Dove Awards, for goodness sakes! I've seen him in concert multiple times and NEVER left wishing I hadn't gone. Last year, he had a concert in Lakeland and there was a website where you could request a song, and he actually sang some of them. He chose my song and sang my request. He had a song years ago called "With Hope." Part of the song goes "We can cry with hope, we can say goodbye with hope, 'cause we know our goodbye is not the end." When my mother died, I wanted that song. It comforted me and helped me grieve. If I thought I'd never get to see her again, I'd be devastated, but like he said - I know my goodbye to her was not the end." The Chapman family has had a rough year, but they made it through – with hope. He told us his wife said something like "We have been to the bottom, and found out that the foundation is solid." Oh, to have faith like that! I admit, I need to be reminded that the foundation of my faith is solid, that "on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand." I always wonder when I see someone in a concert, if what we see is just a show or the real deal. He proved to us that he is the real deal and that the songs he writes and sings, he means. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house when he sang "Cinderella." What a testimony! What a gift! What a God!

(During concerts, he has to have his guitar(s) retuned between songs and I think that would be the coolest job ever - to be his guitar tuner during a concert. Of course, I don't know how to tune a guitar, but I'd learn. See, that's why it's on my list! )

I can't explain exactly what it is about Women of Faith I love so much. This year's theme was "A Grand New Day" which is perfect for this time in my life. It's a new school year; I've just ended one chapter of my life and am ready to go on to another. There is fabulous music, great speakers and most of all; constant reminding that God loves us! I love being with my friends from church, and spending uninterrupted time with them. I think we all get so busy that at home, we never have time to just focus on each other. We have time and opportunity to re connect with some of our dearest friends and meet some new ones. We had some serious conversations – and some not so serious ones. We laughed really hard, sang loudly, and then cried really hard. I don't know where else we can get that. It's good for your soul.

 

I admit it, I’m a hoarder. . .

I like to watch Animal Planet. I like those animal cop shows about people who work for the ASPCA and the Humane Society. I also LOVE Whale Wars, but that's a topic for another day. Sometimes on those animal cop shows they find people who they call "hoarders" people who end up with 20 or 30 (or MORE) cats or dogs in their house and in their yard. I can't imagine what 37 cats smell like but that's just me. I love my one cat, but he's enough for me. However, I have found some similarities between those people and myself. I am a hoarder . . . of books and other "stuff." I'm probably worse about books than anything else, but I'm not sure. I have been trying to get my house cleaned up all summer, since graduate school is all done. Last summer, while I was in London, my friend and her husband (who we affectionately call Hazel the Housekeeper) came and cleaned my house. They got rid of lots of stuff that I just hold onto for whatever reason. They did promise not to throw away any books, but she made my sisters promise not to buy me anymore "stuff" for Christmas or birthdays or anything. I've decided I have (and it pains me to say this) TOO MANY BOOKS!I don't know why I keep them. I know why I keep some, but honestly, as much as I love Frindle, do I really need 4 copies? Don't think so. . . I guess being a crazy book lady is not as bad as being known as the crazy cat lady, but still, I've got to do something about this. So here is my latest plan. I think I have enough books that I can weed my own stacks (see what I learned- I'm using Library-ese) and give a book to every student who comes to Orientation at my school next week. Doesn't that sound like a great plan?? I just have to decide where to start. . .

Mixed Feelings

I woke up today with very mixed feelings. I am very glad the work from my Master's degree is DONE! I'm excited that I won't have to spend hours and hours working online anymore. I loved graduation yesterday and felt all "verklempt" for a lot of the day. I was glad that my family got to be there, and that they seem to have had a good time. I was a little worried about them being bored. We had a lot of fun together, which we haven't had time for in quite a while. It was lovely to see all my friends and spend time with them. We ate some really good food and had a really good time, but part is me is still a little sad.

I'm sad because I know that I will not have time with some of my new friends like we've had for the last 2 ½ years ever again. I'm especially afraid that I'll lose contact with some people. I don't want to, but I'm just afraid that life will get in the way. It's going to take lots of effort to keep in touch.

I'm also a LOT sad that after all of our training and all the things we've learned; out of the 30 Project LEADers, only five (I think) have media specialist jobs. I know that I had classes with fabulous media specialists to be. I think there are many good things waiting to come from us. I'm afraid I'm going to forget all the things I've learned. If I think about the fact that I'm not starting the year as a media specialist too much I get really angry, so it's best not to dwell on it. I have loved my job, although I didn't enjoy last year at all, but I was just really ready for something different. I know that things will all work out for the best, but I really wanted a job.

I'm also afraid and a little apprehensive. Our professors, Dr. D and Dr. E are both so accomplished and are expecting great things from us. What if I can't do anything impressive? Maybe they made a mistake when they chose me and I don't have it in me to be a leader and never get a job as a media specialist? What if I do get a job and end up being a stinky media specialist? What if, what if, what if???

 

 

Go NOLES! (Yes, I am a Seminole!)

As of today, I am officially an alumna (which Wikipedia defines as an "a female graduate or former student of a school, college, or university") of Florida State University. Many moons ago, I graduated from University of South Florida, but to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much of the ceremony. I do remember that the guy who sang the National Anthem started out WAY too high, and had to drop down an octave when he got to the "rocket's red glare" part. That's about all I remember. My tassel was light blue . . . and I think I still have my cap and gown in my mom's cedar chest, which now belongs to my oldest sister. We got four tickets – so Mom, Dad, Patti and Robyn were there. Josh, my nephew was there too because he was only an infant, and didn't take up a seat. But today's was much different. I can't really explain why, so let me just ramble on a bit.

I missed my mom. I kept thinking she would have been proud of me. I know my dad was, but I really missed my mom. My sisters were both there, and my niece. I got a really nice surprise Friday night because my friends the Smiths drove up for the ceremony. They drove for 5 hours up and five hours back for a 2 ½-hour ceremony. Mrs. Smith and I worked together for 14 years – and she was the first person who actually knew that I was selected as a Project LEAD fellow. I actually used her cell phone to call my sisters, and I went running down the hallway screaming, to tell her. The next night, she and her husband, Mr. Al, took me to dinner, and Mr. Al brought me a present – a Department 56 library, and my first piece of FSU paraphernalia. He graduated from the FSU College of Law a long time ago, and their son Ross, has two degrees from FSU, so he was QUITE excited about me becoming a Seminole. He warned me that being a Seminole is something you never get over! You know how there are some people who are not related by blood, but are family? That's exactly what Mrs. Smith and Mr. Al are to me: family by choice!

I think that this degree means more than my BS. First, I had to work a LOT harder for this one. I had NO idea when I first heard Dr D and Dr E tell us about Project LEAD, how hard it would be. The good has far outweighed the bad, but this may be the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life.

One of the best things about today's ceremony was getting to share it with some people who have come to mean a lot to me. If you had told me in December 2006 that I would be so close with some people who I didn't even know, I would have laughed so hard, I probably would have wet myself. But that is exactly what has happened. I have made some really good friends that I can imagine being friends with forever. I have always wondered about some friends of the Smith's - they have friends they went to school with at FSU who they still see every year, talk to regularly. . I just couldn't imagine. But I can now. I cannot imagine never speaking to or seeing Robyn, Connie, Wendy or Stacy again. I can't imagine not talking to (or at least chatting online with) Andrea or Katherine. I can't imagine not checking on Vicki or Bobby facebook page. There are many people I will have to stay in contact with.

My niece has decided she wants to be a Seminole. Today, during the ceremony, the President of FSU was talking about connections, how so many Seminoles are connected to other Seminoles. I wonder if we're starting our own family tradition. My sister wants to explore the music therapy program at FSU, maybe she can be converted as well.

So tonight as I go to bed, I'm different. I am connected to something much larger and much older than I am. At my church, I am very much outnumbered and surrounded by those dreaded Gator fans. I have never gotten involved in the whole FSU-UF feud thing, I just couldn't see it. Surprisingly, even to me, I find that changing. My Bachelor's degree is from USF, and I'm very proud of that degree, but I have this much bigger feeling inside of me now. I don't know where these feelings came from – but I have them. I was thinking about my friend Dusty, who graduated from UF, and I understand now more why he has a Gator tag on his car and Gator "stuff" in his house. I get it. FSU has been very good to me and so, with pride I say "GO NOLES!"

A Saturday in Pensacola, and the things I learned.

Katherine and I spend Saturday in Pensacola, just messing around. We started at the Naval Aviation Museum, then took a specially guided tour of Fort Barrancas, then explored downtown Pensacola, followed by dinner at McGuires. Then, we drove down to the beach and looked around. During the whole day, I discovered some interesting things. I'll put them in a list.

1. I could spend DAYS poking around at the Naval Aviation Museum.

2. IMAX movies are awesome. We watched an IMAX movie about helicopters, which was seriously cool.

3. I'm not made to be an astronaut. Katherine took my picture as an astronaut and it's not attractive.

4. I ask way too many questions. We went to Fort Barrancas just in time for the guided tour. We were the only people on the tour and the guide was Katherine's fiancé, Scott. We got a personalized tour and I got to ask all the questions I wanted, which is a huge deal for me, because I want to know EVERYTHING.

5. There are neat painted pelicans all over Pensacola. In Lakeland, near where I live, there are painted swans all over town. When I was in North Carolina earlier in the month, I saw painted bears in Cherokee. In Pensacola, it is pelicans. Here's the weird thing – we saw an Army pelican, a Marine pelican, and a Coast Guard Pelican – but we never found a Navy pelican – in a Navy town.

6. McGuires is a fabulous place for eat, although the dollars hanging from the ceiling kind of creep me out. We had boxtys as an appetizer – mashed potatoes rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried – they are to die for! We had Senate bean soup, which is just 18 cents a bowl, unless that's all you get, and then it's $18.00 a bowl. I had pork chops that nearly melted in my mouth!

7. Pensacola Beach is gorgeous, and has some really odd houses. We saw a wedding on the beach, and then we just looked at houses. There are some weird ones.

So I learned these neat things about Pensacola. There are pictures. . .

A Trip to Milton

On Thursday, I left home at 8:02, according to my car clock, on my way to Milton. Milton, Florida – why on Earth would I drive to Milton??? I came to visit my friend Katherine, who is part of my Master's program, but was also my flat mate in London last summer for six weeks. It's amazing how you can spend six weeks with someone and still not know some things about them.

The trip to Milton was uneventful. My friends Amy and Will graciously let me borrow their GPS to help me find my way. The poor woman was quite confused as I refused to follow her instructions for part of the trip. I took 33 out of my county, to the turnpike to 75 and then I-10. She wanted me to take smaller roads and kept trying to make me exit. It rained on me a little; one time so hard I could barely see and was creeping along at about 35 miles per hour. . .

Several rest stops and about 7 ½ hours later, I arrived. It was so good to see Katherine. We have taken classes together for 2 ½ years, spent 6 weeks together including weekends in Scotland and Paris, but we still don't SEE each other often. She looks really happy. During the summer last year, she was going through some personal struggles, but she seems at peace now. It was interesting to meet her children, and her friend/fiancé Scott, after hearing so much about them. So nice to put faces and personalities to names.

It was especially exciting that for dinner on Thursday night, we drove to Foley, Alabama to Lambert's Café. I have friends who just traveled to Missouri and ate at Lambert's and came back just full of stories. Nothing I heard turned about to be untrue. We had to wait, but amused ourselves by trying to figure out just how many license plates we could find from different states. The, we got to sit down and here came the pass-arounds. Pass-arounds are big bowls and pots of things that the staff just brings around and gives you. We had fried okra while we were waiting for our drinks. Then came the rolls. Lambert's calls itself the home of "Throwed Rolls." Actually, their website is http://www.throwedrolls.com/. They literally come out with pans of hot rolls and throw them across the room, and you've got to catch them. Luckily for us, Scott and Chad were our designated roll catchers.

We ate so much I thought I would burst. I had meatloaf, green beans, and fried apples. Other items on our table were chicken and dumplings, country ham that was served in a skillet, and fried chicken. It was like dinner on the ground. Then the pass-arounds. . . the fried potatoes and onions were to die for, and then there were still more rolls. They also offered macaroni and tomatoes, black-eyed peas and more fried okra. . and more rolls. We left stuffed to bursting.

On Friday, we visited Katherine's school. She had a bookshelf to deliver and I am always curious about other people's schools. It is a HUGE school, geographically, and takes up lots of space. It just seems to go on forever. We poked around in an antique/collectible store called the "Copper Possum" where I snagged two Bobbsey Twin books. They had LOTS of stuff I liked and would LOVE to have gotten my hands on – an old church pew, a Hoosier cabinet, some Longaberger baskets. But I restrained myself. Laquita would be proud of me. I spend the rest of the day playing on the Xbox with Zach, although I'm not very good at all!!!

It was a great day. Today, we are off to explore. My daddy will be proud of me; we're going to the Naval Museum and Fort Barrancas, and just "frogging" around. I'll let you know what we see.

Can’t sleep

Well, it's almost 2:00 in the morning, and I can't sleep. I'm tired, but I can't sleep. I've turned my light off and back on three times, same thing with my computer. I hate it. I guess I'll have to get myself some Tylenol PM. I didn't even take a nap today. I'm reading a book I got from the "Friends of the Library" Wednesday at the Lakeland Library. Great deal on two hardback books – one by Amanda Quick and one by Jayne Ann Krentz, who are actually both the same person. I also just watched "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" or something like that, it's like the car accident on the side of the road, you really don't want to look, but you kind of can't help it.

I don't really know why I can't sleep. I do have something weighing heavily on my mind but there's nothing I can do about it. The short version of the LONG story is, I found a media specialist job that I thought would be perfect, but a displaced teacher was put in the job instead. It makes me frustrated and angry. I can't do anything about it, so dwelling on it is useless but I keep trying to find some way around it. Ever since I found out, I've been in a foul mood and even Publix cake didn't make it all better. It just irritates me beyond belief that my buddies and I have spent 2 ½ years working our butts off in this program, learning to be leaders and media specialists, and there's no opportunity to do anything with what we've learned.

So what does one do when one can't sleep at night? Well, I'm glad we aren't in school, because I would be even more stressed if I knew I had to teach tomorrow. I read for a while, watch TV for a while (BTW, there's not much good stuff on at 2:00 in the morning) look online, and repeat any combination of the three. I check my grades, check facebook, check my mail. . . .My eyes are heavy, but my brain just won't shut off. So, I try to make myself go to sleep and I just am more stressed because I can't. I guess I could get dressed and go to Wal-Mart. I could just keep watching mindless TV and commercials that are even more mindless but I keep laughing at the stupid stuff for sale.

Maybe I can go to sleep now. I can only hope.

The End of an Era

Last Friday, we had a retirement party at my school. Coach Stacy retired. He has worked as a PE Coach at my school for 30 + years. I believe he came to Westwood in 1976. I can only imagine the changes he has seen in education over those years. I count it an extreme pleasure to have gotten to share my professional life with him, because he's been a part of my personal life forever. Coach Stacy sang at my parent's wedding, my oldest sister was the flower girl in his wedding, I went to school with his daughter and son, his wife taught us piano lessons (well, attempted to teach me!) and Coach sang at my mother's funeral. He has been a family friend forever I guess.

Here is the really amazing thing about Coach Stacy – after 35 years in education, there is nothing bad anyone could say about him. This is a man who did his job, without fussing or complaining for 35 years. Even when things were thrown at him, which probably seemed ridiculous, like a word wall in PE, he just did it. Having to have a Lesson Essential Question and Unit Essential Questions and vocabulary words for PE? Sounds crazy, right? But he did it. When we first began using computers for attendance and lesson plans, he struggled, but he kept on until he got it. At his retirement party, we discovered that he had several sources of "tech help" as he would say, "Do you have a minute? Can you show me something on this computer?" I thought it was just me but apparently not. No matter what new principals and new district mandates came through, he always just kept on doing his job. I have NEVER heard him fuss, or complain. I wish I could say the same about myself.

Coach Stacy very seldom had discipline problems – he just made kids do pushups. I've heard students say a lot of stuff about a lot of teachers, but I've never heard kids say mean things about Coach. They talked about how he made them work, but that was it. I think that's pretty impressive. Coach Stacy loves God, his family and teaching. I can't even imagine how many kids he's impacted over 35 years in education. I've had parent conferences with Coach, where the student's parents say, "Coach Stacy, you probably don't remember me, but. . ." I also can't imagine the impact he's had on the faculty and staff of our school over all those years.

When I get to the end of my career and look back, I just hope I've been half as successful as he has been. Our school has a hole that won't be filled in anytime soon. Someone else may take his position, but no one will ever take his place.

The London Eye

I had to teach a lesson about setting for my last class. I read part of a book called "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd as a hook for the lesson. My class (made up of my family members) had to find pictures from Flickr and make a movie using those pictures. Here is the Animoto movie they made.

Graduation – In the Rain

Tonight was my nephew Josh's graduation from high school. I have two nephews and a niece and they are all as different as chalk, cheese and chocolate. I'm not saying which one is which! They are all special, but our Josh is something else. Since he was little, he has always been a saver not a spender when it comes to money. When he was about three, he would hold onto a handful of pennies for days. When he took a bath, he would put them on the edge of the sink, and pick them up again when he was finished. He even slept with the pennies. He has always done that. He has some really funny quirks. He used to say "GRR" instead of girl, which was adorable and he always put things "inside" his pocket instead of just "in." One of my favorite stories is about him saying "grr" instead of girl. I asked him what he was and he answered "I a boy." Then I would say "What am I" and he would answer "You a grrr." It was just the most precious thing. . . So one day I kept asking him over and over. Finally, he looked at me, sighed and said "I a he and you a she!" What a kid!

Now, he's all grown up and I do mean really grown up. I can stand completely under his chin. He does not do anything fast, but he is above all, solid and dependable. He doesn't get anything done fast, but he gets it done. He has such strong ideas, but is so calm about expressing his opinion. He carried two bookshelves out of my room yesterday – at the same time. He is strong, kind, and a good kid. I'm so proud of him.

Tonight at his graduation, it rained, and rained and rained. First, it just rained a little, then quit but by the time we got to the end of the alphabet, it was POURING. I can't think of any other little town with so many people sitting in the rain. My aunt and uncle drove down from Georgia, to sit in the rain. When we left, water in the parking lot was above my ankles. But, I'd do it again. Anything for my Josh!

Photos of Second Life

I've joined Second Life. Here are some photos of the Second Life "ME." I've been exploring SL as an assignment, but like other things, I find myself addicted and spending way too much time there.

Thank goodness for creative people, because my poor avatar had really bad hair, until I got some that other people created. I have great hair now. I wish I had that much hair in my real life!

One of my favorites is the picture of New Brighton. Last summer I was lucky enough to spend a day at Brighton and actually got donuts from a kiosk just like that one. Later I was attacked by a seagull that stole my donut, but that’s another story. (If you’re interested, you can read it on my blog from July 29th.)

Learning about Leadership

As most anybody who has ever read this blog knows, I am working on my Master's degree at FSU. I am a member of a group called Project LEAD, which stands for Leaders Educated to make A Difference. Yes, we know there is no M in there, deal with it!!! From the Project LEAD website: (http://ci.fsu.edu/Project_LEAD/) "The programs include a 12-credit leadership certificate that can be taken within the master's degree, a post-master's leadership certificate, or a 30 credit specialist degree focusing on leadership." We have learned much since we started this program about what it means to be a leader, but one of the greatest things has been the examples of leadership we have been blessed to see. There is a group of Project LEAD fellows, and we owe an incredible amount to two leaders who brainstormed and created our fellowships. Dr. Eliza Dresang, who recently left FSU to become the Beverly Cleary Professor in Children and Youth Service at the University of Washington, is one of those professors. She has been on numerous award committees, including the Caldecott and Newbery, as well as too many others to mention. She has written an invaluable book called Radical Change about changes in youth and learning in a digital age, as well as numerous articles, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Her curriculum vitae is 30 pages long!!!

Our other professor, Dr Nancy Everhart has been an amazing example of leadership as well. She has been a visiting professor at several universities, is the research editor of Knowledge Quest, is a member of the FAME Board of Directors, and has published two books and over 50 articles in library journals. Here is a partial list of her Honors, Medals, Awards and other Citations: International Association of School Librarians, Takeshi Murofushi Research Award, 2005; Judy Pitts Research Mentor Award, 2002; Pennsylvania School Librarians' Association, Professional Development Award, 1993; Association of Library and Information Science Education, Outstanding Dissertation Award, 1991. All that and she's younger than my mother!!! You can read all about her on the ALA Election website here: http://tinyurl.com/czlkoo. Oh, and by the way, Dr. E is the President-Elect of AASL, the American Association of School Librarians. She also makes a really good grilled cheese sandwich, and is the only person I've ever heard of who can find grits in London.

There's an old saying "Those who can, do and those who can't, teach." I hate that statement, and offer my classroom as a testing ground for anyone who thinks that teaching is for those who "can't do" something. Our professors are perfect examples of the ridiculousness of that statement. Both of then obviously can, but choose to teach. Dr. D and Dr. E have taught us much in the last 2 ½ years in class. However, they have taught us much more outside of class. They have taught us by example what it truly means to be a leader.

Easter

I love Easter. It's not just the Christian Jesus is risen from the dead, although that is the most wonderful reason of all. That could be an entire blog post on its own. I love Easter traditions.

At church, Easter is always such a joyful service. I am one of those people who go to church every Sunday, not just on Easter, and Easter services are always special. Everybody has on bright new clothes, spring is finally here and He is risen! A truly joyful Sunday.

There are other things about Easter I love. We always color eggs and yes, it must be a Paas egg coloring kit. Nothing else will do! When my sisters and I were all little girls, we had certain rituals to go through. We always make an egg for everybody in our family, and we write their names on the egg with crayon before we color them. We used to carefully divide the stickers that came in the package, and of course, we had to be fair, so we cut them all apart and took turns choosing. The smell of vinegar and boiled eggs, an odd combination, but a memory.

We always had a big meal for lunch on Easter Sunday, usually a ham. I don't know why, but we did. We had potato salad, usually with a few of the Easter eggs in it. My mom always made a cake, and she made the best "Seven Minute Frosting" in the world. I used to watch her make it all the time but I couldn't make it if I had to. At Easter, she would sometimes color coconut green and put it on top, with jellybeans on top. It looked like grass with eggs in it. Sometimes, she would bake the cake in an angel food cake pan and then, in addition to the green coconut and the jellybeans, she would put a chocolate bunny in the hole in the middle of the cake, so it looked like the bunny was peeking out of a hole.

At one of the churches my dad used to pastor, we always had "dinner on the ground" on Easter. The men would always cook swamp cabbage, everybody brought their favorite dishes and after Sunday morning service, we ate and ate and ate. We always had fried chicken, one of the ladies always made this cake that had like 7 skinny little layers, yellow cake with chocolate frosting between every layer. I wish I had some right now. The men cooked the swamp cabbage in a big old pot over an open fire. I NEVER ate any of it. It was the nastiest looking stuff in the world.

We always got an Easter basket, no matter how old we were. We usually got new underwear and pantyhose in the basket. One of our biggest challenges to deal with after our mom died was the Easter basket. Who would fix our Easter basket? My dad, bless his heart, tried the first year. He actually had baskets in his hand, but then he got to the underwear and pantyhose part and just couldn't do it. We have figured out a way to deal with it now. My sisters and I do baskets for each other. One year, we buy for the older sister and the next year, the younger sister. We go to lunch somewhere on the Saturday before and trade. It works for us.

Another one of my favorite things about Easter is egg gravy. If you're not from the South, you probably will think this is the grossest thing ever, but we love it. Mom used to take the cracked eggs that we had colored and make egg gravy, which we would eat over toast. It's just white gravy with chopped up eggs in it, but it was always pretty, with the specks of colored eggs in it. Egg gravy and toast. . yummy. We still eat it, but only at Easter.

I also love Easter candy. I love Cadbury Mini Eggs, and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, jellybeans and malted milk eggs. Fabulous!

Easter. The risen Savior, the beginning of spring, family, and candy. What's not to love?

AHHHH – Spring Break

For the last two years, I've had the pleasure of two spring breaks – one from FSU and one from my school. They never fall at the same time, and it's been very nice. This year, I have looked forward to my school spring break like never before and I am enjoying myself thoroughly. Today, I slept in until after 9:00. . . a nice treat. It was fine, until the day care children next door got to go outside to play. Now, it's almost 11 and I've washed a load of clothes, moved some furniture around, talked to Patti on the phone and Josh is person, sorted some mail and thrown some away. I'm also watching "Beach Blanket Bingo" on TV, gotta love those old surfing movies. I'm amazed at all the people who are in that movie. And who doesn't love Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello?? We got some rain yesterday, and a cold front came behind it so it's cool, the humidity is low and the sun is shining. I'm doing whatever I feel like with no rushing around and no pressure. Life is good!

Things I don’t love

One of my favorite sets of books is the Mitford series by Jan Karon. These are sweet, lovely books about this great town called Mitford, and the live of Father Tim Kavanagh. Cynthia, who lives next door (no spoilers here!) has a habit of saying "I love _______ or ___________." Father Tim likes to ask her "What don't you love?" Since I don't have a sweet neighbor to ask me, I'll just share them anyway! I kind of think of these like a continuum. One on end is things I love; the other is things I hate. These things are on the "things I hate end."

1. The little toothpaste dribbles I get on myself while I brush my teeth. They never come off, until I really wash the top. Just wiping it with a washcloth doesn't get it off and I'm not sure why.

2. Shaving my legs in the winter time. I hate to shave when it's cold. It just makes my skin dry and itchy. This may be awfully close to the "hate it "section.

3. The weird pain I get in my back when I sit with nothing behind me, with my legs crossed. It's always in the same spot, and I can't reach it.

4. Being the "poor sister" when I am with my sisters. The really stinky thing is that both my sisters are single moms, and I'm still the poor one.

5. When my neighbors play music so loud, I can hear it in my living room. This drives me crazy.

6. When chocolate melts, and then hardens again, so it turns white on the edges.

7. When my phone rings and it says "unknown name, unknown number." I don't answer, but I hate it when it rings.

8. When my life is so crazy, I can't get my sister's birthday present ready in time and miss Mr. Al's birthday by more than a week.

9. When something takes a whole lot longer than it should, because someone else doesn't do his or her job properly.

10. Coughing so hard, I almost wet my pants. Laughing so hard I almost wet my pants is something altogether different.

11. Leaving school feeling like I'm a failure as a teacher.

 

There you have it. My list of things that today, I don't love. Of course, this list is subject to change, depending on the day, or my mood. I try to remember, that things always could be worse. For example, I could be hiding in a tunnel while the Nazis drop bombs on my city, and I could be homeless or jobless or an orphan. I know that in my head, but my heart sometimes gets caught up in the mess of my life.

 

 

 

UMMM – Fried stuff

Here I sit at my computer on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, heading into evening. I have an assignment due at midnight that I should be working on and instead my mind is wandering around and around and around. So, instead of working, I'm doing this – making a confession. I love to eat stuff that is fried. Why is it that almost anything tastes better fried? For example, I love fried okra, but okra fixed any other way is not passing my lips! I know that frying is bad for us, and we should eat stuff baked or broiled, but it just doesn't taste as good. Here is a list of fried things that just taste good!

1. French fries. . . I never met a potato I didn't like but I must admit, my favorite way to eat potatoes is sliced up and fried. Yes, I know we can bake French fries, but it's NOT the same. (BTW should those still be called "fries?? – I think not!) The world would be a worse place without French fries.

2. Country fried steak. . . Some places call this "chicken fried" as in "chicken fried chicken." Country fried works for me, with some gravy on the side if you don't mind. . .

3. Fried chicken. In my mind, chickens were created to be fried. Right before Christmas, my sister and my niece and I went to dinner at my friend's house. She and I taught together for 14 years, but then for some unknown reason, she felt she needed to retire (lucky!) and abandoned me to try to teach without her. But I digress! She fixed us some fried chicken that was to die for. My mouth thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I have actually dreamed about that chicken since then. The Colonel extra crispy is an acceptable replacement for homemade.

4. I'm making all one category here – Fried "fair" food. This encompasses all the stuff you can buy at the State Fair, or the Strawberry Festival or any other sort of traveling show. I'm talking about those giant corn dogs, the twisty potato things, and my absolute favorite, funnel cakes. I even saw fried Twinkies once. This is definitely a guilty pleasure, as you can smell the grease in the air and feel your arteries closing as you walk between the trailers but it's good. I also have to kind of close my eyes and not look too closely at the people cooking or the little trailer things. . I don't even want to know about the health department certificates on some of those things. My logic is the hot oil kills anything that shouldn't be in there.

 

5. Doughnuts. . . Need I say more? Of course, I need. (Is it "doughnut" or "donut"? Does it matter? Do we even care???) This summer while we were in London, we took a day trip to Brighton. On the Brighton pier, there was a little booth selling donuts, which they cooked right in front of you. A machine dropped little rings of batter into the hot oil, and the little donuts floated down the hot oil river, cooking merrily on one side, then there was some sort of apparatus that flipped them over so they cooked on the other side . . . then they crash-landed into sugar and cinnamon, and then were plopped directly into a bag. The bag was all greasy on the inside, steam was coming out, they were FABULOUS! I burned my mouth and my tongue trying to eat one, instead of waiting for it to cool. Then, I was attacked by a seagull who grabbed half my donut and flew off. Stupid bird. I hope he choked to death. . . All because I was waving my arms around commenting on the "Mushy peas served here sign." (Every word of this is true – I promise, truly. You can ask my friends Andrea and Lenese if you don't believe me. . )

 

6. Last but not least (for this list) fried green tomatoes. I love tomatoes, there is nothing like a tomato sandwich, some soft white bread, some mayonnaise and some ripe red tomato slices, but I love some fried green tomatoes. . . Good ones are hard to find, you need somebody who knows what they are doing to cook them for you. Two years ago, my sister and I were driving to North Carolina and we left late so we stopped to spend the night. We found some restaurant right by the hotel that had a Friday night Fried Fish Buffet all you can eat. I think somebody's grandma was back in the kitchen cooking because the grits were perfect and the fried green tomatoes were to die for. I nearly made myself sick with the fried green tomatoes.

Ok, now I'm hungry. Like I can concentrate on my assignment now!

I miss my blog so here’s some random thoughts from me!

I haven't blogged in what seems like forever. Between school (my job) and school (FSU) and church, I'm just swamped. I left school nearly in tears yesterday, and just wanted to drown my frustration in chocolate. I couldn't find any at my house. That's not good, I need a secret stash. Of course, facebook has been sucking up time too. I've connected with some old friends, some new friends and some family that I don't see enough. My cousin Michael is on facebook and he posts the weirdest things that I just have to answer. My cousin Melissa is on there, too, and even though she lives closer, just in Clewiston, I haven't seen her in a long time. My friend Melissa found me as well, and I haven't seen her in a LONG time either, probably 10 years at least. I have some new friends, too, our friend Cindy who moved here from St. Louis, and her friend who is now our friend, who we call "Best-Friend Debbie." She has two rescued dogs, one of which is quite the escape artist.

I have to give a devotion at a ladies meeting on Saturday, and the theme of the meeting is "My Favorite Things." It wouldn't seem like that topic would be too hard, but I'm having a bit of a struggle to get it together. I'm also supposed to speak at a Girl's Retreat at the end of the month, and that lesson isn't going so well either. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Here's another random thought - have you ever watched "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern?" I am just amazed at two things about that show. One, how much he can eat, and two, how much he can get in his mouth in one bite. I must say, this is the only show, except Fear Factor that has EVER made me gag. One day, he was drinking this medicine/health food junk made with aloe. We used to have an aloe plant in our yard, and I actually have a small one that one of my kids gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I know how slimy and icky feeling aloe can be, although it's great for sunburn. BUT, watching him try to drink some sort of juice with aloe in it, and the stringy, slimy looking parts reaching from his mouth to the cup. . . I nearly couldn't handle it. As I type this, he's eating southern soul food. Now, I love southern food, and a lot of what is called "soul food" we ate my whole life at my house. This is not what I expected. He's eating raccoons and possums. Now he's watching some guy make "chittlins" which I think that's actually spelled "chitterlings." He's cooking them in a big cast iron skillet just like my momma had. Now, he's on to fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. I love fried stuff. . . I may have to come back to this topic later. . .