This 70’s retro building is where I spend most of my time throughout the year. I am sure at one point in History people said, “Wow, what a groovy looking school!” Now, thirty-two years later all you hear is, “When are they going to tear it down and build a new one?” The fact is that the school is not doing so well on the inside… I know, surprise - right! I mean from the groovy wooden panels on the exterior you would never guess that inside was going to hell. The building looks okay - it’s what’s lurking within the walls that will make your skin crawl. Earlier this year there was a busted water heater, and water came pouring out of the ceiling, flooding a lot of that main building there. It was so bad we had to miss a day of school while folks tried to clean her up and dry her out. They wanted to protect us all from mold exposure and so they sprayed some chemicals all over to prevent mold from growing…. My question is, “What about the mold that was already there?” We came back to school and spent the week thinking the awful smell in the building would go away… Then we waited the next week… and the next… and the next… My point is that the smell never fully went away - and while we sat in the teacher’s lounge and ate our lunch we felt we were being poisoned. While teachers taught in the classrooms closest to the flood, they breathed in mystery air. Yep - so the building looks real groovy from the outside - inside might be killing us…. in more ways than just the mystery air. *dun, dun, dun!*

A light at the end of a dark damp tunnel was that yesterday - yes, a Monday - was our last day of school! (the students anyhow) It ended on a Monday - because we needed to make up a day for the missed flood day… I won’t go there. As I walked out of the groovy retro 70’s building, and felt the freedom I had been waiting all year to feel, I heard a tune in my head that went a little something like this, “SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!” I was free from the complaining kids who are never happy no matter what! I was free from the people who never get what I do and I am sure never will - not that they want to. I am free from retro stinky building that will, I am sure, be waiting for me. I am free to spend time with my family - something (oddly enough) the school district frowns upon. And after next year I will be free from this job that has consumed my life for the past seven years. I’ll be back you old retro bitch - but not for long! You cannot take my soul… Okay - that might have been a little over the top. *wink*

All together now - “SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!”

My cousin and ME at her place…
(Smile for the camera!)

Throw a couple mothers into the mix and you get a cousin sandwich!
(my Aunt is on the left and my mother is on the right)

This ALWAYS happens when we get together!
Some kind of weird chemical reaction to our genetic build-up…

Hello Mr. Kitty in my wild rose bush!

My mother has this habit of random kitty cats wandering into her house looking for food. They are always super cute - but what kitty is not? - and she always gives into them and feeds them! A big “No No” because once you feed a cat - they ALWAYS come back! The largest problem here is that my mother has two kitties, “Stinker-Bell” and “Sparky” who live in the house and do not like the idea of new kitties invading their territory… Quite understandable if you ask me. So - my mother sees helpless, thin, homeless kitty and thinks, “Poor kitty, here let me feed you.” But what she’s really saying is, “Here’s some food, and my cats are going to fight with you and then I’ll call my daughter to get you out of here.” Yep - and call her daughter is just what she did. Well - at first she called the landlord of the park she lives in and they wanted to set out a trap for this lovable little kitty. When I heard that I had a fit. Then my mother had a better idea - Scott can come get the cat and take him to our no-kill shelter here… The problem with that is that our no-kill shelter is tiny and filled! So, without saying anything, because we didn’t want some jerk trapping this kitty, Scott went and brought kitty, dubbed “Chester,” home.

I already have three cats who live in my house, plus one my neighbors so thankfully adopted from us… Wait - the adopted kitty named, Friendly, was also a rescue kitty from my mothers “good deeds” of feeding the poor little kitty who then is beat up by her cat! Friendly has a fairy tale ending as he found the perfect family to love him.  Chester cannot live in my house because my cats have been here for a long time and I don’t want to piss them off - piss being the key word there (anyone with cats knows what I mean). So, we set up our utility room with a litter box, warm pillow bed, a nice crate he can go into for a warm closed in feeling, and we took the screen off the window so Chester can go out back and enjoy the sun - something the indoor cats cannot do. I think Chester is a happy enough kitty here. Sam has adopted him as his cat - which is fine because Chester seems to enjoy Sam’s hyper attention. Then when Chester’s had enough, he simply jumps out the window.

Chester sadly needs to take a trip to the Vet for a little ball removal. He needs to be “FIXED” but shhhhh, we don’t want him to know what we’re planning to do. Right now he can sit under the wild rose bush and enjoy life…

Unca Paul got a groovy new ride…

Unca Paul is the cool Uncle with his pirate themed tattoos and his awesome skill to hang children upside down - now he has completed the package of “Coolest Unca” with his groovy new ride!

For Mother’s Day, my mama bought me a pair of (expensive) shoes I had been wanting for a while. They are awesome! The first day I wore them, I wanted to send my mother the play-by-play of how they were and what they were doing. I had so much fun recording the events I experienced throughout the day!

May 12, 2008 - A Day in the Life of MY Shoes… *enjoy*

Good morning new shoes!

First things first - tie them up!

Kicking Samma’s tushie to get him moving in the morning!

Driving to work - feeling good in the car.

Hanging out with the students!

(That’s not my McDonald’s - no matter what my students say!)

I was forced to kick my student in the head - that’s what happens when they don’t listen.

It’s tough love…

Ohhhh… They both felt the effects of that kick -

“go go power kick!”

Walking through the halls - I never spend too much time in one place.

Chilling in English class…

Awwwwww lunch!

Relaxation and food are always a great combination!

Back in the hall after lunch - headed to Math class!

My new shoes’ first exposure to grass!

Something we don’t find too much of here.

Getting out of the car to pick up Samma from school!

Driving home - I wish it was to stay…

The shoes look good, but I’m tired!

A comparison of great proportions!

Driving Samma to his doctor appointment.

Potty emergency!

Had to make a pee stop of the side of the road.

Wasn’t fast enough - oops!

A quick change…

At the doctor’s office Jack wanted a photo op with the new shoes!

Samma did too!

After the doctor we hit the drive through car wash.

The shoes enjoyed the little rest.

It never ends as we had to go to the store!

Driving home…

Finally!

Walking into the house after a very long and busy day.

The finale of a day in the life of my shoes - kicking back in the lay-z-boy!

It was a great first-day break in for my new shoes - and they performed awesomely! I was beat after all that, and my feet were not nearly as tired as my head was - yay! Thank you mother for the great new digs my feet get to sport!

*pictures taken with cheesy camera phone*

Watch out! I got new shoes for Mother’s Day and I am going to kick some serious butt with these bad boys! They are super yummy - I did a day long picture diary with my new shoes - so stay tuned for that!

Went… Saw… Didn’t have too much fun… Yeah, it was an eventful afternoon, and a lot of people showed up, and a lot of people had a great time. I just wasn’t one of those people. Though, the group of five I went with - we had a great time just being together! Isn’t that awesome to be around folks that make their own party - where ever and when ever? We just talked and hung out and the younger ones (not me) goofed around… That was totally worth it! I didn’t take pictures, because no one wanted their picture taken - fine! We had a good day despite the dullness we found at the event. BUT - it was a good turn out for all involved and they raised a lot of money, over two thousand dollars! So, all-in-all it was a good afternoon…

Today is Deaf Pride Day at our local community college and I am a mix of excited to be going and worried that the turn out will suck. On one hand, seeing a bunch of old friendly faces will be exciting! At the same time I keep hearing how much last year sucked and how this year is being set up the same way.. blah, blah, blah… But, I am keeping my hopes up and trying really hard to think positive! I am taking students (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) and they are convinced that it’s going to suck and be stupid - even though they have never been before. So, I feel the pressure because I am more or less forcing them to go to this thing! It will be good for them to meet up with others that speak the same language and see people they haven’t in a long time. This is going to be fun! I just know it! …I hope… We are going to meet up at my house - a bunch of us - and head out to tasty In and Out for a quick bite before descending upon Deaf Pride Day… Wish me luck… *wink*

(Continuation of “A Tale of Woe“)

Sitting in a seat at the back of the half empty room, the boy sat knowing he had worked hard all week. He had put everything he had into this paper. The spring break teacher was different from his “I hate my job” teacher. This gave him a sense of hope, she seemed happy in her position as an English teacher. He had written the paper, typed it out and turned it in with breathless anticipation. He had spent all his free time making sure his sentence structure was correct, that his paragraphs flowed and that his point was clear. The young man couldn’t stand the stress of not knowing the outcome! Not knowing if he’d passed or failed again was killing him! The teacher took a break and went out of the room. He waited until she was out of sight and hurried over to peek at the sheet of names she had on her desk. The teacher was crossing off the ones who failed and leaving the ones who passed. He scanned the list and found his name…. it had not been crossed off! Was this it? Had he finally passed this paper?! Was this real? Maybe he understood wrong, maybe it was the names crossed off that passed and others failed… He went back to his seat wondering, still confused as frustration ate at his nerves!

After the class was finished, he walked slowly up to the teacher, “Ummm… I was just wondering if I passed it?” He said shyly. The teacher pulled the list out of her bag and said, “Well, let me see… Yep, you passed. Good Job!” Shoved the paper back into her bad and walked out of the classroom leaving the young man standing alone. The idea of passing this paper had only been a dream and now - now it was a reality! He had done it; all the hard work had finally paid off and he was free from the weight of passing this English paper!

He looked around and found no one to rejoice with him, but that was okay because this was a personal battle that he conquered by himself. A smile formed upon his face where tears of pain and annoyance once fell, and he felt something he hadn’t in a long time… pride.

When you live in the middle of effing nowhere and the air is sucking the moisture out of any living thing - finding mushrooms the size of small children in your front yard is a surprise! I pulled into my driveway the other day and spotted something pushing up the soil - dry, dead soil… I stopped, backed up, rolled down the window and asked Scott, “What the hell is that?!” It totally looked like flesh peeking out… *eeek* It’s freaking me out just talking about it! Scott says matter-of-factly, “They are mushrooms.” What?! I made him dig them up right then and there - because the idea of flesh peeking out of the ground was not something I could live with. He dug them out and I saw just how freaking massive they were! I mean good god how on earth does that happen?! Maybe I am a moron - but I was under the blonde (need a good excuse) impression that mushrooms (fungus) needed DAMP darkish environments to thrive…go figure!

I was informed that these are “toad stools” which are very dangerous (poisonous) and grow in grass… Hummm - again, we don’t have grass. A freak of nature I suppose. *smile*