Spammers

Well it seems that the spammers have found my blog and therefore I am making changes to the comments section. I will now preview comments before they are posted. I am also enabling a setting which requires you to write the word you see in the box before you can comment.

I only get a few comments anyway so this should take care of the spammers.

To my sweet niece Jen - email me so I can send you Sweet Pea's email address! And yes, she has asked me to be there for the birth! I did not ask, I waited to be invited and I am so honored! I will have the camera and will be the runner for food for Mr. Sweet Pea, passing information to relatives, and helping him to understand when she grabs him by the neck and calls him names that she doesn't really mean it. Well, she means it at the moment, but will be over it once Andrew is born! ;-)

update

Email from the Grand Pa Pa this am!!!!!!

BABY NEWS

Sweet Pea called.

They moved the due date up to 3/20. She is 1 cm and softening.

Love ya mom mom



b

(I am actually Mum Mum but that's ok, Sparky!)

I think that's 24 days from now!

Appropriate Cottage Name

Conversation after lunch:

Me: Help me name my house. All the decorating blogs I read have names for their homes. Somethinggggg cottage....

Little L: *blinks

Me: Come on. Like Shamrock Cottage.

Little L: That's it? Just Shamrock?

Me: Indigo Cottage would have been PERFECT if my decorating was blue.

Little L and Me: *thinking

Little L: Name it LOVE SHACK

Me: Hmmm..,

Little L: LOVE is your word of the year, isn't it? (Said with a tinge of drama)

Me: *started this post.

Sigh...

tradition

This year is the first time in 14 years that we are not going to the Rodeo Parade. I have mixed feelings. I hate the end of ANYTHING, as my family well knows. I do not believe this is the end of this fun tradition. I just think this year we need a little break. After the deadly accident last year, the whole mood of the parade has changed this year. There are many safety changes, which are good, but there is the constant reminder of the tragedy from last year. (You can google it, if you don't know about it)

So instead of packing snacks, camera, 2 jackets (layers are a must), water, sunscreen, blankets, and more snacks - I will be cleaning and organizing my house. Instead of going to eat some fantastic Mexican food after the parade, I will probably run to the Starbucks and grab a drink in between emptying kitchen cabinets and drawers.















I think next year will be a good time to bring back the tradition of attending the Rodeo Parade. Andrew will be almost one year old and Sweet Pea and Mr. Sweet Pea will be getting ready to celebrate their 3rd anniversary.




Sparky and I can take Andrew for a few days while they go off and celebrate and we will enjoy showing Andrew all the horses, buying him his first cowboy hat, and letting him taste some Mexican food. It's going to be a fantastic new tradition to start!




Speaking of Sweet Pea - here are some photos from the baby shower. What a wonderful day! We played games, we ate delicious food, we laughed, talked, cried. It was beautiful.

Baby Shower

I'll bet you thought this post was about the baby shower last weekend? Well as soon as I upload those photos, it will be! In the meantime, here are some photos I've taken that mean a lot to me. Enjoy the poem as well. It really spoke to me today.

Woods Healing by Faith johnson

Sometimes a part of me gets lost

And I am all distraught

And can't think why

My smallest undertaking goes amiss



And my day is spent feverishly

Doing things I had forgotten

Redoing things I had done wrong

While other things accumulate



But if some errand take me through the wood

All at once here is no hurry




I sense the obscure unhurried rhythm

Of growing things

And I am whole again



And go with quiet sureness to my work.

And...

a beautiful purple hyacinth... mmmmmmmm, I LOVE the smell!!!!!

and a red velvet box of Dove chocolates.

I just love Heart Day!!!!!!

I love you , Sparky.
xoxox

Happy Heart Day

My sweet Sparky ordered me a beautiful reproduction print of a snowflake from the Snowflake Bentley collection. It is hands down one of the best gifts he ever bought for me! He totally surprised me too, which he knows I love. Every Christmas for the past few years, he has ordered me an ornament from the collection but this print is stunning. It's so amazing to me - the life of Snowflake Bentley - and I share the book with my classes every winter. Snowflakes are, in my opinion, one of the most amazing creations of nature.

Speaking of snow - I guess that weather alert was needed. It seems we are expected SNOW in TUCSON tomorrow! We'll see. I will be sure to have my camera with me tomorrow. Did I ever show you the hail we had last week?

Sparky is at the Dr. right now. It seems that when we had our bloodwork done for our life insurance, his came back with concern with his ratio of good/bad cholesterol. Ironic, aint it? Here I am - fat and sassy and HE is the one with the problem. So he is following up with more bloodwork and a visit to the Dr.

This weekend is Sweet Pea's baby shower and we leave for Phx. tomorrow night so I hope we aren't driving in the snow. They are saying tomorrow is the time - more likely tomorrow night as the storm slowed down. But if we are headed west to Phx. we should be ok.

Happy Heart Day! :-)

Our Weather Man Needs to Take a Valium...

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
Tucson, Arizona

Released: Mon 2:17 PM
Expires: Tue 5:00 AM

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
200 PM MST FEB 11 2008
...A CHANGE TO COLDER AND WINDY WEATHER EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND STRONG COLD FRONT WILL IMPACT SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA ON THURSDAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN
TEMPERATURES TO THE AREA THURSDAY AFTERNOON...ALONG WITH GUSTY
WINDS. TEMPERATURES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WILL BE 10 TO 20 DEGREES
COOLER COMPARED TO THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS. THE SYSTEM WILL LACK
MOISTURE...WITH THE BEST PRECIPITATION CHANCES OVER THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS EAST OF TUCSON. ACCUMULATING SNOW MAY FALL OVER THE WHITE
MOUNTAINS LATE THURSDAY. SOME UNCERTAINTY EXISTS REGARDING THE TRACK
OF THE SYSTEM. A MORE WESTWARD TRACK WOULD MEAN A BETTER CHANCE OF
SIGNIFICANT SNOW OVER THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.

STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TUCSON...OR YOUR
FAVORITE MEDIA SOURCE...FOR UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING
STORM.
WEATHER.GOV/TUCSON

Glass House/ Kettle Black

It would seem that Ms. Natalie Cole has said the following...

“I don’t think she (Amy Winehouse) deserved it,” previous Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole said. “I think she needs to get her life together first, and then get the awards later."

Ummm hmmm....

so I thought.... "hmmm, I remember Natalie being in rehab. Let me look that up."

I found this on Wikipedia:

"Her (Natalie Cole's) debut album in 1975, Inseparable, resulted in chart success with the single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" (#1 R&B, #6 Pop). Her performance of the song won her a 1976 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, a category that had heretofore been monopolized by Aretha Franklin. She also was awarded the Best New Artist Grammy of 1976.

Cole's career paused in the early 1980s as she dealt with the challenges of her severe drug problem. "


Ohhhh, so you mean that Natalie Cole was addicted during the late 70's when she won her grammy? And she didn't attend rehab until the early 1980's? Wow... Maybe Natalie should have not won that grammy cause she uhhhh, needed to get her life together first, and then get the awards.

Here's more!

"In 2000, Cole released an autobiography, Angel on My Shoulder, which described her battle with drugs during much of her life. In the book, Cole admitted to using LSD, heroin and crack cocaine. Cole said she began recreational drug use while attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She also disclosed that she was arrested in Toronto, Canada for possession of heroin in 1975. (WAIT! SHE WON HER GRAMMY IN 1976!!! THAT MEANS she was JUST LIKE AMY WINEHOUSE!! ADDICTED AND WON A GRAMMY! THE VERY THING SHE IS TALKING DOWN ABOUT AMY FOR!)
Cole continued to spiral out of control - including one incident where she refused to evacuate a burning building, and another where her young son Robert nearly drowned in the family swimming pool while she and her first husband, the late Reverend Marvin Yancy, were on a drug binge.[5] She did eventually enter rehab in 1983.

Glass Houses, Natalie Cole. Glass Houses.

Vince Gill : 1 Kayne West : 0

Vince Gill totally put Kayne West in his place...

Vince walks to the stage to accept his Grammy (handed to him by Ringo Starr) and says...

"I was just given an award by a Beatle!"

He pauses and looks at Kayne and says...

"Have you had that happen to you yet, Kayne?"

OWNED!!!!

I love it. I am very sorry that Kayne's mother died but he is still a jerk. He is always a sore loser and tries to steal the limelight from anyone who wins an award. Even tonight he was being rude.

I can totally see why Amy fell in love with Vince.

To effect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts"

Henry David Thoreau ~

Changing my clothes...

Regardless of what else you put on, wear love.

It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Colossians 3:14

One More Thing...

Tom Petty?

For the Superbowl Half Time show?

Really?

Blink...blink


At the very least, he should bring out Phoenix homegirl Stevie Nicks to sing with him...


WHY would you not have Stevie for the half show?

Hmmm????

Coming back up...

I'm feeling better - the past three days were a little touch and go. Thank goodness for Sparky and Little L and all of their understanding! The details of the symptoms are not needed - it's just as rough for them as it is for me though and I stand in awe at their patience and love throughout the ordeal.

So as I finished the spins on the coaster, it's now feels like when you make that slow climb up the coaster to reach the very top. I am slowing coming back to the top and this is a good thing.

So hopefully the negative posts will cease (for a few weeks until the next ride to the bottom of Menopause Madness - The Coaster and we can resume the normal blog. :-)

Did I mention that I cannot form a coherent thought on the climb back up? Sorry for the above nonesense!! Menopause Madness is a funny roller coaster ride....










Ok - so here are some photos that I was supposed to post weeks ago:

Sweet Pea and I shopped till we dropped for the nursery. We also made the invites for her baby shower. We just enjoyed spending time together and getting things ready for the baby.

We are at 59 days until the due date so it's really coming up now! I just can't tell you how exciting this is! It feels surreal.

We are watching the superbowl, of course! I made deviled crab cakes and homemade french fries for Sparky. I don't eat my own cooking, new recipes actually, so I ate some leftover mexican food. I did make some outstanding guacomole and salsa and may I say Yummmmyyy! (Thank you Pioneer Woman Cooks - go to her website!!!)

This past weekend I went to the Gem show. You are not allowed to take photos but I should photograph what I bought. I love pins and bought several of them at 50% off. My friends have a wholesale badge and always let me tag along so I get some great deals. I only bought the pins and a turquoise and silver heart pendant.

Sparky and Little L went to the U of Az to see Hillary Clinton and they had a really great time. The were worried about getting in but they actually ended up in a good place and could see her very well! I will have to post Sparky's pictures of her soon. Sparky said the biggest round of applause was when she said that she would "put and end to the unfunded No Child Left Behind Law" ... because students shouldn't JUST be little test takers (which is what they are in my district) and teachers are no longer teaching but being test givers.

Now...

Don't forget to vote on Tuesday!!!

You WIN!!!!

Yep! You win a free week of negative posts!

I know you are sooo excited, right? Welcome to Hormone Hell - grab a cup of prozac and sit and enjoy!

So today we have the P.E. teacher who gets on the announcements to inform the kids of a VERY good thing - JUMP ROPE FOR HEART. And he explains the benefits, blah, blah, blah. And he ends the thing with:

And if you are the winning class overall - you will earn a.....

(drumroll, please!)

Well... howsabout we let you guess? Circle the letter of the response you think he gave:

a) a free jump rope for each child in the class
b) a an extra time of P.E. where kids can fly kites
c) dump a bucket of manure over his head.

CLUE: The answer does NOT correlate with common sense!

Yes, folk. He let the kids know that the winning classroom gets to cover him with cow shit! WHooo hooooo! Warms your heart, don't it??!!

This may be the start of the straw the breaks this girl's back.

When did we begin to not use common sense in my district? This is from the South Park - Simpsons world of let's disrespect authority and humilate them every chance we get. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

So now when I have children in class who want to write about poop and other bathroom features (and I DO get those kids - gee, wonder why???) and I tell them how that is inappropriate for school - will they be getting mixed signals? Will they think it's funny to throw inappropriate things at people? Come on! They were just playing around when they threw piss at the passing car! It was funny! Haha!

Am I old and bitter or is this really an acceptable form of reward for a job well done? Shouldn't the reward in some small way relate to what the goal was? Shaking head.....