dad diagnosed the boys' travelling condition best

home! today was a long driving day! the gps lost signal off and on in oklahoma. (thanks oklahoma...) and i wasn't paying close enough attention-apparently i missed my turn off, and ended up going through tulsa. boo. much longer than necessary. whenever i looked back in the mirror to check on the boys, what dad said on our trip to iowa rang true: chaco seems to enjoy the trip, and bruno seems to endure it.

oh, guess what i found when i was packing bags to leave...the usb cord! woohoo! umm..here are the pics of the dogs on the trail:

bruno posing-chaco was to busy smelling things

on a mission to get over the bridge!

i had to go to the bathroom and get fuel at one point and turned off the toll road, and it was a single booth, same lady when i exited and when i got back on...she looked like paulette from legally blonde (bend and snap hairdresser). the second time i drove through, she asked, "where did you get that?" and she was pointing at something in my car, only i wasn't sure what. i said, "the shades? the seats?" she pointed again-oh, that. i told her it was a trunk organizer from walmart. by that time, there was a car behind me and three cars lined up on the other side.

as you can see, i had to rig it with caribiners

i thought i would make it the rest of the way home without needing to stop, but nope, we had to find a petsmart in mckinney. while we were there, the trainer saw us and said, "why haven't i had you guys in training?" and i told her we were from dallas, just passing through. she proceeded to let me know what an amazing trainer she was..top 10, blah blah blah (as i was trying not to have an accident), i may have interrupted her to ask where the bathroom was.

it was a wonderful and relaxing vacation, but it always feels good to be home. i definitely need to get into some sort of routine. my body is feeling the effects of all of the 'special occasions' we've allowed ourselves....

this was at pizza hut-i thought it was funny-the evolution of the pizza cutter

bruno just found the petsmart bag and the treats we got.

got too curious and got his head stuck in the handle.

blessings-
julie

chronicles of a family reunion part 2

i woke up and it was overcast-nice. the heat has been ridiculous, so it was a nice change. mom called up to my room and asked if i'd had breakfast yet. nope. she said there wasn't much in the lounge as far as the 'continental breakfast' went. so we walked over to casey's and got their breakfast pizza. yum. and while we were walking(basically on the other side of the building), it started to sprinkle.

when we got to stone park around 10:30-11-ish, it had sprinkled a little more and there was wet ground and some puddles (nothing crazy, mind you).
so i got the boys ready and we took their exercise pen up, hoping for a small place to set it up out of everyone's way. they had a perfect little spot in the corner!

then while aunt kim, mindy, sue and debbie were setting up, i took the boys for a little walk. we found a nature trail and decided to check it out...their feet got all wet, therefore, they got muddy. but i think they kinda' liked it. it was a little different for them than our usual walks. lots of new smells.

by the time we got back, some more people had started to arrive. everything was pretty much ready around 1 pm, so we got everyone inside the lodge and prayed, and then came the gluttony...marvin, kim's husband was the designated 'grill-master,' and he did a fabulous job (with choices of hot dogs, brats and burgers)-love the brats! the salads were delicious (got seconds), and as we were eating my cousin, stacey showed up. [i'm not going to change it because it's kind of funny, but when i was re-reading this, i had to come back to clarify that we were not eating my cousin when stacey showed up. commas, commas. it should read: as we were eating, my cousin, stacey showed up...i missed a comma]

we are only a couple months apart in age, so as we grew up, we always got to hang out when we'd come up to grandma's. we'd wander around the neighborhood, and play. so it was great to see her and meet her new sidekick and love of her life...when she introduced him to my parents, she introduced him, saying, "you can call him pete or pj." it sounded like: you can call him peterpeejay. so i made sure my parents knew it was one or the other, not a hyphenated name.

i cannot believe how stinkin big all of my cousins' children are! what in the world! i made sure that the little ones knew not to feed the dogs. i think chaco did a pretty good job at deterring them from reaching into the cage-he's the barker...he barks at little children. the littler they are the more anxious he is about them, add flip flops flopping around, and it just gets worse! i kept a vigilant eye on him, because while bruno would never bite a child, i cannot vouch for chaco if someone was in his face and bothering him...i doubt it, but those would be famous last words.

the dogs don't really like to be held, and all of the kids really wanted to hold them. i felt bad saying no, but from past experience, they just get very squirmy and try to jump. that scares me because the doctor has said that they have week knees anyway. last thing i need would be to have to find a vet in sioux city and mess up the whole trip.

at one point, i was over by the dog-pen (don't worry, i did not stand over there all day long), but while i was standing there, ralph came over and we were talking about what i feed them, etc...he and and mindy have greyhounds that they raise and he was telling me that the company that produces canin royal actually has a plant there in the area and they also make another brand called tuffy's and that's what he feeds his kids. and while we were talking, i could hear one of the husbands of one of my aunts talking with my dad about politics, and i think my dad likes to rile him up by using facts, and making him stick to logic, and that just befuddles him a little.

everyone except grandma-they say she was sick that day

it was a good group-all 10 of the brothers and sisters were there, and most of the cousins were there, excluding my brother, troy, jess and mckenzie.  there was some ladder ball, volleyball and a board game going. there was also a lot of pictures to sift through, because a few people brought old Bibles, pictures and baby books, etc. aunt kim's husband made a great presentation on the laptop that mom and i watched when we first got there-it was really well done!

around the 3-ish hour, we decided it was time to go because we would have a long trip home.

the trip home was fairly uneventful-just after kc on the way to clinton, i was going a little fast and rehearsing in my head the story for the police...it went something like this: sorry, officer, i was in a hurry because i need to get to walmart before it closes so i can get a black slip for church tomorrow to wear under my dress. if i don't get it, i can't wear the dress, and i can't go to church. if i don't go to church, i might miss the opportunity to contribute to the mission fund to feed the children in africa. i am certain you don't want me telling people that you are the reason children are starving in africa..right?

when it started to get dark, we were in the windy (like it winds around, not like the wind blowing) roads of missouri. so i slowed down a bit and had my eyes sharp on the road because the last thing i need is to leave a bunch of baby armadillos orphaned by running over their ma. i saw no armadillos, but we did have to come to a stop because there was a fawn that didn't know how to cross the road..we were close enough to count it's spots...1,2,3...stupid deer. then we got going again and slowed for a raccoon crossing...and a little closer to home we saw a white horse standing on what looked like the embankment close to the road-it looked like he was too close to the road to be behind the fence, but he was just calmly eating. i thought about the mess that would ensue if he were to step out into the road. then i determined that he must've actually been a unicorn, and he will use his magic powers to spirit himself away to fairy land-catastrophe averted thanks to my quick imagination. i even told mom that he was a unicorn.

and that concludes travels to the family reunion.
julie
p.s. all of the pictures for today's post were courtesy of my aunt kim-unfortunately i may have left my usb connection, to download pictures from my phone, at the red carpet inn. boo.

part one of family reunion

family reunion part 1. we got here in one piece..i got pulled over by a cop because he was coming the other direction and he must have been driving pretty high speed because i didn't get enough of a chance to slow down enough before he clocked me and turned around....i proceeded to take the radar detector out of the window and when he walked up he said, do you know how fast you were going? i looked up and said no because i wasn't exactly sure. i feigned surprise when he said he clocked me at *87, and it took everything within me to not sigh relief and say, "good, i'm glad that's what you clocked me at because it might have been closer to 94."

we went to my aunt beth's house and another of their sisters and her daughters and grandkids came over and we had some kfc. when we drove by where my grandma's old home was, and it has since been leveled and turned into a park and walking trail. it has changed so much! almost unrecognizable.

then we played a game called wazzit...it's one of those with phrases that are written in a way to make you figure them out like: talk talk would be double talk. anyhoo, it was running long, but of course we couldn't stop in the middle of the game without finishing, because that would go against board-game etiquette...although, in order to get done quicker, we may or may not have all had a hand in cheating to help each other reach the end so we could get a winner (none of us really cared who won...) cheating in order to finish...principles, principles....

we checked into a red carpet inn earlier today (it was a cheap one near the park, that accepted pets)..

well, all i can say is that this hotel should probably be picked up and moved to the little town of halfway down by mom and dad's because the management seems to be just that. they haven't even been at the counter any time that i have walked by. the vending machine has about 3 choices...and i think i might be in a smoking room that they just pried the little smoking sign off the door...not sure. it should have been a hint when i called to make the reservation and had to ask the person to repeat everything twice- it seemed like i had been routed through a customer service center in india, but no, not to my surprise, there was an indian boy that checked us in...and tonight his mom had to re-key my key card because i couldn't get in my door...bruno and chaco were probably playing a prank...

now it's time to get some sleep so that i can talk to people tomorrow and come up with things to say and stories to tell-i have a crazy, silly imperfect family...but it doesn't even matter because at least it's MY family! i wouldn't have it any other way!

julie

stop thief! an electronic game of cops and robbers...and going halfway

well, yesterday i did it! i went to check out 'the dark knight rises.' i decided to drive down to springfield for it, and i'm glad i did-i went alone and watched it in the imax...PHENOMENAL! if you have not seen it, i highly recommend it! and yes, at the end i did have tears-which i tried to blow on to dry them up and since that didn't work real well, as soon as the credits began, i was the first one to the door (the advantage of going alone- no waiting on anyone else!)

i don't know if i've ever mentioned it or not, but my parents are big game people (not like safari elephant big game...more like game board and cards), so the other day we played an old family favorite (one that we played back when i was in 3rd and 4th grade)...STOP THIEF! the electronic game of cops and robbers. my students would be better off in the critical thinking realm if they had the opportunity to play games like this and have family game nights in which they were using their thinking skills. this one was especially good in helping to learn to focus and draw conclusions.

we got through one crime scene and i arrested the bad guys and got the reward money, but then when we began the next scene, the electronic gadget went berzerk on us and it wasn't the battery-just an old machine..about 30 years old...it's held up well until now.

today mom and i went on a little drive around town so that she could show me around. down in the town square (i love old towns with town squares!) there was a mural, which was pretty good-the buffalo probably could've been a little darker brown, but other than that, very nice.

everybody loves a good mural

 then, after sightings of the fire station, the clinic, the police, the water tower...we stopped at the pharmacy-where i found a great little card, and then i wanted to see halfway, the town with a population of 137...it is half way between buffalo and bolivar-creative name, i know.

i got out to take a picture of the population sign, and 3 of the cows were looking at me very curiously...there's one of them...somehow, i must have deleted the picture of the sign. boo.

 but in a town like halfway, you make up the joke...here's halfway elementary, and i think this is where they send the mediocre teachers so that they have an excuse for being mediocre...

i say that in jest, i am sure that the teachers here are probably amazing.

that is basically what i did today-and continued reading in the book that has captivated me this week-the one i mentioned yesterday: the founders on the founders...you get the most accurate portrayals of people by what their own words to others, their diaries, words by their spouses and colleagues as well as mere acquaintances from abroad and even their enemies or opposition have said. the book is interesting because it is more about their character (be it good or bad) rather than their politics...which i would have enjoyed just as much.

staying at mom and dad's is dangerous-it's impossible to say no to mom's cooking and baking, and when they want to grab ice cream..what can i say? (although, i did bring the bullet with me and have had several breakfast concoctions...but it doesn't make up for the other!)

well, i think it's time to get ready for pizza hut...
julie

kamp, thunder muffins(not what you think) and unexpected art projects

yesterday i took a little journey down to one of my favorite places! k2! little has changed, and it felt good just driving into my old kamp. so many great memories and amazing friendships were forged there.

on the way down, i was low on gas, but i had it calculated out that i could make it to the quick trip i am super familiar with. well, when i got to the all-familiar exit, i was thrown for a loop because i didn't see QT on the exit board for gas, nor did i see a QT in the place i expected to see it. hmm...maybe i had made a mistake...but i stopped at casey's general store anyway for gas, and asked the girl, who said it had changed about 2 years ago.

after driving ever so slowly into kamp (in order to avoid hitting kampers in triathle, who dominate the road on foot and bicycle) i parked stealthily in the chapel parking lot where the signs do say in big bold letters:OVERNIGHT CHAPEL PARKING ONLY! parked there anyway, looked like i knew what i was doing. then i walked down to the main office to sign in.

then i walked around to dj's office (the owner's wife, and dear friend), and i opened the door and walked in. when she turned around and looked up, and it registered that it was me, she got very excited. on the way up, i was laughing in my head thinking that when i went up, wouldn't it be funny if she had some little art work for me to do to tweak the Bible study she does with the kampers every morning...(when she created the original Bible study, she had me do all of the drawings for the study, and almost every year she needed something tweaked, or had a new idea to add to it). so you will understand my amusement when she asked what i had planned on this visit and if i might have a little time to spare. smile.

it's an honor to do work for dj, because she genuinely appreciates it and uses it to impact others for God! so i spent the next few hours producing the posters she needed for the next day!

it was totally Providence, because i was debating between going down yesterday, or tomorrow, and she was planning on using them today! she was going to have the office gals work on the posters, but none of them are artists, plus, it was their dock day, so someone else would be filling in for half the day. the first poster: adam and eve...with a leaf covering certain parts...funny.

when we went to lunch, one of my dear friends, trish (the girl's side director), did a double take when she came in and saw me. "how long have you been here?" and i pointed at dj and said," i would've found you sooner, but.." and dj took the blame for the thievery. it is always good to just sit and talk with trish-she is so busy during kamp (during the year, too, for that matter) that it's a rare opportunity to be able to have one-on-one time with her.

yes, it's kinda' funny wearing an orange tag

when i left, i of course had to stop at the blueberry farm. i love it that the gal who works there remembers me-family business. and of course, i was in need of a thunder muffin. totally hit the spot!

almost as good as mom's (it's bigger than it looks!)

see the sign in the background? i have another story about that for another day-suffice it to say, it may have been a little on the sketchy side.

today i've been able to get some reading done: the founders on the founders. very good book-character sketches using compiled letters from them, to them, about them, autobiographies, etc...love it.

dad's been working on some chalk drawings-his specialty. and he just popped his head in and asked if i had started one of a little girl when i was back in iowa (years ago)...i couldn't remember, so we looked through them. and yes, as a matter of fact i did.

they're pretty big-about the size of a posterboard

apparently i'd done an old man too.

now that i see them, i recognize them and i remember doing them, but i don't remember the original pictures that i used.

who knows what tomorrow will entail-i am guessing a little rest and reading. i love vacation! smile.
julie

not so much booing and hissing as barking and hissing..

ok, so..i'm a little frustrated because i had this post half done, but it didn't save, and it wouldn't publish. boo. i'm at my parent's home in buffalo, mo. but, before i left, guess where i went!? that's right, i had to stop by school to drop off some of my summer school supplies that i had taken with me that were crowding up my car!

i covered up the room as tastefully and colorfully as possible...actually i had asked a couple of girls to grab me 4 long strips of paper and of course they got one of each.

i was going to buy a baby shade for the back window, but i decided to try something else, and they now have a $218 shade. yes, creative as i may be, i took the mri films and wedged them in the back windows...i suppose it's legal. if not, i could always pretend to be a radiologist late for work, so i thought i'd read the films on the way to work...because impersonating someone is not a felony and all.

as i was driving up to missouri, i had mapped out my path thinking i might have to stop in tulsa (a little out of the way) to use the restroom because they have a petsmart, but fortunately there is a pet place in mcalester (which is almost the halfway point), and they allowed pets in. i have never seen it before, so i was quite amused..and so thankful that i bought knees of some kind of animal for the boys. that's right...knees. 

i did also get them yet another thinking toy-keeps the brain sharp-no time for alzheimer's...their lives are much too short!

 chaco didn't exactly work the lever as he was supposed to, but he figure out how to get the treat nonetheless, so i give him kudos for improvising-he is a survivor!

 when we got in the car to continue our journey, bruno got in chaco's seat, forcing chaco to get into bruno's. then bruno proceded to get out of his seat (i didn't buckle them in for that segment), and lay most of the way on the bean bag, then about an hour from our destination, bruno wanted back in his own seat and jumped in with chaco, who was looking at me with that 'what am i supposed to do now?' look. but they did just fine the rest of the trip.

one of the worst things about the trip is that all along the way through oklahoma, it is sprinkled with little towns, so i had to keep slowing down to go through the towns. quaint and adorable, but not so much when you're trying to qualify for a big race...right? regardless, we made it in record time. i may actually have qualified for the indy 500...no tellin'. i decided mom and dad don't need to know exactly how fast we were going...

i think the trip took everything out of bruno-he was exhausted. now that we've been here a couple of days, i am hoping that the dogs and cats start to get along, or at least tolerate each other. right now we're all in one room and the boys are laying quietly with scamper sleeping on the opposite side of the room. there has been quite a bit of hissing and barking, and a little bit of chasing. the cats are twice the size of the dogs, so it would probably be all cat.

and that's it for tonight-hopefully i can publish this thing!
julie

cancer/heart/stroke insurance-check. pirate in the sink-arrgh

i don't get political often because it can be so divisive, but i will say that i was very disappointed with the president's comments about those who have built a business cannot take any credit for it because the government that allowed that to happen..“If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”outrageous. please. if someone has an amazing entrepreneurial idea, you'd better believe that they should get the credit for their work-that's what capitalism is, and that is what made AMERICA a land that people flocked to-we studied inventors of the 1900's and AMERICA  should be proud of that spirit...it wasn't the government that allowed thomas edison to create the phonograph and the light bulb...

is infrastructure necessary? absolutely...but that comes out of my ridiculously high taxes. i am tired of paying high taxes and knowing that 50 percent of the population does not. maybe it's time for that part of the population to stop driving on the highways and streets i'm paying for. and why the heck are my taxes paying for someone else's foodstamps and their children's meals when they are driving around in a car that is more expensive than mine?

i believe that federal government has grown much too large for it's own britches (which is one of many reasons we are struggling fiscally). i also believe that a bulk of what the federal government is trying to take over should be given back to the states. let the states take care of the things they should be taking care of. if you don't like what is happening in your state, move to a state that has a philosophy you agree with.

ok, enough about that. no need to comment on that because i am not out to be divisive, just expressing my thoughts...

oh! i almost forgot that when bmayes and i were on our way home from the wedding, we were driving from the downtown okc area and we definitely saw hooker activity. i've only seen this on t.v...pretty woman, this was not.

and driving home from oklahoma yesterday, i saw an suv with "just married" all over it, and "hardy" on the side...yep, i passed dave and lauren. smile. it was a congested area, and i'm pretty sure they didn't see me.

today i had to get up early to take chaco in for his dental and vaccines. i have to take him in again on wednesday for his heartworm shot. then bruno and i got to take a walk and it was a beautiful morning-great little breeze and cool! at 10 i had a meeting with my cancer/heart/etc person who wanted to go over my policy...so i got a little more heart and stroke insurance...it reminded me of when my cousin dick used to be the insurance man when we played fake town as little 'uns. anyhoo, the only reason i agreed to do this was because if i don't need any of it, when i reach a certain age, all of the premiums i pay into it are 100% refundable. not a bad deal. i just hate meetings.

it's actually a pretty good deal.

in other news...i woke up this morning and there was a pirate in my sink. ok, not a real pirate, although if jack sparrow had been looking up from the sink it would've made for a very interesting morning! nope, rather it was an amazing dried spatter left from washing off my eye makeup last night.amazing!

if you squint just a little and use your imagination, you can see him, right? (i find myself doing this a lot, not only with clouds, but pretty much wherever i see patterns-tiles, walls, ..sinks)

i did eat at jack in the box this weekend-i couldn't stop myself...my car just sneaked into the drive thru and i had to order the sourdough burger. yumm-o! but apparently married people cannot drink from their cups...

as my friend meredith grooms would say, "rude."

still trying to get over the sinus-sickie issue...hopefully the medicines i'm using will take care of it all real soon!

hope you don't have a yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum staring up from your sink!
julie

anagrams, target goodies and a wonderful weekend!

it's so nice to have summer school over and done with! i'll miss it. BA HAHAHA! i made a funny...i won't miss it at all! (certain people, but not the rest!) on friday, we had fun and games day, and one of the math teachers was trying to figure out an anagram, so he gave me one to try it. he ended up looking up the answer, but not me! and i wouldn't take any hints either. i was finally able to figure it out

i attribute it to the cross anagram at k wet-thank you kanakuk!

 and the kids had a chance to draw and finish books.

this is a portrait by a third grader...apparently he sees me as an amputee with scraggly hair...but he got the eye color right.

i came home and had to run over to target, where i found some really cool buys (only i didn't buy them...trying not to do impulse buys)

i absolutely fell in love with this clock-quirky like me

and since our doors do not have kick stands, i thought this would be a classy little door stop!

last, but not least, God save the queen-solar powered...she waves! it would be even funnier if she tooted once in awhile.

then i saw this little button in the parking lot. he looked very distressed about being stuck on the sweltering blacktop!

the boys and i packed up on saturday and took off for the wedding! woo hoo!

bruno just chilling out in his car seat

we got to stay with bmayes because her roommate was out of town, the boys were thrilled that they were getting to hang out with reagan and thatcher again. they did fairly well. it was good for me just to have intelligent conversation-thanks brittany!

when we got to the wedding, we were walking in about 5 minutes early, and someone in front of me was fixing her shoe; mother/daughter. she turned around and there was a look of recognition-"jrob!" it was mrs. higgins and sally! sally had just rolled in from kamp. good times! it was a beautiful ceremony for an amazing couple!

this is their save-the-date pic, they are perfect for each other!

not gonna lie, i teared up a bit when lauren walked down the aisle with her brothers on either side. wow. their mother passed away when they were young, and their father passed away just a few years ago, so it was rather emotional! her sister, katie was the maid of honor and is also a dear friend and she and lindsay(one of the other bridesmaids/k2 friend) are quite possibly two of the funniest people i know! the reception was beautiful as well, and there was dancing! in fact one of the most prominent dancers was a little 7 yr old (i am guesstimating...i did not ask her age) this little gal would get right out into the middle of any group she could and pull out her moves-all night long! non-stop. i'm certain she slept like a rock!

the sparklers to see them off were beautiful and bmayes and i wanted to keep an extra, but this older guy came by and took them away from us. rude.

when we got back to the house, the pups were all ready to come out from behind the gate! i was exhausted (because i am a little sick-the sinus stuff really hit me hard!) the bed is super high, so i had to rig up a little stepping method-bruno caught on quickly, but chaco did not. i tried not to get up to go to the bathroom too many times for toilet paper (drainage), because chaco was a mess whenever i got up. he just wanted to get out the door and play with the other pups. all. night. long. he had a quiet whine. then i would pick him up and get him to lay for a little while before he was up again. it was ridiculous. i don't think he slept at all...hence, i really didn't get much shut-eye either!

when i finally couldn't keep them still any longer, we got up. some chloraseptic and green tea and cool enough weather outside was just what i needed to start the day! it was fun to watch chaco and thatcher pouncing around! then we went for breakfast at jimmy's egg.

not my most photogenic pic, but the point is, jimmy's has their own syrup labels...i wonder if they just buy someone else's syrup and keep refilling the bottle with cheap syrup.

when we walked in, i looked around and commented that it kinda' resembled a denny's...bmayes told me later that it actually was a denny's that no one really frequented, but it had been changed into jimmy's egg. the waitress was great and she looked down and asked bmayes if those were chacos she had on and of course we were both wearing ours; she said her daughter was a counselor at a camp and had gotten some chacos and vibrams, blah, blah, blah-she has good taste. i made sure to leave her a good tip (a. because it was breakfast, and i think breakfast servers deserve bigger tips because they are busier and the prices are usually lower than other meals, so % isn't fair...and b. because if she's having to help pay for her daughter's shoes, she's gonna need it!) 


brittany had tweeted that we were there, and a friend of hers suggested two different plates after we'd finished eating, and lo and behold each of us had ordered one of them! great palates have great taste...?

then we came home, and i am so glad that i have a radar detector because there were quite a few popo out there! (i had a hard time writing that, and i'm even having a more difficult time leaving it there! not the part about driving quickly, the part about writing 'popo') anyhoo, when we slowed down and pulled into the apt complex, the boys were ready to be home. i know they had fun, but they knew where they were!

we're home! we're home!

what a weekend!
julie

don't pet your friends' arms...just don't.

ugh. i woke up this morning with that feeling in the back of your throat that says: drainage. and a headache came with it. it ALWAYS happens when school is getting out or i have a break, i get sick. i am hoping that it is just stress-decompression and it goes away by tomorrow afternoon because i am planning (like i mentioned yesterday) on going to a wedding this weekend in oklahoma, and i do NOT need to be sick while i am there! boo.

today was a mad-house. fortunately the kids were great and kept very busy working to finish their books. i was shocked by how diligent they were! it allowed me to get all of the paperwork done that i needed to finish. and i was eventually able to get everything off the walls and all of the staples de-stapled. i am definitely going to be leaving the room better than i found it!

i keep going to my mailbox looking for a book that was supposed to be mailed...

i have 7 and 9..i must get 8 so that i can read 9!! ugh.

i just got a call a few minutes ago from the insurance company that does the cancer/heart stuff, and he insisted on meeting to go over my policy. so i have to meet him tomorrow at 5 at starbucks. i am not excited about this, but hopefully i can use my negative body language (i am good at this) to let him know this needs to be short and sweet. i am not looking to make friends tomorrow.

last night when i was shaving my legs, i began to think about how much i need to get some shaving gel. everyone knows i have blonde hair, so one would think my leg hair would seem almost invisible.well, that reminded me of when we lived in costa rica. there was this girl (missionary family who went to the same church we did)...i don't remember her name, but i think her sister might have been danielle...i could be lying. but anyhoo, she had furry arms...like a kitten...and they were blonde, but she had thick arm hair-and you could most certainly see it. well, one week she showed up to church with shaved arms and i am pretty sure her little sister said that she had gotten in trouble for shaving them. not that anyone really cares, but that's what i was thinking about. oh the memories!

just for the record, my apt is a mess. much too small for summer school i have so much stuff that i brought home last summer that never got back to school...now i have more because of summer school-i cannot leave it in the car because markers go dry, glue dries up, crayons melt (into beautiful sculptures i might add-which are great for teaching figurative language on how hit it is outside...so hot i felt like a box of crayons melting in the sun..pull out sculpture)...even posters fade and begin to curl in directions they are not supposed to curl....

alright. don't shave your arms...unless people are petting them.
julie

i did not tell the students tomorrow was the last day, but i wish i had!

well, last downhill slope of summer school! almost finished with the end of ss fluency tests (which may have been due today?) and tomorrow i have more paperwork to work on...had to turn in GRADES...that's a first! i truly doubt that any teachers are going to be checking summer camp grades! fo real now....someone in a glass office has come up with cruel and unusual punishment...i would put money on it that many teachers who worked this summer will not do it again...unwarranted stress.

anyhoo, tomorrow is an amazing day because we are having a cookout! THANKS KAY!! G-O-O-D!

oh! i went in on monday to the physical therapist and he said, "hmm, it's very uncommon for the disc to bulge into the spinal canal. but it does happen more with young folks." honestly, if that were the only thing that came out of the whole visit, i would've been plenty happy. but something even better happened! he confirmed that it usually takes about 3 months to feel better and heal, and he gave me some exercises. twice a day..it takes me about a half hour to get through them each time...ugh. but i will do them if they'll make me feel better!!! baby steps. maybe it's psychological, but i am already noticing small differences.

i might have even slept through the night last night, BUT the electricity went off in our complex at exactly 10.42. and i sleep with the ceiling fan and the ocean waves cd...the boys like it because it drowns out sounds in the parking lot. it was so hard to get to sleep..and i started thinking about what i was going to have to do if i woke up in the morning and it were still off..refrigerator items to the cooler, lug to car, ice up, take to school with me..dear Jesus, if you love me, please let the electricity come back on! then it got warm and i wanted the ac to kick on...nope...then we were rudely awaken at 2:46 by jerks down in the parking lot laughing and talking very loudly-i was very close to going out and telling them to pipe down, but fortunately the electricity came back on right as i was thinking about peeking out the window to later identify them and figure out where they live so that i could walk the boys by their door at 5:30 on saturday or sometime next week and give them something to bark about....

they got lucky.

i got to make a fun collage yesterday at school, which i turned into a letter for a dear friend. we were supposed to be creating flowers like georgia o'keefe did, but i took a different route...no flowers for me, that wasn't where my mind was.

looking out over tablerock, from a cabin.

when i got home, i had a silly catalog with a bunch of 'as seen on t.v.' items addressed to the former resident. wow, some of the things in there were comical, but some of them were actually kinda' neat!

who would take the time to load the lucky horsesheoe lotto scratcher?...that just seems strange.

help your lawn breathe better...kinda funny...looks like a good way to sprain an ankle or tear an acl...

and then there's the magnetic back support...helps improve your posture...but it's really a bummer when you get too close to a moving car...

excited to get through tomorrow and eat my burger...maybe tell the kids that surprise, thursday's the last day of summer school!! take everything home, sleep in on friday! hahaha...sounds like something gigi would've done...wonder why parents always showed up late for parent conferences and stopped coming early? smile.

then saturday it's off early for another oklahoma wedding! love my friends!! love celebrating their happiness!!

goodnight!
julie

naked coffee cup-slightly embarrassing...hover around in the grand canyon, now that's daring!

at summer school on friday, i overheard one of the girls in homeroom say to a boy,"see me in my eye." i know she meant look me in the eye...but it sounded funny to hear it this way.

and in the afternoon class, one of the boys said that dogs live from 4-10 years. meaning that they don't die before they reach 4? hmm...and again phrasing. he probably heard somewhere that an average dog life is 4-10 years. (still quite a broad range)... and i didn't tell the boys about that.

the other embarrassing thing that happened on friday (embarrassing for my cup, anyway..)

when your top falls off, there's really not much you can do, besides look around and hope no one else saw...

 and as i was leaving, i noticed someone's car had a kanakuk sticker on it! that made me feel like home! wonder whose car that is. i need to find time to drop by on my way up to mom and dad's this summer.

summer school has been good-very long, very busy, it's definitely not a waste of time..the kids have been working hard and learning! i like the idea of year-round school. my niece and nephew have it that way, and david and hollie seem to like it...plus, there is just so much learning that seems undone during a long summer because so many parents let their kids sit in front of the t.v. or video games to keep them out of their hair instead of motivating them to do something like, oh, i don't know...read?!

and now we are trying to figure out exactly what to do with the rest of this week since we have to finish the rest of our week with no books-we have to pack them up and turn them in on tuesday. hmm...i think we will do what my co-teacher is doing; we will make a book to record the things that we have learned over the past four weeks.

for my teacher friends out there, check out this blog site, there is a cool giveaway- it's a reading/recording tool; great for small groups and stuff-click here to check it out!

this morning we went for a quick walk and the boys found the X and started looking around.

mama, exactly what spot does X mark??

i did make a homemade humus last night-it's not terrible, but i didn't have garbanzo beans, so i had to settle for black-eyed peas...not quite the same effect, but like i said, edible. i got the recipe out of the book that nutri bullet just sent me (an extra thing that came in the mail a couple of days ago that i didn't realize was part of my order!)

i got bored and had some colored pencils around to draw vegetables...don't ask.

last thought of the day. when i was at walmart the other day, an elderly man almost ran into me in one of those cart things. he was backing up. and of course it had a loud beeping sound, but he still should've been looking where he was backing to...and when i got home, i saw this commercial and it reminded me of him.

hover-arounds overlooking the grand canyon...i just don't know how safe that is.

those things must be incredibly versatile...but i haven't seen one traipsing through a costa rican rain forest yet...that only came to mind because i watched return of the jedi yesterday and wondered how r2d2 was able to traverse the rough terrain so smoothly when they were with the cute little ewoks...

well, may your coffee cup never lose its top,
julie

mesmerized by fireworks, captivated by the revolutionary war and unbelievably grateful to be free!

ah, revolutionary patriots, thank you. french army and navy, thank you. writers of the Declaration of Independence, thank you. authors of the Constitution of the United States of America, thank you. it's Independence Day, THANK YOU TO ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOUGHT AND CONTINUE TO FIGHT AND STAND FOR OUR FREEDOMS.

last night, as planned, we were able to watch the fireworks from the apartment, representing the battles for our independence (i explained to my students the other day why we have fireworks and the symbolism). i am still amazed by whomever came up with fireworks and improved them to do the things they do. (you know i am about to go do a google search on it)...

sorry, for those of you who were there, you saw it, but i love watching fireworks! i was very disappointed with the music they chose to go along with the show. i am highly preferential to an all-patriotic music selection, that's just the way i am...katy perry's firework seems like it would be a likely tune, but it has nothing to do with Independence Day, now does it? anyhoo. i prefer K2's show. missing kanakuk around this holiday!

i did sit mesmerized though. i love watching almost as much as i love watching flames and embers in a fire. i find fire fascinating. the other day when i lit the grill, i was so taken in to the flame that i thought, if the flames had caught and started burning something on the balcony, i don't know if i would've had the fight/flight/or sit and admire reaction...i think i might have sat like a fool watching the flames bob and weave...fascinating! (but you know i'm joking, i'm not like a pyro or something, i just think it's beautiful-in small quantities).

 as i re-watch the revolution series on the history channel, i think i would like to read more books on benjamin franklin and george washington.

we recorded much of the series, and went out for a walk while it was still in the early 80's. i decided to drive the boys down to the vitruvian park, and after walking that one, we drove down toward beltway and into a little park area there, where there was a mini community parade going on-that's the area with the hidden pond/park.on our way around, there was an older guy in a wheelchair type thing..not a hover around, but anyway, he like the boys, and he was wearing an airforce hat, so i shook his hand and said thank you. i'm glad we got to meet him.

while we were at the vitruvian park, the sprinklers were going and we got past the first set by our parking area, but the boys of course had to play in the puddles! then as we went around, we stopped in every little branch off. it was cool enough to play. then boys loved the wet grass and bruno was rolling around in it (which got him all tangled in his leash. i told him he was going to strangle himself if he didn't stop, he said he didn't care-as he strangled himself, and then choked out, "ok, you're right mama, a little help?").

somebody-bruno, loves playing in wet grass!

this was our hidden pond trail-it always seems to have a great little breeze! and the boys did really well, even with all of the other dogs out there!

so as a reward, i took them to dq and got myself a blizzard. smile.

i've been craving one, and it was small, and it is a special occasion!

today i am also planning on baking (for the first time) paleo bread...we'll see how it turns out! coconut flour and gluten free flour (i couldn't find almond flour at tom thumb-although they are supposed to have a shipment by friday, but i want to make my bread today)... 

it turned out ok...it's not terrible! it was still a little doughy in the middle even after i put it in for an additional 20 min...so i guess i will have to cut slices and microwave them before eating..? working with new flour can be daunting. who cares!

and the boys were willing to sit still for yet one more patriotic photo. good sports!

they just told me they were really happy to be born in the usa, and then started singing some bruce springsteen song...

 what a relaxing day-back to school tomorrow-weird that it will be thursday! but i'm not sad about it!

happy 4th!
julie