be silly, be fashionable, be alive!

it's been a good week-a busy week. we had a group come in to give us a formative observation with some great feedback. the whole procedure was valuable, and i am thankful that everyone involved, especially the focus groups were so  honest, because that is the only way that we grow and challenge ourselves! so valuable!

yesterday was read across america, and we had a great volunteer turnout! it was also dr. seuss' birthday! and i had the rare opportunity to don a pretty spectacular cat-in-the-hat outfit, thanks to nicolette, who had no intention of wearing it herself, and offered to bring it for me to wear. the students had a great time, and that made the day pretty spectacular. 

i also took a minute to go out to the garden (which i have not really had much of an opportunity to do lately), and i saw the flowers, that i planted a couple of years ago, blossoming-that was pretty cool, because the grounds crew usually chops them down! i also took the shears out to chop up the plants that were invasive and taking over the pond...it was a bit of a task. i began pulling, and before i knew it, i was struggling with roots and all sorts of heavy overgrowth. it was a bit of an undertaking, but don't worry, i cleared it all up, and the fish are still alive-they are probably pissed at me for taking away their hiding places...it's okay, i hear they have 5 second memories! so i need to check on them again tomorrow to throw them into the compost bin..the plants, not the fish.. (when i am actually dressed appropriately); they will be great for the compost, because the silt that came from the pond will be so good in creating rich soil!! i'm such a nerd. but that seriously makes me smile! i've been wanting to extract some of that from the bottom of the pond for awhile now!

beautiful, right? 

i wish computers were scratch and sniff, because these are so aromatic!!

and i was amazed by the fun that is happening in preK! everyone needs to go by and visit their centers! the nasa station rocks, the campsite-rocks!! it's such a fun atmosphere for our kiddos! way to go amanda and marlon! you are making memories for these little ones! 

houston, we have no problems!

planetarium, hello!

i wore a dress again today, and while i was upstairs, one of nafia's girls said something really cute. she said, "ms. robinson, ms. hamilton is making you fashionable!" i like being comfortable, but i will admit, it's been fun mixing it up. smile. 

is it strange to say that i know things are good because i've actually been writing letters again? when i write letters, things are good. that said, i am still not back into a good sleep habit-i have been staying up later than normal...maybe that's just my body preparing for spring break, as shea is a night owl...? part of being in a good place involves knowing that spring break is around the corner, but an even bigger part of the equation is surrounding myself with people who make me laugh, who make me think, who just value hanging out...these are simple things, but they are the things that make the difference. i've said it before-community is everything...living life in color, choosing to be positive, supporting others however we can, that makes me feel alive. it's good to be alive--take a minute, and think about it...what is it that makes you feel alive? pursue that!

julie

sassy socks say a lot about you as an individual

it's that time of the year again! i get to wear my sassy socks(basically any holiday, or otherwise conspicuous design) and this year, i invested in some halloween earrings-good call! they are a hit (at least with me! every morning i look at myself in the mirror and smile at the little candy corn earrings and say, "hey! cute earrings!!"). i would like to attribute my fondness for sassy socks to cindy, my comair manager. she would wear decorative socks and that stuck with me, and i began looking for them whenever i thought about it. you don't have to be a teacher to wear fun socks, but it certainly doesn't hurt!

bruno joined in and brought his halloween toy..but he didn't really want to play-i think he does that just to get chaco up and jealous, because he won't play with me, and as soon as chaco comes running with his own toy, bruno proceeds to jump up into his spot to lay down. well-played, bruno. clever you!

this past weekend i decided that it was time to go ahead and switch over to my fall wardrobe. i chose black pants/blue shirt. this "allowed" me to go shopping. so i went to ross (a first go to for the basics) and found only 3 pair of black pants that i liked, that fit, so then i decided to check in at target-not much there...so finally i decided to make my way out to the outlets in allen. unfortunately with all of the construction, i got distracted and missed the exit, so i had to take the next one which wound around in a strange fashion near a cemetery, and just took the service road to the back entrance of the outlets, which actually put me right at the store i wanted to be at! found my last pair of pants and some blue shirts! spent more than i planned, but that's alright, as i will not need to do any clothes shopping until perhaps spring. yay!

i also had to get black shoes...as brown shoes with black pants is frowned upon...

unfortunately it's taking a bit longer to break in the shoes. i may or may not have used duct tape to hold cotton ball cushions in place today so that i wasn't limping around with blister heels! it's okay, though, don't worry, you need not be embarrassed for me: I HAD ON MY SASSY SOCKS!!

at least it was purple duct tape..doesn't that get some sort of fashion-points?

tuesday we were finally able to have our playground dedication! it was long overdue, but it was very nice. jeri did an excellent job jumping on it and getting everything ready-decorations, invitations, emails...the perfect people were present to make the moment special for mrs. connelly. we are beyond fortunate to have been the beneficiaries of her generosity! our students love their playgrounds!

dr. hughes was there, as she was actually one of the key factors in helping make the connection. and of course, she asked if i was going to the catch up and read event, at northpark mall- eisman jewelry. then i also received the email from catherine saying she hoped that i would attend. you've seen it here. i've written about it. i do NOT love events. i do NOT love small talk. i can do it- i'd rather not. that said, i went tonight to the event; it's probably best to go to these things so that people can speak with real teachers and disd personnel so that they understand the importance of the cause. reading is important.

the catering was lovely-they were little bite-sized teases, so really, it was almost like i didn't actually eat anything! me to girl: what's this? girl: it's a thinly sliced french baguette with gruyere cheese and a smoked ham. lady next to me after girl leaves: so...grilled cheese and ham.

upon leaving (i stayed super long..for me), i was presented at the door with a sweet gesture-a gift bag with beautiful jewelry sold at the store, and a container of jewelry cleaner with a cloth. which is super coincidental. just this morning, i was looking at a necklace charm and my ring that are looking dull, thinking, gosh, if only i still worked at montgomery wards in the jewelry dept....where that woman threw the purse at me...

love the cleaning cloth-it's magical!

earlier today-this morning i had to go to another training for teacher excellence initiative. and on the way back, i was able to meet with a friend for lunch at fuzzy's to try their fish tacos. to be 100% honest, i was extremely underwhelmed. especially after the sand dollar! dude..even MINE are better! but the weren't bad, and it was really more about seeing carla than being a restaurant critic! i absolutely covet friend time, and although we live in the same area, we don't see nearly enough of each other! so we basically only got to share briefly, the saying "in a nutshell" well... we're talking about a hazelnut. (smallest nut in the mixed nut section-umm...don't look that up in images, just trust me).

stella dot. i've mentioned my friend brandy before-she is a breast cancer survivor- one of brandy's friends did an event in her honor and donated proceeds toward research for breast cancer, and so, while i am not a super-trendy jewelry person, i did find a little plaque-charm that was customizably (yep, made that word up) engraved, so i decided it would be appropriate to engrave NMBG, and for those who receive letters from me, that is how i close out my letters. i LOVE it-perfect size! and i had the perfect necklace to couple it with my kanakuk cross. perfect and for a worthy cause!

cutest little packaging!

nothing matters but God!

the cross has tennis shoes hanging on it, as kanakuk is a Christian sports camp. 'kamp' 

i'm sure everyone is wondering what has been happening in the cabell garden. well...let me tell you! the only thing going on right now is pumpkins in one bed, and peppers, mint, lemon-oregano, russian kale and lavender in another. we had a group of high school volunteers from shelton come to help us get the garden in shape for students and teachers to begin using again as an outdoor classroom. several have, but now it's really ready and we can get classes involved in the planting and maintenance! 

green baby pumpkins!! how cute are they?! 

also in the garden, we have been having electrical problems, which means that in essence, the pump has not been working to filter the pond. i have made requests and sent emails regarding this, and i am afraid to go out there, for fear that i will see a bunch of floaters. the gold fish are fairly hardy, but breathing is essential...so, i will try one more time-if it does not get resolved this week, i am considering ridding the pond of fish and having a give-away in plastic bags. i am not fond of fishing them out with the net and disposing of them. and i really don't think teachers will use it as an opportunity to discuss the cycle of life. yuck. 

and i'm pretty sure this is the culprit. the breaker won't flip all the way, but then...the district electricians know this because they came out to look at it. i don't know why it wasn't fixed...band-aids. boo. but when i looked in there, i got a kick out of the 'secerity' label! please watch this video to see why it tickled me so much! (pay close attention at 1:30!)

and to top it off, this week i received some very fun mail from two very dear friends, and for that i am grateful! 

such a fun 'dia de los muertos' card! thanks b!

laura sent me some fun mail as well, and the book about miss rumphius was perfect! what a special thought! i SO want to live in my house by the sea (ocean), and make the world more beautiful! thanks, laura!!

 yesterday afternoon when i got home, i took the boys for a walk because it was barely beginning to sprinkle, and they were dying for a short walk, so i grabbed the umbrella and we set out around the pond. chaco was a sissy. he kept stopping and looking up and finally he said, "hey, if you want to get around this pond, you might want to pick me up right now. i can't see. the rain is getting in my eyes." so whiny. anyhoo, i picked his little damp, muddy self up and tucked him in like a football. bruno on the other hand was leading forward and actually enjoying the rain. bruno would be comparable to a mountain man, chaco would be the gq metrosexual. when we got back to the house they ran around to every cloth covered surface to dry off. and later that evening chaco found this spot on the couch (which is not typical for him; he usually curls up beside me under a blanket), but the look on his face as he put his nose down between his paws was just too much. #theyownme

i love him. 

 time to rest up for another busy week!
julie

yoda would own bonsai trees...and ghosts probably don't even need headbands

this morning, on the way to work, for some reason unbeknownst to me, i was thinking about parts of speech. the only year that vividly sticks out in my mind with parts of speech, was the year that miss lava was my teacher (10th grade? 11th?) anyhoo, i remember diagramming sentences and while i didn't understand the 'why', i was pretty good at it. i was sitting in my car at the corner of valley view and marsh, creating sentences and asking myself, if i were diagramming, i know that it is a pronoun, but what is it replacing in the sentence: it wasn't long before i realized the truth. then i kept modifying the sentence, trying to improve it. who am i? i mean..who does that? (p.s. 'it' is replacing a period of time)

let's see...what else has happened lately that you NEED to know? well, it was our turn to fill the trophy case last week, so here's my rendering:

so many of my finest moments...please feel free to click on this to make it whole screen, because there are some doozies in there! (proud of it) missing: pics with bmayes, shea, stevie...i had to pare down my pics because they wouldn't all fit! the story of my life was not meant to fit on one small bulletin board, but at least it's a taste!

it's been a busy couple of weeks working with fifth grade and helping out with the bilingual students and their reading...it feels a bit like a triage unit! hopefully we have stopped some of the hemorrhaging and there will be less clean-up on aisle 5...i jest so i don't cry. but i will say this- i am proud of how far they have come this year with their teacher, and how much more prepared they will be for next year!!

i am still craving a particular caramel/sea salt muffin. i went to central market and whole foods and one of them said, "no, it's seasonal." (?????) how is caramel and sea salt seasonal, please.  i know how caramel is made and i know sea salt is available over approximately 71% of the earth surface, daily...so, help a kid out! i settled for sugar free baklava. is that illegal? i only did it because the label said: 15 calories..until i ate half the box and realized that there was a second column labeled: calories from fat: 85. oops.

completely worth it! 

and then there's our garden...getting into the swing of things again! tomato plants are on the loose! and pepper plants are going strong. also in the works: garlic, onions, lavender, oregano, lemon basil, lettuce, cauliflower, beans, peas, cucumbers and if we can get the dirt from the front of the building into the last bed, we will have honeydew or watermelon! also considering pumpkin.

already, the tomatoes are showing promise! earlier than i expected-SO EXCITED!!

when i got home from work today, bruno brought his ghost to me, shaking the tar out of it (and that's saying a lot because there wasn't any tar in it to begin with!)...so...he just looked up at me and said, "i ain't afraid of no ghost!" going all ghostbuster on me...please note that ghosts have orange bandanna headbands-when they wear them..it seems to be a disputed fact, as when they have been spotted, it's a rather transparent orange, so..different camps have different theories on that...i'm going petsmart on this one. invisible or not, the headband is most likely orange...and why wouldn't it be? (although, some of the younger critics who are still having pronunciation difficulties say it's boo...[if you didn't get it, i won't judge you, no worries] dummy). 

i told him if he was well enough to play with ghosts, he was probably well enough to do chores...#immediatelydropsghost

and as i was walking the building the other day, looking at writing samples, i came across this:

had i known there was a potion...

i also got the opportunity to lend my services to a couple of friends and colleagues at a nearby school. (let's face it, there is nothing quite as satisfying as being able to share something or help someone else out). and it was really heart-warming to receive a completely unexpected gift! well played, martha!

i mean, amidst the clutter that is my desk, this is a haven of peace during a stressful day! it calms me! AND i feel a little like mr miyagi....who is very similar to yoda..i think if they had bonsai trees on his remote planet, he would most certainly have an orchard-full!

and my parents are thinking, "where did we go wrong?"

so..i mentioned about bruno being on a special diet from now until the end of time..well, there are no treats for him. so  i asked the banfield manager-guy, and he said, "well, you can get the canned food and smush it into little balls and use that as a treat."  so, i put on my latex gloves and tried to make a ball out of the slimy little chunky squares of dog nastiness. and of course it didn't work. i'm sure he thought he was being a clever problem-solver. i give him an f+. so i ended up turning on the oven, blending the whole can of dogfood in the ninja, then smearing it onto parchment paper in thin little clumps to create potato-like chips...it worked, and they crisped up. the dogs both love them, so i am getting rid of their treats and moving in this direction, because i am kind of wondering if the treats may have contributed to his condition in the first place? idk...self-diagnosed prognosis.

and while the boys absolutely love it, the fact remains that i live in a tiny apartment, and there isn't much room for the smell of baked dog food to dissipate. #sadfaceemoticon gotta do what's best for the kids!

alright, i think i am out of gas-
julie

pralines and cream used to be my favorite thing in a cone...now bruno is

it is saturday morning afternoon (i'm still pretending it's morning), and it is a beautiful day! bruno went in on thursday for his bladder-stones surgery. there is always that slight sense of anxiety even when you know the doc has done this a ridiculous number of times without incident...so it was good to get the call, "bruno is doing well, we got all of the stones, we took an x-ray and it looks like we won't have to do the more invasive acl surgery!" thank you dr.!

so i was able to pick him up yesterday and on the way down the hall as we walked away, he stopped and peed. a BIG ol' puddle! i was so happy! the fact that he is peeing is a relief, as he has been peeing tiny spurts here and there...

i should've taken a before and after pic of his cones. they gave him a generic piece, and it was janky, so i decided to go in and get a new one at petsmart. he was so thankful! and truth be told, he looks much more comfortable! chaco was starting to get really annoyed with the other cone because it was so big and clumsy that bruno was hitting him over and over when he'd turn around or get too close.

bruno in a cone.

so i stopped at the grocery store and picked up some necessary items for me...i am on a tzaziki kick...i bought some because i really like a cucumber dip (but i ran out and couldn't find any) and i know it is cucumber based. i have really enjoyed cutting up peppers, onion, carrot and throwing a tablespoon or two on, as it is low-calorie. i also got the necessary ingredients to make my salsa! it definitely has some heat this time! but the spices are just right...in fact, it tastes so good, i may or may not have eaten a ramekin without chips! oops #canthelpmyself.

i really like what we did out in the garden, there is still a bit left to do, but i didn't post pics last time of what we had done, so here you go...

tree cookies...a fun place to bring the kids out for class!

the new garden bed that will be producing cucumbers this summer!

one man's trash...found by our dumpster, we have re-purposed this headboard into a trellis for some honeysuckle.

getting excited about this summer's harvest! hopefully some of our staff will stop in to enjoy a bit of the produce!

i had the opportunity to go to a workshop yesterday and while she was not an overly exciting presenter, she did have some good exercises and explanations to help with the resilience and bouncing back of the brain.
one of the exercises involved thanking my feet(that was a first). during another one, i had 2 'safe places' (kamp and little cay) and put a fake friendship rock and shell in my pocket...

i doodle at workshops.

a few minutes ago, i looked over at bruno sitting by the door and said, "i love you!" and a split second later, the man on netflix is saying, "i love you too." what are the odds.

so, why the following picture? well you have to look closely and know your plants. the plant on top with the flowers is honeysuckle-one of my faves, and below it there, if you look closely, poison ivy. every year it's the same thing. i love walking our back trail, but i have to keep the boys on a short leash, because otherwise they will get too close and the oils will rub off onto their fur...but you have to get a little close to appreciate the delicate scent of the honeysuckle. so, i guess the moral is dare to get close enough to enjoy the beauty but be very aware and know where the danger is.

i have this crazy idea that spawned from an idea that we discussed at the workshop i went to, but i'm not sure if any of my old classmates will participate or not. if they do, i think it would there would be a really neat product that would be cherished for years and be very meaningful to all involved. project in progress..wait and see.

it's already the middle of april, meaning only a month and a half until summer!! there is SO much to do to prepare for summer training and for next year!! yikes.

julie

what's covered? hopefully all the important stuff!

i know i mentioned that bruno was limping since we had gone on spring break. he continues to not bear weight on his hind leg, so i took him into the vet, they sent him home, he kept limping...i took him back. they took x-rays yesterday afternoon and let me know that they couldn't really see anything in the knee, they would probably refer me to an orhto- do the mri, acl...like mother like dog....

but that wasn't all they saw in the x-ray, so they thought they should probably let me know that they saw bladder stones. looks like surgery. as i sit here reading about it, i am realizing that i need to get this done, like...next week, asap. (if the stones get caught in the wrong place, they can cause blockage and become a life or death situation. ugh). so it's a blessing in disguise that he had to have the x-ray! hopefully the pet-insurance i purchased will take care of the bulk of this and the knee thing...yikes. oh, and the tech said he would be on a special diet for the rest of his life... bruno asked if it could be ice cream and pupperoni...gross. 

because of the knee, the vet said crate-rest. so this morning, i put up the fenced area and placed a pee-pad, bed and small kennel inside, then closed the pen-with him and chaco inside. when i pulled up in the parking lot, i parked my car and with the car door closed, i could hear chaco barking. i thought, 'wow, does he know the sound of my car? why is he barking so loudly?' then i looked up to the 3rd floor window of the apt and saw bruno up there in the window..little son of a gun...he had shimmied and squeezed out of the bottom of the fencing because i didn't have the bungee cord tight enough. that will be fixed tomorrow. and of course, there was chaco inside barking like he was in pain...emotional distress-poor guy! he wasn't even supposed to be in there in the first place, he was just moral support for bruno, and bruno abandoned him. how rude. and i'm pretty sure it's going to be even worse tomorrow when i take bruno in, to the surgical place for his appointment.

i've had pet insurance since he was about 1, but i have yet to make any claims on it-although i should have many times over. that said, i am curious about how much will actually be covered-fingers crossed that it will be the majority.

did i mention that i looked EVERYWHERE for my care credit health card? i searched high and low yesterday and today, until finally i remembered that i had taken out all of my cards before i went to HONDURAS last summer and placed them in a pocket in one of the pieces of luggage that i left at mom and dad's and hadn't needed it since, so there it was still where i had left it. the worst of it, or rather the part that took so long was finding other things that distracted me...squirrel!

in other news, i would like to issue a public apology to everyone who was on I35E southbound between the minutes of 11:35 and 11:40 on friday march 27. i may or may not have cut across...6 lanes of traffic to get onto loop 12...and i may have been very rude, pretending it was everyone else's fault...when CLEARLY it was the fault of the lady in my phone. gps lady was not giving timely instructions. so yes, if you thought i was mouthing mean things at you, i was. pretty sure if the lady in my phone could've talked to me, she would've said that was uncalled for! thank God there is no 'attitude accountability' mode on my gps, because i'm pretty certain that the insurance people would stop replacing phones broken by sheer road rage at some point...

i got new address labels made, and the boys are super excited...and let's not lie, it kinda' feeds the desire to write more letters...it doesn't take much!

dapper young men!

we had our garden day last saturday. we got so much done!! thank you to bank of america, they sent volunteers who cam and worked SO hard! i was pretty excited about the pea plants and that they had survived the winter, but i went ahead and pulled them up so that we can plant more-i need to get some peas to 2nd grade so that they can come out and go through the process. 

peas!

the bulbs i planted last fall came up as well! that was a pleasant surprise! i actually planted 3 varieties of spring plants, but only the tulips and the other pretty flowers blossomed...perhaps next year the 3rd will show up!

i stopped by redenta's to get our reals school garden plants, and i was able to purchase some additional plants as well-they were precious cargo, so i was able to use the boys' car seats to transport them safely-here's hoping the boys don't get jealous.

ok, so back to boa. i was really glad that they showed up, because they really were helpful! had they not shown up, it would've just been dr. hughes, mrs. perez, sean, mrs. derse, one of our faithful parents, jose, and me! ouch. so i gave them the vision, and they headed off to conquer the garden! 

what all did we get done? well, i'm so glad you ask! we moved all of the tree cookies into the courtyard to create an additional sitting area under the tree (we being not me...thank you sean and other strong man with a good back). sean also dug a hole to sink the post for our weather vane! a group of 4 built the new raised vegetable bed (remember how it took me awhile, but i put one together awhile back? well, i tried to stay out of this and let them figure it out themselves...walking away is not always easy, but sometimes it's easier than sticking around to listen). the beds are weeded and chopped to size. the strawberries and other transplants had to be planted or else they were sure to die. another group took out the dead bushes that the district 'gifted' us. (i think they were on their last leg when they were given, because they were dead within weeks), and then they put up the bedpost that i found near the dumpster last fall. in front of it, they planted 2 honeysuckle bushes that will vine up and smell sweet as ever! i strategically had them placed near my office window...honeysuckle is one of those smells that accompanies pleasant memories of branson! what else? well, we got the pallets painted white so that we can put them up to pretend they are picket fences (they will receive a face-lift with flowers painted on them). and then there are the river stones that were "painted" white. i may need to go back and redo some of them for the project that i have planned. and last but not least, i got someone to turn the compost!!! woohoo! i almost forgot two very important projects, the pond pump got cleaned out and some brick and pavers got laid. (got laid out? well, regardless, there is now a huge square of bricks and pavers....with a little fence-thing that creates the aura of a headstone...? we're working on that!)

now, there's always a story. so, while we were out there, i was doing a lot of facilitating and pointing people in the right direction.  for some reason, and i truly don't know how it began, but every time i went near this one guy, he would allude to 'unbroken'-the movie...the book...i have not seen it, i have no idea what it is about. have you ever had the pleasure of working with someone who acts like a 16 yr old boy, but they are really 50-60-ish? well...i have. comments from, "i was driving through colorado last winter and i was really worried about the other drivers-they smoke marijuana...it's the mile HIGH state!" laughs at own joke. later, i showed him how to turn compost and layer it. "wow, this looks like poop. you know, dung beetles eat poop. can you imagine that? how gross is that? eating poop!" at this point, i really didn't feel like carrying on the conversation, but i did think about the boys and the fact that when they get bored, they eat poop...but i just didn't want to open up another can of worms."wow, this is really tiring! now i understand the term back-breaking work. i feel like one of the characters from unbroken...like i'm in a prison!" but i can't complain...the compost got turned and tiered! then as things were drawing to an end, he looked over and saw three drills which had been used in the building of the raised bed, and he said, "can someone follow me home and drill two holes in my wall? i just need two holes. i lost my recharging cord, and they were going to charge me $10 at home depot to rent one! i'm not paying $5 per hole!! seriously, will someone follow me to my place to drill two holes? or lend me a drill? i'll bring it back." that's really how it went down. no embellishments. i'll let you try to figure out who in the picture you think i might be talking about. i'll give you a hint...it wasn't the young boy.

and of course, if you work in a garden in texas, there are always the fire ants to deal with. 

pretty sure fire ants are a cross between regular ants and one of satan's cousins. little jerks.

all in all, the garden looks great, it is ready for the summer veggies, and while there are still more things that need to be done, it is manageable!

i did get mail recently, and it was such a blessing! i love being in touch with some of my former kampers still! they mean the world to me! so when i got this, kamp memories come flooding back, but more importantly, it is such a joy to see how they are doing! one of my favorite erins (and there are a few!) sent this one-so creative and such a neat story going on in her life! i love that i have had the opportunity to see these beautiful friends grow up and become amazing influences on others! 

oh, and of course, i must give a shout out to HONDURAS! while i was in springfield, i stopped at mama jeans market, and i saw this before i slipped out. i was thrilled! yea for HONDURAN products!! i love the anecdote!

and last but not least, i like my avocados, but i don't like it when i use a half and then the other half gets all brown and crazy. i've seen a couple of different solutions for this. one is to use oil, another said rub onion on it... i decided to try coconut oil. i mean...it's liquid and then it turns into a solid at lower temps. so when i put it in the fridge, it solidified into a little wax-like coating. it worked overnight, and the next morning, it didn't disgust me enough to deter me from eating it-good news! 

thank you, coconut oil!

 and now it is time to get to sleep so that tomorrow i can live another day!
julie

ingesting, digesting and wasting lempiras...starring the boys

when i arrived home yesterday from school, i was surprised to find the boys chillin' with about 14 lempiras strewn around the living room. when i asked them what they'd been up to,they gave me blank stares. i always know that this means they have been up to something. they looked at each other and bruno finally said,"oh...we were just in the process of making a joke....wait for it..."

i didn't think they were very funny.

then i realized that one of the bills had been chewed off, and the other fourth was nowhere in sight.

pretty sure that he's the culprit...

then this morning, i understood the joke a little better...bruno came running out with chaco and said, "get it?? un lempira ni vale mierda!" ok, i was too shocked that he knew spanish to be worried about the language...then i had them sit and stay, and we had the potty-humor discussion, during which i explained to them that amongst boys it might be funny, but they wouldn't win over many girls with this tactic.not any girls that i know anyway....

I APOLOGIZE! but yes, that IS in fact a whole lempira encapsulated in ... doggie waste.

 again, sorry about that. i am just thankful that there was no blockage and that it did indeed pass through his gastrointestinal tract without a hitch, because the last thing i need is doggie stress!

a couple of nights ago i went to our garden coordinator meeting and they gave us some transplants for our garden-cabbage and broccoli plantlings. in order to plant them, at least one of the beds had to be weeded and turned, so i stayed and did that yesterday because we need to get the plants in this week. i have my little garden crew ready, and whoever can join me early tomorrow morning will come out to help put them in the ground.

this one looks really nice, but don't be deceived!

this is the one right next to it with a couple of tomato plants...that i am having a hard time parting with because...

well, mostly because they keep producing these!! and they are delicious! (note there are a couple of little carrots in there, just so you know, it is NOT a hybrid plant, it doesn't grow carrots, they were nearby).

i went straight from school to the grocery store, even though i was a mess, because of the dirt and compost...don't care! i may have gotten a couple of looks, but again...don't care! so those little hand wipeys at the entrance of the store, i don't know what everyone else uses them for, but it was kinda like a little bath for me...once inside, i wasn't surprised when the card section called...spent way too much; forgot to get the fresh mozzarella for caprese salad. argh. (please with one hand over an eye in a pirate voice...thank you).

and since a little breeze had picked up by the time i got home, i took the boys for a walk. upon our return, i decided that it is high time i give bruno a trim. i have said it for the past month and not gotten around to it. my bad, but when the little boy comes in and i feel like i should be calling him 'jack' because he's hauling a tree around behind him like a lumberjack, i think it's time.

don't even try to tell me it's embarrassing...it's not like toilet paper stuck on your shoe from the bathroom...it's just a little sapling....deal.with.it.

so. what made my heart smile this week? two things-a sweet message via whatsapp from my brandy friend, because let's face it, we all need some sunshine in our lives from time to time, and she provided a little this week :) and the other thing that was heart-healthy was receiving this sweet Christmas letter from kristin. it's the daily small details, that when shared, help me to understand and do life with you long distance-i love this. a lot!

Christmas in september...i'm down with that!

alrighty then, it's closing time!
julie