how far? 8 and a half puppies...

alrighty then...it's been a few days. a lot going on. who are we kidding. so, how far apart? one of my friends did a facebook live today for istation, (click here to see), and she talked about some math suggestions, which made me think of this... so, seriously, how far apart? everyone knows it's 6 feet...so it seems like this is a great opportunity to use those approximation skills you learned in kinder, first and second grade when you had to measure with non-standard measurements...like how many fruit loops...how many pencil-lengths...what would be the best thing to measure 6 feet with? answers will vary...depending on geographical location. let's see, from the different places i have lived, what might the measurement be?

illinois- chicago pizzas

kansas city- gates rack of ribs

wisconsin- baby holstein calf

costa rica- shell necklaces from punta arenas

HONDURAS- coffee pods

kansas- wheat sheaves

iowa- corn stalks

missouri- kanakuk kayak

texas- long horns- like literally the span of a longhorn bull's horns

florida-alligator, manatee calf, sea turtles

i did stop by my friend's house for 10 seconds to drop something off, and look...they went and created a home theater and disco...they had to block all light, so this was the solution. #covidcreations

and it worked, they created somewhat of a cave! 

i have continued to walk the river walk- makes for a beautiful sunrise. fortunately the other morning when i arrived to park, there were two older lady walkers talking to an officer, and pointing at a sign. apparently, OVERNIGHT the marina had put up signs and parking is no longer allowed on the north side-reserved for marina folk only...snobs. way to go, bradenton, i hope they paid you well. 

so unimpressed. 

one of the few rewards to waking up....early

so glad the skate park was shut down-too much gathering...

then back at the complex, it was looking a little dead out, but beautiful days! so we put the garage door up and made a makeshift office. the view. (much better the following days after i moved my car). the boys drive me nuts though, because they are out scavenging for leaves-which they eat and then it just makes a mess. but it's nice to go out because the set-up of the apartment doesn't allow for much natural light in the afternoon-it always seems later than it is because all of the windows face the east, and there is a mini-wooded-bush area on the back side. 

pretty, but silent

looking for leaves, looking for bugs...they'll try to put pretty much anything in their mouth to get a reaction.

one of the kinda' cool things to come out of this is that we have had company-wide virtual meetings to touch base and get information out...virtual happy hours on fridays, which is interesting-fun putting names to faces and seeing everyone! it is also neat to be able to learn a little more about the people i would not otherwise be exposed to. 

fortunate to work with such scoundrels!

i may or may not have done the one thing that is making salon-artists across the nation cringe...yep about 3-4 inches. i knew i was going to do it though, and i think i mentioned it in a previous post. it's hair. whatevs. at least i'm not dying my hair and living the mullet dream...(looking at you, lori). some people can pull it off...i'm not one of them.

and these guys. who needs to be in a legit office or see people for 3 months when you have companions like this!?! 

chaco...little romeo...loves people

bruno in the foreground....food-motivated!

we try to work together, but when we're recording or doing serious webinars, they cannot stay because i never know who is going to walk by and make them lose it.

i have a story about a cockroach, and it is almost time to share. stay tuned, that may be tomorrow's feature story...it's a little longer, so i think that will do it for tonight.

wash your hands, and 6ft... an alligator length(baby-ish alligator)...or 8 1/2 puppies!

julie

so hot my car has to wear shades...

another boring day...it's saturday, and i need to go to the big store, but i decided i would wait until monday when people are at work. what is the big store? it's where adults go to buy major appliances...i need to look at some washers and driers. i've been renting them from my complex and they're kinda terrible. i have way over paid by renting them all this time. anyhoo...i need to look into that! (any suggestions of where to purchase that might have installment plans?)

i took the boys for a walk and we stopped at the office, and i had to ask jessica some questions, but i didn't get all of the answers i needed, because there were some other residents coming in and i didn't want to keep her, so i'll go back tomorrow-important things to finish discussing. they'll be looking for leasing agents i think, because one of the gals (whom i may have mentioned...a little on the snooty side) is no longer here.

i am thrilled that one of my friends (a former kamper) is moving to dallas, and i now have someone who will go to the midnight showing of the hobbit in december!!! woohoo!! i am beyond excited! i mean, i would've gone alone, we all know that wouldn't stop me, but it's just more fun with a friend to discuss points afterward!

tonight i had to stop at burger house because i was craving it...it was so hot i had to put the shades up while i waited in line! heat heat please go away...

perhaps i should invest in getting the windows tinted

 and here's another little blast from the past                                                                                   

feathered hair was all the rave...this was in our first apartment in costa rica.

up on the wall you can see a partial of an art project-a dancing senorita. that guitar-still have it. in fact, my parents had me bring it back to dallas with me this trip. and believe it or not, it's still in tune! i got it in 83 and it's as good now as it was then! this was the apartment where i felt my first earthquake tremor-things actually fell off the shelves! that was 5th grade. so many great memories about costa rica. 

in our training, the trainer mentioned an insect project from when she was in 5th grade, which really made me remember ms. gonzalez, my 5th grade teacher and the same project! only, being in costa rica, it was easy to find crazy looking insects-i had quite the variety from walking sticks to leaf bugs, beetles, etc. it was pretty amazing! good thing peta wasn't around down there!

i got to see my 

first smoking volcano

first inactive volcano

first parrots

first ox cart

first pops ice cream

first 4-square game

first monkeys owned by civilians

first time someone stole something from mom (chicken from her purse-not sure if i told that story...it was on a crowded bus)

first candy with kahlua inside

favorite friend: amy porter. more about her another day.

friend i would randomly meet up with 5 or 6 years later: milagros castro. after i moved to HONDURAS, we had a basketball tournament in el salvador with international schools from various central american countries. i was the token gringa, and being such a novelty, everyone automatically thought i must be a star bball player-could be that my hair is so blonde they figured i must be related to larry bird...anyhoo, we were at a restaurant when a girl randomly walked up and said, "julie!" and then introduced herself as my old friend from costa rica. i don't recall whose team won the game when we played them. i tried to pretend like i had a great time in el salvador, but we stayed with random families, and the gal that i was staying with didn't seem very excited about having me there. so i was like bruno on that trip-pretended it was great fun, but basically i endured it. the fact is the best part about that trip was meeting up with milagros again and catching up.

julie

magic bullet, why you not so magic today?

when we woke up this morning, i decided to take the boys out for an early walk because we didn't get out last night (it was still 90' when we went to bed. boo), so the temp had dropped to 83 by the time we were ready to go. there was only one other person on the trail, so it was a great walk-apart from the beginnings of sweat beads. and then we ran into jessica on our way toward the office, so we went ahead and stopped in to chit chat.

while i was there, i grabbed one of these, because things just haven't been the same without mandy and shannon.

my opinion counts!

komo and jessica are great, but it just isn't the same. i was thinking that as i drove by to get my mail just the other day...and you can just feel a difference in the personality when you walk in. well, we left the office and as we were walking past the pool, i looked down and saw what looked like an egg or a marble or perhaps a large bead...

when i picked it up, it was a fruit or seed from a tree-the size of an eyeball...weird, but very cool-looking!

when i got home, i threw all of my ingredients into my magic bullet, and pushed down to turn it on, but there was no response. hmm..maybe the plug. i replugged it. nope. reset. nope. so i threw the ingredients into the blender (which was fine, but it just didn't blend as well). so i called the customer service # and they said to cut the cord and throw it away, and they would send out a new base-3 to 5 days...so i have to use the blender until then.

i use it daily-every morning, this is my breakfast.

so i decided to pull it apart and see if there was anything keeping it from starting...perhaps kink in the wires...i don't know, but i took it apart...most people would just throw it away, but i am not most people. funny, i never really considered myself one of those look at everything tinker people, but i hate to just throw away and waste things. boo.

then after i had a really good tasting (albeit not-so-smooth) un-smoothie, i sat it down on the foot rest and accidentally bumped it over-all over the carpet. i had only gotten about 1/3 into my belly...grr. what a mess. i'm going to have to break out the steam cleaner for this one.

i think i might still have some nerve problems because there is still a bit of discomfort..hopefully we can get some good news when i go in to the doctor this week. it's GOT to get better than this.

oh, and that sprinkles cupcake i was going to treat myself to...i forgot all about it. but that's probably ok.
julie

that was delicious, bunt i really shouldn't have!

oh goodness! i am so glad it is thursday! today the students got on the computers to look up statistics and expert opinions for the persuasive papers they will be writing, and someone who is trying to persuade grandma to come visit searched for grandma, statistic, child and came up with some story about grandma shooting a kid...probably not the most convincing piece of information they could use.

and today was a wonderful beans, rice and enchilada lunch-thank you ms. perez for making all those enchiladas, and navarres for the beans and rice (which i shouldn't have, but it just went so well with the mini bunt cakes that mattress firm supplied for us!) the bunt cakes actually brought back gigi memories because she got me one for my birthday last year and it was amazing! wish you could have been here to appreciate it!

 i'm very curious to see what double tree is bringing tomorrow...i'm going to have to be super good next week!

we got a really cool gift today! and just in time because i am running out of post its!

and one of the sweet moms of one of my students gave me a sweet gift-it's a tealight candle holder-it doesn't particular;y go with my decor, but the sweetest gesture.

then when i got home, i took the boys for a walk (slow walk, but they needed some fresh air).we stopped by the office to say hello, but it wasn't much fun...it's just not the same. and when we got out of the office, bruno said, "i don't think they really like us." and chaco piped up, "i know, we need to find new friends!"

then we made our way around to the back and there was a big dog in the fenced area, so we kept moving and then we saw the cat behind another fence...

bruno said, mama! we're at the zoo and watching the silly feline!" i think he was really thankful for the fence because secretly he was a little fearful of the kitty.

and last but not least, we have a lady who comes to our school in the afternoons with her metal detector thingy to look for foreign objects. i wonder what all she finds that's worthwhile because she keeps coming back with her machine and her mini trowel. hope it's worth her while! perhaps when i grow up i'll find a fun hobby like that, although i will be wearing leopard pants and a hot pink top.

a few quarters here and there...maybe cabell was the old site of a lost treasure...from when the pirates used to use the jungle gym as a hideout?

time for bed,
julie

2 great reasons to be okay with looking for a new place.

today as i was driving in to check my mail, i looked over and yet again i didn't see mandie's (sp?) car. it's been awhile now, so i stopped in at the office and asked jessica, crossing my fingers that she was just on a long vacation or something. nope. she left! without even saying 'bye' how rude. (mandie, if you're reading this blog for the first time, heads up, i'm not even serious). i mean...first shannon leaves, and now mandie, the two i've known the longest, and the ones who actually like my dogs! now i don't have as much of a reason to stay...i don't know who the new girl is going to be, but honestly, i'm partial to the previous management. and if new girl isn't a dog fan...game over.

and today i had to go get a dress for the wedding, so i had to have the shop girl help me out. i am not good at getting dresses nor accessories. the gal was super helpful. while she was checking out the lady in front of me (not checking her out...making her pay), she said to the lady, "is that your friend that i was just helping over there? how do you handle her? all she does is talk, talk, talk!" (about the talkative lady who wandered off to look at more clothing)..kinda funny the shop girl is from india i think, so she had a slight accent.

uh oh, i just read out loud to proof, and the boys stopped in their tracks and the looked at me with tears in their eyes and a sniffle and chaco said, "NO! mandie can't be gone! she loved me the most!" i tried to explain to them that sometimes people just have to do what's best for them.*

dr. hughes asked me yesterday if my parents were coming down for the surgery, and i said i hadn't planned on it, but i might think about asking them. then today maria asked me the same thing, and i said i wasn't planning on it, but i would probably call them today to see if they could. and maria said, "good, otherwise, we might have had to set up a schedule to come check on you and take care of the dogs." smile. i have a very caring staff at my school; we are a tight knit family, it's true.

so to avoid having coworkers drop in on me when i might be in my pajamas, or without a bra, or with severe bedhead....i called mom and told her i might actually need them down here for a few days if they could swing it, so they will be coming down the day before and staying as long as needed. the boys will be thrilled.

may your coworkers be as much family as mine are,
julie

me want food.

well, 5:00 comes early every morning~but i'm never tired until i get home in the evening. so this working out in the morning gig has been good so far. i've only been following the 'caveman-ish' diet since monday, and i'm really surprised that i am not really craving sugar-nor diet coke!

i thought about taking a pic of the cover, but who wants to see perfect bodies that have probably been airbrushed? anyhoo, please notice the last line: enjoy your next 31 days! really?

i forgot to mention this earlier!
my parents are planning to move to mo! they are excited about this new adventure, and i am excited that they are moving a little further south, away from the bitter cold winters.i know missori has cold winters, but nothing compared to the harshness in iowa. mostly, i'm glad because it will be a shorter drive to visit and help them out with the 'fixing-up' of their new place....they'll be near springfield, which is fun and familiar for me!

today we had our practice writing test (part 1), and i'm a little worried. when we were getting toward the end, the electricity went out and the fire alarms went off, so we had to file out. good timing. fortunately it didn't last long.

and....tomorrow i get tamales!! no worries, i am taking some to the apt. office on the way home tomorrow night~ i feel like recently they have become my 'go-to' conversational source. ah, a good mix: humans who love my dogs, try my food and laugh at my jokes. (and remember my name...my students don't even remember my name half the time!) one of them did confess today that she knows most of the residents' dogs' names, but the actual people...mmm not as much.

well, my eyes are about to shut themselves, so i'm calling it a night (shortly),
julie

medieval torture weapons? wait, is that a mariachi band?

before i went outside today, i had to fix my cabell windbreaker...my drawstring got pulled halfway through and it was stuck in the middle. ugh, i hate that because it is so hard to inch it out (actually it is less than an inch at a time)...i had to create tools. but they look like medieval torture weapons...

i know, scary, right?

finally pulled the scraggly little beast through the long dark hem shaft.

today i decided to try to get bruno to walk with us using some warmed up roast beef. well, i got him to the edge of the stairs again and then he balked. so i carried him down the stairs and tried for about ten minutes and we didn't get very far. so i took him back up. instead, chaco and i took a long walk around the trail and back to the main office. well, he automatically heads up the walk every time. this time, the door was locked and the clock was up because they were at lunch, but shannon was sitting at her desk and she gave me the WAIT sign and came to unlock the door. chaco was wagging his little tail so fast as soon as he saw her!

she invited us in to hang out in the inner office so that no one else would see that there was anyone there and we all got on the floor and he played shy and quiet because we'd gone on such a long walk. shannon always has fun stories. and we definitely got to hear a doozie today. i'm not going to repeat it, but i kinda' wish i'd been there with a camera!

tonight was fun because i got to go out for dinner with a couple of dear friends for some catch up time! loved the restaurant because it was out of the ordinary. el ranchito-delicious! live mariachi bands-two of them going back and forth all night- kinda like dueling banjos...only with mariachi bands. it was kind of like a little game trying to get conversation in before the trumpet interrupted.

it was too dark to get a good picture of the actual trumpet player that purposely tried to thwart our conversation!

then when they'd move into the other room, we were able to get some chatting done. we laughed a lot and then made our way down to the corner to take a picture of something that we had seen on the way there and laughed some more! love hanging out with friends!


good night!
julie