running of the teachers-each person for himself..herself..themself?

today we had our half day workday at the summer school campus. we went down to get our supplies and it was a little messy-have you ever heard of the running of the brides? well, that's what it felt like!

The rolling racks full of dresses will be stripped bare in roughly 12 seconds. The whole scene will smack of viciousness and greed.

much of the supplies were picked through, but we got most of what we needed from our list. as we were getting our stuff (we were next to last because we are 4th grade), when i looked up, the teachers from the younger grades were back and circling like vultures..kinda like the church potluck dinner when people try to come up for seconds when there is still a line of people who have not eaten. (when it comes to food and supplies, every ounce of dignity is checked at the door) then i found out that for the first day or two my co-teacher and i may have up to 38 students. umm...i did not sign up for chaos, so these students better have a good sense of self control, or it will not be pretty in room 317.

i noticed the bathroom in the teacher's lounge. obviously there are more women teachers and they control the bathroom.

it just kinda sticks out like a tampon box. oh, wait, it is!

anyhoo, got everything set up and i'm kinda' ready to go.

so i got home and i had to make a decision. i'm pretty sure i made the right one. for this weekend, i'm going up to oklahoma to visit with some friends. i was debating whether or not to go because my back is still bothering-which means i may not get to do everything i want to do. also bruno is still not acting quite normal. he's doing better, but he's still acting a little stand-offish (and he won't tell me what's going on).

did i mention that the other 4 4th grade teachers are wanting to have a potluck every thursday of summer school? to be completely honest, because i really don't know any of them, it scares me. i may bring my own lunch anyway just in case. one never knows what to expect.

now i have to clear out my car so that i have room for everything i need to take on this trip. despite the fact that i took a lot of stuff up to my classroom, i still have a full load in my car. hmm. it's like gremlins-odds and ends are multiplying in my car.

on that note, i'd better get down there and do it before it gets too late.
julie

box cutter girl cannot get on airplanes, but she can cut boxes!

i'm not great with trainings. i enjoyed last week because it was valuable and new...but i did not enjoy today's training. i guess i don't enjoy ice-breaker games. i found it hard to get excited about making up a a superhero character for myself.

cutting cardboard so that children everywhere can start thinking outside of the box (little do they know that i recycle those boxes to make ramps and other small furniture).

we were supposed to strike a pose for our super hero, and my first idea was to get my knife out of my pack, but i had to go for option 2 because i didn't want to scare anyone. i cannot wait to get tomorrow over with so that thursday can be here! that's when we get to go to our summer campus and 'set-up-shop.' i am beyond ready to get things out of my car and ready in my room!  it looks like i am a traveling teacher and i have classes out of my car...kinda' like Jesus teaching from the boat...only i'm pretty sure he didn't tell his crowd to use their strategies.

i just finished a model of a mobile to show my co-4th grade summer school teachers-everything is project based, and this is a simple, fun inexpensive way to put together information and it just looks so cool!

just a side thought: i'm so ready for casey anthony to be out of the news..but i'm taking mental notes because i'm sure it will be in some trivial pursuit game someday. they're giving her almost as much coverage as oj simpson had.

strike a super-hero pose!
julie

1/2 pill, whole m&m and steer clear of pat

apparently i'm a lightweight when it comes to meds...i took 1 hydrocodone tablet this morning and it pretty much wiped.me.out. 1/2 pill from now on. half pill.

i'm going to have to make this short, because when i said something out loud that involved the word 'walk', bruno stood up and said, "let's go!" it's been so hot we haven't gotten out much in the last couple of days. poor boys.

like i said before, today i was wiped out-we slept a lot and i was finally able to get up and off to the store. i had to purchase some ziploc baggies-the ones that i can vacuum seal (i found them! they're cheaper than the food saver ones, but i can still use my machine to seal them) we'll see how they work! if they work, i'll be getting more!

and once i got home, i pulled out the m&m's to add to my trail mix, and chaco asked if he could help with that part.

please, mama, i'll do a good job-promise!

then i noticed that fewer and fewer m&m's were getting into the baggies....

but we finally finished and i separated out my baggies for snacks at school. yes, i did say school-tomorrow and wednesday are training days. yuck. i just hope i don't have any run-ins this year with pat, the dallas school police-person. last year i'm pretty sure i stuck my foot in my mouth (maybe up to my knee) but if she didn't want to be called sir, she shouldn't have a butch crew cut and wear a man's watch.

i love getting letters in response to mine from congressmen! it makes me feel like i'm doing my part in society.

i am against cap and trade in case you're curious. it's the most ridiculous thing i have ever heard of and in my opinion it is anti-AMERICAN.

alright then, time to take the dogs for a quick walk!

praying for no run-ins with pat!!
julie

don't jump, little radio..don't jump! (i still need you)

you may or may not know this little fact about me: i don't like water nearly as much as i should. in fact i have rationed out my water to know how much i should be getting daily to remind me to drink it. it wouldn't be as much of a problem if it tasted like diet coke and was carbonated-then i would have no problem getting more than my daily allotment. bruno agreed with me, although his comment was if water tasted like bacon and was a solid, he'd enjoy it much more. he is really not enjoying my syringing it into his mouth.

i decided it was a good time to recharge my mini-weather-radio today too (i remembered) that way it'll be ready for the next storm! so to recharge it i needed sunshine-solar powered. well, if you remember, my apt is on the north side, which means i get a very limited amount of sun...it barely grazes the ledge on my balcony after noon. we decided to be safe about it (we, being the radio and me); my mind is branded with the motto: safety first, safety last and safety in between, so i went ahead and hooked up the carabiner to a strong support.

don't jump!

i still need to figure out what mile markers i am between so i can figure out what is going on when they forecast!

it's a slow news day, so i was digging through some papers and pictures and found these-which are from previous posts. the first is that monkey i mentioned. he loved to be held, but got really mad when it was time to let him down. when we were visiting this missionary family, i also became very intrigued by the star trek series (book) and an incredible computer game (remember it was back in the day) it was a logic game where you had to ask yes/no questions-i loved it! it was engaging. 

my hair was going for the farrah faucett flair.

 then there was the drawing that bruno mentioned-here he is...the inspiration came from a national geographic cover, and you may not be able to tell, but the hair is small lines, and the face is all dots-stippling.

just thought i'd share those with you because i found them.


make sure you're getting enough hydrogen and oxygen this summer!
julie

it's not a 'skate or die' ramp-but that's ok b/c my boys aren't skaters

today was such a lazy day! we got absolutely nothing done...the boys kinda let me sleep in a little bit. then i had to give bruno his medicine from a dropper-he hates when i have to force feed him. boo. he always pretends he's dying and throws a little tantrum. not long after that, i had to get a pic because the boys were hangin out together and they just looked really cute. after i took the pic, chaco asked me if i could print the pic off and frame it, and get him a bunch of wallet size prints so that he could give them away to friends. strange, because i have never given him a wallet.

handsome boys!

remember when i mentioned that my dad had taught me so much of his handy-man tricks? well, i had this box ready to go down to the dumpster, and i decided to put it to use. i saw one of those ramps for little dogs at petsmart yesterday when i was forced to wait 15 minutes for lab results (you know, so they don't jump from the bed and couch and hurt their little bones). the one they had was like $129-if i had a shop and the right tools, i could build one out of scrap wood or something, but all i had was tape and cardboard boxes...so, here's what we did.

this is actually the bottom side-it needed extra support so it wouldn't cave in

sharp, right?

and final product-i had to cover it with a throw because the cardboard itself is more like a slide than a ramp

so, now that we've made stairs and a ramp out of cardboard boxes, who knows what our next project will be! i suppose it'll be whatever we need at the time-necessity breeds invention!

today bruno and chaco were talking about crank calls while i was in the kitchen (they still don't realize that i can hear them from over the bar). so i don't know if they have already or not, so if you ever get a call from my # and just hear giggling or silence, it was probably them.

make something fun this weekend!
julie

oh, and check out hollie's blog for fun little food-flags you can make for your 4th festivities!!

bruno might be a little bit of a faker

today was half day of AVID training to wrap it all up, and it went really well. i hurried home (and by hurry, i mean i took the dart one last time and went as fast as that goes), to see how bruno was doing-he has not been himself; i thought he hurt his leg, because he had been favoring one side, limping a little and acting really strange. he's usually my shadow, but the last couple of days, he has been somewhat lethargic-almost melancholy. and today when i came home, he wasn't waiting for me, he was in the room laying on the ice pack i left for him this morning.

so i played with chaco for a few minutes and then took bruno in to the vet. so. we get into the little room and he's climbing all over me trying to get in the baby position (like burping a baby over your shoulder). when the lady came in i tried to explain how he was limping and favoring 3 legs over the one...and i set him down and walked from one side od the room to the other and he followed me back and forth without limping or anything. bruno may have been playing me!
the vet said she could tell he has luxating patella-bad knees. like owner, like dog (doesn't sound as convincing as like father, like son..oh well). anyhoo, she wanted to run blood tests again because i mentioned that he wasn't eating real well either. (she really likes blood tests, bruno asked if she was part vampire).

he asked me to hurry and take the picture because the white-coat lady might come back and the examination table was cold on his booty (he heard that term on miss congeniality-he loves that movie...sandra bullock fan)

and then she came back and pulled out the manipulatives for those of us who are visual/kinesthetic learners.

$100-some dollars later, the vet tells me that bruno's test didn't show much except that he was really dehydrated (which, in case you're curious, has absolutely nothing to do with his leg). so she gave me some medicine-stuff (gave means i paid for it). great. now i have two weeks of force feeding and trickery to get him to take his meds.

and once we got home, as soon as chaco heard the key in the door he was screaming bloody murder. he was not happy about me leaving him while we went to his favorite store. i even tried to hide the bag so that he wouldn't see, but he just knew. and not too long after that i came back into the room and:

guess who played in his water and then walked all over my spot on the sofa...and then pretended like nothing had happened, not realizing that his feet were still all wet.

chaco is the kid that eats the oreo cookies when he's not supposed to and has crumbs on his face, yet wide eyed insists that he didn't have any. but at least that doesn't cost me any money.

have a great weekend!
julie

can you peel a tuna? absolutely...and you can have mango on a stick

today was another day in avid paradise...(joke. ing.) it did go smoothly though. i sometimes tend to be cautiously skeptical about new ideas, unless they seem practical to me and i feel that i can implement them without too high a degree of difficulty. today certain pieces of the puzzle began to come together and make a lot of sense. in fact, i wish i'd learned a lot of this stuff that we're learning to teach before i got to high school. basically learning how to take notes and be organized-

we went out for lunch and had delicious hamburgers at...hunkys? anyhoo-it was really good and i am still full! then we stopped at a little fruit store where i got to finally see and try a tuna-not the kind of tuna you might be thinking either. it's a fruit from a cactus. one of my students once wrote a story about going hiking with her family in mexico and seeing a red tuna on a cactus and eating it...i was incredibly confused and i had to get clarification from her and even after she told me what it was, i still thought she must be mistaken about the name. i should've gotten a picture of them, but instead, i got this pic of the carved mango.

eventually we finished our segment and left for the afternoon-dart rail, here i come again! almost uneventful ride home..until we got to love field. then there were stops at almost every light. the lady conductor came on the intercom and let us know that the inconvenience  was due to the storm last night...something about something getting struck by lightning (?) she had a thick accent, so we weren't sure what she was talking about, but she felt the need to come on at almost every stop to thank us for understanding (but we really didn't understand). and about that time, a young man began to make his way toward the front and had a goofy grin on his face. i'm pretty sure from his actions and demeanor that he had some sort of learning disability. but after he made his way up front to look out and see what was going on, he sat diagonally behind me next to a gal 1 seat back, so i was privy to the entire conversation. it was really cute. the guy had no inhibitions. first he asked the girl if the seat was taken (she was the typical rider who was enjoying a little space now that the train was thinning out and she was engrossed in her book). after taking the seat, he proceeded to ask what she was reading, she answered and continued reading,and he didn't pick up on some of the nonverbal cues, so he then told her his name was eric and asked her name. he let her know that he was 21, and then he told her she was beautiful. how precious is that? unfortunately this is where i had to get off for my stop because i would've enjoyed hearing more.

when i got to my car, i was reminded of an old depeche mode song-see if you can guess which one:

hint-that's the window of my car, and that is a fly-type insect

if you guessed 'flies on the windscreen,' YOU ARE CORRECT! pat yourself on the back, but don't throw out your shoulder! you cannot see it from this view, but about an inch to the right, there was another tiny gnat-like insect dead by the fly..hot day. so i just pretended they were resting and once my car got up to speed, the 'flew' away of their own accord.

and when i finally got home, chaco was so ready to play, so i let him out of his kennel and threw his squeaky toy, which got caught in the kennel after a few throws, and he was a little distressed about the whole situation.

can't you just hear the gears working in his head as he tries to figure out how to remedy this situation?

chaco is currently in the other room just squeaking his toy. over...and over...and over. strategic extraction may be in order.

blessings,
julie

i'm so glad i didn't have to smack down at the tire place!

as i sit here typing, i think i may be inhaling fumes from next door. i don't know where it's coming from, but there is some strong smell happening right now (my syrup-neighbor moved, not creepy), and they're re-doing his place, so it could be from that.

this morning i was rudely awakened by a huge clap of thunder-the boys had no idea what was going on. and at 3a.m.i was hoping that i would wake up and have enough air in my tire to get me to the dart station; in my groggy state i was envisioning myself in the parking lot in the dark rain trying to get the spare out (mind you, my car is still full of everything-school right now). thankfully i got to the dart station safely! i just saw something on the news, if i had seen this, i might not have been so gung-ho about getting on the rail!

on the way to the conference, there were some unexpected delays, and the worst was when the conductor person came on and let us know that the train was stopping for service at union station (one stop shy of mine), so i got out and kinda' followed people around. i had no idea where i was going. i found a bus up on the street and i asked the gentleman driving the bus how to get to the convention center and he thought about it for a second, and couldn't give me directions, but said, "hop on, i'll just take you up and drop you off right now, i go that way." i'm the only passenger on the bus at this point, so on the short commute, i mention that my uncle used to drive a bus up in iowa. yep, just a little awkward talk on a bus with a bus driver who was probably now wondering why he offered to give me a lift. but he got me there and i am grateful.

then on the way back, i barely missed the train i wanted; the conductor-type was watching me cross the crosswalk even, and i know he was laughing inside when the doors closed just before i got to them-loser. so i waited for the next one, and when i finally got a seat, i could smell old business guy's breath even with his mouth closed..it was like 'death-in-my-mouth' breath. and then his buddy across the aisle by the other window missed his stop because he was nodding off and so the guy beside me chided him a little. well, his friend got off at the next stop. then guess what. my seat-guy starts nodding off (i notice as i try to inconspicuously glance over). well, about 3 stops later, the train was at another stop and he jolted awake and almost pushed me into the aisle because he thought it was his stop-but noooo...it would be the next one. no apology.

and when we got off, electric wheel chair guy made me feel like a snail-he whizzed by me like road runner and i could barely keep up!

this guy in an electric wheelchair made me very jealous-i want one.

once i got back to the car, i was hoping to maybe eke out one more day from my tire, but mr. tire looked up at me and said he was feeling rather deflated. so i took the ol' g6 to AA tire, which i found on the internet. on the internet, the reviews were good and one person even said that the office was neat and clean...(that person must've had a seeing eye dog that lied to her).i didn't get an indoor pic, but here was the outdoor the scene:

this guy's mustache was so typical old mexican movie mustache.

 i parked my car and went in to tell the old man what i needed and he went around to see if he could find a tire that worked for my car. so once he finally found one, he told me to pull in and someone else had pulled into the other slot. well, the young man who had come out to help me with my tire was confronted by the other car (we'll just refer to them as the rude car who thought the owned the world). anyhoo, they started telling him all of their problems and when he acknowledged them, he then came back and began to jack up my car and they got huffy- "why are you working on her car and not getting our tire for us? she just pulled up!" he was a little flustered and i just looked at them and said, "because i got out of my car and explained what i needed and i have been inside taking care of business-and yes, i arrived about 5 minutes before you." i don't think the guy really wanted to go help him. he he he. not trying to be mean, but i really don't like rude, bossy people!

rude, bossy people are yucky, 
julie

DART...be relaxing and on time, please

today was the first day of a week of training. i was planning on taking the DART public rail. my phone needed to be recharged, so i plugged it into my computer last night (as i cannot find my recharger-besides the one in the car). well, i put the computer in sleep mode, and learned a valuable lesson: the phone will only recharge when the computer is actually on. so it was dead dead dead this morning. boo. i needed my phone b/c a group of us were meeting. so i ended up driving so that i could get the phone recharged on the way to the meetings.

this was during the keynote speech, and the girl in front of us with the green shirt got a tattoo to match her shirt

tomorrow we're taking lunch and i think i'll catch the dart (otherwise i'll go broke because lunch was ridiculous plus parking-ew!). and i will not be wearing a skirt tomorrow-we weren't sure what everyone else was going to be wearing, so we dressed up and everyone else was fairly casual. on the way up the hill the wind grabbed my skirt, and i was afraid it was going to fly me away like mary poppins with her silly umbrella (only people might be seeing things they don't need to be seeing!).

i had to stop and put air in my tire today on the way home because it was gauging low. so when i stopped, i saw a nail in the tire. boo on all construction workers everywhere who leave nails and screws in the roads and parking lots! but i didn't take it out because i was afraid that the nail was the only thing keeping the air in...hopefully when i wake up in the morning, there will be enough air in it to get me to the dart station! (or to the gas station to fill with more air). i'm a little worried! poor little car!

when we got home, i let chaco out on the balcony because he was begging to go hang out. well, as soon as i shut the glass door, bruno grabbed a toy and said, "watch this!" then he trotted up to the door and dropped it right in front of chaco who couldn't really do anything from the other side but look at it. bruno just sat on the side chuckling.

chaco was trying to act like he didn't care, but i knew he did as he just stood in front of the door staring, i let him know that it was pretty obvious how he was feeling- he betrays his feelings-wears them on his sleeve.

well, i probably ought to check on the dart rail times in a minute and go down to see if the tire has lost air.

when i say your nails look great, i'm not talking about the ones you left in the middle of the road! rude.
julie

dad's father's day card will be late this year

it was a crummy week because i really didn't feel like it was a week off. it was especially not ideal because of the lack of movement issues (but now that i've gotten the meds i needed, we're slowly getting back to a good place). the boys weren't happy because we couldn't go walking, and play in the house was limited. we did a lot of napping this week. i didn't get a chance to go get a fathers day card until i went to the pharmacy. so my dad will be getting that late. boo. i'll call him, but bummer that i couldn't get the card off on time!

i certainly appreciate my dad. he has taught me lots of things that have come in handy. a lot about art, colors, shapes and lines- i never loved the critiquing, but it helped me to become better.he taught me about being handy, and how to effectively use duct tape, epoxy, and hangers to create pretty much anything and how to fix almost anything that was broken (at school, i'm usually the one that says, 'oh, don't throw that away, i can fix it!') dad took us fishing when we were little, taught us how to use a bow and arrow, and the bb gun.we went camping for family vacations and visited lakes and rivers and waterfalls-one year we actually went up into canada to camp. he helped my brother build a tree house, at halloween he always made haunted houses out of hay or cardboard boxes for everyone to enjoy and in the winter he would help make huge snow/ice slides and big snow animals.

kitty!

once he painted a huge mural on my bedroom wall when we lived in wisconsin (it looked like walking through a window out into the woods). my dad taught me how to change the oil (although i have since forgotten). his specialty is peanut butter and banana sandwiches. my dad is generous and outgoing, he is friendly and has integrity. but some of the best things about my dad is that he loves my mom and is an amazing example of a Godly father. He has instilled in me the importance of learning and loving the bible, and he has always believed in me.

i'm the cute one

so, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD!

julie

the chacos gave me away

today i went to the doctor and the prognosis is: possible degenerative disc disease, so as my friend clarissa mentioned on fb, they're sending me to physical therapy to learn exercises to build up those back muscles...hopefully that will do the trick. of course, the PT office has not called to set up any appt yet, so i went to the pharmacy to pick up the meds the doctor prescribed and it was a whole mess b/c they called them into the wrong CVS. so i had to make calls and they said they'd let me know when it was called in, so i came home and took a nap. 

oh, i almost forgot, while i was out at the back clinic, i had to sign a waiver because they were filming. somehow it came up that i worked at a christian sports camp. the guy filming was pretty young and asked which camp i had worked at, so when i mentioned kanakuk, he nodded his head and said he had worked at sky ranch, and when he saw i was wearing chacos, he had a feeling i was a camp person. shoes are a statement and mine say, yes, i'm an outdoors person. and?

after a delightful nap ( i ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE naps!), i went over to the cvs and picked up my drugs. then i grabbed a few things, including a dog toy that was in a clearance bucket 90% off. can't hardly beat that! so i took the toy out when i got home, and they were intrigued.

checking out the toy together

the standoff-chaco is in charge

you probably can't tell, but he was definitely growling any time bruno walked by or got close. rude.

chaco had it for about 4 minutes and had already pierced the squeaker inside so that it wouldn't squeak anymore and ripped off the nose. then they got in a fight which was ugly and i tried to separate them and got bit. nice. you'd better believe that they got an earful, toy taken away and guilt trips. then i got to explain the idiom: don't bite the hand that feeds you. and chaco said, "well then, maybe the hand that feeds me needs to stay out of my mouth."

good night!
julie

new patient packets aren't nearly as impressive as sweet and low packets

today i was compelled to call a doctor to set up an appointment for my back because it is not getting better. so i called and they told me to download the new patient packet to cut down on the 'wait time'...right, as if i actually believe that i'd have a short wait. so tonight i was filling out the information and i came to this page and wondered if they would accept a 3D visual.

trying to decide which is more effective in portraying how it feels when i move

 one of the questions on the questionnaire is: what do you want to happen as a result of this visit? seems to me that the obvious response would be-i want the pain to go away...so i'm thinking about adding that i'd like to lose 20 lbs and look 10 years younger as the result of this visit.

anyhoo..the good thing about today is that i finished 2 more weeks and just have one left, plus projects. there's something comforting about working at panera, probably because that was my go-to place when i lived in branson.

is that a lady? and is she really cradling the loaf of bread as if it were a baby? that's a little weird. or is it a man with long hair pretending to run with a football for a touchdown? either way..it's still weird.

3..4 cups of coffee-2 packets of sweet and low in each...yes, sweet and low packets are much more useful than new patient packets...

 update on the pinky: looking much better, feeling much better unless i bump it, now it is just numb and funny feeling. thank you neosporin stuff!!

today there is not much else to tell b/c the boys are exhausted from doing all the housework today-they can't wait until i'm feeling better!

blessings-whether you see them or not, they're there!
julie

if only chocolate relieved backpain!

this has been my life the past 48 hours...

yesterday and today have been a little rough-we've gotten together to work on our curriculum calendars for school next year, and it's actually been kinda' nice for pre-planning purposes. we've met at starbucks yesterday and today-which has been nice to keep the caffeine flowing. it's also been great just to have adult conversation!  today was especially nice because we went to maria's house for a home cooked meal (and who doesn't love that?!); and it was fun just being around family interaction.

tomorrow we'll hit panera and hopefully grind out another couple weeks done. it really is a pretty grueling process trying to figure out how we can work together creatively throughout the year, especially knowing that things will probably have to change by the 2nd half of the year anyway. i like panera for the free-flowing coffee! (they used to have this german chocoalate danish that was heavenly, but i haven't seen it in awhile).

the unfortunate part in all of this is that a terrible back pain has returned. the last time i had it this bad was a couple of years ago and i literally had to roll out of bed and and drive to the clinic to get a shot from the doctor. well, it's 2 years later, and the doctor i went to left her practice, so she referred me on to the doctor who worked with her. i never went to him, and actually one of my friends at school said she used to go to him and their family didn't like him-rude, terrible bedside manner (not that i plan on EVER being in a bed near him).

so yesterday and today i was walking slowly and stiffly like frankenstein's monster. in fact, i was thinking about investing in a cane because it hurt so badly! i've been walking like an 80 year old, trying to figure out how to do it inconspicuously-which is a little difficult-i'll stop and look at art-work or out the window, or whatever, but i'm afraid the expression on my face betrays my actions.

i just watched extreme couponers and WOW! that was crazy-nuts! i cannot believe how much they save!!! i'm intrigued (uh oh). now tiaras and toddlers is on, and it is ridiculous! it actually makes me slightly queasy to my stomach and a lot annoyed by the way these parents let their daughters act, dress and walk all over them! yuck. chaco just called them something that only a dog can get away with saying.


don't be a pain-there's already enough to go around~
 julie

diet dr pepper with jam and bread, with jam and bread..

today i finally got to do the jar-lid-test! why is that exciting, you might ask. well, to be honest, it's probably only exciting once, then it probably becomes frustrating. 5 of the 7 jars were sealed correctly, which just means that one went in the freezer and one is ready to go in the fridge (and already i've made a dent)!

better than smuckers? yes, and perhaps i am biased. nothing wrong with that.

so, this afternoon i had some tea with jam and bread, jam and bread, jam and bread..only i didn't have any tea...and i might've added a little peanutbutter to the bread..and i may have substituted diet dr. pepper for the tea i didn't have...but none of that fits into the song, and i don't believe that julie andrews would be pleased with a new rendition of the song.

tomorrow i actually have to begin doing something school-related...i have been trying to deny that the time was drawing near, but i'm kind of excited to get it done bc i'll feel like i have a better game-plan going into the year! plus, it'll be nice to be around adults-the boys don't get half of my jokes...and they'll listen to politics, but they won't add to the conversation. except for tonight. cnn had a candidate debate and while we were watching, bruno said, "who is the idiot that keeps interrupting?" "that's john king, the moderator," i explained. "hmph! don't vote for him, mama!" and chaco watched for awhile but decided chewing on a chew toy would be more productive and exciting.

when you get bored with politics, bow out gracefully and find a chew toy-it's totally socially acceptable.
julie

well, what does bruno think?

so before i turn it over to bruno, i was watching the dual survival guys again and to re-enact 'what might have happened when 2 hunters fell down a ravine,' one of the idiots is self-inflicting a laceration on his arm so that they can show the process of cauterization. so he's cutting a large gash in his arm, then putting gunpowder in the wound and then lighting the powder to burn and deaden the capillaries so it will stop bleeding. so, now you know. if you're bleeding...just go to the ER.

oh, and i got my canner today and i made strawberry jam! now i have to wait and see if i actually did it correctly-12-24 hours. i already heard one ping, so hopefully that's a good sign! i absolutely love mom's homemade jam! ok, here he is:

hi! i'm bruno. i asked if i could write sometime on the log. and mama said a log i something i should pee on not write on and then she said this was a BLOG. i don't know what that means exactly. but she said: be my guest. that's my favorite part of the musical with the pretty girl and the big man-dog. when the dishes are singing. mama's dishes sing to me. sometimes when they're sitting there with food on them, they beckon me over and sing, "eat from me! partake in this deliciosity!" and i do and mama never believes me, i get in trouble, but it's real...it really happens like that.


at first mama wasn't sure i'd be very good at this-something about rabbit trails. i've never been on a rabbit trail, but i'll bet it's pretty. i tried to eat some bunny trails ice cream-but it stuck on my whiskers and i got in trouble. mama tried to read watership down to me (it's a book about rabbits and their tunnels..chaco likes tunnels), but i asked her to read velveteen rabbit or peter cottontail or guess how much i love you with those two hares competing. at first i imagined hairs competing and i thought that was crazy..hair cannot hop up high. hair can't even talk and hair cannot go to the moon! didn't a monkey go to the moon or something? i don't like monkeys. they have hairy hands. i saw a picture mama started a long time ago but she never finished it, and the monkey is scary. if i better hands, i could do so much more! but i do pretty good for myself, all things considered.

when mama hurt her finger the other night, i was so scared! so now, i follow her around whenever she goes into the kitchen..or the bathroom..or her room..or anywhere..mostly because i really care about her-ok, not really, mostly because i'm hoping she'll think i'm super loyal and give me treats!! 

today she left for forever and when she came home, we saw her from the window and i started barking like a crazy dog (i'm pretty sure she thinks it's chaco-i always make sure to point at him and roll my eyes when mama walks in). today when she was in the kitchen, chaco started barking like a girl at someone outside and mama said, "that's enough, we don't do that!" he looked at her and said, " you don't because you CAN'T-you're not a dog! but i'll bet if you were a dog, you sure would!"  and then we went to sleep again. that's all i got! oh, and i'm pooping outside a lot more. 


don't bark, be loyal and poop outside,
bruno

pinky gloves-it's all the rave after foot spas

**sorry about last night, i should've given a spoiler alert!

tonight my feet are exhausted- i know i mentioned the foot bath in a previous post, but sadly i never got around to getting it down and ready. well, tonight i really felt the need to pamper myself, and i can't think of a better way than a little foot massage. thank you homedics! the best thing about it is that it was free! my parents received it as a gift and never used it, so they re-gifted it on to me.

relaxing!

hopefully the oil isn't toxic, because not only did bruno think warm water was good, he continued to lick my feet once i had dried them off

i just need to do that more often, because it really is a nice little retreat.

 i really am slightly miffed that i still have not received my canning stuff! i have some strawberries that i want to make into jam. instead i did potatoes again today so i could finish off enough to make ready-to-go scalloped potato packets.

i cut the fingers off of the plastic gloves to create 5 pinky gloves to keep it clean.

i keep a bunch of plastic gloves on hand because i like to have them around when i make certain dishes; they certainly come in handy for many things!

i think i'm going to go see super 8 sometime because it looks kinda interesting-besides, i need to try out those movie passes and see if they really work.

the boys were fighting tonight, so i gave them each their own concentration chew stick. i love it because it calms them down and they go to opposite sides of the room and forget they were fighting in the first place.  bruno has asked if he could guest write a post sometime, so i might allow him to write one tomorrow, so stay tuned!

 be sure to treat yourself this weekend!
julie

to mandolin slicer: you cut me open and i keep bleeding..

ok, i think this one is going to be interesting-i would like to start by giving you a tip:

there's my marker, but what is that white thing?

that would be the tip of my pinky.  look at that hunk of flesh!

ok. let me tell the story-you might cringe a little, but it was interesting. the game had begun and i had the 2nd batch of chicken going (which turned out quite spicy). well, after we were well into the 2nd quarter, i decided to go ahead and blanch the potatoes so i could dehydrate them (first time i've blanched something and knew that i was doing it [not blanche like golden girls]). so i had to slice the potatoes. well, i got about 5 out of the bag and washed them off, and one of them fell into the garbage disposal-no, don't cringe yet. i reached down to get it out and it is really hard to get a potato out of a disposal drain-kinda like the monkey that grabs something in the bottle and cannot get it out because his hand won't fit. well, it was a tight squeeze, but i finally got it out. that's when i put a stopper in-brilliant.

then i got the little mandolin slicer out. now, it's small but lethal. i began slicing, and when i got down toward the end i carefully finished the first potato. well, i got careless with the 2nd one and before i knew it, i felt  a slice and i knew i had cut myself. it began bleeding so badly that i couldn't actually see the cut. i rinsed it off and put pressure on it with a paper towel (perhaps a couple of choice words came out and bruno and chaco in unison, [like my students if i say the word 'stupid]' said "awww!"). i proceeded to the bathroom, put a bandaid on it and kept the paper towel on to pressure. then when i removed the paper towel, the bandaid was soaked, so i got more paper towel and continued to put pressure on it and keep it above my head. then i went back into the kitchen and picked up the slicer and there underneath it was what i thought was the tip of the potato, but then i realized it didn't have potato skin on the outside...nope. it was unmistakably my fingerprint! it really took that much off. so i guess if i ever commit a crime i'll have to be sure to just use my right pinky, and no other fingers!

 i proceeded to call my mom because i wanted to be reassured that i didn't need to go into the e.r. (my dad is prone to accidents-he likes power tools. and my mom is a nurse, so we're pretty level headed). i tried to explain to her how big the chunk was, but as i sat there staring at it, i couldn't think of anything that was the same size. maybe a baby's contact..half a lima bean? i don't know. she said just keep the pressure on (and i thought, oh, kinda like the mavs?). and she asked if i had gauze-no. note to self-get gauze if i plan on cutting myself again. done. and so i found another bandaid and put tape around it. mom asked if i could get to the e.r. if i needed to. yes, but i didn't want to because i was in the middle of blanching potatoes and finishing chicken and watching the nba finals!

by the end of our conversation, i was convinced that i would be fine. i may need some aspirin tomorrow b/c it is going to hurt like chopping off the tip of your finger! i had to change out one last bandaid which finally didn't bleed through. i think i handled it pretty well, but the dogs are so intuitive. the were following me around from the kitchen to the bathroom, to the kitchen again. i think chaco heard mom and decided i was going to be fine, but bruno (my loyal one) stayed with me wherever i was. i finally reassured him i was fine by giving him a treat of bbq chicken!

 i woke up this morning, and i knew i had to take off the bandaid to clean it. i cut it off, but it was sticking. so i turned on the water and it finally came off. and it started bleeding again, so i blotted it with the paper towel until it stopped.

this is the side view-it's official, i will forever be single now bc i hear the first thing guys notice on a girl is their pinkies. and now, mine is deformed. no perfect rounded tip anymore...

and here is the culprit-mandolin slicer! i found the attachment-life saver

 then i made my way to the cvs to get hydrogen peroxide, gauze and neosporin. then i dropped off some letters at the post office. i got home and cleaned and re-bandaged and got the dogs ready for another early morning walk...all of this before 8:30! woo!

when we got home, i decided that it would be a good idea to finish slicing potatoes to dehydrate for hash browns later on...if you fall off a horse, get back on, right? yes, i did just compare slicing a finger with falling off a horse-sorry equestrians! and then i poached the last set of chicken breasts to make curried chicken salad.

and then i decided to relax a little:

i ABSOLUTELY love this movie!! and yes, i did get razzles for the occasion-first it's candy, then it's gum!

jennifer garner is so adorable in this movie, and mark ruffalo-the ideal man.

i was planning on starting my canning today or tomorrow, but i got a call from a courier guy and he said that they had received my package, but they couldn't deliver it because i wasn't in their delivery area. so now they will ship it back to amazon to find another way to ship it...boo. i totally could've found a half way point to meet him or something.

alrighty then, if you have sharp objects in your home, invest in gauze-
julie

kill 'em with kindness is not self defense...but throwing masa could be

today i decided that i would take my dogs on an early morning walk while it was cool outside. they were much appreciative. we enjoyed the breeze, bruno pooped and life was good. (model citizen that i am, i bagged to toss). on the way back around, we stopped by the mail box, and i had a full box. that's what started my grocery shopping spree.

when i got back to the apt, i looked at the ads, normally i throw them away. and i noticed that albertsons had some great deals on meat, so first i stopped by aldi (love aldi for saving me money!) then i decided i'd grab a sandwich at the drivethru next door-subway...and it wasn't until i got into the drive (no turn arounds or back ups...) and that's when i realized that it was actually a starbucks drive-thru (which was on the opposite side of the stinkin' block of shops). so i got up to the speaker and said "oh, i'm sorry, i thought this was a subway drive thru." no was the answer, but i still had to wait for the idiot in front of me who was flirting with the girl at the window.

finally i got out and went straight to albertsons and i was on a mission. they had deals, deals, deals- so i ended up getting $96 worth of meat (pork, beef, steak, chicken) for $37!! oo-OOH! (double deuces, hands in the air like baby mama! pronounce the oo like boo) yep. i'm beginning to like the 'reduced for quick sale' deals-chicken today. so i decided to make some bbq chicken. it's funny because i'm not like a die-hard bbq lovin' person, but it just makes great sandwiches!

i may have also ordered some canning equipment...hopefully that will arrive tomorrow. new adventures!

oh, and i vac sealed the remainder of the masa and i now have an unconventional weapon-it's a masa brick.

you may not be able to tell, but this masa is rock solid! i don't know sir, all i did was throw some masa at him...maybe he shouldn't have tried to enter my apartment! (for the record, no one has tried to get into my apt...i think they know i have masa)

ok, the raisins are finally done!! how did i know? i heard them humming 'i heard it through the grapevine,' and when i lifted the lid to peek in, there they were dancing with their white gloves and sunglasses! so..which ones are store bought and which ones are mine??

hint, i didn't add crap to mine to give it color!

the crazy thing is that they started out green!! i think i'm doing some potatoes next and fruit roll ups. and as far as the canning goes-strawberry jam. yum...my. on homemade bread please.

by the way, i just pulled out the first batch of chicken (small crockpot..i'm single, remember?) , and it pretty much melted in my mouth...if i had a restaurant, this would be on the menu! with red velvet cake balls bites for desert!

alright, closing it down because the boys are getting restless and want me to join them for the game!

may you get as excited as i do when you find great deals!
julie

it wasn't the pupusas that killed the bird!

it caught me a little off guard the yesterday when on house hunters hgtv the guy looking at a spacious room said, it doesn't seem like much space. in fact, i became a little indignant. i don't know why, because i watch it often, and i've heard similar comments. but this time when i looked up at this beautiful home he was talking about, my mind went back to HONDURAS where i lived with my parents while they were missionaries there. i thought about how many little one room shanties we'd visited, where church members lived with their families of 3 or 4 children with dirt floors and a suitcase with some clothing and perhaps a few dishes. we are more fortunate than we realize, and we don't appreciate what we have often enough.

i could tell that the flea medicine was annoying chaco today, so i gave them baths (thank you inventor of the shower cap, because i didn't want to mess with my hair too). when they got out, they just looked so great! "chaco, you're hot!" he giggled, "i'm a hotdog!!" then he thought for a second and followed it up with, "better than being a weiner! get it? anthony weiner?! ha!" they're never too young to start teaching them about politics and right vs wrong.

for lunch i decided i'd throw some italian sausage kabobs and a brat on the indoor grill.remember when i mentioned the open nature sausages? well, they make italian sausage too! (worth it! if you're interested in trying it, click on italian sausage and it'll take you to a coupon site)

yea for grilling inside!! boo when it gets smoky!

wow, nice grill marks!

 why hasn't some amazing man snatched me up? why am i still single? who knows...and at this point who cares? more food for me. i absoLUTEly love brats! the only problem with the indoor grill is that for whatever reason (probably because it's dual use and i didn't get the gridle side as clean as it needed to be) i came into the living area and noticed that it seemed a bit smoky-and chaco went into the bedroom and bruno wanted out on the balcony. amazing that the fire alarm didn't go off-maybe i should check the batteries. so i opened all of the windows and grabbed a piece of foam board and attempted to 'fan' out the smoky wild-fire look. and in the midst of fanning, dust fell from the ceiling fan (i know moss doesn't gather on a rolling stone, but dust does gather on revolving fan blades). so nasty dust clumps fell and i was grossed out. after setting down my makeshift de-smoker, i got the vacuum out and cleaned up. the entire time, my lunch was cooling off. when i finally finished and grabbed my food, chaco had made his way back into the living room and bruno came in off the balcony-fair-weather friends.

ok, i have loved pupusas since my very first tasting in HONDURAS on a bus ride to tegucigalpa-when there was a rest stop and the kids got on the bus selling their goods...and it was good! so....why have i waited so long to try my hand at these things?? especially once i realized that i am actually a pretty good cook?! again, why am i single?

masa is fairly inexpensive, so it will last awhile-especially since i was able to make about 6 pupusas with 1 c of the flour...and i can't even eat all six of them (but, you can bet i'm not putting them away yet-i may be snacking tonight!)

now i need a little garden to grow some yuca ! i'll just have to buy the platano!

 i cannot believe how easy these were to make! you'd better believe i will be doing more of this this summer! the smell of masa when mixed with water brought back memories of making dinner for BIRD, our macaw. he was beautiful! he was a red and blue but he wasn't super friendly. we would make masa balls and mix in bird seed. well, rat poison should not be stored next to the bird seed. nuf said.

oh summer, you make me forget what day it is! that's why i have to watch t.v. because i know when certain shows come on! i know, poor excuse-get your calendar out!

i'm sure you've had enough of me being impressed with myself!
julie

thank you watermelon, you are a superstar

i would like to begin this post by giving a special shout out to the watermelon!  your performance today has been spectacular!

pulled out the dehydrator again last night! raisins in the making (i didn't realize that raisins take 36 hours until after i bought the grapes...apples and watermelon. so, i find myself longing to eat more and more of the dehydrated watermelon, but what if it reconstituted in my body after i drink a lot of water? i also threw in some tomatoes, and they are like watermelon's right hand man, they are delicious as well! if they could be a superhero duo of the world of dehydration, they would be unstoppable!!

i spent a lot of time today in the wanna-be kitchen of mine. i decided that i wanted to make pupusas and tortilla chips. so i had to go to the store to buy tortillas, masa and mexican cheese. somehow i got lured into purchasing 5 lbs of top round-so when i got home i portioned it out and i now have 15 steaks. (the reason i got the bulk size is because it was priced at $23.00 and $10.00 off-you can beat that! that's 15 steaks for less than a buck a piece. yep...grill baby grill!

i know, raw meat gross-don't worry, i washed my hands

i also finished portioning out the soup and vac-sealing it. then i decided to try to make powdered eggs. so i scrambled them all up and now i have to put them in the oven tonight after the game because they have to cook for 10 hours. then i'll grind them into powder (i want to see if it really works or not).

does anyone else do this? i like my eggs to be balanced, so whenever i take one from one side, i balance it out...so they don't fall? idk

i also took the pulled pork and added my bbq and a bit of ken's honey mustard (the secret!) best honey mustard EVER! the first time i was introduced to honey mustard was in college at applebee's i was a-ddicted to fries w/ hm!
anyway, i took the bbq pork and froze it in muffin tins (found the tip on the internet) and then i portioned them and sealed them-perfect portions for sandwiches! thanks lady on the internet!!

bbq muffins!check out THOSE muffin tops, jenna!

and then i cut up the tortillas and fried them into chips for the game! i didn't get around to the pupusas-tomorrow's a new day!

ready!

obviously i was watching master chef last night. 

and as i came in to sit down, i let the boys out onto the balcony, and bruno paws at the glass to get back in. chaco licks it (which is a little harder to hear). good thing he's got bruno!!

if you go to visit someone, either knock on the door, or ring the doorbell, don't lick the door-you don't know where it's been!
julies