oklahoma- best part of my break, thanks to a long overdue reunion

here we go again!

happy new year! i'm certain it will be a great one with new adventures, fun meetings with friends, and growth. i had no plans or intentions to do anything over this break apart from relaxing and catching up with some reading and artwork. well...i got a text the day after we got off for break from shea, one of my amazing kamp friends, saying that she was going to be in oklahoma for the break!

so, we had Christmas here in dallas,

all dapper in their Christmas best!

and then on the 26th, we went up to oklahoma and stayed with bmayes, another amazing kamp friend-in case you don't follow this blog, or missed the episode from our last visit to norman, bmayes is the proud 'mother' of 2 yorkies (chaco's sister, reagan, and half brother, thatcher). it's always great for them to get together and socialize...and even greater for me to get together and socialize!! 

How do you know when you've reached oklahoma? well, it seems pretty obvious. follow the truck with the native american!

 we arrived to fall-like weather; it was gorgeous! so of course they went out to play first thing.

oh how they loved the yard with leaves!

then lo and behold, the next morning we had no idea, but we woke up to huge snowflakes! it was rather unexpected...none of us are into weather-watching and checking forecasts. hmm. 2 inches of snow out there!

so, of course, they had to play in the snow every chance they got! they even pretended that they had to go pee...and they didn't...you could almost hear them laughing each time.

so on the morning of the snow, it made for a lazy day, but everyone was meeting for breakfast..so eventually we were coaxed into joining for breakfast at cracker barrel, where stories and catching up began with a side of grits and biscuits. then we returned to bmayes' house to see puppies and just hang out for a bit. it's always a little worrisome having so many people around so many-especially friends who aren't used to having small dogs around; little critters have a tendency to get in the mix of things and then they are under threat of being crushed. more anxiety for me than the dogs.

 i don't have the actual photo, but here's a link to the charming pic taken by shea's camera!  http://instagram.com/p/xIMRxQF6yA/ what a fun bunch! yet more of the amazing kamp friends (anyone see a theme here? my kamp friends are pretty stinkin' amazing). i always feel so refreshed after i hang out with these guys!

after visiting at bmayes', everyone eventually headed out to shea's home, where her mom had prepared a delicious 'after-Christmas' spread-it was phenomenal!! then we played a little card game during which we found ourselves laughing harder than we had expected! good times, so if you wanna' know how to get a party started...just let me stand up and tell you...only i probably won't.

and i almost failed to mention that i was introduced to hurt's donuts...and for the love...they will literally hurt you. these donuts..i dream about them. my mouth is watering right now for the twixted...they gave me a new fondness for cake donuts-only they are gourmet-amazingness. twixted, lucky charms, Jesus donut, bacon-maple, choco-crispies, samoa-girl scout cookie....i will cry if they ever go out of business.

back at the bmayes homestead, the boys were making themselves right at home and marking like pros...grr. i wish there were a way to curb that. thanks for putting up with that b! they may have learned some 'bad' habits from the residents-climbing onto tables. chaco figured it out after a few tries. it's probably cuter because they aren't great danes...

thatcher looks on from the table as bruno thinks about doing something sneaky.

i was really excited when shea texted about going to the rock climbing silo...they had some awesome climbing walls in there! i definitely made a decision that i need to get in shape so that i can enjoy doing the things i love doing such as the rock climbing-i did a little research, and there is a gym not far from my place that has auto belay, so i will be partaking in that this year. it will be a good stress-reliever, as well (and likely much-needed).

shea making that reach of faith.

umm...so it's a little tiring.

before we left, several joined us back at bmayes place to play cards and, once again, it was mostly fun...apart from the judgmental gf stick-in-the-mud who came in tow. methinks she doesn't get us. and that's ok, next time, she has a true heads up and can stay home and knit or something.  we had plenty of food for chips and cheese dip, puppy chow, etc. but none of it was eaten because the hursts had gone out for mexican and we'd just gone out for hideaway-phenomenal pizza!! (zero snackiness-it's a word now, deal wit it)

before i left, i made an appointment to switch my cable to a basic-basic plan and get the internet because the service that i had was spotty-bad connectivity and speed. so i had that taken care of today and i am so happy i did! in fact, i cannot believe that i put up with the previous service for so long! it was rough! and then tonight as i was trying to cancel the former service, the lady kept going on and on trying to figure out how she could keep me as a customer, but i was strong. she even called back after the service was dropped. and i then let her know it was too late. no worries-i was polite. i worked in a call center at one time-in fact, most of my life i've been in some form of customer service, so politeness is usually not an issue.

this was the other problem, i was unable to use roku with the other service, so when i set this up today, i couldn't help but smile!

i am dedicating today to finishing some artwork, reading and perhaps a couple of letters. it's been a great break so far- 2 more days to make the most of!

happy new year!
julie

firetruck conspiracy, stocked on stationery, and census stalkers

alrighty then. it seemed like an ordinary saturday until i got out of the house to go purchase some 'crafty' things. then it was just busy. as i pulled out of the complex and headed west, there was a fire truck blocking half the road; not sure what happened, but there was a car just in front of them, and they were getting back into the truck (did i mention that it was almost directly in front of the fire dept? how convenient! if my car ever catches on fire, may it be in front of a fire station!!)

actually, yesterday when i got home from school, there were 2 fire trucks in the complex at the building next to mine and people outside...that is the one thing that i am paranoid about; living in an apt. complex, worrying about the dogs-if any idiots in the complex do something stupid with a space heater, Christmas lights...candles...so no, i don't mind living next to the fire department at all. i rather welcome the sound of the sirens, knowing that they can be at the apt in a minute.

scariest part about living in an apt...ANY apt!

but i digress. today i was out and about looking for cups, a waffle iron, paint pens, bacon...you know, the fun stuff! so i found some cups that were 'alright' at target, but they didn't have the waffle iron i wanted-the model was out, but there were no boxes on the shelf...i saw that as a sign that i did not need a waffle iron today. then when i got up to the cash register, the man in front of me had the waffle iron that i wanted. the last one...i weighed out all of my possible options, and decided that none of them were legal, so i would just wait another day, or check on amazon.

on the way back, at the intersection near my place there was a major disruption-2 fire trucks and a couple of police cars, so i took the back roads and finally got to the grocery store for-like i said before, bacon. i also grabbed a zucchini and a yellow squash because i purchased a vegetable grinder-thing the other day and want to see if it works as well as it did on 'the chew'. game on-zucchini spaghetti tomorrow!

when i walked out of the store, there was yet another fire truck in the parking lot!! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! perhaps subliminal messages-they are getting out in the neighborhoods so that people will think, "oh, i should get a shiny, red fire truck for little timmy!" pretty sure that's the deal.

this has been a busy month. we were preparing at the beginning of the month for our PERSONALIZED LEARNING (PL)presentation. we had a decent presentation, and then we waited, and waiting is the devil. then-drum roll, please! we were recommended for 'full launch!' umm...i know, sounds like we are a rocket ship or something. so..it's been a busy 6 months planning and creating a framework for the direction that we'd like to go with this endeavor, now that we are in, the heavy lifting begins, and it is going to get real. spring semester separates the wheat from the chaff...the milk from the cream... ok, seriously, training, planning, preparing, learning. that's what it be.

one of the neat things that has come of this is that one of the ladies from the community was at a PL meeting down town and learned that we were applying, and since she lives in our neighborhood, she came by to tour our school! in the process, she noticed our pathetic playground. she came back a few weeks later with a check for about 96k and it gets better, there was a special because it's off-season, so the company matched it and we are getting almost 200k worth of playground equipment!!!! WHAT?! we are blessed! not only that, but our generous benefactress is also on our advisory board, and has some great input, and she is planning to volunteer to read with our students. it doesn't get any better! we are humbled. our kids are going to be ecstatic!

loving this season of JOY!

it's that time of year, and my people know me-i got stationary from my secret pal and some note-cards from my principal

love the elegance and simplicity-

so fun-they will certainly get used!

-all this after i stopped at world market and i shouldn't have but i stopped at the card rack and found these sweet cards...$60 worth...so-i'm stocked for a little bit. my freakin' achilles heal...for some girls it's shoes. for me, it's cards. you can't write on shoes...but then cards on your feet might be kinda' tacky as well...

world market, thank you!

and there were tamales. that makes my Christmas complete! (cue a deep sigh of satisfaction). i will be making a stop at the pupuseria down the street in the next couple of days as well as the panaderia guatemalteca-in hopes that i will find a tasty little snack to go with my coffee.

thank you, mrs. markham-this made my holiday complete!

 and i have already forgotten what day it is-for not keeping track or having a schedule...pretty sure it's monday..nope, tuesday, that's what i meant! my internet has been spotty, so i couldn't finish this last night-grr. so i decided to go to ihop to use the wifi while enjoying a simple egg and bacon breakfast. i walked in and asked for a booth where i might be able to work. i was guided to a booth and when i tried to access their wifi, lo and behold, there was no network available! what? so i asked my lady if they had wifi and she said no they did not. well, that was a first, almost every ihop and denny’s i’ve been to has wifi! i was very disappointed-i tried not to let it show on my face, but unfortunately my body language and facial expressions are fairly easy to read. i still over-tipped (it's Christmas, and breakfast waitresses don't get large tips because the prices are so low on breakfast).. not her fault they don't have wifi -note to self, no business meetings at ihop on beltline...not that teachers usually conduct 'business meetings.' in that case, maybe no e-book-club at that ihop...and the eggs weren't even cooked well, and the bacon had a funky taste...i guess i'm a little picky about my eggs and bacon.

oh, and a few weeks ago, i received this census form in the mail and thought i could just not do it. then i got bombarded with reminders and "if you missed the first mailing, we will send another. you are bound by law to fill this out. if you don't, we will send another. if you still don't fill it out, we may send one of the gitmo detainees to 'encourage you' to fill it out. we KNOW you haven't filled it out; in fact, we know that you threw the first one away....do the right thing. we just want to pave your roads better." Perhaps that wasn't verbatim, but close enough.

wonder if mary and joseph got one like this in the mail.

so, yes, i did fill it out to be done with it. i'm just glad i didn't have to do it the way mary and joseph did back in the day...riding a donkey up to illinois would not be ideal (even not being great with child).

and of course, i would be remiss to not mention the staff party-we had a great time. papadeaux is always delicious! i sat with jeri, abby and her husband and there is a crazy connection. when i mentioned that i wasn't going to mo. for the break, he asked what part of mo. when i said north of springfield, he asked where, and when i said buffalo, he knew EXACTLY where i was speaking of-he proceeded to tell me that his grandparents live in halfway. if you recall, i've spoken of halfway before..tiny town of 2...perhaps i exaggerate, but still, the coincidence of anyone in dallas being familiar with halfway is somewhat comforting. smile.

we were especially happy this evening because of the news of PL!

oh, and i wasn't planning on going anywhere this year, but some friends are gathering in oklahoma, and it's been awhile since i've seen them, so we may be having a last-minute, impromptu reunion, and the boys are excited because they will get to see their friends/family! they were just saying they wanted to work on their social skills, so basically what is going to happen is that reagan is going to put chaco in his place, and bruno is going to wander off and do his own thing, trying to avoid the others and thatcher is probably going to chill and try to hide from chaco.

so this is where i halt for the day and wish you all the merriest!  be back after Christmas!
julie

if it's red or green and it's in our home, attack it!

hmm. (that's how i begin when it's been awhile and i really have no idea exactly where to begin). so i will just start with december, how's that? (rhetorical-your input is not valid here).

so, here's the deal. thanksgiving decided to come super late this year. thanks a lot, thanksgiving. (and at this point, you might be thinking, 'i thought she said she was starting with december.' i lied. my blog, my prerogative. unapologetic. but not really...i'm a little sorry...only not much). regardless, i was am grateful for much. i am not going to sit here and list everything that i am grateful for and bore you, but i will say that i did a lot of thinking over that break and what i am especially grateful for ( i just told you i wasn't going to do this, but i guess one word a list does not make...yoda logic...and once again unapologetic-for real this time) is relationships past and present.

ok, FF to december. we tried to get into the swing of things at school, but then we were graced with a snow  ice day that friday and it lasted through to monday, when our 2nd snow day was used up...boo. the only thing i hate more than losing a day to ice is losing 2 days to ice. we didn't get out to do anything. in fact, the electricity went out around 3 am on friday morning and lasted until about 5 p.m. saturday... i was not smiley face icon...i was more grumpy cat icon (if there even is one). we made the most of it. so...i like to be prepared-thankfully i had the emergency radio and was able to crank it for news and music...otherwise, i might have driven the boys crazy. and then we snuggled up on the couch and i wrote some of my Christmas letters.

um, yes, please notice the pen. this is one of TWO special pens i bought specifically for writing Christmas messages. it made all the difference. and yes i made a special trip just before the storm specifically to make that purchase. i'm serious about my pens.

 i pulled out all of my batteries, and then i found my camping stove that uses gel (which burns clean) and when it started to get a little chilly, i opened the hand warmers and put them in my socks and in my pockets. worked like a charm.

i used the little stove to heat up water for coffee-the old fashioned way, and i think i heated up some soup...then i took some of the refrigerator items and put them in the cooler and placed them on the balcony.

i'm pretty sure i'd do just fine in a cabin in the woods.

then monday came. i was supposed to be at a convention that day. when i woke up and watched the news, they were showing all sorts of video of people having difficulty maneuvering about on 'cobblestone ice'. so i decided to wait for awhile and see if it started to melt or look better. i decided to venture out and check it out myself-by delivering some mail to the post office (which was close) those roads were clear, so i felt guilty and decided i should try to make it over to the conference at the gaylord. got caught up a little and missed the afternoon session, so i went down to the exhibition hall and looked around (trying to avoid actually talking to any of the vendors). i did come across this next to the restroom:

hmm...now why would anyone build a non accessible closet...and then announce it? and on a placard none-the-less!! rich people.

the next two days were great because i actually went to some great sessions...okay, two were great, the third one i should have gotten up and walked out, even though the presenters came all the way from singapore; a piece of me is still mourning those 2 lost hours of my life (and i did write a Christmas card at that point...i'm sure layne will appreciate the mention of wishing for a cyanide tooth in her Christmas card).

yesterday when i was at petsmart, i saw a santa, and they said santa would be there til 4. i looked at my watch: 1:30. i rushed home, got out the shears, gave bruno and chaco a trim, and quickly hustled them out the door for pictures (we were running against the clock, i may or may not have left hair trimmings on the floor in our rush out the door-but this was important!) when we got there, there was a lady in the santa costume...well, the boys have never met santa before, and they are pretty perceptive...they now think santa is a lady...so i told them that santa is an elderly lady with lots of testosterone in her system, that's why all of the facial hair. chaco was like, "what? she's a tester of bones? i want her job!" selective hearing.

pretty sure if she were the real santa, she would've told chaco he wasn't getting a cat for Christmas because he was DEFINITELY barking at the little boy who came around the corner. he really doesn't like little kids. i don't know what the cut-off age is.

now they know santa. pretty sure chaco was done before we even started.

then i saw something on facebook that a friend posted about getting pics with the grinch. well, i thought this would be a very good idea. it would help a dog rescue team, AND more importantly, the boys would know the difference between santa and the grinch, and if the wrong one showed up on Christmas eve, they would know which one to freak out about...ok, for real though, i told them that if either of these crazies showed up in our place, they should attack!

we waited in line for a bit and a girl came out of the ice cream shop and rushed over to pet the dogs-let's face it, bruno and chaco just aren't very social. they don't like people in public. if you come to my place, they'll be all over you, otherwise, it's like you aren't even there. anyhoo,when i picked chaco up, the girl ran out again to pet him, and i saw his ears go back...he was good. then she turned around and he barked at her-and it wasn't a nice 'come-back-and-keep-petting-me' bark...it was more of a 'that's-right-you'd-better-turn-around-and-run-and-never-look-back' bark. yeah, so i'm thinking that the cut-off age is right around 4th-5th grade.

it's not the greatest pic, i am waiting for them to send their digital pic-i was moving, trying to get them to look at the real photog.

then we came home and did some photo shoots. we got a Christmas one for next year's card..

we may have to choose between this, santa and the grinch...

and then we went for something a little more sophisticated.

they'd seen a guy on facebook do this with his cats, and bruno was adamant that they would look great. we go to great lengths to keep 'em happy.

well, this is it, one final week of classes until we have a break! i have a few more Christmas messages to finish-hopefully i will find a free evening this week.

 make sure your pets know the difference between good and evil! (and rehabilitated) or just teach them to bark at everything-safer.
julie