nothing says spring break like buffalo, mo...nothing! (seriously)

picture men in colorful garb with feathers in their helmets and flags hanging from their trumpets with the CREST OF JULIE on them, dut-dut-dut- DUUUUUUU! yes, as a matter of fact, it is spring break. it came early for us this year. and i decided to come to spring break USA....buffalo, mo. creature of habit.

everyone knows the truth of the matter...i just don't want to pay range fees. more about that at the end of this post.

but in all fairness, i do love seeing mom and dad and the dogs enjoy the change of scenery. they always travel like champions! (not champions like rocky balboa making weird grunting noises and yelling, "adrian!") 

so we took our time getting it together, and made it to buffalo around 7pm-and i was tuckered out. all i could think about all the way up here was hurts donuts in springfield. yes, i know...pathetic. i didn't stop, but i certainly thought about it! one of my friends lives in sgf, and i was hoping to meet her there for a donut and a cold one (milk), i rarely drink milk-if i need to induce vomit due to poisoning, or if i am having gourmet donuts...so this is truly a special occasion...or will be. if sabrina gets back in time, hopefully we can catch up-if not, i do not fear going stag-welcome to my world! but by jove, there will be a hurts donut to blame for any additional pound-age i may gain.

so, yesterday was sunday-church. i do enjoy my parents' church. it's a comfortable size. i especially enjoyed the message yesterday, because that is sometimes the way i feel lately. spoiler alert: pastor spoke on Jesus. the heart of Jesus. who Jesus was drawn to  and where he would likely be...hint: not in this church, or probably any other church in the city. he was drawn to those who were outcasts, the untouchables of the city. he could be found among the down-and-out. in my world, who would that be? if the essence of being a christian is to have the heart of Christ, are we missing the mark? do i find myself in the places he would be encouraging and caring for the unloving, those we wouldn't consider befriending? heart-check.

we'd gotten there early, so i had a chance to snap a picture of the cross. there used to be a giant glittery cross, but they decided to switch it out. dad worked up some designs, and this is what he loves to do. there are two smaller ones on either side. #proud

 and we were the last ones out of the building (i don't know if it's because of the saying and they just don't want to be least...), so we went out for mexican with the pastor and his wife. it was good conversation, although maybe we were there on an off-day. my fajita wasn't all i had hoped for. it didn't rank up there with my top 10, and it was about 2,000 miles behind el patio in tegucigalpa (is it even still there? oh to have un anafre!)

i was able to get some letter-writing done, which was on my to-do list...i brought all of my writing supplies...you laugh. i seriously chose a selection of cards, and stationery. markers, pens, 3-d glasses, my addresses, writing log, stamps.... all true. this is part of why it takes me so long to pack-trying to ensure that i have everything i need!

and when i looked out, at one point there were like 12 cardinals outside around the bird feeder! whenever i got close enough to get a pic, they'd fly off! jerks. but the birds are everywhere! one more thing to love about this area!

here you can see four red ones and one brown female. 

this morning after breakfast we went into town for some items, stopped at the post office and i mailed a package i've been meaning to send off for about the past 8 months...finally! and i purchased a new roll of stamps because i was getting low. and as it goes, i get a little anxiety going on when my stamps start to get low. i was even calculating in my head how much it would cost to get 10 rolls, 1,000 stamps...500 bucks! (but a thousand stamps...it would last me about 3-4 years. no worries, i only got one roll. BUT, if i win the lottery, i WILL purchase those stamps!!) but for now.

then we went to a little amish community to check out their wares. we stopped into dad's favorite shop-a furniture store. he loves the wood-working! and they did have some rustic furniture. although most of it looked very much like the next piece. sorry, but the lewis and clark collection was rather reminiscent of the alaskan collection...personally, i was taken in by the flooring. they sell this plank wood flooring that is gorgeous! there was nobody in the shop-not a cashier, no one. not that we were purchasing anything, but still that was a little strange.

we went from there, next door to the food shop and i made some purchases.  dad was going around on his own, as he was not interested in spices and flour. he found the deals: 5 butterfingers bars for $1! and 10 kool-aid packets for $1.00! he's the deal-master. when i got to the register, lady was not overly friendly-reminded me a little of the amish in the murder she wrote series-(so suspicious of outsiders). anyhoo, as she scanned the aleve, she said they were 'buy one get one free'! that's a pretty good deal!

they had all sorts of spices! and dried mango..maple syrup and so much more!

when we got home i took advantage of the beautiful day and yes, went out back to shoot. dad is always updating things, so he fixed up the target board and the slugs were dropping near the target, so i picked a few up; the .22s look so small compared to the 9mm. i've been thinking i'd like a 45...but then, i'm also thinking i'd like a motorcycle...

going to town for more ammo tomorrow.

my dad usually goes out to watch when i shoot, and this time when i finished, he was missing one of his hearing aids (those suckers aren't cheap at $2,000 a piece), so needless to say, we were on our hands and knees crawling around trying to find this little thing that was camouflaged in the leaves somewhere! after about ten minutes, i finally spied it-fortunately it hadn't been stepped on! (dodged a bullet!)

i'll be dropping mom and dad off at the airport on wednesday for their flight to fl, where they will enjoy epcot or disney world and then go on a cruise to the bahamas. i really hope they enjoy it! they deserve a fun vacation!

alright, i'm off to enjoy spring break; will likely write again after hurts!
julie

beard cutting...good thing bruno and chaco are not amish..i'd be in big trouble!

sit back and kick up your feet...when i go days without posting, it just all seems to build up.

i'm pretty sure that i've mentioned that i am now teaching science (and a language arts class and a social studies class)...well, science has had a great start so far-the kids seem excited and curious-exactly what i am looking for. i am really going to push thinking and finding solutions this year in science. it is going to be very involved-which means it is probably going to take quite a bit of prep work...yummy.

mass...g....volume...ml...l,w,h,diameter...cm...good times!

and after school on tuesday we had got to stay after until 6-something for our garden design and dine. i'm glad i was there, i just hate giving up precious time-i got nothing done on tuesday-that was frustrating. i guess the exchange is worth it, because the garden will be beautiful, i am sure. i mean we all agreed (somewhat) on a brown gazebo and a covering for the sand feature to avoid cat problems (you know, fecal matter and what not).got a picture of our picture taker-adrian is never in photos because he is always taking the photos. good man.

unofficial photographer/arts partner man/computer fun

the best part was the amazing assortment of wraps and the lemon bars! parents and some students were invited to this afternoon of events and i held my tongue as i watched several of the kids walking  back, not with a wrap...but rather a plate full of brownies, cookies and lemon bars. where is the parental accountability. i mean, the parents did not even care! my parents would have made me put them back or give them away!

ahhh, sweet lemon bars...you made me very, very happy!

and last night, yet again i remembered i had not taken anything out of the freezer, therefore i had nothing to eat...i am weak! curses to the builders of the burger house around the corner! i swear, i salivate when i even think about their amazing seasoned fries!!!! no joke. i feel like pavlov's dog. ri-DICULOUS!

and yesterday as we were talking about our civic responsibility in social studies, one of the boys asked if this picture was a boy or a girl:

i had to answer honestly that i thought it was a girl who got a sex-change...no i didn't; i told him i didn't know. i had been wondering the same thing only moments before he asked.

and when i got home yesterday, i was so excited to get a package in the mail-then i saw it was originally for some man, and i only received it because i am OR CURRENT RESIDENT.

men's advanced clinical degree. perhaps i'll take it to school for the boys coming in from recess...hmm..in a word: ripe.

so...as i was driving home tonight from work (remember how school gets out at 3:15, and we have to stay an additional 45 minutes after school, and i had to stay later to finish other things such as: my literacy bulletin board)..left school at 6:56 and there were a few teachers still in their rooms working. i feel inefficient and not nearly as effective as i like to be. boo. but i digress...as i was saying, on the way home, on the radio there was mention of amish beard cutting-which they then said was being tried as a federal hate crime...so i wrote the words amish and beards on my hand because it was so bizarre that it couldn't have been made up! (total snl skit material). *fortunately i will get few hate comments from amish since they don't believe in the modern convenience of electricity. i looked it up, and it was legit-check it out here.

anyhoo, it reminded me of my summer visits to michigan to visit grandpa and grandma and my cousins up that way. there were tons of amish up north. literally we would pull into the grocery store and there would be a buggy or two parked with its horses in a little shady spot. and we used to go to an amish store out in the country occasionally for amish goods like baked goods, nuts, chocolate...good times. it was from watching the buggies as we whizzed by that i learned about the blinders they use on horses to keep them focused. NEED BLINDERS FOR SOME OF MY STUDENTS!

i've started a new training for the boys because bruno has been barking at anything and everything lately and chaco has been peeing wherever he pleases (i moved their potty pad to a new location, and he's not getting the hang of it every time....)so they are both on their leashes...in the house. that way i can catch chaco before he just takes off and relieves himself wherever...and i can catch bruno before he runs to the window and attacks with a string of verbal slurs at the innocent residents below...but we are having peace tonight; it's working!

ok, you can pack it up and go to bed now!
julie