post-irma recap donuts, pizza, and keurigs

i'm blaming irma for some of this weight gain...i bought some foods i never would've purchased otherwise! also, since we blamed irma for so many other things, it just seems appropriate.

irma came and went. the night of, while we were at img, the wind was loud, and there were a couple times i was acutely aware of where the boys were in case the roof were torn away with the wind. that said, i can only imagine how loud it would have been at the house!

the next morning, we all piled out of the dorms, and it felt a little like the last day of kamp during summer, cleaning up, loading up and putting mattresses back in their places.

we went back to check on our homes, and realized that i had locked the front screen door, to which i do not have a key (it's glass, so not really a screen...), and the electricity was still out, so i couldn't open the garage door. oops. the only damage outside seemed to be one screen on the lanai. and so we went to shea's and checked it over. the main damage there was the bushes around the house, because the winds formed a wind-tunnel of sorts around the sides. the electricity was out there as well, but it wasn't too hot yet, so i took a nap, and then we saw that the farmhouse was open for business, with wifi, so donuts were on the menu! we went and got donuts to make a couple stops over on the island to give a little sugar-encouragement to a couple families whom shea thought would appreciate it. it was fun hanging out with them- very congenial!

checking out the neighborhood damage-so many trees with shallow roots blown over-fortunately this one missed both houses.

i posted this little guy on my facebook page (please note the banana down here  that looks nonplussed!)

mini donuts!! #sugarsupport

the branches have mostly been blown off of my tree in the backyard, but at least none of the trees were blown over

on the return, we stopped at one of the beaches on longboat key, and got a little video and pics.

this is on the other side of the dunes before walking out to the beach-you can get an idea of water/sand

dear irma, buh-bye. roll closing credits:

then we noticed that there was a pizza place open on the island coming home, so we stopped in and placed our to-go order. we overheard them saying they weren't planning on opening, they had just come to see if the stoves were working and things were in order, and before they knew what was happening, someone came in and ordered a pizza, they said yes (around 4 p.m. and people hadn't stopped walking through the door since, it was now 8 p.m.). this was exciting, as most restaurants were still not open for business, so i'm guessing they made more cash that day than they've made in a long time! we got our order and took it home-it was smelling pretty amazing (especially after all the pretzels, crackers and beef jerky stuffs)! when we got back to the house, the electricity was still off, so we opened the cross doors to get a little wind-flow and set up citronella candles, and just hoping no one would walk in. we live in a pretty safe neighborhood, and to get to shea's you almost have to get lost, so we felt pretty secure. plus there's bruno and chaco, who, while small, make it sound like there are 15 of them when they feel the need.

now i'm trying to remember...i think i had electricity on tuesday...but not until later in the evening. in the morning, we were hoping for coffee, and thought we'd try to power shea's keurig with the adapter in the car (brilliant, right?) yes, well, unfortunately the keurig requires a little extra juice, so we tried to find a plan b. starbucks was still not open.  plan c. i found my 'survival bag' and got the sterno burners out and started heating up some water. it took way longer than is acceptable for any coffee drinker-how did the pioneers do it?! ugh. finally it was hot enough for me to make some oatmeal that 'passed for edible'...and then we let it go just a bit longer to try steeping the k-cups--i would give it a D+. i mean...it was something, and it was caffeinated. and then we may have gone driving around for a bit just to recharge devices and enjoy the a/c...maybe.

we were SO ready to have this coffee experiment work!!

eventually, one of our neighbors was texting with shea and mentioned that there was electricity at her house, which is on my street, so we checked and mine was on too, meaning we were able to get in and get the a/c going...unfortunately internet was still not up. i'm pretty sure it took days to get recuperated on a good sleep. and in the midst, i was trying to plan for a pd in miami. the issue was that we weren't sure about what was happening at our miami site, because our contact had evacuated. so we were planning as if everything was good-to-go, ready to cancel if needed. we canceled our hotel rooms because of the 72 hour policy, and would book later if it were a 'go'.

while we waited to find out about miami, one of the schools nearby confirmed that despite the damage, and chaos, they were still following through with the pd. and this area pretty much took a direct hit, fortunately all buildings were still intact. so i made sure my colleagues knew about it and tried to keep the others informed as soon as i had information for miami!

next up local training- good times!

thankful that with as big as irma was, the damage could have been worse.

julie

my food coloring is gnome-match for watercolors...and what's up with the affix resources?

tried some watercolor fun this week-tried using food coloring, but i wasn't impressed with the final product, so i purchased some liquid watercolor. tried out the glue/watercolor effect- i may try it again when i have a minute.

yep. gnome food coloring. his face was still on from the last experience...so i updated him.

this morning as i was on my way out the gate, i noticed this sign-they sell cheap pizza from picasso's in front of the main office on fridays. but the sign leaves something to be desired...like maybe.. an understanding of prepositions: - until= through until...how does that work? now, i haven't purchased their pizza this way, in fact, i usually try to avoid eye contact as i get my mail. a few weeks back the kid yelled over at me, "hey! sure you don't want some pizza?" we were in the middle of our weight loss challenge at school, so i yelled back at him. pretty sure it was something lame like, "i can't- i'm in a weight loss contest," but i'm pretty sure it would have been more interesting if i'd said something like, "why's everybody always picking on the fat kid?" or "when you fix your sign, i'll buy your pizza!" hmm.

one of these fridays

 i am currently in a slight dilemma. one of the items that we purchased to help students with their prefixes and suffixes looks like human anatomy..ok, let's just go ahead and say it. it looks a little like a big toe. um. who came up with these things? i am trying to figure out how i can manipulate the item to create something that looks less like...a big toe. kinda' at a loss. i fear our 3-5th graders will never forget what prefixes and suffixes are! and they will tell the story to their grandchildren around the campfire after singing kum-by-ya...

pretty sure whoever designed this concept did it right after they got their walking papers just to spite the company.

 thursday night i went to the last garden coordinator meeting of the year. it was really good. i loved the lesson. it was really about finding evidence and gathering as much evidence as possible if you wanted to come up with the best inference, or even to be able to prove your fact. really good, using trees and insects-two separate lessons.

they use these olla pots to water their gardens now. so we may be at the point soon where it would be wise to make the switch. 

 i need to go out this weekend to get some of the olla pots and some other things that we will be needing in the garden. i have some ideas. so that will be fun-we may have to have a fun garden day sometime in early summer before everyone takes off!

in other news, this has been a good letter month! what does that mean? well, i have sent off several letters, and this month, i have actually received a few choice cards. i love mail-i've said it before, but it bears repeating, there is something very endearing about the hand-written letter, as handwriting is a part of who you are there are certain aspects about handwriting that are tied to your personality, therefore, a letter is precious commodity! i treasure every note!

brandy, traveler that she is, not to mention artist, never fails to amaze with the beautiful cards and stationary, and rachel with my belated b-day card (LOVED IT! your heart always shines through)

 and today when i went to my mailbox, the only thing there was this letter-usually it's all junk mail, so to see a letter made my day!

indira, i cannot wait to meet your boys and just to visit houston and hang out with you!

for those of you in the houston area, i am just going to pass along this info-shameless plug! if you are looking to redo a room, or add on, check it out!

 so, to those of you on my list of letter recipients, thanks for being a part of the letter-writing experiment/adventure/journey! 

i need to purchase a new space heater..this little guy has been faithful, but is on his last legs (personification), the motor...his little heart almost stopped the other day-i let him rest, turned him on his side smacked him a few times, shook him, turned him upside down, and guess what...he worked the next time i tried...so the moral of the story: when you think your loved ones are on their last legs, beat them up  no...um...fight with them ...not it either...fight FOR them! yes, much better!

 it is a meat-locker in my office (hyperbole), if you don't keep moving, your blood might coagulate in there! so yes, i had to periodically put the heater on my lap to warm up today, because the hot air was getting cold before it would reach my core!

good thing the fire marshal didn't come in, he might accuse me of trying to be joan of arc...modern day-death by trying to climb into the space heater...(not as much about fighting for God, but...ok, so terrible analogy)

there really isn't much else to tell tonight, but i'm thinking there might be another weekend post, as i am going to the district health fair tomorrow, and you NEVER know what you're going to encounter when you have to go across town to a district-anything! i can guarantee i will be covertly capturing the best moments for documentation! bwahaha! (i am going, not because i am a health nut...far from...more like, because there is a $500 incentive tied to it and i have completed the other elements).

on that note, fare thee well,
julie

awww fudge...

oh goodness. if i'd known how addictive peanut butter fudge was, i might not have made it. it's so stinkin' good!! perhaps i didn't remember how good it was because i always made my way straight for the chocolatey fudge, with the thinking that fudge should by nature be chocolate-like. co-workers, i will bring some tuesday (if the boys don't eat it all... i can't really blame it on a roomate or anyone else).

smooth deliciousness.

it was super easy to make too! 

4c sugar

1c milk

butter a glass pan-9 X 11

bring to boil & boil for 4 minutes remove from heat and add the following; stir until smooth

2c peanut butter

1 Tbsp butter

1Tbsp vanilla (or maple syrup)

pour into pan and refrigerate until firm.

 

today i got a call from mom. it wasn't exactly a fun call. my brother is about a year and 1/2 older than me and not feeling great. he had to go into the hospital last night for an emergency operation. so please pray for him and his wife and their kiddos. i don't know how long this is going to keep him out of work, and i know it is not going to be an easy time. i only wish they didn't live 11 hours away!

and apparently my parents are driving from iowa to michigan on tuesday to help my grandma fix up their deck. i love my parents they really are great!

i have been hormonal and i know it because i cried after a chevy commercial. really? (pretty sure chaco had a tear in his eye too) a truck commercial?? so today i forced myself to drink the recommended amount of water (not that it'll help); now i feel like a stinkin' water balloon. boo. so to reward myself, i made a homemade pizza, only i had to substitute cheddar/jack for mozzarella.

it taste great, even with cheddar! pleasantly surprised.

 i know kinda' random that i went from fudge to my brother to pizza, but that's the way my brain works...deal wid it!

 and the non-laborious weekend continues!
julie

good thing i have a roll of quarters

soooo...

guess what didn't get fixed last night.

 i should have video taped because it was a sight. i couldn't figure out the problem with the washer, but i had to move the dryer to get a huge bucket back to drain the thing, and take the dirties out and throw them into the tub to rinse...then, today i was planning on taking them to the laundry room here at the apt (i forgot we had one!). so i packed it all up in a basket, and leashed the boys and off we walked. when we got down there, i didn't have the code to the door, which was okay because i was on my way to the office anyway to drop off rent.

when i got there, i explained the problem and they explained that i had to have a special card and it cost $8, but they were out and wouldn't have any until friday. (the new girl told me all of this) then the manager got off the phone and came to play with the boys, and said they would get a maintenance guy out first thing tomorrow morning so it'd be ready when i got home from work. good.

now i have a roll of quarters. whatever will i do? hmm..save one and always have it handy for aldi's shopping cart. then i think i may start a rainy day fund for diet coke necessity at work. feed the addiction.

and as for the TAKS tests-officially my kids are done-skie (pronounced dunsky), but i apparently am not. i have to administer the science test tomorrow for 5th grade, and i will also be (as i mentioned last night) helping with 5th graders during the last period every afternoon. and as a bonus i get to do saturday school again! yippee. (you know about punctuation). i know, i know, i had you all convinced that i was done...i had myself convinced that i was done!

and since i'm administering test again tomorrow, that means day 3 of pizza, which is 3 days too many! wish they'd just throw up a salad for us-ok, not regurgitate, more like toss. but then again, i guess there is no mandate for them to get us anything...so, in all fairness, i do appreciate it. but i think i might have indigestion, so i think i'm going to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich tomorrow anyhow.

i probably ought to find something to cover that carpet patch before the maintenance guy comes tomorrow until i can figure out what to do with it! perhaps i should get the wee pads out of the tub in the tub too in case he needs to dump anything in there. i washed a couple of them by hand tonight, and let me just say: incontinence pads hold a lot of doggy pee...i didn't realize how much. nasty. i had to take a shower afterward. oh, and they are super heavy when they absorb all that water while washing and that makes it really hard to wring them out! i feel like my forearms are going to be 2 sizes larger tomorrow from the workout! (i guess you probably don't measure shirt forearms by sizes, eh?)

 may all of your appliances be in working order,
julie