depeche mode coffee and wookies in the restroom?

I learned today that flies in missouri are caffeine addicts. how did i come to this epiphany, you might ask. well. i left an unfinished cup of coffee on the table and came back to it later. the one drawback of being in the country is that there are flies...it's like they all gravitated toward buffalo missouri, curious about the visitor from tx...they must've seen my car plates and registration on the way in...

so, i've been practicing my fly swatting skills-i knock 'em silly and then chaco plays with them until they stop moving. i'm pretty sure he swallowed one or two. but i digress...upon returning to my lukewarm coffee (which is still better than no coffee...), i felt a little chunk pass my lips and spit it back into the cup...it wasn't like grounds that had gotten past the filter, it had legs! so i went to the sink to dump it out, and there was another one! NASTY. it did make me think of the old depeche mode song: fly on the windscreen.

in the beginning, the flies kinda drove chaco crazy...he'd see them flying around and hear them, and get the anxious shivers as he started looking around in his all-vigilant-mode, ready to pounce. by the end, i'm pretty certain that he was actively seeking the flies out.

any time a car slowed down or pulled into the drive, they were at the window...thyey loved it.

i'm not complaining that it was raining...every day while i was in missouri, just stating the facts. yep, it was a wet one-which also made it cooler. when i left, it was 75 degreees, and by the time we'd travelled into oklahoma and just south of the clouds, it had rapidly reached 98. boo. then when we hit texas, it was triple diigits. no flies. i'm pretty sure they don't dig the heat....nor the traffic.

on the way home, i slowed down enough to get a pic of the local park restrooms.this particular one always catches my eye.

 so, here's the story. the first time i saw it i thought, 'hmm. f for female. m for male..what is the w for? wookies?' (pause) 'WAIT A MINUTE! m is for men, w is for women....f is for farmers...er...family' 

this morning i had to wake up earlier than i liked, but i did it. i had a conference for coaches. it was interesting. in the first session i went to, one of the traininers told us to turn to our neighbor and give them the finger...which if you had your back to her and weren't watching her, you might get the wrong idea. poor word choice. she was waving her pointer finger back and forth as if to say no,no,no. i wouldn't really call that giving someone the finger. (and she's not a foreigner or anything, no excuse for poor phrasing).

in another session, they laid out chart paper on our desks, and i may of may not have been doodling cartoon characters. as i was walking out, the trainer said, "i could've watched you all day!"

anyhoo, i definitely got a lot of valuable information from the conferences.

the phrase i am growing a little weary of is: let's put the right tools in our toolbox. i'm not a carpenter...not a plumber...not an electrician. i don't carry a toolbox (even though i own tools)...

so-i was up at my school preparing for the schoolyear today and this guy caught me off guard as i rounded the corner a little too quickly:

i'm guessing that marlon probably put him there as a joke...and to wax the floor.

and after about an hour and a half, i went into the bathroom, and noticed that my hair was pulling an alfalfa. (little rascals)


it's a good look. for norms from now on, instead of taming technology, more importantly will be taming hair.

all in a day.

but the best part of my day to this point has been the zucchini fries that i made! woah. side by side, i would eat these over potato chips or fries every time! and they are super easy! (shake and bake, parmesan cheese in a bag, sliced zucchini dipped in egg, 15 minutes at 450) yummers!

like i said, the best part of my day to this point...only because i did not get to come straight home for a nap! when we were in branson, bmayes suggested a foam topper from amazon for my mattress because i was telling her how uncomfortable i've been recently. so i ordered it while i was at my parents', and it came the day i got back from my vacation! all i could think of all day during my conference trainings was getting back to nap on that mattress!! i wasn't even tired, i just wanted to enjoy laying on it! i can't wait to go to sleep tonight!

on that note, i will be going to bed early tonight!
julie

witch stickers..which stickers? sticky witchers..praying angel squirrels..huh?

check out these stickers! they're the 3-d cool stickers-they are similar to the ones our principal used to put on our lesson plans last year...so i may just for kicks put some on my lesson plans or in my binder for kicks (or i might just put them in strategic places where they won't be ruined or lost or mangled!)

gigi, i might need to sneak one onto your lesson plans too...a big one.

when it gets closer to halloween, i will share some halloween memories. today i proved that not only grandparents still use the u.s.postal service!

              i had a picture here, but then i realized that the address was visible, and that's not cool!

i did go to family general today for some small stuff. i love getting the small, general stuff i need there..except there was a student from last year there- i don't love that. but i did spot this great find. i asked the student, "isn't that weird?" and he just kinda looked at me like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond or not. and to be quite honest, i don't think i expected a response, because i don't rightly know why i even asked him his opinion-he obviously wasn't interested.

it's a praying angel squirrel with wings!

why would someone make something like that? is there really a market for this type of item?? i also found a laser pointer which i was looking for, for school (so i don't have to go up to the screen to point things out), but chaco loves it! so i think i am going to have to get another for home!

i am a kid with a new toy!

chaco basically just asked me to play with it again, so we did. it's so much better than chasing a ball 50 times in a row.

he doesn't know what to do when the light goes out-he is looking everywhere for it!

oh, i almost forgot that i also stopped at home depot today because i had to get some paint for a project that i'm working on (hopefully the rain won't foil my project)...i'm getting excited about it! can't wait to see the finished project and see if it's anything like what's in my mind. there is something about home depot (or any hardware store for that matter)...i always want one of everything. i even saw some chain links and thought, "hmm..i wonder if i need chain for anything." i went through various scenarios trying to see if it was a necessity; it's always good to be prepared, ya' know! seriously though, i looked at the power tools and the clamps and wood...i should have a project shop somewhere...that will be on my house list someday.

don't chase the little red light because it will just lead you in circles, but if it lands on your forehead, be worried, my friend,
julie