i would rather sail than do anything.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

while you were out



last week my parents went to the dominican republic for vacation. i decided to overhaul our yukky basement to make it a bunch cooler. and that i did. i organized EVERYTHING and threw out gross stuff that had been in a previous flood or had no use whatsoever. (we have since been flood-proofed. as much as a basement CAN be flood-proofed.) anyway, one of those things i threw out was an old ping-pong table. it had served its purpose well. but after having it for a few years, my mom decided to iron curtains on it. DON'T DO IT! that will render the thing useless. trust me. i gotta say after unscrewing parts of it to cart upstairs, it was DANG heavy. and then it was just kept around to put stuff on. STUFF. you'd be surprised how much STUFF i found on it. i also got some fun new exercise equipment for my rents. (PA-rents.) a rowing machine and a cardio-thing. anyway, enjoy the before and after pix.

Monday, June 26, 2006

everyone in a different hospital (each in a different state too....)


surgeries out the wazoo! i can't even believe it! patti, karl, and my MOM were all today! tomorrow is jeannie and it continues....

my mom's doc said the surgery went well. she had her appendix out as well as a THING (an unwanted thing) that had been growing on her appendix. so because of that, he also took out part of her colon. part of the wall of her colon. so although it's not as bad as it could have been, mom's recovery is still slow. pray for her. pray for patti and karl who are also recovering from other (rather serious) surgeries today.

nationals is coming up soon! gonna be at purdue for a week. two days after that, i'm leaving for L.A. and then to china. but back to purdue...a random new friend emailed me and said he is going to be there! i met him in new orleans last october/november during the week of cleanup that my church was there. didn't really think i'd see him again! and yeah, he was another one who got to (had to) witness the ever embarrassing events of short me jumping over not-so-short chairs, crashing into a table, and completely ripping apart my arm. owch.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

where does scottie pippen golf, anyway?


while waiting for my parents at the baggage claim, i ran into scottie last nite at o'hare waiting for his golf clubs. he's still dang tall (especially with the 'fro) but a BEANPOLE. man, is he small now! becky fox and i debated for a WHILE and she kept saying there's no way... but then a whole bunch of people behind us that were in some group yelled, "hey scottie!" and he turned and waved at them. so then as he finally was able to get to his golf clubs, i scooted over and said "hold still a sec" and fox got our picture by the starbucks in terminal 3. ah well, here it is. but seriously, if it weren't for his telltale nose, i had almost mistaken him for a light post wearing sunglasses.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

goose parade


can you tell that where the parking lot meets the grass the geese are on the move? yeah, marching from the pond in front of my apartments to the woods behind them. i have no idea why. they held up traffic in our little parking lot today. there were SO MANY of them! big ones, little ones, teenagers. everyone represented.

but since school's been out (WOOHOO!) i have not been sitting around watching geese. i've been tearing apart my parents' house in order to reorganize it and clean up. whew. what a job. anyway, they get home tomorrow from the dominican republic from where they were vacationing. boy, will they be surprised!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

don't do it...don't do it....


well well well.

i have here in my midst a tarantula. i have also an assistant principal at the end of the hallway in her office. ahem. what to do, what to do? i cannot help but think what the possibilities are here. what is she gonna do, FIRE ME? (tee hee hee!) and i am sure that we could win at least $100,000 on america's funniest home videos. not to mention the WORLD'S funniest video. hmm. i guess i'd better not. but i'm still tempted.

GOSH, life is full of tuff choices!!!!! hope i make the right one here....

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

diet coke & mentos?



still looking for something i can use in lieu of fireworks at purdue. you guys like this? check out eepybird.com for more info.

Monday, June 12, 2006

the World Cup


finally...something that the U.S. has to work for. something we can't excel at. not just DON'T excel at but CAN'T. something where the rest of the world kicks our derriere. EASILY.

i'm sick to death of the big ol' nasty tattooed NBA and NFL players. getting paid millions to throw a ball through a hole or to make a ball to go across a little line drawn in the grass. are you serious? while schools have completely outdated books? kids in upper grades headed toward high school graduation who don't know how to read? classes without a textbook for each child? hardly any resources for the teachers to use? and in some cases NONE?!?

and then what about attitudes and conduct as "role models?" how in the heck can kids look up to players who use illegal drugs to attain their desired results? (mostly made an issue through MLB.) what about the horrible attitudes of NBA babies who get calls from the ref they don't like? what about the ones who are still young enough to throw temper tantrums? (okay--i shouldn't discriminate by age.) why are they even playing? and once a game is over they can't even speak in ENGLISH to explain their "strategy?" STRATEGY? i'm confused here. i'm confused as to why our country's priorities are so infinitely screwed up. and we wonder why kids act the way they do? and why our country is going to he** in a handbasket? well i guess the lack of good parenting doesn't help but role models who completely suck and have absolutely no character aren't helping either.

if our country could seriously get into a better sport--one played with TRUE strategy and won with honor--we'd at least be on the right track. i am not in any way trying to imply that true football (futbol) is the answer to our vast problems, but if we could compete with integrity and dignity at a WORLD sport, we might make some sort of headway. and get some real respect. why would we be proud of ourselves--during past olympics--for absolutely annihilating other countries at baseball? basketball or football too for that matter! those are UNITED STATES SPORTS! duh! are you kidding? that's like me making up a new game, practicing it for a long time, and beating everyone who plays against me. woo woo! that's no achievement! no accomplishment! we are so about ourselves we don't even know what the rest of the world is playing! why is it that there was still no soccer in the midwest until just the past TEN years? wow. we are SO out of it. i see the midwest isn't just slow in fashion and design, but every aspect, i see.

if you ask me, we could do better at being a country. a "respectable" country. how embarrassing. oh yes, and congratulations to the czech republic. you did well. i hope we don't continue to embarrass ourselves too badly.

FOUR DAYS LEFT.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

FIVE MORE DAYS


i can't wait i can't wait. five more days. i can't wait. i will sleep in, clean, and then sleep some more. sleep, sail, go to china. go to the northwoods. away from people. stuff like that. i think i can make it. five more days.

i love alice cooper's song. i'm gonna listen to it and celebrate all the way home on friday. "school's out for summer! school's out FOREVER!" sing it at the top of my lungs. crank it. lose my voice. strange how that's actually the truth, tho. this is the end. i told a few coworkers i am gonna be stretching for the last twenty minutes that i'm in my classroom. quads, hammies, yeah. don't wanna pull anything RUNNING the heck away from there. as for what's next? who knows. i'll worry 'bout that later. for now, i'll start recovering from this past school year. and get ready to go somewhere fun.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

what a friend


who would come over at midnight and help grade papers until 2 in the morning? AND for someone who lives a half hour away? does that even sound right? i've been up crazy hours trying to close out all my records and stuff for school. i come home from school and sleep, then get up and get busy. anyway, tris, you are an awesome friend and i love you. thanks for helping me out--for your moral support too. it means a bunch. i owe you pretty big-time.

Monday, June 05, 2006

here, storm storm storm














what the heck is this? some kind of anemometer? looks cool to me but pretty heavy duty! it's on top of this dude's car who lives in the apartments across the parking lot. hmmm. is he a storm chaser? what's the purpose of this thing? i think he's a student at V.U. so maybe a weather geek. man after my own heart. i wish i were a true weather geek. ah well, i'm just a plain geek. life is tuff.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

PROC


well...we are going to china! deb and i will be going in july--somewheres from the middle of the month to the end. we'll be in cali for a bit too. we're flying in and out of LA. if i get lucky i'll stay a little while in san diego when we get back. i love the dolphins and the pacific. boogieboarding is sweet there too. (especially with the dolphins.) i'll be at purdue (for nationals) the first week of july and will have approx. one week to pack and get ready the rest of the way for the big trip. (finish getting shots, etc.) yeowch. anyhoo, be looking for pictures for when i return. but as for now, i have exactly ELEVEN miserable school days left.