Saturday, April 28, 2007
Softball Pictures
Softball ’07 The Firecrackers
Labels: around town, B, sports
Friday, April 27, 2007
Star Wars postage stamp
Friday's Feast, April 27
Appetizer
How fast can you type?
Not very! Some would hesitate to call it "typing."
Soup
What is your favorite online game?
I like to go to Pogo and play "Tumble Bees." Letters drop down and you use connected letters to make words---the longer the better. They recently changed it, so you can get a spin for a prize more easily, but I like the old version better. It was more of a challenge! If I want to just zone out for a while (not often! not even once a week, nowdays), I will play Free Cell, Sweet Tooth, or Stack 'Em.
Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), how intelligent do you think you are?
I really think I am at an 8.
Main Course
Name three of your best teachers from your school years.
Mr. Barnes---I took two science classes from him in high school, Anatomy and Physiology and Chem II.
My art teacher in high school (why can I not remember her name!)----lessons I learned in Art I have been applying to all sorts of things all through these years afterwards. I felt confident to take college art, and my calligraphy skills are still usable, and my ability to look at something and see details was all enhanced by her teaching me!
My mind keeps going back to my second grade teacher, Mrs. Smith at Horn Lake Elementary, Mississippi. She was strict, but I remember her singing with us in the bathroom into her hairbrush. She was the only teacher that ever gave me licks (with a wooden paddle). Twice!
Dessert
What are your plans for this upcoming weekend?
Tonight, B has a softball game, and the rest of the evening will be free. Saturday, B and her daddy will go to an Aggie women's softball game---so maybe I will too. I plan on working on my pre-school calss's end of year books a lot. Sunday, there's church, birthday party for B's friend, and church again in the evening. And we get a Monday, too!! I odon't have plans for that yet, but I'll have the kids with me all day, my activities will include them.
Labels: Friday's Feast
Monday, April 23, 2007
Shakespeare's birthday
I took Shakespeare as a class two times---once as a sophomore at A&M and then again at UNT. It almost got me in trouble come graduation time!! I had to cry in my adviser's office (some advisor! She should have told me before I took it as an upperclassman that they wouldn't accept it!) At any rate, I got to count it. After all, I did learn different stuff in each class, and went over different plays.
One thing I miss about the Dallas/Fort Worth area is the free Shakespeare in the Park plays. It was so romantic, and Lar was just as enthused as I was about going. I think!
J will be doing the Seussification of Romeo and Juliet in May. I can't wait!! He got the part of the monk that marries the star-crossed lovers. Monk Larry is the name in this play! He will begin heavy-duty practice May 1st, and his opening night is the 17th.
I just made a cool thing on Tabblo that I added to my Project 363 blog----Please go check it out! ;-) It's the beginning of the Week of Green.
Labels: birthday
The week in review
Monday---
I had arranged a fun ladies' lunch at The T Garden. These are all ladies form my workplace. Three of us were having April birthdays, so another 4 joined in. It was devine! I ate the salad sampler plate---fruit salad, the T Garden spinach salad (with candied walnuts, dried cranberries and house poppy seed dressing), and sweet chicken salad. That's me in the front in white sweater and turquois skirt.
That evening, I went to Freebird's with the family. Yea! a no-cooking day!
This picture shows J and Larry perusing the Houston newspaper---it has so many comics in it!
I went to work, as usual, and taught my 16 pre-shoolers all the wonders of the world (sorta). But they surprised me at 1:00 with a birthday party! Look at all my presents. I was happy to receive so many homemade cards and gifts from the heart. Lots of different items!
Tuesday night B and Larry had practice for softball, J had Troupe, and I had a meeting about J's graduation celebrations. Unfortunately, his big Troupe production coincides with the same weekend everyone else voted for the grad dinner. :-( It was a really disappointing evening, as far as timing goes. I am so ready to just get J out of 5th grade and onto something different. Whew! I am praying for him to find a new friend or two that he really connects with in junior high next year.
Labels: birthday, Homemaking, sports
Friday, April 20, 2007
Friday's Feast, April 20
I love breadsticks---like the kind at Olive Garden. Buttery and Garlic-y.
I bought one right after Christmas. (4 months ago?)
I bet I sit here at least 10 hours. I am afraid to add it all up! My big days are Mondays and Fridays, when I am off and I don't have anyone else home most of the time.
Hmmm . . . if you asked about my kids, I could tell you it was probably 103.5. But me? I haven't run one in recent memory that would be anything interesting. I bet I have run some high ones, but I don't remember.
Labels: Friday's Feast
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Tie-Dyeing with kids
I could not have done this without my friend Tracy, who I worked with last year. She is pretty crafty at a lot of things, but this is one area she really is an expert in. So I recruited her to help---but she really had to take over and just tell the girls what to do.
Here is B tying up a shirt.
J even came with us that day---- I knew he'd want to make one, too. Each girl had a tray and a old towel piece to dye on. It really stayed pretty neat this way!
This is one tied shirt that I did at home----I was short a shirt when I ordered! This one came out really pretty.
I thought this looked neat with the water coming down onto the shirts.
I thought these two shirts came out the best! I tied those both, and B helped dye the little girls' shirt.
These three shirts were mine, B's and J's. The turquoise came out so beautifully when it dried. A lot of the shirts came out very green---our turquoise and yellow mixed for the nice green color.
Labels: crafts, Girl Scouts, Homemaking
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, April 14th
This knitting has been a really rewarding activity for the both of us! I just finished my scarf I was working on, and now I am making a dishcloth from a pattern one of the older ladies at church gave to me. She is sort of famous for those little dishcloths she makes, so I was honored she took the time to write it out for me.
I just updated my photo blog with pictures of my week. It involved tie-dyeing, folding clothes, and trains. Please have a look!
Next week's theme for the Photo Hunt is steps. I could interpret that in many ways!
Labels: hobby, Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt
Friday, April 13, 2007
Slideshow---LTC and Easter
This is the slideshow from my webshots account. It is the LTC and Easter photos. I hope you can see them!
LTC and Easter
And I had to do this quiz I saw on another blog---
High five, you're a complete Texan. People from other states should tremble in your presence because they're simply not worthy. Let them bow before you and convey their undying adoration to you while they announce their true desire to be Texan.
How Texan Are You?
Take it and tell me how you did. I feel good considering I wasn't born in Texas! ;-) I'm a Tennessean---like half the guys who fought in the Texas Revolution.
Friday's Feast, April 13th
Main Course
Labels: Friday's Feast
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
LTC
Labels: church
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, April 7th
Labels: clean, Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt
bloggin' on the road
But I digress. J was in a Drama group----having to move up to the 7th-9th grade division because at least one of the other kids was in junior high. They were in the first group to perform in our room. There were three rooms with drama groups performing yesterday. They did really well, but do not knowwhat their results were. They can get "gold"for their best efforts, "silver" for somewhat less, and "bronze" for something less than that. I think they need a gold! :-) Mommy bias.
We had a quick sandwich supper in one of our friends' rooms, and then J was off to Bible Bowl. He had to study the book of Acts for this year, and he was ready to take the test. He was the only one of us from our church competing in his age group----we had a group compete as a 4 person team in the older group, too. J was odd man out, so he went and joined up with some other random kids! ;-)
J got an individual "gold"for his own score---he got 30 out of 35 right. (They were not easy questions! We followed along in the back of the room.) His team competed and got a "silver" which he was happy with. We had forced J into competing this year---he has a good memory, but he is not competitive unless he feels like it is worth it to him! So I didn't know how much he was trying or paying attention in their prep classes. But apparently he was paying attention pretty well!
So Yea J!
The kids went swimming UPstairs after Bible Bowl and loved it. Some of the older ones went, too. Larry supervised. I stayed in my room and watched the last of the movie "Cast Away" and knitted and ate some snacks I had brought.
Time to go get the breakfast!
Labels: church
Friday, April 06, 2007
Friday's Feast, April 6
Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?
I guess I prefer car because that's how I travel mostly! I really enjoy flying, but it is expensive.
Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?
No one that I didn't already know before blogging. I think I'd like to, though!
Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?
I had a day last week when I had to get up still tired because I was awake to see every hour on the clock during the wee hours---1:35, 2:12, 3:45, 4:50, 5:47, and the alarm at 6:00. Does not make for a good start to a day! So by the end of that day I was really really tired. I think I even took a nap.
Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?
Maybe Scarlett O'Hara---she would put on a good dinner party! (And maybe Melanie would be there, the one I Identify with the most.) And I could get really dressed up in a big ol' southern hoop-skirted dress and wear some sort of bonnet. :-)
Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see _______________.
The Mediterranean Sea
Labels: Friday's Feast
Thursday, April 05, 2007
My weirdness
I was just reading up on synesthesia. I left a weird comment on Melissa's blog---enjoying life, and she told me I am a synesthete. It's really interesting-----I have been totally sidetracked ever since I went over there! Melissa talks about her associating colors with numbers. Sometimes it's helpful to her!
I apparently have two types---number form synesthesia and personification. I see numbers in a spatial way---it's complicated to explain, but I have seen them in this way from very young. I think it's why doing math in my head is sometimes hard. I have to really think hard and NOT think about where they are "in my mind's eye" so to speak, just to add some numbers together. I have tried to draw a number line map for Larry, but he just shakes his head and laughs at me. 1-12 go in a circle like a clock. From 12-20 the numbers go in a straight line from the top of the clock. At 20, the line makes a right turn, 90 degrees. This line goes straight all the way to 100. But there are lights, like overhead lights along the way! The 20s are dark, the teens still in the light of the smaller numbers. There is a light at 40, so the thirties are fairly bright. It's bright from 40 to 60, but it gets dark in the 70s and 80s. There's a light at 100.
It's almost like I can stand in this number space and look around, because when I am thinking about grades based on a 100% scale, I am standing at 100 and looking down the line at the grades getting further away from me. The further I got from 100, the darker it got! :-)
When I am thinking about ages of people, it's in the same configuration I described above. But the darkness starts at about 50. It's getting dimmer for me as I am getting closer to 40! I think about my parents, going into these dark years! Yikes! They are sitting there in their 50s in the dark! But here's a funny thing---it gets lighter at 80. And I always think about 85 being a good age to pass away. I'm sure my perceptions about getting older have tainted my placing of the lights. But again, I have looked at this the same way from very young.
Okay, I have divulged some craziness in my brain. But there's more! Yes! more!
In the personification synesthesia, I see letters and numbers as having personalities---or at least gender. Days of the week, too. Wednesday---a woman (I'm sure it's a W relation). Thursday and Tuesday? Both male, but Thursday is a grown up and Tuesday is a young boy. I'll just list my letter associations for fun.
A a mother
a a little girl
B a teen boy
b a little boy
C a woman
c a little boy
D a Daddy
d a little boy
E a man
e a little boy--playful!
F a man
f a teen boy
G a man
g a young boy
H a man, steady, strong
h a boy about 10
I a man
i a boy
J a grown woman (like me right?)
j a boy (should be a girl, but it isn't!)
K a Mommy
k a teen girl
L a man (my dad's name starts with L)
l a skinny teen boy
M a Mommy (obvious relation)
m an old woman (this does not fit my pattern, does it?)
N an old woman
n a little old woman
O A man
o a little boy
P a man
p a little toddler boy
Q a woman (like a queen)
q a little boy
R A woman (my sister's initial)
r a little girl
S a woman, motherly
s a little girl
T a tall man
t a teen boy
U an old man
u a little boy
V a fancy lady
v a little fancy girl!
W a woman
w a little boy
X a man
x a little boy
Y a mother
y a little girl
Z a mother
z a little girl
Whew! That's all strange, I know! Some of that makes sense, some seems so random. Some are stronger in their genders, like they are ingrained in me more or something.
I'd love to hear about your experiences if you do anything that is synesthetic. There are so many forms, and some of them are more interesting than what I have just described---people who associate sounds with colors, words with tastes, shapes with sounds.
Good things are developing in our Book Club. I am reading the book we are going to discuss in April---And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers. It really struck my friend P, and she recommended it to me, and she had gotten the book from someone else and I am handing it off to someone on Tuesday, after I am sure to be finished. :-) Lots of sharing to save money. This is a Christian author who I have never read. I do like it, and I do identify with the characters and the stuff happening in their church.
At the prodding of many commenters, I checked out To Kill a Mockingbird to read right after I finish this one. I anticipate having a lot of time to read this weekend---we will be off to LTC and waiting around for events to happen. More on that later. :-)
Have a happy Easter weekend!
Labels: synesthesia, weird
Monday, April 02, 2007
Stuff I sent is actually in the Philippines!
Labels: swap
Summer Reading List?
Today I saw a meme on Three Sons and a Princess which I have seen other places, too. Here is a list of Classic "must reads" and the ones in bold are ones I read (or read part of!)
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) part
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) only part
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible - never all at one time or even all in one year.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
I also have these on my list----
The Mitford series (I read the first one)
When Invisible Children Sing (non-fiction)
I think that was 28 out of 100---better than I thought I'd do.
If you have any recommendations for me---or even more important, books to avoid!---leave me a comment. Do you think any of these would be good for a group to read in a month and then go out to dinner to discuss?
Any ideas about starting a book club? We thought we might pick a "hostess" for the month and then she picks the book and the place to go out to eat. We don't need anything too heavy, but I don't want to waste my time on fluffy-too-predictable books, either. I'm sure Christian fiction would be well recieved, but I really want it to be good stuff.
The first rule of Book Club is - you do not talk about Book Club. (I mean Fight Club---from the movie I never saw, but I can't get this quote out of my head for some reason!) I don't really need to keep a book club secret! :-)
Labels: books
Sunday, April 01, 2007
ArtFest 2007
I liked these Day of the Dead masks made by the high schoolers.
This next piece is J's bowl. He admits that he didn't intend for it to come out like this---it is low on one side--but sometimes unintentional happenings are what make things interesting and unique. I think it looks great. I especially love his colors and the choice of how he put his dots on.