Monday Journaling

This is a "would you rather" post. I'm behind a few days, but I hope Bess is at camp writing away!!

Would you rather have 20 dogs or no toes?
20 dogs! but on a lot of land.

Would you rather have a pet elephant or a camel and a llama?
I think the elephant.

Would you rather not be able to speak forever or only be able to sing instead of talk?
Singing!! At least you could get your points across and talk on the phone still. Maybe I could sing in a way that was kinda monotone and not be too weird. I'd hate to stand out.

Would you rather be mistaken for the president or for a trash can deliverer?
Trash can deliverer. It would be less pressure.

Would you rather have permanent socks or permanent bracelets?
bracelets. I like to wear sandals and have pretty toenails every once in a while!!

Pink lemonade or regular?
regular

What is you favorite color to highlight with? Why?
I like purple, although yellow is good for some things. Yellow can be seen through the best, I suppose, but purple is not common, so it is more noticeable.

Okay, Bess, I hope you read all this typing I just did!!

Journaling at Camp

Bess is off at camp this week, and she and I are still writing. I think she's shy about sharing what she writes---so it's funny that she wanted the blog! I don't know if she'll bother putting up her writing she's doing during "rest time" these hot afternoons this week.

She picked the topics out of a hat before she left and made tiny envelopes for me to open daily. Of course, she did NOT get around to doing her turn at putting the dishes away before she left, but took time to do this instead. Sigh. But I digress.

Sunday I was travelling back and forth with Larry as we drove the kids to camp. Despite that, there was a topic:

What are the three worst and best things you have smelled?

Worst:

Vomit

strangers' B.O.

diarrhea

Best:

Cologne on a date night

Bath and Body Works' pomegranete lemonade

baking cookies

I'll get Monday's topic going here in just a bit!

Photo Hunt 7-9-11

Today's photo challenge is Near.

I'm a a day late on this---just busy yesterday and when I could've done it early, the picture I wanted to use was in another city on the camera, with Larry and Bess.

I got very near to this bee while taking this picture. This is a sunflower that Bess has been growing from a seed in the front of the house. We have some in the back, too. I got very near the flower and used the setting for objects nearer than 28 inches.

If you want to see more near photos, then go to TNChick's website. Her picture is cute! (Jamie says I use that word too much. I have noticed I use it a lot, as he's pointed out every time I say "cute.")

Next week's theme is backwards. I wonder what I will find?

Blog Questions

Today's weird blog is a series of questions. This doesn't seem to really inspire "writing" like I had hoped, but we'll go with it.

Would you rather live in a bowl or a bucket? A bucket, because it has a handle. You can carry it around with you.

Would you rather be a newt or a mouse?

A newt because they are so many pretty colors.

Would you rather yell at cheese or sit on a cookie.

I guess I'd rather sit on a cookie. Although that might ruin the cookie, and I guess I could still eat yelled-at cheese.

Would you rather eat Christmas lights or a garden hose?

Christmas lights are so much lovelier than a garden hose.

Would you rather eat only yarn or only grass?

Grass is a plant and you could live on it for real, so I would pick that!

Okay, now we'll see what Bess has chosen!

Photo Hunt 7-2-11: Busy

This week's theme is something I can look back on, and it's not this week. Thank goodness. I'm not busy and my body and mind are thankful.

My busiest time of year is probably during the end of the school year, April through May. It's that way for any parent as we're wrapping up the year with awards and recognitions. On top of that, I'm a teacher, so I'm behind the scenes getting awards and recognitions ready, plus report cards, final assessments, and parent-teacher conferences. It's something to be endured and I just ride the wave, doing my best!!

My classroom of first graders is busy, and they get busy on the playground, too. I wanted to post some of the classroom, but I can't post someone else's kid's face! So here they are on the playground on a field trip we did last fall.
I try not to give "busy work," but I choose activities that help them along in their progress. Instead of just keeping them busy on worksheets, I hope I can keep them busy doing hands on games that go along with the skills they're learning in other lessons. If they're done with work, I like for them to choose reading or writing, but I am working one getting a "centers" choice going for the fall. The problem is space in my classroom. I guess my mind is busy thinking about school even when I'm not there.

If I really wanted to show "busy," I might have to post a series of pictures.

If you want to join in the photo hunt, it's open to all at TNChick's website. Next week's theme is near. I will be taking more pictures this week since there's a holiday and we'll get together with my parents.

What is the person in The Scream screaming about?

The Scream

by Edvard Munch

(in Norwegian, it's Skrik)

created 1893-1910

I know wikipedia is much decried for inaccuracies, but I used it for information and the article is here.

This painting has always given me a creepy feeling if I study it long enough. I think the screaming figure is especially weird because he's bald. No one in real life looks like this, so it's otherworldly. He looks afraid. There are two people coming toward him, but he's looking off to the right and something there is scaring him. The transliteration of the Norwegian word is "shriek," and that seems even more appropriate for the picture. A scream of surprise.

I often have dreams about the end of the world. I am trying to deal with people chasing me, dangerous terrain, aliens, natural catastrophes. My family is in danger and I'm trying to help get us all to safety. I guess watching shows like Falling Skies on TNT doesn't help me at night!

The scenery in The Scream is the kind of imaginary world I might see in my dreams of the end of the world. One of the theories about the red sky is that there was a volcano eruption that spewed a lot of ash into the sky and gave Edvard a red sky at sunset which inspired him to paint this painting. The sky seems almost to be moving around like the stream going under the bridge, or even as the body seems to be moving. I feel like the screamer is about to slip down to the ground, melting down with fright.

But the question today is, "What is he screaming about?" I think something is just off the other side of the bridge. Something is coming out of the water. Something so scary and threatening that it scared the hair off him! It's a man with a knife and a heavy brow, storming his way up the bank of the river, coming right at the screamer. The two people coming up behind him are going to catch him if he tries to run the other way. There is no escape . . .

What will you be like when you are a grandparent?

I hope that I will be much much older when I am a grandparent!! At least 12 or 16 years older. That's not too much. How can my grandparenting years be so close?? Woah! I have a lot to learn in 12 years. My kids have a long way to go in that short time.

I hope I'm a hands-on grandparent. I'd like to live close to my grandkids, but I know that life in the US has families moving around all the time. Who knows where we'll end up.

I want to be that grandparent who bakes cookies and teaches the kids crafts. I want to take my grandkids to the store and let them buy treats. I want to read to my grandkids, and rock them to sleep and let them sleep over. Maybe I'll get up early and make sausage gravy and biscuits for them. Maybe we'll write letters to each other---or e-mails.

The bad thing I'm realizing as I write this is that I'll probably not be retired before I have grandkids. But maybe I'll still be a teacher and have summers and holidays off similar to my grandkids. I will have to be a working grandparent---like my Mom is and my Dad was for a while. That does mean I won't be available as much as my grandparents were to me.

Jamie reminded me he's going to make his kids call me Moogi. That's Fernegi for Mom. (You know, Star Trek!) I don't know if we'll really go through with that. Since I have some Scottish ancestors, I could go with "Seanmhair." I don't even know how to say that. Or I do have one leg of the family that's French, so how about "Grand mere." Or we could do like I did with my parents---the first grandkid makes it up when they say whatever they say!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt 6-25-11

This week's photo hunt challenge is Card(s). I had to go back and really search for some cards! These are from my birthday back in 2007.

Looks like Bess made a card for me and Jamie went for the funny Peanuts card.

I had to go snap a new picture, too----cards of all kinds from my purse and wallet. I Have a lot of cards right now since I have been saving some of them to use in the summer! One of the special days we had at school during the Teacher Appreciation Week was a gift card day, and a few students brought those. A few of the cards there are kinda old and I should go check their balances to see if they're good. My first aid card is there. Jamie got CPR certified this spring at school. A couple of those cards are for discounts at those stores. That can save you some money. I love it when we get free food cards at sporting events or whatever.

I am not sure about next week's theme, but if you want to join in this week, go over to Photo Hunter's at TNChick's website.

If you were a magician, what would your signature act be?

Guess who's brain this question came from?

I would like to saw a person in half. Wouldn't that be a dramatic act!?! I think I would need to wear a red sequined dress and definitely have some spooky, suspense-building music.

Maybe I should make it a levitating act, though.

I laughed when I first heard this. I can't imagine me doing a magic show. :-) I do enjoy seeing a good one, though!

We did get a blog for Bess, although it was a lot of work! She's still trying to get it looking the way she wants, so no links to her yet. Coming Soon!

What would your ideal vacation be? Where would you go?

I have always wanted to go on a Mediterranean cruise. Think about all those wonderful countries around that Sea: Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Morocco, and now I'm even intrigued by Tunisia. Take a look at this:I didn't realize that Tunisia had Roman ruins. Now I say this is my ideal vacation----not necessarily the place I think I'd be comfortable visiting. It's a little too dangerous over there right now.

Ever since my high school art days I've wanted to go to Italy and see all those famous art places and walk in the steps of the great ones: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, you know those guys. After watching Under the Tuscan Sun and listening to Sting talk about it, I'd love to go to Tuscany. And Venice! I'd have to ride a gondola with Larry and kiss under every bridge.

Greece is a must see with all the Greek ruins. Living in such a young country, we never can see such old structures. I'd like to see all those white buildings they build to keep the rooms cool.

I'd like to visit all the cities that have a book of the New Testament named after it. Or the place where they were. I can't imagine those places very well from the Bible texts, and they would be different now, I know. But still would be a thrill to see all of those places.

I think cruising around on a ship would be the way to get around. I'd of course want to be in a big cabin with lots of room and good food. I would not be seasick in this ideal vacation, either. Would my whole family be there? Maybe, or maybe just Larry. Bess wants to come already, though.

Of course this would have to be a very long vacation! That seems ideal to me. :-) Leave a comment if you have another suggestion for me!