Whew! The Winter Olympics are finally over!

I'm a devoted watcher of all things Olympics, whether it is the winter or summer variation.  The 2010 Winter Olympics are finally over (with the exception of the closing ceremonies), and I can finally get back to my life.  I've got oodles of papers to grade and final grades to submit by Friday, so that's what I'll be doing instead of watching the Olympics.  It was a great run, though.  The US did a great job and made us proud.

Hey Summer, this one's for you.  I just couldn't get a stand up shot!!!

Sorry, out of all the great athletes' pictures I could have put here, I had to choose this one.  I guess, it's just because we got such a great laugh out of this "guy."

We're going to spend 1/2 of Spring Break in Southern California, just chilling.  I checked the weather for the days we'll be down there and, of course, it's supposed to rain.  Oh goody!

Just found this political cartoon with an olympics overtone.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday, and I just want to thank all of you for the wonderful gifts, hugs, and reminding me of how old I am.  That last part is for Mandy :)  We went to the Olive Garden for my birthday dinner, and it was great!  Logan and Vicki came along, and to top it off they paid for dinner...I guess it's not too bad getting another year older.  I'm really glad today is over with, though.  It's been a long week for some reason.   I actually didn't watch the Olympics last night, went to bed at 8:00, and ended up getting 9 hours of sleep.  That is pretty good for me.  Tonight, Apollo Ohno skates for the last time, so I think I'll watch that race.
Thank you all, again!!!

I'm Getting Old

This is probably not a surprise to anyone, but I am getting old.  Inside (except when I've been sick, which has been a couple of times in the past month) I sort of feel like I did when I was a teenager.  Just ask Mandy or Bill when I get on one of my silly kicks. Seriously, there are times when I feel like my insides are battling my old, decrepit outside.  I do need to take advantage of our gym membership, walk, eat right (remember my "no sugar/candy" diet?) AND,(notice the big AND) get more sleep.  This is Bill's big admonition to me. 

I fear he is right, because right now, if I didn't have my prep period, I would fall asleep in front of my class.

 This is what I really feel like...no cares in the world, nothing fits (even the chair), and sound asleep!

Back to Work

As you know, unless you didn't read my blog the other day, I had a bad sinus infection.  What a whopper.  Mandy subbed for me on Friday, while I tried to recuperate and found out what little angels I have...really, just kidding.  I'm better now, and am going back to school tomorrow.  Cross your fingers, my sophomores are starting their Research Power Point Presentations this week.  I think I'll give them one more day in the computer lab to finalize everything, and then we start!  I've actually learned some pretty interesting information about world religions (they each had to pick a religion).  By far the Rastafarian (cult?) was the most interesting, considering Bob Marley was Rastafarian, and it began in Jamaica.  I'm sure that their use of pot was what drew many to their faith.  In fact, I'm sure it's the reason some of my students chose it to do their research on.  We'll see.

New Car!

I didn't think I'd do it, at least not at this time, but I/we did it.  Bill, as you all know, loves to stop by the car lots on an almost daily basis, checking out the deals.  His latest car is the Hyundai Tuscon, because he felt that would take the place of my beloved Honda CRV that I've wanted for ages.  Actually the Hyundai Tuscon wasn't a bad car, and I would have liked that one, but as we drove into the Avis lot, there sat my beautiful baby: translation "red sports car." (translation: Toyota Matrix)

This is a 2010, ours is a 2009, but they look pretty much the same.  What I didn't know, but Bill did, was that the one we bought was the sports model.  Hey Adam, wanna race?  It's not that I didn't feel we needed a new, or mostly new, we did, I just didn't like to go window car shopping on a regular basis.  It was pretty funny.  I don't think Bill knew what hit him.  I was ready to buy, once we realized the price was right, and the gas mileage was much better than the Tuscon.  Bill would probably have waited and shopped around a bit more, but I warned him.  If we found a car that fit our budget and we liked it, it was ours.  Bill's head is still swimming.  Not really.  I can hardly wait to take a trip in the car, maybe Spring Break.

Sick, sick, sick

I guess I just boasted too much.  Up until this winter (Jan. 2010), I've been able to avoid getting those nasty colds, flu, etc.  If I did get anything, it usually only lasted 24-48 hours and I was back feeling fine.  I even remember Bill telling me last month that I don't get sick very often.  I was pretty proud of that, in fact, really proud of that. Since that comment, I've had laryngitis, the flu, and now a huge sinus infection.  I didn't even go to work today, and Mandy was fortunate enough to be my sub.  She soooo enjoyed my classes.
I hope this only lasts another day, because I DON'T LIKE BEING SICK!  I really whine a lot, so I'll be done with this blog in short order.  Here's what I've been using a lot of lately.  We even ran out of them at school, for a while.

Does Hot Chocolate count?

I'm not feeling too great today, as a matter of fact, I think I'm coming down with the same thing Bill has. I was cold this morning, so I decided to have some hot chocolate and toast for breakfast.  I vacilated back and forth between the hot chocolate and my chamomille tea (which I like to drink in the evenings before I go to bed...very relaxing).  Since the chamomille is good to drink to unwind, relax, etc. I thought that mood/feeling may interfere with my drill sergeant tactic I have been needing to use on my 10th graders and their research papers.  I could see myself (after drinking my "calming" chamomille tea) not having the same effect I needed in the classroom.  I know this all seems a bit rambling and nonsensical, but the bottom line was, I drank the hot chocolate, and I'm sticking to it!!

 I'm going to blow my no sugar/candy diet this weekend anyway (it's just a matter of how badly) when Summer and Tyler and kids blow into town.  We're going to celebrate Tyler's, Maggie's and my birthday, and I found a real cool dessert to make.  I found it on the "Open Pantry" link on Ashley's blog.  It's the "Cake Pops." 

I'm starting IT, again...

It's time for bed, and I think I will be successful staying on my diet for the next 6-8 hours (while I sleep).  Kind of a joke, as you don't really eat while you sleep...do you?  We'll see how I do tomorrow.  I just have to find something nourishing, tasteful, and filling to keep my mind off of sugar.  Got any suggestions?  I know it's 95% mental, and that's what's got me worried.

IT wouldn't have been too bad, had it not been my boss' birthday.  The secretaries all went together and created an all day celebration (that's a difficult task when you're in a high school).  In the conference room in the office, they set up his party.  Black balloons floating everywhere...50 years old, of course.The long food table started off pretty well with bananas, large strawberries,  lemon water, crackers, and marshmallows.  You might want to know why the marshmallows, and for that matter why any of the food (with toothpicks)?  There, in the center of the table, sat a chocolate fountain!  Yep, there it was.  But, I  was pretty good, since I only covered two items...a strawberry, and  a marshmallow (ouch).  I was so tempted to turn around, bend over backward and just open my mouth and drink from the fountain, but I resisted.   I only went back once, and that was to have a couple more strawberries without the chocolate, and a small cookie.  All in all, it was fun, but I now know what I want for my birthday!

Paper Crackers

For some reason, these bagal crackers taste curiously like paper.  The good thing is there is no sugar, fats, salt, or whatever else might make them tasty.  I'm back in school, and it's only one more week until my sophomores present their power points on their chosen religion.  Boy, Rastafarians seem to have a lot of fun.  For those of you that don't know this religion/cult, it's the one that has been made famous by Bob Marley and his curious habit of smoking pot.  They even include this behavior into the religion/cult itself....I think that if all I had to do was to sing, dance, and get high, I'd be happy and love everyone, too. NOT. I do hope my students gain a greater understanding of what religion means to the world, and how difficult it can be to be good (even though it should be one of the easiest things we can do).
I'm so excited for Spring Break.  I was talking to Bill yesterday about where we should go.  I really want to get down to the ocean again, so maybe California will be the place we go (there's also some great shopping down there!).
For all of you out there that are keeping up with the Olympics, you probably already know that the Russian lock on the pairs figure skating has finally come to an end.  Concerning the judging, there's not much to say.  I know I have no control over it, and I surely don't understand all of it, but if I were to compare it with any other type of judging I might look at the judging (officiating) being done at high school basketball games.  I know this is a stretch, but sometimes I just want to ask (and I do, loudly) the refs what they're doing out there on the court.  Watching the game doesn't seem to be high on their list.

                                      Can you imagine a basketball ref judging figure skating????

Where's my earplugs and blinders?

Always, I must remember, do not listen, or read/watch any news during the Olympics.  Bill forgets that sometimes, and will say, "did you know that so-and-so placed..." grrrr, no, I didn't know that, and I was trying my darndest to make sure I didn't until I saw it on tv.
Oh, well, that happens, I just wish it didn't happen so often.  I logged on to the internet a few minutes ago to write in my blog, and saw another winner (I won't reveal it here, in case any of you are serious followers).  These two weeks are pretty serious for me.  I just wish I didn't have to go to work, then I could stay home and watch 24/7 (just about, anyway).

The snowboarder you see here is the winner of the snowboard cross event, but I won't tell you who he is, or what country he is from.  Just trying to be fair, in case your as serious as I am.

President's Day

Today is the day I'm starting, again,  my no sugar/candy diet. Or should I say, better way of eating, brand spanking new way of living, give up all your old eating habits diet?  I don't know.  I do know that over this past week I have gained 2 pounds, and I'm not happy about that.  Maybe my system needs to get used to not consuming those massive amounts of sugar.  So that I would not eat last night, I made my 4th little girl's apron, and I'm ready to send them out to my granddaughters.  Bill thought I should try to find a pattern for little Katie, but gee I don't know about an apron for a 3 1/2 month old.  Ashley, do you let Katie help out when you cook?  I will look for something I can make for her, though.  That will be fun.  As for our grandsons, I'm kind of thinking along the lines of Bar-B-Que aprons that the guys put on when they're out at the bar-b-que cooking up the big game.

I'm a Failure!

Even though my blog title says I'm a failure, it's not really my fault.  This one goes on Bill.  I had 3 1/2 days without sugar/candy, and was feeling quite pleased with myself.  I didn't yell at my students, even though some of them deserved it, and I don't think I was a cranky pants, either.
Bill and I went to Las Vegas today to sort of celebrate President's and Valentine's Day in one fell swoop.  We were going to stay overnight, but after we finished shopping, realized we couldn't afford it. (jk)  Anyway, back to what Bill did.  While we were at the Fashion Place mall, we both spent an hour checking out our own favorite stores.  When we met up, he had gone to Godiva Chocolates (yes, I said chocolates), and bless his heart, he bought me a huge chocolate-covered strawberry.  I really didn't want to eat it, since I felt I was on a roll with this anti sugar thing, but I didn't have the heart not to since Bill bought it for me.  I took a bite out of the part that didn't have any chocolate on it, and then gave it to him to finish off.  I really think I have become a bit obsessive about this whole thing.  In the car, I finished off the piece of fruit (and yes, thank you very much, I will call it a piece of fruit, not a delicacy from Godiva Chocolates).  It was pretty good, actually.

 

We finally finished "dinking" around Vegas, and decided to get a bite to eat before we headed home.  We did forget it was a Saturday night, and a holiday to boot, and had a hard time finding a restaurant that didn't require a 2 hour wait.  We went to Macaroni Grill and had a great dinner.  When I got back from the restroom, after we finished eating, in place of my empty plate was dessert!  Bill had ordered (for Valentine's Day)  a Lemon Pound Cake (3-4 small slices) with strawberries. He looked so pleased with himself, so I split the dessert and, again, ate my fruit.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow.  There's also that friend who follows Ashley and Adam's blog (Open Pantry) that is an amazing cook, at least she has amazing recipes.  Tonight I saw one for  Cake Pops/Valentine Bouquets.  Oh my, gotta try that recipe!  I'm baaaack!

3 Days and Counting

Well, I've finally hit the wall (just kidding).  I'm actually proud of myself for getting this far.  I'm on my third day of "no sugar/candy/cake, etc."  Someone told me today that the third day is the hardest.  I guess that's sort of like mile 20 in a marathon, but surprisingly, I'm ok.  I should probably wait until my last class to update you, and make an accounting of the the student heads I've bitten off.  For now, I'm happy to report all is well...

I've been thinking about my blog, and why I post the pictures I do.

• -it's fun to post the pictures I take, or the ones I match up from google.
• I hope it's more fun to read the blog (open for interpretation). 
• The food ones provide a temptation, which in the long run make me stronger ("that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.")

        and finally

•  It's my attempt at a creative outlet. Ha-Ha.  Actually, my blog is nothing compared to everyone else's (Summer-with all your links and music). I won't do Facebook, although I know EVERYONE uses it, so maybe doing a blog is my version of the anti-Facebook...who knows?

36 Hours and Counting...

I know it doesn't sound like much (36 hours without candy/sugar), but let me tell you, it is for me.  I'm not really cranky, yet, so let's just see what happens.  It's lunch time, and I just went to the faculty lounge to heat up my Lean Cuisine Turkey lunch.  I was ok with the Lean Cuisine, it was just the Krispy Creme donuts on the table that killed me.  One of our teachers gets them from his brother, who delivers them to various places around town.  These are the "extras."  Honestly, I usually partake, but you'd be really proud of me today.  I ranted and raved, but in the end, walked out of the lunchroom sans the donut.  Yaaaay!

They even had these heart shapped donuts!

Youth.lds.org

Youth.lds.org is a new site for the youth.  It links to lds.org and is a great youth-centered church site.  I just went there.  Try it!
My students are in the middle of their research/power point presentations, and as 10th graders, they seem to want to be spoon fed every single bit of information.  They don't want to figure things out for themselves.  They also want to be allowed more time to do something they had not done in the first place. Monday, a student asked me for the questions to an assignment he claimed he was absent for (last week).  I did what I don't usually do, which was to give him another chance.  They were due today.  Soooo, today rolled around and he asked me, again, for the questions, because he left the others at his house.  I think he mumbled some lame excuse which was supposed to relieve him of all responsibility.  I just told him he had his chance, he left the work home, and NO, I would not give them to him a third time.  The reason I'm blogging this is for all of you wonderful children (mine) out there with your own children (my grandchildren), please teach them to be responsible for their actions, and if they fail, they fail.  There will be a next time, and hopefully, they will remember what they learned and know how to fix it.
Sorry for the lecture, sometimes I get on my soap box and just let'er rip!

No Sugar!!!

OK, Adam E. (or Ashley, not sure which one responded to my blog) has asked that I attempt to go without sugar (at least until the weekend).  This means approximately 72 hours from now.  I'm going to honestly try.  This morning I had a soft boiled egg, a single piece of toast and oj.  The main problem is, there was sugar in the oj.  Maybe I won't count that.  Anyway, I'm well on my way to 72 hours of no sugar. We'll call this the "zero tolerance sugar" diet, short that it's going to be.  Sounds intriguing...If, and that's a big IF, I can get to the weekend, who knows what I can do.  Oh well, just talk to me Saturday morning, that is if I haven't bit off Bill's head, or anyone near me.
You don't understand what temptations I have in my classroom.  I have a box of Tootsie Roll Pops sitting in my cupboard.  I just may hand them all out to my classes!  How sneaky I am.  I'm even giving up my all time favorite lemon-lime tootsie-roll pop, so that should say something.

It's now been 12 hours since I had that single Valentine M&M.  Watching the clock is not such a good idea.

I just need to verify something about this no-sugar diet:  can it just be "no candy" for this first three days?  I find it very difficult to read all the labels for sugar.  I know candy has sugar, that's a no-brainer, but, I just bought a subway sandwich (no mayo, etc) and diet coke.  In order to get the diet coke down, I need to add fresh lemon, and if there are no fresh lemons, I use lemonade, etc.  There was no lemonade, so I used Orange soda.  Now that could be construed as "sugar", but let's get real, I hate worrying about a teeny bit of sugar (in the soda).  If I've erred, then I have to start all over, and I've only got a few minutes into this diet instead of the 12 hours I mentioned earlier.  Am I rambling? 

A Banana and a Maple Bar

I have just got to do something about this "diet" of mine.  This morning I couldn't decide on what to have for breakfast and didn't have enough time since I had an early morning meeting, so I chose a banana to start my day.  Good, huh?  By the time I got to school, I knew I was going to need something a little more substantial, and needed to get some more water. 

                          My car turned into the Albertson's near school, where I bought the water I needed and a maple bar (which I didn't).  I am a real pushover for maple bars, but it's pretty obvious that in an hour or so (right in the middle of my 10th grade English class), I'm going to crash.  I need more willpower!

Super Bowl

I'm trying my hardest not to watch the Super Bowl, mainly because BYU isn't in it.  Oh yeah, that's right, it's the NFL.  Oh well, , I get my information from the yells emminating from the family room, where Bill is watching the game.  I think he's for the Colts, and they just held the Saints from scoring their first touchdown. Yay, I guess.
I finished my third apron, and I'm not sure which granddaughter is getting this one, since it's smaller than I thought, maybe Maggie.  That just means I only have one more to go (even though I love making them).  Today is the day I told you about yesterday (and if you don't know what day that is, you didn't read my blog yesterday. Totally confusing, I know.  It's been pretty quiet, we went to church, ate, I finished some papers for school, and now I'm just waiting to get into trouble.
The Super Bowl is over, and all is well, at least in New Orleans.  I didn't really care who won, and I found other things to do while it was going on.  I do feel bad for Peyton Manning, but you can't win them all.  Here's a few pictures of future sports hero/rocket scientists:

 

This is the face that could stop a truck, but we love her just the same, if not more!

Never Wash Your Car Before it Rains!

I just have to write this down so I don't forget it.  It has been pretty rainy here in St. George today, and for that matter on and off this past week.  Well, Bill has been wanting to wash our cars, and he thought a great way to do it (and save on water), would be to do it while it is raining.  You have to know Bill, to understand this.  Anyway, he went outside just a bit ago with his soap, water bucket and rags, and proceeded to wash the cars.  I didn't really think he was going to do it, but heck, what did I know?  I haven't been outside to see his work, yet (it's raining) but he claims he got them clean, and the rain is doing the rinsing.  Oh, dear.

13 Years and Counting...

Bill and I have been married for 13 years.  I know our "official" wedding was December 28, 1996, but we were sealed in the Portland Temple on February 7, 1997 (tomorrow) and that's the date we like to celebrate.  Now, what should we do?  It's sort of a rainy, dreary Saturday here in St. George.  I was hoping for better weather, so I could go walking.
BYU is playing UNLV, but the word "playing" might be an overstatement.  They are down 45-18!  UNLV has hit a bazillion 3 pointers, and Bill and I are pretty upset, to say the least.   Enough of the play-by-play, and back to our anniversary.  We decided to take off for Las Vegas next Friday, and stay overnight.  That might be fun, and who knows, we may even see a show...not!  I just love to wander through the places we don't have here, like real malls.  Bill likes his motorcycle and gun shops, so we'll probably get quite a variety of window shopping in.
I just bought some photo paper, and after seeing how easy Erin makes her pictures that she sends off to everyone, I thought I would try it.  It really is easier than I thought.  The only trouble I have is adjusting the size of the photo I want to print.  I'll figure it out somehow.

Halftime over, back to the basketball game.

By the way, don't ask me the final score.

Religion, religion, religion

I'm not trying to be sacriligious, seriously.  I'm having my 10th graders write their research papers on World Religions, and some of their choices are, to say the least, very interesting.  One religion is Baha'i, another is Rastafari (Bob Marley...mari-ju-ana?)  I'm hoping that they actually learn something about RESEARCH, and aren't really influenced by the behaviors of the various "members" of their research topic.  Scientology is on the list, and even though it's not a real religion, the pull of the many celebrities seem to have an influence, such as Tom Cruise, etc.
I'm real tired right now.  I'm home, and I've just finished doing some serious shoe shopping. Not for me...for the grandkids.  I must have looked pretty silly at Dillards with my cell phone in my ear while I grabbed shoe box after shoe box.  I was trying to get a pair for all the grandkids, but they just didn't have enough of the right sizes :(

I'm going to go finish the apron I started (which is a project I began a while ago).  I'll take a picture tonight to show you my efforts, and then, if I have enough time and energy, I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies.  I hope I don't get mixed up and crack the eggs over my Singer sewing machine all the while trying to sew trim around my cookies.  It kind of sounds like I'm a bit too tired to do either one.  Oh well, I'll give it a try.

                                                                                  

I'm Ready for Summer

Just thinking about spring break and where we want to go makes me think of summer.  Our weather has been pretty nice lately, and I've even been able to walk when I get home from school.  I usually walk 2-3 miles, and today it was beautiful outside!  Sorry Summer, Erin, Jenny and Ben and Becca.  We are now transitioning into my very favorite time of the year: Spring.  It smells great (outside), and I just know the leaves on the trees are thinking about budding.  I would really love to try a garden this year, but I'm a bit unsure as to what to plant and when. I used to have a garden, but if I remember correctly, the one in Oregon was about 1/4 acre, and the weeding was ridiculous (right, Jenny, Ben, Becca and Erin?)  Maybe I'll just try tomatoes and cucumbers. 
Happy weather, everyone!

Chinese what?

I don't know how it happened, but someone made a comment to my last blog, and it was mostly all in Chinese characters!  Now tell me, how that can happen?  I hope it's not something weird, because I certainly cannot read Chinese.  Is there anyone out there that can?