Missing My Man

I've been wanting to do something with my front yard for a lonnnnnngggggggg time.  I want to create a Japenese type rock and sand garden around the big oak and the crappy little garden that surrounds the mailbox.  Nothing wants to grow in the soil around the mailbox, and the front grass area around the tree is sparse---so I say it's time to kill the grass and put in some rock, sand, and maybe a little cement bridge.
All peaceful and serene looking.  That's what is in my head---just don't know how to put it into reality.

So I've been perusing Japenese Rock Garden pictures on the web.  I get all excited about the possibilities, but I know there will be a lot of hauling of rock etc.  That's where Wayne comes in---but for some reason he is not to be found when I'm in the throes of my rock garden passion!!  (Generally, he's not to be found any time I get out the honey-do list!)  If he would only love what I love, our yard would look MAGNIFICENT!

So here are a couple of pics that inspire me with ideas:

So tell me what you think......And remember, my plan will be very simple--nothing as elaborate as some of these pictures.

P.S.  I still can't find Wayne---where is that MAN!!!!





My Second Career

So as I was biking with Patty this weekend, I was sharing with her a reading promotion that I am running with my students at Liberty Middle.  She liked the idea and I told her I was thinking of sharing it with a Library Journal and was wondering if they payed for that type of article. 

I've been thinking about writing for some time now.  Always wanted to write a book---but that's a grueling process and I'm not sure I'm talented enough to do it.  I'm a great starter, not a great finisher.  And I don't think you get paid for just starting.

But I have really enjoyed blogging--and short articles are within my reach.  So Patty was sharing with me that she had just read about people making money off of their blogs.  Hmmmmm......

So would you guys pay money to read my blog????  I'd only need you and few more thousand people to find it of interest to make this a workable plan!

So let me know what you think!!!

Not So Perfect Saturday

Didn't want any of you to think that all of my days were like Friday.  The beauty of that day didn't last even through the weekend!!

Got a call from David at midnight---to tell me he had just hit a deer. 

Gotta love those late night calls!

He and Brittney were fine, the deer and car were not.  The deer was dead, the car was drivable.  He was supposed to be the sober driver for his frat until about 4:00 am, but that was cut short.

 I'm still waiting for David to call me this morning with more of the details and to see if he needs to get the car repaired.  Hoping the car had only external injuries that don't have to be repaired.  Every guy needs to drive around in a beater at least once in his life.

Getting that midnight call didn't do anything for my sleep but getting an early morning call from my psychic (psycho) sister telling me she had a premonition about my son was even more disturbing.  IMAGINE if I hadn't got a call from David, and here she was calling to tell me she had a premonition about him.  Only my sister would think that was FUNNY!

I am finding Facebook more and more disturbing.  It allows way too many people (especially my sister) access to what is going on in other people's lives.  Such access for my sister is a danger to the world!

Be forewarned!  Ya might want to unfriend her!

More Reasons to Retire NOW

Yesterday was a perfect day and one more reason I need to retire NOW!!  It was a Friday, everyone else was in school, and I was not (due to a tiring week of Parent/Teacher conferences).

The weather was PERFECT! About 70 degrees and no wind.  All morning I worked outside on my yard-- got mowing, raking, and reseeding done on my front yard and a few other items done around the back yard.  Then it was off to lunch with Perfect Patty and on to a gorgeous bike ride through Shawnee Mission Park.  BEAUTIFUL day for a bike ride! 

Then it was time for an ice-cream break at McDs.

The evening finished off with a trip to the Improv for an evening with the comedians.  Enjoyed all three, although the poor white trash red-neck was my favorite---go figure.  Enjoyed the company of Patty and Wayne Dailey too.

I definitely need to retire NOW so I can enjoy more days like yesterday!!

Beware of Yee Old Reading Glasses

One of the first markers of middle age is having to buy reading glasses. I succumbed at the early age of 40 while Wayne held out until his 50s.

Reading glasses have made our middle age bearable as we are both voracious readers.  But I do think there should be a warning label attached to all readers.

Let me explain.........

Wayne and I were down to one car this week as the clutch went out on his car (it is middleaged too--for a car).  So Wayne was having to drive me to work and pick me up and tote me to my dental appointment.   When I came out of the dental office and glanced at Wayne, I thought he looked a little funny.  The tip of his nose looked red.  When I got closer, it looked like he had a bruise or something. I wondered if he was getting a cold sore on the tip of his nose.  When I asked him about it---not wanting to make him self-conscious or anything----he said he had noticed it too.  But it wasn't a cold sore and it didn't hurt him at all.  It was a really strange mark.  Just the ball of his nose and a little streak of purply/brown running upward.  (So has he become a secret tipler?????)

Now we come to the part about the reading glasses.  Wayne thinks the bulb of his nose was sunburned!! The day before, he was sitting outside on the back deck and then on the front porch while reading a book.  He thinks the glasses intensified the suns rays in such a way that only that area of his nose got burned.

Thus the need for a warning on all reading glasses:   "Not to be used in direct sun as the lenses may focus the sun and cause severe sunburn to odd parts of your body".

I'll let you all know when his nose starts to peel.   Then we'll know if his hypothesis is correct (or if he's just hiding a drinking problem :)

Picture Perfect

Hayley and Kate were over at the house on Saturday and it is amazing how friendly the neighbors get when Hayley is visiting.  Pete and Laura wanted to take Hayley out for icecream before Kate and Hayley headed out for the evening. 

Folks it was 50 degrees out there and they wanted to go to the outdoor Sheridan's ice cream stand!!!  I don't think so!!!  Not when I know Wayne is hoarding some mint chocolate chip ice cream in the downstairs freezer!!  So we talked Pete and Laura into staying for ice cream at our house.

While slurping up the cream, I noticed the package of school photos that I had thrown on the side table.  Every year I come home with the old school picture package.  Laura and Pete couldn't believe I had them.  They asked if I had actually PAID for them!!!  Losers!  Of course I don't pay for them!  They're free for teachers.  Then they had the audacity to say they couldn't believe I even sat for them.......like I had a choice!!!  We even have to take an all faculty picture!!!  Talk about a waste of film.

To add insult to injury they started laughing and suggested that someone should buy me a frame like the kiddos where I could put my picture each year so everyone could see the progression of my aging!!!!

I'm so glad that I hadn't thrown the package of pictures away yet--as I usually do each year.  Cause paybacks are a bitch. 

I will have the last laugh!

Couples Weekend with the Queen B

Ah, the annual card-playing couples weekend.....This year we went to Mahoney State Park near Ashland, Nebraska.  Great place and great company. 

Wayne and I hitched a ride with the Dailey's - always an adventure!  Riding three hours with 2 Waynes in the car can be a little challenging, but that is nothing compared to riding with Patty who has a penchant for multi-tasking.  At one point she was tooling down the highway, driving with her knee cause both her hands were involved elsewhere!  She even had time to enjoy the scenery along the way.

It was a beautiful day to drive to Nebraska.  By the time we got to the State Park, Patty was a little tired of the backseat drivers (the Waynes) who were also using a GPS device that kept telling Patty to turn around cause she wasn't taking the GPS's advised route.  So upon arriving at the check in booth, Patty responded to the ranger's greeting, of "How are you doing today", with the response, "Pretty good except for the back seat drivers and having to listen to the Queen Bitch". 

Both rangers roared with laughter.  I thought it was funny too, until I realized that they didn't know the GPS's nickname was the Queen Bitch.  That was when I understood that they thought  I WAS THE QUEEN BITCH! 

Patty drove away before I could set the record straight!  And to think I had handed over MY $10.00 to pay the state park car fee.  Not fair!!!

There were many more laughs to come during the weekend.  We checked out the digs which were great!  I'd recommend Mahoney State Park to anyone wanting a great get-away.  We had a fully furnished cabin that slept 10 people.  Four of us couples had our own rooms with king-sized beds.  Unfortunately, the Heutons--being the nubies to our couples weekend--got the cot and pullout couch.  They were great sports though!

We all played cards, ate good food, went to the Omaha zoo, checked out old town Omaha, ate ice cream, enjoyed a melodrama, hiked around the state park grounds, some of the girls rode horseback, and we all visited the Arbor Day Farm on the way back to KC--once more enjoying some icecream while adding apple pie to the mix :)

I'm thinking we need more weekends like this.  Laughter is great medicine!

Hey,  where are we going next year?????