HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY!

to Michael!
I hope it is a very happy one!
love-nancy
p.s. If you know this man, and you are currently living in Cincinnati, stop by and wish him a happy birthday. (there will be drinks and lovely appetizers)

first day of school =

• the drenching northern remnants of Hurricane Katrina
• almost slipping on puddles in the hallway and killing myself x2
• one 1st grader that says "my head feels itchy" which means one frantic trip to the nurses office to rule out lice (no lice Yay! [so far])
• one pukey 2nd grader
• one bloody nosed 2nd grader (who was so good she quietly held one hand over her nose while she kept the other raised...waiting for the teachers to finish a lecture on demerits [can you believe they give demerits in 2nd grade? no?, me neither])
• one teary 2nd grader who thought she lost her lunch money (really she just left her lunch [in its cute pink translucent glittery plastic box] in a different room.
  
• ~10 4th and 5th graders standing in the hallway cause they already got in trouble enough to miss (indoor) recess

Elementary school is funny.
Little kids ask me to do things like open their milk and tie their shoes. They think I am an adult here. When I walked into a kindergarten class and offhandedly said "So how's kindergarten?" to no one in particular, a chorus of little voices chimed "Good!"
Mostly today we practiced how to be at school. It seems hard, all this sitting still, and raising your hand, and walking in lines, and finding the right bus. I wouldn't want to do it.
I am spending an inordinate amount of time drawing, cutting, pasting and laminating things. velcro has become a very important substance in my life. (would you say velcro is a substance?, or a fabric?, or something else entirely)
things should get easier as the little guys learn how to be at school for a WHOLE day.
And when I figure out exactly what it is I am supposed to be doing there.

one year old

this seems weird, but I thought I would mention that my blog is one year old today.

more importantly my nephew is one year and one month old today.

me and mosquitoes

I went outside for less than 10 minutes last night and I have 10 mosquito bites to show for it. I look like a leper. Seriously, I don't understand why this happens to me. I was outside with two little kids and a baby. They don't have any mosquito bites. Today I feel like the tank top I am wearing is obscene if only because it showcases 5 lovely welts on my back.

In other news I have read a bunch of new books lately and I promise to update my xanga to show you which ones.

michael needs me to be a responsible type adult now and go grocery shopping, with a list and everything.

commute

I don't think I resent my commute, as much as I resent the fact that I drive 30minutes + in each direction each day to a job for which I don't get paid. whatever.

I also can't get over the fact that I need to drive into kentucky and back out of kentucky to get there. yes I have looked at the map and I understand the river curves here, but it still bothers me.
see.

technology

how bad is it that I am sitting in the living room, and michael is in the office, and I just sent him an email? beats yelling into the other room over the music, and it did have a link...

bucket hat

There are all sorts of things I could write about including the week Michael and I spent driving all over creation with intermittent family visits, booking the place for our wedding next year, teacher orientation and so many more little, ridiculous things.
But really all I want to say is I woke up this morning, and I really wanted a white bucket hat with the rim that is a red visor. I know I remember these from my childhood either at the Jersey shore or maybe in the Dutch Wonderland Castle giftshop. Anyway, I can't find one online to show you so if you see a picture, send it my way.

checking in

to say.
sorry sorry, I will write for real soon.
I have about 16 things to say and at least two new recipes.
hope I remember some of them when I have a minute to sit down and write.
until then here is the preview

recipes: zucchini for noodles lasagna
some type of paella/creole/blackbean and rice dish with shrimps and oddly enough soy chorizo (no really its good!)

things:

• movies (elf, yes really, donnie brasco, basquiat)
  
• more wine with the girls (or drink-aid, my ghetto Kool-Aid)
  
• wedding plans extravaganza (and the ease that will be brought to my life if I actually book a place on the first attempt)
  
• lots of new books(Anne Lamott, cookbooks, and finally finished Love in the Time of Cholera and it took me so long to finish I think I forgot the beginning)
  
• and hurray for the ipod mini (so sad I will be eating ramen noodles for the next year to make up for it)

question for the next year so keep it coming: What songs do you like to dance to? What songs make your ears bleed? I need to start creating the compilation CD's for the wedding and no worries the obvious horrors (chicken dance, macarena, electric slide) will be eliminated as will Celebrate! much to michael's dismay (because I am positive he put it on a mix tape for me before we were even really "going out". ah, remember mix tapes?)