Saturday, November 10, 2007
"Man they do all sorts of crazy things in LA"*
At the house of the composer he is working for they have the coolest tree. He says "It is a limon tree!, It grows both lemons and limes." How innovative we think, hmm.
And then I ask him,
"Michael so you were looking at the tree and there were plump, juicy lemons, and hard small green fruits?"
"Yeah, sorry to tell you that those were not limes, just small unripe lemons."
So sad. Maybe by the time we can buy or rent a house there will be limon trees.
*thank you to Kate and Syrah
Friday, November 09, 2007
good reads, or not
This book is ridiculously awful. In the same way that reality tv from E! is awful and yet I still watch it. Anthony Keidis is every guy I hated in high school. So me, I'll continue reading because I cannot stop. But that book is lame. For the record.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
surrogate husband
Tomorrow is a field trip. My first at this school. I would be nervous about this but this day was so stressful and this week was so stressful I feel nothing can top that. I might even convince Bart to chaperone. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
More obvious reasons why I shouldn't post daily
- another horrific day at school 2 assistants out, no calls back from administration, lots of children testing limits due to changes, one incredibly useless sub assistant
- getting back 90% of my Friday field trip permission slips
- PTA babysitting
- dinner in Pasadena with Bill (mmmm, mini sliders and beer, I needed comfort food)
- successfully picking up Bart from Union station in one of those amazing pick-ups where you pull up at the curb and the person walks out of the terminal at the exact same time, then you see the person before you can even hit their number on your speed dial. It is the best
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
in keeping up to standards
Monday, November 05, 2007
Monday Monday
Last night, the boys came over and cooked me dinner. They are the best. I was dragging from the winey brunch and I guess just life in general, but managed to sip some more wine and eat hummus and very spicy avocado and brie and other yummy munchy things. All around an ideal Nancy dinner involving sitting around and talking with friends, good music and picky food all laid out on the coffee table. RT got me Mylittlepony plates and b-day sign and those funky non-noisy making party favors of the expanding paper variety. He planned to get me my little ponies too, to play with. I don't think I have every had one. too girly. and now remembering television commericials of the 80's "and you can even brush her hair.." still so sweet and birthday like. I am still getting birthday presents and that is nice.
This post is very very boring.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
my birthday
Today we got going late and went to "Brunch" with extended family. It was fabulous. The food was delicious. The wine was plentiful. And there was champagne and pumpkin cheesecake for my birthday. Cannot be beat.
Currently I am contemplating a caffeinated beverage, all the work I should be doing for school tomorrow, and the friends that are expected shortly, who have graciously offered to come over and cook me a birthday dinner. Bed is calling but I am sure I will rally.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Day 3 still going
wait wait I still have some photos on my computer from the great external hard drive move of '07
Here is a picture of Michael and his friend Bart at our old place in Cincinnati. I think I have seen this one in an email somewhere titled bedroom eyes.
Friday, November 02, 2007
day 2 late but here
Home and then to San Diego. Lots of fun singing at the top of my lungs in the car. Being made fun of by Michael who continues to criticize my IPOD music (though he did not bring his) and it is my Birfday weekend so he must listen to Elliot Smith and Postal Service and Regina Spektor and anything else depressing and emotive that I desire, interspersed with Beatles, Otis Redding, Aretha, Dire Straits so in reality nothing to complain about.
We have a beautiful hotel room in The Bristol. Fancy shmancy for sure. We spent the evening with my extremely extended family having wine. Extremely extended equaling, cousin in law's once removed that I call Aunt, and Uncle, and second cousins. In short things are very very good, and wine infused. Also, Hurray I actually posted for the second day in a row.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
posting
As for the job, the kids are great, very cute, and snotty (in a nasal drainage sort of way not in an uppity sort of way). From them I received the gift of a horrific stomach virus. Very fast way to lose ten pounds, eat nothing but Gatorade for 4 days, then have a saltine cracker. This will make you very weak and lazy, but bored to tears. If you are me you will be taunted by unopened cans of paint for the living room. You will need to paint at least one wall. This is accomplished by painting 1'x1' sections and then resting on the couch to admire each section for 10 minutes. But then Michael helped me with the other walls.
This is very rambly. This Sunday is my birthday. I am going to San Diego. It will be good. My expectations for good are low. Nice hotel sheets, cable, wine, and sleeping in. I think Michael and Bart will want to go outside the hotel. I may consider this option. Tonight, I am looking forward to some delicious ginger chicken from my favorite Thai place, and drinking one of these gingerades, must be in a ginger mood. Finally, wah my throat is sore.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
new music
Thursday, September 06, 2007
little kids
hmmm yeah, haven't posted in months but Michael said this sounded like a blog post. Today was the first day of school. Buses came about an hour late. I can't decide if this is good or bad. Probably good but I would probably rather just jump in with all the little ones and tread water for awhile.
Spent the summer, visiting, and reading as you can see from my very poorly formatted sidebar.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
claps
Here is the little kid clap I have heard the kindergartners at my school singing. The kids at my school tried to do it in groups of three at warp speed and then someone would inevitably smack someone else in the face and they would get all exasperated and try again.
slow part
ice tea clap clap clap lemonade clap clap clap coca-cola clap clap clap pepsi clap clap clap
double time
ice tea clap clap clap lemonade clap clap clap coca-cola clap clap clap pepsi clap clap clap
say (and do) the following
turn around, touch the ground, kick your boyfriend out of town
Well now that you know I expect you to go out and teach your friends and all the little girls on your block.
I am on summer vacation. No I am not working (in the making money sense). or volunteering, or doing much of anything. And the beautiful thing is I don't plan to. It is lovely. I am being a dork and watching lots of HGtv, and Food Network, and in between times cleaning my house, going out to lunch, and reading lots of books. Are you using GoodReads yet? You should be. I am using it to track books I read and ones people tell me to read. Its working out much better than the little slips of paper I usually use and then lose. I changed my phone number so if you know me and you don't have it send me an email. I may feel more inclined to write here now that I am not exhausted from hauling around small children, or worried about confidentiality issues. Not much confidentiality involved in cleaning floors while watching Hey Paula!, wow that's a trainwreck. If you need clarity in your own life. Someone to reassure you that life is not bad; 10 minutes of that show will make you feel like the most normal, most sane person on Earth.
This is my first week off. I foresee more time at the beach and I hope for more wine in the future.
Wine tastings anyone? Anyone in this case being Amy.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I am deep.
on House
every week someone vomits/spews blood and the smartypants dr's call for help
on ER
they actually (or in a pretend tele drama way) help the people while calling for help instead of going straight to commercial to clean up the corn syrup and red dye.
I am brilliant and this is the sum total of my postings over a month. bah.
other stuff.
school is almost over-have I actually taught anything?
I still need to complete my online class, I hope that I am not too late in my procrastinating way
I spent 3 days of spring break in Palm Springs. It was lovely and warm and I got tan (for me) while wearing 5ospf by the pool applied hourly)
While sitting by the pool I studied (or at least practiced high school math) by the pool for the CBEST
I really hope I passed. The test is not nearly as bad as sitting in a high school desk for 3 hours. I am old and sore. That makes me stiff.
I am going to Wildwood with my family this summer. Hurray for a baby niece and nephew and east coast beaches with murky water and waves that don't threaten my life.
oh and probably lots of other things, Michael's new business, his graduation and internship.
I can't stop moving furniture around, or searching for homes/apartments I can't afford on Craig's list.
miss me?
I am deep.
on House
very week someone vomits/spews blood and the smartypants dr's call for help
on ER
they actually (or in a pretend tele drama way) help the people while calling for help instead of going straight to commercial to clean up the corn syrup and red dye.
I am brilliant and this is the sum total of my postings over a month. bah.
other stuff.
school is almost over-have I actually taught anything?
I still need to complete my online class, I hope that I am not too late in my procrastinating way
I spent 3 days of spring break in palm springs. It was lovely and warm and I got tan (for me) while wearing 5ospf by the pool applied hourly)
While sitting by the pool I studied (or at least practiced elementary high school math) by the pool for the CBEST
I really hope I passed. The test is not nearly as bad as sitting in a high school desk for 3 hours. I am old and sore. That makes me stiff.
I am going to Wildwood with my family this summer. Hurray for a baby neice and nephew and east coast beaches with murky water and waves that don't threaten my life.
oh and probably lots of other things, Michael's new business, his graduation and internship.
I can't stop moving furniture around, or searching for homes/apartments I can't afford on Craig's list.
miss me?
Friday, March 02, 2007
my job
examples:
"So I walked out onto the playground today and..."
Also I say many stupid things...(seriously more than usual)
ABC's the remix
ABCDEFG (Suzy, turn around and sit down) HIJKLMN (warning # 2 at #3 you have a time out) OPQ RST UVW XYZ. --did anyone notice the first typing of this where I missed the letters U and V. whew. Its tough mastering this academic content. Especially when you change the meter of the ABC's for someone as rhythmically challenged as I am.
We do this weird OCR clapping version where you clap after the G, N and then Q, T,X and Z to avoid the old elemenopee conundrum.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
impressed you say?
hmmm.
nothing.
wait some magazines --
O-thanks to Amy
Some free copies of Body & Soul
some random articles in
Electronic Musician, ReMix, Mix
and the ever classy Hollywood Life also free
as well as the ubiquitous...blogs.
Yeah, I am so smart S-M-R-T. But it is okay because Michael loves me. He went to the school library today to try to get a copy of In Cold Blood (misshelved, no luck) and The Jungle (both misshelved, no luck) (and yes, I read those two also), and while he was there he picked up books for me. Little Women and My Enemy, My Love:Women, Masculinity and the Dilemmas of Gender. This selection is very perfectly me. A nice reread and a smart person piece of non-fiction. However it also paints me as a very confused girl who will once again be crying over Beth's death scene while pondering the "Dilemmas of Gender".
And Michael got Uncle Tom's Cabin because he's apparently spurred onward by the reading bug and catching up on classics.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
books meme
Anyway here are Krissa's instructions.
Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole (I've got books I've READ that I wish I had used a 10 foot pole to avoid, thus they are both BOLD and STRICKEN, -KC), put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.
I am adding that this list seems very random to me. Keep in mind that I read most of the books I will deem smart people books when I was forced to for smart people English class in high school before they decided I was not smart enough and no longer ivy leauguey enough for their ranks (do you think it was the use of the rogue -y to make things descriptive? I wish I did that in my papers then) Many times I reread the good ones for actual enjoyment because I am strange that way. Also I don't really own any books. This seems strange when I think of how my tall bookshelf overflows. However, it is full of textbooks, art books, and Michael's scores. Also, I am a library girl at heart but when I do buy books I enjoy I pass them on because I want everyone I know to read it too. Also my ten foot pole rule gets broken if I am stuck in a house with no other reading material. Then I would read anything printed.
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
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)
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)
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) read it with the U.S. title Sorcerer's Stone
17.
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.
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
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) tried once never finished, gave up
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)
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)
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Welcome to the new 2007 version of getting to know your friends. Who writes this crap? What you
are supposed to do is copy, (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it
onto a new e-mail that you'll send. Change all the answers so they apply to
you, and then send it to a bunch of people including the person who sent it
to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your
friends, that you may not already know about them. Because you obviously don't have time to actually call or send a real email you are too busy answering forwarded surveys. Inquiring minds want to know what is your favorite color, ice cream, puppy? It definitely reminds me of conversations had with Kindergartners. Except with Matt there is more cursing (not more than some of my student's but a little more). In several instances I am lazy and just decided to agree with Kate.
1. What time did you get up this morning? alarm 5:30am reset for 6:30 I think but instead I reset the time. wake up at 6:30am and see the clock says 7:30am fling off the covers, leap out of bed, turn on the light blinding Michaela and curse about being late. Notice it is very dark. Run down the hall and into the kitchen...it is 6:35. sleep in until 6:45am
I am nothing if not lengthy.
>2. Diamonds or Pearls? Neither
>3. What was the last film you saw at the Cinema? Children of Men
>8. What foods do you dislike? weird texture things, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, cream of wheat, grits etc.
>9. Your favorite potato chip? Herr's... clearly no Herr's near me, Now I eat Lay's or Pringles
>10. Favorite CD you've listened to lately? a mix of KCRW stuff made by a friend very cool...ask me for a copy
>11. What kind of car do you drive? 98 honda civic
>12. Favorite sandwich? avocado
>13. What characteristics do you despise? extreme social awkwardness even after many get to know you type meetings. but I can't really say I despise this it just irritates me
>14. What are your favorite clothes? comfy jeans and long sleeve t-shirts (w/ fashion sneakers that have velcro, and offer no actual support like my rocket dogs)
>15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where WOULDN'T you go? Antartica
>16. Favorite brand of clothing? things that fit (even after the washer and dryer)
>19. Where were you born? havertown
>20. What is your favorite sport to watch? meh, competitive cooking shows? Iron Chef anyone?
>21. Who do you think will not send this back? this is a blog, maybe someone desperately bored will answer in the comments.
>24. Beaver or Ducks? Duck, Goose... i don't get it (I'm with Kate here, and I'll add that I did play a stellar round of duck duck goose today)
>25. Are you a morning person or night owl? neither...can I be an afternoon person. I never want to get up at 6am but I do for work, then I fall asleep on the couch when I try to watch a movie that goes past 9:30pm
>26. Pedicure or Manicure? both
>27. Any new & exciting news you'd like to share? I think I am full of new and exciting from last year. Now I am ready for regular.
>28. What did you want to be when you were little? a doctor, or an artist (but secretly a teacher, I just thought it was lame cause that was the only profession you saw everyday)
>31. Ever been to Africa ? No
>32. Ever been out toilet papering? No (when I read this on Matt's I thought it said Ever been out of toilet paper and I think that is a no too)
>33. Been in a car accident? one, if you don't count when I scrape the side of my car against the house or fence trying to get it out of my very very narrow driveway
>34. Favorite Restaurants? I love restaurants. No favorite here yet, but there are so many we just keep trying new places.
>35. Favorite Flowers? blue hydrangeas
>36. Favorite Ice Cream? I like sorbets
>37. Favorite Fast Food Restaurant? Chipotle
>38. How many times did you fail your drivers test? None
>39. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Kate
>40. What store would you choose to max out your credit card? credit cards make me nervous. also I hate shopping at just one store how about Amazon I think they have everything
>41. Mountains or Ocean? Ocean but the beauty of California is that you can be at both
> 44. How many tattoos do you have? none
>45. How many people are you sending this to? sending it to family, narcissistically posting on my blog for lack of actual content
>46. What time did you finish this e-mail? 6:47pm
>47. Favorite magazine? I love magazines. No current favorite but have started receiving all sorts for free Body + Soul (some sort of Martha Stewart thing), Spin (I don't know any new bands, it is boring to read about music you haven't heard, Hollywood Life (this is the most ridiculous magazine ever. it is like a magazine version of E!) also lots of ridiculous michael magazines like electronic musician etc.
>48. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be? Maya Angelou, I like this choice Kate, thanks

