Kindergarten, church, and new friends

Today was my read-aloud-to-a-really-squirmy-kindergarten-class day. I mentioned last spring that I started covering for a person who for whatever reason couldn't do it anymore. It's only twice a month so I said yes when I was asked to do it again. The person in charge of coordinating the whole thing told me they always have a hard time finding people who are willing to read to the younger classes. I sort of expect kids to act squirmy so it's not a big deal for me to read for 20 minutes if it helps out the always thankful looking teacher and librarian. They call me Miss Angel, which I've told you guys, makes me blush. There's usually some one's shoes to retie, a lot of hands raised to use the bathroom, giggling, poking, pinching, and every once in while someone will yell back at one of the voices I'm using for the book characters.(Yes, I told you guys, I do the voices. They like it and it keeps their attention! I had to do mean pirate voices this time.) Today there was a lot of shushing but not on my part. Two boys had to be separated because they are BFF and get into trouble whenever they sit together. By the middle of the second book I noticed them inching towards each other and giggling. I know I'm supposed discourage them when they don't listen to the librarian, but I can't help it. They make me laugh. One girl in blond pigtails asked to use the bathroom. Suddenly the whole class had to use the bathroom. The librarian said no so I had to say no too. I felt a little bad about that. By the end of my last book one of my kids interrupted to ask me if I knew how to make puke noises. I said,"Of course." I did refuse to make fart noises.(I mean I have to draw the line somewhere.)This caused a huge ruckus of giggling and the librarian told them all we had to hurry up so that they would have time to check out their own books before their teacher came back. I really should be more strict with my kids because I can tell the librarian thinks we're too rambunctious but I like them that way. I want them to enjoy their time with me. I love reading and when I was kid I loved having books read to me. I hope that my being there, making it fun and not so structured for them will somehow teach them that books can be just as entertaining as video games and silly cartoons.


I got to be in a parade at my church. Well it wasn't really a parade, it was more of a procession. There were about 70 of us and we each had to to hold a sign of a particular ministry we were representing as we walked down the aisle to music for 2 different services. My sign was "weekend renewal." I'm glad no one asked me about it because I wouldn't have known a thing to say since I didn't know anything nor have I ever participated in the "weekend renewal" . Up until five minutes before I was assigned that particular sign I didn't even know we had a "weekend renewal". I only said yes I would do it because a new friend of mine was holding a sign too and we wanted to be in the parade together. And yes I did enjoy the attention. I tried to hold it "Price is Right" style. I'm expecting any day now to be told how my involvement was so impressive that thousands of people signed up for "weekend renewal" and that it was the largest fundraising in history. Yup.

Speaking of my new friend, don't you just love meeting a kindred spirit? I met a really funny woman who totally gets my silliness. I knew we would be friends when I saw her at my book club with her leg propped up on another chair because she had an ankle brace on. Over the ankle brace were some really cute high heels. She knows what's up. That is totally something I would do and you guys know how I feel about shoes. I said to myself, my kind of woman, we are totally going to be BFF.

I'm sorry guys! I should've said something sooner

I got a few emails asking if I was ok. Well yes I'm ok. I'm not going to say I've been too busy, I hate when people say that. I've just been having a summer: we went on vacation again and I got a couple sinus infections and doing my volunteering things and trying to work out more and my best friendforever came in town so we had to gallivant and I had to catch up reading for my book club and I started taking a class and also I was anxious about some Doc appointments that I had to get mentally prepared for with routine bloodwork and I've been trying to start painting again-that took up alot of mental energy and Peanut got sick so...it sounds like I've been too busy but I wasn't. I just took a break from the internets and the bloggings and all that stuffs. Sorry. I've missed you guys.

Oh I left out the shark teeth expeditions. Yeah. There haven't really been any big storms so I don't really have anything to gloat about but there's been a lot of that going on. The search is just as good as the find I think.

BUT! I do have something else I can gloat about. MY DOCTOR SAYS I CAN HAVE A BABY ANYTIME I WANT TO NOW! HA! Don't expect any announcements about it for a while. We have a few things to do before I can think about that. I can still tell you guys how ecstatic I am about that possibility though can't I? Why yes I can. I've been gone so long I forgot I can say whatever the hell I want to. And let me just say that was the best news ever. Usually I'm always getting crappy news from her so this time I was able to leave with happy tears not sad tears. I wasn't even expecting any kind of news since it was my routine visit. But things were looking so good, she said I don't have to do any body scans for a while and that all was safe. Ok I'll just admit right now that I've been sitting here trying to think of something more to say about this topic but I can't cuz all I can do when I think about is giggle.

OK!? Are we still friends then? Cuz I feel a little guilty that I've neglected my blogpeeps. Say yes or cuss me out. It's ok.

More pix from my trip

I'm probably boring everyone with my vacation pix but I don't care. This isn't even the rest. I have a few more for next time so just deal with me for a couple more posts. ok . Ahem. Where was I? Oh right. Ok so here's a picture of a crab on a tree. Nothing special but I'm learning how to use my camera for close shots and he looked like a willing model.

This was where the inlet let out. There were people swimming but I wouldn't dare. The water is pretty murky and like I said before there are definitely some sharks and I wouldn't be surprised to see an alligator.

<

<

Rare photo of Mr.Pea. He never lets me take his picture so when he's in a generous mood, I have to take advantage of the oppurtunity.

Again I was experimenting with the close up functions.

This would make for a good drawing I think.

I noticed this sign telling everyone what was not allowed on the beach and at first I was happy about it until I saw this! And I'm not quite sure what this park had against my Peanut but apparently he's not allowed nor are any other Jack Russel Terriers. How dare they discriminate against my Peanut!

I took this while on my morning walk. MrPea was still sleeping so I put on my shorts and went for some excersize.

This was taken on Sanibel Island. There was a seaweed bloom so the water wasn't as clear as it usually is but MrPea was trying to find some shark teeth for me. No luck. I did find a couple in Naples but that was it. I did find out the name of an island where I could go next time to find some for sure but I'm not telling anyone the name unless they live in Florida.

A storm was coming on as the sun was setting so of course I had to get some more practice with my camera. Not too bad huh?(This was my birthday btw)

Our view was pretty great. We ate breakfast on our balcony every morning. We're going back to the same place in September and it's all we both talk about lately.

Dear Gucci Sunglasses:The sequel

Dear Former Object of Desire: Gucci Sunglasses Model Number 2933,

Remember Me? Remember how I loved you, longed for you, yearned for you, waited for you? Remember how I could never pass you by without trying you on in the hopes that we might someday be together? Remember how I begged for you to go on sale so that we might make accessory magic together? Or did you forget? You must have because you never went on sale, you never went below the $200.oo I begged you to do. You couldn't have done it just for me could you? 2 years I waited, former beloved! 2. effin. years! See how patient I was? But no you still have to stay up there don't you? $207?! That's the best you could do for a girl who loved you so much?(yes, you read that right, love-d) You thought you could tease me like that and get away with it? Did you not believe me when I said I refuse to pay more than $200.00? Were you toying with me? Did you think you could break me? Did you think you could make me give in for a mere $7.00 over my ultimatum(plus shipping-don't forget that!) price? You have mistaken me for someone who likes to be played with, Beautiful but not infallible Gucci Sunglasses! Because guess what! There's a new love in my life. And his name is Jimmy Choo.


Yes. What did you say? Speak up louder hunny. Oh you're saying that $195 on Amazon isn't that much better than your lame sale price? Well guess what else, former love of my life. I picked these up for $109.00! Yes I did. I took him home with me and we're very happy together. And just to make it sting a little more, I found him in the same store I met you.....don't cry. Oh you're begging me now, how sweet. Well it's been fun being led on and teased by you for these last couple years, but I've moved on. Now if you think you can match my Jimmy, we'll talk. But until then you can watch me walk away from you with my newer and cuter sunglasses and think about what could have been. No regrets. You can't say I didn't warn you.

Good Riddance,

Angel/Queen of patience and bargain shopping


PS Jimmy Choo also has better shoes than you too. Just thought you should know....

So I finally figured out how to upload pix from my new camera

Sorry I've been away so long. It took me a while to readjust after coming home. Peanut had an eye infection so I had to take him to the doctor. I was also trying to learn how to use my camera a bit more. Anyway, here are a few pix:


This was the view from our balcony. Not bad huh? See how there was a waterway between us and the beach? The coolest thing about it was this was all protected so you have to walk through all that via a half mile long walk way. Or you could take the golf cart shuttle the hotel provided but I prefered to walk...more on that later.

This is what it looks like when you actually get there. What I like best about this beach is that there were only a few people there! If you look closely you'll see where sea turtle nests have been marked for protection and you know I was happy about that. This was the view looking north.

Just cuz I like things nicely balanced, this was the view looking to the south. And again my favorite thing about this beach was that it was empty. Some people don't mind crowds and noise on the beach but I like the quiet.

<

This is the walkway I mentioned. It was aproximatly 3/5ths of a mile or .6mile through a mangrove forest and over a bridge but I'll have to show you that later. The bottom is made of recycled material. It was slippery that day because there was a storm the night we arrived.

Mr.Pea prefered the golf cart shuttle but I made him walk that time because I wanted to take it all in. Does he look sad and pitiful to have such a bossy wife? Actually in the mornings, he slept in and I would wake up early and go walking. There were more than a few people jogging and power walking. To me this is even better than jogging on the beach. I find it absolutely impossible to jog on the beach. I just can't. I can't imagine walking around on a beach without looking for shark teeth, it would be a complete waste of time. Ok honestly, it would be torture.

I spotted this White Heron fishing when we got to the bridge so it was a good oppurtunity to practice my 'skills' with my new camera. I just realised I probably should taken a picture of the bridge to give ya'll a better idea but I wasn't thinking about this blog at the time....

This was the view(north) as we crossed the bridge and you can see someone had a good idea and brought a kayak. I would be too scared since I am absolutely certain there are sharks in that waterway and very possibly alligators. This is usually where young sharks live since it's safe. Actually we called waterways like this "shark nurseries" in my Marine Biology class. And if there are baby sharks in there, it mean Momma sharks are in there birthing them or whatever they call it. You know what I mean. I don't remember what time of year they do this but still, I know they're there. Waiting for my leg. I imagine I'm missing out on a lot of good teeth but I'll stay alive a little while longer thank you very much.

<

Oh! And I almost forgot. If you click on this pic and look really close at the pink thing on the right, it's a flamingo! It was the only one I saw. I have more pix but I'll post them tomorow.

Today's my birthday!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

My view!

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required.

Off to Naples

(The Florida one not the Italian one)

I woke up early to drop Peanut off at his "camp" and I might as well have just took a knife and stabbed myself in the heart. He didn't seem to care about being separated from me it which was actually what I was hoping for but still..... Oh well. It's a nice place, despite the fact that it costs a damn fortune, and they have dog cams so I'll be able to check on him while I'm gone. Still though. Next time I'm going to bring him with us.

Anyway, I'll be gone for a few days. Tuesday is my birthday btw. I'll be 33. Lots of pix when I get home.

Again I have no title for this post but does it really need one? Does everything in the world need a title? I think not.

I finally got over what was the worst sinus infection I ever had. There's nothing worse than being sick when it's over 90 degrees outside. Normally I grin and bear it through something like that but this was really a nasty one. One day during the peak of the worst, I was in the middle of merely making a sandwich and got exhausted just from that. I won't go anywhere near anyone who even has barely a sniffle right now. MrPea's and my trip is coming up in a few days and it's been so long since we went away together, I don't want anything to ruin it.

I thought about posting a few more pix from my trip but I'm sure ya'll aren't interested as you can pretty much guess from my last post what my trip consisted of:two silly sisters and three little boys under their sometimes questionable influence. I'm hoping to try to get back up there around Halloween.

In the mean time, my birthday present(!) arrived early(Thank you MrPea, I couldn't be happier!) so I've been trying to learn all the bells and whistles. Eventually I'll get a strong zoom lens when I begin to figure out how it all works. The basic auto stuff was pretty self explanatory but I didn't know what the hell an aperture was or what a macro lens was for and what ISO stood for but I'm having fun with it. Peanut has been my study subject matter and I'm sure he'll be happy when I start pointing that camera towards something else.

Speaking of Peanut, he has an appointment tomorrow morning at a Pet Day Care since I have no one to take care of him while we're gone. We need to take a look at the place he'll be staying and I want to make sure that he'll be comfortable and well taken care of there. It will also be a good time for them to observe his behavior around other dogs so they'll know what to expect and what kind of dogs he's compatible with during playtime. He's not a fighter but sometimes a humper so hopefully they won't hold that against him. Our ex roommates had a Yorkie who easily put him in his place when he tried to put the moves on her so I'm sure he'll behave once he figures out that the ladies don't like to be treated the way he treats his 'bear'. My standard reply to people who get surprised over the fact that he is actually neutered is usually,"Well he is a man."

Home Sweet Home

I had a good time. I miss my nephews and my sis. This picture pretty much sums up my trip and looking at it kind of breaks my heart. I'm not sure why fate saw fit to place these people so far away from me.

My flight was delayed last night so I got in really late. I also caught some kind of head cold which seems to always happen when I travel but oh well. MrPea and I were supposed to go on our own trip this week but we decided to go the week of my birthday instead. Until then I'll be nursing my cold and catching up on my sleep.

Just a few things before I leave on Sat

-I found a Power Ranger Tshirt size 5T. It's a size too big but I had to go on a damn oddessy to find it so that baby is going to have to just wear it anyway. I got souvenir tees for the older two but the little one said he likes Power Rangers so I had no choice. I went everywhere. Two different Targets-no Power Rangers. Walmart-nothing. Bealls-nope. Kohl's-uh uh. Kmart-nyet. Finally I broke down and went to the mall. Luckily, I found a Disney store and they had some. Crisis avoided. Go Power Rangers!

-The Disney Store. Um. Yeah. If you haven't had kids yet and were even contemplating the idea of pushing one out, don't go there. And for the record I feel sorry for/hold the utmost admiration for anyone who is so cursed as to have to bring a child there and doesn't end up in a straight jacket. The employees seem to know the inner demons that will be unleashed in kids upon stepping foot into that store and take advantage of it. I saw one following a poor mother around making all kinds of suggestions while the woman, who BTW was clearly on the verge of some kind of emotional breakdown, just said, "yes yes we'll get those honey," just so her kid would calm down. Yep. It's not going to be a destination for the Pea Family when I push one out. I said it. Write it down.

-The baby birds are gone. Should I be worried about that? I mean they were getting bigger and all but I can't believe they would be big enough to just fly away. Is it possible that the mother moved them to a different nest? Does that happen? Please don't say a cat got them. I mean I know it's a possibility but it would be hard for me to believe since no one in my building owns a cat and I doubt any stray would have found them. Plus I'll be heartbroken so I'll have to pretend they didn't like the noise and just moved. The nest is still there in perfect condition. I'm going to have to investigate. Their location was at the LadyNextDoorWhoHatesMe's front doorway so it's going to be hard for me to get some answers from her. I better not find out that she did something like complain about them living in her wreath.

-My trip(s)! My trip(s)! My nephews don't even know I'm coming. I don't know how my sister and I kept this secret for 3 weeks without slipping, but we have. I think she's planning to load them into the car by saying, it's a nice day, let's go for a drive. Oh man, they're all going to get pinched on the belly. One by one. MrPea's and my trip South was postponed until my birthday so I'll be home Wednesday instead of next Monday. I was dying to look for shark teeth down there, but I guess I can wait. I'll try to post while I'm gone but if I don't I hope everyone has a Great Independence day and a safe week.

Random Pix I forgot to show ya'll

Actually I did already post my cellcam version of this one a while back ago but I'm thinking about making a drawing of it to go with my shell in the hand drawing.

It was alive so of course I put it back in the water that day. I even stayed watching it for a long to time to make sure it didn't get pushed back onto the sand by the tide. I couldn't let it go without pausing to snap a picture of it's blue and peach side. I'm sure I've looked up the name in my field guide and forgot it's name but my field guide happens to be in the other room and I happen to be too lazy to get it.

<

Look close.

Closer....see him now.

Yes it's a him, I checked. Unfortunately for him something had already made a meal out of his belly. His color pattern is really pretty and this will definitely make for a good drawing. I haven't decided to use pencils or watercolors for this one.

This is a Southern Toad that Peanut got into a fight with. I freaked out because he's ended up in the animal emergency hospital for getting into a fight with a poisonous toad in the past. So I took a picture of this one so I could identify it and make sure Peanut was not in any danger. He must have tasted really badly because Peanut spit him out right away and started shaking his mouth. Luckily for Peanut that was the only discomfort. MrPea was to blame since he was the one holding the leash(for both times.) His pattern is really pretty too but I'm not a big fan of bumps.

And, as promised here are the baby birds I have been admiring. As you can see the mother bird made a safe nest on a shell "welcome" wreathe. She was there all the time when the eggs were not hatched yet but now I never see her. I was beginning to worry but the chicks are getting bigger everyday so she must just be busy. Click for a closer look.

They are even bigger than this now- I checked on them this morning. I only counted 2 but I'm never close enough to really see because I don't want to scare them.

Last week while using a restaurant bathroom I noticed a very important communication. Take note of it peeps, you might need this information some day:"James is hot." "I agree." I'm not quite sure who this James is but if I find out, I'll let you guys know.

<

And last but not least this was taken last night at 8:30. This is not my beach, it's been too HOTDAMN for me because the wind is still coming from the west. I wanted to look for shark teeth over here but for some reason, there aren't really any here. If the wind doesn't change before I leave on Saturday then I won't be able to look for any shark teeth until next week when low tide is in the evening so it won't be any fun. But the midsummer evening sky is pretty don't you think?

I got something

Yes I did! Got it from Chani, who's blog I adore. And I'm supposed to pass it on but I'm not going to since only 3 people read my blog anymore. (That's all my fault) If you're still here, and you wanted that award for yourself, by all means honey take it. Because if you
are still around after my only posting about once a year then in my opinion, you ARE Lovely.

Now that I'm done bragging about that, I have to steal an idea from Chani. Well technically it's not really stealing since she got the post idea from someone else too right? It was 6 things that make me happy. At this very moment. Ya'll already know about Peanut, shark teeth, the beach,shoes, pinching earlobes, my nephews, pinching my nephews earlobes, ok just pinching in general- all that stuff. So I'll tell you about some different things that make me happy. Today.


1. And this is in no certain order. This is going to sound weird but Exercise makes me happy. Yeah. I can't believe I said that. But it's true. When I am exercising on a regular basis, which for me means 2 or 3 times a week, I'm in a better mood. I have more energy and I sleep better. I also don't have those "I hate my body" voices in my ear so much even if I don't notice a difference in the mirror. Because I feel like I'm actively doing something about it. Saying that I have to admit that the getting motivated to get up and go exercise is still hard for me. But once I'm in the middle of it, I do get that high everyone talks about. I used to run but now I just power walk about a mile and a half. I find my knees and ankles ache less since then.

2. There's a bird nest on a wreathe next to one of my neighbor's front door and I can't even tell you all how happy that makes me. I spotted it a couple weeks ago and at first I thought it was decoration. Upon closer inspection I saw a tiny bird in it that I still thought was fake. Until it flew out and freaked me out. So I try not to scare them but there's chicks in there and I make a point to pass by on my way to my work out to check on them, trying my best not to scare the mother. MrPea teases me about it and says if he saw a giant face in the window every afternoon, he'd probably want to relocate but I can't help it so I just peep quickly and then go. I'll post some pictures when I can of them.

3. ok I know I said I wasn't going to mention pinching since I already told you guys about that before but I can't take it anymore. I have to. Pinching makes me happy. Yes it does. I love to pinch my loved ones. I have to keep it to a minimum because most people don't like to be pinched but I can't help it, even Peanut gets it once in a while. And the fact that I'll be at my sister's house a week from Saturday...oh man. My fingers are already in a pinching position. My nephews are going to have their earlobes and bellies pinched and that's just the end of it. I'll probably pinch my sister's earlobes too. Because that's the way I roll.

4. Photos. Taking them and looking at them makes me happy. I really love taking pictures but I also really love looking at people's photo albums. I'm always the only one who says yes really enthusiastically when someone asks if I want to see the 500 photos of their kids. If they have 500 photos of their vacation that no one usually wants to see, I do. I think you can learn a lot about a person from the photos they take. So yeah, photos. And since I mentioned my nephews, we'll be taking a lot of pictures too. Too bad, they're just going to have to smile and say cheese whether they like it or not cuz Auntie likes to take pictures.


5. MrPea and I are planning a trip and I'm so excited about that. We haven't been away together in a long time so it will be fun. There's really no need to make plans to go vacation when you live in Florida, I know that. But ever since that winter I spent in Canada I've had separation anxiety. I spent such a long time away from home that I never wanted to leave home or go anywhere without Peanut. So now that the reservations are made I'm getting excited. It will be fun. I'll be taking lots of pictures then too.

6. Lastly, I mentioned this the other day but this really makes me happy and it's my damn blog so I can talk about it again. My doctor told me a year and a half ago not to have any babies for 2 years and I cried for days over it. But now that it's been a year and a half, I'm thankful that the time is passing by because January will be the last time I have to take radioiodine for at least five years(keeping my fingers crossed that the scan will be clean which is %99 likely) and it will be safe for me to have a baby. heeheehee I get all giggly just thinking about it. But ok like I said, I'm not to dwell on it anymore. That's the last you'll hear about it from me. For a while.


So there you go. Feel free to steal this post since it was never my original idea in the first place.

Still around

I had some routine bloodwork done last Friday and found out yesterday for sure that I am not anemic. For now. Which is good. I still haven't heard from my endocrinologist but I imagine things are going well because she's of the freakout variety so I would have heard something by now if there were anything to freak out about. I have yet another yearly appointment with my "girly" doctor today that I'm trying to get "mentally ready" for. Lately I've been having a lot of pregnant dreams and I think it's because I know I've hit my year and a half point into my 2 year "safety wait". Hopefully by next January, I'll know whether or not I can....ok I'm not even going to talk about it anymore.

In the meantime. I'm getting ready for my trip north to visit my sister and nephews and also MrPea and I are planning a trip to the Gulf Coast. I can't wait to find some shark teeth there and hopefully a megalodon tooth if I can get over my fear of diving! I haven't been out to the beach much because it is HOTDAMN and there has been no seabreeze in my parts so I'm waiting for the winds to change. It's been hard because low tide has been just right but ever since my thyroid was removed, even though I'm taking a hormone replacement, I can't handle the heat as well as I used to. Oh well. I don't mind so much that it's over 90 but when it's over 90 and no wind on the beach, I just can't. I don't leave until the 27th so I'll be around peeps.

Always be our Baby no matter what your age

Happy Birthday Little Jr! 20 years old and this is the way I will always think of you. Is it any surprise that I'm the one who took this picture? We were in my room I told you to make your best Teenage Mutant Ninja pose. I'm so proud of who you grew up to be. As long as I'm breathing, you will always have a cheerleader on your team. All 6 of the grandchildren in our family are loved. No more, no less than each other. But you were the first. And the special thing about being the first is that we loved you the longest. Keep on being who you are.

Tips from Pea. The beginning of a new era of knowledge from me to you.

Back when I actually posted more than once a month I had quite a few emails asking for beauty tips. This was pretty funny to me since I am 4'11" so I'm obviously not in the running to be America's Next Top Model. Also I didn't start wearing make up or really care about my hair until I was about 25 but, ok. I don't have very many beau-tay secrets but I do have a few misc. tips and product reviews I can pass on to anyone who might be of a mind to ,er,want to know. Feel free to add your own or shoot mine down but here are a few to tide you over until next time:

1. I hate bugspray. I hate the smell of bugspray. I live in Florida:mosquito breeding ground of the USA. Solution for this problem is Avon Skin So Soft bath oil. I buy it in a spray but the lotion works too. One squirt on my hands is enough to rub on my legs and arms without feeling like a greasy frenchfry. It smells good and for some reason mosquiters don't like it. Buy it. Try it. You won't regret it.

2. I have sensitive skin. I also break out easily. I usually hate most face products aimed at sensitive skin because for some reason everyone in the "skin" industry assumes that people with sensitive skin also have bone dry skin thus creating the heaviest, oiliest face creams that I would only buy if I somehow mutated into a lizardwoman and decided to live in Death Valley. Aveeno Clear Complexion is my go to. Now I've told you. Now you know. Rejoice in that knowledge and spread the word.

3. Ok the Baby Powder in the hair trick. I've heard of this before. Yeah it doesn't work. Don't do it. I tried it once because my hair was flat and oily and I didn't have enough time to rewash. Um. Yeah it just made me look like I had BABY POWDER IN MY HAIR. Maybe my hair is too dark for that trick but I'm not going to dye it just to find out.

4. I drink skim milk because I like to put half and half in my coffee. This isn't really a "tip" of any kind but it's something I do that makes me feel better about how heavy I like my coffee. I play several mind games with myself like this. I feel skinnier already just from telling ya'll.

5. Feet. I have to talk about them. Those of us who spend our lives in flipflops know the horror. Vitamin E. Not the gel that's sold in drugstores in the summer time-although that's pretty good for scars. The cream. Right now I have the BJs store brand and that seems to work well. Vaseline under your socks over night is a squishy thought but trust me, it works.

I have thousands more but I'll have to ration it out, peeps. All 3 of you that are left :O)

This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime® 6.5 or higher is required.

Random blah blah blahg

-I read to my little kindergartners yesterday. I love how children's books are always about loving yourself just the way you are, believing in yourself, making new friends and listening to your parents. How old do we get when that stops being the important theme in literature? The book I'm currently reading for my book club is about murder, political intrigue, war atrocities, with a twist of psychotic love triangle. The last book we read was "Cry, The Beloved Country," and that book almost emotionally did me in. It thoroughly broke my heart. Our next book is one by Dostoevsky. I'm out of ideas for this paragraph so I'll have to end it with a request. Anybody have any good suggestions for a more lighter read? Something happy? I do love my book club but I need something less dark. Speaking of my book club, someone in mine has a Kindle. I'm so jealous I can't even concentrate. Why why why do they have to be so damn expensive? I'm either getting one or a better digital camera for my birthday. Which would you choose?


-I saw 'Star Trek' and 'Angels and Demons'. Both were very good. You don't have to be a Trekkie to dig 'Star Trek' and you don't need to have read the book to enjoy 'Angels and Demons.' 'Angels' did run a bit long but there's a lot of info to get in and you feel like you've been on a trip to Rome. The style of the movie was a bit less book report-ish than "The Da Vinci Code"(loved the book ,hated the movie) so it was smoother, to me.

-I found the Holy Grail of pants for petite women at Ann Taylor Loft yesterday: pants that don't need to be tailored. That fit. Yes. Life is good once more.

-I saw a picture of an old boyfreind the other day. One that was mean and cruel and horrible to me for three years. I have no malice towards him in any way, I'm the one who let someone like that in my life. After saying that, I have to admit something. It gave me just a tiny bit of happiness to see that he hasn't aged well. He's overweight and balding. Not that there's anyhing wrong with being overweight or bald. But he's the one who told me all the time that I was fat and ugly(at the time I weighed 95lbs). Karma. It's a good thing.



-So ok I've been posting less and less these days. I have no excuse. Last week it rained EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. So I can't say it's because I haven't been home. Laziness.

Kindergarten

My kindergarten teacher's name was Mrs. Fukumitzu. She was mean. Most people have fond memories of kindergarden. Holding hands in line, finger painting, singing abc's and I have a few too. Only a few though. Because I also have memories of Mrs. Fukumitzu screaming at us that if we didn't quiet down, she was going to turn herself into a wicked witch and boil us in her witch pot. Now call me dumb if you want to, but at five years old, I believed her. In fact I really did think she was a witch. The woman should not have ever gone into any career involving children because she obviously hated children. We were all too scared to even ask her if we could use the bathroom because she would roll her eyes and I had heard from my brother, who scared me with stories of The Exorcist movie, about how eye rolling is one of "the signs". I once got in trouble for jumping up onto a sink to hide from one of my little friends after lunch. When Mrs. Fukumitzu came into the bathroom and caught me, my punishment was to climb onto the wooden chest we kept our dress up clothes in over and over again because according to her,"Since [I] was so good at jumping and climbing, let's see [me] do it until [I got] tired of it and maybe then [I] would stop being such a bad girl whose parents are probably ashamed of." I'm not joking. That's what she said. Of course at first it was fun but then I got tired. After what seemed like an eternity I was so tired and I began to cry and beg Mrs. Fukumitzu if I could sit in my seat with promises to be good for the rest of my life. NO. She made me keep climbing up and down on that wooden chest until I said I felt like throwing up, which was not a lie because as I had mentioned, this happened right after lunch. This was not my only incident but you get the point. I used to always fake a stomach ache, hoping I would have temperature so the school would be forced to call my mom and I could go home. We lived on a military base and my dad was at sea for most of that year so I had no one to yell at Mrs. Fukumitzu for being so mean to me. My mom was always shy around my teachers.

But it wasn't just me. People in my extended family always seem to think that we were all raised spoiled but it's not true, we were raised in extreme strictness and that's putting it mildly. So I was a pretty good kid. And I wasn't the only one who feared that woman. Remember how I just told you we were all too scared to ask if we could use the bathroom? I overheard the teacher, who's class was next door to ours and shared our bathroom, comment one day that it seemed like an awful lot of children from our class got sent home for peeing in their pants. Yup.

Which brings me to one reason why I've been gone this week. I have a little volunteer thing going on at a local elementary school. I read books in the school library to kindergardners for about 20 minutes and then hang around to help them check out books for another 20. They are as squirmy as I imagine I was and there's a lot of giggling and poking and pinching and teasing and talking out going on. But at no point do I feel like scaring the bejeezuz out of any of them by threatening to turn into a witch and boiling them all in a pot. Of course I only spend about 45 minutes with them but thier teachers for the most part seem sane and thankful to me since my being there gives them a break. I get a lot of hugs and smiles and chubby fingered hand holding which, to me, is the key to all hapiness. I also get to be addressed as "Miss Angel" which for some reason makes me blush. And since everyone who knows about it has been asking me: yes, I do the voices when I read and no I'm not embarrassed to admit it. I would've made an awesome kindergarten teacher. Way better than Mrs. Fukumitzu.

This should explain my absence