Missing Blogger's Report

Have you seen or heard from this woman?
I am officially filing a Missing Blogger's Report.

It has now been 16 days since Sarah posted. If this was the way she paid her bills, at 16 days late they would be making nasty phone calls to her house. Don't make us make nasty phone calls to your house Sarah......Hehe.......
We just want to know you're alive. Maybe if everybody who has a blog that Sarah reads posted a message like this, she would post again. *grin*

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Guitar Hero.

It's got to be one of the coolest freaking video games I've ever played. It actually comes with a guitar that you play. It's like half the size of a real electric guitar. And you get to play along with all of these crazy rock ballads. It's like Monsters of Rock Volumes 1-1,000,000! Kendall and I are totally addicted to it. I made Jessica G-J come over and play it and she liked it. I want to have a Guitar Hero party! Okay, so I'm obsessed!

Kendall thinks that because I'm so good at the game (better than him at pretty much every song we've played....not to brag....hehe) that I'll be awesome at bass guitar. While I don't think that's true, it sure would be nice! I think I'll go play it some more while Kendall's on the phone.

It's a good thing we learned to share and that we're grown ups, or we would totally fight over who got to play. Well, okay, we might still end up fighting over it, I'll let you know.

Tears, tears and more tears...

I appreciate all of your kind words, but I have to say, Anne put it best. It's just plain shitty. I cried pretty much all day. My mother-in-law came over and we put together the invitations for Nat's shower. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, both literally making the cards by hand and emotionally. I think in many ways I'm okay with Nat's baby now. It was way hard at first, but the closer it gets the more I just think, "Hey, it's a baby that's related to me that I can squeeze." But as Nat said, "Not too hard."

The Jessicas showed up unannounced with a giant carton of chocolate chunk ice cream and a card. Vesta left when they showed up and I had time to sit down with them and talk. I spent most of the hour crying and trying to get words out. They sat and listened, I think Jessica S. was kind of uncomfortable. Not sure if it was over my overt display of emotion or over the fact that she's sitting there 4 months pregnant. I don't hold it against her, and I hope she doesn't feel that way. It is hard to see sometimes, but she's such a good person and I know she will take such good care of her baby that I could never begrudge her that.

Kendall is just now on his way home from work. He'll probably walk in the door at 10. Totally sucks because I spent most of the day alone and crying with no one to hug me. Jessica G-J did give me a couple hugs, but sometimes there's only two people that can make it feel better....a spouse or your mom. I talked to mine today for like 2 hours on the phone. I felt a little bad that I didn't share the same things with my m.i.l., but it just doesn't feel right.

I think I've pretty much cried myself out for now. Who knows, when Kendall gets home it could start all over again. I have to get myself under control by work tomorrow. I can't go without eye makeup or the kids will all look at me funny. And it would be a little awkward if I just randomly started crying while teaching "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere". It just isn't a poem that inspires sudden sobbing. I just don't get that choked up over the British coming.

I was hoping to save my 100th blog for something exciting. But that's not happening. I was totally ready to come on and tell everyone that we were finally pregnant. My period was late. My temperature was up. And then this morning...it dropped. Went to the doctor, negative pregnancy test. This was our last shot on our own.

Now we have to go to the Turkey Baster method, as I so fondly think of it. I don't think I've stopped crying since my temperature this morning at 5:45. This sucks. God hates me.

Breaking News

So I totally forgot that Reunion weekend and my sister-in-law's baby shower are the same days. I'm still planning on doing BOTH, so I don't want anyone to think their reservations at Case de Erdahl are cancelled. I just thought I'd let you all know that for several hours on Saturday afternoon I will be in Troy. And possibly an hour or two in the morning. I figure this won't be a problem because Kendall will still be here and I'm sure you're all more than capable of entertaining yourselves. I'm just a little sad that they coincide and that means less time with my old roomies.

Okay, I have to go work on some details for said baby shower. Oh, and I had a horrible day. Maybe I'll be up to writing about it later.

A Tribute to one of my Favorite Students

So I have this kid...we'll call him Jay. He's the most annoying little monster in the world....but I love him! I see him for 90 minutes after lunch and I end up laughing at him at least 3 times every day. Yes, I sat at not with. *grin*

At the beginning of the year I had to be the big meanie with my afternoon kids. They were really bad. Subs would leave notes about how bad they were. They just wouldn't work. So after riding them for three quarters, they finally turned their butts around! Now they're getting better grades than any of my other kids and I really enjoy being around them. Jay in particular can be a total squirrell, but that's what I love.

T0day, for example, I decided I wanted to ruffle his hair. He's a pretty short kid and so as I was walking past him in the hall this morning, I messed his hair up. He yelled out, "HEY!" and pretended to chase after me. Then I needed to talk to his homeroom teacher and when I walked in I caught him off guard again.

After recess he came walking up to me and held his hand over my hair. I told him, "Jay, you don't touch a woman's hair." I then asked Mr. H, "What happens when I man touches a woman's hair Mr. H?" And he said, "They die." Jay thought that was absolutely hilarious and proceeded to rub my hair. When he arrived to my class later this afternoon I was waiting...and he knew it. It was quite the hilarious moment watching him dive across the floor of my room so I couldn't grab him. I caught him off guard during the movie, palmed his head, and gave him a noogie. He proceeded to fall over on the floor and pretend to fend me off with his chair. I couldn't stop laughing, nor could the rest of the class.

Now I'm sure this story isn't as funny to most of you as it is to me. But I really just thought this kid deserved an entry in my blog because he makes my day a little better.

Where to Start?!?!

1. I played my bass guitar yesterday and today and it's super sweet. I can't wait to start taking lessons so I can kick as on it and Kendall and I can play together. He likes it a lot too. We were taking turns playing it. We learned to share in Kindergarten.

2. I painted 3/4 of the bathroom with its second coat today. The only wall that didn't get painted was the one with the drywall patch...I don't want to get into it....and hopefully Kendall will sand that tomorrow and I can paint the last wall. Our goal is to have the bathroom finished by Saturday or Sunday. Let's hope it happens. The 3 walls I did paint look decent. I sucked at cutting in at the ceiling, so that all needs to be touched up....but it's a start.

3. First day back on the job and it was decent. This was a good week to break back into the groove. I'm showing a movie all week and the kids are testing all afternoon which means I have time to grade and plan. Friday we go on a field trip to the Freedom Center in Cincy.

4. Have I said recently that I'm really sick of Kendall's job? Cause I am. I'm so tired of them calling him at all hours and him having to leave our warm bed to drive down there. I'm so ready for that to be over. Residency sucks. Little pay for lots of hours and no respect. And he's tired all the time. This month he's on OB/GYN which admittedly is a bad month. I've gone to three social events by myself this month because of his job. It starts to feel awkward and sad when everyone else around you has their spouse with them.

5. Would the federal government hurry up and cash my check already! They've had it for over three weeks and I'm starting to get pissed off.
Update: Well how about that! Right after I finished complaining about this one I rechecked my account for the day and they DID cash it today! YEAH! At least now I know how much money I really have.

Okay, that's enough. More tomorrow I'm sure.

So Many Things to Write About!

Wow, there's so many things I could write about here. I'll try to cover as many of them as I can without creating the worlds largest blog entry.

1. I almost died without my high speed internet. I used my mom's slowass computer a few times and it didn't upload half of the things I wanted to show her and I just kept getting pissed off and yelling at it. My mom was hihgly amused and I now vow to get her high speed internet for her birthday.

2. Lucky Number Slevin- has anyone else seen this movie yet? I went with my cousin Grant. The first half of the movie was kind of slow and we looked at each other several times and commented that we thought the movie sucked. There were two totally gratuitous sex scenes that had no point in the movie except to show boobs. The second half of the movie was AWESOME. It totally made up for the first half. Once everything started falling into place, you couldn't stop saying things like "OMG!" I would suggest it as a dollar movie or rental. C+

3. Easter- got candy...yummmm.....I love that my mom still makes me a basket. Kendall's parents didn't make us one and used some excuse like, "We know you're all trying to lose weight." They've said that for like the last 3 years when they didn't make us one. At least my mom still loves us. HAHA. Spent the day at my aunt's house. Very enjoyable. Good food, good company, lots of laughs. Taught my uncle and grandpa about The Odyssey as we watched it on the Sci-Fi channel.

4. I got a sweet ass bass guitar! Kendall went to a "Fire Sale" at the local music store and got my a really sweet Ibanez edb500. I've posted a picture here. My guitar is more of a dark pewter. I'm going to start taking lessons this summer. For now I'm just going to goof around and try to get a book to figure it out on my own. It's so freaking SWEET!

5. Speaking of my mother-in-law....I tried to be polite and call her to make sure we weren't going to overlap of Kendall's birthday gifts. It would be really annoying if my mom and his mom bought him the same thing. When I called she was all cranky with me and I really wanted to say something mean back, but I was in the middle of the Cingular store. I just don't get her sometimes. I have no idea why she was irritated with me. I'm so close to just calling her up and saying, "We need to talk" and laying it all out on the line. It's so frustrating not telling her what I think. It relieve the pressure, I imagine her head exploding. HA!

Okay I think that's enough for now. I can always share more tomorrow! Time to go get my blood drawn, get some Taco Bell and then play my bass guitar! WHOO-HOOO!

The Land of Cleve

I'm heading home for the next few days so I might not be able to blog anything. My mother only has dial up....*shudder*

I assume most of you will be spending Easter with your families as well. So I hope that you all have a blessed holiday and that none of your visits end up in food fights or family arguements...unless you show your love through violence...and then I guess a food fight would be okay.

Ps. I even cicled Parma on the map so you can see where I'll be if you click on the picture! Hehe!

Holy Vet Bill Batman!

So I took the dogs today for a routine rabies shot and a small rash that Maggie has. We went back to our old vet in Beavercreek, which was a 20 minute drive but ended up being totally worth it.

However, I left the vet with a $213 bill! HOLY CRAP! We ended up having to give the dogs their distemper shots, get a heartworm test for each of them and have Morrie's liver enzymes tested for his teeth cleaning in addition to the intentioned visit.

Bascially the Banfield vet that we had taken the dogs to was a total liar and was WAY overpriced. Here's a list of how they lied.

1. The vet seemed to think his teeth were okay and probably wouldn't need any extractions. We're going to have them cleaned in June. (For HALF the price we paid at Banfield.) He also told me that Banfield was completely wrong in telling us NOT to use a toothbrush on Morrie's teeth. So we haven't been brushing them for almost a year and we've been using this liquid they (Banfield) gave us. Yeah, it wasn't working. His breath smells like BUTT.

2. I asked him if Morrie was overweight. He's at 25 pounds. Not your typical minature schnauzer's weight. Banfield had him on 3/4 a cup twice a day and I thought he was starving. So I upped it to a cup twice a day and he's much happier. Now he did lose three pounds. But Banfield wanted him to lose another 5-10 pounds! The vet we went to today said as long as you can feel along their side and feel individual ribs, they're at a healthy weight. And you can totally feel Morrie's. You've been able to feel them since we got him! So he lost three pounds for no reason. Now three's not a big deal, but imagine if we'd made him lose another 5-10. Morons......

It's a good thing we never let Banfield touch Maggie. Who knows what would be wrong with her now. OYE! While I wasn't happy to pay the bill, I walked away a lot more confident in my "childrens'" health.

Bathrooms and Bowling

So we spent Friday night with the Eutslers. We went to Olive Garden for dinner and most of the time Jim and Kendall chatted it up about Kendall's doctoring. I like it that someone else is interested in what Kendall does for a living...it means I have to ask less...haha!

At the end of the meal I needed to use the restroom. So I went in and sat down to "do my thing". Suddenly a group of boisterous girls comes barging in. I guessed by their voices (and volume) that they were about 13 or 14. Since I work with this age of girls, I'm pretty fluent in their "language". Anyways....I'm trying to finish up when suddenly the girls decide they want to play a game of "Peek at Your Friends in the Next Stall". Unfortunately, they didn't realize they were looking into my stall. I knew it was coming because I could feel them climbing the walls on both sides of me and then saw their fingers. So I happened to look up to my right and when the girl popped her head over...I waved. And said, "Hi!" To which loud peals of laughter then greeted my ears. All three of them were so embarrassed that they crammed together in the handicapped stall. Very nice...

We then proceeded to the bowling alley. Now I wouldn't say I'm a great bowler, but for some reason Jim thought I needed to be in a league. He said I was a consistent thrower and that I threw a fast ball. Which I didn't believe, especially because I doubted that Jim could accurately gauge my speed. Unbeknowst to me, the screen tells you how fast your throwing. And I guess I do throw a pretty fast ball. While I didn't bowl my best game, or even my average, I did finish with a 119. Not too shabby for bowling every couple of months. I was also very flattered over Jim's compliments.

I was very irritated that the alley wouldn't allow us to bowl a second game without paying an exhorbatant amount of money because of some "special" that they were getting ready to run. So we left and went to Frisch's for dessert and then headed home...where I proceeded to use my own private bathroom...where no one waves at me over the stall.

A shot of our lovely magnolia tree. It's not at its best because of the strange weather we had this winter, but the blooms that it does have sure look nice and are a definite sign that spring has arrived.

I've been out and about in the yard the last couple of weeks just looking for signs of growth and new life. I've been finally getting those signs these last two weeks. While I'm not the hugest fan of hot weather, I do have to say that I am looking forward to it this year. Especially because it means that I'll be on summer vacation. *smile*


I've also included this close up shot to show you what the flowers look like. It just makes me so happy that it's finally spring!

Getting excited

So we've been talking about Reunion weekend and I'm getting pretty excited about it. There's the possibility that my old roommates will all be under one roof again for a weekend...and what's weird is that it's my house! While this means that I will have to clean extensively with a toothbrush before their arrival, it also means there is potential for a really good time. Even weirder, some of my roommates will be bringing their husbands, which just seems so odd...We're freaking old!

I'm also trying to psych myself up for the end of this month. We're about halfway through the "baby process" and I'm just trying to stay positive about the whole situation. I feel like I care less this month because I assume it will not happen again. At least I know what our next move is...turkey baster! Gobble gooble!

The last thing I'm excited about is the end of the school year! It feels so close! Everytime I go outside and see the plants growing it makes me very happy! Our magnolia tree is in full bloom, I'll try to post a picture this week, and it just makes me so happy that warm weather is on the way. I love winter, but this one sucked. There was like no snow! And that's the only kind of winter I like, a snowy one.

DUDE!

I'm on spring break! Thank you Lord! One whole week of kid-free time! WHOOO HOOOO!!!! I can't begin to tell you how long I've been dying for this week to come. And the best part, when we get back only 6 weeks of school left!

The kids were out of control today. I told them it felt like the last day of school instead of the day before spring break. The weather was incredible and we had nothing to do but assemblies all day long. Most of the kids were pretty good during the morning sessions. But after lunch, they were total monsters. It's beyond words how bad some of them were. Let's just say that many of us went out to Frickers after work and had a beer. And we're doing it again on Monday at Hooters.

And once again, I have to say, I love my co-workers. My boss, total ass sometimes, but my co-workers totally make my job worth it. I can't tell you how many times a day I have a loud, hearty, genuine, laugh with one of my teammates.

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM!!!!!!!!

Totally LOST

OMG, I love this show. I have no idea why because I usually hate anything that even hints of science fiction. But this show has me so puzzled! Every time I think I have something figured out, they throw something new at me!

Tonight's episode totally messed with my mind and my theories about the island. The map I've included here in the one John Locke sees in the hatch. I have a super cool one in my Entertainment Weekly, but I'm too lazy to scan it right now. I'm going to take it to work and obsess over it with my co-workers.

That's the other thing I love about this show...everyone I know watches it and is as obsessed as I am! I even got my mom to start watching it last year, and then she got hooked. My brother got her the first season on DVD and she caught up and now she watches it every week too!

Every time I finish watching an episode I'm totally crazy to watch another one!

Somebody's gotta say it...

Dude. Sarah Ford. Update dude! Update!

Because We Just Forked over 2K for Ours...

• “I am proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is – I could be just as proud for half the money.” — Arthur Godfrey, entertainer
• “People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women.” — Unknown
• “Taxation with representation ain’t so hot either.” — Gerald Barzan, humorist
• “Income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf.” — Will Rogers, humorist
• "Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." - Benjamin Franklin
• "I just filled out my income tax forms. Who says you can't get killed by a blank?" - Milton Berle
• “It would be nice if we could all pay our taxes with a smile, but normally cash is required.”
• “The government deficit is the difference between the amount of money the government spends and the amount it has the nerve to collect."
• "The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling."

And my personal favorite...

“When are we going to be allowed to list the government as a dependent?”

UD Class Reunion- Read if you're going

Okay, so I know that it's still two months away, but that time is going to FLY, so I wanted to get this stuff settled now so that I can then focus on my sister-in-law's baby shower....

So Viki and Trey are staying at our house, as is Karen (possibly Jim). I would assume Sarah F would like to stay here, unless she'd like to stay with other friends (aka Kelly Sheets, etc.). Just let me know Sarah if you'd like to stay here, we can work it out.

Karen had mentioned she wants to go to the class party and the porch party. Gotta be honest, I probably won't be able to drink...bummer. If we don't have a baby this month, that weekend will coincide very closely with our first insemination. I'm not putting anything in my body that would inhibit any "flow". I know, gross...Now I don't mind watching other people drink, but I don't think I can do two nights in a row. I was thinking something more along the lines of the dinner and dancing on Saturday...but that's the old fogey in me. However, it's $50.00 a person, ouch. I definitly would like to do either the class or porch, just not both. Let me know which one you guys are more likely to attend and I'll sign up for that one.

Enough said. Just get on the comments box ladies.

For all you former servers

Here's one for you...

We went to Max & Erma's tonight down in Wilmington. I decided to order a filet cooked medium. Kendall ordered the same. His came out perfect. Just the right color, not overcooked on the outside. Mine...charred. Let me reiterate, we ordered the exact same thing. I obviously sent the steak back. The server was barely apologetic. It then took a lengthy amount of time to get me a new steak. By the time the second one arrived on my table, the group of people I was eatting with were over half finished with their meals. The second steak, was RAW in the middle. It was practically purple it was so raw. I turned to the waiter and said, "I'm sorry, but this one is raw. I'm not eatting this. It looks like they barely put it on the grill." To which he responded............"Well do you want me to get you another one?"

At that point I told him I was taking the baked potato off the plate and he could return the other steak to the kitchen and not bother bringing out another. He then got huffy with me and said, "Well I'm not the one cooking it." At that point I almost lost it.

He then neglected our table for the remainder of the meal. He left my potato plate and two empty glasses and cleared everyone elses plates away. At that point I asked for a manager. I told him that was incredibly dissatisfied and that if the rest of my party hadn't been satisfied with their meals, I would have already gotten up and left. I also informed the manager of the servers immature behavior. He was obviously apologetic and offered to give us all free dessert. I told him I was finished eatting at the establishment for the evening, that my server had already left a bad taste in my mouth. I also told him that I assumed I would not be charged for anything I consumed. He, of course, agreed.

The best part of the conversation was when I told the manager, "I lived with girls who were servers in college and they never would have treated a customer the way I was treated. Good service is what makes a good restaurant. Who cares about the food."