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Photo: plasticrevolver
When I was a kid, I lived in the country, and we had one television channel. I wasn’t allowed to watch most of what was on it, and as far as computers went, well, we had a Commodore. If you’ve never heard of that, then that means I’m older than you are.
To entertain myself, I would get magnets and go outside in the driveway to find asteroid dust. I didn’t know about iron being a component of rocks back then. There was also a game I would play with a friend which involved getting as close to the bull in the pasture as we could before he got mad, and then running away. We also would go to the town dump and pretend like we were the last survivors in an post-apocalyptic world.
I taught myself how to crochet and sew, and I read a lot. My mom taught me how to cook and gave me free reign in the kitchen.
My best friend and I invented green housing! We used to dig huge holes in the ground and dig tunnels (hallways) between them.
I’m remembering these things because yesterday, one of my students asked me to get him a book on origami.
“I decided to teach myself,” he said.
I responded with something nice and encouraging, I’m sure.
“I’m going to teach myself because that’s what people do when they’re in boring places like prison.” He looked at me, perhaps for a response to his comparing my classroom to a prison.
I told him I would get him the book, and I did. He has just finished a science fiction one, which he says is the first book he’s read since 8th grade. He’s a senior, and he does not have a reading disability. Blows my mind.
Sometimes I think sitting a cubicle in alternative school being bored is the best thing that can happen to some of these kids. It’s a chance for their creative side to reemerge. They become curious, and start asking questions that we can Google and find out the answers to. They ask to do art projects. They ask to learn how to sew. Two boys even wanted to learn how to crochet after they saw me doing it at lunch one day.
Kids really shouldn’t have to be in jail or an alternative school to become interested in learning, though. Just think about what would happen if we got rid of all of their forms of entertainment. I realize that Grand Theft Auto 4 is not going to go away, but what if households had a “no electronics” day every week when kids could become bored enough to find something to do? To create something? To become curious?
I think it could change the direction of the world, really.
Photo by: Life As Art
I knew I shouldn’t have written that post about how satisfied I’ve been with my job. It was inviting trouble as surely as moving to a Section 8 neighborhood will invite people to steal your television. Yes, lightning did indeed strike, and I have to say that once again, I’m pretty darn invested in making sure I keep making an online income.
My boss is leaving.
She announced it yesterday. She got offered a plum position at the university because she is so darn wonderful. We were in a staff meeting when she announced it, and tears instantly filled my eyes. Everyone looked as though they had a bad case of allergies.
I went home and had an anxiety attack.
You see, good public school administrators are very hard to find. Excellent ones who share one’s philosophy practically NEVER come along, and that’s what we had. I’m simply not going to comment on possible replacements because that might invite bad luck. Really, really bad luck.
At lunch today, next year’s scenario was all we could talk about. It seems like next year could be like one of those
reality TV shows. You know, emotionally disturbed kids, kids trying to sneak in drugs and weapons, an exceptionally opinionated staff and a polyester suit-wearing robotron in charge. Of course,
reality shows are never as horrible as what I’m imagining.
Okay, perhaps I’m overreacting just a bit. Still. I’ve got to keep my options open.
The Consumerist has a nightmarish story about a guy who desperately tried to sell his laptop on eBay, only to be foiled by Nigerian spammers several times. Did he receive any help from the company? Would it be a story if he had? I don’t know about you guys, but I really miss the old days of selling and buying on eBay. Now I just need to wait for Craigslist to make its way to the boonies.
Disclaimer: Don’t read the story unless you just feel like getting angry for the pure fun of it.
It’s amazing what you find when you get down to the nitty gritty of preparing a house for occupation. The nice white blinds that I saw when I bought the house are covered with dust and mildew on the other side, which became apparent when I turned them down. I immediately took them all down, and was surprised to see that a vine had grown inside the window. Upon closer inspection, I saw tracks that indicated that vines had previously grown all the way up the wall and onto the ceiling. I’m trying to put a romantic spin on it and pretend like I’m a princess trapped in an ancient castle with a spell on it instead of a worn out teacher painting the walls a color that turned out to be pink rather than beige. Oh well, pink walls and white trim. Those are princess colors! Too bad the room is for my 17 year old son.
At any rate, I forgot to submit my story of woe to Renuzit TriScents “Transform Your Home with Tanya Memme” promotion and get in the running for a home makeover. As it turns out, however, that’s okay, because I don’t have a thing on the semifinalists over there. They can sing, they can shoot cool videos, and they can have triplets.
Take a look for yourself in their entertaining
semi-finalist gallery.
I did, and now I don’t feel so bad about the my own situation. One of the videos features a house similar to my own in style, including a few rotten boards here and there. In fact, these people have it way worse. At least my appliances and fixtures have been updated. And of course, I don’t think I would be painting any trim if I had triplets. I think I would be lying in bed crying, instead. Instead of becoming a sobbing mess, someone in this household took it upon themselves to make a cute video featuring their three year old. The three year old, of course, is what probably prevents this family from sleeping when they get the occasional opportunity, so hey, maybe they had plenty of time to make the video. Its a good way to keep the kiddo from waking up the babies, anyway. I’m just amazed anyone was coherent enough to do it.
I think if anyone deserves a $20,000 home makeover with Tayna Memme, it is these long-suffering people. You can
vote for them or any of the others you like once a day until June 7th.
I was looking at how much teachers get paid in Dallas–I would start at around 50K–and decided to see if the housing prices were much higher than where I live. (No, I’m not moving.) I hopped on Craigslist, and this is the very first thing I saw:
$795 / 3br - Keller Home for rent, BAD NEIGHBOR (Keller)
Photo: Stephentrepreneur
The internet is full of wonderful articles about how to make money online so that you can quit your job within the week, how to find a significant other who won’t steal your car, how to cope with constipated bosses and even how to increase your chances of winning the lottery. What do you do if you are satisfied?
About a year and a half ago, I hated my job. Thanks to some restructuring that went on, and increased responsibilities that give me a sense of purpose, now I don’t. Actually, I like it. And for my town, the money is good. So the idea of “blogging to quit my job” no longer holds appeal. Financially, things are good. Things are pretty good on all other possible fronts as well, actually. I can’t believe I actually typed that. Now I’m waiting for a lightning bolt to come out of the clear blue sky and zap me.
Of course, there are lots of other fairly satisfied folks out there. We have blogs for them, too. You can be darn near perfect, but you can always find things to make you feel dissatisfied. Not saving enough on electricity? Get rid of it for a year. Not happy with being a normal weight? Try the Charles Atlas look! You get the drift. If you are too satisfied, you can always remedy that by reading blogs that will make you feel poor, ugly and uncouth.
On the other hand, you could just sit back and revel in your life.
Life is good.
I’m pretty happy with the new house. There are a few issues that need to be addressed, however. The photo above is the master bedroom. I’m not sure why it was called that, as it is the only bedroom that has low ceilings, and it is the farthest from the bathroom. You’ll notice the track lighting located directly above the bed. It really makes you wonder if this room had quite the colorful history, you know? At this point, it should be noted that the bed above is not mine. These photos were taken before the prior owner moved out. My bed is a mod piece made by my grandfather. That one above is so not my style. Also not my style are the stains on the not-my-style ceiling tiles. The stained Berber carpet has to go as well.
This room has more than style issues. It also has scent issues. Remember the rotting meat? The smell lingers. There is also a faint smell of mildew, most likely coming from that horrible carpeting.
I wouldn’t mind a big redo. The former owner had plans to square off that bedroom with the rest of the house, creating a very large and quite masterful bathroom.
I can imagine what it would look like with vaulted ceilings, a huge comfy bath, and polished wooden floors. A coat of paint wouldn’t hurt it either. And to top it off, the smell of vanilla would replace the mildew/rotting meat smell. That would be nice. Very nice, actually. I mean, what do you notice first in someone’s home–how it looks or how it smells? What do you remember after you leave? I like for my house to always smell welcoming–I figure it helps me get away with more clutter. Renuzit TriScents has a couple of selections that definitely fit the bill–Morning Meadow and Seaside Breezes. Unlike my candles, these offer the opportunity to adjust the amount of scent that you want to have. In other words, if the dog’s been in the house all day, turn it up!
At any rate, I don’t imagine that I’m going to be doing any remodeling soon, since I still need to put in central heat and air. Still, if I happen to win the $20,000
Transform Your Home promotion, it could become a reality. If you’re interested in getting a room makeover, you should enter as well. To be eligible, all you have to do is embed an original photo or video of the space you want to change in a post that tells about why your home needs a makeover. Tell how Renuzit TriScents can help you accomplish this goal. To have the best chance,
be sure to follow the official rules.
Photo by smcgee
Despite the Lean Cuisines I eat for lunch and the miles on the treadmill, nary a pound has budged. I’m not going to fool myself and blame my metabolism, though. It’s my brain that’s making my butt big. Here’s some of the extremely ineffectual things I catch myself thinking about food and weight loss:
1. Grocery shopping counts as exercise. Granted, some stores are as big as Maui. Still, pushing around a cart and filling it up with stuff, however healthy, doesn’t really count for much. Especially when you get “just one” candy bar and eat it immediately after shopping.
2. Telling myself, “I’ll never eat again!” Unfortunately, the morning after binging on chips and queso is not the same as the morning after you have had crazed sex with a hot, anonymous stranger or drank five Long Island iced teas (or perhaps both). You can’t just swear off eating like you can drinking. Trust me on this one, I’ve tried. My resolve usually weakens around 10 o’clock.
3. I’ll have “just a bite.” Usually, the bite is of something like Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake. One bite of that stuff has like a zillion calories. Anyway, who can have just one bite?
4. Counting on the energy crisis as a fallback diet plan. At work, we talk a lot about what will happen if food prices rise too much. We talk about the gardens we’ll plant as we nibble at the frosting on the birthday cake left over from last week. I imagine what my body will look like once I’ve eaten zucchini for about six months.
5. Telling myself I’ll get the child’s plate. I did this today at a Mexican restaurant. The child’s plate was considerately served with a huge basket of chips. The food on the plate looked like it would feed a 450 pound child. Maybe it has something to do with living in Texas, where everything, including the people, is bigger. I dunno.
Sometimes I figure the only way I’ll lose weight is if I travel to a 3rd world country and get thrown in jail as a political prisoner or something. Then, after a couple of years, I would be released from prison with much fanfare, and my emaciated (but fashionable) body would be in all of the newspapers.
It’s been awhile since I’ve had a spring vacation. You know that you’ve gotten older when you refuse to go places during Spring Break because there’ll be too many people around celebrating Spring Break. Actually, it has been so long since I’ve been on a vacation during springtime that the last one I remember was one I took when I was still living in Phoenix.
What we did has not tell our six-year-old that it was Spring Break. We loaded up the car at night, and then, the next morning, did everything as usual and set off for school. Supposedly. We had been in the car for about half an hour when Sky realized we weren’t going to school. So we told him we were going to the beach, which is one of the many
things to do in Los Angeles. We got to the beach and had a fantastic time. Although I grew up on the Atlantic, it was my first time experiencing the Pacific Ocean, which is a whole different ballgame!
After the beach, we were tired, and went to the hotel. The next morning, we grabbed some donuts and headed down the street to…Disneyland! The expression on Sky’s face was just priceless. He’d had no idea that we had planned a trip to Disneyland. That is one of the really awesome things about that age–kids don’t know enough geography to ruin a surprise!
I definitely need to take more vacations, and that is probably true for a lot of people. Whether you are looking for
things to do in Las Vegas, or want to walk the hills of San Francisco, Trusted Tours & Attractions has
sightseeing tours that will be sure to show you a good time. If you’re not sure what you want to do, sign up for their
newsletter. By doing so, you have the chance to win a handheld GPS. This offer lasts until Monday, April 30, 2008, so if you don’t like getting lost, get to it! Also, GPS systems are great for geocaching–so fun, and a guaranteed way to see out of the way places on those vacations. 
The house is all MINE! Mine, mine mine! I was so excited that I wouldn’t have been able to think of anything else had my students not been behaving like heathens all day yesterday before the closing. I finally got to meet the owner, who is a nice enough guy except for one small thing that he did.
He waited until the last minute to get his stuff out of the house, and there is still one thing left that he didn’t get. It is a malfunctioning deep freeze that is filled with…rotten meat! The guy liked to hunt, so not only is it rotten meat, it is rotten gamey, unidentifiable meat.
Needless to say, the house doesn’t smell very good.
I left a message for my brother, who hauls scrap metal, saying that there was a freezer he could have. I didn’t mention the rotting meat.
If my brother doesn’t take care of it, I am going to have to get some contractor bags and load the rotten meat into them, and then put it all into the garbage. I estimate that there is about 75 pounds of rotting meat, including fish. Unfortunately, this is not the type of thing that you ask friends to help you with. At least not if you want to have friends…
I have a feeling that this experience may make me a vegetarian for life. I can see it now…backyard barbecues featuring tofu on the grill.
Rotting meat problem aside, the rest of the house is just delightful. It turns out to have a functioning alarm system that I was unaware of. I also was able to talk the previous (I love that…previous!) owner into selling me an ancient piano for $250. It has a lovely sound, and it may be worth far more than that. Now I can consider myself a member of the ranks of middle class people who provide their children with piano lessons. 
So I’m going to be very busy. To entertain myself during what promises to be a solitary undertaking, I am going to post before and after photos of my work on the house. Perhaps eventually there will be a picture of me in my skinny jeans, since this all promises to be a workout that will last for a year or so.
Speaking of workouts, the house is walking distance from the school. My son goes to the school next door to mine, so we can walk together through the park to get there. How cool is that? Oh, and there’s a downtown festival this weekend. I think I’ll sit out on my front porch (with a pitcher of lemonade of course) and listen to the music….
