I'm not picky. I'm what you would call, a cheap date. No need to buy me expensive presents, just give me one snow day before winter break. Just one! I really want to finish this book!
I'm even sporting my snow pony*.
Thanks,
LMQ
P.S. If you make it a Friday snow day, there will be extra cookies for you on Christmas Eve and something special for the reindeer.
P.P.S. Hmmm...my hair looks pretty shiny. Maybe I like this new shampoo afterall.
*snow pony - A reverse pony tail. That is, a pony tail on top of the head. Designed to summon a snow day. The snow pony has a 95% success rate. Don't doubt the snow pony.
Holiday breaks are always too short. This one is no exception. Tomorrow I return to school and I can't say I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully the time between breaks will go quickly. There will be lots to do.
It's been an interesting month of blogging. While I don't think I'll make it every day. I definitely plan to blog more often. Whether or not I actually do it remains to be seen.
Happy December everyone!
We're home again after a long day of craft shoes and driving. The craft shows in WV this morning weren't all that great. Nothing I simply couldn't live without. I'm going to try and make an effort to start purging items that we don't need/don't use. The clutter is getting to me.
Maybe I'll try the fly.lady 27 fling mantra. I would love to be clean and minimalist. Unfortunately, I'm a pack rat at heart. You never know when you might be able to use something in the future - especially as a teacher.
So. We just got home from our little shopping trip. Innnnnnnnnnnnnteresting. I didn't get exactly everything I wanted, but I got what I wanted. What I wanted didn't technically include much for others, but what the hell.
I figured, "Hey, we're in Small Town, WV. The crowds won't be that bad. " HA! Wrong. Rednecks at 5 AM are skeery.
Had I not waited in the site 2 store line for 15 minutes I might have even gotten everything I wanted. It's the teacher in me, I see a line, I get in it. Obviously they're going where I'm going.
Great deals include:
- 26" LCD flat screen tv - $397
- HP All in One Printer, Scanner, Copier - $29
- Game chair for LMP - $30
- i.Flip camcorder - $79
- 12 piece stackable Tupperware - $9
- Tom Tom GPS - $129
* Actually, the woman rammed her. She remarkably kept her cool.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. We'll be at the family Thanksgiving celebration. LMP ought to be good and scared by the end of the day. Mwahahahaha!
We're in WV. I am out of town. YAY! I literally left as soon as humanly possible to get out of town. Seriously, I just need to get out of that town for a while. Even though I won't be seeing my parents for Thanksgiving, it will be nice to be with family - including LMP.
Happy Turkey Day people!
So one of my little darlings is terrified of storms. As part of our weather unit we talk about tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. I did my best to give the kids the vital information while not scaring them. I made a point of talking about how in Ohio, we don't really have hurricanes to worry about, but we do have tornadoes. Then I gave them some basic tornado safety tips since we did have a tornado scare last year and the Fear of Storms kid was really scared then. As we're wrapping up our discussion, the following conversation occurred:
Me: "That’s why if you’re outside during a tornado, you need to get to the lowest place possible."
Kid #1: "What if there isn’t a ditch around?"
Kid #2: "Then you’re screwed, Kid #1."
Me: **snort** "Thanks Kid #1 for summing that up"
I'm itchy.
Again.
I went to the doctor toda and she gave me some meds to try before she puts me on happy pills. Evidently, I'm high strung and making myself itchy.
I just can't win!
Three more days. I can do it.
The kids ought to be IN-SANE.
LMP is home for the week and has offered to help. They'll be thrilled to see her. That will make them even MORE insane.
LMP and LMK have the week off. Don't worry, they've got a list. Three and a half pages worth of list.
Mwahahahaha.
Sometimes I love having LMK work where he does. He gets really neat gifts including:
- hand made Korean Christmas ornament (last year)
- Olympic souvenir (complete with Chinese writing)
- Russian chocolates
I got an observation/walk-through by the AP yesterday.
My room was in chaos. The kids are finishing their book projects and there is stuff everywhere. My room is trashed. The janitors must hate me. I had kids on the floor coloring game boards, a group in the back designing the set of their puppet show, still others typing their script, some working on their model - chaos with a capital C. In fact, it was just getting to the "Mrs. is going to lose her shit if she doesn't get some order" point when AP walked in.
As she's leaving, AP looks at me and whispers, "Nice job!"
WTF!?
Did I mention I'm getting my Christmas/anniversary gift this weekend?
I didn't!? Well, shame on me.
This summer, I noticed that my wedding band had cracked. Honestly, I'm not all that surprised. It was a $100 ring (all we could afford at the time) and I'd bent it up. I never, never take off my wedding band. My engagement ring comes off nightly, but I don't take off the wedding band. Anyway, I mentioned it to LMK and didn't think any more about it.
This past weekend we were at the mall so he took me in to see about getting it fixed. It would have cost $75 more than we paid for the ring to get it fixed. For $25 more, I could get a new ring with bigger diamonds. Well! Hmmm... decisions.
We pick up the new one Saturday. I'm excited. :o) But I miss my old ring.
The program is done.
Thank goodness.
LMK and LMP helped me tear down the sound system. Where was my team? They left when the kids left. Thanks a frickin' lot.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
The play will finally be over tomorrow. The principal came in to watch the dress rehearsal today since she's going out of town tomorrow and won't be here to see the performance.
It was good...but.
We really need something in the back to break up the plain black curtain. So I've spent my evening making something to hang in the back to break up the plain black curtain.
Where's my team?
Gone. Next year, I'm not doing any part of the program. It's someone else's turn.
I've really wanted to change my hairstyle for several years. 
I have basic basic hairstyles that I wear on a daily basis. The half up, half down pony tail which is my mother's favorite. The basic pony tail, but of course, I have hairs that hang down or that have been broken so it gets looking crazy fairly quickly and the french twist with the banana clip thingie. I never wear my hair down for three reasons.
- I hate it in my face.
- I play with it, making it frizzier (if that's possible).
- It's hot.
There are only two problems with the Re.ba cut. It's time intensive - which I am not in the morning. I want to shower and go. I like my sleep. Plus, I'm hair challenged. I can't braid, I can't curl. I'm just not talented. I blame being left handed. Thus, the Re.ba cut has resulted in a return to my three standard "styles".Then before we went to the beach, I got my hair cut again. I loved the length (after some adjustment), but never left it down because it was still hot. Plus, my bangs have a mind of their own.
Now, I'm thinking the Victori.a Beck.ham cut BEFORE she went nuts and cut it all off. You know, the angled bob.
But with bangs...and maybe curly. I would like the front to be between my chin and my shoulder. That's a good length in front for me due to the double chin. If I go too short, I look like a pumpkin since I do have a round face. Heh. All of me is round (sorry honey, couldn't resist that one).These are the ones I really like.
Any thoughts? Remember, ROUND face, double chin.
Well, 1 flu shot and three vials of blood later I am done with my doctor's visit. She's checking some basic things to make sure it's not something out of the norm and then she'll schedule my sleep study. His and hers CP.AP machines. I'm so excited. Riiiiiight.
Oh, and I've gained 20 pounds since school started. Stress eat much? Maybe this time will be the time I buckle down and actually commit to losing weight.
Ha.
Yeah.
Right.
A little Friday recap.
- Ordered 6 pizzas for my kids since they had the highest percentage of students who tested out of the multiplication tests.
- Served 4 pizzas and drinks to 16 hyper children
- Cut them off after 6 pieces. We had play practice and I was picturing sick kids. Ick.
- Got vitually no teaching done due to bullying assemblies, book fair browsing, play practice, and pizza.
- Worked on play costumes after school
- Still have more to do on them
- Room is trashed
- Noticed LMP's new hickey. Ick.
- Went with LMP to get a cell phone.
- Waited while LMP purchased purple cell phone.
- Watched LMP play with her phone
- Realized LMP now has cuter phone than me - damn practicality
- Ate dinner at great new Mexican place
- Watched LMP play with her phone
- Watched Jeff Dun.ham special
- Watched LMP play with her phone
Tomorrow is a trip to the doctor (to see why I'm so frickin' tired) and Chipot.le and a movie.
Sans teenager.
It will be strange and different, yet fun.
Evidently I'm getting "that director voice". Heh. Sorry.
Or actually, no I'm not. I suck as a teacher, but I'm the one getting the newsletters churned out every month so that the others don't have to do them.
We also have a program to do for the PTA next Tuesday night. I pushed to get the program ordered. I made totally legal copies of the songs for everyone. Cough, cough. I nagged to get parts given to kids. I went and purchased stuff for costumes. I stand in front of the stage and run the practices while others sit and grade papers. I stayed after school to learn how to run the new sound system. I will be making up the sets. (Ok, glittering something up to hang on the back of the curtains). I will be the one running around like a chicken with my head cut off next Tuesday night trying to get everything right. It looks and sounds pretty damn good, if I must say so myself.
So yeah, maybe I am getting "that director voice." That happens when you're the DIRECTOR!
Christmas Around the World. Thoughts?
I'm thinking about a Christmas Around the World project for December. Partners or individual projects. Every student/pair gets a country to research. Then we need some sort of final project (God help me). I'm just in the beginning phases of the planning, but I'm thinking it could be cool. It would be neat to do some sort
The book projects are making me crazy, but I'm trying to deal with the chaos. I hate chaos in my room. Chaos = noise. Some days I can't take the noise, some days are ok. However I constantly live in fear that someone is going to walk into my room with a clipboard. I'm figuring they'll wait until the week of Thanksgiving and then they'll be annoyed that we're watching a movie or doing something that they don't think is "educationally relevant."
So, to recap. Thoughts on Christmas Around the World projects?
Ten Predictions for the Next 4 Years (mine are more like hopes)
- NCLB is improved if not scrapped altogether.
- Raises for teachers.
- The war in Iraq/Afghanistan will end.
- Gas prices will rise again, but not as much as $4. Sheesh.
- Americans become less hated in other countries (i.e. stop being so obnoxious...sheesh)
- Unemployment rates will rise in the near future, then begin to go down.
- Major health care improvements. Maybe not national health care, but at least some regulation of the insurance companies. Sheesh.
- Medicare changes. Good, bad, indifferent something has to change.
- Major economy changes. (I hope.)
- Gay rights will become a hot button issue, again.
P.S. The tax break we were told about for buying our Pri.us? Phased out in 2007. SON OF A B! I'm beyond ticked.
So, LMP is eagerly anticipating the new Twi.light movie.
Me?
I've never read the books. They SOUND like my kind of book. I had just never heard of them until this summer when we were at the beach, beating the heat in a Books.A.Million and they were advertising the release of the last book. It sounded like as big a deal as a new Jan.et Evanovich book. But again, I haven't read the book.
Maybe I'll put them on my list for this year's beach trip. If we go to the beach this year. Money is tight, we may have to skip it. Which will stink because I was really looking forward to going again and perhaps taking LMP.
Does anyone know anything about a tax break for Pri.us owners? That may pay for our week at the beach.
Ever since I caught this on Y.ouT.ube it's been stuck in my head.
How amazing would it be to work at that school? I probably couldn't do it though. I'm struggling with daily di.fferentiation. Or so I'm told. For now I would settle for attending his conference. That would be inspirational to say the least.
How many days until Christmas break?
If you need the lyrics, check here.
Thank goodness it's Friday. Has it seemed like the longest week ever to anyone else?
I went to LMP's play again tonight. She did a great job, I'm so proud. LMK wasn't bad either. Ok, ok, I laughed my tush off. Who knew Loui.s Car.roll was so funny!?
The meeting with the admin was ok too. They're still pissed about something we did a month ago. MOVE ON. Sheesh. Sounds like others are in hot water too, but it still stinks.
things couldn't get worse, they do.
Meeting tomorrow with admin.
Socks is in the kitty hospital.
Life sucks.
Before the different stuff, I would just like to point out that even the janitor commented today that no one smiles, no one is happy, no one says hello anymore. The morale, she is dropping!
My room was a sauna today and I literally cannot open my windows. They're so heavy I can't lift them. It was 80 in there before I muscled it open.
Also, am I the only one that got sniffley when Barack Obama thanked his wife and kids and promised them a puppy? I'm so weird.
Now.
Enough about school!
I thought I would share my tv obsession with you. TV seems to be my escape these days. I can just turn my mind off for hours at a time.
New (at least to me) Shows I Love
- The Big Bang Theory
- Privileged (I've loved Jo.Anna Garcia since R.eba)
- 17 and Counting
- The Starter Wife
- Gossip Girl (LMP loves it, I have my issues with it, but I watch it with her)
- The Ex List
- How I Met Your Mother
- Samantha Who?
- America's Next Top Model/Top Design/Project Runway/Top Chef
- Desperate Housewives
- Amazing Race
- The Soup
- Ugly Betty
- Survivor
- Jon and Kate, Plus 8 - I can't seem to shake some of the things I've read and seen about the show. I enjoy watching the kids, but at what price? Plus, I'm tired of seeing all the great things they get to do with a family of 10 that I can't do with a family of 2 (now 3).
- The Ex List - Booooooooooooring. It better start getting good quickly.
- House - He's so mean and everybody dies! I must be a masocist.
Did you? We got up early and didn't have to wait at all. I'm saving my sticker to show my kids tomorrow.
In other news, rumor is we're to note diff.erenti.ation EVERY DAY in our lesson plans. Seriously? Seriously! What happened to, "This is going to take time?" or "We're not expecting you to start doing this all at once."
I love it when people talk out of both sides of their mouth. Just one more reason to vote and make your voice heard.
Woohoo! I'm still in this.
Today was uneventful. We took the quarterly writing test in the morning and went to see LMK and LMP in their play in the afternoon. I also sent all my plans for the next week or two to the admin. and I met with the gifted coordinator just to play CYA. I'm learning CYA is a way of life around here.
The play? Very fun. There were minor mistakes here and there, but it was great and my students LOVED it. They've all got a crush on one of the cards now. Oy vey.
Have I mentioned the hamster? LMP got a hamster back in September. She's a cute little thing. Socks is in love with her. Actually, I think he just wants to eat her. Either way, he spends a heck of a lot of time mesmerized by Pheebs.
On the second day!
Sheesh. Spent most of the day at play practice watching LMK and LMP (Lawn Mower Princess as the younger daughter has now been dubbed). They are in the school play.
It was fun to see and I wanted to check things out since my kids are going on their first field trip tomorrow. To see the play.
It ought to be interesting.
Why do I think the administration will be in to observe me tomorrow? Just to mess with me.
I know, I know it's been more than a month. I apologize. DRAMA.
What the hell. Let's give it another whirl.
Allow me to sum up my week.
I suck.
Wait, my mother doesn't read this. I'll use my away message for IM (that has since been banned by my mother). "LMQ sucks at her job. Tell your friends. "
No really, my meeting with the administration (both of them) after Wednesday's informal observation boiled down to you're sucking - we know you can do better. Do better!
Um. Thanks? I knew that last year.
It doesn't help that my friend got observed the day after doing the same thing with one minor tweak and received a glowing evaluation.
What the hell? Seriously. What. the. hell.
Anyone with great suggestions on "challenging the gifties" would be my bestest friend.
Now, it's back to googling.
Di.ffere.ntiation can bite my shiny metal ass.
It's going to be a long month.
Tonight, in what I thought was a regular conversation with my parents they dropped a bombshell. About a month ago, Lucy was in a freak but potentially fatal accident. She's on the mend and getting back to being her old self, but it doesn't make it any easier.
So, if you have time today, say a little prayer for my Lucy - who is almost back to 100%, my parents - who are still upset over the situation, and then go hug your pets. In the blink of an eye, they could be gone.
I never thought there would be days that I hate my job this much or that they'd happen so often.
Maybe I wasn't cut out to teach. I already spend my days feeling like I'm letting my kids down. Now, I have parents complaining their gifted child is bored. SO AM I!? We're reviewing, it's boring. I didn't know I was supposed to get up in the front of the room and dance.
Since a parent went to the principal and complained (without coming to me mind you) that their little angel is bored, I now have an official negative evaluation. Great. It's not formal, but its still written down.
I'm seriously at a loss. I'm told 90% of my students are expected to pass the state tests. If that didn't sound unreasonable enough...let me break it down by numbers. That means I can have EXACTLY 1 student fail. I've got 7 working below grade level, 3 of those are at least two grade levels behind, and 3 potentially gifted students.
I keep my homeroom for reading in which they must be taught on grade level. As I understand that, it means everyone is presented the same information. However, I am supposed to be differentiating.
I have one student at an 11th grade math level. What the hell do I do with him?
Science we were asked to increase use of the interactive notebooks. I've been using them all year. I'm pretty darn proud I've stuck with them this long - they're B-O-R-I-N-G! But oh no, the gifties are bored.
Oh, don't use paper. We're trying to reduce copying costs and we make far too many copies.
I just don't know what to do. I feel like no matter what I do, it's wrong. I look around and I hear/see all these great teachers and I honestly wonder how they do it.
For a job that everyone tells me I am a natural at - I suck. I am the most educated on my team, but I feel like the kid who is below grade level. I feel like I've forgotten everything in the four years I spent subbing. My mentor is no help. He uses the textbook more than me. The other 4th grade teacher is in the same boat, but she's smarter than me. She has great ideas. Me. Not so much.
Maybe subbing is the way to go. No thinking, just following someone else's plans. THAT I can do and do well.
Suggestions? Anyone? Anything? I'm really kind of desperate at this point. It usually takes more than a month of school to break me. Hey, last year I made it to October.
As far as I can tell, I have two choices. Get a technology job - which I think I would be good at (but hey, I thought I could be a good teacher), or get out of this district. Out of Virginia.
Are there any other jobs out there for teacher with 2 years teaching experience who just can't hack it? Target is looking better and better all the time.
It's been a while since I've done CC, but I'm trying to be a better blogger. This week is a barn cat. Well, a former barn cat. Don't tell the others, but she was my favorite. She had quite an attitude, but she was just beautiful. Sometimes, I wonder what happened to her when we moved. I choose to believe she moved down the road to the next farm where she could get fed reliably. That's what I choose to believe.
I still feel guilty for leaving all my barn cats. Animals are defenseless, if I could I'd save them all. But I can't. And that breaks my heart.Did I mention we got a hamster last weekend? Hokie, Ollie, and Socks are thrilled - an interactive toy!
My first week of school with kids went well. I have a nice group of children even though they are a chatty bunch. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Sheesh! There are worse things to deal with. Slowly I am trying to figure out how to meet all the changes that were thrust upon us a week before school started. I'm hoping I will have everything running smoothly by the end of the first quarter. Time will tell.
The cats got fleas. *scratch, scratch, scratch* $400 later *scratch, scratch, scratch* everyone seems to be doing ok. *scratch, scratch, scratch* Ollie became anemic from it. *scratch, scratch, scratch* When we took him to the vet he only weighed 9 pounds. *scratch, scratch, scratch* He looks so skinny. *scratch, scratch, scratch* He scares me. *scratch, scratch, scratch* Poor baby.
Younger Daughter...can I call her Lawn Mower Princess?... I'll need to think of an official name for her and her "sister" is all moved into school. She doesn't have much. LMK and I went out and bought her some necessities. You know, like towels. Her mom is shipping her stuff and it should arrive tomorrow, but I'm not sure exactly what belongings will be coming.
There is much to come in the future. Living with us. Lots of questions that need answered.
For example:
- Do we leave her in the "guest bedroom" down the hall from us that has the closet with all my clothes in it?
- If we move her, where are we going to find a bed?
- Where do I move my clothes? The only other closet upstairs is LMK's.
- Where do we put his clothes?
- Do we move her from the guest room with no lock on the door to the soon to be old computer room that has deadbolt locks and a chain lock on the doors? I really don't like the thought of her being able to barricade herself into her room. :o)
- Can I do this? Raising a child you've known since birth is one thing. What about a child you met a year and a half ago and haven't seen for a year. She's a good kid, but how is this going to work?
So, my birthday was uneventful. LMK took me here. It was a new and different experience that I really enjoyed. So much so that I really would like to go back.
Let's see, I guess it's official...kinda. I'm a mom. Of a teenager. Heaven help me.
Younger Daughter finally got the ok to attend LMK's school again. She flew in Tuesday and we picked her up at the airport. She's staying with us for the week and a half until school starts. I love having her around.
There is talk of her parents giving us legal guardianship for the spring semester so she can live with us and go to LMK's school cheaper. The monetary aspect of that concerns me, but we'll make it work somehow. I really want her to stay.
Older Daughter is coming to visit tomorrow along with a boy who likes Younger Daughter. LMK has soccer camp. Something is going on with her. Both girls think I don't know, but I know. Or I think I know. They'll come to me when and if they're ready. Until then, I'm biding my time. I wonder now how much my mother knew when I was a teenager. Yikes!
In for a penny, in for a pound.
Did I mention school starts Monday and I am completely unprepared?
That's right, lil `ol me. I'm famous! True, I won't be rubbing elbows with Brange.lina or Benn.ifer any time soon, but my name is mentioned in a national magazine - and it's not because I'm going to jail or drunk or high!
I sent in something to that person I tried to hate, but cannot's magazine and they published it!
I only bought two extra copies.
If you want to know what I submitted or have your own copy of aforementioned magazine and want to check it out, send me an email (lawnqueen[at]gmail[dot]com) and I will give you the details. Provided of course I know you or have deemed your potential stalker level is low.
We're home...back. I don't say home because Northern Virginia has never really felt like home. Yes, we live and work here, but it's just not home. I don't fit in around here. I have different thought processes and different things are important to me. That being said, we've met some great people living here and I've made friends that I hope will be for life, but it's just not home.
A part of me will always consider Ohio home. My family is there. My friends are there. My history is there. However, LMK and I realized something over the past two days. Black.sburg is home too. Almost as much as Ohio is home for me. I like being there. I like the people. I like the scenery.
Mark my words people. Someday, we're moving home. Whether that home is in Virginia or in Ohio - one way or another, I'm going home.
Tomorrow we discuss what journalists I will no longer watch and who I will faithfully watch after talking with friends about their handling of the April 1.6th events.
You know, again...
While my 215 pictures download... Did I mention we went to Colonial Williamsburg? Well, we did. LMK went to a conference or as he puts it, "Math Camp" and I went sight seeing.
Have I mentioned my extreme fear of going to public places alone? Well, I'm afeared of it. I don't care who goes with me generally, I just don't want to be alone. Well, readers...well, Misty and anyone else who still comes here after my year of silence, I did it! I went to Jamestown AND Yorktown AND Yankee Candle AND several gift shops in between ALL ON MY OWN! Are you impressed? I am.
Now, I need help. Do I send a complaint letter to the hotel we stayed at? Would you if the following happened to you?
- Upon check in, hotel had no record of school's credit card information that LMK personally faxed them and that we confirmed earlier in the week. Gave them our personal credit card until the situation could be resolved.
- Finally got to room and realized that our a/c didn't work (it's in the high 90s each day). Asked if it could be fixed. Sent "engineering" who had no idea what was wrong and recommended we change rooms.
- New room smells...odd.
- View from new room is a roof. Sounds normal right, check out the picture below.
- New room has smoke detector hanging from wiring. Not sure if it works, decide not to push luck with room changing.
- Finally got credit card information straightened around three days into our stay.
- The maids STOLE MY FEBREEZE! STOLE IT!
- Did not receive LMK's wake up call twice.
- Everyone on the staff was really nice...yet incompetent at times.
Still fascinated by these little buggers.
The new office is finally finished. Well, the painting is finished. Honestly? It looks great. I'm so pleased with it. So pleased that I mentioned something to LMK about painting our bedroom since we have all the painting stuff we need. I thought he might strike me. Heh.
The second and third pictures look a lot alike. HOWEVER! If you look at the door and the base boards in each picture, I think you'll notice a difference. I notice a HUGE difference in the room and I'm so glad I insisted on painting the trim white.
Teeny, tiny turtles - red sliders I believe they're called. I would have loved one of these for my classroom, but I was afraid of how big they would get and also, could I get them home alive.
This is the crab that appeared beside me on the beach one day. I named him Jacques.
Aldergator at Huntington Beach State Park.
Ok, ok we're not painting anything red. But that's just because when we move we'd have to paint over it and red would be a pain in the ass.
Remember how I said we're moving the office? Well, we're painting it too. I'm so excited! We've lived here a year and a half and we're finally painting! The walls are done and we've got it all taped off so we can paint the windows, doors, and base boards white tomorrow. Yay! Soon it will be done and we'll be able to move in furniture and hang stuff on the walls.
Here is the before:
And this is what it looked like before we put the painter's tape up:
After shots coming soon!
I'm trying to convince LMK to let me paint the bedroom since we've got everything to paint and all we would need is another gallon of paint in the new color. However, he's just been informed that we have to go to Historical Virginia for a conference the last week of July. I'm tagging along to since I wanted to go there this summer and I have tickets to get into Historicaltown free since the "traveling show" came to our classroom.
Unfortunately, that really cuts into our painting time. My parents come the week after (and we're going to Tech that week for a few days - HOORAY!) and then he has two weeks until soccer season begins and I have a week until I have to go back. We cleaned the bedroom (wall and floor washing clean) this afternoon so I'm confident we can get the rest of the house done if we put our minds to it.
Plus, I'm dying to try out my new nail polish from here. It's mesmerizing. Why had I not heard of this store!?
So, you'll understand if I'm not here. Summer is just flying by!
I'm supposed to be cleaning the spare bedroom that we're thinking about relocating the office to, but I'm procrastinating so I can share the "Big Boom" story or as I like to call it, "How I Broke My Baby".
Let me preface this story with the fact that my mother-in-law swears that "it's not vacation until you have car trouble." Um...okay, wish you would have mentioned that BEFORE I broke my baby, but it's good to know regardless.
So, we arrived at the beach and were having a great time. Surf, sun, sea, sunburn - we had all the S's covered. Thursday night, I decided I wanted to run back to a store to get a pair of shoes that I liked, but hadn't gotten a few days earlier. It was pouring rain and there wasn't much else to do besides watch tv or go shopping. Plus, you have to understand how RARE it is for me to find shoes I like anywhere but Payless. Those shoes were ON SALE and destined to be MINE. Plus, there was a cute little beach shop that I wanted to stop at to get a beach shirt for myself.
There is one road onto the inlet where we stayed. Well, there are more, but the one we use is the closest and fastest. LMK and I headed off the inlet with me driving. The Prius is our car, but let's face it. She's mine. I usually drive her; LMK is lucky to ride along. He accepts that.
As we approach the stop light, I hit what I thought was a puddle. However, instead of a neat little splash, we are jarred practically out of our teeth by a pot hole. Shit, shit, shit! I've hit a couple pot holes since we got the car and I'm always sure I damaged the car. Luckily, nothing happened. Until this pot hole.
We pulled into the gas station and LMK got out to check the tires. No problem. He gets back in and we continue to the beach shop. A ways down the road, I look down and notice the tire inflation warning light is illuminated on the dash. Commence instant panic. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY CAR! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH MY BABY! LMK is trying to calm me down, but I do NOT handle car problems well. I chalk it up to my control freakiness. I'm not in control, hence panic. This is also the man that told me, "Just because the check engine light comes on, doesn't mean something's wrong!" Uh, yeah, it does. Finally, he agrees to call the Toyota dealer in the morning to see about getting it checked before we leave. I can live with that. I'm a little neurotic about my car, I admit it.
We get to the beach shop and I get out to inspect the tires myself. HOLY SHIT, THE FRONT TIRE IS LOW! Re-commence panic. LMK gives up trying to reason with me and agrees to just go back to the condo where he and his dad can put on the spare until we get it looked at. I turn out of the shop and proceed to take back streets to avoid cutting across 4 lanes of traffic with a low tire. Unfortunately, we end up in a development at a cul-de-sac. More panicking. LMK opens the door to check the tire and we hear this whooshing noise. I'm out of the car and over to his side. Not only is the front tire FLAT the back tire has a hole so large it's WOOSHING air out. Luckily, we're parked on the hole so it's not completely flat.
This would be the point where I lost it. I have no idea where we are, it's getting dark and even if we get a tow truck, HOW WILL THEY FIND US!?
Thankfully, LMK ordered me into the passenger seat and he slowly maneuvered the car back to the beach shop right off the main highway. After we parked I got out and saw that we had not one, but TWO completely flat tires. Thank goodness, my parents insist that I have AAA. We called LMK's Dad to rescue us and then we called AAA to get us towed to the dealership.
From that moment on, everyone was great. The owner of the beach shop told us we could sit there as long as we needed. The tow truck driver got their in under an hour and my in-laws came and rescued us.
My secret worry was that I'd ticked off my car. When we bought her the salesman made a comment about how the car would get to know my driving style and adjust to be more efficient based on that. I was afraid my baby was sitting at the garage plotting how to get even with me for hurting it.
The Toyota dealership was phenomenal. They got our car in (without an appointment) and fixed in under 2 hours. Not to mention it was reasonably cheap considering we needed not one but TWO brand new tires. This experience is enough to make me buy another Toyota in the future. The next day, we picked up the car (which I hugged and apologized to profusely).
On the way home, I took at look at that pot hole. Holy crap! Not only is it about 2ft long and 1 ft wide, it's got a large piece of metal sticking out of it. No wonder my poor car was injured. In the scheme of things, we're lucky it wasn't damaged worse. We were very lucky.
We're back! I'm thrilled to report that I do like the beach! (I wasn't sure, it'd been so long since I'd been there) We're already planning on going back next year. I'm getting ready to head to bed, tomorrow we'll unpack, and I'll have more time to talk about the trip, but for now, I leave you a summary of the trip - in pictures. More pictures coming to Flickr.
Yes, that would be our car on the roll back. Story coming soon.
We heard from the West Coast kid again. Things are bad, but we're doing our best to cheer her up. We'll keep hoping that something good happens to the kid.
We are off to the beach for our first vacation since our honeymoon. Enjoy the week and think of me, hating to sweat, sitting on the beach. Heh. No lawn mowing this week!