I Thought Yesterday Was Sunday!

Jim usually works to get overtime on Saturdays so I was confused all day yesterday because he was here!  Bonus though that it's Sunday today!  AND!!!  Our house is clean clean clean.  Jim's such a good cleaner.  He's much more thorough than I. It may take him a year and a half to clean the house but he moves furniture and really gets the nooks and crannies.  Thank you Jimmy Lou!

Maggie sent me this sweet photo of Eva and her papa cuddling yesterday...love it!

Today's plans:  I need to continue working on schedules.  I've got the master schedule with kids complete (all sped kids are listed in each class so we know who to send IEPs to and where there may be an aide needed) as well as freshmen schedules.  I've got all the other classes schedules WRITTEN down, I just need to type them up.  Shouldn't take too long.  For freshmen?  There are about a dozen issues that I've noticed so far and for the most part it's just a period here and there where a class needs to be picked up.  I haven't even checked to see the recommendations.  Except for one.  This one girl was recommended for all pull out classes and the only pull out I think she's in is my social studies class.  Which makes NO sense.  If you're out for English, you should at least be out for science and SS!  UGH! 

Other than that, today I'll probably hang out outside, walk Sami (of course), maybe mow the front lawn (early - I did the back the other day), work on The Help and that's it.  Jim's still in bed.  He played poker last night and didn't get home until about 1AM.  The bum...hope he won big!  (Right!  They play with nickels!)

K - well, I'm out...later!

Stop Giving Me The Stink Eye Sami!!!

She's so demanding!  She sits there, pretty as you please, throwing daggers at me with her eyes!  That isn't going to get you on a walk faster my sweet little girl!  Mind your Mama!!!

So currently on the agenda is a massive clean of the house.  It's been a while since we've done a major clean together because of the time away and Jim working on Saturdays.  He's not working today (outside of the home) so I'll be the slave driver today inside the home!  Plus, Mom is coming to stay on Monday and Jim needs to get her room in order!  Other than that, I'll be working here at home (at least until the sun comes out).  I still need to finish getting schedules for the kids and I need to start re-reading The Help and developing reading comprehension questions...ugh!  I looked online to see if there were any already prepared but, alas, I was not that lucky. 

For your viewing pleasure tonight (this especially goes out to Charlie who will be THRILLED):  Harry Potter is on ABC tonight - Chamber of Secrets!!!  YEAH!!!  Since Jim is playing poker tonight- I'll be enjoying my evening with HP and maybe a little pumpkin juice of my own making (wine...I don't have any pumpkin juice)!  Ooh, or maybe some butter beer! 

For your current viewing pleasure - here is your "quick fix" of Eva!  As you can see by the "not-quite-rubbed-in-sunscreen" - Maggie took her to the pool yesterday with Kristyn, Clover, Eric and Dylan.  Maggie needs some guidance on sunscreen application!  Her Aunt Muir would never have left her forehead looking like that! 

Okay well, I better get moving.  Jim's already started cleaning and Sami's about to swipe me with her razor claws!  Little girl likes her walks!  Later!

Friday Plans

So today I need to start thinking about what novel I'm going to teach first and I need to purchase some used copies of said novel.  I think I'd like to do The Help first, especially because the movie will be coming out soon and if I do that now, by the time I finish with the kids, I should be able to get it on DVD.  Problem is - it's still a bestseller and there are hardly any used ones available.  I'm going today to another used book store to see if they have any copies of that or Hunger Games.  Then again, maybe I'll start with Shakespeare in my "high" LA class...I'm thinking of doing Othello.  I can't do Hamlet or R&J because many of the kids have done those already.  We'll see.  I only have four kids currently in my "high" LA class though since they've misplaced many so really, I could do R&J with them.  Hmm...

Other than that, I need to walk Sami here in a minute.  After that, I'll eat breakfast, get showered and dressed and head out for my few errands.  Maybe it'll be sunny today and I can hang in my newly cleaned pool.  Oh, and I need to cut the grass in back.  Ugh!  I sprayed weed kill, gopher kill and bug kill back there yesterday.  Hot and a pain in my ass but boy was it needed.  So sick of this ridiculously hot weather!  I also need to finish up the school stuff (schedules etc.).  Did I mention that FW emailed me back?  I know I forwarded it to Lisa and I told Maggie but...here's what she said:

Muir,

I am doing better, and thank you. I am looking into the issues you noted below. I'm not sure why this happened, but I will bring it all to the attn. of HH so that we can get crazy eyes his credit. As for the low/high errors, I haven't looked at that at all, so I will see if they are just backwards or if it is more than that. thanks for letting me know. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer as well...it's going fast!
FW

That isn't too bad of an email, huh? Nothing will get fixed, however, but at least she acknowledged.  So frustrating, though and as I've harped before, I won't be wasting my time in the future discussing these recommendations so extensively just to be shot down and ignored.

K - so that's all I've got.  Oh, except...a parting shot of sweet Eva...just to start your day off right!  Later!

I Miss Eva!!!

Only home for about two hours and I already miss that sweet baby girl!  Thank God I'll see her in just a few days!  Here are a few from my stay there.  How cute are her little outfits!?

Day 1 - She loves to talk!  When you say "Hi" I
swear she repeats it back!  Can you say genius!?



Isn't that the cutest, gummiest smile you ever saw?!

She thinks her Aunt Muir is Hi-larious!!!



I mean for shizz!!!  How cute is she!!? 
Just a little lady!




Sacked out this morning.  She looks so tiny here!

Life In Columbus

You better put that camera away before I
shove it where the sun don't shine!!!

So I'm here...in Columbus.  I dread going home becuase of construction on  south 71 just before Lebanon.  Driving through yesterday, there was about a 2 mile stretch of nearly stopped traffic.  In addition, after I passed that, the highway was shut down because of a major accident that looked to involve two semis.  Ugh! 

Eva is superb by the way and we got to spend some quality time together last night.  Although, truth be told, she slept nearly the whole time Charlie and Maggie were at the movie so I don't know how quality it was.  Just kidding.  I love just watching her sleep.  While she was awake though, she was giggling and laughing and talking.  I tried to get pics of her doing just that but the picture at the left is how they all turned out.  The flash sort of startled her - every time.  I do have several funny pics of her...all bug-eyed though.

Plans while here:  Well, in a bit, I want to take a walk.  Maggie wants to go too but she doesn't walk as fast as I would like so I guess I'll just have to deal.  Maggie wants to weed her front yard.  That sounds like fun, doesn't it?!  At some point we'll go to Orange Leaf the yogurt place (this will happen daily while I'm here...a condition for my visit!).  Other than that, our plans are up in the air.  Lots of Eva time...lots of relaxing. 

Last night I watched that documentary "Something's Wrong With Aunt Diane" - about the woman who drove the wrong way a couple of years ago and killed 4 of the 5 kids in her car (a daughter and 3 nieces), herself and three men in another car.  Tests found loads of alcohol and weed in her system which the family couldn't believe was correct.  The documentary covered the timeline of the events that day as well as the husband and his sister digging to get to the "truth".  Their goal was to exhume the body to retest and prove that she wasn't drunk or that there had been some sort of stroke due to an abscess tooth that caused her erratic behavior.  It was sad because I think the truth lies in the blood and tox screens but they just can't admit that Diane had some issue that they just didn't know about. 

Okay so that's that...I best go snuggle with a sweet baby Eva!  Later!

Headed North

I'm running a bit behind here so this will be short.  I need to get Sami walked and then I need to shower and pack to go to Maggie's.  I'll be there until Wednesday/Thursday...not sure which...it all depends on Maggie and if she's nice to me!  Hee hee!  By the way Maggie - we will be going to get yogurt EVERY DAY so prepare yourself. 

So yesterday we got - literally...no exaggeration - 3 inches of rain here in Loveland in 3 hours.  Interestingly, Loveland and a few surrounding areas were the only towns where a flood advisory was in effect.  I'm not complaining because we needed the rain badly but for some reason, our sirens started going off.  And they went off for about an hour.  There were no thunderstorm warnings and so obviously no tornado warnings...they just kept sounding and sounding and sounding.  I eventually had Jim call Miami Township and they're response was "We don't know what's going on either".  Awesome!  This morning, they reported that this was the second time in a week that it had happened in our area and they haven't been able to pinpoint the cause.  Again - Awesome!  Thank the baby Jesus that I'm not a freak about those things! 

Here's a little pic to show that our A/C is in working well.  I tucked him in...he looks like a giant worm!

And that's all I've got.  Sami is giving me the stink eye because her brothers have already walked with their daddy and she thinks she's going to get screwed.  I better get it together before she sinks her canines in my jugular!  Later!  (Prepare yourselves for some sweet Eva pics over the next few days!!!)

I Caved!

I finally just caved and emailed FW.  Here's all I said:

Hi FW (I didn't call her that in the email)
Hope your summer is going well and that you're feeling better (and functional!).  (That's me smoozing a little)

I got my schedule in the mail the other day and just wanted to bring to your attention something we had disussed: My social studies class is NOT in the morning which was mandatory for "he who can't see straight" to get his SS credit. In addition, I went on DASL and looked at my class lists and saw that many of the kids that were recommended for my LA classes are misplaced (low/high errors). Also, VGW's (male collegue) 7th period class - has two people in it: Diablo and DQ...not sure this is what we had in mind for the low Math class. =) At this point, I'm sure that things are not going to be able to be remedied but I wanted to check.

Have a good "rest of the summer"!
Muir

That was a reasonable email, right?  Of course nothing will get done.  I'm sure they're all waiting for me to bitch about the fact that FW and Lil don't have pullout classes but whatever, I didn't think they'd really follow the advice of everyone having one anyway.  My only beef is that we waste all this time planning for next year and discussing how best we can serve our kids and then none of our recommendations are taken.  They have their own agenda and don't take into consideration what's best for the kids (although they say they do that it's bullshit).  Regardless, I'm not going to waste my time next year, that's for sure (if I have a job...you never know).

So, it's still hot as shit by the way.  I'm going to have to hurry here and take Sami before it gets too uncomfortable.  Not sure what I'm going to do today but most likely it will be either sitting in the A/C or sitting in my pool if it's nice.  I'm probably going up to Columbus tomorrow instead of Tuesday to give Maggie and Charlie a chance to see HP...aren't a good and nice sister?!  (Really I'm just trying to get some alone time with Eva...get those 'rents out of my hair!)

Yesterday - I bathed Zeke and Bubba!  They were not happy about it.  Zeke gets really antsy and barky and sort of mad when he's getting dried...it's kind of funny.  He stands there and sort of goes:  rrrrrr...grrrr...ruff!!!  But at the same time he's wagging his tail and licking me.  He's so crazy.  Bubba just hates it all around.  He hates being wet, he hates being dried, he hates getting brushed...UGH!  Sami didn't get a bath but she acted like she was interested.  After I finished with the boys, I asked her if she wanted one but she ran from me so I took that as a no and let her off the hook.

Jim and I are seriously thinking about opening a yogurt shop.  Is that crazy?  Problem is start up costs etc,  Would we be able to do something like that with only a start up loan?  We would certainly need lots of schooling and advice in this and I'm not sure who would be the right person to ask.  Wouldn't that be cool though?  It's not the greatest time of year to open but if we waited until spring, that would work.  Who knows, we'll see.  I'll certainly be investigating possibilities (and then most likely getting my hopes dashed because I'm a wuss!) 

Okay well, I better get going otherwise I might melt while walking Sami.  I also have two books to review on my book blog - I'm so behind!  UGH!  Later!

It's Official!

HH is an ass!  Oh wait...that was official a long time ago, wasn't it?  Anwyay - I got my teaching schedule in the mail while I was gone and sure enough, he didn't listen to us when we told him about certain classes being taught at certain times.  Oh well...guess male colleague (lets call him VGW - Video Game Whore) will only have two kids in his 7th period class.  That still makes me giggle!   And I guess our senior who's only in the high school for the morning won't be able to fulfill his governemnt credit. 

Oh, and if you didn't notice, I'm back!  And I'm not happy about it.  We had such a good time while up at PIB!  Trip and I took a daily ride on the wave runner around the island.  I jumped in the lake at the state park every day too.  The water is almost balmy!  Thursday the water was pretty rough out back and I threw Trip around on the back of the wave runner!  Hee hee.  Yesterday morning on our final ride, when we switched drivers so that I could take it in, he told me that if I whipped him around again (not that he cared) he was just going to pull my ass in the lake.  I guess he doesn't think it's fair that I'm allowed to throw his ass around but he's not allowed to do that to me.  I was gentle.  

Anyway, other than racing around on the wave runner, we went to the pool, played a lot of ball with J.J., ate delicious dinners, played Euchre (Jim and I kicked some Susan and Trip tail!) sweat our asses off and hung out.  I want to get back to the Bay at least one more time.  Dad and Becky will be up in early August and I may just go up without Jimmy when Anne and the kids go up.  I'd also like to go up when Maggie and Charlie go up in late August but we'll have to see about that.  School will have started and I'd have to take the Monday after school starts off and I'd also have to see if Diane can watch the dogs {smile =) }

So, my plans today are:  I already walked Sami and HOLY SHITBALLS!!!  It's hotter than the devil's turd out there!  I started sweating the minute I walked out the door.  UGH!  Sami is sacked out!  I need to shower and then I need to go to the store.  Now that I know for sure what I'm teaching, I would like to go to Half Price in Kenwood to see if they have any of the books I plan on teaching.   I also need to bathe my puppies!  Bubba smells like poop and Zeke needs a bath just to get some of his excess fur off him...he's molting or something!  

And that's it for now.  Maggie and Charlie come back today.  I can't wait to see Eva on Tuesday when I go up to Columbus for a few days!  I bet she's changed so much in the two weeks or so since I've seen her!  K - I'm out...later!

A Little Eva To Quench Your Thirst!

Here she is!  That lovable love - EVA!!!

I bought this for her!  And as much
as she loves to kick and bounce
I hope she does lots of hopping on
her poppy!  Love it!

I'll see you back here around Friday/Saturday!

Head Aching With So Much To Do

Jim and I are leaving for trip #2 to PIB tomorrow morning - early - and I have yet to get shit done.  I have managed to walk Sami and eat breakfast and empty my pool but that's it so far.  I've made a list or rather started a list but I need to get my ass up and clean.  And grocery shop.  And pack.  Jim's already packed, if you can believe it!  He had to pack yesterday because we have HP tickets for tonight which means he'll have to race home from work, we'll head down to the theater to pick up the tickets, eat a quick dinner at Cracker Barrel (we've never been and are pretty excited to try it) and then HARRY POTTER HERE I COME!!!  I'm going to take a box of tissues too because if I know me, and I think I do, I'm going to start sobbing immediately.  I'll miss my old friend...it's sad to think I won't have that to look forward to anymore!  WAHHHHHH!!!!!!

As I said, Jim and I will be leaving EARLY tomorrow.  He wants to get on the road at 5AM but I told him he needed to settle down.  We can get up at 5AM and be mostly packed but I think getting on the road before 6AM is a little nutty.  If we're there by 11ish, that's fine.  I talked to J.J. yesterday - they had arrived at the cottage around 10 or 11 and Trip said he walked in and said, "Where's Aunt Frog!?"  He then got on the phone with me and said, "Why aren't you here yet?!"  I love him!  He also asked if I was going to golf with him.  Absolutely!  He has his own clubs, you see.  My sweet J Bird loves him some sports!  I'll be sure to take pictures which reminds me I better pack my camera now. 

So here's a funny:  I was going through the schedules yesterday for school.  I mentioned before how effed up they were?  Well, the male sped teacher who is teaching both pull out math classes?  One of his classes has two (2!!!) kids in it!  And let me explaining that we divide the math to be low and high for the different levels of kids we have.  It's basically supposed to be half and half...not 8 and 2.  Obviously, HH didn't seem to find it necessary to take our recommendations as worthwhile.  All those meetings we had to discuss student placement?  Waste of time.  All that time we took to fill out recommendations on the computer?  Waste!  But we're just special ed - we don't really matter.  I just wish a ton of our parents would call in and complain.  I want to email FW and say, "Hey, I know you're pregnant and probably won't even be at school most of the year so you probably don't care but if, by chance, you give a shit at all (you are department head) you may want to discuss with HH the suckapotomus job he's done in scheduling our kids.  It's all effed up and in the future, if this is the way it's going to be, can I just sit in my room during early release and do other shit (like BFC) rather than waste my time getting together as a department discussing things that no one will carry out anyway?" Very frustrating!

K - I better stop bitching about things and start cleaning.  Later - most likely Friday or Saturday. 

Driving Backwards

I had some crazy dreams last night.  The first one I had was bad and sad.  I dreamt about David.  We were walking along some sidewalk with a bunch of people, almost like it was some organized "walk" and I knew that he was going to go home and kill himself and there was nothing I could do.  It sucked.  It woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep for a while.  I don't know why I had that dream...ugh!

My next dream I was driving backwards...not in reverse but rather I was sitting in my seat backwards.  I had to look over my shoulder to drive and as you can imagine, I wasn't a very good driver.  Finally, I stood up - in the middle of the highway (while moving) and turned around.  How weird. 

My next dream - I was at  school...it was the first day back and I my desk and computer were missing from my room.  I kept ranting and raving about my desk (it's a good desk and I brought it down with me when I moved from my upstairs room) because there were "confidential files" in my drawers (not really...I keep those in a filing cabinet).  I kept telling the tech guy and maintenance man that I was going to sue and my parents (students parents) would sue if my desk wasn't returned - PRONTO!!!  I got my desk back by the way!  Just goes to prove that threats really do work (in dreams).

My next dream - I was at a jewelry store (I don't know why).  Some jewelry consultant lady must have thought I was there for something else or was someone else and she brought these two rings out for me to try on (I guess thinking I had ordered them made).  The first one was a diamond and sapphire ring that, when put on, was as long as my fingers and spread out over the two fingers of either side.  It was ginormous and kinda cool actually.  When I tried it on, I said to the lady, "Um, do you mind if I take a picture?"  She thought it was weird but let me.  That ring was $1.25 million...It looked more expensive than that, however.  The second ring was a yellow diamond as big as an ice cube...perfectly square...about 2x2x2.  It was kinda cool too.  I don't know what that one cost because I woke up.  Without my rings.  Or pictures of my rings.  Bummer! 

So that's it.  It's humid and steamy as hell.  All the windows in my house are steamed up.  Bonefish was delicious last night and bonus!!! With the gift cards Anne and I had we only had to pay $5 (for tip)!  Yeah!  Busy busy busy today getting ready for PIB and doing all the yard work etc.  Never enough time in the day.  Later!

Prepare Yourself For Some School Shit!

So, every day, I've been checking one of our school websites to see if HH has gotten it together in regard to the master schedule.  What I'm really interested in is what I'm teaching (no I never emailed FW or HH) so I can start to buy the books needed for my class(es) for LA.  Now, let me preface here by telling you that in our department meetings during the second half of the year, it was made clear to FW and agreed on by her that every one of the 5 special ed teachers should A) have a pull-out/special ed class to teach and B) have study halls in their schedule to serve those students on their caseload.  (Last year, this was an issue because Lil Platt got to teach ONLY co-teaching English classes and had NO study halls so that the rest of us had to have her delinquents in OUR study halls).  This would only be fair, right?  Agreed!  In addition to this agreement between all of us, we also talked about the fact that the LA classes (low and high) should be streamlined with a English 9 co-teaching class.  In other words, they should all be taught during the same period because that would give us more freedom to move kids around based on their skills (incoming freshmen are sometimes a crap shoot in where they're placed and we have to tinker with their schedules at the beginning of the year).  Finally, we talked about the fact that the LA classes and my social studies classes HAD to be in the morning because there were students (seniors) who would be in school only in the morning (leaving for the career center for afternoon lab) and had to get certain requirements in for graduation.  Got all that?

So schedules were on our website yesterday.  And guess what?  That's right, just about EVERYTHING we talked about as a department was IGNORED!!!  I'm still teaching BOTH LA classes (which means they can't be at taught during the same period) as well as my social studies classes.  My SS class?  Second to last period of the day.  FW?  Lil?  No pull out classes!  The hilarious thing is that there are a number of kids in my low LA class that are completely misplaced (they've put Diablo in the same class with some kids that should technically be in regular ed and autistic...that should be fun).  My high LA class which was supposed to be my "big" class (about 12 kids) only has 4 in it.  Low has about 7 or 8. Kids who were supposed to be in pull out aren't.  My SS class was supposed to be split as semester classes (1 semester of government and 1 of geography)...it's not.  The sucky thing is that the person this most affects is Lisa.  It's the kids on her caseload who are getting screwed.  But who knows...maybe this was just a tentative schedule and they're still trying to get things figured out.  (Unlikely since students have schedules too).  Whatever though...I just do what they tell me. 

K - well, enough about school.  It's Saturday and Jim and I have some yard work to do.  I have a list of "jobs" that I expect him to do today so after I walk Sami, I'll start cracking my whip.  I had a talk with Jim yesterday about the need for him to keep his eye on the ball.  And by ball?  I mean STOP DOING SHIT THAT ISN'T ON MY LIST OF THINGS THAT NEED TO GET DONE!!! (Jim just saw me typing this and he flipped me off...hee hee hee!)

Anne and I are going to dinner tonight (I believe...that was the plan).  We haven't decided where we'll go.  What are you in the mood for Anne?  Bonefish?  Bravo?  Mitchell's?  Taco Bell? 

Well, I best head out.  Sami's getting antsy.  She keeps trying to get up on the counter to get the bowl of food that Zeke didn't finish.  Ohh...she's a devil.  K - later!

The Top 7 Reasons Why Jim Is A PUTZ!!!

I was going to say asshole but I didn't want to cuss in the title like that...but you know what I mean!  And just so you know!  This has been building for a while!  And just so you know x2!  Me venting here keeps me from filing for divorce and/or smacking my husband so just let me rant!  And as usual, keep your "Poor Jim"s to yourself!

1. I never have any Tupperware to put leftovers in.  Yes I have Tupperware but it's never available for use in my cupboard.  Why you ask?  Well because!  Jim takes leftovers to work and then hoards the empty Tupperware either in his car or, who knows, maybe Bishop. (I'll deal with Bishop here in a bit!) And you may ask yourself, "Self, doesn't Muir take her lunch to school everyday during the school year?  And does that mean that she just leaves dozens of empty Tupperware in her car?"  Answer, NO!!!  I bring it in EVERY DAY!  I rinse it out EVERY DAY!!!  And I put what I used THAT DAY into the dishwasher!  I guess this is just too taxing for Jim to have to do the same.  And I guess he likes to have me bitch at him about the same shit every day.  Currently, there's a bag on Jim's workbench filled with Tupperware.  I've asked him about 5 times to wash it but SHOCKER!!! He hasn't!  Maybe I'll take the bag of Tupperware and stick it in his shower so that when he goes to get ready tomorrow, huh, he won't be able to!
2. Speaking of Jim's workbench which also means we're speaking of the garage...the other day, I was looking for an air filler-upper thingy...for my new pool.  And SHOCKER!!!  I couldn't find it in Jim's mess of a garage so I called him.  He told me to look in one spot...nope, not there.  So he told me to look in another spot.  Not there.  And one more spot...nada.  Then he tells me that oops, it must be at...drum roll please...BISHOP!!!  Half of Jim's shit is as BISHOP!  If I want/need a screwdriver it's at BISHOP!  If I need a push broom it's at BISHOP!  If I need any GD thing which should be in my own house it's at (lets all say it together now) BISHOP!!!  I'm about this close to telling Jim to move all his shit into Bishop, including himself!
3. Still speaking of the garage, I've just about reached my limit there.  About once a month, Jim will take up the job of what he calls "cleaning the garage".  In reality, he just moves shit from one side of the garage to the other.  (And this would be why - if something isn't actually at Bishop - he can't find it).  And in cleaning the garage 12 times per year, you'd think it'd be fairly clean.  You'd be wrong because Jim never throws anything away.  In fact, he just keeps accumulating shit.  There must be 17 empty coffee containers on the shelves.  And I'm not sure why he needs to keep a collection of phones.  There's a cordless hooked up in the garage but in addition, he has about 4 other phones (all w/cords) just lying around.  One of these days, I'm going in there and I'm going throw shit away.  The phones, the coffee containers, the 23 phone books that he's saving up , the collection of ugly glasses and bottle caps, the pillowcases full of "rags". UGH!!!
4. Still on the garage - Jim also likes to leave coffee mugs in there.  And not just coffee mugs but travel cups as well.  And guess what?  These cups usually still have coffee in them.  Guess how I found out?  Yup, because as I was looking for the air filler-upper thingy, I knocked one over...all over ME!  You can imagine how thrilled I was with Jim then!
5. Jim never puts his shit in the dishwasher.  He tells me he's letting it "soak" but that's bullshit!  His coffee cup doesn't need soaking.  His cereal bowl doesn't need soaking.  His spoon doesn't need to soak!  And hey dumbass!  Use the scrub brush if there's caked on shit.  He also uses the excuse that "he has to get out of the house and get to work!"  He apparenlty doesn't have 33 seconds to put his shit in the dishwasher.  He's in such a hurry that he was only able to play backgammon for an hour instead of the 2 hours that he WANTED to play!   
6. When Jim gets home - every day - he likes to disrobe.  I'm the same way...you know - get comfy...out of my work clothes...I get it.  However, I don't just drop trou in the kitchen.  I don't leave my pants in the middle of the floor and I don't strip off my socks and leave them sitting there for my significant other to FINALLY pick up!  I don't keep a collection of shoes (4 pair currently) sitting under kitchen table. 
7. The latest...the thing which brought this all to a head!?  So yesterday, I called Jim and said, "Hey, when you get home today, I'm going to send you back out to Home Depot to get the ropey stuff to fix the weed whacker."  AND!  I specifically told him that I wanted him to get it last night so that he could fix it up so that I could weed whack TODAY!  I even went on to tell him how the weeds in the backyard were/are DRIVING ME NUTS!!!  He said, "Okay but actually, I'll just get it on the way home so I won't have to go back out." Cool.  So this morning, I told him, "Don't forget you need to get the week whacker ready for me!"  He said "Right, the weed whacker...K".  And he got up to take a shower and then walk the boys.  I then got ready and left to take Sami.  On my way out, I passed Jim and he said he'd see me tonight.  I said (again), "Don't forget about the weed whacker".  And then he says, "Oh, I'll have to take it with me cause it's going to take me way too long to fix it now!  It takes like 45 minutes to change the line!"  Me:  "WHAT!!!???  YOU ASSHOLE!  You sat there last night - on your ASS, KNOWING I wanted it fixed so that I could take care of the yard today!  And you even knew this morning and you could have gotten it done!  You are the laziest sorry son of a bitch I've ever met!"  Mind you, we were outside in front of the house so I didn't really yell but I did tell him that he was an asshole!  I mean, is that ridiculous or what!?

And now I'm exhausted from my bitching.  I was going to do the top 10 reasons why Jim is an ass but I have a headache now.  I'm sure I'll come up with more so we'll just say:  To be continued!

This Better Be It For A While...For Zeke At Least

He got his stitches out and is now free of any issues - hopefully!  Of course when we got home, he went out into the backyard to relieve himself and roll in the grass (he always does that when we get home from the vet) but instead of just moseying back up to the door, he barked at the steps to be carried up!  WTH!?  He's such a game player!  I think that after being lifted in and out of the car and then onto the vets table, he thought, "Well this is just swell!  I think I'll just have my mama carry me everywhere!"  He's a little devil. 

Our next trek to the vet will be with Bubba after we get back from PIB.  I have to wait, of course for a day when his lumpty-lump is showing and we'll go from there.  I'm hoping and praying that it's just a bit of scar tissue from his previous lumpectomy but we all know how my luck goes in that department. 

Maggie and Charlie should now be on their way to Dallas/Fort Worth and then connecting to Pensacola.  FYI Mom:  Maggie said she had to wake Eva up at 5AM and she had a heck of time staying awake.  In fact, when she called from  the Columbus airport, Eva was zonked.  I'm betting that the travel day will take it out of her.  By the way, here's a pic that I forgot to post of sweet baby Eva from the other day.  As you can see, she's working hard at developing chunkalious legs! 

My plans for today are to mow the lawn and then hang out in my pool.  The weather is stupendous (got down to about 58 here last night) with no humidity and blue skies.  Yeah!

I finished a book that I'll review here soon on my book blog but be forewarned - it sucked.  I struggled just to finish it.  Which means no one will even read my review but whatever. 

K - I'm out...later!

My New Pool

So I saw this on sale in the Sunday flyer at Target and I knew that I had to have it!  I mean, for real - the slide is the perfect pillow to lay back on, read my book and just chill!  I probably won't hook up the waterfall but we'll see.  I love my palm tree too!  It's currently filling and warming in the sun.  That's what I'm doing today so I best get to it.  Later!

It's So Flippin' Hot!!!

My God!  Walking outside yesterday was like standing in front of an oven set on broil, opening the door and then just letting the heat roll over you...so awful!  Miserable, even!  Today isn't going to be much better.  They say that it's supposed to get up to 93 but the heat index will be 103.  Yesterday the heat index was 110!  YUCK!  I was going to take Sami on a short walk today but then ended up taking about a mile and a half.  There was actually a breeze and it didn't feel that bad...at the time.  When I got home, however, I was soaked.  Again - YUCK! 

So my plans today are a little grocery shop, a little cleaning, some quilting...um...enjoying the A/C...that's about it.  I've been trying to switch it up a little in the kitchen and but it's so hard to come up with clever, delicious things.  I'm so bored by half the shit I make.  Tonight, however, I will be making my cauliflower/chicken dish...I haven't made it in a long while.  I'm also going to do a baked ziti here soon but I have to find a good recipe.  This is all so exciting, isn't it? 

By the way - I think Bubba is getting another lump on his head.  I noticed that his head looked a little different the other day but Jim just thought I was being paranoid.  Yesterday, however, Bubba came into the family room from the shower where he likes to sleep and I noticed a slightly raised area.  (The shower see, is cramped for him and his head gets scrunched which causes any lumps to lump up.)  It's just to the right (looking at him) of his previous lump.  I'll keep an eye on it and see what the doctor says on Thursday when I go in to get Zeke's stitches removed.  If it's not one dog giving me problems it's another.  Bubba is looking mighty cute, however, with his new haircut.  I shaved him and his spots have probably tripled.  He's very handsome! 

Okay so I was looking for good cartoons to go with the heat wave were in and I searched "heat cartoons" and this came up which completely cracked me up...I had to share!  Silly sluty cat!

K - so that's all I've got for now.  Later!

Gotta Get A Move On

I need to clean the house but am not feeling it.  Yesterday's fun in the sun took it out of me.  I think I was in the pool for a solid 6 hours give or take.  So refreshing!  I think today with the heat advisories and mugginess, I'll be hanging inside with my babies...a/c cranked!  Sami and I already took our walk and she's zonked out.  I need to feed Zeke - if he'll eat and Bubba needs a nice belly scratch.  So much to do. 

So I get a call Thursday from Maggie who's all pissed off because the garbage people didn't take her recycling.  They took all the neighbors around her but skipped Maggie and Charlie.  Me:  Huh!  That's curious!  Fast forward to this morning.  There I am, rounding the corner toward home with Sami in tow and I see, at the edge of my driveway, my recycling bins...still full.  I look around and see that, HUH!  All my neigbors have EMPTY recycling bins.  Then it dawns on me!  Maggie is a JINX!!!  OR!!!  It's a conspiracy and she's in cahoots with Rumpke!  Oooh!!!  In reality, I called Rumpke and explained my shituation.  I was then given an apology and told they'd be around within the next 48 hours to collect.  (2 days?  Really?  Why not just radio the guy collecting right now and tell him to swing his sorry ass back around?!  Waste!  No pun intended.)

Okay well, I guess that's all I have.  Later!

Zeke Is A DEVIL!!!

Oh!!!!  RRRRRRRRR!!!  I just don't know what to do with that boy!  Last night, from 1AM until 2AM, he kept Jim and I awake "making his bed"!  You know, using his front paws to "rough" up a spot to lie in.  He goes to Jim's side of the bed and does this - often while laying down.  And he isn't really trying to get his spot perfect, he's obsessed and has a compulsion to do it!  It's crazy.  At one point, I got out of bed, walked around to Jim's side and said, "YO!  Zeke!" (nice and loud so he could hear me cause he's deaf you know).  Zeke looks up at me (he's laying down), wags his tail and sort of smiles.  So I bend down close to him and say, "STOP IT!"  He then licks my nose.  OOOOHHHH!!!  Then I go back to my side of the bed and lay down...get comfy and prepare to close my eyes into dreamland when,  scratch, scratch scratch!!!  He starts again.  And because JIM won't do his job well (he has one job in bed: To stop Zeke when he does this- well he has more than one job but this isn't meant to be a pornographic post...hee hee - ) I have to GET UP AGAIN and scootch Zeke out from the side of the bed and wrangle him elsewhere.  After doing this, I get back in bed, fix my covers over me, sigh and am just about to close my eyes when...SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH!!!  He somehow tip-toed back to the spot (big surprise that he did it right under Jim's nose) and started again.  At this point, all Jim and I could do was laugh.  Sami got fed up and left.  Bubba was no where to be found (probably in the shower downstairs).  Eventually, we let Zeke do his thing.  He scratch for about 10 minutes, tired himself out and finally just PLOPPED down, sighed loudly and proceeded to sleep.  He's still up there now, exhausted from his night time antics!  UGH!  (Diane, I hope this doesn't deter you from watching the babies!)

In other news, here are the kids at the drive-in last night.  Trip, Susan, and J.J. met Anne and the kids there.  How cute is that!?  Doesn't J Bird look like such a big boy (and I don't mean the delicious sandwich...mmm...Frisch's Big Boy!  Um!)

So today, Jim and I will be heading to Raeburn for some fun in the sun.  Trip, Susan and J.J. will be joining us there - YEAH!!!  Can't wait to see that crazy boy again!  And that's it.  It's going to be TOOOOOO hot to sit at home so POOL!!!  HERE WE COME!!!

By the way - I was thinking about it in bed this morning and this summer is going SOOOOOOO fast!  It's freakin' me out!  Before I know it, school will start!  WTH!?  But that means that Christmas will be just around the corner and I can't wait for X-MAS!!!

K - I'm out...later!

Funny Tidbits

Here are some super funny/interesting things heard/observed recently around the Hanke household:

• Jim said this morning, "I'm whithering away to a shadow!"  Huh...I guess he and I have different realities.  This frightens me, however, because what does that mean when he tells me I'm not fat!?  I can never trust him again!
• I was talking to Maggie on the phone a few minutes ago when she suddenly said, "OH MY GOD!!!  EVA!!!"  I said, "What!?  What happened!?"  Maggie: "I'm soaked!  Oh, geez, Eva!  I've never seen so much come out of you!"  Me: "What?  She puked on you?"  Maggie:  "No!  She POOPED on me!  It's everywhere!!!  Eva!  You need a bath, like RIGHT NOW!"  Me:  "I guess you have to go!"  And then I hung up the phone and LAUGHED!!!  Eva pooped all over her mama!  Hee hee!
• It's a Harry Potter weekend, by the way!  I know you are all over the moon about this!  I knew it was coming because the final movie opens next Friday!  I've been seeing more and more trailers on TV and it makes me so sad because when they air it?  It says: "It all ends here"!  WHHHHAAAA!!!  Harry Potter!  I love you!!
• BB13 started last night and I already want to stick a stick in my ear every time Rachel laughs!  I hate that woman.  The Evil Dick/Danielle thing is interesting - they haven't talked for 3 years and Danielle looks like HELL!

So that's all I've got right now...nothing much of interest.  Although I did update my book blog...new author.  I'll be running a few errands today (library, home depot) but other than that, I'll be hanging at home.  It's a rainy, rainy day!  K - later!

Hangin' At The Hair Salon

How cute is this girl?  Aside from lunch, she slept pretty much the whole time!  What a trooper!

WHAT THE HECK ARE THE REDS TRYING TO DO TO ME!?

I mean, REALLY!  It was 8-0 when I went to bed!  It was in the bag, so to speak.  Or so I thought!  Never underestimate the power of the pitching to nearly ruin your morning.  Extra innings, for real!? We should have had that WON, easily by the 9th inning, not the 13th! I don't know, maybe our pitching is okay but they're leaving our guys in for too long.  Then again, maybe our guys are tired!  After the sixth inning, they should have taken Arroyo out!  Very frustrating for me and now they go on to face the Brewers for 4 games.  UGH!  No wonder I drink!

So today I get to see my baby Eva.  Maggie is coming down to get her hair done and guess who her "Mary Poppins" will be while she's doing that?  That's right!  Me! (By the way, I typed Mary Poopins at first!  Hee hee!)  I'll get my hairs cut at 10:30 and then Maggie will get her mop fixed up after.  Maybe some lunch?  I'll take pics, for sure!

Dreamt I went to Colorado to ski last night.  It was a funny dream because I took all my dogs with me and they were on the slopes too.  By the way, none of us ski so it was quite the spectacle!  Bubba kept sliding backwards.  Hee hee.

K - well I best head out.  I have to walk Sami, clean and shower - all by 10:15!  Later.  I'm going to get my hair cut short.  Maybe a buzz.  Something cool.  I'm sick of this long hair.  Maybe bangs?  A perm?  Probably I'll just get the sides buzzed, keep the top long and perm that.  Something different, you know?  Wish me luck.  Later!

New Glasses

So, I went to the eye doctor today and I'm not going blind like I thought I was.  I had assumed that my eyes had gotten much worse since my last check but the doc said that they really hadn't.  I also thought I would be hearing that I need bifocals but alas, that isn't the case (yet).  I also thought he was going to say that I had dry eyes (my eyes water all the time!!!) but he said that the reason for that is my over-extension of contact life.  He said that because my contacts are two-weekers and I sometimes make them last for twice, even three or four times that long, it causes build-up on my lenses resulting in "bumps" on my eyelids.  These bumps in turn irritate my eyes and cause "pockets" of dryness which cause the watering.  He thus switched my contacts to longer wearing ones (one-monthers) which, for me, means I can probably make them last for two to three months!  He warned me to change them more frequently and I told him to "suck it".  Yeah, not really but I did say that in my head.  He also told me to get some over the counter drops to help. 

I also got new glasses.  Well, I purchased new glasses...they won't be ready for a week or so.  No big whoop.  They aren't fancy or anything...I'm not a fancy girl and I can't stand (on me) glasses with big, thick foldy things.  And I don't want glasses that have the brand plastered all over them.  And I'm not a bright color glasses girl either.  I just got a normal pair of brownish glasses that don't make me look completely ridiculous - like the first pair I ever got with tinted lenses and frames that covered the majority of my face!  Why my mother ever let me get those I'll never know.  I think it was my mom...maybe my dad?  I can't remember but regardless, what PARENT lets their kid choose such an ugly set of frames and then lets her walk around wearing said frames!  It borders on child abuse, really! I still get ridiculed by Maggie! 

Well, now that I'm done with all that, I guess I'll read my book.  I had planned on weed whacking the back yard but the GD weed whacker keeps effing up.  It did the same thing yesterday and Jim supposedly fixed it this morning but alas, same shit happened mid-weed whack!  Pisses me off! 

K - I'm out...later!

Happy 4th!

Had a great day yesterday at the pool.  Lots of family, food, beer, volleyball, niece/nephew time, etc.  Dad even came home unexpectedly from PIB because he didn't want to miss out on the fam!  Love it!  Here are some pics:

Eva and her Mommy and Daddy at the pool!





Cousins!



He really got under that ball!



IT'S A HOMERUN!!!




My two nieces!




As you can see, Eva HATED the pool!  Not!



Jim and Charlie playing volleyball



The boys shootin' hoops



J.J. meeting Eva for the first time!



Eva in a giant swim diaper



Eva snoozin after an exhausting day swimming











Cute kids!



All the grandchildren!

Tellin' My VP To F-Off!!!

I had a funny dream last night.  I was at a friends apartment - there was a party and I was heading out to get something out of my car.  As I came down the stairs, I see my VP (ADHD) from school coming and as we passed, I sort of did my head nod to him and he said, "Whatever".  So I said, "Hey, R!?  F-Off!"  I guess in my dream, summertime means no bullshit time.  Why pretend, huh?  Hate that guy!

So I had a deeeelicious dinner last night:  The ribs and chicken dinner at Silver Spring House.  It was yummy!  We met Charlie, Maggie, Eva (although she slept the whole time and I barely got a glimpse of her), Becky, and Anne.  Home by 8PM (even earlier I think).  By the way - Maggie started dressing Eva in 3-month clothes yesterday!  Can you believe it?! She's only 6 weeks!  Of course all these clothes for babies?  I think they're just guessing when it comes to sizing.  It's a crap shoot really. 

Slept like shit last night.  Tossed and turned.  I don't know why.  I get something in my head and can't get it out.  I don't know what I got in my head last night but it had to do with the book I'm reading - a murder mystery - Tess Gerritsen - she's awesome if you haven't read her.  She writes "surgical thrillers"...I just found her and love her.  Anyway - I started thinking about the book and then couldn't get back to sleep.  I should have just gotten up and read. 

Okay so today is "fun day" at Raeburn.  I hope the weather cooperates and these clouds burn off.  I'm fine if it isn't completely sunny but I don't want storms. 

K - I'm out...gotta walk the baby.  Jim's going to bike for a couple hours.  I told him to be home by 10:30...earlier than he needs to be home but that gives him some leeway since he's never (never say never) reliable in the time department.  Later!

Zoo News

I'm so sad!  Our (the Cincinnati Zoo's) baby giraffe, Zuri died!  I guess a month or so ago, she broke her leg.  Recently, she had become more unstable so they did a procedure and found her fracture much worse then they had thought.  They were thus forced to euthanize her!  Poor, sweet baby Zuri!

In other news, it's raining.  It's only supposed to last for a bit - in fact, I think it may have already stopped - and then be partly cloudy the rest of the day.  Let's hope that tomorrow gives us some good sun as we'll be at Raeburn all day!  Maggie, Charlie and Eva are coming down today and then tomorrow, Anne and the kids, Trip, Susan, J.J., and Jim and I will be heading over to the house for a day of swimming and playing.  It will be Eva's first time in a pool too!  I'm betting that she'll love it considering how much she loves her baths.  I'll take lots of pics.

Jim's driving me nuts, by the way.  I know, shocker.  Why, you ask?  Well, I get home from walking Sami and notice that Jim has started his car.  I go inside and see Jim sitting at the computer and eating his breakfast.  I said, "Hey Jim!?  You're car is running."  Jim:  "I know, I'm letting it warm up."  Let me take the time to remind you right now that it's JULY 2nd!!!  And it's 70 degrees out.  I'm pretty sure the car doesn't need to warm up.  So eventually, after I tell him over and over to hit the road and stop wasting gas, he leaves (he's finishing up a job this morning at his sister's house). However, wouldn't you know it, he ends up coming right back in to give me the lottery tickets that he bought (exchanged for our $10 winners).  But he can't just hand them to me.  He has to tell me the long, drawn out, irrelevant story that goes along with it.  Me:  "Okay - goodbye!  The car is still running! Bye!"  I know, I know!  I sound like such a bitch and you'd think I was in a bad mood but I'm not, really!  I'm just sick of him wasting time when he could be out, working and finishing his job (that should have been done weeks ago) so that it doesn't take ALL of our Saturday!  UGH! 

Breathe, breathe.  Oh, and by the way - ICK!!!  I just burped up my nasty ass fish oil pill.  I need to remember to take it BEFORE I eat my breakfast!  Gross! 

Okay - well that's all I've got for now.  I'll be updating my book blog here in a minute (2 books including the last of the Hunger Game series).  Maggie should be calling me soon to let me know what time she's coming down and I need to make my potato salad for tomorrow.  By the way family - I bought lots of chips and beer.  K - I'm out...later!

BB13 - Countdown!!!

So I know that not everyone out there who reads this is a fan of Big Brother and if that's the case - much of this post will mean nothing to you.  But for those who are!!!???  Have you seen the "rumors"?  The blog I read posted pics of 8 of the house guests (new and never before on) and then announced that there may be some "dynamic duos" re-entering the game this season.  Some of those possibilities are:
Now my vote for who I hope to go in would be Dick and Danielle, Doc Will and Boogie and of course Jeff and Jordan.  I can't wait!!!  6 more days!!! 

In other news, my neighbors behind me are stupid dumb f&%kers!!!  They just set off a ginormous firework in their back yard that sounded as though their house just got bombed.  They are the biggest f*%king rednecks I've ever come across and if they set my backyard and the woods behind me on fire, I'm going to beat their ass to a pulp!  Just to give you an idea of the kind of people they are?  The kids (maybe adults - who knows) listen to that thrash metal "music" at top volume and set fires in barrels in the middle of winter and burn shit.  They have one of those hopped up F-150s with the giant tires, minus a muffler and they like to rev the engine at 5AM for no apparent reason.  The father works in his garage with music blaring at 3AM (probably cooking meth).  I can't believe their next door neighbors haven't blown them off the map.  Weird. 

So, today I believe I'll be cleaning and reading and quilting.  I laid out yesterday and should probably take a day off from that.  I should also go grocery shopping, exercise (I walked Sami already) and definitely take a bath.  Oh, and maybe kick Zeke's ass.  Why, you ask?  Because that little effer is hip to the pill pockets.  He won't eat them.  I'm so pissed!  We're back to shoving the damn pills down his throat!  It makes me so mad!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!

Well - I guess I better get my day started.  Later!