& That's The Rest Of The Story

I never made it to lunch with my hubby. Instead I grabbed a salad to go at Arby's and came one home. I did call him and told him I was grilling steaks tonight so he would be home early enough. He's starting the electrical work on the garage tonight now that the entire roof is finally back on. (I still haven't posted those pictures, maybe someday.) When I said the words "grilling steaks" he said "I'll be home whatever time you tell me". Hum, and all this time I thought the quickest way to a man's heart was a sharp knife. Oh, hey, it's food that's the easiest way.
*
There's this kid in my psych class that is rather cute, I noticed today. If I were 20 years younger, I would have some major crush action going. But, I'm not, so I don't. I don't want to be one of those older ladies with the hots for a whippersnapper. Like that teacher who had an affair with a student. How does that happen, for God's sake? I won't say what this kid's name is, just on the freak chance that someone from class or someone who knows him should read this someday. Just know that there's a little hottie in my class. There's more than one, actually, but this one is funny, too, so it makes him even more appealing. And if there is someone from class reading this, hey, guys, you're all hot, okay? Zat better?
*
When I got home today, I started working on a birthday card for my oldest niece. She's turning 18 (gasp!) years old on St. Patrick's Day. Remember back when I was outside searching for four leaf clovers? Well, I had a use in mind for them when I was sitting out there in the grass. I pressed some and today I dug them out of my dusty old books and used two of them for her card. I spent quite a bit of time and effort on this card, even though I know she'll open it up searching for the goodies inside and once said goodies are taken, the card will get thrown in the trash. That's okay. Really, it is. I don't expect everyone who receives a card from me to keep it and cherish it for the rest of their days. Not everyone is as sentimental as I am. Me, who saves every card that I ever get. Except Christmas cards. Birthday cards, just because cards (as if I get those anymore) Valentine's Day cards (ditto on those, as if!), I have a stash of old ones that I have no idea what I'm going to do with them. I have, in the recent past, thrown some away that looked as if the giver didn't even read the card before giving it to me. Just saw that it was a birthday card, grabbed it, signed it hastily and slapped it in an envelope. Those I throw away. But, if they have a little note written on the inside, yep, I'll keep it.
But, back to my niece's card. It really turned out cool. It would have turned out much cooler had I a printer so I could print the verse on the outside with my computer instead of writing it with my hand. Even though I used my best handwriting, it still adds a little tackiness, where I wanted polish. But, that's okay, too, because it's just going to end up in the trash, right? Also, it wouldn't be a card from Stacie if it didn't have something tacky on it.
It never fails, every card I make, it's looking real good and BAM! I do something to mess it up and it ends up being tacky. My trademark, I suppose. If I had more money, I'd buy some really cool "tools" to make the things I long to make. Some day. Some day.
*
My goodness, how time has flown. It's almost the time I told Mike that the steaks would be done and I haven't even thrown them on the grill yet. The potatoes have been out there cooking for a while now, so hopefully they'll be done and not crunchy. Nothing worse than a crunchy baked potato. We like our steaks rare around here, so really, it doesn't take long to make them.
Bon Apetite!

Spring ~ Finally!

I'm sure there will be more cold days before Spring officially gets here, but these last few windy days have been wonderful. I'm so happy to see my tulips and things starting to peep up out of the cold dirt. I can't wait to get my hands in it.
*
I made a 98% on my second psych test. I was a little disappointed because I was really hoping for a 110%. I missed 3 lousy questions. Maybe next test. A 98 isn't bad, though. I'm still happy with that.
*
I have been trying like crazy at home to post some pictures on this thing and every time I try, it boots me off. Have I mentioned that we need a new computer? Let me mention it again. WE NEED A NEW COMPUTER! Desperately. I am at the library so I can print some homework out that she asked to be typed. First I had to do the work, now I'm getting ready to type it out. Double the work, but that's what happens when you don't have a printer on your computer at home.
*
I'm getting out of here. I'm hoping to maybe catch my hubby for lunch somewhere. I've got about 20 minutes left to do that paper if I want to do that.
Adios!

The Wind Came Sweeping Down The Plains

And the hills, and the woods. Any branch still hanging by a thread from the big ice storm should be blown out of the tree completely with this wind. It's wild out there.
*
I got my ring today. It's a little bit big, so I'm wearing it behind my wedding set for now. I certainly don't want to lose it. I tried taking pictures of it earlier, but my camera just wouldn't do the trick. Too much flash and it bleached the whole picture out white. No flash and it was too dark. Night time, or low light setting made it blurry. I might see if my friend, Valerie, who has an awesome camera and an awesome brand new computer take a picture of it for me and email it to me. I'm sure her camera could do it.
My ring is even prettier than I remembered it being. Mike thought it was a little pricey for it being so plain. "But, look at the size of that rock!" is all I could tell him. I love it and Mike didn't even put up a fight. That makes it even more precious to me. Him, too.
*
Here it is almost March and I still haven't started on my research paper. I got as far as checking out 7 books from the library on teenage sexuality. I even read through a couple of them. But I honestly don't even know where to begin with the research paper. I may need professional help sooner than I thought. The questions I have to answer fully are: 1)What is the current research on teen sexuality? 2)What are the experts saying about how to educate our teens about human sexuality? 3)Give your opinion, based on your research, about what is the best method for reducing teen pregnancy.
Yeah.
This should be a blast.
*
Have I mentioned that I took Shael to go see Bridge to Tarabithia? A word to the wise, bring a tissue. Or a whole box. My gosh, Shael and I were both bawling our eyes out. I took her last Sunday after church and by the time we walked out of there my eye make up was completely washed away. **HERE LIES SPOILERS. ANYONE NOT WANTING TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS MOVIE, DO NOT READ ANY FARTHER** It was very heart wrenching when the little girl died, but what made it even more poignant for me was the fact that this boy and this girl reminded me so much of me and my childhood friend, Jonathan. Only he was the one who taught me how to use my imagination. Just like in the story, we would actually "see" the things we talked about, or imagined. I'm sure his sweet brothers, David and Shawn and his snooty sisters, Lisa and Kelly, were sick and tired of the two of us running around like a couple of savages. The two brothers hung out with my brother and of course didn't want us hanging out with them. And the two sisters were lame, in both our opinions. Who'd want to hang out with them, anyway? But, me and Jonathan, we were inseparable. "We went together like peas and carrots". We never really hung out together in school, he had his friends and I had mine, but once school was out, we went right back to being best buds. He was always the only boy at my birthday parties. Anyone who knows this guy now, knows that he is, ah, unique, to say the least. He's something else, but he's still a friend of mine. And that movie really brought back some fond memories of the two of us making our own fort, or hiding out from the evil witch (their landlady..lol) in an old hollowed out tree. Good times.
*
My parents are both finally recuperating from the flu. They both got the same thing Shael did. If it wasn't the flu, then it was a very, very hostile cold. It was bad enough, we don't want them getting that sick again. Ever.
*
Thinking of my parents, they finally went and got their pictures developed from their trip to Hawaii. Which they went on back in December. 2005. There were Christmas '05 pictures in that stack, too. And they were terrible! I don't think they know how to use that camera. And I don't think they've used it since. She got this tiny little camera because she thought it was so cute, not because it was easy to use or took good quality pictures. It was cute. They are neither one shutterbugs, so they basically need a point and click type of camera. Plus, they are terrible at learning new "fandangled" things like digital photography and uploading photos to their computer (which they can't seem to get to turn on without getting a porn page to appear as their home page...that is no joke. I have tried and I don't even know how to get that off there. I got it to where it would at least not show the page, just the page name at the bottom tool bar.). I told her they could borrow my digital camera, it's basically point and click and I would put their photos on a cd (back when my c drive worked) for them. But, no, Daddy wanted their own camera. So, instead of getting what I told them to get, he let Mom go pick out this "cute" camera. It's like a toy! And it takes crappy pictures. Their Hawaii pics actually didn't turn out too bad, but the Christmas pics were terrible. Most of the Hawaii pics were taken outside, the ones taken inside look crappy like the Christmas pics. I haven't figured out what they did wrong. Must've had it set on night time, or something. If I ever make it to Hawaii, I promise my pictures will turn out better than that. And I will take pictures of more interesting things than the guns on a ship. The same ship, different guns. Or maybe it was the same guns, different angle. Who knows, I just know they were boring. As I was flipping through the pictures Mom goes "Man! How many pictures did he take of those stupid guns, anyway?" My thoughts exactly.
*
Well, I think I hear my grumpy bear waking up in the living room. Yep, I just heard the erruptious fartus coming from in there.
Adios!

This Is Too Funny

Rub It In
Lay beside me on the sand
I put some lotion on your hand
Come on and make me feel nice and kiss me once or twice
And say you love me again
Rub it in rub it in rub it in rub it inI
feel the tingle begin you're gettin' under my skin
rub it in rub it in
I turn your radio on find a good country song
Baby whisper in my ear say the words I wanna hear
Make me know your love is strong
Rub it in rub it in...
Put a little on my nose
put a little on my toes
Put it on my back and my sacroilac
and rub it in nice and slowRub it in rub it in...
Put a little on my nose...Rub it in rub it in...

I Want One

When I got out of class this morning, I went straight to Miami to a pawn shop to check out their rings. Boy, did they have plenty for me to check out. Mike gave me a ring for Valentine's Day, but I have to pick it out first so he can buy it. Wasn't that nice of him? That way I won't be stuck with this monstrosity that i don't really like, or like in the past, some ring with minuscule diamond chips that look more like some high school promise ring than something a husband would get a wife after 14 years of marriage. So, I picked out a nice princess cut diamond in a simple setting that had a narrow band of gold. Very classy, I thought. The diamond was probably a 1/4 ct, about the same size as the biggest stone in my wedding set. I called Mike up and he answered "What do you want?" almost as if he knew I was going to ask for something. When I told him I found a ring he said "Oh, yeah? Where at?" I told him and he seemed immediately pleased that I'd shopped at the local pawn shop instead of the nearest Kay. When he asked how much and I told him he went "OH!" then recovered rather quickly with a "Okay, whatever." He's going to come up within the next couple of days to look at it and try to deal with him a little bit to maybe get the price down a bit. Considering the size of the stone, the price isn't too bad. He must've been thinking along the lines of $50-$75 or something. I'm not going to let him get off that cheap. I'm so bad!
*
While I was there, the guy cleaned my wedding rings. Man they clean up nice! I keep staring at them. After all these years, I still enjoy looking at them.
*
I'm at the Miami campus and these computers rock! I want one this fast. I think it must have more to do with the high speed connection than it does the actual computers. It makes dial up seem like using pigeons to get messages to people.
This campus is crawling with high school/jr. high band geeks. And I feel like I can safely use that term since I am one. Once a band geek always a band geek. I saw these two boys sitting at the fountain playing cards with each other. Who brings a deck of playing cards to a college campus? A band geek, that's who. I had to laugh at that one. You'd think high school boys would be all about looking at all the pretty eye candy walking by with the tethers of high school rules absent. But, nope. These boys were playing rummy. LOL. Not even poker, or something that's currently hip these days. They were playing something old ladies play. Oh, well, at least I hope some of the girls appreciated not being ogled, but then again, they dress like that for a reason, I assume.
There's not just a lot of pretty girls roaming this campus, there's pretty guys, too. There's the "mature" student, nice looking older men who have decided to go back to school a little later than some of the whipper snappers around here. (There's also a few ugly old men who the young, fresh out of high school up-starts probably constantly mistake for faculty) There's grungy guys (who never fail to get a second look from me) and there's frat boys who run in packs. There's the loners who never fail to be reading something. There's also the scary ones who obviously aren't from around here. As young as these guys may seem to me, the high school boys here for the band contest really stick out like sore thumbs. I guess I can just spot them a mile away.
*
I should really go, I'm starting to get surrounded by some of those scary types. Take off those sunglasses, boy! You aren't outside anymore.

I Would Like A Vacation Now, Please

I am tired, worn out, and just plain sleepy. I spent the most beautiful day of this year (so far, anyway) inside painting my Mom's kitchen. Oh, what fun we had! Honestly, it looks like crap. Mom is not very particular and doesn't care. We didn't pull out a single nail, screw or even take of the old wall paper border. We just painted over them all. It looks incredibly tacky, but hey, she was satisfied, and to me, that's all that matters. My sister told her that if that was acceptable to her then she was never invited over to her house to paint. We painted the walls white and the cabinets black. A very Wyandotte kitchen. It looks good enough, I guess. But, I wouldn't want my kitchen left like that.
*
Shael and I got into a big old knock down drag out last night on the way home from my Mom's, over her school work again. Not just her school work, but her general crappy attitude here lately. I've been letting it slide way too long, just because it's sometimes easier to let it go than to argue with her. I know, it's not good to let a 12 year old walk all over just because it's easier than confrontation. But, I think every Mom does that at some point. But, last night, the straw that broke the camel's back came drifting down. Let's just say that we both went to bed crying last night. She was still ticked off at me this morning. When I got home I sent her to the shower and sat down on the floor by Mike and cried. I asked him if it was normal for a parent to not even like her own child. Because that's the way I felt at the moment. He said it was just because I was mad at her. He was right, because this morning I felt better. I didn't hate her guts and want to let her do whatever just as long as she stayed out of my way. So, that's good, right?
*
We had Nikolas over the other night and I got some cute pictures of him trying on Mike's boots. But when I went to upload them onto the computer, I found that the USB port in the front where I use to keep the camera cable is all messed up. First one thing then another is falling apart on that computer. I can't use the disc drive anymore, it's messed up. The thing keeps booting us off the Internet every ten minutes or so and that makes it really hard to get anything done. The printer doesn't work so I have to use other computers to print something out, like the library's or at work, or my Mom's. It sucks, I tell you! Now that Shael's older and also now that I'm in school, everything has to be printed out. And the schools don't even stop to consider that maybe not everybody has a computer that will print. They just assume. But, that's okay. Just a little inconvenient, but oh, well.
*
Well, my time has almost expired here at the Grove Library. I have five whole minutes left, and I still need to spell check. So, I'd better hurry the heck up.
Bye!

Now They've Done It

I am on the rampage now. Sirius took Revolution off. Not good. They've already heard from me about it. I feel like sending them 20 or so email a day complaining and/or pleading for them to bring it back. Hey, we were paying $12 a month (or whatever) for me to listen to that one channel. And now it's gone! Why would I want to continue to pay them money for a bunch of channels we don't listen to? They have like 8 hip hop channels and one single Christian Hard Rock channel and they leave the stupid hip hop channels and take off my one life line to the sane lifestyle.
I
AM
LIVID
They say to turn to Spirit 66 instead. There's a new program in the evenings for the Christian Hard Rock fans. Baloney soup! For one, I don't usually listen in the evenings. Another, Spirit 66 is just not the same. I have nothing against Steven Curtis Chapman or Michael W. Smith or any of those other people who use all three names in some form, they just aren't really my cup of tea. Gone is my Red, Skillet, Jonah 33, Demon Hunter.
Geez.
This just sucks.

Lawyers In Love

Does anybody remember this song? I heard it the other day on Mike Radio out of Joplin. I hadn't heard it in years, I'd even forgotten about it. Catchy little tune. But, I mostly thought it was funny because of how outdated it was. The quickest way to date a song (other than taking it out for a nice lobster meal) is to mention a country that is on the verge of change. Say, like the U.S.S.R.
*
I can't keep up with what's been going down
I think my heart must just be slowing down
Among the human beings in their designer jeans
Am I the only one who hears the screams
And the strangled cries of lawyers in love
God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o'clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned in to Happy Days
Waiting for World War III while Jesus slaves
To the mating calls of lawyers in love
Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capitol
The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them, like Russians will
Now we've got all this room, we've even got the moon
And I hear the U.S.S.R. will be open soon
As vacation land for lawyers in love
*
I know a couple Russians. Do they escape? While we aren't watching them? I'll have to keep a closer eye on them from now on, won't I. It is amazing how paranoid Americans were/are. I grew up thinking the Russians were the enemy of all enemies. Those Reds! Look how wrong I was. I know I couldn't possibly be the only one who thought that back in the early 80's.
*
No psych class today. The instructor was out sick. I made the trip in to town all for nothing. And on Valentine's Day, too. Like that makes a bit of difference. I'm off to Wal-Mart now to try to find something for Shael and my sweetheart.
Catch ya later, all you cherubs.

Oh What A Day

It's rainy outside, warm still, but rainy. And I have a funeral to go to at 1:00. I mentioned this morning when I went outside to start Mike's truck for him that it was raining, not very cold, but raining. What crappy weather for a funeral, but Mike told me that it was perfect weather for a funeral. Yeah. Whatever.
*
I'm beginning to think that those smarty pants boys in my Psych class aren't really as smarty pants as I at first gave them credit for. They seem to be sliding downhill rather quickly. For one, they don't listen very well. We had packets due back today and also an online quiz due today and when I walked into class about 5 minutes early, there they all were, trying to work on their packets. When they were told to hand them in, they immediately started saying "It's due today?" and the quiz was the same way. Can we take the quiz after class? She was lenient, more so that I would have been, and told them they had until 11:00 this morning to have them in. I felt like such a nerd, I had my packet completely finished, and my quiz was turned in Friday by 10:00 in the morning. That packet was what I did Friday after class before going home. But, last night, I noticed that oops! I'd skipped the very first question. How did I do that? I just started with number 2 for some weird reason. And naturally, it was a question that had to be looked up on the Internet because it wasn't in the book at all. That was another thing, when the smarty pants boys said they couldn't find it in the book so they didn't answer it, Dr. Deichman said that we could look on the Internet and they all said "aaah, we can?" Duh! She said that when she passed them out last week. (I guess that people who pay for their college out of their own pockets pay quite a bit more attention. These kids aren't paying for a thing, I'm sure) As it turned out, I was the only one in the class who had gone on line and looked up "Fantasy Prone Personality". Some of this stuff I'm learning kind of scares me. What if I'm fantasy prone? Does that make me psychotic? Mike is very sleep deprived, will he become psychotic, also? Will we both turn into crazy white trash, one of us swearing we've been abducted by aliens, the other one of us becoming a serial killer?
So, now, here I am at the library reprinting what I came in early and printed this morning before class. I printed out this one page defining that fantasy prone personality thingie, and I "loaned" it to a girl sitting two people down from me because she was frantically trying to finish up her packet before the instructor came in. She never gave it back. In fact, I saw her tuck it into her book like she'd done the research herself. Well! I wanted that paper, I wouldn't have taken the time and spent the dime to print it out if I didn't. The ladies at the library will probably remember it when they print out another one. LOL.
*
I'm also here at the library doing some research, or trying to, for my research paper on teen sexuality. It's not due until April 20th, but I've been doing some preliminary research on line and at the library. None of the books I wanted to check out were at this library, I had to request them from the other libraries in this state that had them. I've got books coming in from all over Oklahoma about teen sex and teen pregnancy. I'm really hoping to get this paper done in the next month or so, that way I can turn it in early and not have to worry about it on April 19th. This APA style is going to be a mother to write. Thank the God I have someone who can help me. Someone who is very good at writing these kinds of papers. I want to do as much of it on my own as I possibly can. Only go to him for help if I get stumped and I absolutely have to have some help. The encouraging thing is, Dr. Deichman went to this same man for help with APA style research papers last semester. I've got a pro on my side.
*
Shael is finally doing better health wise. She still has this lingering cough that sounds as if she's hacking up a lung. The cough doesn't come very often, but when she breathes cold air or is running around it starts up. Some times when she goes to bed at night it tries to crop up. But the worst thing she has lingering is this slurpy snot sniffing sound she makes. It makes me want to puke. I tell her to quit sniffing and she tells me she can't help it. I ask her why and she says her nose runs. I tell her to blow it she says nothing comes out. So let it run if nothing comes out! But she says it runs out. Okay, berate me if I'm wrong here, but I would rather her let it run out if she can't blow it out than to hear that nasty God awful slurping sound she makes when she sniffs. It's completely disgusting. It makes me want to grab the shop vac and suck that crap out of her sinuses once and for all. Gross.
*
Mike has been in quite a bit of pain lately. His back started aching about a month ago, but it was mild enough to be able to ignore it for the most part. Suddenly it got worse and he started taking pain relievers, muscle relaxers and nerve pain pills. It was enough to get him through the days and somehow get a few hours sleep at night, albeit not very restful sleep. It was the wood cutting and wood splitting that was the last straw. The straw that broke Mike's back, if you would. I have bee doing all of the fire upkeep and I'm really getting tired of it. We have a limited amount of dry wood, the rest is somewhat green and doesn't burn easily. The tree was dead when they cut it up, but inside is still green, how does that happen? The only way it burns is if we have another piece of dry wood in there with it. And the green wood smells terrible! Like dog crap. Shael accused Mike of stepping in a pile and wiping it off as mud on my welcome mat inside the back door. So, he took it outside and let the dog sleep on it, and now it's been rained on. And it was the wood all along. Red oak. It smelled good when he first split it up, but now, hoo-ey! Once it's in the stove and burning, you can't smell it, but don't even think about bringing a piece inside to sit until the fire needs it. It smells up the living room. Like fresh out of the dog crap. Isn't that a lovely thought?
*
I'd better get this finished. I only have 24 minutes of on line time left here at the library. There's still some more "errands" I have to accomplish before I get off here, too. Like pay the phone bill, check my balance in my checking account, that sort of thing. And don't forget checking my email, oh, I have to do that!

Can Life Be Boring?

I realize that my blog, as of late, has become rather boring. I can't seem to get the funny blog worthy events to make it to my blog. I'm becoming rather spoiled rotten to the quick Internet available to me at school, work, and the library and trying to use my computer at home just irritates me. I don't want to blog from work or from school, and at the library, I'm usually in a hurry. But, today, I've finished my homework, I have the entire weekend to do whatever I want (and if that involves studying and/or reading, that's okay, too, right?). I'm currently at the library. Not as quick as the school's or even work's high speed stuff, but still better than what I have at home.
*
Last night was parent/teacher conference. Naturally, all the parents were late coming to get their brats and I didn't get off work until 5:30. Before I could leave town, I had to go by Walgreen's and get Shael some more medicine. I was really hoping that I wouldn't get stopped by the psuedophederine police for buying two bottles of children's Motrin within four days of each other. Shael, at 12-1/2, still cannot swallow a pill. She has to take liquid medicine when she takes medicine. The strips or pills that dissolve on your tongue work okay for her, too. But, Motrin didn't have anything with psuedophederine in it in that form. So, children's Motrin, it was. It's not really made for adults or adolescents, so she took 3 tsps instead of 2. Then, she tells my Mom that she takes 4 tsps! Oops. So, my daughter may have been high for a couple days, at least she's better now. But, at 3 and 4 tsps at a time, the bottle went quick and by last night she needed more.
I called Mike and asked him if he would please go to p/t conf for me to which he gave me a flat out No! So, I cried all the way from Grove to Wyandotte, spitting mad because Mike wouldn't do this one thing I asked of him. Lately when he asks me to do something that I don't want to do, I have to closely watch my reaction because if I give the slightest hint that I don't want to do it (even if I actually do it anyway) he goes on and on about how he doesn't want to put me out, he'll do it himself, heaven forbid I do something for him. I mean, he gets rather hateful with it. I'm really pretty sick of it. When he wouldn't do something for me, I really wanted to treat him with the same "respect" (or lack thereof) that he treats me, but I remembered my mouthwash lesson and kept my mouth shut. I, instead, did my usual, cried and wished he'd either pretend he liked me or leave for good. By the time I left the school, after rushing through 6 of the 7 classes Shael has, I had a terrible headache, I was extremely tired after working nearly 10 hours that day, and hungry. I tried my best not to be cranky on my way home with Shael. (BTW, she's doing great in all classes but her two hang up classes, Science and Math) I even mentioned to a friend at the school that I hoped, but wasn't holding my breath, that Mike would have supper cooked by the time I got home. I got home by 7:40 and surprise, surprise, surprise, Mike didn't have supper cooked. In fact, us walking in the front door woke him up from an evening nap on the bed. I went to the bathroom and sat on the pot with my head in my hands, really trying to hold my cool and not blow up. When I finally got up and went to the kitchen to start supper, Mike was in there cooking a frozen pizza for us. Gee whiz, I'm so glad he slaved over that hot oven for me.
He was so nice all evening, though. He hugged me a lot, and touched my leg or hand every time I'd walk by him. Then when we went to bed, he talked to me (even though I was already asleep and he woke me up) and kept his hand on my shoulder until I fell asleep (again). I was so glad that I'd kept my mouth shut and saved myself from another hush, hush fight.
*
I am going to go home and finish up the laundry I didn't get done Wednesday. Cook a roast. That kind of thing. I think I might even bake a loaf of bread, that sounds good.
*
That is all.

Dream

I had this funny dream Saturday night. In it, I was in the kitchen of my church washing dishes or toys for the nursery (which I did Saturday afternoon) and I was talking with my Pastor, David. He was standing across the kitchen's island at the stove and he said casually "Oh, yeah, Stacie, I have that mouthwash you wanted in my office. Don't let me forget to give it to you later." I was puzzled so I asked him what mouthwash he was talking about. And he said "You know, I asked all the Sunday School teachers to give me a list of things they needed for their class and you gave me a list that just had mouthwash on it. So, I bought you mouthwash. It's in my office on my desk." I started laughing and said "Oops! I accidentally gave you my Wal-Mart list. I'd just started it and only had one thing on it so far. I wondered what happened to that piece of paper!" And we both had a good laugh over that one, in my dream. I even chuckled about it the next day at church with a fellow Sunday School teacher. I told her I knew I'd been forgetting to buy mouthwash the last few trips to Wal-Mart but I didn't know it was such a big deal to me that I'd start dreaming about it.
Well, the dream has kind of lingered with me since then and today I thought "Okay, God. Usually when a dream lingers with me this long, You are usually trying to teach me something". So, I looked it up on the Internet. Now, I know a lot of those dream dictionary sites are a lot of hooey, but there's some that I find interesting enough and can bear witness with through my own experiences with dreams. This is what I found under mouthwash:

To see or use mouthwash in your dream, indicates that you need to literally wash your mouth as a result of something you said. Perhaps you need to think first before saying something you might regret.

Let me tell you, I almost started crying. Psalm 34:11-14 says "Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desired life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it." And in James 1:26 "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless." James goes on, in chapter three, to compare a tongue to a bit in a horse's mouth or a rudder on a boat. Even a small spark that starts a huge forest fire. Small parts that play a large role in something bigger.

There is definitely a lesson here to be learned. I hope I learn this lesson. James is my favorite book in the Bible. Most people, I think, like it for the "faith lessons" throughout most of the book. I like it for that one section of chapter three that tells you to watch what you say. Bridle your tongue!

In the words made famous by Forrest Gump: That's all I got to say about that.

It Could Maybe Be Done

Five classes in summer. It could happen. Did you notice what classes they were? Except for Speech, they were all fluff classes. I know these classes can't be too difficult because I know some people who have taken them. That sounds terrible, I know. I've seen the required work for some of these classes, they ain't that tough.
And, I didn't include the classes I've already taken or am currently taking in the list from 1-14. So, Psych is Psych. Not family or whatever.
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Shael has the flu or sump'ner other. Yay. She went to my Mom's this morning while I went to class and when I came back to pick her up, my Mom said she knew Shael was feeling pretty bad because she wasn't obnoxious all morning. Humph! My daughter isn't obnoxious! Whatever.
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Shael and I went to Wal-Mart in Miami this afternoon to buy her some new skis, I mean shoes. I saw one of the Aunts there and Shael didn't even know who she was. You know you have a surplus of Aunts when your kid doesn't even know them all. She's a first aunt, too. One of my Dad's sisters. My Mom came from a slightly larger than today's standards family. Five kids. She's got two brothers and two sisters. But, my Dad, he puts that to shame. He has three brothers, instead of just two. And ten sisters. Yes, 1-0. TEN. He has lost one sister and one brother. But, still, now you know why I call them "the Aunts". I know some better than others, I have my favorites. Some I feel sorry for, and some I just plain don't know very well at all. The one we saw today falls into that last category. I love her, she's family, but she is one weird lady. She looks like she could've easily hooked up with Festus from Gunsmoke. Or Sloth from The Goonies. Ha! "Hey, guys!" I spoke to her and as we walked off, Shael said "Who was that?"(Like she had the plague or leprosy) Hopefully we were out of ear range. If we weren't and my dear Auntie heard Shael, then that means that Shael really did come out of my body and the gene that makes a person say embarrassing, critical statements about another person within hearing range skipped over me and went right into my daughter. Roni, you should know exactly what gene I'm speaking of.
*
We looked at a lot of illusions today in class. I wrote down the web address so I could come home and look at them a little closer and/or longer. I sent them on to Mikey, he likes those kinds of things. Next month when he decides to check his email, he'll really enjoy them, after spending the good part of an hour getting rid of the 783 spam mails that are crowding his Yahoo! inbox. Thinking of spam mail, why the heck have I suddenly started receiving spam from NRA? I've tried to filter them to the trash, I've tried reporting them as spam, but I'm still getting them. Jerks.
Anyway, here's that addy for the illusions. Let's get freaky deaky!
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/tags/illusions/

Back To Normal, I Think

After having no electricity for eight days, I was looking forward to getting on line. Only to find that our ISP was off until we did some updating. That took Mike a while to get around to. When I finally told him I had to have the Internet for school, he fixed it for me. Thank you, Mikey!
*
What I really need is a printer that's compatible with my dinosaur computer. Even better would be a brand new computer with it's own printer. When our first computer bit the dust several years ago, my parents gave us their old one that they never liked. I can see why they never liked it, it's not a very good one. But, it has served it's purpose. The only thing is, it's such an odd ball, no printer is compatible with it. No printer that I have, anyway. I could make it compatible, with only $35.99 worth of software, or something like that. No, thanks. I have never liked my Epson printer, why would I want to spend more money to make it work? I used the printer at work the other day and found that I really liked it. I want one just like that! It was an HP and it worked so quietly, you wouldn't even know that it was printing unless you knew it was printing. If that makes any sense. It spit that paper out so fast and the print was professional and smooth. I like that. I would also like to have high speed Internet like at work, too, but I don't think that is going to happen any time soon. We considered getting Internet service through our cell phone carrier, even though it would be about $25 more a month. Why? Because it would be so much faster and we would have our land line free while we were on line. There's a free trial period, I think we might try it out and see how it works. The guy at the store told Mike that there aren't very many users on it so we would get an excellent signal, much better than our phones (even though our phones aren't too too bad out here in the boondocks) and it would be much quicker than dial up, which is what we've been dealing with all these long suffering years. But, I'm afraid it might be a scam to get us to pay $35 a month on Internet that comes and goes with the tower signals. We'll see.
*
School is still going great. I don't know if I mentioned it yet, but I got an 89% on my first psych test. Plus the 10 extra points for the Jeopardy game, I got a 99%. I was so totally psyched, no pun intended. LOL. I have Dr. Deichman and she really is a nice lady. I like her. So far, I kind of like this class. It's very interesting. My dad and Brother Leon (before his death, obviously) both said it was the stupidest class they ever had to take. Hopefully, I'll continue to enjoy it. Maybe it's because I have a really good instructor.
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This summer looks like I might have a very full schedule. I'm going to be taking speech. (Yeah, I agree, Roni. How different we are. And to think we came from the same womb!) Along with speech I may be taking (if they will agree to offer them over the summer) Child Development, Orientation to Child Care, Health and Safety of the Preschool Child, and Nutrition for Children. After those classes, I will actually have my Certificate of Mastery. Which is different than a Master's Degree by a long shot, so don't be thinking that I've got that much school under my belt. After that, I can take Computer Applications in Business and Human Resource Management and actually become a Director or Assistant Director. I could stop at Certificate of Mastery, or even stop at Director's Certificate of Completion and still get quite a pay raise at any day care ( especially if minimum wage goes up as much as we heard it might). But, I don't really want to stop at that. While I'm on a roll, I want to complete my Associate Degree. Yes, I capitalize it because it's that important to me to get at least that degree. Here is a list of all the classes I need, not to mention the ones I already listed, to get my Associate Degree:

1. College Algebra
2. Dynamics of Family Relationships
3. The Exceptional Child ( I think this might be one they may offer this summer)
4. Human Development Within the Family
5. Infants and Toddlers
6. Activity Planning
7. Nutrition
8. Career Opportunities in Social Science
9. World/Regional Geography
10. Community First Aid
11. Math Structures 1
12. Introduction to Sociology
13. Marriage and Family
14. Humanities course(s)

From numbers 9-14, I only need 8 hours as directed by advisor. My Psych class falls into that category, and it's 3 hours. The speech class falls in that category, also. I'm not sure, but I think it's 3 hours, too.

*

As you can tell, I plan on having a full plate for the next couple of years. After NEO, most people that live around here go on to NSU in Talequah. Man, that's a long way off and I really don't want to make that drive every day like so many people I know have done, or still do. I know there's car pooling, and most people do that. But, carpooling doesn't take away from the amount of time it takes to get there and get back. I would much rather go to Missouri Southern. Only about 45 minutes away, versus an hour and 45 minutes, or however long it takes to get to NSU. I'm sure it takes at least an hour and 45 minutes. Money will be the main issue, I'm sure. Missouri Southern is out of state and those out of state tuition fees are a killer. That completely sucks because I'm a mere mile from Missouri. One measly mile will probably cost me thousands of dollars in out of state tuition fees. I'll have to start checking up on financial aid. And not fiddle fart around with it, either.

*

Well, I'd better skidaddle. Shael's friend, Stephanie, spent the night with us last night and they are complaining about being hungry. It's only 9:00 in the morning, how dare they? You'd think a 12 year old and a 13 year old could figure out their own breakfast. You'd think. This is where Shael's spoiled rotteness comes in. Stephanie is use to fending for herself. Shael isn't. When the electricity went out, you would have thought the world was coming to an end for Shael. She reminded me of the old story of the hen who thought the sky was falling. Ta-ta!