My Favorite Things

Yep. Your eyes are not deceiving you. I did change the background color on the blog from a blue to a slightly darker purple. I'm in love with purple for the moment. Actually, that moment has lasted for about 10 years. Guess I like purple. 

It's snowing, I'm drinking coffee and blogging. Yes, it's a perfect time. 

My girls have also decided it's a great time for a tea party. 

I adore these tiny ceramic tea sets.

So precious. Tea anyone?

Some Christmas Pics

Just some happy pics to add a little warmth to the day. 

My two little ones.

I don't think Emmy liked Bibi's chin digging into her arm!

Emmy, posing for the camera.

Enjoy the holidays everyone!

We Are Here, We Are Here, We Are Heeeerre!

***the following is extrememly opinionated and may or may not have actually happened. characters are a figment of one person's imagination which may or may not be a reality in some world somewhere. any resemblance to actual people is entirely a coincidence. 

hey you all. I'm still here. I've been reading blogs when I can, but not posting much. December has to be the busiest month of the year. Finally, we get a break! Surely the next few months cannot be as stressful as the past 5 months were for me. 

I think of the year in semesters, because of school I guess. This past fall was nuts. I lost my classroom at school because we added another regular classroom. So I had to teach music on a cart, 4 carts to be exact. We move desks, I push carts, we set up instruments. I really wanted to rip my hair out, or at least gouge out my eyes. That surely couldn't be as bad as hearing those desks scrape across the floor or, "waaah! so and so is in my space" (because they're squished in what little floor space we have). Or, "I think another peg is broken on the xylophone." (Yep, another casualty of being loaded and unloaded on a cart). 

And then I had to go and tick off the most difficult, mentally unstable mother in the entire school. Remember the boob twister student? This was his mother. We were having a meeting because she was of the opinion that we teachers were setting her child off. She was going on and on about how well her child did in a one on one situation. So I suggested home schooling. She didn't like that suggestion very well. She went the the pp and explained to her how evil I was. And she insisted that her son not be in music. 

Over the next few months, her son got a free pass to roam the halls. At one point he was in the school's electric box. This is a student who will be starting middle school next year. He was supposed to be with a particular teacher when he wasn't with me, so I started writing him up every time he was running  and roaming the halls. And...you guessed it, things came to a head again, the week of our music program. See, if a student gets too many write up's, they cannot participate in the 9 weeks reward. Mom did not like that one bit. So more meetings were held. Not sure what what my pp told her, but Mom decided to take her child out of school and...homeschool. Interesting. 

In the meantime, maintenance has been renovating a room for me in an adjacent building. They let me choose the floor tile and paint. I choose 2 shades of purple paint. The floor is light gray, with some darker gray tile as accent. I have now christened the room as the "Great Purple Room". There will be some offices out there too. Hope they like purple. It should be done in a few weeks. I'm so excited. I have large instrument pictures and I'm going to make some poster prints of some of my favorite pictures I've taken outdoors. I also want to frame and mat some poster prints of the students that I've taken. I think it will be a fun room. 

Here's to a calmer new year, less stress, and more peace and harmony. 

Feeling Better

Some antibiotics, eye drops and cough syrup with codeine....I'm feeling better. Happy to be staying home this Friday morning too. I'll probably do some online shopping. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

An Apple A Day...Bah Humbug!

Yeah, so, what has Lydee been up to? 

Attacking and defending herself against every known disease to man!

Not quite that bad, but perhaps against every disease going around our school building, and losing, pitifully losing.

• Strep throat? Check
  
• Nasty cold with deep hacking cough that won't go away, limiting how much one can sing, and sending the art teacher to go get chest x-rays? Check. (the singing part is kinda vital to teaching music. I sing, stop, cover my mouth, hack-hack-hack. sing again, try to sing through it. stop, give in to spasms of coughs, hack-hack-hack... that's been my past 3 weeks). hubby's going to the dr. for that today. could be walking pneumonia? 
  
• typical cold turing into sinus thing? Check.
  
• Pink eye? got that one covered, both my girls and myself, Check.
  

The pink eye, in fact, I have right now, at this very moment. Bibi had it first. Emmy got it a week later, along with all the other students at her table, and her classroom teacher. And yesterday, during a pleasant outing to find new christmas ornaments, I wiped my eye, and yes, pus. Yuck, yuck, yuck! 

Frantic call to the drs: 

Me: I have pink eye, both my daughters had it. can you call in a script? [figuring they're busy and all.]

Nurse: it's not our policy to call in a prescription until we've seen you. it could be anything.

me: I know it's pink eye (describe symptoms), both my daughter have had it, it's going around the school I work at.

Nurse: we need to see you first. Unfortunately [evil laugh] we don't have any appts available today...or tomorrow...or thurs. and fri. because we're closed. Maybe I could talk to your dr. who's your dr?....well, she won't be back till the first week of dec. 

Me: I can't go to work with pink eye [never mind that I have the whole week off, I can't go to my mother's house on thur. with pink eye!]

Nurse: well, I'll talk to some of the drs here; maybe one of them will call in a script for you.

Me: Thanks. [auuuugh.]

They did call it in, thank goodness. Same nurse called me back, sweet as pie. 

And so...I hope I don't have pneumonia...auuuurrgh. 

Pictures from a Fall Bike Race

So hubby and his dad did a bike race at a local park. We had a lot of fun cheering them on, and trying to keep the girls from getting run over (stress level-up). The trail was taped off everywhere and they had to ride through some of the playgrounds ("devil's playground")and up and down some steep hills ("hill of death") and bunny hop over obstacles. We saw "Batman" and "Robin" and a "circus rider". Hubby and his dad didn't dress up, the party poopers.

The girls had a good time too after we found a relatively "safe" playground (the bike trail was all around it, but not through it, thank goodness). Then Bibi found a stick and decided to chase other kids around with it, until I realized what she was doing.

Afterwards, we found the donuts and hot chocolate. Fun was had by all.

Hubby racing.

Emmy, disgusted with her sister.

Bibi and her stick.

Aren't sticks so much fun!

Aww mom, why can't I chase people with sticks?

That's okay, it's still fun to run around and have mom tell me to be careful not to poke my eye out....

Like when I go down the slide with my stick. Or when I attack sissy in the car with my stick. She can't get away, ha ha ha!

Yea, we're going to get donuts!

Good job hubby!

Some Autumn Pictures

I haven't been doing much lately, so I thought I'd post some autumn pictures. 

Beautiful pic of the butterfly and my asters.

Below: Carving pumpkins is hard work! Note the hot chocolate and cookies that had to be consumed for extra energy. 

Love that look on Bibi's face: So that's what Pumpkin Guts feel like!

Mmmm!

I love this pic. Bibi looks like she wants to eat the seed. I didn't roast them because hubby wanted to feed them to the deer! :-0

Below the girls are "Bogging" for apples. I had bought a bushel from a local farmer and they couldn't wait to try bobbing (they called it bogging) for apples, complete with goggles and swimsuits (or nothing but underwear for little Bibi). 

We had beautiful weather the past few weeks. It was a lovely fall. 

Barfing Pumpkins

Crack me up! If you're here to look at the barfing pumpkins, know that we didn't carve them, but I'm guessing it'd be easy to recreate. (we did carve these pumpkins with patterns.) Just take all the pumpkin "guts" and pile up and out of an open pumpkin mouth. Bottles, optional unless you have some extras, lol!

This one's for Olga: the barfing pumpkins.

We didn't carve this, I got the picture via email.

Happy October everyone!

pumpkins!

We carved pumpkins this past weekend. The girls had fun taking the pumpkin guts out, and we enjoyed carving the pumpkins. My fingers were sore, but it's strangely satisfying to carve out a shape and see what it looks like.

We did "cheat" by using those pumpkin carving patterns you can buy at the store, but they do make cool looking pumpkins, so we decided to use them again this year.

My cat's whiskers and tail fell off, but it still looks cat-ish. Hubby did the best job on the cat in the window carving. I like the wolves.

Enjoy!

Halloween Contest

Sophanne is holding a contest! Memoirs of your favorite halloween costume.

My mom and dad, ever the creative ones, dressed me up as a christmas present when I was 5 years old. There were lights on my package that were wired to light up (a big deal in 1983). I marched in our town's Halloween parade and won 1st place in some category. We all got our pictures in the paper. I'm the one on the left. 

Here's me before the parade.

The following year, my aunt sewed a pilgrim's costume for me. I entered the parade again, but didn't win anything! I loved the pilgrim costume too though and I still own it! It's worn though from years of dress up. (My mom sewed the turkey.) 

Anyhow, these are some of my favorite costumes! 

Family Pictures

So, I decided to snap some family shots this fall in front of our flower bed. I love them. Decided to share them with you all. Emmy is celebrating her 6th birthday too! Happy birthday my lovely redheaded baby!

109 Thoughts To Share!

One Hundred and Nine unread posts in my google reader. 109!!! What have you all been talking about?! My gosh...even Olga had something to say...I don't know what it is yet, but she had something to say. Guess I've been out of the loop, little overwhelmed with the start of the school year and all that.

Things are calming down, and yes, Emmy likes Kindergarten. Her teacher says, "Emmy liked being the "helper" today. She had a lot to say."

I said, "you mean, she never quits talking?"

Teacher replied, "No, she just has a lot to share with me."

Well, that's a nice way to put it. Emmy decided to share in gym class that her little sister always says, "I'm so hungry," when she wakes up. And she decided to share with the art teacher that she has "2 boyfriends, and her sister makes messes, but she doesn't," and she decided to share with me during music that she would get to "be the helper" the next day. So Emmy likes to "share" info in class a lot, a lot more than what I expected.

At least she hasn't shared anything too embarassing, like the time daddy hit the telephone pole because the cat was throwing up and did over $5000 worth of damage to the jeep. No, I shared that, and over the internet.

I guess we all have a lot to share.

Update on the jeep. It's back, after 2 "false starts" (2 returns back to the garage). One for a faulty mirror and one for a cracked window they missed the first time. It seems good as it was pre-cat barf era.

Pictures From the First Day of School

Emmy's first day of Kindergarten. She was excited. All went well.

Because I have nothing better to do....

you are blueviolet #8A2BE2

Your dominant hues are blue and magenta. You're the one who goes to all the parties but doesn't quite fit in at every one... you know what you want, but are afraid of what the world might think of it. You're a little different and that's okay with them, and if you're smart it's okay with you too. Your saturation level is higher than average - You know what you want, but sometimes know not to tell everyone. You value accomplishments and know you can get the job done, so don't be afraid to run out and make things happen. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

A contest and other things

Patty from Fiberholic is holding a contest. Go there to maybe win sock yarn or Nova Scotia mohair. 

I'm getting ready for the start of the school year. It's exciting to plan for a new year. We have a new principal too, so lots of changes are in store. Good changes, I think...for the most part ;-)

No word on the progress of my jeep yet. My confidence in jeep has been shaken with this past accident. How could one telephone pole, which is still standing btw, cause so much damage? I though jeeps were "trail rated". I like the jeep because the roads going to our house are gravel roads and are a mess in the winter. Now I'm thinking of getting rid of it. It's a gas guzzler. I need something with 4 wheel drive that's easier on gas. 

4 wheel drive and easy on gas don't exactly go along together, but there has to be something.... I'm open to suggestions. :-)

This Past Week

Our going on's in the past week have included:

Finding black snakes, in our woodpile....was not happy that hubby ended their short life. Black snakes eat mice, and I don't like mice. I guess he let at least one get away. 

Dear Hubby's birthday...

And discovering Tubby/Cinnamon was a card model in her former life.

Birthday Card to Hubby from my Mom. 

And the estimate on our Jeep? 3 weeks and $4000....one can hardly blame poor Tubby. She was a victim of circumstance. :-)

history meme

Sweet Tubby, she's been so sweet lately. I think she's trying to make up to Hubby. Not sure that it's working on him but I love her. No word on the jeep yet. Insurance company had it towed to a garage. [Those of you familiar with my accident of long ago (mentioned below) know that I have no love for my own car insurance and should have switched after my lawyer dealt with them.] 

Found out the transfer I put in for Emmy to attend the school I work at went through. So Emmy will start Kindergarten this year at my school. Weird but convenient. Bibi will continue to attend the preschool directed by the money obsessed conscious  hag professional. 

I'm feeling evil today. Geez!

Anyhoo, was tagged by Becca in the 10 years, 15 things meme. Not an easy one because any "about me"'s are answered "blah, blah, blah...". But shouldn't be too hard. 

10 things about me that happened in the past 15 years:

1. Graduated high school and college. Got my degree in Music Ed from WVU. Felt like it took 100 years although it only took 5. Discovered: 

• singers (my "instrument") are a dime a dozen; 
• I can't read more 2 lines of music (at the same time) worth a darn; 
• no I'm not going to go on tour in Europe singing Schubert and Schumann; 
• becoming a band director would be my worst nightmare; 
• yes I love teaching general music to the younger set and playing with those "Orff xylophone thingies" (as described by one certain traveling band teacher and you know who you are :-P).
  

Okay that was like 6 things already...so

7. Got a chance to take some music teacher courses (Orff Schulwerk) at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY which thrilled the nerdy classical musician inside of me. 

8. Married the man I ran into (literally) at college. Ran into him with a door. Was angry that I was stood up by another guy, slammed the stairwell door open and there he was- the love of my life. I never had as much fun as I had on that first date with him. He, (and 3 broke friends who bummed along) took me to the cheapest place in town, heck, probably the cheapest place in the continental 48 states (Pechin's Cafeteria, anyone hear of it?). I strained the coffee through my teeth. They ate their 19 cent hamburgers. The 3 stooges friends put on evil clown masks in the car, accidentally scaring one of their grandmothers at a stop light, and lost one of their$5  "Gabe's" hat out the window. It was an adventure. We've been married for 9 years. 

Hubby and I 

10. Had babies, two lovely daughters, 4 and 5 years old, who make me proud to be their mother (on most days!). 

Emmy

Bibi

11. Moved to West Virginia from the Pittsburgh Pa area when I transferred to WVU 10 years ago and stayed ever since. I love the beauty and privacy of it all. Don't love the shopping so well, but not everything can be perfect....

12. Involved in a fatal car accident 3 years ago when a driver had a seizure on the interstate, hit a car, crossed the median, ..., launched into the air and landed on the top of my car. He went airborne again and rolled to a stop behind me. He was doing well over 70 mph at the time of impact. That driver was DOA. 

I escaped with only some scratches and some lasting neck problems. My car was totaled though. The roof and windshield were caved it. I saw him airborne and I ducked. I was already stopped. Thank goodness I was the only one in the car. 

 I retained a good lawyer when my own insurance co. asked if I really needed the CT scans I got at the hospital. The gentleman who had the seizure and hit me was underinsured, so his insurance paid up.  And after some persuasion from the good lawyer, my insurance paid also since I pay for underinsurance coverage. 

All of that took a year and a half to settle...

14. After some years of working part time and staying home with my daughters, I decided to go back to work full time a year and a half ago. I was fortunate that a general music job opened up when it did. (and not a marching band job :-)

15. My creative outlets are photography, baking, watercolors, sewing and creative writing. And the singing? I had the opportunity to be in a local worship/christian rock band (before babies). That was fun and cool all at the same time. We had gigs, man! I practice my guitar and piano "fake book" skills and even get to use my mad skilz at a couple different churches on a frequent basis.   

And so, that's it. 

(later) whoops! it was supposed to be 10 things in 15 years :-O. Guess I was distracted when I did this...