Winter or Spring?

For anyone who has ever stayed in the Johnson household, the revelation that the temperature tends to be abnormally cold is an understatement. For starters, John really likes his air conditioning. That the unit is new, and capable of powering more square footage than it is currently serving also adds to the artic blast around here. Ask Critter, she christened the bathrooms "meat lockers."

The problem is further amplified by the transition weather around here in early spring. Last Saturday we couldn't keep up with the demand for hot chocolate at Christy's Lacrosse game. Then on Monday, heat stroke if you stood out in the sun for more than 10 minutes. Part of it is that the temperature swing is so huge, it feels hotter or colder than it really is, and part of it is that we really never know how to dress.

Yesterday it was so warm, Jonathan gave the dog a bath, and then washed all three cars (and then walked around extorting money for it---hmmm, he was just playing in the water). Naturally, John had the A/C running in the house. Everything was fine and dandy until sometime in the middle of the night the temperature dropped again.

Thus we had Deb and Flo in their winterwear for lounging around an over air-conditioned house on a Sunday morning. They got up earlier than the clock says (DID YOU REMEMBER TO SPRING FORWARD TODAY?) because it was cold.

I say they are lightweights. After all, they've taken the Deb and Flo Show on the road to meet the Ninja Turtles, who knows what they'll be wearing this afternoon, overcoats or bikinis.

7-21-2-29-13-6 !!!

WOW!!! After how many years of playing a random lotto card, my numbers WON!!! Our ship has come in!
check my secret blog, link on the right, for details on how this affects you, and your piece of the pie!!!!

These colors don't run

I am always amazed by the reaction that my daughter, Vicky, gets when she is out in public wearing her Marine Corps Junior ROTC uniform. It seems that she's never ignored. On the contrary, the uniform excites great passion in people. Often, she is mistaken for a real Marine (believe me, she both relishes that, and fears that she is disrespectfully impersonating a Marine, so the correction usually follows quickly). Anyway, it's easy enough to receive positive feedback from fellow Americans, thanking her for her "service" or otherwise being supportive of the troops, and by extension, patriotic in the face of the insidious assault on our way of life, not just from external enemies, but from within. It's the latter that is so hard to stomach.

She's been insulted and mocked by complete strangers, people who don't know her personally, or have an understanding of that uniform, the history behind the Armed Forces in the country. .. in short, what it means to be prepared to die for the very people slinging insults. Everyone can name Pat Tillman, but what of the generations of men and women before him, who died silently and without publicity, without acknowledgement, without a hero's accolades? I think she is most offended by the insult to these unnamed warriors, unable to defend their choice to serve honorably.

It's easy enough to wear the uniform at school, on uniform days, because there is "safety" in numbers. There is a show of unity for everyone in the program. The problems arise off-campus, where she attends the local college for classes in the morning. Sadly, Vic has been introduced to what will certainly be a long line of unprofessional professors, who feel their constitutional right to voice their Marxist opinions over-rides their professional obligation to teach the subject they are hired to teach. Imagine that! Rejecting the very people who keep them in their pink mortarboards and "free speech as long as it agrees with my opinion" diatribes.

I witnessed this firsthand on my campus this week, and although I know of the foolishness surrounding campus recruiting, saw and heard it for myself. The Army had set up a very nice recruiting station in an area that doesn't necessarily attract a lot of student movement (it would have been better by the library or student union) but was not in a position to inconvenience traffic, both on the street or pedestrian. In fact, I'd say it was inconvenient for the purpose of drawing crowds.

I stood by the doors to the Humanities building (Liberal Arts!) when some colleagues walked up to me, expressing their disdain for the recruiters. I was taken aback by the comments. Admittedly, it was not the usual venum spewed by some others--I once heard a professor instruct a student to vote, because "Satan is in the Whitehouse." Nevertheless, I asked why? She conceded that they had a right to be there, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

I dropped the conversation. I was not going to convert her, and she was not going to convert me, but at least, in this instance, there was a mutual understanding. After all, I didn't like Jesse Jackson's visit to campus last fall which was full of finger-pointing and angry allegations of racism and classism, but I didn't fight it. I guess she didn't like to see young men and women proudly wearing the uniform of the United States Army, demonstrating the hard-earned ranks of leadership and medals of accomplishment, in the hopes of attracting bright and purpose-filled young people to join their ranks.

I guess some people are programmed to see a bleak future full of strife and defeat, while others prefer to see a hopeful future worth protecting.

another slacker post

A tad bit busy today, classes and lacrosse...no complaints, just not time in the schedule for my thoughts to really take any kind of form.

looking for a picture of vicky's new smile to post here (that was the news) but never got around to finding it. The laundry is backed up again...WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?!

No news from the job interview.

The weather is lovely...for now.

It's good to be alive.

big announcement coming soon!

In the meantime, entertain yourselves with some pictures from the retreat.

Take Two

I have no idea what I wrote about this morning. I'm sure it had something to do with preparing for the job interview this afternoon. Whatever it was, it's gone. Lost in cyberspace. It's a wonder that I can continue to post here with any kind of success.

So, about this interview. Last week I was looking through the job announcements for part time teaching in the local colleges, and I came across a job opening at a college in the area. It calls for a full-time English instructor, and pays very well. Exceedingly well. So well that I thought, what they heck, I'll apply and see what happens.

Well, what happens is that I passed the first review and I was called in for an interview. Still very cool. Until I got to the interview. I was escorted into a conference room, where the Dean introduced himself, the Vice-Provost, and the English Chair. Whoa! Then he proceeded to give me an agenda for the interview.

Who gives an agenda for an interview? It scared the poopy out of me. First, he makes some opening remarks (I don't remember, I was still focusing on the 5th item, which called for questions). Then he gives me the history of the institution. Weird.

After all the niceties and everything, they pull out my file and proceed to dissect my transcripts in front of me. Here, I owe an apology to any student I ever comforted by telling that the transcripts are not important after you get that first job.

I know they were counting credits in English, but all I could see from across the room was that big fat red D that I got in microbiology my first semester in college. I spent the next three years trying to recover from that semester, and there it was, like a coffee table decoration.

Everything after that went well. I mean, there was nothing heinous, nobody was mean or anything.

Until...

They handed me a grammar worksheet and asked me to look it over for a couple of minutes and then teach a lesson. "Oh, and for your convenience, there's a flipboard behind you. Take your time."

I imagine that they compare notes on the deer-in-the-headlights-looks that they get from unsuspecting candidates like me.

Man, I thought I was going to pass out from sheer anxiety. Nevertheless, I pulled it off, in spite of the Dean being unprepared, the Vice-Provost giggling through the debacle, and the Dept. Chair pretending to not be able to read. I sure hope they were just looking to see if I freaked out, or what, because if that's the usual student there, maybe I don't need the money that bad.

Whatever. Mixed feelings about the whole thing. With Vicky at college, not a bad deal for us. On the other hand, am I really prepared to give up my freedom and be shackled to a professor's schedule? We'll see.

just a quick note

I accidentally deleted the entry, and I don't have time to rewrite now, so look for it tonight.

The arts not for old farts

So, I have to post this because I just got back from Carmina Burana. It was brilliant. Awesome. Incredible. Lacey R has an exquisite voice, and overall, a magnificent show. Kudos and accolades to the kids.

Really, there isn't enough room here to go on about how much I enjoyed the show. This school system has such an excellent arts program. Why go into Atlanta? The best shows are here.

OK, no more gushing. Well, one more. The show was awesome.

Nevertheless, I do have some observations to share. They are tongue in cheek, but have a grain of truth to them:

• Young and nubile conductors ought to recognize that they will be waving their arms, and there are consequences to that.
• The translation of the libretto was included in the program. Did the parents of those little kids know what they were singing?
• The old guy that sang the part of a roasting duck was brilliant. He actually turned red.
• An old guy actually sang the part of a roasting duck.
• Why is there a roasting duck singing in an opera?
• The back of the program has a little history of the goliard, which is an "earthy" poem. That is code for raunchy. Goliards comprised most of the lyrics in this opera.

Anyway, that's my review of the show. Even the audience was excellent--no cell phones, no hooting, no ridiculous rude behavior. Perhaps the word never got out that it was to be an earthy show.

Maybe the kids just need to sing more in Latin.

Hurray, it's Monday...

...but little has changed. Tonight is Carmina Burrana, there's still lacrosse, and Show Choir, and The Secret Garden. See? I checked off a big thing from my list, but there's still a ton more. And of course, just in time for all these things to end we enter the cycle of end of the year programs, and this year has the excitement of Confirmation and Graduation.

I'll quit detailing my schedule, lest it sound like whining. The only whining I like is wining, as it goes nicely with cheese.

So then, what to post about?

The girls, of course, who came back from their retreat telling stories a mile a minute. There was the usual talk of retreat romances (Vicky has a stalker), recaps of the talks and the skits--all good stories. The real attention-getter, however, was the report on the Ropes Course.

My little girls were flying through an obstacle course 3 stories in the air!

It's a good thing I wasn't there. I might have embarrassed them by wanting to try it out. Evidently, though, it's a pretty scary experience. Both of them admitted to almost paralyzing fear. Why subject themselves to this?

It builds teamwork, and self -confidence, and trust. I think they were very brave to test their limits. Of course, I may be a little biased, but they're pretty good at those things already.

check in later for some pictures--vic said she'd send some along for me

grumble, grumble

Hurray! On the one hand, me and the other parents are celebrating the last day of the play. It has been a wild Seuss-like run, with plenty of joy and plenty of unexpected twists. It's always the same with all the kids' plays--the build-up, the performances, and then...the letdown. After hoping for an end, it's here, and it's sad.

Get over it cupcake.

I'm grumbling about the parents, and I'm venting it here! After 13 years of school (Vicky graduates this year) I have managed to avoid being the parent in charge of the present for the teacher. That is, until now.

Yes, I am charged with the unpleasant task of approaching people I don't know and have been relatively unseen in this whole process, and extort money from them. The usual suspects whip out the wallets and pay up on day one; it's the invisibles that are a pain.

Alas, I need to figure out a way to stretch the piddling pennies I've collected. Too bad there won't be a miracle of the nickels and dimes.

Saturday, at last

Boy did I ever sleep late today. All the way to 8:20. I feel like I've wasted the entire day.

Not!

That darn dog was whining to be let out. I thought dogs were supposed to lie around all day and sleep.

Anyway, finally the pace of things have slowed down. I still have laundry, but I'm happy to report that we all have clean underwear. I thought you'd like to be reassured.

Today's schedule delightfully slow. The girls are in the mountains on retreat, John is at the Habitat store staring at the merchandise, and me and the boy are chilling out, finishing up schoolwork (both of us).

We'll probably have an early dinner, and then off to the Saturday night performance of Seussical.

Christy is famous!

Friday! That means it's almost Monday

Haha. I think I'll slow down today and take a break from the rat race. Actually, I will indeed take the day and evening off. The girls are going on a retreat, and Jonathan will be occupied with the play until after 9, so maybe I'll plan a quiet dinner at home, or John and I can escape somewhere, even if it's just fish sandwiches at McDonald's.

The play is going swimmingly well--if you consider the mishaps as just the regular standard operating procedure for a massive musical endeavor put on by 11-13 year-olds. No biggie, right? Just this week Jonathan fell off the stage into the seats (again--he did it once during rehearsal), sprayed CO2 into his face, and rescued a set that fell, by ad-libbing an entire segment that he wasn't in to hold up a wall.

Christy, my Samurai hero, had her butt handed to her again after another loss, this time to a hardcore, cursing, less than sportsman-like Catholic prep school team. Ok, so it's not fair to indict the whole school for a bratty kid, so I'll retract blaming the team, but fighting is tacky, especially with girls. note to parents: a Catholic school is only as good as the faith modeling you do for your kids--we as parents are their first and foremost teachers in everything. Nevertheless, building years are essential, it just sucks to be on the team when you are losing. I'm proud of the girls for working hard and keeping their chins up, and their sticks in the games until the end.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Vicky, who got another little scholarship, this one from the East Metro Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Go Vic! She's still not slowing down even though she admitted she's got "cabin fever." Yeah, she wants to get out of the house and start college. It'll be July soon enough. If she isn't busy enough, she's scored a Seussical T-shirt by turning pages for the pianist, an old friend from high school.

So, what are my plans for today? Don't you know me well enough yet?

I have a date with the washing machine.

Another day, another random thought

I am truly pooped today. Yesterday started at a full trot at 6:30 am, and ended some time after 11 pm. Most of it was spent on my feet, so this morning, my back is killing me. I never could figure out the connection, but there it is.

As I took Jonathan to school this morning--EARLY so he could go over some scenes from the play that opens tonight, I began to entertain thoughts of a rehearsal-free Monday. So much time on my hands after Monday, if I can just get through this weekend. Is that a denial of the busy schedule I have again today? Is it a positive perk that keeps me motivated? Yes. No. Both.

Neither.

I do that a lot, actually. Thinking about when whatever is occupying my time will end, so that it's over. After 43 years, I haven't learned that something else jumps right in to take its place. I need a reality check.

I think maybe it's just a character flaw that goes all the way back to my childhood. You know, on December 26th I had already calculated it was 364 days to Christmas.

I read a post over at inkndoodles that made me laugh out loud. You can still smell the roses if you're running with them. I'd cross-stitch that on a pillow just for me. If I cross-stitched. If I ever sat around long enough to admire a pillow.

Mass, Music, and Musicals! doncha love the alliteration?

So, at 6:22 am, I am awakened by the query, "Aren't you going to Mass?"

Not a normal question for the hour, or the day of the week, but thanks to our parish's youth, a special 6:45 am Mass is celebrated on Wednesdays in Lent. Who needs to give up chocolate? I'm giving up precious sleep, a far more physical sacrifice. But, enough said. One doesn't need to carp about these things, just do them in the correct spirit, right?

Of course, the pancake breakfast and delightful fellowship that follows the Mass makes it a lovely morning all around.

Back at home at 9:00 am, though, I feel like I've already put in a full day. Tackling today's blog is made exceptional thanks to Trini Otero, the sound technician for the middle school musical, Seussical. Trini closed up rehearsal the other night with an awesome CD, and last night he hooked me up with a copy of it. Trini is my new superhero, as the music is incredible. I'm listening to the Spanish Harlem Orchestra as I write, and it's everything I can do to keep from jumping up and dancing. I'm going out and buying all their stuff. Check them out if you get a chance.

Believe me, I'm going to need all the music and inspiration I can get to make it through the day. I'm feeding the cast tonight, and it promises to be a mess. Nachos for everybody! I gotta run to BJ's to get the groceries this morning, and then have everything ready to go by 4:30, so the pirahnas can eat at 5:00. Oh yeah, it's going to be fun.

Here's a preview of the Cat. If ever the kid was typecast, it's in this role. He just clowns around on stage and acts like himself.

What to post? What to post?

I got...nuthin'.

***

What a chuckle--I published the above instead of a draft that doesn't get published. Sorry. I had oatmeal turning to cement and a washing machine running water, and no clothes in it. And still, I got nuthin'.

I suppose some days are just like this...bla. Bla bla bla. Bla bla bla bla bla. Maybe it's the rain.

I've got an awful lot of stuff to do today, and sitting here waiting for the muse to show up is a bit of a time-waster, but the discipline of actually posting here daily has helped me trudge through some other writing that I want to finish in this life time.

The distractions are endless. For example, the bane of my existence: laundry. I just don't get the laundry situtation. When I was a kid, the future was supposed to be fully automated. Disposable clothes were invented when I was a kid. Well, actually, my mom invented disposable clothes. When my brother had one of those heinously offensive diaper emergencies in public, my mother just stripped him and pitched the whole thing. Let's just say he's lucky he got a fresh diaper and wasn't thrown out with the mess.

But I digress; I'm still waiting for the automated future, and here I am, in the future. Um, I mean, my childhood's future. The 21st century. You know what I mean.

Where are the floating cars? Where is Rosie the Robot to clean up after us? Where is the food dispenser that obediently provides "tea, Earl Grey, hot" ???

All I got is a flip-phone that chirps like a tri-corder. I feel ripped off.

If you feel my pain, you might be entertained with this: http://www.retrofuture.com/spaceage.html

Manic Monday? It's just a song

I never did post the picture of me with a drink, did I? I went to sleep, and here I am two days later, eating a bowl of oatmeal as I write these lines this morning. After some very beautiful weather these past few days, it's almost a shame to see cold and rain; we're even under a flood warning. Not to worry, though-- if the Yellow River loses its banks, it won't mean anything to us.

We're headed into another busy week, but unlike last week, most things are well-organized and if not running smoothly, most definitely running. The show must go on, and all that.

Seussical opens on Wednesday with a parent preview, and then goes from Thursday through Sunday. That means late nights (what else is new?) and scrambling for dinners. Vicky is still in rehearsals, and Christy has a couple of games this week, so after feeding the Who's down in Whoville on Wednesday, I'll be selling concessions at the Lacrosse game on Thursday.

I want to see the stupid feminist that claims that stay at home moms don't work or do anything valuable. I'm the one that's taking care of her little precious ones dressed in Abercrombie & Fitch, and pretty much abandoned to whatever it is I decide to feed them. Cynical? Nah, just pointing out the obvious. And I do nothing compared to the hardcore ladies in the PTA (btw, I mock them incessantly!).

After spending a weekend working alongside those women(and men!), I must say I come away with a renewed sense that not everybody is for show--there was a lot of hard work accomplished, and the kids were appreciative, too.

More of the same this week, with different sets of parents. I might make some new friends.

another hit-and-run post

It's early, I've been up for hours, taken a trip to downtown Atlanta to drop off Vicky at the LEAD Conference, and am having a cup of coffee before taking off with Christy to the high school for round two of the LEAD Conference preparations, which today happens to be peppered by more need to bi-locate. A lacrosse game at 10, Jonathan's set painting at 12, somewhere in there John is going to a Habitat for Humanity ground-breaking, or formal move-in, or something important, which I like to attend, and can't today. Bummer. Now there's a ministry where a lot of hard work gets results, and smiles on move-in day.

Anyway, some pictures to recap the week...Samurai won the game on Wednesday, Junior was recognized at the school board for winning grandchampion in mathematics at the county science fair on Thursday, last night the master sergeant led a lovely color guard, and tonight, sometime after 10, I'll post a picture of me, exhausted, with a drink in my hand.

Toodles. Have a lovely day!

insanity reigns...

...what else is new?

I was just going to sit down and jot off something, anything, when I got what must have been the hundredth call today to put out a fire. So, I quit. You get what you get today, and consider it better than 12 on 12; this isn't contrived-- it isn't streamlined --it isn't edited. And the blasted dog is whining, to boot.

The last 3 hours of my day, a day that should have been relaxing, should have had me sitting back issuing orders on laundry and cleaning (namely, stuff I didn't want to do) has been filled with running around.

Let's start with an early morning shuttle to take Jonathan to his Magnet school interview. That went well. One would imagine that getting off on such a good note would work fine, no? No.

Next, as I'm making my second trip to the high school, this time with Christy all packed up for a very long day, we, or rather, she discovers that she doesn't have all the pictures she needs for a layout. Back into the house to search through her sister's computer to find the pics that she needs, never mind that it could have--strike that--should have been done the night before by the other sister, but that's a rant I am avoiding here.

Then, back at the high school, to drop off Chris and pick up Jonathan, who is nowhere to be found. A search party goes out, because a certain young lady is also missing. Hmmm. Another comment for another day.

Meanwhile, a desperate phone call from Ally, that the singer for the national anthem at tonight's LEAD conference has cancelled, and can we, that means me, find a replacement. So back into the school in search of the chorus teachers, who both look at me, look at each other, and look at Jonathan, and say, "He can do it."

So while Jonathan is practicinfg the Star Spangled Banner, Mr. Singleton is calling kids not performing in the program tonight, to see who can substitute, because although Jonathan would have could have sung, he had rehearsal for a play that opens on Wednesday, so he was going to be a last ditch just in case no one came through. Luckily, they found someone.

Then, the great pizza caper happened, because Christy needed lunch and dinner, and we had a whole pizza for her to split between the meals, and we couldn't find her, but we did all is well.

So here I am posting manically, just so there's a post, because god-forbid I should forget to post today, and hear the fallout from that.

And it's only 1 o'clock.

Have a nice day.

Luly and Victor are world famous artists!

Hey guys, these pictures will be viewed in places as far away as Tasmania (it really exists--not just in cartoons!) and Hong Kong (I think that's just because of Rob) and who knows where else.

First, it's young Victor T., esquire, and his lovely tribute to citrus. Note the intensity of yellow marker, criss-crossed with foliage and orange blossoms. It speaks of spring, and youthfulness, and a new box of fresh markers.

Next, is an elegant self-portrait by none other than Princess Luly, of a long line of princesses from the House of Critter. Note the humble demeaner of an otherwise stellar young lady, bedecked in a flowing gown of pink and green, and wearing the very royal Princess Slippers with magical powers. She is musing on the verdant fields behind her, and whether she should take out her horses for an afternoon ride.

Enjoy!

besitos, Tia Bego