Big Bowl of Randomness

I spent an hour Friday putting music on my flash drive, so I could use it in my classroom. When I got to work, the only song that worked was Hamster Dance.

This year is Martin Luther King's last chance. If the poster of him falls off the back wall again, it's going in the trash.

I took so many classes this summer that now I'm stressed out trying to apply what I've learned. It probably would have been an easier last few days if I was okay with being a mediocre teacher.

I finally got a Vitamix. Making hummus was so easy yesterday. The downside is I used their recipe, which has way to much lemon if you ask me - and way too much liquid from the chickpeas. Next time, I'm going back to how I used to make it.

I'm in love with peanut butter and cashews. Not together, but independently.

Tomorrow, I'm going to start using the Class Cards app with my students. They might hate it and revolt. Or they might realize that the actually do have pay attention and do something in my class.

I think that there is a 60% chance my phone will get stolen. I have to remember to be vigilant at all times and never trust that my students won't steal from me. Possibly, I will have to resort to wearing it around my neck like a nerd.

I get that it's a cultural thing to use two last names, but honestly, for the sake of the kid, could they just pick one? I have a girl on my roster who's listed as "Margar." I'm guessing her name is Margarita, but I've been surprised before.

Speaking of that, I feel like I'm getting super good at knowing names. For instance, years ago I would have pronounced "Kamal" as Camel (and really gotten angry that anyone would do that to a kid). Now I'm smart enough to realize that it's probably pronounced "Kuh Mal."

Those are probably all the facebook posts I would have made in the last few days. Had I actually had a minute to sit and write them.

Things I Should Be Doing Right Now....

Instead of looking at blogs and writing this pathetic post, I should be:

• Cleaning my kitchen. Cooking all your meals at home makes too many dishes. Every single day.
• Cleaning my house. Living at home makes too much of a mess. Also every single day.
• Organizing the kitchen cupboards. Now that I'm cooking all my meals at home, I need frequently used kitchen stuff to be where it's easily accessible.
• Writing two papers on two books. I'm going back to school. Despite my masters degree, I'm still not at the top of the pay scale. I'm determined to remedy that situation in two years. Same job, but much more money. I'll be taking 12 units this summer. I'm already done with 2 and could be done with 4 if I wrote the papers for them.
• Figuring out how I'm going to cook the fish for tonight's dinner.
• Fixing the look of my pathetic blog. I'm so not happy with it - to the point I think about quitting it altogether.
• Grading research papers. Ug. Seriously. Bad. That could either be a testament to my teaching or a testamint to my student's inability to follow directions - especially ones that are typed out or ask for help. Yes, I know I said testamint - it's a shout out to Christian breath fresheners.

All Things Potty 2

A few years ago I posted on this topic. I have to revisit it.

Can I start with cell phones? This happens all the time at work. People come into the bathroom talking on their cell phone. Then they proceed to go into the stall, continue to talk, and do their business! IN A PUBLIC BATHROOM. Toilets are flushing all the time. Sometimes, I like to purposely flush the toilet just so the person on the other end might know of their affairs. Do they not realize how many phones have been lost to the toilet? Do they not realize that it's gross to go to the bathroom with someone else on the other end? I'm not saying that I have never peed and talked on the phone, but I am suggesting that it shouldn't be done in a public restroom.

You may be wondering who is okay to pee on the phone with. My policy is if I wouldn't pee with the door open in front of them, then I shouldn't pee on the phone with them. Basically, that leaves my mom, sister, and husband. I also find it acceptable to use the facilities when I'm on hold with AT&T. Who knows when they could come to the line? (Totally unrelated, but funny. Yesterday a student said to another student, "This is an AT&T conversation, so Sprint your way out!" HILARIOUS! I had to laugh.)

Once when I was in high school, I was talking on the phone to a guy I had a MAJOR crush on. No, it wasn't Josh. It was late; I had to pee. I knew that I couldn't take him with me to the bathroom. Too risky. What if he heard? I made up a lie and I made it up quick. "Oh! I forgot about my laundry! Hold on I have to put the fabric softener in before I miss the rinse cycle." Because what high school girl isn't thinking about laundry at 11:15 during a school break? I sold the story though and then hurried to the bathroom to do my business. I'm guessing that I even did run to the garage to do something to the washing machine, so I wouldn't be a big liar. Pathetic. I know. What can I say? I was majorly crushing.

Being Married to Josh

Being married to Josh means I laugh a lot. We laugh a lot. He thought our lunch conversation would make a good post. Because he requested it, here is what we talked about at lunch today:

"If you could kill any cartoon character, who would it be?" His number one was Boots from Dora the Explorer. We mostly ate our lunch in silence thinking about who to add to the list and then only speaking when we came up with something new. He says he's going to start a list on facebook on this topic, so I won't spoil the suspense. I will tell you that Alvin and the Chipmunks are on the list.

Josh is gone again, so instead of focusing on all of the negatives and how much I miss him, I thought I'd do a post about all the things I enjoy when he's gone. The things I appreciate when I'm home alone are:

1. Clean, tightly tucked sheets. Before I got married, I never minded making the bed - now it's a chore. I'm sure this is because my husband likes the sheets untucked and very loose around him. I like them neat and crisp. When I get out of bed, I just pull the covers up and the bed is made.

2. Eating whatever I want when I want. I don't have to worry about whether or not anyone else will like the dinner I made, or making the house stink by cooking something only I'll enjoy. I also find it easier to eat healthier when I'm home alone.

3. Being Micah's favorite parent. Yes, this is because I'm the only parent, but I take what I can get!

4. Doing projects and working out any time I feel like it. When Josh is home, I'm more likely to sit and watch TV or play video games with him. When I'm alone, I think nothing of organizing papers into the wee hours of the night or starting an hour of cardio at 10:00.

5. Watching chick flicks and not feeling like I should turn them off. When I got married, I pretty much relinquished control of movies and the remote to my husband. Mostly because I just didn't care that much, so it doesn't usually bother me. However sometimes I want to fall asleep watching Little Women, Ever After, Gilmore Girls or The Sound of Music.

The list of all the things I don't enjoy about him being gone is much longer. The alarm is set, I know I'm safe, but every little noise from the dryer or dishwasher warrants a mental reminder that it's just the dryer or it's just the dishwasher.

Christmas Confessions

1. I try to watch all the Christmas specials on T.V. We tape them. We ignore what's on the Family Channel, unless it's something great - because who has time to watch all their 25 days of Christmas and 12 days leading up to Christmas and whatever new count down they are adding this year. We taped The Muppets Letters to Santa and cracked up through a a lot of it. We taped Rudolph. Santa is mean in Rudolph, really. We taped holiday song special and NBC brought us this gift:
(You may want to skip ahead to 40 seconds to get to our favorite part)

Aren't you a better person for having watched that? I'm sorry to those of you who feel violated and Charro is forever etched in your memory. We also make a point to watch It's a Wonderful Life each Christmas eve.

We really like this part and will quote George's interesting situation line quite a bit through the year.

2. I don't address our Christmas cards. Josh likes too. It's mindless and easy and so he does it every year. On that same subject - our cards are going out in waves this year. If you didn't already get it, it's not because we don't like you or didn't have intentions. It's simply because Josh wasn't working from an updated list and the updater of the list has been slow this year. My goal is to get all the rest out today. Maybe they'll get there by Christmas, maybe not, but the thought is still there.

3. I rarely get around to Christmas baking. I want to be one of those people, but I'm just not. I just don't always find the time. Perhaps I still will, but probably not. Never expect homemade goodies from me.

4. I always try to get my shopping and wrapping done early, but rarely do. The year I did, we forgot my sister's husband. That was embarrassing. Today, I have to go out and brave the crowds to finish shopping.

5. I love looking at lights. It makes me angry that more people don't put lights up. I think they are lazy. Conversely, (I should go buy Josh Converse - he's got no present from me yet!) I really enjoy people who go the extra mile - especially if their house is visible from a main thoroughfare. We have a house that backs up to a more busy road and I think we will decorate the back of our home next year.

6. I decorate the day after Thanksgiving. I want to enjoy Christmas as long as I can. If Josh would let me, I'd do it before Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures:




I probably could have taken more and even better photo's, but I'm pretty convicted that I need to get my act together this morning and finish my shopping. Notice the clock that never says the right time. Also notice we still have yet to decide on a stocking for Micah. It's probably the last year I'll be able to get away with something like that. I just can't decide if I want to get all new ones or try to find something that will match ours. I didn't take a picture of our entertainment center - even though it's one of my favorite parts. Micah was busy watching Einstein and I didn't have the hear to turn it off when he was letting me get so much done by watching it.

7. I listen to KGFM Christmas whenever I'm in the car. I don't like their selection this year; they seem to have forsaken a lot of newer Christmas songs for many different versions of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". But sometimes they play this little gem - because when my mom was working for the radio station, she passed along my love of this song and requested they play it.

I love this song because as a child I remember driving home from the mall with my mom and sister and we just totally made fun of it - my sister and I that is. It's so random. Wow! I don't ever think I've seen the video like this. Wow!

Have a Merry Christmas!

All Things Potty

"Liza, did you ever think what it would be like if we only had to pee once a week?"

"That'd be cool," I replied.

"Think about it. It would be more of an event. And there wouldn't need to be as many public restrooms and the lines wouldn't be long."

This is literally a conversation that my sister and I had over 10 years ago. And since then, the thought has stuck with me. Today, as I was using the facilities at the mall, I was basically writing this post in my mind. Public bathrooms are crazy places and there is so much to say about the art of using a public restroom.

I judge the quality of a restroom on three factors:

Cleanliness is number one. I don't like to see toilets that look dingy or a floor that makes me want to burn my shoes after standing on it. I don't want trash laying on the ground or someones mess still in the toilet. And of course, there should always be soap. I won't even talk about the changing tables. I'd rather change my baby in the back end of my car than use some of those.

Air supply is also important to me. A restroom should not be warm and lacking in air flow. It should be air conditioned and have some kind of good smelling air freshener. Let's face it, bathrooms can smell.

Lastly, I want space. I hate the bathroom stalls where you have to straddle the toilet to close the door and I'm a pretty small person, so you know if I have to straddle the toilet to close the door, this is not good for anyone - especially moms with little ones. LBC has these tiny stalls that make me straddle the toilet. The new mall bathrooms by Gottchalks have plenty of space. I feel like I could do pirouettes in there!

I've started to mentally compile a list of public places that have, clean facilities to use. If we are on a trip, I'd rather use the restroom at a Lowes or a Linens and Things than a gas station, but the best pick is usually one of those travel centers. They always have clean bathrooms. Once when I was pregnant, I had to pee so badly while running errands that I stopped at Costco, whipped out my card and went in just to use their potty. Membership had its reward that day! I don't think boys understand this concept since all they do is stand to take care of their business. Josh has given me a grief over not wanting to use the bathroom at a shell station, but I just don't think he gets it.

I've also become painfully aware that I have to be especially careful about getting to close to the sink, because in a public restroom, people spill water on the counter and don't always wipe it up. If I'm not careful, I'll be all wet with gross counter water.

I think that all restrooms should have paper towels as an option. I think the trash can for the paper towels should always be by the door, so I can open the door, then dispose of my paper towel and then leave. Once, Jana and I waited for someone else to come into the bathroom so that we wouldn't have to touch the door handle to leave. We were at the movie theatre that is now the dollar theatre. They had two doors that you had to open, so it was quite a trick. I also believe she tried opening it with her foot - although it seems like something I would try. Neither of us wanted to touch the yucky door handle. I'm sure if I wanted to look up facts about what percentage of people wash their hands after using a public bathroom, I'd be thoroughly disgusted, but I'm not going to do that. I'm not trying to convince you that my nerousis is the right way - it's just my way. I'll never forget the day that I pretty much vowed to never touch another restroom door handle again. I was in the bathroom near the BC cafeteria and I watched this lady come out of the stall, not wash her hands, sneeze on her hand and then open the door. It was a real turning point for me.

Lastly, using the bathroom at work has made me really self conscious of my feet. I look at the feet of the person in the stall next to me and try to guess which coworker they are. I notice if they take care of their feet or not and often I have shoe envy. There was a lot more explanation in this paragraph, but I worried that you would all be paranoid that I was forever judging your feet, so I had to edit.

I'm not sure how to end a bathroom themed post, so I'll leave you with a completely unrelated issue that has presented itself.

The home I live in has an abundance of smoke detectors. Periodically the batteries get old and they beep every 3 minutes or so. It drives me crazy. We always keep batteries on hand so that it's not something we have to listen to indefinitely. Since the weather is cooling off, we've all had our windows open. My neighbor's fire alarm has been chirping since Friday night! On Sunday, I thought it would be really nice to offer them a battery since we had two extras and our neighbor was outside working on his lawn, so it wouldn't be like we were knocking on the door to offer a battery, we'd just have the conversation in passing. Josh thought it wasn't a good idea because it would seem more like we were doing it because it was bothering us, so it would be more of a selfish "your alarm is annoying us here have a battery type of thing." I wonder how long the chirping will continue.

The Best Kind of Water

Rewind to Florida: After 2 hours of sleep we found ourselves at the airport. I'm cranky. I'm thirsty. The airport ceiling looks like it will fall on us at any moment and they don't have a decent place for nursing moms and I'm hungry. We asked the boys to buy us water. Fawn was specific in her request of brand - me, I just wanted anything that was water. That lead to this conversation:

Me: "You're funny that you have a certain brand that you like."
Fawn: "I like this kind because it's smoother as it goes down."
Me: "We should set up some kind of water taste test with lots of different brands so we could compare them."

(obviously paraphrased, but you get the picture)

Back to the future: Yesterday I was thinking about how I wanted to do a water taste test sometime this summer. And that I should blog about it because I really want to do it - that and go to a monster truck rally. I honestly forgot my whole Florida conversation with Fawn about the water taste test. In my head, this was a totally new idea. Imagine how happy I was when Fawn and I were talking about all the fun things we're going to do this summer and she said that we had to do a water taste test!

I know it's so dumb, but it makes me so happy! I think that will our first fun thing we do this summer!

Victory

My son is so fabulous! He is taking very well to his new schedule and actually put himself to sleep last night. He slept the entire night too!

In other news, I really like egg rolls.

Scent A LA Micah

Yesterday, my son marked me with his scent. No, I didn't get peed on again or even pooped on, but I think I may have preferred those. I like to lay on my back and have my son lay on my stomach. This makes it easy for me to smile and laugh and play with him while he's on his tummy. Yesterday he spit up all over me. Fountains of white baby slime poured down both sides of my neck. I desperately tried to catch it in my hands and spare my carpet. This was the most spit up I've seen in a long while. The sad thing is, once you're marked with baby barf...the only thing that will get it out is a shower. Who has time to jump in the shower all the time? Not this mom...so I spent the rest of the day spreading the great scent of baby spit up to everyone around.
I'd rather be peed on.