James Taylor....

The concert was awesome!!! Perfect weather underneath a Carolina Moon. He rocked the house and here's proof...me and my dad. We've been going since 1994 together and it's always fun being Daddy's Little Girl for another night.

Being a daughter of the greatest man in the world that is a mere twenty years my senior, I know all about the greatest genre/ time period of music ever recorded. I think I was the only toddler listening to Zeppelin's Black Dog, or JT's Mud Slide Slim. So.....in honor of the standing reservation I have with my Dad for all James Taylor concernts in the area....I am dedicating my Thursday Thirteen to my favorite James Taylor songs!! Tonight is the concert and I am PRAYING for good weather. We have lawn seats and need NO RAIN tonight.

1. Sweet Baby James
2. Steamroller
3. Carolina on my Mind
4. You've Got a Friend
5. Shower the People
6. Handy Man
7. Your Smiling Face
8. Honey Don't Leave L.A
9. Captain Jim's Drunken Dream (with Art Garfunkel)
10. Walking Man
11. Hello Old Friend
12. Fire & Rain
13. October Road

1. 7 more days!!
2. An incredibly LONG weekend at the beach with my daughter and mother!!!
3. Tan lines!!! They make a day at the beach all worthwhile!!
4. My PE teacher took my kids this morning since they hadn't been with her for 3 weeks during HER planning period so they'd be happy=)
5. A clean house!! RTH cleaned the house this weekend, spic-n-span!! Turns out we had a couple come and look at it as a prospective purchase....YEAH!!!
6. My Palm Treo returned home safe, sound, and in working order after a month of being away. Actually, they sent me a brand new one since they couldn't fix the old one. THANK YOU PALM!!!
7. Lemon juice....it brought back my little one's curly blonde streaks this weekend. I missed those all winter long.
8. Early lunchtime today since the 4th graders are in Charleston today. I love eating before 1pm.
9. Knowing that I will be back at the beach this Friday night for my son's ball Cal Ripken ball tournament (photos to be posted next week)
10. 7 more days!!!

Ten Things Tuesday...

1. 11 more school days :0)
2. No more state testing!! 5th grade finished today :0)
3. A new plan for Children's Church that doesn't involve me considering celibacy after keeping the 2-year olds' nursery
4. A cohort in crime that will also depart from the old nursery lifestyle and hit the multi-media highway with me in the fall ;0)
5. Did I say 11 more days?? :0)
6. The ability to make a smiley face with just a few strokes of the keyboard :0)
7. Blake's baseball team clinched a playoff spot as the #1 seed for the championship rec ball tournament, and his travel USSSA baseball team is now 2nd in the state :0)
8. It's raining....I love an evening thunderstorm that renews God's creations on this awesome earth.
9. A daughter that thinks free popcorn at the gas station is the best thing EVER :0)
10. Did I mention, 11 more days?? ;0)

It's not on the Freakin' Test!

Teacher Breaking Down

Lost My Left Leg

Have you ever been so connected to a television show that someone close to you has to constantly remind you that it's actually fiction? Last night, in the final scene of CSI, my left leg was ripped from my body in the final moments. Now....in case you haven't watched the episode that you have obviously recorded, brace yourself and DO NOT FINISH READING THIS POST!!!

First of all, let me remind you how much I HATE watching crime-dramas with my police detective husband. I enjoy escaping my dull civilian life via CSI/ SVU/ The First 48, however, Robbie Hill takes on every episode as personal vendeta to outwit....AUGH!!! Can't we just watch the freakin' show?? REMEMBER, DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE EPISODE!! But you can watch the WHOLE episode in 44 minutes if you click HERE!!

I can't believe they killed Warrick off??? I was a hot mess while the credits were rolling...unbelievable!! To which my husband proceeds to tell me that he knew it had to be coming due to his pending drug trafficking charges he's accrued in real life and he was too much of a liability to keep on the show. WHAT?? I didn't know this, where have I been?? Must have been on Ellen if he knew about it and I didn't!

New Find...

My friend, Ramsey 5, had some blogs mentioned on her site so I set off on a little journey and found the cutest site...Ladybug Bows. No, don't automatically assume it's just all bows. It's all sorts of great embroidery work for all types of things; mostly kids & babies though. Go and check it out!! Thanks Ramsey for the linky-link.

BLAKE IS FINE!!!

He cracked his collarbone, to which there is NOTHING they can do about it except console with a little bit of TLC and a lot Extra Strength Tylenol and Advil. This is far better than the separated shoulder we were anticipating=) Thank you Lord!

Jeff Foxworthy on Educators...

And the funny e-mails just keep coming today....
YOU might be a school employee if you believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin saltlick and a Valium Pez dispenser in the nurses' office.

YOU might be a school employee if you want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off.

YOU might be a school employee if it is difficult to name your own child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.

YOU might be a school employee if you can tell it's a full moon or if it going to rain, snow, hail....anything!!! Without ever looking outside.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe, "shallow gene pool" should have its own box on a report card.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

YOU might be a school employee if when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

YOU might be a school employee if you have no social life between August and June.

YOU might be a school employee if you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the "lounge."

YOU might be a school employee if you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are willing to donate the UHAUL boxes should they decided to move out of district.

YOU might be a school employee if you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

YOU might be a school employee if you can't imagine how ACLU could think that covering your
students chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public.

YOU might be a school employee if meeting a child's parent instantly answers this question, "Why is this kid like this?"

YOU might be a school employee if you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference.

YOU might be a school employee if you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!

YOU might be a school employee if the words "I have college debt for this?" has ever come out of your mouth.

YOU might be a school employee if you know how many days, minutes, and seconds are left in the school year!

a funny for your Wednesday...I love when people send me this stuff!!! How appropriate.

Severe Weather Testing Protocols
1. Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

2. Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

3. Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.

4. Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that iIt will not disturb the students while testing.

5. Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer documents. Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.

6. Should gale force winds ensue, please have Everyone stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts…being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.

7. If any student gets sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at
least one answer before departing…and of coourse make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You will have to account for those.

8. Should a funnel cloud pick you, the test Administrator, up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land. So please take extra precautions. Remember, once you have checked them out, they should never leave your hands.

9. When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests…unless of course they have been through standardized test training.

10. Please do not pray should a severe weather situation arise. Your priority is to actively monitor the test and a student might mark in the wrong section if you are praying instead of monitoring. I'm sure God will put war, world hunger, crime, and the presidential primaries on
hold until after testing is over. He knows how important this test is.

Ten Things Tuesday...(a little late)

My friend at Ramsey 5 e-mailed me early this morning to let me know she missed my typical Tuesday post....sorry babe!! Read on:

1. I am thankful for the 1st day of state testing to have gone so smoothly. We are now on Day 2 of the Language Arts test and my students are hanging in there.


2. I synced my Walkman up to my laptop this morning and have some new tunes for the baseball game tonight....if we play, read #3.


3. My son decided to separate his shoulder last night after a fall on his bike. I HOPE TO BE THANKFUL FOR A DOCTOR THAT CAN POP IT BACK IN WITH A GOOD REPORT IN A FEW MINUTES. ( I will post about that when I hear word)


4. A principal that is rolling a Starbucks snack cart around during testing, she is awesome!


5. A mom that went and piked up Xan from daycare last night so I could meet friends for dinner and Rob could go fishing...thanks Mother!


6. My new Rainbows!! I got them for Mother's Day....they were much needed. The others were several years old and without a real sole.


7. Students that love to stay afterschool and sharpen a GAZILLION #2 pencils for this stupid state test. They get the blisters, not me=)


8. Our classroom thermostat is working this week!!! It had been a serious, yet silly prayer request of mine that my class thermostat wouldn't be wacky this week and freeze them to death. It has been very comfortable in here and even the students had noticed. They wanted to know if I had put in a work order with the district crew and I told them that I had went far above that. They figured I meant the superintendent, but I told them that God answers even the smallest of prayers. They thought that was pretty cool. Now, I'll probably be sued since I'm in public education.


9. Hillary won WV last night....not that it's going to pull her into victory. Even new math can't do that right now.


10. Today is Lisa's birthday....and I am so glad that she is my friend. This is my stepson's mom. We do everything together, heck, even shared a husband between us (lol!) But seriously, OUR son is all the better a kid because of OUR choice to be ONE BIG FAMILY. Happy Birthday Bug!!

S-E-R-G-I-Oh, baby!...

Okay, so again, another reason to love my DVR-HD Cable box!! We had to go do the Mother's Day thing at Olive Garden last night with the rest of the upstate. (you know, get there at 5:30, home at 8:30pm) So we had to DVR the rest of The Players tourney at Sawgrass. The ability to fast forward through all the crap and commercials has completely spoiled me now. I hate live TV!! Anyway, it came down to Sergio (my man!) and Mr. Nobody replaying the 17th...the dreaded water hole. He nailed it, and went on to win 1.7 million!! If only that child-support check would hurry up and get here =)

And for those that needed a refresher photo of my man and I, please see above....

Oyster Roast

What a great weekend!! Rob and I enjoyed a quiet, kid-free evening at the Ducks Unlimited Oyster Roast on Friday night. If you've never been to one, the big-busted women selling raffle tickets become instant leaches to the men with the money. It's a hoot! Anyway, after eating 5+ dozen oysters, I retired to just sample the rest of the menu that was to be the main course, oh well=) We went in with several other guys from Rob's work to buy books of raffle tickets. Messing around, we randomly dropped our stubs in various buckets never thinking that we'd actually win anything. After the live auction (we bought yet another Jim Killen print) it was time for the silent auction items to be announced. My husband, who never wins ANYTHING, racked up!!! First he won a Greenwing Camouflage watch that will soon make its way to eBay since my 12 year old didn't want it, next he won a set of 3 duckstamp prints matted and framed in black wood with plaques. The came the creme-de-la-creme....the Hunter's Package!! We weren't even listening when the numbers were called for the all-in-one big shabang: a 300 mag rifle with scope, a deerstand, a giftcard to the local hunter's hardware store, and a duck bag!! We figure he's been to 20 years worth of banquets having never won anything (except live auction stuff), so this is a reward that statistically has been coming for some time now. Yeah, Rob!

Mother's Day Present...

Because I know that ALL of the Fort Mill Police Department reads my blog, it will be for certain that my husband will hear first hand what I'd love to have for Mother's Day. So Reed....when you read this, pass it along and tell him to take notice, LOL! I would love to have Xannie pick out a new little charm to add to my Pandora Charm bracelet. And Reed, they can be found at Brownlee in Rock Hill, just FYI.

Thirteen Thursday...

1. It's Friday Eve!!
2. Ball schedule was posted today with only 3 games on Saturday.
3. CSI & ER are new episodes tonight!
4. My husband did all the laundry tonight.
5. Thursday Night Women's Group sorted all the yardsale stuff in 2 hours.
6. No one in my class needed a lunch from the cafe for tomorrow's field trip.
7. Did I say field trip #2 tomorrow....yeaha!
8. The Light Rail!! Our class is riding it to the museum in the morning. I love technology in transportation.
9. A breezy night...it feels like the coast outside tonight.
10. Clean siding....no more pollen on the house and front porch.
11. A daughter that runs to me every night when I come home from school.
12. Teachers that love my kids...Happy Teacher's Appreciation Week Ladies!
13. Tomorrow we are going to the RH Ducks Unlimited Oyster Roast....mmm!! I love enjoying an evening outside with good food and great company for a worthwhile cause. It's all for the ducks!!! We'll see if we come home with another Jim Killian again.

Field Trip, who doesn't love that?!

My kids had such an awesome time going to our local Rosenwald School. What a humbling experience it is to see what African American students went through before Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. What a truly hands-on field trip!! We had a blast listening to all the students did when they were there. A former student, Mr. Cathcart, is one of the docents there. He was full of great stories to make the school come alive. He even played in the Negro Baseball Leagues in New Jersey. What a living textbook, how cool is that!!!

Reasons to Buy a Wii?!?

Ten Things Tuesday

1. This weather!!!! It has been gorgeous here in the South with the temp in the upper 70's and low-80's. Flip-flop weather to die for=)



2. Field Trip today, yippee!! The kids are so pumped to travel back in time to 1932 to a Rosenwald School here in town. If you don't know about Rosenwald Schools, google it!!



3. VBS planning time is here and this week I really found myself pumped up for it. I love VBS in our church, even if it isn't until the end of June. I work the computer with all of the Powerpoint Slides from the sound booth and I can't tell you what a blessing from above (literally) it is to see over 500 kids throughout the week jump and shout for Jesus=) They are always too cute when they think no one is watching.



4. My mother.....as Mother's Day approaches I am reminded of the sacrifices she made for me and that same selflessness is what I aim to have for my own bout of motherhood.



5. FREE LUNCH ALL THIS WEEK!! It is Teacher Appreciation Week and our awesome P.T.A has provided the faculty with lunch each day. No Lean Cuisine frozen chosen for me.



6. My family. I know I say that all the time, but I have a husband that loves me (flaws and all) and two children that are simply fabulous (most of the time) Blake is the best big brother ever!! I swear he's going tobe the only 26 year old at Xan's senior prom.



7. My Palm is in the shop and should be returning soon, my thumbs miss it terribly.



8. Friends that will go see Made of Honor at 10pm on a Saturday night and a husband that says to have a great time. It was so predictably cute!!



9. My 32 m.p.g Mitsubishi Outlander!!!! This whole gas thing is getting outrageously ridiculous. When does the gauging stop?



10. 21 more days, AMEN!!!!

The mother of all excuses....

It just hit me!! The mother of all excuses for a student not having their HW came from my former school in my previous life, here goes.

"No Homework again???"
Student, "My dad had his grass all over the kitchen table so I couldn't do it."

I can't believe I had forgotten about that one, good grief!! Life is so much better on the other side of the Catawba River these days.