Macaroni and Cheese

I need to start by saying that I hate to cook. (sorry Dave)

If you have never seen this website, you really need to check it out. Food Gawker has links to some amazing recipes and ideas.

Tonight I tried a macaroni and cheese recipe with some pepper for a bite. I didn't have chipotle so I used cayenne pepper instead. I must say that this dish is a keeper.

Yummy- get your energy up because tomorrow the rest of the siding comes down.

I'm sitting at the computer burning DVD after DVD for the yearbook signing tomorrow. Since it's a no thought job, I was reading as I collect and insert DVD's. Hurray for me, I finished my most recent book. I read Stormchaser by Paul Stewart. This is the second in a series called The Edge Chronicles and it took way too long to get into the first book. They are quite different from a lot of books I read, and now that I'm done with two in the series, I can say they get a solid 4 stars (out of five... it kills me when people rate something without a comprehensible scale). My book club is reading Chaim Potok books so I am now going to go upstairs to collect my borrowed copy of I am the Clay and get to it. I need to have it read by Thursday night (that's two evening away for all who are calendarless.... don't think it's gunna happen). Well, sorry to leave you sans photos, but i do not have any at this computer...

Farewell and good night, tender readers... ciao

Haircuts....

So we saw Star Trek and I never realized how big of a nerd Davey is- here are his "Star Trek" sideburns. Please excuse the first photo- Dave was acting like Sasquatch. Dodge and weave...




Here's my haircut pre color

my many times self dyed hair


And post dyeing

April's book

So I read Wicked and I gotta say I was left wanting... there were some not so cool parts and the characters weren't my favorite. I have to say I wanted so much more from it. A friend of mine told me that the play uses only the best parts and improves on the "wanting" plot issues. I enjoy some of the music and hopr to see the play- maybe I can see the plot from a different perspective.

Next up: the new Charlie Bone, a Chaim Potok for book club, then Wuthering Heights.

Time to straighten my hair and here's a random picture from my files:

(k- not so random- tea party birthday party and my rocking new jacket)

This Never Happens

I WON!!! I WON!!!

So I read this blog call Droolicious. A few weeks ago, they had a contest to win a book, and I had just not won a contest on a different blog.... maybe I'm a blog-contest-aholic.... but I won this one. I won a signed copy of a book.





If I Stay by Gayle Forman


Well, I've never heard of it but it's free. I'll let you know what I think when I get it.

Just for fun

We have about 18 days left this year, and learning is hard to convince the loverlies to do. One of the wee ones brought in an "art project" (he's very technically minded) and as a class we had a blast. I won't put up any pictures with the young ones for privacy reasons, but here I am...

John's low rider bike

physics in action.... ????

And....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DalB-CvO7Qc

believe me- it's worth it!!

Conferencer Smonference

I am 2 days into a conference where I am supposed to be getting an ed-ji-mi-ca-tion. And I am, but not in the things I am supposed to. Two days and here are 10 things I have learned:



1. do not... I repeat DO NOT give a crazy person a microphone and an audience of over 1000 people

2. you may want to screen your keynote speakers before you give them six hours of classes

3. no matter how much someone busts their behind to create a cohesive presentation for a group of 9 very different women to present, someone will criticize your hard work

4. eastern idaho's mall is a pitiful specimen

5. keep your reciepts

6. you can always glean one item from any presentation if you go in with a positive attitude and a (very) open mind

7. one friendly person can make any situation bearable

8. puppies can brighten any day

9. a few deep, mediative breaths and a quiet room can repair a damaged spirit

10. hard work pays off.... $20,000 is our precise amount!!!!



Explanation:

here is beginning of the short, editted version. last year, a group of us were asked by the school to help implement this program called SIOP. we did and a year later, we were recogined by the State Board of Education as a school of excellence. We were invited to come to this conference (the one I am currently at the hotel for) and present our grant and SIOP and how we addressed Title 1 concerns and all that sha-bang. I love conferences, they have been such a wonderful way for me in the past to rejuvinate and re-evaluate myself. This one has not been the shining example of "wonderfulness" I would have hoped. Our first presenter was an author who told amazing stories and was very inspirational. So i went to his class and the 3 hours there were a perpexing maze of the odd and odder with sanity sprinkled through. This was the beginning of an interesting experience.
TBC... (dum dum dum.....!!!)

Now, that is running away

So I read a news article today about a boy that ran away. He took his parents' truck, horse trailer, a whole load of stuff. It got me thinking. If I was to "run away", using this boy as my example, I would take:

A tent- but not any tent... a tent like this

With an amazing closet


with some killer shoes

A Mac Laptop

With wireless internet

And solar cells to keep everything powered

including a fully stocked fridge

stocked with ice cream (phish food) and chocolate

I always want books, books, books

My craft stuff (yeah... i don't have this sewing machine, I wish I did...)

And since I'm dreaming

Recent Readings

So, I thought I'd drop a short post about my recent books:

For the book club I'm involved in we were to read a Jeanne Williams title- I read The Island Harp. I was pleasantly surprised. It took maybe 100 pages to really get into it and get pas the regional colloquialisms of Ireland at that period of time, but besides that it was quite enjoyable. I've surprised myself in that I actually think back on the story now and then, and I do that quite rarely.

I also read the book Blindness by Jose Saramago. I was interested because of the commercials for the movie (rated r so I never saw it). I must say, the writing style was intreguing. He was writing this fantastic story in a very calm and factual way. The characters could have been hysterical and the plot blow up with exclamations, and instead everything was so demur. There was a truely horrific plot twist, so this book is not for everyone. The apacolyptic feel of the story pair with the passive writing style really made this book unique.

I perused the book Twilight: the Director Notebook which was a fun way to spend an hour one night.

I read the sixth book in a seven book series by one of most favorite young adult fiction writers Garth Nix. The book was Superior Saturday and the series Keys to the Kingdom. Hopefully, you have deduced that each book is named after a day of the week, and Nix creates an incredible world within our world (possibly without our world) when one being has power over the world on their day of the week. Monday belongs to Mister Monday, Tuesday to Grim Tuesday, etc. This series is absolutely a guity pleasure. I'm so excited to read the last book about sunday.

I'm currently reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I quite enjoy this one too, though the language is demanding and I have a bit of reach because there are social rules for the time period it was written that I don't know. At times I have to pause and reset my thinking.

I'm also reading The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deep Woods. Not my favorite ever, the kids seem to like these, but I find the writing somewhat tedious. I'm really close to being done and then I will start....

Northanger Abbie by Jane Austen. This is going to be embarassing so bear with me. I have never read a Jane Austen book before. I know... I need to strung up and whipped with wet noodles. I'm working to mend my ways. The ladies in the book club decided that we were to read this one and I am going to do it. I found a reasonably priced copy at Barnes and Noble and I 'm going to probably start on Monday. The blurb on the cover is interesting. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I enjoy most things I read.

Anyways. Thanks for bearing with me. One last treat. Our new wood floors:

This was the room at the beginning of demolition

Look- the dogs are helping!

Our neighbor Andrew lent us the tools and expertize!

Look at how pretty!

Even I can do it

I still need to tile by the front door

The flooring goes up to the carpeting in the closet

Dave installing the brand new front door- No more pushing to get it to shut!

DONE! (ish..)

Even Dave is excited

From the other direction

LotR MapQuest?

I can across an interesting website today that had Gandolf had access, I believe the whole Lord of the Rings Journey could have simplified quite a bit.


http://www.ooblick.com/text/tomordor/

DONE!

Hurrah- I finished my book today: The Island Harp by Jeanne Williams. I'm tres excited. It was pretty good. It took me a while to get into it and get used to the colloquialisms (sp?) but about half way through I really got into it. I'd give it 4 out of 5 starts. A solid B. But here's the best part, I get to now start reading the Garth Nix book I have upstairs. Yeah!

Hurray! My side bar is back.--->
I don't know why, it just reappeared when I posted about my reading- It's a sign, READING IS FUN-DAMENTAL!

"Who knows where thoughts come from, they just appear" -Lucas, Empire Records

Feb Reading

So it only took me a month, but I finished The Robe by Lloyd C Douglas. I really enjoyed it. It was published in 1942 and tells the family Christian story of the crusifiction (sp?) of Christ in a totally different context. It was from the perspective of a Roman Tribune who was in the group of soldiers who crucifies Christ. Very compelling stuff, but the language is difficult. It took me a solid month to read it... I'd read more of Douglas' work.

Now I'm reading Jeanne Williams The Island Harp. I'm not as much in love with it.

I'm also reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and Blindness by Jose Saramago. I hate being in the middle of so many but...
1. Blindness is my book-on-ipod for when I cannot physically read (like while I'm cooking *giggles*- I don't cook)
2. Island Harp is my hard bound- carry it around- read when ever I can book
3. and The Moonstone is emailed to me every day section by section so i can read it whilst "checking my email". (Check out daily lit- you can get books emailed to you. I also get the Book of Mormon emailed to me so I get a dose of that when I need or want it, but find it hard to pack my scriptures with me- I love this website)

So ta da- my currentbook situation, which is always foremost on my mental list for the day

ps- the next Garth Nix (superior saturday) is on my kitchen table for whenever I finish the Island Harp. My motivation to finish Island Harp (btw- its a book club book) is not incurring late fees of Superior Saturday.

I'm not a betting woman but...

Idaho Lottery holds a scratch off every year to raise money for the schools. A woman we work with, D , and I went a-scratchin' for our humble house of learnin'.

As a school, we recieved 300 scratch tickets, mini scratchers, and 5 minutes. The six schools that scratched themost tickets got 300 more tickets and 5 more minutes. The top three schools got more tickets, the amount depending on where they placed. After the timed rounds, every school was able to scratch all the tickets and count up the money on the tickets. All that goes to the school.

D and I scratched a grand total of 87 tickets- not enough or even close enough to move us up to the next round, but it was fun, dirty, and brought in $147 more to the school that we had had the previous day.

My first every Lotto ticket

Hundreds of tickets in

Very Messy

The table after the 300 tickets

Our stack of winners

The fake check for $147!!