Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

I love all the seasons for different reasons.  Summer is a great season….even if it is blazing hot outside.

Flip flops and tee shirts.  Shorts and tank tops. Wearing sunglasses. Getting a tan. The smell of suntan lotion. Running through yard sprinklers or spending a day at the lake. Maybe the ocean.  Sand and salt on your skin.  Outdoor picnics, grilling burgers and hot dogs. The taste of sweet corn with butter dripping off of it, a nice cold iced tea. Staying up late. Sitting out on the deck to watch fire flies as they light up the darkness. Watching fireworks as they explode in the night. Feeling pride to be a citizen of the good ol’ U.S.A. Swinging on the porch swing. Listening to the crickets chirp.

The days are longer….the sun sets later. Everything is more relaxed. That’s what I like about summer.

Cranes Falling From The Sky

Okay, that’s it. I’m not walking anywhere in the city where there is a crane being used. I saw the sad story on the news this morning about another crane falling over and one person being killed and others being seriously injured. These crane accidents are becoming more frequent. It unnerves me. I mean one minute a person is walking along down on the sidewalk, minding their own business when WHAM! the next thing she/he, knows she/he is smacked down by a huge metal crane. Now, just between you and me that is not the way I want to leave this life. The last crane accident smashed a building in. Those things must be pretty heavy….and for them to be attached to a building while working is pretty scary stuff.

I now officially have a crane and other heavy machinery phobia. I cannot be around construction equipment. This phobia does not bode well for me considering my family is having a house built. I will watch from a far…..away from the big equipment.

What’s A Teacher To Do?

On the news this morning was a story about how a teacher was taped by one of her kindergarten students. The parents didn’t like how the teacher was treating their 5 yr. old son so they sent him to school “wired”. Now I don’t agree that the teacher should have used some of the words she did…she obviously was very frustrated with this little guy…BUT one of the analysts for this segment said that she thought the teacher should not only be fired but be sued by the parents. Should the teacher have called the child names? No. Definitely not. Should she be reprimanded? Probably so. But let’s be real. We don’t know the whole story here….just hearing a few sound bites and then jumping to a conclusion is ridiculous. One of the other ladies on the panel said, “this child could have been kicking, rolling around on the floor, and biting.” As a former teacher I can understand that. If this little boy was unruly and disruptive to everyone else in the class-making it extremely difficult for anyone else to concentrate, what is a teacher to do? What happens when the other children’s parents call and say, “This child is biting (screaming, hitting, cursing etc.) my child. What are you going to do about it?” In the meantime the teacher is expected to teach lessons and have the other 20 children listen and comprehend. Learn how to be polite and share. Learn to follow directions. Keep them on task. Challenge the bright children, help the slower learners…. Most of the time the principal of the school is busy with administrative challenges of his/her own. Time is at a premium. Classroom discipline is left up to the teacher and since teachers are only human, frustration sets in. Some days are more difficult then others…..Now, like I said earlier, this teacher should not have called names to a 5 year old. On the other hand, no I do not believe that she should be sued or fired.

It really is getting to the point where teachers can not do anything to discipline students. The story last week about the male teacher attempting to break up a fight in a middle school was also reprimanded. Should he have let the students kill each other instead? Or just beat each other to a bloody pulp? Or rather be like the teachers in a Memphis high school that were supposed to be chaperoning a dance and instead stood back and let the kids “dance”, simulating various sexual postures. Is this now considered “normal”?

To be honest, teachers are getting more and more restricted in ANYTHING that they can do—either to protect themselves or their students. Constantly having to worry about being fired or sued. Teaching is certainly not for the pay. Most teachers genuinely care about their students. I have a feeling if things continue this way that there won’t be many good teachers left.

I love HGTV

I am currently watching a show called House Hunters.  Couples go around looking at various houses. They have to make a choice of which house they are interested in buying. I always find these shows interesting because of the things that are “deal breakers” for people. Some people like crown molding, some think cabinets are dated, carpet or hardwood? As I now know (what with building a house and all) houses can be a BIG deal. I’m always amazed at how much these houses cost for not a lot of space. Certain parts of the country are worse then others. I remember watching one show where this couple in California were going to buy a house and I promise it wasn’t much larger then a good size closet (okay, slight exaggeration) and the sellers wanted like 900,000 for it. I about fell out of my chair! So what if it’s in a good location. Unless the floors and walls are made of gold, forget it!!

Trolls, Coffee and the Military

I just have a mish mash of stuff to discuss today. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Just stuff.

#1 I was out in my front yard the other evening, minding my own business when I happen to look up the street. (now the street we live on in the subdivision T’s with another street at the top of the hill) Lo and behold a HUGE cell phone tower has been erected on the hill behind the house at the top of the street. Good grief! It is huge, and by huge I mean tall, and it takes up a lot of space, and blocks the view, and is ugly. There. I said it. It’s ugly and I don’t like it. Not that the “powers that be” even asked my opinion, BUT if they had I would have said, “Your cell phone tower is ugly.” If it hurt their feelings so be it. I can’t help it. I mean it’s just there. In the middle of the field for all to see. So what if we get better service……. and by the way, how in the world did that monstrosity go up so quickly? One day nothing is there. The next BLAM! it’s blocking the sky. It’s like the evil cell tower trolls came in and erected it in the dark of the night before the people woke up to see what had happened in their neighborhood. Evil trolls.

P.S. My husband (my loving techno-geek) thinks it is fine. I think he actually is glad it is there. Whatever. I still think it’s ugly.

#2 Scott and I have been trying to think about how to use the rest of our coffee. Let me explain. You know how sometimes you’ll fix a pot of coffee in the morning, but it never gets finished? What a waste, right? Who wants cold coffee from the pot? Reheating it, well it just doesn’t taste the same so we decided to make some iced coffee. It doesn’t matter if it is cold. Last night I crushed ice, put it in a big cup, poured French Vanilla International Delight over the ice (the low carb kind w/Splenda) and added the coffee to fill it the rest of the way up. Then I put a lid on the cup and shook it until it was completely blended. It was very good if I do say so myself…..and all that for only 4 net carbs. A person has got to love that:)

#3 I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and spends time remembering the men and women that have served and do serve in our military. Yesterday at church the pastor had the men and women that are serving or are veterans to stand. I always am awed when looking around the church at times like that. Then the pastor said something that is so true. Isn’t it something to see a veteran’s face when the National Anthem is played or one of the other songs about our country? The reverence on their face….it’s because they “get it”. They know and understand what the words truly mean. They understand what it is to fight for the freedoms that we have in this country. Some of them have suffered great loss, and sacrifice in order to bring us those freedoms. I for one am thankful and grateful to all our military that serve us so well. God Bless You.

Light The Way

I just listened to Steven Curtis Chapman’s song Miracle of the Moment. The song talks about how we shouldn’t be so busy that we miss the truly important moments of life.  His song is very poignant in the light of the fact that he and his wife just lost their 5 year old daughter this week. How terrible the tragedy is for the family….and how his song must echo through his heart–even as it breaks over the loss of his daughter.

The song was a reminder for me of how important it is to take the time to enjoy each moment, that each day brings. Some moments are fun, some are unforgettable, some are sad, some hurt, some moments make us want to conquer the world, while others make us want to hide. But all the moments make up life.

Don’t forget to enjoy the moments that you are blessed to have. Don’t put things off because you never know….you might not get a second chance.

Did I mention that I love icecream???

I have gone back to the low carb way of eating. It really is the best way for me to eat. It helps me keep my blood sugar on an even keel. No dips, no spikes. That is all good, I admit I feel better when I eat this way. It might not work for everybody but it does work for me.  Having said all this I want you to know that I can give up bread, (who cares?), rice (don’t like it much anyway), potatoes (no big deal), I don’t miss lots of the sugary sweets ( I can live without candy) BUT I love ice cream. I do believe that God will have ice cream in Heaven. It’s one of those eternal pleasures. haha!

Now, on that note, my wonderful mother in law had bought me a subscription to Taste of Home. I love the magazine and drool over uh…. I mean read it from cover to cover. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS IN THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS MONTHS ISSUE?????  You got it. It was how to make home made ice cream. I am very weak when it comes to ice cream. I try self control. I have the best of intentions, but for crying out loud—IT’S ICE CREAM!! I’ve read the article several times. And then I read it again. I REALLY want to try the Cookie Dough Ice Cream, um, or the banana caramel topping used on one of the sundaes.

I’m in a struggle. Do I stand firm or do I give in to the delightful, dairy temptation? Hmm…… I don’t know. The jury is still out. If you see me holding a spoon with the remnants of chocolate fudge on my face, just do us both a favor and look the other way.

I Believe It’s A Conspiracy

I think all my possessions have conspired against me. Trying to pack to move seems like an impossible task. The more I pack…the more there is! I don’t know if there are enough boxes in the world to pack all our stuff. We might have to take down a couple more forests just to make the boxes. Good grief! And then there is the bubble wrap! I have to keep the children from trying to pop it….okay, so that is fun, but I need the wrap. Ugh! Will my breakables stay unbroken in this move? I’m scared. Too bad all our stuff isn’t made of unbreakable rubber—it would be a lot less stressful to pack. I wish that Scott could give me some knock out drugs that would have me asleep for um….a good 8-9 months. Then I could wake up and everything would be unpacked in our new house and life would be simple and uncomplicated, oh yes, and nothing would be broken or lost. Oh alright, so I’d like to live in a 1950’s sitcom. Of course, that would mean I’d have to clean the house in my heels and pearls….instead of my sweatpants and a T-shirt. Hmmm…….maybe life is better now.

Where is John Wayne when we need him?

It’s on days like this that we could really use John Wayne.  If “The Duke” had run across the guy that shot the officer yesterday he would have taken care of business. We might have had a shoot out in the middle of our neighborhood street. Whoever drew the fastest won. (We all know John Wayne would have won that one!)

The KPD are still looking for the shooter. They have one guy in mind. (and obviously the other guys that were with him burglarizing the house) I want them to get him. Any idiot that would shoot an officer probably wouldn’t give a thought to shooting anyone else. What a loser. With a capital “L”.

What really makes me sad is that when I moved into this subdivision 14 years ago it was a great neighborhood in a nice part of the city. I always felt safe here. Over the past several years things have changed, unfortunately not for the better. It’s really a shame.

It seems like with the two car break ins and now this terrible incident in my own neighborhood within the past month and a half that the thugs/thieves are taking over. I’ve never been so glad that I’ll soon be moving to a rural part of the country. Yes, I know that there are bad things that happen in “the country” too. Quite frankly, I’ll take my chances with the alpacas and the cows….over the animals that live on the streets.

Don’t Play Hide and Seek With The Police

This afternoon an officer went to a house in my subdivision due to a burglar alarm going off. As he got there some men came around the side of the house and shot him in the chest. We heard sirens, but thought there had been an accident. We had no idea. I was gone for awhile this evening to an Arbonne party and when I got back 4 squad cars were in front of my house. One officer had an assault rifle he was carrying, another officer had his police dog with him. A police helicopter was flying overhead. The roads coming into the subdivision are blocked off. The corner market at the bottom of the hill has become a command post. I thought to myself, “Good Lord, is it the end of the world?” I rolled down my window and asked what was going on? I needed to get to my house–since the road was blocked could I get through? He told me about an officer being shot and they were looking for the suspects. When I finally got in the house, Scott told me that officers had gone through our yard and back into our woods behind the house….looking…… I can still hear the police helicopter flying back and forth even as I type this blog entry. This is totally creepy. According to the 11 o’clock news, they have 8 people in for questioning, but they can’t call them suspects yet. Since I still hear the helicopter, I suspect the officers aren’t satisfied that they have found the shooter. Whoever shot the officer (who is in critical condition and lost a lot of blood) is going to be tracked down….they’ll find him. He can run, but he can’t hide. Bad boys, Bad boys what ‘cha gonna do, what ‘cha gonna do when they come for you??????

Read the story from the local newspaper.