Spring Beckons, April Fools!

I bought some pansies with a $10.00 certificate to a local nursery that I got for my birthday because I agreed to get their e-mails.  I wanted something cool, but it's still too cold for things that are cool.  hmmm, let's take a look at that sentence...maybe what I mean is "I wanted something really nifty, but it is too cold at night for us to get anything that is...nifty."  I accidentally left them in my truck the night before last.  All day.  I got home yesterday and put them on the porch, planning to put them inside before it got dark.  I forgot.

This morning they looked like little frozen flower sticks.  I figured they were goners.  When I got home they looked fine, as though the moisture in their tissues had never frozen solid.  Weird.  They must have anti-freeze!

I had a decent day at work.  I finished up the furniture...thank goodness.  I have a plumbing issue that was given to me to work on tomorrow...I think because it is a simple affair, if it weren't, I'd be asking for advice on swimming or how to stop a flood.  Still, I enjoy a challenge.

It was a beautiful, shiny, happy, clear blue day.  I enjoyed it, but I fear we may be in for worse things this weekend.  I guess we are supposed to get rain, so much for the sunlight.

On a really, really bright note, I texted my father this afternoon and explained that Mt. St. Helens had just suffered a minor eruption.  I could see the ash plume from our area, but wondered what they could see down in the valley.  I followed it with a short description in my next text:  "It is tall and gray and April Fools Day."   He messaged me back awhile later saying he had his hand on the door knob before he remembered what today was and he checked the second message.

I don't think I have gotten anyone on April Fools since college, when I lead up to April Fools Day by hinting to my parents that Cora was sick in the mornings, that Cora had a doctor's appointment.  Then we called them on April First.  It worked, too.  I imagine it seems to have back fired on us, though.

Oh, well.  It was funny, huh?

Baseball Weekend! Err...what's that?

It's a FOOTBALL weekend?  REALLY?

So, I am sure some of you out there are just enjoying the heck out of your tailgate parties.  I know you have been preparing all week for the sweet par-tay that is coming this afternoon.  I know you have been aching for Sunday to come, because it can't come too soon.  I do hope you enjoy yourselves.  But, may I remind you what day follows Sunday?  Yeah, that's right, Monday!

We have no such plans.  No invitations and no party here.  Wouldn't matter if we did.  Cora has had THE most hard hitting cold she has had in quite a long time.  It has totally knocked her on her sweet little kiester.  To say she has been miserable would be a crime of understatement for which one might do hard time.  I have been doing my best to keep her comfortable, but she has had a sore throat that has not gone away!  She has not had the pleasure of tasting my cooking much at all!  She has, instead, sought refuge in ice cream, cough drops, 7up, and cough drops.  But, don't worry, I am taking good care of her and she should be up and at 'em for game time.  (Ok, that's not true, but I just wanted you guys to know I am still taking care of her, feeding and watering...you know, letting her outside when she has to go pooh...err, wait, that's wrong, she takes care of herself, mostly.  Still, I'm here to make sure she's ok)

I did get to some house cleaning yesterday...no not the hard stuff.  I did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen a little and did some clothes.  Mostly, though, I also managed to write a blog for my aircraft site.  Which is something of a good thing, since I haven't posted a real accident report for about two months.  If for some reason you feel all crazy and want to read a real story about real men and real aircraft, you can see it here.

I think I will go out and get some minor groceries today and throw in some chips for the sake of the game.  let me see if I remember who's playing.  It's the Horsies and the Preachers...no, that's not right...Bolts and the Paints?  Hmmm, well, who ever is playing, I hope your team wins!

I have a niece or nephew that should be peeking into this world sometime soon.  Yesterday was the due date, but we have not heard anything.  I am certain we will, when it does happen.  Looking forward to seeing you little one.

This coming week I will be teaching 5th graders all week down in the valley.  I have taught this class several times before and for some odd reason, they are fond of me...sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes, not so much.  I just hope I won't be having to teach them calculus or anything hard.  Drawings can only go so far.

I just looked over in the fish tank and saw my maroon clown, Marvin, carrying a piece of gravel out from his adopted area.  It is fun to watch him clean house.  He will nip a piece of offending algae and then move it to the opposite side of the tank, or he will move gravel.  He will come right up to the glass and be in your line of sight, preventing you from clearly seeing other things.  If you put your hand in the tank to move something, he is right there to investigate.  Yesterday, I wasn't paying attention to him and all of a sudden he head butted me.  It didn't hurt, but it sure as heck surprised me!  I splashed some water trying to get my hand away from my unseen attacker, only to see Marvin doing a fishy approximation of chuckles.  It is really fun to see such personality in a fish.

Well, I guess I'd better get dressed for town and grab my list if I want to be back for the pre-game...

Oh, and one final thought:  Happy Birthday Dad!

Christmas Eve Morning

This wonderful cold I have is not even coming close to giving me congestion that I can deal with. I can feel it everywhere, but in my nose, which makes it difficult to get rid of it with a kleenex. I have a sore throat and sore muscles. I slept pretty good until about 3am, at which time the cold meds went out on me and I awoke. I took some more, but my throat is sore and sleeping isn't easy.

The stockings are hung by the furnace with care.

The lights on the cupboards add a nice flair,

but the ones on the tree are nicer by far.

There's an angel on our tree, but no star.

the gifts beneath the tree are all in their place,

one is amazed they take up such space!

The cookies await Christmas Eve pleasure,

before willing hands unwrap their treasure.

So much to be seen, so much to be heard,

all I can spare is a few Christmas words:

Merry Christmas to all, and this is the reason,

I hope you all have a nice holiday season!

Admittedly, not all of you celebrate Christmas, so let me also wish you a happy Kwanzaa, a happy Hanuka and a Happy New Year. I know I am missing a few other holidays, but, I wish you happy ones of those, too. Also, my sisters-in-law are celebrating their birthdays and so is you Kylee from AZ. Happy birthday girls!

now, I think I will court sleep again...wish me luck.

Stupid Colds

Somewhere, over the past week, I seem to have picked up a cold. It just started. This year has been a wonderful year compared to the past couple. I have only had minor colds this year, the past few years have seen me in miseries indescribable! I am combating this thing with the usual assortment of drugs and vitamins. I should be fine!

I spent the day shopping and baking and cleaning. I think I may be ready for Christmas...but not completely. I still have a couple last minute items for Cora, but beyond that the holiday beckons!

So, I got on here with some really brilliant things to say, but I'll be damned if I can remember what they were. I was truly going to baffle you with the truth of my observations. You would have totally slapped your forehead and said, "Damn, why didn't I think of that?" And then you would have realized that I am just a brilliant mind whose mere existence is a miracle to behold. Then you probably would have gotten all jealous and...well, how could you live with yourself for acting that way? It's really a good thing I forgot what I was going to say, because now we can still be friends. You're welcome.

And, of course, you'll have just finished that paragraph and realized that, DAMN! Jim IS brilliant...but it will be a friendly kind of envy this time, since I saved our friendship once, and that means something.

Of course, you may also just scratch your head and wonder just how many cold meds I am taking. And then you will also realize that maybe I read the Bean just a bit too much. Still, it's the sincerest form of flattery, isn't it?

OK, I have a headache now and I have sore muscles. I am fairly certain I have not been sleep-exercising (when else would I be doing exercise!? I have successfully avoided exercise this year, so I believe the cold is the source of my sore muscles.

By the way, can I just say I have the best wife in the world? Yep, she got me a few gifts, despite the fact that she let me get a computer as my gift. She's the best!

Challenges

I got the opportunity to teach high school today. It was math. I am pretty much useless in anything above algebra, so I was happy when most of the classes simply began working quietly. Sure there was a low buz around the room, but most seemed to be on task, so I let it go.

At one point, though, one of the kids asked me why I did not have a better grasp of math. I said that I chose history for its remarkable, and, honestly, noble lack of higher math.

He wanted to know how much history I knew. He wanted to ask me a question about history. I usually tell kids that history is such a big subject that it keeps us historians humble. We can only KNOW a very small portion of history, and even then, it is a relatively loose "KNOW." I went ahead and played ball though, figuring, how much can a high schooler know? If I were a betting man, I would have cleaned the table. He asked me a simple one. "How did WWI begin?" Of course, my "simple" might not be everyone else's "simple." Obviously, the political, economic, and social underpinnings of WWI were very complicated, but in a nutshell, I handed him a simple narrative, which he took wide-eyed. He said, "We just talked about it in class this morning...and you got it!!" I should hope so, I have been in school long enough. Also, I read that stuff for fun. Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel...with a 16" naval gun...can't miss.

I had some time to look on-line while they did their work. I got a job for tomorrow and am filled up for the week now. I also read a fun short book on-line about the Chrysler plant and it's role in aircraft engine production during WWII...hmmm, obviously I AM a hardcore historian, if that's fun.

I got home and collapsed in my chair for an hour...I think I am in the midst of a cold. Of course, my colds only truly show themselves at night. I caught this one in the act and have been hitting it with Airborne vitamins and have found some cold meds that help. I always have trouble sleeping with a cold, no matter how good I feel during the day. Last night, I woke up about 45 minutes after going to bed. Could not sleep. I was experiencing drainage...probably more than you want to know. Still, I took another dose of cold meds and was able to get back to sleep by 330AM. Six O'clock came WAYYYYYY too early. Tonight I have sore muscles and my sinuses seem to be filling with viscous fluid...perhaps the consistency of molasses...maybe cold honey, but without the sweets. Oh, the joys of teaching!

Another Day, Another Cold

So, last week I managed to catch a cold. It is a particularly pernicious one. I manage to breathe most of the night, but what comes up and out in the morning is some of the worst!

I teach at the HS all week, so I am off somewhat early all week. Yesterday I continued gutting the laundry room by removing the old appliances, patching the walls and painting it. I intend to mop it before we bring in the new set. Then it will be a reverse process of the gutting...hopefully we will figure out a better way to use our space now.

I need to finish up the painting I have been working on. Only problem is I keep changing it...soon I will be happy enough with it to send a photo to the potential buyer.

Well, I have to go get ready for work...another day with the freshies...sometimes, I understand why some animals eat their young.

Birthdays and Recent News

It's been a busy week. I've posted, but not many pictures...I tried to fix that tonight.
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My Birthday was Monday...yep thirty-five. Still, at least I am younger than Erin!
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I worked Maintenance this week. I got up and left by 7 each morning; a bit earlier than one does for substitute teaching. I have been forced to do physical labor. As a normally functioning American, I avoid exertion, so this "physical labor" thing is more than a little disconcerting. Now I get to rest!
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We got a referral for a baby boy in Burundi. It looks as though we may be leaving shortly after school ends. We don't have a bunch of information on him, but we are looking forward to every morsel our agency gets. It's only taken 9 1/2 years...but we may yet become parents! Oh, Happy Day! Oh, and to all those who have congratulated us and linked to us on your blogs, thank you!
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Toby continues to try to ignore his pending obscelecence and maintains that his proper place is between us and the computer...wait until he sees BB!

The weather has been weird. Wind. Rain. Snow. Hail. Sunshine. Here are some photos of the hail we got last night...bigger than peas. And it sounded like a freight train on the roof!

note the streak in the passenger door of the car. Also the streak between the bumper of the truck and the hose...

Amazing. I know that people from the midwest have seen bigger hail, but I have also lived through a volcano, blizzards, earth quakes, and floods. When you've had all those, then we can compare the size of our hail. So, BRING IT!

I made flank steak rolled around feta and Spinach for dinner. I added a bit of bacon wrapped around that, and it was...YUMMY!

We meant to go celebrate Ryan's birthday( brother-in-law) with him tonight, but, the referral has us wanting to get things done around the house. Also, Gypsy has escaped twice this week. I need to put in an electric fence so we can fry the stupid dog. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!! I know that if we went down and celebrated with you, we'd end up staying way too late and enjoy ourselves way too much. We would not want to leave and so we probably would get home sometime Sunday evening. We would not get anything done and we need to do that! Cora is also still suffering from her cold...You should see the color of her snot! So, it is definitely best if we stay home, despite our wishes. Happy Birthday my friend!

Hockey Monkey Monday?

We are still enjoying Canadian tempertures out there. So it only seems fitting to introduce you to a song I heard a few years ago, which is slightly stupid, but completely fun! I can't think of a better time to share it.

There, that wasn't so bad, was it? All the scientists are running around...gonna be in your head all day, isn't it? You are welcome.

I am still battling the cold I picked up from those lovely children last week. For some strange reason I can sleep better in my chair (and heavily drugged). I hate colds! I feel fine during the day, but sleep is difficult to come by in decent amounts or quality. It's a good thing I am resilient.

So, Wednesday we plan on spending with My parents and my sister's family. (I hope I get some cool things!) I probably should have put up Christms list here...because, I want a Red Ryder BB gun, and a Jeep, and a pair of Lazer Shooting Battling Remote Control Helicopters, and loads of books...huh? Oh, sorry, I get carried away...and NO, I will not shoot my eye out.

Incidentally, as a kid, I had a lovely Daisy Red Ryder BB gun...which withstood the years and wear and tear of probably 1,000,000 BBs very well...it probably still resides in my parent's attic...though it doesn't shoot like it used to. Oh, back to what I was gonna say: I ALMOST shot my eye out once...well, not quite, but it was a very good thing that I wore glasses as a kid. The two liter pop bottles, when they first came out, were of fairly solid construction. Thickish walls. Well, if you were a ten year old kid, and were bored (which I often was), you might enjoy shooting bottles(which I often did). Sometimes you might fill bottles with water and shoot holes in them. (I can't explain why it was fun, it just was, ok, so all you girls out there just hold in your questions and smart alleck comments) Well, when you mixed the rigid sides of the plastic bottles with the semi-flacid nature of a bottle being partially filled, coupled with the correct angles, range, muzzle velocities, and ballistics, you got a Rogue BB that would come STRAIGHT back at the shooter. Like I said, it was a good thing I wore glasses. Fortunately much of the velocity had been traded in the act of changing direction and my glasses and my forehead were never seriously damaged, but still, it had the capability of scaring the crap out of a kid whose dad had told him that if he ever shot his BB gun at things too close and ended up getting hurt, his BB gun would be unceremoniously taken from him for what promised to be eternity.

I loved that BB gun...I will have to write an entire post about it...

Well, it's Monday, I have to go get dressed and work Maintenance today. I suspect that rather than putting me to work organizing the Transportation Building's attic, I may end up having to help with Snow Removal...I will keep you posted, since I know you are all just on pins and needles to know.

Playing Hookey...Hockey?

With the temperture not even out of the single digits, it did not take much convincing for me to stay home. I did take Cora to work and then went on to the tire store to have the snow tires put on. It did not take long. I had the camera, so on the drive home I snapped a few shots of our winter scenery. That is Mount Adams in the back ground of the picture at the top and this one below.

Below you see the mighty Yakima River...see that stuff floating in it? That's ice...it goes with my whole hockey/hookey theme.

Not quite ready for skating...

Below you see an apple orchard with our snow covered hills in the background...I have heard that others from flatter parts of the country call these mountains...nah, they're just hills.

And here are the sprinklers of a settling pond going full tilt at 0.0 F...see the trash can size blocks of ice surrounding them?

I came back home and did some laundry, dishes, and some minor cleanup. All in the of staying warm. I hope the rest of you have no problems doing the same.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Maintenance...

It's 630am and I still don't have a job, a sub job that is. The temperture outside is closer to 0F than it is to 1F, and I don't necessarily want to work Maintenance today since even though I think frostbite might be character building, I feel I have quite enough character, thank you very much. Of course, they will probably sit round the conference table for awhile discussing politics and world problems, still, that does not warm my heart, since sometime today I would end up working in a very cold place...mostly, I want to sit here beside the Christmas Tree and the Heat Vent if I can't teach today.

Doesn't some teacher at least have some frozen pipes? It is still possible I will get a call, it has happened before. It just isn't very likely. Dammit.

I don't think we have had temeratures like this, this early, for, what? 15 years? More than that possibly...yeah, I think in the late eighties it got this cold, but I am fairly certain Nature had the decency to wait until January to freeze so completely. Stupid Washington, days like this make me miss California.

Cold

It actually got up to a balmy 21F degrees today...then it went right back down to 18F.

I taught Music at the El today. I am, as ever, popular with the kids. They did not get recesses today because of the cold. I tried to convince the principal that frostbite builds character.

Other than that, we are enduring the cold weather. We are in much better straights than my sister, though, her pipes apparently froze. I have not heard anything since this morning and hope she got it fixed. I am fairly sure she did, since my father went down to help.

Spud Soup

At yesterday's wonderful birthday party, My Father-in-law-in-law (?) gave us some extra potatoes. (Tht IS what you call your sister's in-laws, right?) Fresh from harvest and OH SO PRETTY! I gladly accepted them and put the forty or fifty pounds in our trunk. This morning I scrubbed one up and, OH, what a beautiful spud! It was something like 18 degrees out and there was no promise of the temperature rising, we had some left over ham and some bacon in the fridge...I thought instantly of potato soup. I asked Cora what she thought of it, and she agreed.

the orange things are carrot chunks...

I don't claim that my soup is wonderful, but I will say ANY time you add ham AND bacon to anything (except maybe ice cream), it is bound to be good. Add to that the tempertures outside and you pretty much have a perfect way to spend the day inside.

WE DID venture out and managed to get a little Christmas shopping done, but it was VERY COLD, and we retired only a few hours after we had left the shelter of our home. It was a good thing, too, since it was about then that the snow recommenced falling.

Eradicate the Cold Virus

I hereby plead, nay, beg the powers that be(They be in scientific laboratories) to come up with some way to eradicate the cold virus. I think several millenia is plenty of a run for that particular organism. Time is up, the cold virus should just give up and commit suicide.

You guessed it, I have a cold...again. I suppose I should stop teaching...or listen to Cora and Lysol the kids as they come in the classroom. I felt it coming on yesterday afternoon, then last night I had difficulty sleeping. now I am cold and miserable, even though the temperature is up.

We went to town for cold meds and tacos. I wish we had a place tht sold soup.

I taught high school art today, or, rather, watched the kids do what they needed to do. It was a nice change of pace. Of course, there was a girl who insisted I looked just like her mom's boyfriend...I told her if that was the case, then her mother had very good taste. I don't think she understood that I believe myself to be very handsome...alas, so much humor is wasted on those kids.

I think I am going to go run some 212 degree bathwater and soak in it. Wish me luck.