Camera Ready!

I took the money we have saved and scraped and scrounged and put it in the bank, then, after a process of elimination and comparison and re-comparison and research and forehead massaging, I purchased my camera on-line at Wal-Mart.com.  Yes.  I did.

Wal-Mart sells it below what the recommended price and it saved me almost $150!!  Plus, free shipping to my door.  Soon, I will be shooting 1000s of pictures!  With!  A! Nikon D90!!!!!  It should be here in a little over a week.  So, instead of whining about getting a camera, you will likely be seeing me writing scathing commentaries on delivery companies and their short-comings.

I have had many kind people offer me their opinions on which is the better camera.  I have taken their suggestions into account.  I compared those cameras side by side.  The guy at the local electronics store was nice enough to take a couple out of the box for me so I could have a look and a feel unfettered by security devices.  I have also done much research on the internet and when I narrowed it down I bought a book concerning the camera in question. By the time I arrived at the right amount of money, my decision making process turned to where to buy it.

So, it is on the way...or will be in one to two business days!!  I cannot wait!!

In the meantime I will be finishing the sign I have been working on in the back yard.  I need only touch up a few details and then I shall deliver it!  After that I shall have my yard back again!!  ...And the two small tables that we usually set our beverages on...they have been supporting the sign.

We had grilled steak and zucchini last night.  Our zucchini plants finally delivered a zucchini!!  I took that baby and sliced it up, rubbed some olive oil on it and some of my home-made Johnny's seasoning and then threw them on the grill.  I did that with store bought zukes the other day, but the taste difference was incomparable!  The fresh zuke, even after sitting on the grill, was crisp and fresh and heavenly!  It complemented the steak, too.  "Hi, I'm a sliced zucchini.  Wow, Mr. Steak, you look good today!  Well done!" (You didn't expect that one, did you?) (oh, and the pun, did you get the pun?  "well done"  I can't believe all this stuff comes out of my head!!)

Anyway, back to my camera.  I will pet it and love it and care for it and sleep next to it and I will name it George.

Cora may get jealous.

Fire!!

I thought you might like a few more of the incredible 700 pictures we took on our vacation ( I say incredible because neither of us thought we had taken so many!).  Both Cora and I like this photo...even though the top of my head seems to be missing, I like it.

I believe I mentioned I was in charge of fires.  I made small ones through out the week since we brought our own wood and did not want to go spend money on the campground firewood.  I might have been a little stingy with the wood and we had a few smoky fires from it.

As you can see, or perhaps not, Cora is in there somewhere.  She was in the process of taking a smoke bath which was successful, in that even after three showers (AFTER we got back), her hair smelled of smoke.  She also took showers at the camp showers...apparently smoke baths are just too efficient.

She tried to get some reading in, in between smoke plumes.  I am somewhat amazed that she was able to breathe during this time.  I mean, look at that picture above!  No matter how long you stare at it, she never comes out for a breath!!

So, yeah, my fire making skills weren't so good at first.

Today, I started back to work.  As a maintenance man.  We are cleaning out the old elementary school, getting it ready to house yet another school while that school is rebuilt or who knows what?   Still, the mess left behind by the last school has to be cleaned up before the new one can move in.  That is our job.

You didn't think I was cleaning an entire school by myself, did you?  No, I have a "CREW."  That crew was working all last week...I was on vacation.  However, my boss, the great guy he is, told the "crew" to listen to me, since I am their boss...huh?  So, I have seniority among the subs.  Yet, my boss still sends back our beloved lazy bastard.  We also have back a hard worker, though socially inept among conservative macho males.  The next is a new guy, who promises to work out well.  So, that is what I have to look forward to...should be interesting, although, I can obviously not post all of my opinions here.  No need to piss off everyone!

We sent off our application to get a table for our coloring books at the Hop Festival.  First weekend of August!  Come and see.

So, from here on out my beloved sun will sink lower on the horizon.  Days will only grow shorter.  I shall mourn the return to winter, even as we gain the first day of summer.  I know, a real downer, huh?  I think it may have something to do with the weird weather this year.  We had tons more rain later in the spring than usual...good for my lawn, but bad for developing veggies and me sitting outside for extended periods of time.  On the bright side, the heat of the summer is coming!!  The veggies will make it all worth it.

We had BBQ chicken and asparagus tonight...it was fair fare.

Sunday Returns!

So, one of my main goals was to sell the cars.  Or at least get them posted on Craig's List...still haven't done that...but I have a few hours before the weekend is officially over.  These, after all, will fund my camera purchase!  Anyone want a car?  Or perhaps they just want to continue viewing stunning images on the internet?  You can be a part of it, simply by putting a twenty dollar bill in the mail and addressing it to me!  I promise to take TONS of pictures!

Here are yet more flowers...I hope you people don't tire of them, because I never tire of taking them...we have some pretty flowers!

I cleaned out the shed and found our camping stuff.  It was something of an adventure, though particularly dusty.  I must have sneezed a hundred times.  I cleaned out some empty boxes we have been keeping, you know, you make a new purchase and keep the box just in case?  We do too.  Except we keep them for years since we forget about them in the shed...oops.

I found the camping stuff.  It was...dusty.  We had food in there...canned stuff, it isn't as though we kept bread in there...from 2006.  Still, we cleaned it out and cleaned the camping stuff and I think we are going to be ok!!  Our camping trip to the beach is gonna rock!  I can't wait!  Our plan is to do what we want.  The dogs are going and we just plan on sitting around roasting marshmallows and reading and drinking coffee and being lazy.  We'll play on the beach.  We'll fly kites and I might use my metal detector and we're just gonna relax!  it's been four years since we went camping last!

I made dinner tonight.  It was chicken.  Cora suggested it.  I barbecued it after slicing it in half and seasoning it with a variety of spices.  I sliced up a bell pepper and grilled the whole batch.  I then made a salsa/relish with red onion, some long green pepper, Cilantro, and tomato, with a little cumin thrown in with the lime juice.  We threw those on an onion bun and it made a really nice dinner!!

Here's the salsa...

It was YUMMY!!

Now, I need a job...but this is the last full week of school, and unless there are some completely horrible disasters, I don't expect that I will be working much...though I hope I WILL!!!

Any photos of our trip will be via our paltry Canon Elph...which I love, but it ISN'T a DSLR!!  :-)

My Birthday

OK, let me get the complaining over with.  OWWWWWWWW!  My legs and several of my muscles hurt tons yesterday.  If I never take the furniture out of a second floor classroom and replace it with heavier stuff again it will be too soon!  There.  That wasn't so bad, was it?

Cora and I went out to dinner for my birthday.  All day she was texting me, asking where I wanted to go to dinner at.  All day I sent here varying messages, apparently full of indecision.  She was really getting annoyed by the end of the day.  I already knew where I wanted to go, but teasing her is SOOOO much fun...and, I got away with it because it was my birthday!

We went to Round Table and got a Maui Zaui Pizza...wowie!  The sweet asian sauce they use is the best!  We washed that down with a few Mack and Jacks African Amber...honestly one of the best beers devised by man in my limited experience!

I did not really ask for anything for my birthday.  Afterall, we've been saving our pennies for a kid, but we splurged a little.  We got...I know, it's childish, but remarkably fun...Legos.  Yes, Legos!  One place had a buy one get one half off special.  So, yeah, we came home with Legos and put them together.

Of course, I chose the airplane!

Look at that radial engine!

It even has retractable landing gear and you can see the oil cooler embedded in the wing!  We got the type that has two or three different vehicles you can make from the parts...pretty darned fun, if you ask me!

I am on Facebook.  I have a few friends.  I was amazed at how many wished me a happy birthday yesterday...it really put a smile on my face as I check my email from my phone a few times while resting between trips to or from the truck...sometimes i was laying on the desk I had just moved.  Pathetic, I know, but you have no clue just how pathetic I can be.  At least today I have a helper!  Yesterday it was all me.

I am on the trailing end of my thirties now and I don't think it is horrible...I think it helps that I usually work with kids...I retain my youth that way.  I sure as hell don't retain it by exercising!

Reading and Writing

I taught a low reading/writing class yesterday.  Their assignment was to write a five paragraph essay on what they could to get the best education possible.  Easy.  I had them give me ideas to put on the board in a bubble web thingy(the question at the center, and ways to answer it branching off).  Most of the ideas were pretty stock:  No drugs, no alcohol, no gangs, improve study habits, etc.

There was one combo at a table where a boy and a girl were getting on each other's nerves.  I said that their education would probably be served better if they had less of each other.  later, I walked by the table and looked at that girls ideas.  There it was in blatant language.  "No Jesus."  Of course, the boy's name was Jesus (pronounced HEY SOOSS for those of you inexperienced with Latin-American names) and she meant him, but I chose to enjoy the moment the most by misunderstanding and asked her how NOT GOING TO CHURCH would help her education.  She stuttered and then realized why I had said that.  The kids all got a chuckle out of it, as did she.  I looked at his paper a second later and they must have written each other's names down as soon as I'd said it.

I came home and did a few things adoption related, made a call to the agency basically to verify they know nothing more than they did last week and to register our disappointment at that turn of events.  Then I began doing dishes and watching TV.

When Cora got home she made dinner!  She made Maple Bourbon Chicken.  Now, we've had it on salmon and chicken before.  Cora is excellent at mixing it up.  The first time the chicken did not hold the glaze, but this time Cora excelled!  Oh!  It was mouth watering and I am glad I pulled four chicken breasts out of the freezer, because that's what we will be having for lunch, too!

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing.  I made a few drawings for the coming coloring book, but I'm not sure if all will make the cut.  Stupid Blogger doesn't want to turn them the right direction today and I am too lazy to take another photo.  So you'll just have to turn your head sideways and look like an idiot, which is what I had to do when I put the picture up just now.  I am really liking those gazelles.

Hopefully by this weekend I will have enough to make a book.  Then we will copy and bind.  No promises yet, so don't go ordering a bunch until we have them in hand to ship out!  Still, the work continues.  Cora opened it up to suggestions for the coming books and many people sent us some wonderful ideas.  I have enough ideas to keep me busy drawing until Aiden comes home...which, I suppose is the idea!  I hope he comes soon!

Oh, also, we got some good news...but I am not sure I am supposed to share just yet, so I will refrain.  Just know that when I get permission to share it will be front page.
 

Battleships and Ham

We had ham for dinner tonight. I put Cora's Cranberry Sauce on it...and WOW! Genius! The ham was awesome. The rest was...ok. On the bright side, I can make some potato soup tomorrow with bacon and ham.

I worked at the El today. I feel at home there. The wonderful teachers there make me feel so welcome! Wish I had a stupid elementary cert...go figure. I made a few sales of our pans...or THAT'S MY PAN. Go to Cora's site and see what I mean. These things are awesome!

I have been trying to download a game the past two nights. Yesterday morning I tried to download a game called The Battle of Jutland. It, surprisingly, is a simulation game based on the...get this! BATTLE OF JUTLAND! Those advertising folks are geniuses! The Battle of Jutland was a sea battle that took place during WWI. It was the greatest concentration of hostile battleships in battle, ever. The German High Seas Fleet met up with the British Grand Fleet...and then turned tail and ran. Even though they were literally blowing the British out of the water. OK, maybe the Brits had a numerical superiority.

Anyway, I have a new computer now and have ALWAYS loved Wargames/simulations. My first was an SSI game that was centered around submarines. I could put a lot of Japanese ships on the bottom before I got a little too cocky and a Kaibokan took me out. Then there was Great Naval Battles III! Wow! You could fight tons of battles and you could see the turrets turn and the guns go off and you could listen in on Aviators talking on their radios. You could be an admiral or a lowly gun captain. I have played a few others. One was where you used a harrier to drop bombs on the island nation of Timor. Another was Apache...you could take your badass helicopter and blast tanks and other helicopters. I have tried others I could not stand. Still, simulations are becoming a rarity in the computer world. Having found this one I am trying to download it and try it out. I can do that for a month and decide if I want it.

I had the whole thing downloaded, all 600+ MB, and it gave me an error when I tried to install it concerning Windows 7. Well, being the slightly wary computer owner, I got out of it and then deleted it. I then wrote the developers and asked if they knew if it would work with Windows 7. They wrote back and wanted to know what error it had given...I had already erased it...stupid! So, here I am downloading it for the second time tonight, because I was within a few MB of it being done the last time and closed the wrong window!!! I mean, have you ever done something and then cussed yourself out because you should have thought a little longer or harder before acting? Yeah, me too, all the time.

So, here I am waiting for it to download while waiting for Survivor so I can try and load it so it will give me an error message which I will mail to the developer...yeah, I know. Go get a real life, huh? Well, if you have some 15 inch naval rifles for me to fire at moving battleships...let me know. Until then, I will pretend.

until that time, full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes!

Wonderful Day!

Cora and I have a glass top stove. We have had some old Revere Ware for years. Unfortunately, our Revere Ware is, well, less than suitable for a flat top stove (i.e., dented, round bottomed and old.). We decided to get a set of flat bottomed pots. We did. They are wonderful.

Cora made dinner. Pork Chops and quinoa. Honestly, I think I could eat it every day!

A couple years ago, I happened to find a bottle of wine that was a 1999 vintage. I bought it. I don't remember my exact thoughts, but I thought it might be nice to have. Tonight we opened it. It was VERY good. Having aged ten years...well, it did it good! So, it has been a very good day!

Weekend Fun!

OK, maybe not SO fun. We did move the Mazda in the fence so we can clean it out. If we don't end up giving it to Grandma, then we will sell it for whatever we can get out of it for BB. Same goes for the Buick. Also we took the dresser out, sanded and refinished it. Next, we need to put a clearcoat on it.

Friday I worked to clean house and just make it easier to do other stuff. Last night we had GREAT tacos, thanks to Cora. And while she sewed for awhile tonight, I made dinner. I believe Cora will responsible for dinner tomorrow...CARNITAS!!!! If you have never had Carnitas, you have been MISSING something from your life. Honestly, you may think you have not been eating food all this time, sawdust maybe, but not real food. Tender perfect pork!

We did some shopping that needed to be done. I got a new pair of shoes! I am so happy to have my feet in new coverings! I also picked up a book on Pacific Norh West Mushrooms. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow, I begin eight hour shifts again. Bummer not having Fridays off, but I will be less tired and more able to fix dinners or do house work before Cora gets home. Lately, with the tens, I have been beat after work.

Sunday Blues

This morning dawned early. Earlier than I wished. I still have this fracking cold. I used some Afrin the other day and my morning symtoms vanished, but more than three days may cause you to become addicted, physically (Trust me, I don't think it is psychologically fun to do). Still, it clears your sinuses REALLY well! I like that. Still, yesterday I needed to stop taking it. So I did. This morning I woke up with a case of the "Horrible Boogers From Outer Space" and shed more than my fair share of nasty boogery things...at about 7AM! I hate 7AM! It was Sun-fricking-day, why in the name of all that is sleepy did I HAVE to wake up before 8???? On A SUNDAY!?! Argh! I hate early Sundays!

Then Cora awoke...about two hours later. I spent the intervening time sitting outside in a lawn chair, reading. I had coffee, a comfortable chair, and a good book. I have been re-reading "When Thunder Rolled." It's a good book about F-105 pilots during the Vietnam War. It was a warm morning. The thermometer said 75...I was more than happy to sit outside and read. The hot coffee helped. I also made sure that my feet were in the sunlightg longest, my socks made a white cutoff on my feet. So, I was tryng to remedy that situation. Then Cora got up. I made her coffee and then went back out for awhile. All-in-all, it wasn't a bad way to start a day.

It was sometime after 930 when my mother-in-law called to ask for help movng some furniture out of her Dad's place. Cora and I left and spent a few hours helping out. It was a good day. We were done by about 2pm and I came home. Then, after a short rest, I put together a shelf we had bought yestreday. Here is the picture.

Here are the Squash we planted a few weeks ago. Look how they have grown!

I went out to take a picture when I noticed Toby digging in the garden, but being extremely careful not to touch the electric fence, which happens NOT to be on, still, it's cute.

I barbequed a steak and some squash and zucchini again. I can't show pictures because it is all gone, we ate it.

I also found yet another of the house' residents in the back yard...

I will be teachng fifth grade tomrrow. Late start. Maybe I will sit outside agan...

Where to Begin? A Long Recount

Ok, so it has been several days since I last posted. We went to House Sit for the weekend. Cora took her computer, but I left my dinosaur behind. I checked my mail, but nothing else, it was supposed to be a relaxing weekend!!

Friday: I subbed my last of four days of music. I went home and got all our crap together, meaning I packed and did the dishes so we did not have any living organisms in the sink when we returned.

The trip was not bad. We dropped off the dogs at Cora's sister's house and went for some P.F. Chang's. We called it in and dropped by a grocery store for a bottle (or two) of wine. Dinner was excellent. We had Lettuce Wraps, Orange Peel Beef, Black Bean Chicken, and Sezchuan Asparagus. After letting dinner settle a smidgeon, we retired to the hot tub. Just to be perfectly honest, and unbiased...I HAVE TO GET ME ONE OF THOSE!! Afterword, we sat outside cooling off. The pool was still just a little chilly for our tastes...70 degrees.

Saturday: I awoke early (630am), despite a fairly late evening. I went downstairs and made coffee. I read my newest book: The Arnheiter Affair. It is a story of a Queeg-like captain (You should read the Caine Mutiny if you don't know who Queeg is...or wikipedia it) during the Vietnam War. He was SO idiosyncratic, narcissistic, and blind that he drove the crew near madness before he was relieved. He disobeyed orders, falsified reports, lied, stole, and was just downright a wannabe navy hero. The crew thought he was just a little different at first, but his true colors began to show, and within 99 days he was relieved. It is a most fascinating book.

Cora got up later and made breakfast! She made sausages and cinnimon rolls...do I know how to pick a wife or what!? We relaxed around the house for awhile and then got ready to go shopping. She needed to get a few things and I wanted a book. Well, I did get a book, but it wasn't the one I thought I'd get. I also ended up getting three shirts. These are shirts I expect will be very comfortable in Africa. They are a light cotton material that promises to dry quickly, plus they have loads of pockets. Cora also obtained some new additions to her wardrobe. For the record, we only really shop for clothing a couple times a year. I also bought a bargain book by an author I am fond of. I ended up buying the book I really wanted on Amazon at about 2/3rds the price I could have gotten in the store.

We went to lunch at Nothin' But Noodles. It was good. We returned to the house to check on the dogs, then returned to the mall for a litte more shopping and we watched Star Trek. Now there is a good movie! I might give something away here, so if you have not seen it yet, go to the next paragraph and I won't be hurt. I was intersted to see the back story of the crew. The original series never hinted at very much. This one starts with Kirk being born...interesting to be sure. Turns out this movie is actually a (This is your last warning if you don't want the movie ruined) different reality than the original series. This seems to indicate the writers don't want to interfere with the original plot lines and are free to make up their own new adventures. I am very happy with it. The humor was wonderful! At times side-splitting. I expect the coming batch of movies in the next decade will be something that Gene Rodenberry would have been proud of.

Now (yes, it is safe to read from here if you haven't seen the movie yet), if I were anything near what my long deceased best friend was, I would be able to give you a few quotes, verbatim, and have it mean something. Alas, I am NOT the genius that my late best friend was, I can only say, it is a movie worth seeing.

For dinner, after the movie and long day shopping, we decided on some pizza. Not just any pizza would do for us, however. We prefer Atomic Brewpub and Eatery pizza. It is not a big restaraunt, but it is a restaraunt with big taste! The beer is, well, excellent. Their pizza is spectacular! We have eaten there several times in the past couple years. Each time is a new exprience! I am especially fond of their Plutonium Porter. We had a Thai Peanut Chicken Pizza...it has real peanuts on it. It was delicious! Cora stayed with the dogs and I picked up the pizza. I asked the bartender how long a pizza took to bake. He said about 15 minutes...I said, "So, about the amount of time it would take me to drink a beer?" He said, two if you drink fast.

We had pizza and then relaxed in the hot tub again. Again, the pool remained just a wee bit more chilly than we were prepared to subject our anatomies to. We did sit out in the lawn chairs again and watch the stars. It was really nice. I wish our house was a bit different...I guess we should have been more prescient when we bought it nine years ago.

Sunday: We had no intention to leave the house, except perhaps to add a new touch to the house, which we did not do...but may in the future, even though Emily doesn't know what it is. I spent the day reading. My book was getting progressively better. Cora watched some of the Stargate SG1 episodes on DVD that I bought her for her birthday and she took a nap or two...I read my book in the shade as the temperture rose to the mid-eighties. I DID wade in the pool a bit, since it was so hot. Still, I was not done reading and so was reluctant to put the book down...and the pool was still cold.

We came home after Emily returned and I turned on my computer. I lucked out and got a job: Kinders today. It was fun, if a bit nerve-wracking. Seems each teacher has a different way with their kids and on different years: these were different from last year's kids. I enjoyed the day, nevertheless.

I came home and mowed the lawn...if you're counting, I mowed it on Thursday and it probably needed it again Saturday. I had put the mower back in the shed at a slight angle because I was too lazy to make sure it was flat...well, some oil had gotten into the cylinder and leaked out; it did not start right away. I finally got it going after I added some more oil...a bit too much, since it smoked the whole time.

I also mde dinner, a weird, quirky collection of Asian and American dishes: Steak and Fried Rice with griled sweet onions. I apologized to Cora, but she assured me in a Friends (remember the series?) way, quoting Joey all the way: "Steak? GOOD. Fried Rice? GOOD. Onions? GOOD!" You gotta love my wife's sense of humor.

So, tomorrow I sub for sixth graders. I will be teaching the older sister of one of the kinders I taught today...funny how things work out.

I hope all had a good weekend, too! Oh, yeah. It's been 28 years since the eruption of Mt. St. Helens! Which is a mountain I don't think Cora has ever seen...but, she will elaborate on that someday.

Mother's Day Work

Yesterday we ended up buying a pine dresser for BB. It was unfinished, hence the price we paid. We deliberated for quite some time on what shade of stain to put on it (last time we painted them and we are still unhappy with that). Finally we decided on a darker stain. Cora's sister had suggested using a gel stain that you just wipe off with a rag. Since Cora was in charge of staining it, I let her decide. It turned out ok, but I think that having someone else do it would be a better alterntive.

While Cora worked, I put the last of the geraniums in th ground, put in a new soaker hose and killed some weeds. I also took some pictures of Cora working like a busy little bee.

We are both somewhat beat by our day of labor! I plan to BBQ/smoke a steak and make Cora a decent dinner. I hope everyone else has a good Mother's Day, and I also hope you will rest assured I am doing my best to make sure Cora is enjoying hers.

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!

Wednesday Salad Day

So, I enjoyed the first day of three at the intermediate school. I spent some time with the sixth grade teachers, who continue to like me...weird. I also watched over a couple advanced classes. One was to do a report on Greek Gods. They were doing research on the internet. It turns out my main job was to prevent them from printing any untoward pictures...which, remarkably, is NOT AT ALL easy when one is given the subject of ancient Greek Gods...can anyone picture them with clothes on? Please!?! Well, apparently NO ONE draws them that way!

They were sixth graders. They were my sixth graders, so they were cool about it. Not one of them tried to get anything past me. They were supposed to ask me to look at what they were printing, and they did. One was having difficulty with the goddess Artemis. Apparently it is difficult to find her with any clothes on. Personally, I find it difficult to believe it possible to shoot a bow and arrow with bare boobs without taking off a nipple...honestly, I don't think it's possible. Think about it!

Another student wanted to change gods when she discovered how complicated it would be to draw Hestia's family tree. For those of you who are Americans a few years out of school, or anyone else who does not have a degree in Classical Greece, the family tree is somewhat convoluted. Hestia's grandmother was also her great grandmother, and her son fathered the Titans with her, from which came the bother and sister couple who fathered Hestia. The girl called me over to ask how the first thing could happen. I said, "In Greek Mythology, that happened all the time." She gave a look like it was difficult for her to fathom incest...a word I inadvertently introduced her to...and I left her puzzling over how to put this in her report. A few minutes later she asked me, sheepishly, if she could choose a different god. I laughed and told her she could and I didn't blame her.

After work, I went to town and bought salad goodies. I MEAN SALAD GOODIES!! I got Zuichini, Cukes, Tomatoes, Onions, Carrots, Green Onions, Celery, Red Cabbage, Green Leaf Lettuce, Spinach...and then I used peas, bacon, feta, and Chicken to add to it. Our dressing was a personal concoction involving an orange, balsmic vinegar, olive oil, a touch of wine, and some other secret ingredients. It was...acceptable...ok, it was just plain yummy! We haven't had Salad for awhile.

Monday, My Day, and Pictures.

Today was a busy day. Well, I had to admire the photos I took during the weekend. Then I had to make sure that the space ship I fly on Facebook was still dominating my friends who also have ships (it was). Then I took a shower and got dressed and began working on the house. I cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed, wiped out the shower, and did some laundry. The worst part of my day was separating the socks.

Socks have been collectng in a laundry basket. We have both dreaded matching the socks and so, each day, we take our socks and go about our business. So, today, I took an hour...well, it seemed like an hour...and matched all the socks I could. There is still an unbelievale number of single socks in the stupid basket!

I also went to the optometrist and picked up my accursed contacts. At least the insurance picks up some of it. I have been using something called Clear Care, which has Hydrogen Peroxide in it to do away with the protien build up that collects on the contacts. Because of that stuff, my contacts have been lastng MUCH longer than the three months the package calls for. Used to be, by the third month my eyes were ready for the new ones, but this new stuff keeps them feeling good.

I did not get a sub job today, either. That was disappointing. I don't have one for tomorrow yet, either...I may need to do as Cora has been telling me for a very long time...start looking for a...dare I utter the word? Job...Eugh! Yuck! I know, it sounds disgusting to me, too.

So, I made dinner. I made a wonderful steak and some peas and carrots. Fresh carrots, frozen peas, boiled together in a yummy pairing I have never tried outside of a can. Cora gave dinner two thumb up.

Look, here is a picture of Cora on her first Ferry Boat ride.

Apparently, that beautiful young lady had never been on a real ferry (I specify because I don't include the ferry she did once ride as a REAL ferry). My wife is beautiful, there is little doubt.

This is to prove that someone admits that they were my parent. This is my mother! Don't we look like family? Note the characteristic coffee cup.

Chinese New Year Dinner and Pictures

First, the best: Piety Flats, my favorite!! Mercantile Red!

Look at it while you can, it is an endangered species in this house.

Dinner: We made stir fry and....drum roll please...Egg Rolls!!!!!! Home made! Now, our last attempt was not particularly wonderful, but this time there was perhaps an Egg Roll Fairy sitting on my shoulder while I cut the veggies. They were divine. I always forget to take pictures of the work up to dinner, but at least I remember to get pictures of the final product.

Little Miss will at least be able to enjoy an occasional Chinese-esque dinner.

Those are dips in between the food. One is Soy Sauce, Cilantro, garlic powder, cayenne, rice vinegar and lemon juice. the other is soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, dried hot mustard, and some cayenne pepper. Cora liked the former, I preferred the latter.

So, this is the Year of the Ox that we are boldly stepping into. I hope it brings us a daughter or son.

Cora has already mentioned not cleaning on the Chinese New Year. Apparently it is said to clean the good luck away...it was not until I began dinner that she decided to tell me that using sharp knives on CNY is bad luck and I thought, shoot, that's just a dumb superstition, what kind of bad luck could it be? I continued chopping happily. A few minutes later, I tried to take a piece of vegetable off my knife and promptly sliced myself. Ahh, THAT kind of bad luck. And, can you believe? Cora laughed at me! While she was putting the bandaid on my wound she was laughing at me!

At least it was a delicious dinner. Happy Chinese New Year! Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!

I had second graders today. They were considerably more annoying than last time. We spent some time discussing the best way to walk in line. We spent some time practicing quiet. We spent lots of time with our heads down. Still, it wasn't a horrible day, and I am really much nicer than some.

I walked into a class to say hi to my neighbor and she had my blog up showing someone else...(I had no idea I was SOOOOO popular!) she said she was trying to see my painting...I subbed in that class the other day and left some pictures for the kids to color, and she was trying to see...I hope I get this right...if I did other kinds of art. So, here you go Edna! These are some I did for our living room because the previous ones had grown boring.

This one I did once we got back from CA...circa 2007

This pear is the first one, I like it better than the Apple. I did this one in CA. Cora's job includes juicing such fruits, so it was my intention to showcase those.

But my paintings are not all I do. Below you see the diorama I built for my small ships. The diorama is only 5 inches by 7 inches...everything but some of the ships are hand made and painted. This diorama currently resides at the McCalister Air Museum...if you get a chance swing by. I originally just wanted to share it with a couple people who volunteer there...but ended up leaving it for a time. When I came back to reclaim it one of the gentlemen there had built a stand and put up a plaquard describing it...I decided to leave it a little longer...pride, I suppose.

My dad enjoys HO scale trains. I built this water tower for him for Christmas a couple years ago. Every piece made by me...well, shaped and painted by me. The engine is his...I needed something for scale.

Then in 2007 I built him this shop building...not the best photo, but it looked pretty good.

Then last February, for his birthday, I bought a few train cars and then proceeded to vandalize them. I used a small paint brush and emmulated the graffiti you see on them in real life. Surprisingly, they don't sell them like that. They turned out very nicely. He was happy and surprised. I don't have photos of those, though...

So, yeah, I do other things. Thanks for reading the blog! And Happy Chinese New Year!!!!

Student Teachers Rock.

Today, once again, I got some pay back. You will recall last year I expressed extreme happiness at getting to sub for someone who had a student teacher. Today, once again, I had the same experience. When I was a student teacher, substitutes would come in and read their books while I earned them a day's pay. Today, I was the sub...ahhh, sweet revenge. I actually did something, though. I helped keep the kids at bay!

I liked this ST(student teacher), though. She had...well, class. This is a class where there are actually two teachers who team teach two classes. Therefore there were two subs and one Student Teacher...Guess who did the majority of the teaching! Yep!! The Student Teacher did. Ha Ha Ha! Actually, she seemed more ready for it than I was that first few days. It was a good day. She handled BOTH classes with...well, class.

I made some suggestions about her Social Studies lesson and she decided she would base tomorrow's lesson around them. Hmm, I AM awesome. I think she will go far.

Tonight's dinner was...not quite as good as I expected. I tried to make chicken strips...but, fell short of the chicken. We had canned spinach and an unsuccessful attempt at homemade mashed potatoes...still, we gained sustainence from it...so should we complain? no. Still, at least the spinach was good.

And...the time when I stand on the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk bidding her farewell from the fleet grows near. May she find herself a memorial rather than a reef or, worse, a line of kitchen ware. January 31 beckons.

Eagle, a Bear, and a Dog.

I took Cora to work, then I had the oil changed in her car and did some running around. Then I went to lunch with her. Finally, I went home and cleaned at the house. I also took some stuff out to the shed; some books and the shelf I took down last week. Then I went back to town to return the antennae I bought last week...they didn't work.
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I think it was a pretty good day. On the way to lunch we saw two bald eagles. I pledgd to come back with a camera. Once I made it home, I worked on the house and then left again, this time with the camera.
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My travels took me onto the freeway a few times. Everytime, there was a Washington State Patrol with someone pulled over in the opposite lanes. At the end of the day I wenty to pick Cora up at work. I glanced in my mirror and there was no one behind me...then, two seconds later I glanced agan and there were some Red and Blue lights from a Sheriff closer to me than I prefered. I jumped into the right lane; out of his way as he zoomed by. Seconds later another set of lights came into view behind me. Then they shut off. This was a WSP...and apparently he was not in as much of a hurry as the Sheriff. He stopped at the light...I glanced a third time in the mirror-nothing. I pulled cautiously up next to him and snapped this picture...I did not want him to think I was taking pitures of him for my blog...but I was. That is the reason it isn't a better picture.


Cora made dinner tonight. An awesome Mac&Cheese concoction...with ham...MMMmmmmmm!!!! She is an awesome cook.
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The funny thing is, the better the meal, the less the dogs get. I think they recognize this and so both go to bizarre lengths to get some of this forbidden dinner. This is what Toby was doing to try to convince me I should give him my empty plate. Note the placement of his paws, as thought to demand the plate. He is really pretty cute.