Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Picks

Coming on the heals of my "why the Twilight movies suck" post, I found this article on Stephanie Meyer's website. It is from 2007 when they first decided to make a movie and before anyone was ever cast. Stephanie goes into who she imagines for each roll in her best-case-scenario. She includes pictures and everything!

You will note that on her list of Edward suggestions is Jackson Rathbone, who plays Jasper (and looking much better with his real hair than that ridiculous blond one he wears). I've been telling people that he would have made a better Edward than Robert. Apparently he auditioned for Edward, but didn't get the part. boo!

Also note that Stephanie makes the point (several times) that she had NO SAY in who was cast. I think she should have had some say, but I'm guessing no one knew how big this would be. If she had known, she could have held out for some control.

My Beef With The New Moon Movie

I went to the movies to see New Moon the other night with my friend Jess. We waited until Saturday to avoid the huge crowds of the first two nights. I did feel that New Moon was a better movie than Twilight was, but it still couldn’t hold a candle to the book.

I truly feel sorry for those who haven’t read the books. I don’t know how anyone could truly understand what was going on in the movies without first reading the books. There is just too much information in Stephanie Meyer’s books to fit into a two hour movie. And while I think that NM did a better job of this than T did, I still feel that the average movie-goer is really missing out on the true Twilight experience. I have compared the movies vs. the books to seeing the shadow of a person and believing that was their true self…not even seeing the actual person. So much is missed by those who don’t read the books.

I really do love the Twilight books. While Meyer’s isn’t the best writer (technically), she is a great story teller. I quickly fell in love with Edward Cullen and was right there with Bella at every heart-wrenching moment. (hey, my newest cats are even named Cullen and Bella!). The movies, however, leave much to be desired.

Twilight
I have two main problems with T (the movie): Time and Robert Pattinson. I’ll get to “Rob” in a minute.

Time – You may wonder what in the world I’m referring to…unless you both read the book and watched the movie. Then you probably understand exactly what I’m talking about. The movie does a terrible job showing the passage of time. To anyone who hadn’t read the books, it would seem as if Edward and Bella only knew each other for a short time. It really seems to be just a matter of a few days to a few weeks at most. How in the world could two people fall so deeply in love in such a short time? This is the movies biggest downfall in my opinion. I’ve spoken to many people (mostly students) who only watched the movie, and they just didn’t get why these two people would have such a strong connection. And why would you? The passage of time is shown in just a few clips of the movie, without any real explanation that a significant amount of time is passing.

The other major problem I have with the movies is Robert Pattinson. I have to admit that I just don’t get it. I fell in love with Edward, and Robert Pattinson is no Edward. He is nothing like Meyer’s describes in her books. Vampires are supposed to be better looking than any movie star or model, and yet they couldn’t even come up with a good-looking movie star. I won’t go so far as to say that Rob is ugly, but he does have a smooshed in face and a very crooked nose, not to mention the fact that he usually looks either half asleep or completely high in all his pictures. I’m not even going to get into the fact that he’s not a very good actor (neither is Kristen Stewart, the girl who plays Bella).

A few quotes from the book:
“…their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.”
“…their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel.”

Several of my students have asked who I would choose to replace good ol’ Rob. That’s a tough question because I don’t know who the unknown actors are. To be able to really search for an actor on the internet, you have to either already know who they are, or they need to be famous already, and I know that the studio wanted unknown actors for these roles. Besides, I’m old and anyone I can come up with is probably too old to play the part anyway.

But by all means...judge for yourself...

Bathe much?

The face of an angel...what kind we don't know.

And this is Robert dressed up, so we know he's supposed to look good here...

Beyond my hang-ups with Robert as Edward, I also have major problems with the make-up people for the Twilight movies. According to Meyers the vampires are supposed to have beautiful skin. Like porcelain. Not like caked-up 80 year-old women. I think they would have been better off just changing the actors skin coloring with CGI effects. You can tell that they are covered in make-up and it makes them look more like a corpse at a funeral than a beautiful angel.

These problems with the movie wouldn't bother me this much if I didn't love the books as much as I do. I highly recommend the books, but don't watch the movies without reading the books. You won't have any idea the true nature of these timeless characters.

My Superiority

Okay, so maybe I'm not actually a superior being, but...

I am one of those people that has very specific views and opinions. But it's worse than that. I find myself thinking that anyone who disagrees with me on most subjects is either stupid or ignorant.

I'm sure that's a really bad way to think, but I can't really help it. I chalk it up to that fact that my opinions and beliefs are so strong. AND that it's a family trait. Bad genes I guess (or good, depends on how you look at it).

Let me give you some examples:

• Politics - although, to be fair, most people who have strong political feelings think that people who don't think as they do are stupid.
• How to raise children - Yes...I KNOW I don't have kids, but that doesn't mean that I don't have to deal with the fall-out of terrible parenting on a daily basis as a teacher.
• Religious beliefs - I believe what I believe because I believe it's right...so there!

Those are some big ones, but basically any opinionated topic, I believe I'm 100% right and everyone else is stupid or ignorant. Sorry.

Why I Can't Sleep At Night...or...Wolf Spider Babies

So did you read the title for this post? Really...that does say it all. However, I will tell you a long and convoluted version of what my post title really said oh, so succinctly...

Rewind to Saturday night: As I snuggled down into my covers on that chilly fall night, I noticed what I perceived to be a hairball on the covers over my chest. My cat, Bella, has long hair and has a tendency to shed large hairballs. I flicked the covers to move the hairball...and watched it scuttle away. SCUTTLE!!! Hairballs aren't supposed to scuttle.

The lights were still on, and I looked down and saw a giant spider sitting on my Kindle. It was HUGE and brown. My first inclination when I see spiders is to get a tissue and pick up the spider, squishing it in the tissue before throwing it away. There was no way I was doing that with this big of a spider. It was every bit of 3 inches across. Before I could get something to kill it, the spider went under my bed.

Now, I don't keep a bunch of stuff under my bed. At the time there was a duffel bag and a clear, plastic comforter bag. However, I couldn't find that spider anywhere.

I was understandably freaked out. I hadn't been able to really inspect the spider, but I remember it being all bumpy looking and wondering to myself if those were baby spiders on its back...but I dismissed that as crazy-thinking.

Fast-forward (although we're still in the past here...) to Monday night. As I was pulling back the covers and checking for spiders, the huge spider came out from under my covers (MY COVERS!!) and stopped at the edge of the bed. As I went to go get a shoe (the tissue method was out), my cat jumped at the spider and it went under the bed...again. I got on my knees with my Converse in hand, but still couldn't find the spider. I then spent a restless night sleeping, but that was nothing compared to what was coming.

I started talking to people at work about my spider problem. Work reactions did not make sleeping any easier. Then I did the worst thing possible...I Googled "large brown spider". I found a spider website and couldn't really find anything that looked like my spider. The closest thing was a Wolf Spider, but it just didn't look big enough or bumpy enough. Then I found it...

Oh, yeah... A wolf spider with babies all over its back! BABIES! Around 100 spider babies! Oh my gosh!

Now I really couldn't sleep. What if all the babies decided to leave the mother ship? Every time I laid down, I would imagine those baby spiders crawling all over me! It's been terrible. I keep thoroughly checking my bed. I mean, this spider thinks my bed is its house! I did find a wolf spider trapped in my tub Thursday morning and killed it, but I'm sure it wasn't as big as that mother spider with all the babies.


I decided I was going to have to bomb the house if I didn't kill or catch (I'm afraid to try to kill it because I doubt hitting it with my Chucks is going to kill all those babies!) the spider in the next few days. So, I picked up a bug and spider bomb (3 actually) at Wal-Mart tonight. I'm going to try to bomb the house while I'm at my parents' house tomorrow. At least it'll make me feel better!

Wish me luck!

The Perils of Online Ordering

I hope to never have to order things online for other people ever again.

My father is getting ready for his annual elk hunting trip and wanted me to find him a specific hand-held GPS online. Dad doesn't do the internet and Mom has a hard time ordering stuff online because of their slow dial up connection. That meant that Dad asked me to find and order the GPS for him. As if finding one and going back and forth as to if he should get a refurbished one or a new one (he went with the new one), wasn't enough trouble, he then wanted me to order one for his buddy that was going with him. I guess Ted also can't get online and order stuff for himself. Ted wanted a refurbished one, which meant I had to order from two different sites.



Fast forward a week later...neither GPS had arrived. Dad was in a panic. I told him that his could take up to 8 business days, so he wasn't too worried, but Ted's should have arrived already. Well, it gets worse... When ordering the GPS units I had to create an account on each site. I decided I didn't want to get emails from these places, so I put the accounts under my Dad's name and email. Only I got the email wrong. I thought his and Mom's gmail account was the same as their Socket (their service provider) account, but it wasn't. So I ended up having all the order and tracking info sent to an email address that we didn't have access to. Yep...stupid, I know. I didn't realize what kind of problems that would cause or I would have double-checked the email address or just used my info.

I didn't even save the web site addresses of the places I bought the units from. I had to go into the history of my computer and try to figure out which sites I bought from. I looked up the contact information and gave the numbers to my mom so she could call them. But she waited until today...almost 2 weeks after I originally ordered them. One place she couldn't get a hold of, but the other said that the order was canceled. She neglected to figure out which order was which. However, I was supposed to re-order it.

After doing some more research (and to make a long story short..er), I found out that I was mistaken on the two sites that I had used and as to which was which. Both sites had canceled the orders for various (stupid) reasons...which I would have known about if there hadn't been the whole email address debacle.

I was so frustrated. I was mad at myself for the whole email problem, then I was mad that Dad didn't just order his own stuff. I was mad that Mom didn't ask more questions when she called the company.

In the end, we got them re-ordered and they'll be here in time for the guys to figure them out (hopefully) before they leave for Colorado.

I hope I never have to do something like this again!

Ms. Fixit and the Weird Smells

There has been a weird smell in and around my kitchen for several days now. The smell reminded me of mouse urine. Yep...mouse urine. I'm not even going to go into how I know what that smells like, but I have cats that like to bring in mice to play with...sometimes the mice escape. 'Nuf said.

I decided to take everything out of the pantry, get rid of any out-dated food and clean everything. Add to that the fact that the middle shelf in the pantry has been about to come crashing down at any minute because of a screw that is loose, and it was time to do something about the pantry. I took all the food out a shelf at a time.

Here's the Before Pantry

Here's the stuff from my bottom shelf

Here's the stuff from my middle shelf - along with the shelf!

Here's everything that's getting thrown away.

When I went to figure out how to fix the shelf that was about to crash onto the pantry floor, I found that it wasn't because the weight of the food, but because of shotty building. Apparently the builder who put in the shelves tightened the anchor too much and put a huge hole in the sheet rock. Instead of replacing the sheet rock like he should have done, he just put a small piece of wallboard over the hole and screwed the shelf onto that wallboard that was about 1/8 inch thick. The ONLY thing holding up the shelf on that side was the second screw.



I was soooo... mad. Why in the world anyone would think that would actually hold any weight for an extended period of time. What a lazy way to fix something.

It took me awhile to finally figure out how to fix it. I tend to be a fix-it person. I always work to fix things myself. I tend to be a handy-woman. The ability to fix things without the proper tools or supplies is one of the genes I've gotten from my dad, so I got out the toolbox and started digging through it to find some way to fix the shelf without having to move all the shelving braces to a new spot in the wall. In the end, I just got a new anchor and used it along with the aforementioned piece of wallboard.

The "After" look

After getting everything put back into the pantry, I decided to mop the floors. It was while mopping the floors that I finally figured out where I think the smell was coming from. I just turned the heater on this week, and remembered that I hadn't cleaned the filters yet this year.

The filters actually looked like they hadn't been cleaned in over a year. I don't know when the last time I cleaned off the filters was, but it's done now and I'm hoping the smell is gone with the dust!

UPDATE: After cleaning the filters, I've decided it wasn't the filters that was causing the smell. It was two sacks of nonburnable jars and cans that I had in the pantry. I'm waiting for a good time to drive them down to the dump. I didn't want to put them on the back porch because animals get into them. I didn't think they would smell because the jars had lids and the cans were rinsed out. Or at least I thought they were rinsed out...

Please Tell Me Why...

I have a question to pose...why do students not care about their grades? I mean, that has to be the only reason they don't do their work after I spend days explaining how to, then give them a handout that explains how to (just in case they forgot or weren't listening), then give them a book that explains how to and THEY STILL WON'T/DON'T DO THE WORK!!!

Honestly...why? I just don't understand. My students are working on their research papers. Today their notes and works cited were due (150 points) at the beginning of the hour and 90% of the students didn't have them done. I gave them until the end of the hour (my plan all along), but after 7 days of computer time to research and work on notes, most were still completely unprepared. How hard is it to look at the text citation information given to you (via the database source; this is information like: author, title, publisher, etc.) and compare it to the instructions for putting it in MLA format. It is literally just plugging your information (which was provided for them; they didn't have to go find it themselves) into the provided format. This takes no English abilities. It's just following instructions. Regardless if a kid ever plans on having to research anything ever again, they do need to know how to follow instructions.

I HATE research paper time...more than the kids ever will. It is full of whining, complaining, me having to end up doing part of the papers myself, and, of course, the grading, grading, grading. Why these kids think I do it for fun is beyond me. As if!

So, if anyone out there has any suggestions as to why kids act this way or how I can combat it or fix it, let me know!

I'm A Reader Again!

I love to read. I always have. My earliest childhood memories always include me reading something. I would escape my own life and become someone else by just opening the pages of a book.

I still love to read, but somehow I have relegated reading to that 10 minutes right before I go to bed. Every once in awhile over the last few years, I would get a hold of a really compelling book and read for hours at a time. Most of the Harry Potter books were read strait through with only a short nap to sustain me through the hours of reading. However, that was not the usual, and 10 minutes a day was just not enough for me, and so I have been feeling the pull of reading.

There are still times when I want, need, or simply, love, escaping my own life and becoming someone else. Maybe this is why I tend toward Fantasy and Regency fiction. I love the regal lives of the British aristocracy and the glimpses of life among the elves and faeries. Both are totally opposite of my small town reality.

I have been reading much more lately, spending an average of 45 minutes a night reading. And I'm loving it! Today, when I got home, instead of turning on the TV and vegging out to relax from work, I turned on my Kindle and spent almost 2 hours finishing the book I was reading.

I've been taking advantage of all the free Kindle books on Amazon. I have to be careful, because many of them are the first in a series that are designed to suck you in so you purchase the rest of the books in the series. I love a good series, but I don't want to have to be buying that many books. Still, there are a lot of free Kindle books out there by new authors or authors who want you to be introduced to their genre or style of writing and are willing to give away a few books to do so. I am actually starting a series right now, but with the first book free and the other 2 under $4 each, it's still a pretty good deal if I decide to read all three books.

I have gotten skunked a time or two with the free books. There are a few that I never read past the first chapter or so, and one that I read all the way through waiting for it to get good (it never did), but I've discovered some great books as well.

So, if you're a reader who has lost your way, pick up a good book and start reading again! There are lots of sites to help recommend good books, or just take a chance. Sometimes, a book IS as good as its cover suggests!

I'm Getting Behind Again!

Sorry folks (all 3 of my readers). I've been getting behind in my posting again. I keep thinking of things to write about, but not when I'm around my computer.

Let me just talk about how I'm having to treat one of my classes like a bunch of little kids. Our school is a consolidated school and isn't in the middle of either town. Because of that, the drivers are not released at 3:00. Instead, they are held in classes until all the buses have gotten well away from the high school. This is probably due to the fact that teenagers are terrible drivers, especially when getting away from the place they dislike the most!

I have always felt that this 12 minutes or so was the kids' time and I just let them talk among themselves as long as it didn't get out of hand. Not this year! This year my 7th hour class has about 5 boys in it that are good friends. Their idea of being a good friend is to constantly harass, bully, put-down and make fun of each other. Which would be fine...if they weren't doing it in my class. It is hard enough to keep them from doing it during class time, but it was impossible once the bus riders had left the room.

I'm not sure why boys (and these are worse than any I've seen before) feel it is necessary to put each other down and make fun of each other all the time. There's a lot of "mama" jokes and calling each other names...all in the sake of fun. Add into the mix that these boys HATE English.They are country boys through and through and do not see any need for English class. "I speak good English, what do I need that class fer?"

Anyway...they were behaving terribly during this down time. After some consultations with the principal and vice principal, we decided the class should be kept busy, even though class was over.

I have chosen SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). During SSR time, there is absolutely NO TALKING! And no grade, so it's not like they are doing an extra assignment that the other students who ride a bus don't have to do. Boy do they HATE this. None of these kids are readers to begin with. I am even reading with them.

I gave them a week to get used to the idea with me shushing them and reminding them not to talk before I finally wrote two boys up (discipline referral) on Friday for talking (one was trying to ask me a question). SSR = NO TALKING! They are even more fired up about it now. But they were good today. They grumbled, but once I told them that we were starting and the anyone who talked would be written up, they all started reading (or at least pretending to read).

I've told them if they can go a reasonable length of time (I'm thinking 2 weeks), without causing troubles in class, I will consider doing something besides SSR at the end of the day. They have yet to be able to go a full day without someone talking smack to someone else.

Teachers just aren't paid enough. As it is I spend countless hours preparing lessons and grading papers, but it's discipline and classroom management issues like these that really show we're not paid enough. Just because your "little angel" is fine at home, doesn't mean that they act the same way when in a room with multiple hormone producing kids their age!

Technology In A Classroom Without Computers?

I love technology. I may not be super experienced with new technology, I manage to get by. I am currently working on creating a wiki page for my English classes as well as a Twitter site. I wish my kids were as excited about technology as I am. It is hard to get them excited about it when they have limited access to computers at school.

I have two student computers, neither of which are even hooked up. I may go ahead and hook them up, but it's such a waste of space considering how slow they are. There are a few computers (6 if they all work) in the library. The kids can go in there before school, but they don't like that because they have to be quiet. We have a computer lab, but the students aren't allowed in there without a teacher (although they often do anyway).

Many of my students are able to access a computer at some point in time during the day, but some do have to make the extra effort to do so. I'd guess that about 60% of my kids have internet access at home, with a few more having computers without internet access.

None of the tech issues stop me from trying to bring technology into the classroom. I have a teacher web site that I pay $30 a year for even though the kids never use it. I'm going to make my honors students use the wiki page though. I have to finish it, then test to make sure it won't be blocked on the school computers. I'm going to post a new question each week that the students will have to comment on. They will have a week to log on, so they should be able to find time and a computer at some point in the week.

I have also started a Twitter account for just my English classes. I'm going to post updates about upcoming assignments and due dates. I'm pretty sure Twitter is blocked on the student computers, but they can access it at home if they want to use it. I think it would be a really cool way for kids to get reminders on when assignments are due.

We'll see how all of this goes. I've had technology ideas like this before that go to the wayside because it's too hard for the kids to participate.

Are We Really This Old?

I went to my 15 year reunion last night. It was fun. I liked that it was low-key because we were just meeting up and hanging out at the homecoming game. I got to see friends that I haven't seen in years! There were a few key people missing that I wish could have (would have) made it. There were also a few surprises... Especially one of the guys from our class who showed up in chains and face paint (white face with black markings)...creepy!

For the most part everyone seemed the same, just a little older. It was funny because those that were there were still forming the old cliques. In high school there was a large group of us that hung out together, but within that group, there were smaller groups of "besties". It all felt familiar and surreal at the same time.

Can't wait for the 20th!

Here We Go Again!!!

Well, I have satellite problems again. Big surprise.

I have two DirecTv satellites: one for local channels and one for all the other channels. My local channels satellite has been going out for quite awhile now. It just loses its signal for no reason. All I have to do is reset the receiver and the satellite works again. It's been doing this about every 3 months for the last 3 years. Until last night.

Now it is doing it all the time! I reset it and the signal is lost in about 5 - 10 minutes. AARRRGGG!!! It's almost time for all the network shows to start back up again. And I'm Going To Miss Them!

To give you a little background: I have an OLD Tivo Receiver. DirecTv hasn't been in business with Tivo for YEARS! I have refused to upgrade because that would mean giving up my Tivo for just regular DVR. Which, by the way, is NOT the same thing. I've been trying to hold out until the new (long awaited) DirecTv HD Tivo receiver comes out. Originally it was rumored to be coming out late this year, but has now been pushed back to sometime next year. And I'm pretty sure my time has run out.

I was on the phone with the DirecTv guy and after explaining the whole situation, we got cut off. Which of course meant that I had to explain ALL OVER AGAIN!

The second guy set me up with a technician to come out on Saturday (sometime between the hours of noon and 4pm!) to check my receiver and satellite set up. That way I know if I have to upgrade or not. I'm afraid if I upgrade now, I'll have to pay to upgrade to the Tivo receiver when it comes out instead of getting it as a free upgrade later. But if it is because I have an old satellite that needs to be replaced, then I won't be able to get local channels (and they won't let you get networks any other way...I tried that once). Also, I was told (by guy #1) it could be because my satellite can't get updates because it's not hooked to a phone line. I asked a DirecTv person about that before getting rid of my phone line and they said it would be okay, but this guy said the old Tivo receivers updated through the phone line, not the satellite signal.

Right now I'm actually getting to watch The Office. I'm not sure why, but it has been holding a signal for the whole show. I haven't switched channels or anything because I'm afraid it'll mess something up.
So there you have it.

We'll see what happens after the technician comes on Saturday.

Check This Out!

http://www.animalswithlightsabers.com/

Animals with lightsabers...I needn't say anymore.

Still Here...I Promise

I've been so busy at school this week that I haven't made time to blog when I get home. The last two days I didn't get home until around 7pm. And of course today I'm only home for about as hour before leaving for church.

I'm really enjoying my "new" church. I'm learning so much about the Bible and God's plan for us. I've quickly become part of the family again and am making new friends as well as catching up with old friends.

This weekend is my 15th high school reunion. I have mixed feeling about it. I'm not married with kids, and while I'M okay with that, others might pity me. Also there's the weight gain (but that's not unusual). At least it's pretty informal. We're just meeting at the homecoming game for some tailgating.

That brings up a whole other can of worms. I work for a rival school that is doing WAY BETTER than my old high school. Which I'm torn about because my cousin is their football coach! Ouch! The school I work for are district champs and looking real good this year as well...my hometown team is finding it hard to win any games.

So lots of stuff going on, just not a lot of time to blog about it. I'll try to do better!

Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

No LABORing ToDAY

Happy Labor Day! Does anyone else think it is ironic that most people get Labor Day off? Shouldn't we be laboring? I'm just glad it is one holiday that we still get out of school for. Of course, many schools haven't even started yet, but here in the good ol' Ozarks, we are starting week four!

I had a great weekend. My best friend come home from North Carolina. I hadn't been able to see her in since January. I'm glad that she was about to come home over the long weekend because that meant that I could spend both Saturday and Monday with her. It's nice to have someone that you can just hang out with. No entertaining, no having to make big plans. We just do what we normally would do...but together. I miss having that. Stupid new husband taking her away because he works for the Air Force... GRRRR!

Here's hoping you had a great weekend too!

Summer in Review

I’m Back! I took the summer off from blogging. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the time, just that I found that I had other things I wanted to do; plus it is hard for me to do something like blogging when I’m out of my every day routine.

I had a really eventful summer…not. It was just a nice, relaxing summer vacation (once I finished with summer school) with nothing too pressing to do. I did, however, have quite a few summer adventures.

• My back started bugging me again this summer and I decided that my 40 plus-year-old mattress wasn’t helping anything, so I decided to buy a new mattress. After finding a super comfortable mattress, and spending $640 dollars on it, I found out that it was way too soft for my back. Plus, it also made my neck hurt! I sleep on my stomach and my new pillow-top, soft, foam mattress was making my back and neck arch too much. They won’t take back the mattress, so now I am going to have to sell it on Craig’s List. One of my projects for tomorrow is setting up an account and getting the add put in. I spent today switching mattresses with an old one Mom had. She’s going to show my new mattress to perspective buyers for me. I don’t trust having strangers come to my house because I live alone. Hope it sells soon so I can buy a new mattress…again.

• I went on a trip with the youth group to CIY (Christ in Youth) as a sponsor. This was my third (and final) year going. I think I get just as much out of it as the kids do. I’ve always loved going. I do, however, hate having to sleep in dorm rooms for a week. I’m not used to having to share a room or a bathroom

• One of my big adventures of the summer was to switch churches. I have placed my membership back in the Baptist church that I grew up in and in which my brother is now a preacher. I had been going to both my old church and FBC (First Baptist Church) for about a year. My old church had services before Sunday School, so I would leave after services to drive to FBC and go to their services. I really love how my brother preaches. He really feeds off the reaction of the congregation, switching what he says based on whether or not he thinks people are understanding. Also, he really teaches the Bible. He digs deep, then explains how the chosen passage is still relevant today. It’s awesome! I decided to stay at my old church through the summer so I could finish out the year with the youth. I had been working as a youth sponsor for two years, and I didn’t want to leave them in the middle of the year. However, I didn’t feel like I was really a member of either church the way I was bouncing around, not going to Sunday School in either church. I felt as if God was telling me it was a time for a change. FBC is growing and I can be of use there. Already, I have been put in charge of the audio-visual aspect of services. My official title is Audio Visual Coordinator! I’m really loving it and totally feel like I made the right decision, even though it was a difficult one to make. I’m really going to miss my friends at my old church.

I’m hoping that I can get back into the groove of blogging. I keep thinking of things I want to blog about, but since I haven’t done my “summer in review”, I didn’t feel like I could blog. This is by no means all that has happened over the summer, but just the big things.

Hope you come back!

Back With A New Look

I took an unannounced hiatus from blogging over the summer. It had nothing to do with not having time; I just didn't feel like spending my vacation blogging.

Well, now I'm back, and I've brought a new look with me. Actually, I think I tried this out for a few days when I created the background, but didn't stick with it for long.

I will be posting a "What I did during my summer vacation" post in the next few days, so check back soon!

Into The Sunrise

It's so much fun driving strait into the sun every morning...and not at all dangerous!
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Now I Remember...

This week I am at CIY (Christ in Youth) Move conference. It's really a high energy, deep week of learning about and worshiping The Lord for high school students. This is my 3rd year going as a sponsor and I really love it, but...
I now remember the things I don't like about Move:
1. Communal living...aka: roommates and shared bathrooms.
2. Walking EVERYWHERE! This year our dorms are about a mile from everything else.
3. Meal lines and trying to find a place to sit with your group.
It's not much to sacrifice for such a wonderful experience, but I'm already tired of sweating and my back hurting!
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Sexy Man?

I spent most of the day driving from one town to another to get various things and run errands. While at Wal-Mart this morning, I parked next to this vehicle. When I saw the sticker of the middle-aged man in a ball-cap sporting a beer I belly, I about died laughing! I just HAD to take a picture!

I also made a 200 mile round trip for a new iPod. None of the stores close to my small town had one that was a 32 gig Touch... I didn't have time to wait for it to come in the mail because I leave for a week-long trip on Monday, and I wanted it for the trip. I was pleased to find out that I could get a 2 year Best Buy warranty that would cover everything but total emersion in liquid. That way if this iPod gets 'wet' because ofcondensation, it's covered!
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There's A Storm A Brewin'

I'm out feeding calves and it looks like there is one wopper of a storm coming. I'm really not sure I'll be able to get done before it starts pouring. I'm praying that I do, and that there's no lightening!
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Chores

So I'm now doing part of my Mom'sz daily chores. Annie (the calf) gets bottle fed and gets to eat some grain. I don't remember what happened to her mother, but she's an orphan...and cripled. She's gets to eat grain out of the bucket because the other calves bully her and won't let her next to the creep feeder where they get fed.

There are tons of flies out here and they are driving me nuts, but as soon as Annie is done eating I will feed thhe rest of the cows and calves and then I'm done. I'm lucky today because none of the rest of the cows are trying to get into Annie's bucket. It's probably because Mom's not here and they're not used to me.

My mom has four people doing the chores she normally does. She didn't want to make any one person do all the chores because they take around two hours to do.
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It's A Small Town 4th of July!

I thought I would show everyone a pictorial of our local 4th of July parade. This is the first time in years that I've been to a parade in town. Mom and I went to see the kids because they were on the church float. We always have really good seats because my grandparents live right next to parking lot where all the floats line up which means we are right at the beginning of the parade route.

Everyone's getting ready for the parade in the parking lot by my grandmother's house.

There were planes and helicopters flying overhead...not sure why.

This is my brother's church's float. It is based on their Vacation Bible School theme.

One of the big draws for the parade was trying to get 100 clowns. I HATE clowns. They are not funny; they're scary. Am I the only person who's seen Stephen King's It?

Betsy Ross drove by. Notice the guy driving the truck is sticking his tongue out at me.

One of the local churches decided to show their patriotism by decorating their float as a deer/turkey stand... only in the Ozarks!

Right before this picture, Lady Liberty stuck her tongue out at me!
I told her it wasn't very Lady Liberty-like.

This clown scared me the most...and it came right up to me while I was holding my nephew. Scared me to death.

Laura Ingalls Wilder showed up.

Yes...it is exactly what it looks like.

For some reason, there are always people driving 4-wheelers...

Here's some patriotic people!

Ronald Regan, James Monroe and Honest Abe all came by.

Here is the cult/commune that lives down the road from me. They always walk in the parades.

This lady is dressed as Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross

Of course the horses always end the parade...and leave behind presents.

It was fun watching the parade, especially when you know most of the people in the parade. I had several float drivers who stuck their tongues out at me...one picked his nose for the camera. We were sitting in my great-grandmother's driveway right at the beginning of the parade and had my youngest nephew with us. Everybody threw candy at him, and he also got a fireman's hat and a wooden plane. He waved at everybody that went by; it was so cute. Now I can't wait for the next parade!

All The Crazy Things

I've had so much going on lately, but at the same time, not much really. I've had the last two weeks off. There have been a few days here and there where I had things to do (mostly involving that stupid fireworks stand...baaahhhh!), but mostly it's been up to me to decide what I want to do, how much I want to do...that sort of thing.

I've done a lot of reading. I love to read and I don't take much time during the school year to do so. I read every day, but usually just about 10 minutes before I go to bed; nothing substantial. I've stayed up late twice this last week reading into the wee hours of the morning. It's nice to be able to do that once in awhile. Hmmm...that reminds me, I've really got to update my list of books read on my blog...

I've had the whole cat-sickness-thing going. For over a week now my cats have had this terrible cold. They have sneezing fits that are sometimes scary. Then there is Noel who came back home after being lost for over a week. I am so happy she's home, but she has obviously been in a fight and her eye looks terrible. I started them all on antibiotics today and have been putting medicine in her eye. The swelling has gone down, but now it's all full of puss...yuck. I'm just praying she doesn't lose her eye. At this point, I don't think that's going to happen, but...

Noel the day she came home.

Then there has been the convergence of the commune down the road. They keep buzzing by my house at 60 miles an hour...as if it's not a gravel road and people don't live on there! I swung by on Thursday to see how many people were there; it wasn't as crowded as I've seen it in the past. I've seen it so crowded that the entire field is full of tents and RVs.


I've spent two separate days bleaching the floors and surfaces. One day I worked on the kitchen and just yesterday I worked on the bathroom. I can't do too much at once because the bleach smell is overwhelming and probably toxic at some point. I did get a lot done and feel so much better about the house. I'm not a cleaner by nature, but I grew up in my Mom's sterile house, so I sort of crave cleanliness...I just don't produce it on my own. While I was cleaning the bathroom, I decided to get the hard water build up off my shower head. It's really easy...all you have to do is tie a baggy full of vinegar over the shower head. The vinegar removes the hard water build up...no scrubbing!

Before/During

After

Next week will be my last chock-full week of the summer because it is Junior High camp. Although I don't have to be out at camp all day, I like to be out there as much as possible during high school and junior high weeks, so I probably won't be home much next week. After next week, I'll be out at camp a few days a week, but probably not all day long. I'm hoping to get more books read! And...more house cleaning done. Plus there is still the big project of the summer...Painting! I really need to get my bedroom and living room painted this summer.

Well, I guess that's it for now. We'll see how much trouble I get into this coming week...

The Cult Bus

As I was driving home, down my county road, I caught a glimpse of yellow coming my way. I knew immediately what it was...it was the cult bus! Luckily I was close to a field entrance because they drive way too fast down the road and it would have been hard for that bus and my car to both fit on the road...I probably would have been ran off the road. I'm sure they were headed to thge river. A couple of years ago I was in my yard as they were coming back from the river and there were people sitting on the top of the bus yelling and whooping and taking pictures. Crazy city folk.



Their annual summer retreat is in full swing this weekend and there are hippies and Hindus everywhere. I believe the 'cult', as I call it, is actually a new age Hindu commune. The people that run it wear long orange robes and are Indian (not the Native American kind). They are nice and don't bug anyone, but I hate this summer retreat. There are city people from all over the country, along with the young hippies, that converge right next to my house. They drive up and down the road (that my cats like to nap on) at high speed and have been known to pick all the blackberries along OUR fence line. And there will be at least one night this weekend where I'll be able to hear music and other stuff coming through the woods because they set up speakers outside. It's just all really annoying!

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Found!!!

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Noel has been missing for over a week. I just found her outside. She's been hurt and her left eye is swollen shut, but I've looked at it and I think it will be fine, but may take her to the vet tomorrow if it looks worse. I'm not sure what kind of animal she's gotten into a fight with. I'm just glad she's back...I had counted her as lost forever.
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The Worst Shopping Trip Ever or My Stupid Back

I am currently sitting by myself in my SiL's van outside the discount grocery store. Why? Because my back went out on me. When we shop we each take a kid and I had my niece. I went to put her in the shopping cart and almost dropped her when a searing pain ripped theough my back. It's been bothering me the last few days and was pretty bad this morning, but I've learned to live with it and just keep moving. Now I'm begging for pain killers and muscle relaxers. I'm just hoping that I can drive the 2 miles from my Mom's house to my house.

Oh how I hate my back!!!
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It's Hay Season!

Hay season is now in full swing around here. Everywhere you go you will see hay fields in some state of the haying process: newly cut, teddered, raked, baled or growing for the next cutting. My parents have spent all their time the last week or so working in the hay fields...mom especially.

I love driving down the road and seeing all the fields dotted with round bales. It's such a wonderful part of summer, human ingenuity and God's creation. I just love it.

This last week it has been too hot to drive around with your windows down, but normally I love doing that when driving by fields where people are out there cutting, teddering, raking and baling the hay...the smell is WONDERFUL!!! It's the smell of summer, of the country, of my childhood bulding forts in the hay barn among the square bales.

I just wanted to share with you a small portion of the small world around me. I'm hoping to be able to get out and get pictures of the various stages of the haying process during the next cutting. If I do, I will be sure to post them with explanations of each stage.

So Far This Summer

The summer is finally here for me and I find myself staying away from the computer more and more...hence the long absence. I thought I would give a glimpse into what I've been doing the last few weeks.

• I finally finished summer school! I am so glad about that. It's good money, but it's a long 12 days.
• So far I've been out at high school camp and Intermediate camp (5th and 6th grade). I was out at hs camp every day after school, but didn't go out to intermediate camp but a few days.
• It rained and rained and rained until everyone was sick of it, now it is unnaturally hot with no real rain in sight. I warned people they would be begging for rain, but that's how it always is in the Ozarks! Now it has been in the 90s all week with heat indexes of well over a 100 degrees!
• I spent two days this week getting together the fireworks stand for our church youth group. It's a fundraiser they are trying for the first time. It was hot and miserable. There was too much work for the few people we had there, as well as being a disorganized mess. Needless to say, I will not be having anything to do with one next year (if they decide to do it again).
• Last week I took my (almost 5-year-old) niece out on a "date", just the two of us. We had fun going out to eat and shop. Today I took my 3-year-old nephew out on a "date". We went to McDonalds, the farm store, the western store and most importantly, John Deere. He got to pick out a toy tractor. He had a blast, and so did I.
• This was my first real week off, even though I did have stuff I was committed to doing (fireworks mostly) a few days. I managed to get a bunch of stuff done around the house, but at a leisurely pace that allowed me to read and watch movies as well.
• I haven't had internet access for the last few days because I exceeded my allowable bandwidth. I hate that I have to pay twice what the average person pays for internet access and then I am limited to how much I can use. It's ridiculous. My access was only supposed to slow down because of my overage, but I lost all signal. I called a little over an hour ago and upgraded my service package so I could have more bandwidth and higher speeds as well. Hopefully, that will help. I really only need the extra bandwidth during the summer and winter breaks when I am home more and thus on the computer more, but...

Anyway, that's about all I can think of right now. Nothing too exciting happening here. I will try to be a little bit more on top of things, but it is the summer and I promise nothing!

Head Sweat - or - Why I look like the Wicked Witch of the West

Update (9/13/10) -   I found a great cure: Maxim  It is a roll-on deodorant that clogs your pores and stops the sweating! Check it out. Seriously!

Man do I hate to sweat. Which is really unfortunate considering I have a genetic defect that means my head sweats all the time. I affectionately call it head-sweat. All it takes is a one degree shift in temperature or being anxious, frustrated, or upset in any way and I end up looking like the Wicked Witch of the West after Dorthy throws that bucket of water on her.



It's really unfair because I know people look at me like it's somehow my fault that my hair is soaking wet with sweat. I would do something about it if I could. Unfortunately they don't make antiperspirant for your head. Maybe I should invent shampoo and conditioner with antiperspirant in it...

Today was especially bad because of the humidity. It was around 100% today, and it made me feel like I was swimming through the air instead of walking through it. The thermometer said it was in the lower 90s, but the humidity makes it feel like it's over 100 outside. You should have seen me when I was outside re-potting plants; 10 minutes and I had sweat dripping in my eyes. Never mind...I'm glad no one saw me like that!

This Town is Closed

Okay...so the town isn't really closed, but sometimes it feels like it is slowly closing up shop one store at a time. I decided to do a little pictorial layout of some of the closed stores in town. It's amazing how many businesses go in and out every year. Of course, every once and a while, there is a new business that manages to make it past the first year or so. Ironically, someone built a new strip mall (with only four shopping spaces) on the outskirts of town and Subway moved right in. I'm hoping it will stick around...Blimpie didn't. I'm not sure why a store would move in to the new buildings when no one wants to set up shop in the other buildings.

By the way...I took these pictures as I was driving down main street, so they aren't the best quality, but you get the picture.

A guy I went to high school with tried to sell used cars here, but nobody bought them.

Yet another old gas station/auto garage. Every once in awhile there will be someone new open this place up, but it never lasts.

This corner store has been a lot of things. Video store (moved to new location), coffee house (failed), pizza parlor (moved to new location) and most recently a bakery that didn't make it through the first year.

I can't even remember what business this building most recently held.

This is a clothing store that just went out of business last winter after being around for as long as I can remember. I only went in there once, and I don't think many people shopped there. They are using it for storage right now. They still have another store in a neighboring town.

This was a gas station once and has also been an auto garage at various times.

This once was the main convenience store in town. Most people got their gas there and it was the only place to get a soda, etc. It started dying out after a chain convenience store (Casey's) came to town.

This was built to be the offices of the motel behind it, but most recently it was a tanning place. It closed up after the owner was found out to be an embezzler and went to jail. Not sure where I'm going to tan this year...

The space on the left held a barber shop forever, but they moved across the street to a larger building. The space on the right has been several things, but I mostly remember it as a realty place. I don't think anything has been in it for quite some time.

This is what happens to a town when the local business owners won't let a Wal-Mart come into town because they are afraid of it hurting business. As if everyone in town doesn't just drive the 20 miles to the next town that accepted the Wal-Mart. Our town was right off the junction of two major highways, but yet we are one of the smallest towns around due to bad choices by the people who used to be in charge. Our town had the potential to be the large town where everyone went to shop, but now that town is 25 miles down the road. And now look what's happening.

For more small town stories, check out On The Front Porch.