What's Up With That?

In my never ending question to be the most popular non-famous person on Facebook (562 friends! woot! woot!), I was sending friend requests out to old high school acquaintances the other day. During this befriending frenzy, I noticed that one of the guys I went to high school with no longer went by the same last name. In fact, I only knew it was him because he put his old last name in parenthesis.  It wasn't until he had accepted my friend request that I went to his page and found out why his name had changed...he had taken his wife's last name.

This was not the first time I had seen this. One of my former students has done the same thing. To me, this is very odd. It is like this weird feminist, downward spiral.

First, women started hyphenating their names. Okay, whatever. I always wonder what happens when a kid who is born with a hyphenated name marries someone with a hyphenated name...do they become Britney Jones-Brown-Smith-Henderson? Where does the hyphenating end? What about their children? I would hate to see what the last names looked like after a few generations...

Then there are the women who keep their last names. You love someone enough to say you will spend the rest of your life with them, but you won't take their last name? Odd. What happens to when they have children? Whose last name do they take? Is this the beginning of the hyphenation?

Now we have men who are taking their wife's last name. I am currently chalking this one up to the fact that these men didn't like their families or something. Maybe they've always hated their last name. Maybe their wife's family name is going to die out, so they decide to take it on and pass it on to their children.

Whatever the reason is, I'm not into it. I'm a traditionalist.

Small Town Sunday #7 - Reflection From A Former Small Town Girl

I asked one of my old school friends to write a guest post about growing up in a small town.  I knew she would have a unique story to tell because she left our small town after graduating high school and now lives in the "big city." Also, she has always been a great writer and I will never forget all the stories she would write about what our lives would one day be like.

For more of her musings, check out on her blog: The Adventures of Vito Marino


I was born in a small town.  And I was raised and went to all 13 years
of school in that same small town.

And I could not wait to get out of there!

I was a teenager, itching to get out in to the real world and
experience life outside of the bubble of that town.  The bubble where
everyone knew everyone, and in turn, everyone’s business.  I was ready
to be able to go to a mall that wasn’t 80 miles away.  I wanted to go
to concerts and sporting events without having to make an overnight
trip.  If I saw something on tv or in a magazine, I wanted to be able
to go right out and buy it (remember, this was before online
shopping!).  And I desperately wanted to meet new people.

I left when I was 18, went to college in a neighboring state.  Sweet
freedom!  After college I lived in downtown Kansas City for two years
and have now lived in an urban neighborhood in St. Louis for nine
years.  I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Even though I was dying to get out, I knew even then what we had was
special.  I can't speak for every small town, but I can speak for
ours.  I think the best thing about growing up where we did were the
friendships.  The majority of our class was together from Kindergarten
through Senior Year, and I still count some of those people as my best
friends today.  We had a bond that you just can't get growing up in
the city while likely changing schools multiple times based on
district boundaries or private schools or a multitude of other
reasons.

We were bonded even further when one of our best friends, another
classmate since Kindergarten, was killed on our last day of school,
senior year.  Our group of friends had gone to a local creek to swim
and celebrate - quintessential small town life.  She and another of
our friends left to get sodas for the group.  It really was that
innocent.  They never returned.  There was a car accident and our
friend was killed (the other survived, thank God).  That experience
changed us all.  Even if we had taken each other for granted in the
past, that made us cling to each other for our last summer together
before everything changed forever.  It really made us appreciate each
other and how lucky we were to have grown up together.

Now, the second best thing about growing up in our small town?  The
rivers!  I bring my city friends to those rivers every summer and they
all agree that we were so lucky to grow up where we did, even if we
didn't appreciate it at the time.  It really is beautiful.

My parents and grandparents still live there, but I only go back a few
times a year (once being the big river float trip!).  I couldn't
imagine living there again, but I do understand why some people want
to.  There's a comfort in familiarity and roots.  Even now when I
visit, if I go "into town" for something, it's impossible to do so
without seeing someone I've known (or who has known me) since I was a
child.

But as I said, I never want to live somewhere other than where I live
now.  There are a lot of misconceptions about city-living.  I think
one of the biggest is that there is no sense of community.  I've never
felt more connected to my community than where I live now.  It's said
a lot because it's true - St. Louis is really just a big small town.
It's full of beautiful neighborhoods that each have their own appeal,
history, quirks, identities - just like the small towns scattered
through the Ozarks.  I never feel disconnected here.  I know my
neighbors, I see people I know at the grocery store, and just like
Cheers, the neighborhood taverns do know my name.  Cheering for the
Cardinals at Busch Stadium is just like cheering for the high school
football team, except you are doing it with 40,000 neighbors instead
of 400.  And speaking of neighbors, two of my friends from that small
town live within a mile of me!

I'm really glad I've had the experience of both environments.  A Fall
Friday afternoon with a chill in the air will never not remind me of
high school football games.  The smell of a fire will never not remind
me of a "field party" in the middle of the country. And the smell of
chlorine will never not remind me of spending the day at the town pool
and then "cruising" Main Street on a Tuesday night, or just setting up
chairs to hang out in the grocery store parking lot (where else would
that be allowed than a small town?).  I'm grateful for my small town
roots and the friends that I still have today (including the host of
this blog who I've, of course, known since we were 5!) and all of the
fun that we had growing up there.

Single Saturday #7 - The Five Levels of Singleness

What does it mean to be "single"? It seems to me that the definition for being single changes depending on who you are talking to or asking. Some consider themselves single if they aren't dating anyone, while others consider themselves single as long as they aren't married.

I have this theory that there are 5 different levels of "singleness".

Level One - The Lifers: When these people say they are single, they mean it. Not only are they not dating anyone, they aren't even on the hunt. Whatever the reason, they have made the decision to stay single for life.

Level Two - The Super Singles: These singles are currently not a part of the dating scene. There's lots of reasons for this, and I'm sure if you asked, you would be given a detailed list of reasons why they haven't been on a date in the last year (or 3). Not single by choice, but definitely single.

Level Three - The Single Dater: Dating is a way of life for these guys and gals. Never satisfied with the current "flavor," these serial daters are always on the hunt for greener grass.

Level Four - The Serial Monogamist: Love follows these singles wherever they go, but for some reason they never seem to get married. As soon as one relationship ends, they are onto the next. However, if asked...they're single.

Level Five - The Barely-Single: These people are on their way out the door of the single party. They are either engaged, or soon to be engaged. For some reason, there are a few of these people who still consider themselves to be "single" even though they are in a committed relationship. Maybe it is because they still have to check the box marked single, or maybe it is because they haven't "put a ring on it" just yet.

Do you know of any other levels? Which level are you?

Interview Day...

Oh how I hate Interview Day! You may ask what exactly is an Interview Day... Well, every year all the juniors have to do mock interviews with local business people. Because our school is an A+ school (which allows students to get 2 years of tuition paid at local colleges), we are required to make our students participate in both an interview scenario and job shadow (more about that later).

Because I have all of the juniors, I end up having to be the enforcer for this wonderful day of the year. Students are required to dress up in appropriate interview attire. You would think I was asking them to kill their puppy. Good Grief. I never hear more whining than I do on the days leading up to the interviews. 

Here are my rules: They can't interview in: jeans, shorts, t-shirts, tennis shoes, work boots, flip-flops or revealing clothing. Other than that, they are graded by the interviewers as to how they are dressed. They know about this on the second day of school because I want to give the plenty of time to buy or borrow clothes.

You would not believe how many students say that they don't own anything but jeans. Some of them I actually believe, and this brings about a whole other topic about how people no longer dress appropriately for the occasion (there is never a good reason to wear jeans to a wedding or a funeral...unless it is the funeral of a pet). I'm not asking them to go out and spend $100 on a new outfit. They can shop at yard sales or the thrift store and get an outfit for $5. The only thing that may be hard to find is the shoes.

Even though I don't teach on interview day, I am wiped by the end of the day just because of all the whining!

Most Anticipated Week of the Year is Here!

Yes, it is the most anticipated week of the year, and it is finally here! We wait for it all summer. Sure we distract ourselves with family vacations, sleeping in and summer blockbusters, but nothing really compares to what we've all been waiting for...

Premier Week!!!

I made sure to chart out all the shows that I wanted to watch this season. This is a complicated process that includes a chart with two slots for every half hour from 7-10pm. I get two slots because I have Tivo, so I can record two shows at once. I go through all my old shows plus anything new that catches my eye. Some things have to go...others get pushed to the Hulu section (where I will watch it if I have time). Some days are completely filled (Tuesdays and Thursdays are tight), other days have open slots were I will finally get to watch all the shows that I recorded on Tuesday and Thursday.

So what do I watch? Some of my favorites include:

I'm also going to try out The Event and Hawaii Five-O this year. The Event looks intriguing and Hawaii Five-O has Alex O'Loughlin!

So what are you watching this season?

Small Town Sunday #6 - Things To Do In A Small Town

People often say that there's nothing to do in a small town. To some degree they may be correct. No mall, no museums, no live shows, bands don't show up here... sure, there are limitations. However, there are lots of things you can do if you live in a small town.

Dinner and a Movie: Yes, we do have movie theaters. We may not get the independent films, but we get all the big shows.  Also, we tend to have some great Mom and Pop restaurants as well as a few of the big chains.


Take a Drive in the Country: Although this may not be as big of a deal to people who live in the country, taking a drive out in the country can be fun. Grab a map or your GPS and explore parts of the world you've never been to. As someone who has worked for both the Conservation Dept and the Highway Dept, I've had the privilege to see some parts of the Ozarks that people don't see if they don't get off the major highways.  Venture beyond the beaten path.

Spend a Day at the Creek (River): There's nothing like taking a picnic and heading down to the river. Some rivers even have old mills that you can tour. This is also a great thing for photographers! There are lots of photo opportunities out by the river.  If you are up for a float, it can be a day of fun. Whether you are in a canoe or on an inner tube, just remember to bring your sun screen! Also, if you want to avoid the city-people who don't have a clue what they are doing...stay away from the big rivers (they're not as fun anyway).

Scout Out the Local Attractions: I know the Ozarks has lots of great attractions, and I'm sure other areas do as well. There might be a great day trip just around the bend. Do some research on what is available in your area.

Throw a Party: Invite your friends over for grilled burgers and some games! If you invite people over, they will often reciprocate. Getting together with friends can be great. You don't need to go anywhere to have a great time with great people!

Plan a Day of Shopping: For me (and people who live in my neck of the woods), shopping has to be planned. You need a full day to really get it all in because you have to drive a 100 miles to get to the "big city" where there are lots of choices.  Get together with a friend and make a day of it. Go out to eat at a restaurant they don't have where you live. Spend an hour just looking at books in Barnes and Noble. Shopping is a different experience when you only go a few times a year because you can't just swing by the store on the way home from work.

My recommendation is to check and see what your area has available for you to do. You can find things close to home, or a few hours away. You can find things to do solo or with friends. There are activities that take a few hours and some that are daylong excursions. Just be willing to try something new once in awhile!

What "small town" things do you like to do?

Single Saturday #6 - Online Dating?

If you believe the commercials for online dating sites, a good portion of marriages taking place today are couples who met online. I'm not sure how they check this little fact (unless they've added that question to the process of applying for a marriage certificate).  True or not, online dating is here to stay.

I just wonder how many of you have tried out online dating. It's just not for me. Even if I wasn't creeped  out by the idea of meeting a guy online, I'm not willing to move from my home town, and I'm pretty sure no guy would want to move here. I guess if you aren't bothered by meeting people online, and you live in the city, online dating might be a viable option.

I'd love to know if you have tried it, how it worked out for you or if you know anyone who met their soul-mate online!

Carpal Tunnel is Back

After four months, my carpal tunnel is back. I'm not sure why, but my carpal tunnel came back last night in full force.  The pain started in the afternoon, but by 8pm, the numbness hit and I knew what it was. Unfortunately, I get a very severe case of carpal tunnel. My fingers go completely numb...except for the pain.  What is really bad is that at night, I will wake up with my whole right arm numb and pain shooting down all the way to my elbow. For some reason, sitting up helps lesson the pain. After waking up three times in an hour, I finally moved into the living room and slept the rest of the night in my chair.  I still woke up several times, but I was able to get some sleep.  I may try going back to the chiropractor, because he helped me get rid of it last time. If that doesn't work this time, it is surgery for me...

UPDATE: I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. While it is daunting to be diagnosed with a life-long disease, I am glad to have a diagnosis. And, for me, a cure: Hurmira!

Cupcake Disaster

Tonight I decided to bake a batch of mocha cupcakes for my cousin.  She's pregnant and I thought she would like cupcakes that helped her get her coffee fix. OMG! They were a disaster.  I found a mocha cake recipe, but the cupcakes didn't hold up.  I guess the batter was too thin for cupcakes.  I had baked 24 of those stupid things.  They tasted fine, but I couldn't even hold the cupcake without it squishing, and it fell apart when I tried to take the wrapper off.  Big FAIL!

Cupcake Fail

They actually don't look as bad in the picture as they were when you looked at them, or held them. The tops had spilled over instead of rising, and the cupcake wasn't dense enough to hold it's shape when you picked it up.

It was only 6pm, so I decided to start over with a new recipe. I found a mocha cupcake recipe.  That would work, right? WRONG! They turned out just the same. The batter wasn't thin, but it still baked up the same.

I guess I will have to go back to my chocolate cake recipe and add instant coffee granules to it.  I am not going to do it tonight though...

Now what to do with all those cupcakes? They will probably be taken to work and given to some of my students. Like Mikey...they'll eat anything!

75 Pounds Lost!

So excited to have finally reached my 75 pound mark! It has been 8 months, so I'm losing at a pretty good rate. I am hoping to reach 100 by the end of the year (by Christmas would be awesome), or at least by the second week in January.  That will mean I have lost 100 lbs in a year.  I believe it is totally doable.

In my meeting yesterday I talked about my ultimate goal.  My ultimate goal is to be happy about my body for the first time in my life.  Sure, I was skinny (normal) in high school, but I didn't know it. I thought I was fat, when really I was just tall.  My friends were just over 5 foot and wearing size 4 jeans; my mom was constantly watching and judging what I ate. I had a terrible body image, which I believe is part of why I gained so much weight.  Since I thought I was fat, what was one more pound?  One more pound eventually became over 100 more pounds.

When I was young, I had an unrealistic idea of what my body was supposed to look like. Today, I am more realistic.  When I reach my goal weight, I will believe I will be happy with my body for the first time in my life.  It won't be perfect, and I will still probably be trying to shape and sculpt, but I will no longer see myself as the fat girl. I can't wait for that day...

Easter in September

I took picture of one of my friend's kids (no charge) and just now finished editing them. I'm terrible when I'm not getting paid.  Oh, well.  She doesn't mind (I mean...how else is she going to get free, quality pictures).  She used to go in several times a year and pay someone, so...

Just some of the photos I edited.  I thought they turned out pretty well. 

I need to start taking more pictures for myself and loading them onto my photoblog. I quit because it is a multi-step process to get big pictures loaded. Also, I have had to start putting a watermark on my pictures because people would taking them and using them without permission. I can only imagine how many have been used without my permission since I have had 3 people ask for permission (and got paid $200 for one!).

Mostly, I need to start taking pictures other than portraits. My true love is taking nature photography, but I'm not always up to driving around and finding the perfect picture. I did buy a new lens and can't wait to try it out once it gets here!

Walking A Fine Line

I am a very devout and conservative religious person.  I think Calvin and Edwards had it right, and I wish I could be more like the Puritans were.  As a literature teacher, I often get to teach literature that has a religious connotation.  Friday I taught "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by John Edwards.  This is pretty great stuff in my opinion, but I have to be careful that I don't go too far and lose my job.  I have to be constantly on guard that I say things like,"They believed." or "That is the Christian philosophy." instead of saying, "I believe." or saying that anything is truth when it comes to religious beliefs and theology. It is a fine line.

I love that I am able to share the gospel under the guise of teaching literature.  I mean, it is in the literature book, so no one can complain about teaching a sermon from a Puritan minister. I may not be able to say it is truth, but the message still gets put out there, and for a lot of these kids, it is the only time they hear it.

This year I had a girl say that she thought Edwards was crazy for thinking about people going to hell, and that she thought he had it totally wrong.  This really disturbed me for two reasons: 1. her family says they are Christians because they attend the (fairly liberal) Methodist church once or twice a year, and 2. she is the superintendent's daughter (so I have to be even more careful with what I say). I really thought about how to respond to that; I wanted her and the rest of the class to see that you can't say someone is crazy for trying to save someone from hell if that person TRULY believes the other person is going to hell...regardless if you think hell exists or not.

This video was my solution...

Small Town Sunday #5 - John Mellencamp - Small Town

Small Town Sunday #5

This will always be what I think of when I think about how much I love living in a small town!

Single Saturday #5 - Maybe I'm Worth It

As I continue to reshape my body by losing weight I have started to see dating as a possibility again. I have become used to being single, and I have even managed to convince myself that I'm happy being single. To some degree it is true that I'm happy being single.  There are so many things that I can do as a single woman that would be much harder if I had someone living with me. Sole control of the remote, popcorn for supper (more likely pita bread and hummus), I can leave a mess in the living room for a few days and no one will see it, etc.

The more weight I lose, however, the more I come to realize that I haven't felt like I deserve to date someone while overweight. Even more than that, I can't imagine anyone that I would find attractive, would want to date someone who is overweight. I'm not attracted to overweight guys, why would any man be attracted to an overweight woman?  This has really gotten me thinking about why I am single; was it a choice?

I've never been the type of person who likes to put themselves out there.  In school, I never wanted my friends to know which guy I was crushing on at the time.  I always felt that if they knew, something would go wrong. Maybe they would tell him I liked him; if he didn't like me, that would be disastrous.  I was also afraid that they would constantly be watching me to see how I would react when around my crush.  It just wasn't worth it my mind.  Needless to say, I never told guys I liked them.  Since then I've always said that I'm happy the way I am, but if God wants to send me a guy, I'm good with that too.

There was also that constant belief that no guy would think I was pretty enough or interesting enough to date.  I don't think I've ever really thought that.  I wrote a post once where I had a picture of me in high school, and I still can't believe that I thought guys wouldn't find me attractive.  Besides believing I was overweight, I also had a lot of insecurities about being taller than most of the guys.  Today that wouldn't be an issue; girls are allowed to be tall, but in the mid 90s, I was a freak, and I sure didn't think guys would want to date me.

I struggle with the same issues today, but now I really am overweight...plus I'm getting to the point where most guys my age are already married.  There's no way I will ever find a guy who wants me, so instead I "choose" to remain single.  I don't even try, because I said before: no guy I would want, would want me as I am...

Maybe I will eventually feel worth it.  Maybe I never will.  Odds are I will never put myself out there either way.

Newest Creation

My newest cupcake creation is chocolate-peanut butter cupcakes.  I made chocolate cupcakes then filled them with chocolate-peanut butter ganache that I whipped, then I topped them with peanut butter frosting and sprinkled them with cocoa.  They are soooo... good!  I can't wait to share them with friends and family to see what they think.  

Luckily, I also seem to be getting faster. Today I was able to bake and decorate 21 cupcakes from scratch in 2 and half hours.

I took a picture, but it is taking forever to send through email and I'm too lazy to take out the SD card and load it that way...

This Might Be A Good Year

Things have been going well at school this year.  Almost too well...

One of the big changes that has seemed to help out with previous problems at school has to do with getting rid of the junior high.  We finally opened a new junior high building which means that the high school and junior high is no longer in the same building.  This has been great.  First off, we were able to move all the high school teachers into the building; some had been in trailers in the back parking lot due to some structual problems (one building colapsed and a sinkhole under a few classrooms).  The high schoolers seem to be behaving better without the junior high students around.

I haven't had any classroom management problems with this year's crop of juniors.  So far Project Redneck seems to be going well and I think that is also helping.  Right now my biggest problem seems to be tardies.  I've always been able to deal with this in-house, but I think I'm going to have to officially start turning in tardies for some of my students. Not sure why that seems to be a problems this year.

I am hoping that the rest of the year goes by as smoothly, but I'm not going to hold my breath. 

First Success!

I made my first cupcakes today. I wouldn't call them gourmet...yet. I am hoping to advance to gourmet at some time in the future.  However, they are more than just cupcakes someone would take to a birthday party. I allowed myself to eat one cupcake before giving them away to anyone, and I have to say they turned out moist with a good blend of chocolate and mint flavors. The chocolate cake had about a cup of Andie's Mint pieces mixed in, and the butter cream icing had a touch of mint flavor and was topped with more mint pieces.

Mint Chocolate Cupcake

I used a chocolate cake recipe from an old 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook that I inherited.  The recipes are a little confusing, so I didn't get the ingredients added in the correct order, but I decided to go ahead with it and just really beat the mixture well to try to make up for adding the ingredients in the wrong order.  I may use the recipe again, but I'm still searching for the perfect chocolate cake recipe to use for my cupcakes.  I may try my chocolate sheet cake recipe, but I'm not sure how it will work with cupcakes.

I have a Sunday School party in two weeks; I plan on taking cupcakes. I may make a half batch of the chocolate mint and also try chocolate/peanut butter.

I didn't think about it until after I had already given away most of the cupcakes, but I plan on taking pictures of my cupcakes (the above is just with my phone and doesn't show off the cupcake well). It will be a good opportunity to practice my food photography and some macro photography as well.

Labor Day...A Day of Rest

Here are my plans for Labor Day...

1.  Sleep in late - I wrote this post last night and scheduled it to post this morning, so if it's before 8am, I'm probably still in bed.

2.  Watch TV - This is pretty much a given at my house. Even if I'm not paying much attention to it, the TV is usually on.  However, Valentines Day did come in the mail from Netflix the other day. Who doesn't want to watch a movie staring every actor in Hollywood.

3.  Bring over my dressing table - Mom stripped and stained my dressing table this summer and it is finally finished, but I haven't brought it back to the house yet.  I can't wait.  All my stuff has been in boxes on my floor...plus it will make my bedroom look finished since my dresser was done 2 or 3 summers ago.

4.  Laundry - Nuf said...

5.  Bake Cupcakes - I've been waiting to get to try my hand at baking cupcakes and I'm pretty stoked.  I've decided to make mint/chocolate cupcakes.  Chocolate cupcakes with mint butter cream icing and topped with Andie's Mint pieces.  I will have to give most of them away though.  I plan on allowing myself 1 or 2 cupcakes from each batch I make.  The rest of these will go to family with a few taken to work for my lunch buddies.

What are your Labor Day Plans (or...what did you do for Labor Day)?

Small Town Sunday #4 - A Sunday Tradition

I remember always being a little put out by the song Manic Monday (despite its great melody) because of the line: "I wish it was Sunday; 'Cause that's my funday; my I don't have to runday."  The idea that Sundays are days to just sit around and do what you want always rubbed me the wrong way.

I grew up in the Bible Belt and was raised by God-fearing and God-loving parents, and I am surrounded by extended family with the same values.  We went to church every Sunday; there was never a question about it.  Now there would be Sundays where we would drive to church with the boat behind the truck and change into our swim suits at church as soon as it was over, but we didn't skip church to go to the lake.

I learned all the Bible Stories in Sunday School, and most of my dearest and best friends were made in those Sunday School classrooms.  I cannot imagine a different life.  As an adult, I'm one of the first to show up at church in the morning because I need to be tere to run the slide show for the praise team and get all the slides ready for service before Sunday School begins.  Church is a HUGE part of my life.

For me and so many others living in a small town, Sunday means church.  Getting up and putting on your best clothes for Christ.  i can't imagine doing anything else on a Sunday morning.  when I have had to stay home because of illnesses, I have never felt the same; it's as if something is missing all week long.

I know there are people out there just like the Bangles who see Sundays as their, "I don't have to runday." I feel sorry for those people because they are missing out on one of the all-time best Sunday Traditions that anyone can take part in...Church, and especially a small town church!

Single Saturday #4 - Enjoying Being Single

I was thinking about the difference between people who enjoy being single and those that whine about not having someone in their lives. Now I know some people enjoy being single because they go on dates all the time, and they enjoy the excitement of meeting new people.

When I say that I'm single, I mean it. I don't even go on dates. I'm not necessarily opposed to it, but I don't go out and look for guys to date. I live in the sticks where there isn't much to choose from if I did want to find a date...especially at my age.  Part of the reason for that is that I don't like putting myself out there.  Even in high school I didn't really date. I dated one guy for a week my freshman year in high school and started seriously dating someone partway through my senior year of high school which lasted into my second year of college.  That relationship really messed me up, but that's a different story (even if it is a little related to why I'm single now).

I would love to know why you are single? Is it a conscious choice? Situational? Just Happened?

I found a fun Wiki on how to Enjoy Being Single that you can check out HERE.

Check out what Andi from On Call RN has to say  about Living a Single Existence. Part 1 and Part 2

My Most Popular Post - Wolf Spider Babies

Oddly enough my most popular post is the one I wrote about there being a wolf spider in my bedroom with wolf spider babies all over its back.  I'm pretty sure it gets so many hits because of people Googling "wolf spider babies" because no one ever leaves a comment on the blog.  It's a pretty interesting story, however, so I thought I would link back to it and let my newer readers see the problems I was having about this time last year.

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

Those Stupid Kids Gave Me Pink Eye!

This is how I feel...

Thankfully my eye doesn't look quite this bad.  Mostly because I haven't been rubbing it very much.  I had to make a trip to the doctor yesterday ($25) and get some drops ($30) for my eye. I know my students somehow gave me pink eye! It itches like crazy and then hurts like mad when I do rub it.

Technically, I'm not supposed to be at school with conjunctivitis because it is highly contagious. I talked to the school nurse and she said it should be okay as long as I wash my hands... A LOT.  She said the kids walk around school with it for days before they come to her and get sent home (and they aren't careful about not spreading it).  Today I managed to not touch my eye at all while at school and didn't touch anybody. I probably should stay home, but I have too much to do to stay home for something like pink eye!

This is the first time I've ever had it. My eye started bugging me Sunday night, and by Tuesday evening had figured out it was more than just allergies. Has anyone else had to deal with it? I'm hoping I caught it early enough that it won't ever look bad.