Small Town Sunday #3 - Small Town Football

In the fall, small towns are all about football. I'm not necessarily a football person (I like basketball better), but there is something about going to a varsity game on a Friday night. You know fall is coming when you have to get out your stadium seats, blankets and hoodies for the game.

I'm not sure why football is so important to small town people, but it is. Everyone comes out to see the game. There is an excitement in the air that you can just feel.   Young and old, everyone is excited to see their boys win.

I took my two nephews to my school's football game yesterday. Yes...on a Saturday.  We played a team that is from Kansas City, so the game had to be on a Saturday because the other team had so far to travel.  Our team is ranked #5 in the state in our division, and the other team is ranked #1. Quite a game.  Apparently we had a free weekend and no one close wanted to play us because our team is so good...

My nephews don't get to go to games because they are too late at night. NL got to go to one last year, but NJ is too young to stay out that late due to his super early bed time. This is unfortunate because NJ LOVES football; even though the only games he's seen are on TV. My brother isn't a sports guy, so it's a little unusual that one of his sons would be so fascinated by a sport.

I just had to take the boys because it isn't often that we have a Saturday afternoon varsity game. They both had a good time. NJ never took his eyes off the field, which is pretty amazing for a boy under three-years-old. Every time the crowd would cheer, NJ would throw his hands up in the air and cheer right along with them.  He loved it when there was a tackle.  He kept saying, "hit" until I explained it was called a tackle, and explained why they were tackling each other.  After that, he would look up at me and say, "Tackle!"  We had to leave at halftime to get NJ back for his nap (I told him the game was over as I pointed out the playing going back into the field house). I hope to be able to take them both to more games soon; it is so fun to watch them as they watch the game.

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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What a Relaxing Week

I had a wonderfully relaxing week. It feels good to not be going 90 to nothing the whole week long with papers to grade (and by papers, I mean essays, etc., not worksheets) and a million other things to get done.

A shot of my parents' house. Mom, the Sil and I spent some time sitting in the yard on Saturday, just enjoying the day and watching the kids play.

Here was my week:

Monday (Memorial Day)

• Really didn't do much that I can remember. This may sound boring, but I love to sit around and do nothing. By 'nothing', I mean: watch TV/Movies, surf the interweb, read and take naps.
  
• The power went off for awhile and that sucked, but came back in an hour.
• Took a nap at some point.
  

Tuesday

• Went to work for a teachers' meeting that only lasted until noon.
• Went out to church camp to take pictures, and got to visit with people I haven't seen since camp last year (I love going out to church camp).
• Can't remember if there was a nap or not...
  

Wednesday

• Went to work for another teachers' meeting...this one lasted less than an hour. We were contracted to work that day, so we had to come in, even though we could have gotten that done Tuesday afternoon instead of going home after lunch. Really it was a waste.
  
• Made a few copies in preparation for Summer School.
• Went to town to get camp pictures printed.
• Took a Nap.
• Sorted through yard sale stuff and priced clothes for the yard sale.

Thursday

• Helped Mom tile the kitchen most of the day. It was actually fun. See pictures here and here.
• Took a break around noon to go out to camp to deliver pictures and check kids out.
• No nap.

Friday

• Went to discount grocery store mid morning, and got some good buys. I love that place, although they were out of the jalapeno poppers I like (stuffed with cheese! mmm...).
• Did some weed eating...broke weed eater.
• Did some spraying of weeds...ran out of spray.
• Went to Mom's to hang out with the kids. This included going with Mom to do chores because both boys went to go and someone had to hold NJ during the two-hour adventure that included moving cattle.
• It was a really fun and relaxing day just hanging out on the farm.
  
• No nap.

Saturday

• Played on the internet most of the morning before going to Mom's to hang out with the family again.
• Got the air-conditioner in my car fixed.
  
• Took a nap.
  
• Taught my niece how to suck on honeysuckles.
• Picked a tick out of NJ's ear.
• Played on the internet some more.
• Finished watching season one of 24. Didn't see it coming...

Sunday

• Went to church no.1, where I run the sound booth. Was, unfortunately, unimpressed with today's service...
• Went to church no. 2. This is my brother's church. Enjoyed the sermon, even though I had to spend a lot of time keeping my niece from getting too wound up (her mom had to stay home with NL because he was sick).
• Took nap.
• Spent some time discussing (arguing?) the finer points of stuff like women wearing head coverings and eating "Kosher" with my friend Ben...through texting! Go to his blog for some great religious discussions.
• Now I'm doing this...
  

Overall, I woke up at a decent hour every morning. No sleeping in until late in the morning (except on Saturday, when I woke up after 8am). This meant I had plenty of time to do what I wanted, but at the same time, I was able to wake up on my own without that pesky alarm clock.

I hope I get some more weeks like this before summer is over. For the next 2 1/2 weeks, I'll be teaching summer school (much lower stress levels than regular school days). One of those weeks I will spend every day from the time I leave work until after 10pm at church camp for high school week (my favorite...wish it wasn't during summer school). I should have a few weeks without having to be at camp every day (not that I HAVE to be there, but I like to lend a hand), or having to work every day on one thing or another. I'm looking forward to those. Then my bff comes home sometime in July. I'm really looking forward to getting to spend time with her. She hasn't been home since January.

All-in-all it should be a good summer.

Tick Heads and Tweezers

We live in the country, so ticks are an every day summer occurrence. Tick checks are a must. These are usually more affective if you have a tick-checking partner, but alas...I am single.

My SiL decided she must do a tick check on the kids during their baths because they had spent a lot of time outside today. Oh, and there was the moment when a rather large tick was crawling around on NJ's forehead. As she brought each kid down, my SiL would let us know the status of the tick-check. NJ was the first and she had, oddly enough, found a seed tick (so named because they are the size of a small seed, although they can be much smaller than this one was) in his ear. I volunteered to remove said tick with tweezers.

NJ happily followed me into the bathroom and sat on my lap. Then I got out the tweezers and cocked back his head for a little tick extraction. The crying started almost immediately. I wasn't hurting him, but he is only a year and a half and I'm sure his understanding of a metal instrument coming at his head was beyond his grasp. I think the tick was already dead and still hanging on (they usually do that), because when I pulled on the tick, he came apart, with the head still attached to NJ.

Picture of a small tick, sometimes referred to as a seed tick

Now here is where I would like to dispell some tick rumors. I am constantly amused at how ridiculous people will react to ticks. I've seen several reality shows where they find a tick on a dog and freak out! There are calls to vets, Google searches and, for some reason, usually a match that they light and then blow out in order to stick the match head on the tick. This is done in order to get the tick to release. There's always this big deal about how you are not supposed to pull the tick out because it might leave part of the head in and that would be bad. There is usually a discussion about what terrifying things would happen if the tick's head remained in the skin. I once even heard someone say that the head could chew its way through the skin and into the body and then eventually make its way up to the brain. SERIOUSLY??? Where do people come up with these things. The worst thing that could happen is you might get an infection, but I doubt it.

I've never resorted to any of the ridiculous schemes I've seen...we just pull the tick out. 99 times out of a 100, they come out whole. And that one time, you just have to get the tweezers out.

Anyway, the tick head was still in NJ's ear and I had to get it out, but the tweezers just weren't working. My brother came in when I told him what was up and we discovered that Mom's tweezers didn't quite come together at the very tip and they were making it impossible to grab onto the tick's head. My brother ends up pulling out his Swiss army knife (I'm not sure it was actually a Swiss army knife, or just like one) and using the tweezers on it to remove the rest of the tick. Crisis diverted. No brain eating. No infections.

So next time you find a tick on you or your beloved pet, just pull it out.

For more small-town moments like these, check out On the Front Porch.

But I Want To Go With You

How can you resist a 3-year-old boy looking at you with puppy-dog eyes and saying, "But I want to go with you"? My Dad sure couldn't.

Nephew L and Nephew J had gone with Mom and I to feed the cows. This is always a big hit with our family. Who doesn't want to drive around in the fresh, country air from field to field in order to feed cattle? We had quite the day because Mom and Dad had to move cattle up the county road to a different field and we had the boys with us. Just try moving cattle (even if it's just 8 head) with a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. There I was, holding NJ (one and a half), and standing in the middle of the road in order to discourage the cattle from going past the gate they were supposed to go into. Luckily, they went where they were supposed to go, because I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with NJ in my arms if the cattle came charging up the hill towards us.

After successfully moving the cattle, we went back to feeding the rest of the cattle...going from field to field. While moving cattle to an adjoining field (nothing like moving them up the road), my Dad shows up on the 4-wheeler just as we were finishing and getting ready to go to the other side of the farm (right on time). While he's off the 4-wheeler, NL climbs down from the Ranger and proceeds to climb onto the 4-wheeler. My Dad tries to tell NL that he can't go with him, but NL just fastens himself to that 4-wheeler like a tick on a dog. No one was going to pull him off that thing if he had anything to say about it. He firmly says, "But I want to go with you" as if that settled it. And I guess it did. Even my Dad, a rough and tumble man, couldn't help but melt when it comes to the adoration of his three-year-old grandson.

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Babies and Dog Doors

Nephew J discovered the dog door at my Mom's house today. I guess he got impatient waiting on everyone to finish bundling up to go outside and go sledding. I just thought this was so hilarious that I had to post the pictures.

NJ poked his head out the dog door.

Success!! He made it.

Actually, NJ got stuck at about this point in the process. Part of it was probably due to how big the snow pants he was wearing were...they were huge! Anyway, I had to rescue him shortly after taking this picture.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I love to use ellipses…

2. In high school I owned a huge Ford LTD (think old cop car). One night thirteen of us managed to fit in the car (bench seats, 6 in front, 7 in back) and went and “popped” Poppitz hill (Class of ’94 knows what I’m talking about). I remember sparks flying when the car hit the ground. Kids: Do not try this at home.

3. I am a complete slob sometimes, but I also have OCD when it comes to other people’s germs. (note numbers 4 and 5)

4. I do not eat the mints at restaurant cash registers. I call them “urine mints” because people don’t always wash their hands in the bathroom, then they touch the mints in the bowl. I saw a study one time that said mints by a restaurant cash register were the dirtiest thing in the place and were covered with urine and feces. I don’t care if they are in a wrapper, it’s gross. *shudder* This sometimes drives people crazy… yeah, Tory, I’m talking about you…urine mint eater!

5. I have a theory I call the “Ass-Face Theory” that revolves around public restrooms. You have to follow a multi-step process when washing hands and leaving a restroom.
A. get paper towels from dispenser and put them under your arm for later.
B. Wash hands (DO NOT shut off water)
C. Use paper towel that you have already procured to turn off water tap.
D. Use same paper towel to dispense more paper towels.
E. Use new paper towels to dry your hands (DO NOT throw them away yet)
F. Use paper towels to open any and all doors until you are out of the restroom.
If you do not follow any and all of these steps (in this order) you will have acquired “ass-face” and you might as well skip the middle man and put your face directly in a strangers…well, you know. Why would you touch your clean hands to the water tap when you KNOW people touched it with their dirty hands. Now you’re just exchanging your germs for theirs. GROSS!! *shudder* I also think you shouldn’t touch the towel dispenser with clean hands because people like me are touching it with dirty hands.

6. I really love fantasy and science fiction…a lot.

7. I haven’t listened to the radio in over two years (except Spirit FM), so I have no clue what music is popular. I’m okay just sticking with Journey, Elton John, Billy Joel and Abba.

8. I have a large personal bubble. I don’t like it when people get in my bubble and I really don’t like it when people (adults) hug me, even family.

9. I can talk to anybody (loudly and a lot), which makes it appear as if I am an extrovert. However, I would rather be home by myself. I seriously don’t mind being shut up in my house for three days without talking to, or seeing, anyone else.

10. I am the queen of one-dish meals and I rarely use a recipe.

11. I don’t like it when people talk about being stranded on a desert island. Desert implies that there is a lack of rainfall and/or life (think Sahara or Siberia); it does not mean that no one else is there. You could be stranded on a desert island with thousands of people on it, or you could be stranded on a deserted island by yourself.

12. If I had to pick one food to live off of for the rest of my life it would be pizza. There are a million ways you can fix it, with a million different toppings, and so it wouldn’t get that boring.

13. I use to have a job where I ran a jackhammer. I have also plowed snow, mowed right-of-ways, scraped dead animals off the road, ran a loader and shocked fish in streams and lakes to gather for scientific purposes.

14. I grew up on a farm. When I was young, our farm was one of the top farms for raising breading hogs (mostly Hampshire and York). We had our own auction barn and people came from all over to buy hogs. My grandparents even went to Japan in order to take hogs over there. After the hog market dropped, we had cattle and even raised dogs. I hated farm work (which I did all the time, about three hours of chores a day…more in the summer), but loved living on a farm.

15. I used to be skinny and really pretty. I wish I still was, but I’m too lazy to do much about it.

16. I often come home, or wake up, to find dead animals, or parts of dead animals, on the floors in my house. My cats have a cat door (no litter boxes!), and will bring dead animals in to eat. It’s gross. Sometimes the animals are not dead and then I have to chase around shrews and birds, usually in the middle of the night.

17. I have become addicted to blogging. I really wasn’t sure it would last, but it seams like it will.

18. I am completely okay with being single and I DO NOT want kids. However, I am completely in love with my niece and two nephews. I would do anything within my power for them. I think they are the cutest kids in the whole world, both in looks and in personality.

19. I have found a renewed passion in the Bible thanks to my brother. He is the best preacher I have ever heard. He preaches exegetically and that is what my soul has been craving. He goes through the Bible and explains it and brings it alive.

20. I teach American Literature, but my passion is British Literature.

21. I am a world-class procrastinator, especially if it is something that I don’t want to do. I will toss and turn all night thinking about all the things I should be doing. I do not work better under pressure, I just put things off because I dread doing them.

22. I am addicted to Strawberry Chapstick. I have to have it with me all the time, and there is chapstick all over the house.

23. I watch way too much television (thank God for Tivo). I have a weakness for forensic shows, medical shows and reality TV (even though much of it isn’t real).

24. I watch Bill O’Reilly every day. I love entering the No Spin Zone.

25. I love to read, transporting myself to another world. If I was stranded on a deserted island, I would be okay as long as I was stranded with either a library or a solar powered Kindle. I read everyday, even if it is only for five minutes.

The Nephews

Nephew L spent some time today "helping" his father and grandfather on the basement rebuild. I think he spent most of the time playing in the sack of nails, which is why his hands got so black. I just thought these would make the cutest picture.

NL is getting so big. He's almost 3 and is just about as tall as his sister who is four and a half. He is really talking and most of the time I can understand what he is saying. Mom thought he was looking for a "shrew" today, but then we figured out he meant "screw". Apparently he had dropped a nail or screw outside and had been looking for it. His mom and I were talking about how much growning there has been in the last year and how hard it is to think about how much he as changed in the last year.

Newphew J is also growing up fast. He's 15 months old and just starting to want to feed himself. Today was a very messy experiment in his endeavor of growing up. I started feeding him as normal, then decided to put the food on the fork and give it to him. He really liked that, but would always want to touch the fork to the plate, so I put the food on the fork and then let him pick it up himself. He was so proud of himself. Eventually I just put the plate, fork and spoon down and let NJ go at it. This picture was the end result. Boy did it take some time to clean him up.

Now I know I just had a post called Maybe This Is Why I Don't Read Your Blog, where I talked about people who have blogs dedicated to their kids. However, you will note that not all my posts are about The Niece and Nephews. I don't care if people talk about their kids as long as there is some variety in there somewhere!

To Some I Am Just A Jungle-Gym

Now I know my four-year old niece has no idea what a jungle-gym is (I asked, that's how I know), but apparently she thinks I am one. The Niece is currently in a phase where she thinks I am awesome. I love that she thinks that, but I have become her own personal jungle-gym. After church today, I spent a good twenty minutes carrying her around and flipping her upside down, pretending to drop her...you know, the usual. She thinks this is great, which means I have to constantly do it and if I don't, she just leans backwards releases her arms and hangs on with her legs...hence the jungle-gym reference.

My one-year old nephew (Nephew J) wanted me to pick him up, but that was not about to happen as long as The Niece was in my arms. She pushed him away and called him "Bad J". She's not normally like that, but as I said...she's in phase where she thinks I'm awesome and of course she does not want to share her awesome toy with her little brother.

Nephew J is a story unto himself. He has just started walking, let's see, this would have been just before Christmas. He is now trucking along quite well. This, apparently, is not enough for little J. His favorite thing to do is go up to a person, ask to be picked up (he's not talking yet, so he uses the universal baby sign for "Pick me up"...he raises his hands and looks at you with those cute little eyes). Upon picking up Nephew J, you then must go wherever he directs you to go. He does this by pointing. I call it his 'demanding finger'. This started at about the time that he started walking; so, many people are still duped into believing that he just likes you and wants to be with you. Uh...No. You are now his personal mode of transportation and you will take him wherever he wants to go.

Currently Nephew L (almost 3), is not in a demanding phase like the other two. He's really starting to talk...all the time, and it is really cute. Usually it is just those of us who are around him all the time that can interpret everything he is saying because some words he pronounces a little different. He loves to tell me about his day. The other day he went into this whole story about how Granddad (my dad) was bulldozing and moving piles of dirt around and was going to plant grass for the cows to eat. I'm not sure there are over four people that could have figured out what he was saying...His dad, his mom, my mom and me.

Boy I love those kids...even if I am just a jungle-gym with wheels!

Single at Christmas

So it is Christmas Eve Eve. I am sure there are many people out there who think that Christmas is a lonely time for us singles. Luckily for me, I have a large family that I love and get to spend time with during the Holidays. In fact, by Christmas evening, I will be glad to be at my house, By Myself! I love being around people, but only in small doses...and my family is a Large Dose.

I have two wonderful little nephews and a wonderful little niece. These take the place of any children I might have wanted of my own. Who am I kidding? I am not sure I EVER really wanted kids of my own. I am just too selfish with my own time to have kids. However, I love my niece and nephews. I love to spend time with them and buy them lots of stuff. As Elsie says, "You spoil me." That's right...and as an Aunt...that's my job!

So as I sit her blogging and having a night-cap (Smirnoff and Cranberry juice), I am anticipating the next two days of Holiday Cheer.

First it is off to town to get green onions for the dip I'm making (I was sooo... mad when I realized I had forgotten them) and then it's time to get ready for Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family. This is the crazy side. Loud and Opinionated. We all are...except the "marry-ins" and you can spot them a mile away. They're usually sitting in a corner, quietly trying to get through the evening. Twenty people in the room and thirty conversations going. No one really listens to what the other person is saying because they're too worried about what they, themselves, are saying. Oh, and we're always right. Yep. That makes for very interesting debates...

After meeting up at Grandma's and having some snacks, it is off to the Candle Light Service. I will have to leave early in order to run the soundbooth during the service. I'm sure that'll be an experience in itself. I love Candle Light Service. It is so peaceful and helps start the Christmas Holiday off with the true spirit and reason for Christmas. Then it's back to G-ma's and time to not open presents. That's right. We don't do gifts. Too many of us I guess. Sometimes "Mrs. Santa" gives small gifts... we'll see.

After Christmas Eve with dad's side, it is time to go to Mom and Dad's to spend the night in preperation for Christmas Morning. This year all of us are spending the night there...this means my brother and his family are going to be there. I am so excited about this because this is the first year since he's been married with kids that they've been here for Christmas (now they live here, so...). I think I am actually slated to sleep in the same bed as my four-year-old niece. THAT will be an experience. All this means that we will wake up Christmas morning and spend the morning together. Breakfast and presents. I can't wait to see the look on those little kids' faces!

Then...it's off to my mom's family's Christmas. This is the "more normal" family. And there's not nearly as many of us. We're doing something a little different this year. For the first time we will not be exchanging presents, just doing stockings (all the women bring things to put in the stockings). Times are tough and the economy is bad... I'm not feeling it. I still have my job and gas is half what it was two months ago, so I'm good...but that's another story. Usually we get there before 9am and then have brunch before opening stockings, then gifts before a late lunch. This year we are getting there sometime before 10:30am and then stockings before lunch at noon. We're in a transitional year. Mom and I are hoping to soon have the main Christmas at her house. We have to wait for my Great Granmother (age 91) to be ready to give up cooking Christmas dinner. I think we should start softening her up this year...

I can't wait to see how people like the gifts I chose for them, especially the kids. Elsie wanted nothing more than a white kitten, "not a real kitten Aunt Amy, a stuffed kitten." Thank you Amazon. Levi's big gift from me is a new John Deere hat to replace the one that he has outgrown. John is too little to appreciate presents as much as the others, but I bought him some little toys he might like. Of course, I bought way more than just these. I couldn't help myself.

Well, I guess we'll see how it all goes down. There is always something unexpected that happens at Christmas.