The Shoelace

This is weird.  As the credits for 127 Hours rolled, Husbandman tried to stand, but his shoelace was trapped in some crevice in the seats in front of him.  "Oh my god, I might have to cut my leg off! Look at this!  I'm stuck!"
"Have you been planning this for the entire movie?" I asked him.
"No!  SWEAR TO GOD! I'm stuck!  HELP!"
He pulled his shoelace out, freeing himself, and made it out of the theater safely. Kind of an odd coincidence.

The Greatness

Today's off to a great start.  Had to fast last night so I could get a little health check up for insurance purposes. Early appointment, no coffee, out in the freezing cold, needle in my arm, blood removed, measurements of my body, handed a piece of paper that tells me I'm obese and then given a survey to fill out regarding my satisfaction with today's visit.  I have to say, the whole thing's kind of brought me a little down.  This is just not the way I like to start a day.

The Attendance

We had an open house for parents last night so they could check out our new Artful Learning program.  Hate to tell you all this, but we had extremely POOR ATTENDANCE!  Some classes had 0 parents show up.  Others had 2 to 3.  This is tough stuff because the teachers worked super hard getting their inquiry centers ready to share with the parents.  I even made an engaging power point for them to share as well.  On the good side, the parents who attended seemed to think Artful Learning was pretty cool.
And on the other good side, I went out with 2 teacher pals after the AL night (we had invited the entire faculty, but that's neither here nor there) and I ate eight veggie MOMO.  So delicious.

The Seniority

Summary of article in paper today:  Great new teacher at a local project based high school got RIF'ed last year.  RIF means reduction in force, as you probably already know.  This teacher succeeded in the project based model and had a strong commitment to the model.  This project based school had to take other teachers, with more seniority, and these teachers were hired right before the start of school so they didn't have training in the model.
Now for my opinion about this article:  I'm sorry this teacher got RIF'ed, but this teacher did get another job at a different project based school.  I'm sorry that our state government has reduced tax base funding for our schools so that our schools were forced to lay off and move around teachers like crazy last year.  But here's the thing I'm not sorry for.  I am not sorry that the school system uses seniority to make these decisions.  I think it's fair.  Usually these RIFs happen toward the end of the school year.  It's a huge scramble.  After everyone is RIF'ed, the school system works hard to hire as many people back, as retirements and leaves roll in over the summer.  I think this teacher should be happy for the new job in another project based school. Be happy and keep working, and in a few years you'll have seniority and you won't get moved around so much.

The Bras

We went shopping last weekend up at the big city department store.  I ventured into the BRA area and when a bra salesperson said she would give me a bra fitting, I was really jazzed.  I have never had a bra fitting and I've suspected for a good long while now that I've not been wearing the best bras.  The fitting took forever, with the gal leaving me for long bouts of time with no explanation.  I was okay about this because I thought, "Hey, I'm going to leave here with great fitting bras.  It's all good."  Unfortunately, it was not all good for Husbandman when I emerged 45 minutes later from the fitting room.  He was royally p' o' ed about how long the bra fitting took. Then I got mad at him for being a little on the rude side and I didn't talk to him for quite awhile really, aside from a nicety here and there.  So anyway, we finally talked (sadly this reconciliatory talk occurred during The Bachelor so I was unable to live tweet), and we put all this nonsense behind us.  But here's the really sad ending to the whole story.  The new bras fit horribly. They are SUPER uncomfortable.  I basically hate the new bras.   I have decided never to have a bra fitting again.  Bra fittings suck.  I hate bra fittings.

The Fork

Okay, stick a fork in it.  I'm pulling out of my funk.  We're all doing the best we can.  And life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone.  I'm not really trying to say that there are still no thrills to be had.  Far to the contrary.  I'm just saying that life goes on and you've got to lean in to it.  Maybe "daily thrills" would be a good theme that would lead to blog fame.  I've got to make every second count.  This much I know.  My thrill for the day:  I had this great grilled cheese sandwich from that little place called Soup's On.  And I also had potato soup.  SUPER good.

The Adjustment

I'm thinking of making one dinner per week.  And reading one book each week.  And exercising 3 x each week.  And improving myself in other ways as well.
And here's something that I heard that kind of bugged me.  There's a person I don't really know but other people I know do know her and she started a cooking blog a few years ago.  And she has become a famous blogger.  Her blog was actually BOUGHT, but I'm not sure who bought it.  KC and I often wonder why we are not famous bloggers.  Let's face it, we've put in the time.  We work our butts off on these blogs.  I wonder if we should focus on some type of theme for the blogging, like cooking.  I'm feeling a vague lack of ease with life right now.  DailyRos is gone but not forgotten.  And #1Son hit the road for a trip with some family that's not us. I'm giving myself a few more days, okay maybe a week, of curmudgeonship before I pull it together.

The Foreboding

I wish DailyRos weren't leaving tomorrow.  I simply prefer her to live in our common abode. If I follow the RAIN technique, I can work with my feelings:
RA: Recognize and Allow:  I feel sad.  I want DailyRos to live here.
Investigate:  I feel this way because I have a need to see my kids daily.  I accept this feeling and make space for it.  Hey feeling of sadness, there's plenty of room for you here.  Hang out.  Stay awhile.
N:  Return to a Natural state:  Not feeling the natural state yet, but it will probably happen soon.

The Fears

Yesterday I read a book about being frightened to the kinders.  The last page of the book asks, "What are you frightened of?"
One little kinder yelled out right away, "I'm scared of JESUS!"
I think the kid's getting some bad information somewhere, but I didn't want to get into it.

The Parts

Part of me wants to see Black Swan and part of me doesn't.  #1son saw it and he said it was fairly terrifying.  But then I read a review by A.O.Scott that piqued my curiosity.

Part of me wants to take a Hula Hooping class.  It's after school and could be very convenient and it's something different.  But then I remember that I like exercising by myself, listening to podcasts.

Part of me wants to fill my bird feeders this year, since I slacked off on that in 2010.  I love looking at the birds in the backyard.  But then I remember that the deer come by and empty the feeders each day by midmorning.

The Hospital

DailyRos had to have a VEIN removed from her leg today, so that was kind of a hassle.  We had to spend time at the hospital waiting for the doctor to remove the vein.  And then we had to wait for her to wake up.  Then we had to wait for her to eat crackers and sit upright for 5 minutes.  And when we got home she had to hobble upstairs because she has a huge tight bandage on her leg that has to stay on for a few days. And we all took mega-naps this afternoon due to post-surgery fatigue so we lost some valuable moments of potential productivity.
BUT there are a few upsides to the whole thing.  Firstly, it was pretty neat watching DailyRos slip into a coma-like state 30 seconds after receiving some anesthesia.  (Wish I had brought the flip camera).  And (b) we got to HANG OUT and watch the premier of the Bachelor and eat mashed potatoes and chitchat and sing some classic hit songs together.  Hoorah.  Huzzah.

The Saddle

Yep, Back in the Saddle.  So far, so good.  In 2011, I've been in charge of teaching kiddos about bathroom procedures.  Some of the important things I have covered in my bathroom procedure talk:

• If someone's in the bathroom stall, give them privacy.  Don't bang on the door or look under the stall. No one wants you bothering them when they're going to the bathroom.  Obviously.
• If you pee on the floor by accident, don't ask anyone else to clean it up for you.  Just get some toilet paper, and clean it up.
• You don't need a paper towel the size of the Empire State Building to dry your hands.  Just two clunks of the paper towel dispenser.  That's all you need.
• Don't scream in the bathroom.  We can hear you in the hallway.  We hear every crazy word you're saying.
• The bathroom is for going to the bathroom.  It's not a place for singing and tap dancing.  It's not King's Island.  It's not Disney World.  It's a bathroom.  Try not to forget that. 
• The bathroom is made out of hard surfaces:  cinderblock, ceramic tile, porcelain fixtures.  If you go in there and fool around, you could fall and hurt yourself.  You could get a huge gash in your head and bleed out and no one would be there to help you.  You could basically die in there.  

I gave this prezi 13 times in the last 2 days, to pretty good reviews. The year's off to a good start. 

The Break

This break gets a big fat 10 on the Richter Scale.  The only problem with this break is that #1 Son and DailyRos have turned into the wild children of Borneo.  They are out and about late into the night.  During the days, they sleep.  I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth out of these two offspring.
We did have a fun dinner together last night.  Husbandman made fondue and we chirped and chatted, but I want more.

While the wild children of Borneo are out and about, Husbandman and I have watched a few good netflix films:  Easy (romcom) and Amores Perros (exploration of human cruelty).  Today I will venture into the compound for a few hours, just to get my feet wet and to acclimate to my environs.