I had the (good) fortune to be invited to the gala press conference hosted by the Governor, Mike Huckabee, that launched the online professional development portal. This is the online site for which I recently became a certified facilitator. I have to say, it was entertaining - we were told that the Commissioner of ADE (Dr. James) could not be present because he had a root canal the day before. It turns out his pain medicine contains a wee bit of codeine. Evidently, Dr. James took some medicine early this morning and was feeling "the effects" of the codeine... I believe the exact words for his escorted trip home were, "He was pretty loopy." As I mentione, he was ESCORTED home... That was made perfectly clear to those of us in attendance... :-)
Frankly, I think the presenters spent too much time talking about their various contributions to the project, and not enough time explaining exactly what the program is, how it will help teachers in the state, and how it works. But, that's just me... :-)
For the record, the web site is: http://ideas.aetn.org/
So, I've become addicted to some kind of kettle-cooked sea salt and pepper potato chips. This, of course, got me to thinking about my all-time favorite chips: Grandma Utz.... These are the first kettle-cooked chips I ever had, and I became hooked instantly! That, of course, led me to remember eating chipped ham sandwiches back in Pittsburgh (For those of you in the 'burgh reading this, that last sentence reads: eating chip-cham sammitches back in the 'burgh). I have no idea what KIND of ham is used for chipped ham, but there is nothing in the world that compares to chipped ham from Isly's (May be spelling that wrong).... I remember that like it was yesterday... :-) And, that of course, brings back memories of walking to the Mount Vernon Dairy, getting an ice cream dish, and having Jimmies put on it! For those of you that may not know, Jimmies are sprinkles... Specifically, I believe they are chocolate sprinkles (though I call all sprinkles Jimmies)... Yeah, I could google it, but I'll leave that for you to do.. Call it homework... :-)
Now, since I've started the whole food thing, let me say that the Sonic in Hope, Arkansas, does NOT sell sweet tea... Okay, so, what are there like 3 Sonics that actually SELL sweet tea?? Well, all I know is that ONE of those is in Prescott, so I'm covered... :-)
And, for those of you that don't know, I eat peanuts with the shell ON... Okay, I said it. There it is... Yes, it's weird. Think about it, picture it in your head, try it if you dare, and then get over it... :-) I also happen to eat Starburst in the wrapper on occasion... Call it a treat....
Aside from that, I am a NON-MIXER! I do not want my food to touch if at all humanly possible. In fact, if the restaurant world would just serve everything in compartmental trays, I'd be good to go! I also do not eat things that do not follow the natural order of things... For example - potato salad. You COOK potatoes. You eat them HOT. Yes, I know, some people eat HOT potato salad, but that is just trying to get back in the good graces of the food gods, and they know you're just trying to trick them! Another example? Pasta salad. Cold Pizza. French Fries that taste like potatoes. How about the snow pea medley thing? COLD PEAS??? Good heavens, what are you people smoking?? I am also a very (okay, okay, VERY V-E-R-Y) "textural" eater... I cannot and will not eat tapioca pudding based on the TEXTURE alone! UGH... I've tried squash... Tastes great - can't stand the texture... blah! :-)
Okay, I think that's all I have for tonight.... If not, I'll post again... :-) Tune in next time when we see what amazingly bizarre things come from within the deep recesses of my mind.... What will be the next thing to pop into my head???
Sep 6, 2006
Sep 5, 2006
Steve Irwin... Rest In Peace....
I will be the first to tell you that I was not a HUGE "crocodile hunter" fan. It was entertaining, sometimes shocking, sometimes disturbing. But, no matter what, Steve Irwin put his family above everything else. He died doing what he loved in life - chasing the next wild beast...
I know there are millions of fans out there who will miss him dearly, and his family will never be the same.
While surfing around the net, I found this tribute video. There are a lot of them out there, but the music and pictures show Steve Irwin as he was. The photos of him with his family are truly precious. May he always rest in peace.
Tribute Video to Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin
I know there are millions of fans out there who will miss him dearly, and his family will never be the same.
While surfing around the net, I found this tribute video. There are a lot of them out there, but the music and pictures show Steve Irwin as he was. The photos of him with his family are truly precious. May he always rest in peace.
Tribute Video to Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin
Sep 4, 2006
Seedless Watermelon and Soccer
Well, Happy Labor Day to everyone out there in Web-Land! :-)
Got up this morning, surfed channels for a bit and then Emily woke up, so we went out to feed Daisy. While we were at it, we decided to check her water... It was looking a bit on the green side, so Emily helped me empty the water barrel and refill it. Ever give a 4-year old a hose?? Think about that next time it crosses your mind... :-)
We did the cookout thing... I'm pretty sure my knuckles were not quite as.. umm.. pink ... as they are now... ;-) Call it impatience, call it stupidity... In either case, call it SINGED fingers!
After lunch, I had planned to ride Daisy, but Emily had ideas of her own, which led to a round of soccer. Now, I don't know about most 4-year olds, but in my little girl's world, soccer means a lot of different things... First, we start off with simple kicking the ball back and forth... This inevitably leads to my "throwing" the ball in the air to her. Now, before you get ahead of me, you'll notice I put throwing in quotes... You see, in my daughter's eyes, for me to throw the ball means that I get the ball on my foot and kick it sky-high in the air. Then she tries to either head the ball or catch it... Eventually, we began placing two soccer balls at one end of the yard, walking to the other end, then having a race to see who could get their ball first then run back to the starting point. If you haven't seen me in a while (or if you've never met me and couldn't tell by the few photos on here), you notice I am not in the greatest shape... Not even in good shape... Can you say running heart attack?
Of course, this little game gives way to her jumping on the trampoline and having me "throw" the ball onto the trampoline - up and over the safety netting... Of course, the netting is old enough now that it has nice, big holes in it where soccer balls can easily pass through (as well as children, if you're not careful!).
At some point, this game gives way to her convincing me to push her around in her little pink car (it has a push-handle on it, like a stroller almost). As we are running up and down the hills, Shan comes out and gets sucked into the game... Now, we are taking turns pushing emily in her car (BTW, if you push her downhill, you can let go and she travels in a mostly-straight line...) and then going after her... :-)
I think we did that for an hour... or maybe two... I lost track after the knees went out, the hip did a weird 'pop' thing, and the sense of vertigo set in....
That's where the seedless watermelon comes in... We bought one on friday, so I cut it up this afternoon. Emily wanted to know where "the little black things" were... When I told her this was a seedless watermelon, she gave me a look as if I had just landed from outer space and asked where the bathrooms were.... She did, however, ask for a slice, so I gave her one. She took one bite, and decided this just wasn't working for her... Yes, I ate it... :-)
I did manage to watch bits and pieces of the Pirates game, though did not see who won.. I saw the Pirates go from a 5-1 lead to a 5-4 lead, but that was about it...
At about 5:30 (the tima at which I am writing this very sentence), emily is playing with some kind of wind-up car in the kitchen and Shan, Tyler, and Shan's Mom went up to the walking track. I think Tyler took his bike... All I know is that when they come back, they are bringing a nice, big, Route 44 Sweet Tea with them for me.. :-)
Speaking of sweet tea... We went to Sonic in Texarkana on Saturday, and they do NOT have sweet tea!! What the --? How do you NOT have sweet tea in Texas?? I am at a loss.... Which reminds me - we bought lottery tickets (didnt win) and some scratch-offs. Emily won a dollar, and decided to but another scratch-off.... She didnt win, but still wanted the dollar that she won from her other ticket.. Smart girl! :-)
I may take Daisy out for a ride.... I may not... We'll see... :-) I am pretty wiped out from all the running, pushing, kicking, pulling.... Yeah, I'm not in great shape, but I am also not particularly unhappy about it... :-) Not thrilled, but not necessarily unhappy... :-)
I had something else I was gonna say, but ..... I lost it... hmm... Well, if it comes to me, I'll let ya know!
Got up this morning, surfed channels for a bit and then Emily woke up, so we went out to feed Daisy. While we were at it, we decided to check her water... It was looking a bit on the green side, so Emily helped me empty the water barrel and refill it. Ever give a 4-year old a hose?? Think about that next time it crosses your mind... :-)
We did the cookout thing... I'm pretty sure my knuckles were not quite as.. umm.. pink ... as they are now... ;-) Call it impatience, call it stupidity... In either case, call it SINGED fingers!
After lunch, I had planned to ride Daisy, but Emily had ideas of her own, which led to a round of soccer. Now, I don't know about most 4-year olds, but in my little girl's world, soccer means a lot of different things... First, we start off with simple kicking the ball back and forth... This inevitably leads to my "throwing" the ball in the air to her. Now, before you get ahead of me, you'll notice I put throwing in quotes... You see, in my daughter's eyes, for me to throw the ball means that I get the ball on my foot and kick it sky-high in the air. Then she tries to either head the ball or catch it... Eventually, we began placing two soccer balls at one end of the yard, walking to the other end, then having a race to see who could get their ball first then run back to the starting point. If you haven't seen me in a while (or if you've never met me and couldn't tell by the few photos on here), you notice I am not in the greatest shape... Not even in good shape... Can you say running heart attack?
Of course, this little game gives way to her jumping on the trampoline and having me "throw" the ball onto the trampoline - up and over the safety netting... Of course, the netting is old enough now that it has nice, big holes in it where soccer balls can easily pass through (as well as children, if you're not careful!).
At some point, this game gives way to her convincing me to push her around in her little pink car (it has a push-handle on it, like a stroller almost). As we are running up and down the hills, Shan comes out and gets sucked into the game... Now, we are taking turns pushing emily in her car (BTW, if you push her downhill, you can let go and she travels in a mostly-straight line...) and then going after her... :-)
I think we did that for an hour... or maybe two... I lost track after the knees went out, the hip did a weird 'pop' thing, and the sense of vertigo set in....
That's where the seedless watermelon comes in... We bought one on friday, so I cut it up this afternoon. Emily wanted to know where "the little black things" were... When I told her this was a seedless watermelon, she gave me a look as if I had just landed from outer space and asked where the bathrooms were.... She did, however, ask for a slice, so I gave her one. She took one bite, and decided this just wasn't working for her... Yes, I ate it... :-)
I did manage to watch bits and pieces of the Pirates game, though did not see who won.. I saw the Pirates go from a 5-1 lead to a 5-4 lead, but that was about it...
At about 5:30 (the tima at which I am writing this very sentence), emily is playing with some kind of wind-up car in the kitchen and Shan, Tyler, and Shan's Mom went up to the walking track. I think Tyler took his bike... All I know is that when they come back, they are bringing a nice, big, Route 44 Sweet Tea with them for me.. :-)
Speaking of sweet tea... We went to Sonic in Texarkana on Saturday, and they do NOT have sweet tea!! What the --? How do you NOT have sweet tea in Texas?? I am at a loss.... Which reminds me - we bought lottery tickets (didnt win) and some scratch-offs. Emily won a dollar, and decided to but another scratch-off.... She didnt win, but still wanted the dollar that she won from her other ticket.. Smart girl! :-)
I may take Daisy out for a ride.... I may not... We'll see... :-) I am pretty wiped out from all the running, pushing, kicking, pulling.... Yeah, I'm not in great shape, but I am also not particularly unhappy about it... :-) Not thrilled, but not necessarily unhappy... :-)
I had something else I was gonna say, but ..... I lost it... hmm... Well, if it comes to me, I'll let ya know!
Sep 2, 2006
Sudoku and the Razorbacks
So, I've joined the gazillion people putting pen(cil) to paper and I'm doing sudoku puzzles. I'm still doing the "easy" puzzles, though I've tried a couple of the harder (and some MUCH harder) ones, I have discovered that if I don't concentrate, I can't even do the easy ones.
To that end, I introduce the Arkansas Razorbacks 2006 Football game. Even though USC is kicking our ever-loving rear ends (I am typing this while the game is still going - 4th qtr, presently 44-14), I cannot keep one eye on the game, one eye on our daughter, and my brain on sudoku! :-)
Thought you would think since we are getting KILLED, I would not be keeping one eye on the Hogs, but it *IS* the first game of the season...
BTW, there are HUGE props to EPSN for the special piece they did on Paul Eels! They could have simply mentioned Paul, but to show his picture, play some of his work, and to have talked about what an important part (and loss) of not only the Razorbacks, but Arkansas as a whole, was absolutely top-notch! I applaud ESPN.
And, if you ever find yourself buying a new halter for your horse and are brand new to owning your own horse, I recommend you BRING the halter currently being worn by the horse (if you have one) for comparison sake... We bought Daisy a new halter, and we got it one size too big... Ooops... Well, we made it work, and it looks very good on her! They did not have pink in her size, so we bought a very nice-looking blue one... Also picked up a sweat blade (which I will actually use to squeegee water off her when we bathe her), a couple brushes and combs, some fly spray, and new reins... :-) I've decided we need a tack room and Emily says we need to build "some stables" for Daisy where she could have a few blankets in case Daisy decides she wants to sleep with a blanket a night! :-) Dontcha love kids?? :-)
We also went to Cold Stone Creamery in Texarkana, too... :-) I love that place! Excellent ice cream, for sure! :-)
In the words of Dale and Roy: "Happy trails until we meet again....." (And yes, I am aware that Roy had the tune and Dale wrote the words to go along with it... :-) )
To that end, I introduce the Arkansas Razorbacks 2006 Football game. Even though USC is kicking our ever-loving rear ends (I am typing this while the game is still going - 4th qtr, presently 44-14), I cannot keep one eye on the game, one eye on our daughter, and my brain on sudoku! :-)
Thought you would think since we are getting KILLED, I would not be keeping one eye on the Hogs, but it *IS* the first game of the season...
BTW, there are HUGE props to EPSN for the special piece they did on Paul Eels! They could have simply mentioned Paul, but to show his picture, play some of his work, and to have talked about what an important part (and loss) of not only the Razorbacks, but Arkansas as a whole, was absolutely top-notch! I applaud ESPN.
And, if you ever find yourself buying a new halter for your horse and are brand new to owning your own horse, I recommend you BRING the halter currently being worn by the horse (if you have one) for comparison sake... We bought Daisy a new halter, and we got it one size too big... Ooops... Well, we made it work, and it looks very good on her! They did not have pink in her size, so we bought a very nice-looking blue one... Also picked up a sweat blade (which I will actually use to squeegee water off her when we bathe her), a couple brushes and combs, some fly spray, and new reins... :-) I've decided we need a tack room and Emily says we need to build "some stables" for Daisy where she could have a few blankets in case Daisy decides she wants to sleep with a blanket a night! :-) Dontcha love kids?? :-)
We also went to Cold Stone Creamery in Texarkana, too... :-) I love that place! Excellent ice cream, for sure! :-)
In the words of Dale and Roy: "Happy trails until we meet again....." (And yes, I am aware that Roy had the tune and Dale wrote the words to go along with it... :-) )
Sep 1, 2006
Just when I finished one...
Well, my PBS TeacherLine training is all done! From the grades I see posted for my work, it looks like I am in fact going to be a Certified TeacherLine Facilitator! YAY! And, just as I finish that online course, it urns out the Distance Learning Coordinators (which I am one!) will be starting an online course to become certified through an organization in Texas (CDLR, I believe but I could be wrong.. LOL). So, here we go again, I guess!
Emily wanted to go out riding yesterday (Friday), so I saddled up the horse and several of us rode her around for a bit. Something was wrong wit the way her bit sat in her mouth or something because she was not happy about it... I tried adjusting it, so I'll have to watch that in the next couple days... Oh, I should stop here and talk about how little miss Daisy led me to the back right edge of her pen area before she would let me get a lead rope on her... Silly girl! She was not happy to see me since I was wanting to saddle her up before she ate! So, I'd take a few steps, and she'd let me get close, but not close enough to grab her halter... Then she'd take a few steps, eyeing me the whole time... Once I got her cornered, it was a showdown, and I knew I'd lose if I went in hard and fast to get her, so I just meandered a little, put my hand on her side and talked to her, then grabbed the halter. She never flinched... In fact, I am pretty sure she was smiling about the whole thing... That little snort she gave after I attached her lead rope was a laugh, I'm sure! :-)
After riding, or really, while other people were riding, Emily and Tyler and I kicked the soccer ball around a bit (it is a small one, pink with Disney Princesses on it - wanna guess who owns that one?). I helped Em ride her bike, too...
Shan made cinnamon rolls before she came out to watch us riding, so after we were done, I went in and had one! Excellent after-ride treat, lemmie tell ya! :-) Of course, since it contained no chocolate, it did not count as dessert, so I ate a fudgecicle after the roll... :-) I may not be doing what I need to do to lose weight, but I'll die happier.... :-) (or something like that)
Guess I better skee-dattle... I am doing this at work (dont tell my boss) before heading out to a school to do some audio troubleshooting... :-)
Hide-The-Oats! (that's "Adios" in Dave-speak)
Emily wanted to go out riding yesterday (Friday), so I saddled up the horse and several of us rode her around for a bit. Something was wrong wit the way her bit sat in her mouth or something because she was not happy about it... I tried adjusting it, so I'll have to watch that in the next couple days... Oh, I should stop here and talk about how little miss Daisy led me to the back right edge of her pen area before she would let me get a lead rope on her... Silly girl! She was not happy to see me since I was wanting to saddle her up before she ate! So, I'd take a few steps, and she'd let me get close, but not close enough to grab her halter... Then she'd take a few steps, eyeing me the whole time... Once I got her cornered, it was a showdown, and I knew I'd lose if I went in hard and fast to get her, so I just meandered a little, put my hand on her side and talked to her, then grabbed the halter. She never flinched... In fact, I am pretty sure she was smiling about the whole thing... That little snort she gave after I attached her lead rope was a laugh, I'm sure! :-)
After riding, or really, while other people were riding, Emily and Tyler and I kicked the soccer ball around a bit (it is a small one, pink with Disney Princesses on it - wanna guess who owns that one?). I helped Em ride her bike, too...
Shan made cinnamon rolls before she came out to watch us riding, so after we were done, I went in and had one! Excellent after-ride treat, lemmie tell ya! :-) Of course, since it contained no chocolate, it did not count as dessert, so I ate a fudgecicle after the roll... :-) I may not be doing what I need to do to lose weight, but I'll die happier.... :-) (or something like that)
Guess I better skee-dattle... I am doing this at work (dont tell my boss) before heading out to a school to do some audio troubleshooting... :-)
Hide-The-Oats! (that's "Adios" in Dave-speak)
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