Let's Decorate the Tree

Last night, Toots and I decorated one of the Christmas trees in our house that is located in the living room. (Yes, we do more than one tree in the house.) It is loaded with white lights, empty tread spools with rag ties, and at least 150 cookie cutters. Toots and I had fun talking about what some of the cutters represented. I was very surprised that she knew two of them were dinosaurs. How did she learn that by age 4? I was an adult with 3 children before I learned about the dinosaurs. But then I went to school so very long ago that we only did readin', 'ritin', and 'rithmetic. Well, we did a few other subjects, but you get the picture. Now that tree is finished, it is a conversation piece, an appetite stimulator, play dough aid, and an enjoyment to view. Now on to the huge one with that holds mostly handmade ornaments and childhood memorabilia.

Deck the Yard for Christmas

Yesterday, hubby, Toots, and I put up some Christmas lights in the front yard. We also put out the wooden figure Nativity that I had made about ten years ago. (We are one of the few in the area that has a Nativity scene.) Anyway, I've always wanted a simple lean-to stable to set behind the manger scene, but had not been successful in getting it done. This year I had the idea of using old wooden pallets to set up in a three-sided lean-to. So, in less than ten years and thirty minutes, we now have a stable that enhances the view of the manger scene. And Toots said it was beautiful!

Gas Prices Down

While watching the news the other morning, I listened to them say that gas has gone done even more to less than $1.50 in some parts of the state. It has been over 3 for four years now. Then, if I heard right, they said for every penny that gas goes down, we save over a billion dollars. That sounds too astronomical to be possible. That would mean we use 100,000,000,000 gallons of gas in a day. Is that possible? With suv prices at an all time low, bet people will be out to buy.

The Milk Has Evaporated!

Our school had a week-long collection of nonperishable foods to make Thanksgiving food baskets. Even in these hard times, the collection was quite good. I happened to walk past the student council as they were sorting the food. One girl turned to me with a can of evaporated milk in her hand and asked where it went. She was making a joke. I didn't laugh.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My husband and I have been away to the National Missionary Convention in Tulsa, OK. We had a good time and were renewed in our desire to work in short-term missions. I was excited to find the booth that had the painted marble people and animals. I had seen them last year, but only bought a few individual things. This year I bought the Nativity scene as well as a gift for our granddaughter for Christmas. After we arrived home, our granddaughter, Toots, came over to visit. I had her help unwrap the Nativity scene and arrange it on the table. She was excited to do that until she saw the baby Jesus. Instead of being a marble, it is a small piece of something stretched out to look like a baby in swaddling clothes. She asked, "What's that?" When I answered that it was Baby Jesus, she said it couldn't be because Jesus is God. "Mimi, don't you know that our God is big?" Anyone know where I can find a painted marble that is BIG and still looks like a baby in a manger?

Honey, Did You Pay the Light Bill?

Watching the news, I heard an unbelievable story. This man has not paid an additional hookup and usage on his electric bill, not one dime more, in 16 years. Now it has been discovered that an electrician friend hooked the guy up and bypassed the meter. The man thinks his friend did this as a favor. He can't believe that he now owes $17,613.34 which must be paid in one month! He lamented that with two kids in college, money is tight. Wonder what career the kids are pursuing with an example like their dad? Wouldn't you think that if you have not paid anything extra for more use of electricity that you are doing something wrong? His local government has agreed to waive the criminal charges. Some would say, "Fry the sucker." I say, "Duh!!!!"

Round Numbers Mean Zeros!

At school yesterday, I taught the designated power standard in math which was rounding numbers to the nearest 10. To all who are reading this, that skill is a no brainer. You do not have to think about it. It just comes naturally. Well....it does not come naturally at first to many of the students. After just six problems, it was evident who needs in-depth teaching and who has it. During this week, I will be spending time on the stairs with those who don't get it. We will be going up to the top when we round up and down to the bottom when we round down. I will have to be creative and have additional ways for students to grasp the concept. I wonder if on a test others will allow them to use the stairs to do the rounding? Once they get it, then I will confuse them further by asking them to round to the nearest hundred. I already know that it will be a brand-new skill. Sigh.

Christmas Wish List

It's that time of the year--time to make out my Christmas wish list. Hmmm, as I try to put it into a list, nothing seems to come to mind. I could do as my husband did a few years back when he interspersed wishes that seemed unattainable. But some of them were fulfilled. He was very surprised to receive a ticket to the Daytona 500 race. This will take some thought. Nothing is jumping out for my list at the moment, but I'm sure I will come up with something.

Walking on Boulders

Who put a rock in my shoe? I feel as if I have a huge flat rock in the arch of my shoe. As I walk, it hurts very much. This pain just began, out of nowhere toward the end of the day yesterday. Here it is, Saturday, I have lots to do, places to go and my foot hurts! Guess it is time to call my nephew who is a masseuse to ask him questions about it. Maybe he can provide the info I need to find relief. I've got to be able to walk.

We Honor the Veterans

We took our children to the local court house for the Veterans' Day observance. I threatened my class if they misbehaved or embarrassed their parents. I explained how important the day was for all those who had fought in the wars and how upset they would be if we talked out, etc. The veterans would think us to be rude. Well, our students were very well behaved. It was the veterans who talked out and loudly. Several of my students remarked quietly to me that the people were being very noisy. So maybe my kids do listen to me. Especially when followed with a stern threat. Just like parenting.

Looks Clean, Smells Clean

I had a first yesterday. One of my students didn't wash his hands after using the bathroom in our room. I told him to go back and wash. Well, he had a fit and said that he did wash. Calmly I said to do it again just to please me. With that he responded, "My mom always smells my hands to see if I washed." Still trying to be calm, I replied, "Well, I'm not going to do that. Just go wash your hands." In years past I have been asked to do a lot of things, even go in the bathroom and look at the number 2, but never smell the hands. I think he just earned a D- in Health for the week. And I won't be holding his hands soon.

Play Imitating Life

We had the granddaughter, Toots, overnight Friday night. She enjoys playing with the Tiny Tot dolls that I had made for my children years ago when the Cabbage Patch dolls were popular. Anyway, one of the dolls is African American because my son wanted Michael Jackson. Toots calls the doll Brock O. Bama. I'm not sure if she knows who Barack is, but she has heard the name enough to rename her baby. Speaking of dolls, while playing with them, Toots enjoys punishing them with time out, lectures, harsh words, taking a nap, etc. She is an expert in knowing what punishment is merited for what infraction.

Sign of Hard Times

The other evening I looked through the classified ad of our local newspaper. It's something I do when I've read both daily papers and still want to read. Anyway, I was surprised to see the number of pets listed in the pet section. Usually in that section there will be one or two listed for "free" and several for sale, but that particular day there were at least 20 ads for free pets and each ad listed multiple animals. I wonder if this is a further sign of our worsening economy. In times before, people would have kept the litter of pups or kittens, but now must get them off their hands. I certainly hope that with the new leadership that we will begin to see a turn around in our economy soon for all our sakes.

Flunking the Test

I gave a chapter test in Science to my class on Thursday. About half of them flunked the test. How discouraging is that? Extremely, because I had given them the exact test to study on Monday. We went through each question and discussed the possible answers, then I gave them the correct answers. We studied during school time for three days before taking the test. I don't think some of them looked at the test on their own time. How sad.

Where Have All the Leaves Gone?

What happened to our leaves? I noticed on Wed. that the trees still had many of their beautifully colored leaves. Then it was like someone threw a switch and the leaves fell off all at once. Our backyard looks as if we have had a leaf storm, dumping 6 to 8 inches of leaves. Fire up the leaf blower and make a pile that we can burn. Or wait until the wind blows them away. When we choose that method, we are not very popular with our neighbors. But then I don't see our neighbors from the west scrambling over to our place to retrieve their leaves.

Before the leaves fell, I took a picture of our burning bush, fully ablaze in red. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Healing Continues

It's been three weeks ago today that I fell and broke a rib. I am much better and not in as much pain. So I have cut back on the 800 mg ibuprofen. Guess you can say I am tapering off of the pain pills. Funny, my rib doesn't hurt as much but now I can feel all the other aches and pains of my body from arthritis. Not fair.

Brand-New and Falling Apart

On Saturday we went to the Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the ISSMA State Marching Band Contest, class B. The place is an awesome facility. It is a bit difficult to find your way around and then maneuver your way through some of the narrow hallways. We started out on the top level, but Toots was afraid. So we moved down one level. The view of the field was spectacular. Even though we were opposite of the end zone, the band marching programs were very easy to see and enjoy. As we sat enjoying the show, a lady passed by in the row in front of us. All of a sudden we heard a loud metallic clatter. The armrest had fallen off of the seat in front of us. It had been fastened by a bolt and regular nut. One would have thought they would use a locking nut. The bolt fell below the seat, followed by the nut. With no security guards around, we just left the armrest. Wonder how long it will be before someone finds it has come off?!? I don't plan on entering the stadium again until this time next year. I'll have to check it out.