MK ROX

The question really is, How bad do I want it?? This week I have to step out of my comfort zone and start meeting people for my Mary Kay business. I have no idea how I am going to build to 30 people by the end of June but that is my "puke" goal this month. I am using a tool called Design your life to help me get moving in the right direction and keep my abstract random brain focused. This is my theme song for the next 30 days.

TIM MCGRAW
How Bad Do You Want It?

When I'm here on this highway
Breathing diesel smoke
Driving hard for hours
Trying to make that Memphis show
People always ask me
"Son what does it take
To reach out and touch your dreams?"
To them I always say

Are you hungry?
Are you thirsty?
Is it a fire that burns you up inside?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Cause if you want it all
You've got to lay it all out on the line

I get to make my living
Doing what I love
Every night I give my heart and soul
Sometimes that ain't enough
But brother, if you're like me
Looking down that road
Be careful of that wild wind, son
Sometimes it don't let go

Can you feel it?
Can you taste it?
Can you hear it knocking at your door?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Cause if you want it all
You've got to lay it all out on the line

There's always a price you pay no matter what you do
If you're gonna climb that mountain to the top
It always comes down to

How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming
With that one thing on your mind?
How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?
Cause if you want it all
You've got to lay it all out on the line

Summertime in the city

Ahhhh, summer....sweet, sweet summer.

So the first weekend of summer got off just right. Friday night we drank all of the toxins of the school year away with good friends. We had poker, drinking and mooning. Lots of fun LOL. Saturday we slept. I don't mean slept in, I mean slept. I got up around 10, went back to bed at 4:30 and didn't get out of bed again until 9 or so Sunday morning. I got like 20 hours of sleep out of 24, not a bad start to the summer if you ask me.

Now the real work begins. There are lots of decisions to be made about my future, something I am not real sure about right now. I am in a time of true uncertainty about my life. I think things will work out as they should and I will just keep trucking along and doing what I am led to do. That has always been my biggest problem obeying God LOL. Go figure, must be part of the reason for my God issues.

Peace out my peeps.....hope to catch some of you soon this summer and not fall completely out of touch.

Think before you speak

Since we know I have a problem with speaking before I think I thought you all would enjoy reading this.

Here are six reasons why you should think before you speak -the last one is great!

Have you ever spoken and wished that you could immediately take the words back...or that you could crawl into a hole? Here are the Testimonials of a few people who did....

FIRST TESTIMONY:
I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in tow and asked loudly, "How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?" I turned around and walked back out and never went back. My husband didn't say a word...he knew better.

SECOND TESTIMONY:
I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls. I was unhappy with the women's type I had been using. After browsing for several minutes, I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store. He asked if he could help me. Without thinking, I looked at him and said, "I think I like playing with men's balls."

THIRD TESTIMONY:
My sister and I were at the mall and passed by a store that sold a variety of candy and nuts.
As we were looking at the display case, the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help. I replied, "No, I'm just looking at your nuts." My sister started to laugh hysterically. The boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away. To this day, my sister has never let me forget.

FOURTH TESTIMONY:
While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to release some pent-up energy and ran amok. I was finally able to grab hold of her after receiving looks of disgust and annoyance from other patrons. I told her that if she did not start behaving "right now" she would be punished. To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, "If you don't let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I saw you kissing Daddy's pee-pee last night!" The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing. I mustered up the last of my dignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow. The last thing I heard when the door closed behind me, were screams of laughter

FIFTH TESTIMONY:
Have you ever asked your child a question too many times? My three-year-old son had a lot of problems with potty training and I was on him constantly. One day we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch in between errands. It was very busy, with a full dining room. While enjoying my taco, I smelled something funny, so of course I checked my seven-month-old daughter, she was clean. The realized that Danny had not asked to go potty in a while. I asked him if he needed to go, and he said "No". I kept thinking "Oh Lord, that child has had an accident, and I don't have any clothes with me." Then I said, "Danny, are you SURE you didn't have an accident?" "No," he replied. I just KNEW that he must have had an accident, because the smell was getting worse. Soooooo, I asked one more time, "Danny, did you have an accident?" This time he jumped up, yanked down his pants, bent over, spread his cheeks and yelled "SEE MOM, IT'S JUST FARTS!!" While 30 people nearly choked to death on their tacos laughing, he calmly pulled up his pants and sat down. An old couple made me feel better, thanking me for the best laugh they'd ever had!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST TESTIMONY:
This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will, in the future, likely think before she speaks. What happens when you predict snow but don't get any! We had a female news anchor that, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn't, turned to the weatherman and asked: "So Bob, where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?" Not only did HE have to leave the set, but half the crew did too they were laughing so hard!

I think I can

So two more days with students and it is getting harder on me by the day. I got the sweetest e-mail from a parent:

Just a wanted to give you a special "THANKS" for being so good with ____ this year. She only has gone to that school for 2+ months and "what an experience!! Oh well, hopefully she will not be there next year. It has been a little more than I care to deal with. Talking to the G Police, the TOLERANCE level at that school is way to high, and way to HIGH for me.
I totally appreciate you giving _____ a "safe" haven to go to a few mornings a week.

Then this student came to my class today for her exam. Bless her heart, she was doomed to be in the class with all of Satan's children. I am telling you once again, brothers and sisters, even if they ONLY share the same dad (ie Satan) should not be allowed in the same class together. Anyway, she brought me a gift.....wonderful smelling candle and Calgon (Take me away LOL) lotion and body spray. It was so sweet. The email was enough to let me know I was doing something right.

Thursday is going to kill me. I have done so well. I haven't really thought about my 8th graders moving on, but it is starting to hit me. Many of the kids are seeking me out on myspace. I never would have gotten on that thing it it hadn't been for my neighbor. It is a neat way to stay in touch with them and see how they are doing. Now if I can train them to use my FIRST name!!!

Peace out my peeps.....sleep well.

Oops...

Mouth got ahead of brain........AGAIN

I walked in the front office on Friday and noticed the new border that was put up. It doesn't look bad, just shortened the room a LOT. I felt like the ceiling was closing in on me. I also noticed a new piece of artwork that I pointed at and said out loud "That is ugly." UGH, I swear I meant that to be in my head. All the secretaries laughed. Then I had to try to pull myself out of the hole....the painting isn't ugly, the frame is and the painting is depressing I explained to them. I don't think I did a good job of getting myself out of the hole, but I got a good laugh about it later when I realized how little I care about what people at that building think LOL.

Da Vinci Whatever

So, I figured it best to have a beer or two before starting this post. Something tells me I will be blasted for this post, but it is just some gentle observations I have been having lately.

First let me say that I don't see what the big deal is with churches feeling the need to dispel the "myths" of The Da Vinci Code (note: Good book, not nearly as good as Dan Brown's first book Angels and Demons, but fun all the same). Anyway, my church, that I love, that doesn't really know my serious issues with God, has decided to preach on the Da Vinci code. Awesome. I would love to hear their thoughts on the Illuminati, but that I am sure will come down the line sometime. That is really more for the Catholic church to go into, but then I won't go there either (at least, not tonight).

So last week's message was "Decoding Da Vinci". Really our pastor just hit on how Dan Brown was historically inaccurate in his book. That I can accept and enjoyed listening to. But then there was this one important point he made that got me to thinking. It was a comment on the wonderful "Last Supper" painting. That if it was Mary seated to the right of Jesus in the painting, then where was John, the disciple he loved most. Ok, I don't know what it was in the way that my pastor said it, but my brain spiraled to a bad place, then hubs didn't help when he said John was UNDER the table. That made it worse. I got the giggles a little, and it passed, until they brought up Bo Cephus. I don't know what he had to do with anything, but hubs and I were sharing one hell of a private joke in church. Ok, back to my spiraling thought......Something made me wonder if Jesus might have been gay. (yes, here is where you blast me) I don't know why I thought that, but our pastor kept insisting he was a single man, he had no children and that he loved John. COME ON, what would you think?!? So I jokingly mentioned it to hubs, who let me know I was going to be struck down. That ended it for the night.

Tonight's message was about dispelling the myth that Christianity wants to stifle women. Now anyone who really pays attention knows that God and Jesus held women in high regard. I do NOT want anyone to get the idea that I think differently. Women were very important to the spread of Christianity and I feel honored to be among the gender that helped get things rolling. Tonight my pastor read a quote from a woman about how Christ viewed women, when he was done with the quote I got the giggles again. (I know I am going to hell, no need to tell me now.) Hubs asked what was up, but I was really trying to listen to what the pastor had moved on to and couldn't explain what I found funny at the time. (Side note: Message tonight was VERY cool and I think it basically told me how the bible lets the world know that men are clueless. Check it out for yourselves LOL....Hubs will understand why I said this, unless he was sleeping through that part) As we are leaving he asks me what I wanted to tell him and I say I want to wait until we are safely in the vehicle before I voice my thoughts. To which hubs wants to know if he needs to place PITA in the front next to me and sit in the way back so as to suffer the least amount of damage from the lightening strike (UGH). We get in and I let him know that the quote that was read made me believe again that Jesus might have been gay, as only a gay man would speak of women as the author spoke of how Christ saw women.

Not that any of this shakes my faith, nor do I think it should bug any of you. It is just another example of me speaking before I think, but the more I think about.....one man hanging out with 12 other men that worship him, one he loves more than the others, he gives women great respect in a time when they weren't thought of much higher than slaves and was willing to sacrifice himself to save the world (Drama Queen).

I will let you know how hell is when I get there.....but then who knows.....I think God has a great sense of humor, so I may be in the clear after all. By the way, I am still looking for a gay boyfriend.

Peace Out.......

8th Grade Dance

So last night I got to party with my former students at their 8th grade dance. They always come so dressed up and look so nice. I was a bitter sweet night for me too. I got to see my kids, and I do mean MY kids, looking more grown up than ever. As I got lots of hugs and compliments (mostly about my weight loss, since the top I wore showed me off a little more), I had to keep reminding myself that I want out of teaching. It is so hard when you get really sweet letters or when you get hugs from kids that love you or you are told how much they appreciate you.

We (the teachers) did a dance for the kids to "Snap your fingers" by Lil Jon. The kids really got into it. I had so much fun. I was still wound up when I went home and it took me until midnight to get tired.

4 more days and the best group of kids I ever had the honor to teach will be moving on to high school. That is the hardest part of being a teacher....when the kids move on and you don't. Some kids I want to follow all the way to their senior year and see how much they grow and change over the years. I think I would follow this group right through if I could. They are amazing!

Peace out my peeps.....will be posts a rather controversial and blasphemous post next...it is all in a good fun....funny as hell as long as you don't take me seriously. Until then....PEACE

Teacher Pay

I know I am ready for this as a teacher!!!! :-)

ARE YOU SICK OF ALL OF THOSE HIGHLY PAID TEACHERS?

"I, for one, am sick and tired of those high paid teachers. Their hefty
salaries are driving up taxes and they only work nine or ten months a
year!

It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they
do...baby-sit! We can get that for less than minimum wage. That's
right...I would give them $3.00 dollars an hour and only the hours they
worked, not any of that silly planning time. That would be 15 dollars a
day. Each parent should pay 15 dollars a day for these teachers to
baby-sit their children.

Now, how many do they teach in a day...maybe 25. Then that's 15 x 25=
$375 a day. But remember they only work 180 days a year! I'm not going
to pay them for any vacations. Let's see...that's 375 x 180=$67,500.00
(Hold on, my calculator must need batteries!) What about those special
teachers or ones with master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum
wage just to be fair. Let's round it off to $6.00 an hour. That would
be $6 times 5 hours times 25 children times 180 days = $135,000.00 per
year. Wait a minute, there is something wrong here!!! (There sure is!)

Make a teacher smile :) Share this with them.

Dog Fight

Ok, not really, more like a sibling spat. My greys had a little disagreement yesterday when we got home from school. Hubs was pulling up in the back and they rushed to meet him at the gate. We think one stepped on the other and someone got mad and the next thing we know they were on their hind legs going at one another. They have never shown any signs of aggression to each other so we were shocked to say the least.

Dagwood, our red fawn grey, lost. We took him to the vet because his ear was torn up and we thought he was going to need stitches. Well, the doc took a good look at him and let us know he was going to need reconstructive surgery on that ear. Can you say cha-ching?? He had surgery last night and I got the call around 10:30 letting me know he came out of anesthesia. That was my biggest concern knowing how greys are with that.

I got to pick my boy up tonight after school and here is how he looks. The pics look pretty bad, but he is in good spirits. The worst part is the cone. I feel like I have the "special" dog on the block now. Hubs says no walks for him until the cone comes off, too embarrassing for us and him.

Here is my "special" dog in his cone.

This picture shows both ears, the one on the left is the one they had to do reconstruction on and the other has a laceration with a staple in it.

Here is a better shot of the reconstructed ear.

I think now is a good time for hubs and I to look into pet insurance. I wonder if it is worth it.

Peace out.....sleep well.

National Teacher Appreciation Day

For those of you who may not know, tomorrow is National Teacher Appreciation Day. Take a little time and tell a teacher this week what a great job they are doing. Remember, we aren't in it for the money but for the kids and the chance to make a difference to one of them.

Week in Review

This week one of our teachers had her students write thank you notes (I REALLY wish I had thought to bring them home. Will have to take pics and share later) and some of these notes were delivered to teachers in the building. You know, it seems, right as I can't take anymore and I don't want to do this job and I hate everything about it, someone will do something like this and the kids remind me why I am a teacher. I swear to you, I hate admitting how much I love those kids some days.

I got a few thank yous and they let me know how I had made teaching fun and how much they enjoyed being in my class and getting to know me. One of my former students who is in the 8th grade made me a clever thank you (this I will HAVE to share a picture of) that was a paper hat. He told me that I got through to him on how wearing one of those when he goes up will not be an option! LOVE IT!! I got through to one. It is like the starfish story, "made a difference to that one". If you don't know it, let me know and I will be happy to find it and share it with you.

So then two of my girls in my 5th period gave me a card and two gifts (a delightful body spray and lotion). The card let me know how much they would miss me next year when I wasn't at the school anymore.

Guilt trips?? I think not. Pulling at my heart and reminding me that I do important work.....definitely.

Peace out.