I Can Properly Title My Blogs

HELLO AGAIN! The longer I fiddle around with my blog, the more I learn. Here's a recap of my exciting day:

1. "Slept In" until 7 (sadly, my body is conditioned to wake up early; I hate that)
2. Aquafit (yay!)
3. Lunch at the Smoothie Shop (a goal of mine before my next birthday is to try all the smoothies...but I'm a slave to habit! Hawaiian Breeze is so dang tasty that I can't stay away from it!)
4. 3 hour nap with little Saffie (this makes up for not sleeping in)
5. Guitar Time (I figured out how to play Sandra's McCracken's "Nameless Places" and Derek Webb's "Lover"...now, we're not talking fancy finger picking, just the chords...but I'm very, very happy!)
6. Computer Time (in which I discovered how to post pictures AND how to title my blogs properly)

All in all, it's been a good first day of summer.

A Very Big Day

Today is a big day: Matt turned 25, Kevin and Christie are moving into their brand new house (remember, I'm waiting for the BBQ invite), I went to aquafit (more about that later), and in a moment I will try to post my first picture on my blog...let's see if this works...



That's me and Matt...and Kevin took the picture! That was 2 summers ago right after I got my red cowboy boots (which I am wearing in the picture but sadly you can't see them...but, you can see my snappy cowgirl shirt). I dare say that both boys were embarassed that I actually wore my boots...shame, shame. Anyway, in high school I used to call Matt, Clark Kent. For some reason he reminded me of Clark. He would always ask me, "Does this mean I look like Dean Cain?" Sometimes he called me Clarissa (from Clarissa Explains it All...I think mainly because I acted like her, not because I look like Melissa Joan Hart). I called Kevin, Kevin Lo-fat (because his last name is Lo) and he called me Alisa Mixed-Fruit. Gee, this is probably a pretty boring blog...sorry. All in all, Kevin and Matt, you're pretty cool...except when you SHHHHHH me in public (I hate that, you know!) and when you're embarassed by my boots (although, Matt...you're not embarassed any more, right?).

So, Happy Birthday, Matt and Congrats on the new digs, Christie and Kevin.

You wanna hear about Aquafit now? So, my mom and I went to the gym this morning and were JUST IN TIME for the aquafit class (I love saying aquafit!). It's a water aerobics class and I had so much fun (I had never been to a water aerobics class before). I was the youngest one there and I think my mom was probably the second youngest! We were surrounded by these old ladies (one wore water shoes and another wore a SHOWER CAP!...I kid you not). The old ladies taught us the ropes and I'm so looking forward to going back tomorrow. After the hour long class, my mom and I stayed in the pool to goof off. We tried racing down the lanes, but I got annoyed because she KEPT WINNING! We practiced the frog stroke (which was quite fun) and pretended like we knew how to do pilates. Well...two lanes over all hell broke loose! Some fat guy was leaning against the wall and this other guy was swimming slowly and kept bumping into him. The two were about to come to blows. The exchange went something like this:

Fat Guy: Watch where you're going.
Swim Guy: Why don't you move?
Fat Guy: Go swim in another lane.
Swim Guy: Why don't you move?
Fat Guy: Go and report me.
Swim Guy: No, because I don't want you to cry, you cry baby!

(I am not kidding...grown men were actually fighting like 6 year olds!)

As amusing as the boy fight was, my mom and I decided to exit the pool and so now we're eagerly awaiting tomorrow's aquafit class!

WHAT A BIG DAY!

It Is Finished

It's the last day of summer school!! YAY! I'm just finishing up cleaning my room and in 30 minutes I'm going out for ICE CREAM!! I will begin my real summer tomorrow. The first thing that I expect to do is: sleep in.

Thoughts on the Second Grade

Disclaimer: I will try not to write blogs as long as yesterday's ever again (as a reader of mine informed me that it was very long and decided not to read the whole thing).

Second grade was the year of writing stories, getting in trouble for talking, and wearing a crown with red, curly, paper hair.

I was moved away from my friend, Heather, because we talked too much. She had this pair of pants that we called "The Bubble Pants." When she sat down, the material would bubble up and it made us laugh...hard! We enjoyed sitting next to each other and chatted up a storm. I always was the one who got caught talking, though. [Which never changed: even in college, sitting next to Karen, I was always the one who the professor looked at and ended up despising...and Karen talked to me ALL THE TIME! She says that I'm a lousy whisperer.] Anyway, I was moved away from Heather and next to Ricky [he loved dinosaurs and his dad was a police man. Once his dinosaur ruler went missing and Mrs. O'Dea searched everyone's desks. I forget the outcome. Funny the obscure things you remember about your second grade classmates!] Aside from getting into trouble for talking, Mrs. O'Dea made me believe that I was a writer!

She made these books for us: 2 pieces of cardboard covered in patterned contact paper with white paper sewn in. After we would write a story, she'd let us have a book to copy our story in. My first story was called "The Four Friends." It was about 4 girls who became friends and they built a tree house, but of course there's some conflict and some girly fighting that had to be resolved. [The story is FILLED with spelling errors. It turns out that my teacher actually told my mom not to correct my spelling because she simply encouraged us to spell words how they sounded to us. Not a very good approach, if you ask me. It annoyed my mom.] I went on to write several more books. My stand out nonfiction works include: "All About Food", "All About Me", and "All About Clowns." [I think I also wrote "All About Holidays."] My works of fiction are: "One March Day" (all about a St. Patrick's Day costume contest) and "Summer Camp."

One day Mrs. O'Dea came to me and told me something grand! I was going to MISS SCHOOL for a day (missing school was always welcome) so that I could attend The Young Author's Convention. Whoa! Did this mean that I was an author? I went with Mrs. O'Dea to the Young Author's Convention and I got a button with a red ribbon attached to it to wear. From then on, I called myself a writer. It all started in the second grade!

Being a teacher now, I can look back on that incident and recognize it as something amazing! Teachers have SUCH great potential to influence. Mrs. O'Dea called me an author, she gave me contact paper covered books in which to write my stories, and she took me to the Young Author's Convention.

I don't really remember anything else about the second grade except a play that we put on in our classroom one afternoon for our parents. It was about a princess with red, cruly hair. I landed the lead, but I did (and do) not have red hair, nor is my hair remotely curly (sadly!). What I remember most about the play is my crown! Attached to the crown were long strips of red construction paper that we rolled around a pencil to make them curly. I loved my crown and red, curly hair!

The Great Opossum Excavation

WARNING: THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS MAY NOT WANT TO READ THE FOLLOWING BLOG.

I hate roaches. I’m sure there isn’t a girl who would say she likes roaches. I even know a BOY who hates roaches SO much that he screams like a girl when one comes by (those of you who know Brent, he’s the girly screaming roach hating boy). I once had a twinge of sympathy for the roach when I read Kafka’s Metamorphasis. The image of a really dusty dung beetle (close enough to the roach) with an oozing wound from a piece of apple being impaled in his back was enough to make me almost like the little guys…but, not quite! My brother, in his typical mean big brother-ness, put a dead palmetto bug on my pillow once. Needless to say, come bed time, there were frantic screams coming from my bedroom coupled with hysterical laughter coming from his. Looking back, it was kind of funny…if I was an older brother, I probably would have done the same thing. There was a roach crawling rather slowly and methodically in my classroom this morning. I hate roaches.

Maybe you’re seen the commercial for some kind of pest control service (perhaps Orkin?) that shows “testimonials” of the Orkin men. One guy was saying stuff like, “When people find out I’m an Orkin man, they always have something to say about their pests.” (That was a very poor, loose paraphrase.) But, it’s kind of true. I remember hanging out in the Wesley TV room senior year of college with Sharon, Mike, and occasionally Sam (the Marxist). We enjoyed watching Days of Our Lives and Passions…mostly, we enjoyed making fun of these shows…good times we had. Anyway, the pest control guy would always come during the soap opera hours and Sharon and I loved to talk to him. We mostly talked about rats, because there were lots of rats on the UM campus (fortunately, I never saw a rat…but the pest control guy – who we’ll call Jorge -- assured me that there were lots of rats and to be very careful during “rat season”). Naturally, once the big opossum excavation of 2000 happened, I had lots to tell Jorge.

What? You, who are reading this, may not know about the Big Opossum Excavation of 2000?! Allow me to fill you in…

It all began around November, right before Thanksgiving break. The boys’ apartment at the BSU had a faint odor that kept most of the girls away! The odor seemed to be concentrated in poor Patrick’s room. Patrick and Jon G. were driving back to Tampa for Thanksgiving break and Jon G. reported back to me that the WHOLE way home (which is about a 5 hr. drive), Patrick talked about the smell. He even prayed, “Lord, please deliver the smell from my room by the time I get back from break.” Funny. The smell wasn’t gone after Thanksgiving. It was worse. It was so bad, in fact, that we just KNEW that something had crawled up in the ceiling and DIED (which is exactly what had happened).

One night, when Athletes in Action was having their candlelight Christmas service downstairs (as the boys’ apartment was upstairs and over the big BSU meeting area), a bunch of us decided to get crazy! Maybe the smell of rotting animal flesh had gotten to us, I don’t know. I do know that John, Rob, Patrick, and myself wanted to get to the bottom of the smell. John took out a ceiling tile in the living room and tried to find something. But, as you might imagine, the ceiling crawl space tends to be dark. With flashlights though, John spotted it. Yes, it was a dead animal…a opossum to be exact! Now for the task of getting it out.

Me, in my infinite wisdom (which comes from being a girl and not wanting to deal with dead animals), exclaimed, “I KNOW! Don’t do anything! I’ll go call UNICO!” (UNICO was the on campus service that handled EVERYTHING…certainly they could handle a dead opossum stuck up in the ceiling). John and Patrick were both relieved that I came up with the brilliant idea. Rob, however, responded with, “Don’t call UNICO, we can handle it.” The other boys, not wanting to be chickens, didn’t speak up…I called UNICO any way! [a side note: Rob got snippy with me once he found out I called UNICO and I had to call them back and tell them not to come!]

The opossum was over Patrick’s room and there was NO WAY to get it out from the living room. Drastic times call for drastic measures…so out came the drill and really big hammer. Being the girl, I didn’t want to operate any tools and get remotely close to coming into contact with DEAD FLESH, so I opted to handle vacuum duty. I vacuumed up all the plaster that fell down from the boys’ handiwork.

The hole was made and we could SEE THE DEAD OPOSSUM. Now the screaming began. Ok, yes, I screamed. It was a dead opossum! I believe that Patrick also screamed (not as girly as Brent screams when he comes into close proximity with roaches). Then the phone rang. I answered it since I was not about to be part of getting the opossum OUT of the ceiling. Girard (the BSU director) was calling to tell us to be quiet… “Silent Night” being sung by candlelight was being rudely interrupted by our screams!

Patrick was way too grossed out, as was I, to participate at all in the actual excavation. We stood in the doorway and I hid behind Patrick. Rob, whose fiancé was in Arkansas, ran to get his digital camera to document the excavation. So, that left only John to do the dirty work. With a garbage bag on each hand he reached up into the ceiling, scooped it up, and slung it into the garbage bag attached to the ceiling. YAY! Mission accomplished…almost.

The four of us, adrenaline racing, rushed downstairs, walked quickly past the candles and into the parking lot where we dumped the opossum out. Why did the opossum have to be dumped out of the bag, you might wonder? The boys wanted to make sure ALL of the opossum was there. So, there lay the opossum with maggots and everything! Another scream escaped me (dead animals bring out the TRUE girl in me, what can I say?). The opossum eventually went back into the garbage bag and into the dumpster.

Back inside, we had to deal with the mess and the gaping hole in Patrick’s room. I was really quite concerned for him because if I had to sleep in a room with a big hole where a dead animal was pulled out of, I’d probably cry…or at least have creepy nightmares. Out came the packing tape! We taped up the hole and it kind of looked like a big ice cream cone. [This was almost 4 years ago, and the tape is still intact. I even took a picture of it when I went back in April to visit!] The excitement was over, Rob apologized to me for being snippy about the whole UNICO thing, and the smell was soon gone.

Well, I was glad to tell Jorge all about the big opossum incident. He had quite a few colorful stories to tell me about animals getting trapped up in attics and dying there. Gross! Oh, I feel like I should mention this one last story. Freshman year there was a HUGE stink in the music library. It was very bad. And it turned out that a rat had died in the air conditioning vent or duct or whatever. I guess there were plenty of rats at UM afterall.

Teacher Sightings

When I was in the third grade, I loved going to the grocery store for two reasons: my mom used to let me pick out a bottle of juice to drink in the store and I knew that I would probably run into Mrs. Rincones, my third grade teacher. 95% of the time we grocery shopped on the same day as Mrs. Rincones. I don’t know how it worked out that way, but I was pretty happy when we ran into her. I loved her, as I loved most of my teachers, and I thought it was extra cool to see my teacher outside of the classroom. I don’t think kids feel that way anymore. Or maybe once they hit junior high, seeing their teachers outside of the classroom isn’t extra cool any more.

Since I teach high school, running into my students is unavoidable. High school kids, after all, work. Most of them work in grocery stores and fast food restaurants. Those who don’t work hit the three biggest places to go to in Melbourne: Walmart, the mall, and Barnes and Noble. I’ll always remember my first run in with a student. It happened during the first couple of weeks of school.). I saw a student of mine, with his parents, multiple times in the grocery store. Each time I saw him, I’d try to say hello, but he would look the other way and even dart down an aisle. Weird! This behavior puzzled me! How come he couldn’t just say hello, smile, or even nod at me? I asked some of my other students about this, and they confirmed that it’s creepy to run into teachers outside of school. Their worst fear was running into a teacher and hearing him/her say something bad about them to their parents. Hmmm…I thought this was absurd. I told my kids, “If I ever see you guys in public, please say hello! I promise I won’t talk to your parents!”

Well, my announcement didn’t work. Two of my girl students told me on a Monday that they had seen me in Walmart during the weekend and had run the other way. Their behavior puzzled me even more than the grocery store boy. You see, grocery store boy later on got suspended for cussing me out (so, no big surprise that he wouldn’t say hello to me), but Walmart girls routinely went out of their way during their school day to come to my portable (in the boonies) to say hello. Strange!

Then, in one evening, I saw 4 different students in the mall. [This was the last time I went to the mall. I decided that the mall was just too much to handle!] Each of their reactions was different though. One girl seemed surprise to see me in Hot Topic, but was friendly and even introduced me to her mother [But, I feel compelled to mention that this was my third run in with this particular student. The first two, at Staples and a shoe store, came and went without her being brave enough to say hello.] One boy (who wasn’t even a student of mine) called out, “It’s Barnes and Noble Lady [you see, I used to work at Barnes and Noble],” as he approached me with open arms ready for a hug. I shook his hand instead. Another boy COMPLETELY ignored me!! The 4th boy also ignored me, but I could tell he was trying to be cool in front of his friends. The following Monday though, he at least mentioned seeing me. I’ve found that those students who work at fast food restaurants and grocery stores are much friendlier.
I have noticed a difference between the students who just happen to be out and about and those students who are working. The workers, generally, are more friendly! The grocery store girls are friendly! Two students of mine worked at Chick Fil-A, which was great fun for me because they’d bring me coupons! I got a kick of them handing me my 6 piece kid’s meal through the drive through window .

When I used to work in Barnes and Noble on Friday nights, I would see lots of students. I enjoyed running into students at Barnes and Noble because at least they were reading, and they usually had their parents with them. Most students at B&N were friendly and would come and say hello, although there were always the stories come Monday, “Hey, Miss Mix, I saw you at Barnes and Noble on Friday.” To which I would respond, “How come you didn’t say hello?”

But, the really great run ins with students happen on Sunday mornings! I love to hear, “Hey, Miss Mix,” yelled out in the commons area at church! And on the off chance that I get to sit next to a student in church, it’s always fun…especially if the choir is singing up on stage (right, Heather?).

Anyway, this blog was prompted by a run in with a student in Walmart (big surprise)! I was looking at Harry Potter posters (Emily has a major crush on Harry, so I am on the lookout for a good H.P. poster) and I heard a, “Hey, Miss Mix!” So, I was glad that my student said hello, even though I was standing there looking at silly posters. I was also thinking about seeing teachers in public because a couple weeks ago, I was having dinner with a friend and in walked Mr. and Mrs. Regan (the science teachers who I had for three years in a row when I was in 7-9 grade). It’s funny because the minute I saw them enter the restaurant, I freaked out! My heart started beating uncontrollably and I wanted to avoid eye contact with them. With my heart pounding in my chest, I began to understand what some of my students must feel when they round the Walmart aisle and see me standing there looking at Harry Potter posters. Too bad that childhood innocence and the joy of hoping to run into your teacher is lost once junior high sets in.

A Call for the Return of Simplicity

Gatorade and Skittles

Remember when there used to be only three Gatorade choices? We had the traditional, original yellow-green, orange, and red to choose from. That was it. And even with only three colors/flavors, I remember having a hard time deciding whether or not to go with the good old fashioned yellow-green or to go out on a limb and pick red or orange. But now, selecting the Gatorade jug in the grocery store has become way too difficult. There are just too many colors/flavors to choose from. It's absurd.

Fierce Grape, Frost High Tide, Frost Glacier Freeze, Ice Lime, Strawberry Ice, Lemon Ice, Fierce Melon, Cool Blue, Ice Orange, Citrus Cooler, Frost Cascade Crash, Passionfruit, Mandarine, Fierce Berry, Alpine Snow, Frost Riptide Rush, Xtremo Mango, Xtremo Tropico, Xtremo Citrico (and, I'm sure there are more flavors out there that I am not aware of)

Isn't it insane? You can't just tell someone to bring you back a green Gatorade. There are multiple shades of green! There's even PINK Gatorade. There's dark purple and see throughish purple. There's even clear Gatorade, which is kind of fun to drink because when I pour it into a glass, it looks like water, so each time I take a sip, I'm surprised!

And what about Skittles? I used to love those "Taste the rainbow..." commercials. In fact, I'm reminded of Skittles (and especially the Skittles commercials) each time I hear Dylan's song "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" because of the line, "I met a young girl and she gave me a rainbow..." Anyway, now there's more choices when it comes to Skittles, too. You've got the original, the tropical flavors, and sour Skittles. You know what I'd like to see? Bags of red Skittles.

I enjoy the fact that I have so many choices, however, it wouldn't be all bad to return to the simpler days of yellow-green Gatorade and normal Skittles.

The Best Satrurday EVER

Sweet Tea Parties, THE Perfect Black Pants, and SAVED

Hello everyone! Yesterday was the best Saturday EVER! Sharon, my best friend from UM and former roommate, came up from West Palm Beach and took my mom and me to Afternoon Tea to celebrate our birthdays! What a wonderful time we had! Is there anything more fun to eat than little finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, tea party desserts, and individual pots of tea (I enjoyed my own pot of Lavender Rose!)? [Now, if you're a guy who's reading this, chances are you can probably quickly think of at least a dozen things that are more fun to eat than finger sandwiches and tea party tid bits. But, take my word for it, the tea party was fun!] After tea, we headed to Gardens Mall in West Palm Beach because there is the best store in all the world in that mall: ANTHROPOLOGIE. Now, I'm not much of a shopper at all, but I will NEVER pass up an opportunity to go to Anthropologie. [If you're a girl who's reading this, and you don't know what Anthropologie is, you should: www.anthropologie.com. Everything is so beautiful...terribly over priced...but so beautiful.] Well, the best thing EVER happened to me! You can't even begin to guess what it is! On the sale rack, there was a lone pair of black pants. There was JUST one pair. And they were my size :-)! Furthermore, they fit perfectly! Despite their markdown, they were still a little too pricey, but they were the perfect pair of black pants EVER, and I was at Anthropologie, so I felt up for the splurge. The lady rang them up...at...$24.95?! Are you kidding me?! They had been marked down even more!! I told the lady it was the best thing that had ever happened to me...it's not the best thing that has ever happened to me, of course, but I was carried away in the moment. [I know that it was probably really tacky of me to include the price of the pants I bought, but I felt it was necessary because these pants regularly cost $100! I got them for $25! That is amazing! And, I'm still super excited about them. They are THE perfect pair of black pants.]

After my wickedly cool and amazing purchase, I was feeling pretty good. We went to the food court, were in the process of eating dinner, and Sharon says, "Hey, Alisa Beth, doesn't that guy look like Kevin McDonald?" And would you believe it?! It WAS Kevin McDonald. Kevin was a grad student when we were in undergrad. I've always kind of thought of him as an older brother, and here he was...in the middle of Gardens Mall! It had been over 2 years since I saw him last, so the surprise meeting was very welcome! It was great to catch up and laugh together.

In other news: my pastor today warned the congregation against seeing the sacreligious movie, SAVED. OOPS. TOO LATE. I saw it, laughed, liked it, and recommend it. My personal opinion is: It was funny. Some truths were exaggerated, but it was funny. I don't know why so many Christians are having a hard time with it. Kevin mentioned something that I agreed with: Perhaps some Christians don't like it because the movie touched a nerve and they recognize the way mainstream Christianity is portrayed in the movie in their own churches. And, perhaps in an effort to not look at the flaws in their own form of Christianity, they push away and reject the movie. Anyway, I thought it was fun. After all, who doesn't love Mandy Moore?

Turning 25 While Wearing Happy Shoes

Today I am 25 :-). (Thanks, mom, for having me!) The first day of my 25th year began quite nicely. I received SADDLE SHOES (which are extremely difficult to score) from my mom, so I got to wear happy shoes today! The last pair of shoes I really, really wanted, my mom also got me for my 23rd birthday (my red cowboy boots). I've been wanting saddle shoes for so very long (if for some reason you don't know what saddle shoes are, they're the black and white oxfordish shoes that girls rent for Halloween along with the poodle skirt). I love saddle shoes and have such fond memories of going back to school shoe shopping in elementary school. Each year was the same: I'd select a pair of saddle shoes. Finding a pair of saddle shoes in grown up sizes is next to impossible (however, they do have some shoes with the golf spikes). [Now, my happy shoe collection is nearly complete: red boots and saddle shoes are mine and the only other pair I've got my eye on are really bright and happy yellow high top converse which also have really bright and happy yellow soles AND laces...Kristin, yes, your green shoes inspired my desire for the yellow ones :-).]

So, I went through summer school and felt like I was keeping this happy, little secret...it was my 25th birthday. The older I get, the more I think it's fun to kind of keep it to myself, like it's my own special secret. Anyway, I was quite pleased though to go to the gym and get a big, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY," when the desk girl scanned my card. That was fun.

I had dinner with my mom and faux grandparents. My mom also gave me one phat pen. But, it's not just any old pen. It's a special, secret, spy ALIAS pen! I'm not kidding! This pen is wicked cool! It's a radio pen, with the ALIAS logo...and it's straight from the "Spy Store." Maybe I'll feel as cool as Sydney Bristow when I write something top secret in my TOP SECRET SPY ALIAS NOTEBOOK (which I also scored on the occasion of turning 25).

Something else that happened today that is worth mentioning is: I made up two really funny jokes! I would post them on my blog, but they're kind of top secret at the moment. You see (and some of you who I regularly talk with already know this), in a few weeks I will be a contestant in a Jokealympics Joke Contest. My challenger is Philip Tallon. I'm a little scared...but these two jokes are so funny, it's scary!

The birthday celebration will continue for the next couple of days, although I won't get too carried away :-)! Tomorrow I'm having lunch with my favorite 8 year old, Emily Sue. Then, my mom's birthday is Wednesday...so the celebrating will begin all over again!

Since I'm embarking upon a new year, here's a list [that I'm going to compile without much thought] of things that I want to do this year.

Things That I Want To Do While I Am 25 (in no particular order)

1. Read More (this includes the Bible, general fiction, classics, and things concerning theological matters)
2. Write a song (but not just any song: one that I wouldn't mind playing for someone...also, I'd like to just once write a song that is not in the key of E or capoed on the third fret in the key of G - I too easily fall into ruts)
3. Win the Jokealympics AND continue making up really funny jokes :-)
4. Win the affections of my mean, fat cat (a girl can dream, can't she?)
5. Stop procrastinating as much as I do (I can't say stop procrastinating completely because quite honestly, I recognize an impossible feat when I see one)
6. Memorize scripture (this is something that I haven't done since I made my first graders memorize a verse each week)
7. Go on an adventurous road trip to see/meet dear friends (which will hopefully happen at the end of July, but it won't be to the Grand Canyon...that'll come one day)
8. Try every single flavor smoothie at Melbourne's Tropical Smoothie (even though some will be un-tasty, at least I can say I've tried them all...like, I can boast that I tried all 36 flavors of Coca Cola products at the Coke Factory...I walked away with the stomach ache to prove it)
9. Teach someone something that s/he will remember, and appreciate, for the rest of his/her life.
10. Move away from Palm Bay (not that I don't enjoy living here at the moment, I'd like to see myself move on during the next year, however, since my birthday falls in the beginning of the summer, chances are I'll be 26 before I leave)
11. Get happy, yellow shoes
12. Go to some pretty awesome concerts (like Aaron Carter?...more like Bleeding Charity :-), Derek and Sandra, Bob, Dave Matthews Band, Switchfoot among others)

Bleeding Charity on Tiger Beat

Congratulations are in order for Jed Brewer and his band, Bleeding Charity. They're set to open up for Aaron Carter!!! at the end of July. No, I am NOT kidding. This is the truth. Isn't it brilliant? If you're reading this and you don't know who Jed (or his band) is, check out these two sites (and, I don't know how to make them links, so you'll have to copy and paste! too high tech for me!):

www.sougdujour.blogspot.com

www.bleedingcharity.com

I'm very proud of you, Jed! Way to go! Seriously...I want to be there :-). Jed, and the other BC guys, you TOTALLY ROCK! The only way you could be cooler is if you were opening up for Bob Dylan.

[If you don't know who Aaron Carter is, where have YOU been? He was only Hilary Duff's boyfriend for quite some time! And he happens to be Nick Carter's lil' brother...that's right, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.]

Beautiful Things

Harry Potter, Silly 8 Year Olds, Sleeping Babies, and Other Beautiful Things

Have you ever had one of those days that was extraordinary because of ordinary things? Today was one of those days.

I met Emily Sue & her funny family at Cinema World at 9 AM to see the 10 AM Harry Potter movie. Her dad was very intent upon getting good seats and tickets (before they sold out). Surprise! The box office didn't even open until 9:30, so we were the only ones in line (although, can we call it a line since no one was behind us in a line?). I think it's safe to say that Ross was way more excited to see the Harry Potter movie than Emily was (although, she was pretty excited!). I didn't know what to expect since I haven't read any of the H.P books nor have I seen the movies (although, I tried to watch H.P., but I fell asleep because that's what I tend to do when I watch rented movies...even though it wasn't rented, but at a friend's place, I still fell asleep). However, the movie was thrilling. Pure magic! I was overwhelmed. And not by the wizards and witches kind of magic, but by the magic of sheer imagination (much like that of Peter Pan that I'm so fond of). Perhaps more thrilling than the movie and the magic was my own personal commentary wrapped up in the curly haired 8 year old who sat next to me and CLUNG to my arm during the scary bits. Emily was hilarious! [On a side note, my brother and father used to ALWAYS get annoyed with me because they said I always talked during movie, but I loved all of her excited chatter.] Being around such enthusiasm was GREAT FUN! And, Miss Emily Sue has a mad crush on Harry, so that was fun too :-).

After the movie, I headed over to visit Karen Jane and Marnie Jane (The Janes!). For those of you who may not know who The Janes are, Karen is one of my best friends who made my Cinderella dress (all of you should know about THE DRESS!) and Marnie is her and Philip's 2 month old daughter. They live in Scotland, which is so far away. Anyway, my patience finally paid off because all their visitors left and I got to hold Marnie. Now, I wouldn't consider myself much of a baby person (although, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to death for all my friends who have, or are about to have, babies...and they're actually great as long as no poop or screaming is involved!), but as I held Marnie, I really couldn't imagine anything sweeter! So, she slept on my shoulder and I was happy.

Driving home from visiting The Janes, it was raining. "I'm only happy when it rains..." and I began thinking about how I thought that rain is beautiful. Well, that led me to my next Mixmaster's Dozen list...

Things That I Consider Beautiful (in no particular order)

1. Rain (I love everything: the sound, the smell, the feeling before and after it comes, the grayness of everything, the thunder and lightening, the puddles, the sound of tires on wet streets)
2. Imagination (the magic that's so beautifully expressed in silly 8 year olds)
3. Sleeping Babies (now, I had Marnie in mind, but must also broaden the category to include cats...namely my Saffie who so faithfully sleeps and cuddles with me every night)
4. Grace (the gift, the name, and the word in general)
5. When your heart skips a beat because you're so happy or excited that you just want to jump up and down or smile really, really big (I hope everyone knows what I mean)
6. Laughter (I love to hear people laugh, I love to make people laugh, and I love to laugh)
7. The key of E (especially B sus and C # m)...and music in general (I know, too broad)
8. Yellow (there is no happier color)
9. Fall (pumpkin everything, oranges and yellows everywhere, Thanksgiving, the weather changing, the leaves, apple cider)
10. A Really Great Episode of Felicity (come on, Sharon, don't you agree...especially one with really great songs?)
11. Absolutely Amazing Friendships (especially when a new one begins)
12. Flying (I love everything about flying! I think it's beautiful.)

Now, there are so many more beautiful things and as soon as I publish this list, I'll probably kick myself for not including something else, but these are the first 12 things that popped into my mind. That does it for another blog. Bye.

Comments Enabled

So guess what?! You guys can comment on my blog! With much diligence, I finally figured out how to enable the comment feature :)!

I leave you now with a joke!

What kind of car does Luke Skywalker drive?

A Toy-yoda! ha ha

Ok, you want another one? There's more where that came from... Let's go with an elephant joke in honor of my dear friends, Jenny and Karen Jane :). Stick with me, it's a two parter...

1. What did Tarzan say when he saw a herd of elephants coming?

"Look, here comes a herd of elephants."

2. What did Tarzan saw when he saw a herd of elephants coming wearing sunglasses?

Nothing, he didn't recognize them :-)

Alias is 30!

June 2nd, 2004 was a BIG day...

My big brother turned 30 yesterday! (Happy Birthday, Alias! I love you!) My friend, Ryan, nearly died yesterday when a falling ladder sent him to the hospital! (Hope your head is less sore today, Ryan!) My little friend, Kelly, got her braces off yesterday! (You're smooth, Kelly!) My other little friend, Heather, was getting ready for her missions trip yesterday! (Go, Heather, GO!) And, my cats slept most of the day! All in all, it was a pretty eventful day. I, myself, have been thinking of the most fun jobs...EVER...and compiling a list. If I ever leave teaching, I want to have some direction. Here's my list, in no particular order.

THE MIXMASTER'S DOZEN

1. Naming Hurricanes (This stems from my dream as a little girl of naming Cabbage Patch Dolls. Actually, naming anything would be great fun: streets, smoothies, crayola colors)
2. Selling T-Shirts and other misc. merchandise for a really cool band (This also could be paired with changing the strings inbetween shows for someone cool...say...Bob Dylan?)
3. Working in a smoothie shop (Free samples? Who wouldn't LOVE that? That's fun.)
4. Writing the blurbs on the backs of books (I think that would be kind of fun)
5. Shepherd (this might sound crazy, but I think it'd be really fun to spend loads of time with a bunch of sheep on a hillside somewhere...Preferably one without heat or wolves)
6. Cinderella at Disney World (I don't even need to say anything about this one...it'd be mad fun!)
7. Personal Assistant for ANYONE on Alias (enough said on this one too)
8. Mail Carrier (the uniforms are fun and as long as I'd get a walking route in a somewhat cool climate, I'd be happy. Just being around the mail would be fun!)
9. Flight Attendant (a long time dream of mine...being based out of Nashville would be lots of fun. It's Music City afterall. Imagine all the musicians I'd be giving peanuts to!)
10. Being a caddy (You're an inspiration, Lonnie!)
11. Theological Consultant (Thanks for the idea, Ryan.)
12. Ice Cream Taster (Jed, good thinking!)

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back in a few days with another installment of The Mixmaster's Dozen (For instance: Things to Avoid: FAT FREE CHEESE! Goodness, I hate fat free foods. There's just NO need!). To my faithful friends, thanks for reading :-).