Happy HAPPY Halloween

I have had quite the great weekend; and I didn't even have to get trussed up in my costume to have it. I was not looking forward to the pre-Halloween jitters in my classroom, but it actually went all right. As I was driving home, looking forward to a quiet evening grading papers and watching some movies, I noticed that I had a phone message. ME! A message. Which is very exciting because I had no idea who had called me [i.e. I was not expecting to hear from a particular person] Rather it was a friend inviting me to celebrate with her and her roommate the Sugar Holiday. Ordering pizza and watching a crazy scary movie. I have no one to blame but myself seeing as I was the one to choose the evening's movie. If you have never seen Wolf Creek, I don't particularly recommend it for the faint of heart, especially considering I saw an edited version. The movie began with the disclaimer; "30,000 people turn up missing in Australia every year. 90% are found within 24 hours..." This is based on a true story. Sound like a campfire ghost story yet?? The movie goes on to scare the living daylights outta me, so much so that I woke up at 5 this morning with a heck of a crick in my neck and an episode of Full House playing over and over again. It was all okay though, the light was on so I was safe!

The 80's are back

If you needed further proof that the 80's were truly making a comeback...why not look to the elementary classrooms of America. One of my little 3rd grade gals showed up on Friday wearing what I would like to refer to as a true flashback of my grade school style - granted my mullet trumps any fashion worn any day, haven't seen the picture yet? Oops! - Anyway the gal was wearing a bright pink stretchy mini-skirt OVER black leggings. The only things that could have made it nearly a perfect flashback would be the black leggings would have been stirrup pants and she would have had alternating-color slouchy socks. Oh and don't forget the banana clip for her hair and a plastic shirt clip to pull the shirt to one side.

Forgot what slouchy socks were? I google-ed and discovered a "Before" and "After" how to pic-to-guide in case one forgot how to create this unique look. *Required: extremely tan & shiney leg*

BOY WAS I QUITE THE FASHION LEADER

One lucky ebay-er is now the happy owner of this colorful set of 6 "banana clip for every outfit" package for the grand price of $20.50 + $3.50 shipping! Where was I? Oh yeah, trying to forget the last time my mom made me wear one of these hair delights.

Am I addicted to Fabio?

After life with friends, I have had to fill my time with a poor substitution. Well, not so poor, just less interactive and this substitution doesn't laugh at my jokes. Since moving to Houston and into my own apartment, I have rigorously scheduled my week out according to TiVo and new season episodes. So lets begin with my top 5:

#5 Ugly Betty - Watching 5 minutes of this Series Premiere had me thinking it was the television version of The Devil Wears Prada. I must admit that this show has made it into my weekly "Must Watch" list. In fact the show has me permanently scheduling the show time slot into the TiVo (for ease hereon referred to Fabio II, for reasons known). A good show has you rooting or at least connecting to its characters. Now I have never been employed by a high fashion magazine (heaven knows why not?!) nor do I connect with the oddly honest yet likable Betty Suarez; but rather it is like waiting to watch a train wreck happen; waiting to see the next cringe-worthy outfit that America will be wearing next.

#4 Bachelor Rome - I personally vote for the lone brunette in the sea of blondes; especially if that sea is the Mediterranean...did I mention that it is near Italy?

#3 America's Next Top Model - 13 teens and early 20-somethings, where Melrose is old at 23. Television cannot get better than this. I stay tuned each week to see what Miss Tyra Banks has in store for the smaller and smaller group of Top Model wanna-bees. I almost lost it when on one of the first episodes of the new season when my idol Queen Latifa came strolling out. This season's competition is getting stiff, and the challenges are getting more intense, but keep an eye out...my vote is for Cari Dee. {2nd row from bottom, blonde gal on the right!}


#2 Grey's Anatomy
...Dr. McSteamy...
newest permanent cast member on the show;

'Nuff said







#1 LOST - Oh where oh where do I begin? Now this would be the original show that got me hooked on the "once-a-week" dramas. I was on a cruise to Key West, Mexico with some friends this past June. In the evenings after the activities that did not include consuming copious amounts of alcohol were over, there was not much to do, so we would retire to our cabin, get into those trusty pajamas...and crowd around the lap top to watch season 1 of this fabulous show. I was hooked 7 minutes into the pilot episode. We laughed when we decided that it was slightly disconcerting to be watching a show about people being stranded on a deserted island when we were miles out to see with no land in sight. Didn't stop me from watching the show though! Besides each week I try to decide if it is good guy Dr. Jack or bad boy Sawyer that I'm in love with more...

Conclusion: Fabio II is well worth the extra $7.50 per month.

"It's a Twister! It's a Twister!"

As I was tucking into to bed early this morning I was lulled to sleep by the thunder, lightening, and pouring rain. It had been raining on and off for the past couple of days and I just sat back and enjoyed each and every storm. Until last week- when it came into conflict with teaching in Portable Land. Unfortunately, Portable Land was not built to withstand the furies of nature here in Houston, Texas. The walkway ramps were flooding, the roofs were leaking, and the rain on the metal roof made it sound as though at any moment the roof was going to cave in. As I was getting into my car and the sky at 7:00 am was pitch black I began to wonder if I had the wrong time- it was too dark to be time for me to be driving into work. Shwibbie [my Honda] was going to have to do the job of a hummer today. There were literally waves rolling through the flooded parking lot. It was touch and go for awhile but I could see our salvation on the other side of the entrance gates. Shwibbie did magnificient and we made it to school in time. Not the story for all the teachers. Those in Portable Land were called into a meeting before school started, informing us to be prepared to bring our classes into the library in the event of life-threatening weather. Prepare for pictures to come later.

As I sit telling you about this my television is beeping at me...no not bleeping out those naughty words- rather there is a flash flood warning, tornado watch and flood advisory for my county... what does that mean to me?

I refer you to the internet on Tornado Formation: "A tornado is a violently rotating column of air in contact with and extending between a cloud (often a thunderstorm cloud) and the surface of the earth. Winds in most tornadoes blow at 100 mph or less, but in the most violent, and least frequent, wind speeds can exceed 250 mph. Tornadoes, often nicknamed "twisters," (should I be taking defensive driving lessons to practice dodging flying cattle?), typically track along the ground for a few miles or less and are less than 100 yards wide, though some monsters can remain in contact with the earth for well over fifty miles and exceed one mile in width.

Tornadoes can appear as a traditional funnel shape, or in a slender rope-like form. Some have a churning, smoky look to them, and others contain "multiple vortices" - small, individual tornadoes rotating around a common center. Even others may be nearly invisible, with only swirling dust or debris at ground level as the only indication of the tornado's presence. Tornadic phenomena can take several forms." How interesting?! I did not even know there was such a word as tornadic. Who knew?

Everyone needs a laugh sometimes

The Dominator

For those who have not heard yet...my choice to teach in an open concept elementary school has been less than appealing. Open concept literally meaning "No Walls and No Classroom Doors". It was an extremely rough start and I was having to remind myself that I did enjoy teaching, just not the trash from the administration. Then one day I was reading my email; something by the way that I am REQUIRED to check at least twice a day; when I received this friendly message from our third grade school counselor:

"Greetings Metcalf Family,

It is time to dominate one (1) student from each of your classes to participate in the PALS program. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this program, this program allows our students to be mentored by High School students. The high school students will be on campus from 10:45 to 11:15 one day a week. Remember that the person that you choose to dominate should have generally good conduct. The purpose of this program is just to provide additional emotional support and guidance. THANKS FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!!!"

Direct quote. No wonder they were dissatisfied with my performance. To make myself feel a little better I forwarded a copy of this email to a few choice people. One replied with this:

HPLuvr,
I would hope they meant nominate. Obviously the person who sent it felt dominated by someone. Let's keep this e-mail for when we publish the book "How To Keep Your Teachers". Remember your the dominator in your classroom.
Love ya, Mom

'Nuff said.

HPLuver Picture

"Is it a SPIDER?"

I thought I would include my own horrifying bug blog to join the ranks of those that have gone before me. To provide a little background: there was once a minor incident involving my old roommates and one of said old roommate's current fiance. Hanging out in the living room talking late one dark night, I happen to look over at the window where there was about an inch of non-covered window...I screamed like I have never screamed before and watched as Bone Junior and Scratch Something moved across the room faster than I had ever seen them move before. Admist my horrifying screams and Bone Junior's continual door slamming, she had the breath to ask me "Is it a SPIDER?" Now in my defense I have never looked out a dark window and had an eyeball staring back at me! No spider would have me screaming like that. Or so I thought. So here goes my secret bug shame. I recently moved into a brand new apartment in Houston, Texas. Life has been comfortable, until one night I look over and see something large and dark moving across my carpet. Thinking it was a mouse I screamed!! Until I peered a bit closer and screamed even louder as I ran to the closet for reinforcement, to squish the largest unknown bug I had ever seen. I even had to recruit a more sturdy shoe than my flip flop, or else I wasn't completely sure that this Hulk of a Bug wasn't going to grab the shoe and squish ME with it. Eventually I was the victor and Hulk was in the trash can...but I could not stop wondering "What kind of bug is it?" and "Should I prepare for an encore?" The natural place to find out...online. I came across this:

"It’s pretty much a typical lazy summer day here in Tuberville Georgia. The kind of day where we just sort of naturally don’t want to do much more than sit out on the front porch under a slow moving ceiling fan and just contemplate world events. Now as things go around here, world events mostly center on conversations about where you can find the biggest roaches and such. I personally vote for Houston Texas. They grow some serious sized critters down there. It isn’t unusual to
see a roach what’s bigger than your whole hand. And those big roaches have wings and can fly. You have to be mighty careful when being dive bombed by a Texas roach."

Now where was this factual information before I moved Houston, Texas.