Lessons Learned Today

So... today we have learned 

"just because a group of people are chronologically adults... it's still day care."

Sigh.

(Some folks don't quite get the "team" concept...)

Check out that SMILE!

They are LEARNING!

Winter Garden School

This weekend I have a trainee doing her "certification".  Teaching MY class.  Which means I am giving up control of MY class (aaaaaaaaaack!) and letting her teach MY material.  As a little bit of a control freak, that's HARD to do!  Luckily she is doing a GREAT job - so it's not nearly as painful as I make it sound... 

I'm sitting behind a temporary wall, where I can hear and jump in if she needs me (so far I'm feeling a little unloved...  she's not needing much...)   But since I'm not teaching, jumping around, flapping my arms, etc... I'm FREEZING to death!  (State law says the students have to have 18 inches of desk space in a room no warmer than 68 degrees... we fudge on that a little, but it FEELS like 68.  Or maybe 38!)

Anyhow - in order to stay away and warm.....  this is what I'm doing...

Class goes for 4 days.  I'm thinking this blanket will get all done and I might even have to go buy some more yarn and start another one...

Last month's trainee is pregnant - maybe I'll do another one in baby colors for her?

3 Weeks Old

Can I just first say...  Blogger has a "new look".  And I hate it.  Not the look exactly, but the fact that I usually whip out my posts at the office while opening the mail.  And my computer at the office runs an archaic browser and NOTHING works right on it.  But I guess I shouldn't complain...  LOL 

Anyhow...

Look at my little girls this morning! 

All my yellow babies are turning brown.  The black girls are staying black, just getting Prickly...  And a little bald around the shoulders.  But it's uniform on all 3, so I'm sure it's not anything...

Their combs are starting to come in - between the eyes - most noticeable on the blacks, although it's there on the yellows as well.

I have GOT to get them some names!!!!   (But for now, the generic "girls" works... they respond to it, so... if it ain't broke - don't fix it!!!)

Ignore the random mess around the edges of their cage.  They have been banished to the "dog room" in the center of the pool table.  The stuff around the edge is to discourage the dogs from getting too interested.  Normally they are only in there at night and then move out to the rabbit hutch during the day - but we had a cold front blow in.  This morning it was FIFTY-TWO DEGREES!!!! 

Uh, Mother Nature?  This is April.  This is FLORIDA!!!!!!!!  Sheesh.

Well, Hello There!

Guess who I ran into last night on my way home from school...

No, he's not wearing an earring - that's his phone!  LOL

He was at a service station located smack dab between my school down south, and the exit to our house.  Convenient, eh?  (Of course, I managed to get "lost" finding him - thank goodness for GPS!) 

It's always interesting to watch him work.  Amazing all the steps that go into filling those fuel tanks.  (And it's ALWAYS easier when the place is closed so you don't have to deal with the folks trying to fill their tanks!)

Good Bye Discovery

The Space Shuttle Discovery has always been "our" shuttle.  The boys went to Discovery Elementary School and, although we always watched every single shuttle launch, there was always a special feeling when it was a Discovery mission.

 

She has always held a special place in our hearts.

And yesterday... She left.

Luckily, I have a good friend who was able to catch some final glimpses of her as she did a final fly-over on her way to her new home.

Goodbye Discovery.  Thank you for your many years of service.

Meanwhile - I promised a picture of the girls with their heads stuck out of the bars. 

I forgot until they were in their "night" crate, inside the house.

Yes, they are INCREDIBLY messy.  (I clean it up EVERY DAY.)  Last night I switched out from woodchips (thank you guinea pig) to hay (thank you horses) and this morning the floor is CLEAN!  Yippeeeee!

She would NOT hold her little head still...  LOL

Moments after, there was a chicken on the floor.  (Black)

They are growing quickly, but are still small enough to escape.

The Girls Who Must Be Named.....

The girls are two weeks old and changing nearly hourly!  Amazing how quickly they are growing.  Kyle wishes they would learn how to be QUIET.  LOL  They have this cute little quiet peep that is nearly constant.  Until we turn the lights out in the evening and either are watching TV or I'm reading Hunger Games out loud to him.

And then they are LOUD!  Goodness gracious they are loud!

But they are still cute. 

So it's ok.

But they are still nameless.

They are still so similar, it's hard to tell them apart.

Not much point in giving them names - they "answer" to Girls or BIRD! (Kyle)




Hi Mom!

 


Oooooh - something shiny to peck!






Aaaack - a FLASH!  RUN!



We have moved the girls out onto the patio in the old rabbit hutch during the day.  They seem to like it!

Tonight I'll try to catch a picture of them poking their heads through the wire.  It's pretty darn funny!

When they were only days old, I took several of them outside for a quick walk in the grass, but they were still TINY and although quick, catchable.  They were so cute, huddled around my feet and following me back into the house - like I was the Mama Hen.  LOL

I want to take them to the grass again, but I'll need some sort of enclosure to make sure they can't escape.  Or be sure they'll come to me.  They usually come right to me when I approach the cage and/or open the door - but I want to reinforce that by teaching them I'm the treat lady.  So far they don't really "get" treats.  I've offered them several things but they haven't been too excited by them.  Too young still?

I've read lots of people give them milk or yogurt and they go NUTS over it.  We'll see.

Most people bang a can before they offer the treats, so they begin to associate the noise with the treats and then when you are bringing them in at night, all you have to do is bang the can and head to the roost.  They "should" all come running.  (Good theory, right?)





Super Cute!!!

I continued with the knowledge I gleaned from Nancy during my visit and bought another pair of shoes Saturday night.  They were SUPER cute and even comfortable!  Good job, if I say so myself.....

Yes, I was taking pictures without my glasses on, so had no idea they were not even CLOSE to in focus... (but my iPod doesn't focus anyway, so whatever...)

And Yes, my hotel has THE UGLIEST CARPET ON THE PLANET.

(But the bed is comfy...)

I wore them all day to teach on Sunday (I did sit on my stool for part of the day, but they weren't any worse than my loafers...)

In fact, I liked them so much, I wore them again today!!!

And Yes, the carpet at my office is also "special"...  lol

And then, just for your giggling pleasure...

Source: kimboscrafts.blogspot.com via Mandi on Pinterest

Proxy

The whole time I was in Tucson, every time we talked about what to eat, where to eat, when to eat, etc... Mom mentioned that she really wanted some good shrimp cocktail.

And yet, we never managed to accomplish that!

Tonight after school, I headed to Target to buy some hair dye and then next door to Red Lobster.

I was TOTALLY channeling my Mom when I ordered dinner.

So - tonight I ordered Shrimp Cocktail and enjoyed every bite - in proxy for Mom!

Wish you had been there to enjoy it, Mom!  

(And then I had some yummy lobster pizza - really crispy, thin crust, mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato, basil and lobster...  YUM)

MURDER / MAYHEM!

You may all thank me now.

There will be no pictures on today's post.  (We'll pretend it's because I'm a conscientious blogger and didn't want to offend your sensibilities - but in reality I'm a terrible blogger and didn't even consider taking a picture until this morning!)

There was murder and mayhem at our house last night.  And Kyle was THRILLED. 

(Except for when he was completely skeeved out...)

We let the dogs out when we got home from work (around 7:30).  (Kyle and I are now car pooling, as all his forms of transportation are down for the count.  Trooper - toasted head gasket.  Skooter - baked clutch.  It's tough to be one of Kyle's vehicles apparently...)

Since they had been in the dog room for most of the day, we let them stay out until way after dark.  When Kyle went out to gather them up and put them away for the night, he saw Bison in the yard, but there was an extra set of shining eyes next to him and Bison seemed pretty preoccupied.  (Didn't respond to the call for treats...)  Luckily he is terrified of lightning, so all you have to do is shine a flashlight or flash a camera and he drops whatever he is doing and high-tails it to his crate.

Having gone the flashlight route anyway, Kyle headed to the eyes to investigate. 

Possum!  Nearly, but not totally dead.  Plenty of blood though.  And not much movement.  (Much gnashing of teeth on the part of the possum - although Kyle didn't get super close.  You know the whole "playing possum" thing.  He was convinced the thing was suddenly going to jump up and attack him.) 

After checking Bison to make sure all the blood was from the possum and none was from the dumb dog, we needed to figure out what to do with the possum. 

Out came the gun.  Kyle is a crack shot.  Especially with his .22 and scope.  Deadly.  But to date, the only thing he has taken out was a paper target and an occasional metal disk.  (In the shape of a penny, but certainly NOT an actual penny.  That would be a felony or something....)

I provided flashlight holding and moral support. 

He stood an appropriate distance away.  (See reference to "playing possum" above...)  First shot (which was incredibly loud in the late evening silence out there in the country...) was straight to the head.  A clean shot right in the poor possum's ear.  But instead of resulting in immediate death, it caused much writhing and more teeth gnashing.  Second shot, into the general heart area.  (Not exactly certain where a possum stores his heart...)  Third and final shot into the general abdominal area.  By that time, the possum actually appeared to be dead, and Kyle was out of bullets.  (He figured one would do the job, but loaded 3 just in case...)

We left the critter in the yard for 30 minutes or so, while putting away the gun, rechecking the dogs and giving it enough time to make sure it wasn't "playing" anymore.  Then loaded it into a muck bucket in the back of the Rhino and drove it out to the woods for more natural folks to consume it.  (Circle of life and all that...)  Even considering in the 30 minutes it was covered in ants (Florida has a pretty efficient system for dealing with all things dead...) Kyle was still pretty sure it would hop up and attack him at any moment.  He nearly jumped out of his skin when he dumped it into the woods. 

Anyhow - one more step to "Red Necked Hood" for the man.  (He will be 21 in mere weeks, I have to get used to calling him a man...) If we were truly Red Necks, we would have skinned and stewed the thing.  But due to the whole "possible rabies" thing - we let the woods take care of the carcass. 

So.

No pictures.  Not even of one of the intrepid hunter with his gun. 

You are welcome. 

Herd 'o Birds

Whether you call it a Herd of Birds or (more correctly, just not as fun) a Flock of Birds

You have to agree...

That is a WHOLE LOT OF BIRDS!

(No earthly idea what they were, just that they were there for a couple of minutes and then moved on to greener pastures.  SEE?  They ARE a herd!  LOL)

And speaking of birds...  my girls are getting bigger by the day!

In real life, they are getting actual feathers on their little wings.

Soon they will be too big to sneak out under the bars.

That will be good!

But of course that brings up the whole "where will they LIVE now?" question...

Oh DARLING?  Can you build me a chicken tractor?

New Phones

We have joined the next century and finally got Smart Phones for everybody.  So far we are liking them, although there is sure a lot to learn!  (I feel OLD!)  I just finally got my iPod iTouch figured out (thanks Rozann!) and now I'm going to have to fly back to Tucson for a tutorial on my phone. 



Yup, normal people have a picture of their families on their wallpaper.  I have Andy.  (Rod is on my Touch - but on my phone all you get is his CHIN...  silly looking!)



There are things I like on it, and things I like better on my iTouch.  I LOVE the notepad feature on my Touch, I imagine there is something like that on my phone, I just haven't found it yet.  But in the meantime, I'm carrying BOTH.

I also like being able to just plug in the Touch to my computer and download my pictures without any hassle.  I haven't figured out yet how to do that with my phone.  So far, I have to email the pictures to myself and then open my email and save the pictures on my laptop.  There MUST be a better way... but I'll have to figure it out when I have time.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung, the grass has riz

Wonder where the rain storms is! 

(Yah, I know, not the actual words, but we would REALLY like some rain...)

You can tell it's spring around here.  Not by the thermometer - it's been in the 80's for a month or two already.

But Saturday "Spring" officially arrived.

A tour of the back pasture showed new sprigs of grass from the heavy seeding Kyle did on Monday.

And then Jim did Andy's annual clipping!  He looks (and I'm sure FEELS) so much better!  He was actually running around and bucking in the back pasture this morning before breakfast!



Before - look at ALL that HAIR!




Aaaaah, that feels better!



And then to top it off, I stopped by Tractor Supply to pick up a salt block for the pasture, but came home with 6 four-day-old chicks (3 blond and 3 black) and all the goodies they need to stay happy and healthy.



The six little girls.  Names pending (right now they all look alike!)




Sabrina fell in love with them!  (And of course Jim and Rod threatened to eat them...)



While getting clipped, Andy got into some of his favorite spring weeds.  They are small, sweet and delish!  But they have these little tiny "hitch hikers" that stick in his "beard" and drive him nuts...

And here is a picture of Mom's beautiful afghan she made for the "kids"...  They LOVE it!



She is busy finishing Hunger Games #3... her cow makes a good book rest.





Good Friday

"Happy Good Friday" just doesn't seem appropriate.  So I'll wish you a Blessed Good Friday. 

We had an awesome Family Home Evening on Monday, courtesy of Rozann and Greg.  It really helped me focus and think more about the things that went on this week and what they mean to me and my life. 

Obviously, I've been on vacation.  Both me AND my blog.  But it's time to get back to work.  (I came back to the office to find a PILE of unposted $$$ so my blog had to continue its vacation while I pulled the rest of my life back into order...) 

I'm off this weekend!!!  No teaching - because of the Easter weekend.  I see much riding in my future.  Well, that and Andy MUST get clipped.  Traditionally I clip horses over the Easter weekend - starting way back years and years ago when we clipped Dobby each Easter.  This year CJ and Buddy are both about 90% slicked out naturally.  But poor Andy can still double as a Panda - he is SO furry.  So... bath tomorrow morning and then a clip in the late afternoon.  (And a blanket over night so it's not quite such a shock... poor hairless guy!)  Expect before/after pictures Sunday of my furry teddy bear transformed into a moth eaten naked guy.  LOL

So... speaking of pictures... here are a random smattering of photos from my vacation.  I intended to take a gazillion pictures.  LOL  I brought my camera and pulled it out ONCE - at FHE - but I haven't even taken my laptop out of it's carrying case since I got home LATE Tuesday night.  (And I can only download my camera pix on my laptop.)  Thanks again Mom and Dad for the iTouch - it saved my picture taking...

So here goes...

My cutie airport drivers... (S just woke up from a nap - such a good sport!)

What I do on the airplane.  AFTER they let you turn them back on.....



What I did UNTIL they let you turn it on...

We did a LOT of this during the week.  (Sorry Mom - it was better than the OTHER picture I took!  LOL)



An example of "just a little something I whipped up" at N's house.  And my FIRST pine nuts that were actually YUMMY!  (who knew!  And now that I like them, I find out they are EXPENSIVE!  Dang.)



Watching General Conference. 
We were all deeply into knitting - Nanc is making baby booties and bonnets.  SO cute!



Some of us switched off between knitting and note taking. 

Some of us just knit. 

 Some of us just listened. 

Some of us napped.  Briefly.



So.  Blessed Good Friday to you.

And to those of you in SNOW - BRRRRRRR!  (grin)

Ok, editing to add - HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY!

(Just got this picture from my friend Trisch from the T-Tapp Forums...  Thanks Blessed Mama!)

Palm Sunday

It's a beautiful spring day here in Tucson.  We spent the morning drinking Dad's famous smoothies (sans spinach) and then watching General Conference.  There were some excellent talks with great, inspirational messages.  The new "watch word" will likely be "Stop It"...

Outside for a lunch of Mom's macaroni salad (previewing for dinner tonight) and apples with cheese.  And then a tour of Nancy's house and all the plans for the future renovations.  Of course, a tour isn't complete without a trip to the studio to drool over all the gems and stones and jewelry.  Nancy generously gave me a couple of gorgeous pieces so my students don't have to just look at ME while I teach.  (grin)

And now we are all set to watch the final session of Conference.