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TeacherPerson

Name: Mary
Gender: Female

Interests: Reading-- Writing Letters-- Teaching English-- Learning History
Expertise: Chocolate Chip Cookie Baker-- Entertaining in a Messy House-- Hot bath taking
Occupation: Education/training

Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
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bookworm500

Member Since: 2/20/2005

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Monday, September 07, 2009

An Update for Atch-Youuuu

I'm sick. Many of you know that I like to be sick occasionally, and today is no exception. It's Labor Day, so there is nothing preventing me from wearing my pajama pants and lounging around, drinking tea and coughing. TGD is forsaking the meaning of Labor Day and is working on an onerous task--building a wardrobe from a kit. He's doing a bang-up job, but he's hating every second of it. I told him that he chose his career well.

I finally finished the painting last week. It was such a delight to finally move the porch furniture back into place and sit out and eat lunch, which is one of my summer treats.

Yesterday, we went on a picnic to Curwensville. As usual, my mom had quite a picnic feast for us, and my great-aunt even made pumpkin pies! When it started to get dark, we headed out to stake our usual spot for watching the fireworks. We always sit on a cliff overlooking Curwensville Lake (which used to be called Curwensville Dam, but is now much more sophisticated). They set off the fireworks directly across from where we sit.

Since we got there early, we had to amuser ourselves. First we played charades with highlights including a lightning bug, Mount Rushmore, the TV show House, and a mosquito. There was a bird making a call which sounded just like "Meep!" My mom claimed the bird was actually called a meep. Gockle and Little Miss could do a dead-on imitation, so we sat there meeping for a long while. The someone on a hill behind us with a spotlight started scanning the crowd. We found this terribly amusing, and Peep (my mom) grabbed our tiny flashlight and said, "So you wanna play, huh?" and took a fighting stance and shone her light back. This must have delighted the spotlighter, because s/he shone back, and a light battle began. Then we got bored. Libby told us ghost stories in her matter of fact way. "And then, when she was about to die, she said, 'If I ever take off this velvet ribbon, my head will fall off.' And she took of the ribbon and her head fell off."

Earlier today, I dragged my weary body out of bed, took a rejuvenating shower (which gave me enough energy to drag myself downstairs and to the van), and took Gockle to get his first cell phone. We made a deal--if he read the Bible the whole way through, he could get a cell phone. He read and read and read constantly for two months straight and finished the whole Bible. Way to go, 13 year old boy! He's now the delighted and giddy owner of a Samsung Alias, and only two days into the school year.

School started last Thursday. Wit, a junior, and LibbyK, a freshman, are at the high school all day, although they are both doing my AP Language and Composition class online. Gockle is full-time at the middle school. Little Miss is full-time homeschooled. I'm actually excited and pleased for this year. Summer was just long enough.

4:06 PM - 111 views - 22 eprops - 19 comments - email it

Friday, August 21, 2009

Does Tinkerbell Have Fairy Paint?

I wish the Painting Fairy would come and finish this porch for me. Today, the UPS guy came and said, "You're STILL painting?"

I conscripted Little Miss (who was insanely eager to help) and Gockle (not so much) to work with me today. After about seven minutes, Gockle actually stamped his foot at me and said, "No more!" (to which I said, "Great, you can go straight to bed after football practice.") Little Miss lasted about 20 minutes before she had a meltdown.

Tonight is Youth Group. I wish I had told all of them to pack painting clothes. We'd have this porch done in no time.

Oh, and I discovered that it will take two coats in addition to the primer. Sigh.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith (or painting!) supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brother kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
I Peter 1:5-7

4:25 PM - 103 views - 20 eprops - 12 comments - email it

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Summer Weather at Last!

I must say that I have enjoyed the past few days immensely. One reason is that summer is finally here--hot days, warm nights, lots of reasons to be in the pool. As a matter of fact, yesterday, to celebrate the fact that I finally got the coat of primer finished on my porch railings, we spent the day in the pool, invited a family over for a cookout, and played pinochle to late in the evening. What fun! Today I found out that yesterday was National Relaxation Day. How fitting.

Have you seen the website My Life is Average? I love it. http://mylifeisaverage.com/

It's a website of ordinary people who do slightly amusing things in the course of their average lives. Here are a few entries:

Today my friend almost choked on a LifeSaver. I laughed at the irony.

Today, both my mother and elderly grandmother were texting at the table. Not wanting to feel left out, I took my phone out and pretended to text. My mom caught me fake-texting, and my grandmother called me 'lame'.

Today, I ordered a pizza online. The website gave me the delivery boy's name, so I quickly put on a shawl and my mom's glasses. When I opened the door I said "Welcome, Tom." He looked terrified.

Today I pretended the mashed potatoes I was eating for dinner was a volcano and the gravy was hot lava that I quickly ate with my spoon to save the countless civilians living in an imaginary village below. No one else at the table suspected anything.

Last night, I was lying in bed, thinking about clothes. I got a crazy idea about designers sewing a shirt and a skirt together. I felt like an inventive genius, before I realized that was called a dress.

Today, I was in a parade. It looked like it was going to start raining. I got excited that it might literally rain on my parade. It rained. I was excited.

Today, I was on a subway and someone's watch was ticking quite loudly. I said "Hmm, what is that mysterious ticking noise..." with a fake British accent. Someone began singing the, "Snape, Snape, Severus Snape" tune. I yelled "Dumbledore!". We exchanged smiles. I think I've found my soul mate.

10:43 PM - 85 views - 16 eprops - 10 comments - email it

Sunday, August 09, 2009

It's the BLIGHT! It's the BLIGHT!

I am very sad. I am truly sad. I just discovered tonight that my tomatoes have the blight. I did not even realize there was a pandemic tomato blight striking the northeast. My mom asked me about my tomatoes just yesterday, and I bragged about how big they were and how many tomatoes I had. She said all her friends' plants were wiped out by the blight.

Tonight, I went to look at them and discovered a bunch of brown leaves. Huh? Not enough water? No, we've had PLENTY of rain, believe me. Later, we were chatting with a neighbor who spoke of the tomato blight wiping out his plants in 48 hours and how the fungus can live in the soil for three years and how it can travel 40 miles via wind (so says Penn State's Ag Department).

With trepidation, I asked, "What does it look like?"
He proceeded to describe the current state of my tomato plants.

I am very sad. I've only had four tomatoes.

(This is not my garden, but it may as well could be. Sigh.)

9:39 PM - 90 views - 24 eprops - 16 comments - email it

Friday, August 07, 2009

The Reality of Song Lyrics

Today was a bit of downer for various reasons, one of which is that the porch painting is going to take a hundred years (or at least a week). Anyhow, I was really anticipating a hot bath and a mind-numbing novel, and I indulged in both. Relaxed and more peaceful, I put on my pajamas and came downstairs, intending to eat a large number of the peanut butter cookies that Wit made which were perfuming the house.

When I got downstairs, Wit was watching TV in one room and the other room was occupied by a bunch of guys playing Guitar Hero! I scurried back upstairs to put on more appropriate clothing pretty quickly.

It only proves that sometimes song lyrics are dead-on.

Splish Splash, I was takin' a bath
Long about a Saturday night,
Rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub
Thinkin' everything was alright

Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor,
I wrapped the towel around me,
And I opened the door, and then
Splish, Splash! I jumped back in the bath.
Well how was I to know there was a party going on?

11:31 PM - 75 views - 18 eprops - 11 comments - email it

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