House of Zathras

School’s Out for Summer – interpreted by Mrs. Who

Well we got no choice
(Neither do we teachers. The powers that be have taken away virtually all the teacher input.)
All the girls and boys
(Just shut up and sit down…we’re unhappy about this as you are!)
Makin’ all that noise
(Yeah…really proud of the sound of your own self, hunh?)
‘Cause they found new toys
(What…I thought you liked working on the Smartboard.)
Well we can’t salute ya
(That kind of ‘salute’ will get you a referral, anyway.)
Can’t find a flag
(Yes you can in MY room!)
If that don’t suit ya
(Doesn’t matter…my room, my rules!)
That’s a drag
(You try teaching someone like you and see what’s really a drag!)

School’s out for summer
(Thank God!)
School’s out forever
(Heh, you and I both wish)
School’s been blown to pieces
(Nope…and that threat will get you arrested, too!)

No more pencils
(What do you care…I had to buy all your pencils for you anyway because your parents either wouldn’t or couldn’t. You’re welcome.)
No more books
(Like you read them anyway? Remember your test scores?)
No more teacher’s dirty looks
(Again…you try teaching someone like you and not give dirty looks.)

Well we got no class
(You can say that again!)
And we got no principles
(Yeah…you run whining to mommy every time you think something’s not fair…all that ‘spare the rod’ business is a perfect example in you.)
And we got no innocence
(Yeah, just look what modern technology has done to you…it’s a damn shame.  There was a time when ‘Dick and Jane’ was the way you learned to read…not an introduction to prono.)
We can’t even think of a word that rhymes
(You could if you paid attention in school!!!!)

Out for summer
(OMG – YES!)
Out till fall
(Not actually…hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you actually come back in late summer.)
We might not go back at all
(I should be so lucky.)

School’s out forever
(Yeah, yeah…wish for that in one hand, crap in the other, and see what gets filled up first.)
School’s out for summer
(So what…can’t go to the beach because of the frikken’ tar balls and oil disaster.)
School’s out with fever
(WTH? How can a school have a fever? Didn’t you pay attention during the Living/Nonliving chapter in Science?)
School’s out completely
(You think you left quickly on your last day of school? You should see it when the teachers get to leave on their last day. Don’t stand in their way and hope none of them are wearing high-heels…those leave nasty marks on the ones too slow to get out of the way.)

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It was my last day of school today…I’m sure you couldn’t have guessed!!

Goob called on Saturday. I chatted with him for a good while, and then handed the phone to his Dad.

After he hung up, BR said he needed to run an errand for Goob at the grocery store where he had been an assistant manager.

BR returned with these:

Goob had called the florist at the store and had her make these up. Then he asked his Dad to go pick them up.

The kid young man rocks!

The Lenten Season begins today with Ash Wednesday. As I’m too tired to express spiritual thoughts in a meaningful way, I’ll just post the Psalm from today’s Mass:

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offense. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. My offenses truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. That you may be justified when you give sentence and be without reproach when you judge. O see, in guilt was I born, a sinner was I conceived. Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom. O purify me, then I shall be clean; O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away your face and blot out all my guilt. A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit. Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervor sustain me, that I may teach transgressors your ways and sinners may return to you. O rescue me, God, my helper, and my tongue shall ring out your goodness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse; my sacrifice, a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn. In your goodness, show favor to Zion: rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice, holocausts offered on your altar.
-Psalm 51 (Miserere)

( a bit delayed since this didn’t post as scheduled)

(Click to enlarge so you can read the fine print.)

Did you eat some on this first day of the new year? I hope so, or else you won’t have good luck this year!

What? You didn’t have any black-eyed peas?
Well here’s some for you. Sort of.

Dear Lord,
We pray that this New Year will bring us closer to You.
May we take the time to get to know You.
Help us to truly celebrate the gifts You have graciously given us
and use them to serve You and spread Your word,

May we also see and love you in all the people we meet,
so that in turn, they can see You in us.

We know that all human relations take time
if they are to grow and deepen.
This is also true of our relations with You,
in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
which must grow over the course of our lives.
In this new year,
let us realize that every action of ours
no matter how great or small
enables us to be in touch with You.
Let us accept You in our lives,
in the way it pleases You,
as Truth, to be spoken,
as Life, to be lived,
as Light, to be lighted,
as Love, to be followed,
as Joy, to be given,
as Peace, to be spread about,
as Sacrifice, to be offered among our relatives,
friends, neighbors and all people.

Amen.

…I had to post this oh-so-appropriate Firefly quote with this picture:

“A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he’s not afraid of anything.”

Those men are Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s organization. They were at the Wreaths Across America ceremony we went to earlier this month.

And I guess since I’ve mentioned that event, I’ll post some other pictures from that event:

Wreaths at Barrancas National Cemetery:

Buck, getting ready to give a wreath to an honoree at the ceremony:

Guarding the grave of the unknown Marine:

Buck giving the wreath to an original ‘Rosie the Riviter’:

You make freedom of religion possible, so I thank you.

Hope y’all are having a peaceful Christmas Eve…presents wrapped, family gathered, blessings counted.

LemonStand tagged me awhile back…I guess now’s as good as time as any.
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The washing machine is fixed! And it was covered by the warranty! Well, sort of. It was actually 5 of Princess No’s bobby pins and one shirt-collar tab blocking the water pump. Which means it wasn’t technically covered by the warranty. But the repair guy (Kris Kringle in disguise, I just know it), said he would write it up as something else.

Christmas Spirit abides in the oddest of places!

Now it’s time to go wash some underwear and socks.

Blog Mama Bou wrote about having a child who still believed in Santa, and was pretty sure it was the last year it would be thus. I miss that special magic. Of course, I still get to participate somewhat in that happiness because of being a teacher. But it’s not the same as seeing Christmas through your own young child’s eyes.

When my son was young and still believed, we were driving to the Air National Guard base where his dad worked. Eraserhead loved going there because he loved planes. (His first three words were, “Mama”, “Dada”, and “plane”.) When we got there, a FedEx plane was there unloading its multitude of crates and packages and boxes. Eraserhead watched them for awhile, then turned to me literally vibrating with excitement.

EH: That’s how he does it Mama!

Me: Who does what, honey?

EH: Santa! He sends all his packages ahead by the FedEx planes to all the cities and towns. And then he picks them up at each airport to deliver in each city!

Me: Well, that would explain how he could do it all in one night!

EH: Yeah, Santa is pretty smart!

Eraserhead then turned back to happily watching the plane being unloaded, maybe trying to guess which package was his.

I miss having that simple joy and faith.

And kudos to FedEX, for being part of the magic:

…yes, it is! I believe Christmas has started make an appearance at the HoZ. I have a tree up. The kids and I think it’s very nice. It’s a black Christmas tree (it only sounds ugly) with ivory poinsettias and my grandmother’s hand-made ornaments. The Beartivity is underneath the tree. Simple, but pretty.

That will probably be the extent of the decorating. But Christmas…has started. Buck in particular was happy to have the tree up. He keeps saying, ‘it’s really pretty’. From a reticent teen boy, that’s a damn good compliment.

A quiet Christmas…but one to think about the real meaning of Christmas. To think about hopes for the next year. To think about blessings I’ve had, and blessings that I hope are to come.

Gloria in excelsis Deo.

I just can’t pull it together. I don’t know if it’s the holiday stress, work stress, or family stress.

I just want to run away. But I can’t. I did skip a meeting after school today to try to straighten up my room. I have an evaluation on Monday, and I want things to look nice. But when I started sorting one pile, it led to moving it to yet another pile, which led to finding another pile, until I was really just walking circles around the room. I’ve resigned myself to having to go to school on Saturday to get things done.

And sometime in January, I’ll be forced out of my classroom for a few days while maintenance paints my room and puts in a drop ceiling. Which means everything has to be pulled off the walls, removed from my storage area, put in a pile in the middle of the room, and then my class goes to a portable with no computers or smart board or centers or classroom library for at least two days. AND I have a technology conference in Orlando the 12th – 15th of January. What do you bet the painting and conference occur in the same week?????

And I just had to pay $500 to get new tires and brake work done on my SUV. And the dog had to go to the vet…add $117 to unplanned expenses.

So with all that hanging over my head, I skipped the meeting. It was just my fellow grade level teachers, and thankfully they understand. They won’t ‘report’ me. But I couldn’t face one more requisite of my job or my life. I get up at 5:30 every day, bust my ass trying to meet all the increased requirements of education these days, take my daughter to and from school, run errands, cook dinner, try to get some computer time to unwind, do laundry, try to do some more school work, and wind up in bed around 11:00 PM. I’d like to go to bed earlier, but I’m just too ‘antsy’…so much crap is running through my mind I can’t relax. And if I manage to go to bed earlier, I tend to wake up after five hours of sleep and then can’t get back to sleep. But I’m too tired to get up and do anything.

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Let’s change the direction of this post…we were taking a Spelling Test today. I caught one of my students pulling a spelling list out of his desk and copying the words. He’s a good kid, and I was kind of surprised. In talking to him, I asked him why he was cheating. He said he didn’t know it was cheating…that he thought cheating was when you looked on someone else’s paper. *sigh* I explained that if it wasn’t coming out of his own brain, it’s cheating. So now, he gets to write the spelling words 10 times each for homework and dad has to sign a note about it.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that kids do not have the same frame of reference and experience as adults with common-sense issues. Which is why it’s so important that the guiding figures in their lives BE guiding figures. Kid can’t raise themselves. Unfortunately, too many of them are doing just that. *sigh*

I think it’s time for some eggnog and Southern Comfort…a good nighttime toddy lately.

*sigh* It’s the same every year at this time…kids are excited about Christmas…and suspicious. It’s the logic thing…just how does Santa manage it? ALL the houses…in ALL the world…do reindeer really fly?

And they so want to believe…you see it in their eyes…the yearning to believe in the magic.

And it’s a glorious burden to bear the mantle of the last moments of childhood innocence. One girl, whose house burned down earlier this year, announced that Santa knew about her house and came early to bring them some clothes and toys. Ain’t no way I’m messing with that.

And the joy. Do you remember that joy of the expectation of Santa? Kids have to grow up so fast now…why can’t they have a few years of happy expectation?

So when they ask if Santa is real, I tell them that Santa comes to my house. That Santa Claus was originally the very real Saint Nicholas (and you should see their eyes light up as they compare the phonemes of ‘Saint Nicholas’ to the more familiar ‘Santa Claus’). That now he’s an angel with the magic of love that makes all the wonder of Christmas happen.

And as a teacher I have the honor of adding to the magic of love. So screw the regular Social Studies plans…we are going to have Christmas activities, with cutting and gluing and glittering and FUN! Life is too short. Let the kids be kids. Let them be innocent and enjoy the season, because Santa rocks!

To mark the beginning of the Advent Season, an Irish carol ‘Don Oiche Ud i m’Beithil’: I sing of a night in Bethlehem.

I sing of a night in Bethlehem
A night as bright as dawn
I sing of that night in Bethlehem
The night the Word was born
The skies are glowing gaily
The earth in white is dressed
See Jesus in the cradle
Drink deep in His mother’s breast
And there on a lonely hillside
The shepherds bow down in fear
When the heavens open brightly
And God’s message rings out so clear
Glory now to the Father
In all the heavens high
And peace to His friends on earth below
Is all the angels cry

It’s almost 9:00 AM here…do you know where your turkey is? As most of you run crazily around, trying to pull a meal together, I’ve been sleeping in. As a matter of fact, I just got up to put some beans to soak, and now I’m going back to bed.

I’m SERIOUSLY considering having Thanksgiving a week early again next year. This has been so relaxing.

The best part???? I didn’t have to fight the crowds at the grocery store!

Y’all have a great Thanksgiving Day. I’m going back to bed to cuddle with my sweetie.

Whether or not Goob shows up, we are having Thanksgiving tomorrow. My folks and my sister and her noisy brood will be coming over.

And next week, when we’re off for the actual holiday, I can relax, sleep in, go to a movie…and NOT have the harried rush.

Looking forward to it.

‘Cause Google actually had a military-related theme on their emblem.

Whodda thunk:

Of course, Dogpile, as usual, has never forgotten (can’t capture their pic). Which is way I almost always do my internet searches via their site.

Thank you.

Tammi had her ‘Saturday Question’ this past Halloween about favorite costumes.

It reminded me about Goob’s Halloween costume of many years ago, when he was in sixth grade. I never saw it. But it was awful.

You see, we had just made a visit to Utah one October, back when LTS still had primary custody of the boys, but before we found out about her criminal husband. We had just arrived back in Alabama, and called the boys back in Utah to let them know we made it. As BR talked to Goob, he could hear his five year-old half brother in the background screaming, “Goob is a ho. Goob is a ho!” When BR asked about it, Goob said he was going trick-or-treating dressed as a ‘ho’. His egg-donor came up with the idea, and provided him with a bra, fishnet stockings, make-up, and god knows what else.

BR nearly drove the car off the road in his anger. He got the egg-donor on the phone again, and I’m surprised the airwaves didn’t burn between here and there. Cold-hearted, perverted bitch.

Flash-forward a few months. We found out about the chunt’s husband, and instigated court proceedings. BR got custody of them, and the next Halloween comes around. I worked hard to make costumes for all of them…Princess No was a belly dancer, Buck was Zorro, Eraserhead was a Jedi, and Goob…Goob was a knight. An honorable and fitting costume for him. One that recognized his true worth. The picture below isn’t the best, but it shows the kids as being kids. I wonder if Goob ever thought about the difference between how his egg-donor dressed him and what I made for him. To be honest, I hope he doesn’t remember what happened then, even if it means he forgot that I made him a knight.
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OMG!!! How could I forget this video for Halloween?!

Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo

Halloween is great…if you’re allowed chocolate. We have two bags of chocolaty goodness sitting on the piano bench by the front door, waiting for trick-or-treaters. Of which we may get one or two. Or none.

Which means that there will be leftover chocolate. Lots of it. Tempting and seducing me.

I will stand strong and ignore its siren call. Maybe. *whimper*

And on top of that, one of my students gave me a box of Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates for a Halloween gift.

I LOVE those things. *double whimper*

BUT…(and it’s still a big butt for now)…the box of heaven will go in the freezer, and I’ll thaw one a week. On Sunday, my chocolate day. That way, they’ll last 12 weeks (okay, technically 11 weeks…think about it). 12 Sundays of deliciousness and sublime chocolate nirvana.

And now, in honor of Halloween, a clip from one of my favorite movies, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. And no, I can’t post the cover from Panic at the Disco, or God forbid, Marilyn Manson. My husband is a Danny Elfman fan going back to his ‘Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo’ days. BR would seriously maim me if I chose music from somebody other than the great god of Elfman. *rolls eyes*

*whispers* Danny Elfman is an amazing musical artist…just don’t let on to BR that I’m as impressed as he is.

Pvt. Goob will be here this weekend! He has leave and is coming home for the Labor Day holiday.

He asked us to get his car ready…we’re working on that.

He also asked about his clothes…he’s not bringing much with him. He didn’t take but maybe one change of clothes when he left for Basic.

But I can’t find his clothes. I threw some ratty old t-shirts away when he left…but kept his nice clothes and some jeans. But I can’t find them. Anywhere. I’ve checked in suitcases. I’ve checked in closet shelves.

I can’t find his clothes.

Crap.

Since we live outside the city we could have our own pyrotechnic display. It’s been so dry, however, we had to forgo the really high-flying, really cool stuff. But we had some fun anyway. BR played with his camera settings some, and took some neat pictures:
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