It is what it is

I can't believe it is almost the end of October.  I am having such a good time teaching math 4 times a day, I have forgotten to blog.  Of course, my writing has suffered.  We have been meaping and my posts on FB get longer every day.  So many Lucy antics to report, don't know where to pick up since my last chapter.  Need another month of just writing.  Hopefully will be able to get back to it!  Life is good....some days!  It is what it is!

Little did I know, after 2 years of teaching what I didn't want to teach, that I would get a math position at the middle school.  After the classes from hell last year with 8th graders, I was trying to get back to elementary.  I am so glad to have 7th grade this year and teach what I love, math.  I am a little rusty  (ha ha Holbrook peeps) but will be good with a little review.  It was the bestest summer.  I loved the EMWP but it did eat half the summer.  I still got to keep one reading/writing class so it was not in vain. The other half was tan and travel.  I loved my trips to Phoenix, LA, Chicago and Boston.  I could write a book for sure.  The move from hell:  Phoenix to LA with Amanda and a drive that included a major dust storm, 2 monsoon rains and LA traffic in a 16 foot Penske truck.  Arrived late, no electricity in the apartment, hotel horror, bribing the electric company in LA, 2 babes and a truck, I could go on and on...

So, it rained all day.  I had left over Costco chicken and it felt so much like fall, I chopped carrots, celery and onion and made chicken soup.  Watching HGTV because I can. Sleeping late because I can.  Staying up late because I can.  Watched the Dallas finale last night.  Been watching the DVD for No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith after completing 7 books.  Reading The Help.  Not ready for fall....hate not being outside today.  Been home from Phoenix/LA for 4 days and still catching up on shopping/errands/around the house.....all the stuff I usually do in the summer without a class to impede my progress.   Leaving for Chicago tomorrow.   Very excited as it has been a year since being there to move Matt.  Have a lot of DVD's to watch...Modern Family, season I & II, the rest of the Ladies Detective Agency and Downton Abbey seasons I and II.  Boarding Lucy, have to get one more shot, looked into behavi...

Hard to believe that 3 years have flown by since we moved Amanda and Emily into the Villas on Apache.  Hard to believe that this is my third trip since May first.  Hard to believe that Amanda has graduated from ASU and is moving to California tomorrow.  We have almost everything packed.  Hard to believe July has raced by and it is the 29th, soon to be August.  My EMWP is finished, Amanda was home for nearly 4 weeks and summer is waning fast.  I am nervous about driving a truck to California.  I have never even driven in Arizona.  All my trips here, not once.  Someone else has always driven.  What have I gotten myself into.....again?  I can't believe how much stuff Amanda has.  She bought a bed, some tables, chest (all from Ikea, meaning assemble required), we have a couch and mattress to pick up today and still no refrigerator.  She only got this 500 sq.ft. place last Monday after spending the previous Thurs., Fri. in the ...

THE (MIS) ADVENTURES OF CASEY "Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.  So did my life and the lives of my entire family.  Casey was part of and still is, a part of our family.  We are adjusting, but surely not forgetting.  We trip over ourselves trying to ignore the fact that she is gone. It is still just too sad to talk about.  We start things like "Oh remember when we were in the pool last summer and we had to keep Casey off the deck....." or "Gee, it's funny not to have Casey eating anything dropped, or not tripping over her as she was always under foot."  We reminisce without saying too much at all.  We are all thinking the same thoughts.  We are all wondering if we get another dog, what will it be like.  We wonder if it is too soon.  We wonder if it is disrespectful......then think wait......to a dog???  She was so human-like.  She knew wh...

June 29, 2012 The Little Red Hen in the 21 st Century Once upon a time there was a Little Red Hen.   Now, this Little Red Hen lived on a farm and was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat and a noisy yellow duck.   The Little Red Hen started every day the same way, making breakfast for the dog the cat, and the duck.     She would call out “ Who will help me make breakfast”?   “Not I” barked the dog, not looking up from watching Sesame Street.   “Not I” purred the cat, staring at a bird outside.   “Not I “ quacked the noisy yellow duck, hardly pausing from Draw Something on his Mac Book.       “Well then,” said the Little Red Hen, “I will do it myself”.   And she did. When breakfast was ready, the Little Red Hen would ask,   “Who will help me eat this breakfast?”   “I will,” barked the dog.   “I will,” purred the cat.   “I will” quacked the noisy yellow duck.   One day, ...

“Lucy, I’m Home” Strange how things happen isn’t it?   I finished an entire “novel” on the (Mis)“Adventures of Casey” just last week.   I had to put it aside for awhile as it was making me too sad to continue to re-read and edit.   We lost our beloved beagle on May 20, 2012.   I have been in mourning and really missed having her around.   Every day, I thought about Casey.   When Amanda came home from ASU we talked about and missed her.   When Matt came home from Chicago, we were not allowed to talk about her.   I wondered if I would ever be able to get another dog.   Where do you start looking?   How?   Casey was a rescue beagle and a real handful. Once Amanda came home, she started looking on –line for beagle puppies.   While cute, I was not sure I was ready for a new dog yet, especially a puppy.   A friend of mine said recently, “Puppies are over-rated!”   All the puppies/dogs were either too e...

July 2, 2012 I have a coffee mug that I received last year for my birthday that has an outlandish number of the year I celebrated.   Yesterday was the first anniversary of that birthday.   It was a wonderful day, nothing major,   but special because so many people that I know and love went out of their way to make it special to me.   My daughter made me happy by just being there.   My boys called on iChat.   My husband bought me lavender roses and lavender balloons. I received a round trip ticket to Boston to visit my boys.    Even my mother-in-law called and wished me a Happy Birthday and told me she loved me.   She has never done that before.   My best friend sent every e-card she could find, those made me laugh.   We spent the day in and out of the pool, on the phone, a lot of doing nothing but filling every minute and ended up at Papa Vino’s for dinner.   We closed the day watching the new Muppets movie.   N...

Disney Land There is a joke in my family that any time we get together, there is an empty Wal-Mart somewhere.   We are all a bit loony, but we sure have a great time. My children are all grown-up now, adults if you will, but there was a time I wasn’t sure they would make it! Any time we went somewhere it was an adventure.   This particular trip we were going to California.   Disney Land!.   The boys were about 11 and 9 and Amanda was around 3.   It was Easter Sunday and we were, as usual running a bit late.   With 3 kids, that just goes with the territory.   We parked the car in one of those shuttle lots and unloaded the car.   There were no restrictions on number of bags so you took so you got to take however many you could carry and it amounted to nearly half your house.   As we entered the airport and checked our bags, someone realized we had left the video camera in the car.   Now, this was early video camera days a...

There was a little girl who was as pretty as a princess.   She was well-behaved, worshiped by her parents and two older brothers and as good as gold.   She was very dramatic about everything and could pretend to be just about anyone.   “You can do it” they all said. As she grew older, she became interested in acting and became more and more talented and confident.   About 4 th grade, she auditioned to be in a musical with her high school brother.   She was chosen for the chorus and became enamored with being on-stage.   Her performances included self-taught guitar and violin,   dance, baseball, tennis, golf, piano lessons, lip sync of comedic performances as well as doing her own.   “You can do it” they all said.   Many musicals, many plays, several high-school movies, many characters and many performances later, she graduated from high school with laud and honor, praises from her director, co-actors and others.   “You can...

Gallup Park Ducks see us coming and glide over to see what is going on.   Perhaps looking for something to eat.   Years ago we had a pair of ducks that would live on the top of the neighbors pool every spring until the cover came off.   My kids named them Frankie & Casper.   We looked for them every spring.   One spring, my son, Matt, probably 10 at the time, found a baby duck in the yard.   He searched in vain for its’ family that was nowhere to be found.   He tried to feed the duck bugs and worms and named it Cranston, after our street.   He found a shoe box and lined it with grass.   Sadly, Cranston died soon after Matt had found him.   Perhaps Cranston had been abandoned purposely, I don’t know. That afternoon,   to alleviate Matt’s sorrow and despair, we went to the nearest pet store to adopt what would become the first, in a long line of hamsters, gerbils, a Guinea pig, and eventually, our beloved C...

"Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.  So did my life and the lives of my entire family.  Casey was part of and still is, a part of our family.  We are adjusting, but surely not forgetting.  We trip over ourselves trying to ignore the fact that she is gone. It is still just too sad to talk about.  We start things like "Oh remember when we were in the pool last summer and we had to keep Casey off the deck....." or "Gee, it's funny not to have Casey eating anything dropped, or not tripping over her as she was always under foot."  We reminisce without saying too much at all.  We are all thinking the same thoughts.  We are all wondering if we get another dog, what will it be like.  We wonder if it is too soon.  We wonder if it is disrespectful......then think wait......to a dog???  She was so human-like.  She knew what was going on.  When she could still see, she...

RainbowBridge.com Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and ...

Last day before I start the writing class.  Glad to have Amanda home even if we do nothing!  Off to ADK picnic today.  Don't really want to go but I must since I am the new treasurer.  Worked hard last week cleaning all the places that had been neglected for the school/work year, including windows.  Only 3 weeks since Casey left us.  Seems longer.  I miss her when I let myself.  I know she was hurting at the end.  Feel so bad I couldn't let her go.  Starting to think about another dog.  Hope the right one just comes our way.  TOPS picnic was a success, ready to do more.  Think I will head to the pool and just read for awhile.  I am shopped out (and money'd out) and just enjoying the summer.  It is what it is.