12/30/07

The Last Greeting from Wisconsin for a Few Months!



Last day in the home land. It is kinda weird. At least the Packers won today which makes leaving more sweet than bitter. I am not going to talk much about leaving because then I will leak out of my eyes and I don't like to leak!

The packing for the trip back is actually done. Usually it isn't until 11pm that the packing is done. I wanted to be able to hang out with the niece and nephew for my last night. We plan on watching Cars. I like that movie, and seeing I talked through it the other night, it will be nice to watch it again.

I actually fly out at 5am. Yes, that is right, no mistype. I actually fly away at five in the morning. It is crazy and people should never have to be anywhere that early in the morning, but I will be on an airplane at that time tomorrow morning.

It is always hard to leave, but I know I am still in the place I am supposed to be. There is a song by Carrie Underwood that is all about sending love to home, but really knowing, that even though it is hard to be away from family, you are in the right place for you. I know that still. I am supposed to be in Provo just as much now as I was six years ago. I don't know the reasons why, but I know that God has purpose for me there! Even as I write that I get teary eyed, which means it is still true after all these years!

Tomorrow after the trip back to Utah, I will be hanging out with my adopted family, The Bills. Morgan and Sarah are both in Salt Lake. I don't see them much so I always take the time to spend time with them when I can! My friend Ben, who lives in Des Moines, will also be there. He, Sarah, and I went to high school together back in the day. It will be like a Wausau West mini reunion!

Well, I don't have much else to say. I do know that I will be writing about some of my New Years resolutions as soon as 2008 gets here. I wish it would hurry up already. Just kidding. I am always excited for the new year though because it always feels like a new beginning. Kinda like when I got baptised. It just seems like a clean slate for everything. It also brings a hint of excitement to think about what will happen in the coming year. Ooooo.....excitement!

Well, this may be it for this year. So, see ya next year. Take care of yourself! :)

p.s. The picture is of one of the festive things we have at the house. The horse is pulling a Christmas tree. It was one of my Grandpa Huven's favorite things. My sister thought it needed a nun on the back of it to guide the horse. I thought that was hilarious. You will have to look really, really close to see the nun...enjoy!

12/29/07

Travels!



Well, I was able to spend some time with my cute Grandma on Thursday. So very nice. I had a nice lunch with her and my aunt Jeanie. I think she is very cute in her chair next to her Christmas tree.

Friday, I went to Wausau to go to dinner with my friends from way back in high school, Marla and Kim. I am still in awe that they knew me back in my awkward days and still are my friends. Actually, I am surprised that people are friends with me now; I am still awkward. I kept telling a lot of my friends this past month that I just feel awkward all the time. It is weird.

Anyway, we had some great Mexican food including some fine fried ice cream. Love it. We then went back to Kim's house and were entertained by Ty. He had a crush on Marla and kept getting "in her face." It was funny. We just chatted and kinda watched Cars. I then stayed at Marla's house because it was crazy snowing all night and I really didn't feel like sliding all the way back to Rhinelander.

Marla had to work all night while I slept. Luckily, she will no longer have to do it because this is her last weekend of night shifts. She is very thankful for that. After she was done with work this morning, we chatted and chatted as usual. We also ate some McDonald's and watched a few episodes of The Office. I laughed my head off at the "Beach Games" episode. I had forgotten how hilarious it is. I was very proud of Pam Beesly in the show and how she tells Jim how she really feels and even walks through fire. If you are not and Office addict, you really need to borrow my DVDs and become one. And seeing the writers are on strike, you can get caught up! :) See, I can see something positive in that!

When I got back to Rhinelander today, my sister and her family were here already. It was fun to get to spend time with them today. My sister and I escaped the madness and went to play trivia at my favorite bar and after dinner we went shopping. I really love my time with her! My mom called us while we were at the bar and asked us to get ice. That is why you see my dad trying to deal with the ice in those pictures at the beginning of this blog. My mom asked for a few cups of ice, so we brought back ten pounds. We are over achievers, always have been.

One final note, those little dolls are supposed to be all of the characters from The Wizard of Oz. Marla's Mom gave them to her for Christmas. Marla and I both think they are creepy. Those dolls with the eyes just get me. We decided it may be because of all the horror films that have had those kind of dolls in them, like Chucky. Her mom likes them a lot. We do not. Marla thought it would be funny to be holding them next to the bed while I slept. I told her I probably would have wet the bed because I would have gotten so creeped out. She also was going to line them up outside the bathroom while I was getting ready this morning, but they would not stand up. I was kind of glad for that. I think we could have lots of fun with these dolls in the future. I have a weird feeling that I will get one for my birthday. Who knows? :)

Well, better sleep so I can go to church tomorrow and quit this whole inactivity I have been having. Cheers.

12/27/07

Bonus

I am tired.  I drove to Green Bay today and back today.  I got to see my little Grandma so it was worth it, but it has made me tired.  I am just writing a few lines before I escape to watching a DVD while in my pajamas. 
 
Two things you should know about me:  (I don't know why I picked two, maybe it sounded better than only writing one and it is all I can handle tonight.)
 
1.  I have the same eyes as some of my relatives.  No, we do not share the same pair, but our eyes are very similar.  I noticed that today when I was having lunch with Grandma Rita and Aunt Jeanie.  We have squinty eyes and the pupils are similar.  They are not necessarily the same hue, but similar colors.  I think that is a very cool thing to have in common with people.  My mom's eyes are almost the same as mine.  We even have twin yellow rings around our pupils.  (Can you tell I am an eye person?  It is the first thing I notice about people and I am intrigued by beautiful eyes.  I can even tell you the eye color of all my friends!)
 
2.  I NEVER make my bed.  I figure you are going to sleep in it again within 24 hours, so why make it?  The only time I feel guilty about not making my bed is when I visit home.  My parents(I am guessing my father makes it everyday) always have a made bed.  This is nice and all, but I am not about impressing people (maybe some of you have figured that out about me seeing I am always wearing a hat, t-shirt, and jeans, with no make-up).  I just close the door if I really think people will be judging me based on my bed cleanliness.  Funny thing is that my bed in Provo is actually made right now.  I guess I will make it if I am not going to be in it within 24 hours!  :)
 
I will write more tomorrow and put a picture of my cute little Grandma on as well.  She is just so cute, I just want to squeeze her, but in a good way!  Nighty Nite.
'

12/26/07

Winter Blues?


Happy day after Christmas.  Did you all get what you wanted and more?  I hope so. I know I had a spectacular Christmas.
 
Today I started to get the winter blues at about 1pm.  I decided to get uncooped from this house and get out into this fabulous town.  If you didn't sense the sarcasm in that sentence, believe me it was there.  I decided to go see the Will Smith moive I Am Legend.  It was a wonderful movie.  Unfortunately, I had my eyes closed for a good majority of it.  Seriously, it was an intense movie.  I also think I will be sleeping with the lights on for the next two weeks. I really liked the movie though, there is nothing like a little of Will Smith's bare bicepts to lift the spirits.  That man needs to not work out so much, my goodnes. 
 
Here are a few other movies I think you should see, if you haven't:
 
1.  Enchanted:  A great movie for all ages.  Warning: May not be suitable for manly men.  Manly Men may feel weird about touching this much of their feminine side.  If you do not come out of the theater singing "I'm Dreaming of my True Love's Kiss,"  you have not fully enjoyed this movie and must go back in and watch it again until you are singing that song.  I think Amy Adams does an amazing job smooshing all of Disney's princesses into one character.  She is even believable at being unbelievable, if you get what I am saying.  And of course, there is "Dr. Dreamy" aka Patrick Dempsey to swoon over.  He is so very sweet as well as cute in this movie.  I laughed a lot during the movie as well.  Great story line based on cartoon characters coming to the real world.  A movie well worth the 8 dollars.  (or 6 if you go to the matinee).  If you are really patient, you probably can see it in the dollar theater in about a month.
 
2.  National Treasure: Book of Secrets:  This movie is so action packed that at the end of it you think: "Was that movie really five minutes long, or was it just me?"  Time flew as I watched it.  It wasn't as good as the first one, but I really think it is great for a sequel.  Usually, the second movie is mediocre and the first and third are awesome, but this one is great.  I love the funny guy that helps Nicolas Cage's character. I was also fascinated by the whole concept of a secret Presidential book.  I am sure conspiracy theorists everywhere love that idea!  Go see it, you will find a treasure in it! (I am so punny.)
 
Well, I think that is it for tonight.  I am planning on taking my Grandma out to lunch tomorrow.  I have really missed seeing her and I am thinking a day trip to just see her would be perfect!
 


 

12/25/07

You Are Not The Boss of Me!



I could have made the title for this post "Merry Christmas" or something festive like that but at dinner I told my mom the title would be "You Are Not The Boss of Me" because she told me to eat salad for lunch tomorrow. She was only trying to suggest that I partake of the wonderful seven layer salad she made but I took it more as her telling me what to do. It was quite funny at the time; it may not be funny to each of you.

Christmas has come and gone. Weird huh? Where has 2007 gone, really? I wonder how many times I have typed that in the past few months, probably a bazillion. It was a pretty low key Christmas here with the Koehne's. We ate breakfast at about ten. (Thanks Dad, the traditional Christmas scrambled eggs were wonderful!) After breakfast, we opened presents. We being, Mom, Dad and I. It was a pretty quiet Christmas. I got some spectacular things including: new Packer pajama pants, new Happy Bunny slipper socks, two new t-shirts(even a pink Packer one), and a new Uno card game. I really don't know why I put new in front of each present because it would kinda be silly to get old presents. Here is a used pair of shoes, "Merry Christmas." Not to say that I don't like re-gifts either because the Packer shirt was something my mom bought for herself but didn't like. I was glad to benefit from that!

The afternoon brought a lot of sitting in front of the TV watching 24: Season Six. I am loving it. Thank goodness my mother has a video membership and that they were open on Christmas(even though I find that really sad at the same time!)

This evening, we had our traditional shrimp and steak dinner. So very good. Thanks goes to Dad again for standing in the cold to grill us some fabulous steak! That is a classic picture of him out in the winter wonderland grillin'.

The other pics are from throughout the day. The picture of the tree is a nice Christmasy thing and then there's my mom looking at her present from me. Dang it, she didn't cry but she still liked it! My dad got all the lights up and shining in the village. One of my Christmas presents was the red fire truck that I always put in the village. I hope I did not guilt my mother into setting it up. I think she read the blog and took action.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and you took a moment to think about what this day truly is all about. An amazing thing happened 2007 years ago and we all should be thankful for the peace the miracle of Jesus truly is. I will quit being so mushy about that, but really it is the most important part about why we have this whole thing called Christmas. I hope we will never forget that! Peace and Cheers!

Only a few days left in this crazy year. Just do a lot of fun things! :)

12/23/07

Skaters!

Snowed in and Enjoying it!



The inevitable happened: it snowed and it snowed and it snowed and it snowed. We got probably close to 10 inches of snow last night and today. Well, we did not get to go to Green Bay like I wanted to. So, I didn't get to see the relatives I wanted to. I am hoping that I can convince my mom to go to GB later this week, even if we go just to take my Grandma to lunch. I sure do love my Grandma and I would be very, very sad if I did not get to see her this trip.

Friday, I got to see a few of my friends from high school. We all met at Sam's Pizza (where I worked while in high school) and had dinner and chatted. Their parents (and mine) also came and one husband was there and also three kids. It is still weird to me that people my age have children. It is as if I am in a time warp sometimes. Anyway, it was good to catch up with everybody again. You can see two of the kids in my pictures. Ty is the star of the party as always. It was fun to hear him ask for "pennies" over and over so he could ride the various rides.

I was also able to catch up with another friend from high school later that night. I met his family at their house and then we went to the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets. (For a full review, please see my movie review blog-which I haven't actually created but one day I should.) It was good to catch up with DC Man as well. He drove me from Wausau the hour up to Rhinelander after the late movie, which totally was a true reflection of friendship. It was good to get a chance to talk with him. We also went to Walmart here in Rhinelander for some last minute shopping. Adventurous.

Yesterday and today were pretty much spent in front of the TV because the snow kept falling and falling and falling and falling some more. My mom and I watched We Are Marshall together last night. Today, I skipped church because there was no way I was leaving this house in a dress and dress shoes and then braving the roads that had not been plowed. I guess I am a pansy just like Moo likes to refer to me as on her blog.

Mom and I also did some cut out cookies today. It was funny because I was finishing the first disc of 24 when she finally decided to start frosting and decorating the cookies. I had like 12 minutes left in the last episode of the disk when she tried to give me a guilt trip to help. "I guess I will decorate the cookies, don't worry I can do them ALL by MYSELF." I was glad to help and it was funny to me that she felt like she needed to guilt me into helping. It was like being young again. I even did some of my special decorating where I put four different colored sugars on them so they looked like toxic waste. So much fun, and very tasty too, I might add!

Speaking of being young, I also put a picture of the family's nativity on here. I love that scene and I always do something special to it. (notice the sheep on the top of the barn) I have always felt bad for the sheep that could not ever see baby Jesus. He always had his head in the grass. Seriously, I don't think he would be looking for food when he knew the Lord had just come. I know I wouldn't have wanted to be staring at the ground if I had been there. So, each year I put him on the top of the barn so he can also worship the baby Jesus. It is kinda a tradition now. I also always put a fire-truck into the Christmas Village each year, but this year the village is up, which is kinda strange, I am not going to lie.

There will also be a video of the little skaters that are one of my favorite Christmas time decorations. I hope you enjoy all these little pieces of Koehne Christmas Decor and Traditions.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve to one and all!

12/21/07

Oldness.

I feel very old today.  My back went all wacky just before boarding my first flight home.  Tragic.  So, if any of you are still looking for a Christmas present to give me, you could get me a bag of ice, a tub of icy hot, or a hot pad.  I think I am getting old.  It is weird, I actually do something to my back about two times per year.  One is usually sometime in December.  Maybe it is a release of stress that does it.  My body finally goes:  "Oh good I have some time to hurt now."  Weird.
 
My first day home was a good one.  I pretty much didn't do anything but be on the internet or be in front of the TV.  Seems like my life always, actually.  I also went with my mom to Walmart, which wasn't as much of an adventure as I thought it might be this close to Christmas.  We also stopped at the Claridge and played a game of trivia.  I sure have missed my favorite bar.
 
Today, I have iced my back and watched TV.  I also took a very hot shower.  I do not know which works better, the cold or the hot.  The back hurts the same either way.  Oh well.
 
Tonight, a few of my friends from high school are getting together with our parents (and kids, only a few have kids) to have pizza.  Should be a good time.  I haven't seen one of my friends in about three or four years.  Crazy.  I hate when I lose touch with cool people.  Sam's Pizza in one of my favorite things in Wausau and I will enjoy partaking of it this evening.  I will be sure to take pictures of the event. 
 
It is supposed to snow a lot tonight and tomorrow, so my trip to Green Bay is in limbo.  I hate lame weather when I need to be traveling.  I will be very sad if I don't get to see all my relatives. 
 
Well, TTFN.

P.S.  For those of you wondering why I have a picture of DK shaving his legs, he did that because our students raised over 100 dollars for Sub for Santa.  Another teacher also had to go platinum blond because the kids raised over 200 dollars.  I think the kids really liked all of these things.  I personally liked watching the shaving of the legs even though it was kinda gross!  I can always count on DK for gross stuff.    He is the Biology teacher after all! :)

12/19/07

Live(kinda) from Wisconsin!



I am wilting right now. I am tired. I only slept for about six hours last night and then traveled across this great country after being at school for half a day of babysitting. (It really felt like that today)

So, I dyed my hair. Actually, I did not dye it, a friend did. She was very excited to dye it as well. She truly was like a kid in a candy store. I actually think it looks pretty good. I think that brunettes have more fun, honestly. At least in the last 24 hours I have had lots of fun. I had to dye my hair because my students raised over 220 dollars for Sub for Santa. I like to do things for charity. Most of the students really liked my hair. Some thought it wasn't dark enough. I think it is plenty dark. They also enjoyed me walking around in the dress. Too bad I forgot to take a picture in it before playing basketball.

The students actually beat us today in the faculty-student basketball game. That did not make me happy. I was not a good sport and had to eject myself from the game. Sad, sad story. Today at school was overall a good experience. My Leadership(3rd Hour, kinda like an advisory class) were very cute today. We always do a school wide service project and write to former students who are currently serving in the military. My students wrote more letters than last year. I was impressed by how well they decorated them. Good job! Besides two incidents where I wanted to strangle students today, things went pretty well. I even got on my airplane easily thanks to a ride from a special someone at work (you know who you are and thank you again!). It was a great ride to the airport talking with this friend from work. I like to get to know people better.

Okay, the last section of today's post will be about what I would change about flying.

1. There would be no "First Class"; all seats would be bigger. There also would be more leg room. There would not be an elite group of people who would get better seats. All seats would be the same price. This way people would not be poked in the side by bony elbows the whole time as somebody typed on their laptop. (My flight from SLC to Minneapolis was experienced this way.)

2. The plane would then be boarded from back to front. It is totally stupid to have the people who sit in the front of the plane board first. I feel like it is as if, in society, the rich people would get to do everything first and it would be rubbed in the rest of our faces. It would also be like having to go past all the Lexus, Cadillacs and Hummers before seeing the rusty 1977 Gremlin at the used car lot, which would be the only car you can afford. "Ha ha. You can't afford any of these nice comfortable cars! We just wanted to walk you through here so you could pine over them!"

3. If you store things in the overhead compartments, you would have to deplane last. I hate the whole pile up after the fasten seat belt sign goes off. It is stupid for people who actually bring something that can fit under the seat in front of them to have to wait for all the people who carried on everything they own.

4. There would be meals in all flights over two hours. I find it very silly that even before serving drinks today they came through selling candy. It was like being at the movie theater, where you know the candy is not worth the 8 dollars they charge! Seriously.

5. Each seat would come with noise cancelling head phones. My new head phones are spectacular and it made for fun flying today. I watched Happy Gilmore and an episode of The Office and all I could hear were the sounds from the shows. Spectacular.

Well, I think five will have to suffice for tonight. My bed is looking pretty spectacular right about now. I am very excited for ten days with family and friends. Woo Hoo!

12/17/07

Two



Well, here I am again. It is much too late to be up on a school night, but I am still up and writing. I figure it is close enough to break that I really don't have to be one hundred percent, right? Bad excuse, I know.

Today went very fast. It makes me worry that I will not get everything done that needs to be done tomorrow. Luckily, we have our staff party tomorrow at The Pizza Factory and it usually gets done early. Splendid. Gotta pack of course, pay bills, send back my contacts that aren't right, finish up some shopping, and of course check-in online for my flight: busy day ahead.

Funny thing about my flight is that I actually have a ticket but just not an assigned seat. I don't know how that works but I figure if worse comes to worse, I fly later and get a free ticket out of the deal. I guess we will see what that adventure brings.

My favorite student quote of the day was from AK in 8th hour. While holding up his notes, he looks to me as if very confused and says: "What is this, is it the test?" I shook my head as one of his classmates helped him by saying: "AK, that is not the test that is your notes." To which AK responded, "Oh, yeah!" Seems appropriate that he got a 19 out of 35, don’t you think?

The kids are so ready for break. My PE classes all seemed to be on one today. Two kids from my boys’ class even got in a fight: nothing like a game of slap to bring on the Holiday Spirit.

I must go shower and hit the sheets now. I will be tired tomorrow. Oh well. I also got some fabulous shoes to wear on Wednesday with the dress I have to wear. MB picked out some good ones. Of course, she also made me promise to throw out my old out of style ones. That will be a hard thing. I will have to get used to wearing my new shoes, I guess. Change is so hard sometimes!

Alrighty, until tomorrow;
Cheers,
A

12/16/07

2 Days 15 Hours and 8 Min

Three days of work. I can make it, right?

The kids raised over one hundred dollars for Sub for Santa and one of
the things they wanted to earn was me wearing a dress. Silly kids.
So, on Wednesday, I will be wearing one of the bridesmaid's dresses I
wore a few years ago (Morgan, I knew there was a reason I kept it!).
It should be interesting. I also am playing in basketball games
against the students that day and the games will be a good excuse to
not wear the dress too long! You all know how much I love dresses!
What happened to the girl who was supposed to be sugar and spice and
everything nice? (BTW there are some gingerbread man cookies that I
bought last week that have that saying on the bag, it makes me laugh
every time I reach into the bag to indulge.

Yesterday was a busy day full of yelling wraths about my mac not
allowing me to download video to my mp3 player and shopping. I
really need to quit buying myself Christmas presents. Oh well. My
friend Moo was in town and as I have said we are dang good with the
shopping. We even managed to squeeze quite a bit of shopping in even
when we had lots of things going on. It was our church Christmas
party last night. Good, free food and good company. Also, hilarious
talents. After the party we went to a pie party that a fellow
teacher and his wife put on. It was good times. I like having like
12 different pies to pick from. I had coconut cream and a bit of
turtle pie. Mmmm!

Then we stayed up far to late trying out my new 40 dollar surround
sound speakers. I just couldn't pass them up. Now, I truly will
never leave my apartment. TV is so good with good sound! I am sure
the neighbors are thrilled too! :)

Well, I really should already be in bed. I had great plans of going
into work early to get my test ready for tomorrow's Health class. Oh
well.

Have a great night.
2 days 15 hours and 8 min until I get on that plane home! :) Who's
counting, again?

12/15/07

I Made it to the weekend!

Another day has come and gone quickly. Only three days left of
school. I am going home very soon. That is a nice thought.

Today was Burger Friday. We celebrate our payday by going to Red
Robin for burgers. Man, I love a good burger. After the burgers, a
friend and I went to Salt Lake to see the lights. Even going to see
the lights didn't make it seem like it was time to have Christmas. It
really has sneaked up on me. I love the lights on Temple Square. My
friend and her daughter had a good time too. I sure do like making
new friends and getting to know people. I always am blessed with great
friends. I am lucky.

Not much planned this weekend. My friend, Moo, will be visiting and
what we do best is shop, so we plan on doing a bit of that.

I should be sleeping ,but it is the weekend, I don't want to go to bed yet!

I hope all your December dreams are coming true. Until later, A

12/12/07

Quite Frequently!

These pictures were not taken at 11pm. I think I look better in them
than the ones from yesterday. You also get to see a piece of my life
because that is what I look like while being on my computer at
school.(I may not make those faces very frequently but you get the
idea).

Good day. Fast day. Only two more days until the last weekend before
break! Yipee.

I played racquetball today. I wish I would have been able to video
it. It is very humorous when I play. I run into the walls quite
frequently.

I went to the library tonight. I got seven books. Hopefully, one of
them will be worthy of reading.

No broken bones at school today. Good thing!

6 days 14 hours 51 mins till the home flying.

Words of the day: frequently, quite.

12/11/07

Pictures at 11 pm are not flattering!

I shouldn't be up at 11pm. You would think that I would have figured
that out by now, but I just am not getting wise in my old age. And
really, I should take pictures of myself much earlier in the day. So
not wise. Oh well.

Well, today was eventful at school. One of my sweet students hurt
himself in the weight room. He put his finger where it wasn't
supposed to be and it got crushed by the machine. I felt pretty bad
for him and myself really because I had to clean up all the blood and
use my mad first aid skills. I totally only thought of his finger
being sliced and just stopping the blood, so I had him apply pressure
to the finger and keep his had over his heart. Later on, I found out
that he had actually broken the finger. Then it clicked in my head
why he kept complaining that it hurt so bad when he applied pressure.
I felt pretty stupid and bad for him. Dang it, Alice! Oh well,
again.

I went to the boys basketball game for our school tonight. They won
41-27. Good game. I like getting to see the kids other than in
school.

Not much else going on here. 7 days 15 hours and 4 min until I fly
home. Yipee.

Sleep well so you don't get those black marks under your eyes like me!
Until later!

12/10/07

Christmas untraditions!



Happy Monday. Today flew by; seems to be a tradition in my life lately. It was a good day. I give it five stars (sorry about the star reference. In my mp3 player you can rate songs and then listen to your highly starred music. Five is the best a song can get).

I almost was unable to load my pictures onto the site today. That would have been a tragedy. (Btw: I am trying to get tragedy into the vocabulary of one of the two-year-olds in my life, I think all kids that age should know and use that word). I finally figured I could email my post, which has proven to be so very handy. I suggest blogger to anybody who wants to make an impact in the world. Even if that impact is only to be a time filler for people who are bored at work. You all know who you are!

I thought I would write about a few of the untraditions in my life these days. Okay, so I guess if I am doing things they really aren't untraditions. In fact, they could even become traditions if I am not careful. Actually, I may only have one untradition to talk about and it is the tradition of making gingerbread houses. I have helped make two of them in the past three days. I have never made a gingerbread house in my life up to this point. See, thirty years of untradition. I thought that the house I made today was definitely blog worthy. I like to call it my gingerbread trailer. I find it appalling that only nice homes are used as models for most gingerbread creations. I like that mine looks more like something out of the trailer park. Now, don't get me wrong I am not passing judgment on people who actually live in such parks. I am just saying most people don't grow up and say: “Man, I am looking forward to the time when I can move into the trailer park.” I think that when we are taking part in some of our "traditions" we should really step back and think to ourselves just how crazy these traditions can me. I would like to have been around when somebody was bored enough around the holidays to decide to make a house or winter scene out of edible delights. Maybe it is because they did not have DVR like I do and didn't have so much TV to catch up on. I think that is about all I will write about gingerbread houses. I may not be very good at making them, but I can appreciate other people making them. My family never got together and created these. We probably were too busy watching A Charlie Brown Christmas or something.

Maybe one day I will write all about my real traditions. I am too tired to do so now and must go watch Journeyman.
Later Dudes!

12/9/07

Is the weekend really over already?



Sunday night: I am not ready for the weekend to be over. When you get a taste of something good, it is hard to let it go so easily. I guess I should look at it differently and remember that I only have to wake up early eight more times before I get a week of sleeping in.

Today was good. Not much excitement. Woke up late, got ready for church(it took about five outfits before I just gave up), went to church, ate dinner, cleaned off my table, transferred some music to my mp3 player, talked on the phone, played games with some friends, then came home and blogged. Pretty much you are now up to date. Must go to bed now in order to not be crabby tomorrow.

Cheers.
Alice

12/8/07

Saturday IS a Special Day!



I have been having a lot of fun with my photos lately, haven't I? This one was fun to create and then later on when I was watching Ellen it was almost related to something she was talking about that really gets me steamed. Ellen was talking about Hollywood's view of women and how most models are a size 0, and how the sample sizes of dresses are size 2, and how all the mannequins in stores are about 6 foot all and would weight about 100 lbs. She went on to say how all of these things should not be happening and that women should not be expected to be able to fit into these sizes and stereotypes. I happen to agree with this completely and totally, not only because I will never be anything less that a size 16 but that Hollywood really does have a huge negative impact on young girls' self images. I really wish we could change all of this but until we convince ourselves that a size two is not what attractive is, we will have problems.

Now you are asking: How does that subject relate to a picture of Alice with drawn on facial hair? Well, Ellen was also talking about even the pictures of celebrities in magazines are not real because they are airbrushed. That picture is what I would look like with some nice airbrushing. I would not want to be skinny or better looking. I would want fake facial hair. Hehe.

Have I ever mentioned that I like Saturdays? I also like Saturdays that are laid back and unstressful. Today was one of those Saturdays. I was just able to kinda do whatever I felt like. The only thing I really "had" to do was laundry. Not too hard of a thing to get done but it is still a pain. I hate doing laundry. I went to the Laundromat because I hate having to do more than one load in the one washer and dryer that are in my place. I took that picture from the mat.

After laundry, I exercised then got ready for the day. Then, one of my friends and I went bowling and then to Red Robin for dinner.

Tonight, I did a lot more of nothing until my friend with a two-year-old called me for assistance at the grocery store. She said she just couldn't do the shopping without going crazy with said two-year-old. I went along for moral support and to keep the kid busy and behaving, but mostly distracted(I am good at that!). She then invited me over to build a gingerbread house. That in and of itself would have been an adventure, but with a two-year-old it was highly entertaining. Kids can be so random and funny. I like having friends with kids: it is fun.

Well, that is about up to date with me. Sleep well!

12/7/07

Deep Thoughts by Alice



A post all about the questions in Alice's mind these days:

1. Really, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
2. Why can I never see the wood on the top of my desk?
3. What is the point of making your bed when it will just get messy again the next night?
4. Why am I still awake?
5. If I were 100 pounds lighter would I still be dateless on a Friday night?
6. Why does Macintosh have to be so elitist and make it so anything besides an ipod is not compatable with it's computers, especially seeing they would probably sell more computers, if they gave their customers a choice in their listening device preferences?
7. What is the missing link in some people's brains making it impossible for them to use common sense?
8. Would life be easier if I were rich?
9. What would I look like with darker hair?
10. Why do I forget things?
11. Why do I double book myself?
12. When will the writers' strike be over so TV will be more enjoyable?
13. Why is it so easy for stupid people to get pregnant and so hard for smart people to get pregnant?
14. Why is there no manditory sterilization for said stupid people?
15. What if the color I label blue really looks red to everybody else?
16. Why is my face so dry when it is so wet outside?
17. Why can't I get into reading right now?
18. Why am I so random?


Well, there is a look into the brain of Alice. I hope you enjoyed the journey. And if you have any answers, please send them along!

12/6/07

More fun with Macbook!



I hope you are enjoying the 11 photos of me taken by this little Macbook computer. I thought it would be fun to do a bunch of different pictures. It was fun to try to do the same pose with my hat reversed. I am still loving that hat, by the way. It is one of the best Christmas presents I have given myself this year.

Today went pretty fast. My students have been very good lately and that makes me happy. There isn't much of note from them today. Only 9 days of school left until break, and yes, I am counting.

Right now, I am watching my favorite birthday present from this past year(besides the trip to San Francisco, which was from me to me). The Holiday is one of my very favorite movies. I thought it would be perfect to bring it out again seeing it is almost really the holidays. Sometimes, I forget how much Kate Winslet amazes me. I am being reminded. I really am a hopeless romantic at heart. I am a sucker for a good romantic movie. I often get weepy because of the story and me hoping that my life were like the movies. My life is NOT anything like the movies. I am Kate Winslet's character in The Holiday. So many times I have been so stupid when it comes to men. I get so caught up on them that I cannot see how much of a jerk they can be to me. I can't even listen to people when they tell me how horrible a man is and I just keep on going hoping that he will change and finally be really into me, then I am destroyed when I find out he is with somebody else. Why am I so crappy at relationships? I also hope that one day, just like in the movie, Mr. Wonderful will just somehow pop into my life and that will be it. We will ride off into the sunset on his White Stallion.

Well, enough pouting over the sadness of my lack of a love life.

I must now go and shower and then live vicariously through the movie some more!

Cheers.

12 days 18 hours 4 min until I fly home.

12/5/07

Fun with Macbook!



Well, I don't think that I mentioned that I got a new computer at work. I was just walking through the front office one day and there were a lot of computers sitting on a cart. I said: "Wow, we must be getting another mobile lab or something. Merry Christmas to the students." After I said that, one of my co-workers, who happens to be over teacher computers, says: "No, Merry Christmas to you. Take one." I didn't believe him until he picked up a box that had my name on the corner. It is a new MacBook and it is very, very nice and very, very, very fast. I am very grateful for it because I never have to wait for things to load. The only thing that I do not like about it is that this new computer is not compatible with my new mp3 player. Bummer. I will have to bribe people to let me use their PCs in order to download music or movies. Sad days.

One of the most fun features of this computer is that there is a built in camera. You can thank that feature for the wonderful picture of me in this post. I am thinking I should do a picture a day for my posts. A week of pictures of me could be fun! A few of my students also thought that it was fun to take pictures with the laptops in my classroom. That would have been only a little irritating, but they also decided to print out a bazillion copies of each picture to another teacher's printer. She was not very happy about the influx of colored photos seeing it costs $850 to replace the ink in the printer. My students lost computer privileges for the next two weeks. Dang kids. They were pretty cool pictures though, I have to admit.

Today was one of my friend’s (she is one of the teachers at school) birthdays. I love other people's birthdays. It is fun to celebrate them, even if I really don't enjoy my own birthday. I had a student from each of her classes bring in a card and present each hour. They were also supposed to lead the other students in "Happy Birthday." It was a fun day because of all that fun. It was also very fun to see said friend get embarrassed as the kids sung. I took my whole class 5th hour to sing to her.

Not much else is going on here. This week I have been getting a bit more sleep, which is nice. I feel better even if a few of the students have told me that I am crabby the last few days. I think they think I am crabby just because they are getting called on the stupid stuff they do. I kind of get sick of their stupidity some days. Sigh.

I went and played my friend's Wii tonight. I want one!

Well, that is all I got for now. Only 10 days of school until winter break. Only 13 days 16 hours and 22 Minutes until I fly home. But who is counting? Is it Friday yet?

12/2/07

Another Tired Blog







Hi all! I am always excited to see who is reading the blog. I have added a tracker on here and now can see how many of you come on each day and where from. You can also get a hold of me by leaving comments or emailing me. (softballrita@gmailcom)

Was a good weekend. Was able to go to the top of the moutains bowl which was basically a national championships for juior college football. The team my friend's were cheering for actually lost so that was a bummer, but it was a nice experience to sit in a box and watch the game, seeing it was snowing and cold. We had some adventures as we traveled around Salt Lake in the snowy, and cold weather. I love Trax and we took that train around the University of Utah in order to do some shopping. Good times.

I think December brought winter with it. I am okay with Winter now, seeing it is almost Christmas. November is a hard month for me but it was made easier by it not being winter weather. I think I can deal with the cold with all the things I get to look forward to in the next few weeks.

I don't have much to say tonight. I am really tired. I think all the lack of sleep from last week is catching up with me. I think I will just post this now and catch some Zs. I hope you all are enjoying December so far and that you are less tired than me. It is the month of Just doing it. So, do something.

later,
A