A Long Overdue Update

I actually did a really long and involved update two days ago that involved a lot of pictures, but my stupid laptop froze up, and I lost all my hard work.

That was so frustrating and irritated me so much that I cursed loudly, turned off the computer and went to bed.

So, now I'm at school, at the tail end of my prep period, and I thought I should at least let people know I am alive.

It's been colder than a twitch's bit for the last week, and I am NOT enjoying it. It has snowed several times, but never enough to cause a school closing. Alas. This weekend, we had a good 3-4 inches. That's what was burying my car, anyhow!

Nothing of major note has happened in my life or to me since I last wrote. I have all my Christmas shopping done. Except for my mother--and I am totally baffled as to what I should get her. She collects angels, but her house is so full of angels that I don't know that there is no room for any more. She is going on a cruise in February (spending my inheritance, dang her!! Heh heh heh), and I would like to buy her a nice bahama mama outfit--but there isn't any place selling summer wear at this time. She hates gift certificates. What oh what do I give her??

She has enough money to just go out and buy whatever she wants, and she does.

I suppose if worse comes to worse, I'll just get her another angel.

Sigh.

Well, sadly, I have to teach now, so I have to go.

:P

A Pictorial Update

Lots and lots of things have been going on--some fun and some just BUSY.  I have lots and lots of pictures; the digital camera is the greatest thing since canned peaches!

First, let me show off my school Thanksgiving pictures.  The Elks club has been a good friend to R.O.C.  They provided us with a totally faboo Thanksgiving dinner for $3.00/head.  We raised all the money through donations and pop sales. 

              

The first picture is the meal they served us--there was a very large salad bar with several different kinds of salad, two huge slices of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn mixed with peppers, a VERY yummy bread roll, and a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

The second picture is a group of kids--Alissa, Tyler, and Kayla--waiting for their turn to go through the serving line.

              

The first picture is a group of my little darlings.  Lisa T, Jenny, Tiffany, and Lisa H.  are in the front.  The poster boy for metal piercings in the back is Andrew.  Lisa, Tiffany, and Lisa are all in my homeroom.  Lisa T. has really flowered since coming to R.O.C.

The second picture is of my much beloved Dean.  I have known Dean since he was just a little boy.  I brought him with my from Triton, where he was languishing in that horrible atmosphere of hatred and subtle racism.  He wasn't happy there, and it showed in his performance.  Now he is practically a straight A student, and is a real leader in the student body.  Everyone looks up to my Dean!  I couldn't love him more if he were truly my own child.  Isn't he adorable?  And he is as sweet as he is handsome.

Now, moving on to my FAMILY thanksgiving--this was the year of the in-laws.  Tammy and Burt and Jack and Kari were at their in-laws' celebrations this year.  Kim's husband and boys were with HIS family.  (Since his family hates Kim's guts, she attends none of that side's family gatherings with them.  I applaud her refusal to be treated like shit.)

Joni invited Mom and Kim and me to her house for Thanksgiving.  Her mother in law was there also.  But that was it.  It was a quiet and pleasant day.  The meal was quite diverse.  Heh heh.  The turkey was very good.  Jeff (my brother in law) had injected it with garlic butter, making it very moist and flavorful.  My sister Joni and her boys are animal lovers--they have birds, horses, cats, chinchillas, dogs, turtles, some kind of reptile lizard looking thing, you name it. 

         

Above are my nephews--Joni's boys.  Erik is playing a video game while his bird (whose name has escaped me at the moment) perches on his shoulder and nuzzles him occasionally.  Matthew is on the right.  He's holding their little papillion Jazzy.  She is about a year old.  She is quite the little pup!  Very smart and VERY active. 

I find it very horrifyng that my two little boys are so grown up.  Erik is now a NINTH grader, and my sweet little Mattie, who used to feed me cheerios with his sticky little fingers and tell everyone he was "Aunty Cheryl's boy" is NINETEEN and in his second year of college at the Minnesota Academy of Arts.

WAHHH!!!

My babies!!!

They are really beautiful boys, and I love them with all my heart.  Such good, sweet and wonderful boys!!

It brings tears to my eyes to look at them. 

      

This is my brother in law Jeff.  Jazzy, having exhausted herself murdering her little toy and running all over the house, curled up on his lap and passed out.  To the right you can see his really hideous baby parrot.  He has decided to raise parrots just in time for the bottom to fall out of the market due to the fears of death by bird flu.  There are three baby parrots which are each ugly as sin without their feathers.  They will be really nice birds, when they grow up as they have been hand fed, practically since they hatched, and will be very bonded to humans.

Here you can see my mom (foreground), my sister Joni, back and left, and my sister Kim, back and right.  Note that my mom now has hair!

Huzzah for hair!

 

 

 

Minnesota Winter Wonderland...

Winter has finally arrived. This last week has been godawful cold. But there have been some really pretty days with snow and frosty trees.

                 

The first picture here was the first snow fall of the season.  It was about 7:30 pm, and I had just returned home from seeing the movie Dreamer in Kasson.  The movie was quite sweet, as you would expect from a Disney flick.

The next two pictutes are from a very frosty Sunday.  My nephew Erik wanted me to come pick him up so we could go to see Aeon Flux.   I didn't really want to go to the movie on Sunday, as I had a lot of housework and other stuff to do--but Erik is a ninth grader now.  The days of him wanting to go to the movies with his scraggly old Aunty are most likely limited, so I have to seize every opportunity I can to spend time with him.

          

These are both pictures at my sister Joni's house.  The first is a picture of her front yard--you can't really tell, but this is a pond with lots of statuary and a really cool path leading out to a little gazebo type place.  In the summer it is gorgeous with tons of flowers.  I promise I will get some pictures of that when the time comes.  The other is a picture of the trees lining their driveway on the way up to the house.  I love the look of snow on pines.

       

I took these pictures on Saturday while waiting for DeAnn to come and get me.  The first one is my house and my car and the second is the gorgeous Baptist church which is on the corner across the street from my house.  It was FREAKING cold, but very pretty.  We were on our way to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Kasson for the second time.

 

        

The first is the view from the end of my driveway looking East.  The second, looking west.

 

      

The theater in Kasson is really quite picturesque.  It is an old theater that has been restored--I love the ticket counter and how it is lit up.  I took these pictures AFTER the movie--it was dark, there was a light snow falling, and the Christmas lights looked lovely.  I was pleased with the way the lights showed up in these pictures.

            

I have no idea who this little boy is.  He was at the theater dressed up in Kwidditch robes, so I asked him if I could take his picture.  His mom thought that was funny and didn't mind.  Isn't he cute?  In the second picture, he is acting as if he is about to cast a spell. 

        

This will be it for this post.  The first picture here are Asa and Katie Denton--Asa was in my homeroom before a (excuse the profanity) fucking recruiter convinced him that a GED would be good enough, screwed him out of his last two years of high school, and made him the promise, which I am SURE is a lie, that he will NOT be sent to Iraq.  Katie is his wife--and Molly Renee is their adorable daughter.  They came directly to R.O.C. after they were released from the hospital.  That's the kind of place I work at.  It is not a job.  It is a family.

I feel like little Molly is my grandchild, almost, since Asa is my "son."

He is a darling boy, and Katie is a sweet and delightful girl.  I know the odds are stacked against them, being so young, but, dang it, I HOPE they can beat the odds and be happy.  And I hope that the fucking military doesn't kill off my Asa.  Bastards.