"That's what BP said!"

http://www.urbandictionary.com/woty.php

5 days off!

http://www.blackswanyoga.com/

see you there!

Why not indeed?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/fashion/24Mirror.html?src=me&ref=homepage

cutie patootie!

a girlfriend for Secret Agent Lickypaws?

heard on the radio...

"Inanimate objects, unlike people, just don't disappear".

OMFG

iGoogle claims this is a picture of donkey penis meat.

www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject

a new beginning

With the new year comes a new job. This morning I was told that since our English Pre-K classes have low numbers, they had to cut a position. Guess who? With 7 years in my school district, I'm the new kid on the block, so I'm the one to go. Wow. My principal is putting in a request that I can be moved to a school close to my home. Right now I'm just in shock. I also have asked her to see if I could possibly get a counseling position somewhere. That would definitely be better than taking over a new classroom somewhere else.

The journey continues...

things to look forward to...

Jersey Shore tomorrow night
Jean day thursday & friday
a long weekend!
blazer tag
The Situation on Dancing with the Stars (never watched it before but now there's a reason)
yoga
talking to P.

These are sooo cool!

where do I get a baby like this?

it breaks my heart but...

you are dead to me.

dropped like a hot potato!

with no explanation, no fuck you, no nothing. boom. bam. 31 years gone. just like that. wow.

headed home!

we will get back to Austin in just a few hours. I can't wait! It will be good to see our furry friends and human ones as well! Welcome home!

my house is infested!

and I'm going to have to take drastic measures!

tomorrow

we"ll have this:

tonight

we'll have this:

Last night

we had this:

hell yes I am!

I took the quiz "Jersey Shore--Which Guido or Guidette Are You??" and got the result ►

You Are: Nicole aka Snooki!
Best Quote: "That's why I don't eat lobster or anything like that cause they're alive when you kill it." Personality: Your claim to fame is the infamous punch to the face you received from a total stranger. Although traumatic, it makes sense that the most controversy surrounding the show would involve you. What you lack in size you make for in personality and your trademark "poof" has been known to take you up to three hours to perfect. You are a scavenger when it comes to guidos, you wear trucker hats that say,"Porn Star in Training", and you love animals..."I came home when they were putting in the lobsters, I was like yo, are those real? That's disgusting, I'm a vet tech. Like, I save animals, I don't kill them."

a $1000 fender bender

$600 for the stupid a/c condenser and then the body work. good lord! i'm going into the car repair business immediately!

Dear God,

Please let me get this new job. I think I would do it service and it would be a nice change.
Sincerely,
fernkitty

it was all i hoped for and more!

The cursing, the boozing, the ridiculous clothes, Ronnie at the club! OMG, he was making out with anything that had boobs. My only complaint was I was expecting the hair pulling cat fight last night. oh well! something to look forward to!

TONIGHT!!!! JERSEY SHORE SEASON 2!!!!

bitches! gtl! guidos/guidettes! fistpumps!

do NOT attempt to contact during the show

GTL BABY!

3 more days! Woo Hoo!

And we're off!

it's not okay

to ask someone in a hostile way "are you on medication?" it's not okay to assume that all women are manipulative just because some are. it's not okay to hang up on those you profess to love.

my favorite guidette!

Snooki: "... And no matter how old you are, just be yourself and don’t care what people think."

I love love love this girl! Come on July 29th!

and now we are HERE!

can you say "beach yoga"?

travel plans

tonight, we are here:

tomorrow, we will be here:

juicy insults!

"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here."

"He had delusions of adequacy."

"He is simply a shiver, looking for a spine to run up."

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork."

"I've just learned about his illness, let's hope it's nothing trivial."

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends."

Kung Fu kid

Took Logan to see The Karate Kid this past weekend. Wow! What an awesome film. So, naturally now Logan wants to learn kung fu. Been checking around at the different schools in town and it sounds like Blankenship Martial Arts might be the way to go. It's multi-disciplinary, which I guess is okay. Definitely like the philosophy they have on their website. I'm pretty much desperate to get L. to be more respectful and helpful at home. I think this will be the way to do it!

Jaden Smith is just TOO CUTE. Their were times in that film he looked just like a mini me of his dad. I think L. may have identified with his character too. Single mom and son, making it in the world.

GO!!

my blog, my birthday!

73 DAYS OF JOY!!!!!!

Don't have that counselor job yet, but I'm not giving up! In any case, today was the last day of kiddos. Thank you Jesus. Packed the room, little bit of that left, then the paper work. Then total freedom! Bring on the summer. Gym! Road trips! Swimming! Friends! BBQ's! Sleeping late!! the beach! Late nights!

my girl!

ride!

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/why_do_you_ride/

way too much way too soon

I don't really like meeting new people. I've got really amazing friends that have been around awhile and never feel the urge to add to them. However, occasionally (once every couple of years?) I meet someone cool and think "okay - I could let them in". This has happened recently. And as awesome as this new person is, it's just too much too soon. It's stressful. I don't want it to be. I want to get to know you slowly, see how much I can trust you, how close I can let you get. Please, please dear new friend, put on the brakes, okay?

here we go again

I am tired of people "disappearing". If you decide not to talk to me anymore, please have the courtesy to let me know. Otherwise, I will figure you've been run over by a bus, abducted by aliens or a laying in a ditch somewhere. That's just the way I am.

won't be driving through THERE anytime soon

R.I.P. Leslie Buck

a new path

I've been feeling like it's time for a change since last August. I am now presented with 2 opportunities: a kinder position at a nice west side school, or a counselor position at a nice central school. I'm a nervous wreck.

kinder

pros: get to teach a new subject, different group of kids, better socio-economic environment, closer to home

cons: teaching a new subject, different groups of parents, different socio-economic environment, commute time may be the same, don't have the confidence I think I need to teach reading

counselor

pros: finally putting that master's degree to use!, get out of the classroom, super nice environment & school, better socio-economic environment, VERY close to home

cons: don't want to end up like a lot of those school counselors that get treated like administrative assistants.

staying put in pre-k

pros: already know the curriculum inside & out, have GREAT co-workers, know what's expected of me, like our administration

cons: shitty neighborhood, iffy parents, kids with no language and no experiences, bad commute, mold in the classrooms.

Like I said, the stomach acid is churning. Change is super scary right now, what with the personal issues going on...however, it might be just the challenge I need. Everyday feels pretty much like a chore.

omg

they don't bother me.

my never ending obsession with those jersey shore girls!

beach trash? I don't think so!

ouch

This is oak pollen. It is in my throat and lungs. Because of this pretty yellow dust, I've lost my voice. Nature is cruel.

morning after the seder...

A good time was had by all. Isaac hid the afikomen in his coat pocket! The payoff was in lottery tickets. Logan won $2! I ate too much and drank too much sparkling soda. Ouch.

my favorite

In the quest for The Perfect Bike

I put some money down on this one today. I love Raleigh bikes. They're comfortable, this one's light weight and it's got that cool euro-styling. Hopefully I'll be cruising around on this thing soon!

SPRING BREAK LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Dallas, SXSW, hanging with friends, sleeping late, staying up late, reading books, Doing Absolutely Nothing.

channeling my inner jersey shore

I can add this to my list of guilty, ridiculous, embarrassing, "oh no she didn't" secrets: I LOVE SNOOKIE!! I mean, look at her! She is really cute!

the beat that my heart skipped

went straight to you, and I've been trying to catch my breath ever since.

in a thinly disguised attempt to cover the stench of your breath

High Drama at 5:45am

The alarm went off at 5:30. Didn't want to get up so I just kept hitting snooze. At 5:45 both Logan and I were jolted out of bed by a very loud bullhorn, "3902 Peck, This is the Round Rock Police, we have a search warrant". (we live in Austin!) They repeated it over and over. So naturally we got up, put on our robes and slippers and went outside to "walk the dog" and get the 411. We walked around to the back and realized that they had been yelling at 4102 Peck. Easy to see how they got confused. Peck makes a jog at the golf course. So we headed the other way and saw them across the street. There was a van with SWAT guys, all geared up like they were headed to Afghanistan, swarming up to the door. They KICKED IT IN! There were unmarked cars and a police photographer snapping away. We could see a young couple inside.

Meanwhile, there we were in our fleecy robes, Logan wearing my bunny slippers, Lickypaws on his leash, standing on the golf course in the dark, like a couple of dorks. Then golf course guys that clean the greens rode up in their carts and hung out with us. Logan said he was scared. I agreed and said maybe since there was so much fire power we'd better get out of the way. About that time the cops saw us and shut the house door so we couldn't see anything else. Damn them! Logan wanted to know why there were so many police that looked like soldiers. I had to be honest and said it had to be something pretty bad to bring all that down.

So, WTF? Guns? Drugs? Bank robbers? In Hyde Park of all places....later, at work, the cops were swarming around the school office!!!!! I can't get anyone to tell me what was going on there either. The game is afoot!

I was rockin' that fireman suit!

panda preschool

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6177345n&tag=api

No one said the weather was fair

Dear God,

It's snowing cats and dogs just 3 hours north of us. Our east coast friends can't get out their doors. Some of our friends are even skiing in Switzerland! We are certainly not expecting such miracles as these, however, we promise to be extra good if you, in your greatness, could give us just a teeny, tiny bit of snow here in Austin. Not much, just a couple of inches. We are not particular: Heavy and wet snow would be okay; although soft powder would be better and greatly appreciated. We promise not to complain too much about the 3-straight months of 100+ degree summer (as long as Shipe Pool is open) if you just do us this one favor.

Thanking you in advance,

fernkitty & logan

out and about with Miss Suzie!

pure joy

first Massachusetts, now the washing machine

I really like my little house. I say little because it's a 2-story, 1 bedroom HOUSE. Tiny but cute. It's the right price, we make due with the lack of space (think NYC), we can walk everywhere we want to go, all our friends live around us, and we have the awesome green space of Hancock Golf Course right across the street! Still, with all that going for it, I feel like it might be time to move. Just when I fall in love with my little house for the 100th time, my Mr. Meanie property manager makes me realize for all the demands of the owners/manager, I should be paying a mortgage, not rent.

About 1 1/2 years ago they put in a new washing machine. Last week it broke. It filled itself with water, then stopped. No agitation, no rinse, no spin. Nothing. Early in the season, the oven had quit heating up. I never mentioned this, because we rarely use it, but combined with the much loved washer, it was just TOO much. I sent a very nice email. They came and left me a letter. They were going to fix the oven but not the washer. Why not, you say? Well obviously, I've overloaded it, so it's my fault it's broken, therefore I can pay to have it fixed. Huh. How would they know whether or not I've overloaded? For the record, I'm pretty sure I was doing the washing when Mr. Meanie was in short pants, so I think I know what a full load looks like. So here's my beef: I'm expected to keep up the yard, spend my own money to water the weeds and flower beds; keep the place clean (duh); be responsible for any and all extermination needs; and responsible for all appliance malfunctions (except apparently for the oven). I am NOT however, allowed to paint the peeling & dirty walls, refinish the shitty floors, store stuff in my carport or make any "alterations" to the property at all. Of course they're not going to do it either.

So my question is, why am I renting? I've got all the responsibilities of a homeowner. I'm not entirely sure what the owner's expect, and the property manager is a bully that speaks through emails & notices tacked on the door. Come July, I just might be driving a u-haul.

finding solace in peanut butter crackers

It's been a hell of a couple of weeks. I am searching for my center - the place where natural disasters, the washing machine, the toilet, my elbow, TEA, a particular Dean of a Graduate School, Time Warner Cable and job ennui don't matter. If feels very far away and tears are just below the surface. Tears that never fell after the shell shock of New York, now won't ebb in the light of Haiti. Every news photo brings back memories of a different time, too horrible to acknowledge in that moment. Knowing that the suffering of a people is something that must be endured, because honestly, what other choice is there? The option of giving up doesn't exist. To give up is to abandon those smaller or weaker than yourself. All of it will eventually take a toll on the ones who don't have time to grieve. And we, the others, can only stand by helplessly, wringing our hands. And I can only continue the struggle, no matter the cost.

Far away

Tonight, I've become the worst possible version of myself. Sad, morose, stressed, lonely. I sent my child to a party without me - I couldn't bear being the only single amongst all the couples. Too bad the dream of being with someone always seems to clash with the reality. But tonight, I wish he was here.

Pray for Haiti