Thank You Martin Luther King, Jr.

This gives me chills EVERY time I hear it-- esp around the 2 min mark. I show this to my students every year, explaining that less than 24 hrs later MLK Jr was assinated.

A great man.

A great cause.

A true Hero.

Quote of the Day and Other News...

I was purusing through some blogs and sites today and came across this quote--

Patience may be a virtue, but I really don't know how much longer I'll be able to stand the wait.

I say, "AMEN!"
 
Things on the immigration front are moving more now, and really we are down to the final step... but I just want it DONE! And I want it done NOW! Is that too much to ask?
 
One thing I don't have to wait any longer for is the end of the school year. There is still one week left-- but yours truly will NOT be participating in the end of year madness. (Trust me, NO TEARS here!)
 
Last week I went to the Dr. and my BP was still high, so I have been placed on a modified bed rest. You won't hear me complaining! Lord knows I needed some rest!
 
All I need now is a good book to read!

Joining the Bandwagon

1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay?


I HATE them! And not just because my fat feet would look DUMB in them... I don't find them flattering or attractive on anyone. So there!  :)




2. What is your favorite pizza?

Matt would say I'm an expert in this area. HMMmmmm... this is tough... I'm a pretty big fan of New York style pizza... Locally I enjoy Barley's and Mellow Mushroom... and there is always Big Ed's!


3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could?
[Ex: Hurley's "I Love my Shih tzu" shirt from LOST, the plantation home "Tara" from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.]


Kate Winslet's cottage in THE HOLIDAY... seems it would be a nice place to hide...


4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for.


Gonna have to go with Big Ed's Pizza again!

5. What is your current favorite snack?


Been on a Little Debbie kick lately... that and Salt & Vinegar Pringles...


6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.")



A. Dancing with the Stars


B. Biggest Loser


C. Survivor


Woof. I hate reality TV... I guess I would choose Dancing with the Stars... That would be the only one I think I would remotely enjoy...







7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior?


5... again, something I am working on... Matt would love to insert a ridiculous story of Polynesian Sauce here... but trust me-- he EXAGGERATES!


8. It doesn't feel like Spring until _________.


Flowers bloom...


9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____.


Matt and I hypothesizing on future statements by Miss Priss-- "My daddy says....."


10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward.


Getting Matt here SOON! I WILL conquer immigration!


11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week.


“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” ~ Anna Quindlen

(Thanks Leigh!)


12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. If you're not a parent, feel free to substitute "friend" or nomenclature that works for you.

Well, not a parent YET... but I plan to encourage Miss Priss to always be herself, be unique, etc... my mom did this for me-- she never wanted me to be more like anyone else... if Iwanted to wear combat boots, longjohns, and Umbro shorts, I would... and she never commented.

In Memoriam

My good friend Ran(dom) Man had a past with one Ms. Dixie Carter. Once upon a time, a young radio reporter was give the task of interviewing Ms. Carter. Now, for those of you familiar with the actress' most famous role of Julia Sugarbaker, well, apparently she truly WAS that character, or believed she was anyway. Hey! I only used the Yellow Pages after she told me to in those commercials!

My poor friend was forced to ask her a question (by the radio station powers that be), and if I remember correctly, the question did not really pertain to the interview at hand. Ms. Sugarbaker, uh, I mean, Ms. Carter became outraged, and lit into my poor friend. He played the tapes for me. If it hadn't been so scary, it would have been hilarious.

Through the years, Mr. FAWD has kept up with Ms. Carter-- her wins, her losses... mainly b/c friends like me send him any info we see on the lady.  Hey, it's what friends are for!

So last night, I felt it my duty to pass on the news (which I first saw on a facebook status, and later confirmed via a google search), that the beloved Ms. Dixie Carter has passed away. Ran(dom) Man's reply: I win. Classic.

So in memory of this iconic actress, let us visit the archives of Ran(dom) Man :

Dixie Carter, seen here at a local GOP event, did NOT win in her Emmy category Sunday. I’m not gloating, just saying.






Sep
14th Fri


If Dixie Carter wins an Emmy Sunday, I will cry.


Sep
5th Wed


If you ever, if any of you ever call me that horrible word again, I will fire you, and you will never alter drapes in Atlanta again, because you do not cross a Sugarbaker woman. I’m so tired. I’m so tired you guys.


— Liz on 30 Rock after watching an all-night Designing Women marathon. (Two Dixie Carter posts in 24 hours = coincidence.)


Sep
4th Tue


You can’t build your house on trashy, worthless materials, and your life is your house that you’re living in.


— Dixie Carter in a Q-and-A with the Jackson Sun that strongly reminds me why she’s my arch-nemesis

Quote of the Day

Been having a completely HORRID time dealing with immigration... Everytime something good happens, Matt and I get a kick in the face that knocks us way backwards... I am terrified he will not be here when the baby is born-- add that in with crazy pregnancy hormones-- and well, I have been somewhat hysterical for a couple of days...

Luckily I have some awesome friends that remind me ultimately that I am not alone... and that I am a strong person (though I don't feel it right now), and that everything happens for a reason and that it will all work out. This has certainly been true in the past, and I pray it is true this time as well. Even though most of my positivity has been taken away, I am really trying to BELIEVE...

Thanks to my good friend Leigh for the quote she posted on my facebook tonight:

Sail on Silver Girl, Sail on by; Your time has come to shine,All your dreams are on their way. See how they shine. If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind; Like a bridge over troubled water...

Holiday Traditions

I am sitting in my nice, quiet living room... Christmas trees alight... enjoying a glass of wine, and my latest tradition (since last year) of watching The Holiday. As previously stated, I LOVE this movie. It's has characters I connect to... a fanatasic soundtrack... British people/ settings... And some of my favorite movie quotes ever...

Here are a few:

~I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night. And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. Its called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space! Yes, you are looking at one such individual. And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life! The worst Christmas', the worst Birthday's, New Years Eve's brought in by tears and valium. These years that I have been in love have been the darkest days of my life. All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who does not and will not love me back. Oh god, just the sight of him! Heart pounding! Throat thickening! Absolutely can't swallow! All the usual symptoms.

~You're supposed to be the leading lady in your own life, for God's sake!

~You broke my heart. And you acted like somehow it was my fault, my misunderstanding, and I was too in love with you to ever be mad at you, so I just punished myself! For years! But you waltzing in here on my lovely Christmas holiday, and telling me that you don't want to lose me whilst you're about to get MARRIED, somehow newly entitles me to say, it's over. This - This twisted, toxic THING between us, is finally finished! I'm miraculously done being in love with you! Ha! I've got a life to start living...

What exactly has got into you?

But I think what I've got is something slightly resembling, gumption.

~I'm looking for corny in my life.

~ I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade.

~Graham: Bad?
Amanda: Weird. Kissing a total stranger.
Graham: Really? I do it all the time.

~You look like my Barbie!

Now I am off to dad's... where our Xmas even tradition includes ordering pizza and the brothers opening the gifts from each other. Then it's off to church, followed by me wrapping dad's gifts @ about 1am... I am hoping this year I can wrap them BEFORE church-- we shall see.

After Xmas morning @ Dad's I will head to Gma's... and then, if anyone in the area needs a drink, Josh and I will be hosting around 10pm Christmas day... feel free to join us!

How about everyone else, what are your traditions?

Advent Blog Break: Horoscope

Never fear... the last installment of the Advent Blog WILL occur... it's even planned out... just waiting for the right time. While you wait, take a gander @ my Christmas Eve horoscope... I like it.

Taking few risks is not a guarantee that you will have a safe journey through life.

Overview
You feel that you're a part of something much larger today -- and, of course, you're right! It's a good time to subsume your personal feelings about stuff and let the group take over as much as you can.

Advent Blog: Day 2~ Quote of the Day

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra."

(Thanks to Justy for sending me this)

I LOVE quotes! I use them a lot in class. Everyday we have a Quote of the Day. Sometimes the kids have to write about it for their journal entry. Often the quote is relevant to whatever we are studying, or to the lifeskills.

So when Justy sent me this quote, I decided it would be good for the advent blog.

From a teacher's standpoint, I do not like a kiss-ass. However, when students put forth a little extra effort-- it can make a huge difference. Often it is a welcome relief from the half-assedness (yeah, you heard me... I made up a word-- deal with it!) Something as simple as coloring their illustation.... or, I don't know, putting their name on their paper... ;-)

Sometimes "a little extra" is something as simple as just saying "hi" to someone... or holding the door open... or just listening to a friend when they've had a bad day. Think about it-- what is the difference between your friends and your BEST FRIENDS? Sure, sometimes it's that you have more in common... or that you see them more often. But often it is those that go the extra mile; they put a bit more effort into the friendship.

What are some ways we go the extra mile during the holidays? Several people donate to charities or buy gifts for the needy. During these hard economic times, that could certainly be considered extraordinary. Donating time to charitable events is also popular during the holiday season. Of course, to be truly extraordinary-- this would be done throughout the year.

OK, interactive time-- what is extraordinary in your life? Or, what do you do that is extraordinary? How would you define this word/ quote?

Quote of the Day

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.

- St. Edna Vincent Millay

Inspiring Words

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain