Hannah's 1st Game

Hannah had her first soccer game/match, whatever they are called, today. The coach rotated everyone every 5 minutes so they all got a little playing time. Her team didn't win but they did a good job. She's the one wearing the pink socks in case you couldn't tell. Here are the pictures:

Keira's 2!

This last Saturday, my niece, Keira, turned 2. They had a family party and the kids swam in the pool. The temp was 83. I am a chicken so I don't get in until it's a lot warmer! Here are some pictures of the kids (William, Candace, Emily, Hannah, Josh and Keira) in the pool.

Keira trying on goggles

Josh swimming with his floaty

Hannah being the "lifeguard"

Andrew jumping in the pool. I caught him at the perfect midair moment!

All the kids hanging out

April Fool's!

The dreaded day of every person who knows a prankster is upon us. Tomorrow, pranksters of all ages will descend upon the unsuspecting to unleash their terror. Many of us will turn on the faucet and have water spray into our faces (Mom, watch out for that one - my loving siblings got me with that one all the time!!!). Others of us will go to relieve ourselves in the bathroom only to have our waste dribble down the side of the toilet because someone has put plastic wrap on the seat. Then there will be those of us who will sit down at our desks without seeing the up-turned tack in our seats. All the while, the pranksters in our lives will be hiding and laughing at us. Oh, did I mention that if anyone else sees you, they will laugh at you too. Let's just get it out there, you will likely be the subject of everyone's laughter at work or at school for the next month.

Last year I was so glad that April Fool's fell on a weekend. That way I didn't have to worry about teenagers getting the best of me while I was standing up in front of the class. This year however, it's not. Tomorrow, as I wake up, my stomach will be tied in knots. I don't know what my students have up their sleeves, but I know I'm not ready for it. This year I have the upper hand because I already played an early joke on them. They heard this morning that we were going on a field trip tomorrow. Little did they know that it was a fake field trip to the moon (how many times I've wanted to send them for real!!). They were worked up about it all day. I even had one student worry he wouldn't get to go because he didn't have his work done and he got a detention slip. I sent the permission slip home amongst a bunch of other papers. It will be funny to see how many actually come back. Maybe I started early trouble for myself and tomorrow will be a day of revenge.

We shall see, I will keep you updated!

Where are you?

This goes out to my sister because:

1. She hasn't posted on her blog in a long time and I check it every day to see if there's something, and..

2. They love the Grinch so I know she will appreciate it.

"Where Are You Lindsay"

Where are you Lindsay
Why can't I find you
Why have you gone away
Where is the laughter
You used to bring me
Why can't I hear music play

My world is gone now
I only yawn now
Does that mean you’ve gone too

Where are you Lindsay
Do you remember
The blog you used to know
I'm still the same one
Our time is not done
Why you have let me go

Being sick...

Being sick stinks! No matter who you are or how old you are, it just stinks. Every time I'm sick, I want my mom. There's just something about your mom that makes you feel better. I don't know if it's from years of taking care of you when you were little but moms just seem to do the trick. I have a great husband and family that are taking care of me and I appreciate them so much! Josh tried to get Andrew's attention while he was taking care of the yard and that little boy stood at the door and knocked and yelled for Andrew so he could get me a trash can. It was cute! When my head is over that trash can though, I just want my mommy!!!! Love you mom!!

Customer Service

Call me Miss Manners, call me old fashioned, but I think people's customer service skills are lacking. I don't think it's because I live in a large town either. I think people today are just lazy and they honestly don't care about giving you the best experience in a store. Should they care? They are getting paid anyway, whether or not you buy something or leave the store mad. My problem is the people that work for tips. For example, yesterday Josh and I went to get our hair cut. The lady that cut Josh's hair had another guy in her chair before Josh. She must've known him because she was chatting him up the whole time. Now guys don't have a lot of hair so it shouldn't take long, right? Well, she was cutting his hair before we got there and we waited at least 20 minutes if not longer. When it was Josh's turn, she suddenly got grouchy. I understand he's little but he can answer questions. The same thing has happened to Andrew when he gets his hair cut. The lady chats up the cute firefighter in front of him and then clams up when Andrew gets in the chair.

And what's with making people wait? When the ladies are done with a customer at the hair place, they highlight the ticket, they saunter back to their station and clean their clippers (yes, I know that's important but does it have to take 15 minutes?), they lazily sweep the floor, they walk to the back room and have a piece of cake (one they didn't need in the first place), then they finally saunter back to the front and call the next person's name. All of that took 20 minutes when I've already been waiting 20! It's like they do it on purpose to see if another stylist finishes before them. It's almost like they are picking and choosing who they want. If you don't want to serve people, why do you have a job that requires customer service?

How about restaurant service? Can you go anywhere that really serves you and takes care of you as a customer? And what's the business about being afraid to say something? I'm scared to complain about my food anymore. Why? You know when they take your food back someone's doing something disgusting to it or you are scared they will. Why should I have to feel bad about ordering water too? I don't want all the sugar that pop has and pop is stinking expensive! Why can't I order water? Yes, I know it lowers my bill and therefore you are getting less of a tip, but deal with it!

I guess I miss the days of true customer service when someone really earns their tip or their pay. I guess this also shows how my parents brought me up to not be lazy. I think too many people are spoiled today and they get what they want anyway so they don't have to work for it. So in the end, thanks Mom and Dad for not spoiling me!

P.S. I think this deserves the title of a rant! Don't worry, I'm off my soapbox - sorry.

Old people still rock!!

At my school, we try to promote team spirit. So, every once in a while, the staff will vs. the students in a game. In the fall, it was volleyball because that was the sport they were playing at the time. We were a little worried they would beat us because their record was like 5-1. Surprisingly, we won. We also won the year before.


This year we tried a new game: kickball. Now, we were even more worried. I mean, old people rounding bases? Do you know the last time I played kickball? I was in grade school (more than a decade ago!). Do you remember "requesting" your pitch? You know: smooth, bumpy, or extra bumpy. So yesterday we played the students in a 6 inning, no strikes, kickball game and we won!! The staff won 25 to 13. See, old people still rock!!