Where in the world. . .

. . . is Barb?

Are you wondering?

10 days away from the blog-o-sphere and not one single, solitary exciting thing to say.

• I've had lots of exciting work changes. . . good things are happening.
• I've read tons and tons and tons about educational leadership. . . grad school is happening.
• I haven't created one single thing. . . no creativity is happening.
• I am only spending cash. . . my check card number was stolen and used for online dating.
• I {heart} Kleenex scented like Vicks. . . I have a bad cold.
• I might become a lounge singer. . . bad cold has resulted in super-sexy, Amy Winehouse-esque voice.
• I wore pjs and slippers all day. . . it was pajama day at school (a perk of being a teacher that is hardly ever mentioned).

My Saturday is reserved for watching re-runs of Ugly Betty (thanks to Netflix for sending me a DVD), wearing my pajamas, and, hopefully, making some things.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

For breakfast today I ate a bowl of golden grahams (with milk!).

For lunch I ate a bowl of beef vegetable soup (with dumplings) and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette and a piece of string cheese.

For dinner, I've prepared a delicious and nutritious batch of spinach stuffed shells with a spicy Italian sausage sauce.

I might have had some snacks somewhere in there include a chocolate-cherry granola bar and some Valentine's Nerds and a tiny, little Milky Way bar that I "stole" from another teacher.

The reason for the food list?

I haven't been around the blog since Monday's little rant; I felt like I should pop in.
But, I really didn't have anything to say.

What did you eat today?

I'm trying to think good thoughts. . .

. . . but the universe seems to be aligned against me this morning.

1. Everyone has a snow day. . . except for me.

2. People who don't have a snow day don't have to work b/c of Presidents' Day. . . except for me.

3. My Golden Grahams are sitting alone in my blue cereal bowl because we have no milk.

Honked

Things that really honk me off:

1. Ramen noodles in the Asian food aisle.
My grocery store recently reorganized and placed the Ramen noodles in the Asian food aisle. Seriously. My knowledge of Asian culinary achievements is limited. . . I will admit. However, I believe the Asian food aisle is reserved for true Asian culinary delights. I do not classify the Ramen noodle as such. I think it belongs sandwiched right between the mac and cheese (no offense, Em) and the Spaghettios.

2. Huckabee
(Disclaimer: I have actually not even the slightest idea what Huckabee stands for politically. I am making this statement based solely on the ridiculousness of his name.)
I most decidedly do not {heart} Huckabee. I think Huckabee is a completely ridiculous name and that if he actually wants us to consider him as a serious presidential candidate he probably should have changed his name years and years and years ago to something far more serious and respectable.

3. People who lack common sense.
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That's all I'm going to say about that.

4. Winter Parking
Just because the lines in the parking lot are buried beneath layer upon layer upon layer of packed down snow and ice and salt and sand and gosh-only-knows what else does not give you the liberty to park your car approximately two inches from my driver's side door. I do realize that my car is difficult to see because of the layers and layers and layers of salt that are caked on to it and that this might seem a little like camouflage, but still. Do not park your car two inches from mine. My jacket and my pants and (gasp!) my purse are covered in a constant brushing of salt from scraping against the vehicle that inevitably parks too close to me. Make it stop!

And to top it all off. . . Law and Order is a re-run. It's a re-run of a re-run to be exact. Damn.

(Thank you to Stephanie who listened to this entire blog post via phone. Apparently, my ranting to her was not quite enough, and I needed to get it all out over again.)

Middle Name

I was tagged by Lyn eons ago. It's about time I take care of it.

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.
4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)
   

The thing that is a real bummer about all this is that my middle name is really, really long. Anyway, hope you manage to learn some new and interesting things about me.

My Middle Name: ELIZABETH

E is for elephant.
My grandma took me to the circus when I was a little girl. There were elephant rides. One of the elephants was named Barbara, so she absolutely insisted I ride it. I wish there was a picture to capture it.

L is for lists.
I'm a list maker. I cannot survive the day without a list of things to do. Confession: I usually have a list of back-up to-do items in case I finish early.

I is for ice cream.
Shall I list some of my favorite flavors? Rocky Road, Chocolate, Cherry Garcia, Turtle, Mint Chip, Peanut Butter (from Baskin Robbins). Really. I could go on forever.

Z is for zucchini.
I love zucchini. . . especially grilled zucchini.

A is for approximately.
I am approximately 5' 2". Did you picture me taller than that?

B is for Beverly Hills.
As in Beverly Hills 90210. I tape it. Still. What might be even more lame is that I still say "tape." I just can't bring myself to say, "I DVR it." Which is right? DVR or tape?

E is for epicurious.
Cooking is one of my favorite things to do. Perhaps it is because I'm especially fond of buying things for my kitchen.

T is for travel.
I have a serious craving to take a trip somewhere. . . I prefer somewhere interesting to somewhere hot. I'd choose Europe over a beach any day.

H is for home.
There are a few things I wish about my home. I wish it was bigger; it's too small to entertain. I wish we had some things hanging on the walls. I just can't ever find the right stuff. I wish I had a grown-up bedroom--actual headboard, coordinating bedding, real dresser.

Okay. I am tagging:

1. Em
2. Josie
3. Greta
4. Casey
5. Robyn
6. Beth
7. Brandy
8. Stephanie
9. Levi
   

MIA

Hello, friends.

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. I've been off getting professionally developed.

(It was all slightly delayed by the 16" of snow that fell. Seriously. Have you seen 16" of snow in one place before. INSANE!)

One of my favorite parts of the convention venue is the words. There is poetry everywhere. It's posted on the walls in small, individual silver letters, and it's all written by WI poets. It is absolutely beautiful.

The highlight was most certainly hearing Patricia Polacco speak. . . twice. Have you read The Keeping Quilt. Well, not only did I get to hear the story in person, but she actually brought the keeping quilt with her. I cried and cried and cried. It was beautiful.

There was plenty of talk about schema and brain-based learning and comprehension and No Child Left Behind, too.

No worries, though. It wasn't all work and no fun.

Thursday: Dinner at Buca's. Drinks at the Safe House.


Friday: The first fish fry of Lent at Turner Hall. YUM!

Saturday: Drive home. Email checking. Mail reading. Relaxing.

Dad Turns 15

My dad shares his birthday with Groundhog's Day. He came to celebrate on February 3rd, though. Because he is difficult, my dad's annual choice of birthday cake is an incredibly complicated feather sponge cake with some kind of chocolate frosting made from a homemade pudding. It takes hours to perfectly prepare (and one whole helluva lot of mixing), and I am not exaggerating.

Well, when I asked him about it, he said, "Don't even bother, Barb. I'm sure you can't possibly make it." I translated that as a challenge and made the cake. And, it was completely delicious.

He appreciated it and admitted it didn't taste that bad. Thanks, Dad (for the cake compliment and the outrageously entertaining series of photos).


One more completely unrelated thing. . .
Do you know about BookCrossing.com?

It's a site that facilitates the "release" of books. You buy an extra copy of your favorite book, register it at BookCrossing.com, and "release" it into the wild by leaving it someplace for another reader to find. When they find it, they can read it and register it online with their thoughts about it before "releasing" it again for another lucky reader to find.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is the state reading convention. I'm planning to release a few books there.

Wee Weekend Recap

Friday: Double-bubble
It is a proud family tradition to partake in cheap drinks at Friday happy hour.
Enjoyed a few adult beverages with my grandpa and aunts and uncles.

SaturDAY: Crop-tastic
Scrapped with Aunt Amy at a crop organized by Becky of Scrap-tastic.
Nothing to share, though, because it was mostly DT work for March.

SaturNIGHT: Bake a Cake
2 February is my dad's b-day. He and my mom are coming to visit today. So, I needed to make him a birthday cake. Figures that the cake he loves is amazingly complicated.

Now: Couch Time

Hopefully, I'll be back with pictures sometime soon.