Year 2 - Day 272 - September 30

I really wanted to make a monthly photo book for the baby shower I'm attending tomorrow, but I didn't think it was going to happen. Life has been so busy lately that I haven't had time to sit down and create. I found it in me to stay up super late tonight and got it done just in time! This is the first one I've done for a girl, so it was fun to use my pink card stock and stickers after doing all boy things for the last two. :)

Year 2 - Day 271 - September 29

Something is wrong with my cat again. Let's just say it involved using the Little Green Clean Machine on multiple places in the house before leaving for school this morning. Seeing as how I leave at 6:45am, it was a busy morning. Now I have to try to get him into the vet this afternoon...I have spent more time and $ at the vet since April of this year than the rest of my life put together ... and I've had a cat for approximately 31 of the 32 years of my life!

Year 2 - Day 270 - September 28

This was screen captured from Yahoo news today. There are 2 different ones that caught my eye because they are sort of "reality imitating art." The treasure hunters headline made me think of this season of White Collar and the bottom one was a storyline on Weeds a couple seasons ago.

Year 2 - Day 269 - September 27

Another project we completed while my parents have been here - the old island is now holding Mike's stuff in the computer room. This has re-opened up the space between the kitchen and the living room. I turned the table 90 degrees as well. We'll see how it goes. I'm glad to have the island away though. It took me many hours, but awhile back I found homes for everything in that island just to see if we could live without the storage. Now we need a bakers rack or something like that to hold the toaster oven. Until then, it's sitting on a TV tray. We are nothing if not classy!

Year 2 - Day 268 - September 26

The new bike is here, assembled, has pedals, has been ridden, and NOW has a home on the wall in the garage. It's so light that it can easily be stored above head level and grabbed for riding. Now it's a thousand times easier to get in and out of my car! It wouldn't be a visit with my parents if we didn't stop at a couple Home Depots to complete some projects, right?? :)

Year 2 - Day 267 - September 25

Do you see how many upside down U's they used in creating that McDonalds message about Monopoly? It bothers me. Buy some more N's! Yes, they had used some N's on the other side for a different message, but not so many that they should have needed 3 upside down U's on this side. I hope someone didn't really think that was the appropriate letter, but if they're related to the person who makes the McDonalds signs in Hampden, then who knows? :)

Year 2 - Day 266 - September 24

Today is the day I affectionately refer to as "Brain Tumor Day." In reality, it's Johns Hopkins Pituitary Patient Education Day. My mother & I have come for the past 3 years. A whole bunch of different doctors in the Pituitary department (surgeons, radiologists, endocrinologists, lab people, etc) all do both formal and informal talks with the patients. You don't even have to be one of their official patients to come, AND it's free. It's held at the Hopkins Conference Center in Mount Washington and comes with a yummy lunch too. My mom's doctors at Hopkins have always impressed me, but at this thing the one guy really impresses me. Even with all the random people being seen sort of out of context, he knows personal information about all of them. In addition to having every number in every chart memorized, he knows personal things about them. For example, when my mom asked a question about something, he answered her and mentioned her rowing. (Granted, she doesn't row now since she's living in the desert, but it's impressive that he could make that connection.) Another guy asked a question about his wife, and the Dr. mentioned the girl's blood pressure numbers when answering the question.

Since the program was very similar year 1 & year 2, I chose to sit in the lobby and grade college papers today for the morning sessions. This guy was our security guard. I felt very secure, because he spent 29 minutes on Facebook and then on the hour and half hour he stood up, walked to the door, and looked left & right before sitting back down. VERY secure. ;)

Year 2 - Day 265 - September 23

My parents got here yesterday afternoon & are staying for a week. We went out to dinner with all four parents tonight in Havre de Grace, but did I think to take a picture then? No because I was having fun. :) Luckily I thought to take this one this morning because it made me giggle. This is "Boardwalk Bear." When I was younger we used to go to the boardwalk one night a summer in Seaside. Back then, Seaside was a little more family oriented - now it's the home of the MTV Beach House and (I think?) the Jersey Shore people. Quite the different clientele! One summer, I spent all of my boardwalk money at a "spin the wheel" booth, trying to win this bear. He used to have a scarf, but the scarf is tied around a large horse stuffed animal at school now. (The kids move the clothing around on all the animals all the time.) You'll see he's also sporting a neon braided bracelet. A lot of my little kid animals are at work because there's no place for them here. It's funny to see kids carrying around my old toys. They all love the Popple as well as the pillows that my brother & I made in middle school home ec class. But this bear for some reason shows up in a different place every day. I don't know why!

Year 2 - Day 264 - September 22

Now that I've gotten through the first few weeks of "intro" lessons, we get to get into the good stuff! I made hundreds of copies of this year's Black Eyed Susan nominees paper so that we can get started with the reading. Woohoo! The kids have been asking for a couple weeks, so they will be super excited on Monday when I pull out this paper. Throughout the year, we read several of the books on the nominees list. The kids use this paper to keep track of the ones they like. Then in the spring they get to vote for their favorite. It's one of the activities they really look forward to.

Year 2 - Day 263 - September 21

With all the rain we have been getting lately, I'm surprised there is still land showing. However, I'm not surprised by the appearance of many different types of mushrooms. This red type is all over the flower beds at the park 'n' ride. They look like red fingers sticking up out of the ground, especially because they grow in clusters. How very appropriate for Halloween - but I hope they (and the rain!) are gone by then. :)

Year 2 - Day 262 - September 20

Since yesterday I did a mini-rant, today I shall do a mini-rave.

These are Stikki Dots. They are spectacular. You need a poster to stick to cinder blocks? Don't buy that sticky tack silly putty stuff. That will just make your poster fall down over the weekend and set off the motion detector and make the custodian have to come to school. (Hasn't happened to me, but it's happened in the building!) Stick with Stikki brand. The stuff is amazing! There are clips too - I do have them - but the dots are great just on their own as well.

Caution - you will have to wash your hands afterwards, because this stuff leaves a residue that is even worse than braces wax. But that's why it works so well! :)

Year 2 - Day 261 - September 19

Heh, I knew this was a bad picture but I didn't realize HOW bad until I uploaded it. Why the picture of my phone? Because I need to do a mini rant.

My alma mater calls like clockwork once a year to ask me for money. It's always a current student reading the exact same script. They ask me to confirm my address and all that jazz (which I do, because I like to get the magazine) and then they pretend like they care about my career. Of course they soon get to the real reason for the call - the asking for money portion. Last week, a girl called during dinner. I did the confirmation of contact info and then said I was sorry but I was very busy and didn't have time to talk.

Today they called back! They just wanted to ask for money again! I was a little more curt this time. I feel bad being mean to a kid who is probably just getting service hours, but seriously?

Year 2 - Day 260 - September 18

My husband has been looking at and test riding bikes for quite some time. Today he finally took the leap and bought one. It's this one, except in red. He didn't have a choice on the color cause it's a leftover from last model year.

Really? There are model years on bikes? That was my reaction. ;)

Year 2 - Day 259 - September 17

Spent some quality time at the library today and have a whole pile of books to show for it.

But that's ALL I really did today. ;)

Year 2 - Day 258 - September 16

Yesterday at 7:30am when I had to run home & get some stuff for my husband, I walked out & saw the mystery machine by our car.

Today at 7am, it passed the park and ride while I was getting ready to meet my ride. Unfortunately, I had to pull over in the parking lot, grab my phone, and wait for the photo app to load. In that time, the light changed and the van started driving away so all you see is that speck. But trust me, it's the mystery machine again!

Year 2 - Day 257 - September 15

Let's talk about sleep.

How I haven't had any since 5:45 yesterday morning, other than a 5 minute nap sitting straight up earlier this morning.

I spent the night in the ER with my hubby ... we now know that he's fine, but it was a long long long 14 hours. Are you aware of the terrible TV that is on in the middle of the night? We are very glad that he is fine, because not everyone around us got that news.

It made me smile though, when I came out this morning and saw this car parked next to ours. :)

Year 2 - Day 256 - September 14

The most devastating thing happened at work today.

They (sort of unofficially since it's not on paper, but officially in the sense that they're policing it now)
OUTLAWED SNEAKERS AT WORK.

Seriously. I love my job. I really do. But I don't have a desk job. I run around, I check books in and out, I sit on the floor, I shelve books, I teach kids, etc. Everything that all the people do in big libraries, I do it all plus the teaching.

And now I can't do it in sneakers.

The first thing I did is go to the mall. Normally I don't shop at Macy's because I'm not rich, but I had some giftcards and I matched it with a sale to buy some "walking shoes." I'm not wearing them until tomorrow when I get them approved, in case they count as sneakers and I have to bring them back. They're black though and definitely not something you'd wear to the gym, so I'm hoping they work.

I'm usually willing to let crazy policies just go, but this one is really getting under my skin.

Year 2 - Day 255 - September 13

When we re-landscaped back in the spring, we chose to get our plants at a local nursery. WORST DECISION EVER. Out of the 10 plants we bought, 2 have now died. This one really makes me mad, because it was my favorite - the lilac bush. Grr. Honestly, I think that even though this one is dry and crusty today, I'm betting it's the excessive rain that did it in. It rained for basically 2 straight weeks. However, if we had gotten the plants at a big box store, we could get it replaced because they all have guarantees. Sigh...

Year 2 - Day 254 - September 12

I was quite excited to see a page shot from my favorite kid's book in our Children's Lit textbook! Hooray for Chester!

Year 2 - Day 253 - September 11

As exciting as the opening night of the NFL was, I'm sure today is even more exciting for football fans around town. Today's the Ravens first game that counts. Late on Friday night my husband got offered a ticket with his friends, so he is down there. I'm home doing homework and occasionally checking the score and listening from the other room. So far, the Ravens are actually playing well. Hopefully they remember that the football game is 60 minutes long and keep playing hard until the end.

Of course today is also the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I was student teaching and the 1st graders in my classroom had no comprehension of what was going on. I remember all the parents coming to get their kids early, and the little ones saying things like "Wow there sure are a lot of people with dentist and doctor appointments today!" I guess their only reference for why kids would go home early would be for appointments. Other older kids were saying things like "Are the mosquitos coming?" or "Was there a bad shark attack?" because it was the summer of West Nile and lots of shark attacks. Amazing how their brains would just grasp for something, because they knew something was up but had no idea what.

Year 2 - Day 252 - September 10

For the last several years, our local Duclaw has been hosting the Real Ale Festival. We've never gone because I don't drink beer and it's a relatively expensive festival. However, I entered my husband into a drawing for free admission this year and he won! Since we then only had to buy one ticket, I went with him. It was really fun, even though I don't like beer. There was good food (roasted pig!) and everyone was in a good mood. I was amazed that even with 700 tickets being available, the place never seemed insanely crowded. The flow was great. I know that Mike would go again, but I don't know if it'd be worth it to pay for me to go every year since I don't drink the beer.

This evening I got to do something more my speed, stamping night! We made a halloween craft and a nice card that I'll probably give my MIL for her upcoming birthday.

Year 2 - Day 251 - September 9

My, my, isn't this a spectacular example of stellar photography? This is called "quickly taking a picture at a red light."

More importantly than my lack of focus & composition is the tiny brown building behind the telephone poles.

That, my friends, is Wegmans. It is opening in less than 10 days!!!!!!!!!

Year 2 - Day 250 - September 8

Today's one of my husband's favorite days of the whole year - the opening day of the NFL. I was impressed with the Green Bay fans all following directions to make the flag in the stands during the anthem!

The rain hasn't stopped. They opened a bunch of gates on the Conowingo Dam today and had to close the road over it because they brought in heavy machinery. This made getting home a pain in the butt because of where we meet to carpool. Luckily my meeting down near Baltimore was cancelled, because it was going to take quite some time to get down there.

So instead of working, I'm laying on the couch enjoying a moment of peace while my husband watches football.

Year 2 - Day 249 - September 7

It has been raining FOREVER. I am beginning to think it will never stop. This section of our gutter pours over all the time. Before the hurricane, we got the extension ladder out and Mike climbed up there to clean it out. Surprisingly, there was nothing up there. I'm thinking it is just not tilted enough to drain quickly.

No, I'm not out in the rain taking this picture, we have two sets of sliding glass doors on an L shaped portion of our house, so we can see across the deck into the ktichen. :)

Year 2 - Day 248 - September 6

Tuesday night is class night. Even though the class is 3 hours a week, I'm definitely putting major hours into it. It's fun though, because I'm using my brain in a totally different way. It's exhausting getting home late though.

With this week being the 10 anniversary of 9/11, lots of people will be sharing "Where were you?" stories. However, today's September 6, a much happier day in our city's history.

I prefer to think, where were you on September 6, 1995? Sixteen years ago tonight, Cal broke Lou Gehrig's streak with 2131 consecutive games played. I wasn't there. I was working at Music & Arts until 9, and then raced home. Luckily, the excitement wasn't until the middle of the 5th inning (since the O's were winning, thank you pitcher Mike) and I made it with just a little time to spare. I taped the excitement on both our local sports channel (HTS at the time which has since morphed into MASN) and ESPN. What a wonderful night. I had goosebumps, and I still do when I see footage of Cal's victory lap. In addition to Cal's excitement, the Orioles were SO GOOD back then!

I was however at the game the night before, when he tied the record at 2130. That's one of my few tee shirts that survived the "cut them all up to make a quilt some day" massacre. My now husband was there too, just a couple sections over from where we were sitting!

Year 2 - Day 247 - September 5

If I was smart, I would take a picture AT a Labor Day party, rather than having to take a picture of the evite later. :)

Today we spent the day celebrating my best friend's new home and doing no labor in honor of Labor Day! What a wonderful way to spend an extended weekend day. Now I'm spending my evening getting ready for tomorrow night's class...

Year 2 - Day 246 - September 4

Oh my goodness, what a busy day!

First we went to the Hanover Chili Cook Off. It was a ton of fun, but it was HOT! Actually, the temperature wasn't really the issue, it was the humidity. The poor boys were dripping. I tasted a zillion chilis and definitely had some favorites and some dislikes. (Things that win with me: multiple meats, lots of meat, some spice but not so much my mouth hurts. Things that I take points off for: lack of meat, lots of vegetables and beans, too watery, lack of spice to the point where it is more in the spaghetti sauce family, too much spice and makes my face hurt.)

After that, we headed towards my in-laws for my sister-in-law's birthday cookout. We stopped at the cupcake place in Reisterstown to grab a few and were thrilled to find out that it's their birthday! That means a free birthday cake cupcake! With a candle! Mike also got a pumpkin & I got chocolate peanut butter oreo chip. Yes. All those things in one cupcake. It was the best cupcake I've ever eaten.

Finally we came home and I can attempt to get some homework done because tomorrow's another fun day!

Year 2 - Day 245 - September 3

We drove up to Hanover, PA to visit friends tonight. After dinner, we stopped at a local hangout for dessert. They didn't roller skate our food out to us, but other than that it felt like being in the past. We ordered our sundaes through the little box on the counter and ate them in the car. The place was packed, but the service was still quick. We were jealous of the two older couples there in their fancy hot rods and convertibles!

Year 2 - Day 244 - September 2

One of the Groupon Getaways right now is a night at the Hunt Valley Marriott. This is the picture they put up. I don't know if it's a random stock picture or if it's actually back woods in Baltimore County somewhere, but I know for SURE it isn't the view at the Hunt Valley Marriott. That place has 83 on one side, a business park on 2 sides, and a shopping center across the street!

Year 2 - Day 243 - September 1

Recently out of nowhere Moose started having stomach issues. It started after his most recent "check the lump from the vaccine" appointment in which he hissed and snapped at the vet for the first time, so I think it perhaps it started with stress. Whatever the reason, he was using his litter box appropriately for pee and after one inappropriate closet pooping incident, he wasn't going at all. I read that wet cat food can help their systems regulate themselves, so I splurged and bought a couple cans.

Oh. My. Goodness. Not only did it solve the problem (whew) but he is now crazy when it comes to food. I am not switching him all the way to wet food because it's a pain in the butt. However, I'm giving him a portion of a can twice a day to go with his dry food. More of a supplement than an entire diet change. This seems to be working on his stomach and life is good. However, he has completely changed. He used to eat to live, now he lives to eat. As soon as I pick the can and a spoon up, he goes nuts and starts howling and running to his bowl. It's gotten to the point where sometimes he howls just if I pick up silverware for us. I couldn't believe that the box of food says a can for every 3 pounds of cat a day. That'd be 5 cans a day! He eats dry food when he's hungry and gets like a table spoon of wet food morning and night.