The Ballad...Part 1

As promised, here is the first ballad that Elle wrote. (Keep in mind that we were , excuse the pun, 'warming up')

Ode To A Cold Room

I wake up in the morning
With icicles in my hair.
I see my breath before me
All I can do is stare.

(Chorus)
Cold room
Turn on the heat
Cold room
Let me warm my feet

I sit up in my bed
My bones begin to ache.
I can't even feel my fingers
I don't know how much more I'll take.

(Chorus)
Cold room
Turn on the heat
Cold room
Let me warm my feet

My clothes are hard and solid
Stuck together with some ice.
I need a hammer and chisel
or some heat sure would be nice.

(chorus)
Cold room
Turn on the heat
Cold room
Let me warm my feet

I walk over to the heater
Flick the switch to on, and then.
My mom says the heaters broken,
and it will be fixed....but when?

(chorus)
Cold room
Turn on the heat
Cold room
Let me warm my feet

FYI... Elle did not turn in this ballad to the teacher. Coming soon...The Ballad...Part 2

Two Things

I was tagged for this Two Things meme by Patches over at Claw~less & Ball~less.

Two names you go by... Mommy and Lynn

Two things you are wearing right now...a sweater (it's cold here) and a silver bracelet.

Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship...Trust and and good sense of humor (thank goodness I have both)

Two of your favorite things to do... read a good book and go to Disneyland with my kids

Two things you want very badly at the moment...I don't think that badly is a word, so right now I want a damn dictionary and a massage

Two pets you have or have had...Amber (the good doggie) and Redd (the good, but now deceased kitty)

Two people you think will fill this out...Renee and Patti

Two things that you did last night...Made a lentil loaf for dinner and read my book.

Two things you ate today...Acorn squash...leftover lentil loaf.

Two people you last talked to...DH and my mom

Two things you're doing tomorrow...going to work and taking Sport to basketball practice (unless it's raining, in which case I will just take him to for a piano lesson)

Two longest car rides...When Elle was an infant, it too us eight (8) hours to drive 300 miles to Mammoth Mountain, California and driving from New York to California (via the southern route...of course we didn't do this in one day:~)

Two favorite holidays...Halloween and um... I can't choose just two.

Two favorite beverages... water and water

Two people no longer alive who you'd like to talk to - My dad and my grandma and my grandpa (fine so that was three...so sue me:~)

The semester ends tomorrow...I'm hoping to post the ballads sometime this weekend:~)

A Groaner

In honor of Ralph, who was very creative in his last response to my Disneyland post...Here's a really clever groaner for you. I wish that I could say that I was clever enough to have created it, but I wasn't.

A thief in Paris planned to steal some paintings from the Louvre. After careful planning, he got past security, stole the paintings and made it safely to his van. However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, "Monsier that is the reason I stole the paintings. I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."

See if you have De Gaulle to tell this to someone... I posted it here because I figured I had nothing Toulouse.

Still waiting for the ballads grade...

Ode To A Ballad

Last week, Elle had an assignment in her Language Arts class. The assignment was to write a 4 verse ballad and include a chorus. Elle, asked me if I would help her write it... and since she rarely asks me for my help, I was glad to oblige.

I asked Elle what subject she wanted to write this ballad about. She suggested writing one about her ice cold bedroom (her room is always freezing which is great in the summer, but not so great in the winter). After we wrote that ballad Elle said that she had so much fun writing the first one, and that she wanted to write a second ballad, about school. Finally Elle stated that she decided that she wanted three ballads to choose from and that she wanted to have the third ballad be about a vampire. (she had just finished reading two books about vampires).

After all three ballads were written, Elle chose the darkest of the three (the one about the vampire). I am expecting a call anyday now from the school counselor, telling me that she is concerned about Elle's mental welfare... that should be a fun conversation.

(I will post the three ballads, just as soon as Elle gets her grade. I wouldn't want her teacher to google Elle's ballad and find my blog...I don't know if that would actually happen, but I don't want to take any chances)

I Went to Disneyland

Yesterday, I went on a field trip with Elle and her chorus class to Disneyland... (in case you are wondering, this would be the chorus class that experienced Elle standing still during the winter performance). The teacher had asked for volunteers, and Elle asked me if I would please go...How could I say no?

For those of you that have never been to Disneyland, here is a picture of the Cinderellas Castle in the morning...



...and here is one of the same castle in the late afternoon.

What visit to Disneyland would be complete without having the pleasure of sitting in It's A Small World and hearing the same song over and over for 20 minutes???????

Wandering around the park I spotted none other than Jasmine and Aladdin.
And finally...Given that I live in Southern California...what trip to Disneyland would be complete without a 'star sighting'...I was coming out of 'Alice in Wonderland' and heard a man say "Coco, do you want to go on this ride?" Now I don't know about you but I don't often hear that name so I looked to see who was speaking...It was none other than David Arqu*tte, his wife Courtney C*x , their daughter, and their entourage. I figured that I had to snap a picture to show my blogging friends. Here is a picture of Courtney taken with my phone.
In case you are wondering, there were paparazzi located behind me...of course they had huge lens... and I made sure that I didn't get in their pictures...so you won't be seeing me in Peop*le Magazine anytime soon.

Out With The Old...In With The New

Today I exchanged my old work laptop for a new one. I've been told that the new one is a lot faster (which isn't saying much since the old one worked at a snail's pace). I can say with certainty that the new laptop is definitely a lot heavier. (which isn't such a good thing).

I've been distracted the past few days, trying to be sure that I backed-up and removed all of my files off of the old computer (I know...nothing is ever really removed). I also spent time trying to be sure that any personal stuff was off of the laptop.

I am not really computer savvy, or literate...so it took me awhile to figure out how 'erased' I could make the computers memory. Evidently I did a pretty good job because the technician who took my old computer came to ask me if I had ever put any files on the old laptop...evidently he couldn't find any. Yeah me.

Now I get to spend some time playing with the new laptop...because, of course, they didn't give me any instructions on how to use it...sigh.

Taking Time To Slow Down

Are you ever in such a rush while you are eating, that you forget to chew your food, and you kind of choke on it??? I really need to slow down.

Once I had kids, I started to gulp my food down. At least I think that's when it began. I started inhaling my food when Elle and Sport were little...hurrying to 'grab a bite' before they needed me. I know that it isn't healthy, I just am too lazy to retrain myself to slow down. Now Elle is 13 and Sport is 11...I still can't seem to slow down and enjoy a meal.

DH on the other hand enjoys taking his time....bastard!

Slow Start

Do you ever wish that you could 'ease your way' into something, only to have to just jump right in? That is how I feel after today.

Returned to work. Told Elle and Sport to look at their return to school, as being one day closer to summer vacation. My mother would say that I shouldn't wish my life away. I know that she is right. I can't help it.

I love what I do. I just don't love all of the pressure and stress that comes with my job. Never from the kids (I love working with them)...just the faculty/staff and sometimes the parents.

Have a new student teacher. She started today and will be with me 3 days/week. Although once again it will be a lot of work for me (at least in the beginning), I enjoy the company...and I enjoy mentoring someone, and helping them learn how to survive in the schools.

Have an all day meeting tomorrow, which will help fulfill the continuing education requirements for my state license. I hope it's something interesting. Unfortunately, attending this meeting means that on Wednesday, I will have to see twice as many students. Sigh...they'll be no easing into work for me.

Boo Hoo

The kids have to go back to school tomorrow...boo hoo. (homework starts again...yuck)
I have to go back to work tomorrow... boo hoo.
Enough said.

I'll Take Staying In The Dark for 2008

I wonder... if I had a crystal ball, and could forsee what the coming year would bring...would I really want to know what was going to happen? Would I take a look? ... Or would I look away?

Given that I am somewhat of a control freak (but only in a good way, lol) one would expect that I would want to know what is going to happen to me and those around me this coming year. But I don't think that I would want to know...I mean, what good would the information be to me if I couldn't change the outcome? I think that having the knowledge of possible impending gloom and doom, without the power to effect a change would weigh heavily on me.

Now if I could somehow change the outcome based on what I saw in the crystal ball, would I then want this information? I don't know. What would happen if by changing the course of events (good or bad) in someones life, I inadvertently caused something even worse to happen down the road? Would I want that power? That responsibility?

Would I find comfort in knowing that something bad was coming down the pike? Or would I prefer to go along my happy way in ignorant bliss? Would I, knowing that something bad was going to happen, start a fight, or emotionally pull back from someone if I knew that our time together was to be measured in days, weeks, or months instead of years? Or would I hold onto them so tightly that I would emotionally smother them?

Generally, I am not one to bury my head in the sand. I prefer to know all the facts and proceed from there. But in this case, I guess that I would prefer to allow for the spontaneity and surprises that this coming year holds rather than having the year all planned out. I figure before I know it, 2008 will be over and I'll be sitting here wondering what 2009 has in store.

I Have Survived!

I have finally come out on the other side of a horrible stomach flu. Monday morning at 1:30am I woke up Open Both Ends (OBE). Fortunately even in my deep state of slumber, I woke myself up and made it to the bathroom where I proceeded, over the course of the next 7 hours, to alternately hug my toilet, sit on my toilet, and sleep on the bathroom floor...and let me tell you my bathroom floor is not comfortable at all. I don't even want to think of the germs that were living there (that might make me sick all over again). I just couldn't pick myself up to get back to bed in between 'attacks'.

Once I thought it was safe to leave my bathroom, I proceeded to spend the rest of the last day of 2007 asleep in bed. I also spent the first day of 2008 in bed. I couldn't even get it together to turn on the T.V., read a book, or carry on any sort of conversation.

I hope that my ending one year in bed, and starting the new year in bed is not a portent of thing to come. Wait that didn't sound right...I hope that if I'm in bed it's for a good reason...no, no that's not right either...Oh heck...I hope the rest of this year finds us all healthy...and if we're in bed, it's because we want to be there.