Being sick

I am not prone to illness. In fact, I have a pretty good immune system., but this year has been quite unusual. I think my classroom is making me sick. I know it's full of mold and mildew. The air units blow out this musty smelling, damp air. I am home today. This is probably the 3rd time I've stayed home sick. I am MISERABLE! I woke up with a sore throat Friday, which continued on Saturday. Sunday, it turned into a dry cough. This cough became worse yesterday. By the afternoon, I was either blowing my nose or coughing.

When I get back to school, I hope I can get something done about my room. Not only is it bad for me, but our school instruments are being threatened by high humidity and temps.

OK. No more complaining. I have a doctor's appointment at 2:30 today.

Here's hoping all is well with you! (I must say, it could be worse, and at least I can take the day off to stay at home).

Spring has sprung

Ahhh, Spring! We get to celebrate many birthdays in the Spring. Matthew's is April 21, then my brother-in-law, Steve, and my sister-in-law, Marie, share the 23rd. The best one is May 2... MOM'S BDAY! I went to Charlotte last weekend to help everyone celebrate. Here is Josh helping Nannie blow out the candles (not to mention my multi-talented sis carrying Josh, lighting the candles, AND holding the cake so they could blow them out).

Stephen (age 10.5) drew this lion in class. He is a talented artist, and I hope he will continue his art throughout school. Michelle had it turned into a flag for mom. So cool!

While Stephen was playing outside, the MetLife blimp flew over the house. It was heading to the golf tournament in Charlotte.

REWIND: A couple of weekends ago, Matthew and I went to the Festival of Flowers at the Biltmore House with mom, dad, Uncle Delwyn, Aunt LuAnn, Uncle Bobby, Aunt Theresa, and Lindsey (whew!). We had a great time. The President and his family had been visiting Asheville that week. The family had left earlier that morning, but their entourage was still on the tarmac. Here are the two ginormous planes that carrry the President's helicopter and vehicles.

I'll have to get some pics of the basement when it's cleaned up. All the sheet rock is up with a coat of primer. We've also painted the extra room a really nice, pastel green. Matthew chose a very complimentary tile for the room, too.

Until the next project... (5 more weeks of school).

Sheet rock, spiders, & pollen, OH MY!

I can't believe ANOTHER week has flown by. In that time we have finished the sheet rock in the basement. This meant the washing machine had to be disconnected. We own Fisher & Paykel washer and dryer. I've had them for... wow... 7 years. Each has been serviced once, and now I'm going for the washer's second. After reconnecting, it doesn't want to drain.

Last weekend, I was assaulted by a spider. OK. So it didn't attack me, per se...

It did BURST out from under the litter box sending me SCREAMING into the opposite side of the house. I closed the bathroom door only to notice it has a nice sized gap. I call Matthew in a frenzy.
T: What should I DO?!?
M: Just put a Mason jar over it, slide a piece of paper underneath, and take it outside.
T: Wha? Ha! A MASON JAR WON"T FIT OVER THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
M: How big is it?
T: Friggin' HUGE!
M:(laughs) OK. I'll be home soon.
T: (trying to control breathing) I think I have a glass that's big enough.

So I grab a glass, and try the sneak around behind it... it ran. More screaming. Me chasing it. It chasing me. I finally corner it and lower the glass. It raises in front two legs. Guess what buddy? I'm done screaming. Your @$$ is going outside.... as soon as Matthew gets home. Can you see? Can you see the size of that thing?!?

The spider and I now live in separate harmony. :)

And now a kudos to Zyrtec which is keeping my sinuses at bay for now.

Spring Reading

I have always loved reading, even when I was a kid. Thanks, mom, for all the book fair moolah! :)

Anyhoo... I decided that I needed to read "The Chronicles of Narnia". I did not read them when I was younger. As I was wandering around Barne's & Noble's one day, I spied "The Magician's Nephew", and so my reading began. I have since finished "The Lion, Witch, & the Wardrobe" and most recently finished (as in, today) "The Horse and His Boy".

I look forward to reading "Prince Caspian". I love the Phish song, and when Matthew had a salt water tank in college, we named the clown fish Prince Caspian.

Tis all for now! I tend to do my best reading in the warmer climates. There's just something about sitting outside and reading a good book!

Spring Break

This is Spring Break week, and I am trying to make the most of it! It started Saturday in Asheville. A friend from my Greensboro days was visiting her folks in Aville, so we got to hang out. We did Malaprops for a coffee/smoothie, Woolworth Walk with its beautiful, local art, and The Grove Arcade with its funky, hip shops. I found a t-shirt with a goat on it! We also had fun at the Bath Junkie creating different scents, including dirt+cucumber+basil...

Sunday was Easter. We had dinner at the King Ranch. Little Addison did not feel well, but she sure did have some fun in her swing! Oh, I love to hear her giggle!

Monday was for more friend time. We met up at Carl Sandburg's place in Flat Rock. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, verging on being hot! The goats and chickens are my favortie part, and yes, I did wear my new goat t-shirt. :)

We had nice hike followed by some delicious pizza by the Flat Rock Bakery. Mmmmmm!

Tuesday was long overdue time spent with a good friend. We had a fantastic time shopping at Target, then lunch at Hannah Flanagan's, and more shopping downtown Hendo.

Wednesday was my time. Matthew has been threatening to donate any of my framed pictures that don't get hung up. I managed to get quite a few hung yesterday in no time! I don't know why I waited so long to do it.

Thursday... getting less productive: I've done a load of dishes; one load of laundry washed & waiting to be put in the dryer; one basket waiting to be folded; vacuumed AND Shark steam-cleaned the floors; hmmm... maybe I've done a little more than I thought today. Yay!

I'm hoping to go back Monday, recharged and ready for the next 9 weeks. We don't have any breaks between now and the end of the year (thank you, snow).

Hope all is well with you out there in cyberspace!

Relay for Life

I have joined West Falcon's Relay For Life Team. I have never had a family member with cancer, and I hope I never do. I do have friends and students who have had cancer or have had family memebers with cancer. I hope that the money raised can help fund research to find ways and cures.

I will be walking in May. This is the first time I have participated in an actual event. My fundraising goal is $200. If you would like to support the Relay For Life, please click here http://relay.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=14331603&pg=personal&fr_id=24674 if you would like to donate.

Please feel free to share any of your stories here. Thank you for any support you give or have given to Cancer Research.

Playing catch up...

This past school week has been the first full, normal week since the week of December 7. It was a long week, especially since we only had a one day weekend. We went to school last Saturday to make up a snow day.

I am conducting the Pit Orchestra for our Spring Musical, "Thoroughly Modern Mille". It has been a lot work but at least it's fun! I have an awesome group. Our show opens next week, so I am going to try to get some rest this weekend (we'll see how that goes).

Tomorrow is our niece's 1st birthday! It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed!

My chorus and orchestra have our first spring concert on March 23. Why I am doing a concert the Tuesday after the musical, I will never know. It will be a good concert. I'm proud of our progress so far.

I am looking forward to Spring! I can't believe Daylight Savings is tonight. In my 32 years, I have never delt well with the time change.

That's about all for now. I'm going to go outside and enjoy this sunshine while I can!