Happy Halloween!

That's Why They Call Me The Enforcer

My good friend Emily and her son Sumner were having a conversation. Sumer's a former preschool student of mine. I'm a teacher at Corner Co-op Nursery School, and Rosie is the Teacher/Director, i.e., my boss.

Sumner: Mom, Alex is in charge of the Corner Co-op, isn't she?

Emily: No; actually, Sumner, Rosie's in charge.

Sumner: Alex kind of acts like she's in charge. But I always thought that Rosie should be in charge.

CVS--Cashier Very Sad

I just had a depressing visit to CVS. I had to make photo prints for school, and I had to get milk. I made the prints at the NEW PRINT STATION!, where they print out your pics immediately and then give you a receipt that doesn't have the price on it.

I got the milk, and noticed that they also had yogurt and eggs.  I need breakfast for tomorrow, so I got those too. It depressed me to buy my eggs at CVS; call me a snob.

So I went to the register and I handed the cashier guy my receipt. This guy seems depressed. He's one of those quiet, greasy haired lonely guys who doesn't like his job. I asked him how the new system worked--did I give him the receipt and he'd tell me how much it was? He said, "No, just tell me how many prints you made." I was trying to remember, but then he scanned the receipt and told me how many. I told him that it was an "interesting" system; I mean, theoretically, I could make 50 prints and tell him I made 10, or not say anything, and walk out of the store. He said, "You wouldn't do that, would you?" Of course I wouldn't, but..."I'm just telling you, for your design system." He replied, "If I designed systems, I wouldn't be working the cash register."

To which I said, "GOT it!" and beat it out of there. Oh god. I'm glad I'm a happy person and that I love my job. This particular CVS has so many characters. There's the pharmacist who looks like early man, the mousy depressed cashier, and a new cashier/manager guy who reminds me of the "bad" brother from Slumdog Millionaire. He's very nice, but just a little too slick. Thing is, this CVS is 2 blocks from my house, so I go there all the time. Never a dull moment, I guess.

M.I.A. - Paper Planes

I just got the soundtrack to Slumdog Milllionaire the other day. One of my favorite songs is "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. I played it for the kids at school over and over, until I brought it home and really listened to it. I realized that part of the song is the sound of gunfire followed by a cash register. Oops. Not a lesson I'd like to impart to my little ones. But I still love the song.

Heinous Halloween

What? You didn't want to just get rid of the tree???

I can't wait to see what it looks like at Christmas.

Puzzled

We have this puzzle at school. I call it "Breaking and Entering". You'll notice that the chain slide lock on the top right was totally broken off. Who knows where the kid who did that is now. Hopefully not in the Big House; maybe he or she is an engineer.

Sweet Enough?

Last night I had dinner with my friend Melissa. She had made cookies from the South Beach Diet book; they only had 3 ingredients: peanut butter, Splenda, and an egg. The cookies came out sort of crumbly, and by the time they reached me in a Ziploc bag in Melissa's purse, they looked like the topping on a sundae. She asked if they were too "Spelenda-y", and I didn't think they were, though the aftertaste was a little reminiscent of artificial sweetener, which I dislike.

I told her no problem, we'd go over to the local ice cream joint and I'd sprinkle the peanut butter crumble on top of some frozen yogurt, which I figured would be healthier than ice cream. I ordered some NS vanilla yogurt, and asked, after I placed my order, what the "NS" stood for. I was told "no sugar", and Melissa asked what it was sweetened with. We were told, "Splenda, and sometimes NutraSweet." Great.

I got home and ate most of my dessert. Tonight I think I'll have one of the Fudgsicles in my freezer.

Soak

I went into the kitchen to wash some dishes, when I accidentally came upon Fork taking a bubble bath. Sorry, Fork, I didn't see nuthin'. Sponge, on the other hand, was definitely trying to sneak a peek.

Whoops-the fur edition

The other day I took out the rubber kitty brush/massager and gave Shelby a good treatment. She loved it. After awhile, there was a huge pile of fur collected, enough to maybe knit a sweater. Her fur was so soft afterwards. The next morning, as Shelby was eating her breakfast, I noticed a bald spot on her back. Oops. Guess I got a little too into it. Sorry, Shelby, hope it grows back soon!

Post #600!

I found this photo while looking through my photo library, and I don't think I had posted it. My friend Courtney and I like leopard print. A lot.

In Sync on iPods

Today a guy on a bike passed me as I was crossing the street, and I realized we were both listening to George Michael on our iPods at the same time. I was listening to a ballad, "John and Elvis are Dead", and he was listening to "Flawless". I knew, because he was singing, "You've got to go to the city..." I thought that was pretty cool. And random. We love you, George!

It's Fall

Important Call

Today I heard an interesting ring tone. It sounded almost like an ambulance siren; it was called "Alarm". I commented on it to the man whose phone it was, and he said that was the special ring tone assigned to his wife. I had to keep my laughter to myself as he answered the phone. I almost had to go into the next room.

Shelby's Sleeping Safety Spots

Shelby often likes to sleep with at least two body parts touching an object. Here are some examples:

From the top: This is her special corner. I had put the fan there after I took it out of the window, and she immediately used it as a napping leaning place. Back touching the fan, feet on the books and table leg.

Next: close up of feet touching books and table leg. They must touch.

Next: Face mushed into green chair.

Next: Paw touching corner of loft.

Next: Face mushed into loveseat.

South Beach Diet in Pics

Big ass salad (and yes, I like to eat my salad with chopsticks), oatmeal with blueberries, walnuts, and cinnamon, NO sugar, sirloin burger w/grape tomatoes & onions instead of ketchup (and yes, I like my burgers well done), grape tomatoes w/mozzarella & balsamic vinegar, and my first shopping cart full of SBD food. It's expensive, and time consuming, but it's made me a better cook, and I take time to prepare food instead of whipping something up in a microwave or going out. AND I've even learned to like V-8 juice. A lot!

South Beach Diet--Wanna Try It?

I haven't even talked about being on the South Beach Diet. I started it on June 29th, when I weighed an average of 115 pounds. I've weighed myself every day for the past 2 years or so. Back in...hold on, let me get my calendar. Back in January of 2007, I weighed an average of 107.5 lbs. December 2007? 112. June 2009? 115. You see where I'm going with this. I know, at 41, that I can't eat whatever I want anymore. Metabolism has slowed. Took me about 3 years to accept that. When I saw 117 on my scale one day, I decided that enough was enough, it was time to get drastic. Plus I had just gotten a back tat, and back tat + back fat = ick. And muffin tops should stay on baked goods.

Now listen, I know this is all relative. I know most people would kill to be 117 lbs. But I'm 5'1", I'm very small. Curvy, but small. I didn't feel good at 117. Or 115. I wanted to lose 10 lbs. and be 105, which is not unheard of for a woman of 5'1". I went through my 20's at an even 100 lbs., and I thought that was my adult weight. HA!

A friend of mine told me she lost 25 lbs. on the SBD. I was inspired by her tale, and got the book. I was mentally prepared, and I did it.  I've been 108 for about a month, and only have 3 more lbs. to go. If you're intrigued, buy the book. I just wanted to say a few things about what I've learned.

*Phase 1 is very very important. It helped me to kick (actually, greatly reduce) my muffin/cake/cookie habit.
*In order to keep weight off, I believe you must eat at least one big salad every day; it helps to have a small salad with dinner, too.
*Another tip to keeping weight off--eat sweets once a week. See how nicely that flows off the tongue? Any more, and you'll gain. I know how to gain and lose half a pound like a pro. And when you eat a sweet, make it only a little bit. Like half a muffin. Or a few bites of whatever.
*Nuts, lowfat cheese, and Fage yogurt with fresh fruit you add to it are great snacks for mid-morning and mid-afternoon (note, one of those, not all three).

I also workout with a personal trainer semi-regularly, and I walk everywhere. I don't drive. Good luck to you, if you want to do this, and thanks for reading. Leave a comment if you need support/tips.

(to my special friend who almost passed out in the mall after being on SBD, I wish I had been there for you)

Even a Three Year Old Can Do It!

I played charades with a 3 year old. His mom said, "We went to New York City and saw...", and Rowan made one movement with his hands, pushing them down forcefully. I guessed, "Stomp!" I was right. I'll remember to bring Rowan as my partner if I'm ever on a game show.

Flight of the Conchords: Cello Tape

Here's that song about how love is like tape, by Flight of the Conchords.

Tell Me, Teller

At my bank, the tellers wear name tags with personalized messages on them. They're conversation starters; "I love football!" "I have a cat", etc. Today, my teller's name tag said, "I collect clowns!" I asked her, "How many people tell you that they're afraid of clowns?" She said that all of them did. Poor woman. She asked me if I was afraid of clowns, I told her that of course I was. She asked me why, and I said, "Simple. Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Childhood." and I made a creepy clown movement with my hands. I said it was the makeup. She understood. I didn't even go into harlequins, eww.

I told her that the clowns at the Big Apple Circus were actually very funny. Grandma the Clown? Outstanding. She said her kids were grown, but she could take her grandchild. The line behind me was growing, so I had to finish my transaction, but it was a nice conversation. Good idea on those tags.

The funniest tag I ever saw at the bank was a guy who had "Pog ma thon" on his tag, which means "Kiss my ass" in Gaelic. I only knew this because I had dated an Irish guy. I laughed at the tag, and asked the teller what he told people it meant. He said he told them it meant, "Have a nice day". LOL! Unfortunately, I guess some higher ups knew what it meant, because that teller didn't last long at the bank. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

A Sticky Situation

Today at school I gave a spontaneous lesson on the different kinds of tape there are. When I went to get tape for something, I noticed we had four different kinds, and I thought it would be fun to talk about. Turns out, the kids were riveted, and we grownups learned a thing or two also!

I began with Scotch tape. I told the kids that it was clear tape that was best used for putting pieces of paper together. Jo, a mom, and new member of the Co-op from England, piped up that in England, Scotch tape was called cello tape. So now we say Scotch or cello tape. Of course I had to add that it's also called cello tape in New Zealand, which I learned from watching Flight of the Conchords. They have a whole song about how cello tape is like love, sticky, but it holds people together, etc. Then Jo, who is a CSI in England, said something about using cello tape to lift fingerprints with the dusting powder, etc. I said we'd talk about that later, and quickly moved on to the next roll of tape.

Which was masking tape. Same thing in England. A little stronger than Scotch tape, I like to use it when hanging the meeting chart each day to show where each grownup will be at school. I'm usually at the art table. I noted that with Scotch tape and masking tape, you can rip it by yourself.

Next, we moved onto packing tape. We had a clear roll. Well, here's where it got interesting. In England, if it's clear, it's still called cello tape. If it's packing tape in America but it's brown, it's called parcel tape in England. So, any clear tape in England is called cello tape. Brown tape for wrapping parcels is called parcel tape. Makes sense. In America, it's the type of tape, not the color, that determines it's name. Clear or brown, it's still packing tape. I told the kids you had to use scissors to cut packing tape, because it's really strong.

And then the granddaddy of them all, duct tape! Which I told everyone was duct, d-u-c-t, but lots of people thought it was "duck" tape (several adult heads nodded), and then one company capitalized on that mistake by naming their company Duck Tape, so it was very confusing. Anyway, it's duct tape in England too. I told the kids duct tape was the strongest tape we had, and it had all sorts of uses. I asked Rosie to bring me the crayon basket, and explained that years ago it was a woven basket that had gotten holes in it. Instead of throwing it away, I wrapped the whole thing in duct tape, and it's lasted for years. I pointed out that duct tape could be seen all over the Co-op, we liked it so much. Mom Trish pointed out that duct tape now comes in designer colors! Tomorrow I'll have to bring in my roll of hot pink duct tape. Which I really have.

That concluded our lesson on tape. I love spontaneous lessons. And tape.