it's begining to look alot like christmas!

the weather has gotten colder and the leaves are now all in the yard.  of course the last of them fell after it got cold so they're still in the yard and not at the landfill or compost pile.  i can't really believe that there are only 2 weeks till my favorite holiday.  work has been hectic but not so busy and the days have flown by. 

i went to my first ever KU basketball game and it was quite an experience.  penny asked me if cory and i wanted to go.  she had extra tickets from her brother and we jumped on the chance.  KU was playing UCLA.  not a stellar match up but the game was hair raising.  KU won by a freethrow with the foul called at the buzzer.  it looked like over time but a review deemed it before the buzzer. it looked like it could be the first home loss by KU in over 60 games.  the crowd was pumped.  see the picture of cory and i at the game with th Jayhawk.

another fall in kansas...

so it's october and great!  the weather is warm...50's at night and 70-80 in the days.  so weird.  cory is now 23, 6'1".  he's home and living in the basement aka "the cave".  i can hear him laughing at the tv or internet or....he comes up for food and to do laundry but that's about it.  his job as a paraeducator is going well.  the staff really like him and are glad he is working there.  he definately wants to teach and has been looking at schools he gan get his certificate at.  looks to be about 1-1 1/2 year process.  but he has insurance and life is good. 


the fall has arrived and my favorite time of year is here.  the annual leaf fall is begining.  i've already blown the yard twice and filled almost 15 bags of leaves. the really big fall hasn't happened yet! i keep thinking it's forced exercise!  the two very large oaks in the back yard are heavy with acorns again.  i can't walk barefoot and it sounds like hail hitting the deck and roof. 

speaking of roof..i finally got a new one.  it looks great: we've had a few heavy rains so i know it isn't leaking.  my cousin outlaw travis had his contractor do the job and it's great!  the roof had been "hanging" over my head for years.   school is 25% done for the year.  it's hard to believe but the first quarter is over and parent conferences are this week.  i'm already thinking of summer plans.  any one want to travel in early june?  i get out of school around may 25th and cory leaves for camp mid june. 

weight watchers is up and down.  my leg is better and i've joined lifetime fitness.  i'm trying to go m,w,f at 6-7am.  we'll see how it goes! 

painting in the basement

with cory moving home in a month or so i've been wroking on the basement.  i now have the walls done and need to do some touch up and the center post, etc done.  today was the last of the big painting...however i had some help.

for some reason, darby loves the smell of solvents.  she has chewed up the gas can spouts and the screwtop for the lawn mower.  i noticed a few lick spots on the brown paint that i'll have to touch up.  today i finished the blue paint and went upstairs to wash out the brush and roller pan.  york was watching but darby was missing...

toto's moving a little slow this week

beware the picture is pretty gross so ....

so as you see, i had my biannual trip to the emergency room. luckily it was 8pm on thursday july 1st. it was empty. they have revised and remodeled their reception and procedures. it was about 1hr start to finish. at 58 you'd think that i'd quit doing things that need stitches. shit!

so how did this happen? simply. it hadn't rained in several weeks so breaking with my cheap financial and environmental beliefs i hate to water but it was getting bad. besides i usually forget to turn off the water. i tend remember in the middle of the night or when i get the paper in the morning. so i was being a wise steward and going down the back deck stairs to turn off the water.

i carefully went down the stairs and when i got to the bottom landing i took a big step and slipped on the wet mossy planks. quick as wink i'm laying on the patio wondering what the hell did i do. it took a minute or so to figure out i'm alive and stupid. once the wave of pain passed, it hobbled over to turn off the water. i kept thinking that if i didn't do it now i'd have do do it later.

i climbed up the stairs. got a towel and sat in the chair. i looked down and looked. shit this is going to take stitches. i started getting chills so i sat there thinking where's my phone. after another few minutes i was good to go. i changed my pants to pajama shorts thinking i may never get the chance to change. i found my insurance card and drove to the ER. it's only 12 blocks away. i go by there every day to work. besides i've been there at least 5 times. 3 for me.

it was very efficient. the PA pumped me up with numbing agent and began cleaning. while this is happening the admit people asked for my ins cards. really easy.

16 stitches and an hour later i'm on my way home. no pain till the next night. when cory reminded me that i have pain pills from surgery in january i've been good to go.

cory is having a great time in maine. i haven't actually talked to him - maybe tomorrow- but his texts are great. he watched fireworks the camp had on the 4th, he loves getting packages from home, he gets a day off tomorrow, they've been telling kids scary stories. the kids keep him running and he's having the time of his life! everything he hoped it would be.

i'm fine, dogs are fine after their vet trip - yeasty ear for darby and a hot spot for york- and cory is great.

xxxooo to all.

first day of summer

cory at allen field house - home to KU BASKETBALL

cory at the union with the "hawk"

marty and cory

today is the first day of summer and it's hot and muggy in kc. i spent most of the day in my new classroom putting stuff away. there isn't a budget to paint so i've been cleaning the walls and hanging maps, flags and posters to cover the bad spots. i still have more to put away.

so this is a year of change. cory graduated from KU in may. marty came out to celebrate and helped him set up an IRA. a great gift for cory to learn.

KU's graduation is great fun. there is a walk of graduates from the campanile to the stadium. most of the grads make the walk and skip the ceremony. cory did the walk then we toured campus. he had his picture taken in the best of places/memories. see above.

more changes - i moved to olathe northwest high school with the 9-12 rearrangement. i'm teaching the same modern world history and the new pre-AP version. so while not a lot of changes, there are some new challenges.

i'm not traveling anywhere this summer so i'm open to all visitors. so far no one wants to come back east to see me. cory is gone till aug 15 so....

summer projects abound. i finally got the house re roofed. i've been putting it off for 5 years. it's hard to believe that it only takes 2 days. they had to pull off asphalt shingles, wood shingles and install new decking, under layment and shingles. it looks great. of course no great storms since the roof has been on...should be getting new gutters soon.

i've painted cory's new bedroom in the basement - yes he's moving home - and the closet alone took 1 gallon of paint. phew! the bathroom needs plaster work and then paint. i worry about the carpeted floor there and cory and his guy pals using it.....ya know? then the whole basement needs paint. the last time i did that was 8-9 years ago. so we're going from green and yellow - cory's high school colors -to chocolate and baby blue.

it's all not so bad except there is a shitload of stuff in the way.

i did repaint cory's old bedroom - the new guest room. it is lime green and wicker. that is the furniture is white wicker. so i have a queen bed there and a full in cory's room and bunk beds somewhere else. i even have a clean spare car for the summer.

so if this isn't enough...i start a week's long econ class - econ and the far east - at KU kansas city campus, and i have to resow the garden. i've already eaten the lettuce, peas and radishes. the carrots , tomatoes and peppers haven't been harvested yet. the lawn mower is on the fritz and the grass is ankle high ... what to choose next.

cory is working at camp wekeela in maine. he's been gone for 5 days i've only heard from him 2x, so i guess he's having a blast. one text said "everyone is so nice. weird!"

like mom used to say make a list and start crossing things off. so i'm off to make my list.

ah spring!

marty came for a 4 day mini vacation. we went to atchison and weston and stopped at riverwood winery on the river road. it was recommended by our data entry clerk and resident sage at PRT, lisa polson. we tasted their line and mart bot 3 bottles to take home. who knew we had this interesting stuff.

there were alot of empty store fronts in weston and atchison. the recession is hitting the heartland too. my favorite shop "missouti bluffs" is still doing well. we had a nice lunch at the weston cafe.

we went to lawrence so cory could pick up stuff he left behind for break. the shops on Mass. street were quite busy. lots of buzz with KU in the ncaa brackets and ranked nearly the whole BB season #1. we ate well while she was here. freestate brewery in lawrence, garozzos and hereford house in overland park.

i took mart to "1/2 of 1/2". it's a store that has closeouts, end runs and god knows what but it is always cheep. it is an old furniture store that is just a huge space with clothes racks. it is a bit of a local phenom. you never know what you'll find. there are snags and tears, bad buttons and zippers and some perfect clothes. the stock changes all the time. it's kind of like tuesday morning for clothes... bit seedier tho. she said i could have dropped her off and she could spend the whole day! needless to say she shipped a box of finds home.

the weather was typical of kansas for marts visit. grey skies and 45 temps. after she left the temps were in the hi 60's and sunny for 2 days. i did sustained yard work yesterday.

but now is the first day of spring. we have snow falling. 1 inch already on the ground and more in the forecast. monday is expected to be in the 40's and tue in the 60's. the kids will be off the walls on monday with the end of spring break and wacky kansas weather. god, i love kansas!

it's been forever

ok so the surgery to get rid of the gall bladder was a success. i now have a bullet proof gut. at least everything i've tried to eat is great. even the margaritas that had been plaguing me forever are good to go!

the semester is half over in 2 days....that means 8 weeks till summer and even less till cory's college graduation! after 5 years it looks like it will be over for a while. he's still thinking of teaching so school will go on and on. he has taken a job for the summer at camp wekeela. it is a summer camp in hartford maine. he will be counselor/land sports guy. the kids are from 6-16 years old. the parents pay a fortune to send kids to camp. check out their website at http://www.campwekeela.com . i've read that this kind of summer camp is recession proof...who knew! he'll be gone from mid june to mid august. kids can go for up to 7 weeks. he's really looking forward to it!

it means that i'll be in kansas for the summer. no france, no spain, no seattle! i may have to get some work done around here. my bathroom is in an unfinished state and has been for 4 years. the basement needs a makeover since cory will be living there next year paying rent. good thing i like to paint!

spring break is 2 days away. marty is flying down for a few days and we've got a really fun class for sat nite. cory, marty and i are taking a cooking class from the culinary center of kansas city. it's 3 hours. it's hands on and called "julia and me". we cook Coquilles St. Jacques and Crepes and other stuff. it should be an adventure! not sure what else we'll do but bbq and seeing the sights will be in there.

i'm starring to look forward to spring. the weather has been in the 60's for the last few days and the tulips and narcissus are peeping out of the ground. there is a bit of snow forecast for friday...just when you thot is was safe to put the down coats away!

the snow is gone!!!!

but it may be back next week! it's been grey for the last few days but the temps have been hovering in the 40's so life is good. the rains in california have reminded me of the days of yore and making xmas cookies with marty and mom and the fire roaring in the kitchen.

the back yard is wet, wet, wet and the dogs have been having a ball. i'm thinking of getting straw for the places they like to run over alot. the kitchen has gotten a bit of a cleaning. the refrig is now sparkling and the floors have had a nice wipe. now i have to tackle the counters. i sure am a pile-er. there are piles all over and random shoes that york likes to bring downstairs. i have to catch them before he takes them outside.

i've been doing ok on the weight loss. about 20 lbs so far. i guess one of the side effects is gall stones. luckily they found protein in a routine uranalysis. of course after i heard that i googled the possible causes and had an attack that night...mind over matter? anyway the story is i have to have my gall bladder out. i feel like i know about the proceedures i keep hearing about. i've had a cat scan and ultrasound and wed i get a mri. surgery is scheduled for friday if the mri is good.

i told cory and he told me that he doesn't have classes on friday and will be home thursday night. i told him that i have others who can drive me home but he wouldn't hear of it...as aggrivating as he can be....he's a real sweetheart.

it looks like i'll only have to take fri off and the weekend to recouperate. that helps my nerves since no one can teach my kids the way i do...more when i get a chance.