peak performance {not}

Sometimes {or nearly all the time!} I wonder how I will ever make it through life! And then I smile and realize that we shouldn't take life too seriously because nobody gets out alive anyway! One morning this past week, I got up showered and washed my hair like usual, wondering why I felt even more zonked and sluggish than I normally do. Then I happened to glance at the bathroom clock and noticed that the big hand was at the 12 and the little hand was at the 1. Eeeeek!! I guess I had dreamed that my alarm had rung! So I climbed back in bed and slept on. Totally disoriented, I kept waking up wondering WHEN my alarm was gonna ring for real! When it finally did, I got up and headed for the shower, then had to stop myself and say, "No, I don't need to shower again! I already did that in the middle of the night!" Another day, I arrived at school, bright but not so early, to find out that I did NOT have my keys with me in the zippered pocket of my large gold bag. Thankfully, Barry soon arrived. Once in the classroom, there they lay on the back counter for some odd reason. On Thursday, Mom went to Pensacola with me to get my shots. We went to Jo-Ann's so I could pick up some supplies for the resurrection gardens I am having the kids make on Monday.
.
 I wanted to get back on their teacher program to get 15% off my purchases, so I hauled a science test answer key in for proof that I really am a teacher since I didn't have a paycheck stub or anything of that nature with me. Alas, it didn't work, but I tried! Now just today, I was hunting for that Key, thinking that I must have left it in Mom's car. No, she didn't have it. So I called to Jo-Ann's and yes! It is calmly resting at the Lost and Found center. {Thanks for rescuing it, Roxie!} I still am not sure how I managed to leave it there. But, with the other imcompetencies of the week, I am not surprised. Daniel headed out Thursday for GA to help with a shooting class his friend Shep was giving in TN. To make better use of fuel, he took the Pontiac and left the large green dually for me to bomb around in! Kinda fun, actually! And, far as I know, I've only almost run someone else of the road twice! Mom and Mel came and gave me a tremendous boost with the housework this afternoon! I hope they feel blessed from the tip-top of their heads to the bottom of their boots!!! I managed to put the wall back in the closet by the water heater and change the temperature setting, but I still need to re-pack all the contents in the closet. I'm just fixing to get on that asap!! I also wanted to paint a large stripe of the lovely green "grove of pines" paint on our bedroom wall while Danl was away, but it looks as if that project will have to wait. I hope to un-earth the surface of my home office desk tonight yet too. It is piled with a good 6 inches deep of bills, mail, etc. etc. Way back in March when we went to Rox and Jer's wedding, my Nook died a digital death. Once home, I called Nook support.  English was definitely not the native tongue of the first customer service representative that helped me, so I painfully followed his instruction as he walked me through several procedures, trying to resuscitate it. No luck. I called again and this time was blessed with a Brit! Truly the mother tongue this time! {I even purposely visited more than necessary just to hear more of his lovely accent!} He promised that a brand new Nook was on the way! I received it fine and dandy. But, new Nook wouldn't connect. Finally today, I took time to put in another call to Nook support. Turned out that a simple, downloadable update was all it needed; Nook #2 is now performing in peak form! If only I could find a simple, human brain update to download that would enhance my performance.....

escape to London

 

 

Lest my sunshine start to shrivel, and my head completely disappear into discombobulation, I purposed to give myself a healthy break from continually pondering such thoughts as, "WHY did he make that grade on that test when I had thought that he was quite prepared?!... What should I do to make today's geography lesson come ALIVE so that she will grasp it???.....and WHAT really is going on in the boys' bathroom?! It feels like my mind is almost constantly swirling with school-related thoughts! So, here and there, sentence by slow sentence, I read this keeper of a book { $.69 @ We Care} this past week! I love all things Jane Austen, and this was playful prose set in London about her Pride and Prejudice. I mostly bought it because it was such a pretty book; the vivid red and green of the cover just did me in! But this time, twas a book rightly judged by its delightful, outward appearance! But alas, whilst I was whiling away my few precious minutes at home with my nose in this book, the dishes didn't do themselves, the laundry multiplied and so on and so forth. But y'all don't wanna hear about those mundane matters any more than I do! I gave it a lick and promise for now, and am eagerly anticipating Mel coming to the rescue on Tuesday! Hope you all have a terrific week, with a sneak of Jane Austen {or whatever literature tickles your gizzard and gives you extra gumption!} stuck in here and there! I'm sticking Sense and Sensibility in my bag where it can nestle with my Geography manual. Who knows? Inspiration might seep through their covers.....

purple, love, and tumbleweeds

 

My thoughts are in a bit of a skirmish....so much water has passed under the bridge, that I don't know where to begin! Spring Break is history, I've been to Kansas, Roxie and Jeremy are now Mr. and Mrs. Koehn, and it's already MARCH 10!! What more shall I say?! It was incredibly inspiring to journey to the western flatlands to witness the vows of my dear friend and cousin, and to hang out with Jill and Max! Although it is still a great mystery to me why anyone would voluntarily choose to dwell in Kansas, the bumbling, bouncing tumbleweeds did sorta tickle my gizzard! Other than the hypnotizing windmills, the land just lacks character in my opinion. {I realize I am not writing this epistle in spatial order. Please forgive.} On the way, we ended up veering from the planned route due to obediently following the faithful GPS. We ended up taking 55 north through AR instead of 20 west out of Jackson to Dallas like we had originally planned. I didn't mind; we actually got flurried on by several snowflakes, and saw fields of the white stuff around Wichita. Backing up again, I want to tell you where all we ate! LOL! Dad treated us to the Western Sizzlin' buffet in Magee, MS for lunch. {Of course, we had a laundry basket of snacks for in between meals.} For supper, we settled in at an Arkansas Waffle House. I highly recommend their pecan waffle! We soon sacked out in style at a fairly new Sleep Inn in Van Buren, AR. I swam solo in the heated pool before calling it a day. After whisking ourselves down for complimentary waffles the next morning, we headed west again. It got warmer as we got closer to Ingalls, much to my dismay. I was relishing wearing my winter boots for once!! Aunt Sue and I settled in at Jill's grandparents house; Jill, Jan, and Max soon arrived! Max is just growing up like the cutest lil weed! Next event was the "Saturday Night Supper" as we commonly call it! I was thrilled to meet the other members of Roxie's family, and to see friends I hadn't connected with for ages! After eating, all those that were so inclined stood together around the projector and sang their hearts out. Back at the Schmidt's, we got to visit with Louis and Amy and their 4 kiddos! {They are just a tiny bit older than we are! Help!} Louis and Daniel have been friends for years, so he was disappointed that Danl hadn't been able to come with me. Jill and I stayed up as late as we could of course. All too soon, my alarm was ringing its head off! The wedding day had arrived! Roxie was a beautiful bride in a lovely, yet simple, dark lavender dress. The bridesmaids wore teal, which complemented the purple perfectly! Rox and Jer were full of excited grins and goofs! {I loved my side-view seat!} "I do, I do, I will, I will," and away walked the bride and groom, towards their new life together with huge smiles on their radiant faces! After eating the delicious wedding meal of yummy pork, roll, coleslaw, beans, cake, and coffee, I was dismayed to see a purple toaster, just like the one I had already purchased to give them at their Florida reception, come happily through the gift line. I had applauded myself for not procrastinating for once, all to no avail! Now WHAT in the world shall we get them for a present?! I had picked out that toaster for Roxie at Target long before she was even engaged!! Such is life. At their send-off, we riced them down thoroughly,{Anthony was even on the house roof and doused them good as they came out the door!} and sent them away to honeymoon, their car billowing with balloons, streamers, and caution tape! I didn't go to church in the evening, opting instead to spend precious time with Jill, Max, and my cousins from PA and WI. We said our sad goodbyes and left out Monday morning, after shopping at "Just For You" in Montezuma. Bought myself a teeny-tiny glass dog to add to my collection for a souvenir, and got some Kansas beef at the local grocery store to take home for Daniel! This time, we headed for Dallas down through the beautiful scenery of Oklahoma and northern Texas. Braums was a MUST for lunch! I loved my thick, onion-y chili and two scoops of ice cream! White chocolate raspberry and cherry pecan chunk.... yummo! Several hours later, Dad treated us to Pancho's Mexican Buffet in Dallas. Fresh-made flour tortillas and hot sopapillas hit the spot! I drove some intricate loop-de-loops in downtown Dallas since the GPS couldn't figure out the construction zones. Finally after midnight, we stopped for a few zzzzz's in Marshall, LA. Or maybe it was Marshall, TX. I don't know! With home sweet home on the horizon, the last stretch of the way dragged along! Stopped again in Magee for lunch, this time at Dairy Queen. Finally, we rolled into Atmore! Then on to 6350 Garrett Road and into my hubby's arms! HOME at last.