the windy city

uh, but 32 degrees is still pretty dern bone-chillin' cold, especially when you're walking across the chicago river at night.

good day, sunshine

turns out 55 minutes isn't that long after all, and 23 degrees can turn to 32 degrees before you even get on the airplane. :-)

most banal to date

Going to Willow-world in Chi-town where the high on Sunday is oh, roughly 22. At least the sun is shining, though. This dreary, fog-infested, rainy cold-stuff is making me crazy.

A is Little Bo Peep tonight in her school program. That should be entertaining. She was pretty worked up about it last night...couldn't go to sleep. Do you remember when life was that simple? That'd be nice if I just had to dress up like Peep on Saturday and deliver two lines instead of lead 3 hours worth of conferences. Not that I'm complaining (yes, I am); it's just that 3 hours is a very long time for a person who is not all that wordy. Succint, concise - these are words that describe me (except of course when it comes to my blog where I often find the need to key my every thought and then follow them up with explanations of those thoughts. maybe that's what I should do; I could pretend that the audience is my monitor and I'm simply blogging all my thoughts about teaching for transformation and facilitating meaningful discussion. yeah). therefore, I find it difficult to get excited about 55 minutes times 3. Besides that, most people tune out after 22.5 minutes anyway, wondering what's for lunch and if Midlothian has anything good because we've come all this way.

You might be wondering why I'm boring you with such frivolity. It's because I am currently a prisoner in my own house. There's a painter who has been here all day caulking and painting, caulking and painting, caulking and painting. Our cabinets will most likely need to be replaced, but this is a last-ditch effort to fix the problem before going to such an extreme measure on a brand-new home. Anyway, I'm not a daytime tv watcher, and i must stay here. So looks like you get a meaningless blog out of the deal.

I know you were disappointed that the last entry didn't have a deep thought, so here ya' go:

Probably the saddest thing you'll ever see is a mosquito sucking on a mummy. Give it up, little guy. - JH

Insider

well he was on there 3 x, but, apparently, you had to know where he was standing because i never saw him.

they didn't show the older brother's room, but he had a flight simulator in there.

some notable quotes from the fam as we watched it together:

c on kdw and lack of airtime: "Maybe next time he should donate some bone marrow beforehand."

a on the bubble room: "NO FAIR!"

b on plans for the future: "When I grow up I'm going to build a shack and get some animals in there to get my allergies really bad. Then maybe I can get a house like that."

i'm so proud!!! it's all about giving and love, isn't it?

Just keepin' it real.

totally random

sitting here watching the downhill moguls competition. and i wish they had those guys miked. because I'm thinking that monica seles has nothing on them....ow ow ow ow ow ow oo ah ow ow ow oo oo ah ow ah ow ow ow ow ow ow ah oo ow ow [raise arms to make all the peoples think you just did something really important and had fun while doing it]

clay is sitting next to me and he smells just like a big jar of peanut butter. some snacks just stay with you for awhile. nice.

kdw is 'bout to be world famous. everybody tivo this sunday's extreme makeover: home edition at 7. either that or go to his house for the big party and watch it there. he sent me an invitation and i'm sure he meant that you're all invited, too. btw, he's the brains behind the front of the house. and i saw pics and it do look good.

If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, we build to that. - JH

that's buttaful

Happy Valentine's Day everybody. This is from A to me. No, we don't expect her to win the spelling bee, but don't you think she has great potential as a writer? And on a scale of preciousness, I'm thinking that card is pretty much at the top.

- buttaful me

Love can sweep you off your feet and carry you along in a way you've never known before. But the ride always ends, and you end up feeling lonely and bitter. Wait. It's not love I'm describing. I'm thinking of a monorail. --Jack Handey

Could You Please Repeat the Word?

she said "tapestried". He heard "tapestry". Too bad that wasn't the word she said because he spelled it right. parents around us wondered why he sat down, because they thought she said tapestry, too. oh well. 8th one left standing in the county bee...not bad. and there's always next year. and this reminds me of another deep thought by Jack Handey:

"If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let 'em go, because, man, they're gone."

grasping, grasping...

did anyone notice the score of the women's basketball game last night between Texas A&M and UT? THAT'S RIGHT : fightin' Texas Aggies dominated 73-53. and yes, i do realize i'm grasping at straws.

For your entertainment - Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey: Probably to a shark, about the funniest thing there is is a wounded seal, trying to swim to shore, because WHERE DOES HE THINK HE'S GOING?!

dumbfounded and disappointed yet somewhat hopeful

[exhale] Finished my 6 month writing assignment last night about 9. You'd think I'd have lots to say about that, but I'm sitting here dumbfounded. that's right, dumbfounded. Maybe I'm all out of words? I sure hope not since I have ladies' Bible study tonight, a Sunday school conference in 2 weeks, and a unit for youth from Acts about the church to get started on.

I must admit, this week's 24 was somewhat disappointing. One of the things that has endeared me to the show is the intensity and frequent surprise. But this week...at least 3 things that were all too familiar: the deaths of the two people - one who had vital info. and one who you just wanted to see in a jail cell for a minute. You know, like all those times Sydney and Jack had conversations with Arvin Sloane through the bars on Alias? Then there was the introduction of some weird little sub-plot that seems entirely pointless--Lynn's strung-out sister having him mugged in the parking lot. Reminded me of the schizophrenic daughter from last season whose demise did not come soon enough for me. But I'm a true fan and a writer myself, so I'll give them the benefit of doubt and anticipate a super show next week.

This coming Monday night Brandon is in the county spelling bee. Go Brandon! Here's hoping the spelling bee gives us some bloggable material...