. . . the little one stopped to tie his shoe . . .

Just like last year at this time, we have had some unwelcome guests in our apartment. ANTS! They are taking over the place. Okay, it's not that bad. But from anywhere in the apt, I can see at least five ants - and I'm sure there are dozens on the speckled carpet. I won't be surprised if one shows up on the screen as I type. (That happened several times yesterday.) I usually just let them be. But sometimes enough is enough and I dispose of a few.

Yeah, we bought those ant bait traps (a.k.a."Ant Hotels"). Maybe they just take a few days to do their stuff. We hope to see less of the ants soon. Meanwhile, we are putting our cereal in ziploc bags and trying to ant-proof our stuff the best we can. (Last year they ate through a plastic wrapper and completely devoured a hard sucker. I found the evidence on top of the fridge - a sucker stick, void of the candy, inside of the wrapper. There was only a tiny hole in the plastic. Those ants are clever!)

Anyway, beware of the ants. They are harmless, but itchy. And if you have any sure-fire ant removal tips, please let us know!

P.S. Coincidentally, my copy of this book arrived at the school this week (from the book orders). Life is true.

Tag, I'm not "It" anymore

I guess I better respond to being tagged, whatever this tagging business is all about!

Rules of the Game:
1. Find the nearest book to you.
2. Name the book and author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog.
6. Tag three other people.

To Be a Slave, Julius Lester

(It's a book my teacher gave me today. He ordered about a dozen from the book orders. He says it is a great book - a collection of narratives by actual slaves. I haven't read it yet, but if the sentences on page 123 interest me, maybe I will!)

"Upon closer examination of this frightful figure, I perceived that it wore a collar of iron around its neck, with a large padlock pendant from behind, and carried in its hand a long staff, with an iron spear in one end. . . . It slowly approached within ten paces of me and stood still. . . . The black apparition moved past me, went to the water, and kneeled down."

Um, I tag Jonny and, well, um, Jonny and Jonny. (It seems that all others have been tagged. However, if you have been missed, then I tag you too.)

A little something to blog about . . .

Well, Jonny is working very late tonight (they are launching some kind of big project over there at Logoworks) and I have completed my lesson planning and schoolwork for the evening. I was about to crochet or read, when I realized our blog has been a little stale lately. Surely I have something to blog about! Actually, I have thought of a few things. And here they are:

Valentine's Day: Of course Jonny went against my instruction not to go out of his way (he has had a busy past few weeks at work) to get me anything or do anything special. First I woke up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Then I was surprised by my love when he popped into the classroom with a dozen roses. (The kids thought is was great. On occasion he stops in to eat lunch with the kids and me at the school, so they know and like him.) As if that wasn't enough, I found one of his darling and hilarious poems on the bed at home. He loves me! Yesterday and every day.
Oh, the pineapple was a gift from me. I guess I didn't get around to my traditional chocolate covered strawberries this year!

Mail for Molly - or whoever she turns out to be: Earlier this week we received a small package in the mail from Jonny's Aunt Barb who lives in Indiana. She sent a set of adorable booties - our first baby gift! She noted that when she saw them she just couldn't resist. Now they are displayed in our living room. I just love them and can't wait to see them on our little girl's tootsies. Thanks again, Barb!

True love is never dusty - whatever that means: A few weeks ago, I believe it was, Jonny surprised me with a set of swiffer dusters. I guess he heard me say they looked cool when we saw a commercial one day. Of course I'd never go out and buy disposable dusters on my own, so he took it upon himself to do the honors! Now when dusting I think of him. Thanks, handsome!

Okay, enough is enough. Thanks for reading my post. It helped pass the time, anyway! Over and out.

Second Grade Wisdom

As you can see, I haven't posted much. Student-teaching Mr. Porter's second grade class at Bonneville Elementary has kept me busy from 7:30 to 4:00, and exhausted afterward! (Especially this week, as I have been substituting the class on my own.) But you know, I am learning a lot from these rambunctious kids. Every morning they write in their journals. A few days ago, one boy shared his entry with me. It read something like this: "I forgot to bring my library book to school this morning. Now I won't be able to check a new one out. But the day will go on. It is already getting a little better."

My elementary friend's words have come into my mind several times in the past week. Because, truthfully, those hard days will go on. And I have come to see that the best choice is to go along with them. You know what? They usually do get a little better . . . and sometimes a lot better.