The Median Sib

(Now isn’t that the perfect quote for a reading specialist to put on her blog?)

Despite my declaration on Saturday that I WOULD finish my Christmas shopping that morning, I didn’t. During one of my breaks at school yesterday, I logged onto Amazon.Com and took care of a couple of items. They were gifts for children, though - the easy gifts. I still have two other gifts to buy. I’m wimping out on my own children’s gifts. They’re both getting checks - and not very big ones at that. They’re both adults - money is what they need most.

I had high hopes of sending Christmas cards this year. I decided last night to just scrap the idea. It was too late, and I was too tired to spend several hours on it. It is interesting. I’ve received TWO Christmas cards this year. Usually by this time I have received lots of cards. However, usually by this time, I’ve already sent out my own. My conclusion is that MOST of the people on my Christmas list, then, only send Christmas cards to people who send them one. Next conclusion: Who wants a Christmas card from someone who sends them only as a reciprocal action. Nahhhh - not me.

I’m still in a bad mood because my school doesn’t get out until Thursday! I have so much to do to get ready for Christmas, and there will be no time to do it. So Bah Humbug! on my school system! My solution to not having enough time to do what I need to do? I just won’t do everything. Christmas cards? nix them. Decorating the house? Nope. Christmas tree? Well, I put it up, and last night the granddaughters put a few ornaments along the bottom - it looks perfect to me. I won’t decorate it further.

So…deep breath! Everything is fine. What isn’t done doesn’t have to be done. I will enjoy the season and stop obsessing over what I don’t have time to do. I feel better already.

It’s that time of year again….

Does anyone really like fruitcake?

(More therapy is needed!)

JSC, one of my faithful readers (and she’d better be since she’s my sister), asked about a house plan that I posted a couple months ago. Go HERE to see the nicest house plan I’ve found yet.

The New Year is almost here, and I have a good idea for those of us who want some inspiration to exercise regularly. Let’s do a MONTHLY MARATHON. I’m going to work on a blogroll for it. Here are the conditions to join the blogroll:

(1) For 2006, you promise to walk, run, skip, hop, or crawl 26.2 miles each month. This is a very do-able goal. You can cover 1 miles 26+ days each month, 2 miles 13+ days per month…You get the idea.
(2) You will check in each month with your total mileage for the month.

Who’s interested? Let me know, and I’ll get the blogroll started by the first of the year!

Just read a great post over at The Reflective Teacher. If you teach writing … or want your kiddos to really think, check THIS out. I will be taking Hershey Kisses to school with me tomorrow. (YES, doggone it! I still have 3 and 1/2 more days of school before the break! Crazy!)

Just finished going through my morning blog reading, and I found THIS POST at Jack Yoest about a new style of dress. What do you think?

I went to a party Wednesday evening, and the hostess served crackers with a pesto dip. It was wonderful! She gave me the recipe, and it is extremely easy to make:

1/4 cup pesto (well stirred)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped fine (get the kind that’s packed in oil, drain)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix well with a spoon - it’ll be sorta crumbly. Serve with crackers (I like Wheat Thins, but other similar crackers are good, too).

That’s it. I made this dip to take to the meeting I attended yesterday, and every bit of it was eaten. So give it a try!

Just got up (LOVE sleeping late on Saturday mornings) and checked my blog for comments, and I saw that The Median Sib has moved up to (drumroll, please!) LARGE MAMMAL status on TTLB’s Ecosystem! Fun! Fun!

I probably won’t post much this weekend. I’ve got housecleaning to do - those exciting tasks of laundry, picking up the junk I’ve left lying around all week, and putting the few dishes I used throughout the week into the dishwasher. I only ate dinner at home two nights this week, and both times I just had a bowl of cereal. So there’s not much to do in that area. I was too tired (aka lazy) to put them in the dishwasher at the time.

PawPaw will come by to pick me up in about two hours, and we’re going out to finish ALL (yes, I DO mean ALL) our Christmas shopping. I will NOT come home until every gift is bought! Then tonight we’ll decorate his Christmas tree.

Both kids are out of town this weekend - Stinkeroo & her family are visiting friends in St. Louis, and Scalawag has gone hunting - don’t know if he’s duck hunting or deer hunting. I should call Meah to see what she’s doing this weekend - or maybe she went with Scalawag, although I kinda doubt it.

Here’s to weekends! I love ‘em!

If you want to show your support for our troops, you can find some excellent suggestions for how to add a little enjoyment to their time in Iraq over at Blue Star Chronicles.

I watched every episode of “The Apprentice” this season, and after last week’s show, I was certain that Donald Trump would select both Randal and Rebecca to be his apprentice. However on last night’s episode, it didn’t happen that way. Trump chose Randal, and then he offered Randal the opportunity to show his loyalty and generosity by asking him if he thought Rebecca should be hired, too. And Randal said no. He said the title of the show is “The Apprentice”, not “The Apprenti” (I THINK that’s what he said instead of “The Apprentices.”) Either way, he blew it.

I respected him up to that point, and then he showed his true nature - which is greedy and disloyal. I’m no longer one of his fans. He talked so much the past couple episodes about how he respected Rebecca and felt she was a good leader, a good friend and a worthy opponent. And then he stabbed her in the back because he wanted to keep all the “glory” for himself.

Shame on you, Randal! If the shoe had been on the other foot, Rebecca would have stood up for you. You showed how small you really are.

Thirteen Things about THE MEDIAN SIB 1. I’m starting my FIRST Thursday Thirteen on a Friday. I hope no one holds that against me. I didn’t want to wait until next Thursday to get started. 2. I haven’t been to the mall a single time this Christmas season. 3. I still have lots of Christmas shopping to do…maybe tomorrow. 4. I’ve thought I might make some frozen meals for my two married children to help them on those hectic evenings after work when they don’t feel like preparing a meal. Just a thought - I don’t know if they’d really like that for a Christmas gift or not. I’ll have to decide soon. 5. A friend told me the other night that she had told everyone in her family to contribute to a charity in her name - and she told them the charity she preferred. She said she felt really good about the decision and her kids were happy with it, too. I know my daughter has already bought me a gift for this year. So I can’t switch and ask for a charity donation instead. Next year, though, I’m going to ask for everyone who wants to give me a gift to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in my name instead. I like that idea. 6. I’m a teacher - a reading specialist - and we don’t get out of school until December 22nd - which is too close to Christmas! 7. However, we don’t go back to school until January 9th. So I’ll enjoy extra time off after Christmas. 8. My two granddaughters are the lights of my life. They’re 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 - and I KNOW I’d better not leave off those half years! 9. I’m glad I found the Thursday Thirteen links because this will be a good way to get to know people and to make myself THINK about what’s going on in my life. 10. I was in an all-day meeting today with other reading specialists in my county, and it was mostly a very good day. I learned a lot from one speaker, in particular. 11. I think I’ve got the best job in the world. Except for the pay, being a reading specialist is wonderful. 12. I married in 1969 and divorced in 1997. However, my ex and I are now back together again and have been working on all the issues that led to the divorce. Things look very promising for us. 13. Referring back to #12, we’re looking at house plans, and that is a lot of fun! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) A Day in the Life of Veronika Jane at Cozy Reader

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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I saw this on another blog, and I clicked away from it too soon. So I don’t remember which blog had it. If it’s your quote, I’ll be glad to give you credit for it. I thought it was a great answer to WHY DO WE BLOG?

I’ve been so busy this evening working with the designer of my blog template that I hadn’t even thought of actually WRITING a post for my blog! And here it is just a few minutes till midnight. I’ll have to post this in the next five minutes in order to make sure I have a post for today. I don’t think I’ve missed a day since I started the blog in September.

This business of designing an original template takes a lot of time, and I’m not even the one doing the work! I’m just the one offering opinions and suggestions. My designer, Beth, and I are novices at this, and we’re slowly learning how to do it. And again, I emphasize that SHE is the one doing all the work. I really like the look of my blog now, though. Still a little more fine-tuning to go, and it will be done…for now.

Last night was the Christmas program at Sweet Stuff’s and Sunshine’s school. Since I’ve gone to the school numerous times over the past few years to pick up one or both girls for various reasons, I’ve consequently met most of their friends and their friends’ parents. However, I wasn’t prepared to be greeted by one mom with a “Hi Grandma Carol!” Sigh! I’m Grandma Carol even to other adults!

Sweet Stuff was dressed as a Christmas Tree in order to sing “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” and “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.” She has a beautiful voice and really enjoyed singing the songs. Hers was the loudest voice there! Not too loud, though — just sweet!

All the children in Sunshine’s class got their noses painted red to go along with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Sunshine would have none of that! She’s the only girl in her class - 14 boys and Sunshine. She’s accustomed to getting her own way. She insisted that the teacher paint her nose pink since pink is her favorite color. The teacher was happy to comply. So we now have a new Christmas character - Sunshine the PINK-nosed Reindeer. Sunshine also will not smile for a picture! She is a VERY determined two-year old.