Because When You Think The World Needs To See Some Damn Cute Pictures of one Super Duper Cute Baby Girl, You Better Believe I Am Going To Post Em!

I had a very fun Memorial Day weekend. As I have told many, I was thrilled to complete my task of attending at least one backyard bbq (sometimes if i was really lucky two!) every day Sat-Monday over the duraration of end of May days. Yes, it is the little things in life that tend to make me do metaphorical backflips....

One of the best moments was getting to see Matt, Julie and little Caroline! Matt, you see, was my former "work husband" when we resided in the Sales Support Department at McDonald Investments. During our duration as co-workers we also enjoyed fun outside of work activites such as playing golf (more like him schooling me during the game), going to Cedar Point and just shooting the shit like school girls.

After the company buy out, Matt and his family headed back to Indi where he now works for National City. I was bummed to see my buddy go. : ( I did get to see Caroline a weee bit before they departed (leaving me with a kick ass dining room table set. You guys rock!) but I was sad because I thought i would not see them again for a while. Well, all that changed on Saturday when I got to see Matt, Julie and little Caroline at our old department's reunion at Single Tree Winery! It was a blast! Good times with old friend, wine and a cute baby. Really can it get any better? I dare not believe so.


This one was taken just a few weeks after Caroline was born. When they were still residing in O-Town.


The kid and a glass of wine. Guess if I think this is funny I should probably hold off on having kids for a few years.


Paul, just be glad she left her brass knuckles at home this time. Both Linda and I thought this was pretty funny.



Baby behind the bar with the co-owner, Todd. Big pimpin

Because Yes, Adam, Sometimes They Do Notice The Contrast of White on White

Okay, the first person that comments on what song and lead singer of what band I am referencing in the title of this modest post gets a nickle and a hug from me. I know, it is a pretty easy one for anyone that has at least a basic knowledge of this band but maybe I just like to give out nickles and hugs. Did you ever think of that? I have plenty of them available in this 8th floor penthouse suite of mine. If you want, you can decline the huggage and just request the loot but I have to advise you though that I am having a pretty good smellin week. Honest, I even got witnesses to prove it. Two different students (note - not the same student at different times) told me during one-on-one conferences that "I smelled good". I probably should have corrected their grammar but what kind of an a-hole does that after a compliment? Not sure if their comments translated into I usually smell like sweat and fear and this week is an exception, but I ain't gonna think like that, peeps. Like I said before, I try not to be that a-hole gal. I am just gonna take it and ride that good time wave. So to rap this intro up, it would probably be your loss not to cash in on the hug factor, but on a footnote -- I also believe and honor rainchecks.

I was going through the grocery store tonight after class thinking about how how truly perfect class was tonight. I can't say enough how much I honestly love my job or how much of a rush it is to see a student find improvement and success with their writing. Sure, I may moan and groan, himmmm and haaaaw a bit when it comes time to do grades, time consuming end of year/beginning of year ppwrk and grading stacks of research papers but in the grand scheme of things it really is a small price to pay for the exhileration I get from teaching. And sometimes, on some very rare and spectacular occassions, you are given the chance to have one of those classes that sets a new pinacle for you as the teach.

As some of you know (and if you don't, I am sure as hell gonna lay it on you now), I like to teach Tim O'Brien's short story "The Things They Carry" in both my regular comp. class and foundations (the students with a wee bit of troubles in the reading, writing and comprehending areas). The department fully supports and respects my choice to showcase this work in the reg. comp class however, they are a bit hestitant to endorse it for my foundations class. You see, they are a bit gun shy and believe that text might be too over the heads of the students and it would result in frustration, subpar assignments turned in related to the text and an overall waste of class time that could probably be better spent, at least in their eyes, underlining prepositons and drawing circles around adverbs (or correcting this run-on city sentence). However, when push comes to shove, they let me go with it. They probably just think "Well, I guess their are worse things that this young kid could be doing with her class." or they are just fearful that if they deny this youth charged and rebelous teacher for too long that she will have to result in Kevin Bacon's ways of teaching the kids to.... dare I say it.....DANCE! Too bad the Mr. Penn could not come in to guest lecture on that halmark day. R.I.P Wilbur.

So tonight I had the class dip into the great unknown of "The Things They Carried". And with me, as unfortunate as it is, I carried with me the aprehensions of the powers that be. I piggybacked the notion that the class, except for a few bright twinkles, would not get the gist and the supporting points that make this story the masterpiece that it is. I even decided, for good measure, to spice it up and throw in a few extra things that Steve, Paul and I were tossing around the table discussion this weekend.

The result.... one of the, if not the, best classes that I have ever taught. These students took it in, ate it up and spit back some impressive commentary that knocked my socks off. Well, not really my socks off since I sported summer sandles tonight with the evening dean being out of state for course review. So the comfy sandle wearing teach that I am was diggin what the students were dishin out tonight. Here are just a few of the areas that they Judo chopped tonight.... And keep in your shirt pocket that the educatees either brought up or totally took the ball and ran to the endzone with a majority of this subtopics...

~ Examining Martha as a virgin and a whore. How her innocence and contamination influence the mental state of Jimmy
Cross.

~ Disecting the relgious implications of Jimmy's last name, Cross.

~ The reasons why soldiers used humour to deal with the frequency of violent death.

~ A detailed listing of mental items carried as well as the implications of those items on the individual soliders and those
around them.

~ The comparison and contrasting of environment for Jimmy and Martha.

~ The positives and negatives of Martha not being a physically visible character in the text.

~ The innocence of Jimmy's attempts to court Martha.

~ The treatment of the word "love" as a sense of comfort and a sense of torment for characters.


Way to go my students. You left me a little prouder than normal tonight.

A Damn Good Time To Be Livin In Cleveland

Tonight I went to the Around The Corner Bar in Lakewood with Colleen, Andrea and Gina to watch the Cavs beat the Pistons. It was a great night to chill outside with a few beers and view the game on the various tvs on the patio. 2 to 2, keep it up boys, the city loves it. : )

A Little Friday Night Special -- Because, She's "Got Brass In Pocket."

I used to think that "Son of a Son of a Sailor" was the coolest title, now I am board lining with going to watch "The ex of an ex jam her guitar" as the new leader of the raddest title.

This Friday I ventured up to The Bowling Green State Univ. to see Miss Megz Small play and sing at a bar above another bar located on the main drag only little ways off campus. A few of my friends and bro were going to come but other obligations came up for some and it turned out that Alicia was the only one that could make the journey to Wood county with me on Friday night. Alicia, interested in seeing the show, was a little concerned however since I forewarned her that we would probably not be getting home till close to 4 am (due heavily to the fact that from Cleve. to BG it is about a 2 hr hike). I told her that if she could keep awake and kickin on the way to, I would be able to handle the way fro with the aid of Speedway coffee, good tunes and my a.c. kicked up a little more on the bluer side than usual. Besides, due to my wacky schedule of mostly night classes this semester, I have adjusted to becoming quite the night owl, but even inching close to that sunrise point is a little challenging for this blog gal.

I have become a little more familar with the basic landscape of BG over this past year. More so than Wooster which kept me utterly baffled and shifted my dyslexia into high gear. Also, my bro graduated from there and I attended a few summer running camps there over h.s. Prior to the show, we cruised by Alicia's old grad school apart. (to which I humiliated myself by singing "This Used to Be My Playground"). We even got a chance to check out the completed Poe Road Project. I saw it back a few months ago when it was still under construction. Despite the lack of light, creepy noises in the bushes, and threat of cars wanting the nail us, I was able to somehow spot Kelly's name and hand print. Could not find Meg's but maybe if we would have stayed longer the racoon that was lurking in the field across the street could have, I suppose, helped us spot it.

When we got to the bar it was good to see Meg and meet some of her peeps. For months I had been saying that I was going to venture up to catch one of her shows. However, due to either grading kicking my ass, freaky thunder storms that caused flooding/power outages or other various reasons, I always punked out before this weekend. However, I finally decided that it was time to put my money where my mouth was (in this case only $3.00 to see Megz and the kick butt duet of hubby and wife team "Katie & Pat" that performed prior) and watch her "do her thang". I must say, I was quite impressed. She put on a good musical act with alot of humourous commentary interaction with the audience.

An added and very spectacularly awesome bonus was that I finally got to see Steve!!!! Steve and I went to undergrad together at The Mighty Mount and now he is doing is teaching gig at The BG. At Mount, Steve and I were both writing majors and apostles of Dr. Kelly Lowe. Steve also brought his super nice entourage of wife Melissa and his peeps - the married dynamic duo of Paul and Carrie. All of them were soooo sweet and really easy to chat/drink with. So without, further interuption, here are some pictures from this past Friday at Grumpy Dave's....


B.F.F. Pose with Steve-o. Sorry, Melissa! Was having issues with croping, but I think your funny facial exageration adds to the flavor of the pict! Don't worry, there is a cute one of you two comin soon. I promise!


Megz, a big weirdo from The Cleve. & Jess. Some look thrilled and some look dead serious.



There we go. Now that is the type of maritial bliss that you just want to bottle and drink up with a straw! -- Liss & Steve



Meg & Jess chillin prior to the show


This is Barb. She is pretty neat. We also share one funny similarity. Hit me up sometime, I will share.


Me probably trying to explain something to my friends or just acting like a tard..... Possibly both...


No, Roy is not the only one that rules. So do Carrie & Paul!


Good picture of Alicia but I look like I want to rumble.




Megz is strumin her guitar. I guess I should have zoomed in. Looks like I took this from 400 meters away!

My Boys Are Back At Work Next Month! Can't Wait For Season Another Season Of Rescue Me!

I love FX's orginal programs and Rescue Me is my fav. of the pack. The season finally last year left much up in the air or shall I say potentially up in smoke (not in the Cheech & Chong way though). Will Tommy get injured in the fire accidentally started by Sheila? Will Sheila have to pay any type of price, whether it be emotional or criminal time for her intentional drugging on Tommy? Will Chief Jerry ever be able to return to the fire house post heart attack? Will the marriage of Sean and Tommy's spit fire sister really pan out?

So many questions that will soon be answered. However, there are some things that I have opinions on (surprise, surprise) ...

~ No more of the religious symbolism that grossly saturated season 2 while Tommy was battling his alcohol addiction. They really turned the Messiah action up post Connor's tragic death. Last season did not showcase and J.C. or Mary Magdalen sightings so I am hoping they follow that path this season.

~ Mike ( Probie) needs to make a sexual decision and stop being on the fence about contemplating his straightness, gayness, biness and then gayness again. At first it was entertaining, but now the story is just becoming too drawn out.

~ Franco needs to get Akila back. Susan Sarandon's guest character role took her in a fly by night kidnapping to a privileged world. Will Franco ever own up and go searching for his daughter even if it means facing probable jail time for stealing her from a messed up foster home in the first place?

~ Who will be Tommy's main source of conflict now that Johnny is out of the picture? I loved the feisty Irish male brotherly dynamics that took place between Tommy and Johnny. With Johnny getting shot down during a bust, who will help to fuel Tommy's aggression? I strongly doubt his ex. priest cousin can step up to the plate. I think there needs to be a new cowboy in town to duel with Tommy and provide a parallel plot for Tommy's issues with the ladies.

Well, that is all I got. Off to grade!

Nice Job To All My Peeps That Ran Races In Cleveland Yesterday!

Good job Jo, Brian, Liz and Janet! Lots of PRs and smiles on your faces yesterday. A pretty good combo for a challenging course! As promised. I will put together my list of top sayings that I screamed yesterday while cheering. To be honest, I think I was a alot more creative with my word choices last year but I still think there are some zesty zingers in there... More to follow when I get done with classes. But here is a little drink (perhaps a lemon drop shot?) to get you going.

1.) "I love runners, especially the nasty and sweaty ones!!"

2.) This comment was said to a kid in the race that was sporting a U of Oregon track jersey, "Go Pre!! Don Kardong is up ahead." It made him laugh pretty hard. However, those spectators around me that lacked 1970s collegiate track knowledge looked at me as if I had lobsters on my face.

3.) "You guys rock! Keep it up!!" I know, a pretty boring catch phrase but I think it helped a few as they were cruising by me.

4.) "Honk if you heart marathoners!!!" I was yelling this one as I was in transit in the Vibe driving over a bridge. Luckily this year I did not come close hitting any runners.

Happy B-Day Jimbo!!!

This week Jim turned 34. 34 is the new 21, or at least that is the word on the avenue. In honor of this I was going to post an old school picture of us from circa 1983 with him sporting a straight brim hat and big brown framed glasses and me attempting to chase some geese at the zoo. But due to me not having a scanner and the quality of the Polaroid being sub par, I decided to opt to just describing.

If you ever do want to take a gander at the real one, come over to my place and take a looky, it is priceless.

Jim is a rockin fellow to have as an older bro. Over the years our relationship has changed alot. Growing up (him being 6 years older), I used to take and sometimes eventually break his toys (now it is just his cds that I loooong term borrow). As we got older it was time for the headlocks in the mall. Which would prompt my mom to just give up of yelling at us and walk away like we were not her offspring.

As I got older he would serve as DJ for my backyard b-day parties. Although, as I just recently found out this past summer, I was not privy to the rum and cokes that he was secretly supplying to my high school friends. What the hell? I could've used a drink or two?! But we will let it slide since I have bummed many a Great Lakes off of you post college.

When I moved to college Jim was the dependable bro that I could call on when my computer magically ate my Victorian Literature paper about 20 mins before it was due. Inspite of my girlish hysterical crying and swearing, he kept me calm and helped me to slavage at least a portion of my paper.

Jim has an easy going personality which is a welcome change in our frequently hyperish family circle. So easy going in fact that he often lets us use his house as party central. In fact, I remember one New Year's Eve when my friends and I had the oddity of zero plans on the agenda for the holiday night. We came up with the idea of having a get together at Jim's. We ran it by him and he, of course, being the mellow dude that he is, readily approved. But here is the kicker, he was not even going to be there because he already had plans of a attending one of pal's parties. Left with the instructions of "Just try not the break anything and clean up when you are done." he left me with the keys to his castle. Yeap, that is the type of awesomeness this man posses. I mean hell, I have heard stories from some of my friends about older brothers that are weird about them using their cars for just a trip to the mall and my bro lets me and my friends have run of his place. Yah, pretty flippin sweet.

So here is to you Jimbo. I may not say it as often as I should, but you rock!

Note Taken...

The 27 year old Athena CANNOT drink as much alcohol as the 21 - 23 year old Athena could. Sunday hurt pretty bad after Nikki's wedding festivities. This cowgirl is taken it pretty easy with the alcohol consumption this weekend.

Because You Never Know When Someone Is Going To Show Up All Spontanious- Like With A Ceramic Gnome In Hand

I found my lucky silver ring. I thought it was long gone since I have not spied it since circa 2002. Rediscovered it in my lock box under some old bank statements and insurance info. You know, where I like to keep all that important crapage.

Found my kick ass t-shirt that I love. It was hidden beneath a sweater in my closet. It is this Old Navy shirt with LA Track on it. Thought I left it behind in Boston last spring since that was the last time I remembered sporting it.

Found closure with a former flame. That came in the form of me jumping in my car a little before 10 pm on Thursday to make a surprise visit. No, it was not one of those "Reunited" again songs or an attempt at "Come on baby, lets remember the good times and get back together." It was neither of those things - we have both moved on. It was just a casual conversation while trying to box random stuff up (minus the ghosts) and a surprisingly non-awkward hug. Well, the little awkward part was me stepping in a mini pile of fossilized cat poo in the coat closet but if that was the weirdest part, than that is pretty fantastic. I needed to close the lid on this thing in a good way. I thought it would be hard, but very oddly enough it wasn't. I think I finally have peace with everything the way it is. What a relief for this gal.

Found out that I can still cheer it up for my old team. Some of you may know the junk that went down between me and my former softball team. If you don't know than don't worry about it because it is in the past now. Learned that although some people may never change, there are still a majority of folks that are keepers and you can always strike up good conversation with.

Well, off to type up some lesson plans. May you all find what you need this week.

These Wild & Crazy Friends Of Mine

Okay, anyone that runs a 1/2 marathon for charity deserves a "great job" and a "high five". Anyone that runs a 1/2 marathon, for charity, in steamy weather dressed as a big old slice of pepperoni pizza deserves a posting on my modest blog. Way to go champ! Can't wait till you move back to C-town and join our weekend run group. Oh, by the way, the costume is required dress for your first run with us.

"Hey Buck, I mean Mr. Don Cheadle, can you please sign my copy of Boogie Nights, I mean, your new book?"

Deb, Paul and I ventured to Playhouse Sq. this past Saturday evening to listen to Mark Prendergast and Don Cheadle speak about their new book concerning the possible genocide in Darfur. The session was very insightful as they spoke about the reasoning behind putting together the book, what we all can do to help out and they even touched upon issues surrounding the upcoming Olympics in China. At the end there was a small Q & A forum where high school kids tried to stump em. Overall it was a great experience topped off with getting a free book. : )

The Holiday That I Heart....

Liz and I (Pee Wee in disguise) hanging out at the Halloween party at my bro's house in 2005. Just a little something to make you laugh on a Monday when we all still wish it was the weekend! And yes, I know that the mask looks like it has been through hell and back.

Nice job this weekend at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cinci!

Learning to Grow, Growing to Learn...

As many people know, I am very interested in the concept of "self improvement". However, as many also realize from either watching their own behaviors or observing others, that taking an avid interest in a particular facet opposed to actuality implementing it into one's life are two very different beasts. However, when push comes to shove, I believe that taking the extra stride and actually doing the work to improve both your life and the environment that you live in can help you in the now and in the future. In addition, I am also aware that the label of "self improvement" can many times be one of those crap terms that can be frequently up for debate and receive harsh criticism regarding what truly works and what is just quasi-arm chair psychological bull shit. Or even the professionals can be a little too much at times (Dr. Phil, I know you have the credentials but your voice just pisses the holy hell out of me). Aside from all the chitter chatter, I wanted to share one thing that I have learned over recent times.

I remember around 2 years ago one evening when I could not sleep. In order to help me fall asleep I turned on the tv and ended up flipping to CSPAN. It must have been during the summer months because they were running old commencement addresses. I do not recall which school it was for (I wish I would've paid closer attention) but the speaker was Spike Lee. One of his key points concerned making sure that you surround yourself with positive people in your life that want to see you succeed and find happiness. Make sure these people also motivate and push you to accomplish what you desire. How true this point really is.

Throughout my life I have been lucky to have so many great people that take an interest in my life and encourage my to reach new goals. Even at times when I stumble (which tend to be many) those people in my life are there to encourage me to get back up and keep moving forward. Sometimes I remember to thank them, but many times I simply forget. So to all of those that have helped me along the way to realize what is important in life, I thank you. You have helped me to become the person that I am today - a work in progress, none the less, but a person that is aware that I can do good and have wonderful sources of inspiration all around me.

Sometime I forget how lucky I am to have such a wonderful group of supporting people in my life. Those that are not only for the most part positive, but also highly driven and focused on achieving things of substance in their lives. They care about their happiness as well as those around them. Those people especially in today's society can be a rare find, so keep your eyes open for them and get as many as you can. It is okay to be a little greedy when having these type of people in your life.

Gwendolyn Brooks: "Believe me, I loved you all. Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you
All."

The Long (but who really has time for that anyway??) So How About The Short of It.

Making good head way on getting "reowned" by my mother. When to lunch today and made some good strides. Funny thing with my family two things seem to work in situations of great tension: Either slapping, screaming or just beating the shit out of one another (no, not like in the domestic violence alert way) or attempting to work it out over a meal. We got my parents' big 35th anniversary party coming up in a few weeks (holy crap it has been that long?) so hopefully things will be good by then or at least well faked for the time being.

This week has had me gearing up for summer classes with syllabuses and in-services. Also helping a, I guess friend is the correct word now, pack up up for her journey across the states. Happy Tuesday everyone! I am at my rents' house now and the dog is giving me a set of those "stop typing I want to go for a walk before it starts raining" eyes so I better get on that.

P.S. Tomm. is hunp day! All day long!

P.P.S. Check out how much the Mega Millions is at. If that number does not make you giggle, screw you! You have no sense of humor!