2.22.2009

Oh my heavens!!!!

There is so much to write about - but it seems like that's always on the bottom of my to do's!  Why is it that the funnest things are always last?!?!?!  ARGH!!!  Ok - actually that's not very true!  I always manage to get sidetracked on the fun things - when I'm pretending like I'm doing the urgent things!  heh heh heh!  Not much has changed - as my sisters will attest to!  (As kids I recall frequent bathroom breaks while weeding in the garden - which would often find me reading in the house rather then returning outside!)  What can I say?!?!?  My children have learned this trick too - however I'm no help to them.  I understand that thirst for reading and often sit reading by my reading children while we should ALL being doing something different.  (How many times could I use reading in that sentence?!?!?!)


Ok.  Focus Mary!  (That wasn't even what I was going to talk about.)

I got a new calling today!  1st counselor in Primary!  Woohoo!  I'm so excited about the sisters I get to work with.  It seems like a good place to be at now that I've got a little more under my belt at school.  Not too much - but still contributing some.  I'm good with that.  I've done it before - so I have a good idea of what's involved.  I just love those kids!

Bob returned very early this morning (about 1am) from Bogota!  Yipee!  I love having him home again.  It was a relatively quiet week thank goodness.  (Unlike last time! hahaha!)  We did have one minor incident which I'll have to blog about later - but it's all good.  Bogota sounds beautiful!  I think I made need to get my passport so I can go with him on some of these trips.  Ireland, Greece, Mauritius (click on that link!!!), Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and many others are on the list.  A total of 54 countries!!!!  His passport is going to be so cool with all those stamps!  It's just kind of fun!  Seriously . . . Mauritius?!?!?  It's 500 miles east of Madagascar - off the coast of Africa!!!!  And it looks like heaven!  Who knew?!?!?!

The kids are doing great!  Kbugs big play is coming up in a week!  They have worked so long and hard on it!  She's had practices every night after school until 6pm since November - and every Saturday for the past month.  We love hearing her sing all the songs from Annie around the house.  In fact - we're all singing them now!  We've heard them so much!!!!  My Buddy is playing the cello and guitar like a pro.  He's amazing!  He's found all kinds of tutoring videos online that he watches until he gets the hang of it.  I love hearing him play!  He is also the master of the player piano!  He cracks me up when he plays it.  He starts moving his fingers like he's really playing and I really start to believe it!  :o)  I don't know how many times at the end of a song I barely catch myself from saying - Hey!  Good job!  That sounded great!  hahaha!  Cowboy T rocks!  He's always busy creating things and you can just see his wheels turning.  Next week his class is going to the Ballpark on a field trip.  He can't wait!!!!  He decorated his room with a cool cowboy theme and tonight at dinner he pinned us down on the specifics on how he should go about being a cowboy!  I think I may have to send him up to my cousin to work a summer on his cattle ranch someday!  ;o)

One last thing - this week I got a message from the parents of one of my closest friends in high school.  She passed away way too soon - just a week after we graduated together from high school.  She was on the way to a church camp when a cement truck broadsided their van.  Things like that just aren't supposed to happen.  She was so gifted and talented and bright.  The world would have surely been a better place with her here.  I kept in close touch with her family for a long time and then they moved and we did too - and we lost track of each other.  A few weeks ago I found her brother and I also got a sweet email from her mother.  It was so wonderful to find them again.  I still think of her often and miss the times we might have had together - but I know there is also a plan far bigger than what I see.  Remembering that keeps that layer of comfort close enough to bear the reality of what happened.  

Ok - didn't mean to end on such a serious note.  I guess it just ended up being a rambling kind of night.  I really do have actual things to post about.  I keep adding them to the list on the right so I won't forget.  In fact - one of the posts is about forgetting!  I hope I remember to write it!  hahahaha!  (I crack myself up!)  :o)


2.16.2009

Clearly I Need My Hearing Checked!!!!

A few days ago my wonderful teaching assistant was sitting with half our students at one cafeteria table and I was at the one directly across  from her with the rest of our students who have severe allergies at their table.  There has been a lot of strange illnesses swirling around our school (just for some background.) Between helping the children we were chatting and she said, "Last night I had Thai food."


My response???????

"WHAT!?!?!?!  You can't just have typhoid one night!!!!  How in the world did you get typhoid!?!?!?!"

When she repeated what she'd said - and I understood - we laughed our selves silly until we couldn't laugh anymore.  The whole school has now heard the story and laughed their heads off too.

Another Mary moment . . . brought to you by - Mary!  Nice.


2.15.2009

Celebrity Look-alikes

just being silly - I'm not sure I agree with any of these . . . 


You can click on the picture and it will get bigger.

2.08.2009

Silly Questions

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
no - not that I know of

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Last week in class when one of my non-verbal students started talking (happy tears) - and when I talked to one of my student's case workers and realized how very very bad it really is for him (very sad tears).

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
ehhh - sometimes. For the most part I guess.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
turkey!

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes. 3 wonderfully adorable ones! :o) I like them A LOT!!! 

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Oh totally! I'm a hoot! heh heh heh

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
no. never. (pshhh - whatever!)

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I have and I LOVED it! One of the funnest/terrifyingest things EVER!! :o)

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Special K w Strawberries! Mmmmm (or peanut butter Captain Crunch or cookie crisp! Mmmmm)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Nope - not until it's necessary.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Anything with chunks. It's so fun to pick them out. Cookie dough - Cookies - Brownies . . . mmmmm!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Good question - body language - if they are happy

15. RED OR PINK?
Red

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I tend to be easily distracted and forgetful. Oh well!

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My sisters and my Dad!

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Everyone in the world?!?!?!?! There are some people I just don't want to know that well. ;o)

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Jeans and barefoot. My favorite!

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
My kids watching City of Ember. Haven't seen it yet.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?'
Yellow!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Toast, Christmas, fresh rain, babies, clean sheets.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My Momma

25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
She is my awesome Visiting Teaching companion! She truly picks up my slack!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Baseball. I love baseball!

27. HAIR COLOR?
All natural Red! Woop woop!

28. EYE COLOR?
Hazel - but they turn deep green when I cry.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Yes! Thank heavens they invented them!

30. FAVORITE FOODS?
Chips and salsa, tacos, smoothies, sub sandwiches

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings all the way!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Scoop

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
yellow

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer! Can't get here fast enough!

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Ok!

37. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP
At work it's a ceramic bumble bee flower thing w pens, pencils, highlighters and markers. At home it's a wire mesh one with pens and scissors.

38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)?
Mark Rothko, Vincent Van Gogh

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Book of Mormon and Comprehensive Literacy Resource (sounds fun huh!?!?!)

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Notes from my kids. For Mother's Day they covered a mouse pad with paper and wrote notes all over it for me. I LOVE IT!!! :o)

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Nothing.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S)?
Aaron Copland songs, Nimrod (Adagio), wind in the trees, birds singing, my kids playing, my husbands voice, the sound of the kids falling asleep (trust me! I can hear it!) hahaha :o)

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Trier Germany, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Paris, Luxembourg, I don't know which is the furthest. 

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
playing the piano

46 WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Grinnell, Iowa

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY?
My wedding ring. I'm not a big jewelry person.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
Stake dance. I was 14.

49. DO YOU USE TWO SPACES AFTER SENTENCES?
Yes. And I refuse to change! I will not give in! Just kidding - it's just habit. Oh well! When that's the only thing I have to worry about I'll address it! :o)

50. WHO GAVE THE RIGHT TO MESS WITH THE QUIZ?
Ummm . . . I don't know.

51. When you are happy and you know it, do you clap your hands?
Almost daily. I teach PreK for heavens sake!!! hahaha!

2.01.2009

Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole

Mmmmm!  Yum!  This is what we had last night for dinner.  It was so homey and tasty!  I cheated a little and used canned chicken and just Cheddar cheese I had on hand.  No onion either.  But it was still good.  It would be really good using one of those deli roasted rotisserie chickens.  Late in the evening if there are some leftover at the store they mark them down super cheap and you can buy a bunch and debone and freeze them.  Yum yum!

Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole
INGREDIENTS 

  • 1 1/3 cups uncooked white rice
  • 2 2/3 cups water
  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups mild salsa

DIRECTIONS

  1. Place rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, place chicken breast halves into a large saucepan, and fill the pan with water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 20 minutes, or until done. Remove chicken from water. When cool enough to handle, cut meat into bite-size pieces.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses. In a separate bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, onion, and salsa. Layer 1/2 of the rice, 1/2 of the chicken, 1/2 of the soup and salsa mixture, and 1/2 of the cheese mixture in prepared dish. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly.

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