Wednesday, March 28, 2007

"...and I think we need to wear jeans..."

That was the end of an email I just got from my principal. It ended with "and I think we need to wear jeans Thursday and Friday." I thought that was a funny way of saying we could wear jeans, but that news couldn't be more welcome right now. Currently I am out of dress pants, and I'm slightly sick, so now I don't have to worry about laundry tonight. Yea!

Yes, I'm sick. My poor nose is raw and dry on the tip from all the tissue usage. I think it's spring allergies, and I really shouldn't complain because my allergy season is much shorter in Dallas than in was in Woodstock and Searcy. Used to be that the doctor would ask me about my allergies, and I'd say, "well, they're seasonal allergies." He'd ask, "what season?" to which I would reply, "um...all of them!" No joke. Anyways, yesterday I kept getting sicker and sicker to the point where I was exhausted from all the sneezing and nose-blowing, so last night (after a 2 hour training!) I went home and took a benedryl. Usually one of those suckers knocks me out, but last night it was a no go. Apparently my allergies were not going to budge for one tiny pink pill, so 3 hours later I took 2 more benedryl. That did the trick! I woke up this morning before my alarm went off to discover the dog sleeping across my calves and me in the same position I passed out in last night (thankfully in my bed). Sigh. I feel a lot better, and I'm thinking after the aggresive benedryl treatment, the tiny 24-hour allergy pill I took this morning might help. Ever wonder why allergy pills are so small? I sat there looking at those pills last night thinking, wow, my allergies are waaaaaay too much for this tiny pill to handle! I mean seriously how is there enough medicine for this demon inside me in that tiny thing?! We'll see if I make it through today. Thankfully 4th period is testing, so I can relax then.

Yeah, did you catch the 2 hour training thing? Interview training so I can work the job fair. Basically it was how to score candidates, and what not to ask. Basically if Janell walked into an interview right now, I could not ask her about her due date or acknowledge that she's pregnant. Silly, eh? Even if she said, "yeah, I'm having twins soon!" I could only smile and nod...


Spring Break ended really well even though I thought it was too short. Katelyn's birthday party was at the Wiggly Play Center on Saturday morning and then I babysat her Saturday night which was really fun. I had her booster seat in my car so we could go to dinner at ChickfilA, and she kept saying, "Ride in Aunt Joanna's BLACK car!" over and over. We watched Cars together too, and then I put her on my back piggy back style to take the dog out before bathtime (she had no shoes on), and since Sprinkles took his own sweet time, she ended up falling asleep laying her sweet little head on my back.

Sunday evening we went to Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes which was amazing! Turns out the $15 tickets I bought for us were in the Platinum level at the American Airlines Arena, so the seats were nice -- far enough away but not too far, and we were in the front row of that level. Needless to say Katelyn sat in my lap most of the time. She started crying at the beginning (I think she was overwhelmed), and then after the intermission there was a Sleeping Beauty part with Millificent and a huge, scary dragon that she sat through until after the dragon was gone when she literally screamed, "KATELYN'S CRYING!!!" and started wailing! I was able to calm her (Thankfully) and we enjoyed the rest of the show. From the time the show started until right at the end (when she finally waved to Tinkerbell and and the princesses, said yea! and clapped, and then waved and called "bye!") she didn't say a word except "yes" or "no" about going potty and food and to let me know she was crying... I think she just needed to take it all in and have time to process because after the show, she talked a ton, and when we got to the car she told LaRae and Randy, "I had such a great time!" and proceeded to tell them all about the show! Here's a picture of her at the show (keep in my mind no pictures are allowed during the show -- but here's a link to someone's pictures who didn't obey that rule):
We really did have a good time! Who knew that Prince Eric and Ariel could ice skate as a pair so well? Who knew that Sleeping Beauty's Prince Phillip was such an amazing ice skater as well?

Oh yeah, after the fear of the shaving of Sprinkles, here's a few pictures of his new hairdo. He looks so cute with his fur short (tail and ears are still full length), and he looks more like a puppy again. He seems to really like it too -- he's quick frisky and not panting all the time now -- and I think I might keep him like this.




Friday, March 16, 2007

Rubber Ducky...You're the One!

Here's some pictures of my most recent cake. I made this one for Larissa's baby shower. Thankfully I didn't drop this one on the way out the door like I did Julie's a few weeks ago! (Not my proudest moment!!!) For those who want to drool a bit, this cake was made from scratch pound cake with white icing. (Oh yes, the good ole' cream cheese pound cake recipe with both vanilla and almond extracts!) Everyone said it tasted really well. It's one of my favorite types of cake. I don't get to bake from scratch very often... Cross your fingers: the duck on LaRae's shower cake should be sitting up as if he is floating on the base cake. My favorite part on this cake is the soap bubbles. :-)


SPRING BREAK IS HERE! Ok in 20 minutes Spring Break will really be here. I am sooooo excited! This weekend I'm going to get well rested, so I can enjoy my break -- or maybe I'll just sleep in everyday. :-) Tuesday morning at 7 am sharp I'm taking Sprinkles to be shaved. I know, I know, he's beautiful in full coat, but he's shedding a lot and getting matted, and he's getting overheated easily, so I think we'll all be happier with him shaved. I"m going to be one of those dog owners who cried when her dog gets shaved. He's going to look really different. I'll post pictures of my little mop after he's been scalped.


So far I don't really have plans. I am thinking about taking a day trip to Dublin, TX to go to the Dr. Pepper factory out there. Amanda and I are suppossed to be making plans, and Julie and I are going to have a lunch playdate with our dogs one day. I think Fletch might not be so freaked out by Sprinkles if he's not so fluffy. We'll see how that goes! Other than that I'm not too sure what else I'll do.


Next weekend is going to be really busy. Katelyn's having her bday party early at the Wiggly Play Center Saturday morning, and then in the evening I'm going to watch her so LaRae and Randy can go to the dinner thing at the church. I not going -- looks like it's more for couples than singles. It's ok -- it's a nice money raising idea for the youth. Then Sunday evening I'm taking Katelyn out for her birthday present from me. We're going to see Disney on Ice: Princess Wishes! No, we don't have very good seats, but we do get to go. It's at the American Airlines Arena. I have read that it's a really good show, and I'm always up for some Disney entertainment. Yea! Only show I'd be more interested in taking her to is to see the Doodlebops, but she's not really into them anymore.

Well I better pack up my computer and get ready to leave. 10 more minutes....10 more minutes...10 more minutes!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Still Laughing

I'm still laughing out loud about this picture. Last night LaRae and Randy let me come over to play with Katelyn, and Randy suggested that I bring Sprinkles, so Katelyn could play with him. This picture really sums up how fun our night was. I asked LaRae to take a picture, so I could sent one to Mom for her to see my hair, and this is what we got. Katelyn is still quite hyper and happy in this picture and is in the middle of saying "CHEESE!" Sprinkles is trying to get down and apparently at this moment in time decided "go limp" was the way to go, so he really looks like a little rag-dog draped over my arm. Looking at him in all his long-haired, full coat, Shih-Tzu glory makes me want to be selfish and not shave him for the summer -- it's gonna be too hot for that coat. Isn't he pretty? :-) Seriously... I'm still laughing about this picture right now. The little screen on my camera didn't do it justice.

It's funny. This afternoon was really stressful (new group of TAKS Math kids), and I was about to pack up and go home, but I decided to email Mom real quick, so I opened my pictures and found this one, and now (I know run on sentence here!) instead of going home all mopey and stressed, I've had a good laugh and am leaving with a smile on my face. :-) One picture brought back the memory of how fun last night was and put me in a better attitude. One picture. Makes me think -- 20 school days until the TAKS test...I need 20 fun pictures to cheer me up and help me de-stress. :-)

Speaking of de-stressing...I need some fun (but relaxing) ideas for Spring Break. I wish it would be warm enough to swim, but I'm thinking it won't. I already know I'm going to try to hit the dollar theatre; I'm going to sleep in; I'm going to take long walks with the dog and get in some dog park games of fetch in...but I need some grand idea of something fun to do. Any ideas?

I better go. Last doggie class is tonight (the song Thank Goodness from Wicked is running through my head right now!). I can't wait to be done -- he's learned a lot, but it's a real stress to have to keep going to these classes. I have a lot of thoughts about David's sermon yesterday to share, but I'll save that for another time. Yesterday as I was walking the dog I was thinking a lot about the sermon and some other existential crisis type stuff I go through every few months...of course then the dog walked right into the tail pipe of a car, so I was forced back into thinking about walking...yes, Sprinkles is just as coordinated as him mommy. :-D

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Get Well Soon

**Disclaimer: Yes, for 3 paragraphs I'm going to tell you about Sprinkles being sick and about my week. Yes, I know some of you just don't care. Frankly I don't care either, but for those of you who only read my blog for things said about TV shows, there's a random fact about Heroes in the last paragraph. Skip if you need to.**

This morning's events have sort of summed up my week. I had to drop Sprinkles off at the vet this morning. Sigh. Basically he's having the opposite problem from what he had a month or so ago. He'll only potty about once a day, and in doggieland, that's not a good thing, so this morning I called to see if it might be a result of the "low residue" food he eats, and they said to bring him in. His energy is still really high, and he ate well this morning, so I'm going to rationalize that he's going to be ok. I just can't concentrate this morning bc I want to know what's wrong with him. Please pray it's something easy to fix (like adding something to his diet) rather that something that is an emergency and needs surgery or something crazy. I just want my baby to be healthy and happy! Is that too much to ask? He's not even a year old -- I think this is still getting his diet right is all. If they haven't called by lunch time, I'm calling them. (Oh yeah, Randy's sick with the flu. I'm thinking he's not sharing his sick bed with Sprinkles though... get well soon. :-) )

So this week, summed up...yeah. A lot of it is still school stress. Yesterday Marvel killed off Captain America, and before comic readers across the globe could go pick up their weekly comics, all the major news sources as well as marvel.com spoiled the news for them. On TOP of that, Marvel purposely sent out about half of each order of the Captain America comic that had his death in it to make it sell out and hype it all up. Bottom line, I still haven't been able to read his death scene, and I'm bitter that they killed off an amazing hero.

I'm just in a mood I guess. It just feels like this week more and more is piling up, and I'm having a harder and harder time keeping my mouth shut when I should. I need to get some sleep this weekend and have some time to myself where no one needs anything or wants anything from me. I want do stuff that pleases me instead of others. I want to be selfish and self-absorbed for a bit. I know some of you are thinking, that's nothing new, you're always selfish and self-absorbed, Joanna! Well I mean I want to be that way 10 fold. I'm keeping to myself for the rest of the week and the weekend and concentrating on helping Sprinkles get better. Oh yeah, and I'm concentrating on making a cake, helping some friends out, working on a movie after early release on Friday with a student organization, and ..... yeah. I need Spring Break NOW! Why can't we have Spring Break right after midterms this week and have it with everyone else?

OK, I'm done with my pity party and my rant. I have nothing of interest to say. Yes, Lost came on last night, and while it was interesting and all I fear it's losing viewers (ratings are taking a hit) due to the ill-adviced early hiatus mid-season among other things. If they drop this show before the whole dang thing is resolved I'm going to have to rant some more. I liked last night's episode. I just want it all to move a little faster -- same with Heroes -- I'm getting tired of waiting for action. Speaking of Heroes I do have one interesting tidbit for you that I found online yesterday. The seasons are called "volumes." The creator (or someone big, I dunno) said this means each season is a new story, new thing to save. He said that means a lot of heroes can die off, and some we might not see again after this season...new story each season leaves the possibility for a new set of heroes each season. I'm sort of attached to the set we have now, thanks. Can we call them "volumes" and have a new story each season (please don't make them work to "save the cheerleader, save the world" for a zillion episodes) but keep our heroes we've all grown to love?