I had dinner with my old principal last night. I was explaining to her why I’m not going into the doctorate program right now. The thing is, I like my house and life in general right now, and if I get my doctorate, there won’t be any more work in this town than there was before. And I can’t see moving for a university job that doesn’t pay all that much. As far as high school administration goes, well, yuk. And having a doctorate degree and remaining in my classroom would make me feel like a loser, which wouldn’t be true, but there you have it.

This morning, I read an article in the Independent called The Dark Side of Dubai. It’s worth a (somewhat lengthy) read. It says so much, and reading between the lines, the message isn’t only about Dubai.

I have an artist in my classroom who hates bookwork. I may get some really awesome drawings depicting the Industrial Revolution from different perspectives. I’m trying to be creative.

We had a blast in Houston–here are a few pics!

Here’s the life-sized floor sign indicating the floor we were on at the Hotel Derek. This caused us to ride the elevator to every floor to check out all of the other artwork on the other floors. It was cool. I loved staying there

This is Sage at the window in the hall. I like how it looks like he is playing cars.

Sage and Greg went ice skating at the Galleria. I could not get a decent photo–they kept getting past me!

This is the computer I bought at the Sony store in the Galleria. I’m loving it! I think that pink blog I write must be rubbing off on me!

We went to “Chinatown”, although it should rightfully be called “Asiantown” because many different nationalities are represented. (I’m not talking about the old Chinatown near downtown.) We ended up eating Pho twice–yum! I got my dad some sake and other goodies from the largest Asian market in Houston.

Here’s a pic of Sage and me. Is it apparent that Greg bought me a new camera for Christmas? 10 megapixels, 3 optical zoom at a decent price. It’s a huge improvement over the one that was stolen/lost. And it’s kinda pink, too. Like the iPod that Greg also got me.

So how weird is this? It was at Discovery Green. I have many more cool pics, but I don’t have my photo editing software installed yet–Sky has got to send it to me–and I don’t have the patience for Picnik right now.

That more or less sums up our trip to Houston. We were going to go and see the Nutcracker, but I waited too long to get tickets and they sold out. We were all happy, regardless. Apparently, I have found the magic amount of Ativan that enables me to NOT CARE that I am in the car in the middle of nowhere, other assorted stupid fears…I’ve stocked up so I can take more trips with this NOT CARING. I’m planning on going to Austin in two weeks. We’ll see! I’m so excited to actually be out doing stuff. The computer helps a lot as well. On the way to Houston, I worked on my app to grad school. It totally occupied my mind. As far as the data plan goes–well, that just didn’t pan out here in the boonies. Still, I have enough writing to do on my computer not to need it.

Sky came and went–I have photos but they are all turned the wrong way. It turns out that Sky is quite the artist. I would post his work here, but I’m worried about someone finding it and ripping it off. It is absolutely incredible art that could sell. I never knew. He never drew much growing up, but this stuff is all abstract, pattern-based stuff. He may have found his niche. He and Sage talked a lot, and when we went to the locally owned chicken fast food place, Sage said, “What a shame the government is putting places like this out of business.” Whaaat? He’s nine! I guess I just breed revolutionaries…

Tyson Foods – Center Processing Plant employee work schedule for Monday. 1st shift evisceration, cut-up & debone will not work. 1st shift blasting, labeling & shipping will work. All 2nd shift employees will work.

So does this mean they’re shipping out the chickens bones, guts and all? And what, exactly, is blasting? I don’t think I want to know.

The best thing on the list? School is out for two days! Yea!

After the winds died down, around 5:00, we went driving around to see what havoc Ike had wrought. One of the neighborhoods in the hills got hit pretty hard. Trees were uprooted and snapped off everywhere.

All day, Sage and I sat in front of the windows and watched the trees in the park across the street lose limbs. Sometimes the sound of the limb popping off sounded like a sharp crack of thunder. I was worried about a tree on the left side of the house, so we stayed on the other side of the house all day. I am so thankful that it didn’t fall!

At around three o’clock, we went outside. Sage had a blast playing in the rain. He and a neighbor girl ran around the park and checked out the creek, which fortunately, never got to overflowing.

I didn’t have a shred of anxiety this time–as opposed to Hurricane Rita, which was one big, long, horrible panic attack. Greg helped out with that by suggesting that we go and volunteer at a shelter last night. I took some magazines, yarn and crochet needles with me. Once we were there, I got a lot of the women hooked up (hehe) with yarn and crochet needles, and taught a couple of people how to do it. It made me feel really good to have those interactions. Lots of the people spoke Spanish, so I got to practice.

When we got back home, I had totally forgotten how worried I was about the hurricane. It definitely got me “out of myself”.

We had FUN during this hurricane. I feel a little guilty about it, but it beat the hell out of being a nervous wreck.

Oh, and speaking of not being nervous–about a hour after a major limb went down, our neighbor was out there with a chainsaw cutting up the pecan wood for his barbecue pit! 70 mph winds and all! Watching him was inspiring, somehow.

Now, here’s to hoping that the school doesn’t get their electricity hooked back up for a few days…

It really begs the question of how we, as observers, influence our own reality or reality in general. At least, that’s what I get out of it. You?

I did get a lot done, though, and there’s plenty more to do. I’ve got to finish painting Sage’s room before the people come to install the carpet. We talked about getting stencils and painting some things on the wall, but we both think these are way cooler.

it’s at Etsy

dvider

I’m partial to the jellyfish one, personally. Sage hasn’t decided yet. There are others I’d like for the living room. The thing is, these pieces of vinyl are flippin’ expensive! For example, the fish are $60.

I asked Sky what he wanted for his eighteenth birthday and he said books. I asked him to email me a list, and he did. It had about ten books on it, every single one of which had to do with LSD shit in some shape or fashion. Apparently, I have not gotten my point across about not liking that shit. Anyway, no books for Sky. I’m getting him something else that I think he’ll like better anyway.

On another note, after cleaning that dirty disgustingly filthy apartment, I’m determined to turn over a new leaf. This may involve hiring someone to come in every other week and clean, at least after school starts. We’ll see.

The page it’s on.

I like this one too.

Do you get tired of the white plastic patio furniture that you just haven’t had time to replace? Or perhaps you can’t find exactly what you want. I know that’s my problem. I’ve been to several stores in the area, and I don’t like the styles they have to offer. Well, restaurateurs, and perhaps a few others, who are looking for some stylish options can find them at Contract Furniture. They have a variety of styles to meet various needs, such as
restaurant wrought iron furniture.

The surprising thing to me is that the prices are very affordable. Since stylish furniture is affordable, I wonder why so many restaurants go with that tacky plastic white stuff? Is the profit margin really that slim?

It is worth mentioning that they have much more than chairs. Tables, tabletops, outdoor heating and more are all available.

There is also some indoor furniture that is very nice. I like the one pictured above. When I looked at the upholstery options, there were too many to list on the page. How’s that for having choices?

I’ve found a source for
nautical gifts that will come in handy the next time I’m looking for a gift for her. American Marine Supply has clocks, compasses and all sorts of marine related things. Although, maybe the best thing to do would be to include a plane ticket with the gift.