FRIJOLISA

Here's another installation by LPOU - this one inflicted much pain on here students (and just made me HUNGRY!) note the facutly members in the background, just to give you a sense of the SCALE of this monster!

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‘HAVE A PEASA OF OUR FRIJOLISA” installation of 15x10 foot Mona Lisa mosaic made from peas and beans.

I don’t know what came over me. But the kids willingly participated. Okay, halfway through they were whining, but now they are happy. And they never want to see legumes again.
(notes by LPOU herself!)

“right before the trouble began”

Here's an art installation by my friend LPOU (Leopard Princess of the Universe). I asked her if I could blog it; here's here response:
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Sure, blog me baby,

I put John 1:1-6 next to it because it’s a Genesis/Jesus picture.

But

It’s unofficially titled “right before the trouble began”

It’s Genesis when man hasn’t been made from the ground, the world right after creation when every creature got along , the serpent is stirring though, the crown of thorns above it because the plan of salvation was already in place and at the top the mystery of creation /evolution by the nautilus shell and its intricate design, the pearl for Christ (a little Catholic iconography “Pearl of great price” )

And the red coral for blood of Christ (more Catholic iconography) and medieval symbol for protection. And there are angels in the clouds.

I don't understand you...

Would you rather be only capable of communicating through
reggae songs 20% 1 vote
the use of a Speak and Spell 80% 4 votes

5 votes total
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considering Tia's "Tales of Barbados" and the "islander accent" problem, I'm thinking the Speak and Spell would have been a great tool for her last adventure!

Hail to the Chief!

I got to observe this LIVE and in person on Saturday, as I was hired by Miami-Dade College to play for their graduation. The only down side was they paid me $50 and we played "Pomp and Circumstance" for 50 minutes. Coincidence?

Regardless of your political views, it was a pretty cool experience.

I just spent A LOT of money....

I'm finally getting around to renovating the back apartment. My workman gave me an estimate in February. Labor ALONE was close to 6K. It took until this week for me to feel like I could take the financial plunge. That and I needed to change SOMETHING in my life, since I'd had such a string of bad luck lately. Having at least ONE room in the house that was nice, new and DONE will be pleasant.

So yesterday I went to Home Depot, got a new charge account there and spent some serious bread. BUT with the new account, I saved 10% AND got no interest for 1 year. THAT I can manage.

Tonight I'm off to Lowes for the rest of what I need. Wish me luck.

Putting the "Cuss" in "Customer Service"

So get this: (I LOVE when Mer starts her voice messages to me with that!)

I had to go buy a new charger for the new phone that I got last week (and that I HATE). Remember that I dunked my old yet sophisticated Treo in a rather deep puddle and it subsequently drowned. ANYWAY - I needed some cheap thing to get me through the weekend in NYC. I was told I had 14 days to return it if I didn't like it. (Which I don't) EXCEPT that I left the freakin' charger in the hotel room. So yesterday I had to pay for a new charger so that I'll have one in the box when I return it when my newer, more sophisticated and rather expensive Treo arrives.

The point of the story is this: I walk into the cellphone place about 20 minutes before closing yesterday. There are exactly 4 employees on the floor and exactly one customer (that being me). I walk up to the counter and the "manager on duty" (I can only assume) says "Please take a number and someone will be with you shortly."

The happy ending is that my number was the next one to be called.

Easter Brisket

Would you rather live in a world where

the Easter Bunny were real 100% 6 votes
there was a Lord of Brisket who fills children's shoes with meat on the first day of Spring 0% 0 votes

6 votes total
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Yeah, sure....the next thing you're going to tell me is that Santa Claus is a phony as well.

No longer Down the Drain!

Just got my quarterly water bill (January - March). It was $52. Far cry from the $700 bill I got in December. It's AMAZING how much money a $3 toilet flapper can save!

How to Get to London

This is why the Internet is the greatest media created in history.

Take 60 seconds to do this, I guarantee you will show someone else, it's too funny not to.

1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "maps"
3. click on "get directions"
4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "London" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. hit get directions
7. scroll down to step #24

NY, NY!

Spent last weekend in NYC with lamburrito, D-Man and Mer. I'm still exhausted, but we had fun. I got to catch up with Clala, who looks like a squillion bucks. She's still a tough-as-nails cop in Long Island, though. We had a drink in Times Square then caught up with the FPCO gang on the way to the Empire State Building. I got to see the church gang's dress rehearsal at Carnegie, but couldn't stay for the gig. Lamburrito had a camp reunion and we criss-crossed paths all weekend, only catching up to crash in the room late at night. We DID eat a Three Berry pie from the Little Pie company in Grand Central. YUMMY!

Can't wait to go back again!

On school tragedies...

I'm not going to pretend that I have any idea what to say after what has happened at Virginia Tech this week. There is nothing to say. Not only are prayers needed for those injured and for the families of those killed, but prayers are needed for schools around the country, as I fear we will see some ripple effects and copycat behavior. I've already heard a few reports of other incidents. Let's hope it gets better soon.

I got an e-mail that the Virginia Tech alums are asking everyone to wear orange and maroon (their colors) on Friday as a show of support. I'm going to scour my closet...

Cheesy Balls

Would you rather live in a world where it

rained red rubber playground balls 80% 4 votes
snowed shredded cheese 20% 1 vote

5 votes total

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Just think: ALL dodgeball, ALL the time!

Middle School Coolness Test

This test is based on how cool you were in Middle School--what crowd you ran with, etc., but it's still pretty accurate. My result said "You are STILL the coolest kid in Middle School!"

You may want to send it to your friends to see if they've changed. Better yet, send the here! They can vote in the Poll 'o the Week as well.

Friday the 13th

Amazingly enough, it was a pretty calm day. Nothing went wrong. I got ahead on some projects. I finished everything on my to-do list for the week. I went to the school dance recital with Lamburrito and his nieces. We ended the night at with hot fudge sundaes. How much more perfect can it get?

Good news/bad news

The good news is that my knee only hurts when I go up or down the stairs, and the bruising isn't too bad.
The bad news is that my phone can't swim. I hope to have a new one by the end of the week.

Oh, and it POURED last night. That's how I found the leak in the ceiling.

Home stretch

We made it back to Miami yesterday at 5 AM. I slept a little (ummm 7 AM - 2 PM; 4 PM - 8 PM, 1 AM - 7 AM) and now I'm back at school for a fun-filled day. We're ALL excited to be here.

6 more weeks of school, then it's off to my summer adventures. Let's hope they go a bit smoother than this last jaunt.

It's unanimous.......

Would you rather....

fart nitrous oxide (laughing gas) 100% 6 votes
drool Listerine 0% 0 votes

6 votes total
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.......AND somewhat scary.

And so the day begins....

We're sitting in the hotel lobby. It's 10:45 AM. The busses were supposed to be here at 9:45 AM.

The cut wasn't too deep

Today's trip update:

Yesterday, we took the kids to Muir Woods. One of our boys tripped on a tree root. It only took 7 stitches to close the wound. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to go on to Six Flags with his friends.

Today is our last day. Please pray for us. Our biggest fear is having our red eye flight cancelled and needing to spend the night in the San Fran airport with 83 8th graders. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. I may have given Fate a cruel idea.

Gloom, despair and agony on me....

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all....remember the old "Hee Haw" song? That's my theme these days.

WFH: Spring Break continues:
We showed up at Bubba Gump for dinner on the first night; Bubba Gump had changed our reservation to a different night. We ended up going to Lori's Diner (where we were SUPPOSED to eat tonight). Lori's originally said they couldn't take us because they already had a large group coming in. We finally figured out that large group was US, and that we were going to finally be able to feed 95 hungry people.

I told you we went to the Giants Game yesterday. What I DIDN'T tell you is that when we got there and gave the kids their tickets, they all went skipping off to the gate, only to come promptly running back. "These tickets are for TOMORROW night." The stadium had sent us the wrong tickets. Luckily, we got them changed and had a fabulous time. After the game, we were supposed to have 2 tour busses to take us back to the hotel. Only one showed up. We have 95 people in our group. We had to shuttle two trips of tired adolescents at 11 PM. Luckily they were great!

Today, we were stuffing dim sum down our throats as fast as we could manage (an annual ritual that we quite enjoy) when the tour company called us. Bubba Gump (rescheduled for tonight) was off, because their pipes burst and the restaurant is flooded.

Of COURSE it is. Welcome to my week!

WFH continues....

I just got a call from my pastor, who is watching Peanut for me while I'm in San Francisco. She didn't wake up this morning. She was 15.

What a game!

In case you didn't know, I'm in San Francisco chaperoning the eighth grade Spring Break trip. We went to the opening night Giants game today. The game was awesome, the stadium was awesome and the fireworks show was AWESOME. Made us all realize how much the Marlins organization doesn't get it!

The Week continues.....

So after all the excitement of Sunday morning, I was hoping to get to bed early Sunday night. I went to bed at 9:30 and was a little restless. Then the phone rang at midnight. A friend had gotten into a fight with her husband and needed a place to stay for the night. She came over and we talked it out for 2 hours, then she felt good enough to go home.

Yet another night of little sleep. But it was for a good reason.

WFH Grand Finale (NOT an April Fools joke!)

So I didn't get to recap the rest of my week, but I'll skip right to the ending. It officially ended at 3:49 AM when I woke up to find a strange man in my kitchen.

LONG story short - I yelled, He ran. He took $28 but left my wallet. How considerate. The police finally finished dusting for fingerprints at 5:30 AM. I haven't slept since. Could be because the police said, "He found an easy target. He'll probably be back." Very comforting.

Oh, and I just found out my dog's food is now on the recall list. No wonder she hasn't been eating.

(Insert multiple expletives at a very loud volume here.)