Kudos to AT&T

I love smart people.  Especially when they fix my smart phone.  I try with all of my might to do things on my own before I ask for help.  That sounds like something a guy would do. :)

So, when I went on my trip to London (Ooooo! I'll have to do a post about that soon) I went in to AT&T to see what their overseas plans were like.  I decided to NOT do anything while I was over there.  Which is why I stole some Starbuck's wifi.  In doing this I turned a TON of things off so I wouldn't get push notifications and get charged up the wazoo.  When I came home I tried to remember what I turned off so I could turn it back on.  I found that I could no longer send or receive picture texts from people who did not have an iPhone.

I finally went in to AT&T today to ask them to help.  The guy pushed a bunch of buttons and after a while figured out what it was in order to fix the problem.  THEN he said, "I notice that you are paying WAY too much in your monthly bill. Let's fix that."

****Magic******Magic******Magic*******

MINUS $45 off my bill every month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hooray!!!!!

Thanks AT&T Dude!!!!

TV Shows Via Roku

About 6 months ago I got Roku.  For those who don't know, Roku is a device that you can get Netflix streaming, Hulu, Pandora, News streaming, etc. I just can't get regular tv.

I love Roku because I can watch entire seasons of a show. So instead of watching different shows each day like on tv, I just watch different episodes.  The only bad thing is when there's a show that is currently on tv.  I get to a certain season and then there's a big gap before I can watch the next season.  Ah the cross I must bear!!!

The cool part is that people will tell me about shows I've never seen before and I can dive right in until I'm almost caught up.  I know I should be watching more mind-broadening tv, but I seem to find myself gravitating toward the teenage tv.  I'm willing to say it's because it keeps me young at heart.

Cat out of the bag........I just started watching ABC Family's "Switched At Birth".  I may or may not be hooked.  Ok, I may. :)

Blessings During Rough Times

Today was not a good day and yet I had a lot of blessings throughout this day as well.  First the yuck:

*While I pushed the button to retract the cord on my hairdryer the very large plug slammed into my nose.
*I set off the security alarm at church today and I was the only staff member on campus.
*2 major spills in my classroom today (I tried to be ok about it per my blog post from yesterday).
*Very worrisome news from a good friend.
*In general, extremely exhausted from the week.

Blessings:
*My nose is not broken, swollen or visually bruised.
*My dear friend brought me a frozen coffee drink this morning.
*I did not get arrested for setting off the alarm and it was remotely turned off since I was too stupid to figure it out myself.
*The first part of my work day ended much earlier than I thought it would, which gave me a chance to take a cat nap before the second part of my work day.
*After piano lessons, the mom of my students brought me a dinner to go.  I cried happy tears.

I am blessed.  It reminded me of this great song:

No Use Crying Over Spilt Milk. Unless.......

I always wondered why parents got mad at their kids for spilling stuff.  PLEASE!  It's not like they have never spilt things on a regular basis.  It's probably because they know they, the parents, will be the one's cleaning up the mess.  I suppose that's the price you pay for having another human being living in your house.  :)

All that being said, I got a little mad/sad at myself tonight.  I just got home from a lovely relaxing evening with friends.  It is 8:30 and still 80 degrees outside. Of course I'm going to be in the only room of my house with an air conditioner; my bedroom.  To top off the evening I thought I'd have a mug of yummy gluten free (that's a blog post all in itself) cereal whilst watching a show on my laptop.

For those of you who have a Tempur-pedic mattress, do not be fooled into thinking that there is NO movement on this mattress.  Apparently certain maneuvers will cause your mug of GF cereal to tip right over.  Spilt milk?  Yep.  Prolly soaked right down to the middle of my mattress. GROSS!

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm mad at me for spilling.  Mostly because I have to clean up my dumb mess. Blargh.

Tuesday Kid's Quote

Today was a rough one.  I'm BEYOND exhausted!!!  I feel like I've worked 84 days in one day.  Maybe it's because I'm so tired that I only caught one good quote today.  It's like this kid read my mind:

"People are weird."

Ain't that the truth!!!!  If she had said, "People are weird and crazy," I may have thought she was my long lost daughter that I never had.

Still more work to do then MUCH sleeping tonight!!!

Monday Kid Quotes

I'm doing 2 kid's camps this summer.  The first one was Peter and the Wolf camp.  It went really well.  Of course you know that I heard a LOT of hilarious kid quotes that week. Well......this week I have another camp (ARKeology) and already I've heard some great kids quotes.  I'm sure I won't get all of them, but allow me to share.

"Life begins when we're out of our comfort zone."

Pretty sure that's going to be my new life motto.  That one came from a 7 year old.....BOY!!!!

Later that day......
Kid: "I can't wait until Wednesday!"
Me: "Why?"
Kid: "New Baby Daddy."
Me: "Ummm, huh?"
Kid: "It's a show on tv."

Oh my! :)

Giving It Another Go

I'm thinking about blogging again.  A lot of goofy things happen to me every day and it's better to blog about them rather than make multiple facebook status updates.  This might also get me away from facebook too.  Most likely it will just be extra crap in my life that I have no time for. :)

Be prepared, though.  This week is another kid's camp and you KNOW I'll have some interesting kid quotes.  Yay!

Waffle House, Belle Meade & The Perch

Friday, April 29th in Nashville (technically Brentwood), TN consisted of 3 events (so far):

1. The Waffle House
2. Belle Mead Plantation
3. The Perch

These are the transcripts of said experiences.....

THE WAFFLE HOUSE
Many people said to avoid The Waffle House, while many others said, "Go for it!" I went for it. It was definitely an experience. It had that small, diner feel to it. Right off the bat people were VERY friendly to me. Then I ordered the strawberry waffle with some bacon and a cup of coffee. Data findings:
1. Coffee: Gross
2. Waffle: Thought it would have strawberries on it, it had strawberry "pieces" in it. It was ok.
3. Bacon: Good.
While I was eating it seemed as if there was a show going on with all the employees. They were talking loud and laughing and then the cook said, "I have that song stuck in my head." I said (quietly from my seat), "Oh please sing it, please sing it, please sing it...." He did!!! Don't know what the song was and he only sang a little, but it was AWESOME!!!!

At the end of my stay, I went up to the cash register to pay. I thanked my waitress and said, this was my first time in a Waffle House. Another waitress overheard me and said, "Oh! You're not a Waffle House virgin anymore! Would you like a hat?" I, of course, did. She wrote something on the hat and handed it to me:If you can't read what it says, I will tell you: "No longer a Waffle House virgin." FYI, she wrote it on BOTH sides for all to see. :) Thanks Waffle House for being AWESOME!

BELLE MEADE PLANTATION
I had heard a few people rave about this place and thought I'd check it out today. So, I grabbed my brochure from the lobby of my hotel and headed out right after Waffle House.This is the lovely brochure with a picture of the mansion on the front. Getting there was pretty easy and quite a beautiful drive. The homes, nay, mansions down the road I drove to get there were GORGEOUS!!! If I were rich and didn't hate the weather here, that is where I'd live.

So I arrive at the plantation and just as I get out of my car, an actual busload of teenage girls get off a tour bus and walk in ahead of me. So much for a quiet, leisure day. Moments later I see about 4 groups of elementary aged kids walking about. OY!!!! Fortunately for me, I was not lumped in with either group. When the people next to me gave a groan about the group of little kids I couldn't help but chime in and groan with them and tell them that I was a teacher on vacation trying NOT to be around children. Those people and I became fast friends. Now for a picture of our sweet tour guide. I LOVED her and she sounded like the sweetest Southern Belle of all times.She is by the door in her lovely hoop skirt and bonnet. :)This is the view from the front porch.
After a great tour (that lady was FULL of intriguing history), we were dropped off in the winery. Hooray! Well, hooray until I started the wine tasting. I have NEVER fancied myself to be a wine snob, but I have to say, living in California gives you a better sense of what good wine tastes like. They did not have good wine there. BLECH!!!!


THE PERCH
After my exciting tour of Belle Meade I drove around Brentwood (where my hotel is) to see what I could see. I spied a VERY cute little crepe restaurant and went in. Here's a picture of my delicious crepe with my yummy coffee.So far a very good day. And all done by myself. That's a little victory! :)

Since You're Not Going To Blog About The Psycho Lady, I'll Have To Blog About Myself

It's only just shy of 11:30 am and already I've got SOOOO much to say.

I'm going out of order with this, but I want to explain my title:

Went to Le Boulanger after dentist appt. (we'll get to THAT in a minute) for some coffee and wi-fi. As I order I pull out my stamp card:
Girl: "Oh, sorry, we're not taking the stamp cards anymore. We stopped those last week and will be going to a plastic card soon."
Me: "You are KIDDING me?!?! So, the stamp cards won't work even if I have one filled? That's crazy! Really? Oh my gosh!"
Girl: "Sorry."
Me: "I'm sorry. I'm sure it wasn't you that came up with this idea. I'm just a little frustrated because it's taken me a long time to gather these stamps and the day I have it all filled I can't use it."
Girl: "Sorry. That's the new policy."
Manger standing next to girl: "It's ok. Just take her card and give her the discount."
Me: "Oh thank you sooooo much! I'm sorry I was so crazy. You totally have my permission to blog about 'The psycho lady' that came into the store today."
Girl: "Oh, I would NEVER do that. I'm not one of those people."
Me thinking this: "I am."

Earlier today at dentist:
I was waiting to see the hygienist and the later it got the more I thought, "I wonder if Stacey isn't here and I'll have to see the 'other' hygienist." My thought was correct. She seemed nice at first and when I said, "Oh are you new? I usually see Stacey," she apologized up the wazoo on how she could schedule me for Stacey next time and she knows how people like certain people.... I told her that I think she misunderstood me, that I just hadn't seen her before.

The next 15 minutes were LESS than pleasant. As she put the chair back she said, "Ready to launch." She turned the light on and said, "Lights, camera, action!" Ummmm.....I think maybe she's REALLY good with kids. :) Anyway, she then lectured me about flossing more and how to do it properly and what not to do and how we're all human when we forget and how we all have things that are difficult but important to do. Then after she said all of that she asked me, "So, does it make sense to you how I told you the way that you need to floss?" I chuckled and said a passive aggressive, "I understand how to floss."

I think the hardest part was when she would bust out with a measure and a half of whatever Kbay song was playing. She did a little "You're the Inspiration", some "Piano Man" and a few others.

Oh my.

Lastly, I want to talk about the men that are sitting about 8 feet from me. They were talking about the Super Bowl commercials. One man was trying to explain the "Darth Vader" commercial. The part that blew me away was when he said, "Now, I've never seen any of the Star Wars movies, but apparently Darth Vader can make things come to life or something." WHAT???????????????????????? There are REALLY people, nay MEN out there who have never seen Star Wars???????????????? Now they're talking about the news and religion and how there are Muslim sects in the US that are getting more powerful and the government thinks we need to watch out for them.

I'm horrible. I know.

My Favorite Kid Story To Tell

This story is WAY better when it is told "out loud", but I will attempt it via written text. I would also like to see if it translates so that I know if I should put it in my kid book that I hope to one day write.

This story is not for the squeamish!!!

This happened about 9 or 10 years ago. I went in to teach one of the 3rd grade classes. As I was writing something on the white board I heard a strange noise coming from the back of the room. It was a loud "shhhhhhhh shhhhhhhh shhhhhhhhhhh" sound. I glanced around the room and noticed that one of the girls was blowing her nose. I didn't think much of it except for the fact of who she was. This little girl was a bit odd. She was always doing or saying strange things.

The next thing I see is her taking her hands down from her face. "Oh my gosh!!!" I thought. "The child has no tissue in her hand. She's blowing her nose into her hands!!!!!"

The next part of the story was HORRIFIC. She then looks at her hands and slowly begins to lick them from the palm all the way up to the tip of her fingers. I really thought I was going to throw up. I had to turn around and face the other way. I'm sure I went as white as a sheet. Because she was in the very back of the room nobody saw her but me.



Even writing this, I began to gag. Now, I think this loses something when it's written. It's MUCH funnier when I tell it with the visual SURPRISE at the end. :)

Welcome To Crazyville!

So, I currently live in Crazyville, USA. People are CRA to the ZY!!! If you've read any of my posts you know that I have "issues" with other drivers in this town. Well, this week has been no exception. People have their devil-may-care attitude towards rules, also known as LAWS, of the road.

"Hmmmmm, I think I'll turn in front of you without stopping, even though you have the right-of-way because I simply FEEL like it." (that was the other driver, not me)

Yesterday was quite interesting. As I was driving to a lesson I notice that a woman is slightly floating toward my lane. Of course no blinker! I thought, "Well maybe it's my imagination and she's not moving over but simply drunk." :) Then when I passed her she quickly swerves back into her lane. Yep! She was trying to get over. I was thinking, "Wow, I really almost got hit there." I must have been shaking my head and ranting a bit, because what happened next was a tad crazy-town:

I'm still in my lane and I notice that the lady scootches over 2 lanes. Of COURSE I'm going to HAVE to look at her as she passes me. It's a rule that I MUST see what crazy looks like. So, I get ready to take my peek, but something weird is happening. She's not passing me even though I'm coming to a stop at the light. Why, you may ask? Because she's slowing down to stop in the middle of the road to look at ME and mouth, "Sorry, I didn't see you."

I must say, that was very nice and extremely uncommon for Crazyville, BUT in doing her good deed, she was once again potentially causing another traffic hazard. OY!!!!

Oh the crazies. There are so many of them here.

Growing Young

I've been listening to my favorite song lately. It's called "Growing Young". It puts a lot of stuff into perspective for me. Oh how I wish that people would realize that we ALL have garbage and junk in our lives. Some people don't think that their's is that bad or that they have any or much at all, while others beat themselves up thinking that they are the ONLY ones who struggle. I think we're all in the same boat. We struggle with sin. Period.

What we REALLY need to remember (I remind myself of this on a very regular basis) is that:
"Our Father still waits and He watches down the road, to see the crying boys (and girls) coming running back to His arms...."
Until we are void of breath, our heavenly Father will wait for us.

The "video" part of this is just ok, but I really wanted to share the song. Enjoy!

6th Graders Are Awesome!!

I know I have my complaints about kids that I teach, but lately my 6th graders have been quite awesome and hi to the larious!!!

A few weeks ago we were studying "The Magic Flute" by Mozart. I asked them to give a synopsis of the story so far. One of the kids starts explaining the story and giving the characters names. He gets to the character that had kidnapped the princess and said, "His name is Sarcastro." (His name is really Sorastro, but I laughed so hard). I LOVE that name!!!! I so want my super hero or super villain name to be Sarcastro. I guess it would have to be Sarcastra. Whatevs!

Then, this week we were listening to "The Messiah" and they inspired me with their recollection of G. F. Handel and what an oratorio was. It made my heart LEAP!!! Then, to top it off, we had a great discussion about the prophecy, birth, life, death, resurrection and second coming of Christ.

Goooooooo 6th Graders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And All That Jazz

I just got my music in the mail for my girl's ensemble that I direct. As I was playing through the songs I noticed an unfamiliar part in Route 66. As I looked up to scan the words, it was as I feared.......a scat! I HATE scatting!!! I think it's because it's weird words that make no sense or perhaps it's because I sound ridiculous when I scat. Well, I know I don't like listening to other people scat either. One exception:

Since I'm Out & About.....

Might as well post somethin' on the ol' blog!

Today my thoughts are all over the place. So, I will put them in bullet points:

*I hate the word: "kiddos"
*Advice to all: Say what you mean and mean what you say.
*I'd like Christian music better if Christian music was better. The musicianship of so many Christian artists is very much below par and it certainly doesn't make me WANT to listen.
*Trying to eat things that are good for me (ie fruit, veg, protein, etc.).
*Still drinking WAY too much caffeine. Don't care. Me likey.
*I have awesome friends.
*Thinking of making up a survey to all "potential" friends with this on it:
Check one:
1. I want to become a lifelong friend and will work hard every day on our relationship.
2. I want to be a friend, but have a life outside of "trying" too hard with you.
3. I want to hang out with you at get togethers and POSSIBLY go to coffee occasionally.
4. I want to sit near you when we happen to be at the same place, so that we can have a little chat.
5. I want to be your friend on Facebook and comment on your posts.
6. I want to be your friend on Facebook and never talk to you.
7. I don't want to be your friend.
*Um, I thought all Blockbusters were closed. Guess not.

Well, I think that just about sums all my thoughts up for today.

Hankerin' For A Little Bloggin'

Well hello there! It's been quite a while since I've done this! I barely know how to blog anymore. So, I'm out of the house because the internet no worky right now and I had to get some work done. Whilst I'm out I've found a bajillion things to blog about. Mostly fashion. Or bad fashion as it were. Perhaps it's because I hang around little kids all the time that I miss the mainstream fashion of the older peeps.

Today, I am glad that I don't have my pulse on fashion. It's pretty hideous. Did you know that crazy nylons/stockings/pantyhose (whatever your favorite word) are back in? I LOVED them in the late 80's early 90's, but not sure if I'd wear them now. Just saw a girl wearing maroon stockings with what looked to be a giant spider web all over them. Hmmm....

Then I saw some "jeggings" walk by. Oh dear.

Mostly people are wearing really tight jeans with Ugg or fake Ugg boots on. That seems to be the same as before I was either working or held up in my house.

Well that's the world around me right now. I am EXTREMELY caffeinated right now, so the name of my blog at least halfway fits. The wit on this post?? Well, I guess I could work on that a bit.

Here's to getting back on the blogging bandwagon again. I enjoy it, but I don't always have the motivation to do it much anymore.

Are You SERIOUS, KID?!?!?

I've dealt with a lot of kid shenanigans in my lifetime, but one of my students really takes the cake. She's a really great composer. She's made up a lot of great music and she plays by ear wonderfully. She has a very hard time with her music reading skills. Because of this I often record songs for her so she can hear them in order to help her play better. There's a lot of extra things here and there that make her a tad on the "entitled" side.

Sidenote: Don't you feel that this generation (Jr. High through college) should be dubbed "Gen Entitled"? I do.

So, as I'm teaching her in between her complaining about EVERYTHING under the sun, I mention that she needs to play a certain measure again because she didn't do the rhythm correctly. She mumbles this LOUDLY, "Well, you should have played it correctly on the recording then."

Me: Excuse me?
Her: Nothing
Me: EXCUSE ME?
Her: Nothing, I was just mumbling to myself.
Me: You need to work on THINKING before a disrespectful comment comes out of your mouth. Do you think you can do that?
Her: Maybe

I know that she's thinking literally here. She doesn't know if she'll actually be able to do that, so she says "maybe". OY!!!!!

So, I'm done at this point and I am EXTREMELY quiet during the rest of the lesson, lest I say something I'll regret. After, I have a chat with her dad. As we're talking she's giving both of us the "I'm killing you dead with my look" look.

I don't foresee these lessons lasting very much longer. We shall see!

My Curse In Life

I think everyone has a curse in life. A Murphy's Law situation that they and they alone must deal with. My curse? Incompetent customer service representatives. Oy! Today's transaction:

Me: Hi. I ordered a package from you and was wondering where it was, so I tracked it and UPS said it had been delivered. I looked for it on my porch and couldn't find it.

Her: Ok, let me look that up.

(Wait, wait, wait)

Her: It's on your porch.

Me: Ok, let me explain this ONE MORE TIME! (I explain again)

Her: Well, we'll put a trace on it. It might take 2 weeks, but UPS will either find it or we'll send you a new package.

Me: Well, if UPS finds it on my porch it will be a miracle, because my porch is very small. (Totally knew she meant find where they "accidentally" mailed it, instead of to me)

After the phone call I decide to CRAZY look on my porch (you know, like when you look in the freezer for your shoes because you can't find them anywhere else?). So I open my door and what do I see? My package! It's completely opened up and sitting on my door mat. There was a little note on the box:
"Came to the wrong Apt. I was expecting a package so I opened w/out looking @ the name. Sorry!"

Ha! So I was right! UPS failed!!!!! I seriously thought I was going mental.

Well, I called good ol' customer service rep Pat back and left a message on her voice mail about what had happened. Here's what I think she probably will be thinking after hearing my message: "I told her it was on her porch."

CURSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Get What You Ask For

This morning before I left the house I posted this on Facebook:

"Gonna try to figure out how to make this week memorable instead of just another week."

Famous last words apparently. During my first class I noticed a little boy playing with something. He was sticking it to the wall. I realized it was a gummy bear. So I said, "Please, throw the gummy bear away."

Boy: Sat there looking at the floor.
Me: "Please throw the gummy bear away."
Boy: Shaking his head, "no".
Me: "Throw it away, now."
Boy: Got up and walked to the trash and just stood there holding the g. b. over the can.

Finally he "threw it away". After class I had the kids line up and noticed he went back to the trash. The kids tattled on him and said that he stuck the gummy bear to the side of the trash so he could grab it at the end of class.

Question: Was he going to EAT the g. b. later?????? It had been in his pocket, in his hand, on the wall AND stuck to the inside of the garbage can. Ewwwww!!!!!!

I asked him to stay after class so I could "talk" to him (aka: Give him one of my famous Miss Welkley lectures). About a minute into my "talk" he turns around and walks away. I said, "I'm not finished, please come back. Stop." He kept walking. Right out the door!! I followed him out and stooped down to talk with him while he picked up his backpack. I was telling him that if I'm talking he needs to wait until I'm done. Then I said, "Ok, let's go ba......" He starts running away from me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OY!!!!

Me: "Stop! Stop running! Stop!" (I started running after him then. Pathetic).

When I caught up to him, I said, "And NOW we're going to the office."

I went through the office process. The principal wasn't there, so the secretary did her lecture. He was VERY compliant with the secretary. While she was on the phone I said, "So, do you think you can try to work a little harder next week in music." And you probably guessed it, he shook his head NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that finally ended and then......

Later that day, the 5th grade class came in. There are 4 girls and 18 boys in this class so you KNOW it's a little wild. It wasn't too bad. I only moved 4 boys. :) So, at the end of class I told the boys they needed to stay after so I could talk to them. As I'm saying this, one of the boys slowly slips up his MIDDLE FINGER!!!!

So, after I sent the others off I said, "I know you'll probably say you didn't do this and you'll be shocked that I'm saying this, but you better never put your middle finger up to anyone again."

Boy: "What????? I didn't...I don't....what?????"
Me: "I know, you probably think you didn't do it, but I'm just letting you know that you need to be SO careful and watch your hands at all times so it doesn't "accidentally" happen again."
Boy: "But....I didn't.....and...adslfkjsaf"
Me: "Yes, yes. I'm just letting you know, because other teachers might not be as nice about it as I am."

Later I was talking to one of the teacher's aides and she said, "Oh yeah, that kid lies a lot. I'm sure he did it."

CRAZY Monday!!!!!!

Laundry Chat

Today I had yet another encounter with a stranger. I was in putting my wash in the machines and saw a lady and 2 little girls in the room. The lady and I said "hi" at one point but that was the extent.

When I came back to move my clothes from the washer to the dryer, the same lady was there. This time there were 6 little girls all atop the folding table, chit chatting away. Since one of my loads was mostly, um, shall we say "delicates", I was trying to maneuver them in such a way that I wouldn't drop a trail from the washer to the dryer.

As I'm walking back and forth, one of the girls pipes up.
Girl: "Excuse me. Excuse me, Miss. Are we annoying you?"
Me: (I wasn't super annoyed, but don't really like an audience when I'm washing my clothes). "No. Do you THINK you're annoying me?"
Girl: "No, but we don't want to hurt your feelings."
Me: "Well, I'm a teacher so I'm use to kids."
Girl: "Are you still a teacher?"
Me: "Yes."

That was the exchange. So hilarious!!!! I've never had a kid ASK me if they were annoying before. They just were or were not. :D HA!!