From Pumpkins to Presidents, and a few P's In Between

Perhaps, I stayed true to my demands in my last (seems like eons ago) post; when I vowed no new posts until my students’ labs were graded. Well, that semester ended, and spring semester is well underway and I find myself again grading labs. We won’t disclose exactly what happened to those other labs though- that’s an animal of an entirely different color and species. Today, though, I finish grading and I post! Risky undertaking? Perhaps. But, I’ve just spent the last 3 days laid up confined to the couch getting my year’s worth of small screen entertainment. Heaven in theory, but my brain is itching for more stimulation than my 2-D 42incher can offer. Perhaps if we had 52" 3-D 1080P HD… but, I digress.

Pumpkins:
Well, last time we did the blogging we were gearing up for our annual All Hollow’s eve party. It’s our 3rd go round, so I feel we earned the rights to “annual”. What say ye? Anyway, it was kind of a success, if I do say so myself. Our entire street was packed with cars! We had to make multiple ice runs (yes, you heard that right, ice runs- not beer runs, we’re so cool like that!) In fact, I feel we came off victorious from Halloween, in general. We attended another annual party, we were newbie’s at this party, and yet we walked away runner-up for best couples costume and a gift card. The Victor’s were Jan Brewer and Terry Goddard- very topical.

Police:
2 weeks before Christmas I was home organizing my button collection by hue (normal people stuff, right?), and James had just arrived home. Moments after his arrival, there was a pounding at our front door. My thoughts turned to slightly impatient neighbors bearing Christmas goodies; boy was I mistaken. We opened the door, and there stood 3 of the Town’s finest officers, with less than cheerful expressions on their mugs. They were not here to spread Christmas cheer. They immediately separated us, James outside with 2 officers, 1 officer inside with me. He started bombarding me with questions about me, James, our house, our lives, my menstrual cycle, my great grandfather’s scholastic achievements and medical history, etc. Ironically, I was most humiliated when he poked his head down our hallway and into our “everything” room, and walked through our muddled laundry room. Amidst all the confusion, I thought about the blockbuster classic-Home Alone when Joe Pesci comes to the McCallister home disguised as a policeman. That is so what was happening, right? Eventually, we all make it outside and one of our vehicles comes into question. They asked me to describe exactly what was in the car and trunk. I proceeded to tell them, my mom’s hand-painted nativity set from her mom, a shark steam mop and a picture of Jesus that I was going to use for mutual the next night. Turns out, someone had stolen our license plate, placed it on their car, and proceeded to loot a bunch of Coach Purses from a mall nearby. The police originally believed James to be the perp, especially considering when he arrived home he was seen inserting a bagged unidentified object into his backpack. Turns out, it was a Christmas present for moi, which he legally bought and paid for! After they realized we weren’t dim-witted coach purse stealing crack addicts that use their own vehicle as a get-a-way and their own house as a rendezvous point, they complimented us on our Christmas decorations and went on their way. We ordered new plates, and are looking into stronger bolts.

Now onto paradise:
There is no real legitimate value in this little tid-bit of information. It’s not particularly inspirational or moving. It’s not a tear-jerker nor does it contain any side-splitting comedic value; Nonetheless, It starts with a “P” and I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know that we BOOKED a CRUISE! Signed, sealed, delivered, I am yours, Paradise! Why, you ask? Wedding? Funeral? Family reunion? Big work promotion? The answer is E, none of the above, my comrades. We are cruising because we CAN and WANT to! Plenty of details and pics to follow, for sure!

Procedures:
Those of you that know me, may be aware that normally between the hours of ugh and anguish I am enriching the lives of 160 young minds. Now, between the months of sigh and relief (June & July) all bets are off, however, we are smack dab in the middle of ugh, with a low pressure eekk system in the forecast. So how is it possible that I am posting? Did I pull a Ferris Bueller’s Day off? Heavens, no, I am much to chicken for that! I had to take a few days off to have a small laparoscopic procedure done. I had a pesky cyst on my left ovary that had taken residence for well over 6 months. It simply had to go! Luckily, my fabulous doc was able to save all my lady parts! Now, even though my ovary is not accepting applications for new tenants, there is talk of a lit vacancy sign in the neighborhood.
Recovering from anesthesia is the worst. I hate having no control over my eyelids and body movement. I love the warm blankets though; no amount of I.V. or needles are worth it. I did not faint, but perhaps a few tears were shed. I had an epiphany from my extensive (6 hour) hospital stint. I was not built for hospitals. I am a wimp, and wanted to go home as soon as I could. Once home, I watched…er intermittently slept through the following: 2 episodes of American Idol, 17 again, Easy A, Red, Dinner For Shmucks, Bride Wars, Leap Year, Extraordinary Measures, Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, Knight and Day, 3 Men and a Baby, Valentine’s Day and possibly more but can’t really recollect-thanks to the drugs. Next on the docket (if necessary) are Gilmore Girls, Juno and Across the Universe. By the way, thank you drugs, family and friends for nursing me back to health. I heart you…mostly the drugs though.

And finally, Presidents:
In an effort to curb your enthusiasm for my blog posts, and if per chance it’s a while till we meet again, I am going to give you a forecast, at least until president’s day. That is my next day off. From now until then, my time will be spent with the following: (My newest nephew-Matthew, my new design toy and my 2011 venture- the Ragnar relay).