Oreo Day

Rebecca truly thought Memorial Day was Oreo Day. She was slightly disappointed that it wasn't a holiday dedicated solely to the enjoyment of Oreos, but she still enjoyed the day.

We rode to Arlington with Chris and Katrina. It was a decent drive. They might think twice about volunteering to do a 5+ hour trip (both ways) again. The kids were pretty good, just a little loud. I have never heard "Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me" so many times. The DVD players will definitely be packed next time. It really made me think long and hard about our trip to Washington coming up in September. Last time we moved, we planned on alternating between the Jeep and the car with the kids. But driving the Jeep at 75 or so really freaks me out. It starts shaking with the wind and it's so tall that I just drove with the kids most of the way. I think the kids will be fine though - when we drove to Colo they were good and pretty calm most of the way.

The picnic was nice. Really yummy salmon and good sides to go along. The kids ate croissants and more croissants for their main course. They love plain vegetables, but they're not too adventurous on other dishes yet. I brought the same trifle Michael brought last year and it was good.

We had Pat's Pizza back at Chris and Katrina. They're cheesy bacon fries are very, very evil. And Liam is still sleeping at 8:35. Amazing. Rebecca, however, was up before 6 am. Not her mother's child.

I'm cheating on Amazon

Tonight I purchased something from Barnes and Noble online for the first time in years. I looked on Amazon for something I really want on Tuesday for school. They had it, but their free shipping has become slower and slower lately. Also, I've pre-ordered several things. They used to ship immediately or even before the item was released, but lately they've been taking their sweet-ass time. Yes, I know I could order their premium service w/ "free" two-day delivery, but I don't think I use it enough to justify it, I'm scared of how much stuff I would buy if I did order it, and usually I'm not in a huge rush to get my stuff.

So I checked out Barnes and Noble. They have "fast and free" delivery now. It doesn't look like it covers as much stuff as Amazon's free shipping does, but it really is fast. I ordered it and twenty minutes later I got the email saying my order was to be shipped tomorrow. Hallelujah! Granted, their price was pricier than Amazon's, but I know that this shipping will happen tomorrow. We'll see. I am a devoted Amazon customer.

I really, really want this CD to come. It's the audio version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Read by some guy from Monty Python. I was looking forward to a class read-aloud, which we usually do mixed with some individual reading, but honestly, I am ready to hit play. And we hear my neighbor's CD coming through the wall and it sounds cool. The guy does some really good voices. It will be a nice fun way to wrap up the year. And my kids are loving the book. I thought they might be too old for it or already have read it, but they are eating it up.

I am taking a much-needed mental health day tomorrow. I am so excited. I have a lot I have to do, but it's stuff I haven't been able to do with work. I love that my job is so quick on approving time off. I put it in this morning and it was approved by this afternoon. I wasn't sure how many subs would be available with coming up on a holiday weekend.

Completely unrelated, I RSVP'd for the Memorial Day picnic and said I would bring a desert. My spelling has become worse than it ever has been since I have started teaching English.

Good night!

Yelm vs. Lacey

I'm on a roll here. Normally at this time I have been asleep for quite some time. I fell asleep on American Idol the last two nights in a row. Granted, the episodes were far from exciting, but I have a little crush on Adam. I am quite aware that I am far from his type though.

Anyway, Michael has asked me to look for houses in the towns of Lacey or Yelm. Allegedly, your dollar goes a lot further there in the housing department and it certainly looks to be true. But I cannot give Yelm a fair chance because of the way it sounds. Yelm. Yelm. Yelm. It sounds awful. I would never want to place an order for delivery and tell them I live in Yelm. I don't mind the word Elm so much, but Yelm disgusts my tongue when I say it. I don't know why. I like the name Lacey for a town though. But I truly don't think I can live in Yelm. Sorry, babe.

House-hunting online is a strange thing. I have my heart set to live in University Place for some reason and I don't know why. My heart has been broken one time in this process when the house I wanted was taken off the market. IT was in UP and now that is where I want to be.

Stage your house, People!

When we were selling out house in Illinois, our realtor was very forthright with us about our clutter/stuff. She begged us to take our pictures down and put our excess stuff in storage which we did. Our house sold almost immediately. Granted, the market was much different back in 2006. I couldn't imagine at the time that it would make a difference. But looking at houses online now, I can truly see the difference. I have a really hard time looking past people's multiple toothpaste tubes, hairspray bottles, CD's, DVD's, books, ugly curtains, etc. I cannot get past some of these people's stuff! And yes, I have plenty of it too. Plenty of it. But if my house were being photographed for its pictures and I wanted to sell it, I would stuff it or hide it. And also, people on the internet selling your houses, why do you insist on posting pictures of nonsensical parts of your house? A bookcase with books? That is not attached? Why do I care? This is one of 6 pictures, so obviously I want to see what your house looks like, not your book collection of random paperbacks.

That is all. I have been looking at way to many houses online lately.

Bigfoot

Yes, I have big feet. I'm almost six feet tall, so I don't dwell on it. What can I do about it? Today in class, one of my better students said, "Mrs. Wall, your feet look HUGE in flats. Seriously, you have some big feet." The whole class was aghast at this. I couldn't help but laugh. But I told him that the next time he told a woman that they have large feet things might not go so nicely for him. It was a funny moment because I think the kid was quite shocked that he said it too. He's normally not like that. It was a weird class - we're doing Greek mythology and two of my kids got into a heated debate about whether Gaea and Demeter were the same people. I'm glad they're into it, but wow.

Rebecca has certainly inherited my big feet. Poor girl needs to learn to tie because Velcro is hard to find in her size. I hope they have a store like Lou's Bootery when we move. I like taking them there, getting them sized, buying a pair and then heading to the outlets. Because at 50.00 a pop at Lou's they're looking at one pair at a time. I am seriously thinking of going to Lou's. I think my foot has changed. Every single pair of shoes I buy right now gives me blisters and kills my feet. I'm a little scared to go and for them to tell me I'm a 12W or something, but at least I could buy the right shoes. I haven't worked for awhile and wearing dressy shoes or something like it is seriously overrated. At least in the Air Force I could wear boots which were heavy but pretty comfortable. Well, our dress code isn't that strict. Maybe I'll be the one to wear tennies or Crocs.