Sleepy Puppy

Sleepy Puppy

     I was home sick yesterday, and Cleo, the Great Dane, kept me company in bed all day.  She takes up the entire foot of the bed, and she has her own pillow.  As tall as she is, she always hesitates jumping into bed.  I think right after she jumps up and is standing on the bed, she actually becomes frightened of her own height.  After she settles down, though she is difficult to get out of the bed.  Sometimes my husband gives up and sleeps in the guest room.  Regardless, she was an excellent bed mate yesterday as I sneezed through the afternoon.  

Before Lunch

Before Lunch

The Spring that I was sixteen

sitting in Spanish

before lunch and anxious to see my friends

instead of conjugating "to run"

I looked out the window 

at the Florida sky.

No one planned to take us

outside anymore.

Shuttle launches were

no big deal anymore.

But I looked  just in time to see

the straight line of smoke pop

and turn into a lopsided upsilon. 

In my youthful naivety

I thought surely

there was an escape pod

like in I Dream of Jeannie.

Surely. There had to be.

I could not have just watched

those astronauts die 

just before lunch while avoiding

conjugating verbs in Spanish.  

Trading Here Since 1972

     The Publix that I shop at is going through a remodel   Because of this remodel, the items have been moved all over the store.  It is driving me a little crazy.  Particularly because it seems to not make sense.  Candy on the same aisle as "I Love Daytona Beach" shirts?  I feel like I am at Wal-Mart where the mushrooms are next to the motor oil.
     But, the changing of aisles is really driving my 81 year-old father over the edge.  "My seltzer water has always been in the same spot and now I can't find it," he complains.  Which is not entirely true because the Publix used to be on the other side of the shopping center, so it could not have ALWAYS been in the same spot.  My favorite is when he bellows, "I have been tradin' here since 1972 and I now I can't find a darn thing!"  Tradin', he actually uses the tern tradin' as if he secured his horse to the post when he went to Publix in 1972. But the really funny thing about that comment is he never set foot in Publix when I was a kid.  My mother and the housekeeper did all of the shopping.  I guess he considers it a personal affront that Publix dared to changer things without consulting him since so much of his paycheck over the years has landed in its cash register.

Coca Cola

Coca Cola

I don't drink

coffee in the morning.

I prefer Coca Cola 

cold out of the bottle.

I am a southerner

whose mamma 

probably put it in her 

baby bottle.

I even drank it

during the New Coke

disastrous phase. 

I can tell you which restaurants

have the best fountain Coke. 

I am a Coca Cola Connoisseur.

So when you ask with a smile,

"Is Pepsi okay?"

I glare at you.

   
     Tonight was the Volusia County Teacher of the Year Announcement, and a dear colleague of mine won.  I am so proud and so happy that the powers that be chose someone worthy.  The picture I have posted is very blurry because I was very far away; but if you know her, you can see her ears turning red.
     I loved her acceptance speech.  I loved that it was a little sassy,  taking a few digs at our new evaluation model and standardized testing.  My favorite line of her speech went something like...teach with your heart and the rest will follow.  I know that is how Emily teaches.  Her students know she loves them and she teaches them to love learning.  People like Emily remind me of the joys of teaching and why we do what we do.
     Please Lord send our children more teachers like Emily Edwards.
   

Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

I will never

understand

how adding

globs 

of mayonnaise

makes a salad.

But I do 

love

egg

ham

tuna

and

chicken

slopped together 

with mayonnaise.

Never 

ever 

Miracle Whip.

What is the 

big miracle 

anyway?

I wish 

I had

known there were

grapes

in this

batch.

I would

never have

added

pickles.

Enter to Learn

Enter to Learn

     As a second job I am an adjunct English teacher at Bethune-Cookman University.  When you walk into any building on campus, it says, "Enter to Learn."  It is a Methodist college, so on your way out of every building it says, "Depart to Serve" over the door.  I like both sentiments.  I particularly like the enter to learn reminder   It says, "Hey, we mean business, no fooling around, you have paid your tuition now get busy." Of course, I probably notice this sign more than the students.