Thursday, November 30, 2006

Ick

The air conditioning on the 2nd floor broke yesterday. I, of course, am on the second floor. Although it's not THAT hot here this week (relatively speaking)--only in the 70s or so--it is SO muggy and humid in the school. I finally took my afternoon classes down to the cafeteria (on the first floor) to work today because it was so stuffy that you couldn't even think after a while; kids were becoming light-headed and dizzy; everyone was cranky; and several students (and me) were starting to have asthma/breathing problems. When I came back upstairs just now, the papers sitting on my desk were actually DAMP from the humidity.

Seriously, it's miserable.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

6th grade, trucker-style

The kids are working on a writing piece about their favorite state. One student came up to the desk to discuss her paper on South Korea.

"South Korea isn't a state," I informed her. "It's a country."

"Are you f______ing kidding me?" she blurted out.

Once we realized what she said, our mouths both dropped open. I was actually speechless for a moment there.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Well, THAT sucks

As part of my ongoing Blurry Eye Saga, I had a brain MRI last Wednesday. My doctor called yesterday and said he wanted to "discuss the results" with me and to call him this morning. (I already had a bad feeling after listening to his message, because he had no problems leaving an "everything was okay with your blood tests results" message on my voicemail the week before, so I was a bit concerned that he didn't just say "everything was okay with your MRI" and leave it at that.)

Anyway, I finally connected with him this afternoon. APPARENTLY, the MRI found "multiple spots on my left parietal lobe." That's all he can really tell me right now, as--he reminded me several times--the brain isn't his area of specialty and he would "hate to speculate and cause me undue worry." (Thanks, doc, but the whole "multiple spots on the brain" thing already shot THAT to shit.)

So I'm being referred to a neurologist, who will be able to tell me more, run more tests (possibly including, my doctor said, a lumbar puncture--CRAP), etc.

I'll let you know. In the meantime, I think I'm gonna go ahead and not worry about my student loans for a while. Oh--and I ordered a LARGE fry at Mickey D's tonight for the first time in years. Diet be damned!

(PS--Mom Googled some key words tonight and discovered that I have a cavernous brain, or something. I really didn't understand a single freakin' word on the site but it was supposed to be reassuring, I guess.)

It's okay, though. Thank God I have reassuring, tactful and supportive lifelong friends.

"I'm sure it's nothing, right?" I said at the end of a slightly panicked phone call to Renee.

She hesitated. "Well," she said. "What with the blurred vision and all, it's probably SOMETHING."
Holy Greatest TV Quotes, Batman!

This is long, but definitely worth reading. It's funny to realize how many of these we use in daily conversations (my sister and I still talk like Beavis and Butthead to each other, and have inadvertently gotten Brent to say some stuff like them). Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face; laughter if you use as many of them as I do :-)

NEW YORK - Sometimes it takes only a word, or just a few, to become immortalized in television history. The TV Land cable network has compiled a list of the 100 greatest catchphrases in TV, from the serious _ Walter Cronkite's nightly signoff "And that's the way it is" _ to the silly: "We are two wild and crazy guys!"

The network will air a countdown special, "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases," over five days starting Dec. 11.

"We have found that television is such a huge part of baby boomers' DNA that it makes sense that so much of America's pop culture jargon has come from TV," said Larry Jones, TV Land president.

The greatest number of moments, 26, come from the 1970s. TV Land identified nine moments from this decade. Ten are from commercials, and 28 from comedies, including six from "Saturday Night Live." In alphabetical order, TV Land's list:

_"Aaay" (Fonzie, "Happy Days")
_"And that's the way it is" (Walter Cronkite, "CBS Evening News")
_"Ask not what your country can do for you ..." (John F. Kennedy)
_"Baby, you're the greatest" (Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, "The Honeymooners")
_"Bam!" (Emeril Lagasse, "Emeril Live")
_"Book 'em, Danno" (Steve McGarrett, "Hawaii Five-O")
_"Come on down!" (Johnny Olson, "The Price is Right")
_"Danger, Will Robinson" (Robot, "Lost in Space")
_"De plane! De plane!" (Tattoo, "Fantasy Island")
_"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")
_"Do you believe in miracles?" (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics)
_"D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons")
_"Don't make me angry ..." (David Banner, "The Incredible Hulk")
_"Dyn-o-mite" (J.J., "Good Times")
_"Elizabeth, I'm coming!" (Fred Sanford, "Sanford and Son")
_"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver ..." (Eddie Haskell, "Leave it to Beaver")
_"God'll get you for that" (Maude, "Maude")
_"Good grief" (Charlie Brown, "Peanuts" specials)
_"Good night, and good luck" (Edward R. Murrow, "See It Now")
_"Good night, John Boy" ("The Waltons")
_"Have you no sense of decency?" (Joseph Welch to Sen. McCarthy)
_"Heh heh" (Beavis and Butt-head, "Beavis and Butthead")
_"Here it is, your moment of Zen" (Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show")
_"Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show")
_"Hey now!" (Hank Kingsley, "The Larry Sanders Show")
_"Hey hey hey!" (Dwayne Nelson, "What's Happening!!")
_"Hey hey hey!" (Fat Albert, "Fat Albert")
_"Holy (whatever), Batman!" (Robin, "Batman")
_"Holy crap!" (Frank Barone, "Everybody Loves Raymond")
_"Homey don't play that!" (Homey the Clown, "In Living Color")
_"How sweet it is!" (Jackie Gleason, "The Jackie Gleason Show")
_"How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, "Friends")
_"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" (Alka Seltzer ad)
_"I know nothing!" (Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes")
_"I love it when a plan comes together" (Hannibal, "The A-Team")
_"I want my MTV!" (MTV ad)
_"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl ..." (Larry, "Newhart")
_"I'm not a crook ..." (Richard Nixon)
_"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (Vicks Formula 44 ad)
_"I'm Rick James, bitch!" (Dave Chappelle as Rick James, "Chappelle's Show")
_"If it weren't for you meddling kids!" (Various villains, "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?")
_"Is that your final answer?" (Regis Philbin, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire")
_"It keeps going and going and going ..." (Energizer Batteries ad)
_"It takes a licking ..." (Timex ad)
_"Jane, you ignorant slut" (Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin, "Saturday Night Live")
_"Just one more thing ..." (Columbo, "Columbo")
_"Let's be careful out there" (Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues")
_"Let's get ready to rumble!" (Michael Buffer, various sports events)
_"Live long and prosper" (Spock, "Star Trek")
_"Makin' whoopie" (Bob Eubanks, "The Newlywed Game")
_"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! (Jan Brady, "The Brady Bunch")
_"Mom always liked you best" (Tommy Smothers, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour")
_"Never assume ..." (Felix Unger, "The Odd Couple")
_"Nip it!" (Barney Fife, "The Andy Griffith Show")
_"No soup for you!" (The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld")
_"Norm!" ("Cheers")
_"Now cut that out!" (Jack Benny, "The Jack Benny Program")
_"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park")
_"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch")
_"One small step for man ..." (Neil Armstrong)
_"Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" (Grey Poupon ad)
_"Read my lips: No new taxes!" (George H.W. Bush)
_"Resistance is futile" (Picard as Borg, "Star Trek: The Next Generation")
_"Say good night, Gracie" (George Burns, "The Burns & Allen Show")
_"Schwing!" (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, "Saturday Night Live")
_"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" (Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle)
_"Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids" (Trix cereal ad)
_"Smile, you're on `Candid Camera'" ("Candid Camera")
_"Sock it to me" ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In")
_"Space, the final frontier ..." (Capt. Kirk, "Star Trek")
_"Stifle!" (Archie Bunker, "All in the Family")
_"Suit up!" (Barney Stinson, "How I Met Your Mother")
_"Tastes great! Less filling!" (Miller Lite beer ad)
_"Tell me what you don't like about yourself" (Dr. McNamara and Dr. Troy, "Nip/Tuck")
_"That's hot" (Paris Hilton, "The Simple Life")
_"The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" (Jim McKay, "ABC's Wide World of Sports")
_"The tribe has spoken" (Jeff Probst, "Survivor")
_"The truth is out there" (Fox Mulder, "The X-Files")
_"This is the city ..." (Sgt. Joe Friday, "Dragnet")
_"Time to make the donuts" ("Dunkin' Donuts" ad)
_"Two thumbs up" (Siskel & Ebert, "Siskel & Ebert")
_"Up your nose with a rubber hose" (Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter")
_"We are two wild and crazy guys!" (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys, "Saturday Night Live")
_"Welcome to the O.C., bitch" (Luke, "The O.C.")
_"Well, isn't that special?" (Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, "Saturday Night Live")
_"We've got a really big show!" (Ed Sullivan, "The Ed Sullivan Show")
_"Whassup?" (Budweiser ad)
_"What you see is what you get!" (Geraldine, "The Flip Wilson Show")
_"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes")
_"Where's the beef?" (Wendy's ad)
_"Who loves you, baby?" (Kojak, "Kojak")
_"Would you believe?" (Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart")
_"Yabba dabba do!" (Fred Flintstone, "The Flintstones")
_"Yada, yada, yada" ("Seinfeld")
_"Yeah, that's the ticket" (Jon Lovitz as the pathological liar, "Saturday Night Live")
_"You eeeediot!" (Ren, "Ren & Stimpy")
_"You look mahvelous!" (Billy Crystal as Fernando, "Saturday Night Live")
_"You rang?" (Lurch, "The Addams Family")
_"You're fired!" (Donald Trump, "The Apprentice")
_"You've got spunk ..." (Lou Grant, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show")

Monday, November 27, 2006

Oh, Get Over Yourselves!

I just read this article and I'm so irritated! Nothing pisses me off more than people who don't take their vows seriously. Not even FOUR MONTHS. Seriously.

LOS ANGELES - Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock each filed divorce papers Monday seeking to end their marriage of less than four months. Anderson's representative would not comment on the reason or any particulars of the divorce. Anderson and Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, each cited "irreconcilable differences" in their divorce filings in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

"Yes, it's true," Anderson wrote in a brief statement on her Web site. "Unfortunately impossible."

A message left with Ritchie's attorney wasn't immediately returned.
The relationship between Anderson, 39, and Ritchie, 35, has been a turbulent one since they became engaged in 2002. They broke up the following year, but later reunited and held several wedding ceremonies over the summer.
They were wed in late July near St. Tropez, France, and again at a courthouse in Beverly Hills on Aug. 3. They also tied the knot in an Aug. 17 ceremony in Nashville, Tenn.

The pair filed separate divorce petitions, about an hour apart, early Monday. Anderson reported their separation date as Nov. 21; Ritchie said it was Nov. 26.
First word of the split was reported by "The Insider" syndicated news magazine.
Anderson's spokeswoman, Tracy Nguyen, confirmed earlier this month that the actress had suffered a miscarriage.

The actress has two sons, Brandon, 10, and Dylan, 8, from her marriage to rocker Tommy Lee. Ritchie, a Michigan native who owns a condo in Nashville, has a 13-year-old son, Bob Jr.

Anderson appears in "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." She has been filming "Blonde and Blonder." Ritchie released his latest CD, "Live Trucker," in February.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Sweet!

Growing Pains is on every night at 9 on the "I" channel (which, apparently, is also the same as PaxTV here).

You have no idea how excited I am about this. It's second only to Scrubs now being on Comedy Central every night from 7-8.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Just overheard...

...in a parking lot lovers' quarrel:

He told her, "You're a f*#&#^ liar...I hope your face f#*#&&# falls off in the middle of the night."

Is it wrong that I laughed my ass off?

Thursday, November 23, 2006

I'm thankful...

...that I made it to Florida this year
...that I'm finally a teacher
...for the incredible view on my way back from Tampa tonight (the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico)
...for the joy that came with giving Justin's Crown Royal away to some random Mexican guys in the parking lot
...for this laptop, my belated birthday present
...for my friends, old and new
...that the cop who pulled me over about 22 seconds into my trip today let me go with just a warning ("It's a STOP sign, ma'am, not a YIELD sign")
...for my family, as dysfunctional as it may be
...that I have THE BEST name picked out for my future daughter: Alike (pronounced A-lee-kay), after one of the models on Deal or No Deal
...for Deal or No Deal
...that it's Thanksgiving and in the 70s. Why would people live anywhere else?

Monday, November 20, 2006

Boys suck

And no, I don't want to talk about it. Just giving you the heads up.

That is all.

Friday, November 17, 2006

John Kerry allegedly said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq...."

One of our heroes supposedly wrote this letter in reply (I don't know if this incident really happened but damn, this is a good letter nonetheless):

I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics,engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few.

You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid, Senator Kerry, we might have believed you. I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander in Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serveyou just as faithfully. I serve America, Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My roleis a simple one, but important. You see, Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middleof the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn't take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and its going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can't treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like its taking too long.

Senator Kerry, you don't have to agree with this war. You don't have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please, Senator Kerry, if you're going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don't tell me that I misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you are one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me. My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can't read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it's because you didn't communicate clearly.

Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it's always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.

Sincerely,

Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Happy Birthday, Nikki!!

Enjoy your last year of your 20s, byaatch.
Whoo hoo!

He's not going!

Whoo hoo!

It turns out, you need to be 26 to hold that particular position, which he won't be for another 2 years.

(LOLOL. Shut up.)

Anyway, I AM sad for him, because he was really excited about this job, but he's not leaving, so I'm pretty excited. He thinks he's going to interview for this pharmaceutical sales job; it's based out of Orlando (a couple hours away), but the pay is good, he'd be salaried instead of commissioned, AND they'd provide a condo for him. It'd be a traveling job so he'd still be in this area a lot (and for his daughter too, of course), so at least we'd still get to see each other pretty regularly. Nothing's definite there yet, though. For now, I'm just excited that he'll be HERE.

Oh--and I'm leaving for Michigan on Dec. 16 and I'll be there for 2 full weeks, heading back to the warmth and sunshine of FL on the 30th. So brace yourselves!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Are you freakin' KIDDING me?!

Great news! Justin got a promotion at work yesterday. (He works for a car dealership here in town.) He's being promoted to business manager, which is a huge deal for someone his age (the youngest BM before him was like 34). It comes, obviously, with a HUGE raise. So I'm very proud of him.

Now....he just has to go to "business manager training school."

In Tennessee.

15 hours away.

For 3-6 months.

He leaves a week from today.

Yes, go ahead and laugh. I did. Not because it's particular funny, but just because....it figures. What? Jen's deliriously happy? Well shit, we can't have THAT.

No...in all seriousness, I'm incredibly bummed, but I'm not that SAD. I mean, it's an amazing opportunity for him, and I'm so proud of him. We talked for quite a while last night, and we're just going to see what happens, pretty much. Hell, we've only been dating for a freakin' WEEK (two, by the time he leaves), so going into a 3-6 month long-distance relationship is asking a bit much. However, we're also NOT going to be together, if that makes sense. We're going to talk and we're going to see each other when we can (he'll be coming home to see his daughter, of course, but obviously a great deal of time will be spent WITH his daughter--and we don't know yet how often he'll be able to come home. When he told me how much he was going to be making, I told him that he could EASILY afford to fly home every other weekend to see Chloe--and I didn't say this, but if *I* saw him even once a month, I'd be happy). The bottom line is, we don't want to put the stress of a "formal" LDR on such a new relationship--but if this thing we found is really real, it'll still be there in 3-6 months. (I feel like he's going to prison, LOL.) This way, he said, "Now I have something really good to come home to."

So....we'll spend as much time as we can together this week (he has Chloe tonight, but we're hopefully going to get together either Wed. or Thurs., depending on his work schedule, and then he's going to come over on Friday and spend the weekend), and then....I tell him I'm happy for him and that I'll talk to him soon. And then I find something to keep me busy till he gets back, like achieving world peace or finding a cure for cancer. (I already told him I didn't think I wanted to date anyone over the next few months. Dating is to find someone you want to be with, I reminded him, and I already DID that, even if he's "going away" for 3 to 6. I won't be putting my LIFE on hold; not by any means. I have work, my friends, the gym, the world peace/cancer thing, etc. I still have my life...I'm just waiting for him to come back into it.

And, once he DOES came back, he'll be making bank. Holla!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Happy birthday, Kish!!

I know I'm a bit late, but I forgot to post before I left work for the weekend. Welcome to my decade! =-)
Tow truck driver who?

Wow. It was a heck of a weekend.

WOW.

On Friday night after work, we teachers met up at a Mexican place for drinks (which led to a surprise impromptu belated birthday celebration, complete with a slice of birthday cake and being serenaded TWICE with the birthday song--the second time by a mariachi band...but I digress). One of the teachers invited some of her guy friends to come out and meet us...and the rest, as they say, is history.

Justin and I immediately clicked by--what else--talking mad sh*t to each other. We're both incredibly smart-assed and sarcastic, and once we got going we were hard to stop. The table couldn't tell if we liked each other or hated each other. As we all realized pretty quickly, it was definitely the former.

We were INSEPERABLE this weekend. I saw him Friday night. Saturday night (the only reason we weren't together during the day is because he was at work) and all day Sunday. And I mean ALL day, from like 9 am to 8 at night. And he has an 18-month-old daughter, whom I met on Sunday. "She really likes you," he said at one point. "Well, no shit," I affectionaly and compassionately replied. "I'm a teacher. Kids are my thing."

Here's the best part--he's 24.

(HELL, YES. GO, ME.)

And he's freakin' adorable and has a baby face and normally isn't my type at all--he's short (maybe 5'5") and skinny as hell (I think he weighs less than me) but DAMN if he didn't suck me in with that sarcasm. He has an incredible smile and beautiful eyes. And he doesn't SEEM so young, probably because he's seen his share of crap. He's divorced--yes, I know. My first thought was "24 and already divorced??" But if you heard the story behind it, you'd understand. And that past is the reason I forget that he's 24 when we're together; he's more mature than a lot of older guys I've dated. And he's SUCH a good daddy. You should see him with his daughter.

Anyway...I'm trying really hard not to go too fast or get too attached too soon and all that, but right now, we're definitely in that new-relationship "love buzz" phase and damned if we're not going to enjoy it while it lasts. (After being together for almost 12 hours yesterday, he called me when he got home and we talked for another 2 hours. Seriously, it's enough to make you sick. =-)

And, and PS--tow truck driver called me like 15 times between Friday night and Saturday night. Needless to say, I'm not calling HIM back.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Because it's ME, of course

Last night, I went out to the parking lot to get my asthma inhaler from my car. One small problem, though: my car wasn't there.

I called the police, who were able to track it down for me. It had been towed, due to the fact that my tags were slightly expired. I called the tow truck company, who explained to me that my apartment complex hires them to cruise the parking lot periodically for things like that. Bastards.)

Side note: remember the reason I went out to my car in the first place? I told the tow company that my asthma medicine was in the car. "Well, we're 24 hours," they told me helpfully. "You can come pick it up now." (It's 10:30 pm by now.) "Um, sir?" I politely began. "I don't have a CAR." "Oh yeah," he said. To make a long story short, I used my feminine wiles on him and actually convinced him to drop my inhaler off on his way home at the end of his shift that night. (He got off at 11.) And since he was already going into my car for me, I also asked him to get the envelope titled "Car Papers" out of my glove box for me, since I figured I'd need all of that information anyway. So yeah, I'm da bomb.

Anyway, I got a ride to school this morning and then began figuring out a way to get my car back. The problem, as I quickly discovered, was that the tow company wouldn't release the car to me until I had a valid license plate and registration/tags, since it wasn't "street legal," blah blah blah. HOWEVER, in order to GET my Florida registration and license plate, they require that my car BE there. So I was in quite a pickle.

(LOL. I actually used that phrase.)

Anyway, the tow truck company offered to tow my car TO the license plate and registration place for me (in Florida, it's the tax collectors office). They didn't charge me any extra for that; pretty nice of them, considering I had already paid them $165 to get my car back in the first place. Mind you, the PRINCIPAL had to drive me to the tow place, since I couldn't wait till after school (I was afraid I'd run out of time and then have to pay the tow people an additional per-day charge until Monday) and everyone I know in Florida was either out of town (Frank) or here at school until about 4:00. AND they had to pull in a sub to cover my classes for a couple of hours this morning. (We have permanent in-house subs, so that wasn't a huge deal. And luckily, I have a very sweet and understanding principal.)

So Eric (the tow truck driver) brought me to the tax collectors office, unloaded my car, and waited as I took care of everything. I made it back to school at the end of 4th hour.

Oh, and one last thing--Eric* and I have a date. He asked me out as he walked me back out to my car.

*He's 38, which at first sounded old to me until I remembered, shit, *I'M* 30. He recently retired from the military (that makes him sound REALLY old, but he joined when he was 17) and just got back from Iraq about 8 months ago. He was a 1st Lt. in one of the Airborne Divisions--I want to say the 101st but I'm not sure. He's divorced, with two daughters, 14 and 9, whom he has every other weekend. He got the divorce papers during one of his tours about 3 years ago. Him and they ex are still good friends, though....can you tell we did a lot of talking today? (He called me on my cell on my way back to school and we talked for another 15 minutes or so.)

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Ready....aim....oh, crap.

Sorry I'm so late with my check in, but it was a busy few days.

I went out on Friday night to celebrate my birthday with some fellow teachers. I am told that I had a great time. ;)

Saturday was, of course, the trip to the gun range. Have any of YOU ever gone to a GUN RANGE with the worst hangover of your entire life? I wouldn't recommend it. Still, like a trooper, I dragged myself out of bed. I had a great time, actually. (I'm still waiting for some pictures to be emailed to me.) All in all, I did a pretty darn good job. I did NOT, as it turns out, shoot either myself nor an innocent bystander. My aim improved with every shot and I hit the target the majority of the time; in fact, 5 shots even hit the bullseye. And I am now a member of the Fowler Firearms and Gun Range. Holla!

On Monday, I had my visit to the retina specialist. To make a long story short, they did some REALLY disgusting things to my eye--

(for example, they poked it with a stick to measure the density of my eye or something. Oh, and did I mention that they did an ultrasound ON MY EYEBALL?!

Yes, MY EYEBALL.

Not NEAR my eye. Not in the general eye region. THE ULTRASOUND WAND THINGIE WAS PLACED DIRECTLY ONTO MY EYEBALL AND MOVED AROUND. Luckily, my eye had been numbed beforehand so I didn't feel much besides the cold gel. Are you cringing yet?)

--and they still can't find the cause of my eye blurriness. So that's good, I suppose--no cancers, tumors, etc. growing anywhere--but my blurriness still isn't fixed, either. The retina specialist finally threw up his hands (figuratively speaking) and said (and I'm paraphrasing a bit here): "Well, something is causing the vision in your right eye to become blurred, but damned if *I* know what it is." I have an appiontment with a regular doctor in about a week; Retina Guy wants a full workup done to see if the cause could be physical (diabetes, thyroid, etc). So we'll see. In the meantime, I'm stuck with my gimpy right eye.

What's new with all of you?