A parody you must see

If you've seen Tom Cruise's wacko Scientology video, you must see this.  It is Jerry O'Connell doing a parody of it and it is freakin' hilarious!

 For some reason, the embed video feature isn't working right now, so you'll just have to follow this link.

My work Christmas Party

Yeah, I know it's weird, but we just had our staff Christmas Party.  We hold it in January, so that more people can come to it. 

So, anyways, I had a blast dancing and eating Moe's!  Yum.  I only got a few pics though- I kind of forgot about my camera.

Here is one of my best friends at work, Erin, and I.



Here is one of my other best work friends, Jackie, and I. 

4 Things

-

My sisterchick, Staci, tagged me on this one.

Four jobs I've had:
-Gap Kids
-Gadzooks
-MMO 3 yr old teacher
-teacher

Four places I lived:
-Miami, FL
-Lake Worth, FL
-Athens, GA
-Where I live now, GA

Four movies I've watched over and over:
-Notting Hill
-Best In Show
-Anne of Green Gables
-Sweet Home Alabama

Four shows I watch:
-LOST
-Prison Break
-Grey's Anatomy
-House

Four places I've been:
-New Mexico
-Bahamas
-Monterrey, Mexico
-Philadelphia

Four people who e-mail me regularly:
-teachers at work
-Lesley
-Dave
-Sisterchicks

Four favorite things to eat:
-Sushi
-any dessert
-steak
-mexican food

Four places I'd rather be:
-a cruise ship
-Captiva Island with Jason, Jenny & my nieces
-in a bathtub, with a book
-on a couch watching tv

Four things I look forward to this new year:
-Dave's 30th birthday cruise
-getting this in my classroom
-my sisterchick Mandi's new chickie being born!
-summertime!

I guess I now tag everyone else on my blogroll who hasn't already been tagged by Staci!

Even I am surprised!

So, I've always considered myself to be a moderate Republican.  I voted for Bush, although I wouldn't do it again.  Since the craziness of the Bush administration, I've started looking around at all the candidates, not just the Republican ones.  To my surprise, I realized that I agreed more with the Democratic candidates.  So, I started doing a little research, and realized that I really am a Democrat.  Interesting.  Here's a little checklist I came across regarding the issues and what each party usually agrees on. My thoughts are in red.

Issues                                                                       

 1. Abortion

Democrats:  Abortion is a woman's right and should be legal    

Republicans:  Abortion should be illegal and restricted by government   

I've got to agree with the Republicans on this one, but not all the way.   There has to be some sort of protection for the life of  the mother, for rape, incest, etc.

2. Flag Burning

Democrats:  Flag burning is political speech and is protected by the Constitution            

Republicans:  Protect the flag from burning by a constitutional amendment    

I agree with the Democrats on this one.          

3.  Gun Control           

           Democrats:  Favor/Gun control is needed                                            

           Republicans:  Oppose/Gun control is unconstitutional     

I'm on the Dems side again here.             

4.  Natural Environment

Democrats:  Strong regulations are needed to protect the environment        

Republicans:  Strong environmental laws harm the economy      

Again, I'm siding with the Democrats.  How can you possibly not want to protect the environment?  Global warming is scary stuff and we have got to regulate our carbon output!

5.  Race Relations

Democrats:  Strong anti-discrimination laws are needed

Republicans:  People and businesses can be trusted not to discriminate  

I'm going with the Dems again.             

6.  Minimum Wage

           Democrats:  Favor/Increase the minimum wage to help workers

           Republicans:  Oppose/Do not raise the minimum wage because it hurts  businesses

Another point for the Democrats- increasing minimum wage helps workers, children of these workers, and the economy.

7.  Healthcare                               

           Democrats:  Government should require universal access to healthcare

           Republicans:  Private insurers are preferable to government mandates

I'm right in the middle on this one.  I'm not a fan of government healthcare, but I do think everyone should be able to access healthcare, especially children, with programs like what we have in Georgia, called Peachcare.

8. Taxes

           Democrats:  Increase taxes on the wealthy to pay for public programs

           Republicans:  Cutting taxes for everyone helps the economy

I'll admit that I'm not very knowledgable about taxes.  This is something I have to do more research on!

9. Military

Democrats:  Cut military spending; expand veteran's benefits; act in concert with other nations and/or with support from NATO and the UN

Republicans:  Increase military spending; cut veteran's benefits; don't be constrained by other nations or by NATO and the UN

Although I don't agree with cutting military spending, I do think that we should expand veteran's benefits, not cut them.  I also think that we need to align with NATO and the UN and not just do whatever we want, so we dont' make another huge mistake like Iraq.  So, I'm going with the democrats on this one.

10.  Death Penalty       

           Democrats:  Oppose/It is not a deterrent and innocent people are in   jeopardy

           Republicans:  Favor/The death penalty is necessary and effective

Going with the Democrats on this one...life in prison is worse than the death penalty. I also don't think that we should be in charge of taking another mans life.

11. Gay Rights

           Democrats:  Favor/Gays rights and marriage are civil rights

           Republicans:  Oppose/Marriage is a sacred trust between a man and woman

If you know me at all, you know that I am strongly for gay marriage.  It is against the civil rights of gays to not be able to lawfully marry.  So, obviously, I'm on the Democratic side.

12.  Prayer in School

           Democrats:  Oppose/Violation of the separation between church and state

           Republicans:  Favor/It is a religious right and our Judeo-Christian heritage

Again, I'm with the Dems on this one.   No one should be forced to pray, especially if that person doesn't believe in that religion.  When I was in college (to be a teacher), one of my professors told us to imagine our kids going to school and them being forced to bow to Mecca and pray to Allah.  As a Christian, how would you feel?  You'd be outraged! 

 So, let's look at the data here.  Democrats 9, Republicans 1 , with one answer in the middle and one I'm not sure how to answer yet. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm a Democrat. 

What are you reading?

Right now, I'm reading A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton.  I recently finished Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides, which was just awesome. Before that, I read Book of the Dead, which was the latest in the Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell.  It was great as they always are. Earlier, I read The Copper Beach and The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy. I just adore her.

Right now, Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel and Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult, are on there way to me from Paperback Swap.

So, I have a few credits there...have you read anything good lately?

Unbelievable, but it's snowing again!

Snow update

It's still coming down in buckets...and the driveway is starting to freeze...hoping for no school tomorrow.

Introducing...Mr. Snowman!

We have snow, people!

O-Mazing Grace

If you're enjoying the American Idol auditions (and I mean the bad ones), you'll love this.  You've just got to watch until the end.

Weird and sometimes awful things that happened during our vacation...

1. We leave early Christmas morning for the long drive to New Mexico.  Our truck took forever to start.  The battery seemed a little low.  Hmmm.  That worried us.  Luckily, it was ok.

2. Because it is Christmas, no restaurants are open, except Waffle House, which we had for breakfast and for dinner.  LOL

3. The next morning, we pull out of our hotel in Arkansas and hear a ka-thud-thud-thud.  I think we blew a tire, but noooo, the tail gate of the truck opened up.  Thank GOD that it didn't happen on the highway! But, it won't stay shut.  I don't know what is wrong with it and the truck is only 2 years old!  So, Dave finally manually moves some pieces in the latch and gets it to stay shut.  We lock it and put bungee cords across it to be sure.

4.  Because of said problems with the tailgate, we refuse to open it until we get to Jason's house...we left our jackets in the bed of the truck...and it's about 20 degrees.  Ha ha

5. We drove through 100 miles of a strong snow storm, and lived to tell about it!

6. A few days before we left for NM, I caught that awful virus that's going around- massive sinus issues- cold, cough, nose, sneezing, etc.  Well, I passed it to my parents, my brother, his kids, Dave, and maybe more people!

7.  Because of said virus, I was often dizzy- the high altitude didn't help.  So, one morning, I'm in the shower at the hotel and I blow my nose.  I get dizzy and fall out of the shower.  Yes, I fell out.of.the.shower...and onto the floor, taking the whole shower curtain with me.  Thank GOD I didn't hurt myself.  LOL

8. On the way home, the last day of traveling, we wake up and head out.  About a half hour into the trip, Bailey starts puking everywhere.  Again, thank GOD that we hadn't eaten breakfast yet and all she had drank was water.  There was no odor or any other unpleasantness.

9.  Due to Bailey throwing up all over herself and the blanket by her feet, I had to get her out of the car and strip her down naked on the side of the highway...and it was 22 degrees.  I found a nightgown in the back of the truck which had sat there all night, so it was 22 degrees too.  Poor, poor Bailey.  She only threw up one more time, but she had a fever all day and couldn't eat or drink until nighttime when she nibbled on some crackers and sipped water.  We honestly weren't sure that we would make it home!

I hope you've enjoyed our drama!

The wedding pics

Jason and Jenny had a traditional Jewish wedding, but I don't have any pics of the ceremony.  We weren't allowed to use flash.  I do have a lot of pics of the party though! We had such a great time.

First, here are some pics of us doing the flowers the day before the wedding.  The arrangements came out gorgeous!

This is Jenny and her sister, Mary.



Here are two of Jenny's close friends.  I loved them!



The bouquets.





Here are the flower arrangements I did for the tables, boxed up and ready to go to the temple.



Now for the wedding.  We had a lot of time to spare while waiting to have our pictures done, so we took some pictures of our own!

Here is my mom with Jason's step-dad, John.  It's the two step-parents!



The kids



just the girls...



Jenny and I...



Mom and I...



This is Bailey with Jackson, who is my brother's sister Jen's son.  He loved her and danced with her all night.  He cried when she danced with other people!





Can you tell he loves her?





The beautiful bride and groom with their beautiful cake.



The dads.



My boys...



Me and my little lady.



We danced the night away.





Bailey loves that she now has an aunt.  Here's Bailey with her Aunt Jenny.



As soon as I get a hold of some more pics, I'll post them!

We're home!

After 10 long days, we are finally home.  We went to Albuquerque, NM for my brother Jason's wedding.  We left on Christmas day and got back last night.  Did I mention that we drove?  Yeah- that was fun.  I could write a book about the trip, but instead I'll just show you some of the highlights in pictures! 

These are the states we went through.  I'm missing Alabama and Oklahoma.  It was hard to take the picture while driving!











On the way out, we went through a 100 mile wide snowstorm.  The kids loved it, but Dave, not so much. It doesn't look heavy here, but it was.



This is in Texas. It was very cold, but the jackets were locked in the back of the truck.  That's a long story, but we couldn't get them out because we were afraid we couldn't shut it again!



Our little man chillin' in the truck.



We had some beautiful views while driving.



We saw the largest cross in the Northern hemisphere.



We passed through cattle country and smelled some stanky cows.









Finally, after 21 hours in the truck, we arrived.  This is my brother's cute house. 



And this is his view!



The cousins are so excited to see each other!



And the pre-teens head straight for the computer!



Maria & Sierra loved seeing their Papa.





We just loved the scenery!



Just kidding!  We loved spending time with the family.

Here is Dave with Jenny, my brother's new wife!



My boys hanging out at the rehearsal dinner.



My mom and I eating her famous chicken and yellow rice. They cooked it for 45 people!!



Here I am with John, my brother's step-dad, and Everett, who is my brother's brother-in-law, but not mine.  It's confusing!  Jason actually has a sister, Jen, who is a month younger than me.  Ha ha!  I don't have any pics of the two of us- I need to get some.



Here's my mom with Jenny.



Uncle Tim was being the king of the world with his nieces!



We went out to eat a lot.









 



And we did a lot of sight seeing, both in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

























Did I mention that it was cold out there? This was the typical morning temp.  It rarely got above freezing and the wind was sometimes up to 30 mph!



Next up- the wedding!