Two Weeks from Today!!!!

2 weeks from today is
Girls Night Out!!

Christy and LJ and I will be heading to Kansas City
(OK, LJ is already there)
and going to see...

Not this:

Boeing Phantom
(did you help with this, Sissy?)


Not this:

Marvel Phantom Eagle

Not this:

Honda Phantom

Not this, but isn't cool?:

1925 Rolls Royce Phantom

THIS!!
Phantom of the Opera on tour.
This is it!!!! Can't wait!
This will be the 5th time for LJ and me
(Orange County Performing Arts, Houston, Her Majesty's Theatre in London, Vegas, and now Kansas City)
but the very first time for Christy girl.
I think we have first row seats!!!

More later!

websites in no particular order:

dragtimes.com
adpost.com
boeing.com
marvel.com
academic.emporia.edu

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Faith and Begorrah!

What a fine day for celebrating the Irish!
'Tis forecast to be 80° this afternoon!

I was fortunate to visit Ireland with my mom in 2002.
We took a 16 day comprehensive coastal bus tour with Globus Tours. Our tour guide was Carmel, a former Geography and German teacher. She was so knowledgeable and personable, full of stories and remembering names without notes. She was the best! Carmel graciously handled the differing personalities in our group. Oh I would love to go again!
********************
My mother was 100% Irish, her parents having emigrated separately to Boston in the early 20th Century.
Mom carried her Irish Passport on our trip and was even counted as an Irish citizen as we were there during the census!

My Irish Pop was from Waterport in County Mayo.
My Nana came from Skibberean in County Cork.
Neither ever returned to visit the Old Country although Pop longed to.

Below are a few of my fave places from our tour.
Mom & I spent 2 days in Dublin which included my birthday!
We enjoyed Brewley's Cafe on Grafton Street.
The Giant's Causeway is a spectacular natural phenomenon.
And it's true I kissed the Blarney Stone.
When I told students about that recently they were disgusted!
I did WHAT??????
(Maybe I've taught them too much about health and sanitation and cross contamination--!)
Even tho' we are not cooking in Foods class, I will be wearing this most of today.

I snagged it at the Shannon Airport along with this:

a pretty little tea cozy!

Here's hoping you'll be enjoyin' some Green and Blarney.
I'll be fixin' Corned Beef, Cabbage and Colcannon for dinner along with a little Guinness just because.
And what will you be doin'?

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
Olde Irish Blessing


Photos:
wikimedia.org
www.quakers-in-ireland.ie
www.blarneycastle.ie

Home Entry

This is my entryway.

I know there are many many rules about how the entry of a home should set the tone, welcome your guests with a preview of the rest of your home.

Well, here is what you will see just inside my front door:

Okay okay, so maybe THIS is what you see in front of you when you walk in the door. This is actually one year ago, I've changed a few things since last March, like moving the stepladders off the deck. Instead they are residing inside my bedroom, awaiting a burst of energy from moi to finish cutting in the paint 14 feet up. (I hate heights.) I've also added some curtains, but that will be for another post. But this is the view from the front door. Pretty boring. It is what it is.
When Nicolee came for a week visit, I decided to bring the dollhouse upstairs so she would not be playing in the basement all alone. When the little girls are here, it's not a problem because that's where they stay. But Nicolee was staying upstairs. And she spent many hours playing right here!

Well when the little girlees came to stay, I decided to just leave the dollhouse right here. So what if this decor defies the experts' recommendations. Little Baby J just LOVED being able to reach a few things, but she can't "get into" everything.
I found this "Trading Spaces" dollhouse at Cargo Largo in Independence, Missouri. It has lots of wallpaper and accessories and teensy paint rollers to "change out" the decor. Most of those are still put up when the little girlees are here.

This is how the girlees left the house when they last left. For some reason, Baby J left the table and chairs outside.And inside:

Hmmmm, I don't know what the story is here, but look closely.

Momma was put in "time-out" in the playpen!

I decided to leave the components to the little Christmas vignette and the girlees move those around too:
Pardon the mess, (kinda looks like my whole house most of the time). The girlees put everything back and close up the front panels when they are done playing. This was $20 at Cargo Largo. I've seen it online on clearance for less, but I think this is one of the best $20 investments I have made!

So welcome! This is my front entry.
Like it or not, it really is a reflection of my home.
My home is all about family!
Oh, and this is just inside the front door too!

My baby flew away

This is Spring Break for my baby.
Most college aged kids find some
exotic location to lay in the sun and get wasted
and do things they otherwise would not do at home.

As of today, my baby is in Guatemala for the week for a service trip.

These are a few pics of the beautiful grounds of the Mission.


She is really excited because there is a health clinic on site
and she hopes she can help out. She is in grad school
for occupational therapy and loves it!





The area is exotic and full of local tradition,
some a mix of religious and mystic history.


The Mission promotes the sale of local coffee and
you can even purchase some online.
Aren't the coffee beans beautiful?



My baby will only be gone for a week,
but I'm sure there will stories to be shared for years to come.

If you'd like to "visit" the Mission, go to:

(All photos are from the Mission website.)
Postscript: I received this email this evening: "

Guatemala Service Group just phoned and checked in. They are safe and sound

in the country and at San Lucas Mission. They are doing well. Thanks for your

patience." She made it! (I'm the Momma!)

Blood Drive

Yesterday was the Annual Blood Drive at school.

Near the end of lunch I was standing in the office and received a text from my daughter-in-law saying that she and her parents and her sister-in-law and her baby boy and 2 of my grandgirlees were over at the park... across the parking lot...from where I was standing. Aacck!! I probably couldn't even walk over there before the bell was going to ring. So I mumbled my disappointment out loud and the Assistant Principal hollered out of her office, "It's such a beautiful day, I think if my granddaughters were over at the park, I'd take my class to the park!"

DONE!

Seven students who were not absent or involved with the Blood Drive walked with me over to the park, each with a study guide in hand of course, and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather! Two returned to continue helping out at the Blood Drive, so I was down to 5. As you can see, one student was recovering from his donation!

And I got my grandgirlee fix!