Running the Risks

I was searching the internets for some dangers associated with running and there are plenty of lists.  Running comes with lots of risks!  Let's take a look at some.

1.  Inflammation.  Oh yeah, inflammation is a given.

2.  Cardiac Events.  I haven't experienced this, but I've heard scary stories.

3.  Osteoarthritis.  I call bullshit.  Everyone loves to tell you that running is bad for your knees.  You know what else is hard on your knees?  Obesity.

4.  Weight Changes.  Yes.  Depending on how much I'm running, my weight fluctuates like crazy.  As does my appetite.

5.  Immune System.  I've found that long runs followed by heavy drinking = bronchitis. 

These things all seem like risks, but not anything that's really too scary.  And definitely not anything you can prevent.  So, I searched "dangers" of running and found a blog entry titled "The Real Dangers of Running".  Here's what they said.

6.  Deplete your Bank Account.  Everyone says running is cheap, but shoes, races, and travel add up!

7.  Kiss your old habits good-bye.  I think she means all the pizza and beer on Friday nights.  I just attribute that to being old, but I guess the Saturday long runs do contribute to this Friday night lameness.

8.  Think feeling sore is normal.  Yep.  I think the sore, tight muscles are pretty much a given.

9.  Doing things that may not be socially acceptable.  Post run brunch covered in sweat happens all the time.  But I try to keep the talk of chafing and anything close to gross to the running circle.  Boob sweat happens. 

Unfortunately, all the lists I read through were blatantly missing one key risk of running.  So I'll add it myself.

10.  Evil bird attacks.

On Friday I went out for a 5 mile run at about 5:00 in the morning.  I really like to get my runs done before school, even though it means running in the dark.  At least I used to...

I had only run about a half mile and was starting to get into my groove.  My head was full of whatever it is that goes on during a run when all of a sudden I was assaulted from the back.  Something struck my head with some serious force and I FREAKED out! 

I literally thought I was being attacked.  I thought someone had thrown a rock at my head.  I was screaming my face off and whipped around prepared to defend myself. 

But no one was there. 

All of a sudden I saw a huge owl flying above me.  I quickly realized that the bird had swooped down on my and tried to grab my ponytail.  His claws dug into my scalp and he yanked my hair, but flew away when he failed to lift me off the ground. 

WTF?

I was so freaked out I turned around and ran home, all the while holding my hand on my head where he had struck me.  I was absolutely sure my head was gushing blood.

When I got home... no blood.  Some scrapes and scratches, but no blood.  Over-react much?

I'm fine.  But, seriously.  That was the dumbest thing I've ever experienced.  And the scariest!  So, if you are considering taking up running, please be aware of the horrors of nature.  That's way more dangerous than inflammation.  Although, it did almost cause a cardiac event.

A Majestic Evening

I'm so out of the habit of blogging that I didn't take any pictures at supper club this month... 

Also, I forgot to do supper club for like 3 months.  My bad.

This means I'm going to have to rely on words to describe the evening.  And that's a big job.  Because it was quite an evening.  I'll do my best.

Drew's birthday was Friday.  He's been wanting to go to The Majestic for months now.  So we made a reservation and invited some friends.  Because supper club without friends is just supper.

We showed up right on time for our 7:30 reservation.  We were told it would be about 10 minutes until our table was ready.  So we sat down at the bar and ordered some fun drinks.  The bartender was great*.  He wouldn't let me order my first choice because he was sure it wasn't for me.  He recommended something that came out pretty & pink* but didn't taste too sweet and frilly.  I loved it.  He even got Drew to try a new beer*... which he totally loved. 

Bartender = 10

A few minutes later we were escorted downstairs to our table.  We were set up right in front of the stage** where a hilarious trio of jazz players* were performing.  The room was small and the music was loud.  It was a fun atmosphere to enjoy our dinner.

Ambiance = 10

Our waiter was friendly and apologized right away for the fact that we were sitting directly under a speaker** and that he would basically have to shout** in order to communicate with us. 

Service = 9

That didn't stop DeAnna from asking for a vegetarian recommendation.  The Majestic is big on steak.  Which we knew.  So it was no surprise that the vegetarian options were slim.  This did not dampen our spirits.  We had fantastic drinks and the boys were quite pleased with their delicious-o steaks.
 
Food = 10 {Drew} 7 {Jamie}

We ate happily, enjoyed the somewhat unconventional jazz performance, and chatted loudly to be heard over the music.  As we received our checks, we all agreed that this was just a fantastic experience...

... and right as the boys were signing our bills, a man who we assumed was the manager came over to our table.  We assumed (wrongly) that he was checking on our experience and making sure we'd had a magnificent time.  He was not.

He informed us that he had received some complaints about our noise level, that people were trying to listen to the jazz, and asked that we keep it down.  No really.  That's what he said.

We were all seriously dumbfounded.  Like, we thought he was joking.  We were signing our checks and obviously getting ready to leave.  Not to mention the music was loud.  I'm still seriously confused about the whole situation.

Really Rude & Ill-Timed Waiter = 0

I was seriously sad because that guy put such a bad taste in my mouth and really ruined the whole experience for me.  We were just saying how much we loved the whole experience.  And then that happened.  Boo. 

We left the restaurant.  But we didn't let that ruin our night.  We headed to Manifesto for a nightcap. 

Manifesto is supposed to be a speak-easy type place below the Rieger Hotel.  I had texted for a reservation but they told me just to show up.  We walked around like idiots trying to find the place... feeling like maybe we aren't cool enough for such a thing.  When we finally found it, we realized we definitely aren't cool enough as there was a crazy wait for a table. 

I don't like waiting for booze, so we hopped across the street to Affare.  It was here that we saw the greatest mustache of all time*.  And we took the only pictures of the night. 

Happy Birthday!

Welcome to Supper Club!

Okay, so I'm going to pretend the whole stinky-waiter/manager butthole thing didn't happen and try to give an objective restaurant review. 

The Majestic was really a great experience (minus you-know-what).  If you are looking for a nice dinner out and are thinking of going somewhere like Capital Grill or Plaza III or some place like that for a nice steak dinner, think of The Majestic instead.  The bartender alone is worth it!  Just please remember to keep your voices down. 


*No photo
**Important to the story later, so remember this information

Whack!

I am still in awe of the fact that I am allowed to not only supervise children, but influence them.  I often feel very unqualified.  I didn't go through a traditional teacher education program, so sometimes I feel like I missed out on some of the rules.  Most of the time I just hope that I'm not totally screwing them up. 

 

A few weeks ago, while in our fruit unit, we had a "weird fruit" day.  I went to Whole Foods and bought the weirdest fruit I could find. 

 

FYI, the selection of weird fruit available in Kansas in October is sad.  But middle school kids think a kiwi is weird.  So pomegranates, star fruit, plantains, and coconut really blew their mind.

 

I was totally unaware of the process that is required for cracking into a whole coconut.  I had to Google it, then head over to the Wood Shop room to borrow a hammer and nails.  

 

Fortunately for you, I have it on tape.  I asked one of my students to snap a photo (for the blog of course) and she suggested a video. 

 

Brilliant. 

 

My students are brilliant.

 

Unfortunately for me, this was one of those instances when my vocabulary was inappropriate for middle school.  I didn't even realize it.  Drew watched the video and pointed out that you can't say, "whack it" to 12-year-olds. 

 

See for yourself:

 

 

Not so bad, right?  I'm sure it isn't the worst thing I've said in front of them. 

Thank you for continuing on with this ridiculous and random post.

I Have a Confession

Today in class we were doing an activity that required students to read a nutrition label and try to decipher what food product it belonged to.  Then we talked about what different ingredients are and what they do and yada yada yada.

I revealed that one of our food products was Pop Tarts and we looked at the packaging that makes claims of containing "whole grains!" and "8 vitamins & minerals!" and how that is misleading.  We all agreed that we know Pop Tarts are definitely not a healthy choice.

In the midst of all this, a kid raised his hand and said, "I have a confession!".

He then went on to tell me and the class that he had walked into school last week, carrying a Pop Tart for his breakfast.  When he walked into the main hall he saw me standing there and he immediately hid his Pop Tart in his side pocket because he felt so ashamed.  He didn't want me to see his sugary treat.

Another student raised her hand and said that every time she eats a Pop Tart at home she yells, "I'M SORRY MRS. GIBSON!!!!".

I was trying to educate them about making healthy choices, but it turns out I've just shamed them into it.  Hey, whatever works.

Or is it possible... I've created a group of closet-eaters? 

Is Your Muffin Buttered?

You would think that being the big Mean Girls fan that I am, I would have expected the backlash that I received after sending out an email to our entire staff requesting judges for the MUFFIN MADNESS contest that we held in the FACS department. 

I did not.  But it sure came.

First let me tell you about the super awesome and incredibly fun activity that we did as a class.  The kids have been learning about quick breads so we decided to have a fun competition to go along with March Madness... and Muffin Madness was born. 

The kids started out with a basic muffin recipe.  They were allowed to do 3 add-ins, flavorings, or spices.  Then they had to make 1 substitution to make the muffin healthier.  Lastly, they had to name their muffin. 

The kids got so into it.  They loved it.  And surprisingly, the muffins turned out really well! 

Then we made a bracket:

Bracketology.

My classes went up against each other:

The Gibson Division.

Note: when students name their muffin BAM and tell you that it stands for Blueberry Awesome Muffin, it does not in fact stand for that.  It stands for something much less school appropriate.

My teaching partner's kids all went up against each other:

The Bean Division.

Note:  do not put gummy worms in the oven... even if it leads to a hilarious muffin name like The Wormanizer.  Lesson learned*.

And yes, one of her teams named their muffin Why Do You Care?

Then the winners from my classes went up against the winners of her classes and... the Muffin Madness Champion was crowned!!!  They were from my group... duh.  My kids are winners.

The winning group asked for their prize that they be allowed to come into my room during study hall to make more muffins.  I almost cried out of pride.  I'm almost crying now just remembering how happy this made me.  I love my kids.

I also love my co-workers... even despite the hazing I received after announcing our need for judges to taste-test muffins.  I received many the inappropriate comment... and someone went so far as to write a play-by-play of the championship game where the Beavers were up against the Tacos.  It was horrifyingly descriptive.

Then I started receiving what I imagine were the Google Image results of searching Taco Muffin.

The school secretary assures me that people giving me a hard time means that they like me. 

These people must freaking love me.

Regardless, I will be doing Muffin Madness every March from here on out.  The kids loved it way too much not to.  I'll just have to assign someone to butter the muffins.


*Seems like we should have already assumed this.

Help!

Another cautionary tale from Casa de Gibson...

The streak of poor judgment bad luck continues and has now moved beyond just the kitchen. 

Lately I've been getting up early to get in a quick workout before school.  This requires me to go through the garage and down into our dungeon of a basement.  So on Friday, I dragged my lazy butt out of bed and headed down.  After completing my workout, I walked to the door, pulled to open it, and found that it was stuck. 

Like, completely stuck.  No other way out.  Stuck-stuck.

Do. Not. Panic.

Thankfully I had my phone.  So I calmly called Drew, who is dead-to-the-world when he sleeps.  He doesn't get up until right before I leave for work.  So I had about an hour before his alarm would go off.  And after calling him 5 times, I realized his phone must be on silent. 

Do. Not. Panic.

I quickly surveyed the piles of junk that have accumulated in the dungeon and chose a tennis racket as my tool of choice.  I then proceeded to stand beneath our bedroom and bang on the ceiling while screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Drew!!!!  I'm stuck in the basement!!!"

"Drew!!!  Wake up!  I'm stuck in the basement!!!"

"Help me!!!  I'm stuck in the basement!!!"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!!!"

This went on for way too long.  I could hear the confused scamper of puppy paws above me, but no people paws.  That guy was seriously passed out.  I half expected the neighbors to come rescue me before Drew woke up.

Thankfully, after about 10 minutes of shouting and banging on the ceiling, he eventually woke up.  He was very confused and disoriented, but all ended well.  And to think, you had no idea this drama was going on while you slept snuggly in your bed yesterday.

This could have turned out way worse though!  What if Drew had been out of town and I hadn't taken my phone with me?!?  I can't even imagine what I would have done... 

So the new rule is, I have to be careful with the dungeon door and always take my phone downstairs with me.  Drew will be traveling a bit in the coming weeks, so if you are one of the millions of folks who has a key to my house (Katy, I'm speaking directly to you) please be prepared for early morning rescue missions. 

And if you don't hear from me for a few days, maybe just drive by to check.  I don't think I can be trusted to be alone.

Quote of the Week

"Mrs. Gibson, is something burning in here?"

                                                                       - The Principal

Oh, I'm sorry.  Did I not mention in my interview that I have a tendency to light the kitchen on fire?  My bad.



                                                   

Belly Laughs

Tragedy has struck friends.  I have lost a piece of me... something that has been with me for many, many years.  Meet, my belly ring:

Sad little broken belly ring.

Maybe we should start at the beginning.  When I was a senior in high school I was a pretty classy lady.  Like real classy.  And with prom coming up, I wanted to accentuate my super classy two-piece dress with a belly-button piercing. 

The only problem was, my mom totally forbid it.  She told me that if I pierced my belly-button she would take away my super classy two-piece prom dress.  The horror.

Now, being the asshole slightly rebellious teen that I was, I headed on down to the tattoo parlor/piercing place with my dear friend Brandy who is an expert in body mutilation.  Hi Brandy!!!  I chose the ring/jewel combo because that's what Britney Spears was sporting at the time.

When Prom night came along and everyone and their date showed up to my house for prom pictures, I just hiked up that skirt and acted like everything was normal.  Yes, I had to push my belly out to keep the skirt up, but looking slightly bloated in pictures is a small price to pay for hot body piercings.

See how classy those dresses were?

Of course, as soon as we were out of the house and on our way to the Prom I exhaled and let my dress go to it's natural resting place on my hips. 

The classiness is almost unbearable.

Of course the next day my mom caught sight of the dang thing.  But by then I didn't need that dress anymore.  But the belly ring remained, for a very long time.

I'd contemplated taking it out many, many times.  I know I'm too old to wear a belly ring.  But I kind of forget its there.  Which is probably why I never changed it.  That, and how embarrassing would it be to shop for a belly ring at my age?

But I couldn't bring myself to take it out.  I just... couldn't.

Then on Sunday when I'd gotten back from the lake, I was letting the dogs out when I bumped against the sliding door and heard a pop.  I looked down and saw the tiny "diamond" on the deck and about had a heart attack. 

I believe it was a sign.  I mean, the thing fell out after 10 years in there and it just happened to be the day before I started teaching.  That's no coincidence.  It's the end of an era.  And the beginning of a new, more mature/less trashy era.

And somewhere in Wichita, my mother is praising Jesus that I am no longer a teenager.  Love you, Mom!

Mmmm... Lentil Beet Burgers

Yeah, I said beets.  I've never cooked with beets before but I keep seeing people buy them at the farmers' market.  There's gotta be a reason people are going all Dwight Schrute with their veggies, right?  So I joined the crowd and purchased my very first beets.

Bears.  Beets.  Battle Star Galactic.

Now, what to do with these bad boys?  As you know, we had company over for dinner last week.  The weather was hot.  That means we should definitely grill out.  Burgers and fries it is.

I Googled "beet burgers" and scrolled through lots of different recipes... and some reviews that said beet burgers were quite possibly the worst idea ever.  I ended up choosing this recipe because it looked pretty simple, I had all the ingredients, and it called for lentils.  You know how much I love lentils.

The beets were surprisingly easy to work with.  I just roasted them up, chopped them up, and made burgers.  All without getting a smidge of pink on my dress. 

Those are some magenta burgers.  For real.

Are we a bit skeptical?

The recipe calls for you to cook the burgers in a skillet, but I thought they'd hold up on the grill.  Just to be safe, I put down some foil to keep the burgers from sticking to the grill or falling through.  Have you seen those commercials?  You know, where the burgers stick and dinner is ruined and they're all, "This wouldn't have happened if you would have used Reynold's Wrap!"  Yes, I am a marketer's dream come true.  I believe everything I see on TV.

This is going to be just great!

Uhh... this isn't going so well.

Meanwhile, Jana was putting on a fashion show inside.  Look how excited Mya is about the fashion show.

We voted lose the belt.  We are such fashionistas.

And Drew became more and more skeptical about the beet burgers.  If you want my honest opinion, I think he was rooting for the beet burgers to fail from the beginning.

Not excited to be flipping beet burgers.  Mad Face.  Grr.

Drew decided the burgers weren't going to make it on the grill, so we brought them in and finished them up on the stove... much to his delight.  I think he was hoping we'd scratch the beet burgers and go to Chipotle.  You wish, Drew.

To go with the burgers and fries I whipped up some Mmmm Sauce from Peas & Thankyou, my newest blog obsession.  I love this sauce.  I mean, I love sauce in general, but this stuff is super good.  I've eaten the entire batch.  It goes on fries, burgers, salad, pasta, crackers, pita, and anything else you can think of.  I licked the bowl.  I like it.

"Mmmm!"

Jana enjoyed the Mmmm sauce too.  DeAnna didn't think it lived up to the hype.  I'll go ahead and eat hers.


Jana, is that your Mmmm face?

 The burgers turned out pretty good.  Jana and DeAnna agreed.  I don't know if they were just being nice... or if they'd just had enough sangria to make a hot pink burger seem yummy.

Beet burger & Sweet Tater Fries.

Beet burgers can be sexy, right D?

 You know you've had too much sangria when you get Jana to make sexy faces with her beet burger.

She just loves those fries!

And, now let's get an opinion from someone who won't lie to avoid hurting my feelings and isn't suffering from sangria-induced impaired judgement.  To put it mildly, Drew was not a fan.

Oh no.

He took one bite and called it quits.  He talked about going out for food, but never actually did.  It's probably a good thing.  After sitting through us girls going through several pitchers of sangria, I don't know if he would have come back.

So refreshing, yet so wrong.

Here's the recipe, in case you haven't been scared off yet.

Lentil Beet Burgers

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c. quick cooking wheat bulgur (soaked in water for 4-6 hours)
• 3/4 c. dry red lentils (soaked in water for 4-6 hours)
• 2/3 c. raw cashews (blended into a powder)
• 2 cups beets, washed
• 8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
• 1.5 tsp. sea salt
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil

Method:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Place the beets in a 9 x 13 pan, add a cup or so of water and cover it with foil and bake the beets for about 45-60 minutes or until very tender. 
• Allow beets to cool slightly, then peel off skin and discard the root.
• Dice the beets and set aside.
• In a skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil and saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until cooked.
• In a food processor, pulse the cashews into a medium fine powder.
• Add the beets, sauteed mushrooms, lentils, bulgur, and sea salt and blend until combined.
• Form mixture into 8 burger patties. Place them on a tray lined with wax paper and refrigerate them for 1-2 hours before cooking.
• When ready to cook the burgers, heat remaining 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a skillet or griddle on medium high heat. Cook burgers for about 5 minutes on each side, but try not flip more than once to avoid burgers falling apart.
• Serve on grilled sourdough bread or buns with your favorite toppings!

Happy {meatless} Monday!

Rubella Randomness

I gave up complaining for lent.  Apparently I complain a lot because when I told Drew, he was all "Thank goodness!"  But I sort of think that he just misinterprets my stories as complaints.  When I am telling him about all the drama and craziness of my day, I'm not complaining.  I'm just sharing.

Like, when I couldn't enroll in my summer online classes because the Health Center wanted my Measles Mumps & Rubella vaccination record and my online class filled up before I could get them the vaccination record from 1984 so now I have to take the on-campus class this summer and thank goodness they have that record now so they know I won't be giving anyone Rubella.  That's not complaining.  That's just me pointing out irony.  How can I give someone Rubella in an online class? 

Anyways, Jim seems to think I'm a bit of a complainer too.  I like to bring up the fact that as a child, our family took a "vacation" to Kansas City every summer and now I'm living in my favorite vacation spot.  It's like if Jana were to move to Disney World.  Or Nicky were to move to the Virgin Islands.  I'm not complaining that I never got to go to Disney World or the Virgin Islands as a kid.  I'm simply pointing out that it's funny. 

Or at least I think so. 

I may have offended Jim.

Last week when the folks came to visit, we were walking around the Plaza and Jim stopped in front of the big pig statue and asked if I wanted to have my picture taken.  I said no thanks.  I'm pretty sure we have thousands of pictures in front of that statue.  It was like a vacation staple.  We always took a picture in front of that pig. 

AND, back to the original story (and you thought I was just rambling).  I called Jim & Chris in a panic because how the hell am I supposed to know if I got a rubella vaccination????.  Chris promptly found the MMR record* from 1984 and Jim scanned and emailed it. 

As I'm opening the attachments in his email, I'm all in a huff because one of my classes has already filled and another one is on the brink.  I open the first attachment: Rubella, 1984.  I open the second attachment: Diphtheria, 1982.  I open the third attachment: Super Awesome Pig Picture, circa 1993.

McNiece Family Vacation.  Holla!

OMG.  That seriously made my day.  Seriously.  I can't even complain about those seriously big glasses or my fake Keds.  Best vacation ever**.

*Seriously, this is why I can't have kids.  My mom has vaccination records dating back to 1982.  I can't even remember to register Ari's microchip.  Imagine my kid's dismay when he calls me up, 30 years old, looking for a vaccination record and I'm all "Oh sorry sweetie, I threw those out!" 

**Please note that this photo was taken approximately 10 years after I received my Measles Mumps & Rubella vaccination.

Characters

You will never ever believe who I ran in to.  There I was, at the PV YMCA, waiting in line to sign in for CPR training with Girls on the Run, when I saw her.  My thought process went like this:

Oh no.  Is that... ??? 

No.  It couldn't be. 

It is!

Wait, is she a part of Girls on the Run? 

If so, maybe I'm in the wrong organization.

What is she doing here??? 

Where is my camera???

I'm so blogging about this.

If you guessed that is was Hookah Girl... you are so right.  Yes, our favorite community college attending, hookah smoking, egg selling, Captain Crunch-eating, knows what guys like - girl had re-entered my life, if only briefly.  Turns out she actually works for the YMCA* and was just there helping set up the video for our training. 

Thank goodness she's not affiliated with GOTR.  I mean, most days I question whether I'm suited to be a weekly influence on these little girls... I might completely lose faith in the organization if I found out that Hookah Girl is involved.  And I might recommend a new question on the coach application.

Do you smoke drugs and make out with girls and talk loudly about these things in public?

Anyways, this experience got me thinking... I haven't talked much about school lately.  There's a reason for this.  Last semester all my classes were online.  You don't really get a good feel for the crazies when you aren't face to face with them on a regular basis.  But this semester I'm actually taking three classes on campus!  Let me tell you a bit about them.

Apparel Construction:  I'm taking this class as part of my FACS certification.  It's a sewing class.  And it is super fun.  And there are some really fun characters in class.  Today I'll just tell you about the people that sit at my table with me.

• Tourettes Gal.  The fun thing about FACS majors is there are a lot of non-traditional students.  Tourettes Gal is in her late 40's and absolutely hates sewing.  She sits there sewing, swearing, and almost every day threatens to walk out and quit this class.  I've never heard someone swear so much... and so loudly. 
• Big Quilter.  This girl is hilarious.  She talks non-stop about how she sews all the time and she's a really great quilter.  You can tell she is trying to get me and Tourettes to oohh and aahhh over her expertise.  But the thing is, she has no idea what she's doing.  She ends up asking for either my help or Tourettes'.  And I'm pretty sure we're the least experienced (and one of us is the grumpiest) in the class.  If she isn't asking us what to do, she'll sit in her seat with her hand raised.  Our teacher is pretty much bombarded with questions and people needing help, so if you need her you have to physically go get her.  Big Quilter will just sit there forever with her hand raised, eyes glazed over.  Sometime I'm going to have to time it.  She is the definition of a helpless hand raiser.
• GBFF.  GBFF is my new BFF.  He's one of two guys in our class.  He is a Freshman fashion major, soft spoken, and has a fabulous cardigan collection.  I love him.  I've always wanted a gay BFF and now I have one!  We share quiet laughs from across the table when Tourettes goes into one of her tirades and knowing glances when Big Quilter starts in on her latest adventure in quilting.  Did I mention I love him?   

Discipline & Motivation:  This is a weekly night class.  That means it is full of current teachers who are getting their Masters.  While grad school isn't full of the hilarity of Community College, it definitely has its own cast of characters.  There are a lot (alot) of older teachers there who are having a really rough time with the whole going back to school thing.  Some examples:

• We had to give a presentation a couple of weeks ago.  The teacher was going over the criteria and mentioned that it should be about 15 slides long.  One guy freaked out, in the middle of class, and said that he would absolutely not, not, use Power Point.  He told our teacher he was going to present with a poster-board instead.  No way.  Yes.  He was serious.  Our teacher talked him into doing his presentation in Word instead.  He basically pulled up an outline on Word and just talked.  I was so disappointed he didn't do a poster-board.  I haven't seen one of those since like seventh grade.
• There is one lady who asked for my phone number the first day of class, you know... just in case she had questions.  I had a bad feeling about it as I was writing down my number.  But I actually really look forward to her calls every weekend.  Whenever I answer she hollers something like, "Oh praise the Lord!  She answered!  She answered!!!"  I spend a lot of time walking her through things like how to look things up on the internet or how to access the school email account she didn't know she had.  It makes me happy to feel helpful.  It also makes me sad for her... because you know you're in a bad place if you're calling me for help.
• Our teacher is awesome... in a different kind of way.  When I told Jim that I was going back to school to be a teacher, he gave me some great advice.  He said to write down everything that my teacher's did that I hated so that I would remember not to do those things as a teacher.  Let's just say that my teacher in this class has given me great material for my list.  I actually keep my list in my binder for Discipline & Motivation class because I'm always anticipating something new to add.

Research Methods:  This class is about as exciting as it sounds.  It is a weekend class that meets about once a month throughout the semester.  The only exciting bit is that there is a woman in my class that I may have encountered in an online class last semester.  Lesson learned:  just because you can't see them doesn't mean you should say everything you want to over the internet because they'll probably show up in your life again.  I don't think she realizes who I am because she is too busy talking about how important and smart she is (things I only say to myself... and you guys) to notice me.  She did realize that we have the same major and she approached me to tell me that she is finishing hers up this semester and knows everything there is to know about it so if I have any questions, she's the one to ask.  Umm... pretty sure I'm done this summer, and I made it through on my own without your expertise.  So maybe you should be asking for my advice. 

Wow.  This lady brings out the worst in me. :)

Anyways, that's about it on the school front.  Can you believe I'll be done with classes this summer and student-teaching next fall?!?  Hard to believe in a few short months I'll be in a classroom. 

*The PV YMCA is less than a half mile away from my house.  I'm seriously considering joining just so I can have more Hookah Girl interactions.  I'm also kind of concerned that she is spending so much time in my neighborhood.

You Stay Classy, Wichita.

Warning:  This post is about a million pictures long of mostly the same picture, featuring mostly the same people.  You don't have to look, but each and every one made me laugh.  So I couldn't cut any out.

After Laurie's shower on Saturday, we went out for a night on the town; Ta-Town.  I don't do this very often.  Mostly because I'm never home.  And also because there are a select few people I actually enjoy seeing in Wichita.  And for the most part they were all there on Saturday.

We started the night at the Coonrods'.  Just like old times.  Only this time Laurie was knocked up so we ended up drinking with her mom.  She poured us fancy shots.

So fancy.

We didn't stay long, because like I said, Laurie is knocked up and couldn't really partake in our fun.  The Coonrod house was where we always hung out in high school, so it was no surprise that they waited until we were good and gone to renovate the whole thing. 

It is gorgeous.  But I have to show you my favorite part.  Yep.  It's the bar:

Probably good this wasn't around in high school.

Next we headed to the classiest joint in Wichita.  No, we didn't go to Denim & Diamonds.  But let me tell you, I've been there.  And it was fun.  But Saturday we went to the Scotch & Soda instead.  It was karaoke night! 

Saw these fools, briefly.

Nicky: Queen of the Self-Portrait.

This next pic is of Nicky & Ashley line dancing.  But please check out the dude behind Nicky.  He was having the time of his life living out his own personal version of Step Up.  He sang.  He danced.  He even gave a speech on the microphone.  It was his night.

Bust it.

More self-portraits.

BFF Preston joined us.  I keep trying to lure him into moving to KC with promises of pretty single friends, but he ain't budging. 

This would be so cute if I wasn't making that face.

The nice thing about the Scotch is, you don't really see people you don't want to see from high school.  Oh, wait.

Uhhhhh...

This next photo is not of Preston & Nicky loving on each other.  You have to look beyond them to get a glimpse of the awesomeness that is the Scotch.

This wasn't the worst of it!

Whatcha doin' B?

Next pic: This guy came up to Nicky and asked her if she'd like to dance.  He said that he really loved this song and would love to dance with her to it.  She lied and said she was married to Matt Long.  He said something like, "Oh, okay.  I just really like this song."  Nicky felt so bad for hurting his feelings and how he seemed like such a nice guy.  Umm... the song that was playing?  Tenacious D.  The one that says something about "I'm gonna f*#$ you hard."  She didn't feel so bad after she found out.  But she did ask for a picture with the weirdo.

Tenacious.

Nick-Dawg stole my camera and went at it with herself.  She's always had a mild problem with vanity.

Love!

Ashley & Casey.

More Nicky.

Still more.

OMG.  You have a problem.

"What is going on here?"

What the...

Those are my boozy eyes.

And that's Brandy's drunken lean.

Lean it the other way B!

GC.  That's for you, Laurie.

Brandy's Cooper impression.  Or is she being a sad monkey?

Now I'm doing the Brandy lean and she's doing squats.

And now we're all a little boozy-eyed.

I don't know why I think this is so funny.

Oh no.

Brandy by her lonesome.

Poor P.  Surrounded by married women.

Brandy's been with Willie since Freshman year in HS!!!

That's the "I love you" head tilt.

Nicky will eat your face.

Bonus points if you can find Brandy in this picture.

Ghetto Nicky... and falling over Jamie & Brandy.

And we're out.

I cannot even explain how much fun I had in Wichita with my friends.  It was a lot.  And I didn't even get to karaoke.  Although Preston kept telling me he signed me up to sing Party in the USA.  I thought, "Wow!  You really are a good friend!"  But it never came on.  I think he was lying. 

There was also a lot of talk about our upcoming reunion this summer.  I hadn't actually been all that interested until I found out about a little pre-reunion festivities that got me all worked up.  Now I can't wait! 

Love you friends!!!