Unimpressed with her

I got nuthin.

Crankier than EVER, ladies! Steer clear.

Um...

I'll be the first to admit that Hope needs a greater emphasis on the phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season."

Sunflower

Apples

She has a new hat

Office update

The authorities at my school came to their senses last week and realized that I had to much happiness and space and sunlight through windows (and anti-union sentiments) so I now share my room with about six other itinerant school people and all the kids with whom they work.

Random stuff I like

Strange Boat, by The Waterboys

We're sailing on a strange boat
heading for a strange shore
We're sailing on a strange boat
heading for a strange shore
Carrying the strangest cargo
that was ever hauled aboard

We're sailing on a strange sea
blown by a strange wind
We're sailing on a strange sea
blown by a strange wind
Carrying the strangest crew
that ever sinned

We're riding in a strange car
we're followin' a strange star
We're climbing on the strangest ladder
that was ever there to climb

We're living in a strange time
working for a strange goal
We're living in a strange time
working for a strange goal
We're turning flesh and body
into soul

Pooches and smooches

My friend, Emily, is down south enjoying some warm temperatures (and probably a lot of grits and corn bread) and we are watching her dogs this weekend. Rudy has taken a liking to Hope. Hope said, right after this picture was taken, "Man, that dog sure knows how to kiss."

Tilt-shift photography

Immersion seems to be working

Having a conversation with Hope this morning while she eats breakfast and finishes homework -- she answered a casual question with a sentence that was made up of 50% Chinese, then looked at me and said, "I have no idea why I said that. YOU don't know Chinese, do ya Mom?"

Priceless picture

Follow Marcie's link.

Work

Six little pictures to show you why I love working in an elementary school.

Pictures

Christmas is coming

The teachers are enthusiastic.

But the bell ringers are not feeling the spirit quite yet.

Conversation after showering

"You smell manly. Is that Axe?"

"No, that's Minnesota. This is the Texas one. It's Blade."

This is my cue to the people I live with that I wouldn't mind playing ball with someone.

I hate shopping for clothes

I broke down and went to the Ridgedale Mall a couple nights ago because I started worrying that my coworkers were catching on to the fact that I was rotating the same three outfits day after day, one of which includes my new Monster Half-Marathon running shirt. I look stupid but I figure maybe I'm less threatening to the middle school kids that way. My pants are all either 2 inches too short or 3 inches too long. I get queasy when I go to the mall because there is a 90% chance I will try on 15 pieces of clothing that look like crap on me.

But guess what happened? The Ridgedale Mall gods shone down on me and I found not only a pair of Calvin Klein jeans that will probably change my life, but a sweater AND a shirt. THREE items of clothing! In one tolerable shopping experience!

I'm still kinda high.

I learned something new

Gary has never been ashamed of his reliance on a dictionary or spell-check when it comes to spelling. He used to carry around an Oxford paperback dictionary. Little did I know he was so swift with punctuation. Feel free to direct all of your punctuation questions to him. He's good.

From football to swimming

Some of the 4th grade boys are having a hard time giving up football. They crouch down on the swimming start blocks like they are on the football scrimmage line.

Do you still have LPs?

You can play them on this iPhone app:

iPhone tape recorder

Now an essential piece of speech pathology equipment.

Not Martha but they'll do

The sun finally came out

Hours of fun

Wimp.com

Good Morning!

I Am T Pain (Obama on Auto-tune)

Monday

A first for me

I knew that one of the kindergartners on my caseload is a twin. I did not know she is an identical twin. One is seen for articulation; one is not. The teacher sent the wrong student to see me today. For 30 seconds I considered myself The Greatest Speech Pathologist in the World!

She likes school

When you ask Hope these days what she wants to be when she grows up, the answer is "Chinese teacher!"

Marathon numero huh?

Grandma's 1996 (Annie Bianco and Ed Fisher!)
Twin Cities 1996 (PR!)
Rock and Roll San Diego 1997 (No water!)
Twin Cities 1997 (Mental breakdown!)
Disney 1999 (Andrea's mental breakdown. But there was Disney scenery!)
Grandma's 2002 (First post-child-bearing marathon! So thrilled my uterus didn't fall out!)
Las Vegas 2003 (50 mph gusting headwinds!)
Arizona Rock and Roll 2004 (OMG it was freaking hot!)
Sacramento Cow Town 2008 (Cowbell medal for finishers. Need I say more?)
Minneapolis 2008 (Gary's motivational soundtrack, hills, and flaming poo! And a jacket!)
Twin Cities 2009 (My bro, my friends, and perfect running weather!)

I'm missing one.

The most recent marathon was memorable because of all the fun people who ran it. It was the 1st marathon for my brother, Jeff. It was the first for friends, Heidi and Jay. It was the first marathon my regular running partner, Emily, and I ran together (most of the way, anyway, at least until she turned on her afterburners and sped to the finish line!). And last but not least, my dear friend Andrea flew across country again to spend running time and a sick day with me. We may not be fast but we always have a blast.

I would like to encourage any of you who has ever had the urge to run a marathon to do it. It's a good time any way you look at it.

4th grade art

I snapped these in the hallway at one of the schools where I work. The entire district does the same art each year in elementary schools. I can't wait until Hank comes home with his bike picture.

What does it mean?

What does it say about me and my dog that I like these two scents more than any perfume I have in the bathroom? Interestingly, Peggy becomes very, very anxious when I approach her with the anti-stress calming spray.

I don't know what it all means but I'm taking the calming spray to work with me today. I'll let you know how it goes.

Busy fall

Football, VocalEssence, homework, work work, running, now swim team. The blog has been suffering. I miss it. I'm going to try to do a better job of updating things here.

Chicken curry for breakfast

Breakfast - chicken and veg curry
Originally uploaded by WkHanson08.

Why not? Gary has been honing his Indian curry skills and whipped this up this morning for our lunches at work. I couldn't resist eating a dose for breakfast, too.

Your cute picture of the day

Sophie is one of Peggy's running partners. Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge it.

Sophie

You have to read this and follow the link to T-odd

What Have I Done?

WARNING: T-odd writes very, very long, rambling posts but this one is pretty funny.

Update: I kid the T-odd. I kid!

Funky/Cool Stuff (including Halloween purses)

Funky/Cool Stuff made by my friend and for sale on Etsy:

See here.

End of summer

Running related

"When things look worst, we run the most. Three times, America has seen distance-running skyrocket and it’s always in the midst of a national crisis. The first boom came during the Great Depression; the next was in the ‘70s, when we were struggling to recover from a recession, race riots, assassinations, a criminal President and an awful war. And the third boom? One year after the Sept. 11 attacks, trailrunning suddenly became the fastest-growing outdoor sport in the country. I think there’s a trigger in the human psyche that activates our first and greatest survival skill whenever we see the shadow of approaching raptors."

I'm loading this book into my iPhone for our weekend road trip.