Normal Again

My kiddo is back to school (and this is when the angels REALLY sing - hear 'em?).

God bless antibiotics.

Okay, and for other things...check out this longhorn sugar bowl that is soon to be mine. Well, mine to give as a gift, but I am hoping to order up another one for myself. I think am becoming a sugar bowl addict.

This post looks destined to be a hodge-podge of stuff, but what the heck?

The "colonel" just called in...he overslept (big surprise), but since he has a dentist appointment at 9am, he'll just come in after that (angels singing again).

Tonight is College Night. Speaking of which, will you check out the stadium and arena for our school district?? It's better than the stadium we had at the University of Houston back in my day. That's where College Night is being held tonight. I think we're going. Of course, if Nicole doesn't make up all the work she missed being sick, we might be revisiting 11th grade again.

Well, I am at working, listening to Pandora Radio's Quick Mix... currently playing James Taylor;s Country Road.

Kid in school, colonel not expected for hours, and a fabulous longhorn sugar bowl making it's way to Texas....life is good, angels sing, and peace reigns for a while.

Amen.

"Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords Is No Basis For A System Of Government"

ARTHUR: Please! Please, good people. I am in haste. Who lives in that castle?

WOMAN: No one lives there.

ARTHUR: Then who is your lord?

WOMAN: We don't have a lord.

ARTHUR: What?

DENNIS: I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week...

ARTHUR: Yes.

DENNIS: ...but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting...

ARTHUR: Yes, I see.

DENNIS: ...by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,...

ARTHUR: Be quiet!

DENNIS: ...but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major--

ARTHUR: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!

WOMAN: Order, eh? Who does he think he is? Heh.

ARTHUR: I am your king!

WOMAN: Well, I didn't vote for you.

ARTHUR: You don't vote for kings.

WOMAN: Well, how did you become King, then?

ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake,... [angels sing] ...her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
[singing stops]
That is why I am your king!

DENNIS: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

ARTHUR: Be quiet!

DENNIS: Well, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!

ARTHUR: Shut up!

DENNIS: I mean, if I went 'round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

ARTHUR: Shut up, will you? Shut up!

So, you either love it or hate it. I, for one, still lose it when I watch Monty Python and The Holy Grail. And, like other lovers of this movie, once you start me on lines, I can't quit. The portion of the scene above is hilarious to me.

Yes, I think it's the funniest movie ever. How about you? What movie do find funny every time you watch it? Have a favorite line? Please share!

One Sick Girl

The HALTER pumpkin patch

Nicole is sick again. She is missing so much school that I don't know how we're going to get her back on track. Plus, she faked that one day of sickness, so, of course, we keep thinking she's crying wolf.

This morning, her back hurt (where her lungs are), the right side of her throat hurts so much she can't swallow, she has a headache, and 100 degree fever. I know she's really ill.

It's back to the doctor at 11am.

Now, if you didn't read the comments regarding her charity work at HALTER, she did go. She was appointed the official face painter and sticker tattoo artist. The day flew quickly. As the facility is open to the general public in October as a fund raiser, there were not as many special needs children, but still a significant number.

We were really proud of her doing this alone - not bringing a friend to feel "safe," but jumping right in and being a trooper.

Nicole and two of the ponies

Now, we need our girl to get well.

Two young cowboys at HALTER

Georgi and the Puffin Mug

'Nuff said....

Will She Go?

Our daughter, Nicole, needs some volunteer hours to get a letterman's jacket for school and some service hours to get the opportunity to take some fun trips with her church group.

Soooooooooooo.....she found a charity near our house called H.A.L.T.E.R. It's an amazing place with tiny, miniature horses, ponies, and full-sized horses. HALTER stands for Horses Assisting Learning, Therapy, Eyesight, Rehabilitation, Inc.

From what we understand, they bring in handicapped and blind kids and let them ride the horses. It is supposedly very therapeutic. Halter happens to need volunteers this month because they are having a Pumpkin Patch.

Today's hours are from 8am - 2pm. I went to wake her up at 7:30am. She wanted to know why she couldn't go at 9am. We compromised at 8:30am.

Last night was the homecoming game. It went into double overtime, so Miss Priss didn't go to sleep until 1:30am (neither did her mother).

I'll let you know if she goes or not. I am on the fence right now.

The power of a letter jacket is very powerful.

So is the power of teenage laziness.

Cool Hipster Dude

Do you remember my coffee-making coworker, the "colonel?"

I thought I would give you some scoop and a bit of a visual. He's not in yet. He's late every single day. Every day. Here's the good part, though: he won't leave before me. Ever. But, I know his m.o.

He thinks if he leaves after me, I can't possibly know when he leaves, so being late doesn't matter - he's made up his time in the evening. Yeah, right. There are so many times I have turned around because I forgot something, etc... I mean, I haven't been gone 10 minutes, and when I get back, guess who has locked up and left? Yep, the colonel.

So, I mess with him. I'll stay REAL late...just to see what he'll do. He never leaves. And, trust me on this one...he really doesn't even DO anything, so it has to kill him to hang around.

Okay, back to the visual...

The colonel is about 54, but looks at least 70. No lie. Tall, kind of thin with a bit of a stomach, with a gray goatee and thinning gray hair. Now, he was a teenager in the early 70's, so he tries to identify himself as a cool, hipster dude who grooves on Hendrix or the Stones or any other rock reference you can think of, but....

Another big BUT here...he sits in his office listening to the complete works of Lawrence Welk and other of that genre.

His wife is 10 years older.

From what he's said, they "hit the hay" around 9pm.

Cool.
Hipster.

Puffin Cups

Oh yes, that's right, Gary, from The New And Improved Potter's Blog, now known as Gary Rith Pottery Blog, but once called "The Potter's Blog" sent me a BONUS gift - not one, but TWO puffin mugs!

Gary, if you're reading this, don't worry - the check is in the mail. (Can you hear that raspy laugh of that cartoon dog about now?) Seriously, it's there. In a blue postal box right across the street at an official post office.

I think I have a longhorn sugarbowl in the works, too.

Life is good!