Am I in Kansas?

I do believe we're in the middle of a dust storm here. This morning when I walked the dogs there was not a cloud in the sky and the air was very stagnant. Then, after watching way too much of the NFL Draft, it got very dark. I checked outside and the wind had picked up a great deal. Mini dirt twisters were floating around across the street and the sky was literally brown. So odd!

Now they'll leave us alone

I'm really not the kind of person that gets excited about seeing people I semi-know, or used to know. This weekend I went shopping and felt so free...I knew there was absolutely no possible way I would run into someone like this. I thought I was safe out here...but I was wrong.

Tonight for school, the first grade teachers went to a reception at the Phoenix Public Library downtown to celebrate all our students receiving library cards. We're sitting in a banquet room with first grade teachers from various schools in Phoenix enjoying delicious, gourmet appetizers, and I keep glancing at this girl a couple tables over. Initially, I thought it was a girl that graduated a year ahead of me in high school. My common sense told me that, no, I am 2000 miles away from that tiny town and it's not very plausible. But I keep looking at this girl and every time I look, I'm more convinced that it's her...the way she fake laughs, the smirky, smug look on her face, the vain, frantic way she would comb her fingers through her hair. Then, cleverly, I looked at her name tag...son of a bitch if wasn't that very same girl! I can't believe it!

No longer do I feel safe from superficial encounters from people I sort-of know. Again, I will constantly be looking over my shoulder, averting my eyes every time I think I recognize someone, because now it just might be that person. Oh well...time to move on I guess.

DoND

So here's the deal...no word about Dave's little interview. My theory is that they're looking for really outstanding, crazy people to show up at those things. So I think Dave should make a 5 minute audition tape and send it in. Now, we all have fun together and can really get each other going and think that we're hilarious and interesting...but to have that come across on video tape will take some work. So, I'm taking suggestions for a "script" of sorts for an audition. And perhaps shedu could be the director. We need help! You all know he would be, at the least, very interesting on the show. Please send me all ideas!

Rolling around in the earth and rain

Surprisingly, the weather has actually been different here recently. Early Saturday morning it rained and was cloudy and cool (68) for the rest of the day. Today it's partly-mostly cloudy and still rather cool. I like it, I like any sort of change...and it's April for goodness sake...it shouldn't be 80 degrees out! You know how in Michigan, when it rains for days and days, everything gets flooded? Well out here, after the 0.24 inches of rain we got Saturday morning, the washes are still filled with water...it's very strange. It's really cool to live in a place like this that is so foreign to what we're used to...but I don't how long I can do it! I don't know if I'll be able to take the heat this summer. I do want to make the most out of living out here though...like Vegas coming up!! I'd also really like to take a trip to California. This summer we're planning on a little weekend Colorado trip, can't wait for that either!

The one phone number you will never forget

Ahhh...my brain is full of plans for the future. The really troubling part is the lack of organizational skill that I've mentioned before. The piles of unfittable stuff is ten times worse when it's going on in my head. I hate the chain of events that must transpire before what I really want can happen...I don't think that even made sense. All I know is that I NEED to find work for this summer because whenever I have a couple days to sit and "think" (like trying to recover from pink eye and yet another cold) I get all jumbled and flustered.

P.S. It's Jenny's.

Market day

There's an intriguing little outdoor market near our apartment that's set up until noon every Saturday. Whenever I am running errands and drive by Roadrunner Park on a Saturday morning I make a mental note to stop sometime and check it out. Today I had to go to the Post Office and decided to finally make that stop on the way back. It had about 20 different little tents set up to sell various goods. Many were food products, vegetables, fruit, salmon, honey, veggie lasagna, and even tamales. Yes, someday I'll have to make a purchase at Molly's Tamales...hmm, I wonder if they include cooking instructions. There were also several tents selling homemade soaps and jewelery. It was really neat and I'm glad I checked it out. I wish I had a reason to buy jewelery or soaps, maybe next time we need produce I'll buy it there.

Today's the day

Okay everyone, Dave's on his way to go try out for Deal or No Deal. Please send your good thoughts and good vibes his way!

I'm still afloat!

Ah yes...we loves the ac. We really haven't used it much yet this year. I know, it sounds funny to you Michiganders, but we're really sweating out here!

We took the kiddies to the Desert Botanical Gardens today. I had 7 parents accompany us, which is equal to half of my class. Everyone did a great job and I think the kids actually learned a lot from this trip. I had one parent who never seemed happy about anything that was going on. We trekked over to Papago Park for lunch under one of the many ramadas. There were three large tables and we had to try to fit 65 kids and 25 adults at the tables. One parent and her group opted to sit on a nearby bench in the sun. We made plenty of room for everyone, but they seemed fine to just sit in the sun. My "unhappy" parent was squawking about how there wasn't any food left (her familiy's fault) and there wasn't any place to sit. I wasn't able to sit with any of my students and I told her there was plenty of room by me. She proceeded to pout, stomp, shake her head, and sit down in a dramatic heap on the dirt floor. I was amazed. Thank goodness her daughter doesn't behave that way. Sometimes the parents are worse than the kids and I wonder if it's really worth it to have "help" on field trips.