and according to Johnny Mercer, Eliminate the Negative and don’t mess around with Mr. in-between.   It’s been one of those days and I’m trying to not let it get me down.  All I can hope is that “kids” don’t realize what harm lies can cause, not only to themselves, but to all those around them.  Drama is not good.  And a certain person really didn’t mean to throw me under the bus… Hopefully tomorrow the truth will come out and balance will once again be restored.  

Went to the boys basketball game.  They beat Hermann but it was an ugly game with to much malice and roughness.  In the first 20 seconds, one of our players was injured enough to be taken to the ER…no news on how serious or if it was the ankle or knee or what exactly.  Just that he was on the floor in an incredible amount of pain.  

I finished Around the World in 80 Days at lunch today.  It turned out to be a romance novel.  Who knew?   LOL    Next I will read James Patterson’s Cat & Mouse which is sort of a sequel to Along Came A Spider.  At least the same bad guy is also in this book. I downloaded it on my Kindle after supper.

Tonight we had a change from our many variations on soup.  I made a pot roast with potatoes, carrots & onions in the crockpot. It was tender and tasty.  Beef Stew is on the menu for Thursday evening. Tomorrow night we’ll be doing “pot luck breakfast” at the Smith’s house.  I’m planning to make breakfast burritos unless I can think of something easier and more original. 

My morning was was busy sending sick students home…the afternoon was spent sending repeat whiners back to class.  Had to get some “supplies” after work.  Dog food, cat food, cereal, air filters for the furnace, water filter replacement cartridge…   Fortunately I had left-over chili to heat up for supper.  Went to the girls basketball game…they lost to Hermann.  It was a physical game. Hopefully the boys will beat Hermann  tomorrow night.

I’m getting quite a 19th century history & geography education from Around the World in 80 Days.  They are taking a train across the United States. They had a history lesson from a Mormon preacher on the train.  Then the train was attacked by Indians.  Never a dull moment for Mr. Fogg and his entourage.  They’ve fallen a bit behind schedule, but somehow I feel he will meet the deadline and win the bet.

Another great game party at the Kearbey’s.  Women upstairs, men in the basement.  I think we (women) all decided to root for the Ravens because we LOVED “The Blind Side” and Michael Oher is #74 for the Ravens.  Obviously we take the whole Super Bowl experience seriously…NOT.  We try to watch the commercials and definitely the half-time show.  We managed to do that fairly well, but then totally missed the big power outage until the men came upstairs to refill their plates.  We obviously have far more important issues to discuss to notice such minor details.  LOL  We did settle down and watch the 4th quarter, when the 49-ers made their big come-back and it looked like they might win.  

Tomorrow is Monday…

 Not sure if the ground hog saw his shadow here. It was sunny mid-morning, but then clouded up.   It got up to 42 and tomorrow is supposed to similar.  Not sure when the next Artic Blast is due to arrive.  Snow in St. Louis tonight, but not this far west.  

I spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry.  I watched the 2nd episode of season 11 Project Runway.  If the Dream Team loses again, they are going to have to do something to shake things up. Then I made some Valentine’s Day cards.  Made some soup for supper…sauteed celery, carrots and leeks. Added chicken broth and 3 diced potatoes.  Simmered for a while, then added a can of diced tomatoes & some sliced Polish Kielbasa.  Good stuff.  

I forgot the humorous event at work on Friday.  A student came in…”I bumped my nose”.  Me: What did you hit it on?   Student: I think my hand.   He thought it was bleeding but of course it wasn’t.

It was 8 degrees this morning.  I bundled up and made it to school just fine.  Today may have been a first…I didn’t see anyone wearing flip flops.  There were some kids wearing shorts, but with tennis shoes & socks.  

Tonight was Court Warming.  The boys beat Pacific.  They had a lot of fans, considering they are about an hours drive away.  There was a lot of purple clashing with the Tiger Red in the gym. It was a rough and close game.  Some bad calls by the refs…mostly against us.  Hopefully everyone “left it on the floor” when they headed home.

I finished Atomic Summer.  I enjoyed the book and recommend it.  It wasn’t as humorous as I expected, based on the first 50 or so pages.  There were serious subjects, as in all “coming of age” novels, but they were not turned into depressing moral issues.  Now I’m back to reading Around the World in 80 Days.  I like the characters, even if they are stereo-typed.  I enjoy the description and detail of the various locations Mr. Fogg travels to…and the misadventures his “servant” manages to get into. After Jules Verne, I might be ready for another Patterson novel. 

Kroger had their “mix & match” 10 selected items and get $5 off (or 50c a can) sale this week. So I replenished our Progresso soup supply.  Not all the Progresso soups were “selected” but the ones that were, ended up being 99c a can.  

The Almanac:  February 1-7 Flurries, turning very cold.    Reality–warmer (40′s day/20′s night) Saturday & Sunday.  Not sure what will happen after that.   The Farmer’s part suggests perusing the seed catalogs; planning what varieties and how many seeds you need to order.  

Yesterday was a busy day at work.  I was glad to make my lunch escape & read some more of Atomic Summer.  Not quite as humorous I first expected it to be, but still good.  

Today was just a crazy day.  Middle school kids doing stupid things…several boys were suspended as a result.  It snowed off and on most of the afternoon…and was cold enough that it started accumulating. Tonight is supposed to get down to 8 degrees.  BRRRR.   Streets are good but I’ll have to remember to be careful on the stairs here at home and in the parking lot at school tomorrow.  

I braved the cold and wind to watch Pacific beat our girls basketball team.  The Lady Tigers just did not play up to their potential.  Some people grumbled about the refs, but the Indians were hot and we were not.

Tomorrow is February.  It will be a busy month. Groundhog Day.  Superbowl.  Kiwanis Trivia Night. Valentines Day. President’s Day.  

It was 50′s and cloudy until time for school to be over…then torrents of rain came down from the skies.  On the way to work the  Low Fuel alarm beeped…so I had to put gas in the VW in the rain after work.  Go to the grocery store and get milk.  After supper I decided it was too stormy (thunder and wind as well as rain) to go to the girls basketball game.  I guess I’m a fair weather fan. 

At lunch I started a new book, Atomic Summer by Elaine Walsh.  3 girlfriends, age 16, in 1953.  Bernadette’s family has a bomb shelter where they hang out…enjoying the cool.  Faith’s mom died when she was young…and she tries to be a good Catholic. Faith is the only one with a boyfriend.  Octavia has to help her mom take care of her brother–not clear what happened/what disease (polio?) but he is bed-ridden, can still hear, barely chew & swallow, communicates only yes/no by blinking his eyes.  The Rosenberg trial & execution.  Fear of the Atomic Bomb.  Fear of Communists.  All taking place in a small town in the NE.  Has all the makings of a southern dysfunctional family novel, except for the location.  Nice touches of humor.  

Still above freezing…rain in the morning, turning to snow flurries.  No accumulation predicted.  Temperatures drop all day tomorrow and winter cold the next 2 days.  

I slept well last night and woke up feeling fine…for a Monday morning.  Lots of Monday-itis.  

After work, dash home for the UMW book club–discussed The Traveler’s Gift.  Seven decisions that determine personal success.  They all kind of overlap…basically you are responsible for your decisions/life so make wise decisions.  Chose to be happy.  Hang out with people better than you (inspire you to be a better person).   I can’t control the fact that my office is cold…but I can dress warmly.   I’d complain but I declared my office a “no whine zone” long ago.  LOL

In the state of the state address, Gov. Nixon proposed a 2% pay increase for state employees.  It’s been YEARS since state employees have any kind of raise, even cost of living.  But underpaid is better than unpaid…

We had wild rice & chicken soup for supper.  Then I did the engraving I should have done over the weekend.  Oops.  Tuesday delivery instead of Monday.  Dennis added some kind of “magic cure” to the van’s transmission fluid.  It was shifting “funny”—downshifting too soon, and then not upshifting soon enough.  Hopefully that will fix it.  I’m happy to report that the VW is up and running like a champ again.

Tomorrow night the girls have a home game, & I plan to attend.  

Today was very warm–up to 70 something with a few scattered showers.  Tomorrow in the 60′s then crashing to the 30′s…with possibly some snow Tuesday night.  Then 20′s for highs the next several days.  Talk about roller coaster weather…

After Sunday school we headed for Springfield.  The freezing rain stayed about 50 miles NE of us, so we just had rain.  The temperature is in the 40′s with 50′s and continued scattered showers tomorrow & Tuesday. 

Picked up Jimmy Johns and had lunch with Jax (he had his own food, prepared by “mom”), Matt & Sara.  Jax entertained us with his antics.  In spite of Jax’s encouragement, Lucy did NOT get in the basket.

She also did NOT jump into the box.

Dad was more cooperative and played some ball with him.

We checked out Anne Taylor’s “Loft” store at Battlefield Mall.  Hannah told me to check out their sale, and made suggestions about what I “needed”. I got an orange cable stitch sweater for early Spring and a deep pink cardigan to go with the burgundy dress w/ hot pink cats. Amazing that she can “dress” me from 2 time zones away.  LOL  Both sweaters were on the clearance rack, and were $15 each. It was fun to see the set up of this store and know that the one where Hannah works is similar.  It’s a nice layout…open, light, and airy.  

We got back to STJ in time to have  dinner and Mexican Train courtesy of the Delano’s.  The Edwards were also guests.  It was a great way to end the weekend.  

I didn’t set the alarm.  I woke up after 8 AM which meant I got almost 10 hours of sleep. I felt much better.  Since my only goal this weekend was to sleep, I certainly got off to a good start. 

I took my generic “boniva” and remained upright for 30 minutes before eating anything. I must rebuild and keep those bones strong.Once a week…I can do that.  Yogurt for breakfast.  Did some laundry.  The sun was shining and it was above freezing.  Too pretty to stay inside.  Roadtrip!

We went to Rosebud (about 45 minutes NE of us on curvy 2 lane roads) to check out some antique stores.  Dennis found 2 more oil lamps to add to the collection.  I need to find some odorless, high quality lamp oil to burn…we should be using these lamps; in addition to electric lights of course.  I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, but had fun looking.   On the way home we drove around the old downtown Owensville and found another interesting antique store.  It also had some new “Americana” decoration/nic-nac stuff that was fun. If I wasn’t hopeful about retiring eventually, and possibly downsizing, I would have been more tempted by some of the Easter decorations.

For supper I tried a new soup recipe…butternut squash & pear.  It was not nearly as good as the sweet potato & apple soup. It was ok…but not a “keeper”.  Fortunately it was not one of those soup recipes that feed an army.

Freezing rain predicted early morning (like 2 AM) but temperatures will be above freezing by 9 AM.  Then 3 days of gray skies, 40 degrees and scattered showers.  Followed by 20′s but sunny.  Is it Spring yet?