Jeez...is it really 4am??

Ahhh, it's Christmas morning....barely! Roger had to work Christmas Eve and got home (safely!) at around 4am. Apparently Jillian, (who normally sleeps until 10am) was excited, woke up. So, we started unwrapping presents. Roger and I went back to sleep at around 6am and Jill stayed awake, playing with all of her new gifts. Yay Christmas!

Roxie was so funny. She had to sniff every present after we opened it. She reminds us of Murphy!

Edenton Christmas Parade

Here are a couple of pictures from the 2008 Edenton Christmas parade. You can't see Sally's face too well because her hat created a shadow, but you can still see her smiling face.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!

I haven't blogged in a while, so I need to catch up on things. Actually, not much has happened. Pretty boring around here. Roger has been working crazy hours, so Jill and I don't get to see him too much. We went to the Christmas parade downtown on the 13th, but that is about it for excitement. I have a couple of pictures of Sally and John from the parade. Jill always looks out for Meggie (Sally's horse) on parade day. We hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

Sometimes this place IS cool!

After the Peanut Parade, Jill and I walked to the waterfront. To honor the 250 anniversary of the Cupola House, the Queen Elizabeth II was docked in Edenton. We decided to take the tour of the boat. It was really cool to be able to walk on the boat and look around.

Here is a little background about the ship, the Queen Elizabeth II.

Here is Jillian, posing for a picture on the waterfront.

Ahoy, Jill!

Just horsin' around

A couple of weekends ago, Edenton had its annual peanut parade. Our friend, Sally, always rides her horse, Meggie. I took a pretty decent picture of Sally, Meggie, and Jillian.

Club Nelson

Last weekend, we dog-sat for Wren. Wren is a yellow lab that belongs to Jillian's teacher, Mrs. Rook. Wren is being trained as a guide dog for the blind. She is really very smart. Apparently, that is all left at the door upon entering Club Nelson. Ah, Club Nelson, where a dog can be a dog - and where owner's flee for their lives, not to mention their sanity. Anyhow, it was an interesting weekend, that's for certain. Ask Roger, for instance. When he came home Friday morning, I let Wren out of her kennel. I asked him if he was "ready" before I opened the door. He replied yes; the door opens, Wren takes 3 mighty leaps (and a bound, I think) and promptly knocks Roger down to the floor. Yep, he was ready alright. Roxie enjoyed herself, too. I'm sure that it was great doggie fun to have another 4-legged friend to play "chase" with. Except that Wren is twice the size of Roxie, so when Wren tried to follow Roxie under the table, things got a tad bit awkward. All in good fun, right? Here are some pictures that capture the moment.

Hey, is that a can opener I hear?

Show me some love!

Phew, Roxie, you need a breath mint!

Mine!

Hey, shorty, I'm in charge here!

Hey, what IS that?

Funny story ~

Roger heard Roxie barking outside. Now, usually she barks at pure randomness, so we never know what is outside. Sometimes she actually barks at SOMETHING, like a turtle, rabbit (her nemesis), or a butterfly. So, perched up in her treehouse (don't ask) Roxie is barking up a storm. Roger went to investigate, runs back into the house to get me because he's shouting, "There's a porcupine in the neighbor's yard!" He also went to get his binoculars. All of us are now standing outside on the deck, looking into our neighbor's yard at the "porcupine." Roxie is still barking. The porcupine isn't moving. Huh, that's weird, right? Well, to make a long story short, it turns out the the "porcupine" is actually a bird's nest and a bunch of pine needles - remnants of the lawn. Too funny. I even took a picture.

You can barely see it here, but the "porcupine" is that brown lump next to the propane tank. I have never laughed so hard in my life. =P

Hey, I'm famous!

I sent in a picture of a cake to "Cake Wrecks," a really funny blog. Well, my photo made it to the blog! Check it out!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Mine is the "sun."

In Memoriam

It has been a rough week at the Nelson household. Roger's mom passed away on September 3rd, after a long battle with many ailments. She is now at peace, even though we will miss her terribly. She was a great lady with a wonderful smile. We are glad she was able to visit us this summer and was able to enjoy the ocean and beach while she was here. Rest comfortably, Mom. Although our hearts are hurting, you will always be with us. Love you!

Miscellaneous Photos

The assistant principal at school sent these pictures to me today. I had to attend a "Community Fair" a few weeks ago. The point of the fair was to highlight some of the classes and offerings at the middle school in hopes of getting the community involved (ie. give us $$) The timing was pretty poor, since just the day before, the county announced that there was over $20 million in reserve funds missing and that taxes were going to go up. Oooops! Anyhow, the pictures are nice!

Jillian and Sydney wanted to go to the Fair. They thought they were going to play on the computers in my room. NOT!

This is my teaching partner, Carrie. She teaches math while I teach reading. We had a display set up showing how we use the "Clickers" in our classes. It was cool. Too bad the only ones playing were Jillian and Sydney!

:(

Swimmer, our goldfish, finally died on Saturday. We have had this fish for 10 years! The best story we have about Swimmer is how he travelled from MI to NC. Roger cleaned out a giant Cheeze Ball container, filled it with water, put Swimmer in, and seat belted the container in his car. We figure he was the first goldfish to travel at 90 mph! Anyhow, we buried him properly (I didn't have the heart to flush him, mostly because of the septic system. Swimmer floating in the front yard was not a vision I wanted.) RIP, dear fish. Say "Hi" to Murphy and Wasabi for us!

1st Day of School

School started this week - Yay! Jillian was pretty nonchalant about about the whole thing. She has mostly the same teachers this year, since she is in the looping class. But, I still have to take the traditional first-day photo. The first one is kinda of fuzzy. Glad I took another!

Favorite class of the day? Lunch, of course!!

Jillian's Birthday

Yeah, I know...Jill's birthday was a couple of weeks ago now. But, with all of the back to school rush, it's been tough keeping up the blog. Anyhow, here are a few photos of Jillian.

Jillian had some friends over for a sleepover. I know that not much sleep was involved!!

A Riddle for you...

What do Roger and mushrooms have in common????





Give up??
...
...
...
...
They're both "fungi(s)!"" ;)


Here is another riddle for you....Roger + mushroom + golf club = ????

Mushroom Golf! A new olympic sport, perhaps? Ahhhh, the fun we have here at Club Nelson. It never stops!

Say "Cheese"cake!

It is tradition on Roger's birthday for me to make him a cheesecake instead of a "regular" birthday cake. This year was no exception. I started at about 10am because I wanted it ready for dinner (the chilling time is about 4 hours). I have to say, this cheesecake turned out awesome! Probably one of the best I have made over the years. Roger really enjoyed himself.

Picture Perfect!

Here is the Birthday Boy devouring his birthday "cake!"

That's alotta pasta!

We celebrated Roger's birthday yesterday. He requested lasagna for dinner, which is exactly what he received! After I assembled it, Roger wanted to weigh the pan. Lasagna + pan = 14.5 lbs! The pan probably weighs 2 lbs, so that's a lot of lasagna! He was a happy boy, though, as he chowed down his birthday meal!

Mmmmmm....lasagna!

Full belly!

A couple more photos

Here's the "Birthday Boy." Isn't he handsome?

Hey, look! A halfway decent picture of me!

Beach Birthday

For Roger's birthday, we went to the beach! It was nice to have some fun family time to just relax and play in the water. The waves were really pounding hard at the beach, too. We all had a great time.

Nearly Finished

I have spent the better part of 2 days getting my classroom ready for the upcoming school year. It has been no small task. I think that I am almost finished. There are a few more items that I need to put in place, but I think I am going to wait until I officially have to go back (which is next Thursday!).

I now have a sense of peace now that my "space" is organized. I wish I could do this at home! Nah, that would be too much to ask!

Getting Old

In the mail today was an invitation for my 20 year high school reunion. Ugh. I can't believe that it has been 20 years! Am I going? NO and double NO. I couldn't stand high school, why on earth would I want to travel 800 miles and spend $200 on people that I really want nothing to do with? There was a mini questionairre with the invitation. One of the questions asked, "What is your favorite HS memory?" My answer? Leaving!!! I have no use for any of those horrible people. I hope they have fun. Good riddance.

Rambling thoughts...

I can't believe that it is August already. Where has the time gone? Anyhow, here are my ramblings....

....Jillian will be 12 years old soon and in the 7th grade. I really am that old! She is a wonderful girl. I love her very much.

....Roger will be 48 years old soon and in the 7th grade (just kidding!) I can't believe HE is really that old. I love him very much!

....Have I really sat on my rear end all summer? I guess by the size of it, I have! I had such high hopes for myself. I did manage to paint one room, but that was about the extent of it.

....I have managed to read 3 books so far this summer. Mind blowing, I know. I read Lightning by Dean Koontz, Wicked by Gregory MacGuire, and I am in the middle of reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I really enjoyed Wicked. I like books that offer a different point of view. Twilight is pretty good - typical teen fare - but interesting.

....I really need to get hi-speed internet. I have said this for a LONG time, but too lazy to call. Geez, what a bum!

....When I chose to watch a fellow teacher's 2 birds while she travelled this summer, I didn't realize how noisy 3 birds (Her 2 plus Jill's bird) could be. It sounds like an aviary here.

....I spent way too much money back-to-school shopping, even though it is tax-free weekend. But, Jillian needed new clothes (as did I) so I guess it was justified. I always liked back-to-school shopping, anyhow. Even though I would like more vacation, I am usually ready to get back into the swing of things. All that beginning of the year anticipation stuff.

Well, that is all for now. I know that I have more ramblings, but I really should stop playing on the computer and do something more constructive with my time. Yeah, right....

Ahhhh, teaching....

I decided to go to school yesterday to take a look at my classroom. It's weird, but in order for me to set up my class, I have to visualize the space. I am one of those teachers that likes to change the room every year. I can't stand looking at the same stuff in the same place, year after year. Most of that has been taken care of this year, since I changed buildings. (I moved from one portable to another). When I left in June, the room was in quite a state. Not only did I have my stuff (and trust me, it was a LOT of stuff), but Sally had her stuff in there, too. 2 teachers occupying a small space must violate several time-space continuums. I didn't bother to really set up the room because I knew that the floors were going to be waxed and anything I did would be destroyed anyway. (I learned that lesson my 1st year. All my stuff was in the middle of the room, in a huge pile). When I walked in, I was expecting a mess. Boy, was I correct on that assumption. So, for those of you out there that think teachers just slack off during the summer, think again! Here is what I have to deal with ~

Ugh! tables and chairs stacked on more tables and chairs. There was even furniture shoved inside the teeny-tiny closet. And, I am supposed to fit 11 middle-schoolers in this room and try to teach them! Right now, they will sit on the roof, I suppose. I am glad I went in early, because this mess will take longer than 3 days to sort through, clean, and arrange. Did I mention that there are 11 computers to hook up? What was I thinking? I mean, it will be pretty cool that each student will have their own computer to access, but what a giant pain. Sheesh. But, I have my vision and this mess will actually look like a classroom when I am finished.

On the positive side, the floor is shiny!