Banana Harvest

How about this "loveerly" bunch of bananas!!! It really paid off--all that banana tree trunk wrapping we did last year. I ate one after supper and it really was good--nice and sweet. We have a total of 20 ripe ones and about 6 0r 8 green ones that we think will ripen soon. My tropical forest dream for the back yard is really paying off. I have 3 or 4 plumerias that Brian brought me from Houston that I need to pot for the winter. I am thinking that I will plant them in the ground in the spring. Yes, we HAVE bananas. I am glad that Camaryn and Landon (especially Landon) like them.

Outdoor School

Tomorrow my teaching partner and I leave for outdoor school with 24 seventh graders. God HELP me!!!! I am not looking forward to this adventure. We will be going to Rock Springs and the weather doesn't look very promising--rainy and cold is the forecast. We will be in air conditioned cabins, but that is NOT always good. The good thing is that we, Susan and I, will not have to come up with the activities for the kids--there are counselors for that. You can bet your arse that I will not be going on the "sherpa" trail(that is a rocky path that you climb up the side of a hill(mountain-like) and take a zip line down (over water). "Not I," said the duck. I plan to sit on the bank of the Nueces and watch the activities and knit. You all say a serious prayer for me on this trip. Some of you know my love of "camping". Oh, by the way, there is NO cell phone--the camp is in a DEAD ZONE. Jeez, Louise I am soooooo screwed. I will not be back to civilization until Friday. Kirk have the wine on ice, please.

The 2008 Pumpkin Patch Experience

The Pumpkin Patch photo shoot was this weekend. I am pooped. Wrangling small children is really tiring. It went well in spite of the screwy expressway closures over the weekend. Gwen and Rob are so laid back that they just took everything in stride. If things got jammed up, they just perservered and got the job done. The patch looked amazing. Rob painted part of the fence to look like a faded red barn. It looked great. There were so many great photos that I just know that the families are going to love them. I had the best time watching Camaryn and Landon this afternoon, after it was over, as they ran, climbed, and slid on their play set. Landon had insisted upon holding our hand as he slid down the slide and this afternoon, he just let go and went down without me holding his hand. He jumped up and giggled all the way back to the ladder, climbed up and did it again--ALL BY HIMSELF. He was so proud and so was his Dandy and Poppie. One of these days, I am going to call and make an appointment and have our picture made with those adorable kids. It is such a great thing to have grandchildren to play with and talk to--they truly keep you young at heart. I am so thankful. It was great getting to visit with Rob's sister, Amanda, too. She is on her way to Aman for at least a year to live. Her husband is already there working. They have rented a fabulous villa on the coast. I know that they will have a great experience living there.

Cyber Bullying

Well, bullying has been taken to a whole new level. Apparently, My Space and other personal blogs are being used by teens to "slam" their friends and enemies. I can remember when I was in middle school (Eons ago) and signing "Slam" books. Here's how it works: You take a spiral notebook and label the front SLAM (that way no one is mistaken about what to do). Next, you write the names of friends and enemies on the top line of a page and pass it around to see what nasty, cruel, "funny" stuff can be written about that person. It is monsterous!!!! But such is the way and mind set of middle schoolers. The twenty-first century version of that is to do it on a blog. It is rampant in its existence. What these children don't understand is that all of this can come back to haunt them in a very short period of time--let's say by their senior year in high school when they are searching for that one and only "best" university to attend. Universities are looking at those blogs. Many of those universities are turning away students based upon their blog activities--party pictures, crazy nude(taken during a drunken stupor)pictures, slanderous comments made in response to a blog post, and any other written response to or about a person. This stuff can be used as evidence in court--many don't realize that!!!!!!!!!

Bottom line is don't write stupid, hurtful, cruel, words on blogs. Enough said!!!!!!!
Later folks.