No thanks. Uh, no thanks. Seriously! No thanks.

I ran into the Galleria this afternoon to grab one item. Just one. I didn't even want to go there, but it was unavoidable. To my dismay, I needed to visit what's known as "Kiosk Alley". Truthfully I just made that name up, but it fits well, no?

*Here's a random fact about me: I absolutely despise being approached to buy something. I don't like being "sold" to. I avoided folks passing out fliers or sitting at tables on the Concourse while I went to Auburn. Going to Chinatown in NYC didn't bring me a whole lot of joy. The purse I was assured was a real, genuine Prada did (bought from a black trash bag, I should add), but not the overly enthusiastic sellers of said purses. I don't even like seeing little kids selling things outside of Wal-Mart. I know these people are just trying to get a job done, but I don't want to be a part of it. Trying to sell something to me is a nearly foolproof way to get me to NOT buy it.*

Anyway, what I needed was indeed housed at a kiosk, which I usually avoid like the Plague. I told the girl exactly what I wanted and grabbed my wallet. She asked me if I was interested in such-and-such, and I said no thanks. She then asked if I wanted to see this-and-that. Again, no thanks. She picked up a third item and I replied as politely as I could, "I'd like to buy this one item here, but I know I could find it somewhere else." I'm sure she's on commission and that's a rough way to earn a buck. I really hope she didn't think I was being rude , but that gets under my skin like few other things do.

On my way out to the parking lot, I made an unfortunate decision. I walked by the gentlemen who run the massage chairs. I made eye contact with one man who opened his mouth to try and suck me in for a "healing Asian massage". I'm not afraid to admit that I yanked out my cell phone and pretended I was having an intense conversation as I passed him by. Worked like a charm!

food for thought

A teacher friend mentioned a blog to me, so I checked it out this afternoon. I got hooked, frittered away an embarrassingly large portion of my afternoon, and read the entire thing. It's written by a teacher who has set a goal to eat her school's lunch every single day this school year. She wants to highlight just how lacking in nutrition school lunches can be. Some of the pictures she posts made my stomach turn. Thankfully, my school's lunches are much better than the ones she eats. I still take my lunch from home most every day, mostly because I like to have some control over what I eat. Well, that and a person can only eat so much rectangular pizza with tiny, square pepperoni before the thrill is gone. For the most part, though, my school serves lunches that are more balanced and less processed than the ones Mrs. Q posts about.


Mrs. Q brings up some interesting questions. With so much worry about budget cuts and improving other aspects of education, what can be done about school lunches? How can we get students to take advantage of healthy foods when they are offered? I see this every day. I encourage my students to eat a balanced lunch, but I can't force them to eat their fruits and veggies. I routinely watch my kids walk to their table with a tray containing 2 hot dogs, fries, and a milk. More often than not, they refuse the carrots, broccoli, and apples offered to them. It's easy to say, "Well, it's just one meal during their day." Hopefully, the kids are eating healthier meals at home. Some of them are not. For some students, the school lunch is the ONLY meal they eat during the day.


I know a lot of people would consider this insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I disagree, and it's something that I find both fascinating and frustrating. Here's a link to Mrs. Q's blog: http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

Happy birthday, Bubba!

Today is my little brother's 23rd birthday. His 16th didn't make me feel old; neither did his 18th, 20th, or 21st. Today, though, he succeeded in making me feel like a real, true grownup. He celebrated his birthday by taking a test and then going to work. When did he become an adult? When did I become one, for that matter?


For much of our childhood, we barely tolerated each other. We both set out to be as annoying to the other one as we possibly could. Oh I loved him, of course, but I didn't want him to know that. I remember being somewhat of a "mama hen". It was my purpose in life to boss him around, and heaven help them if someone else was mean to him. That was MY job, and I took it very seriously!

During high school (my senior year/his sophomore year after he started driving), I began to realize he wasn't so bad. Now, we're buds. I'm very proud of how well he's doing in nursing school, and know that he'll be an incredible nurse in just a few short years. Happy birthday, Bubba! Love you!

a love/hate relationship

Today was one of those ridiculously wonderful early spring days: warm enough for short sleeves, enough of a breeze to keep the temperature really nice. I love spring. I love the nicer weather, Easter, flowers blooming, grass coming back to life, baby animals, baseball...all that good stuff. On the other hand, I hate spring for what it does to me. Congestion, headaches, itchy eyes, sneezing...it happens every year, and leaves me wishing spring away.


Spring has been a little easier to handle, though, since this little guy came into my life:

My mom was introduced to the NetiPot several years ago and couldn't stop raving about it. She tried and tried to get me to try one, but hardheaded as I am, I wouldn't do it. She finally gave up and just bought me one. I tried it very reluctantly, and as grumpy as I get when my mom is right (FYI, she usually is), it's amazing. I'm hooked on the Neti. If I wouldn't look like a hardcore weirdo, I'd buy one for everyone I know. Seriously...it's that good.

We'll see...

I'll be the first to admit: I'm nosy. Hmmm, scratch that. I prefer "interested". I love reading blogs. People I know, people I don't know, no matter! I love them. After some thought, I decided to start one of my own. The title comes from two of my daily goals. I want to soak up every moment and opportunity in my life; things are so much more fun that way! As a teacher, I'm also learning's biggest fan. I try to learn at least one new thing every day. As a result, I've amassed a collection of (incredibly random and, arguably, somewhat worthless) "tidbits" of knowledge. You never know when one of those little tidbits might come in handy, though!

I make absolutely no promises that I'll post anything that someone other than me (or maybe my mama) will want to read. I make a similar vow about the frequency of my posts. We'll see if I can keep it up. In the meantime, it should be a fun little adventure!