Various and sundry thoughts on a Monday

I grew up hearing "various and sundry" to describe a random assortment of something, and I use it often. I thought it was normal until I first said it to my students this year and they looked at me as if I had multiple heads. Have you heard various and sundry? It's one of my favorite phrases. Your challenge for the week: use various and sundry in a conversation this week. And...GO!

Have you used it yet? How 'bout now?

*I went to the farmers market today for the first time this season. I spent $20 and came away with a bounty:

{I inexplicably left out my onion, cabbage, and new potatoes. They were sitting on the counter inside, feeling dejected.}

{I love a good speckled egg.}

There was a group of dulcimer players providing shopping tunes. I so admire people with musical talent, especially people who can play instruments that are a bit out of the ordinary. They were playing old hymns and were quite popular. I talked to one elderly man who wasn't planning to buy anything, but he saw the group playing and decided to stop and listen for a while. He said his mother used to play the dulcimer and it made him think of her. {Heartstrings tugged.}

*I heard this on one of my XM country stations this afternoon and wanted to scrub my ears out with bleach, just to rid myself of the sounds. I wanted to invent a time machine and go back to the happy, peaceful time before I heard this song. What. The. Heck. I refuse to embed the official video because it features greased-up, short-short-wearing, redneck girls dancing on poles. Not kidding, and I don't want that mess on my blog. Take a listen, and then pass the ear bleach.



*History nerd alert...Did you remember what today was? Read up. It's worth remembering. This is also worth a click.

*I went to the eye doctor this morning to pick up my new contacts. I've been wearing my new contacts all day, and now feel as if they are superglued to my eyeballs. On the uncomfortable scale, I'm sittin' at a 14. I have a love-hate-hate-hate-hate relationship with contacts.

*I want so desperately to have a green thumb. Nearly everyone in my family does, my mama especially. I have a desert rose that a student gave to me at the end of my first year of teaching. Four years later, it's still alive. {Insert enthusiastic fist pump here.} It's only flowered once, when she gave it to me, and I thought it's just been dying really, really slowly. But this past week, tightly closed pink blooms have appeared. I've checked on my plant multiple times a day, waiting for the blooms to open. My patience was rewarded this morning; two of the blooms were waiting to greet me!

{yesterday}

{today...sweet, flowery victory!}

Happy new week, yall!