Gas-N-GO

In my excitement to get on the road today, I Failed to realize that when your gas Gage tells you that you have 28 miles until you run out of gas that you should not let your car idle for 20 minutes in the drive way. I just wanted to defrost the windows and melt the 5 inches of snow that have fallen in the last 24 hours. Now I am stuck here waiting on a ride and have become fodder for jokes. Yuk it up people, yuck it up.

wooo wooo wooo

Fire Drill.

Oh the exciting life of a high school teacher
smokin' in the boys room
trash on fire
Give those back
them are mine!

Happy Meals

Things around here are just starting to slow down.  I hate to admit it, but Kevin and I had been eating way too much frozen/takeout pizza.  We have made a few good things here and there, but today we were back on track. 

After sleeping late (so late my back started to hurt from laying there so long), we got up and made breakfast.  Kevin made a mean dish of homefries with bell pepper, onion and garlic to go with the delicious chicken apple sausage we had purchased the day before and the perfect eggs he always makes.  I made my first ever batch of biscuits, cheddar-sour cream biscuits that is.  I had a little jellied cranberry left over from a few nights before, and that with the biscuit/sausage combo was a ride on the flavor train.

With our bellies full of scrumdiddleyumptiousness, we set about our day's labor.  The weather here was gorgeous maybe it reached 80 today, but it felt much cooler with the breeze and shade.  After the daily chores, Bubba begged us to take him hiking on the rims.  It was beautiful up on top looking down at the town and the trees with their leaves turning all golden yellow, red and orange.  

Hiking is hard work and makes you really hungry.  For dinner, Kevin and I made our first ever red curry with chicken and rice.  Man-o-man was it good.  We  both could eat it again this week.  Maybe twice.  I'm hoping our two delicious meals catapult us back into the habit of cooking really good food that make us both happy. 

For those who may want the recipe check back tomorrow.

Dumbass Attack

I've done it this time.  Instead of listening to those who know better, Jessica and Kevin. I decided that yes, I need bangs, and I need them now, today, just this moment as I'm passing by the bathroom.

Worst idea EVER.  What am I twelve?  Well that's what it looks like.  I looks as if a roving band of 5 year olds, tied me down Gulliver's Travels style and took a machette to my hair.  TERRIBLE, terrible, terrible, terrible.  I can't say it enough terrible. 

Hello Hats.  Good thing it's fall hats are in this season.  I wonder if I can change the school policy to allow them inside.

Oh well, as Kevin says:  "They'll grow out....in 6 weeks."

Good Times and Noodle Salad

Tomorrow my sister, Janet, arrives from Texas. I'm very excited. I'm driving to Missoula today (should be doing that now instead of this) so that I only have to drive 3 1/2 hours to pick her up in Spokane, Wa.

She requested a visit to that bar with the swing, The Lumberjack. They have live music on Friday and Saturday so it will be tons of fun. We will visit on Friday night. Saturday we are going to the farmer's markets in downtown Missoula then on to Philipsburg for some sapphire mining at Gem Mountain. Followed by a night at the Philipsburg Opera House.

Sunday we are off to the derby. The demolition derby that is. No, we are not participating. We are going to watch a friend, Todd, and his son participate in the Western Montana Fair Demolition Derby. This should be exciting. After a lazy day floating the Black Foot river, I think we will not some hot dusty crash 'em up excitement.

Monday and Tuesday we will prowl around the mountain sides and visit Hamilton and Darby with a trip over the Skalkho pass down to Anaconda for antiquing and ladies lunch.

Wednesday we head back to Spokane. We're lodging at The Hotel Ruby, because Janet's flight is at the crack of down on Thursday. She doesn't know it, but I'll be returning to the hotel and sleep some more after I drop her off. While in Spokane I think we will try out one of two places that piqued my interest either the Catacombs Pub or Anthony's Home Port at Spokane Falls. Maybe we will do both. I've heard there is shopping and some cultural stuff there too.

It's going to be GRRREAT. I'll post next week with some photos of our journey. I wish you all could come up and visit. You need to sometime soon!

It's Not About Me

I realize my last post may have sounded a bit narcissistic.  I am 100% excited about Jess's wedding and completely honored to be the maid of honor.  I'm just embarrassed about my size, and I don't want to ruin the photos and stuff by appearing as Fat Frumpy Girl.  So no, it's not about me, all about Jess and Bryan.

I can't wait to see how beautiful she looks in her dress.  I know she has worked very hard to coordinate the wedding and make sure everything goes off without a hitch.  I am particularly excited about the reception where I plan on doing the Macarena and the Chicken dance.  Just Kidding.

The Pressure of Pretty

I've been searching for a dress to wear to Jessica's wedding. It wasn't until the bachelorette party that I realized I need to stop searching and actually purchase a dress. Like a lot of brides maids, I made the fatal error of intending to lose weight, but not actually doing it. I had book marked all these fabulous dresses that the thinner me would wear. Last week in my state of panic, I purchased a dress that was brown and boring. I think it was an outward expression of my inner uncomfortableness.The few times I went to try on dresses was so disappointing I developed an aversion to brides maid dresses. All week long I cringed when I thought of the dress. Not that it isn't a nice dress, but it is NOT nice enough form my best friend's wedding. When I thought of finding another dress I would start to sweat.

I had to build my self up and deal with the voluptuous situation I've found myself in. I found the dress and it's beautiful.

That other Language

I've been neglecting my blog in the most serious fashion so far this year.  I have attempted to correct it by signing up for mobile blogging (that is when you send text from your phone to post to your blog).  It seems that the cell phone posts didn't decode (I'm pretending to know the correct technical term) properly and my last few posts look as if they were written in an alien tongue.

So no, I have not been to busy learning another language.  I've just been busy/lazy...a combination of both we'll call it blazy.

Rewind..Let's catch up with what is going on with me.

I got a job!  Most of you already know this.  I'll be working in Lavina, Mt as the high school English teacher.

All the World's a stage...

This is my class room.  It use to be one room, the Auditorium, and now it's two.  You can see the table with chairs to the far left, directly behind that is the wall and those are my student desks.  This will be interesting.  I've been working hard making the necessary plans and I am really excited about teaching Literature.  I'm a bit nervous about the grammar/punctuation, if you read my posts you'll understand why, but with all the teaching resources available to me I should be fine.

In the photo below you will see the original building with it's newer addition. all 75, PreK-12th, students are housed here.  I love the older portion to the left.  My class is located on the second floor over looking the football field in back.

Lavina Public School

 I'm fairly certain that the grammar books in my class are from 1965, seriously.  The Lit books are from 1996.  I have some challenges to face, but with the support of the school, community, Kevin, and my Barnes and Noble wish list I can be successful.  Yes, I'm pandering.  If you find yourselves with an overwhelming need to give to charity please gift a book to my class.  I think the contributions would be tax write-off, I'll double check.

School starts in 28 days.  I still have quite a bit of work to do, but first let me recap the rest of my summer.

We have had plenty of visitors.  Sean, Tara and Mason Morgan visited us from Wewoka, Oklahoma.  Together, we all went on a three hour tour of Montana that lasted 6 days.  Sean almost drowned in Rock Creek and Tara was terrified of the vault toilets.  We stayed at a wonderful historic homestead and had a large time boiling water and eating beans.




Next to visit were my folks, Mack and Bea, with my niece and nephew, Tayah and Tucker. We saw dog-bears and deer-moose, had a snowball fight, white water rafted, ate strawberries and had a jolly ol' time.



Then Wyatt came to visit and we saw more of this great state including Como Lake, near Hamilton, and drove over the Skalkaho Pass, where we saw a cinnamon bear. We toured the Lewis and Clark Caverns,Camped, Hiked and then went to Texas. Once in Texas, we met up with the rest of the Gustainis clan and fished.



I left the family reunion a bit early for Jessica's bachelorette party. I'm pleased to report that we all survived.





Kevin and I returned home from the family reunion/bachelorette party last night. I'm exhausted from the whirl wind trip, but my first priority was to update the blog. I've missed posting on it, and I'm sure my family and friends would like to read it without having to interpret another language.

Off Means Off

TURN YOUR PHONE OFF, RUDE! That's what I wanted to say to the lady sitting 2 rows in front of me at the local theater last night. I like Community Theater, and I can generally perform the much needed "willing suspension of disbelief" that it takes to engage in passive viewing of mediocre performances; however, when the stupid idiot in the ugly pants takes out her phone and begins to text during the first act, I get a bit aggravated. I was slightly annoyed. I was sending her the following thought “ It's dark in here lady that light is like a beacon signaling everyone beside and behind you to look at you instead of the art being created 2 feet in front of you”.

I think she was writing a novel. If I had a blow dart.... It gets worse, she does this throughout the first act, and near the end her phone rings. IT RINGS, people. So yeah she had it on vibrate, but you can still here that. I mean in a small theater that seats 150 you can hear a mouse fart. I was murderously annoyed at this point. She must have been adding a second volume to her already drawn out textography. It gets worse, a few minutes later (mind you there is a 10 minute intermission coming up soon) in the middle of act II she gets up and scooches her way past all the people in order to go out. She was in the second row, how annoying. I hate her, her phone and her stupid pants.

Okay, so that I sound like a total wet blanket let me expound on the rest of the night. The play, The Long Weekend, while it was predictable was also entertaining. I laughed out loud many times. Despite my earlier ranting, I very much enjoyed it, until the hyena next to me started cackling. Remember how I was talking about mouse farts and theater acoustics? Well this lady obviously thought she was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and needed to really project her laughter when something was funny. At one point, it was so loud that the people around her, employing their indoor laughs, actually stopped and looked at her. I know because I did too, and her husband had that mortified woman-shut-the-hell-up-it-wasn't-THAT-funny look on his face.

What happened to Emily Post and her social etiquette followers? Obviously there are people who need an appropriate public behavior seminar. I'll be the guest speaker, and I'll bring a cattle prod. Despite the fact that people can't use their indoor laughs or follow the rules in a public theater, they can give a standing ovation. This is yet another thing that annoys me. It's like the equivalent to everybody wins. NO THEY DON"T, some people don't win. There has to be a loser or else it's not a competition. Equally true, not all plays are standing O worthy. I was just waiting for the Hyena to blurt “BRAVO, BRAVO!” while in the spotlight of Ms. Ugly Pants’ text screen.

A Teacherin'

Yesterday, I had my first Montana teaching interview.  The day before I was near tears after spending 2.5 hours in the Missoula Dillard's trying to find just the right outfit.  I left bound and determined to find something that Said: Hey-Lookit-I'm-A-Dignified-Perfect-For-This-Small-Town-Teacher.  This is what I found:

A Teacherin' by Ambu on Polyvore.com

Kevin said it was perfect.  Actually he said it was "parochial", but I took that as a good thing.  I was anxious to get the interview over and done with.  I think it went well.  The people were great, and the school reminded me very much of Ponder.  It was kind of weird, but I think Broadview, the town, would be a great place to get back into teaching.  It has everything I liked about teaching in Aubrey.  So we will see. Finger's crossed. 

Greek Mythology

In my college literary classes, I learned that the Greek Gods were beautiful, strong, sometimes grumpy and often at war with one another; but they lived on Mt. Olympus and ate Ambrosia. We were led to believe that ambrosia was divinely delicious made only for those who reside in the heavens.  While teaching The Lightening Thief, I learned that for each God or demigod the flavor of ambrosia was personal. For Percy, the main character, it was the flavor of his mother’s homemade cookies.

No matter what ambrosia may be I know it’s not Greek Gods Greek Yogurt, because that stuff tastes like sour cream. I’ve read many different articles touting the benefits of Greek yogurt over regular yogurt. I read the label and saw for myself it only had 60 calories and 0 fat with 6 grams of protein. The label even read “Thick and creamy yogurt, full of body, and rich in taste.” HMM…Well, that is true enough if you like the flavor of sour cream.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing I love more than a dollop of daisy on my tacos, tamales or carnitas, but with bananas or blue berries.. I think not. I’m eating it for the sake of my health, but just so other consumers out there know. The ambrosial flavor of Greek yogurt is yet another classical myth.