Summer's over?!?!

Okay...what happened to my summer vacation? I have to go back to work on Monday. :( My kids' first day of school is August 2nd.

Getting on soapbox.

My children and I have had many discussions regarding the length of summer vacation. We all agreed that we'd like to start around Labor Day and get out in early June (the pools are too cold in the middle of May). As it stands right now, our school year runs August 2, 2007 through May 20, 2008 this includes a week off in October & March, 4 individual days off scattered throughout the school year, 3 days off at Thanksgiving, and 18 days off at Christmas. Maybe my memory is failing me, but I seem to remember having only a couple of days off at Thanksgiving, 10 days at Christmas and Spring Break in March.

Several years ago, the powers that be in the school system decided it would be a great idea to have a one week break in early October. Umm...this is a stupid idea!!! The kids are wild the week before and after the break, therefore losing two weeks of valuable teaching time. Not to mention, those parents who have to make arrangements for childcare during that week (not everyone has family close by to help out). It's a nightmare. At one point, the county schools had 2 weeks off both in early October and late March. Thank goodness they quit doing that. I understand that everyone gets burned out from time to time. But for heaven's sake - they don't need to have a week off right after the start of the school year.

I would like to see the school calendars go back to the Labor Day start and early June ending. However, I think that the school systems are setting up to go to year-round school calendars. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Getting off soapbox now.

It's Pink!

I saw this at Tense Teacher's this afternoon and thought it would be fun to do. I think that it describes me to a "T".

What color is your soul painted? Pink Your soul is painted the color pink, which embodies the characteristics of love, friendship, compassion, femininity, relaxation, ability to overcome evil, honor, morality, general success, gratitude, appreciation, admiration, sympathy, health, and marriage. Pink falls under the element of Air, and is symbolic of gentle emotions and of emotional unions. Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

And it's my favorite color, too!!

Southern Women

I received this in an email from my Mom and I thought I'd share it with y'all. Not sure who originally wrote it, but I thought it was funny and somewhat true based on my experience here in No. AL. Mind you - I'm a transplant from AZ and I've been here for 17 years (longer than any other place that I've lived), so I feel I can call myself a "Southern Woman."

Without further ado:

Southern Women

Southern women appreciate their natural assets: Clean skin, a winning smile, and that unforgettable Southern drawl.

Southern women know their manners: "Yes, ma'am." "Yes, sir." "Why, no, Billy!"

Southern women have a distinct way with fond expressions: "Y'all come back!" "Well, bless your heart." "Drop by when you can." "How's your Momma?"

Southern women know their summer weather report:

Humidity Humidity, Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots: The beach, the rivuh, the crick.

Southern women know the joys of June, July, and August: Colorful hi-heel sandals, strapless sun dresses, I\iced sweet tea with mint.

Southern women know everybody's first name: Honey, Darlin', Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts: Fried Green Tomatoes, Driving Miss Daisy, Steel Magnolias, Gone With The Wind.

Southern women know their religions: Baptist, Methodist, Football

Southern women know their country breakfasts: Red-eye gravy, Grits, Eggs, Country ham, Mouth-watering homemade biscuits with momma's homemade jelly.

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm: Chawl'stn, S'vanah, Foat Wuth, N'awlins, Addlanna

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen: Men in uniform. Men in tuxedos, Rhett Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate: The Mall, The Country Club, The Beauty Salon.

Southern girls know the 3 deadly sins: Having bad hair and nails, Having bad manners, Cooking bad food.

More Suthen-ism's: Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them, you "PITCH" them.

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in: "Going to town, be back directly."

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.

All Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20!

Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a Redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.

No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn Signal is actually going to make a turn.

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, . and when we're "in line," .. we talk to everybody!

Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.

Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught a'myself lookin'," you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say, "Bless her heart" and go your own way.

To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!

And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff, .... Bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!

And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I Ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could."

Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah!

Now...... Shugah, send this to someone who was raised in the South or wish they had been!

If you're a Northern transplant, Bless your little heart, fake it. We know you got here as fast as you could!

It's nice to be home!

The family and I arrived home from our annual week at the beach last night. While it's always fun to get away, it's REALLY nice to come home. We weren't even sure if we were going to go this year b/c of some issues with the family members we go with. However, we managed to suck it up and have a nice time. The cottage we rented was much nicer than the one we had been in for the past 11 summers - although the stairs were a bitch, there were 3 flights to climb just to get from the beach to our bedroom. I turned it on it's head though - I was able to get a work out every time I went in/out of the cottage. :) The kids really enjoyed the cottage 'cuz it had a game room downstairs! The perfect place for them to unwind after a hard day of playing on the beach. The only bummer was that the water was way too rough all week for them to be out in it. We've never seen it that rough. Maybe next year the water will be calmer. Though, I didn't mind how rough the water was because I took my beach chair along with a good book and planted myself on the beach. I could easily become a beach bum. :)

BTW - what happened to the weather?! I was all prepared to get out of my nice air conditioned mom-mobile into sultry, steamy North Alabama. Mind you..I'm not complaining! Just pleasantly surprised. It was almost nice enough to shut off the a/c and open up the house. Have to love those summertime cold fronts.

A Keeper

That's my hubby!!! We've been together for 20 years, married for 18 and it just keeps getting better.

When I turned 30, Hubby decided that he would begin taking my birthday and our anniversary off to spend the day with me. I loved it - still do. My friends told me that I was very lucky - I know! Then several years ago Hubby began taking 2 weeks off for vacation. The first week we'd spend w/o the kids, 'cuz they were with grandparents. That was/is wonderful!!!! The second week we'd spend w/the in-laws at the beach. Basically, we don't have to do a thing for the kids - Grandma does. It makes for a very nice vacation for us.

Life just doesn't get any better than this. :)

Whatever will we do...

...without the kids this week. *snicker*

There is plenty for us to do, it's just a matter of whether or not we want to. Hubby and I actually went to the movies yesterday! It's been ages since we've gone to the movies as a date. It was great fun! We saw Oceans 13. It was not as good as Oceans 11, but George Clooney sure is easy on the eyes. :)

Have a wonderful week because I'm sure going to! :)

First Letter Meme

Thanks to Tense Teacher for this meme. I debated about whether I should use my real name or my blog name. Such a tough choice...but I went with the blog. Enjoy! Steal it from me if you like or just have fun reading my answers. :-)

Rules: Use the first letter of your name to come up with an answer for each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same first initial, and don’t use your name for the boy/girl name questions.

Your Name: azn8tive

1. Famous Singer/Band: Asia

2. Four-letter word: Aura

3. Street: Alabama

4. Color: Auburn (*snicker* - I couldn't resist)

5. Gifts/Presents: Angora sweater

6. Vehicle: Astin Martin

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Agates

8. Boy Name: Andrew

9. Girl Name: Anna

10. Movie Title: Animal House

11. Drink: Amaretto Sour

12. Occupation: Astronaut

13. Celebrity: Antonio Banderas

14. Magazine: Arizona Highways

15. U.S. City: Albuquerque

16. Pro Sports Team: Arizona Cardinals (duh!)

17. Reason for Being Late for Work: Allergies

18. Something You Throw Away: Apple core

19. Things You Shout: A**hole

20. Cartoon Character: Astro (The Jetson's dog)

This was harder to do than I thought.

Way too nice...

Mingle² - Online Dating

I knew it. I'm way too nice.