Gardening - not so fun any more

Gardening isn't nearly so fun when all my plants are dying. With over 50 consecutive days in which the high has been over 90 degrees, my beautiful garden is looking pretty pathetic. Maybe that's because about 30 of those days have seen triple-digit highs.

I stepped outside to do some maintenance in the heat this morning. I snipped dead roses, pulled weeds, and extracted grass which had crept its way behind the stone barrier. As I moved a stone to get a better grasp on some of the stray grass, I spied a spider web and a giant egg sack. I tried not to be creeped out by it, but the moment I saw the mama spider move, a shiver ran down my spine. I ran inside and yelled out to Super D, "What kind of black spider has red spots on its back?"

Yes, I don't know one arachnid from another. How many species of spiders can you name? I don't even know if I could correctly identify a daddy long legs spider, considering that there are three different types of spiders which are generally given that name.

But after confirmation from Super D and Google images, I am convinced that I have a black widow spawning babies in my garden. Super D, for whom spiders are his kryptonite, tried to kill it with a garden spade, but I think he only succeeded in pushing it into the dirt.

Do you really think I am ever going to do anything in that part of my garden, EVER, again? I think not!

I could have gone forever without knowing that!

"I woke up and saw a figure in our hotel bedroom, and I thought I was dreaming.

And I realized immediately that someone had been in the room.

And, uh, I put on my underwear and ran down the hall to see if I could find her..."

- Alex Trebek, who chased the alleged thief and ruptured his Achilles tendon

The Mystery in the Freezer

Super D opened the freezer this morning to discover this:

Okay, Nancy Drew, any guesses as to what it is and why it is in our freezer?

We figured C had put it there. Does this help you figure it out, Mr. Monk?

(HINT: The correct answer is not a balloon filled with frozen water.)

Maybe this will help. No? Rokay, Raggy! (Are you distracted by my son's fashion sense?)

The correct answer is - a sausage! Here's what happened: once C told us what it was, I kind of remember him telling me that he was going to make his own sausage. I am pretty sure I was busy at the time and gave him a half-hearted, "Okay. Whatever." As you can see, he is extremely proud of his creation. I don't think he realized quite how cold it would be. He couldn't hold it in his hands for very long. He took it outside, and it only took about 10 minutes to melt on the sidewalk. Did guess correctly? We didn't!

Thanks to the firefighters!

Last Friday, several of my friends were evacuated from their homes because a fire was dangerously close to their neighborhood. I had trouble determining exactly where the fire was burning, but I knew that it was within the same square mile as my son's school where I also work. I now know that I have to say a big thanks to the 50 firefighters from 3 departments who deployed 12 brushpumpers and 5 tankers to keep the fire from spreading any further. And a special thanks goes to the National Guard who sent a helicopter to drop water on the fire. If not for them, I might not have a classroom this year.

I took this picture from the edge of our school parking lot. Families dropping students off for school often see turkeys and deer in these woods. I was shocked that the fire burned this closely to the school.

The path of the fire is harder to see in this picture, but the shadow in the center background is not really a shadow. The grass has burned very close to our school playground. You can see the playground equipment in the distance. Between the woods and the playground is our blacktop and soccer field.

So, in thanks, we helped take baked goods from the residents of the neighborhood and families from the school to the local firefighters.

The kids were treated to a tour. Now we have actually seen a brushpumper and a tanker.

My childhood is over

July 14th almost went all wrong. For the past 4 Harry Potter movies, A and I have attended the midnight premier. For anyone who has waited several days to go see the films, you have no idea what you missed. Seeing a Harry Potter movie in a theater full of Potterheads was the ultimate way to experience it. This time, we purchased tickets to a double feature. Harkins Theatre showed The Deathly Hallows Part 1 at 9:00 p.m. I purchased the tickets online for the CineCapri Theater, which is the largest screen in our state and has the best sound system. A wouldn't have it any other way.

You should have seen the look on her face when we discovered that the tickets I had purchased were for the screen across the hallway. You would have thought I had killed her hamster. I am now forever endebted to a kindhearted and diligent movie manager who was on the lookout for returned tickets so that we could swap ours out. We jumped lines and still had a good place in line.

This is how her face looked after we were in the right line.

We arrived 4 1/2 hours before the first movie was to begin. Waiting in line in the hall is part of the fun. In our years of midnight premiers, we have met a wide variety of Potterheads. Many are in full costume. I think the best one this year was Luna Lovegood. This tall, skinny girl had a long blond wig pulled to the side in a ponytail at her neck and a cap on her head. The key to passing the time is a backpack full of fun. A and I prefer to play Phase 10 and Mancala.

They let us in to take our seats at about 7:00. Our seats were to the side this year because I discovered, a little too late, that 250 people were already seated in the theater because they had been part of an all-week marathon of all 8 movies. The lanyards they wore gave them advanced seating. But our place in line meant that we were still in the top section of the theater, and we didn't have to sit in the first few rows.

I have never enjoyed movies like I enjoyed the midnight Harry Potter films. Potterheads are generally respectful (except for the dodo who yelled "Deatheaters rule!" during the opening of the movie). They don't whisper or talk. They turn their phones off and don't text during the movie. They don't move around a lot. They hardly even cough. In fact, during the quieter scenes of the movie, I was completely into the movie, unaware that there were 600 people around me. They take it very seriously. But it's fun because they laugh, cheer (a lot), and cry more than any other movie audience. They have a lot invested in these stories.

These 5 evenings are among my all-time favorite memories. They are made even more special because I share those memories with my daughter. The girl on the other side of me expressed her sadness by saying that with this movie, her childhood was over. I feel a little like that for A. She is a teenager now. She has literally known Harry Potter all of her life. He was a huge part of her childhood. I wonder what the next phase of her life will have in store.

For now, I am the cool mom who stayed up until 3:30 a.m. and went to work with only 3 hours of sleep so that she could go see the midnight movie. Sure, we'll go with that. I did it all for her. ;)

My very own Hufflepuff. Or is she a Gryffindor? She can't seem to decide.

Why mess with a good thing? (HP SPOILER ALERT!!)

I'm not normally one of those people who is upset when their favorite book is butchered in order to make a movie. I am realistic. I know that a director cannot put every character, every scene, and every line of dialogue into a movie. There simply isn't enough time. (Although, Peter Jackson gave it a good go with Lord of the Rings.) Frequently, I am mildly disappointed that one of my favorite parts in the book didn't make the cut, but I don't let that ruin my enjoyment of the movie. The fact is: I love movies, and I love books. I usually try not to compare them.

That being said, I was a little disappointed with the final Harry Potter film. The final duel between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort has been changed. I am okay with the change in the location of the duel. I also don't mind that the duel occurs not in front others but between just the two of them. What I like about Rowling's scene is that it is not a long, drawn-out duel. In fact, she wrote over 6 pages of dialogue between Harry and Lord Voldemort. Harry once again proves his character when he attempts to show compassion toward his enemy and tries to talk Tom Riddle into showing remorse. Even in the end, Harry does not try to kill Voldemort; he simply disarms him. The epic duel consists of Voldemort casting one curse and Harry casting one harmless spell. It is Voldemort who kills himself when his killing curse rebounds. Harry is depicted as a true hero. Not one who defeated his enemy in battle, but one whose good character triumphed over evil.

I think Harry's compassion was lost in the movie. We have seen him display his compassion toward his enemies many times throughout the series. He saved Dudley from the dementors. He rescued Draco from death by Fiendfyre. And although Harry has acted out of anger, he shows remorse for his actions. I would like to think that he has grown and matured during the series. I don't want to think of him as someone whose anger has festered to the point that he abandons his character and desires to kill. In the movie, we see him aiming his wand at Lord Voldemort over and over as he appears to both defend himself and attempts to kill his enemy.

It simply didn't feel the same to me. So, while I loved the movie, I was left a little sad because I felt that the character I had loved so much and the qualities I had loved so much just weren't quite there.

Where have all our manners gone?

I'm a teacher. I see examples of this almost every day - bad manners. I have come to expect it from 2nd graders. After all, they have a lot to learn. I hope that those young lives who leave my classroom at the end of the year have learned a little about good manners. You know, thinking about others more than you think about yourself.

But it never fails to shock me when I see bad manners in adults. Odd, because bad manners are more the norm these days. I guess I just still expect the best of people and am disappointed when I see otherwise. Sometimes it even angers me.

For example, just this week I attended a workshop. I entered the classroom, put my purse on the floor next to my chair, and placed my folder and pen on the table at my place. I left the classroom for a few minues, and when I returned, I discovered that someone was sitting in my chair. Because I expect good manners, I assumed that the woman, once realizing her mistake, would move to another spot. Instead, I found that the woman already knew that someone was sitting there, and she chose to ignore her error. She mumbled something about not knowing that I was sitting there (which was a lie because my purse was now sitting on the table), and she continued on with whatever she was doing. Clearly, she expected me to find a different chair.

Now, my mom taught me that when I make a mistake, I fix it. In her place, I certainly would have apologized for my error and immediately moved to another chair. But not this rude woman. She obviously values herself above all others and doesn't give a thought to those around her. Our society is raising a generation of selfish people. You have encountered them. You know, the woman who cut in front of you in line. The man who didn't yield at the onramp of the highway. The neighbor who has late-night parties in his backyard during the week. People who double-park. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at bad manners anymore.

Would it surprise you to know that the woman in my story is a teacher? Yes, she could be in charge of your child for over 6 hours each weekday.

Harry Potter!!!!

Can't wait!

The tickets read "Double Dose Deathly".

Cool, huh?

2 days!

Justice

The Casey Anthony trial has caused many discussions in our household, but none like the argument that sprouted when the verdict was announced. It was on its way to being very heated. Super D and I are in agreement that we think she killed her child, if not by her own hand, then by neglect. We each have our own theories about how her daughter died, but those vary.

Where we disagree is with the verdict. While I believe in my heart that Casey is guilty of something, I don't think there was any way to convict her of anything, based on the evidence that was given. I don't know how any child can go missing for a month and a mother not report her missing. How could she not be paralyzed with worry and grief? How could she even think about partying? This is the biggest indicator that Casey is covering up some shady activity. Super D takes that and says she deserves the death penalty. And she may. I think he believes that even if she didn't murder her child with her own hands, her lack of action led to the little girl's death, and Caylee's death is the responsibility of her mother. I see his point. But can we legally do anything about it without concrete evidence? Apparently not.

I'm so stubborn that I was prepared to argue my opinion (which I think is right, by the way), but is this case worth the argument that results between my husband and me? Absolutely not.

Green is the color of my daughter's hair

The pink in A's hair began to fade so we decided to recolor it. The hair stylist told us that the hardest part, the bleaching, was already done, and we could manage the color at home, thus saving ourselves money every two weeks as it fades. Off to the beauty supply store we went to buy more pink color. Alas, they had no pink, so I talked A into a beautiful shade of turquoise. At least it looked beautiful all over the saleslady's hands when she accidentally broke the bottle on the floor.

The first attempt yielded a horrible shade of pale green. A was so disappointed. She hated it. She said she felt like Anne of Green Gables, who said, "I thought nothing could be as bad as red hair. Green is ten times worse!" A good friend of mine was concerned that she may be in the depths of despair.

On Day 2, we went swimming, which faded the green even more. For the second attempt, I decided to leave the color in longer before rinsing and to rinse with really cold water.

Here, you can see how fabulous the turquoise was supposed to be. This is almost the exact color of the hair sample on the shelf - and the saleslady's hands.

And this is how it looked after rinsing. Slightly brighter than the first attempt, this particular shade of green is only slightly better than its predecessor. Since we are swimming again soon, at least it probably won't last long. I already have a request for red the next time. We'll see!

Things That Go Bump in the Night

I was awakened in the middle of the night to a very loud noise from down the hall. Quite frankly, it was so loud, that I froze as I listened to see if I could hear anything else. I was seriously afraid that someone was in our house. I was terrified. When I recovered my nerve, I rose to investigate. What I found was my son, standing in the hallway. I tried asking him what had happened, but he was mumbling nonsense. It seems that he had been sleepwalking. The door to the hallway was nearly closed, and in the dark, he ran straight into it, slamming it closed. In the light of day, he has no memory of it whatsoever!