100th Post

Celebration! This marks the 100th post AND the two year anniversary AND the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy. This is a BIG DAY!

From my first post at blogger - September 25, 2006

Home. What a wonderful word. I could complain about it, but don't believe for a moment I'd rather be in Australia with a bunch of strangers than here with my favorite people in the world! Besides, who wouldn't want to sleep on an air mattress 10 feet from a big screen TV, 5 feet from a mini pool table, and 3 feet from my long absent computer. All my sisters actually... If they had their way there would be a slumber party in my "bed" every night!

From Dusty Bunny Sea Hag - October 1, 2006

3 things I did today: made fun of you, made fun of your family, killed a llama.

From "Tidbits" - March 29, 2007

One of my students escaped today...

From "Malloryisms" - January 30, 2008

"You're older than a teenager, but younger than an adult."
"Actually, I am an adult."
"Well then, you're an adult but you're younger than married."

From "Star Spanglin' Zwiefel Style" by Debra - February 20, 2008

Oh, say, can you see, thru the fog in Gilbertville,

Will we have a late start or will they just cancel?

Whose decision is it, yeah- the supernintendo.

We've already worked one day, let's just take a whole week off.

And the teachers all cheer, and the students don't cry,

For Jackie slept all day in her cozy apartment.

O say, we'll just see you mid-June with your textbook,

In the land of the Dunkeroo and the home of the Zwiefel!

From "Jump on the Bandwagon" - August 21, 2008

When I hear Polka music I can picture the band, the golden anniversary couples, and smell Mom's cooking. Here's the best part, it's still on! Yes you, faithful reader, can be on this amazing television program!

I'm not sure if anyone else enjoyed that post, but I sure did! Can you still here the music? hehehe...

Not only is this the 100th post, it is also the last post for this blog. I will be starting a new one, since I cannot seem to have this one removed from Google's creepy crawler. I will e-mail you the new address. If you don't receive an e-mail from me, its because I don't know you read my blog. It may be a few days. Here's looking forward to another two years of blogging fun!

My Walls have Stuff!

I have had the whitest of white apartment walls in my living room since I moved in. BORING! I have always had a general idea what I was looking for, but have never been able to afford the pieces I liked. Then I got a 30% off coupon from Kohl's! Happy Birthday to me! It happened to work in my favor that the artwork was 40% too. I wish they would have taken 70%, but the math works out to be about 58%. Still very awesome! Here are a few pictures of the new additions to the room.

National Stay at Home Week

It's the big premiere of Grey's tonight! Two hours of fabulous television! I can't wait! I'm going to pop myself some popcorn, dim the lights, and enjoy!

What will happen tonight? I know of at least a few twists that were brought to light during the sneak previews. There had better be more, or I'll be disappointed that the previews ruined it for me.

The best part is there are bound to be more episodes than last year! Happy Grey's Day!

Backtrax USA

The last few days have been a little interesting. I have now left my laptop at school overnight three times! Considering how often I use the internet for e-mail and research, I've really missed my computer! Last night I did have the computer, but only about 10% battery power before it became a fancy paperweight. Two of the three times have been when I had rehearsal in Waterloo and didn't get home until about 9:30 anyhow.

Canceling cable has had no affect on my life. It should have gone off by now, but I'm still receiving a signal! I heard from two people that it was to have gone off on the 16th. I'm not going to complain about free cable!

I'm a little behind on blogging, hence the title: Backtrax. At this moment I'm planning to post at least once or twice more tonight, to make up for lost time.

Yours Truly - 1960s Version

Weekend Update

• Watched two movies: The Great Debators and Vantage Point
  
• Ate at a few restaurants: Arby's and Applebees
• Bought artwork for my apartment; Eventually you'll see pictures, but I need more hardware to put it all up first.
• Went to church; I love my new church!
• All-State Workshop; I saw Allison Bates! :)
  
• Cleaned out my closet
• Took several naps
• My car smells funny; I blame the frogs.
  

Image for Post Below

I felt as though my last post needed an image, but I'm not going back out into the land of frogs. Lately I have been trying to use only photos I have taken, but like I said, I'm not going back out there. I typed "crazy" into google image search and this appeared. I found it appropriate. (inappropriate actually, which is why he is now wearing shorts)

My Crazy Day

My day was pretty wild. I copy-pasted this from an e-mail I sent to a friend. I'm too tired to rewrite it. We should definitely institute siestas into our daily routines!

I confiscated two cell phones from high school students. The first one groaned about it, and the second one, a guy, said fine and made it look like he was going to toss it to me. He was about 12 feet from me so I said, "You'd better not because I won't catch it." They laughed and then he threw it anyway. I pulled it out of the air like a pro! That can never be repeated. They were amazed at my skills! Haha.

The best part I'll save, but on the way home from hearing the most exciting news I ran over a few dozen toads. It's raining here and I watched them hop across the road. There had to have been hundreds covering about a mile stretch. I'm pretty sure I murdered quite a few. I could barely drive I was so worked up about it. Then I saw one in my parking lot and yelped a bit. Freaky little things. I hope the neighbors didn't hear me freak out. I feel like such a horrible person. I tried driving slower, but I just wanted it to be over... It was horrible!

Okay, most exciting thing. I went to a second year teacher's meeting and my friend Jill was there. She told me I should be a part of the Metropolitan Chorale. I said YES, I've been wanting to do that since last spring. So, she started giving me details. Their conductor is usually Paul Torkelson, but he is on sabatical this year. Guess who his fill-in is! Weston Noble! I about cried with excitement. How amazing is that! I'm hoping it's not too late to join. They'll be performing the Messiah with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra. Absolutely wonderful! I can't wait!

I know it's probably cheating using the copy-paste function in this way. Let's not call it cheating though, let's call it "recycling." :) Happy (almost) Friday!

I "Heart" Holli

Click Here

So Long, Farewell

I did it! I canceled cable! :) What am I thinking?!

First of all, I've been thinking about this for a LONG time. I can't justify spending over $80 a month on television and internet services. It went up in August from a reasonable $50ish. I'm not giving up internet (thank you neighbors), and I'm not planning to give up TV. I've thought about trying bunny ears, and now I'll actually go through with it. I live so close to Waterloo, I can't imagine that it doesn't work. Especially when I get my new digital converter! If not, I can always watch Grey's on the internet. Even if I spent a little cash to download the shows I actually watch from itunes, I'd still be saving lots of money! The only thing I'll miss is Jon and Kate Plus 8.

So, from now until Sept 16 I plan to watch lots of cable. I'm also looking forward to the $20 I'll get back from mediacom for service unused.

If you still think I'm crazy, you should talk to someone who has or has had Mediacom. I've had a lot of problems with them this summer. Grr...

Perhaps I'll soon write a follow-up e-mail about my love for Family Video. Seriously, that place rocks!

SNL

Live from Dunkerooville, It's Saturday night!

The seniors are busy brainstorming for their feature skit in the Swing Show. They're thinking an SNL theme. I'm sadly uneducated in all of SNL's splendor. Dearest blog readers, please share with me your favorites! I'm sure that youtube has tons of great ones, but I'm hoping you might help me save hours of my life. I like the cowbell skit, the cheerleader skit, the hamburger one... I'm just starting to get the ideas flowing. Please help!

I also want them to call it something clever. The best they came up with was "Tuesday Morning Dead." I'm thinking "no" on that one!

Survival of the Fittest

We are all teachers, in one way or another. This post is for you.

School Survival Kit

To help you survive a great year at school: (this also includes the "school of life")

Toothpick - to help you "pick" out the good qualities in others and yourself

Crayon - to color your day bright and cheerful

Hugs and Kisses - for when you need a hug

Candle - for when you're up late

Eraser - to remind you everyone makes mistakes

Rubber band - to remind you to be flexible

String - to tie things together when everything falls apart

Pencil - to "write your wrongs"

Marbles - to replace the ones you've lost (we enclosed extra, you'll need them later)

Lifesaver Candy - you are a lifesaver to many of your students

Paperclip - to hold it all together

and a Jewel - because you are as valuable as any precious stone

Yes, That's the Book for Me

I went to a group bible study tonight. This is exciting for me, and I want to share so I make the commitment to go each week. We started with dinner at the Pita Pit in Cedar Falls. Delicious! I was nervous to go, as I thought I would only know one person. Turns out a friend from a few college classes was also there. Anyhow, we then went a person's home for the study. We're studying Revelation, which isn't the easiest to join midway. As we read I recognized a few verses as the text for a song I sang in college. It's crazy how a tune will come to your mind when you read familiar words. The bible verse from camp set to Indiana Jones pops into my head multiple times in a week. I thought I would share with you a few of the verses that we read tonight.

"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
And bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed." Revelation 14: 3-4

I Saw the Sign

Mission #1

Objective: Debra will watch and enjoy the movie signs.

Materials:

• Signs VHS (Old School!)
  
• VCR
• TV
• Popcorn
• Other people so she does not have to watch it alone

Procedure:

1. Mention the movie to Debra at Lifelight (CHECK!)
2. Watch the movie again myself to make sure this is a viable mission. (In progress!)
3. Mail Debra the VHS or Invite her over when she least expects it.
4. Gather remaining materials.
5. Prepare to be creeped out!

Conclusion: This movie is awesome, though it is not as good once you know how it ends. Even still, I am still sufficiently creeped out each time I watch it.

Soli Deo Gloria

Over one hundred thousand people attended Lifelight on Saturday alone. I was one of them. It had been a few years since I was last able to attend. Two years ago I was out of the country, and last year my dear friend from high school got married over Labor day. It was great to be back. things were a little different this year. Rather than have our goal be to touch the stage for the main concert, we took lawn chairs and found a good place to set up camp. It was very relaxing. I even stretched out on a blanket and took a nap on Sunday afternoon. My three favorite concerts were Matthew West, Sanctus Real, and Casting Crowns.