Miscellaneous

Frodo sleeping with his stuffed buddies and Kermie

He woke up!

Alyssa's letters she has earned (with more to come...)

The Moose

Macy Moose relaxing in Alyssa's window

Long Day

We left the house at 4:15 this morning for the three hour drive to PSU. The only good thing about that was that the six construction sites we drove through were desolate! (Tonite on our way home, there was about a 6-8 mile back up at one point....going the other direction, fortunately!!)

It was a long busy day for both us and Alyssa. They separated students from family for most of the morning, then this afternoon we went to the college of education and along with about 15 other students, they chose their fall classes on-line. She had her picture taken for her ID which was created for her; she got her email address and Kurt opened a PNC account for her, so now she has a debit card, too. She was given the results of her on-line testing that she did back in April; as a result of that testing, recommendations were given to her as to which math, english and chemistry courses to take.


Her schedule, once we figured it out (!!), isn't all that bad. She has one class that meets on a Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8 am, but the other days her classes begin at 9 a.m. On three days her day is over at 1230, the other two days she's done at 2:15. Can't beat that!! She has 4 classes: a 6 credit math class, a 4 credit spanish 3 class, a 3 credit english literature class and a 3 credit computer science class. That gives her 16 credits for the fall semester, plus the 6 for her summer session and she is well ahead of the game!

She wants to somehow tie Spanish into her education, but when we saw the requirements for secondary math education, she doesn't have a lot of extra room to play. We'll have to see how things pan out.

We left PSU about 5:30, stopped for dinner about half way home, and finally got back home about 9:30p.m. It sure was a LONG day....and, by the way, there wasn't a tear shed all day long!!

El Club de Espanol

Tonight was Spanish Club's end of year dinner at Tortilla Flat on Main Street in Bethlehem. There were about twenty five of us there. We had a very nice evening. I wasn't overly impressed with the food; it was OK, but I've had better food elsewhere. Kurt didn't go along as he has a bible study on Thursday nights, but my mom joined us. It was fortunate that she did, because I ended up taking the money out of her birthday card (It was her birthday today; I had put $60 in the card for her Ireland fund) to pay for dinner!! We thought we had made arrangements with the waitress to have separate checks, but when the check came, it was all together. I had planned on paying with my credit card, which obviously wasn't going to work now! Our bill for four was $100, but I only had $40! So I made mom open her birthday card, so I could take the $60 back from her!! We stopped at a Mac on the way home, so I could give mom her birthday money back!

Alyssa and Jayne

From left to right: Hannah, Jayne and Alyssa (Yes, Hannah and Jayne are twins!)

Adam, Alyssa and Senorita Slozer (Alyssa's Spanish 4 teacher and also the Spanish Club advisor)

Adam eating a Bunuelo (a dessert)

The Weekend

* Friday night was Alyssa's final band concert. I was very proud of myself; I did not cry. The concert was excellent! I videotaped one of the songs using my camera with the hopes of uploading it onto Google video, so I could put it on my blog, but I have been unsuccessful thus far in getting it to upload. I'm going to have Adam help me figure out how to make a picture from one of the videos and I'll post that.

*Alyssa and I spent the entire day (and I do mean entire...LOL!) shopping for college supplies. We got items such as blocks to raise her bed, metal milk crates for her to use as a nightstand/bookshelf, stationery supplies, a rug for by her bed, a two piece set of dishes, a shower caddy, and so on and so on. I thought we were ahead of the game, but happened to talk to a friend and she started spieling off this, that and the other thing that we hadn't even thought of. A corner of my kitchen now looks like a dorm room!

*Today is my 48th birthday. The kids got me a Dirt Devil Kone. It looks kinda kool in my living room! Kurt got me a digital frame that shows my pictures from my camera's memory card. It will play videos and music, as well. I'm thinking this may come in handy for Alyssa's graduation party! Tonight we are going to eat at a restaurant in Bethlehem called Starter's. I've never been there, but Kurt had the opportunity to eat there recently and enjoyed it.

*We had our annual Chime and Handbell Concert this morning at church. It was another emotional event! Alyssa has stood alongside me for the last two and a half years on the choir. Today was the last time for that. On behalf of the whole choir, Sandy, our bell director, gave her a beautiful gold cross that is a piece of estate jewelry. I probably would have gotten through it without crying until Sandy started up!

This was just a test picture!

Our Handbell Ensemble

Closer shot of us (notice there's no smiling going on...I say she either gets me to hit the right notes...or smile...it's not BOTH...LOL!!)

Happy Mother's Day!

Flowers that Kurt and Alyssa bought me for Mother's Day


Best present of all: Alyssa planted them for me, too!


The newest Willow Tree angel named Generations

Me and the kids on Mom's Day

Rookie

This is the plant that was suggested to me by the owner of the nursery I went to last weekend. I told him I needed something that got the hot summer sun, does well without water when I forget to water it and doesn't have to have dead flowers picked off it! He said he calls it his rookie plant!

Winding Down

Tonite was Alyssa's last orchestra concert. Each senior was introduced by the director and he informed the audience what college each student will be attending. I was fine up to that point!! Then the tears came......

I'm fairly sure next week will be worse....it's the last band concert.....

The Truth About Poop

I bought a book today at Moore Elementary's Book Fair. I just couldn't resist. Here are a few excerpts:

* It's time to take poop out of the closet. While we're pretending it doesn't exist, amazing things are happening in the poop department.

* On average, people produce about an ounce of poop for each 12 pounds of body weight.

* The Japanese are the real winners of the toilet super bowl. Press a button and some Japanese toilets make a sound of flushing water to hide more embarrassing sounds. Others have a kind of ejection seat for older people who can't stand back up without help.

*Many people in India and Arab countries don't use toilet paper at all. They think smearing themselves with paper is a bad way to get clean. They wipe with their left hand instead and wash up with water. Unsurprisingly, they use only their right hand when eating. (And according to Alyssa, this is why people shake with their right hands...understandable...)

*Horses can lift their tails and unload ten pounds' worth of poop at a time--often without breaking a step.

*A skipper caterpillar is just an inch and a half long, but it can shoot its poop a distance of six feet. The smell of its poop would tell hungry animals that dinner is near. So the caterpillar protects itself by flicking its feces as far away as possible.

* Sharks produce spiral poop.

* During the American Revolution, English people jokingly hung portraits of George Washington in their bathrooms, since fear is supposed to help you poop.

Could It Be?!?!?

Whoa, it may be our lucky day!! This'll definitely be something to keep an eye out for!

Iams Pet Food

I received an email this evening from Proctor and Gamble assuring pet owners that all Iams DRY dog and cat food are safe to feed pets and was not affected by the recent food recall. They are offering the first 250,000 pet owners who register, a coupon for a free 4 lb bag of cat or dog food.



Click on the picture above to register to receive the coupon for a free 4 lb bag of dry dog or cat food or the equivalent value (up to $6.50 for dog or $10 for cat).

Proudness

Alyssa received a letter today in the mail stating that she had won the Bryfogle Memorial Scholarship Award. It's a $200 award, but she can't claim it until after her first semester and they receive her transcript. That'll put a dent in one semester's books. Congrats!