Yao puts the Ying in Yang!

I have developed a slightly unhealthy obsession with Yao Ming. I am not sure how this happened because I know absolutely nothing about the Houston Rockets. The truth is that it is impossible to be a Red Sox's fan and not to be a Celtic's fan. Regardless of this minor detail, Yao has crept his way into my limited basketball vocabulary. It all started several years ago with the Visa commercial's. Yao has managed to accomplish that magic again! This one will not beat the "Yo" commercials but it is certainly laugh worthy.  

Is it possible to not laugh when whole restaurant chants "Eat the Head"? I don't think so! The expressions on Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade face's are simply awesome. It has been said that T-Mobile's service is not so great but I have to give them an A+ on this commercial!

The Things They Say

Fridays are always eventful in my classroom. It could be that the kids are excited about "free time" or it could just be equated to the pre-weekend jitters. Whatever the cause, I can not predict what will happen on Friday's. This is one of the best things about teaching my kids. 

I have a job chart for my classroom. There are 11 jobs, one for each of my students. They alternate weekly. One of their favorite jobs is to change the bulletin boards. The bulletin board helper changes the dates, the days of the week and updates the weather. When they get to school, the students are expected to check the weather on the computer. Then they choose from an assortment of weather cards. After they are done, they post the current conditions and the prediction for the next day. Some of their options include sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy, rainy, snowy and windy.  

Elisha especially loves this job. She has even created her very own weather vocabulary. Last Friday, she declared that it was "Froggy" outside?! Are these the perfect weather conditions for a princess to kiss a frog or does this mean that Kermit might be able to escape Ms. Piggy's wrath? Is there a 50% chance that frogs will from the sky? 

I tried to correct her a couple of times. I even asked her some of the silly questions that I mentioned above. Regardless of the picture that I tried to create, she was determined.

"No, it is Froggy outside," Elisha proclaimed!

Finally, I just gave up and joined in the fun. Every time someone new came in the room, I playful asked Elisha to share the weather conditions for the day!

A Favorite Movie Moment

Who can forget "An America Tale"? It was the story about a family of mice traveling across the seas to find a new life and freedom in America. In the midst of their travels, the Mousekewitz family is seperated from thier son.

Fievel MouseKewitz has the adventure of a lifetime trying to find his family. Fievel could possibly win the award for the most lovable cartoon movie character ever! He was innocent, sweet and incourageable. He saw the best in every situation, not to mention every rat! It would take too much time to cover all the wonderful scenes, characters and songs from this movie but here are just a couple of my favorites. For some reason , I don't think that my cat, BJ, would appreciate this one:

The next clip is by far the best. I am touched every time I hear this song. It always makes me think about my dad. He passed away when I was 3. After I saw this movie, rarely, would I drift off to sleep before singing this song. No lie, I would say my prayers and then dedicate the song to my dad. It became a part of my bed time routine.

Admit it, it is hard to watch this without a tear trickling down your cheek. Everyone has a childhood movie that sparks special memories."The Last Starfighter" is my husband's. What is your special childhood movie?

The Goose is Loose: Adventures of a Sleep Talker

I have a secret, I am a finicky sleeper. I have several conditions required for a good nights rest. The room should be completely dark and quiet. To create this effect we have industrial strength shades. I love to be covered up by soft sheets and fluffy blankets but the room must be cool. This is one of the reasons that I like a fan blowing. Reason number two is it drowns out any sounds that go bump in the night. All the doors should be closed not cracked. This rule especially includes the closet doors. I still believe there is a chance that the boogie man might jump out and get me.

To add to the already lengthy list, I happen to be a side sleeper, too. It doesn't matter which side, I don't discriminate. Pillows are a must. Specifically, I need three. Two should be lined up against the wall in a straight line just in case that I decide to flip from my left side to my right side in the middle of the night. The third one is my security pillow. I hold onto this pillow like there is no tomorrow. I am quite sure that if the boogie man did visit and tried to steal my pillow, the fight would be on!

As you can imagine, when something in this equation changes, I wake up! Enter my husband. During the first months of our marriage, I found out that Bryce was a sleep talker. He doesn't just say a few words then drift back into his dream. Oh no, he can have a full conversation while visiting cloud 9. The first time it happened, I was clueless. I was woken up in the middle of the night and had no idea what was happening. All I knew was that I heard my husband crying out....

"The goose is loose," my slumbering husband exclaims!

Startled by the noise, I sat up and looked around. "Bryce, are you okay?"

"The goose is loose!" Huh? What!? We had pets but the last time I checked we did not have a goose nor did we know anyone who did. I made my way through the mountain of warm blankets. I put my hand on my hubby's back to comfort and check on him.

"The goose is loose," He repeated.


"What goose?" I asked. There was no answer so I proceeded with the investigation.

"Why is the goose loose?" I questioned.

"I dunno" He mumbled.

"Who let the goose loose?"

"I dunno" He mumbled again.

"Did you let the goose loose?"


Bryce knew the answer to this question, it was emphatically "No."


I should note that early in our relationship, we had two different pets. Larry was a dalmatian that Bryce had before we got married. He was named after the great, Larry Bird. Without a question, he was Bryce's dog. To this day, I don't think that Larry liked me. He tried to run away a lot, eventually he succeeded.

Shadow was a sweet grey cat. She was a surprise that Bryce brought home. It was understood that she was my cat. She was cute, but Shadow had a small problem with the litter box, she didn't use it! That did not go over well with the Johnson household. Anyways, it is time to get back to the story. I was determined to get to the bottom of the goose situation so I decided to try a different tactic.

"Did Larry let the goose loose?"

"No," Bryce answered confidently.


"Did Shadow let the goose loose?" I continued.


"Maybe" He answered.


"Did I let the goose loose?"


"Hmmmm"


"I let the goose out?"


"Hmmmm, Maybe."


"What! Why did I let the goose out?"


"I dunno." Bryce proclaimed. I could tell that he was starting to get annoyed with this little interrogation because less than a minute later he announced that "He was done talking". He rolled over and nestled back to his side of the bed.


What in the world!? What had I done to be accused of letting the goose loose? A flood of insecurities rushed into my mind. Is there a secret meaning to this dream? Was I not a good wife? Did I forget to iron his favorite shirt? Did my lack of cooking skills finally catch up with me? I must have made spaghetti one too many times for dinner. I knew that it must have been bad. Not only was I being charged with letting the goose loose, my cat was being accused too! 

The next morning, I told him about it. Bryce had no recollection of the conversation at all. He didn't even remember his dream so he claims. I think that he may have decided it was better to plead the 5th. After 7 years of marriage, I have not heard about the goose again. It will always be an unsolved mystery. This was the first adventure with my sleep talker but it definitely was not the last....

Disclaimer:

No husbands, wives, pets or geese were harmed as a result of this incident. At least to my knowledge!

Disappointment

Disappointment happens all the time. You didn't get the grade you wanted on test, your parents went through a divorce, you didn't get in the college you wanted, the promotion that you thought you were getting did not happen. A relationship ended, your kids break the rules, someone you love is gone. I went through some hard times a couple of years ago. I felt disappointed with what God had placed in my life. It became hard not to ask, why me God? Why didn't you protect me from this? I have tried my the best, why is something that I never thought could happen, happening to me, Lord? As I was searching and crying out for answers, these two quotes came up in a devotion. They were so good that they made it to refrigerator decoration status.

"God may deny our request but He will never disappointment our trust"

"Thank God for your disappointment, celebrate His grace and love, know that He will never leave you and will bless you from above."

Avoiding some sort of disappointment in life is nearly impossible.We may not like the way something in our lives is unfolding. Maybe you feel like God let you down because you have prayed and hoped for something. The truth is that your expectation was in something or someone other than God. I have learned that even when things are down and out, it is not God that disappoints.

You know what is right for your family and your situations, right? It is easy to lose sight.The reality is that God is the only one who knows. He knows all the desires of our hearts and He knows which desires are best for us and which one are not. He knows more about us that we can ever comprehend.

"For if we died with Him, We shall live with Him, If we endure, We shall reign with Him, If we deny Him, He will also deny us, If we are faithless, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself." 2nd Timothy 2:11-13

Weather we choose to claim this truth or not, God is going to be faithful. He allows for us to have free will but He will still be there in the midst of our choices. When I am not faithful, He will be. I understand that there will be days when it is hard. On those days, remind yourself that God does not disappoint. He will always be there to lift you up.