An interesting conversation

I have forgotten over the summer how interesting it can be to listen to someone's conversation on a topic. It my case, that someone usually turns out to be students in my classroom. Today was no exception. I was trying to be productive and do some reading testing on my students but instead I found myself listening in on a very interesting conversation. Sometimes 6 years old can amaze me with there simple faith.

Mind you, the students were suppose to be working on a math paper where they were putting numbers in order. I still have quite figured out how this topic got introduced.

Bobby: You better not do that cause God is watching you.

Diamond: How is he watching me? You better tell me how he is doing it.

Bobby: He is looking down on you from heaven and watching what you do.

Ale'iah: Jesus is watching you too.

Bobby: He sees everything you do.

At this point I was interrupted, so I never heard how the conversation ended, but it still struck me how simple the faith of my students was to know that God and Jesus were watching over them and knew everything that they were doing. It makes me think about my own need to simply have faith that God is there and is watching over me.



"I have said no such thing. I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me." Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice.

First Day Jitters

As I was getting things ready for my official first day of school tomorrow, I ran across a book that I like to read to my kids called First Day Jitters. This got my stomach turning and my thought turning towards my own first day jitters. Although I may not be the "student" in the classroom anymore (except for my masters classes - but that's another longgggggg story) I still get those first day of school Jitters...

When I was little it was..../Now it is
1. What if I can't find my class?
1. What if my class can't find me?
2. What if the other kids don't like me?
2. What if the parents don't like me?
3. What if I say something stupid?
3. What if I say something stupid?
4. What if I forget my lunch?
4. What if I forget my lunch?
5. Where do I go if I don't feel good?
5. Who watches my kids if I don't feel good?
6. What if the teacher is mean?
6. What if my students are brats?
7. What if I don't understand my teacher?
7. What if I don't understand my students?
8. What if I don't know the information?
8. What if my students don't know the info?
9. What if I have to go to the bathroom?
9. What if I have to go to the bathroom?
10. What if I hate it?
10. What if I hate it?

Yeah, some of my first day jitters haven't changed much and on top of all the changes that might be happening with what I am teaching after school starts (LONG STORY), my jitters are up more than normal this year.

You all pray for me...



"You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike character." Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

A Riddle for you to solve

Solve this riddle.

It's more powerful than God.
It's more evil than the Devil.
The poor have it.
The rich need it.
If you eat it you will die

Believe it or not, 70% of elementary school children quizzed solved the riddle, and only 17% of college age people figured it out. Good luck.











The answer is NOTHING –

NOTHING is more powerful than God.
NOTHING is more evil than the Devil.
The poor have NOTHING.
The rich need NOTHING
If you eat NOTHING you will die.




"Heaven forbid! That would be the greatest misfortune of all! To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate! Do not wish me such an evil." Elizabeth Bennet, Pride & Prejudice

A few of my favorite things...

As I was sitting in a extremely boring opening session today (aka for my schools version of a pep rally to kick off the new school year), I was distracted by the songs going on in my head. As it was, our opening session was in a theater which put me in a musical mood. Therefore I have been singing My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music over and over again in my head. So, I decided to generate a list of a few of my favorite things. This was a totally random list, so in no particular order...

1. Rainbows
2. Lighthouses
3. Apples (to eat and the smell of them).
4. Lilacs
5. Roses
6. A child's giggle
7. Curling up with a good book
8. Having a Jane Austen movie marathon
9. Bubble baths
10. Sleeping in
11. Mackinac Island (the whole general place)
12. Hammocks (I want one for my back yard)
13. Getting a compliment from someone
14. Being invited out with a friend
15. Swinging
16. Eating Chocolate
17. The smell of towels straight out of the dryer
18. Hanging out with my family
19. Traveling
20. Blogging :)
21. Going to a musical
22. Listening to good music
23. Looking through a telescope
24. Roasting marshmallows & singing around a campfire
25. Looking at old pictures.

The list could go on for a while.

What are a few of your favorite things.



"It is difficult indeed - it is distressing. One does not know what to think." Jane Bennet, Pride and Prejudice.

Intelligence Test

As I was doing some "house cleaning" on my computer files today, I ran across a collection of funny e-mails I received when I used to work at Dow Chemical (now 4+ years ago). Since I am tired, need a shower, and can't think creatively tonight, I decided to share this intelligence test with you. Where it came from originally, I have no idea. Enjoy!


Intelligence Test: Instructions: You are allowed 5 minutes to complete the test of 10 simple questions. Write your answers in the spaces provided. GOOD LUCK!

1) Some months have 30 days, some months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?

2) If a doctor gives you 3 pills and tells you to take one pill every half hour, how long would it be before all the pills had been taken?

3) I went to bed at eight o'clock in the evening and wound up my clock and set the alarm to sound at nine o'clock in the morning. How many hours sleep would I get before being awakened by the alarm?

4) Divide 30 by half and add ten. What do you get?

5) A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 died. How many live sheep were left?

6) If you had only one match and entered a COLD and DARK room, where there was an oil heater, an oil lamp and a candle, which would you light first?

7) A man builds a house with four sides of rectangular construction, each side having a southern exposure. A big bear comes along. What color is the bear?

8) Take 2 apples from 3 apples. What do you have?

9) How many animals of each species did Moses take with him in the Ark?

10) If you drove a bus with 43 people on board from Chicago and stopped at Pittsburgh to pick up 7 more people and drop off 5 passengers and at Cleveland to drop off 8 passengers and pick up 4 more and eventually arrive at Philadelphia 20 hours later, what's the name of the driver?

Answers to above questions given below - no cheating now!




1) All of them. Every month has at least 28 days.
2) 1 hour. If you take a pill at 1 o'clock, then another at 1.30 and the last at 2 o'clock, they will all be taken in 1 hour.
3) 1 hour. It is a wind up alarm clock which cannot discriminate between AM & PM.
4) 70. Dividing by half is the same as multiplying by 2. 60 + 10 = 70
5) 9 live sheep.
6) The match.
7) White. If all walls face south, the house must be on the North Pole.
8) 2 apples. I have 3 apples, you take 2, what do you have?
9) None. It was Noah, not Moses.
10) YOU are the driver.

Grading Scale (out of 10)
9 Engineer
8 Doctor
7 Student
6 High school pupil
5 Primary school pupil
4 Teacher
3 College lecturer
2 University lecturer
1 Member of Congress
0 Software Guru

"From all that I can collect by your manner of talking, you must be two of the silliest girls in the country. I have suspected it some time, but I am now convinced." Mr. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice.

Things that are surprisingly fun to shop for...

As I am working on settling into my new dwelling, I am finding out that some things can surprise you about living alone - the main thing being how quick the bills add up. However, how I got those bills was the fun part. See, I am discovering that some things I never thought would be fun to shop for, are really fun to get.

1. Toilet bowl brush - yeah, I know it sounds gross, but they have these kind that have disposable ends so they aren't so gross anymore.

2. Towels - I find towel shopping entertaining. It's fun to look through the reasonable towels for something that won't clash totally with my kitchen (or something without cats - yuck!)

3. Small Kitchen appliances- toaster, waffle maker, crock pot - all fun things to shop for.

4. Groceries - Yeah, I now love to grocery shop. Paying the bill isn't fun, but wandering through the aisles is. My little brother/roommate Adam and I spent 1 1/2 hours at Meijer's the other night. It was a lot of fun. He enjoys grocery shopping even more than I do and he is even slower at it than I am.

5. Laundry - Never thought I would say this, but there is a certain pleasure to washing dirty clothes.

6. Pulling weeds - I have suddenly gotten this urge to garden, I have no idea where it came from, but I find it refreshing.

7. Curtain shopping - It really dresses up a room and there are lots of choices out there.

I seem to be stuck on the number 7 again...


..and what would a blog from me be without my now traditional Pride and Prejudice quote...

I would not be so fastidious as you are for a kingdom!" - Mr. Bingley from Pride and Prejudice

Good reasons why I don't live on a farm

Yesterday I went to the Bay County Fair to support several of our church kids who were showing and auctioning off animals. I went last year and it was an interesting experience. This year one of the kids turkey went for $400 and one of our young brothers pig went for $8.00 a pound (and this was a good 250+ pound pig). As I was walking around the fair, I came to the conclusion I usually reach at that place. I daily thank the Lord that I was born to a city family rather than a farm. This may sound harsh, but truth be told, I would never last on a farm for more than a day for many reasons.

1. The smell - I don't mind animals but I can't handle the smell of animals all together. You may say, than live of a crop farm...keep reading.

2. The flies - with the animals comes the flies and I am not a very big fan of flies.

3. The hours - up early to bed & late during the season, I need at least 8 hours of beauty (or not so beauty) sleep!

4. Lack of air conditioning - okay, this doesn't encompass all farms, but many old farm houses don't have air and I am a creature of comfort.

5. I don't know one crop from another - well, other than I know what corn looks like. The young group finds this terribly amusing and tries to educate me on every trip but I don't retain the information well.

6. I enjoy having neighbors - in the country you may go a mile to find a neighbor, I like knowing they're a stone throw away.

7. I would kill myself trying to drive a tractor - I am bad enough when it comes to driving my parents van, I would be in big trouble if it were anything bigger than that.

7 reasons seems like a good enough number. I think I have proved my point. I am glad that God created some people to live and work on a farm but I am also thankful that it wasn't me! :)

Weird Food Quirks

As I have been reading other blogs the past few days, the topic of weird quirks and food dislikes/likes have been discussed. This caused me to ponder to the two things together. As I was considering this over breakfast this morning (obviously I had nothing better to do), I decided that I have a lot of little weird food quirks. Sometimes they have to do with the way I eat food, or what kind of food I eat. Here it goes...

1. I eat broccoli cooked but not raw, I eat cauliflower raw but not cooked.

2. I eat raisins in Raisin Bran cereal but no where else.

3. I eat pork on pork sandwiches covered in bq sauce but no other way.

4. I eat hotdogs but not Koegles.

5. I eat corn only on the cob or freshly cut off (none of the Freshlike stuff for me).

6. I eat celery only when it has peanut butter on it.

7. I refuse to eat non-crunchy peanut butter.

8. I will only eat apple pie, no other kind.

9. I can drink skim, 1/2%, 1%, or 2% milk without knowing the difference but I can tell when I get whole milk.

10. I drink grape juice in excess but don't like to eat grapes.

11. I hate tomatoes & tomato juice but I love pasta covered in a tomato sauce.

12. I normally don't eat a lot of salad stuff yet my favorite place to eat in Phoenix is called Sweet Tomatoes, known for it's huge salad bar where you make your own salad.


I am sure I have many more, these are just the ones that popped into my head over breakfast (eating Raisin Bran in case you were interested).



"She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men." Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

Hi from MY HOUSE!!!

A quick hello from my house!

Yes, I am sitting in my living room writing a quick hi to you all.

But now I need to go because I have boxes everywhere!!!

Postings may be brief for a time

My postings may be brief for a couple of days, I am in the process of moving.

I am super woman - I am putting together my own end tables. Me and a hammer and a screwdriver, it's a good life.

I also had the experience of mowing my first lawn yesterday. Afterwhich I dropped into a chair in my living room with ice water for about 30 minutes without moving. Let's just say it was a spur of the moment lawn mow and I wasn't appropriating dressed for the 85+ heat while lawn mowing. What I learned from it, never try to mow the lawn in a heavy jean skirt. Also, I only did the back yard because I was so bad at it I didn't want my introduction to the neighborhood to be everyone laughing at me while watching me mow my lawn. Let's just say, I don't turn well...

How the devil distracts me in church

I have discovered that the devil is a slippery guy. He even can distract you while your sitting in the middle of church! Sometimes I have a hard time focusing and little things just manage to pull me a way. So here is my top 5 list of how the devil tries to keep me distracted in church.

5. A bug on the wall - this seems stupid enough, but it is all together interesting to see where that bug decides to go and decide how soon I tell Brooklynn about it's existence.

4. My niece talking in the back row - no matter where I sit, I can usually hear her and then I wonder what she is doing.

3. A buzzing hearing aide - this is one of the worst distractions. That noise just cuts through you and makes your whole body feel like it is buzzing. It makes it really hard to focus on the minister

2. General daydreaming - I admit, I am a bad daydreamer to begin with. I think it is the writer part of me. I find myself at times adding more chapters to a story that I am writing while I am sitting in church and suddenly, I have no idea what was said.

and the number one way....

drum roll please....

1. A song that pops into my head - This might not be a problem for anyone outside of my family, maybe it's just one of our weird quirks, but I tell you the minister can say one word and I am off in my head singing a song and until he says a new word to start a new song, it is stuck there. Sometimes it's a children's song, sometimes a church song, sometimes a song that I heard once somewhere, but most of the time it's just a weird song that I can't figure out how it got into my head!

Example: On Wednesday night this week, our minister opened to the story of the Good Samaritan. I was doing great until he mentioned the word "neighbor." Who hasn't heard of Mr. Rodgers "won't you be mine, won't you be mine, won't you be my neighbor." It was so bad I finally had to lean over and share it with Brooklynn so someone else would have the song in their head. It only lasted a few minutes though because then he read the words "half dead" which quickly switched to the words "mostly dead" in my mind and I started quoting a huge portion of the Princess Bride in my head!

Yes, the devil know how to distract me sometimes in church. Luckily, I have a God that loves me more a helps to pull me back in when my mind wanders off.

The interpreter

I have been sitting here contemplating a job that I only recently realized that I have. I am an interpreter. I constantly have to interpret the conversations that I have with a certain 16 month old because her end of the conversation sounds nothing like English. It is interesting to think about what she might really be trying to say when she is talking to me, only a few words are intelligently. I lay before you these examples.

Situation: Mikayla is upset because she was told she cannot pull nails out of the wall.

Aunt Janelle: Mikayla, you cannot play with nails, you will get hurt.

Mikayla: babbebd bweubs nuhgnhs mememomn ninnendn
interpreted to mean: I am too smart to hurt myself.

with that Mikayla reaches back to play with the nail again.

Aunt Janelle: Mikayla, no.

Mikayla: huhgnsiuhe nhihnhsl bbabebbsb mammmmma wiehsydnjf susn snmnen
interpreted to mean: You are not my mamma, don't tell me what to do.

Aunt Janelle: Come on Mikayla, let's go play with your toys.

Mikayla: swencue nuuiwn makzukem aks skifm mols nncue mkiju babeind.
interpreted to mean: Fine, but as soon as you look the other way, I am coming back.

Yes, conversations with Mikayla make for an interesting day. Sometimes I think she is just frustrated that I can interpreted what she is really trying to say.

My solution, babies should be born with language skills, that will save us a lot of time! Think about it, they could say when they were tired, hungary, or hurting rather than a cry that we have to figure out what it means. When they get to be a little older, they could tell you why they are playing with something they shouldn't rather than trying to figure what their babble is suppose to mean. Yeah, I think babies should come with language, it would make my life a whole lot easier right now.

Case in point, yesterday Mikayla came up to me in the living room and just started talking. I had no idea what she was trying to say, but looking back now, this is what I am thinking.

Mikayla walks up to me and signs the words help and please.

Aunt Janelle: What do you need me to help you with Mikayla?

Mikayla: weiuni mannse manserw mnser nas namze mli sbbab bwers
at the time I thought she meant - help me on the couch now I think it means - I want to play one of my kidsongs dvds

Aunt Janelle: Here you go, do you want to look out the window?

Mikayla: huhsn hnzmh namwe mnju aswe niowr nskale lkdjw mnzju amer
at the time I thought she meant - Yes, I see the neighbors dog outside. Now I think it means - I said I wanted to watch a DVD, are you listening to me.

At this point Mikayla is getting visibly mad and I am clueless as to why.

Aunt Janelle: Mikayla, we can't go outside right now because it is almost lunch time.

Mikayla: namejh mhnajkkm mnxfd aalksdf mnxcjd asrwe asfjh cvmdhfjk
at the time I thought it meant - I want to go outside anyways and after all I said please. Doesn't that mean I get what I want! Now I think it means - Aunt Janelle you are not very smart, you are not listening to me!

Aunt Janelle: Mikayla, let's read a book until grandma says it's time for lunch.

Mikayla: aswer nsmnkl nmamls mjnmw asdnf lknioire mndjhrt mnawoer mjskhdre.
at the time I thought it meant - okay, let me get Baby Beluga. Now I think it means - fine, but the first chance I get I am going to Arizona to see the aunt that really listens to me.

So, I am really failing at my second job of being an interpreter. Perhaps I will improve with practice. Mikayla certainly hopes so.




PS: Good news Maryann and Julie - I finally found the spell checker.

Thoughts on Blog

Now that I have been posting for a whole 24 hours, I have complied a list of thoughts on the whole blogging process. First off, it is quite fun to write on my blog. I have to admit that when Julie told me about it several months ago I was interested but didn't really jump at the idea. My loss for those months I suppose. However, I do have some complaints to expound about the set up and use of a blog.

A) How on earth do you spell check on this thing? Some of us happen to type so fast that we can't be bothered by things like spelling a word correctly.

B) What is with the time zone problem? I figured out how to switch it this morning so it put me on Michigan time rather than Arizona time. That drove me bonkers for 24 hours.

Come to think of it, maybe those are just the big two for now. I know, I am pathetic, but I like my spell check, what can I say. It's the only way I survived high school and college English. Some of us were not created with the ability to spell well and in my case, God left that ability out entirely. :)

Life in Michigan today is hot, but not as hot as Arizona. Possibly more humid than Arizona which is interesting. My life today consists of curtain shoppping and cleaning hardwood floors. I know, it sounds terribly exciting doesn't it. Oh, thought of a third thing for my list.

C) How do you end a blog without sounding stupid? This is the same problem I had in school, I could never conclude my papers. I can't go back and write a conclusiong 2 days later when I think of one like I used to? So what do you say? Do you just babble on and on and on and on until the reader gets so bored that they just stop reading or do you just stop writing leaving the reader to conclude on their own?

First Timer

Okay, this is all the fault of Maryann and Julie. After one reading on their blogs, I was hooked and had to try it. I am calling this Becs Babble because anyone who knows me knows that I have a tendancy to go on and on about nothing important. This can be my outlet to do that I suppose. Can you check spelling on this thing? I hope so or anyone that reads this is going to be appald to think that I actually have a degree to teach children.

What can I say about my world lately? Well my sister ditched me for the warmth of Arizona and left me alone to deal with an EXTERMELY cranky niece who vented her frustration yesterday by slapping me. Yes, I was full on slapped on the face by a 16 month old so hard that her mother, grandmother, and other aunt turned at the sound. Did you know that a slap of a 16 month old can hurt? I didn't until yesterday. When that baby is angry, she can pack quite a wallop. Needless to say, Aunt Janelle was not impressed with her little baby self and she might be forgiven only because she gave me a hug ang kiss before she went home. If she is that cranky today, I am leaving with her with grandma and going to hide out at my house. It might be safer there.

Speaking of my house, I never knew so much went into moving. I guess beacause I was only 4 the last time our family moved and I don't remember a stitch of it. Packling my books is taking FOREVER! I might need to have a book sale just to lighten the load. So many little jobs to do. I know vocabulary words I never knew before. For example my Dad was teaching me last night how to fix my circuit brakers when they go out. Who would have thunk that I would ever have to know that kind of stuff.

Well, enough babble for today. I have to run off to let the cable guy in at my house so that I can continue blogging over there at a future date. Peace out (Julie, wasn't that a you expressio?)