Sunday, February 22, 2009

Just Like Grandpa

The other night I was out baby-sitting and as time ticked away I was beginning to realize that it was NOT going to be an "early" night return like her parents had presumed before they'd left the house. After passing the midnight hour and no still no sign of return I decided to close my eyes and catch a few winks if possible. However, before I laid down I grabbed my eye drops out of my purse for when I woke up. You see, if you fall asleep with your contacts on and then wake up it's like your eyes are glued shut. The once smooth and moist contact turns into a sticky blob. I typically wind up blinking my eyes furiously to try and moisten my contact lens while groping around for my eye drops all the while hoping that my contacts don't fall out.

I wanted to prevent that picture from happening last night so I decided to pull out my little eye drop bottle before I fell asleep that way I'd be ready to go. So there I was, holding on tightly to that little bottle of eye drops while I drifted away into sleep.

I woke up after a little while and the parents were still a no show so I decided to close my eyes again. Before I did that however, I noticed my contacts felt really dry and decided to put some drops in them. While half asleep, I remembered the bottle was still clutched tightly in my hand so I unscrewed the cap and raised my hand. I waited for that first drop to fall into my parched eye and when it finally made contact, only one thought came to mind...................I HAD TURNED INTO MY GRANDPA! Pahhhhh! No, not really, but for a split second I had done something totally grandpa-ish. Those drops had been warmed by my body heat and had turned into something slick. As I was expecting some cool relief for my eye, the warm touch shocked me a little.

You see, every time we go back to visit my grandpa he always seems to ask ME to put in his nightly eye drops. It's not that I mind doing things for my grandpa, because I don't, but it's the fact that putting in his eye drops is something he is capable of doing himself. Anywho, when it comes to grandpa and his eye drops you can't just put them in. He feels you have to warm them up with body heat before they go anywhere near his eyes. After he sits on them for about 15 minutes he'll send a holler out for me to tell me he's ready. (You thought I was joking?!) He'll place the bottle to his lips to check the temperature and when it's to his liking he'll hand it over and I'll drop away.

I love my grandpa but the picture of his big bushy eyebrow and his big eye looking up and down and all around waiting for that drop to fall came rushing back to me last night as I sat there on the couch. I definitely wasn't expecting a WARM eye drop to plop into my eye. I had turned into my grandpa for one quick second without even trying, hahaha.

If only my dad knew! LOL!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Who ARE You

I was at the grocery store the other evening with my dad, and as he was chatting it up with the cashier I went ahead and pushed the cart past him to the end of the check-out line. As I pulled the cart to a stop, I couldn't help but notice the little girl standing at the end of our line about 3 feet from me. She was a short lil' thing, maybe about 6 or 7, and I couldn't help but notice that she was staring at me. I kind of gave her a smile and tilted my head a little with a curious look. She just stood there a few feet away..........staring at me intently. She didn't budge. I couldn't help but feel that she looked awfully familiar but I couldn't place her. Who was this mystery child standing at the end of our check-out line staring back at me?! Kind of creepy.

I thought it rather strange of the child and just tried to ignore it, especially since she really didn't give me a smile back. My dad and I finished up our dealings at the register and were ready to head out so I turned around to push the cart and there she was. Still there, minutes later, staring at me. Awkward. As we rolled past her I gave her a smile and a little wave. She said not a word but just stared at me with her big brown eyes.

Then it dawned on me! I knew where I'd seen her before. I was the substitute for her unruly 2nd grade class a few weeks ago. I even remembered her name, although a little too late to go start a conversation with her.

Maybe she was trying to give me a staredown, I dunno....... (someone should inform her that she would NOT win......LOL)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Trouble Toes

I was over at my friends house the other day and while she went to put her baby down for a nap I thought I would kick off my shoes and relax for a little while on the couch. While she was attending to her son, her husband and I started a conversation in the living room. A friendly little chit-chat to catch up with what's been going on. Well, as I was going to be there for awhile (I was the baby-sitter, wink-wink) I slipped my flip-flops off and curled my legs up onto the couch.

All I know is that the next thing that happened---didn't sound good. As I had curled my legs up on the couch, my bare feet were kind-of tucked in beside me, but I tell you, my feet have a mind of their own sometimes. My toes have a knack for criss-crossing, I mean, you've heard of snapping your fingers, well.........I can snap my toes. Anywho, he was in the middle of telling me some big sports "to do" and all of sudden my big toe snapped with the toe next to it and thumped on the couch. I froze! I waited to see if he stopped his conversation or if the features on his face changed, but he kept on talking. Phew. You see, to the unsuspecting person that toe thumping on the couch could have very easily passed as the sound of someone.........hmmm, passing a quick little burst of air through their lower system. (Like how I phrased that?!) When it happened, all I could think about was whether he heard it and whether or not he thought I......passed air through my lower system. I felt like breaking into his sports story and telling him that it was NOT what it sounded like and that it was my toes, THAT'S ALL. But, as he kept on talking as though he hadn't even heard anything out of the ordinary, I tried to just ignore it and get over the embarrassment of having someone think I'd done "that" right in front of them without even saying "excuse me". LOL.

Okay................moving on. :)

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Breakfast of Champions

This morning I had a brownie and a piece of cake for breakfast. Is something wrong with this picture? .........................I didn't think so. :)

I mean, it IS Valentine's Day. Doesn't this day imply that we are supposed to surround ourselves with sweet stuff all day?!

Looks like I am off to a great start!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Happy Birthday

This year Dad decided to do use "nose power" to blow out his birthday candles. Wow. Use your imagination.

My thoughts---just don't think about it while you eat your cake. :)

Awkward......

I found myself subbing at a new school yesterday and the class I was visiting had a student teacher. I was just the extra presence in the room in case things got out of control. Anywho, when the students were dropped off for lunch I told the student teacher that I was just planning on heading back to the classroom to sit and she could do whatever her normal routine was. She quickly invited me to join her and the rest of the 3rd grade teachers in the lounge where they eat lunch. Well, as I didn't know a single one of them real well, other than the student teacher, I told her I would check on a few things in the classroom and then if I had time I'd be back. Well, I didn't want to seem rude by not showing up so I wound up returning to the lounge a minute later.

As I walked in I grabbed a chair around the round table and sat down with a few other gals. The table was on its way to quickly filling up and I just wanted something to divert my attention to rather than allowing my eyese to roam around the lounge aimlessly. I saw a stack of blue fliers on the table in front of one of the other gals and I leaned across the table and picked one up. I thought the office had placed a bunch of fliers in there for the teachers to pick up if it was of interest. I figured it would at least be a diversion for me since I felt so out of place in there.

I was introduced to a few of the ladies, but other than that I had nothing to add to the conversation. I would throw a glance to that blue sheet in front of me every time I felt like I needed to pretend like I had something to do. Well, as the minutes drug on, another teacher joined the table and sat next to me. I couldn't help but notice that she too had a blue stack of fliers. THEN IT DAWNED ON ME, that pile of fliers I first saw on the table weren't just randomly placed there, they were sitting directly in front of a blonde teacher who had probably just picked them up from her mailbox. No wonder she kind of gave me a snippy look! I nonchalantly scooted the flier back over to her stack as though I knew all along that those fliers belonged to her class. Awkward. For real!

Oh how I wish I'd just gone back to the classroom. Pahhhhhh!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Lost and Found

Last night at church, I was sitting on the pew next to my dad and decided to put some lotion on. I took my ring off and carefully set it on the pew beside me to my right. I lotioned up my hands and then turned to the left to put the bottle of lotion back in my purse. As I turned back around to pick up my ring I found that it was GONE! My ring that had previously been sitting on the pew next to me was no longer there. My heart stopped for a split second and I know the panic shown in my eyes as I knew what I had to do. I was turning my head left to right, trying to figure out how it disappeared. In a voice laced with confusion I told my dad, "My ring is gone........I think I knocked it onto the floor!" Mentally I was picturing how embarrassing it was going to be crawling around under the church pews but I HAD to find my ring. I was JUST about to drop to the floor on all fours and start searching underneath the surrounding pews when I heard my dad say, "Oh.......this ring?" I looked up to find him smiling at me with my ring on his pinky finger.

What a brat.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Tube-o-licious

Oh...my.....gosh. I came down to my sisters house this evening bringing along a bag of Frito's and a can of chili. Yes, I know it is not the healthiest snack/dinner but I didn't care this evening. I was full of indecisiveness. Anywho, after the chili had been heated I began spooning it onto the chips. As I looked into the bowl of chili my brow furrowed and my mouth dropped open in pure disgust. There lying in the bowl was a tube like structure staring back at me. I kid you not! It was as round as a drinking straw and was at least 1/2 an inch long. SICK! I almost lost my appetite right there. I flung the "tube" into the sink and it stood straight up. Gross. Like a bad train wreck I wanted to pull my eyes from it but was sickly drawn to it out of curiosity. I couldn't tell what it was. Or............maybe I just wanted to believe that I didn't know what it was. I tried to get my sister to come look at it, but her face told me no. I quickly sunk it down the sink.

As I sat on the couch eating my plate of chips and chili, pictures of that "tube" came flashing through my brain every 5 seconds and I had to try and push that from my brain so I could continue eating without gagging. I had to tell myself over and over, "Judith, it's okay, just eat it." That picture has been burned into my memory forever. I will never look at canned chili the same way again.

Needless to say, I did NOT save the leftover chili.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Hip Hop Heart

Hip-hop, a change of heart! I never thought I would see the day when my dad would want to listen to music known as hip-hop and rock and pop. (Your typical "party" stations.) Chaaaa!

He's always been more of the "traditional" type, and he always let my sister and I know how he felt about "that kind of music"when we were growing up. Never stopped us from listening to it, but we knew how dad felt about it. But NOW the tides have turned. Now it is nothing to hear him driving home with the windows down and a Kanye West tune blaring from the radio. Just this evening I found him at the computer with his little hand held radio nearby. He had it tuned to one of his favorite hip-hop stations and was jamming to Kanye West. His head just a bouncing away to the beat. Can you picture it?! It's nothing new to hear him listening to today's new artists in that genre, whether it's Pink, Brittney Spears, T.I., Rhianna, etc.

NEVER in my life did I think I would see the day when my dad would be jamming out to "that kind of music". It's quite a sight and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. I sit there in amazement and amusement. LOL!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Funny Face

We had tostado's for dinner tonight and I couldn't help but notice how we all went about eating them. As each of my family members and I took a bite of our delicious tostado's it was like an automatic reaction as we each scrunched up our faces while taking a bite. I don't think there is really any graceful way to eat a tostado and with them piled high with meats and toppings it's hard to take a bite without something spilling over the edge or getting on your face. I found myself trying to very carefully maneuver my bite patten so I would avoid getting sour cream on the tip of my nose. Not an easy task.

As I looked across the table at my parents I almost felt like breaking out in song, ".....funny face, I love you, funny face I need you......."