Kontan’s Place

time to start the day

I’ve spent the morning drinking coffee and exploring the WWW. Time to start the day. It is that time of year where I will torture myself with school shopping. Someone said they enjoy it and they have an obsession with office supplies. I can relate to that. I do enjoy it to a degree, but shopping with two young children (all day) takes the joy out of it. I should probably break it up day after day. It is just too hot out to be going to the store each day. Not to mention the gas issue, going back and forth to “town”. So we try to make it a day. Here’s hoping it is a successful one.

Goal elimination and Harry Lee Krauss

I spent the day working on my class website. It is getting close to being finished. I also finished cleaning the kitchen and some of the clutter we had at one end. Yesterday the grass was mowed. The living room is clean AND dusted. The laundry has dwindled to a small pile. It will never be complete, I’m OK with this. Have to be realistic, right? I’ve found several new wordpress plugins that are cool: miniblog, subscribe2, and a few others that will be handy with my school site. I don’t see any reason to add them here. Who knows, I may get bored. Too much to keep me busy right now.

I did take a break to read my current choice, The Chairman by Harry Lee Krauss. He is one of my favorite authors. It is like John Grisham meets Michale Crichton in the world of medicine with a Christian overtone. I’ve read several books by Krauss and each one holds my interest to the point that I get lost in the work. I’ve read The Stain, Lethal Mercy, and Stainless Steel Hearts by Krauss. Each has a different theme and a different twist.I enjoy reading author’s that do not stick to the same plot line over and over. He isn’t over the top with the Christian theme either, I really like that. I won’t to read and enjoy the work without feeling like I’m having a Bible study in the process. There’s a time for that, and my bubble bath is not it. Looking forward to reviewing this one.

Mark Schultz

I’m sitting here listening to Mark Schultz Live: A Night of Stories and Songs on Rhapsody. If and when I decide to buy an Ipod/MP3 this will be on it. The picture above was taken a few years ago when I saw him in concert with NewSong, and Ginny Owens. Thanks to my wonderful husband I have gotten to meet various artists, singers and writers, which I think is pretty cool. The time above was a highlight. Waiting backstage with Mark, Ginny, and the guys from NewSong was really great. I’m not big into autographs or anything. I really don’t want to bother someone about it. I did enjoy talking with Scotty, from NewSong, about his return to the group and the various instruments he plays. Eddie, also from NewSong, spent the time running around trying to get everything just right before the show while Billy laughed over his email and pictures of his new grandchild. He was the proud granddad that night, showing off the new addition.

Mark was just an all around nice guy who obviously enjoys what he’s doing. There isn’t a song that he sings that I do not like. Powerful lyrics and a great voice. Letters From War is an amazing tribute and part of a safe return campaign sponsored by the US Army. You can hear it here. His latest album/song release, Broken and Beautiful, can be heard if you visit the Mark Schultz site.

One of my favorites is Learn to Let Go. If you have children you can certainly relate.

Thanks for reading. Kontan jou.

BB7 7/27

WTG S6 alliance! WOW, four weeks in a row. They are absolutely nuts if they allow Will or Mike to stay in that house another week.

Thursday Thirteen 7/27

As I try to come up with a T13 list I can’t help but look around and think about all the things that I need to be doing before school starts. With that in mind…here are 13 things that I want to finish before going back to school on Aug. 4th…

1. Laundry. Mountains of laundry. I hate folding clothes. I would much rather clean floors, mow the grass or scrub a toilet.

2. Which brings me to number two, thoroughly clean the bathrooms. Replace the shower curtain in the master bath. Buy a lighthouse clock for the kids bath. Add a towel shelf for ours so that I can also put shells on it. Buy new towels.

3. School supplies. I’m not too fond of shopping for those either.

4. Clean carpets.

5. Finish my class websites. I completed the base site last night, but need to finish the companion sites for each subject I will teach this year. Click here if you’re curious.

6. Buy new school clothes for me and the girls. I have plenty of capris for me, but need new slacks. The girls keep growing and hand-me-downs no longer work for the youngest. Different body types.

7. Yard work.

8. Bulletin boards and classroom decoration needs to be completed. For the most part my room is ready, but there will be little classroom time when we go back for teacher days. Since orientation will be Monday, the second day teachers are there, my room needs to be ready.

9. Lesson plans. I do not want to do a single lesson plan at the last minute this semester. I have taught this class for several years now, I can do a good outline of weekly plans and pretty much stick to it. By doing them all at once I can focus my planning time on next semester prep. I haven’t taught World Geography before, I’m so excited!

10. Visit Bham again. I have an uncle who just had multiple by-pass surgery and a friend in another hospital there. My cousin leaves mid-August and I really want see her again before they go home to UAE for the year.

11. Carry off all that didn’t go in the yard sale.

12. Get the house as clean as possible so that when school starts we will not come home each day to clutter.

13. Have a date with Djembe.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave your link.

Looking forward to LA

Yes, LA. No. Not Lower Alabama. I love it there, but I’m looking forward going with Djembe to Los Angeles. He has business to deal with and I get to go with him. This will be the first trip in a while without kids. I would love to take the girls with us, but it will be great to have some time just us. I’m not sure what I will do while he is in meetings, but the evenings will be ours. Woohoo!!! The flights and hotel were booked today, but the rest of the details are still in the making. Funny thing, I really don’t care. I’m excited about spending the time with him. How we spend it really doesn’t matter.

Congrats Chicken George!

I have to say, I really think BB7 producers set up this week POV competition so that George could win. I mean really…come on. He isn’t going to win a physical challenge. He isn’t the brightest bulb in the box when it comes to memory games. Tonight, he was willing to do Anything to win that competition and take himself off the block. Chicken George was it on a stick tonight. I just feel bad for Kaysar. Did you see the reaction of Marcellas? Oh my cow that was too funny! Now let’s talk about Jase. I do not think James was 100% decided on putting him up until he came out making a toot of himself. It wasn’t James who told Jase he was going up, it was Kaysar. I never heard James say, “OK, I’ll put Jase up.” Jase is a bigger threat when it comes to competitions, but the Will/Boogey alliance is not to be taken lightly.

Flicka

I was also able to take the girls to a preview of Flicka. Rated PG, it will be in theaters October 20th. It is about a headstrong teenage girl, Katie, who claims a wild horse she names Flicka. She is a rancher at heart, devastated that her father has thoughts of selling the family land. Throughout the movie Katie and her father clash over school, life, and the mustang. It is a simple case of daddy wanting the best for his little girl. Katie wants to train Flicka, but her father believes that there is nothing more destructive than bringing a mustang into the heard. Her father wants her to take academics seriously, finish high school and go to college. Her older brother is expected to some day take over the ranch. Ironically, it is the brother that wishes to pursue college and see the world while Katie wants to run the ranch.

Overall it is a good family movie. Probably a little slow for younger children. Our nine year old loved it. I could tell that our six year old was ready for it to be over, but she did like the movie. Language is not bad, only two or so curse words. Beautiful scenery and a good soundtrack too. 3 out of 4 stars or one and one-half thumbs up.

View trailer here.

Choices

We’ve all been the traveler. Everyday we have to make choices. Every single day. Life forces us to make some choices that are really not easy. There are also many temptations, daily. Do we allow such frustration to drive us or God? Have you noticed that you tend to make choices based on your surroundings? A person tends to adapt to, maybe even adopt, the lifestyle of those around them. If it is unhealthy then we will suffer. It may not seem like suffering at first. The stress of our negative choices will eventually take its toll. On the other hand, the joy of the positive is unbelievable.

I pulled the “The Road Less Travelled” because it was posted at Michele’s as a completion post…Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one…

Well, I’ve always said less travelled, it makes life more interesting. Think about it though. The road less travelled is going to be an adventure. There are going to be weeds, prickers, limbs, and who knows what to battle. There is a clear path available. Why do many of us always choose the path less travelled? We know the other would be much easier. We know that less travelled means there will be more scrapes and bumps. It’s a choice. Does that mean we have to take the path that is worn and shouldn’t take the road less travelled? I don’t think so. I think the adventures life has to offer can be valuable. However, in making that choice it requires us to begin with the end in mind. We have to choose to watch out for the prickers of life, those things that are going to hurt us and break us down. We’re not walking alone, but sometimes when we are not making the best choices, we charge ahead leaving the branches to smack God in the face. If we let God lead…He will get all of the cobwebs, hold the branches, and we’ll come out with a lot less scrapes.

Tagged!

I’ve been tagged by Tense Teacher to complete the meme so I’ll be a good sport and give it a shot…

If you are reading, consider yourself tagged…or not, your call.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I had been married a little over a year. I was going to school in the summer and unable to figure out why I was exhausted all of the time and couldn’t shake a stomach bug that attacked every time I ate…a simple test solved this question. We were expecting our first!

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Same thing I’m doing now, enjoying my summer and getting ready for school to start back.

Five snacks you enjoy:
Popcorn, hot chips, nachos/cheese dip, chex mix, caramel

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
“Sweet Home Alabama” Lynyrd Skynyrd
“When did you fall?” Chris Rice
“Ordinary People” John Legend
“Don’t know why” Norah Jones
“Everything’s OK” Chris Rice

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Pay off everything we owe,
move to the coast,
invest and continue with life

Five bad habits:
Procrastinating
Messing with my hair when I think
Messing with my nails when I’m nervous
Staying up late
Not eating, or eating popcorn dinner (it’s a vegetable you know)

Five things you like doing:
getting away with Djembe
travelling
blogging
web-design
reading

Five things you would never wear again:
tight-rolled jeans (ditto from Tense Teacher)
multiple pairs of socks at the same time (ditto from Tense Teacher)
an adult onesie…what were those things called?
balloon outfit
lace one-piece pants suit that I was forced to wear when I was five

Five favorite toys:
Christopher- I’ve had him for 28 years so I think he makes the fav list. (He is a zip the monkey…looks like this.)
laptop
digital camera
blog
trumpet