Our house is under attack.

Last night I received a disturbing phone call while at dinner at Melissa's. It was Annie. She sounded upset. "Elizabeth," she said, "there are rats on the house."
"What?!" I said with panic in my voice.
She was taking Arnie for a walk, and when she got back to put him outside, that's when she saw the army of darkness. The rat brigade. ON the bars of our windows on our patio. ON THEM. Crawling DOWN them. She thought there were approximately 2-3 of them.
My solution was to call our landlord. That's what they do, right? Right?? They save us. There was no answer on his phone. My next suggestion? Well, call the cavalry, of course. Who you gonna call? Kat and Karl, duh. Karl likes to shoot things.
The good friends that they are came right over, trusty shooter in hand. The next few hours consisted of us sitting in the lodge, waiting for the little fiends to come down the window. When they would appear, I'd squeal, grab Kat's leg and Karl would go into stealth mode. He'd grab the beebee gun, dart outside, quietly open the gate, and they would inevitably run away. Every time. But he sure did give it a try. Thanks, Karl. You're our hero! What would we do without you??
The rats still live. I will keep you posted.

A little... uh... "Kat and mouse," anyone? Ohhhhhh I crack myself up.
It makes it classier to drink wine while shooting things, lesson learned.

Summer '06 has begun! Whoooo!

Summer '06 has gotten off to a rockin' start. Saturday was Emily's bachelorette party (I win! I'm the first to have pics- HA!), which was a freaking fun time. We started off at Kat's house for snacks (yum) and games.

Turns out that someone (who... ME??) got a little camera-happy. I swear I took 50 pictures. I tried to narrow it down, but I just like too many of them. So bear with me. Summer '06 (say: WHOOOOOOOOOO!)

Straight p-i-m-p-i-n-g in the limo

We then arrived at the River Market, ladies out on the town. Who's that random boy in the background? Sneaky of him.

Kat and Erika showin their jaaaaazzzzz hands! Ta da!

And the best photo of the evening award goes to...

Imagine you're a seahorse! Go with it!

Later, at Ernie Biggs, the piano men were kind enough to indulge us girls in a little Salt N' Pepa (you KNOW how I feel bout those songs!) with a little "Shoop" action. Yeah, we busted it out. Old school.

Here's Emily up on stage. Way to go, Em!

The next day...

Sunday after a much-needed meal at Damegoode with Kat, Karl, and Matty P., I went down to the ol' dirty river for a little river magic Memorial weekend. Gasp in awe at all the people. That's just one side of the island, people. There were many more people. Volleyball players and rednecks galore. Starting from the left in the Hawaiian shirt and moving clockwise: Benji (no clue how to spell his name), Jeremy, Kelley, Ben, Jamie.

Jamie and Ryan
And this is Julie and Jamie...

Look at those waves lap up on the shore. It's our very own Redneck Riviera. Beautiful, isn't it?

And the big finale to the weekend...

To finish off the weekend, we took the boat on the river to watch the fireworks at Riverfest. I kept trying to get a decent picture, but digital photography just isn't that fast. Every time I was like, "Oh! That one's pretty! Let me grab my camera, turn it on, wait for it to get in the right mode..." Snap... bad picture. The second one looks like the bridge was on fire. Don't worry- it wasn't. It was a fantabulous ending to a fantabulous weekend. And I'm proud to be an AmeriCAN (scream at the top of your lungs)!

Mere hours left.

And the clear winner is... "The Outsiders!" I got one vote for the "Karate Kid," and it was a sympathy vote because he could see my disappointment. That's alright. Just under 4 hours left! Nothing can get me down!
I will still be able to post over the summer because I actually have internet access at my house (a first ever). Plans for this weekend: Riverfest ya'll! And Emily's bachelorrette part-ay. Yeehaw!
Oh no! This is the part where Johnny kills that Soc! Got to go! Peace out, friends! Stay golden, Ponyboy. Stay golden.

1 day.

Ohhh the excitement is just climbing around here. Today I have no children officially until 7th period. But I am taking down all my classroom stuff and cleaning. Eeew. Tonight is 8th grade graduation. I am in charge of the reception afterwards, so keep your fingers crossed that the flowers arrive without wilting, the cake is spelled correctly, the punch is flowing and never-ending, and we have the best dang nuts and mints around. The kids wear caps and gowns now (we started last year), which is just fun. The teachers still sing a song to the graduates ("Go My Children," the same one they sang to us). So somewhere around 7:30 have a good laugh because you will know I am in front of hundreds of people looking uncomfortable and singing a little tune. It's fine- go ahead and laugh getting that picture in your head. I am.

2 days.

It's official. The kids have gone absolutely flippin' insane. Perhaps I have too. It's hard to tell.
Today I am screening kiddoes going into 3rd grade for the GT program. Tomorrow I have no kids except for 7th period. So I have to pack my room away. All those cutesie decorations I have worked so hard on need to be tossed out. Or put in the closet for next year. Friday is a half day (2 halves plus a whole= 2 days, that's my logic). I need to pick a movie to show my homeroom. It has to be G or PG. Any thoughts???
My ideas were "The Karate Kid," (HUSH, I freaking love it), "The Princess Bride," and the "Outsiders." It must be on VHS because my classroom doesn't have a DVD player, and I have those. Any other suggestions?

4 days.

Today are the primary elections, so get out there and vote! Vote Democrat, I mean. Only Democrat. Across the board. :) See your choices here. It's not only about Taylor and Katherine today, folks! Although, you should probably vote there too. Be a part of the process, people!
Cartoon from Married to the Sea

5 Days. Holla, holla, holla.

Today felt like a Natalie Dee day. There are officially 5 days left of school. The 8th grade is gone... I have no classes today until 5th period. And I'm giving tests. Whaa haa haa. It feels great.
Weekend: Friday I took Jeremy to a teachers' function at Juanita's. It's like meeting 15 sets of parents all at once. He did a good job. Saturday: Greek Food Fest (fabulouso- I have leftover black bean hummus for lunch today. Mmmm...) and fun on the river. That night we went to Brooke's going away thingy at Vino's. Good luck in Batesville, Brooke! Sunday: shopping with the Katie and fish fry at the principal's house. Thrilling, huh?
Still no job lined up for summertime. I'm starting to think that maybe fate doesn't want me to get one. Maybe it is telling me that I should enjoy my summer. Perhaps I will volunteer somewhere. That could be good. Have a good week, everyone. While you're working hard, remember... I have 5 days left. :)

Raise your hand if you're happy it's Friday!

I am! I am! Friday! Friday! Friday! Things coming up for the weekend: party with the teachers tonight to celebrate the 4th grade teacher's 36 years at CLS... Saturday Greek Food Fest... SPANAKOPITA (bless you!)... Sunday fish fry with the teachers... We go nuts when school starts to get out! Today is my last day with 8th grade, and next week I have sporadic classes with 7th grade, then I'm DONE. Holla holla holla holla! To help you have a happy Friday (as if you wouldn't anyway)... watch this hilarious music video . I totally want to make one of these. Very little else makes me as happy as some dancin' fools.
Have a good weekend!

Mr. Clinton says...

Another HUGE congratulations to Chandle, who has gotten in to the Clinton School of Public Service. You're amazing, Chandle! Go over here to read her acceptance letter. Congrats!!

A very happy Mothers' Day to my mama!! I can't go 2 days without talking to her on the phone or I start to go into withdrawal a little bit. She always keeps cheese dip, salsa, and pickles stocked in her fridge because she loves me, and she knows I go straight for the Clausins when I go to her house. She shares my love of reality TV, and she taught me how to knit. She also has made an imaginary radius around Little Rock that I am not allowed to move out of permanently. You're the best, ma! Love you dearly!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!

Friday and Saturday I went camping with a whole bunch of Jeremy's friends. We went to Lake Ouachita (Brady Mtn) and took a couple of boats. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a blast- I went tubing backwards. It was purty sweet, I won't lie. We claimed the best island around and built camp, fighting off the pirates that tried to steal our booty. Aaaaargh.
Tips for making a really huge fire:
Step 1: send the men into the woods to carry back the biggest trees they can find and carry. Be sure to notice the cup in hand.

Step 2 for fire: Wedge the tree between two other trees and push with all your might to break it into firewood. This requires a lot of brute strength, but don't worry- we had a-plenty of it.
A side note: there really were girls on this trip too, although they appear in none of the photos.

Step 3 to making a huge fire: hold hands and balance on the tree to break it. Yup, that'll work just right.

After a day full of boating and tubing, we went to the Brady Mtn. Restaurant, where we gorged ourselves on catfish and other fried goodies. It was also nice to have a toilet that wasn't a tree stump. That night we (when I say "we" I mean not me, but the men folk) made a huge bonfire that wanted to burn my face off. It was awesome- the picture doesn't do it justice.

What do you do when you break the keg bin when loading it into the boat? Well, of course, you dig a hole for it on the beach! Now THAT's ingenuity, right there.

Question of the day...

What's a good yearbook message for someone you like?

What about someone you're not going to miss too much over the summer...? Not that I don't love all my students equally! They're little blessings from above. Each and every one of 'em.

I'm asking because I'm about to have to sign 120 of my students' yearbooks. What do you think...?

Dear so and so 8th grader-

It's been great teaching you these past (#) years. Good luck in all that you do! -Miss Ross

Dear so and so 7th grader-

It's been great teaching you this year! Good luck in 8th grade! -Miss Ross

That's all I got. I'm having writers' block. Dang.

The new phone book's here! The new phone book's here!

Harry: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing.
Navin: Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73--Johnson, Navin R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity--your name in print--that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.

Not the new phone book... but the new yearbook's in! Yeehaw! Talk about spontaneous publicity. Talk about infamy. Talk about notoriety! Big time. Ahh... the fruits of my labor for months and months. EVERY word typed and picture inserted into those pages was done by yours truly. I'm fantastic.
News: Jeremy's coming home tonight (probably). Hoorah! Tomorrow is Field Day. I will be in the sun all day with the junior high kids at the park, watching them run relays, telling them they're not fast enough, and enjoying games of toss the chicken (into a ring- it's a very complicated and precise game). Other games we play in addition to regular (aka "boring") track and field type stuff: discus with a trash can lid, javelin with a pool noodle, leap frog, rock paper scissors, and a jr. high-wide bubble-blowing contest. It's one of the best days of the year. A bonus: I get to be a team "captain" and cheer (or booooo) my team on to victory. Or complete obliteration. My team has lost every year. Badly. I think the PE teacher stacks the teams in his favor.

Fiesta, fiesta!

Today is pinata project day!! Of course, it's raining buckets out there, and they have to walk their hard work out to the trailer, but they're surviving. They turned out SO well this year, I just had to share. Love, love, love them! These are just a few of my personal favorites. I'm a proud teacha today.

12 days left!!