Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WNBP: It's Just Nuts!

Greetings, All!  Your faithful Sheepie is here to regale you with the weekly Wednesday Night Bullet Post! Let's see where we are today...

*First of all, let's get one thing straight.  Anyone thinking of mentioning that they heard there might be some "weather" coming my way on Friday should reconsider all the available conversational options.


*In spite of the fact that there is a low probability of my area seeing much in the way of snow, I am still sort of cranky about the whole matter.


*Winter is over.  Winter should go to therapy and learn to let go.  No one likes a clingy season.


*Speaking of things that won't let go, the Stoopid Cold that installed itself into my sinus cavities is loosening up somewhat.


*But slowly.  Very slowly.  Its tenacity rivals winter's.


*I was up at 3:00 this morning hacking and gasping.


*Great fun for the cats.  They like it when Mommy is up and about in the dark of the pre-dawn hours.


*They think I'm doing it for them...


*Here's a little slice of the educational process you might not have known was going on in schools today:

The Future Farmer:  Hey, Ms. Sheep!  Lookit what I brought!

Ms. Sheep:  Just a minute.  I'm trying to take attendance.

TFF:  No!  Look!!!  (brandishes a large, foil wrapped ball)

MS:  Um...do I need to call the bomb squad?

TFF:  No.  Listen...hear how it sloshes when I shake it?  That's cool, right?

MS:  I'm going to have to ask you to stop doing that.  And to set it down very carefully on the desk then step away with your hands raised.

TFF:  You're so funny, Ms. Sheep.  Imagine...being scared of a coconut!

MS:  You brought a coconut to school?

TFF:  Yup.

MS:  And you thought to wrap it in foil first?

TFF:  It's food.  That's what you do with food.

MS:  Okay.  You got me there.  And why, pray tell, did you bring a coconut to school today?  It's not exactly the kind of thing we generally have here at the middle school...

TFF:  It was on sale.

MS:  Good to know.  But it still doesn't explain why you brought it here.

TFF:  We are going to open it.  I don't exactly know how you do that, but I'm guessing we will need some tools and that I'll probably get to smash it at some point.

MS:  Yes...that does seem likely doesn't it?

*You can't exactly ignore a coconut in the classroom.  Nor can you deny a small group of young teens the opportunity to smash something.


*Whole class trooped outside to make the tropical magic happen.


*Final verdict:  smashing good.  Raw coconut:  bad


*In the words of the Cheerful Teaching Assistant:  I thought I was going to be getting the yummy inside of a Mounds Bar and what I got was a mouthful of mushy soapy stuff!


*I happen to like raw coconut, but I suppose it's more of an acquired taste.  And very fun to eat it in front of kids who are horrified by the act.


*The experience was best described by (the boy who is) Dark & Disturbed:  Oh my God!  This is awful!  I can still taste it way down in my throat hole!!!


*The Future Farmer scraped out all the remaining meat and discarded it.  Then he reassembled the shell and made a birdhouse out of it.


*Because that is just what he does...


*And in bookish news...


*I finished The Devil You Know (Felix Castor).  Loved it!!!


*As soon as payday rolled around, I snapped up the next one, Vicious Circle (Felix Castor).


*Devoured it.  Great fun!!


*It took everything I had to not activate my reader's wireless ability and buy Dead Men's Boots (Felix Castor)!


*I did not.


*I had The Dark and Hollow Places (Forest of Hands and Teeth, Book 3) waiting patiently in the wings and knew I'd hate myself for not seeing how things were going in the land of the dead.


*I love this series.  I'm not saying it's an easy read or that everything about it is pleasant.  


*In fact, most of it is heartbreaking.  


*But it is painful in a way that makes it kind of beautiful.


*Insomuch as living in a world where the dead are strolling about, oblivious to the fact that it is impolite to not lie down decently once respiration has ceased.


*It's not campy and it's not sensationalized.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  


*It's literary zombie fiction.


*So glad I took a break from the trials and tribulations of Felix Castor for a bit.  I'll be back soon, I promise!


*Meanwhile, I convinced the Cheerful Teaching Assistant to start Tempest Rising (Jane True).


*Now she sits at her desk with her Kindle in between teaching moments and chortles happily.


*I do so love it when I can bring a fellow reader into the fold.  Plus, it gives me someone with whom to discuss plot lines.


*I knit exactly three rounds on the sock.  The Stoopid Cold didn't like it when I knit so I had to stop.


*The Stoopid Cold may be fading, but its influence lingers.


*I'm hoping to distract it with some decongestants tonight and see if I can't get a few more rows in.


*Since the weather has gone nuts and winter still lurks, I suppose I'll need socks well into July this year...



Well, that should about do it for this week's edition of the WNBP.  I think I'll not elaborate on the part where everyone down in the main office kept singing "I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts" as they watched us make our way back into the building.  It was funny at first, but lost some of its charm after the fiftieth refrain and you don't need to hear about that.  I'll just end it here and go do something productive.

Like stock up the cupboards for the storm.  They may be calling for more in the way of rain in my area, but this winter has been kind of nutty and I no longer trust that a person can't be buried in snow on April Fool's Day anymore...

SA

8 comments:

Lynne said...

It seems the whole weather system is crazy. We are in autumn. The nights ought to be cool. Apparently, it is "normal" to have our first night at less than 16*C (60*F)by mid March. We finally went under 16*F three days ago (27th March). This was reported to be only the second time since temperature recording began and the first time since 1892.

I can't complain, though - my fellow Australians in Queensland are still being battered by monsoonal rains.

=Tamar said...

You are wise to be cautious of spring weather. I grew up in central NH, next door to Maine. One year in the late 1950s it snowed on May 20th. In the late 1960s it snowed (a dusting) in early May.

FWIW, I'm not a fan of coconut, but I have a fond memory of the day the class had a chance at some Roquefort and over half refused to try it. Yum.

Donna Lee said...

We are in the beginning of that storm now. It's 35 degrees and raining (so it's cold) but I think we'll manage to miss the snow. I have my boots in the front of the closet just in case, though.

Julia G said...

Talk about hands-on learning! You have to admire TFF's ingenuity.

The leading edge of The Low Pressure System That Must Not Be Named is over me right now - gulp! As I recall, we had 2 feet of - ahem - in the April Fool's Day Blizzard of '97, but the sun and ground were so warm it melted quickly.

April said...

It's like ... 80 here today. I hate it. I bought a YA book the other day. It's still sitting in the Barnes & Noble bag on the floor of my car.

Jeanne said...

I can still taste it way down in my throat hole!!!

Best. Response. Ever.

The Stoopid Cold made its way round our offices. I'm the only one who pretty much licked it in four days, though. Well, except for the persistent, uh, let's call it a "hairball" stuck in the back of my throat (hole).

Kath said...

I just started the second Felix Castor book last night so you are ahead of me - no spoilers please! Sadly, my stupid job and commute get in the way of all the important things like reading and knitting.

If you get really lucky Future Farmer will bring in limes next week and then the main office folks will have an obvious new song choice.

Betsy said...

Hey Sheepie! Have you seen the new Yoga for Yankees? I think you could use this in your classroom...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XtX74pB-3k&feature=player_embedded