Pictures from the Tattoo Extravaganza

There is Max - with his awesome guitar stomach tattoo.
Please also take notice the forehead tattoo.

Sophie giving Aunt Jennie her third tatt.

Max showing us his newest tattoo. All the cousins are so proud.

Olivia and all her tattooed glory.

Here we all are (or everyone that fit in the camera's lens) with our Tattoos.

Plum Tuckered

Thanksgiving turned
Tattoo Extravaganza

So this Thanksgiving started out like any other Thanksgiving. Bruce and I woke up this morning - very, very, very early for the America's Thanksgiving Parade. It was my sixth year of working the parade. And it doesn't make waking up for it any easier. But it's always a fun time.

Then we hurry home to take the world's quickest nap before heading off to my family's Thanksgiving. This year we spent Thanksgiving in Flushing. We were the last to arrive - because waking up from the world's shortest nap was well difficult.

We ate our weight in turkey - then it was the usual banter with the cousins - until Krista broke out her goodies from Target. This included two packs of 500 temporary tattoos. Yes people, that is 1000 temporary tattoos. So I opened a tattoo parlor, now granted my first customers were all under then age of 8. And I am sure you have hear the tattoos are addicting and that proved to be true at this outing. (I will have to get the pictures from Krista.) It started with Max getting a ying yang in the middle of his forehead. Which meant that Sophie and Olivia needed their butterflies in the middle of their forehead too. Then well the fun just kept going. By the end of the night - Olivia had over 15 tattoos, followed closely by Max and Sophie - and everyone there (including my dad) had at least one Tattoo. Oh yes, the holidays are never dull in my family. I have included a picture of what's left of my temporary tattoos. Yes, don't I look fierce with my rooster tattoo. Don't worry there is another one on my other wrist.

The parade show...

...is underway.

It's thanksgiving.....

.... and that only means one thing - a parade.

I went to Williams & Sonoma this weekend - I tried something on the
front of their cookbook.

Looks gross

....tastes good - I had extras and I didn't want to waste it.

A Taste of Summer in Berlin



This is video that I took this summer in Berlin. However, if I was grading myself I would probably fail due to the fact I didn't take the tripod (yes, I was very lazy - I hope my students really don't read my blog.) However, I hoofed it all over the city by myself and frankly how was I supposed to keep up with those trendy Europeans hauling a tripod everywhere. Really sometimes it is fashion before function.

Robbed!!!

So it's down to the final three and I must say this time they have it wrong with the final two. Samantha and McKey. Blah - I am not a hug fan of either of them. Apparently I need to be the guest judge. Because if I was - Marjorie would have been gone a long long time ago. And of course the soft spoken ice skater Annaleigh was booted.

Now I am begrudgingly watching the second half. And I am not sure who I am pulling for. The crazy-eyed boxer or the airhead Sam. Again just my personal opinions. So now I am watching Tyra call herself their "black mama." And again, I am questioning her judgment. Now I am listening to McKey talk and all of the sudden she has this strange British type accent. I am wondering was this boxer hit in the head one too many times that she has this wierd accent.

Now it's judgement time. And Trya looks like she is right out of Star Trek - did Scottie beam her down from the Enterprise. Does she not have friends that tell her - no? Really I can't take her seriously. So I must say now I am rooting for the air head - I think that McKey is just crazy. And of course they go for crazy - obviously considering Tyra's outfit today.

No Sleep - Sleep.....

Well I must say last weekend I was bracing for a weekend of ZERO sleep. My students had signed up to do the Insomnia film festival. It's a film festival that runs 24 hours 9 am - 9 am. The goal is to produce and edit a short film in 24 hours. However, it was postponed due to problems with Apple's website. At first I was really disappointed - because my team was PSYCHED - and I was wondering if they would still be as PSYCHED - a month later. But as it turns out they were pretty matter of fact about it - you can read their blog post. If you left them a comment - they would be thrilled - because they are pretty much convinced that I am the only one that reads it. I tell them otherwise - but none the less the don't believe me.

Instead Bruce and I used gift certificates to buy ROCK BAND 2. And our band "the next tuesdays" is back on World Tour. And let me say we are pretty freaking awesome. I think the best thing about the new game is well "Eye of the Tiger" is on it along with several Bon Jovi songs.

Other than that life has been busy with school. I am frustrated because I had a Volleyball accident the week after the marathon - when I was ummmm tackled by a teammate. Since that time I have not been able to run - I did something to my right ankle and it's driving me nuts. I want so badly to run - but then there is this throbbing pain that gets in the way. I actually bought a swimming suit and went swimming the other night - I am planning to go again tonight but I have to wait for open swim at 6:30 pm. I forgot how tiresome swimming can be - and well I miss my ipod - I think running is more my speed.

Also my cousin Babe made it into another commercial with her dog Teddy. When I was little she was featured in the Lands End catalog - now she is in a commercial for the Michigan Tech Credit Union. I am posting it here to spread her fame. Also many might see where my years of training to perfect the Palin accent come from.

Christmas isn't until Next Month

Well I know this - however this just shows you how crazy things have been, this is a present from the Harding Family from oh last Christmas. I felt like a real schmuck when I treked down to Berkley last week - with nothing in hand. However - but I had a great time regardless. I only live 1 hour a way - but let me tell you sometimes it feels like I leave in another state. It's hard to get my butt down to the city, but it was worth the quality Helen time.

The Moodle Maverick

So this election day - instead of having school we had professional development (PD). They decided that since so many of the local schools are polling places that they would close school that day (safety first.) So instead of doing our PD day at the end of the month like usual we did it at the beginning.

Well in the spirit of the election - I wanted to have well some fun. Really if you think about it that is the democratic thing to do. I wasn't attending the PD this year - I was actually one of the people in charge of presenting a session. I was doing Moodle - which is an online tool for instruction delivery. Basically it's an online classroom. Well I decided on this election day - since I can do the Sarah Palin voice (yes if Tina Fay needed a voice double, I could have stepped up to the plate - thanks to my frequent visits to the north (Michigan's Upper Pennisula) where well they have a wonderful cadance to their voice that I love listening too and have been practicing for years.

So I showed up in the morning with my glasses on and my best updo - with attention to creating fake bangs - as the Moodle Maverick. Please note however that my badge was pined on with my Obama '08 pin. The only thing was that I don't own a red blazer because well that would have made the outfit a little more convincing.

It all made it's way upstairs...

...but trust me there is still much work to be done.

The pile keeps moving.

The Metamorphoses of my Office

Okay this weekend, I promised myself I would clean the disaster which is my office. My office is the place where things go when someone is coming over and I don't know where to put something - so I stick in the corner or on my desk. Well over time there became no more room to put anything. So this was the weekend it would be cleaned. (And I am sure that despite my best efforts that this saga will continue - but here's hoping that I can keep it clean a little longer.)

This isn't the start - I didn't think about taking a photo before the cleaning process began. But this is me taking everything off the desk and using my floor as a place to sort.

There is lots of work to be done.

Desk is still not clean.

No this isn't the same picture from before this is about an hour later - after I decided in order to really clean the room, I needed to clean out my filing cabinet. If you notice stuff has been moved around.

...and then I move it back onto the desk - no wonder this takes such a freaking long time.

Visible Progress

Oh wait -there's where it all went.

But I am moving a long.

I see carpet.

And success.

See I am relaxed enough to drink tea.

Look at that carpet.

Oh wait - as it turns out I am not finished - I just moved the junk to the another spot. Looks like I should get started.

Catching up with ANTM

A week or two Olive left a comment that clearly related to ANTM - but I wasn't with her because well I hadn't had a chance to watch. Well now that has all changed. I am now all caught up on ANTM. Right now we have four "models" left and they are in Amsterdam. The four who are left are McKey (who had to change her name from something else because there were too many of them - but I am not sure where this one came from,) then Samatha (who's major criticism is that she is too catalog, then there's Annaleigh (my favorite) and finally Marjorie (who Olive made a comment about beind sick of her and I could not agree more.)

Let me digress on Majorie, she is a mouse like model who takes great pictures but has the personality of a frozen pea. She is so shy and helpless - it's to the point that it is annoying. Look I understand being intimidated - we have all be there - but every moment this girl is acting a like a deer in headlights. To me she litterally looks like she is ready for anyone and anybody to haul off and hit her. This girl needs some quality counseling. And if Tyra isn't prepared to sit her down and do some confidence building with her - then it's time for the judges to VOTE HER OFF. This girl is going to crumble and frankly it is not that entertaining to watch.

Watching the Results

MSU v. Wisconsin

Fumbled - Spartans have the ball.

Sonic!

Our first trip to the newly opened Flint Sonic!