As you can see by the pictures, Nick had a wonderful tiime at his first Rodeo/Carnival. His behaviour was wonderful! He had his face painted, dug for treasure, did the fishing pond, rode a horse, went in the petting zoo, we went for a wagon ride, sat and had a snack and waited for lunch and watched people. After lunch they opened the rides for an hour. Nick went on about 6 rides, and just LOVED it! He just laughed his little head off when he was on the little roller coaster. After the rides closed, they got cotton candy to take into the rodeo demonstration. Nick’s favorite part was the bucking broncs. He just giggled and giggled watching them.

The best part was how pleased his Mom was when I took him out to her after school, and told her how good he’d been, and how much fun he had!!! I took a ton of pictures of his day, and just ordered prints, so I’m going to make her a little photo album. of “Cowboy Nick” as he now calls himself.

The other part of Rodeo day that is so cool, is we always see a lot of our former students there, and it’s so much fun to have a few words with them. I even saw my “little” Andrew!! First time we’d seen him this year!! He got so excited!!

“Well It’s 40 below, and I don’t give a fuck, got a heater in my truck, and I’m off to the rodeo……”

You heard me……today is the annual Special Needs Rodeo. Nick has never been to a rodeo, or on carnival rides, so IF he behaves, it should be a blast!! If he’s a little bugger, it will be a nightmare!

The only other bad thing, is that as USUAL it’s a very cool, breezy day, and we’re going to freeze our knickers off again……every year this happens! Who ever heard of wearing touques and mitts to a rodeo??? Only in Canada………

Every time I leave the classroom to go to the washroom (with the amount of water I drink in a day, is quite frequently), by the time I get out, there’s Nick roaming up and down the hall, yelling, “Bevvvvv, where are you??” So I come out and he’s happy, and we go back to class. NOW, he comes all the way to the washroom, and lies on the floor with his nose stuck under the door, calling, “Bevvv….are you in there???”

Geesh! I thought my days of having to take a kid to the bathroom with me were LONG GONE!

Ripped off from here:

1. What year was the best year of your life? I hope I haven’t had it yet!

2. One animal or insect that Noah should have left off the ark? mice!!

3. Do you make a wish before blowing out your birthday candles? Yes, if I get a cake which is fairly rare.

4. Do you generally open your bills on the day that you receive them? Always.

5. How many pillows are on your bed? four

6. Favorite ice cream flavor? Mother Lode or Rollo

7. What is the most dominate color in your wardrobe? I would guess blue or pink

8. Have you ever seen a ghost? ummm Noooooooooo

9. Would you rather go to a carnival or circus? None of the above.

10. Favorite meal: breakfast, lunch, or dinner? anything but lunch that I have to pack in a bag every day! *gag*

11. Your favorite fictional animal? Copper (from Fox & the Hound)

12. Have you ever flown first-class? Yes I have.

13. Would you go on a reality show? Hmmm survivor? no way! I like to eat, hate bugs, like to bath. Bachelorette? Don’t qualify. Big Brother? No way I’d live with cameras and tape recorders and a house full of two faced people! Amazing Race? ummm no… I get airsick. Fear Factor? No bug eating here! So I guess that would be NO!

14. Are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the future? Optimistic.

15. Pancakes or waffles? I love both!

16. If you could own a home anywhere in the world, where would it be? A log cabin with all the luxuries, on a beautiful lake.

17. Your favorite Soup of the Day? broccoli/cheese or else mushroom

18. What site is a must see for all visitors to your city? West Edmonton Mall I guess…..although I avoid the place like the plague

19. Can you recommend a good restaurant in your city? the Sawmill

20. You go to the zoo; What is the one animal that you want to see? monkies

21. Potatoes, rice, or pasta; Which is your favorite? Pasta

22. What is the best movie that you’ve seen this year? Radio

23. One of your favorite books when you were a child? the Ann of Green Gables series

24. What in your life are you most grateful for? my kids

25. You are home alone and use the bathroom; do you close the door? no

26. What is your favorite small appliance? coffee maker!

27. Salty snacks or sweet treats? sweet

28. Are you usually a little early, a little late, or right on time? a little early

29. What is the most daring thing that you have ever done? hitchhiked with a girlfirend down to Lethbridge to watch the high school boys basketball provincials. We were 17.

30. Have you ever met someone famous? Yes, Kurt Browning

31. What was one of your favorite games as a child? Masterpiece

32. At what age have you looked your best? I’m still working on that one!

33. One person that never fails to make you laugh? Hazel

34. What was the first music that you ever bought? Partridge Family heh!

35. If you could change one thing about your family life when you were a child, what would it be? That my mother trusted me more….. gave me a chance to futz up. Even when I was a “good” kid I had unreasonably strict rules.

36. What is the one thing that you cook that always receives compliments? my lasagna

37. From what news source do you receive the bulk of your news? online

38. In the last calendar year, how many people have you told that you love them? 4

39. Who recieved your first kiss? Randy in grade 8

40. The single most important quality in a mate? a sense of humor and calmness

41. What do you value most in a relationship? the ability to talk about anything

42. Do you believe that you have a soulmate? If yes, have you already met? yes and yes

43. Do you consider yourself well organized? absolutely, although not as much as I was in the past. Mostly because our family is not as busy, so it’s not as big a necessity now.

44. On average, how many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror? mostly when I am washing my hands in the bathroom

45. Did you ever make a prank phone call? of course!

46. What one quality do you seek in a friend? a great sense of humor

47. Have you ever killed an animal? sadly, yes… growing up on the farm we used to shoot gophers

48. When you were twelve years old, what did you want to be when you grew up? a teacher or a nurse

49. Do you believe in a afterlife. yes

50. What would you like to accomplish with the remaining years of your life? Get well established financially once the kids are finished university, and prepare to enjoy retirement.

If you can believe it!! I don’t know why I even act like I’m shocked. Nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to stupid weather patterns. This morning was quite nice. Then out of the blue, around 2:00 pm, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped, the sky got dark, and it started to spit. By the time I left at 3:00 it was drizzling pretty good, and when I came out with a cart full of groceries half an hour later it was raining so hard you could hardly see on the highway. It will be snow any time now. Geesh!

School has been a nightmare for the past week or two. We’re having some real behaviour problems with one of our older boys. He’s got such a low IQ, he just doesn’t make connections. He’s huge for his age, grossly overweight, and when he gets mad, he crosses his arms over his chest and sticks out his lip and stomps his size 12 feet. I’m telling you it just ain’t a purty sight! If he’s not doing that, he’s smirking at you after you’ve given him shit. It’s enough to make you want to smack him silly. But alas….against school policy. hehehe

Nick was a pain in my ass today too. He was back to his normal SHOUTING every time I asked him to do anything. At one point, we were walking down the hall and he was yelling, and I told him to stop. He threw himself down on the floor, so I just kept walking. Before I knew it, he came running at me full force and hit me from behind. Talk about whiplash! I marched his little ass to the Thinking Spot very quickly! He settled down somewhat for the remainder of the day.

Anyways, it was a long, SHITTY work day and I’m going to veg in front of American Idol. Would you PEOPLE please get your heads out of your asses, leave Latoya, and Fantasia, alone and get rid of John Stevens! He’s a sweetheart, but lord love us, those girls are BETTER!!! I can’t believe who got kicked off last week! It’s unbelievable!!!

Snagged from Chunnering.

I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions. Anything you want. Then go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.

And the wind blows on!

I haven’t been out of the house since my birthday party Friday nite, it’s been so cold and windy! Today I just did laundry and tore our bedroom apart and gave it a good cleaning.

Ben was up half the night chucking his cookies, because his girlfriend’s parents insisted he try sushi, and he was too polite to refuse. He barfed his guts out for hours, but was fine when he woke up, and was able to go to work.

Sarah has found a new and interesting way to meet guys now. She’s seeing a new guy, and you’d never imagine how she met him. That’s my girl! HeH!

Just a 4 day week at work, so that’s something to look forward to!

Here’s a picture of my 2 “boys”, taken yesterday at school. The little one is Nick, and of course, most of you know Tony. Now you can see why I’m such a “pushover” for the pair of them! HeH

I had a rather “odd” birthday to say the least! It started out great! I got a great surprise gift from hubby. Lots of hugs, well wishes and cards at work. The kids sang to me. Nick was happy as could be because we were going swimming. We went swimming. We are all standing in the entry way of the pool, soggy and hungry, wondering why the bus isn’t waiting for us. Hmmm…. very odd. Ed (the bus driver) is never late! We waited, and waited…. and waited! Finally I suggested that Hazel call back to the school to get someone to call him on his cell phone. FINALLY a bus pulled up…. not Ed, but one of his other drivers that they’d managed to track down. 40 MINUTES late!!!! Accck! So we get back to school, bolt down our cold lunch (it was fat lunch day, so we had burgers and fries waiting us ladies), sent the kids outside for recess, they got as far as the boot room, and the bell rang and they had to come back inside! Talk about a great way to mess with the built in time-tables of the autistic!!! The stupid thing is Ed came to the school the day BEFORE and asked me, “Aren’t you going swimming??”, and I told him, “Yes…TOMORROW Ed!” He grinned and left. I’m thinking he “picked us up” that day too, and forgot on the actual day. So needless to say, I’m busy plotting my REVENGE on Ed.

The afternoon was also screwy, as we had the sub in again for the afternoon, and at last recess the Principal called us all down to the staff room for a meeting to inform us that she had been given a job at central office, so we would be getting another new principal next year! Uggghhhh! Another rookie.

Our good friends Carl and Marlene had us over for a weiner roast last night. This is an annual tradition, as Kyle, one of Ben’s best friends and teammates for MANY years shares the same birthday as me, and we’ve celebrated together for years now. It was a really nice evening, sitting out on the deck sharing laughs, eating good food, when all of a sudden, hubby shouts, “Look what’s coming down the street!” Of course like dopes we all look, just as a HUGE whirlwind came right at us! I covered my head up under my jacket, and when I finally peeked out, it was to see Ben go leaping by me, chasing the picnic table umbrella that was flying through the air, headed for the fence! What a mess! Needless to say, we all went back in the house, spitting dust out of our teeth. It’s still blowing like crazy out there, and the storm made a HUGE mess out of my pretty balconey renovations *sniff*. No point cleaning it up though until the wind dies down.

I finally took some picktures of Tony and Nick yesterday, and I’ll post them later on. Today I don’t have plans for too much.

This arrived for me in my email this morning. Made my day! Can you tell I’m a die-hard fan??!!

I did get a DVD-Recorder from hubby, and an Italian Charm bracelet from my kids with an Oiler charm, a $100 from my Mom, and a toilet brush from my in-laws. hehehe

Today we go swimming. That will be the end of MY good day! Blech! Then in the afternoon we have a sub in. He was there all day yesterday too while Hazel was away at conference. Sarah should marry him. He’s like 6′5″ TALL, handsome, university degree, and has a car! WOW!