Amanda Finds A Lot to Say When She Doesn't Have Anything to Say

Hmm . . . I haven't written in a while because nothing is really new with me. Same old stuff, different day. I think that was in a Stephen King novel called Dreamcatcher. I loooove Stephen King novels.

I went to see the Lion King with my mom on Saturday. That was super cool. If you haven't seen it, the costuming and staging creativity is amazing. Great kid singers too:) I wish I could take all my kids to see it.

Also, Harley (the cat) is recovering from another bladder issue. This time, he was blocked, which is a deadly condition if not treated. I woke up early Saturday morning and saw him squatting in a corner like he was when he had his last bladder infection. I had just taken him in to the vet a few days before for his follow-up appointment. So, I called the vet as soon as they opened and got him in. I'm sure I seemed like a heartless mom because I was kind of shocked into silence when they told me that they would have to keep him for the weekend. I guess I couldn't deal (at least not at 9:00 on a Saturday morning!) So, he is back at home. I had to isolate him in the bathroom for a day because he is still "leaking" a little. Oh, I hated it! He finally gets home and I go and lock him up again. And if you never met Harley, he is very vocal. He cried and cried and I wanted to cry too:) (By the way, Harley "sings." He hums when he is contented and I swear that one time I was doing an analysis at my computer for my music classes and Harley was humming along with me in the same key! Either he got it from me, which would be amazing, or I was humming in his key, not so amazing, but either way, pretty funny that I would even realize that my cat and I were humming in the same key! I'm a dork!)

Amanda Would Like to Buy Some Patience, Pat

So, right now, I am struggling with patience. Do you ever just want to get something over with? That is so me right now. I try not to be the kind of person that just lives for the next exciting thing, and miss all the stuff in between. So I feel frustrated that I am so impatient now:)

When I was little, we sang this song in bible class called "Have Patience." It goes like this: (You have to sing it really slowly like you are turtle or a snail, because we all know how turtles and snails sing)
Have patience, have patience,
Don't be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient,
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember,
That God is patient too,
So think of all the times when others have to wait on you.

Was I the only one that sang that song? Just checking.

And I do know that lots of times, people have had to wait on me (if you have ever eaten a meal with me, you know what I am talking about!)

So, that is my job right now: to work on my patience. I believe that God works things out just the right way in just the right time, so why is it so hard to wait? Sometimes I think that God must get so tired of how thick-headed I am that I am always so surprised how things end up working out. Do you ever say, "Whoa, I did not see that one coming. God sure knows what he is doing."? That is me, except every time it happens, I am surprised like I have short-term memory loss or something!

Amanda Proves She is a Music Dork

Did you see the Emmy's where Josh Groban sang? That's the only part that I happened to see, but it was so neat. I am not too cool to say that I thought that was really spectacular musically:) I mean, yes, I am a little embarrassed that I sometimes cry when I hear a Josh Groban song (and not because I am mourning for my poor, bleeding eardrums!) But, come on, it was awesome. If you didn't see it, Josh Groban sang a medley of TV themes in a giant medley (did I say the word medley enough in that sentence? (medley, medley)). As a certified music geek, I can tell you that the logistics of orchestrating that and then being able to perform it so well is amazing. So . . . check out the link to the Emmy performance if you missed it, and don't try to tell me you are unimpressed.

Also, a totally random and strange question: when Rachel Ray puts de-thawed spinach in a kitchen towel to squeeze out all the juices, does her spinach then taste like laundry detergent? Just wondering.

If Sleeping was an Olympic Sport, Amanda Would Win Gold!

So, you know how I said that I was going to sleep? And for a really long time? Well, I practically went into hibernation. What? OSU played a game Saturday? I was sleeping. People ate breakfast and lunch? Yes, I slept through that too! All the glorious way from 9PM Friday night until 5PM Saturday. See, I told you I like to sleep.

Today I went to my friend Tricia's house for her twins second birthday party. It is so cute to see them growing up! They had so much fun and made out like bandits. I decided that I am going to invite everyone I know to my 28th birthday party (and pretend like I have a twin sister so that I get double the presents.) I may even make it Barney themed like Emily and Madeline's . . . hey, it worked for them! (The last time I saw so much purple was at a Capital vs. Otterbein game.)

Amanda Returns From Camp

I'm back from camp with the fifth graders. They were so good this year! This is the second year that I have been able to go because I only go to be a substitute. We had a lot of sick kids though:( We each take a night sleeping in the cabin with the kids, and the night that I stayed over, there was a night sweat/ stomachache girl at 10:00 PM. At 1:00 AM, a girl woke me up crying with a headache (where I took a brisk nighttime stroll to the teacher cabin to get some Advil for her . . . who doesn't enjoy waking up from a dead sleep to walk in the cold night air?) The icing on the cake was a councilor waking me up at 4:00 AM telling me one of the girls threw up three times. That turned into a two hour comforting session! I decided that I might just be too lazy to be a mom (lol)! I mean, I really like sleep . . . a lot:)

We came back around 12:00 PM today and I stayed at my friend Megan's house until about 4:00 because today was the 100th birthday celebration for Pataskala school. The kids sang a few songs and there was a dedication for a historical marker for the building. It was pretty cool!

Now I am going to lay in a bed that is more than a wooden board for longer than a few, interrupted hours:)

Amanda Bids Farewell for Three Days (She Thinks)

Tomorrow starts fifth grade camp (I think.) Even though it seems unlikely that we will have school, unless the power miraculously returns, we've been told that fifth grade camp is still on because they do have power there. What does this mean for you, fair reader? You will not be able to read of my fun adventures until Friday! Try not to cry; you'll get through.

(I added a counter to my page and I think it is funny because it is on number 6 and I think I am four or more of those! Ha, ha, I LOVE reading about myself!)

So I will be at Camp Oty'Okwa (check out the link!) for the next few days reliving my days as a girl scout! I'll be teaching in an authentic pioneer cabin, talking about pioneer life and helping the kids decorate pieces of fabric using dyes from leaves and flowers.

Amanda Is Shocked by Ike's Bad Behavior

Today is September 15 and we already had our first calamity day! Boy, we are starting early this year! No school today for most of central Ohio because there is no power in most of central Ohio. I feel like I am one of the only (lucky) people who never lost power. When I went to Kroger down the road, they were closed which meant I came really close to losing power.

Here are some pics from 10tv's website:





One of these was taken at Capital, right in front of the library!