Traveling 'man

It's that time of year when I begin to think about vacations as in trips. So I tell the hubby at dinner the other night that next year I'd like to go somewhere other than Vegas for vacation. He says "Sure, I'll have two weeks." So I say, "Where shall we go? Think big!" He says Roaring River, Meramac-all camping parks in the neighboring state. I said No, bigger! He says What did you have in mind? Oh boy, here's my chance. I said Niagra Falls, Oregon, Northern California, even DC or Pennsylvania. He's pretty agreeable after I throw in Cooperstown and Gettysburg. So tentatively we're thinking of a northeastern vacation beginning in Vermont and traveling southward. I think I love to plan the trip as much as actually take it. How we'll get there is only a guess right now as gas continues to rise. $3.20 a gallon yesterday at Sam's. I'm glad I'm taking a job closer to home.

Done, done, done, done!

Did you know I am finished with my first semester at KU? Yes, I am a Jayhawker. All but one of us in the family has attended KU. Two out of three inlaws graduated from KU. We are a red, blue, and yellow family. No purple and white for us. Anyway, last night was my last class. I had presented the week before and turned in my paper, so technically there was no reason to go to class except that I wanted to support Christine who was presenting. I'm glad I went. They had great food and the presentations were interesting. I have a full two weeks off before classes begin again. It'll be easier though in the summer because I won't have to go to this stinking job.
Do you think it costs $100 to feed 3 people at Cascone's? I don't. If you pay cash for a meal can't you get a receipt? I think so! I'm so ticked.

What to Read

K sent me this list a few months back and I went through it and marked them according to my standards. This is the thing that actually got me back to blogging. I asked K what do I do with it (the List) and she said post it on your blog. So here it is:
What have you read?
In the list of books below:- blue the ones you’ve read- purple the ones that are your personal favorites- italicize the ones you want to read- red the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole- put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf- and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.If you decide to join the fun and play along, let me know in the comments!
1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. +To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)--
5. +The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. +The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. +The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. +Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. +Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. +The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. +Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. +The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. +Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. +The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. +The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. +Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. +The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. +The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. +One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. +Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. +The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbecck)
83. +Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85.+ Emma (Jane Austen)
86. +Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

WaWaWeekend!

You'd think with a title like that I would be doing something exciting the next two days, wouldn't ya? Here's my itinerary: Scholastic Book Sale with Kathie at 4:15 p.m. today, Brunch with K at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. First Communion mass at OLOP at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. Maybe watch one of the 3 dvds tomorrow night. Sunday, laundry, knitting, crocheting, cleaning, gardening, Ling. final, and reading. I love to make lists and cross things off. I usually make a list every day. Even when I was a wee one I loved to make lists. I'd make lists of girls names, colors, boys names etc. Sometimes I still do that when I am bored in class and have no computer. Do you list?

Those Crazy, Hazy, Wet Days of May

I made my presentation last night for my class. It was on Hispanic Girls and Higher Education. I received good feedback from the audience and it's over. Turned in the paper, passed out the handout, and only have a take home final to finish for this semester. K invited me to brunch on Saturday to celebrate Mother's Day. Isn't she a sweetie? I haven't had much time to clean house so I plan to do that when I finish my final this weekend. I also need to plant my Gerber daisies. It's been too rainy and muddy to dig in the garden. Can't go to my favorite casino because of flooding. That's ok. Saves me money. Kathie made reservations for Talleybend for Labor Day because it was the only place with electric sites available in all of Kansas and Missouri. Jimmy & Melissa are coming. K will think about it, and Matt hasn't made a decision. We'll make our own fun. Maybe water balloon tosses and CHARADES, always a camping must. I'll be ready to relax and sip on margaritas. Cha, cha, cha, OLE!

Nearing the End

Went to my last principals' meeting this week. I purposely arrived late so I didn't have to stand through the honors of leaving. I did receive a nice $50 gift certificate to the Plaza. It would be nice if it applied to the Studio, but I doubt it. I left after lunch and came home to finish my paper for Multicultural Ed. Took a short nap and J came home. Visited with him about the fishing trip and left for class. Tomorrow I have a Title meeting in the a.m. and don't plan on going into work afterwards. I assuage my guilt by telling myself that I still have 3 weekends that I have to work. The new principal was in today, I hear. I feel a little hmmmmmmmm...jealous isn't exactly the word, but stay out of my office til I actually leave, please!