Raid Covered Cookies

Let's see if I can stump Michael with this one.

When I buy cookies I eat just four and throw the rest away. But first I spray them with Raid so I won't be tempted to dig them out of the garbage and eat them. Be careful, though, because Raid really doesn't taste that bad.

And I'm outtttttttaaaaa here!

My Lunch

Like most of my fellow "Special Populations" teachers, I now eat my lunch in my room. It's a decision I had been contemplating for awhile, as I've previously mentioned here I was getting tired of listening to the various teacher cliques discuss their party/dinner/get-together plans. The final straw for me was when a teacher, whom I considered a friend, screamed at me during lunch over a comment I had made regarding her MySpace page. Now, I'll be the first to admit I have the habit of sticking my foot in my mouth, but in this case I'm certain she misunderstood what I was trying to say. One of her good friends asked me about it and I explained what I meant, and she informed me that, yes, the other teacher had misunderstood what I was saying.

Since this incident, about 4 weeks ago, I have taken to eating lunch in my room. I have rediscovered the joy of reading at lunchtime and yesterday I just finished reading Stephen King's Bag of Bones. I HIGHLY recommend it. All I can say is, if I had a house with a basement or cellar I would now be afraid to go down in it.

I Owe, I Owe . . .And Monday's Quote

Well its back to work for me. Kudos to Michael, who has been getting every quote right. Is he reading the same book as me?

The thing that impresses me most about American is the way parents obey their children.

Its off to work I go.

Now Back to Work

I've had a good Spring Break. I worked on a swing for my back porch, visited relatives in Louisiana, ate far too much, and in a fit of insanity, my buddy and I laid down 3200 pounds of cement to expand the cement base under my porch out back.

My wife, who until recently was totally uninterested, is now planning where the various relaxation devices will go. So far we will be putting a swing, 2 hammock chairs (get them on Ebay, trust me), 2 rocking chairs and an occasional 2 person hammock. Yesterday I borrowed my neighbors fire pit to burn the 40 empty cement bags and it turned into a good time. We all sat around the fire, and occasionally someone would run and find something else to throw into it to burn and to refill our drinks. My wife and I were born city dwellers, so we never experienced the joy of an open fire on a cool spring night. My friend's mother in law has promised to find us one cheap at a garage sale.

A good end to a good Spring Break.

The Book List

So many of the bloggers have done this I decided it was time I gave it a try. The books in bold print are the ones I've read.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) –started to read it but HATED it and never finished.
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) – don’t forget your towel.
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) “How can he see he’s got sties in his eyes when he has sties in his eyes?”
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) – who wouldn’t want a disaster proof house?
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 (Steinbeck)
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
101. Jurassic Park
102. Learn Me Good

Help! Help! I'm Being Repressed!

I was shocked to discover this evening that my blog, Education in Texas, is banned in China! Once again the voice of freedom and truth is being repressed. If you would like to see if your voice is also being stifled you can click here. A tip of the hat to NYC Educator for the link to the test.

Your Monday Morning Mad Quote

Kudos to Michael, who correctly identified George Carlin as the speaker for last week's quote. And now for this week's:

The Senate is investigating profiteering on oil and gas. The important questions are: 1)Which oil companies are raking in huge profits? and 2)HOw big of contributors are they?

Speaking of oil company profits, gas prices have skyrocketed once again just in time for Spring Break. Last year the oil companies missed out on some major profits by waiting a couple of weeks too long to jack up the prices, so this year they've done it a little earlier. Last year's concerns driving the price up? North Korea, Iran and increased demand for gasoline. This year's? North Korea, Iran and increased demand for gasoline.