I was just thinking about his oddities again today...

Whenever I vacuum, or whip out the broom... there he is. All the other dogs I've ever met run away whenever they hear the vacuum. My mom's lab does. Or whenever she sees the broom or the mop. But my little guy actually comes running to me and lays himself right down where I need to vacuum. Or sweep. What is with that? He even puts his nose in my broom pile dust. I have to scoot him out of the way. Literally.

Another...

I have to remind myself to do that periodically. Live in the moment. Enjoy it. Don't just run around like a crazy person.

I really do that. I run through the halls at school, where I work, which is against the rules, I'm sure. So I better rethink that. Need to be a good example and all...

I love my job, working in the school. It's a privilege to work with children, and I value being able to.

So life is full these days. Going back to work after being a stay-at-home...

If you're ever in a situation where you feel a sneeze coming on, and you'd really rather not, just say "watermelon" (out loud... mumbled quietly to yourself... or even just mouth the words without saying anything at all) and the problem is solved. No sneeze.

My son taught me this (kids know the coolest things) and I've tried it about 3 times so far, with success each time. It came in handy just the other day when I was in a training meeting for work. I quietly mumbled watermelon...

I was reading one of Nomadicus' blog entries, the one where he jumped into the river and landed on a snake ... (poor Nomadicus) and it reminded me of the time I jumped into blue hole. I was a very unwilling jumper. It was not one of my proudest moments... Blue Hole is in Texas, around where I went to high school. It was a place we went to swim sometimes.

One day an old friend showed up on our doorstep. Todd. A friend I went to elementary school with in upstate New York. We kept in...

Yesterday (and the day before, and the day before that) I was cleaning up my son’s room, really getting in there and helping him out before school starts. For the past 6 months he’s done a fair job when I’ve asked him to, but I could tell it was needing some mom help, to start the school year off right.

His closet was the scariest part. I shook off a few things lying at the bottom (after I finally got to the bottom) tossed stuff into the garbage or the laundry or found better...