For all you teachers (and teacher supporters!)

Growing up, since my mom was a teacher/principal, I was never allowed to misbehave in school. So when I heard this voicemail message, I had to laugh. I'm sure many teachers all over the world have felt this way! Enjoy it here!

Although I don't think this is real, it's still pretty funny.

Calling all Wicked fans...

I've added a Wicked playlist to my blog! My regular playlist will still start automatically, so if you want to listen to Wicked you have to pause the regular player (the purple one) and push play on the green one. ENJOY!!!

Mission memory...

 Since I've started riding the bus to school, I have been thinking a lot about my mission because Curitiba has one of the most efficient public transit systems in the world. I had been in the country for one week, and my companion took me into the city center on P-day to show me a few of the sights. I found this picture online of the type of bus we were riding that day:

The bus pulls up to the tube, drops a "drawbridge", opens the doors, and everybody rushes in and out, and since the Brazilians are not a patient people  it's usually all happening at once. (To get on the bus, you pay someone sitting just inside the tube and then wait in the tube for the bus to come.) We were on our way home, and despite the fact that my companion and I had worked our way right up next to the door so we would be the first ones off the bus at our stop, it didn't quite happen that way. When the doors opened, my companion pushed against the people trying to get in and exited the bus. Although I was practically holding on to her skirt, I was not as fortunate...the doors slammed shut right in my face. So there I am, my face and hands pressed up against the glass, watching my companion as the bus pulls away. I looked something like this...

...except this man doesn't have enough fear in his eyes. My companion panicked and started yelling instructions to me, as if I could hear anything over the roar of the bus pulling away. AAAAHHHH!!! So there I am, a fresh little greenie who can barely say "Hi" in portuguese, surrounded by Brazilians, on a bus headed to Who-knows-where. Luckily, there was a member on the bus whom I had not yet met, but who had seen the whole thing. She pushed her way up to me and stayed by my side, pointing to herself and saying "W;l;werlaksdfjereoraseroweirjsdfj;slwewrjdf...Mormon". At least I recognized something! We got off at the next stop and waited for my companion, who caught the next bus and met up with us there. All in all, I suppose it was a relatively harmless experience. Harmless??? But just imagine what could have happened to me! Anyway, because of that I'm extra careful, even now, to make sure I'm standing by the door for my stop well before I have to exit.

It's a little overdue...

but better late than never, right? Here's yet another memory.

When I was growing up it was not uncommon for my dad to do something unusual just because it was convenient, like put root beer on his corn flakes cuz we were out of milk. (I'd apologize to my dad right now for writing something embarrassing about him, but he's never read this blog so it wouldn't matter.) So one night, when I was about 10, my dad picked me up from gymnastics and we made a stop at the grocery store to get some pet food. I suppose it's important here to note that we had a cat. So, we're on the pet food isle and he picks up a bag of dog food. I thought he was just grabbing the first bag he saw because it was convenient, so I started insisting that cats do not want to eat dog food, and why wouldn't he get the right bag?? He told me it's all the same, and that the cat would eat anything if it was hungry enough. I kept insisting all the way through the checkout and on the ride home and he kept downplaying the importance...yeah, you're all smarter than me as I'm sure you've picked up on the fact that waiting at home was a brand new puppy! It was a cute little german shepherd that we kept until it discovered every weak spot in our backyard fence. In fact, we had two dogs when I was little, both german shepherds, and both named Ranger. (I know there were more canine additions to the family, but I'm not counting ones that we had before I was born.)

Here's something awesome...I just wrote this while riding the bus to school! I LOVE THE BUS!!! It doesn't take that much longer than driving, I don't have to deal with traffic or finding a parking spot at the U, and I get so much studying done! (Except now, clearly. I passed on studying right now for blogging.) So, that all means I arrive at school relaxed and ready for the day! I love it. If I had the money I'd definitely hire someone to chauffeur me around.

And while we're talking about school, here's my favorite picture of Evan on one of his first days of school...


Our kids are going to be so awesome! Would you just look at those socks? Are they really socks or are they tights? Was he afraid of sunburning his legs? Or maybe he had bad circulation and those are compression hose? Hehe...I love this picture!

So, back to school...get it? Back to school? Anywho, I love it! I am only going to admit this here, protected by the privacy of the world wide web, that I have felt a teensy bit tender-hearted while sitting in class. I know this will change and I'll soon be crying from sheer misery, but I'm just so excited to be there and I still can't believe it sometimes. They really let me in? What were they thinking?? You'd think the fact that I've recently taken on very substantial loans to pay for said schooling would help me realize that I'm really in pharmacy school. Give it a few more weeks, right? Then I'll be feeling it.

As for my firsts, well, let's see...uh, I just saw my score from my first test...and I clearly need to end this post and get back to studying.