For All You "Harry Potter" Fans Out There

For another ridiculous "Harry Potter" post, click HERE.

SUMMER BREAK

Nine more days until summer break (Only 7 school days). Yeesss!
Summer Break - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1. No trabajo, obvio. (Translation: Obviously, I don't work.)


2. BBQs - What's not to love? Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, dips, veggie trays, and to top it off, popsicles.


3. Swimming. Okay, let's be honest - more laying out than swimming. Imagine, laying on an over-sized towel until beads of sweat appear all over you body. Then jumping into the pool just to get out and do it all over again.


4. Summer Fashion - I'm not a big fan of shorts (in fact, I only own one pair and they're actually my brothers) but, I do love short skirts, summer dresses, sandals, and pedicures.


5. Two words - Road Trip.


6. Summer Blockbusters - You know what I'm talking about; ridiculously over-budgeted movies with even more ridiculous plots. I love them!!


7. Quintessential Americana - baseball games, parades, fireworks, camping (and when I say camping, I mean going up the canyon, roasting marshmallows, and returning home that evening).


8. A return to my nocturnal ways. Seriously, is it normal to go to bed at 10:30 pm? NO! 3:00 am? Yes, that's more like it.


9. It almost goes without saying, but the weather. For those who know me, you know I'm almost always cold. However, for three glorious months - June, July, & August - my teeth rarely chatter.


10. Summer Reading. Yes, I actually get to read books that weren't written for teenagers. I know, it's almost unheard of.

Friday Night Festivities

On Friday I went to a Bees baseball game (yes, second one this season). It was loads of fun. In honor of Memorial Day, a military helicopter flew over the field during the National Anthem, the players dressed in camouflage uniforms, and after the game there were fireworks. We went down on the field for the fireworks. Here's a fabulous picture of me.

LOST

Last night was the season finale of LOST and I loved every minute of it!! I've been an avid fan since the very beginning and have never missed an episode. I've heard a lot of people complaining about this season, saying they thought the show had lost (pun intended) it's magic. I disagree. I thought this season has been fantastic and last night's finale was the icing on the cake. I'm excited that the creators have promised 3 more seasons with the series finale coming in 2010. I'm not so excited that I have to wait until February for season 4 to begin. That's nine months away - I could have a baby by then (theoretically).

I'd love to hear any theories that fellow fans have about the show, especially about the following:

1. Is Charlie really dead? I think yes, but I'm hoping I'm wrong.
2. How did Locke's father end up on the island? I think like everyone else, he was drawn to it, but how?
   
3. Is Kate pregnant? I'm thinking yes.
4. Who is Naomi? Is she a threat? Again, I think yes.
5. Finally, what did Jack see in the newspaper? Who's funeral did he go to? I have no idea on this one.

I would love to hear what any other fans think.

Ms. George's Writing Center

So I started a classroom blog for students to publish their writing. I'm still working out the kinks, but I think it's going to be a good thing. There are a few things published on it now, but there will be a lot more (hopefully) by next Friday. If you have a few minutes, check it out and make a comment - it could really help encourage my students to write more. I would suggest making your comments anonymously - that way, they can't look at your blogs and in turn look at mine. If you do write a comment anonymously, you're welcome to leave your name. Thanks!!

http://msgeorgeswritingcenter.blogspot.com/

IKEA Grand Opening

When it was announced, in 2005, that an IKEA store would be built in Utah, I was thrilled. When my brother got a job at IKEA a few months ago, I was elated. Yesterday, when I went to the friends and family opening, I was ecstatic. I bought a few things, including this giant snake for Zack. I told Zack to wrap it around his neck so it wouldn't touch the floor and get dirty. When we approached the cashier, the cashier bent down to scan the bar code on the snake. As he did this, Zack said, "One Snake, please." It was hilarious. Grand time, all around.

Past Pics

I've been really busy during the last few weeks with school, work, church, play, etc. Here are a few pictures to catch everyone up.

Me modeling my new clothes - Must stop buying new clothes!!

Beautiful!! (The flowers and me)

Out to dinner with friends: Me & Christi

Out to dinner with friends again: Me, Katrina, & Lesli.

(No wonder I'm so fat - Must stop eating out with friends).

Katrina, David, Lesli, Matt, Me, & Jeff at Tabernacle for fireside.

To listen to President Faust's talk, click HERE.

Me at the Bees Game. I was super stoked to see Bumble.

Another sporting event - Me at Matt's house to watch the Jazz Game.

(I'm becoming such a good sport about sporting events).

Me, Michelle, & Lesli at Hale Centre for Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Mother Dear, I Love You So

17 School Days Left!!

With 4 agonizing weeks left of school, I'm trying to find the humor in anything school related. Here are some funny student answers.

The Joys of Poetry

Next week I'm starting a poetry unit with my 9th grade English class. Two of the things we talk about during the unit are similes and metaphors. Every year, English teachers from across the country submit their collections of actual similes and metaphors found in high school essays. Here is a list of student similes and metaphors that have been submitted:

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E.Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are known to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Funny Pic from Saturday Night

A cheesey picture of Val, Me, and Shawn (Notice our hands).

Never Trust a Person Who Doesn't Like The Smiths

Yesterday Alicia and I just bought tickets to go see Morrissey in concert. He will be here next Tuesday. I'm so excited. The first time I saw Morrissey in concert (10 years ago) I got so excited I cried, threw up in mouth, and passed out. I know it's a little bit ridiculous. I've matured a lot since then, but I still love him. He is, after all, a lyrical genius. Here are some great examples of why he is a lyrical genius.

I thought that if you had An acoustic guitar
Then it meant that you were A Protest Singer
Oh, I can smile about it now
But at the time it was terrible
- The Smiths, Shakespeare’s Sister

You claim these words as your own
But I've read well, and I've heard them said
A hundred times (maybe less, maybe more)
If you must write prose or poems
The words you use should be your own
Don't plagiarize or take "on loan"
'Cause there's always someone, somewhere
With a big nose, who knows.
- The Smiths, Cemetery Gates

Fame, Fame, fatal Fame
It can play hideous tricks on the brain
But still I'd rather be Famous
Than righteous or holy, any day
Any day, any day
- The Smiths, Frankly, Mr. Shankly

I want to live and I want to Love
I want to catch something that I might be ashamed of
- The Smiths, Frankly, Mr. Shankly

Oh, the alcoholic afternoons
When we sat in your rooms
They meant more to me
Than any, than any living thing on earth
- The Smiths, These Things Take Time

Who comes sliding down the banister?
The vicar in a tutu
He's not strange
He just wants to live his life this way
- The Smiths, Vicar in a Tutu

Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear
And don't go home tonight
Come out and find the one that you love and who loves you
- The Smiths, Sheila Take a Bow

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes in to us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine
- The Smiths, There is a Light that Never Goes Out

For the Good Life is out there somewhere
So stay on my arm, you little charmer
- The Smiths, Hand in Glove