ZAP - i'm tagged

5 Things on my to do list:
1. Oh, what's not?! Lots & lots of classroom related things
2. do laundry
3. visit my family & friends in mesa
4. maybe see a movie with krissy
5. hang out with michael

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Big Surf Lifeguard
2. state farm clerk/receptionist
3. day care teacher
4. credit union teller
5. kindergarten teacher

5 places that I have lived:
1. Mesa, Arizona
2. flagstaff, az
3. silver spring, md
4. laurel, md
5. manassas, az

5 Favorite snacks:
1. oh yeah, karlee! HUMMUS
2. chocolate
3. edamame
4. raggedy robins (maybe i'll make some today)
5. pretzels or other crunchy/salty things

5 Things that you don't know about me are:
1. i am obsessively organized when it comes to planning
2. i canNOT cook things unless i have a specific plan & then it usually goes to hell anyway (baking, on the other hand, i'm awesome at)
3. surprisingly, i'm a very boring person. my favorite thing to do is just sit with michael on the couch
4. i spend inordinate amounts of time with the computer: listening to music, watching tv online, reading gossip, etc.
5. my cousins & siblings & i would put on plays in the summer at my grandparent's beach house - one year we filmed a full episode of saturday night live

5 Things that I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. let michael retire & invest it
2. travel everywhere
3. pay off my student loans, etc
4. settle down somewhere & make sure my family was set up
5. adopt a child(ren)

5 Things I love:
1. michael
2. my family
3. camping
4. teaching/my job
5. being young

5 People I tag:
anyone who wishes to indulge in this - i'm too wishy-washy to pick just one

& i said "this will make kirk so proud!"

yesterday is a day that will go down in the molly mouse history book (which i'm hoping ashley will write for me someday) but let me set the stage::

wednesday, june 25th 2008. 7:00ish pm. thorpe park softball field, flagstaff arizona. i went to play for fenner's game & fish team. they needed another girl to play, so i said i would sub in. now here's the rundown of my softball skills ---

i cannot: Run. Hit. Throw. Catch so you can see where this is going.

in the beginning, it was all fun & games, because i got to see fly & grey & chris. but then i had to actually play. it wasn't so bad: go to left field & pray the ball doesn't come near me; go up to bat & try not to throw up. well this is how it goes for several innings and then, as i go up to bat, the big moment happens.....

i hit the ball!

i hit a softball!! with a bat!! it was the first time i had ever, in my whole life, connected a bat to a ball in an organized game of any kind. i was so shocked i kind of forgot to run (i think my words were "oh shit"). as with most big moments, it was short-lived. i didn't make it to the base before being out & my hit wasn't even enough to get the 3rd base runner to home (in fact, she slide and scraped up her whole leg - a valiant effort). but none of that matters because i hit the ball!

i think i hit this post out of the park!! (let's see how long these cheesy metaphors/idioms will last, shall we?)

weddings, heat, and books...oh my!

today, in my SEI class we discussed print vs. oral cultures and their traits (it boils down to print culture = uptight; oral = loosy goosy). i am firmly a print culture gal - i love my lists & plans! - so i will conduct this post in that traditional, english essay fashion. consider the headline my topic sentence

1. weddings
a. i went to one this past weekend in long beach for michael's cousin
b. it was a catholic ceremony, meaning long, longer, and longest
c. the reception was good business: yummy food, a candy bar, and complementary chopsticks
d. heat played a prominent role, exacerbated by the copious dancing (and i mean copious, the olsen family didn't stop dancing even when the photographer was taking our picture)
e. michael got a bunch of heat for not getting me on lockdown yet - his granny even squeezed his head

2. heat
a. as previously mentioned, the temperature in ca. at the wedding lead to too much sweating
b. it's just too hot for people to be doing things these days
c. thankfully, there are pools to help us poor folks keep cool

3. books (specifically, twilight)
a. while i hate myself for caving in so easily & enjoying this, i honestly say that I do - love it that is
b. people will compare it to the almighty HP, but lets be honest, Harry has no comparison. however, it does have the same great characterization of HP, making you utterly love the people in the book more that you should love people who aren't real
c. teenage vampire love story sounds corny - & it is - but you've got to indulge in the cheesiness now and then
d. vampires are super awesome. if you read this book, you'll want to be a vampire too!
e. it's fun to have a book to be excited about and look forward to. i'm eagerly waiting my next visit to mesa to borrow my sister's books

in conclusion, you can see how the past few days of my life have been influenced by weddings, heat, and books.

I think this post gets an A+! mollsballs out

You know what doesn't get enough play? TCBY. Yeah, The Country's Best Yogurt. And they're not lying. Frozen yogurt is good for you, nearly fat free, & can be mixed with delicious fruity sorbet. It also evokes childhood memories of getting TCBY with my Nana. What's not to love? Besides, I'm eating some strawberry-kiwi right now, it's only 175 calories, and I'm perfectly sure there is nothing better than a nice cup of fro-yo on a sunny summer's day. Well, unless it had some rum in it - which it could.

I rest my case.

the weekend update

what a week i've just finished! it was the last week of school - which on the surface sounds infinitely exciting - but really means lots of mixed emotions, dirty cleaning, and stress. needless to say, i was glad when it ended on friday. so thanks to everyone who put up with my craziness this week.

the highlights of the last days were tuesday's field day & wednesday's graduation. those have to be the perfect activities to end the year. field day had perfect weather and lots of fun; graduation was high stress, but churned out a performance that made me proud (although, anyone else probably not so much. but come on! they're singing in FRENCH)

that's some intense hula hoop jumping

having a good spin

i like this one because of mr. curls lurking in the background
taking a picture of someone taking a picture is fun for all ages
sing, friends, sing!

happily, i got to get out of the house the rest of the weekend. friday night i agreed to eat dinner at john's, but they took too long, so i ditched them & went to hang out with chris, fenner, & holly (i need to come up with some sort of nickname for this group of friends: chrifenly? fenlyis? holisner? you be the judge). it was just for a bit, but it was fun & relaxing. afterwards, i went back to johns, ate some tater tots, & promptly fell asleep.

saturday, we went down to beaver creek & that was also most glorious ~ beautiful weather, cool water, yummy mixed drinks, and plentiful snacks. we did trespass a little & get admonished - but the lady was pretty ambiguous in her instructions, so we stayed put. that evening was a protein dream with 5 lbs of steak for dinner and today involved reading a lot of harry potter & seeing indiana jones (and, seriously? are they all that unbelievable! you can't emerge from a refrigerator that was tossed miles from an atomic blast unscathed!! you just CAN'T!)

the creek
enjoying the snacks
kimbo the crawdad - ready for battle
the jesus can; walking on water
floating
skippin' rocks
sliding through the crack
sunning
havin' a good time

which leads us to the present: where i have made grilled chicken bruschetta and am now gracing your eyeballs with my words of wisdom & intrigue.

__mollsballs out!

hey michael!! what'd you think of this post?

dun dun-ah duuuuuh!

introducing....... RUSTY:
isn't he just awesome?! michael says he looks like a very old squirrel. he reminds me of janitor from futurama ("scruffy"). rusty's nails are atrocious though - but i kind of love it.

speaking of atrocious things & love - i got my bangs cut today. at first i was horrified - they were way shorter than i had wanted/thought they would be. here is the picture i showed her of what i wanted my bangs to be --
and here is what i ended up with --
so i freaked out a little & messed with it, so that it looks like this (excuse the face) --
but i think i like it more in the second picture. i'm going to continue playing with it & i'll let you know how it goes.

p.s. check out the cutest kid ever!

Aaaaaaahhhhh!!! (scream of excitement)

you know how sometimes you're so surprised/excited that you just squeal? that's what i did today, when (after an elaborate scheme involving a fictional family, clandestine note, & an irritated me) i was surprised by my very. own. STUFFED SQUIRREL!!!!! he's amazing & chris & stephanie are the best friends in the history of the ever ever. i will have pictures tomorrow of rusty tyler squirrelly (cousin to festy the festivus squirrel)! i'm so happy!!