Thanks, SOG

Today, I was browsing the home furnishings in Marshalls, when I hear.....Dynamite! Oh buddy, was I excited! I knew that a small child was playing with a toy nearby and was sure surprised to hear the Vandy fight song. However, just as I began to make my way to the toy department to purchase said toy, I hear a rousing "Yes we can!". Yup, it was a Bob the Builder music box. In case you've never noticed, the first three notes of the Bob the Builder melody are precisely the same (at least to my only mildly-trained ear) as the beginning to Dynamite. Imagine my disappointment. If you don't believe me check it out.

Newest Obsession

Chicken Fried by the Zac Brown Band

Love it!!

Hate the Play, Love the Event

Right now, baseball is on the All-Star Break. This means there are no games Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to make it possible for the All-Stars to get together and play. Monday night is the Home Run Derby and I just think it's a terrible idea. I hate the focus that fans put on the home run, causing a reliance on steroids for many players. To me, this practice prevents the "good guys" from performing up to the standards that fans develop. Who wants to watch a game where the bad guys always win? Not me.

All that to say, the Home Run Derby is pretty much my favorite thing ever. The players all just chill out on the field in foul ground and watch some guys hit. Their children sit in their laps and you see the stars of the game reduced to mere fans (camcorder in hand). Something about that is magical to me. The story becomes even better when the 27 year-old recovered drug addict turned All-Star hits a record 28 (yeah, 28) home runs. For hating the home run, I sure do love the Derby.

Tonight is the actual All-Star game, and I'm rooting for the National League, as always (fewer steroids...theoretically). We'll see how that goes. It's in Yankee Stadium this year, which is absolutely incredible. Somehow the opening ceremony always has a way of moving me to tears. This year, I managed to not cry--perhaps it's my hatred for Yankee owner George Steinbrenner (who "delivered" the game balls for first pitch). However, it was still incredible. All of those Hall of Famers on one field was amazing. Some people are moved to tears by art, poetry, or nature. For me it's just baseball. Maybe I'm shallow, but it's great.

Call me impatient

The Office is putting up new webisodes on their website each Thursday in July!! Bestthingever. I will give you the link, but only after a life lesson from Dwight:

"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do NOT do that thing."

Take that decision making advice to heart, my dear friends.

Okay, here's the link.

Make Me Happy

I love the MLB All-Star game with all my heart. I look forward to it (almost) as much as I look forward to the http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifWorld Series or March Madness. Therefore, I would be quite the heartbroken baseball fan if my David Wright wasn't even playing. He deserves it more than any of those other lame-o nominees. It's safe to say that many of you aren't baseball fans and that you might have no idea what this "All-Star Game" concept is. However, if you would just visit this website, enter your email, and click on "David Wright, NYM", I would be a very, very happy girl.

Modified Dreams

My dream has always been to teach in Chicago and help at-risk children become college graduates. However, the school system in Chicago makes it near impossible for a first-year teacher from out of state to find a teaching job. So I have decided to go ahead and put in applications in the Nashville area. At this point, it's pretty late in the game for schools around here, but I am hoping to find a position -- any position -- for next year.

I decided to do this while I was sick this weekend, and I really think it will be best for me. If you know me at all, I have never been one to live without a plan. I might procrastinate the plans, but they are there. So I just consider this to be a contingency plan for next year. I haven't given up on Chicago, it will happen eventually. I'm applying in Metro Nashville schools, as well as in Sumner County, so we shall see what happens. Worst case scenario = another year in Nashville (which I love) with lots of friends around!

She's Just Being Miley

My dad is ob-sessed with theonion.com. Though most of the videos aren't remotely funny (some of them are kind of offensive), this one is absolutely hilarious. I do love me some Miley. Watch it all the way through, to the tease at the end...


Entertainment Scientists Warn Miley Cyrus Will Be Depleted by 2013

I love the 4th!!

Who doesn't love fireworks, cookouts, friends, days off work, and patriotism? Last year when I was in England for this holiday, I realized that it is quite possibly my favorite holiday of the year. Christmas is cool, too, but not like good ol' Independence Day. The 4th has much less associated stress.

So, with all of that excitement, the bummer of it all. I have the flu and a sinus/upper respiratory infection. It's NO FUN. My kids carry all kinds of cooties, and usually my immune system is strong enough to ward them off. Apparently not this time. So, I stayed home last night coughing up a lung and listening to other people's fireworks going off. Didn't get to see any of them. Maybe next year?

Only in the South

Here's another daycare story for you. Unfortunately, it's the only remotely exciting thing in my life, so that's where the stories come from. Here's the convo:

Kids: "Ms. Ashley, we thought you were at the doctor!" (I was at lunch)
Me: "Nope, but I need to go to the doctor." (I'm kind of really sick)
Kids: "Why?"
Me: "Because I am feeling sick."
One little girl: "This one time, I got sick. I drank out of Todd's spit cup and then I threw up all over the floor."

Yup. Gross. Me. Out.

This is comparable to the "Peyton Manning's the FIRST Peyton" story, not in grossness, but in the Only in Tennessee factor.