Horatio

Wintertime in cold areas is the same for me. The inside heat dries out my skin something fierce. No matter how much lotions I try and put on, it still feels like sandpaper.

You are absolutely correct. Texting is far too easy and, as you know, words can have multiple meanings, all of which can be twisted around to look bad. Either this is happening to more teachers, where they get caught in texts to students; or the inappropriate teacher-student relationship is a bigger problem than anyone thought. Personally, I think the ease of contacting a student through texting is a majority of the problem, but I could be way off. The saddest part of this entire situation is that his life is ruined and he now must reinvent himself. That is going to be the difficult. Personally, I would suggest he take classes and become a nurse. Better pay than a teacher, guaranteed employment for quite some time, and he can stay out of pediatrics and away from kids.

Exactly!!! Of course, the same could be said for me regarding my temperatures, when the people of North Dakota, Michigan, Montana, Minnesota all have temperatures well below freezing. Today everything is icy slush. Very ucky.

Actually you are not rude, but realistic. He was grabbing and assuming, instead of looking at your friendship exactly as you offered it, he was trying to make it into something it isn't. I'm sorry that you have to deal with it, but at least you are comfortable with your decision and that is all that matters at the moment. I think you were trying to be a very good friend and he needs to wake up and realize this. Sorry, I am being a little rude at the moment. He is in for the biggest awakening of his life. Incidentally, I read an article on Saturday where the state of Tennessee has caught a number of teachers having inappropriate contact with their students; and texting was what sealed the conviction.

At least your couch is comfortable and outside is warm. Memphis has been crippled with only two inches of snow. Now they are predicting sleet and freezing rain. That is not good.

Dear Hoops, If you stop in, we just wanted to wish you a most wonderful birthday! HAPPY HAMMIE BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY HAMMIE BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY HAMMIE BIRTHDAY DEAR HOOPS... HAPPY HAMMIE BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!! Where ever you are... hope your special day is the greatest!!! Horatio

Buenas dias Mega Wolf!

Greetings from Memphis.

Not knowing anything about the teaching world, is there anything that you can do to enhance your resume? I think the part-time jobs with Mad Science would help. Have you ever heard of these places called Mathnasium? We have one in Memphis, but I don't know too much about them. How about one of those Sylvan Learning Centers? I'm probably asking dumb questions, but I figured that I would ask anyway. The pay is probably awful, but it might be something to consider. Hopefully he has rescued his dog from the pound. I certainly would not like to see the dog lose his life.

That makes total sense about getting employees hours back in line after the Christmas season. I had not considered that, but now that you mention it, I can see how this fits in. Well, I hope you get one of those teaching jobs you have applied for. Good luck on your applications. I think your new look with the haircut will impress the interviewers. How rough for your neighbor, I hope things start looking up for him. He will need to get to the pound to retrieve his dog. They are going to give the dog shots and if the dog stays there long enough, he will be neutered. All these expenses are passed on to the owner and I do not believe he needs another headache at this time. Hopefully he gets things straightened out.

What a mess at work, you definitely need to have insurance if Fred can fix it. Were the hours cut due to a lack of sales? Good news that Mad Science wants you, does that start in February? I think if you let Mad Science know that you would give them proper notice, they should have no problem with you taking a teaching job. The teaching jobs never give you a job immediately, they always make you jump through some sort of hoops. Any prospects along the teaching route? I hope so, but have no idea how things are up in your area. Having a policeman outside your neighbor's house is a scary way to arrive home. You were so nice to get the dog into the police car to warm him up. Any news on your neighbor? Did the police look inside? Where was his car? I cannot imagine that he would leave the house with the dog outside. Trash pick-up... those poor guys are going to have a really awful time doing their jobs. That's one job I would never want to do. New York City is just starting to get things cleaned up with the trash.

So the saying... in like a lamb and out like a lion might be something you can look forward to?

May yours only get better and better!!!

Oh my!!!!! I am amazed that you even left the house!!! I cannot believe you even left the house!!!!! When I had a mental picture, I was not even close. This snow looks so much more than I ever imagined! Thank you so much for the photograph!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!! 2011

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Can you believe it? And I am three hours closer to the end of the end of the year than you are.

Definitely not him!!!

Huge is great!!!! For this photograph you get the Platinum Eclipse Award... Totally amazing photograph.

Had a starving artist friend of mine paint the bathroom and it really looked bad. I now know why he is starving. His artwork is awful. And the paint job he did in the bathroom is even worse. So... today I painted over the old paint with plain old white. Now the bathroom looks incredible!!! Whoo Hoo!!!

What a mess!!! With the windy conditions, it was really hard to keep the runways clear. As soon as the plow went one way down the runway clearing the path, the wind blew more snow back onto the freshly plowed area. It was too difficult to keep up with the blowing snow. It does not matter your motives, you still impress me!!!

Ohhhhh, I had no idea Shane lived so far away. You are right... walking is not an option. About two feet is amazing! With the wind, you end up with huge snow drifts!!! Of course, this is the only time the four wheel drive truck makes any sense. All the rest of the time, in my eyes, if you don't live on a farm, it is a tremendous gas-guzzler. Of course the drivers of those vehicles would be out... even if they had no place to go. I'm still impressed at you walking to work. You are so dedicated and this shows what a fantastic employee you are!!! Bake cookies for those neighbors!!! How wonderful they are to help you clear your driveway, and less than an hour is really outstanding! The snow-blower is an amazing invention. Hope life in blizzard world gets back to normal soon. One lady at the gym was so excited because she works for a company with it's headquarters just outside of Boston, and she got to take a "snow day" because the headquarters declared it. Of course when this happens, we don't get snow days. They usually have the airports plowed continuously as the snow is falling. The delays come when you need to get de-iced.

Now that is a great ending to a tumultuous year.

Thank you soooooo much!!! Try reading David Petersen's first group of books, The Mouse Guard Fall 1152. Located under the graphic comic section of your book store or visit your local comic book store. The artwork is phenomenal, the storyline amazing and I totally recommend this author!!!! My Christmas was nice and quiet. Horst ate all the ornaments off his tree. Cashews, almonds, walnuts, blueberries, pecans, cranberries and a cherry to name a few ornaments. He trampled the tree to reach all the ornaments. I was quite happy he didn't start eating the tree, so I could live with a crushed fake tree. At least it will be easier to store until next year. We are celebrating the Christmas holiday later this week. On Christmas I made an awesome turkey soup and ate far too much of it.

Oh my... at least you clocked in. Your motivation to make the trek to work shows extreme dedication!!! Now hopefully you won't have any customers. I can't imagine why anyone in the world would go out in that weather to shop at Wally-World. How much snow actually fell? Down here there are all sorts of numbers for the northeast. How much did you get? As far as the plow coming to your street... not anytime soon. Are you able to walk to Shane's?