X...Y...and Z...

Well...I got a little sidetracked the past two days. I turned one year older yesterday and barely had time to go out to eat with my husband. We did make it though and it was a lovely meal, but my poor little blog got neglected in all the hullaballoo...
So here we are at the end of the A-Z challenge.
I needed an alarm to help me remember to post something. My life is pretty busy, like everyone else. I've enjoyed meeting some new blogger buddies and will enjoy reading their blogs from now on. I need to be more diligent about blogging, but right now, it's just hard to remember to squeeze it in. So here are my last three posts for A-Z. :)

X is for Xylophones. I had to do this one because I share a music room with a whole table stacked with xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels. I'm a elementary music teacher and these are the tools of my trade. THis is a set from the West Music catalog. That's usually where we buy our instruments from. In this pic is a Bass Xylophone (largest), an Alto Xylophone(xylos have wood bars), an Alto Metallophone, a Soprano Xylophone an Alto Glockenspiel  and a Soprano Glockenspiel(smallest). This is a basic Orff set that music teachers use. We have a ton more of each of these, except for the bass. We have one bass Xylophone and one Bass Metalllophone because they cost so much.

Y....Yawn....I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. I probably don't get enough sleep, but such is the life of a mom. :)



Z...Zebra print
      I have a teenager who wants her room to be painted pink with zebra print accents Like comforter, sheets, pillows...zebra.....
She'll be eighteen in May so I have a feeling most of what she gets for her birthday will have some sort of zebra print on it. She's already zebra-ed up her car. She got a steering wheel cover, floor mats  seat covers and seat belt covers for Christmas. And her phone case is zebra...you would think that would be enough....now it's spreading to her bedroom....lol. So what to do...I've already bought the paint so she can paint her room this summer. It's been the same red, white and blue stars and stripes since she was eight, so I guess she was due. ;)
I'll post some pictures at the end of the summer or when we get it finished..which ever comes first. :)

I found this pictures and I think this is what she has in mind, except I'm not putting black paint on the walls because it'll get on EVERYTHING else in the process. The pink will be enough...lol I might cave in and paint the blue stripes on her wall black, but that will be a very small can of black paint...This does look cute though.

W is for Writing and Witches

I think I just figured out a new story line...hahaha

So first ...I'm doing two W's because I'm kinda behind. My schedule has gotten thrown off this past week, so I've been trying to double up to keep up. So I figured since I've been not exactly following the schedule, I owed you an extra post. Even if they aren't very long.

Writing....my new favorite thing. LOVE it. Love to make up things for these imaginary people running a muck in my head. I make up new things for them to say and do. Then I put them in places around the world that I love or want to learn about. So as they walk the streets of London, I can look at maps on Google Earth and see what they see. I think I've written some of my favorite characters so many different times, that I know them just like I know my friends. I know their personalities and I know what they like and don't like. I think that's so cool. They're like my good friends. My imaginary friends. I made up stuff all the time when I was little. Scenarios full of danger and going after the 'bad guys' while I climbed rusty fences or trees. I guess this is the same thing.

Witches....another thing I used to do was pretend to be Samantha on "Bewitched".

I loved her. I thought she was so cool. I practiced the nose twitching thing in the mirror until I got so good at it, I expected things to start levitating.  I always wondered what it would be like to have magical powers like Samantha.

I think I know why she didn't always want to use magic. I think it would be boring to be able to snap your fingers and get anything you wanted. But using it to heal others would be great. But if you could fix everything with magic Then there would never be any conflict..ever. Would that be a good thing? Possibly..but once again...boring.

U is for .....Ummm and V is for Vampire

I don't know about you, but I catch myself saying 'Ummm', way more than I should. It's such a bad habit. A lot of times my brain will go completely blank and I'll search for the word that has suddenly hidden itself behind a bush in my frontal lobe.
Sometimes I can find the word. It'll come popping out from behind the bush, "Here I am" and sometimes I can't. It seems like my old pal, 'Umm' is there to help me locate whatever thought I've lost.
Still, if over used, Ummm can be really annoying.

V is for Vampire

This is almost too easy.
I have a confession to make. I used to be SO afraid of vampires. I had a fear of fangs. Can you believe that? So I didn't really get over my 'Fang-fear' until I was drug into Dracula, with Gary Oldman. Finally, I faced my fear head on. When I was little, I'd seen flashes of Christopher Lee in movie clips and things like that and let me tell you. He was FREAKIN' scary looking.

It's his fault. Look at him. He's the originator of my Fang Fear....see????

So then, after we got married, Dracula, with Gary Oldman came out in the theater. Already an improvement...

Yeah, he had fangs, but he was much better looking...and then...there came....

Edward...Dang. Hot vamps are all the rage now. You can close your eyes and throw a rock at the YA section in any bookstore and hit a vamp book without even trying. He's my favorite. Can't help it. After reading all the books and seeing the first movie, Rob inspired me to want to write another story using him as the actor, but in a different character. But I'll always be grateful to Edward. And I'll always be grateful to Stephenie Meyer for being able to come up with a believable set of vamps that didn't have over-sized canines to mess up their beautiful faces.

If I'm doing this in chronological order, first came Edward and then came Eric. Rob is still my favorite. Just clarifying that.

Yes...I'm a True Blood fan from the first episode. Me and my husband are both addicted. It's one of the few shows we both agree that we don't want to miss. He has his reason (Sookie) and I have mine ....Eric.

S is for....Shannon and T is for Think

Ok...so I'm doubling up again because of the Prom, which by the way, went off without a hitch. I was very proud and excited. I got her zipper zipped without breaking, his boutonniere on without any blood (mine or his) got make up/hair/shoes/purse/clothes for both of them for the after party/ and took quite a few really good pictures. Everybody had a lot of fun. Next year I'm taking off the whole day instead of just half a day, so we're not quite so rushed. That will be the only thing I tweak for next year. So, my oldest baby, Shannon....she's a junior and this was her first Prom. Needless to say, she looked beautiful and completely happy next to her boyfriend, Austin. They were so cute. Both of them were  a bundle of nerves until we started taking pictures. After that, they relaxed and enjoyed it, which was my goal all along.
So now that you've heard all about it, here are two pictures from their special night.

Yeah...I know...they're so freakin' cute. I'm so proud of her. She's growing into a fine young lady.

So that's what I did on Friday, tried to recover from staying up so late on Friday night, so I paid for it the next day...all day...

Now for T.....
The first thing I thought of was Think....

Think, think think.....think Pooh, think.....
All that comes up is how my brain wants to go in so many different directions. Sometimes, it's a creative thing and I can use it to my advantage, but sometimes....my distracted brain has  a hard time remembering things. Sucks. This is not a new thing. Hasn't gotten worse with age. It's always been this bad. My grandmother used to say I was living too fast. She was probably right.

So then, my brain goes in a different direction....told you it would.

Stinkin' thinkin'.
That's the perfectionism part of my personality that keeps me from doing something, like cleaning my house, or writing my book, because I think it has to be perfect. This term comes from 'The Flylady'. If you've never heard of her, I'm going to do you a huge favor and give you her free website. It's SO cute and so helpful. She's always so encouraging because she's been there. I need to get back on some of her routines. When I did them and got rid of my Stinkin' Thinkin', my house was cleaner and I felt like I could do more. I've fallen off the Flylady bandwagon. I need to get back on it so I can finish this dang book....yes. I said dang. I'm from the country--don't judge me. ;)
Here's the flylady's website. She's wonderful! www.flylady.net  If you have trouble cleaning your house or finishing projects, she can help. www.flylady.net

Time to catch up..Q and R

So since my house is full of 'pre-Prom anxiety', I've gotten behind on my posts. So I'm going to attempt to double up today so I won't get left behind.
I guess since I'm an elementary school teacher, most of the things that pop in my head are 'little kid' words. Like
Q....Queen....But then my imagination takes over and I can't keep it it check. Kinda like a runaway horse.
I can't imagine what it would be like to be the Queen of England. Her lineage dates back so far, its almost scary. I'm not sure I'd want everybody to know every single one of my relatives and all of the good and bad things they did through the centuries. And I think it's also ironic that the people who started this country wanted to get away from the king and queen thing and yet today, we're still enamored with the royal family. That's just a little funny to me. I have the utmost respect for the Queen and I wish I could walk through the hallways of Buckingham palace, but I'll have to be content with getting to see it from the outside, back in 1985.

R...is for Rob....My brother and Rob Pattinson. No, Rob Pattinson is not my brother...heehee
 We have a lot of Rob's and Roberts in our family on my dad's side. My dad's first name is Robert, but that's not the name he goes by. That's where my brother's name originated. I love my little brother, who grew taller than me when he was in high school. I'm 5'4", he's 6'1".
If it weren't for falling in love with Rob/Edward, I wouldn't have ever considered writing as another way to express myself. I thought if Stephenie Meyer, who had three small kids at the time, could write a book, maybe I could too. I wanted Rob in another story, so I started typing....years later, I have the equivalent of about 4 books. Who knew?? Now the task is going through all of it and finding something worthy of keeping...I know....good luck with that.

P is for .....hmm...

I thought it would be a huge cop out to use Payne...since that's my last name. That would be way too easy.
And then I thought about how my kids at school call me Mrs. Payne. They bring me pictures that they've drawn for me and the way they spell Payne is so funny.
Here are just a few examples:  Pain, Pan, Pae, Payn...the list goes on and on. So cute.

Pony--I didn't actually have a pony growing up. My next door neighbor and a pony named Trixie. How I can remember that pony's name and not remember where I put my keys on a daily basis, I have no idea. I had another neighbor down the road from me that allowed me to ride their pony, Copper. That pony was the prettiest reddish brown color. He was the color of a copper penny. He and I matched pretty well except for the summer when my hair had more blonde in it.

Pity--Why is it that every time I hear this word, it's used by some British villain ? I don't know anyone that uses this word in regular conversation...maybe because I live in the south. I don't have anything against the word. It just feels a little too proper for me. Instead of saying 'pity' we say 'feel sorry for' ...I guess....It's an interesting observation to me.

Penguin--One of my kids came through here this morning with a sparkly Penguin shirt on. I think it was a 'Happy Feet' shirt. From a distance, penguins are cute. Flat out cute. Ellen mentioned on her show yesterday (yes, I love Ellen--who doesn't?) penguins smell really fishy. That makes sense since they eat fish all the time and swim in 'fishy' water. Jason Mraz was on her show talking about going to Antarctica and doing shows for the people up there and seeing all the penguins. He said something like, you just don't think about what that many penguins smell like'. I didn't either until he mentioned it. The experience would be surprising if you weren't prepared for it for sure. And stinky...

O is for....Oscar the Grouch

Being from the 'Sesame Street' generation, when that was one of the very few kid shows on TV, one of my favorite muppets was Oscar the Grouch. I loved his voice and I always thought he was funny. I even had an Oscar puppet that I played with until his eyes came off. I loved Ernie too, by the way...
It makes me a little sad that Sesame Street has survived this long, but my own kids never would watch it.
It wasn't like I didn't try, but by the time my kiddos came along, there were so many more channels and kids programming to choose from. Much to my chagrin, they both gravitated to Barney. Some cosmic cruel joke, since me and my husband swore we'd never allow the obnoxious purple dinosaur into our home, after seeing the show in one of our friend's houses. Later on, we ended up spending quite a bit of money on a live show to go see Barney for a then three year old. The sacrifices we make for our kids.

However, my youngest, whose mental age is around 6 or 7 still loves to watch Blues Clues. Steve and Blue are still a part of our family,  which is okay with me.

N...This is getting harder and harder

N stands for....a bunch of stuff....

I don't know if it's my ADD brain or what, but I have trouble talking about just one thing on these posts, so I'm going to come up with some random N words. :)

Nice-This is a word that describes me the majority of the time. I use it quite a bit since I teach elementary school. 'Be nice to people and they'll be nice to you'. I have to be nice to my co-workers because I have to be able to get a long with every body in the whole school. Lucky for me, I'm a basically positive person, so most of the time, it's not a stretch for my personality.

No-Since I work in an elementary school, I use this word too. A lot. 'No, you may not sit in that chair on two legs when it needs four, unless you want to fall.' No, we're not playing 'Freeze Dance' today-stop asking me. ;)

Nickleback-I love their edgy sound. Since I'm a music teacher, I should be doing something musical with every letter...why am I just now thinking of this??? 'Their song 'If Today was your last day' is on my playlist for my novel(s) that I'm writing. Some of the songs hold specific scenes in my mind and others on the playlist hold just how characters are feeling. I'm not sure in the final outcome if that song will stay, but I still like it even if it doesn't . It has a great message.

And last but not least...don't ask me why I'm just now thinking of this one ..."Never Alone". This is a collaboration song by Jim Brickman with Lady Antebellum singing the lyrics. This song spoke to me on so many levels that I not only use it in my playlist for a specific scene in my book, but also for the novel's title. When I say that, I mean, when I play that song, I can see and hear everything going on in the scene. Every emotion, every word that comes out of my characters' mouths...all of it. It's as clear as if I watching it on TV.
Love. That. Song.

Letter M ...This is tough one...

This A-Z challenge has been pretty easy for me until now. For some reason, 'M' is giving me a run for My Money! So I'm going to write down some random 'M' words because I'm tired and pressed for time this morning....

Massachusetts--A state I've never been to, but would like to travel there one day. There are so many historical things I want to see there, so it's on my bucket list.

Melbourne--Another place on my bucket list I want to visit. At some point in my life, when I have more money than I do now, I want to take a trip to Australia and Melbourne is on my list of places to see. After Oprah went there on her last season, I really thought the town was beautiful, so that's on my list.


Melissa--I have several friends named Melissa. One who's the art teacher at my school and works with me and my partner teacher every day and one who I've known since she was about 14. She's now grown, married and a new mommy. Which I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to watch her grow into a fine woman and a great special ed. teacher. Here's my art teacher friend Melissa.

 Here's new mommy Melissa at her rehearsal dinner with her family, which I also adore. :)

Mickey--Well, the obvious is Mickey Mouse, but I also have a cousin named Mickey. I was three when he was born and I've felt like I should be his protector ever since. We used to see each other more, but we live in different towns and so our meetings have become few and far between. But I love him just the same.

And now it's off to baseball with my youngest. Hopefully it'll be warm! :)

Blog Award

I wanted to take a time out from the A-Z challenge and say a quick thank you to my new blog buddy, Lori Degman. She sent me a  Sunshine Blog award, which I thought was very sweet of her. I'm going to wait until all the A-Z posts are over before I spread the Sunshine further.
I just LOVE this A-Z challenge. I've met so many new writer people. Love making new friends.

So Thanks for thinking of me Lori! If you've never hopped over to Lori's blog, you need to check it out at Habitual Rhymer.

L is for.....LOVE

I know...lame. Don't judge me.

I'm a sucker for a good love story. There ...I said it.
Some of my favorite movies have a 'love theme'. (And I'm not talking about a hit song)
"Sleepless in Seattle' and 'You've got Mail'--I love Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together. Both of these are sweet romantic comedies.
'While you were Sleeping,' (maybe I'm just tired...) Funny and sweet love story
'Twister'--that one mixes love with tornado chasing--two of my favorite things.

'Australia' is one of my favorite 'sweeping' love stories. I think because of the way it's shot.I love the story, the scenery...all of it..

I love to write. I love to write stories about love. Even though my technique and sentence structure still needs work and I'm sure a hundred other issues with my writing, the foundation of all of it is the story. This is where my strength lies. I've been blessed with a great imagination. Ideas about where stories could go never cease to flow out of my brain.  Maybe it's from growing up watching Days of Our Lives when I was little.

Where ever this blessing came from, I want to use it to tell stories. When I write a story, there's a lot of emotion going on. Probably, because I'm an emotional person. That's what I've been able to do with my own words. I have scenes I just LOVE because no matter how many times I read them, they make me cry.

That must be pretty good...right?

Not that everything I write is full of sob-i-licious scenes, but I tend to write with a ton of emotion. Although, I can't stand it when one of the main characters dies. That just freakin' kills me.
So I promise you...unless it just CAN'T be helped, I vow never to kill off one of my 'top tier' main characters. Friends of characters are fair game though..;)

I can also promise you that I will try to create the best love stories my brain will allow.
And hopefully, they'll be good enough for you to want to spend your hard earned money on.

K is for Karen

K is for Karen, Karan and Karyn

I have to admit, this post stumped me for a minute. Usually, I have an idea pop in my head almost immediately after I think of the letter. ‘K’ was different. It was a little tougher, but I think this post will be okay. 

I have a ton of friends named Karen. They spell it every way possible. 

I have two Karen’s that I grew up with at church. Both of them are excellent cooks. One is so talented, she enters the state fair with her cooking and quilting. The other is so talented she catered my wedding. She made a giant three layer cheesecake for our groom's cake and was in shock when she told me it took 99 eggs to make the thing.We still talk about that cheesecake monstrosity and the giant strawberry that sat on the top that was as big as my fist.

I've also taught a Karen or two as students in the 21 years I've been teaching. I have a 4-year-old Karen right now and another in 4th grade. I think it's interesting they're both Hispanic.

I know a Karen that is a fellow music teacher and also won TN teacher of the year. She got to go to Washington and get her picture made with the President. That’s a freakin’ big deal, people. For a lil’ole music teacher in the south any way..

I have another friend, Karan, who cuts my hair and my two girls’ hair. She is FABULOUS because she’s so sweet, does a good job and she’s patient with my youngest daughter who has Autism. It took a long time before my daughter allowed Karan to cut her hair at all. Sometimes, it’s still a bit of a struggle and she’s 13 now. We LOVE to go see Karan! 

Last but not least, is one of my best friends, Karyn. She teaches with me and I just love her. She was raised in the country like I was and is as loyal as they come. She’ll back you up in a heartbeat, but if you screw her over, she doesn’t forget it. She’s full of life and energy and always brightens my day. I feel lucky to be able to call her a friend.

I'm sure there are some I've forgotten about. It's late and my memory is waning. So, how many Karens, Karans, Karins, or Karyns do you know?

J is for Jamie Fraser

This is Diana Gabaldon’s character, who I think is my cousin from way back. I feel like I’m related to him because we’re so much alike except he’s like a mountainous 6’4” and I’m a shrimpy 5’4”. I can’t imagine standing next to him. I wish he were real, like so many other people who’ve read her books. As far as we’re concerned, he is real. 

He’s a Scot from the 1700’s. Who knew I’d care anything about Scotland that far back in its history, but reading her books taught me a lot about historical events like the battle of Culloden. I knew nothing of this battle before cracking ‘Outlander’ open. This series and Jamie, turned me on to historical fiction….

I’ve never been attracted to a guy with red hair before because I have red hair…but …um…yeah. I’m not sure if it’s his bright blue cat eyes or not. I had a hard time picturing what they would look like until it hit me while watching Executive Order with Halle Berry and Kurt Russell. I said, "Kurt Russell has bright blue cat eyes like Jamie!"  out loud and my husband thought I’d lost my mind. Maybe it’s Jamie’s sense of humor or his love of his wife Claire. All I know is he’s the total package. This is a picture of an actor that several people think should play Jamie. I think he'd be a good Jamie...his description matches this guy pretty well.

You need to read these books. They’re really great. Jaime is really great. He’s a hero through and through.

I is for Ireland

This is a place I feel close to even though I’ve never set foot on the ground there.  I’m not really sure how to explain it. Maybe it’s because I have red hair, green eyes and fair skin. Maybe it’s because I’m ‘as stubborn as the day is long’.  That’s a quote from my mother.

Whatever the reason, I feel drawn to the whole U.K. When I was in college, I traveled to London for a choir trip. I felt the connection there too. Like I belonged there or something.

Just browsing through pictures of Ireland for this post makes me want to hop on a plane and go stand on the cliffs and feel the wind off the ocean. It’s probably a cold biting wind, but I’d still like to feel it.

I’ve taught several songs that have an Irish or Scottish origin for all different age groups, which I love.

At some point, I want to set a story there. Maybe when I’m making money as a writer (not holding my breath there) I’ll be able to travel to all the places I write about ….you know…for research.

H is for Horses

I LOVE horses and love to ride. I rode a lot growing up, but my husband was a ‘city boy’, so no horses or land for me. Besides the fact that neither of us really knew how to take care of a lot of land. When we first got married, we did good to keep our grass mowed. We also didn’t have the money to pay the property taxes, so we ended up in a house across the street from a pasture with cows.

That works for me. I can stand on my porch and pretend to see myself riding from one end of that at least 50 acre lot to the other.  

But I miss it.

I miss sitting up on top of an animal that is allowing me to tag along as he/she runs full blast through a field or taking a leisurely stroll down a wooded trail.

I love them. I love the way they smell--not the poop smell, the way their fur smells. I’m not sure how to decsribe it, but horses smell different from any other animal I’ve ever been around.  I love the leather smell of their bridles and saddles and how the softness of their noses feel like velvet. I love their big eyes and the low sounds they make in their throat when they’re ‘talking’ to you.

I have a story I’m working on where the girl rides horses. I loved writing what all that feels like. It was not quite as good as being on the back of a horse, but it was awfully close.

G is for Goodwill

I have a friend who has introduced me to Goodwill shopping.
I LOVE it!
I knew it was out there, but I guess I was under the impression that most of the stuff from Goodwill wasn't very good stuff. BOY, was I wrong.
I went on a "half-price" Saturday that they have once a month and bought my daughter $26.00 worth of clothes that would've cost around $45-50 if I'd gone on a different day AND it would've cost even more if I'd gone to JCPenney or Kohl's. I like those stores and sometimes you can get great deals there...not knocking them at all...
But if you've got time and are looking for kids clothes or other clothes go give Goodwill a try. I think about what I give to Goodwill...usually it's stuff that still looks ok, it's just gotten too small. That's the way everybody else does too.
So that's where I'm headed this next week. :) My daughter needs some shorts and pants and so do I, so I'm going to go check it out. :)

F is for Friday

It's so funny how during the school year, Friday is a magic day...

At our school, it's jean day for the teachers, which we can't wait for. I'd wear jeans and a t-shirt (a nice one) every day if they'd let me.


It's usually the day they have parties.
It's always a Pajama/reward day for somebody's class somewhere. Usually if they meet a reading goal or something like that, the little kid teachers will have a pajama day.
The Friday before  a holiday is usually nothing short of madness. The kids are vibrating with excitement ALL day and it's a battle to keep them in some kind of order so we can teach them something before they leave us for a vacation.

And then summer comes....and Friday is just another day.....

Can't wait for summer.....:) but I miss Fridays being special. I'm torn for school to end in May.


But not that torn....

E is for Easter Eggs

How many of you remember the completely sugar eggs we used to hide and find when we were little? I'm talking about pretty pastel colors and totally white sugar on the inside. I can't believe I used to eat those.....ew.


They were wrapped in clear plastic and were the only Easter eggs I got for several years. Then came Cadbury's and my life was changed forever...lol


Followed by Reese's eggs, which I think are my favorite. Now they have Snickers eggs and Nestle's crunch eggs too. They're all so good ...and fattening. 

I'll take a hollow chocolate bunny to stick in my fridge if somebody wants to give me one. Other than that, I don't need to go and buy one, but the memories of eating their ears off first and then coming back every day for a little more of the bunny still stand out in my mind as being one of the joys of my childhood. 

Alright....that's it. 

I'm going to Wal-green's to buy some chocolate!

A-Z Challenge

D is for …….Dang, it’s hot

I live in the south and it’s usually hot here. In July and August. This is April and it was 91 degrees on Monday. Yep, 91—that’s not a misprint.

We had a record breaking March and now we’re on track for April to go down the same road. It’s a little weird seeing all the dogwood trees blooming along with everything else and it be this hot. I’m a professed weather nerd, so this stuff interests me, but it’s also a little scary. 

At any given time, if it’s this hot and a cold front decides to trek this direction from Canada…we usually get screwed…as in tornadoes-forming-on-top-of-our-heads-screwed. Like yesterday...in Texas.

Hopefully, all the cold air will just hang out in the north and we won’t have to worry about it…

Yeah..right.