Facebook is being stupid

So, I've been trying since yesterday to upload some pictures to Facebook, and it keeps failing. I will just post them here instead. Stupid Facebook!! Anyway, this is a picture heavy post, but I hope you enjoy.

Polo's new favorite spot is on top of his crate. He has to crawl through the bars to get there.

Michael holds Polo after a bath.

He loves his chew sticks.

I wanted to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors on one of our walks.

I wanted to get some shots of Polo with the beautiful background, but he kept sticking too close or getting distracted by smells.

Movie Trailers

Michael and I went out for a movie and dinner date night on Friday. We ate at Cotters in downtown Columbus and then walked across the street to Arena Grand theater to see Couples Retreat. It was the first theater I've been to that has a bistro and bar inside. The movie was pretty good. It was funny with some good messages about marriage. I don't know about you, but one of the things I love about going to see a movie in a theater is the previews. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to completely forget what I saw previews for by the time the movie starts. I'm trying to work on remembering, and this time I saw two previews that interested me. I thought I'd share.
It's Complicated stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. IMDB describes it as "a romantic comedy in which two men vie for the affection of a woman." You can check out the official trailer here: It's Complicated official trailer
Or watch this one.


The other movie, Date Night, stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell and Mark Wahlberg. Unfortunately, the trailer is not available online yet, but you can check out this Access Hollywood interview with Tina and Steve.

I love fuzzy socks

I wish I could remember which of my fabulous roommates first gave me fuzzy socks, but I've been buying and wearing them ever since. I have a few pairs of slippers, but I rarely use them because fuzzy socks are so superior. They are the best for keeping my feet warm on cold nights. They're soft and comfortable for wearing around the house. And I think I've convinced a few other friends along the way to get their own. It may be a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but they make great stocking stuffers. Target usually has some fun ones in stock, like these.

Bring on the Von Trapp children

Today I subbed for an elementary school music teacher. Not quite my forte, but I had fun. I think the teacher was expecting the same sub as yesterday, so the directions were a bit confusing. Fortunately, I had enough time to figure them out before kids showed up. I taught 3rd, 5th, and 4th grade classes in the morning. We sang two songs along with a tape, read a book about the Star-Spangled Banner (published in 1964! first indication that this teacher is stuck in the past), and danced a Jewish folk dance. I'm really glad the kids already knew the dance because I did not understand the directions to it. I was a little surprised by the lyrics to the first song, but my mom said she sang it when she was in elementary school (2nd indication).
Check these out:
Mister Johnson had troubles of his own
He had a yellow cat which wouldn't leave its home;
He tried and he tried to give the cat away,
He gave it to a man goin' far, far away.

But the cat came back the very next day,
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; it just couldn't stay away.
Away, away, yea, yea, yea

The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight,
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,
Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found.

Yeah, it may be a classic, but you should have seen the kids' faces as they listened: shock and awe. Anyway, in the afternoon I taught 1st and 2nd grade. We sang the same songs, danced the same dance, but instead of reading the old book, we watched a film reel about Mozart. I'm talking the kind of film reel that has a separate audio tape you have to be sure to play at the right time, the kind that advances one photo at a time at the sound of a beep, the kind that I thought went the way of beta tapes and eight-tracks. It took me a good fifteen minutes to figure out where the film reel was and how to get it set up. When I tried asking other teachers if they knew how to use it, they each said, "We have one of those?" And this was the final indication that whoever I was subbing for has been teaching for a very, very long time :)

First Day of Work, J/K

I am finally set up to be a substitute teacher. I officially logged-in to the system this weekend and have since been anxiously, excitedly waiting for phone calls. Since I hadn't heard anything by the time school started this morning, I figured I had the day off. Then, around 8:30am I got a call for a job teaching middle school Spanish for a teacher who traveled from one school in the morning to another in the afternoon. I quickly took down all the notes and accepted the job. After rushing to finish getting ready, I jumped in the car with my scribbled directions and headed out. I decided to call the school and let them know I was on my way. It was a good thing I did because the secretary told me that they had tried to cancel that job because it was already filled. I asked about the afternoon job at the other school, and she didn't know anything about it. I called the second school, and the secretary there didn't even know the teacher. She said there must be some flaw in the system. Goodness! I hope it isn't like this all the time.

Autumn time fun

I have always enjoyed autumn. In Arizona, it meant the end of 100 degree days and 90 degree nights. In New York, it meant the brilliant colors of the changing trees in Central Park. It means Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the build up to Christmas. This year I celebrated the beginning of fall by an apple-picking trip with some friends. We went to Lynd farm, about 40 minutes east of Columbus, and picked Jonathon and Cortland apples.


And because one of the best parts about autumn is the great food, I made a roast turkey breast with stuffing and mashed potatoes for dinner earlier this week. Last night, I used some of the leftover turkey and the apples I had picked to make a turkey pot pie and an deep-dish caramel apple pie.

Mmmm! Coming soon: pumpkin soup

Up the stairs

We thought it would be a while before our tiny little pup would be able to climb the stairs. It would be a perfect way to keep him in one area of the house. On his second day with us, Polo could climb the short set of stairs from the family room to the kitchen. For the past week, he has been attempting to climb the longer set up to the bedrooms, but he usually only makes it to step two. It's been exactly one week since we got him; just yesterday marked his 7 week birthday, and today he made it up his Everest. Unfortunately, he cannot yet make it down any stairs so he stands at the top and whimpers.

He's now a pro at these stairs...


Climbing Everest...