The Perfect Weekend

Although the point of a weekend is to rest from a hard week's worth, a weekend usually gets packed full of things you "havvvve" to do...things that might be absolutely worth the work but leave you wondering where your weekend went. Luckily, I have had the (almost) perfect weekend. Nothing is completely perfect, right?

Friday night Randy took me to Bhan Thai, one of our favorite restaurants here in Memphis that is locally owned and inside of an old Bungalow home that still has so much of the charm left in it, both inside and out. The best thing about the night was that he suggested it on Wednesday without me saying I wanted to go...or even needed a date for that matter. After the (delicious) dinner we went to Davis Kidd and browsed books and caught up on magazine reading. On the way home? The limited time only dark chocolate java chiller from Sonic. See! I told you- the perfect weekend! We started a movie too...but of course I fell asleep.

Saturday was spent on the couch...maybe a little cleaning here and there, but mostly on the couch watching the Ohio State/Michigan game in which the Buckeyes won and became the Big 10 Champs! Oh, and I made homemade bread for us to munch on. That plus the chocolate covered almonds I bought at school made for two very guilty pleasures. We also went to Sam's on Saturday which was, no joke--Holiday Sampler Day! Dinner that night was tortellini and what made it the icing on the cake was that we had too much and began tossing it up high in the air, one tortellini at a time, to see who could catch it in their mouth first. I succeeded first, but only because Randy had a better throw. Because Jack sits with us at each meal, we wondered what he would do if he got his own chance. I threw the tortellini in the air and as it came down and Jack looked up, it hit him square on the nose and bounced off onto the table! We laughed til we cried!

Today was church and now cleaning all day. I know this part is going to nearly give my mother a stroke, but cleaning is probably my favorite way to spend a Sunday! Hopefully there are many more relaxing weekends like this one in my future!

Outside of Bhan Thai- they already have their Christmas lights up!

The boys watching the game. Go Buckeyes!

Welcomed Guests

This past weekend, the Hartman abode at Mud Island was more like the Hartman Hotel. My wonderful, amazing, artistic, best-in-the world dad (can you tell I'm trying to suck up because he did me such a favor?) came to my school to do demonstrations on the potters wheel all morning. He got in town Thursday night and we (yes, WE...Randy helps with the mexican meals) cooked him our homemade tortillas which we are quickly making famous! ha! After a big mexican feast and some brownies, we all sat down on the couch for the best TV night of the week: the Office and Flashforward.

Friday morning we drove out to Arlington for our big DAY of CLAY. It started out with CLICK (Christ Living in Christian Kids) where we got to eat some donuts and the students were able to watch my dad create a vase from a ball of clay, talking about how He is the potter and we are the clay and to make something beautiful out of our lives, God must first have complete control and our lives must be centered and our hearts opened up. I was so glad the students were able to hear such a memorable and powerful message.

Next were the three classes he did the same clay demo for (except he was supposed to leave out the whole message part and stick with art....by the last class he started getting into Jesus talk and as much as I know the kids needed to hear it, I had to remind him that too much of that would get me fired at a public school). Below are the pictures of him on the wheel in front of about 60-70 middle schoolers.

Hard at work making mugs and handles.

Not a great picture, but this shows the cool video image of what was going on. Technology never ceases to amaze me!

TA-DA! One of the finished products.

So my dad was supposed to leave at lunch to go meet a friend, but since he couldn't get a hold of his buddy, he decided he'd stay and watch me teach. Talk about pressure! My dad was watching me do what he has done for 28 years. It ended up going well and was such an honor to have him with me all day. Some embarrassing little moments of the day: my 7th grade students walked in and asked if he was my husband. My response? My husband has much more hair than this! Also, after 28 years in a private school setting, it definitely shows! His cell phone rang during class not once, but twice, and after a sigh of relief from all my students realizing it wasn't their own cell phone and they were not about to get written up, my dad would answer and at one time even shouted "SQUIBBY!" (apparently a nickname for his college buddy). At the end of the day, I was so glad my students were able to see me in my element with my pops, and the immediate effect he had on some of those boys was priceless.

Our next visitor was one of my besties from 4th grade, Michelle. I was so excited for Michelle to visit, and also exhausted from the long couple of days I had just had! When she arrived, the three of us (3 was kinda the magic number for the weekend considering Randy tagged along for a lot of it, and Michelle didn't seem to mind) went to our favorite little deli, Young Avenue, and then just vegged out on the couch. Saturday we went on a walk (a newfound tradition with any guests that visit) along the river and then shopping and sightseeing Memphis. That night we cooked some yummy dinner, almost burnt down the apartment making bruschetta, had some red wine, and baked (and ate!) delicious gooey chocolate pie cups. Then, Michelle and Randy played tennis while I was ball girl...haha.

Sunday....rest.

Have I mentioned how blessed I am with an amazing family and group of friends? :)

Little Tidbits

Over a week has gone by since my last post, and a lot has happened. Trying to keep a somewhat short post, I'll highlight the important tidbits from the last several days...

Halloween:

Halloween weekend was a big study weekend for Randy, so I carpooled with two of my Memphis friends, Julie (who was headed to Chattanooga) and Kayla (who was headed to Kingston). I got dropped off in Nashville on Friday night, which also happened to be my mom's bIrThDaY!! I missed out on the steaks but made it for the best part....cake! We gave my mom her presents and spent some time just hanging out with each other. The next morning I went to Puffy Muffin with some of my besties, and then got to go see the adorable nephews, Grayden and Luke, at Rob and Jen's house. Grayden was a pirate (argggg) and Luke was a turtle. They didn't seem too into their costumes or playing with each other a lot, but boy were they cute! I also got to see my two sister-in-laws and we always have fun together...especially when the boys aren't around! Randy and I wish so badly that we could see them all more, but hopefully we can all spend more time together in the future.

Fights:

One of the schools I teach at (which will remain nameless) had four, yes four, fights on Tuesday. The school was in a lockdown and the cops had to come and take away two of the students off to juvenile jail. The students recapping the event is quite dramatic and scary. Luckily, I was at the other school that day and missed out on all the action.

Jack:

No redbox dvd yet, but I did realize that Jack stole a piece of pizza from the top of the stove. Who knows what all we'll find when we move out of this apartment!

Hunting:

Randy...a hunter? It's true! Randy and his friend Josh (who has hunted for most of his life) went hunting on Saturday which was the first open day. He woke up at 4:30 am, dressed in camo from head to toe with a bright orange hat, and spent the entire morning at Shelby Forrest. When I asked how it was, he said "We saw a buck". That doesn't sound like a lot of success to me, but apparently it is (Josh hadn't seen a buck all of last year). If it wasn't muzzle loading we might have lots of venison to dish out, but no such luck. They said they didn't hear a single shot all morning. Those crazy boys are going back on Monday, so we'll see if we ever get our meat!

Girls Night:

I bet nobody else spent their Saturday night at a bonfire playing games and singing swahili songs with eight Burundi girls, all of whom are sisters. The girls from our house church got together for a cookout and had burgers, chips, and made yummy smores in a friends backyard. One other girl and I were trying to keep the fire burning when the Burundis walked up and took over....in about 2 minutes they had a blazing fire going, then proceeded to tell us how its done in Africa and fired some corn on the cob straight from the fire. Later in the night we played goofy games like a jello slurping relay race, an over-under relay, and Ships in the Ocean. Then the girls taught us an African game called meat and rice, which didn't make too much sense but was fun nonetheless. We then sat around the fire singing songs and then walked all eight girls home while they were still hyped up on leftover Halloween candy. It was a night filled with silly but fun games and great bonds formed between two cultures.

They sang my favorite Swahili song, and I got some of it on camera to share, but I stayed on the fire so they wouldn't know I was taping them and get embarrassed.

Day Makers

So, lately I have discovered that even on a bad day, something happens where you just have to laugh. Teaching middle schoolers gives me more stress, anxiety, and headaches then I ever would have thought, but there are also those moments that are "day makers"...

I thought I would share with you a few.

It has been Red Ribbon Week at both schools now and it is a whole week dedicated to talking about the effects of drugs and alcohol. The big kicker is that each day the students get to dress up. Well, one day was Team Spirit day and I decided to wear Randy's Carson Palmer jersey (Bengals). I was getting lots of grief for wearing it, and assumed I was the only one in the school supporting the Cincinnati team. Well, first period 8th grade comes in and the biggest boy in the class (who has really put forth effort and grown as an artist, and is the most unlikely person to like art) came in wearing a Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson jersey yelling and giving me high fives like we had just been a part of a scoring drive on the field. He LOVED the fact that we were the "duo" all day, which in doing so, made my day.

Since Halloween is coming up, I have asked the students what they are going to dress up as for Halloween. One 8th grade boy told me he was going to dress up as an open toilet. I laughed a little then said I didn't think that was very appropriate. Then I got to another student (and I should have known better because he's quite a character) and he looked at the other kid, pointed, and said "I'm going to go with him and be a giant terd!"

Last day of Red Ribbon Week is Celebrity day, but the catch is that students have to dress up as a celebrity who was NOT influenced by drugs....hmmmm. Anyways, this one boy looked at me and goes, "Mrs. Hartman, was Michael Jackson influenced by drugs?" Um, how do you answer that one?? Michael Jackson is this kid's IDOL..he keeps a sequin glove in his coat pocket at all times, and his portfolio is full of Jackson drawings.

Oh, and this picture is for Jen and Rob who sent Randy a birthday card that somehow got completely destroyed while making its way to Memphis. At least they put it in a nice new envelope for us! WHAT happened to this letter.....?

Red Box Hunt

Last night Randy and I went to a surprise 30th Birthday Party for a friend of ours through church. After eating pizza, popcorn, puppy chow (made by yours truly) and some cake, we all spent the evening playing Beatles RockBand. I had never played before and my scores showed!! How was I supposed to know which keys to follow on the guitar when it shows three different sets to follow? (I did get much better on the drums). I decided I really, really like the Beatles...there were so many songs I knew but didn't know it was the Beatles who sung them. Anyways, after the party Randy and I decided to get a redbox dvd and got Gran Torino. I fell asleep, but Randy said it was a good movie...Clint Eastwood's monotone voice put me out in the first hour. This morning, Randy put the dvd back in its case and made the comment that we needed to remember to take it with us to drop it off.

That's the last we have seen of it. Neither of us remember taking it down to the car, and the only logical conclusion is that Jack has HID IT!! All day he looks guilty, like he "knows something". If only cat's could talk, right?

Well, here's to finding the dvd within the next couple of days. If it stays lost we have to pay 25 dollars plus tax. For a couple that has already paid $165 in towing fees, and work on my Volvo this month, that is one hefty fee! And I was going to buy some jeans at Target today too....

not anymore! I guess we'll find it down the road and if anyone wants to buy it from us, be my guest!

Randy's Birffday

Randy turned the big 2-4 last week (it's fun calling him the baby NOW, but the day when I am 40 and he is 39 will NOT be fun!) and we have been so busy I have not been able to blog anything until now. But because Randy doesn't like me to make a "fuss" out of his birthday, there really isn't too much to write about.

My sister came in town last Monday for work and spent the night at our place. She took us to Central with another couple and Randy got his favorite wings for birthday celebration #1....he also received his first gift- a Reds t-shirt. (Thanks, Matthew and Jodi) The following day I had off (thank goodness) and I cooked all day while it did nothing but rain outside for birthday celebration #2. We had our couple friends over (some of Randy's dental school friends) for a Mexican Feast! We had homemade tortillas (Heather....best recipe ever!!) going on the griddle, with a do-it-yourself burrito bar. Yummmm.....complete with salsa, queso, and guac! Then for dessert we had triple layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Needless to say, I am still watching my sugar and carb intake after that delicious meal. The sad part of the night is that the boys had to study (what's new?) and we had to end the night early. I did manage to get everyone together for a picture.

Randy's actual birthday was the night of Parent/Teacher Conferences for me which meant I stayed at school until 7:30...yuck! When I did finally get home, we ate our second round of birthday cake (this time with ice cream) and watched our only TV night together on the couch. (birthday celebration #3) I gave Randy a card and his annual painting. He had already opened his other presents: Age of Empire computer game (which consumes all his time...what a dork!) and some workout band that he uses everyday.

Last but not least, we went to Nashville on Friday for family birthdays. We took my Aunt Sandi, and boy are we glad we did because she treated us with a Chinese buffet dinner in Jackson. (We were going to be content with Chick-fil-A but who can turn down Chinese buffets?). Saturday night we went out to eat pizza with the fam and then just Randy and I went to see The Invention of Lying. (Good movie, but the theatre was so cold I honestly thought by blood would freeze) Sunday was white chicken chili day with the whoooole family (minus my Pa) and everyone opened their cards and we ate cake. (birthday celebration #4) Other birthday goodies were a camo shirt (yes, Randy is going to try hunting) and some tennis shorts, socks, and UnderArmour. He also was showered with cards from the out-of-towners. All in all, I think he had a pretty good birthday and has nothing to complain about...I mean for someone who doesn't like birthdays, four celebrations is quite a big deal!

Birthday gang...Josh and Amanda are matching, haha.

Because they're just too cute for words, here are the pictures I got to take of Maximus and Rosie this weekend at the Tucker household.

The Cost of a Weekend

Here's how my weekend panned out....

Breakfast at the Island's Coffee Shop: $5

Cute dress and scarf at Old Navy (with coupon): $23

Diet Cherry Limeade from Sonic: $1.89

Red Box Rental: $1.09

White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake: $6.95

Getting Your Guest's Car TOWED in your own apartment complex: $165....CA$H

Yes, we have matching chinese dragon shirts, and yes, they are actually from China. Thanks, Mr. Weaver!

So I had been looking forward to this weekend for a loooooong time now. My old roomate and bestie, Kelsa, was coming to visit. One of my teacher friends asked on Friday if I was going to Nashville this weekend (this is our Fall Break, so we have Monday and Tuesday off)and I got to tell her, "Nope, Nashville is coming to me!!".

Well, Kelsey arrived late Friday night and we sat on the couch watching E! and talking for several hours before going to sleep. Saturday we walked to the coffee shop in the fall-is-here-over-night weather and then left to go shopping so Randy could study in peace and quiet. We went to my most favorite store here in Memphis, Toad Hall Antiques, and then to Old Navy. Our next stop was the Zoo, but apparently everyone else in Memphis was going to the zoo as well, and we decided we didn't want to waste $13 to fight the crowds and wait in line at each cage. Thirteen dollars, haha, oh how naive we were. Upon arriving to the apartment (I believe we were going to get my Joann coupons and go buy some Halloween crafts to occupy our time), Kelsa realized her car was not in the spot that she parked it the previous night. After being SURE, we went to the clubhouse and the nice woman told us that yes, in fact, cars were towed early that morning.....(so THAT is what Randy and I heard while doing our morning reading at the kitchen table). She tells us where to find the number and that she thinks it will cost over a hundred. We call, the man is rude, tells Kelsey $165 dollars and the address. Fifteen minutes later, we are driving to a portable with no address. After calling the people to ask where the invisible company is actually located, they inform us that they are closed, going to have to call someone in from out of town so we have 1 1/2 hours to kill, and that the money must be paid in cash. (The real kicker is that if we had actually gone to the zoo like we planned, they would have been closed and not let us get the car until Monday, meaning Kelsey would have missed work and the price would have gone up! Thank you, Memphians for overcrowding the zoo!)

Well, after sitting in the parking lot for 45 minutes, a man in a giant truck finally drove up to let us through the gate but, no, he doesn't have the right key (and he claimed to be the owner). Thus we wait for another guy to come, and are stuck talking to the big scary man blowing cigarette smoke towards our faces. Randy's advice before we left was to flirt with the guy, and although we tried, he was too interested in making his company sound like saints and telling us how they LOSE money that he never considered giving us a good deal. Actually, I take that back...he did offer to give Kelsey $5 to climb the high voltage electrical fence, claiming it didn't hurt as much as a taser. Kelsey asked if the tow could be free if he got to tase her, but he didn't take the bait and twenty minutes later, I had given up one hundred and sixty five dollars. The guy DID offer to tow someone for us as a practical joke sometime.....no thanks.

Despite this series of unfortunate events, I had a great weekend...and it definitely made for a memorable one. That night we went and ate sushi and then got cheesecake and a movie, and I really didn't seem to care too much after that...I mean what really can you do?!

Given Kelsa and Lynsa history, you would know that a lot of the time we are together we go looking for adventures and a good story and almost always end up in random situations. So had this been anyone else I would think it unfitting, but with Kelsa, it just added to our history.

Now on to Randy's birthday week.....