•The Diamondbacks clinched home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs yesterday.

•4 day work week this week. :-)

•New adorable picture of my goddaughter (to be scanned and posted soon!)

•Amy Grant concert on Thursday

•This morning the scale read: (drum roll please) 126!!!!!!!

•It's only two weeks to Fall Break!

•My sub plans are done early.

•And finally, Fall has arrived in the desert. Bye bye 100's, hello low 90's and 80's. YEAH baybee…THIS is why we live here.

Well, I really meant to post this yesterday, but I got distracted by other things and it just didn't' happen. So instead I will do it now!

Congratulations Diamondbacks on finally clinching the National League Western Division Championship for the 2nd straight year. And congrats on finally getting the bats going. May you win today and gain home field advantage for the first round, and may the outcome of your playoff experience be the same as last year, but maybe a little less drama. Please? :-)

Well, I didn't set the VCR right and so it didn't tape. I didn't watch it live as I wanted to watch Friends and I had to tape it for Mike anyway. I didn't see much of Friends either since I ended up talking to a friend online during the show….so, I read the recap of Survivor, and I'm not surprised, but disappointed that my favored team lost immunity yet again. But, could somebody tell me what happened on Friends? Thanks!

Thank you Diamondbacks, for finally winning a game. Magic Number for clinching 2nd straight Western Division title: 2

And congratulations to Randy Johnson for probably clinching his 4th straight Cy Young award. Go Big Unit!

*Yesterday I had to be fingerprinted…no…I wasn't arrested…it has to do with some dumb legislation the governor signed that makes all charter school employees who work directly with children have to have a certain class of fingerprint clearance. Now, don't get me wrong…I strongly believe that fingerprinting and background checks need to be done for all school employees, BUT I have already had it done when I got my teaching certificate in the first place, and I don't understand why charter schools are being singled out. That being said, the COO of the school made it easy on those of us who had to do it by doing it himself, since he is able to do so. So at least I didn't have to take time out of my schedule to go somewhere and get it done.

*I'm now up to 400 ab crunches per night. Woohoo! 8 sets of 50. Yay Karin!

*Great moment of the week so far: I got a dermatologist appointment for next week!!! How cool is that? Well, I mean the part about how instead of having to wait until November I was able to get in next Wednesday when I called today. Of course, I have to take a day off from work and miss the staff meeting. Darn. I hate when I have to miss the staff meeting…NOT! But it was either go Wednesday or wait until November. So, I took Wednesday. Bad part about this? Sub plans. Ugh.

*I'm beginning the impossible task of picking out paint for the new house. You know, picking out paint for one room wouldn't be so bad, but for ALL the rooms???? Arghhhh!!!! There are so many colors and so little time. I'm drowning in paint chips, and yet…it's kind of exciting, you know?

*Tomorrow is Friday and that is a good thing and there will be only two weeks until Fall Break for which I cannot wait. Of course one of those weeks is Parent/Teacher conferences, but…well you can't have everything right?

This week has been Banned Book Week in case you weren't aware of it.

Personally, I have a major problem with banning books. I have a major problem with parents who demand that literature be removed from school libraries because it doesn't fit THEIR own personal idea of what is appropriate or not. If they don't like it, then they should tell their own children not to read it, not try and dictate what other people's children should or should not read.

I am an outspoken person when it comes to the freedom of speech. I have no problem with pornography. Now, does this mean that I'm out there reading it or viewing it? For the most part, no. But I think everyone has the right to read or view whatever they want as long as it is not harming anyone else.

I believe that it is the parents' responsiblity to monitor what their child reads (and only THEIR child) and/or watches. This does not, however, include expecting others to follow their ideals. It frustrates me when something like Harry Potter is mentioned and brainwashed children start spouting off about how it's evil and about the devil. Okay, look, I know the kids are just repeating what their parents say, but my issue with this is that these parents are neglecting to teach their children tolerance for other's opinions. And then I, as the teacher, have to smooth ruffled feathers and try to teach them tolerance which is difficult when it's such a volatile issue. *sigh*

That being said, here are some books found on the 100 most frequently challenged books list:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Giver by Lois Lowry
A Wrinkle in Time by Madelaine L'Engle
Blubber by Judy Blume
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford

Of course, there are more, but that gives you an idea. So, I leave you with this slogan from the website:

Celebrate your freedom to read

Let Freedom Read: Read a Banned book

There just isn't a heck of a lot going on right now…other than I came home and dear husband had left the back door wide open all day. That was a bit disconcerting, annoying, and upsetting. Luckily, the dogs were here and so nothing happened, and perhaps divine intervention too, for all I know.

He's been pretty absent-minded lately. I know he has a lot on his mind, but leaving doors unlocked is really not a good habit to get into, you know?

Update on Majerle: she is doing well, back to her grumpy, lazy self again. There is a difference between being lazy and being lethargic. I like lazy much better, and I like my doggie feeling okay, so it's a relief.

Not much else, other than that I'm tired and don't feel much like writing tonight. But I thought I'd at least make a small effort.

Oh, the bright spot of my day? 400 ab crunches…woohoo!

Today we decided to go and see The Four Feathers starring Heath Ledger. I knew the basic premise of the movie going in, but let me just say that this movie was absolutely nothing and I mean nothing like I expected. That being said, I'm still not really sure whether or not I liked it. There were things I liked about it, and things that really bugged me, but since some of you haven't seen it yet and may be going to soon, I'll say that the rest of the post contains possible spoilers so I will let you click below if you wanna know…

Before I go any further, let me say that Heath Ledger was great, and in general, the acting was good.

Now let me talk about what really bugged me, and it wasn't really anything about the movie itself, but more about the history that it portrayed.

The British Empire went after the “heathens” in the Sudan because they were basically trying to be in control of the entire world it would seem. So, my big irritation is just the whole fighting in the name of God thing. I don't get it. Why, why, why does “God's will” give anyone the right to destroy others just because they don't believe the same way???? Yes, I know it's been going on for eons and will continue to do so, but it makes no sense to me. God wants people to kill people in His name???? I can't understand how you can say that you believe in God and the Bible or whatever book you read and believe that God is in the business of people killing people because they believe differently. “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, rich in compassion.” Does that sound like a God who wants anyone to kill in His name???? I do not, nor will I ever, understand this. Never. And so, my feeling after the ambush scene, was that the stupid British deserved to get their asses kicked. They shouldn't have been there in the first place. What did they expect????

The contrasts between the way that governments and armies used God and the way that individuals did were very interesting as well.

Mike said this movie was very anti-war, and I think he is correct, and I also think that it's interesting that this movie came out when it did, when our country is in the midst of the war it is fighting…people killing people because they have different beliefs. It's neverending. But that doesn't make it right. It just means people never learn. I'm a lover of peace and tolerance and acceptance. Were that the rest of the people in the world were as well. *sigh*

Well, at least the neighbor's didn't wake me up early today. That happened all on my own. I got up and went to the grocery store early - alone - which is unusual. Usually I make Mike go with me on the weekend. But, he wouldn't budge out of bed, so I went by myself. As I walk in the door there is a woman giving away Krispy Kremes. Let me just explain that I love and adore these things. BUT, I said no. Yes, I did! Can you even believe it? I knew that if I ate one, the next thing I knew I'd be buying a box and that is just not going to happen. Nope nope nope. So I was strong. Yay Karin!

Then I came home and got ready to sing at a wedding this afternoon. That went well. It was a beautiful gothic-style church and the acoustics were dreamy.

Then Mike and I went to a movie…more on that in the next post.

Tonight, I got to talk to a friend for awhile, and that was nice, and I'm now vegging out watching Trading Spaces. I am soooo addicted to that show.

Oh, and the big thing? I convinced Mike that we are NOT going to paint the entire new house white and then change the colors later. I told him, why do things twice? So now? Now I have to pick out paint colors. Yikes! I am a little scared, but hey…if I don't like it, I'll just change it, right?

All in all, I'd say it was a good day. But weekends are always too short, aren't they?

Well, Survivor is back yet again and off to an interesting start…but I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so if you wanna know, click below…

The beginning was truly interesting. A whole new twist. The tribes were not separated into tribes. They chose the two oldest members and told them to pick their tribes. It was an interesting situation as one went for age and wisdom, and the other youth and athleticism. As it stands now, so far I like the old tribe way way much better than the young tribe. And as for the bartender dude from Scottsdale? OHMIGOD. UGHHHHH!!!! Hello???? What an idiot!!! Okay, end of diatribe.

I made a pick for who I think will win it all, just based on gut feelings, and I made Mike pick, too, with the caveat that it had to be before tribal council. My pick is Ted. Mike's is Ken. We shall see what happens. I'm sure we're both terribly wrong, but we'll just have to follow the show and see!

So, Survivor is back. And for the fifth time, I'm letting myself get dragged in. What can I say? It's a guilty pleasure. I think the most interesting thing is to see how people thrown together deal with their situations. It's an interesting study in human behavior if nothing else. Can't wait to see where this one leads!

OH! And is the new tribal council area too cool or what? Very different from all the ones before, but very befitting of the location. We shall see what next week brings.

No, not THAT cycle you silly people! The cycle as in baseball! Last night the Diamondbacks Greg Colbrunn hit for the cycle, and he did it in a big way. For one thing, he ended with the hardest thing to get which is a triple. It was the top of the 9th and the score was 10-3 Dbacks at the time I believe, so hey, you may as well go for it, right? He did, and he got it. Wow! And the other interesting tidbit was that he had two home runs and apparently the last time someone hit for the cycle and had to home runs was in 1950something! Cycles themselves are rare, but that is obviously even rarer. So now he joins teammate Luis Gonzalez as the only two Dbacks to have hit for the cycle. To really bring the point home about the rarity, the San Diego Padres have been around for about 30 years I believe and NO player has EVER hit for the cycle. Go figure. Dbacks = 5 years = 2 cycles Padres = 30 years = 0 cycles

Baseball is a strange game. I was almost asleep when Colbrunn came up to bat last night, but when I heard them say (in my groggy state) that he was only a triple away, I woke up enough to watch. I'm glad I did. I witnessed both of them, so that's pretty cool!

Yesterday afternoon in our staff meeting, our principal went off on this long diatribe about professional dress. In the midst of talking about why we aren't allowed to wear jeans, she starts talking about tight clothes and cleavage and short skirts and how we should not dress like streetwalkers. ?????? We all kind of looked around at each other with confused looks on our faces wondering who on earth she was talking about. Then of course she backpeddled and said…no one on this staff is really a problem with their dress, but not to forget that it's on our evaluation. Ummm…yeah…sometimes I wonder about her. Anyway…

In other news, I did 6 sets of 50 ab crunches last night…that would be 300 for those of you who are mathematically challenged. Woohoo! I rule!

Other than that, not a lot going on around here, which would explain why I'm not blogging a lot I guess. Maybe something exciting will happen soon. :P

Oh well, I did question why my life was never boring…be careful what you ask for!

Note to self: Maybe taking shower AFTER eating grapefruit is a wiser decision. *squirt*

One of my students was in a rollover this weekend…suffered a broken pelvis…poor little guy, but he's home. In a wheelchair, but home. He'll probably miss at least a week, but he's alive, and that's a good thing. It was tough news to break to the kids. How do you tell them these things about their friend? “He was in an accident, but he's OKAY.”

Big fire in the neighborhood near our school. TV News helicopter was hovering right over the school during our lunch time. The kids in that neighborhood were worried it was their house, so I figuratively crossed my fingers and told them I was sure they had nothing to worry about.

Today my job description expanded from teacher to comforter. That's okay. I kind of like it sometimes…makes me feel maternal or something.

I thought since I've been talking about her, so much, you all might like to see her. She even ate dog food tonight. Yay!