Not Me! Monday

I probably shouldn't participate in MckMama's Not Me Monday because I'm awfully whiney today! But maybe by turning my complaints into Not Me's! I can laugh at myself? Maybe. So when you are done, check out the other people's blog who are participating in this lovely blog carnival.

I am NOT thoroughly enjoying this beautiful weather. I did NOT have the most wonderful five mile run this morning. The weather was NOT perfect! I barely even had any sweat! Loved it!

However, when I got to my classroom this morning (which is in a portable) I was NOT freezing my tail off. I did NOT have the air conditioner running and the temperature was NOT 52 degrees. I am NOT a whimpy Florida girl who was shivering - especially since I did NOT forget a jacket. I did NOT find everyone I could to figure out how to turn my heater on - only to find out that I did NOT have that ability. I did NOT walk outside and see a 3" thick layer of frost on my air conditioning unit. Later, a service man was NOT standing on a ladder trying to melt the ice with a hair dryer. I am NOT currently enjoying my comfy portable with a fixed heater!

I am NOT being super sensitive about my children's disabilities right now. I am NOT getting weepy because every preschooler in the world is learning their letters and my 8 year old calls every letter an "S". (I do NOT know that every preschooler is an exaggeration - it just goes to show my frame of mind.) I do NOT wish that I could teach Zach to read - I am a reading specialist for crying out loud! When will it be our turn?

I am NOT feeling further beaten down when I tried to get my 4 year old to ride a bike. I do NOT hate the fact that he doesn't know how to peddle and I have no clue how to get him to understand the concept!

I was NOT so excited that my 8 year old is figuring out wooden jigsaw puzzles, until I saw that they are for three year olds! I do NOT see the ridiculousness of comparing them to "normal" children, but at the same time, I can't NOT stop!

I do NOT want to kick my friends when they innocently get upset about their child taking 3 months to potty train when 5 years later, my 8 year old is still having more accidents than successes. I do NOT realize that I should be happy for them, but once again, I can't NOT stop!!

I do NOT hate that I'm in pity party mode! And I realize that this isn't going to end well if I keep going! But since it's my blog... I can vent if I want to - and I want to! Sorry you had to "listen"! Tune in next week for happier versions of this game!

Top Ten Thursday

I somehow stumbled across this blog last year and I love reading her posts! Sara at Domestically Challenged and her friends have started a blog carnival on Thursdays - called Top 10. I have wanted to participate, but never took the chance. You can simply post in top 10 style - it can be her subject or any other topic on your mind.

Because I'm not creative, I'm stealing her idea: the top 10 jobs I am thankful I don't have...

1. Bartender - I would hate to sit around and listen to a bunch of drunks cry over a shot of whiskey or a bunch of rowdy college students - (or even worse, 20-somethings that wish they were still in college!)

2. Septic System worker - gross.

3. Preschool teacher - I can barely handle my own kids, why would I want to spend ALL DAY with a bunch of tiny children that frighten me? (This said from a middle school teacher...)

4. Assistant Principal - Discipline. All day long dealing with discipline. No thank you! (Not to mention the cranky teachers)

5. Chef - I spent a summer as a baker. It's hard work and you are always working when others are playing. Plus - I would be gigantically huge from all the food.

6. Taxi driver - I hate driving around and I would be totally paranoid that I picked up the whacko.

7. Celebrity - I like flying under the radar, not have people recognize me everywhere I go. Plus, the pressure to look good all the time... no thank you!

8. Factory worker - doing the same thing every day, over and over would drive me nuts!

9. Cruise ship worker - I am glad they do these jobs... but making panini's 6.5 days a week, 9 hours a day, for six weeks would make me go insane. Plus... all those ungrateful people!

10. Artist - I would starve. Period. I am NOT artistic, creative, or anything like that.

Not Me! Monday

I am going to be super quick with my Not Me! Monday post... For rules and regulations (and a whole lot of funniness...) head over to MckMama.com

• * I do NOT look at doing my monthly church-nursery duty as a prison sentence. I love spending time with a roomful of toddlers. I am NOT counting down the months until I no longer have a little child in the nursery.
• * The longest run I have done since the marathon last April is NOT only five miles! I have NOT lost all conditioning.
• * I did NOT find myself asking my children on Saturday, "Ok, who put poop in the bathroom sink?'' Because I did NOT find poop in my sink, so I would NOT have to ask such a question.
• * I did NOT go to my children's baseball game on Saturday and completely NOT watch them play. I did NOT enjoy laughing with the other parents. In my defense (NOT that I need it), my boys play Challenger baseball and so it's basically a bunch of kids running around inside a fenced in baseball field. They each have a buddy to help. My guys usually don't play and end up in the dugout playing in the sand, or trying to climb the fence in the outfield.

So what have you NOT done this week?

The Pumpkin Truck!

Every fall our church hosts a pumpkin patch to raise money for our missions committee. While the patch raises much needed funds, the chance for our church to come together and fellowship is a blessing! Many people volunteer to help on the day the truck arrives as well as a few hours to hang out at the patch. But perhaps the biggest blessing and benefit is the outreach to our community!

It is hard to get into the fall spirit when the temperatures are in the 90's but having the patch on the corner sure helps!

Imagine a semi-trailer truck filled to the edge with pumpkins! Yep, that's the pumpkin truck and it is our job to unload every single one of the pumpkins! Ryan was more than willing to climb into the truck and help out.

Zach also carried quite a few pumpkins around on the truck. He is pretty strong and was surprisingly helpful! This is at the very end! By this point, we were stinky, dirty, and a bit giddy. We were tossing the pumpkins to each other like they were fish in the Seattle market.

Here's the patch! All those pumpkins were unloaded by hand, through a "bucket brigade" concept. The volunteers formed a line and handed the pumpkins off to each other.The very last pumpkin! When all the straw is swept off the truck, we take turns jumping in... I guess it is our version of the pile of leaves! We can't exactly jump into a pile of palm fronds...

This kind volunteer hung out with my boys all morning. I have to stop feeling guilty when people enjoy playing with my children! I kept asking if she was ok and she was just beaming! Seeing people enjoy my children despite their "funk" is such a gigantic blessing to me!