And here's a somewhat embarrassing story...

Last night, around 9:15, I walked our garbage can to the curb. The Big Man was at work, and the kids were in bed. I noticed something that appeared to be an animal's tail by my neighbor's can. As soon as I saw it, though, it pulled back. I'm not sure why, but I went to the other side to see what it was. That is when I realized that it was human! He or she was curled into a ball, apparently hiding from me. Scared me to death! So, I RAN into the garage, closed the door as quickly as I could and set the house alarm. I immediately tried to call my neighbor. Her phone was busy time after time. So I was able to get in touch with another neighbor who graciously drove past the house a couple of times. No sign of anyone. At this point, I'm starting to feel very foolish. Had I just imagined it? Finally I got through to my neighbor. It turns out that it was her 9 year old son (who, incidentally, is not a small kid.) He had taken something to the garbage and, when he saw me coming, had hidden from me so I wouldn't see that he was only wearing his boxers. He heard me run away from him, and told his mom he thought he'd scared me. He was right!

Subbing was great today. They all took tests which kept the students busy and quiet, and it was such a fun day. This teacher's last period is a planning period, which doesn't give me much to do, so I left early. I haven't done that before, but I did check with the office. It was nice to come home for about 45 minutes before MK got home from school and enjoy a quiet house.

It was a beautiful springlike day, so I felt inspired to start planning some landscaping for the spring. I took the kids to a nursery north of town. MK was reluctant to go, but her friend joined us, and then she couldn't stop talking about how much she liked it. T. Willy had a ball exploring and trying to say names of plants and trees. It was so fun. We also went to Lowe's to look at their plants. It was a really nice afternoon, and I'm wishing my gardening budget was much bigger, because I am full of ideas!!

Not to seem like a complete Grinch, but I usually boycott Valentine's Day. It has always seemed like a commercial day, and it really didn't hold any appeal to me. However, I've noticed that MK is getting that attitude, and I didn't like the way it sounds. Yes, I still think it's commercial and feel we should tell our loved ones how we feel year round, but I also don't see the harm in setting aside a day to make a point of it. This year I'm trying to think of some fun things to do for the kids on Saturday. I welcome any suggestions. One thing I'll do is pull out the heart shaped pan. I plan to make a cake in it early in the day, then bring it back out and make heart shaped deep-dish pizza for dinner. We've watched many Food Network shows about deep-dish pizza; it's time to give it a try.

So I'll leave you with a picture of the kids at the nursery. Have a great night!