Me and My Mouth

Have you ever said something that sounded perfectly normal in your head and as soon as it came out of your mouth for all the world to hear, you realized maybe it didn't sound so right?


I went to get my hair cut, but because I'm frugal (cheap) and it was a new place, I wanted to check the prices before they wrote my name down. The lady yelled from the back of the salon, "Can I help you?" and I said, "How much do you charge for a shampoo, trim and blow job?"

At the gas station awhile ago, the clerk said, "Do you need anything else?" and I replied, "No, I just have gas."

I went to drop my clothes off at the consignment store and I was trying to find out the timing on selling and discounting the items and getting the money. I asked the owner, "Is your time of the month soon?"

Oh, there are so many more Chaun-isms...but I've been on the computer too long this morning.

It's Really Not Okay

Okay, so there are a lot of things here in the south that I've had to get used to. For example, Peanut Butter and Mayonnaise Sandwiches (seriously) and phrases like "I'm fixin' " as in "I'm fixin' to grill out; would y'all like to come on?"

However, there is one thing I'm not used to...it's the racist attitudes of pretty much everyone I know. Friends say things, and I am seriously so offended that I can barely speak, but I'm also sitting there thinking, "what century does she live in...do people really still think that way?" I will admit when I was in Utah, people would say things OCCASIONALLY and I usually fought it a little and said something, but I will also admit that it made me just think less of the person being racist...I mean, every group of people has jerks, but you can't label a group based on one thing...like skin color. I really thought people who were racist were not very intelligent...(yes, I judge) I mean how can you read the books out there and learn the history and still be racist? The thing is, in Utah there aren't a lot of people of ANY color, so I think a lot of the racist attitudes there are because people have never even SEEN a black person, let alone had a neighbor, co-worker or friend who is black.

Okay, so what's the rationale here? There are people of every color here and I've never met more racist people in my life. They aren't even saying things to be mean...they just state things seriously in every-day converation. It is soooooooooo annoying, and I can't even say anything because THEY DON'T GET IT!

Now for those of you (all three of you who read my blogs) that have extra time on your hands, look up Forsyth County in Georgia. (Oprah even did a show from here to talk about the last blatantly racist county in the USA.) It is terribly racist, so I'm sure I'm seeing things about as bad as they get, but frankly I'm just annoyed.

By the way, the picture I posted on this is of our friend's daughter (Dave's best friend at work). I invited her to spend her Spring Break here so we could do some fun things...the looks we got from neighbors was absolutely crazy...not to mention the things that were said to us and about us. Hmmmmm, can't wait to invite her again this year!

About Me

Okay, I've already done one a little like this, but I am not-so-creative right now and in the mood to blog:

Four jobs you have had in your life:
Waitress: Marie Callender's, Market Street Broiler, Garcias & Golden Corral...I was queen waitress...paid for school, won pie contests and everything!!!! :)
PBX Operator: yes, it was this weird idea I had to leave my $20 an hour waitress job to make $5.25 at University Park Hotel in SLC. I lasted about three weeks.
Teacher: Taught 8th and 9th grade English and Drama at FJH for four years and 9th -12th grade English at Lifeline; I won't even count my last gig at Cornerstone as teaching...I'm not sure much teaching goes on in there, or at least not the kind of teaching that I respect (I'm not bitter.)
Tutor: I just have one girl right now that I tutor and have for two years. She's adorable and the money is good.

Four movies you would watch over and over:
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
My Best Friend's Wedding
Mr. Holland's Opus
Grease

Four places you have lived:
Bloomington, Utah: elementary school and back for junior college
Logan, Utah: born there and then back for junior and high school
Woods Cross, Utah: lived there after we graduated from the U and were married; fabulous friends still there
Cumming, Georgia: so happy here!

Four TV shows you love to watch:
American Idol
Survivor
The Apprentice
America's Next Top Model

Four places you have been on vacation:
Hawaii
Mexico
Florida
Chattanooga

Four websites you visit daily:
Bank of America
Hotmail
My blog and my friends' blogs
Ebay (not daily, but often)

Four of my favorite foods:
Diet Coke
Dots
Wendy's cheeseburgers with McDonald's fries
oatmeal (Kroger brand fruit and cream variety pack, to be exact)

That's it! Copy this blog and use it in yours so I can read it!

My Fat Year

Okay, I was never a chubby child until I hit fourth grade and something happened! I like to call it my fat year. I also had the teacher from hell. Her name was Mrs. Keaton and she was young and skinny, and it was her first year teaching. Not only that, but she didn't get hired until about October so they pulled about 12 kids out of the two classes and made a third class. I was perfectly happy where I was before.

Well, one day we had a substitute teacher, and we were all telling Mrs. Keaton about it the next day. The kids were all laughing and telling her that the substitute's arms jiggled when she lead us in the county song. Mrs. Keaton said to the class, "Don't laugh about that. Chaunette, when you are old, your arms will shake just like that." How rude. I actually ended up teaching her son in Kaysville like 15 years later. I should have told him he was a skinny dork and when he got old, he still would be a skinny dork. But, I didn't.

Here's to you Mrs. Keaton:

My Baby's Okay

After a terrible day of tests at the Children's Hospital, including the worst possible test you can imagine, we finally have some answers. Amelia is going to be fine. She will take a pill for the rest of her life (or maybe just until puberty) and need to change a couple of things, but she is going to be fine. It is not her kidneys or anything major. I am relieved, but I also hate it that she had to go through that test. I really feel so bad for her.

I went into Amelia's class today as the MYSTERY READER! I read Amelia's favorite book (Caps for Sale) and I got to see first-hand what is going on at school. She is as happy as I thought she was and I couldn't be happier. That school is the best thing that has happened to us in a long time! Amelia was so scared yesterday, but she woke right up this morning ready to go to school!

Material Girl

Okay, there is this awesome XBOX game where you karaoke to a song and it gives you points if you are on pitch and actually boos you off if you are bad. We had SO much fun playing this. My personal favorites are "Material Girl" and "Uptown Girl." I belt it out as loud as I can and sound terrible, but I guess close enough to the pitch (on easy scoring) that I can at least finish the song.

By the way, Amelia is going in to the hospital tomorrow, so please pray for her. But do you know what is great? She actually started crying tonight because she had to miss school tomorrow. She loves her new school so much. It is the exact opposite of Cornerstone...instead of uniforms, they encourage the kids to dress themselves every morning (Amelia has worn her tie-dyed purple shirt and bell-bottom jeans ALL THREE days this week in a row). Instead of doing seven worksheets a day, they paint and create the coolest crafts you've ever seen, and instead of screaming at the kids and sending them to the director for time-out, they love the kids in an amazing way that I could have never even guessed existed.

My guard is up though, so I'll let you know what I think of it in a month. By the way, for all of you in Utah, be grateful for the schools there. The public schools (at least where I attended and taught in) are better than the most expensive private schools here. If I would have known how bad they were, I don't know if I could have moved. I will not home school my kids though, so we have to get it all together; hopefully this is a start!

My Sweet Amelia

Is there anything harder than having a sick kid? My poor Amelia has been through two ER visits in the last month and three doctor visits, not counting the one tomorrow and the hospital visit on the 12th. We were called home New Year's Eve by the babysitter's mom 40 minutes after we had left her because she was sick again (and bleeding when she went to the bathroom). I know it's not as bad as what some parents go through, but I just want her to feel good again. I know she hurts and does not feel well most of the time, and I don't think she knows that she's not supposed to feel that way.

It is all dealing with her kidneys and bladder and I'm sure we will get answers on the 12th, but until then I just wish there was more I could do for her. She also puts up with a demanding, feisty little sister (that we adore) every day and manages it all with a smile.