Yeah! It's a Party in the USA!

With apologies to Mr. Fairway, we've snagged his 1st Birthday Shot for today's festivities. But before I let you know the particulars of today's 2nd Blogoversary Throwdown, I have an announcement to make.

The winner of yesterday's $50 Target Gift Card is~drumroll, please~Shell, from Things I Can't Say! Be a dear, Shell, and send me your contact info, so I can get your party favor in the mail, OK?

Rolling right along...Offering even more bling to my bloggy readers today. In honor of 2 years in the blogosphere (come tomorrow, darlings), I've got yet another $50 Target Gift Card for you! Here's what you have to do to win:

Take a gander at this Superior Snap. Conjure a caption for said snap & tippy-type it, real quick-like, in the comments section of this post. To get an extra entry, follow Ella Numera Dos' fab fotoblog, MOO. And make sure y'all leave the chica a comment, too, hear? Or, if you're not the caption type, just leave me a comment, OK?

That's the way we play our weekly Silly Sunday Sweepstakes, Scribe Fans! Contest runs until 11:59 p.m., Monday, March 1, which is Your Humble Scribe's actual blogoversary. And tune in tomorrow, y'all...I'll have more goodies in store!

A Party Goin' on Right Here...

This giveaway is closed. Congrats to Shell, our winner!

Never in my life did I ever think I'd have this kind of staying power.

In a biz where 60 percent of all new bloggers bite the dust after 3 months, I've got something to crow about. So grab a slice, sit tight & hear me out.

I started blogging on a lark. Mr. Fairway started a blog, so I thought I'd try it, too. Of course, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing~sometimes, in fact, I still think this is the case. But I persevered & here I am.

My 2nd Blogoversary arrives on Monday. I've got an extended celebration in mind, if you're interested. The first part of the party starts with a little giveaway.

Win a Target Gift Card Here!

Yup, you read that right. And all you have to do to acquire this $50 piece of bling is comment. Right here, right now. I'll announce the winner tomorrow, when the second part of the contest kicks in.

I reckon you can tell who the Birthday Girl is in this Silly Snap, although I'd say her BFF from way back when is trying to steal some of the limelight. Pretty sure a child captured this Kodak Moment. I don't know...I kinda like the lopsided composition, and the fuzzy filter, don't you?

Ella Numera Dos is the girl of the hour in this shot. In fact, if you visit her photoblog, MOO, & follow her, I'll give you an extra entry in my gift card giveaway. I'll select the winner by Random Generator tonite at 11:59 p.m. & make a grand announcement in this space tomorrow morning. And please stay tuned...more prizes to come!

Mrs. Scribe's 2nd Blogoversary Throwdown~this part of it, at least~is brought to you by Cate, at Show My Face. We're keeping the party going all weekend, so make sure you're here, bright & early!

Chicago Reflection

Welcome to Chicago's Millennium Park. No, I'm not reporting from Chi-Town, where everything seems to go wrong for yours truly. This here's Ella Numera Una, The Roomie & The BF at The Bean during a summer sojourn.

I've been in the best mood all day, because we've had an unlikely visitor~the Sun. Went to bed Wednesday nite, with Old Man Winter still in the forecast. Woke up Thursday a.m. to birds tweeting & that big, golden orb hanging out in a quasi-blue sky. Talk about pleasantly surprised. I whistled a happy tune all dern day.

Stay tuned, Scribe Fans, for blogoversary janx to come! You Humble Scribe will be commemorating 2 years in the blogosphere on Monday. Thought we'd get this party started on Saturday with a giveaway, then continue on to an extended Silly Sunday Sweepstakes, culminating in the pièce de résistance on the actual blogoversary date.

No pre-gaming allowed. As my journalistas might say, "This throwdown's gonna be some kinda whack!"

Old Master

Spring Training?

I'm not even gonna pretend that I snapped this shot recently. No, acquired this pretty pink-ish specimen long about November or so, before the weather really turned cold. And snowy. Don't forget the snow!

My cherubs have been super-spazzy since returning from their snow-bound hiatus. We were out 8 days straight & it's certainly more than one Scribe can handle to get them thinking in "school" mode again.

We've been off so many days this school year that the School Board is fixin' to take drastic measures. Our superintendent has proposed adding 30 minutes to the school day between mid-March and June. The idea is to look like we care about educating those kiddos, even though at the high school level ~ where I'm parked ~ it will mean adding 6 whole minutes to each class each day, plus lunch. A tad like spitting into the wind, don'tcha think?

Not sure if Julie & Johnny can cram much more English into their little brains in the extra time they'll be allotted. I do know, however, that my journalistas will have a few precious seconds more to make a bagel or burrito run during lunch.

What do today's impatiens have to do with School Board Policy? Not mucho. Just posted them to remind us all that, try as we might, Old Man Winter will defeat us, every time.

When It Rains It Pours...

...or at least it doesn't snow! It's waaaaaayyyyyy too early for my birthday, but I'm celebrating anyway. Five of my bloggy buds blinged me in recent days, and I'm fixin' to thank them & pass along the love. So, without further ado, here's a GREAT BIG THANKS to

Steph in the City, who blinged me with the You're Going Places, Baby Award. As I said to Steph in my acceptance speech, I'm a big Humphrey Bogart fan, so this bling is quite the thing! I'd like to pass this little treasure along to these wonderful bloggers, who are all going to make it BIG someday...I just know it!

A Duck in Her Pond

Blog Ignoramus

Cut and Dry

The Bon Bon Rose Girls

Turtle Droppings

Next up, Miles of Style just knew I needed a little sunshine in my life. Isn't this zinnia gorgeous? I hereby bequeath The Sunshine Award to these folks, who consistently bring bright days my way:

Happy Chyck

Feeding Five for Fifty

It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy

Jeannie's Happy World

Vodka Logic

As y'all know, I always see the glass as half-full, but my cynicism sometimes gets in the way. Nevertheless, 38 and Growing saw my my sweet side, and I couldn't be happier! And I know just the sweethearts to pass The Fabulous Sugar Doll Blog Award on to:

Eat Your Veggies!

Susie's Homemade

Quasi Serendipita

Pseudonymous High School Teacher

MOO

Yes, there's more, darlings! The nicest blogger on the Internet deems me a Kreativ Blogger. Shradda is generous, giving and a good bloggy friend. I'd like to pay her kindness forward, to these Kreativ Souls:

One Size Fits All

Half-Past Kissin' Time

Carma Sez

A Nut in a Nutshell

If Mom Says OK

And last, but not least, Lucy's Life in Suburb World decided that Mrs. Scribe has graduated to Happy 101. Hope those of you upon whom I bestow this bling continue to have a rockin' good time, here?

Keep in Touch with Mommakin

Let's Have a Cocktail

Mama's Losin' It!

Knit 1 Kids 4

Stir-Fry Awesomeness

And the rules for all these bodacious bling things? Too many to remember! What I'd like to do, in honor of the Winter Olympics, is to freestyle this. Y'all conjure up some requirements when you pass this bling along, OK? I only ask that you remember Mrs. Scribe when you're bestowing these pretties. Do we have a deal? As always, thanks mucho!

Sleeping Beauty, Part Deux

This here's Pepper the Cat...again. As those of y'all who follow me know, Pepper's main job is sleeping. She sleeps on my laptop; she sleeps on the bed; she sleeps in the kitchen window; she sleeps like an Egyptian; she sleeps here, on the screened-in porch.

Obviously, this Superior Snap was taken in more temperate times. Y'all know what to do, correctamundo? Take a gander at this furball & conjur a caption. Tippy-type your caption, real quick-like, in the comments section of this post.

That's all there is to it, Scribe Fans! Of course, you'll win nothing tangible for all your trials & tribulations. Just the knowledge that you made a whole herd of us giggle. And what could be better than that?

Oh, one more thing. I'm joining the tail end (get it?) of this weekend's Camera Critters Meme. Who could resist, with a shot like this?

Moonscape Melting; More on the Way?

When I left school Thursday nite after the dog & pony show for the 8th-grade parents, I spied, with my little eye, 3 double-long, industrial-strength dumptrucks in the senior parking lot & 2 giNORmous front-loaders on the street in front of the school. I'd say Our Humble High School's share of the Snowpocalypse has diminished by one-half in a week.

Only one problema...more on the way. Good chance, though, this might be what the weather dudes refer to as a "chilly rain event." Here's hoping they're correctamundo~I know that Cate, at Show My Face, has her fingers crossed!

Rush Hour Sunrise

This is what my life has come down to...looking for "photo ops" during rush hour. Here's the morning commute from earlier today.

Sorry, guys, but I got no more gas in me. Getting back to the grind after our Blizzard Redux has been hell, capped off by rising 9th-grade orientation at Our Humble High School tonite. Since Your Humble Scribe teaches the Intro to Journalism class, I, of course, was on tap to perform for the parentals.

Hope to resume my more leisurely pace this weekend. Until then, Hasta la Pasta!

The Calm After the Storm

Pre-Gaming: Dance the Night Away

The team is Madison. The sport is field hockey. And the girls get their game faces on by dancing around someone's car in the parking lot before they take the field.

They generally snag a convert with a big, boomin' bass line for this exercise. They pop in a mix CD that features everything from Pat Benatar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" to any kind of super bad rap, to pop anthems of the '70s. I remember 3-Dog Night's "Joy to the World" was favored tuneage one year.

Then they crank it up. And dance, dance, dance, with the wildest abandon I've ever witnessed~in a parking lot or at a senior prom.

Thing is, the MadHawky Throw Down often throws the other teams off. I'm not sure if it's the intimidation factor, or just 'cause this gaggle of high school gals looks just plain crazy out there on the asphalt.

Opponents probably wonder...isn't it a tad early for pre-gaming?

To Whom It May Concern...

Dear Google:

Hi there! Melissa B., The Scholastic Scribe, here. You may remember me as the gal whose site shot up to the top of your Google Index within 2 weeks of commencing this bloggy adventure in March 2008. You also might recall that I'm the one who spends much of her classroom time urging her cherubs to credit those whose snaps they steal from Google Images.

Well, I'm writing today with another mission in mind. I'm looking for a job & I hear you're hiring.

Brian Williams, in fact, mentioned you on his Nightly News program just last week. The great prognosticator of the airwaves (although not near as cute nor savvy as his predcessor, Tom Brokaw) told his viewers that y'all may just have about 2,000 openings, which is a whole herd of a lot.

Brian (we're on a first-name basis) then enumerated many of the "perks" that go with a Google job. Along with the great bennies (gold-carat health & retirement, for starters), you've got soooooo many fun things going on! Sign me up~pronto!~for the on-site hair salon, the company shuttle, the fitness classes, the massage therapy. I could go on, but y'all know what makes your company special, don'tcha?

So, I Googled Google to find out for myself. Well, hold on there, pardners! I had no idea that y'all had offices in so many locales. And several right up my alley, too. Any of the Cali sites would do splendidly. Or what about my favorite city in the U S of A~Austin, Tejas? If I wished to get all cozy & such with Ella Numera Una, I could work out of your Madison, WI office. And of course, you've probably heard that New York is my kinda town.

But I wouldn't need to labor in a glam location. You've set up shop in DC, which is just down the road from moi, & in the Northern Virgina suburbs. Google, when it comes to my needs, "convenience" should be your middle name!

I guess I should tell you a little bit about myself. I'm a middle-aged mamasita & pretty darn cute. I teach high school English & Journalism, and have a flair for the written word. I've visited every continent save for Antarctica (but I'd go there on assignment, if you wish), and I raise a lot of Hell in the kitchen.

Now I was looking online at some of your openings. Let's face it~"software engineer" is pretty much out. So is "finance." Anything with numbers gives me the heebie-jeebies. "Enterprise" sounds promising, though, as do "Marketing," "Communications" & "Media." But I don't think you should consider me for any "Human Resources" openings. I may be too blunt to look a poor schmoe in the eye & let him know that he'd best consider "maximizing" his "abilities" elsewhere.

What I really have in mind, though, is something a tad more "out there." I'm a long-time Blogger user. In fact, I've never considered switching to another blogging platform. I find your service to be easy, user-friendly, intuitive & all I need to get my message out to the blogosphere.

But surely you've noticed that there are those out there in cyberspace who cry "Fie!" on Blogger & all it stands for. And there's been quite a trend, recently, of Blogger users switching to other platforms. I've come to think of blogging as a little like high school. I love my Toyota, but she drives a newer model, so I want that one. You know the drill.

That's where I would come in. I propose a little telecommunting gig. Appoint me to be your Blogger Ambassador. I'm thinking something along the lines of a cyber-Pioneer Woman, sans Marlboro Man & the 4 cute kiddos. I could cook for Blogger, shoot awesome snaps for Blogger, run giveaways for Blogger, counsel troubled cyber-souls for Blogger and, of course, blog for Blogger. I promise to develop a huMONgous pro-Blogger network, right here at Blogger Central~my little ol' desk in the corner of my little ol' basement in the little ol' DC suburbs.

I've even come up with a few "alter-egos" for my enterprise. "Cutting Edge Chica" comes to mind, but that's just a play on The PO & her ilk. "Mrs. Scribe's Tool Box" is another. Mr. Fairway suggested putting your name right up front & came up with "Google Girl" or "Blogger Babe." Those monikers smack more than slightly of sexism, though, don't you think?

I prefer emphasizing the less-obvious, softer, gentler side of my personality. Yes, we can flak Blogger & its attributes 'til the cows come home, but the best way to win friends & influence people, I say, is thru their stomachs.

"Nana's Kitchen" has a nice ring to it. Hit 'em where they live & you'll have 'em as customers for life.

'Cause as my Nana used to say, "I believe in the power of prayer & in the power of positive thinking. But most of all, in the power of pie."

Whaddaya say? I've got the energy, the enthusiasm...and, I've got the mad skilz, too.

I am forwarding you a copy of my résumé & references. Please note that I have not included my current employer. Don't want Principal Man to learn that I'm trying to abandon ship!

Here's Pie in Your Eye,

Melissa B.
The Scholastic Scribe

Somebody, Quick: Call 911!

OK, I'm pretty sure that most of y'all are just as sick of reading about our copious snow amounts as I am writing about them. But I had to get this one last priceless shot in before I bid adieu to the mess we've called, alternately, The Blizzard of 2010 & Blizzard Redux.

Just yesterday, one of the weather dudes tried calling our Snowpocalypse The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Whatever. I think the rule for these yahoos is that they need to have nice hair, but they don't necessarily have to be clever.

Y'all know what to do now, correctamundo? The rules of Mrs. Scribe's Silly Sunday Sweepstakes are easy as pie. Just take a gander at this Superior Snap. Then, conjur a caption for said snap & tippy-type it, real quick-like, in the comments section of this post.

And that's all there is to it, Scribe Fans! Of course, you'll win nothing tangible for all your toil & trouble. Just the knowledge that you made a whole herd of us giggle. And what could be better than that?

No more snow tomorrow, I promise. Unless they close the schools again because of the white stuff, which is in the forecast, natch. But I'm not going there, y'all. And neither should you. Remember...We're not in Kansas anymore!

Will We Ever Have School Again?

Are y'all getting tired of the snow coverage? Please let me know & I'll quit. But with so much great content, I couldn't resist slamming my readers one more time~sorta like the Blizzard of 2010 has slammed us!

Yesterday, natch, I went down to school. My classroom plants were dying of thirst & I was dying of curiosity. I ran into this in the faculty parking lot:

On a good day, this lot at the back of Our Humble High School holds about 50 cars. The rest of the staff parks on byways leading into the school proper. Just to give you an idea, this mound is more than 12 feet high. Some of the snow piles around the building are higher than the roof! And, to answer your question (I knew you'd ask), about 8 cars can park here now unless we get some serious snow remediation, quick.

Next, I ventured down the hill to the student lot. I think the signs say it all, don't you?

The signage, I reckon, is addressed to both those attempting to park & to the Snow Gods, such as they are. Of course, the adjacent softball field is appropriately marked with a warning, as well:

And as for the student lot, which holds about 300 cars (they pay, we don't); I wouldn't go there if I were you, both figuratively & literally. One lonely Bobcat tractor was trying to make sense of this mess, aided by a small plow attached to a pickup truck.

Our dealy-0 when overwhelmed is to delay school by 2 hours each day, 'til the mess gets cleaned up. I'm thinkin' that we're gonna have a whole herd of those 2-hour delays next week. And as for Mother Nature & her recent shenanigans?

Well, this really is the Class of 2010's emblem emblazoned on the parking lot, but I say Zero Tolerance is the ticket. Click your Ruby Red Slippers together and say it three times with me, à la Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz."

No More Snow! No More Snow! No More Snow!

These Superior Snaps are brought to you today by Cate & her 6-Word Saturday. My 6 words are in the title...

Reflecting on a Job Well-Done

I swear, I've shoveled this walk to our front door at least 5 times this week! Once, last Friday evening, when I was trying~in vain, I might add~to knock snow off my azalea bushes. Twice last Saturday. Once on Wednesday, as our Blizzard Redux raged. Again yesterday morning, so I could get to the birdfeeder & replenish the robins.

Snapped this Scribe Self-Portrait at the height of the first storm last Saturday. As the sun comes out again today & continues to melt the mess we're in, I'll be reflecting on a job well-done. At least I didn't have to crawl out on the roof to fix the satellite dish, now, did I?

Blizzard Redux

Mama Kat's Prompt #2: Describe your worst winter weather story.

I'm worried because the robins returned too early this year. I'm not sure our feathered friends like frozen food.

My neighbor's concerned about the implications of our Blizzard Redux on the stray cat she's been feeding. Yesterday, we had another 10 inches dumped on top of the 30 inches or so we received last weekend. How does a kitty cat walk in all that?

I've thought~too much, perhaps~about what happens to my four beautiful pink azalea bushes that are buried, right here, under this unwelcome insulation. And DC's Cherry Blossoms are expected in a month!

Members of The Saint Roman Snow Team fret because our community snowblower ran over a newspaper in someone's driveway yesterday, seriously jeopardizing the Team's ability to effect snow removal on our cul-de-sac. They might have to resort to more conventional techniques.

But then again, we could take the "glass half-full" approach to all of this. With even Old Glory snowed in, school's been cancelled for the week. No worries here about Ladybug Inservices & whatnot. One of the neighbor kids who has a plow on his truck is coming to the rescue of our beleaguered Snow Team today. The fridge is stocked & the power's still on (knock on wood!).

So, what was I complaining about again?

Blizzard of 2010: Speechless