Stinging Nettles: my fake arch rival

Z: At the beginning of the year, some students of mine began trying to playfully incite competition between me and and one of the English teachers, Mr Nettles. So he and I went along with it and started making snide remarks towards each other. We would see each other in the teachers lounge and find out who had been snubbed lately according to the students. Students would say Mr Nettles gives them better grades, I would say English is just words, not science; and of course its going to be easier because he doesn't teach them anything. I escalated it to school wide drama when I hosted the Mr Manor Mustang Pageant and called him out as my "arch rival" in front of the whole school. He came back with some slam poetry that some students recorded and showed me on their phone. So, I couldn't back down. Below is my reply. Note that I teach at a school with about 10% white students, so this was done with respect to hip hop flo.

Nettles, 

You love writing all your cute little words

But how’s it gonna feel when you get served

That poem you dished out was kinda sweet

But sit down country boy, its time to eat

 

Here’s an assignment, go write a composition

I’m a split you like nuclear fission

If you eva wanna end these disputes

Stop posing like a cowboy in those ugly boots

Hey 1950 called and wants that greasy hair back

I’m gonna slam all over you just like shaq

Your sloppy writing skills just made me react

Mix up my chemicals and you’ll get smacked

Let me spell it out on the periodic table

Wimpunium would by your label

Can you handle the rhymes, I’ll go slow

I’m drowning you in H two Ohhhhh

Your mommy can wipe away that tear

No one messes with her little Shakespeare

There once a boy named Nettles

Every night he wettled his beddle

He dreamed of playing the guitar

Singing at bars, becoming a big star

Then I smoked him like a cigar

 

Even though I might be the slimmest

Now you know not to battle the chemist

 

I guess you should get back to work

Cause we all know the winner is Mr Kirk 

B & B

S: Zach and I spent most of Memorial day weekend in San Antonio. We went to a baby shower for our good friends the Rice's, then stayed the night at the Beauregard House Bed and Breakfast in King William Historic District. We stayed in the Picasso room, which was very nice, but from what we could tell lacked any decor having to do with Picasso.

wildflowers

S: I came home today to find a wildflower bouquet in our kitchen! Zach had noticed the flowers yesterday on his way home from work and stopped today to pick them. Unfortunately, we had swapped cars, and the pocket knife he was planning on using was in his car. Zach, being the dedicated husband that he is, used his teeth to break the stems. If I had been there I would have scolded him for using his teeth as a tool. and I would have also told him about the pocket knife I keep in the glovebox of my car. 

Z:  One of my best worst habits is thinking that my teeth are the greatest tools in the world. I'll never get cavities, but I'm willing to break them one day while biting on some tree branch, nail head or rock.

Master Bedroom

Ok... back to some remodeling highlights.

Before (previous owner's furnishings)

Quite a bit was done in here, but of all the rooms, I think the least amount of work was done in the master bedroom. We removed all the popcorn ceiling, retextured, replaced the blinds, and painted the walls. Nearly all the furniture in this room was passed down to us by family.

After

Where I sit to read and tie my shoes...My grandmother had this chair in the corner of her room next to the window. It's become pretty threadbare in places but I love it just the way it is (especially the green fabric) and am going to hold out as long as possible before reupholstering it.

Plants & Packing Peanuts

S: Styrofoam can be good for nature...sort of. I had three antique food crocks from my mom's side of the family and wanted to use them as planters, but I didn't want to drill holes in the bottom of them for drainage. I had heard you could use styrofoam packing peanuts in potted plants to aide in drainage. I filled the bottom of the containers about 1/4 to 1/3 full with peanuts (making sure I used the non-biodegradable kind). Then I filled the rest up with dirt. The peanuts help prevent the roots from rotting by keeping them out of standing water and they also make the planter much lighter. I did this with some of my indoor plants too. Poor drainage is a huge no-no for potted plants but there are so many fun things to use as planters that don't have holes in the bottom! This way you can cheat a little and still have healthy plants in decorative planters.

This is an old ceramic herb drawer that used to hold chickoree (according to the faded label). Now it's home to one of my house plants!

Birthday

glass orb + pebbles + soil + moss + tiny bench + tiny old couple = hanging terrarium!!!




Zach got me a hanging orb terrarium from Etsy for my birthday! We put it together as soon as we got home from work. It was a little difficult getting all the materials in through the small hole, and I was afraid I was going to kill the moss, but i think it will survive. It came with a tiny park bench and a little old man and woman, who are now seated comfortably in the moss. Eventually the moss is supposed to bloom with small white flowers. The care instructions are pretty simple: indirect light and water every couple of weeks. I checked on my little people last night before going to bed and this morning before I left for work. They looked like they were doing well.

Zilker Botanical Garden

S: Zach took me out to brunch and to Zilker botanical garden as an early birthday surprise! Very thoughtful of him, since I had mentioned a long time ago that I wanted to go to the botanical garden. We went today since my birthday is on Tuesday and we both have work that day. We had brunch at Gypsy Italian Bistro on Barton Springs. Zach had potato mushroom quiche and I had eggs benedict. Both were delicious, and came with bottomless mimosas. We will definitely be back to try out their dinner menu.