Life, Liberty, and Good Coffee: Random Thoughts on Tuesday

Carleen

Whoohoo! This is the last week of classes for the semester. The end of a semester is always bittersweet for me, and this one is even more so because it is really the end. Ok, and maybe because my students ticked me off so badly last week!
The whole Carrie Prejean / Miss California scandal makes me crazy! Our state has so much more to worry about than whether or not some pageant queen is religious enough (that she posed topless at 17 makes some say no) or a religious fanatic (her response to Perez Hilton's question about gay marriage makes some say yes)! Maybe it wasn't the best decision to take off her blouse at 17 and pose for the camera, but lots of young people make stupid mistakes like that, especially if they think it will make them rich and famous. And what the heck is a question about gay marriage doing in a beauty pageant, anyway? Whatever happened to the questions that prompted the immediate responses of "end world hunger" or "establish world peace"? Now those are questions with some substance, for crying out loud! If she's going to be dethroned, it ought to be for false advertising (you know, the boob job and all. . .).
My sleeping pattern is all messed up yet again. For a few weeks, I was back to sleeping until 3 am or thereabouts. But the last week has seen me up and at 'em as early as midnight! When this sleep disturbance happens, I really do end up sleeping like my cats as the Amazing Egyptian Dude says. For the time being, I'm going to attribute this setback to the stress that comes at the end of the semester. (The photo on the right is of the Amazing Egyptian Dude cuddling Marlowe, his purring and drooling buddy.)
I have to give a shout out to my dad this week. He's come a very long way from the days when our computers terrified him, and he is now quite the master at making videos and photo editing. He's been scanning old family photos and putting them on CDs for me and my sisters so whenever I need a picture, I just call on my dad. He contributed the one for my Tales of the Fourth Grade BFFs post and the one of him, my mom, and me that I used for the Music Monday post yesterday. He recently set up a blog of his own, so please check it out and offer some encouragement. I think it's awesome that a 70 year old, who used to think that every button he pushed on a computer might cause it to blow up, has come such a long way!
Vacation planning has begun. My favorite aunt (mom's sister), my youngest sister, and I plan to make a road trip from Texas to Florida to visit the other two aunts. My travel plans will depend on how much of the hurricane season I want to deal with. Last summer, my daughter, niece, and I made a road trip to southeast Texas where the aunt and sister live. We had a fabulous time, except that hurricane season was in full swing by that time (mid August), and we were lucky enough to experience the tropical storm that arrived before Ike hit. Living according to hurricane season is not my idea of fun, as the stress is unbelievable! Once the predictions for this season's storms are made public, I'll have a better idea of when to plan my trip to the Gulf Coast.

Happy Tuesday, y'all! If you'd like to join in the fun of random ramblings, just post 5 random thoughts on Tuesday. Send me the link to your post by leaving a comment, and I'll add you to the list of Random Ramblers!