Woo Hoo...

Nothing like waking up to a phone call that says you don't have to go to work. I lay in bed last night praying for a snow day, knowing it was a long shot. At 6:50 a.m...standing there dripping wet from my shower...the phone rings..."hello...hi Brooke, no school today, pipe burst at the jr. high and we don't have heat...are you serious...yes." Hang up the phone and let out a big screech! Went back in the kids' rooms to tell them to go back to sleep. Yeah!!

Happy Snow (or NO Heat Day) to all my fellow co-workers!

Still a Hoot!

Last October, I had the privilege of being a chaperon for Jordyn's 5th grade field trip to Springfield. We visited New Salem, the Capital building, and the Illinois Museum. On our tour of the Capital building, we had a great surprise. Governor Blagoevich was in his office and invited us in (50 kids and 10 adults). He gabbed with the students about the Bears & Cubs, Hannah Montana and so forth. He signed an autograph for each child and spent several minutes posing for pictures. Check these out:

All 5 of us are teachers in the district.

Slipping Big Rod a $20. Ha!

Snow Bunny

Bundled up for a whole whopping 2 minutes to get this snow pic.

101 Things to Do Before I Die

Here are just 2:

#57: Run a marathon. (So I'm a bit out of shape...well, okay, a whole lot! And I would have no idea where to start in terms of training...but maybe with some advice from my sister-in-law who's ran in many...maybe it can be done.)

#88: Go on a week-long (or 2...if my husband will allow me to be gone that long) storm chasing vacation. I've been intrigued by storm chasing, as I lay awake nights watching people do this on The Discovery Channel and Weather Channel.

A New Do

Each morning Camden wakes up with a new hairdo. This is his latest. We like to call it the "Elvis" do. It doesn't matter if I brush it, wet it down or whatever. It will stand on end until it decides to lay down itself.

American Idol Auditions at the Fenton's

1 MP3 Player: $75

1 Stuffed Animal Speaker: $20

1 Mickey Mouse Pen as a Stand in Microphone: $3

An Audience of 3 (Mom, Kye, & Camden): Free

Jordyn Singing "Ready Set Go" by Billy Ray & Miley Cyrus (a tad off key & topped off with air guitar moves): PRICELESS

Nearing the End...

Things around here are returning to normal, for us anyway. The flood was like nothing I have ever seen. The flood, itself, was devastating. However, there are no words to describe the aftermath. Driving down many of the streets, all you see are piles of garbage stacked high and wide. Fortunately, we were not affected too badly. We had a trickle of water in the unfinished side of our basement (see photo below) and a tiny bit of seepage on our carpet on the finished side. Brandon did an awesome job to make sure the sump pumps didn't quit. He was the one who stayed up all night and day babysitting the pumps. Unfortunately I was no help, as I was glued to the window most of the day watching the water run up the streets around us.

The only good that has come from this flood is a clean basement. We knew we needed to scrub the floors and walls around the seepage site. We just decided to do the whole basement. It was quite a fiasco. I'm sure we used too much bleach, as we were both coughing and gagging. We thought maybe we would have to evacuate our house at midnight last night due to the bleach fumes. We opened the house up to air it out, and that helped some.

So as life has returned to normal for us, please keep those less fortunate in your thoughts and prayers.

This is it...our little "flood".

Thank you, thank you, thank you...little sump pump for not giving up! (It was sounding rather sickly after running for about 36 hours straight!)

Pontiac Flood 2008

Update (1/11/08): Flood waters, for the most part have receded. Our sump pumps never quit working, so just a trickle of water made it's way into our basement. We haven't had school since Tuesday, as Washington School had 6" of water throughout. Cleaning crews are working around the clock and are making great progress at the school. Staff returns Monday to put things back and students return on Tuesday. Visit The Pantagraph.com for full coverage. Check their photos out...it's unbelievable, yet so devastating.

As many of you know, the Vermilion River that runs through Pontiac is flooding. We took a drive around town this morning and it's pretty devastating. Water is everywhere! School was cancelled for today and tomorrow. The school I work at is flooded. I tried to drive by there this morning, but could only get a block away before I came up to barricades. As for us here at the homestead...there is little water in our basement. The sump pump has been working like crazy and is starting to sound a little sickly. Lord, please allow it to hang in there during the next few days! The water from the river has hit houses and roads 1 block to the north of us and 1 block to the south of us. As of now, our street is not flooded. I'm a bit worried as I watch the water on the street to the south of us creep towards us.

Here are some pictures. They don't do this disaster much justice, but I thought I'd share anyway.

Water coming up the streets 1 block north of us

Water coming up the streets 1 block south

Church in the background flooded

If you look closely, you can see the swinging bridge under water.

1 in 505,000,000 Odds...Will it be me?

Okay, so I am a sucker for contests. However, the one contest I have never entered is the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. Well, today I got the information in the mail. $5,000 a week for life! Call me a sucker, but I'm entering! According to my mailer, someone with the initials "BF" that lives in my area will win. Ha!


While reading the fine print, I realized my odds aren't too great.