A big pile of dirt.

Today I am excited because a big pile of dirt (soil, that is) is being delivered to our house. 4 cubic yards of the finest fish compost/lawn mix blend, all black and earthy and ready to do some good in our yard.

Really, the whole Tyrrell family should be gleeful about this event and here is why:

I get to be excited because it marks the beginning of the cut flower garden and new patch of lawn I have been envisioning all winter.

Evvy should be excited because a big pile of dirt means lots of worms to take for walks.

Peter should be excited because shovelling dirt is a sexy husband thing to do.

Maqsoum should be excited because rolling in big piles of dirt is a time-honoured canine activity.

I will try to take and post pictures of the dirt-related excitement as it unfolds this weekend. Please, please, pleeeeease don't let it rain!!!

Those things she says.

I have no doubt that Evvy will relish language and reading much as her dear ol' mom and dad do. Her pronounciation certainly belies her 2 1/2 year old tongue, but she loves to absorb and dispense various expressions that she hears, using them in appropriate situations, even if she does not understand them fully. Here are a few of my favourite Evvy-isms.

(Indignantly, when I have done something that has offended her delicate sensibilities): "Mama! Don't you do dat EVER again!"

(When asked whether she needs help with something): "No, sometimes I can do dat by myself because I am a BIG girl now."

(When asked what she is chattering about, apparently to no-one ,) "Oh. Sorry mama, I was just talking to myself."

(When asked what she is doing with the 3 earthworms she is carefully arranging on the lawn): "I taking dem for a walk. Dat's important because they need deir exa-cise."

(While at work with her felt pens. ): "See mama, dat's an email for you. You can put it on your ipod."

(When asked what her email says."): "It says "E-V-V-Y."

I think Peter already wrote about Shoygie and Eyoeyo, Evvy's self-named left and right feet, respectively, but I grin every time I think about it.

And my 5 minutes are now up...

Those who cannot do teach.

When it comes to P.E. I have no problem agreeing with this statement - although usually it just offends me.
I somehow managed to end up teaching P.E. again this year, and for our spring units, which were divided up amongst teachers at random, I got Rugby. Seriously.

You know the public education system is in the midst of collapse when I responsible for teaching a rugby unit.

I have watched a lot of Rugby in my lifetime. Well, to be honest, I have watched a lot of very muscular legs and buttocks belonging to rugby players in my time. But I can't honestly say that I've paid much attention to what their hands are doing. Something about a ball, I think. And then they jump on each other and wrestle or whatnot. Oh dear.

I do like the New Zealand team's Haka. But that's more of a dance, isn't it? But, hey, that appeals to me... as do those short, short, shorts.

Sigh. Wish me luck.

Today's 5-minute post was brought to you by an Outsiders Test. Good luck kids. Yes, I am doing something HIGHLY important right now...

All up in my head.

I have this problem. I love writing, but I feel that in order to write a blog post, it needs to be carefully considered, well crafted and painstakingly edited. It is my perfectionism at its worst. I never have the time to achieve this, so I simply don't start. Pathetic, when I think about it, which I have been doing all day today.

Just now, I was talking to one of my very talented and conscientious students who was having the same problem with beginning an assignment with a tight deadline. She told me, " I know I won't have time to do this to the best of my abilities, so I feel like I just shouldn't do it at all." I asked her why she felt this way and she replied, "I don't know, I guess I just get all up in my head about it."

I looked at her for a second and said, "you know what, so do I."

So here I am. My 5-minute blog post of the day. I am about to hit "post" without reading this through or editing it at all and I kinda feel like barfing. Here we go...