The Latta Family

You might wonder if today's blog was written by a teenage girl because of all the exclamation points and general giddiness. It was not.  I'm just super excited.  Where have I been for the last year or so????  Scared of new things and missing out. For whatever reason, this past week, Mason Jar Salads actually registered into my awareness and instead of dismissing them as nonsense, I decided to try them out.  OMG am I glad!!!!!!  They're so awesome!  I made my first batch last night and I ate my first one for lunch today. I tried a taco salad recipe first.  I got my recipe from here:  Organize Yourself Skinny Taco Salad  (although- small disclaimer, I didn't use ground turkey, I boiled chicken breasts and shredded them up instead.  The notion of eating cold ground meat, doesn't appeal to me). Do you know what's totally amazing about this thing?!  Lots of things.  First: I put avocados in the salad.  I made these Tu...

The other day I was thinking about a friend who had surprised me with an interest I had no idea about.  Her innocent revelation, lead me to imagining an entire life for her I had no idea about!  She seems like a regular ol' mom, but maybe she's actually like that movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith .  She seems so normal, but when she goes to work, she goes to be a contract killer . . . It occurred to me several years ago that perhaps I lived a bizarrely boring life and that everyone else had some kind of secret exciting life.  A co-worker was getting a divorce.  She came to work one day and was talking about how the husband she was separating from, had hired a PI to follow her.  I commented, "Oh how boring for him!"   She looked at me sort of oddly and responded, "My car goes up and down the road a lot.  He's probably not bored."  I was like, "Yeah- because picking up kids and taking them to their activities is so interesting."  She just sort of...

For reasons I cannot remember, we were discussing that it was a parents' duty to do embarrassing things to their children, in my classroom today.  I shared this story with my class:  When I was in elementary school, my best friend lived next door to a boy I had a major crush on.  He was so cute . . . in a 4th grade boy kind of way.  I admired him from afar, in what I am sure was a total awkward, dorky way.  He probably had no idea I obsessed over him- NOT!   So anyway, anytime my dad would pick me up from my friend's house, as he would drive by my dad would honk, wave, and yell, "HEY!!!!  Kate's hiding on the floor in the back seat!!!!"    Oh the horrors.  While that was embarrassing, I am pretty sure I have not suffered any post traumatic results. It probably built my character- or something like that.  (although, after remembering this story tonight, I got to wondering about him, so I Face Stalked him- he has his page l...

I am afraid of birds.  I cannot explain my fear of them.  It's not rational.  It doesn't make sense.  My family makes fun of me.  Especially because I like to hold baby chicks.  But I want NOTHING to do with chickens.  That's not to say I don't appreciate a super cool hawk that hangs in my hard for awhile, or the bird family when they nest in my wreath- but I like to admire when there is a window between me and them. One time a bird flew in our house.  I was home on maternity leave with Alexa.  Andrew and Doug were at school.  Alexa was napping in her room.  I had stepped in the garage for a second, and left the door open- since it would just be for a second, and suddenly a bird flew in the house.  I screamed and ran in the garage.  I left my newborn baby in house- alone with a bird.  What if it pooped on her?????  I stood in the garage for awhile debating on what to do (there was a lot of jumping around, hand ...

I don't know if it's because it is the end of the school year, or because a favorite administrator of mine passed away, but I have been thinking about my years in education.  I won't lie, I have some memories that I am a little embarrassed about, some that I was not my best self, and some that touch my heart. 1. My 2nd or 3rd year teaching one of my students told me I could kiss his a$$, I responded (in a yell), "YOU CAN KISS MINE, ON THE WAY TO THE OFFICE!!!!"  I clearly remembering stomping down the hall with that kid in tow.  He had an easy 50 pounds on me, baggy pants, and dark brown hair, and a bad attitude (a crazy mother too). 2. One semester I taught a classroom with twelve 10th grade boys and two girls that did not speak English.  One of the boys brought fart spray- frequently to class.  It smelled awful! I decided payback would be the best solution to this problem, so I brought Lysol- the medical smelling variety- and every time he'd spray fart s...

Lately, I have been reading a LOT of trashy love novels.  It's the way I escape.  I don't watch television trash, I read trash.  It occurred to me the other night after finishing up yet another trashy love novel, that Doug was not exactly like the men featured in those books. Last night we had a rare opportunity to go out without kids.  We decided to celebrate with a little ice cream. While we driving up to the local ice cream store, we debated on whether we should get out of our car and eat on the benches, or sit in the car and gaze into each other's eyes.  He did not care for that suggestion, because after those words came out of my mouth, he made a gagging sound, followed by a fart sound.  I had to laugh, because little did Doug know that I have been gathering research for this blog for the last week, by rereading some of my favorite books, to prove- he ain't no trashy love novel alpha male.  None of the dudes in my books respond to the loves of t...