the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry

Back in sophomore English at Kearns High I gained a plethora of knowledge. Including the addition of the word plethora to my vocabulary. Three things that stand out from the year I spent with Mrs. Lofgren are:

• some teachers don't like you
• Jacob Jenkins was a diagramming sentence genius
• The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry ("Of Mice and Men")
  

First off, some teachers just aren't going to like you. If you're at school to learn and gain knowledge you'll have a better chance of being liked but if you happen to be more interested in the hot guys, the cool girls and how funny you can be, you may find yourself coming across a few people who misunderstand you and find a strong distaste for your kind. In retrospect I can see why Lofgren and I did not find ourselves well suited.

Secondly, it is NOT fair that Jacob got all the attention he did. As you can see I'm not bitter, I hold no ill feelings. It's just that Jacob transferred mid year from some other school. He had spent many years being taught grammar and sentence diagramming. He knew what he was doing because some teacher prior to Mrs. Lofgren had actually done her job. I wish I would have understood this back in the day. I was certain he was just super smart and well I also had a hunch that our 90 year old English teacher was hot for him. He got all the attention and diagrammed sentences as if he were walking through the park. I hold prior teachers responsible for my inability to accomplish such task. If I had been taught (or possibly listened) I'm sure I could have grasped the concept as well as the hot new transfer student.

Third and finally, the purpose for this post; the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. It seems this was Mrs. Lofgrens catch phrase. I remember long after completion of the last pages of reading, Of Mice and Men, and the final test being administered, graded and returned Mrs. Lofgren would still use this phrase. It came out quite often and as a result has stuck forever in my brain. I find that as soon as the slightest project turns south this phrase brings itself to the forefront of my mind and basks me in blissful memories of pain.

I love the birds here. I love their sounds, colors and left overs. It's wonderful to see nature up close. On Saturday Kjel and I were at Menards and he surprised me by saying, "why don't we buy you a bird house?" Oh, the joy, the happiness. How sweet of him to think of me. That's why I love this guy. We went right for the aisle and cheap me decided that it would be more fun if the kids built one and could in the end save us a few bucks and bring us some fun memories.

Last night the boys and I walked through Hobby Lobby and found the cutest bird house/feeder kits. On this, the, fourth day of Spring Break the kids and I decided to make bird houses. Those who worked on their own found greater results than the sweet angel that asked for mom's help. It seems I'm not a superhero when it comes to working with wood and nails.