Do your best and leave the rest....

RIP Margie & Bruce

2011-01-10T20:17:00.001-04:00

Sunday, April 11, 2010
Dinner With Another Blog Follower !!
Wow! We've really hit the jackpot again. Bruce and I got the great opportunity to meet another blog Follower. Sometime after we arrived in Texas I got an e-mail from a lady in Florida. Her name is Bridget and she is one of my very first Followers.....way back before most of my readers even knew this blog existed. She had read my post about heading for Florida and she inquired as to whether we'd have time for a "meet and greet." YES, we would certainly make time for that.

So after we left Cocoa and the space center, we arranged a dinner meeting in Orlando. Bridget has her own blog and you can check it out. It isn't about an RV life, but about her daily life as a school teacher and mom to 3 girls. When we met at Mimi's Cafe, Bridget arrived with her middle daughter, Brandy.

I was curious as to why Bridget began following my blog since she and her husband are not RVer's. She said that they find the RV lifestyle very interesting and hope to one day get their own RV and travel throughout the country. Great answer and it is pretty much why we all do it. So she stumbled on my blog, long ago, and is now one of my loyal Followers. And for that, I am grateful.
Since Bridget is so much younger than Bruce and I, I was really flattered that she would even want to spend an evening with 2 old fogey's like us. We had a great evening and she and her daughter are just the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. She is teaching Chemistry this year at the high school level and that really keeps her busy. Plus, her oldest daughter is 8 years old and is in competitive gymnastics just like our 8 year old granddaughter, Mackenzie. So we actually have some things in common.

We enjoyed our meal and the conversation was interesting and fun. It was great getting acquainted with another blogger and Follower. I'm still somewhat amazed by all of this blogging and finding such great new friends out there in the big, wide world. Never dreamed this could happen in a million years.

So...THANK YOU....Bridget and Brandy for meeting us for dinner. I really hope we can meet up with you folks again someday.

Until next time.......so long for now!

WOW! Really?!

2010-12-22T12:05:00.002-04:00

6 months since I blogged? What in the world have I been doing with me time instead of blogging? Just living. Being a Mom of 3 actively, healthy girls. A teacher. A Wife. A Jazzercise instructor. I think that's mainly all. Maybe I can resolve to blog more for the New Year. Well, at least while home on break? lol

Revelation

2010-07-21T22:07:00.001-04:00

All humans interactions seem to have rules or guidelines - some written, some not. If you know the rules you will be successful. Think about it.....

Consistent much?

2010-07-18T13:08:00.003-04:00

Back from my "vacation". Trying to unpack now....well, not RIGHT now. Right now I am procrastinating about unpacking hence my entry. lol

I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason. My vacation part of this trip (rafting & ATVing in WVa)was nixed as the Mister obtained a herniated disk in his back on the 4th of July. This means the main reason for our trip was canceled but we went to visit people anyway. The "to-be" part is I don't think my Mom could have handled my girls while we were in the backwoods for 2 to 3 days. While around my old stomping ground, I tried to escape for a couple hour increments for little mini-mental vacations and she would call me complaining about them for various reasons such as not eating dinner. Well, when you oblige each of them with 2 McDonald's milkshakes and endless popsicles I don't expect them to eat dinner especially the 2 year old. Nor would I expect them not to be bouncing off the walls. Why ask me to discipline them when you will get mad at me for making them unhappy. In a restuarante this trip she actually told me not to stifle the toddler squeals and screams that could easily shatter a wine glass as they were "happy noises". Seriously???? Where was THIS lady when I was growing up?

Daily Stuff

2010-07-07T08:40:00.007-04:00

I can't even complete my own challenge. *sigh*

This week my Mom is down visiting and at the end of the week we are driving up to Ohio to visit. Maybeeeeeeeeeeee.....I can update on daily happenings.

Yesterday we shopped. Mamaw is of the mind set that when you visit some one you bring a gift. She brought each of the girls a little doll, about 3 inches, in size but had promised to take them shopping once she got here. We bought yarn stuff for the oldest. She is being taught about to crochet. (I have no CLUE how to do it so she better soak in all the direction she gets! lol) The Middie got her Zoobles - girl Bakugon. (Yeah, don't ask me either b/c I don't really understand it but it seems to be the "new" Pokemon type things.) The toddler "needed" a new crown and wand since the Middie accidentally stepped on hers. She has been sporting those and the butterfly earrings that came with them ever since. We also have 48 more Silly Bands.

Today we are doing the pool here instead of the beach. My meds have me avoiding the sun like the plague. I get scabby not burned. It is GROSS! BTW, you think they want to make sure I know to NOT get pregnant. No worries on that Mr. Medicine. A tubal helps me out.
At least I will get to sport my new bikini top (if you can call it that). SPF 50 of the rashguard shirt and SPF 90 lotion AND sitting in the shade. Hopefully that will save me.

Between that am Mamaw not walking too well (doesn't want to trek through the sand or fight the ocean waves she says), we'll hang here. The oldest has her allergy appointment this afternoon then gymnastics and I teach a Jazzercise this evening. My 3 new routines yesterday were decent. I hope to make them better today. :)

Let's see if I can update like this for a few days.....

8

2010-07-01T13:45:00.001-04:00

I BOUGHT SIZE 8 JEANS AND JEAN CAPRIS!!!!!! I have never been a single digit size in all my adult life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!

Today

2010-06-28T08:05:00.002-04:00

Already Jazzercised for today. Taught the 5:45am class. Yeah, I am good like that. I will be metabolizing efficient all day today. :)

Beach today!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Sunday!

2010-06-27T12:39:00.003-04:00

Church - good. Big Breakfast (which DH helped me cook) - good (although cost me 11 WW points...guess I am only going to eat 2 meals today....well, depends on if I Jazzercise this afternoon or not....). Going to go shopping with the SIL w/o the kids - excellent.

Need to fill out the WW paperwork so I can get some money from them. I need to hit lifetime weight before I will officially be hired and if the scales keep going up, they are not going to want me. :( Again....two meals today.

Update.....

2010-06-26T19:29:00.001-04:00

trying to follow my own challenge here.....

Waiting on DH to get back to make the vacuum arm thingie spin so I can vacuum. Kitchen, living room, toddler's room and bathroom clean. Yea! Need to put my clothes up though.....that is next.

Failing at my own challenge....

2010-06-26T15:16:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I have been in front of the 'puter more than this but.....hey, I AM posting now! :)

Did Boot Camp at Jazzercise today. It wasn't as difficult as the one I did when I was training to become an instructor. So either I am getting stronger or the two ladies who lead it were softer. Not sure how to decide the answer.

Straightening the apartment for the arrival of the sister-in-law and her hubs. Hope they don't want to eat anything while here b/c it is slim pickins'.

Coordinating with the girls our Eclipse date. YEA!!!!

Needing to look at some of these textbooks I have to evaluate (UGH) and fill out my Weight Watchers paperwork to be an employee. If I keep gaining weight they will not want me. On that note bought 3 new pairs of shorts today. From the juniors section. :)

More randomness later. Must sort papers now.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

2010-06-25T17:55:00.002-04:00

Summer is in full swing and I am not living up to my promised bloggy standards. So I am challenging myself that every time I sit down to the computer to FB or log WW points or whatever, I am going to post something in my blog. It may be...ok, probably will be, totally random but it will be SOMETHING. Hang on for a bumpy ride folks. This could get interesting!

This summer I have been more busy than during the school year. I am not quite sure how I let this happen but it has. I am teaching Jazzercise about 4 times a week and still attend my weekly WW meetings (up a little and not quit at goal yet but....sooooo close). I have traveled with most of my little family for a 5 day over nighter to correspond with the oldest's gymnastics camp where we did everything that city had to offer. I have been to Hollywood Studios at Disney. We have been to 2 different beaches and visited several pools for wet madness. I was trained in how to evaluate science textbook for the state department of education and this week alone have collected the 39 boxes of materials I am to evaluate before our September meeting. And you remember I am a mother of 2, right? Yeah, no time for foolishness here. We are working hard and using every nanosecond of summer! Stay tuned for more action.

On a side note Eclipse...opening night = midnight Tuesday --> Can't wait!!!!

Oh yeah, I got one.....

2010-05-16T12:24:00.001-04:00

PSA for Today

2010-05-15T15:36:00.003-04:00

This goes out to all the parents who have obviously never attended a gymnastics meet before. Only one person will compete on each apparatus at a time so please MOVE when it is NOT your child.

For the record this was not my child or his child either. This dude is in the video of my child that I recorded. Why did he need to stand there? It wasn't his kid. At least kneel down or something. You make a better door than you do a window.

Yeah, yeah, yeah

2010-05-12T19:24:00.001-04:00

I am still alive. I am fighting the good fight until school is out. I have a ton of "journaling" here I need to do and will, you'll see. Just keep waiting patiently on me. :)

The big 3-0

2010-04-17T08:49:00.002-04:00

As of this morning I am down 30 pounds!!!! (since August)

At least 6 more to go before I am with in the medically approved healthy BMI.

Mad cooking Skillz...I gots 'em!

2010-04-05T11:16:00.004-04:00

I continue to impress myself with each and every recipe. I was never really taught how to cook. I was the baby of the family. My youngest brother is 13 years my elder so I was the baby BABY. I was always seen as more of a nuisance. I was shooed out of the kitchen. As a teen that continued so I never really learned how to cook anything from scratch. I survived college on canned items, frozen pizza rolls, shells and cheese (the kind with the Velveeta in the pouch - yum) and of course Ramen noodles. (Obviously I packed on the freshmen 15...all those carbs, little to no exercise and massive amounts of alcohol consumption - NO WONDER!)

But now...I think I am a miracle worker in the kitchen. I have gotten really good at putting together a meal from nothing. I never thought I would be able to construct all the stuff I make. And I am still learning! I especially LOVE using the crock pot. That thing it great. I try to teach my girls a little culinary skills at a time. I can see why I was shooed away. It sure is a lot easier when there are not little people all around who could potentially get hurt but they will never learn anything not being in there with me. I want them to learn how to eat and cook healthy so that when they are young adults a meal comprised totally of carbs is not an option. I make myself proud in this respect and hope that my domestic goddess grandmother who was the epitome of a homemaker is smiling down on my and my mad skills. :)

L8R

2010-04-04T08:14:00.003-04:00

I hate being late. I mean I detest it with a passion. Why is it on Easter Sunday when the Pastor even said last week that parking will be tough we are still going to be late. After being at a friends' house late last night I got up extra early so that I could get the turkey breast cooking, shower, shave my leg, and usher 3 little girls through getting ready with minimal stress or grouchiness. I am ready to walk out the door with time to park and still get to worship with some great music but what am I doing???? Blogging. Gee, I wonder why that is. Grrrrr! I HATE being late but it most certainly does not start my Sunday mornings off the way I want them to be started - in a state of reverence.

Why do I blog?

2010-04-02T13:07:00.005-04:00

Thinking back to when I started my blog, it all began because I was lonely. We had moved to a new state (1000+miles away from where I was before) and I needed an outlet for my loneliness. I am less lonely now but continue to blog. Unlike many of the blogs I follow, I don't really have a set theme other than 'me'. Bloggy friends I have vary from Moms blogging about couponing to nerdy science sites (I say nerd with the up most respect b/c I am one). I post what I am thinking or feeling or things that I see/hear that I like. I am glad to have the teeny tiny following I do. I appreciate knowing you read about my ramblings and thoughts. That is little peek into my world. Thanks for letting me share.

Blogging...

2010-04-02T09:43:00.001-04:00

I am in a workshop watching a video about blogging and I am blogging at the same time. tee hee hee

More Muppet love

2010-04-01T20:57:00.000-04:00

reposting since my other one got sucked down the drain...

2010-04-01T20:56:00.001-04:00

Tee hee hee

2010-04-01T20:55:00.000-04:00

I'm still alive....

2010-03-31T20:43:00.002-04:00

One more day with students before Spring Break. YEA!!! I have been doing a lot of Jazzercising in order to prepare for Workshop next week. I have not been tracking (I'm a bad girl, I know....). A friend has offered to let me in on her 'email' tracking ring that her and some of her friend do to keep each other honest as well as promote actually tracking. That would mean actually being able to track (not being disturbed by one of 3 children or 2 dogs or a husband) on a daily basis. I know I HAVE to track over Spring Break or I will really blow it. I MUST make out my menu and portion out things otherwise I will over eat. Granted I have plenty of things that MUST be done that week (cleaning out my closet since nothing fits, shifting the girls clothes around to the next child it fits, various doctor and dentist appointment and Workshop). Saturday a friend from high school is dropping by on their way to Sea World and I am trying to keep tabs on Margie, my bloggy friend, so I can make plans to meet with her as they pass through on their way to see the Mouse.

My time is up. I am being beckoned...until next time.....

I fell off....

2010-03-13T09:41:00.002-04:00

the WW tracking wagon and what happened? Up 3 pounds this week. YIKES!!!! I am sure the adult beverage and the "ultimate" burger/onion rings I had last night at Friday afternoon teacher "choir practice" I had didn't help the situtation much.

Lesson learned: No, I do not know everything about the points I am eating. I cannot just assume. I must track. Off to the WW site now.

Oh my!

2010-03-10T20:14:00.001-04:00

I hear that at my upcoming instructor training this weekend that I will be skipping until everyone skips the proper way. ARGH!

Eating Healthy

2010-03-10T06:59:00.004-04:00

Last night DH who it the same bean pole weight since high school while eating whatever whenever he wants, makes a proclamation. "This eating healthy stuff is hard. Last night I wanted something and could not figure out what it was and there was not ice cream, cake, cookies, or chips to help me figure it out." So, I am definitely setting the stage for healthy eating. Now to get him to realize that the tuna noodle casserole he and the girls ate had the regular cheese, egg noodles and about half to three quarters lesser veggies than the one I made for me and then maybe we can talk more about eating healthy. lol He also complimented me that mine was WAY better than the one my Mom made while visiting. :)

On a side note I now have replicated my Grandma's/Mom's bean soup recipe. I am the only one who eats it but it is good and decent on the WW points scale. This morning I took some Gas-X as a precautionary measure for school teacher survival. Beans, beans the magical fruit.....

An Update....Where to start???

2010-03-05T21:37:00.013-04:00

This could be a LONG post so grab something to drink, get comfy and settle in. I am alone in my apartment for the moment. DH is dropping the oldest off at a friend's (in celebration of becoming ungrounded for hiding a bad progress update from us for about 6 weeks) and has the other two with him. I think I will break this up into topics so skip the parts you don't want to know about. (Updating to add that this took 3 different sittings as the family came home soon after the post started.)

School - Same ol' snit, different day. I have been dealing with a large amount of cheating which I detest as I feel like it is lying and I cannot stand to be lied to. So that has been very emotionally draining. Especially when a student whom I felt I had a really strong connection to cheated on a quiz and I caught him but apparently something was going on at home - Mom has something to do with the military - and that served as a wake up call to her that she needed to be home more. That ended well.

Church - Loving the new church! The upcoming sermon series is titled "One Month to Live". I think this will provoke me to blog to get some of my thoughts out. When I start to ponder that I idea I think about spending as much time with family and friends as possible but am very confused as to how to live my life that way when there are bills to be paid. Then I think about my Mom and what will happen when she passes. Then I get really sad and have to stop thinking about it b/c I cannot even fathom it happening.

Jazzercise - I have taken the plunge and am working to become certified to teach it. So much hard work but it is fun and really helping me lose more weight. I go to Workshop April 8 so keep sending me positive vibes. What a way to end my Spring Break, huh? I got duped into take a 'Power Hour' class that was similar to personal training and even though I thought my arms were going to give out from my upper body weight and I would fall flat on my face, I made it through. The next week I was sore in random places but it hurt so good!

Weight Watchers - I am less than 10 pounds away from my 'goal weight'. That is down about 27 pounds since joining in August. It is the upper end of the official BMI for my height. It is what my driver's license said in High School but I think I even weighed more then. My clothes are all hanging on me and I feel like I am a child playing dress up when I go to put on something I haven't worn in awhile. One morning I went through 2 pairs of pants and three shirts before I found something that I could deal with wearing - I didn't look great but....I hope to get a new wardrobe but am waiting until I am finished losing weight b/c some of the stuff I bought 2 months ago is now too big. It is frustrating but a good frustrating... except for the fact I don't have money to replace my entire wardrobe every 2 months. Another thing it that I have to try everything on. I don't like a lot of the current "styles". I have become a very 'vanilla' dresser. Give me a khaki pair of dockers and a black t-shirt and I am a happy camper. I honestly thought I would never make it this far on my weight loss journey. If I would have thought I could do it before, I would have done it before. I mean I tried all the over the counter drugs and many of the prescription numbers too (Phen- phen anyone??? I did.) and this program has been the easiest and most successful. I am smaller that I was when I took Meridia a few years back. I would have never believed me if you told me Weight Watchers would work for me.

So that is what all that has been keeping me busy. One day I hope to be able to blog on the regular but I really feel like I am surviving from day to day putting out the fires that need put out the most and letting the others smolder until another time.

Love it! More Science meets rap

2010-02-21T14:03:00.000-04:00

My week...the highlights....

2010-02-11T20:40:00.003-04:00

Tuesday - Former student who is now in the chemistry class next door has a seizure and his new teacher did not know of his history. Another student whose Mother is also a teacher at the school I am at chews me out b/c she wants her son moved from honors to standard level chemistry.

Wednesday - Faculty meeting where I am recognized for my National Board achievement. Coincidentally the superintendent and the head of high schools for the county is there. Get an email from my head principal about 10pm that the earlier mentioned teacher/mother wants a conference the following afternoon.

Thursday - No alarms went off. Woke up at 6:02am. I am usually awake by 4:45am and at school by 6. Receive several emails in response to gradesheets I sent home earlier in the week. Have conference with teacher/mother after school. She was late to the conference but did apologize for snapping at me earlier in the week. The world's greatest administrator was there with me and lead us through a very successful conference. I felt very relieved.

Oh, and I am working on learning my Jazzercise workshop set for becoming an instructor. My head continues to spin. I wonder what tomorrow will bring for me.

Ugh....

2010-01-20T20:12:00.000-04:00

Fat free cheese....you taste gross....that is all.

Favorite Christmas Gifts this year...

2010-01-18T13:30:00.006-04:00

Of course I picked these out myself (not one for surprises unless EXTREMELY well hidden).

My new purse - not an over the top brand name. I love it! Less than $20. :)

For you gentlemen this is probably TMI but I am elated that I can fit into Victoria Secret bras again and replenished my bra stash. Not overly sexy or exciting colors but I love them! <3

Trying not to blame myself....

2010-01-13T16:34:00.002-04:00

Maybe it is just my nature. Or maybe somewhere in some education class somewhere I was told it is my responsibility.....

It is exam time here. My students have a nine week exam and a semester exam w/i a week of each other. Today was the nine week exam. I am partially finished grading them but to combat the verbal comments of "It wasn't that bad" the grades are THAT BAD! I cannot figure out what else I could have done to help. I have seriously been teaching my little heart out. I have been "leaving it all in the classroom" (as opposed to the pep talk of leaving it all on the field...). I even gave them study guide material (which I said I wasn't b/c I felt the test study guides along with the tests which I went over in addition to all the papers I look for in the notebook collection wad plenty to study from. But I did it any way. Around the room I posted sample questions which mimic the exam questions. I may use a sodium instead of a calcium or other things like that but essentially I gave them the exam questions AND when they lift up the poster, the answer with the work! What else could I have done? Sooooooo depressed.......

Seriously? It has come to this?

2010-01-13T06:57:00.003-04:00

Last night I woke up from a vivid dream where I was continually trying to explain to my students how a single replacement(displacement) reaction works while balancing an equation. Ugh! Now I am teaching in my sleep?

The Joys of Toddlerhood

2010-01-06T20:15:00.002-04:00

The tow year old has discovered the yummy goodness of graham crackers dipped in cold milk. I may never have to cook for her again. I swear she ate an entire package today. I made breakfast for dinner (pancakes w/ syrup and sausage). She still chose the graham crackers. Oh well. I tried.

Starting anew.... where am I now?

2010-01-01T10:24:00.002-04:00

These were my NYR (New Year's Resolutions) for last year. Let me see if I have kept up.

Drop some pounds/firm up - get on an exercise/diet regimen - I joined WW and Jazzercise in August, love both and am about 20 lbs lighter than I was then. Plan to continue both. Even thinking about becoming a Jazzericse instructor although the start of fee scares me!

Successfully finish NBC - YES! Finally. Praise God! Thinking about becoming an assessor myself now for a little bit of extra money or maybe revenge? Just kidding well, kind of....I am assuming if I assess then the renewal in 8 years should be cake, right? I wonder if NBCT will still get a little stipend then.

Make some more "me time" - Well, with the Jazzercise and WW I think that is where the me time has come in but I would sure like some more.....

Organize stuff - anything - well, everything. - baby steps on this one...We now have all our belongings in the same state (I guess that would be step one). Since I am down 2ish sizes in clothes I recently cleaned out all the too big stuff. Yea for being smaller. Boo for losing clothes that I really like and not having the money to replace. Trying to look on the brighter side of "I am not finished losing weight so I don't want to buy new clothes yet" but I was a bad eater this holiday season. :( So, I do keep organizing and finding a better way to store/keep 100 lbs of stuff in a 50 lb sack.

Get rid of my acne (Accutane???) - I haven't gotten new medication but I things in this department are mostly better until my monthly bill comes due.

Grow my hair out...maybe... - Since August, been growing but the 'swooping bangs' that HAD to be cut due to coloring/straight iron damage is the part I am the most impatient with. I hate not being able to tuck them behind my ear. So I guess I am working on this one too. I didn't even remember I posted this one or that this time last year I was thinking about it. I like the posh cut/bob I seem to hover between these days.

So, what is different for this year.....that is a whole 'nother post!

Reminiscing via music

2009-12-31T23:10:00.007-04:00

This post will not be for those with little ears running around but on this fine New Year's evening I have been on a You Tube video kick with old school songs that really strike a code with me. Hope you enjoy some of them too....

A remix but hits on some others.....

Again a remix but still does it...

Well, I think that is enough for now.....seriously memories, some good, some not so good but still there.

Hey y'all...too funny

2009-12-13T20:11:00.000-04:00

Interestingly sad....

2009-12-12T09:14:00.001-04:00

Created by Online Education

Electromagnetic Spectrum in chart form

2009-12-05T20:36:00.001-04:00

Totally geeking out here but this really is cool. How/why did I find it? Looking for rainbow images for my daughter's powerpoint.

Holding myself accountable....

2009-12-05T20:02:00.007-04:00

This post will be somewhat embarrassing for those who know me personally but I am posting it b/c I am proud and I want to continue on my weight loss journey and I am hoping this will help me by celebrating my success so far. I love how the WW site allows me to track it with this cool graph too but maybe that is just the science nerd in me.

This is going to be bad......

2009-12-05T19:42:00.003-04:00

A friend and IB/AP English teacher in my building posted this as a note on her FB. I do not have those kind of cajones as I know this is going to be ugly.....maybe the truth will scare me into doing something about it in my infinite spare time..... (mind you when copying from her site I had to take off about 90 of her Xs).

Books I have read:
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series (at least 2 count)- JK Rowling (Not yet but I own and plan to!)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X (Junior year in high school and reread)
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X (senior year HS)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X (senior year HS)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo TolstoyX
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X (senior year HS)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled HosseiniX
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernières
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X (Middle school)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X (senior year HS)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave FlaubertX
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Did a lot of reading in Mr. Wheeler's class.
Why isn't the Twilight series on here? :P

MLIT

2009-12-05T19:30:00.002-04:00

A friend pointed me in the direction of this site. (Thanks Chemguy!) I have been reading and cracking up all evening. Hope you like it too!

My next endeavor???

2009-12-05T19:22:00.002-04:00

I have thought about doing this for years (even with a 5-ish year hiatus from Jazzercising) but after reading this, maybe becoming an instructor isn't worth it. Hmmm.....

Throwing myself another pity party....

2009-12-05T13:24:00.004-04:00

I will try to make this a short post (lol).

After having my Mom here all of Thanksgiving break (which was actually a good time....post more later), school resumed this past week. The Mister left early Thursday morning to head up north to get our last Uhaul of belongings and place them in storage here. All that will be left to selling the house is actually signing on the dotted line by all parties (waiting on the loan/first time buyers stuff to go through - seems to be a clog in that paperwork, really? You're "giving" thousands of dollars away and everyone wants their cut, really Mr. President? duh.) I am playing the role of single parent which is stressful enough but of course in the true fashion of my life Thursday evening the oldest calls from gymnastics practice to tell me her throat is red and swollen and she cannot breathe through her nose. I go get her and decide to head to the dr. The twilight pediatrician with her office is cheaper than Urgent care so I decide to go that route but the office is in the next city about 30 minutes away. I got home and mapquest the directions. I realize I forgot to drop off the payment to the gym while picking up sicky girl. I then head to day care to get the two well girls since I knew there was no way I'd be back to get them before the daycare closed. Then back to the gym to drop off the check then finally on the road to the Dr. or so I thought. At that point the toddler says she needs to potty. I lost my mind for a brief moment. I pulled into McDonalds and the girls all went potty and I ordered dinner. (Sorry WW, the stress was too much. I was not sensible, nutritious or considerate in what I ordered and consumed. I biggie sized and devoured under shear survival mode. Not a proud moment on this healthy lifestyle change of mine but....it happens. I weighed in this morning and was down 4.3 lbs but last week I was up 3 so....I guess I am still winning on the deal.) Back on the road with mouths chewing artery clogging goodness. Made it to the office. Waiting about 15 minutes to see the Dr. She said the asthma sounds good but the gymnast has the "new germ" that is going around, no flu or strep, but a a head/nasal congestion, and terribly sore throat. Some kids have a cough to boot but not mine. I was told to treat the symptoms and have her rest (no school Friday) and would have to wait and see about the state competition Sunday. Came home and after a few melt downs by various and sundry ladies of the house every one was finally in bed (maybe not their own but a bed) by 9:30ish. Friday I taught all day, had an annoying parent conference after school (will vent about this singularly later....) and came home to sicky. She had only eaten 1/3 of a bowl of ramen instead of the chicken noodle soup I laid out for her. She had consumed NO liquids even after being told to drink as much as she possibly could (she claimed she could not find her water bottle...well, we only have 6 that are NOT being used in the cabinet right now. grrr....she also said she could only watch tv as the rain was too distracting to read. grrr....translation: I was sucked in my the Disney goodness on tv all day so she did not even sleep to help matters.) Early this morning as the toddler drug me out of bed to turn on Dora, I met the sicky in the bathroom. She said she was sick to her stomach now b/c she tried to drink so water. I tried to explain that is was b/c she has nothing else in her stomach but what do I know. Since then she has slept all day (no tv on by the mean Mommy that I am) but is still not getting any better. I have no idea if we'll be at the state gymnastics meet tomorrow or not nor how I will survive that 4ish hour drive with sicky (or pseudo-sicky if she is feeling decent enough to try), little drama and the toddler. I am stuck in what-do-I-do-now mode and can't accomplish anything b/c I don't know what I should try to do or get done because I don't know if I am leaving on a long car trip or not. ARGH!

Right now it sucks to be the Mommy. It sucks to be the only parent around. It always sucks to not be able to make things better especially when is has to do with a sick kid. And I hate to think of how hard she has worked all season in gymnastics to have this happen with such a stigmatic meet and the last one of the season, like her super bowl.

*sigh*

A Christmastime Survey

2009-12-05T09:28:00.004-04:00

With in the past couple days and with the Mister going north to wrap up the final stuff at the old homestead, I have had some pretty dramatic happenings. I am trying not to only blog about my whines and complaints (maybe that is why my following is so small, lol) so I am trying to save those for another post (you know, everything turns out for the best and you can look back and laugh about it?). So today I am "re-gifting" this Christmastime survey from a blog I follow. Thanks Jo-lynne. Feel free to re-gift from me as well. :)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hands down, chocolate. It will always win. I like mine hot enough to metal the marshmallow's but cool enough to actually drink while leaving some cilia on the surface of my throat's cells.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? We have never taught our girls about Santa. A a personal choice we feel we need to teach the 'reason for the season' as Jesus's birth and there is no white man in a red suit who magically makes things appear. They know not to destroy other kid's thoughts on the subject so all you other parents reading this can rest easy. We also figured childhood was traumatic enough to not add to theirs with the my-parents-lied-to-me-about-Santa-and -here-is-how-I-found-out drama. As far as gift wrapping goes, due to the science teacher in me I choose not to wrap as it is really wasteful. Due to the laziness in my I choose not to wrap as it is too time consuming. And most importantly due to the cheapskate in me I choose not to wrap because it cost too much money to buy paper for the purpose of tearing and then throwing away. Each girls has a huge red velvet bag with their name embroidered on it and all their gifts are housed in there.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? When I am feeling uppity I would say white. When I am feeling redneck-ish I would say multicolored. Right now the only tree we have up in the 4ft pink monstrosity in the girls' room which my Mother bought while here for Thanksgiving (see I told you I have lots of happening to talk about....later....). So for now I say pink.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No. I steal my fair share of kisses without it. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up? As soon as Thanksgiving festivities are over.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Buckeyes or my aunt's red velvet cake.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Christmas was not really fun for me as a child being the youngest and only girl so it always ended with me being teased unmercifully and usually my favorite toy destroyed by my brothers during the teasing. In the last 6 years we started a tradition of taking a timed family picture. That has been fun and probably the highlight of the evening. Last year there were 13 people and 2 dogs. I am sure you can imagine - organized chaos.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? We always opened gift Christmas eve after church so I never bought into the whole Santa thing. It was not forced on me and another reason why I do not do it to my girls.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? See above question. We open ALL gifts then.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? This year (the only year we have had a Christmas tree, my grapevine tree substituted in years past) the pink monster has pink lights and princess lights with a silver star. Not really room for anything else. It is a tiny tree. Not to mention I have to be selective with the toddler tornado running around here.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it as long as I am home and no where to go. Hate it when I would have to drive to work as our school would be the only one NOT to close. Now....don't have to worry about snow. :P

12. Can you ice skate? Yes. Ever earend credit in classes for a series of 3 ice skating classes. I also took belly dancing in college.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Not really.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with family and friends and reflecting on the birth of our Savior. (Staling Jo-Lynne's answer here b/c I could have posted it myself.)

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? See #6.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Church and opening gifts Christmas eve.

17. What tops your tree? Sparkly silver star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Yes. Both please.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Ok. Filed under whatever.

20 Favorite Christmas Show? A Christmas Story. I remember seeing it in the theater (yes, I am that old) and my Mom laughing her butt off when the dogs took the turkey.

21. Saddest Christmas Song? ??????? Grandma got run over by a reindeer. ????

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Gosh, I can't pick one favorite....Carol of the Bells tops my list as well as O, Holy Night and Little Town of Bethlehem. I love the Nutcracker music as well.

Let me know if you take this survey....I am probably already stalking your blog anyway.....so I would know...like Santa. lol

FINALLY!!!!

2009-11-20T16:09:00.004-04:00

I learned that earned National Board for Professional Teaching Standards today!!! Yea!!!! Again 3 years worth of work paying off. It took me longer to earn this that it dig my Master's degree and WAY more writing/revising than my thesis. Finally over....I can exhale now.

Meanial updates....

2009-11-20T06:03:00.003-04:00

New Moon was FABULOUS!!!!

The mid-morning information I was waiting on says it will not be available until after 5pm. This concerns me. If my scoring body cannot "tell time", how can I trust them to score properly???? hmm....

Giggles....

2009-11-19T20:30:00.002-04:00

Hoping I can stay awake to see the midnight New Moon opening. Then my next challenge will be teaching a full day...a pep rally day...a day before Thanksgiving break...

Wish me luck!

Colleagialness

2009-11-19T14:52:00.002-04:00

30 school colleagues sharing a meal in a teacher workroom before Thanksgiving break. Ahhh....very nice. <3

I am thankful for the people I work with. :D

I'm old....

2009-11-19T14:45:00.003-04:00

Today were we encouraged to wear a college (and or sorority/fraternity) shirt in honor of National Education Week and talk to the students about our college experience. First of all A few years back I turned the majority of my college shirts into a quilt which is up north as they are not as needed here in the south. Second the one I have is a slum around shirt and there are 2 small holes in the front. Well, being that I was encouraged (not just allowed but told) to wear my old shirt, I did. Being an older gray t-shirt the only pants suitable was jeans. If you would have told me to wear this to teach several years ago I would have been elated beyond ecstatic. This morning I felt awkward. Like something was wrong with the picture of "the teacher" wearing jeans and an old t-shirt to teach. I was always the person who would fight to say 'clothes don't make the teacher' but I can conclude that they do help. I hate to admit it but I am growing up.

3 years in the Making

2009-11-18T20:06:00.000-04:00

In about 40 hours I will know if 3 years of hard work paid off.....stay tuned for more details.....

Get over it!

2009-11-14T15:02:00.001-04:00

Southerners think they are going to die if the temperature drops below 60 degrees. Seriously. Wusses. Get over it!

An Ode to Art

2009-11-11T20:40:00.007-04:00

Please keep in mind that I am simple country girl who was really not introduced to 'real art' until I took the required art history course in college. From what I didn't sleep through (it was a dark auditorium with cushy stadium like seating once a week in the afternoons....and the prof spoke softly and rather monotone...you would have too...don't judge me....) I learned a lot. Here are my all time favorites no matter how cliche - they really do speak to me.

Starry night - Van Gogh

I hope to have this print hanging in a navy blue/white/pale yellow themed master bedroom some day.

Dali - The Persistence of Memory

Eerily fascinating to me.

Edvard Munch _ The Scream

This is how I feel most days. I can relate.

The works of Edward Weston

I loved all his work. So simple yet liberating - almost like you are looking at something naughty.

These are the ones I recall off the top of my head so they must have made and impact b/c I knew what names to Google for the images.

Hope you like them as much as I do!

Vicious Cycle

2009-11-02T19:55:00.003-04:00

The schools up north I taught at would have parent teacher conferences where us teacher people would meet with parents for 10-15 minutes each to give them a glimpse as to what we see from their student. We would do this for several hours into the night. Most of the time we saw parents who needed that extra pat on the back for good parenting and rarely saw the parents whom we needed/wanted to see to resolve issues. Those were truly exhausting nights. Down here the schools do not do marathon conference nights but have parents schedule a conference for just after the school day finishes at their convenience. I think I am stuck in a conference rut as all my after school days have a conference booked by parents unless there is a meeting of some sort (faculty, department, committee, etc.). So here is that ugly cycle: student feels they are doing poorly for (insert whatever reason here), they complain to Mom/Dad. Mom/Dad schedules a conference - my after school time gets booked. During said conference it is usually mentioned about teachers having office hours or when they are available to help struggling students. My reply is that I am available in the mornings since my after noons are booked with conferences or meetings. Student never comes in during the wee morning hours and nothing changes. :(

Fell off the Wagon....sorry

2009-10-19T05:48:00.002-04:00

I was doing so well with blogging something everyday in honor of the 31 for 21 but then this past weekend happened. *Sigh* I have thoughts to blog but then the escape me as soon as I put my butt in the computer chair. One of these days I will carry around a little notepad to jot down the ideas so that my blog isn't so blah. Here is a rundown of my weekend....

Thursday evening the niecey and BF arrive. We do the kid taxi game.

Friday - School for me as usual. We were in the media center and had to write up a few referral for "violation of acceptable use of electronic resources" b/c some kids had a little too much fun with the discussion board on my page when signing up for a research topic. (Duh....you are posting with YOUR name....duh....no delete option). After school the niecey had picked up the two oldest and then me (since I left her my car to use) and we had an adventure looking for the free flu shots. We found them in the hood. Dropped the oldest off for some 'nastics make up since she missed 3 out of 4 days of practice this week since she was sick. The rest of us shopped a little, picked her back up, got some Chinese food for dinner and the niecey and BF were in bed before 9pm. WTH? What happened to 20 somethings these days? I remember being out until the clubs closed then sleeping until about noon but these two slept more that my now 70 year old Mother (birthday shout out to her as well - Holla!).

Saturday - My usual runnings: Jazzercise then WW. Then I had to run around to get ready for the 'nastics meet: gas, cash, drug store run (got shorter on the oldest's meds). 2:30 drive to meet. FREEZING in the venue. Yes, it is a warm state but no over compensation is required, really. People were going to the local gas station and getting hot chocolate and cappuccinos to drink for warm. Back home about midnight.

Sunday - Dropped them at the airport 6am. Church. Nap - YES, I got a nap!!! I tool it with the Beans. Sneaky Mom trick, right? :)Jazzercise. Grading. Got almost all of it finished before today's test.

Fairly uneventful, Huh? But now you know......

Curriculum Writing

2009-10-13T15:05:00.001-04:00

That is what I did today at another high school in the county. It actually did not suck. We were putting things in a mighty useful Wiki. Then tour connection to the Internet died and thus our in-service ended....early. :)

Perusing Teacher tube

2009-10-12T20:10:00.002-04:00

Cool (?) way to start the school year?

This would be very fun to make.....I'm totally geeking out, I know

Not as good as a recently submitted student rap about atoms I have (will post later) but kind of fun in its own right...

Hmmmm.....

This has been circulating the FB

Admin walk through...

Powerpoint how NOT to

If some people got this idea......

Sicky McSickerson

2009-10-12T19:38:00.002-04:00

Ugh...oldest has the flu...no, not THE flu...just the flu.....grrr.....she has a meet this weekend....needs to get rid of the 103+ fever though....more prayers needed....:(

2 years ago today

2009-10-11T13:55:00.003-04:00

I had my final installment in the girl trio that is heart of my little family. Due to being breech, it was a scheduled C-section and other than that and the gestational diabetes, it was a fairly uneventful pregnancy. I am very blessed with a healthy and happy (well, mostly happy most of the time) two year old. Happy Birthday, Beans!

TGIF

2009-10-09T18:29:00.003-04:00

My colleagues here crack me up. Our Friday afternoon "choir practice" always brings a smile to my face even with out the caloric beverages. One teacher is a Southern Belle. She is certified as a clinical psychiatrist and teachers IB and AP psychology. She is the life of the party. Some of her favorite expressions are: Is the Pope Catholic? Does Chatty Cathy have a plastic heiny? Does a hobbyhorse have a wooden pecker? I could probably write several posts about our inside jokes but I will save them for "the book".

Who Dey PSA

2009-10-08T17:56:00.003-04:00

These are bangles as in bracelets

These are bengals as in Who Dey

Questions?

One of those kinds of days.....

2009-10-08T14:27:00.003-04:00

This morning as I checked my school mailbox I was looking for the county issued science assessment I have been ordered to administer but which really holds no weight for any one and therefore I am wasting as entire day in class with. It wasn't there even though I was supposed to give it on Tuesday but the county had not yet delivered them to the schools at that point. As I am mentally preparing a plan B for the day (more like a plan ZZ at this point but....) my brain connects the dots that I was supposed to pick up my testing stuff from a certain administrator. Thanks for kicking in there, neurons. I like to be at school early so it is about 6am at this point. We are not contracted to be there until 7 and that is most people get there just for that very reason. So I had about a hour before I expected to find said administrator or her secretary. I head off to my classroom and try to be productive.

I had a parent ask me the day before when I arrived at school so that her and her son could come by (son not behaving so well and I have contacted Mom a few times regarding the behavior). About 10 til 7 after seeing no parent, I head over again and anxiously wait to get to my test box. After standing outside a dark office I find the nearest adult, the very 'seasoned' guidance counselor for the building. After having to chat (well, listen) to him for about 7 minutes he finally keys me in and we get what I need. Off to first bell as the warning bell is signaling time for the kids to get to class.

First period begins and even on a good day this class just rubs me the wrong way. I don't think many teachers are at their best first bell of the day or at least they get better as the say goes on. Maybe I am just not a morning teacher/person. Maybe I should ask for 1st bell as plan next year. This first bell has a sense of entitlement to them. Everything is too hard or too much work. For example, when introducing a mini-"project" today a student says, "How many projects do we have in here?" My reply was to refer to the syllabus where I listed them all including this one. I think she felt like the one they turned in last week meant they were finished with projects forever. As a whole they constantly whine and want to exude as little energy as possible when actually thinking about things. Again this is the overall class demeanor. There are some really good, courteous and intelligent students there. They just get over shadowed by all the squeaky wheels. I make it through that class. Second bell comes in. This is a lower academic level that the prior so some students take this assessment so seriously that they personalize it with their drool. They did attempt all 23 questions first though. Third bell and fourth bells which are honors level are concerned where the data from this test is going, how it will affect them and their science classes in the future, etc. I am not at liberty to tell them all of the truth: doubt anyone is really going to look at the data and it means nothing or if they do look at the data it still really means nothing I am just doing what I am told because I need my job and this is what they told me to do. The rest of my classes were fairly uneventful in the same manner. I felt accomplished just to make it through my teaching day.

My last bell plan period has been interrupted by a floater. Yes, some other teacher is coming in my room to teach a different class (biology). I did my best PC whining to administration about how I am in a chemistry lab and I switch rooms when the neighboring chem teachers need the gas hook ups or fume hood and a floater is not a good idea with the access to the chemical stockroom, etc. Didn't work. I have a floater. What is worse right this moment is that I have a floater's class but the actually real teacher for this class is not yet 'legal' to be in the building - hired but needs the BCI and orientation and all. So this class of freshmen (a breed all their own....) were taken from another teacher about a week ago (school rearranging of courses due to high class numbers and we got funding to hire another teacher for the department to cover these classes) and have had a different sub everyday since then in a 'new to them' chemistry classroom. AS you teacher readers know any one of these things would cause chaos but to have all these issues at once....well, that is when you pray that everyone comes out alive. They are off the wall crazy. The sub they had today has worked in our department a lot and is a good sub but things were just not going my way today. I had a dentist appointment at what I was told by my DH at 1:30 (ahem, this plays in later). At lunch I agreed to help the sub for this class today by providing a video AND a set of questions on a worksheet to go with it already copied. I was cuing the Bill Nye as the classes changed from bell 6 to 7. The bell rings to start bell 7. No sub. I piddle and wait around trying to ignore the 28ish kids in front of me and about 4 minutes later (which seems like and eternity in teacher time with a group of kids you don't know) the sub shows up. I would have taken roll but there is no class list. Yeah, how many fine students are skipping this class..... The sub had been locked out of where her stuff was.

Finally I try to leave. A football coach and I pass on the stairs (me with my full backpack, large purse, box of projects to grade and over sized insulated water mug, He with his big self) and he runs into me almost causing me to drop everything not to mention fall down the stairs in my flowy skirt. I had to set down half of my load to unlock the gate to leave the school grounds. Get in my car. I then get a call from my dentist office asking where I am. I tell her the location. She says she is not familiar with that part of town. My appointment was at 1:20 and DH (not so dear at the moment) said 1:20 but figured that was close enough to 1:30 that it wouldn't matter. (HA!) She asks if I thought I'd be there in 5 minutes. I said yes. She told me she'd see if they could still take me for the cleaning when I got there. When I got there she asked the hygienist and the answer was no. WTH?????? I was SO livid. I guess the fact that she was waving the $75 cancellation fee was supposed to make me happy. So the CLEANING that I was trying to schedule during the summer is now rescheduled for the day before THANKSGIVING! I am thinking I need to find a new dentist b/c the latest appointment they have is a 3:30 on Wednesdays which she says is booked until March right now! ARGH!!!

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Anticipation & Disappointment

2009-10-04T09:04:00.002-04:00

Weird evening. Waiting on something that never happened. Wondering why. Was found but not followed through with. Strange.

I attended the Veteran's Memorial dedication and it was nice to be there to support some old and dear friends who lost loved ones in combat. I can't even imagine being in that situation. Hearing admirable stories from veterans was very surreal. They did not hold back any details and these men talked freely about how many they killed. They referred to their nationalities when talking about the killing ("shot that Chinese in the face", "used a grenade in the bunker and killed 7 Koreans"). I wonder how these men feel about immigrants from those countries. Another thought I had was how Christianity and military combat mix. You know, tho shalt not kill (then is fine print unless you are fighting for your country???). It was very surreal and got me thinking.

Home again

2009-10-03T15:53:00.003-04:00

Going to do my best to post for the 31 for 21 but know most of my daily posts will be about nothing of importance to anyone but me. Sorry. I am pretty simple.

Loving being in my hometown. Seeing old friends. Reminiscing. Very nice. I don't think I could "come home" again if you know what I mean but it sure is a nice place to visit. I had a blessed childhood. The small town politics still exist which is the part I liked the least. As an adult I can turn my nose up at them but again not sure I could live here again. There is something to be said for living near the Grandmother and being able to dump the toddler there just because. :) I do miss my Mommy. <3

Southern Citizen

2009-10-02T16:01:00.003-04:00

It's official. My state of mind has changed. Did not bring closed toed shoes to the 'noth (aka north in southern draw) for this weekend. Rainy and dipping down to the 40s = too cold to bare my piggies. Had to buy real shoes.

Also don't tell the WW people but I have been enjoying me some hometown cuisine of Giovanni's Pizza and Snak Shak hot dogs. I weighed in before partaking (down another pound) but am really going to have to moderate my choices to be down again next week.

31 for 21

2009-10-02T15:54:00.000-04:00

Mmmm, like butter

2009-09-27T17:51:00.004-04:00

Haggardly busy weekend for me. Directly after school got my hairs did then put a massive dent in the house cleaning (looked good doing so since my hairs were freshly did too). Saturday morning got up when I usually do on weekdays to get the oldest together for a gymnastics meet. I graded chem tests during the event warm ups. At noon the Mister picked her up then I was on the clock - volunteering for money for her account. I did wrapped flowers, took admissions and worked the high rollers table until the last gymnast left that night (about 10pm). Today I took the girls to church (yes, still loving the church I was introduced to) then went back to the meet to work another 4 hours. The Mister did set up and tear down Friday evening and this evening respectively. We should have some solid money in her account for next year. This year we had none and so all her meet fundage has been out of pocket b/c we were not with the gym the year prior.

So, what does this description have to do with butter? I suppose I could talk about the big buttery Jesus I used to live near but I am not I am talking about these pants. I had a pair of these as short PJ shorts and loved them but my cyber friend Mamalicious had talked so much about them and their buttery goodness that I rediscovered them. Well, Saturday I wore the 'capri' variety and today I wore the long pants (as pictured). Yes, I know they are really lounging pants (aka not supposed to leave the house in) but with the right top and presentation no one will ever know they are for nights. The feel SOOOO good too. Something that feels this good can't be wrong. :) I contribute my being able to survive this weekend to this line of bottoms. I have now vowed I will own all the pants in all colors. Trust me. I am not the only Mommy doing this. I can only hope that one day you will have your own buttery goodness to get you through a busy day.

Oh blog, how I have missed you.....

2009-09-20T21:10:00.001-04:00

(Dang, it has been so long that I prematurely posted an empty update. Not like I have many readers any way.....)

I miss summer. The paid freedom to do what I want when I want. There has been exciting stuff going on. This is going to be some what of a ramble but I have so much to say in so little time.

*My tomato plant produced a cherry tomato. The toddler picked it before it was all the way ripe. Then threw it on the patio. I barely saved it from its two story demise of rolling under the rail. I sat it on the counter until it ripened. I wanted to take a picture of it but forgot and ate it. Tasty. There are 3 other green ones out there. Maybe I will get a pic of them to post.

* School is going great. Busy but good. Not sure if we are just still in the honeymoon period but the students have been well behaved. On the adult front, I have recruited some more colleagues for our Friday afternoon faculty "choir practice". I have been faithful to WW while enjoying the company.

*So far there is over 12 lbs less of me. Yea! Hasn't been too bad but I do miss the Philly Cheese steak and beer battered onion rings I would usually get. I guess something has got to give though. Ahh, sacrifice.

*Jazzercise is WONDERFUL! I have missed it so much. When I need another challenge I think I would like to try to become an instructor. The facility i go to has some phenomenal instructors. I am not sure I would be as good as them but I think I'd like to try it! It costs a pretty penny to become one so that would be the main obstacle.

*Speaking of money stuff...we have a strong nibble going on the house. If things keep going in this direction we will no longer be home owners by the end of next month. WOOO HOOO! Our lease is signed until next August so we have plenty of time but I have been drooling over houses. I am SOOO ready to go house shopping.

*My Mom is coming to spend the week with us for Thanksgiving. It is so not like her to travel away from home during a holiday and to stay for the whole week! I can't wait to hang out with her. I do miss being home.

*Heading north with the toddler the beginning of next month for a class reunion. This should be interesting on all accounts.

*Gymnastics season has begun. One meet down 6 more to go. This weekend is the one our gym hosts so I will be working my tail off to add money to ODD's account for next year. I guess some money for nothing is a good thing but I am not looking forward to working like a Hebrew slave with every waking hour of my weekend.

*St. Anthony has not brought my necklace back to me yet. :( Or my burgundy Mary Jane crocs. :(

*The Middie is a big Kindergartner now. She has had two notes home regarding behavior (hitting another kid b/c he would not stop stepping on her shoe laces) and playing not paying attention. We knew this day would come.

*Beans is now in the 3 year old room at day care even though she is not even two yet. She is potty trained with the exception of night time. They say she listens there and was a better fit into that room with the listening and pottying. Whatever.

*Really liking the new church even though it is the polar opposite of my church at home. I guess change is good.

Well, those are the super exciting happenings in my day to day world. Hope you have enjoyed reading. Maybe I can get a regular pattern going with the blog instead of continuing the posts of randomness.

Webkinz Bunny

2009-09-13T16:11:00.004-04:00

We have MANY webkinz all with names. The oldest just got a white bunny webkinz for her birthday. She decided to name it Nibbles. I continue to tease her by 'mis-speaking' it's name to Nevil (an evil boy character on iCarly - one of the shows she watches and therefore I am forced to listen to frequently). In one of our banters about the name she mis-spoke and said "Her name is Nipples!" So now the bunny has a brand new name.

SO buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

2009-09-12T13:22:00.002-04:00

I have been so busy since school starting I have really neglected my blog. Sorry, baby. :(

I am having a Bean free weekend. She is up north with her Daddy. I have about a half an hour to get things together and take my little gymnast to a BIG meet. We were already out late last night as we had a date with Disney on Ice. It was a great show.

My school world has gotten better since the first week (the post just before this one). It has achieved normalcy. I have a backpack full of grading, a test to revise and make a review sheet for and more planning to do. yep ,that's normal.

I am anticipating the arrival of November. NBPTS results and my Momma will be here around turkey day.

Yeah, I know kind of a small random post but I need to go get stuff together so I am ready to hit the road.

Mi Vida Loca

2009-08-28T18:44:00.012-04:00

I said in my last post (about a week ago) that I joined WW, started Jazzercise again and have found a church that I want to call home here. Well, that just started the mass craziness the past week has been. Let me tell you about it.

Monday: First day of school with the students. The oldest starting 3rd and the Middie started Kindergarten (Gosh, where did the time go?) Only you teachers out there can empathize with the kind of insanity that goes along with the first day. As I return to my room from lunch I check my cell phone (thinking the Mister might have sent me a picture of the girls since he was left to be the camera man for the event) to find that I had a message from the school nurse saying I had a student in the clinic (actually two messages - the first neglected to say which one and why - the second one said it was the oldest but still no why). With my last few minutes of my lunch time I call the Mister. He emails me during class saying she puked and he was going to get her. I make it home about and hour and a half later. She is acting fine but still nauseated (ended up throwing again 2 more times that evening). She had a low grade fever near bed time which I medicated but I am getting ahead of myself in that evening's events. I called once I knew she was home to let 'nastics know that she was ill and would not be there. That didn't necessarily mean I would get out of the drive to the gym that evening since the Middie now has her recreational gymnastics class on Mondays. I had to leave the Oldest home while I go to the daycare to pick up the Middie to transport her directly to her class. I stand and wait in the reception area of the daycare for 45 minutes (about 20 minutes into her class time) while they are trying to sort out the first day of school busing issues (down here the daycares will pick up and drop off at school which is nice but very technical in routing since there are SO many schools around here - several of each public, private, and charter). Once she finally arrives I take her and the toddler home. My throat is scratchy from talking all day (again, I am sure you teachers can relate). Crisis over but geez what a day!

Tuesday: Everyone goes to school but I find out I made a mistake when buying groceries that past weekend and over drafted my account. Get REALLY tired by the end of the day and throat is getting ickier every time I talked. Went to see the doctor for maintence and as a follow up to my ER visit the week prior. Did get to enjoy Jazzercise after that though.Tanned - left my eye wear there. Made dinner AND set up the crock pot for the next evening's dinner (yea me!). Straightened the house back up before bed.

Wednesday: Itchy throat now has a hacking cough to go with it (too bad it wasn't anything this bad while I was seeing a doctor and could get some good meds to help). Planned to stick around after the early release time in order to catch up or get ahead on school stuff then go to Jazzercise. Realized as I was walking out that I can't go straight to Jazzercise as planned since I did pick up the bag of clothes I had packed for the occasion. Made a mad dash home, changed clothes, finally made it to Jazzercise so I decided to stay for two classes (ouch). After making sure all were fed I sat on the couch not planning on moving again until I transferred my body to my bed. I knew once I sat down there was no getting up. I did shift a load of laundry through the washer and dryer this evening so that is something.

Thursday: Hacked my way through the teaching day. I took the nastiest of all known medicines that morning my throat was so closed off. It is like straight eucalyptus and really burns a path for the air so you don't cough for awhile. Jazzercised - just on this time. Tanned - the lady had held back my goggles for me. Girls made it through their days but all three were VERY whiny. The Middie and I shared in our coughing and congestion. She was grumpy to go with it though. I shifted a load of laundry that evening too.

Friday: While at school my voice was crackling in and out. I took pills along with the syrup this morning. Helped some but still coughed a lot. Dabbled in "office politics" with a friend while at school. I notice during my plan the last bell of the day that a strange number had called. It was the Middie's teacher saying my poor Kinder girl had a headache and she was letting her lay her head down. I explained that at this point in the day I could not leave my school b/c I was trapped by the school buses and the earliest I could get there is after their time when they will allow student's to change their after school transportation so I told her to send her to the day care. I figured she'd sit and watch a movie there (forgetting her head was hurting b/c she is a tv junkie) so I could go and visit with colleagues at the local watering hole (our Friday afternoon ritual) while being faithful to WW (getting a salad instead of my much beloved Philly cheese steak and beer battered onion rings) then Jazzercise then pick her up to go to her make-up gymnastics class. That did NOT happen. I got a call about the time I finished up my salad from the day care that she had a fever of 103.7 (her head wasn't hurting any more...). So, I called the gym and let them know she would not be coming in tonight, got all 3 girls and came home. The Oldest got an invite to a friend's house for the night and I let her go so that maybe she doesn't get this ick. The toddler will not leave the Middie alone to rest.

So, this is where I am at right now. Even though I don't have real obligations this weekend (I do have to make it to a WW meeting and I WANT to go to Jazzercise and to church) I hope the Middie and myself can kick whatever this sickness it before Monday. If she has a fever after my morning Jazz and WW meeting I guess I will be visiting Urgent Care with her.

If you week can top mine, let me know. I REALLY hope none of you have had the kind of week I had.

Bad luck

2009-08-24T20:08:00.001-04:00

Mine is the WORST luck. Not just bad but THE worst. Case in point, first day of school the now third grader throws up. Seriously? This early in the year? grrrrr

Too much too soon?

2009-08-23T19:27:00.002-04:00

This past week I joined WW, Jazzercise, think I have found a church I like to attend here AND will start a new school year tomorrow with about 155 eager students. We'll see what sticks....

Randomness.....

2009-08-13T09:14:00.004-04:00

*After fasting for 12 hours I went and had blood drawn for my 'official' physical next week. While sitting there freezing my arse off (seriously I was mentally going through my car looking for something else to put on my exposed skin - I rationalized that they HAVE to keep the facility that cold for the purposes of the fluids), I made the observation that 2 out of 3 people entering had on flip flops in some form. :)

*I am going to miss my morning coffee with Regis and Kelly when school starts. I think it is funny that my girls probably feel the same thing (except the coffee of course).

*I hate driving new places.

*I really, REALLY hate doggie diarrhea. YUCK! Next time she is boarded we WILL be taking her own food.

*Trying to get motivated to do something. I have a LONG list of things that need to be done and they are in several categories: family, school, friends, house, etc. I am being really lazy and NOT doing any of them.

Me likey!

2009-08-13T09:01:00.001-04:00

Too cute

2009-08-12T17:18:00.001-04:00

Most people don't believe I have PTE socks...until I wear them. :) I think I need this to complete the ensemble.

Good to know...

2009-08-12T17:11:00.002-04:00

This place allows teachers to post projects and filters donations through to the teacher to fund various items at their request. Good to know. :)

What I learned this week....

2009-08-11T10:27:00.004-04:00

(Hopefully I can post this correctly - I messed up the last time I tried to participate in this bloggy party. *blushes*) If you want to party at this carnival of knowledge click here.

My learnings have actually come from a culmination over the summer. Our 'vacations' have been visiting with family members in their homes. I admit I am a pack rat (kind of reformed being that I moved from a house into a smaller apartment last summer and had to purge a lot of stuff) and I am not saying that the people we have visited are pack rats but they have way more 'stuff' out and about than I do. So I could not help but be anxious in their homes as my toddler is very curious. She constantly worried that she was into something she should not be into. The relatives didn't mind but there was always the temptation of things she should not have with in her reach. I worried about choking or her ingesting things that are not meant to be consumed.

So what I have learned is.....visiting is fun, hard work but there is no place like your own home. <3

Really trying....

2009-07-27T17:08:00.002-04:00

Why is it that every time I have tried to do some school work (other than the huge scanning pile - which i did get complete but have not organized into electronic files yet) something stops me? For instance I actually tried to work on my blackboard account but could not remember my log in password. Then I tried to look at the CD rom that goes with the Health oriented Chemistry textbook. Can't get my school laptop (read the only one I have that has a CD drive in it) to connect to my home internet. My last effort came today when I was trying to make a powerpoint showing that I know all the "hiding my cell phone behind obvious things" trick but I could not access the pictures I needed. Is God trying to tell me not to worry about school or is it the technology gnomes that are foiling my heroic attempts of getting ahead?

Things I love....

2009-07-27T11:28:00.005-04:00

There are a gazillion reasons I love summer (and my break from teaching) but I know the thing I will miss the most is spending time with my girls (obviously).

The second most missed thing is staying up on the dishes and laundry. During the school year on Saturday mornings I wake up to clean an over run kitchen. Sometimes it it takes two dish washer loads to get all the dishes done. (Against the minimal environmentalist in me we have tried the paper dishes but that means there are bags of trash versus dirty dishes. A no win situation.) I realize that Wednesday/Thursday is when I tend to 'lose' control. When/if I ever have the money I will hire some one to come in on Thursdays to take things back to ground zero for me so that my every weekend does not start with a mass cleaning session.

I can't overly complain about the laundry during the school year as it becomes a chore of the Mister. He washes and dumps them on the couch (this drives me nuts but I usually don't have the energy to finish it myself or complain about it at that time). Then during the middle of the night (usually toward the end of the week or when his end of the couch gets full) he folds them. They still take over the entire couch but are neatly folded. At that point it is each man for himself on putting them away (except I get the bonuses to do mine, the general house stuff - towels, dish towels, etc. and the toddler's clothes). Again I am not the responsible party for the most of it so I really can't complain. I know he enjoys this aspect of the summer too.

So I am enjoying the upkeep of these things while I can. :)

Morning Mania

2009-07-26T09:41:00.005-04:00

I have apparently failed in teaching any of my girls how to have a mellow Sunday morning. They know to let my get my coffee consumed before the chaos ensues but for some strange reason Sundays are the exception to this rule. (The toddler will even chant "Mommy's coffee" as I am sweetening my cup.) Sounded like I was on the right track. Where did I go wrong?

Potty Training

2009-07-24T12:48:00.004-04:00

I cannot wait until she is fully trained! Right now she refuses to wear a diaper or big girl panties so she runs around naked. This makes for easy pottying but a nervous Mommy. I have decided to NOT do the pull-ups this go round. I think that should save money but I tell you an unsteady pottier in a set of cloth panties really makes a Mommy apprehensive.

As I mentioned in prior posts we have the portable potty chair and the potty seat insert (both in the Dora flavor) but she wants neither. She climbs onto the potty face first. Standing bear crawl style over the bowl she shoots a foot through to the other side and pieces her way to a sitting position. Then she scootches until she is forward facing. Still holding herself up from taking a swim by her little hands. It is funny to watch and if my video did not involve a naked toddler I might post it here.

I hope I can get her all the way trained before I go back to school. Meaning this could be the last set of diapers I ever buy....... <3

Current list of Wants....

2009-07-24T11:16:00.007-04:00

Things I want a right now and reasons why....

*I want the Beans to all the way potty trained so I don't spend over half my remaining summer days in the potty with her.

*I want the Mister to pick me up a diamond anniversary band on his travels out of the country for out 10 year wedding anniversary. I think I deserve one!

*I want to sign up for Jazzercise. I did it years ago and really miss it but have not extra fundage for another monthly bill. :(

*I want my house up north to sell and to get a good deal on a house down here. Tired of apartment livin'. Not bad really but I am just too old for it.

*I want my lessons planned out and a lab fairy to visit for the set up and clean up of labs at the right time. I don't think I will mind teaching the same subject all day but I dread doing labs only b/c of the prep work that goes with them.

*I want a "good' camera so I can take artsy like pictures. I love extreme close up type pics but my camera always does them fuzzy.

*I want to find a home church here.

*I want a self cleaning kitchen.

*I want to be independently wealthy so I can stay home and be a Mom to my girls all year how I am in the summer. As they continue to grow I want to stay the most important person in their live.

*I want a girls weekend with some good friends. No kids, just fun.

I am sure I could think of more but these things would be an excellent start!

Hooked on Improving

2009-07-23T16:33:00.014-04:00

This is another post for the Hooked on Fridays over here AND I am actually including house type stuff this time!

First, we all remember my tomato issues (click here for a refresher), I have upgraded my 'redneck patio garden'. We have two topsy turvy planters (as seen on tv) as well as several bigger pots - some with tomato cages! Don't be alarmed about the detergent bucket, this was the Hubby's idea to fill that with water (remember we are on the second story of our apartment = no hose) so that the girls can help water the plants from onew location instead of running through the apartment with water. We are uptown now! lol If only I get a tomato harvest..... Anybody with any other suggestions for survival of these plants, please let me know.

Second, my toddler whom I have nicknamed Spiderman as she can scale flat surfaces with ease, has found the 'treasures' that were on top of the older girls' desk (gymnastics trophies, medals, ribbons, Little Miss crown, etc.).

These momentos/awards needed to be moved to a safer location as they hold sentimental value to the Oldest and could potentially harm the toddler when she pulled them down on her head (hey, at least I am giving her a totally flat/clear surface to stand on once she scales her way to the tippy top of the bookshelf component). I had originally envisioned a wooden shelf with a dowel rod track jigsawed into the support but as we roamed through Home Depot (a shopping experience which I always detest - I never know where to find anything and it drives me nuts...) we stopped in the shelving aisle and came up with a better idea (of which we decided was very appropriate to test run in the apartment). The pre-fab shelving unit supports have openings that a dowel rod could be slipped through. For about $10 and very little effort, I think this looks nice. It has more room for medals and ribbons (although I have several without strings that are not displayed here....) but when more trophies come home there is only so much rearranging I can do. This will do for now, I suppose.

Next, even though we have lived here a full year now some things are still not the way I want them. You know, can't find them when needed, etc. My spices were one of those things. I found the perfect spot for them in baskets in a alcove type place on the wall dividing the kitchen/living room but they were in the baskets all willy nilly, no rhyme or reason, just there. Since I have to climb a chair or step stool to get to them, looking through multiple baskets while balancing on top of something was annoying. So, I had my big girls along with a friend who had spent the night do a little alphabetizing/categorizing of them. Ahhh.... now I know exactly where to look for what spices. Maybe this will help the multiples of the same spice I have. Maybe you can never have too much ground ginger but I have 4 different styles/brands.

These all transpired while doing repetative "normal" tasks like picking up the Leap Frog Word Whammer along with the 2 alphabet sets that go with it. For some reason in addition to climbing things the toddler prefers these strung all over the floor and not in the basket so she dumps them out when she passes. Yes, they really hurt when you step on them too. Probably not as bad as Legos but a close second.

At least you can say I haven't been bored this week! I wonder what all I will tackle next week. Stay tuned....

Am I a bad Mom?

2009-07-15T17:11:00.008-04:00

One of my friends has something like the following in her bloggy header "She is probably a good mother just not a good advertisement for motherhood." I kind of feel like I might fit that description. As a species us women especially mothers constantly compare ourselves to one another. (This is a gender flaw that DH says makes women rarely win those voting reality shows as well as will not become president.)

Anyhoo....the first reason for my sub par maternal feeling is I don't feel the need to schedule every second of every day for my children. Seriously, a friend of mine has her children's days planned up to September and the kids are 4! I personally have been enjoying this summer of simplicity with mine. Maybe I am a homebody or maybe it is b/c I still do not have a large friend base here in my "new" state (new as in we have now been here a year and I still really don't have a large set of friends.....I guess that is another post in and of itself). The girls and I have been sharing household responsibilities as well as trying to cook a lot of different foods from scratch. Just made my first cheesecake from scratch the other day. :) So am I a bad Mommy for not planning daily outings or crafts every single day? Are my girls going to grow up lacking?

I have also come to the realization that this year we will not do birthday parties for the girls like we have in the past. With us still paying for the house up north at this point there is really just no room in the budget for us to do things like we have before. I hope this does not scar them for life. I know I am being dramatic but....I feel like I am failing them (yet again). I guess if the house sells this could change but with gymnastics season beginning on the oldest's birthday weekend, if I have not planned in advance it probably won't happen.

I don't sit around the 3 hours a day my oldest practices gymnastics. Does that mean I am a bad Mommy? Heck, I am even missing the transportation provided by the gym to get her from school to practice. I have to taxi it both ways. If it were just me I don't think I would mind too much but lugging the toddler and the Middie for the taxi run is just annoying.

I could be considered a bad Mommy b/c after the portable DVD player died after 5 long years of service and several trips (car and plane) I supported my DH when he purchased two portable DVD players (one for each big girl = no more arguing over what to watch). But even more so b/c this morning they have vegged out with their own player. How many movies are too many?

Am I a bad Mommy b/c i don't have the extra funds right now to put my soon to be 2 year old in a class of some sort? At this point in their lives my other two they had taken gymnastics (Mommy and me type class of course) and swimming. #3 is really missing out.....

Well, I think that is probably enough Mommy bashing of myself at this point. I will save this post no longer...posting and letting it all go...ooosa ooosa oosa

NOT hooked on....toddler edition

2009-07-10T09:13:00.002-04:00

Since I could not 'unstack' these pictures from the Dora ones, I have created another post of them. Here goes....

I have learned that my toddler is not so much into pop-up books. This is a pictorial representation of what she has done to every pop-up book in our home library.

Although she is very fond of this nonpop-up board book. I do love Dr.Seuss but this is a disturbing story line.

Busy summer days

2009-07-07T12:33:00.003-04:00

How is it that I can find a whole days worth of nothing to occupy my days all in my apartment? Playing on FB and checking the blog/email/BHB periodically are guilty pleasures that I indulge in when I pass by my laptop or I don't know what to do next. Another on going challenge is attempting to potty train (or at least indulging in her asking) the toddler. Nothing has actually gone straight from her body to the toilet bowl yet but things are very warm when she asks to go so I am trying to keep at it with her. I have pulled out the plastic panties while hanging at home today and she has wet one pair even though I am taking her to the potty every 30 minutes. She goes in the pants THEN tells me. I am not sure how to reverse that process.

I have reorganized the girls' closet so I have more shelf space above the hanger clothes. What to put there? Don't know just yet. Our next mission was to save their DVDs from the storage spot as it always was too tempting for the toddler tornado. Now they have 3 empty desk drawer waiting to be filled again. But alas, looking something for something toddler friendly to fill them.

Tomorrow we are attempting to (gasp) leave the house and go to the beach. Wish me luck!

Hooked on Friday...toddler edition

2009-07-02T11:12:00.015-04:00

Don't forget to drop in to see what others are Hooked On over here....

My toddler is all about Dora so today's Hooked on goes out to her with a sampling of our Dora empire. (*Note: she did not get all these toys but these have been collected over the past 8ish year from her sisters' Dora days as well as her own.)

First the important potty training devices all Dora-fied. We have the seat that sits in the normal potty (her preference at the moment) and the stand alone potty. She likes to destroy and reconstruct this as it is modular. For instance the base can be a step stool and the other pieces can be used in other means as well.

Of course we have the Dora house with all the furniture. You will have to forgive me for not setting it up for you but I am happy no pieces are out right now as they are walking hazards.

I would bet we own about 90% of the plastic figurines and about that much of the larger dolls. Here they are peeping out of one of the drawers. There are at least 3 like this. I specifically pulled out the tennis Dora in honor of Serena's recent win.

I think we are only behind by one DVD from owning all of them and I bet that will be purchased soon. We rock the Dora fiesta CD music in my minivan. Yesterday, when stopped at a red light the three girls in the middle row were loudly singing with the CD (which I had cranked up for them) and the man in the pick up truck nest to us gave us a look. I could not interpret the look. I think to him it was like a car wreck b/c he could not look away. I was proud and embarrassed all at once.

So as you can see we are big time hooked on Dora here.

Hope you have enjoyed a look into my life!

Hooked On Friday Party

2009-07-02T10:58:00.008-04:00

Check out what the others are hooked on here.

This week I have been hooked on scanning paper copies of the lessons, labs and other useful papers for my teaching arsenal into PDFs. Then the PDFs will be used in my blackboard as well as having the papers in 'copy ready' form. (See prior post describing blackboard.) In my district the paper copying is electronically out sourced which means I need a version I can send through cyber space. No more old fashioned c&p for me. Kind of bitter sweet.

Here is the stack so far. It continues to grow larger.

Here is the beastly scanner, printer, copier that I have been canoodling with for my digitizing.

Speaking of growing and since that is not the most entertaining thing to be hooked on I also want to share my tomato plant story. In May-ish we bought a planter box and decided to try to plant some tomato seeds (2 packets - 1 beefeaters, 1 cherry variety). I had "help" planting by way of my three girls so half the box was the packet of one type the other half was the other packet. Those of you who are agriculturally savvy can predict where this is going.

Here is the box and the growth after just a week.

A little crowded, eh? So I try transplanting them into anything I could recycle into a big enough holder. Here you have my "redneck garden". Some I left in the planter but joining it are two milk jugs, Gatorade bottle, butter tub, Sam's club cheese ball vat bottom and two pots I had from other things.

So, what do you think are they going to live to die? What can I do to help?

Rock On Caillou's Parent

2009-07-01T12:42:00.002-04:00

The beginning of today's show had this dialog.

Caillou's Mom: Today is your Father's and my anniversary. It is a very special day.

Caillou's Dad: And we have a very special surprise for you too....a new babysitter!

Awww yeah.....:)

True 'dat

2009-07-01T11:20:00.003-04:00

So as a revisit to some of my goal posts (he he he, I said goal posts...like as in football but not...lol).

In no particular order......

I have been scanning my little heart out of school papers in an effort to go green in my files (not really...more of a convenience thing but it is a bonus environmentally so I will go with it). Not finished yet but that is the precursor before doing the blackboard goal.

I have a binder with baseball inserts and have begun my coupon sorting. DH requested to departmentalize it. I rationalized that he had a say in the organizing being that I will most likely ask him to find the needed coupons while I kid wrangle.

I have successfully completed 3 new recipes since returning from the north: Crockpot turkey breast, Noodleless Lasagna, and Taco Soup. All 3 are crockpot recipes too taken from this site. I LOVE this site!!! You should too.

The girls' chore chart (well, excel spreadsheet that stays open on my laptop) is underway. The Middie is empathetic as usual. We recently had a toothpaste and toilet bowl issue but I really don't want to talk about that right now. The Oldest is really into it though. I consider it a math lesson too. I have to admit she is a GREAT helper. She unloads the dishwasher, toddler wrangles, cleans the table and highchair after meals, folds laundry, etc., etc. She really impresses me.

I have purchased and received the Twilight series as I wanted but have not yet reread as 'prescribed'. I read what is available on this Stephanie Meyers' site of Midnight Sun. I want to read Twilight with the Midnight sun together. I am already planning on a personal day for November 20th - New Moon any one? :D

I still do not have my weekly schedule down as I had hoped (traveling kind of got in the way) butt so far I am feeling quite accomplished with what I have done so far. I will keep y'all posted though!

Ditties by the Middie

2009-06-30T17:53:00.004-04:00

When she got home from church Father's Day Sunday. She was asked what she did while there. Her response "Colored, ate some bread, drank some blood." They obviously had communion. She took an abnormally large piece from the loaf but enjoyed every minute of it.

There are a TON of little frogs here now. When I say little, think the size of a cricket little. The Middie decides to catch one (runs and squeals from the normal size frogs though). She was holding it between two fingers to show me and says "I know he is still alive because I ca see bubbles coming out his mouth." Poor little tiny froggy.

You gotta love that crazy little girl although I am still not happy with her last 'brilliant idea' of rinsing the toothpaste off her finger in the toilet bowl b/c her sister was in the way of the sink. grrr....

Crazy kid.

Hooked on Crocs

2009-06-26T11:25:00.006-04:00

I think I have an addiction....but I suppose there are worse things I can be addicted to, right?

No, these are not all mine, some are the girls. And sadly some are not pictured that the girls have out grown. Conversely some of these are hand-me-downs from friends.

This is our newest lot as Crocs.com had a major sale. As you see there is a toddler wondering where her crocs are in the first picture but after that I was able to 'shoe' her away from the camera. (Ha, ha. I crack me up.)
I LOVE my leopard Malindis. They will be my "pop" of color in my mostly black/brown/khaki wardrobe.
Oops. Got my toes here. There are my 3 most worn pairs this past school year. (Remember I can wear 'dressy' flip flops so I guess I should clarify that these are my most worn closed toed shoes.) Black and brown Malindis on each side of my Orange clogs. The students LOVE the orange clogs that I usually wore on Friday with some sort of school shirt. Our colors are Orange and Black. Every Friday a different student would notice these shoes as a 'new' thing even though I wore them almost every Friday and some one in that class would comment on them. lol
Army green ones are not a preferred color in the wearing rotation but the Mammoth crocs are a favorite winter wear. Got more wear up north but came in handy here a couple of days too - only without heavy socks. :)

Croc flip flops what I was wearing when I broke my ankle at 7 months preggo so I am hesitant to wear them now (the pothole I fell in was more to blame than the shoes but I just don't want to temp fate). The platform heels on the other hand are very wearable and are comfy enough to wear all day at school teaching when I am feeling more dressy than usual.
Currently fitting (excluding the new ones) of the oldest.
Hand me downs to me from a dear friend.
Bronze heels. :)
My take-the-dogs- outside crocs along with the hubby's size 13 manly crocs. The toddler's fake crocs - her feet are growing too fast for the real deal yet. Although on an ordering mess up on my part, she does have a pink pair of mammoths that I forgot to photo - sorry.
Two pairs of hand-me-downs to the Middie from another dear friend (one with a blow out issue we will fix soon). Her Mammoths and her Mary Janes. The Oldest also had purple Mary Janes but out grew. They are being stored for the Middie's foot later.
The Oldest's first pair - purple to wear with her then cheer squad stuff, My brown Mary Janes. I have a Burgundy pair as well that are currently MIA. :( I think the apartment ate them. Still no necklace yet....St. Anthony I am begging!!!!

Seeing how we just returned to our state yesterday afternoon I have lots of updates to make so be on the look out for posts!

Also don't forget to see what others are Hooked on this week here.

Money

2009-06-06T21:07:00.001-04:00

I HATE not having any. I HATE being poor financially speaking. Love don't pay the bills.

So nice to hear...

2009-06-06T10:08:00.003-04:00

I had a student this past year that I really connected with. She found a love for Chemistry that wasn't there before b/c I helped her be successful and believe in herself in the content. She told another teacher (one whom she did not get along with ALL year - yep, heard about that too) that b/c of me she thinks she might want to be a chemistry teacher. That prompted this series of emails. I emailed her mother since she was exempt from exams and technically out for the summer.

Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009
From: me
To: Mom
Subject: Student's Comment today

Please tell her what she said about me in Ms. So-and-So's class is one of the highest compliments a teacher can get (Ms. So-and-So shared it with me). Thank her for me too. I will definitely miss her and her exuberance next year.

From: Mom
To: Me
Subject: RE:Student's Comment today

Ms. Me,
Student is an energetic personality and she has many strong points. Thank you for complimenting her and encouraging her in your class and with outside issue as well. One thing that I know about her that has always proved to be true is her 'read' of teachers. She can spot an unorganized, non-leader in a heart-beat. Usually you have to weigh what your kids tell you about their teachers, but she is spot on and it isn't told to her...she reads them. I know she has only EVER spoken so highly of you, your teaching style, your techniques and your bar is high (like Ms. 5TimeNationalChampionsDanceTeacher - whom I also respect enormously). I know she has said many times how The School could use many more teachers like you with a passion for their subject and a talent for teaching it. Too bad we can't live in an ideal world. I am sure there would be more successful students if we could make that come true. :)

Thanks for always keeping up with me this year regarding Student. I will miss you, too...even though we never met (except for Open House).

Kindly,

Mom

It is things like this that make up for the long hours, little pay and endless amounts of paperwork.

No more students until August

2009-06-05T17:25:00.003-04:00

Yea!

That is a MAJOR understatement. Sadly I am actually excited to start anew again in August. My syllabus (I 'think' I only have one prep next year- Chemistry)has been sent off to the copy center. I have also copied other pesky beginning-of-the-year-papers like the Lab safety contract, general lab procedures, etc. I feel pretty accomplished already and I haven't even turned in my grades yet.

With some student volunteers I took some pictures today of what they "think" the teacher sees and then what we know they are doing even though we may not directly see it (cell phone issues). We had some fun with it. One of the student asked "Are you going to show these as what not to do with your cell phone next year, Teacher?" My response was, "Who me?" They know me too well at this point. :)

A Twilight contest

2009-06-03T18:47:00.001-04:00

I never win any of these but that's no reason not to share the info so you can enter too! Clickie here.

The Middie is witty

2009-06-02T09:57:00.002-04:00

Conversation between my 5 year old and myself yesterday in the car….

The Middie: Mommy, where did you and Daddy meet?

Me: (I usually point out it was in the ‘underage bar’ at OU but this was the edited version for her.) While we were at college.

The Middie: How old were you when you met Daddy?

Me: 19ish

The Middie: How old was Daddy?

Me: 19. Why are you asking?

The Middie: How old were you when you got married?

Me: 23.

The Middie: How old was Daddy?

Me: 24. Why are you asking me these questions?

The Middie: Who were your friends when you got married?

Me: (I gave a list of a few close friends.)

The Middie: Who were your friends in college?

Me: (I gave a list of a few close friends.) Why are you asking these questions?

The Middie: Well, you say you don’t have any friends here so I was trying figure out who your friends were.

Me: Umm….ok.

The Middie: What did you and Daddy do with your time before you had us?

Me: (At this point I lost it and was cracking up.) Well, we went out a lot. We traveled to Cbus to visit many weekends. I coached cheerleaders, the dance team and a couple of science clubs. I also finished my Masters degree before y’all came along. Daddy and I did a lot of work on the house and in the yard. The dogs got a lot more attention. We have asked ourselves that very question too.

What truly prompted these questions I have know idea but The Middie really does make me laugh.

Blog.....FAIL

2009-05-31T18:25:00.002-04:00

According to one of my 'Mommy magazines' I am doing my blog wrong.

see more Fail Blog

They say I should have one "theme" such as saving money, teaching, or stories of being a Mom. How could I choose just one of those things to talk about? Each one of those things interests me but isn't ALL me. I talk/blog as things come to me that I want to share. I am a simple person. I think about it. I have a second alone near a computer. I blog about it.

They say I should blog to a specific audience. I am doing this for me not for any one else in particular. More of an online journal. I don't mind if others read, in fact I like it. I REALLY like comments too (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink). But that is not my purpose for writing. I write so I can remember later. Maybe even help others remember something or help them see things in a different perspective.

They say I should set aside time to blog on a regular basis. HA! I can't do anything alone on a regular basis. I am a teacher and a mother. I am rarely ever alone. Toddlers do not understand being ignored so doing anything on a regular basis is impossible.

This is my best.....my random thoughts and feeling on irregular intervals. Take 'em or leave 'em.

Hooked On....Planning

2009-05-28T21:35:00.007-04:00

I am all in the planning mindset with school almost over for the summer. I would call this my summer plans but I think some are going to take more developing than that. Here goes....

1. Hubby and I are going to come up with a value scale for the girls. Since the oldest is 7 she gets $7. The Middie is 5 so she gets $5 each week. The trick will be to keep all that money. For instance (we're still working on developing this) if they don't hang up their towels after bath they lose $0.25. If they don't put their dirty clothes in the basket they lose $0.50. What money remains at the end of the week they actually get and can use as they wish.

2. I am going to actually buy the Twilight series so I can reread them (that is what everyone has said I need to do before I move on to some other series). Then I think I am going to get the Sookie Stackhouse series and see if I like those books. I am shocking myself that I WANT to read - thanks to the Twilight books!

3. This summer I want to digitize as much of my teaching arsenal as possible (scanning papers and organizing them on my external drive). AND I want to set up my Blackboard (the district's web server for educational purposes - like a specifically formatted, hosted web page) for my classes next year (which I hear right now is all Chemistry).

4. Organizing a binder for my coupons and getting serious again about couponing.

5. I hope to try more new recipes to add to my cooking routine. Many great recipes here and here.

I have all sorts of other plans floating around in this graying head of mine but many depend on the house up north selling so I can find a house here and and begin 'living' in a dwelling again (I haven't hung any pictures and somethings I refuse to unpack since I consider this a temporary establishment for us even though we just signed our lease for another year). I do miss my scrapbooking very much. :(

Don't forget to drop in to Hooked On Houses to see what others are hooked on this week..