trying on my grown-up shoes

projects

2011-05-29T20:44:00.002-04:00

Andrew ~~and I~~ have been busy this spring getting the yard looking decent. It's hard to do with limited funds, but it will be well worth it in a few years when trees start growing up and bushes begin to fill out along the front of the house. My only contribution to the entire process ~~other than love and support~~ is one potted plant on the front steps. The other was left over from a baby shower - beautfiul, but I can't take credit for it. Even more sad is the fact that AB has to remind me to water my one pot and the ferns around the door. Poor plants. (I remind myself of the kid who wants a puppy, begs for a puppy, finally gets a puppy, and does a terrible job taking care of a puppy.) Hopefully my greeen thumb will begin to sprout soon...I can't use pregnancy as an excuse to stay indoors forever!

One part of the yard I'm really excited about is TCB's tree. We got it as a present from my aunt and cousins at a baby shower last month, and I can't wait to see it grow up with our son! Right now it's a little bit shorter than AB's shoulder. I wonder if TCB will ever be taller than the tree - or maybe the tree will grow up so fast that it towers over us! It will be easy to remember when we planted it...the spring before TCB's birthday :)

Hooter Hider

2011-04-26T17:40:00.001-04:00

I wish I had a video camera set up in the back of my classroom. By the time I walk to my desk to write down hilarious quotes and random happenings for the book I'm ~~never~~ going to write one day, I have totally forgotten what I wanted to remember in the first place. And most people wouldn't believe half the stuff that happens at school without video proof.

Today - in the middle a lesson on ::snore:: direct and indirect variation (which, by the way, comes with a great story about traveling with a baby and stopping at Dairy Queen) - one of my students blurts out that I should buy a Hooter Hider.

Um...what? Please tell me that this is something that has to do with math class. Surely she doesn't mean a nursing cover.

While I'm trying to come up with a clever response that completely diverts the attention away from my ~~already-huge-but-pregnancy-is-making-huger~~ chest, all nine boys have stopped writing and turned to look at me.

Great.

The student then proceeds to tell the class about her sister who just had a baby girl. Apparently said sister has a Hooter Hider in every color and swears by them.

Cue bright-red-faced boys. One even manages to oh-so-innocently ask what hooters are.

So after I let the conversation go one for about 30 seconds too long, I finally am able to get the class back on track. Direct and indirect variation = success.

I guess it's better than last week's class-wide conversation about whether I am going to choose natural or give-me-the-pain-meds-now labor.

Oh, Teen Mom... I thank you for educating the youth of America.

wish list

2011-03-12T11:47:00.000-05:00

As I sit down (yes, I've already paused in my long to-do list... lame, I know) and look around the house, I realize that I would really, really like:

a house cleaner - even just once a month - to do the things I hate - dusting, for example
a laundry fairy (I will say though that AB did put on his laundry wings this week and got a lot of this week's clothes cleaned on his days off)
2 dogs that don't shed instead of 2 that do
a magic landscaping button that I could press, look outside, and instantly have a beautiful yard

Is this too much to ask? ;)

what have we been up to the last 5 months?

2011-01-26T20:23:00.001-05:00

what started out as a baby...

that looked like, let's be honest, a tadpole...

has grown into a baby...

that looks like....a baby!

with boy parts ;) and all!

confessions

2011-01-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

1. I haven't written a post in 134 days.

2. I've started several posts in said 134 days but never published them...mostly because they were all in my head.

3. One of my favorite students came back today. At the middle of last year he took an, how shall I say, extended vacation at the alternative school. I'm sure whatever he did wasn't his fault...ha.

4. I am in a wedding this weekend, and I'm nervous about tripping down the aisle or up the steps. Are there even steps? Why wasn't I nervous about this at my own wedding?

5. I'm pregnant. Oh right, I probably should have mentioned that earlier.  We find out what it is tomorrow, and I really don't care about its gender. Is that terrible?

6. I don't like being pregnant, but I'm hoping it grows on me. Figuratively speaking...and literally, of course.

7.  I turn 25 in less than 3 weeks. 25? Really?

8. I can't remember the last time I cooked a really good meal.

9. I got a pedicure today, even though we're trying to save money. See number 4 :)

10. I dreamed last night that AB had an affair...with a 9th grader. I woke up mad. Really mad.

11. I drank a cup of Pepsi today and now I feel guilty.

12. I love chocolate milk.

13.  Chocolate milk makes my stomach hurt.

14. I love ice cream.

15. Ice cream makes my stomach hurt.

16. I was hoping that having a student teacher was going to mean I didn't have to work for three months. Turns out, that's not the case at all.

17. I really like my student teacher. She reminds me of myself...scary.

18. Drinks are way better with straws. All drinks, alcoholic and non.

19. I really want a strawberry margarita.

20. I hate doing laundry. I don't mind starting it...but I get bored and forget to put the clean clothes away. Which results in massive piles of clothes all around the house.

"My back hurts..."

2010-09-13T17:31:00.002-04:00

Think back to your glorious teenage years. What comes to mind?

Staying out late? Listening to loud music? Driving too fast? Maybe it's because I teach high school, but I have started to really notice the changes "kids these days." I am constantly comparing myself to the next generation (which I currently classify as 10 or more years younger than me...what is the real definition of "generation" anyway?). In my students' eyes, I'm old. Like way old. Waaaaayyyy old. At least 30. (ha)

But can I blame them? Didn't I think that my teachers were 'over the hill' when I was going through school? Did I ever consider that they might - just might - have personal lives? No ma'am. I just never really thought about it I guess.

Looking through kids' eyes, I'm old. But what about through my eyes? Lately I've found myself making more tallies on my 'old versus young' list...in the old column.

So I thought I'd share a few of the things that make me old. (And no, I don't really think I'm that old. But sometimes I definitely feel like it! What is old though really?)

(cough cough) Attention please. Here's my TOMG-US (ha, that's a funny acronym) Why I'm Old List, Part 1.

I'm old because I played tennis last night and now move like I'm 70.

I'm old because I just went grocery shopping and bought hamburger meat and cream of mushroom soup. Can anyone say casserole?

I'm old because I had just a conversation with myself about how listening to no music was better than listening to 'all the trash that's on the radio these days."

I'm old because I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet of my silent car ride.

I'm old because I cut off all my hair.

I'm old because I'm amazed when someone doesn't know what's going on in politics. (Even though I have to admit I'm not the best at following all the drama - there's just too much of it!)

I'm old because I know of at least 10 friends (and not-so-good-friends) from high school that have kids. Some have more than one.

I'm old because AB is about to start planning his class reunion...the big 1-0. Guilt by association.

That's Part 1 of my list. What makes you feel young? Old? Do share.

(Note: Do you remember the song that went something like "My back hurts, my bra's too tight, my hips move from left to right, to the left, to the right..."? No? Just me? Pity. It's a great song.)

North, South Carolina

2010-08-31T17:38:00.001-04:00

If you're from the South - or if you have ever visited any state in this area - you know that we talk funny. Some people more than others. And, in my opinion, not nearly as funny as people from the North - but that's neither here nor there.

AB just showed me this video, and I think it's absolutely hilarious. The woman in the clip has the strongest - er, best - accent I have ever heard. Take a look...

(And yes, there really are places called Due West and North in South Carolina.)

glee's emmy opener...fabulous!

2010-08-29T21:29:00.005-04:00

As you probably remember, I love Glee. I love it so much that - much to AB's utter humiliation - I bought one of their soundtracks a few months ago and have almost worn it out.

However, I deserve to be demoted in the Glee fan world. We went to the mountains this weekend, and when we came home, I totally forgot to watch Glee's opener on the Emmys.

But never fear, You Tube is here. You won't regret watching it, I promise!

why I shouldn't be allowed to do yardwork

2010-08-26T20:39:00.001-04:00

All day long I've been looking forward to cutting the grass.

Seriously. I love it. As soon as I got home, I jumped out of my car, fed the dogs, and jumped on my little lawn mower.

No problems so far.

AB gets home, and I only have about five more minutes worth of mowing left.

Still no problem.

I finish cutting the grass, and it looks awesome. Nice, straight rows that I am proud to claim. It's an art, really.

Still no problem.

I turn the lawn mower towards the garage. It's like it knows the way. In fact, I was so confident in it's ability to park itself, I forgot to watch where I was going. (Which is where the problem began, in case you can't keep up.)

Somehow, I totally don't see a hose in my way. A hose that's connected to an outside spigot. A spigot that's connected to a pipe. A pipe that is filled with water. Big problem.

What caught my attention, forcing me to finally see the hose that was connected to the house? (Did you see the italics there?)

Water. Lots of water. Water that was coming out of the house with a force that could rival a fire hydrant.

Luckily AB saw what was going on - in fact, I think I heard a slow-motion nooooo coming from inside the garage. He ran to the well, cut off the water, and saved the day.

the aftermath of my damage - in the process of being fixed

Except once the water was off, the pipe was still broken. Oops.

So where is AB now? Lowe's. It's a really good thing he loves me.

But really, I tried to warn him, didn't I? Did I forget that part in the marriage vows? Well, I guess he knows now.

I shouldn't be allowed to do yardwork.

first days of school

2010-08-23T19:47:00.001-04:00

When I was little, I used to love the first days of school. I was so excited to find my new classroom, meet my new teacher, get to know my new (and not-so-new) friends. I would be on such an excitement overload, in fact, I couldn't sleep for days - possibly weeks - before the Big Day (yes, I just capitalized that).

I can remember many of my First Day of School outfits - mostly because I have a collection of Big Day pictures preK - 12. I can remember the new bookbags, and I can remember how nice (most) of my teachers were. Even as the school year went on, I never thought to sigh at the thought of school. I was up, eating breakfast and getting dressed well before dark most every day, ready to rock and roll. At least that's how I remember it.

And then...I went to high school.

What changed? Was it my attitude about school? Was it the attitude of my friends and people around me? Was it my teachers? Or was it just that I was ready to grow up, do something different, get out of the grind of the same 'ol, same 'ol?

As I endure/enjoy the first days of school - this time, from the viewpoint of a teacher - I can't help but reflect on my first days of high school then and now. Being a teacher is stressful, sure. I want the kids to like me. I want them to do well. I want to do well. I want to enjoy the people I work with and have them enjoy my company in turn. Instead of worrying about which lunch table I was going to grace with my presence (ha), I now worry about finding the time to eat. Instead of worrying about what I was going to wear, I now...worry about what I'm going to wear. Is it really that different?

So what do I do to make sure that kids feel like first graders - full of excitement and joy and a love of new pencils and notebooks and homework - throughout this year with me? I'll get back to you on that...

In the meantime, what do you think? Are there moments when you have wonderful/terrible flashbacks and are glad that high school is behind you, or do you ever wish you could do it again? I must say, I'm fine right where I am.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-08-11T16:31:00.001-04:00

As I get in my car, I can feel the excitement rushing through my veins. On my way there, I turn up the radio extra loud. My fingers drum on the steering wheel anxiously. Although I try really hard not to speed (hi Mom), it takes everything in me to not pass every car on I26 and zip into the closing parking spot available - even if that means crashing into the sidewalk and taking out every buggy in the process.

I grab the closest, largest cart I can find, leap into the store, and shout for joy when I see what I've come for...

School supplies. Lots and lots of school supplies.

Yes, I am the girl that loves school supplies. So much so that I went into education. (Okay, not really....but it definitely didn't hurt my decision!)

I love the way they smell. I love the way they look. I love the way they are clean, new, fresh, and ripe for the picking. Markers of every color imaginable. Pencils and pens of all shapes and sizes. Expo markers, erasers, colored paper, baskets, buckets, erasers, graph paper, white out, folders, notebooks... the brighter the colors the better. My eyes get larger and my heart gets happier with every turn of the cart.

I buy what I need. And somehow extra items that I didn't really have to have magically appeared in my buggy without my consent - can you believe it? But since they obviously wanted to come home with me, how could I refuse?

I load the bags into my car, and just as I was about to cry over the end of the most wonderful time of the year, I remember something... I still get to unpack and organize. Why, that's even better than shopping for the supplies in the first place!

Into my classroom we go - the school supplies and me, me and the school supplies. Paper stacked, markers arranged, baskets organized, notebooks labeled. And then, just for the fun of it, paper re-stacked, markers re-arranged, baskets re-organized, notebooks re-labeled.

I look around my room, happy as a clam. A clam whose classroom has the new school supply smell. A clam with more pencils than her students could possibly steal - I mean, borrow - in a year. A clam who now realizes that if she had bought fewer items now, she could spread the fun out throughout the entire year. But perhaps the excitement is partially due to the fact that - just like that other most wonderful time of the year (are you singing the song in your head yet?) - it happens only once.

Only 364 days until I get to do it all again.

first grown-up project...outdoor style

2010-08-09T17:54:00.005-04:00

When we moved into our new house in June, AB and I made a list of house/yard projects that needed to be done. Nothing really critical, but projects nonetheless. During a conversation about landscaping, I heard someone volunteer to build the front walkway. I was really happy to hear someone step up to the plate and offer to do a job that would surely mean blisters, heatstroke, and death. Until I realized that the oh-so-wonderful, glad-that's-not-my-job person was, indeed, me.

It should be noted that I have very little - did you catch the very part there? - experience in matters of the yard. Or dirt. Or heat. I try really hard to stay away from everything in the "yardwork" or "landscaping" categories. I am sad to say that I think those days are far, far behind me. No, scratch that. As I look out to our bare, weed-infested, sand-overtaken, are-those-flowers-or-thorns front yard, I know that those days are only a dream. A very distant dream.

Part of growing up, you say? Pity. (AB's goal is to convince me that gruelling yardwork is fun and reaping the rewards of a beautiful lawn and garden is even better. My goal is to hire a full-time gardener/landscaper/maid. I'm fairly confident he's going to win, but I can dream....right? No?)

So back to the idiot who volunteered to build a walkway in the front of her new house.

I have been putting off this project, using the summer-is-going-to-last-forever excuse. It's better to deny than to accept, I've always said. Well, in this case anway.

Turns out, however, that summer does NOT actually last forever. Instead, it ends August 12, which is only 1...2...3 days away. 3?? Really?? Sigh. And since the end of summer is practically staring me in the face, I knew what I had to do. Man up and build a fabulous walkway. So I did. It took about 2 hours. The weather was wonderful. I would totally do it again.

Not.

I tried to go into the project with a "I am woman, hear me roar" attitude. Until I realized that such a phrase was never coined about yours truly. I was doomed before AB and I even went to Lowe's.

After paying a gazillion dollars (not really a gazillion...but you didn't really believe that, did you?) for equipment - sand, paver foundation (aka really expensive dirt), and pavers (270 pavers, to be exact) - we lugged everything home. Poor Fred didn't know what he had done to deserve that kind of treatment. But he was a good Fred and got everything home without a mess of pavers, sand, and really expensive dirt all over the road.

And then I proceeded to...delay the inevitable. Those pavers aren't really in the back of the truck. The walkway doesn't really need to be built - the makeshift hay pathway works just fine! You get the picture.

But all good things must come to an end, and my pseudo-vacation from the blasted pavers was no different.

So yesterday AB and I started the what-I-prayed-would-be-quick task of leveling the dirt and making room (8 inches worth of room) for the blocks. Not so much. Thankfully AB's dad came to our rescue (okay, okay, my rescue...AB was doing just fine). Even so, we started no later than 4PM and we weren't finished until 8. Whew. Talk about draining.

Not to mention we weren't even close to finished.

I woke up at 6:15 (yes, on one of my few remaining days of vacation) to lay the pavers this morning. Place paver. Hit with rubber mallet. Make sure paver is level. Repeat 266 more times. (I had 3 left over. Guess being a math teacher pays off. Ha.)

Then came the sand process. And let me tell you - sand does not just jump into the little holes. No, not at all. By that time it was really hot outside, so I was practially begging the sand to become magical sand and finish the project for me. No such luck.

But with Fred and the puppies as companions, I got the job done, and I must say that it looks pretty good. And it's level. (As long as no one starts jumping up and down on it...)

So even though I didn't build it by myself (let's be honest...did anyone ever think that I could?), I did finish the project.

Except for all of the supplies and leftover sand. They are patiently waiting for AB to come home and put them away.

creativity

2010-08-06T17:12:00.001-04:00

When I think of jobs that give people a chance to explore their creative sides, here's what immediately comes to mind:

1. Florist (I think this would be a really neat job if you worked in a big city or somewhere with a high demand for creative arrangements)
2. Web designer
3. Graphic artist
4. Photograher
5. Artist

I'm sure I'm missing close to 100 other creativity-based jobs, but that gives you an idea of how my brain works.

And now, after my delicious sushi lunch today, I have a 6th job to add to the list: sushi chef.

Yes, you read correctly: sushi chef.

After ordering our delicious meals (and mine was a $3.99 lunch special!), my friend - J - and I realized that we were still hungry, so we both ordered sushi plates. Mine was called the Red Dragon, and look at what I got! How cute!

Can you see the head of the dragon to the left?

And there's the dragon's tail!

Apparently the Catepillar roll is even better - I'll have to try it next time!

What do you think? Would you rather your food look like food? If I'm being honest, it did feel a little strange eating something that was so real-looking. But it did make our dining experience more fun!

why mowing grass is even better than vacuuming

2010-07-31T17:52:00.001-04:00

I love to vacuum. Love it. Don't mind it at all. Enjoy it. Get a kick out of it. Adore it. You get the point...

Why? Because of the lines.

I love the lines the vacuum cleaner leaves on carpet when it's clean. I love figuring out the best way to vacuum a particular room - for all rooms are vacuumed differently. I prefer starting from the back and working my way out of a room. Up, back, up, back. Always careful not to step on the newly-created-oh-so-wonderful vacuum lines. Not only does it clean the floors, it also makes them pretty.

We got this Dyson vacuum cleaner as a wedding present from AB's parents, and it's wonderful. I. Love. It.

In our new house, however, I don't have as much carpet to vacuum, because the majority of the first floor is hardwood. Dark, oak-colored hardwood that shows dirt and dog hair like no other. But fear not, I've found something even better than vacuuming.

Ready for it?

Mowing grass. (Although I must ammend this to mowing grass on a riding lawn mower. At the old house we had a push mower, and it's just not the same. It's miserable, in fact. Riding mowers, on the other hand, are wonderful, amzing, great, stupendous.)

I love to mow our back yard, and I'm getting pretty good at it. Not that it takes a lot of skill....but still.

And mowing grass - as opposed to vacuuming - leaves lines that last. They don't crumble under the pressure of the first feet that walk on it, like carpet does. With carpet floors, the lines only last for what seems like a few minutes. When our old house was for sale, I would vacuum right before a showing and even then it didn't seem the same five minutes later.

But not so with grass. The mower lines last for weeks. Or at least a week, anyway. And I feel like I've accomplished something when I look out at the yard with freshly-cut lines. Lines that refuse to get messed up, that hold their own to feet, dogs, and weather. Lines that I can be proud of days later.

No, this isn't the lawn mower we have... but if there are any Santas out there, this mower makes me giddy. Zero turn, twin maintenance-free integrated transmissions...heavenly. (Okay, so I don't really know what twin transmissions are, but the website makes them sound cool.)

Does this make me sound like I have OCD-tendancies? I have about 200 students that would - I'm sure - gladly attest to this fact. I've come to accept it. And if you think I'm bad about vacumm and grass lines, you should see the desks in my classroom. Always organized. Always straight lines. (Side note: Putting desks into groups makes my palms sweat. But I do think I'm going to try a grouping arrangement this year. I'm already nervous about how I'm going to keep my room looking tidy.)

Am I the only one out there like this, or should we start a club for people who love mowing grass and vacuuming and arranging desks neatly? Talk to me.

Our New Addition

2010-07-31T12:18:00.003-04:00

Today AB and I made a big decision. AB has wanted to do this for a while, but I have been hesitant. Where would we put it? How would we pay for it? Are we ready for a responsibility like this? He and I talked and talked...and we finally decided to go for it.

When we went to pick up Fred, AB was so excited. And I was, too. I've never had a Fred before. Fred with his is rosy red cheeks and his old soul. In fact, he's only 2 years younger than me, and in truck years that's pretty ancient. But we love him, and he's going to be a great addition to our little family.

Without further ramblings, here he is. Our new 1988 Ford F150, Fred.

Fred pulling up in front of the house for the first time. Look how much character he has!

Fred matches our front door!

Fred and his proud new owner, AB. Look at that grin! He and Fred are going to make a good team for many (hopefully) years to come.

Welcome to the family, Fred!

what makes a personality?

2010-07-28T16:08:00.001-04:00

Today I attended the second and final day of a professional development seminar with teachers from across my district. I was grouped with teachers and district administrators of all levels and experiences, and it was really interesting to see how people responded to each other.

When put in a professional setting such as this one, we are - hopefully - smart enough to at least pretend like we like those around us. But do we really like the loud woman to our right that continually interrupts the presenter? Are we really enjoying sharing air space with the smelly man to our right?

In every group, though, there is at least one person that seems to genuinely get along with everyone around them. In a group of teachers it seems that the elementary variety typcially take the Most Friendly award. Elementary teachers just seem to exude friendliness. In a good way - usually. I'm sure their personalities are what helps them to be so good with younger kids. (Me teach 7 year olds? No. Thank. You.)

But why? What makes them so special? Why do some people cringe at the thought of working in groups, for instance, when others thrive in all situtations?

So it made me do a little research.

According to one source, we humans can be categorized into 16 different personality types. I opted out of taking the 60 question questionnarie to determine which personality type best describes yours truly, but I do think it's interesting that different personality types are best suited for different careers. Especially because I know quite a few people who clearly missed this day in psychology class and are in careers that do n.o.t. fit their personalities.

What makes a personality? Is it something you're born with? Does it change over time? I like to think that personalities are works in progress.

I know there's a lot of information on this topic, and I know that these are just rhetoric questions for the most part, but it did make me stop and think about how I'm perceived. One woman in my group called a co-worker "Satan" based on how negative she is all the time. Toxic people, we discussed today, can really bring a group of people - sometimes an entire network or organization - down to their level.

According to another source, there are 8 toxic personalities to avoid: Manipulative Marys, Narcissistic Nancys, Debbie Downers, Judgmental Jims, Dream Killing Keiths, Insincere Illissas (what kind of name is that??), Disrespectful Dannys, and Never Enough Nellies. I know that I have had to "hide" people on my Facebook wall because of their constant griping and complaining (ie: 5 more hours of work... I can't believe it's only Wednesday!" "Ugh, I hate my job." "Can't believe I have another 3 hours left of work...fml.") I mean, a. It's only Facebook. Stop complaining, get off the computer and actually do your job, and b. Do you really think people enjoy hearing (in this case, seeing) you complain on a daily - if not hourly - basis?

I'm going to work this week on being non-toxic and open to new possibilities - more like those elementary school teachers I met this week. I'd much rather be too happy than not enough!

What do you think? Do you know someone that sucks the joy out of everything? Do you make an effort to be someone people like being around?

political correctness

2010-07-27T16:58:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows the phrase "politically correct." Right?

So why is it that not everyone knows how to implement these two simple words into their daily lives and conversations? I think it goes back to the big word: manners.

Today during a conference of teachers in my district, my group got off on a tangent (surprise, surprise - teachers like to talk!) about where we live, our houses, etc. I commented that I had just officially moved to the area, and one woman says something close to "Oh, that's right! I know your house! What is it, like 5000 square feet??" And then she proceeds to wait for my response.

And although I wanted to start my answer with "It's none of your business"...I held to my belief in good manners and basic politeness and told her that it's not anywhere close to that number. Which really wasn't a good answer. In fact, now that I think about it, I have lots of smart responses that range from "Yeah, it's actually 7000 square feet, but you just can't tell from the road!" to "And that doesn't even include the servant's quarters!" Gah.

Am I totally off base? Is that a normal question to ask? I don't think putting someone on the spot like that is ever okay, especially in a big group of strangers. What do you think?

Dancing in the Rain

2010-07-23T17:45:00.002-04:00

AB, my sister (let's call her Squirt), and I are going to the Big Mo Monetta Drive-In movie theater tonight, and I am really excited. The two movies we are going to see are Knight and Day and Inception. I've already got cold drinks and chips packed and ready to go, and we are going to stop for dinner on the way there. This will be the third time that the 3 of us have gone together, so I guess it's tradition now. And I love traditions.

So as Squirt and I were waiting for AB to get home, we realize that it's raining hard outside. We take the dogs out to the front porch of my house to watch the storm.

Charlie, AB's dog, hates storms. More specifically, he hates thunder and lightning. Here he is going crazy on the porch.

Squirt, on the other hand doesn't mind storms at all. Apparently it doesn't rain much out west (where she and my parents live).

In fact, she loves the rain so much that she ended up in the front yard (I use the term 'yard' very, very loosely since we have no grass yet).

I love this next one because it looks like she has no cares in the world. We ALL need to remember to stop and play in the rain every now and then.

Just when we thought we were done...

2010-07-22T12:48:00.003-04:00

Just when we thought we were done moving, my parents sell their house. Which means more boxes. More stress. More lifting. More storage. More decisions on where to put what.

Do I really want to save my old yearbooks? Yes.

Do I really want to save a stuffed animal I don't have any memories attached to? Not really.

But then there are precious keepsakes that I want to save. Boxes and boxes of them, in fact. Which meant sorting through my old closet and figuring out what was trash-bound or charity-bound and what was worth finding a home for in my new house.

Most of what I needed to move here was light enough that I could do it with my mom's help. (Thanks Mops!)

But then there came a few not-so-easy things to move. One in particular....the piano.

Before you ask, no I don't know how to play. (Okay, so no one comments on my blog - ever - but I like to think that there are millions of readers that anticipate my posts and read them in the morning with a cup of joe before going to work at their glamorous jobs.)

Back to my point...I don't play. In fact, my sister is much better at it than I am. Much. Like a lot. Like a ton. Like...she's really good. Which I blame for my lack of skills - she was on it so much that I never got to play...which is a lie, but it makes me feel better for never playing a perfectly fine piano that sat in my parents' house for years.

A (my dear hubby) took lessons when we were living at my parents' house while ours was under construction. And he got pretty good. But then we moved, and it's a lot easier to get good at playing the piano when you actually have a piano to play.

So jump forward a few weeks. My sister doesn't have anywhere to store a piano. We want the piano. I'm sure there was a bribe from my mom in there somewhere. We get the piano.

Then comes the question of how we're going to move said piano. Because, let's be honest, I'm a wimp. Which leaves A and his family. Lucky for me A comes from a family full of strong men. Most days I wish there was at least one other girl my age in the family - it would definitely come in handy - but last night I was very glad to stand by and watch them work.

And work they did.

Here are some pictures...

the piano in its new home

So now I have no excuse not to get good. On to my new hobby!

Adulthood

2010-07-20T21:28:00.001-04:00

Over the past few months - probably since the beginning of this year - I've realized that I'm slowly slipping down the dangerous slope of adulthood. Even though I'm trying to desperately hang on to my youth, I am standing face-to-face with being a grown-up. Over the next few weeks I'm going to cite specific, recent examples to illustrate this depressing fact.

Let's skip over the fact that my husband and I just built a house. From start to finish, it's ours. We found the plans. We found the builder. And now we find ourselves in a home. Our home. Even still, I was able to tell myself that we are young, youthful, energetic twenty-somethings who just happened to have a house. And a mortage. And bills. But no, not adults. Not us.

So on to example one of many in the upcoming weeks.

Hummingbirds. Yes, you heard me. Don't make me repeat it. Hummingbirds.

On par with tradition in my family, as soon as we moved in I asked dear husband to hang a hummingbird feeder for me. It's on the front porch, and I can see it from the kitchen and dining room. Even at this point, I was undeniably on the fence of adulthood.

What pushed me over, forcing me to eat the grass on the proverbial other side?

I love my hummingbirds. I truly get a kick out of watching them when I'm in the kitchen, and when I sit in the office and lean my chair back just so I can see the feeder through the dining room.

I worry about the hummingbrids. In addition to the quickly-increasing-because-the-food-in-the-feeder-is-delicious number of these tiny, their-wings-move-so-fast birds, we now have a wasp problem. And I'm beginning to think that it's my fault. Could it be that the red sugar water in the feeder is drawing the wasps in? I'm not sure, but I definitely don't like it.

I'm slowly becoming obsessed with killing every wasp within a 10 mile radius of the house. Why? I don't want my hummingbirds to have to fight the wasps for the food. I would feel terrible if a hummingbird - one of MY hummingbirds - got stung on my account.

The only problem, you see, is killing a wasp without killing one of my new pets. I can't spray the feeder. I can't spray near the feeder. And the stupid things fly so fast that I barely have enough time to open the can of Raid before they fly away - I'm sure laughing at me the whole time.

Yes, that's a golf cart on my driveway. That's a story for another day.

Long story short... I love hummingbirds. I hate wasps. And I'm an adult. I can't deny it. I have officially crossed over into the Land of Lameness. I am now...one of them.

If you're still not convinced, I have plenty of other stories. You just wait.

Old Spice

2010-07-17T14:02:00.006-04:00

I'm working on a week-in-review post - and another on gardening. In the meantime...watch this. For some reason I think it's really funny. You may disagree... but who can resist a guy in a towel doing an ab point? ha.

The art of cOuPoNiNg

2010-07-13T19:08:00.002-04:00

As my husband and I scratch our heads and wonder...what in the world were we thinking when we designed an open-to-below living room?? (translation: how in the world are we going to pay the electrical bills??)...I came across an article on couponing. The teenager in me rolled my eyes - who cares about saving money? And then I realized that I'm an adult. With a house. And a mortage. And a really expensive power bill staring at me in the "to be paid" pile on my desk.

So then I googled it: "art of couponing". Can you believe that there are over 47 million hits on Google for couponing?

The first site that pops up is one called "mommy savers"...ummm...I'm not a mommy. Moving on. But wait? Could it be that there's actually good information on a site with such a name? You bet. In fact, you don't have to have kids at all to enjoy the site. The article that I read - "Perfecting the Art of Couponing" - details how coupon-savvy women - although, men, I'm sure you're allowed to coupon, too - know when to use coupons and how to most effectively use them.

Then a link caught my eye - "Online Coupon Sites". Who can resist? Well...you may be able to, but I'm all about saving some money. (Yes, dear hubby, I am!)

So here's what I'm going to do. (And hold me to it, please!)

I am going to go through this list and discover my inner coupon diva. I know, I know...be jealous.

Because really, why not? Why wouldn't you want to save money?

In the month that I have left of summer (tear) I am going to become a pro at couponing. (Is that really a word?) I am going eat, sleep, and drink coupons. I am going to dream of coupons. I am going to...well, you get the point.

So tune in for my progress...and ::fingers crossed:: my savings. After all...it's either this, or no air conditioning, and in a summer this hot - well, that's no contest.

What does 212 degrees mean to you??

2010-07-12T20:49:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago I attended mentor training at a local college, and the conference leader played this movie for us the last day of class. It has been on my mind ever since, especially with a new school year coming up. Please.Watch.It. Really. Do it right now.

Are you at 211 or 212 today? What will you do with your extra degree tomorrow?

Competition...with a capital "C"

2010-07-12T10:26:00.005-04:00

I will be the first to admit that I am very competitive. And everyone who knows me would be happy to second this fact, I'm sure.

In most cases I think my competitiveness is a good thing.

All the way from the big things, such as earning a master's degree in a year and a half while balancing a job, a family, a husband, and a new house under construction....

(i love this picture of my husband-to-be waiting to go down the aisle)

down to the little things, such as winning a pumpkin carving contest between my husband and me,

(judged by my mom, so of course I won!)

and winning my family's first annual gingerbread house competition two years ago.

(this house won 2nd place this year - sadly - but only because my husband sucked up to the judges)

And, of course, learning how to slolom (skiing on one ski) one summer.

(Nope, just kidding...that's a picture of my sister this past weekend. But I do know how to ski on two skiis - is that impressive enough? And if I'm being totally honest, I haven't even done that in at least 5 years.)

But really, I am competitive. I want to be able to do everything I can as fast as I can - within the realm of reason. Which I guess makes me a cautious competitor: a cautious competitior is someone who wants to excel, but only when there is a probable chance that excelling is possible.

Which may explain why I am competitive on one hand, but a wimp on the other. There are a lot of things_places that I want to try, do, see, explore...you get the picture. So then why don't I?

Why don't I try - really try - to lose weight? Why don't I sign up for a marathon? Why don't I exercise more? (Can you see a trend?) Is it because there's a chance I'll fail? Absolutely. Does this excuse me not going for it and getting in better shape? Not at all. And yet... I continue to make a list of things I want to do but won't. Or can't. Or shouldn't.

What do you want to do today? Will you do it or are you scared of failing?

Am I the only one like this?

Day of Silence

2010-07-01T20:20:00.000-04:00

Send Love to Cohen

Appetizer

2010-06-22T10:50:00.002-04:00

So it's been a few weeks since I've written a post, but I've been....moving in to our new house! Here are a couple pictures you can 'snack on' until I write a real post about the process!

Also, here's a great marriage proposal video I found...it made me tear up!

lists

2010-05-31T15:16:00.003-04:00

i love lists. i really, really love lists. i love to plan. i love to write down and cross off to-do items. i love planning about writing to-do lists. i love writing about planning about writing lists. you get the idea.

one list i'm working on right now is for one of my ninth grade classes. throughout this school year, i'd often say something like "i know it's not fun for normal people, but it really is fun. it's boozer fun!" sometimes it worked to get kids into the lesson, sometimes it didn't. but now they're holding me to a promise i made them. i have to make a top 20 boozer fun list. things like "matrices are fun because you can draw boxes and add and subtract them! they just look cool!" and "when you change the leading coefficient of a quadratic equation, the graph flips!" (i know, i know...i'm a dork.)

my husband's making a moving list. what boxes are going to be moved in first? where are boxes going to go after they're inside? what is the move-in day time frame going to look like?

oh, and i can't forget the things-we-need-but-can't-afford list. like...a dining room table. an electric underground dog fence. mattresses for one of the upstairs bedrooms.

and i have a papers-i-have-to-write-before-i-can-graduate list. that list sits beside the why-i-can't-wait-until-the-end-of-this-week list, which is stapled to the deadlines-for-the-three-classes-i'm-currently-taking list.

some people enjoy - and some even swear by - using electronic calendars. i tried using a google calendar for about 5 minutes, but then i realized it took longer for me to do that than to write down a list on a random stickey note. my principal uses the calendar on microsoft outlook but says that it doesn't sync up well with her iphone. i even tried using an expensive myagenda but was not at all impressed.

so i've decided that while making online, high-tech, syncing-to-every-electronic-device-i-own lists is pretty cool, it's not for me. i'll take a pen and a polka dot note pad any day.

what kinds of lists do you like to make? does crossing items off of your lists make you happy as it makes me?

EA Sports! It's in the Game!

2010-05-29T16:09:00.006-04:00

This catch phrase is what I hear every time my husband turns on his favorite college football video game. And when he's not paying attention and forgets to turn down the volume before turning on the tv, you can hear the announcer say these six little words from miles away.

borrowed from here

This is Andrew's way of relaxing - and the fun of playing the game is magnified immensely when he has friends to play it with. That's why when an old college friend made plans to visit this weekend, I knew I was in for a three straight days of trash talking and, yes, probably tears. In case you don't know, grown men are reduced to babies when it comes to video games and competition of any type. They whine, cry, pout, scream...basically like a twenty-something year old version of a temper tantrum. And they love it.

So what do I have that I love that much? That I get giddy about? I love teaching. I love planning my new house. I love my husband and my family. But what do I do just for me?

The other night when I got home from work, I went swimming. Not only did I go swimming, I went swimming in my work clothes. Why? Because I could! But does this count as a hobby? No, not really.

I love to read. I'm almost done with Jodi Picoult's books. I have a few left, and I'm planning on tackling these over the summer after I finish grad school. So I guess reading could count as a hobby. Blue-Eyed Bride has a reading list that I'd love to tackle. I really like the idea of reading at least one book a month and planning out the books at the beginning of the year.

borrowed from here

When we move into our new house, I'll have a whole house and yard to think about. The decorating and landscaping possibilities are endless. Gardening is a seasonal hobby though, especially in SC. I don't plan on doing much gardening during the hot, humid days of July and August or in the cold, wet days of January and February. So that takes gardening off of a potential hobby list. (Although I am excited to start working on the yard, don't get me wrong!)

A friend of mine cross-stiches. Yes, there are people in the world - young people too! - that still do this. And she's really good at it. Her husband will sit in his man-chair and watch tv while she sews away. And this hobby actually comes in handy, especially when a baby is born or a couple ties the knot. It's a skill she'll always enjoying having.

What can my new non-seasonal, addictive hobby be? Any suggestions?

What do you like to do in your spare time?

a world in which i don't belong

2010-05-27T20:44:00.001-04:00

I always thought I'd be a stay-at-home-mom. Always. In fact, I can remember not caring where I went to college because I knew what I wanted to be didn't necessary require a major in accounting or education. All it required was being a mom. At home. Every day. That's all I've wanted to be and to be quite honest I think that's all I'll ever want to be.

Somewhere between becoming a CPA and deciding to start working on my educational administration master's degree, though, I realized something. I realized that in order to have the house I dream of, the life I plan for, and the happiness and satisfaction my husband and I desire, I may not be able to stay at home with kids. Kids, mind you, that I don't even have yet. But to be clear, this was an conscious decision that I made for myself, and I know that I can't look back.

All of this puts me into an awkward situation. I feel like I'm always going to be in a feeling of limbo. Let me explain. Most people, so I hear, have defining career moments where they just know what they are supposed to do forever. Fate, they claim (who's they?), tells them what they should be. Intervenes at just the right time to clear a career path suited for them. Well...I am not one of those people. Unless you consider my roommate freshman year saying that accounting would be really hard. 'You should teach!,' says she. ::Pause:: 'Um, okay I guess!" says I. So off to the school of education I go. And it turns out that I do really like teaching. And from what I hear, I do a decent job at it.

-fast forward four years-

As the perfectionist that I am, I decided during my first year of teaching that if I was going to work until retirement, I might as well be good at it. I put my heart into as many ninth graders as I can every day. I commiserate with them about how math may indeed serve no purpose on the face of the planet (not true, of course). Yet I convince them to learn it anyway, and it turns out that a lot of them really like it.

And then I decide that I might as well go all the way. That if I am going to be in education for thirty years I needed to start creating some type of sanity insurance. Some type of escape plan. So my bright idea was to go into administration. I do, yes, still plan to do this...but with baby steps involving many years of assistant principalship in my future.

Do I have a point with all this? Yes.

Even though I'm excelling (in my opinion, of course) at my tasks at hand, I feel like something is still missing. No, it's not my biological clock. I'm not ticking away for a baby. I just don't feel like I fit into the world that I've created for myself. Not that I don't like it, or enjoy it, because I do. I really do. But what if I've picked wrong? Even when I'm looking around in our beautiful house, I can't help but wonder if I'll regret choosing house over time with kids. I don't enjoy talking about curriculum and instruction all day long. I go crazy listening to coversations about lesson plans, standards alignment, and lunch duty for hours on end. What if I look around in 10 years and realize that I've made a big mistake?

My conclusion? "What if's" do nothing but drive me crazy. I've made my bed. And now I'll sleep in it...in our new, wonderful bedroom, of course. :)

Gentlemen, Start. Your. Engines!

2010-05-23T20:52:00.003-04:00

This weekend I did something that I've never done before. Nor did I ever think I would do this in a million years. But I did.

I. went. to. a. NASCAR. race. I know...totally not like me. But it was surprisingly fun!

Here's the preface to the story... my older, responsible, banker of a cousin decided that he really didn't need health insurance, stable hours, or an income and went into business with a man named Wes Burton. So far so good, right? Turns out Wes is a race car driver. Now the story gets good. My cousin and his brother bought a race car (well, to be fair it's actually a truck - they race on different days than the cars). Then my always-had-a-dream-of-owning-a-racing-team cousin and Wes created Green Burton Motorsports. Their truck is #16, and so far they have been doing really well.

So on Thursday afternoon when my husband suggested that we go to Charlotte Friday afternoon to watch them race, I was game. Andrew went to our local KMart and bought 2 (matching!) NASCAR shirts, packed up a cooler of drinks and boiled peanuts, and picked me up after work. We stopped and got my sister, and then made our way to Concord (to the north of Charlotte, home of the speedway).

When we got there it was raining, and the rain didn't stop for another hour or so. We sat in the car listening our for weather reports, made signs for #16, and finally decided to start walking towards the stadium. Once made our way there we found my aunt, bought tickets, and settled in to our seats. And sat, and sat, and sat, and sat. The race - due to all the rain - finally started two hours late, and when it did it was well worth it. Loud cars, crazy fans - exactly how all the country songs say it's supposed to be.

I don't think I'll go back to a race any time soon - especially not the night before a class - but it was a good experience, and it great to see my aunt and to spend time with my hubby and my sister. What's something that you've done recently that was out of the ordinary for you?

wedding etiquette

2010-05-20T21:39:00.001-04:00

everyone knows the basic don'ts about weddings...

1. don't arrive late. (it saddens me to have to admit that my husband and i are guilty of this...but only because i thought it started 30 minutes later than it did, and they weren't letting guests into the wedding area the last 10 minutes before the wedding. we thought we were really early until we realized we could hear processional music!)

2. don't wear white - that's the bride's color! (and in my opinion anything that's a really light color like tan, beige, ivory also counts in the white category during wedding season.) shoes, maybe. dress or suit, nope. don't do it!

3. don't forget to bring a present. (electronic wedding registeries, online ordering, and free shipping at a lot of places make this a no-excuse rule as well. if you aren't sure you'll be at the wedding, ship the present to the bride and groom...that way they can write thank-you notes ahead of time and enjoy their "honeymoon moments" without an aching hand and sore stamping fingers.)
however, there are two wedding do's that are often ignored.

- do rsvp. (when you are invited to a wedding or wedding shower, it's important to rsvp. this includes bachelor and bachelorette parties. why rsvp? isn't this an old fashioned tradition, you say? n. o. this is still essential part of being involved in someone's special day, especially considering the amount of money people - especially the bride's family and friends - spend on making the entire wedding process special and momentous. if the bride's family doesn't know how many people will be at the wedding, for instance, how will the caterer know how much food to cook? no one likes leftover shrimp and grits and cocktails. okay, well maybe cocktails. but have you ever had good leftover grits??)

- do be polite during the wedding ceremony. (during my wedding i couldn't have been happier. i know that's such a cliche, but the moment i started walking down the aisle the rest of the world fell away and all i could focus on was ab. then came the reception and the honeymoon. and then came...the time to watch the video of the wedding ceremony. i was appalled at how a few of our guests - on my side of the church at that! - acted from the time the music began to the time we walked back out of the church. one older couple and one younger group of guests talked and talked and talked and joked and laughed and talked and whispered the entire time. i understand that it's exciting to be reunited with people you haven't seen in a long time, but really? can't the "reuniting and it feels so good" wait for just 30 minutes? aren't our wedding vows more important than finding out the latest gossip about common friends or sharing makeup tips?)

what do you think? am i unrealistic in my expecations, or should people just learn how to behave better? is it that hard to put on the high heels, put on a non-white dress, bring a nicely wrapped present that the couple registered for and arrive on time for a wedding you rsvp'd for and behave while you're there? i don't think so.

why i love tuesdays

2010-05-18T17:32:00.020-04:00

i have to confess, i've been excited to write this post all day. and all day long i've been looking forward to tonight. why? fun date? a relaxing evening? dinner with friends? nope. definitely not a fun date. (my dad's in town.) in fact, andrew is embarassed that i even enjoy this... what is it you ask? here's my confession: i. love. glee. with all of my heart. well, you know what i mean. as much as you can love a musically-based, high-school-drama-filled, terrible-acting-but-who-cares-because-it's-awesome tv show. i'm getting chills just thinking about it.

borrowed from here

i love glee. i do. i really do. i love everything about glee. i have a glee soundtrack from the first season and i am itching to go more songs. i love the characters, the amazingness of how they sing and how i can laugh out loud at the barely-there plot line even though i'm not in high school (but let's admit, the actors aren't really of high school age, and i work at a high school so i'm an expert in that area!).

borrowed from here

now, anyone who knows me knows that this is a crazy show for me to like. i hate musicals, and i am a terrible singer with a capital T. i don't dance, i don't sing, i hate musicals. (in fact, i almost smothered my roomates when they decided to sing 'rent' songs all night long the night before a big test. seriously. they were even dancing.) then why in the world do i love glee? why does this show suck me in and make me giddy? does it really matter?

borrowed from here

but wait, there's more. not only is tonight glee. the most wonderful show in the world. oh no, that's not it at all. today - in addition to glorious singing, dancing, and acting - fox and glee have decided to smush glee together with how i met your mother into the most delicious prime time sandwich ever. tonight, neil patrick harris - also affectionately known as barney - is to make his glee debut, and i couldn't be happier.

borrowed from here

what do you think? am i crazy for jumping on this already-overcrowded bandwagon? do you have glee fever too? cheers to a great night - no matter if you're a gleek or not.

fonts

2010-05-13T20:56:00.000-04:00

I'm still trying to work out the kinks in my HTML code...I've tried changing fonts with no apparent luck... bear with me, WWW :)

::adults versus teenagers::

2010-05-13T18:07:00.000-04:00

Just a brief rant...

Why is it that teenagers and children often know how to behave better than adults? Teaching ninth graders for 2 years now - holy cow, 2 years already?! - has given me a good idea of how 15 year old minds work. And working with adults - at work, church, etc. etc. - my whole life has allowed me to see adults in action as well. And overall, I've got to say that I'm more impressed with teenagers. Is that terrible? Even though 9th graders are obnoxious, they're brutally honest. Even though they don't know when to just. stop. talking, they give you respect if you earn it. Even though they are horomone-filled and crazy, they know how to behave when necessary. And adults, well, adults don't! Adults don't know when to behave, they don't give respect, they don't always tell the truth. Today in an assembly at school it was the adults that were misbehaving, not the students! I couldn't believe it when I turned around to shush kids and instead was face-to-face with two fellow teachers engrossed in a conversation, oblivious to their surroundings, talking so loud that they were practically begging to have "double-standard" written on their foreheads. Because I guarantee if someone in charge walked by they would turn around and yell at some poor kid to put their ID on or spit out their gum. Just to remind themselves that they are the adult. So PLEASE, if you are an adult, PLEASE act that way. Especially when you have little ears and eyes watching you, expecting you to be the example. Otherwise you can't possibly expect that those same little ears and eyes will give you respect, listen to you at all, and follow the rules you set for them to obey. Why would they?

Grumblings over. :D

six things i'm not...

2010-05-12T19:37:00.000-04:00

1. I'm not a professional blogger. Clearly I can't find the time to post regularly. In fact, the latest update was in January...that's just sad. And what's even more sad is that I think of good blog topics almost every day. I just don't ever sit down and put my thoughts to paper, so to speak. Ever since I gave up Facebook 10 days ago (I'm trying to go a whole month without the blasted thing...hopefully I can make it!), I now have no outlet for my random exclamations and countdowns to summer and graduation. My outlet - as lame as it may be - used to be in the form of Facebook status updates. Maybe now it can be blog topics. Like when I was riding down the road today and thought about how I could write a post on the evils of building a house. Or the other day when I wanted to post about the joys of building a house. (Notice a trend?) Or how yesterday after I visited a co-worker and her new bundle of joy I wanted to write a topic about the etiquette for visiting new moms. (I'll save that one for later!) Which leads me to number 2...

While I may not be a professional blogger, nor will I ever become a professional - or even halfway regular - blogger, I do really enjoy my Google reader and the blogs to which I subscribe. BlueEyedBride, MillieHollomanPhotography, anything SouthernLiving, smittenkitchen...just to name a few. I have about 10 that I subscribe too...do you think that's too much? Not all of them post every day, and I love to get home and read them - just like reading the paper, except online! That and Brian Williams and I'm good to go.

2. I'm not a good cook. Which leads me to number 3.

3. I'm not good at eating healthy, nor do I always want to be good at eating healthy. But I do understand the benefits to a healthy lifestyle and I continue trying to work on this area. If I went back to WW at this point they probably wouldn't know my name...it's just been that long.

4. I'm not good at waiting. For anything really. I've never had patience, and I doubt I ever will. Even when I know it's not a good idea, or even a good idea for now. So that's what my husband is for. He reminds me that I need to wait, or that I need to re-evaluate what I want all together. Which is a good thing. I need him to keep me centered. Do you have someone like that in your life?

5. I'm not good at keeping things to myself. Which is what my mom is for. She lets me vent and share whatever I want to with her. Maybe it drives her crazy, maybe it doesn't, but either way I'm grateful.

6. I'm not good at counting because I thought I had six... but I only had five...

And speaking of keeping things to myself, here are three pictures of the house...it's almost done! (Which goes back to number 4 too!) :)

WhY I LoVe My JoB

2010-01-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

Last year several people told me to start recording all of my teaching stories, and now I really wish that I had listened to that great advice. Although this is only my second year teaching, I can barely remember everything I wore this week much less every hilarious moment from last year.

So here goes... I'm going to try to record moments from the classroom - at least once a week. Hopefully this will translate into a memory notebook of sorts that ::one day down the road:: I'll look back on and laugh, laugh, laugh. Even now as I think about my students from 2008-2009, my heart is happy. Corny eh?

Let's see... today's "favorite conversation award" goes to a student who constantly insists on wearing his pants 10+ sizes too big (no exaggeration!). The convo went something like this:

Me: "Pull up your pants. I can see your SpongeBob SquarePants underwear."
Him: "I love SpongeBob SquarePants. And it's not underwear. It's pajama pants."
Me: "Why do you have pajama pants on underneath your jeans?"
Him: "That's a dumb question. Have you been outside today? How did you get to school if you didn't go outside?"
Me: "How many layers of clothing do you have on today?"
Him: (While proceeding to show me every layer) "Let's see...one...two...three..four..five..."
Me: "Pull up your pants. I can see your SpongeBob SquarePants underwear."
Him: "It's not underwear!"
Me: "I don't care what it is. All I want to see is your jeans."
Him: "You want to see my jeans?"
Me: "No, I just don't want to see your underwear."
Him: "You can't see my underwear. All you can see is my pajama pants."
Me: "Pull.Up.Your.Pants."
Him: "Mrs. Boozer, it doesn't even matter if you can see my underwear. My junk is beautiful."
Me: (Speechless, I start teaching where I left off.)

Jodi Picoult

2010-01-04T20:27:00.000-05:00

I love her. I started reading her books about 6 months ago, and so far here's what I've read (in chronological order, of course!)...

Picture Perfect
Nineteen Minutes
Change of Heart
Vanishing Acts
Plain Truth
Mercy
Handle with Care
My Sister's Keeper

...and I'm currently reading Salem Falls.

Which means that I have the following still to read:

The Tenth Circle
The Pact (probably the one I'll read next!)
Second Glance
Perfect Match
Keeping Faith
Harvesting the Heart
Songs of the Humpback Whale

For those of you keeping track, that's 8 down, 1 in process, and 7 to go...wow, she's written a lot!

I hope that the ones I have left to read are as good as the ones I've already finished. Although I have a two complaints -
1. Several of books have the same general storyline - Handle with Care and My Sister's Keeper, for instance, both detail the stories of heartbroken, tired families dealing with a sick child and overlooked siblings. Marriages are tested and the social issues of stem cells and abortion are highlighted. Good books, just similar...especially because I read them back-to-back.
2. There are too many prison rape scenes in Vanishing Acts (sorry to ruin the surprise!).

Overall, highly recommended reads by this book critic! (haha, I wish!)

What's green, lights up, and holds hundreds of small decorations?

2009-12-27T16:24:00.000-05:00

As I sit in the living room (albeit my parent's living room), I gaze at Andrew's and my beautiful Christmas tree that I can't bear to take down quite yet. What makes this tree so special? For some it's plastic, for others it's real, but I think for everyone it's a necessary, central part of the holidays. We sit around it, eat around it, sing around it, open presents around it, drape ribbons and tassels around it, we hang ornaments on it, we top it with an angel or star... almost every part of Christmas revolves around a green thing with branches and needles.

Perhaps it's because I didn't get to hear the Luke version of the Christmas story this year (the Park City Methodist church we went to for Christmas Eve this year didn't even mention a manger, a start, wise men...nothing!...more on that later), but I'm feeling grateful for tradition. You know...the time-tested traditions that make you who you are. Which leads me to question twhy Christmas trees are decorated with ornaments and lights? Who first thought a tree at Christmastime was a good idea?

According to Ornament Shop, "Over the centuries various saints have been associated with Christmas trees. An illustration from around 1600 A.D. shows St. Christopher with the Christ Child riding on his shoulder and passing under a leafless tree that has a variety of fruit, candy, baskets and what looks suspiciously like glass ball ornaments hanging from it. It took more than two centuries and a transformation from deciduous to evergreen for the idea to more fully take hold, however." Though I don't hang fruit on the tree - and come to think of it I don't know who does - we can all relate to candy canes and fruit baskets.

While I love the fancy ornaments, my most favorite ones are the personal ones that we have either bought each other (we exchange ornaments every Christmas), bought on vacation, etc. Each ornament brings a new memory and a new smile. So I think the reason I don't want to take down the tree quite yet is because I'm not done with the memories. Isn't that part of what makes this time of year so special?

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

2009-12-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

First I need to apologize...it's been forever since I've posted. A lot has gone on since my last update, so where to start?

We're completely moved into my parents house on the lake - and by completely moved in I mean we have boxes there, in Andrew's parents' house, barn and shed, and I'm pretty sure Andrew still has a few boxes of stuff in his car. Hopefully we can remember where everything is when it comes time to move into our new house. Which, by the way, is coming along nicely. No house yet, but we have the official plans - on huge architecture paper and everything, of course - and we've picked the bank. We're meeting with the mortage lady on Monday actually.

We just spent a week in Park City for Christmas. We've enjoyed reading by the fire, watching the thermometer plunge into deep coldness (this morning, for instance, I think it was 6 degrees), eaten way too much, and enjoyed being with my family. We survived another year of the great Gingerbread House Competition. Andrew won - due to his great Clemson bribery - which means that the trophy remains in the Boozer household yet another year. We got new holiday pajamas last night - I'm trying to start that as a tradition. This morning we opened presents and ate (again) :) And my little sister got a car all of her very own...I think by all accounts she is very excited.

My favorite blogger, Blue Eyed Bride, talked a few weeks ago about Christmas traditions, and I loved reading the responses she got. One of my favorites was collecting 25 Christmas books and reading one each night in December leading up to Christmas. And then reading Luke's Christmas Story on the 25th and A Night Before Christmas on the 24th...I love this idea! What are your favorite Christmas traditions? What did you wake up yesterday or today excited about? Merry Christmas to all!

if you step on a crack...

2009-11-10T17:53:00.000-05:00

...you'll break your mother's back! Isn't that how that saying goes? I don't have any kids, but if I did, I would blame them for how I'm feeling this week. Andrew and I walked 4 miles (which is a lot for me!) in the Governor's Cup Race on Saturday in Columbia. There were 3 different events - the 4 mile walk, the 8K, and the 1/2 marathon. Oh how I would love to be able to run 13.1 miles! And the sad (or awesome, depending on your vantage point) thing is, there were 1/2 marathon runners finishing ahead of us - and they only started 20 minutes before us! That.is.crazy. So that, combined with moving boxes all weekend (and I didn't have nearly as hard of a lifting job as Andrew and his dad!) is killing my back.

Moving, moving did you say?? Yes, we finally got a contract on the house! Woo hoo! (Pause for brief moment of prayer for next Tuesday...the day of closing...the day of reckoning...the day I'll be able to let out the big breath I've been holding for a month). We have moved all of our stuff - which was quite a lot! - out of our house and into my parent's house/garage and into the barn near our new house site! Pretty exciting, but very strange. Every time I walk into the house I think my parents will be there. And they aren't. Until this Sunday, that is, when my dad comes into town for a few days.

And now back to the marathon/race/walk... I really want to be a badass marathon runner. Maybe not marathons, but at least something with the letter K in it. I heard of a great website at the race, but now I can't remember it. Something about couch to marathon in fill-in-the-blank days. Do you know what I'm talking about? Do any of you run - for fun or for exercise or for both? I really hate doing it,and I don't make time for it / some days legitimately don't have time. So maybe if I start getting good at it I'd have more fun. But for now, I'm ready for some Tylenol, a glass of wine (or milk, depending on my mood when I get home), and a good book :)

reconnecting and drunken chairs

2009-10-22T21:27:00.000-04:00

Okay, so let me explain the title... those are 2 totally, completely different thoughts. But I want to talk about both.

First, let's go with the drunken chairs. I just read a story about a man who, after drinking many delightful alcoholic beverages at a bar, hopped on his motorized recliner and headed for home. Here's the story if you're interested (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569204,00.html?test=latestnews). So it made me start thinking about stupid things that I've done - and we all know I have a long list. But I can't be the only one who looks back...most of the time with a laugh...about mistakes I've made. What about you? Do you have mistakes you regret? Mistakes you're glad you made? Funny stories about drunk driving a recliner after a girls night? I want to hear them!

Second, reconnecting. Very cool. After college I let my new life overshadow parts of who I was before then, but I've recently discovered that sometimes it's the things in the past (ah ha! a connection to the first paragraph!) that really makes us who we are. Not just what I'm doing or who my friends are now. Everything is important, so it's just a matter of how we choose to spend our time. Though it wasn't intentional, I let several things slip to the wayside (isn't that the phrase?). And now it's time to put things back on track. Is that too vague?

do you smell what i smell?

2009-10-14T16:36:00.000-04:00

I have been staying at the Sleep Inn in the oh-so-large metropolis of Clemson since Monday, and while I had a lot of fun visiting Liberty High School with my fellow TAV members, coming home - specifically unpacking - has made me start thinking. And as a side note, it was so weird to be back up there in the middle of the week!

When you first go to a hotel, what's the first thing you do? I explore. I like to know exactly where all the windows, beds, toilets, showers, tvs, tv remotes (affectionally called "switchers" in my house growing up), irons, ironing boards, restaurant ads, and complimentary bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and soap are. And I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Oh yeah, towels. I love me some clean towels. (And I love that they get cleaned - so they say - every day. That's what I call a slice of heaven.

So then what's the second thing you do? I plop on the nearest bed or chair. Andrew says that this is like a dog claiming his turf. I like to think of it as making sure it's comfortable. Although I'm not sure what I'd do if it wasn't.

As you can see, I really enjoy arriving at hotels. But then the newness wears off. There's only so much I can take sitting in a boring hotel room. Especially when you're at a hotel like I was this week that only hosts 10, maybe 12 if you don't mind fuzzy, I mean fuzzy, tv channels. Good thing I was able to watch NCIS last night and my usual lineup of Monday night comedies (I am a big fan of How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory on Mondays). After I sat back, watched a few million hours of tv, took advantage of free wireless, and looked out my window to realize that I had a view of the railroad track (don't even get me started about how many times the train goes by in the middle of the night!), I realized that I'd rather be home. Maybe not back to the stress of real life, deadlines, papers, and planning hectic field trips. But back to my bed. My husband. My big overstuffed red chair, its matching big overstuffed red ottoman (or is it ottaman?), and my big coffee mug filled with 2 packages of marshmellow lovers hot chocolate. Which by the way is going to put me over my WW points for today.

So when I got home and was unpacking, I was glad to be home, ready to take a nap and do laundry, and dreading going back to work, I realized something. I love the smell of hotels. I mean, love it! What is it about hotels that makes them all smell the same? Maybe I'm crazy - no jokes please :) - but I'm pretty sure hotels all get together once a year just to make sure that they smell the same. As I was unpacking and hanging up my clothes from my suitcase, I realized that there's something comforting about the way a hotel smells. But I'm not sure why. Maybe the way it makes me think to a more stress-free time? Maybe because normally hotels equate to sleeping in and coffee in bed? Either way, while I'm happy to be home, sitting in my chair with my new Nicholas Sparks book, I'm also looking forward to my next hotel stay. Weird?

Oops!

2009-10-11T20:56:00.000-04:00

So I definitely didn't meet my goal of posting every day last week...in fact, I only posted once. How do people managae to find the time to blog consistently every day? Maybe I need to put a sticky note on my computer that says, "Post! Right now! Do it!" But that's a little extreme :) So hopefully this week I'll find the time to post pictures of the mountains - they were so beautiful this weekend! There's not a lot better than sitting on the front porch of Cloud 9 watching the sunset. Or waking up, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate, and reading a good book in front of the fire. Aahhh...

Quote of the Day...Month...Year :)

2009-09-27T20:34:00.000-04:00

So after you read the post I just wrote, you'll understand why this means so much to me - especially right now in our lives.

"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence." Jeremiah 17:7

I say I trust, but do I really? It's hard to let go and admit I can't do everything myself!

Life in Fast Forward

2009-09-27T19:44:00.000-04:00

So I'm going to actively try to update here every day this week. I think if I really try 7 days in a row, I'll get the hang of it. Some days I have a lot to write about, but I don't make the time to do it. Here goes..

In the last month, a lot has happened and not happened. Let me explain :) I've started school, Andrew has been really busy at work, and the house is still sitting.

School and School - I never know what to call work school and school school. I'm taking 2 classes this semester and I'm teaching 6 9th grade math classes at MCHS. I dislike one of my USC classes, but my finance class is fine. Nothing incredibly amazing, but fine. My group of students this year is totally different than last years - I don't know what I was expecting. I think my perspective has changed; not in a good or bad way though. Last year was my first group of students, so they'll always be special. I didn't know what to expect with them, so everything that happened was new and different. This year I had expectations in my head - what my students would look/act/think/behave like and none of these preconceived notions came true. I have a more diverse group of students. I teach several students who are older - most of these students are repeating. The biggest challenge for me so far is realizing that every year will be different. This may seem obvious, but I hadn't really given it much thought until last month.

House - We lowered the price but no one's offering. I really think that this whole experience was meant to teach us - me in particular maybe - the lesson of patience. I will be the first to admit that I like to have everything planned. However, selling a house forces you to sit back and realize that there's not much you can do. You can't force someone to buy - or even look at - a house. So here we are, still waiting. Anyone looking for a house in Chapin near the elementary school?

Andrew and I went to the first Clemson home game...we won against Middle Tennessee State. We've also gone to several MCHS varsity football games. The Clemson games make me wish I was still in Clemson, and the high school games make me think back to high school and evaluate what I've done in the past six (six?? really??) years. I miss a few people from high school, but the majority of the girls I wish I saw more are from Clemson. I went to lunch with Whitney - Clemson roommate all four years - and it was really good to see her. To me, it felt like we were still living together - like nothing had changed. It's hard to believe we've been out of school for well over a year. We went to a place called Zoe's (http://www.zoeskitchen.com) for lunch. It was so good that I'm leaving a link on here for you. Yum!

What do you miss about your past? Would you do anything different? Who or what do you wish you saw more?

What is your...

2009-08-10T23:19:00.000-04:00

...stress relief? For me, it's cleaning. Vacuuming and cleaning the kitchen especially. Sometimes I love to clean, and sometimes I don't - but more often than not, it's when I'm really stressed that cleaning is fun. Fun may not be the right word... more like cathartic. When I'm stressed or when I have work to do I can't focus until my surroundings are in order. Is that weird or are you like that too?

I love...

2009-08-05T22:34:00.000-04:00

thunderstorms. Love them. A lot. What's not to like about getting to sit inside or out on the porch listening to and watching the clouds roll in. Granted I can't really watch the clouds here in a neighborhood, but watching storms across the lake or mountains is one of my favorite things. And thunder isn't really a requirement - heavy rains storms have all the makings of a good time too. Maybe I like knowing that I have an excuse to crack open the windows, crawl under the covers, and read a good book. Or lounge on the sofa with my favorite blanket (with the air conditioning cranked way up in the summer, of course). I think storms fall on my 'it's the little things' list...and are free and don't require any planning or doing on my part. And speaking of good books - kind of random, I know - do you have any suggestions? I'm really into Jodi Picoult right now. I haven't read 'Sister's Keeper' (the movie that just came out) but I've heard it's really good and (of course) way better than the movie. What else should I be reading?

A little cheering, a little ranting...

2009-08-02T22:13:00.000-04:00

If you don't watch Next Food Network Start, you should start immediately. Or at least the next time it comes on. Andrew and I were looking for a summer show that we could watch together (one that we both like!)...this is sometimes a hard task to accomplish! I'm more crime and reality shows, he's more sports and news. My shows depress him, his shows depress me. So we finally found NFNS and we loved it! Even though every time we watched it (Sunday nights at 9) I got insanely hungry and had an overwhelming urge to cook something crazy, it was fun to see all the contestants get better and better and win over the judges. Anyway, the finale was tonight and Melissa (or is it Melisa? or Mellisa?) won...woo hoo! If I am ever home when any her cooking shows are on tv, I'll totally watch her. Maybe she can tweet me some recipes...if only I used Twitter...

Speaking of which, what do you think about Twitter? Like it, love it, hate it, could care less? If I could figure out how it's better than Facebook, I'd use it. But for now, I can only keep up with my addiction to one social networking site. I can only imagine what a site like Twitter would do to me. Or my social life. Ironic, right? Even though these sites are supposed to help us (as a society, I guess) connect, do they really? Or does they actually block us off from the rest of the world? The real world.

Example: A group of people is out to dinner, or engaging in some fun activity like...a football game, swimming...use your imagination. Isn't the whole point of getting together with friends or family to get to know them better and enjoy their company? Instead now you have a group that's together and at least one person of the bunch is on a cell phone or some sort of electronic device at a time. If you don't believe me, look around next time you're sitting down to a nice glass of wine at the dinner table. Or stretching before a pick-up basketball game. And my bet is that in a group of 5 or more, the number of "casualties" grows higher and higher. What can we do to fix this? Or is it acceptable?

rain, rain...

2009-07-31T15:55:00.000-04:00

Hopefully it stops raining soon! We have a fun weekend planned - some of Andrew's college friends are coming into town and we are going to play by the pool tomorrow. It sure is nice to have an empty lake house to borrow! I even bought kitchen 409 for the special occasion...I love it. Seriously. Best thing ever invented.

I got my unoffical class assignments this week. Last year I had planning from 10:50 to 1:30 - it was crazy awesome. This year, though, I will have two different planning periods (depending on whether it's an A or B day). One is first thing in the morning, which I'm not really excited about. I'd rather have a break later in the day. And my class sizes are a LOT bigger except for one class of 6. Yep, 6 students. That's a tad too small, but I'm sure it will change before school starts. Now I just sound picky...

Random side note - it's raining and about 90 degrees outside right now, and there's a boy about 10 wearing a snow suit (scarf and all) running in circles in the street. Never a dull moment in this neighborhood!

Carpet

2009-07-28T15:55:00.000-04:00

Our real estate agent has told us to do this, do that...all in the name of selling our house. And nothing has worked so far. So do we blame it not selling on the market or on details of our house? Like carpet. Granted it's an odd color (but it really does grow on you) and a little stained...but is it worth sinking $2000 into new carpet just to see if it does the trick? What if it doesn't sell even then and we have to lower the price? We'll be out a lot of money. Sigh...

Tonight is the 'after the rose' episode of the Bachelorette - what is it about this show that I love? I don't really know...but I do! Maybe it's watching people fall in (and out of) love that's so interesting. I'm so excited that it seems like Ed and Jillian seem to actually be working out - it's about time the show has an another success! What do you think about shows like the Bachelor? Why do you think people are drawn to them?

First Post

2009-07-27T19:57:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I messed up our first blog...so here's another try. And it turns out that I really like creating blogs! This one was so fun to make - and I'm not even done! What do you think? Suggestions on a blog theme?