Chocolate kisses

Last night Puppy gave us quite the scare. Yep. He did.

I was upstairs reading, The Hubs was doing his breathing treatment (he has to be hooked up to a machine and blow on some plastic pipe looking thing. It takes about 30 minutes. ... he's not really hooked up to the machine, but he may as well be. He's got it all set up right in front of the computer, that way he won't be bored while he's practicing breathing... it's really noisy so he can't watch tv while he breaths. Anyhow, I'm sure that's more than you really cared to know about The Hubs and his illness, but since I'm the one writing... : ).

As I was reading I could hear The Puppy nibbling on something. I thought he was in the office with The Hubs chewing on his nice blue bone. He sounded like he was doing just fine and was as happy as could be. While I was reading I considered checking on The Puppy. But I knew he had to be fine since he was with The Hubs. He wasn't. Nope.

After The Hubs finished his breathing treatment I asked him what Puppy was doing. He said he didn't know.

Not good.

The Hubs was quick to look down and see that puppy was nibbling on something ... something that wasn't his bone, or hedgehog, or rope, or lion, or any of his toys. Nope. Not. None.

Kisses. Chocolate kisses. Chocolate that kills puppies.

Puppy seemed very happy with himself and seemed to be enjoying the kisses very much. Although, he did not really care for almonds that we're in some of the kisses. He ate around them. What a talented little pup.

After racing to his rescue and reaching down his throat to take all of the chocolate out (not that we could get any, he had eaten it all, of course. Although he did and leave the little foil wrappers on the couch. How he did that I do not know, again, talented little pup).

We were just really scared he was going to die from eating chocolate. The Hubs did some research and since puppy only ate seven kisses it wasn't enough to hurt him, thankfully :)

Anyhow, that's my puppy story.

a nice day

This has been one of the best days in a long time. Actually, that's not completely true. I have been having a lot of really good days lately. Nice, easy, home-y days which I get to fill with whatever I like :) I love days like these.

This morning The Hubs slept in and went to work later so I got to fix a nice big yummy breakfast of bacon and pancakes. It was delicious. Then I went to the eye doctor with the intention of picking out some new eye glasses, but due to my severe case of indecisiveness I left the store without picking out a new pair of specs. Shame really. I should have just done it then, while I was there. But I didn't. Surprise? Maybe. Or not. I just couldn't decide if I really liked any of the frames I saw. Eh, oh well.

One of the highlights of my day was visiting with one of my friends. She had a baby at the end of September and I have been able to visit with her randomly since then. I was happy I had a day and was able to see her and her adorable baby girl! If only I could have more days like this one :)

Anyhow, I hope your day was a happy one!

Merry Christmas!

I realize it might be a little late to say Merry Christmas for actual Christmas. But by my saying it now, I'm just helping the day last a little bit longer :) I just feel like Christmas has come and gone so quickly this year. Really, I feel like it always does. Weeks and weeks build up the excitement of Christmas and then boom, it's here and gone before you can really soak it all in. Then after Christmas it's time to get back to the real world, which is just sad.

... and I will stop being depressing now. I mean, it is Christmas after all :)

Speaking of Christmas, how was yours? Mine was wonderful I got to see one of my sisters and her kiddos (even though one of them was so sick on Christmas Eve, poor little guy!) and then I got to spend a lot to time with The Hubs and his family. We ate a lot of good food. A lot. Probably more than I should have, but I just love food and it was all so yummy. Plus it was Christmas :)

I got a lot of really nice surprises and thoughtful gifts for Christmas, more than I could have dreamed of getting. One of the yummiest gifts I got was a Keurig coffee maker! I heart it so much! It have had some very yummy and cozy coffee drinks from it already :) I also got a brand new Christmas tree. I will be posting some pictures of the beauty, don't worry. I love it. And of course some other. Wry wonderful things. It was a very happy Christmas, and not just because of the gifts.

Anyhow. Merry Christmas! I hope it was a good one.

happy heart

For about five months I have been meaning to get file folders so I can get organized at school. I have a bunch of folders and such, but they just aren't as organized as I would like them to be. But instead of just going out to buy some on day number one I waited about a semester before making the investment. When I brought the folders to my classroom I was wishing I had done so earlier. I was organizing things and putting them all in new little homes and it made my heart happy. Anyhow. It's the small things that make my heart happy. I just wanted to share real quick like.

a little of this and a little of that

So, I don't have much of one thing to share. I just have a little of a lot. Stick around if you really care to know what has been going on in my wonderful life and in my thoughts.

It's almost Christmas Break. Yep. That's right. Almost break. There are seven official days of school left before break. Which is just crazy. Wonderful, but crazy. All I see is a pile of papers that have to be graded before then. Okay, that's not all I see, but I do see that pile. Funny thing about it is that as soon as it starts to shrink it magically grows. It's like it never stops. Crazy. What I want to know is how do you manage the mountain of papers? How? If you have a trick, please let me know.

In other news, the hubs is sick. Well, he's kind of been sick for a while now. But we finally found out what the trouble is. It only took about a year to find out. Or two months, either way, it took a long time. Thankfully he has a diagnoses and medicine to take and he is fixable. I must admit he called me the other day and it just was not good. I started playing the "what if" game. Not a good game. But I kept telling myself, "Just pray about it. It's ok. Nothing's really wrong. Pray. It's fine..." And it was. Is. It is. 

Also. I have a stack of papers to give back to my kids. There are papers in there from months ago. How do these not get back in their hands after they are graded? I don't know. It's like there is some super power that prevents them from getting their work back. Not really. But it is true that they don't have any of their work. At least, not most of it. Not good, I know. I just haven't figured out an efficient way to get their work back to them. I know now, at the end of the semester any way of getting it back to them will be extremely inefficient, but I just don't know what to do. Any teachers have any tips on returning work? But hey, at least the kids can't say I'm not looking at and grading their work. Cause if you saw the stack, you could see that I am. Clearly. 

I have started giving quizzes to my kids over the assigned readings. You might be thinking, "Well, duh. Giving quizzes is elementary." But I didn't really have that epiphany until a little while ago when I was thinking back on my days as a student. I remembered one of my professors used to give little five question quizzes every day of class over the assigned reading. I remember how even though I read for all my other classes the quizzes made me pay attention even more, cause you never knew what questions he would ask. So I started doing the same. At first the kids hated me. I'm sure some still do : ) But then after a while of giving the quizzes the kids started asking and even begging me to give them a quiz. ha. Yes. That's right. The kids wanted a quiz. Glorious. 

Anyhow. I know that's a really random assortment of thoughts and such. But thanks for your company. I just needed to warm up my fingers a little bit and get my brain moving. It's been a little while... I will do my very best to not be so all over the place next time.

just being

Is it bad that all I've done over break is sit around and do much of nothing... and a lot of Pinterest browsing? I hope not. I am enjoying myself soooo much. It is fabulous! I love a good break. I love chilling and seeing family. I love talking leisurely strolls with my hubs and puppy. I love being able to read, for fun, if I want to. I love not having any pressure or responsibility. I love being. I feel like it is something that I haven't been able to do in a while, so while I might feel 1.1% guilty for not doing any work over break, I'm trying to let it go. It is break after all : ) Oh, how I love this moment, this break, this time. Why can't it always be like this? ... I suppose if it were I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it right now. Although, I don't know. This is pretty wonderful.

Anyhow. I'm off to write my Christmas Wish List for the hubs. I think I've got a pretty good idea of some things I would like to open up on Christmas morning : )

I hope you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a Happy Black Friday ;p (I do happen to have a story about that, and I will share it with you soon, promise).

It's Thanksgiving : )

Happy Thanksgiving!! I am so thankful that it is today : )

There are a few things I am thankful for today:

My hubby
My puppy
My family and that I get to see some of them on this very special day
That there is a break from school
Sleep
Yummy food
Making yummy food
Eating yummy food
Blogging again :)

I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

A little poem

I just finished a unit on poetry with one of my classes. So I thought I would write a little poem myself. 

I'd Rather Be

Sitting alone upstairs

Work screaming at me 

Bossing me around 

begging to be finished.

Laying on the couch so fair

Just chillin' in his favorite Tee

Football sounds abound

All worries diminished. 

Not that I really care

Football to me is not key

But I want to be found

- watching the game 

by his side.

golly geepers

It's been a while. I apologize. I won't say anything else about that.

But I will say this: I love Christmas.

I used to think the stores were a little over zealous when they started putting our Christmas goodies before Halloween. Now, I think it's wonderful. It's the best feeling walking into a store and seeing happy little snowmen and penguins, Christmas trees and stockings. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It also gives me hope. Hope that I can make it through anything. Christmas is a cozy and hopeful time of year and seeing all of the cute, pretty, and festive decorations and treasures out and about gives me that hope, even though Christmas is still two months away.

So I don't care if stores set up and display Christmas things before Halloween. I Love it. It makes me happy and cheery. I love feeling cheery and right about now I can use all the cheer I can get. I might be making daily trips to the store to get me some cheer. Actually, I probably won't be doing that, but, I will enjoy the Happy Christmas Joy when ever I am lucky enough to make it to the store.

Happy Christmas thoughts to you : )

pick something!

Yesterday I had a job to do: go to the store and pick out a baby gift. That's all. Simple really. All I had to do was go to the store, print out the registry and pick out the gift. No big deal. Quick trip. No brainer. Except that when I am in the picture, it is never just a quick trip and it is never does not involve the brain. Which I suppose is a good thing. Except it's not. I stood in front of the bottles for an hour trying to decide which ones I should get.

I knew I wanted to get one from the registry, so that's not a problem. But, which one? I found one that was on the registry but here's where the problem comes in. I wanted to get the little liner bags for the bottles too. But, they didn't have any for the size bottle I found. What should I do? Get the bottles and no liners? Get the liners and no bottles? Get both even though they aren't really made for each other, even though they were both on the registry. Or get something else all together? I just couldn't decide.

Then I saw a bonus package. Five bottles for $10 with 50 some liners, the same exact kind that were on the registry. But this awesome bonus package wasn't on the registry. The bottles that were on there were sold in packs of three for $12.99. I was torn. The bottles were great, but the one I really thought would be great (or thought was a better deal, cause let's face it, it was) wasn't on the registry.

So I called The Hubs. I needed to talk this out.I hung up after it rang. I knew what he was going to say. Make a decision and come home. When he called me back two minutes later he said exactly what I knew he would. No help. So I stood in front of the bottles for another hour trying to decide what to do. Finally I had had enough of my shenanigans and yelled at myself, "Dang it, Hannah! Pick something. Just pick something, buy it, and go home. Now. You have one minute. One minute. 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53 ...."

And I did. I picked something off of the registry, and took it to the counter. It didn't take me that long. Once I had made my mind up that I was going to just pick something and buy it.

Needless to say, they better like the gift. It took five years off my life. Seriously. Why can't I just make a decision? Quickly? Do you know how long it would have taken The Hubs to get a gift? Two minutes. I'm not even kidding. Oh well. I am me and I am indecisive. That's just how it is. eh...  

But I am excited about the baby shower. I have a bunch more coming up. Everyone I know is having a baby. Okay, maybe that's not true. I might be exaggerating just a little bit. But it's pretty much the truth. Anyhow. That's what I'm up to tomorrow.

I hope you guys all had a wonderful Saturday! Happy weekend!

     

Lemon Time

One of my friends had a baby a few weeks ago and we got to visit them at the hospital for a little while. Today I am excited because I get to go and visit my lovely friend and her new baby at her house for longer than just a little bit. I am just pleased as punch that I get to visit! I was so excited in fact that I fixed a whole pot of soup and some bread to take them so Mama could have a little bit of a break and just worry about her and baby.

I asked if she would like me to bring something for dinner, I didn't want to show up at her house with some food and them to already have plenty of it. She was excited about the soup idea so I went to the grocery store and bought the goods. Growing up my mom would always fix the best potato soup with dumplings. It is seriously the best soup ever. I will share the recipe with you some time this winter, soup is after all, the perfect winter meal.

Along with the soup I baked a little loaf of bread. I was thinking about a french loaf, which always tastes amazing with pretty much any soup, but I found a new recipe in my "Taste of Home" magazine that looked wonderfully delicious. I decided I had to try it. It is a a quick bread and it turned out beautifully. Normally I like to stick with the amazing tried and true: pumpkin, blue berry, apple... But I thought I should give a new one a go just to see if held up to the others. It did. I was a little skeptical about how it would turn out because the herb is so strong, but it is Amazing. Bake some. Now. You will thank me later. K?

So, without further rambling, I share with you "Taste of Home's" Lemon Thyme Bread:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel [one whole lemon grated]
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Confectioners' sugar [aka powdered sugar, though I'm sure you all knew that. One day I will have to tell you a funny story about that...]

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine buttermilk and sour cream. Combine the flour, thyme, lemon peel, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beating well after each addition. [I dumped everything in the same bowl and mixed it all together, it saved time and bowls and turned out just perfectly.]

2. Dump into a greased 8 in x 4 in. bread pan. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. After baking let cool. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

You could always make these into muffins, that would be equally delicious. Or little loafs. I split mine into two bread pans to I could taste it before I took it over.

Anywho. I thought it was really good and turned out well. If you like baking or if you like bread, you should really try it out and let me know what you think! I think it's a keeper : )

healthy and yummy

A while back The Hubs went grocery shopping and bought a very large bag of frozen tilapia. I do not like fish. No. I don't. I never really have. Well, that's not completely true. I used to eat sardines from the tin all the time. They were my favorite thing ever. So much so that I named one of my favorite stuffed animals Sardines. I really loved me some sardines. But then I stopped liking sardines and fish in general. My taste buds changed or something. I mean, I still ate some fishy type meals just cause that's what we were having for dinner and I would rather eat something than be hungry. And what ever was fixed for dinner was what we had to eat for dinner. So I would begrudgingly eat my tuna melts or salmon patties or whatever other sea food was served for dinner. If it were my choice I wouldn't eat it.

But, back to The Hubs' purchase. He saw the fish and thought it would be a good way to get healthy. Fish is supposedly healthy for you. So we bought some marinades at the store to trick my taste buds into liking the tilapia. It tasted terrible. I ate two bites and was full... of fish, so I fixed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to enjoy. But since I hate wasting food (aka money) we were determined to figure out a way that I could fix the fish and kind of enjoy it too. After trying dozens of recipes and marinades and detesting every single one of them I found what appeared to be a little gem of a recipe. The picture looked alright so I thought I would give it a go. But there was a problem. I didn't have all of the ingredients. Naturally, I wasn't about to go and buy them. So I switched a bunch of the ingredients around so much so that I'm sure it tastes nothing like the actual recipe. But, I liked it. I actually ate my whole little fishy.

I thought I would share my recipe with you so that you could try it. You can tell me if it's terrible. I really won't mind. But I still fix it because we had a lot of fish to eat and it's the only way I will eat it. Let me know what you think of it if you try it.

Tasty Tilapia

1/2 cup peaches and juice (or pineapple - I use the little fruit cups that come individually packaged, one of those little guys is the perfect amount!)    
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons parsley
5 teaspoons canola oil
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 green onions, chopped (I've used chives too and it is equally delicious)
fish fillets (however many you want up to 8, I usually fix three for me and The Hubs)

Mix all of the ingredients together (minus the fish). Add the fish, coat, and marinate for about an hour (I usually can't wait that long and it sits for about 30 minutes, which is plenty of time : ) .  Then we normally put it on the grill and cook it accordingly. I'm not really sure how long, just you know, as long as it takes to cook fish. Then you enjoy it while it is nice and hot!

We normally pair the fish with some wild rice and a nice little spinach salad. It makes for a very yummy and healthy meal. If you try it let me know how it turns out/if you like it : )

Happy Wednesday!

Fall Break

Friday was the first day of Fall Break. We didn't have Friday off, but after school Fall Break began, so yes, Friday was the first day of Fall Break. Today however, is the first real day of break because I didn't have to go to school. In fact, I didn't have to do a thing all day long. And I didn't. No, I really didn't do anything. It's quite a shame really. But I cannot tell you how wonderful today has been. I have been able to stay home and chill. It has been wonderful. I took Puppy for a walk and am working on getting the laundry done.

Other things will get done this week, but today I decided to chill and do absolutely nothing. It has been the perfect day. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a lot of grading, planning, and work type stuff accomplished. Wednesday The Hubs and I have a fun home project that I am hoping turns out beautifully. I will post some pictures after it is all said and done. Thursday I hope I can visit my friend and her new baby girl and get a few more work things done (ugh). Friday we are going to the dentist. I am hoping I won't have any cavities.

Anyhow. That's what my week looks like. Well, my plans for it anyway : ) I know somethings might change it up here or there. But I am hoping it is a relaxing and productive week. More relaxing than anything else, but it can't be all fun and no work. Oh, well.

I am just so thankful for this break. It really is a much needed break. I always used to think the break was more for the students, but now I kind of think it is more for the teachers. Either way, I love it and am so thankful for it. I'm also rejoicing that I made it a whole quarter as a teacher. It feels as though it's been forever and at the same time like no time at all. Crazy.

Anyhoot. I am back, for a week : ) ... and hopefully I will be able to catch up with all of you and all that is going on in Blog Land.

Happy Monday : )

dinner : )

Tonight for dinner I had perogies, pretzels, and pickles. 

It was delicious. 

Walnuts

I love Saturdays. I'm not really sure who wouldn't love a Saturday. They are simply wonderful. I was looking forward to this Saturday in particular. One reason being I knew we wouldn't be going any where. Don't get me wrong, I love going places and seeing people. But I really just love being home. I like to be able to get things done around the house or maybe (if it's a special occasion) do nothing at all. But even if being at home involves cleaning and laundry and other such chores I would still pick to be at home. Another reason I love Saturdays is because I get to sleep in. I love sleep and I hate hearing an alarm go off in the morning. That's why one of my favorite things about Saturdays is not having to wake up to an alarm.

Last night I stayed up super late, it was at least 10:45 before I dragged myself from the couch where I had already been snoozing to go upstairs for bed. I was very much looking forward to sleeping as long as I wanted.

But this morning an alarm went off. Not mine. Not the Hubs'. The walnuts. Yes. The walnuts woke me up rudely and abruptly. In fact when I was first jolted out of my sleep I thought I had heard a gun shot. That's what walnuts sound like.

Ok. Maybe they don't always sound like a gun shot. But around these parts, they do. Yes, sir-ee. You see, we have a shed. The shed has a tin roof. The walnut tree grows right over the shed. So, every fall starting in mid-August and lasting until about the middle of November the walnuts fall. Any time they fall and hit the shed, "BANG!" It is so loud it is ridiculous. And it literally sounds like a gun has been fired two feet from our house.

This is especially scary when the hubs is not home and it is dark out side. And it is irritating when you are trying to sleep and walnuts keep falling.

I just thought I'd share my thoughts from this morning about how much I love walnuts : )

ok. that's all.

pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch the other day. Actually, it was more like a week ago, but you know, same thing. The point is we went and it was a nice time. We went with friends from our small group and it was a perfectly gray and drizzly day. 

Instead of blabbing on and on about it I will share a few pictures from the day. 

picked pumpkins

warty squashes  : )  

Me and the Hubs in the apple orchard. 

Apples. But I'm sure you could figure that out on your own. 

The pumpkin patch. 

Pickin' pumpkins. 

This makes me happy. 

Okay, that's about all I have for now.

whisper

I'm at a loss of words for the moment. So I thought I'd post this amazing picture that needs no words. 

via

I want to be there right now. 

questions

Friday afternoon I had a little conversation with one of my students.

Boy  student looks at me and asks, "Are you married?"

"Yes, I am." He is trying to get me off subject, maybe. And it's working.

"How long have you been married? Did you just get married this summer?"

"Nope."

"Last summer?"

"Nope."

"The one before that?"

"I got married in the fall almost three years ago, yes."

"Wow."

And I think to myself, "I know, I'm old. Thanks."

"Do you have any kids?"

"No. Not right now. One day."

"Really? When?"

"I don't know when. But I want to adopt my children."

"Really?" he asks almost incredulously. "Why? Those kids don't have homes."

Exactly.

a little crazy

Since my life has been crazy this past month I decided on Saturday I would contribute to the crazy that is reigning me at the moment and ...

... chopped my hair off. Well, I didn't chop it off, but I voluntarily allowed someone to chop it off before my very eyes. Yep. That's right. 

My hair is gone. g-o-n-e. gone.

I'm not really sure what possessed me to chop it all off. I guess I had been thinking about doing it for about five minutes and finally was just fed up with it and decided to get it cut. Drastically. I'm sure next time I get it cut (which will be never) it won't be quite so drastic. 

I could never get a tattoo. I've wanted one for a long time, but I know I could never get one because of this simple reason: I am too indecisive. I'm not saying I don't like my hair cut, I do. But I wasn't really sure about getting it cut and then all of the sudden it was gone. A tattoo... if you're not really sure about getting one, you should probably not be getting one in the first place, cause that thing is not going away (or growing back like my hair thankfully will). 

I didn't take a before picture for some reason, maybe because I didn't think I would actually have it all cut off. But this is what it used to look like (except a little bit longer)... 

(can you tell I take a lot of self portraits and that I always sit in the same spot when I take them? : )  

so long... 

Also, before she cut it she told me how long it would be afterwards, a length I was most happy with. Then when she finished cutting she looked at my hair and said, "Oh! That's a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be!" 

um. thanks? I thought that was rule number one of things not to say as a hair dresser. 

eh. Oh, well. I'll just get use to my new hair-do. I do like it, I think it's cute. And apparently I wanted to have short hair since I had it all cut off willingly. o my.

5000 years later...

I am typing up a short little post. I miss the days I could take as long as I wanted to write up a post. Even if there was nothing much going it was my escape to just write. Now it seems, even though it is still an escape for me it's not one I can get to very often. Which is sad. I tell my students to write and almost every day I have them write for at least ten minutes, but for some reason I can't even manage ten minutes to sit down and write something for myself.

I am hoping that things will get better, less crazy and completely overwhelming. Cause that's how they are right now. And when that day happens, you all will be the first to know. But for now my priorities are all out of whack and nothing goes as I plan or would like. For now I am happy knowing all of the laundry is washed and folded... it's just waiting to be put away.

And I feel like this is all very random and none of it makes any sense. But I needed to write, for me if nothing else. I will get better... one day : )

But for now, I hope you are having a lovely start to a new week.

 

1000 Gifts

It's Monday so I'm thinking of a few things I am grateful for today...

50. A long weekend!!

51. No School Today!

52. Getting Laundry done. Washed, dried, folded, and put away (the first time this has happened in a month).

53. A helpful and wonderful Hubs.

54. Groceries.

55. Planned Lessons.

56. Swimming on a boiling hot day.

57. Fall weather: jeans and long sleeves.

58. Friends and cookies and milk.

59. Help.

60. Freshly baked granola.

61. A three day week.

62. Knowing that nothing is impossible with God.

63. Yoga lessons/classes I am going to start taking.

There will be more next week... but for now, that's about it. Go see Ann and share your own 1000 gifts.  

oh thank you

I Love it when people come up to me and say nice little things, compliments. You know? It makes me feel all pretty and happy and wonderful inside.

I got the complement of my life (or week) the other day while I was standing in the hallway as the kids went to their first period classes, keep in mind that it is 7:30 in the morning as they walk to their classes. A teacher walks past me and says, "You really look like you wish it was tomorrow (Friday)."

Translated: "You look like crap."

How sweet.

I mean, I know I make it a point to tell people when they look terrible and rotten. So, I'm glad the favor is returned.

... What am I supposed to look like at 7:30 in the morning in the middle of the week?! Bright eyed and cheery faced?

I think not. Maybe some people, but not me.

Anyhow. That's my little story. Have you ever gotten a backhanded compliment like that before? And when I say backhanded compliment I really don't mean compliment. Cause no matter how you say something like that ...

"You look terrible! Are you feeling sick?"

"No, actually, I feel really great. But thanks for telling me you think I look like doggy poopy."

... it isn't nice or sweet or kind or appreciated.

And that's really all I have to say about that :D

1000 Gifts

I know it's not Monday, but I feel like sharing some more of my 1000 Gifts anyway. It's been too long and my heart is starting to become bitter and grouchy. 

32. A job

33. A sweet and encouraging hubs

34. Birthday presents

35. Baby Showers, pink and purple

36. Going to Church with new friends from Russia

37. Having tea with new friends

38. Drinking tea. period

39. Prayer - that Jesus hears and answers, I would be a real mess without Him

40. Paying off two of my school loans! woot woo

41. Journaling. Seeing the paper slowly fill with words that come out of my hand

42. Puppy kisses

43. Polka dots 

44. A four day school week - two weeks in a row

45. Tears

46. Peanut butter treats with m&ms

47. Fresh tomatoes from the garden

48. Marshmallow flip-flops

49. Bed time

Ok. Now go over to Ann's and link up too (I give you permission to do so even though it's not Monday :)

de-lish-ish

Welp. Yesterday I rushed home from school. Surprisingly I left at 3:30ish - the earliest I think I have left school so far. Anyhow. It was great. I went to get a few things from the grocery store and I remembered everything I had written on my list even though I had forgotten my list in the car.

I had found out an hour or so earlier that the picnic we were going to actually started a whole hour earlier than we thought it did. Thus the rush. But, I was able time everything perfectly. Which is rare. In fact, I was ready to walk out the door right at 3:30 and the Hubs wasn't even home from work. I was on top of things : ) I think it surprised even myself a little bit.

Anyhow. We went to the picnic and had pretty nice time. I think I mentioned that we have some new friends from Russia. I can't remember. But if I didn't, or if you haven't been reading for long, we have some new friends from Russia. They came a day or two before I got my job. We picked them up from the airport, moved them into our guest bedroom for a few days, helped them find an apartment, took them to the store (this was the Hubs' favorite part was taking them to Walmart and Target : )

Anyhow. The picnic we went to was for International Students who are attending U of L. The Hubs and I found out we could be a part of this ministry through our church that welcomes and befriends International Students and that's how we made our new friends. So the picnic was to welcome all of the International Students to U of L. We went and had a jolly time.

And I took my treat. I wanted to eat half the pan before we got there, but I refrained. By the time I got through the line there were only five little squares left. Apparently these little guys go like hot cakes. They are delicious.

Wanna make them? It's just like Rice Crispy Treats without the Rice Crispies. Substitute Peanut Butter cereal in and add some M&Ms! Easy Peasy. 

Ok. I'm off. I just wanted to share that little tidbit : ) 

excitment

Tomorrow I am going to make some delicious yummy treats to take to a picnic. They will be a combination of rice crispy treats and peanut butter goodness. I am soooo excited. I cannot tell you just how excited I am. I will take oodles of pictures and I will share them. And I will let you know how they turn out tasting and if there are actually any left by the time we get to the picnic : )

I have a slight major love addiction if anything peanut butter : ) I'm so excited. This is gonna be a great Friday afternoon!!!

 

tears

Today I made a  student  cry. 

oh. my. 

poor dear. 

I didn't even say anything to her. 

No. Not one word. 

I graded papers and entered the grades. 

And her mom saw it and sent me an email about it. 

But, because my email has been broken since I got my job three weeks ago...

yeah. 

I didn't get that one right away. 

And I didn't write back until after the poor dear came crying in my room. 

It made me so sad.

I was about to cry with her. 

I don't like crying students. 

I hope they don't figure that out and all come crying to me when they want something 

cause I would probably cave in and  give it to them. 

Even if the tears were fake. 

But no. Her tears were real. 

Real.

Big. Fat. Tears. 

She hadn't  turned in an assignment that I was entering in the grade book. 

I didn't know what else to do. 

I didn't have it, so I put a zero. And it made her cry. 

She came to me after school asking what was wrong. What she had done. 

And then I saw her puffy red eyes and a tear roll down her check. 

Don't cry sweet dear. 

I can fix it. Bring me your paper and I will fix it for you. 

I think I will be getting that paper tomorrow first thing in the morning.

 I can't believe I made a student cry on the 11th day of school.

contacts on my eyeballs

I am such a genius. I know my left from my right.

Or, maybe not.

I got some new contacts this morning. I pulled the boxes out and looked at which was labeled Right and which was labeled Left. I put them on the appropriate sides of the sink.

I put the contact for my left on on the tip of my right finger, the finger I use to put my contacts in regardless of the eye, and after making an "L" with my fingers I stuck the contact in. Then, I put in the Right contact in my other eye.

However, my eyes would not focus. Things were blurry. I took them out and stuck them back in hoping it would help. Then I walked around the house a little bit, squinting my eyes, covering one and then the other. The real trouble came when The Hubs showed me something on the computer and I actually had to focus to read. I couldn't.

Since I was becoming ill from lack of being able to focus I decided to take them out and wear my glasses. I'm not really sure at which point I realized that I had the Left contact in the right eye and the Right contact in the Left eye. I think it must have been right before tripped on my carpet and nearly fell down the stairs because I could see so well with fuzzy eye vision.

After a few hours or so I decided to give my contacts another try. I switched the eyes and wha-la. It's amazing how much better you can see when you have the correct contact in your eye.

You know, in as many years as I have been wearing contacts, which has been too many ... maybe 14 years?! (oh, I am so old) I think today is the first time I mixed the eyes up. whoops. I'm just glad I didn't drive all the way to school with fuzzy vision and get sick half way through the day because of it : )

I promised...

Welp, here are the few pictures I have and said I would share. They are pretty self explanatory... 

 that's me. ready for school. It's amazing I don't look more sickly. Cause, good gracious, I was sick all day long. And the picture is in our kitchen because it was far too dark in any other room in our house or outside. Shame. 

my desk. I've never had a desk at a job before. I feel so special to have this one. 

this is the back wall with very empty bulletin boards. obviously. but that's ok. I will fill them up as we go on in the year. 

 

the front of the room. exciting, eh? 

and my bookshelves. they might be my favorite part about the room. 

Welp. There's the tour. It's a work in progress and I might change it up here soon and show you. But for now I am working on the planning and teaching part. oh. my. 

Anyhow. I hope you guys are having a good week! Thanks again for all of your sweet words! They make my day more than you can know. 

Happy Wednesday to you! 

it's a going

Ok. So, get excited. Tomorrow you will get to see pictures of my classroom. Ah! How exciting I know! It's semi impressive ; ) And I think I might put up a picture of me on my first day of school as a teacher! bah!

It's still so crazy and I can hardly believe that I have a job at a school doing what I went to school to do. This is going to be a crazy year I am still scrambling to get everything I need and making lesson plans I don't know how to make. I'm also supposed to be teaching like I actually know how to teach. kehehe.

But I just wanted to say that this year (all five days of it) is going very very well. I am excited to see how the rest of the year plays out and how I manage to get through everything. I'm also excited to be working with and helping my students. There are gonna be some crazy and wild times ahead. I'm sure I will be keeping you posted.

And, I think that's about it for now. Sorry my writing has been so sporadic lately. I just feel like I'm never home any more. Yesterday I was only home for about an hour and a half total. Serious. Well, unless you count the hours I was sleeping. I don't really count those.

Anyhow. I will be catching up with a lot this week. You guys, lesson planning, grading... all kinds of fun and wonderful things! : ) Thanks again for your encouraging words. You guys are the greatest!

My First Day as a Real Live Teacher

I just wanted to say real quick like: I didn't die, pass out, or vomit in my class in front of my kids today. Though if I had died in front of them I wouldn't really care if I had. Since, you know. I'd be dead. But thankfully I survived. The kids were actually really great. I guess I was expecting the absolute worst. But they came in and sat down. When class started I hollered at them to be quiet and then got going on expectations. And I was mean. A mean ol' lady. Well, that's what I was going for. I like to think that I achieved that. I just keep telling myself that I did. And then I will be a grouchy teacher lady tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next ... I hope :D

The best thing for me was being prepared. Obviously this makes a Huge difference. But I am glad that I was overly prepared and had plenty to do with the kids as opposed to not enough. Now I have to get all the way ready for tomorrow. And the next day ... :)

But it was a good day. I enjoyed it. Once the kids were in my room I knew that I had to get down to business and be a real teacher lady to them. So I did. Even though I was nauseous all morning long (not even close to kidding, actually I've been nauseous about this morning since I found out on Friday). And I was shaking like a person on crack. And at one point during the day my foot was suddenly paralyzed. Weird. But all the sudden my toe was stuck and contorted in my shoe and painful, very painful. So, I guess maybe it wasn't paralyzed since you can't feel anything when you are paralyzed. But I was only one step away from having a paralyzed foot. It's true.

Anyhow. I just wanted to let you know I was still breathing and that I survived the day... and that it turned out to be a pretty good one. Except for the part where I got tired of talking and ran out of water and had the driest mouth ever and was parched like a desert and had to pee sooooo badly but had to hold it for five and a half hours. But other than that ... : )

ok! maybe I'll share my first day of school picture with you guys when I have a little more time to function.

Also, I just wanted to thank all of you for your sweet and encouraging comments!! I don't have the time to respond to all of you, but know that I am very grateful! And I will catch up on your blogs here soon!

yesterday, today, tomorrow

I didn't do 1000 gifts yesterday. I kind of forgot in the midst of my newly acquired busy schedule : )

My classroom is done. Well, as much as it can be. There is paper covering the bulletin boards and that's pretty much it. I'm just trying to keep my head on straight! It is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. School starts tomorrow! Ah! that means kids will be there and I will have to teach them. yikes!

And I have to go. I will give a more through update here soon.

news news news

Guess what, y'all?!

I got a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ah!!!!!!!!!!

as you can see I am very into the exclamation mark at the moment!!  : )

Yep, that's right. A job. A real live teacher job! bah! You are lookin' at the newest teacher on the block.

9th grade English.

That's freshmen. Freshmen. Big, scary, smelly, wonderful freshmen.

And school starts on Wednesday. Wednesday. That's one, two, three, four, five days away. Yes, five days from now I will be standing in front of my new students, sitting at my teacher desk, in my classroom.

Ah!!!!

And yay!!!

So, any teachers out there? Any freshmen/high school teachers? Help? How do you go about getting ready for your first day of school? Syllabus? Seating chart? Decorations? Expectations? What do you do? Where do you start?! Any and all help or advice would be most very welcome!!! also, prayers would be wonderful. I will need them :D ha. so will my students!

crazy!

five days!

bah!

ok.