I Have The Best Job Ever

So I've been enjoying my summer. All 8 (11 if you count the weekend) days of it, so far have been nothing short of excellent. I really and truly believe teaching is the best job ever, I felt that way all year. Sure, there are many people who wouldn't do it if it paid millions, never mind the meek salary we earn, but the perks--the perks are worth it. And summer vacation has, thus far, proved to be quite the perk. You may or may not believe this but I was honestly a little apprehensive about having all the free time of 10 weeks off. As you should know by now, I don't do bored or idle well at. all. The first afternoon off, I indulged. Got in bed and stayed there alternating between finishing Chelsea Handler's new book and watching crappy TV. I only got up that night to make dinner. A bit of a low point for me but I felt it to be necessary. I was up ready to go for my first workout of the summer the very next morning. Which brings me to reason #1 I'm enjoying summer. This is what my wardrobe consists of:

Workout clothes for the gym and cheer practice (so I AM technically working this summer, coaching) and swim suits in my spare time. But of course, I've found the time to be plenty productive in between workouts and lounging at the pool (where I have finished 2 books!). Note the cross in the mirror in the picture of me? Made it. Cut it, painted it and crafted the stones on. Those carpets? Shampooed 'em. That Swisher pup in the background? Well...I ordered her Heartguard online (not a huge accomplishment) but I have been getting some major quality time with her. I also have had a few firsts, first time hosting Bunco, first flea market experience, first cheer practice as a coach. Yep, it's been a busy 8 days, I don't mess around. I even planted these petunias....

I'm sure Jon would like me to note that I took these pictures before he mowed and edged the lawn.

And despite the family of wasps that would like to scare me away, I keep them watered daily. Those pesky wasps. I unloaded an entire can of spray on those a-holes one morning and was only able to take one measly stinger down. Later that night they must have been angry about the loss of their kin, because Jon got attacked by one. The nerve!

So as you can see, I'm not so much worried about being bored this summer anymore. If the first week and a half is any indication of what I'll be able to accomplish and the fun I'll had, I'm in for maybe the best perk of my job yet!

Marketing Ninjas

I check the mailbox every day when I get home after work. Why...I'm not really sure because typically the only thing I ever need out of there is the mortgage statement. And I only need to open it so I can use the envelope they provide to send payment. But nonetheless I check it. The other day I was leafing through the junk when I stumbled upon a fancy looking little envelope. "A gift inside for you" It persuades me to take a peek. Little did I know 2 minutes later I'd be welling up in tears. Inside the envelope was a cute little notepad with baby zoo animals. Good gift. I'm a teacher, I make lists, notepad=good. But THEN, I saw something I got really excited/a little alarmed by. Dozens and dozens of cutesy return address labels with my name on 'em. I've never had my own return address labels. I always thought "what a frivolous thing to spend money on, what lazy ass can't write their own address?" This one now, because I've got labels. And the best part? They're free. Great gift. Only, on the back of these lovely labels is a letter from someone at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital asking for a donation.

(now don't go blowing this up so you can steal my address, unless of course you want to use it to send gifts)

The aforementioned tears? The picture of a child who got treatment from the hospital, and the kicker (to paraphrase) 'hopefully you'll never have a child who needs to come to St. Jude, but wouldn't it be nice to know that you wouldn't be turned down because of financial reasons'. So did I send them a check? You bet your A I did! What a great place. Now, I'm not sure how these marketing ninjas got my address, I doubt it's too difficult, but I won't discredit them. Yes, St. Jude is a wonderful place, it's purpose and mission alone will sell it, but those folks they have in marketing really know how to get things done. I wouldn't have ever said "hey, I think I'll track down an organization and find out where I can send them some money". I'm just not that cool. But the little gifty, personalized, the touching letter and the added 'this could happen to you'...you'd have to be pretty cold to turn that down.

As I press on my stamp and, yes, return address label to my St. Jude addressed envelope, (check enclosed) I realized I'd kind of been suckered. I mean, they used marketing strategies to get my money. But what a great job they have, right? They get to use these successfully persuasive strategies to get people to help other people. Not many people can say they do such a fulfilling job. I'm thinking this won't be the last time I send them a donation, after all, I've got a bajillion return address labels to put to good use thanks to them. In case my bragging on their marketing team has got you feeling the need to make their job a little easier, you can donate here. :)

Spring Break Part 2

Let's see.. the second half of SB flew by quick as a wink. Thursday Aubrey, her mom Sheila, and I took a trip up to the Gap outlet in Bartlesville. An hour drive for one store? Yes, worth it. We left with SO many great deals. Aub even made it home with this hat. > Thursday night Jon and I hit up downtown T-town to celebrate St. Patrick's. The weather was perfect, the Killian's was cold and the people watching was prime. Luckily Lacey was there for a bit to take a picture with me, since Jon was being lame and wouldn't.

Spring Break was not entirely all fun and games, however. Friday night we experienced a bit of a tragedy. As we were backing out of the driveway we hear a::CruncH::. "What was that??" I asked. "Oh, probably a cat or something," Jon casually retorted, to which he earned a slap on the arm and "You're an ass! It sounded like a plastic pop bottle" We leave, glance back, nothing. Fast forward to Saturday morning bright and early. I'm leaving for the gym, about to take a big bite of my protein bar when I discover what the crunch was. A, quite large turtle. Blood. Guts. GAG. I pulled over once my tires had successfully straddled it and send a sleeping Jon a text:" YOU KILLED A TURTLE!!! WAAAHHHH!!!" It took my entire workout to shake the image from my head. The story gets worse, Teddy the turtle wasn't dead. Poor amphibian suffered all night. I'm not going to lie, I shed a tear or two after hearing how he was finally put to rest. I'll spare you.

I had to quickly get over my grief and hustle to get ready for our trip to OKC. I should have posted the picture of Jon snoring in the car. Justice for Teddy, you know, but I'll be nice. We had such a fun time with Michelle, Brian and the girls. We played on the swing set, went for lunch and ice cream, watched home videos of their trip to Disney World and we drew with sidewalk chalk. We met Miss Sophie too.

Alains is far too busy to pose for pictures. This was the best I could do, mouth full of her 'dirt and worms' ice cream.
I really don't get to see the girls often enough. Alaina is a regular comedian with enough personality and attitude for ten toddlers. Alyssa on the other hand is proving more and more that she's not a baby anymore, not a toddler either but a full-fledged little girl. Amazing.

Back to school, aka, work came quickly and I'm enjoying my students so much. I think that little break was immensely helpful. It occurred to me today that there are only 8 weeks left of my 1st year of teaching. I want to soak up all the good in these kids while I've got 'em, and if I can help with the bad, or at least ignore it I'd say the year will end in success.

My Spring Break Glass is 1/2 Full

Today marks day 5, the official "hump day" of Spring Break. I'm opting for the optimist's view on the week and not thinking of it as that there are mearly 2 days left of the week, then it's a regular 'ol weekend and work comes Monday. Now by some people's standards my break has been lame, boring and sad because I didn't take an exciting trip. My standards say if the last half is as good as the first I can't wait to get up tomorrow. Let's begin with Monday. What started as a lazy Regis & Kelly over --you guessed it-- cereal, morning, followed by a little L and T (my Spring Break agenda was filled with days of GTL) turned into a sponteanous little crafty trip. Aubrey, my BF4L, aka Bfri aka has too many akas to keep on...yeah her and I went to use an expiring Groupon and painted some pottery at Color Me Mine.

I made measuring cups...because I don't have scoopy ones like these. They'll be bright red when they're ready...I know you're dieing to see the "after" pic. Trust, it's coming. Aub made a coffee mug. ~~~>







We don't get out much together for anything other than dinner or shopping so this was a fun friend date. Not that we need to go anywhere to have fun...which brings me to Tuesday night. Lizzie Bre is the kind of friend you have the most fun with when you're not trying. Just sitting at home being ourselves, conveniently for us, we happen to think we are need-our-own-reality-show-HILARIOUS! Promise, we'd have you bustin' a gut. I just went over to use her tanning bed (Gettin in that T, GTL, guys)...and somehow this happened. ...

I don't know how funny anyone else might think I am for randomly concocting this costume from crap I found in her car, but this girl is my BFF because I can count on her to deliver a boisterious cackel to affirm my hilarity. (P.S. If you are thinking we're dumb feel free to get the H outta here!)



Ohh did I forget to mention that Monday I stopped by mom's on my way to G and got to play with THIS little nugget

Forgive my thumb and knee in the picture. I was trying to balance the toddler for a game of airplane and capture his sweet little grin with my crappy phone camera. You get the point.

Big brother was asleep so we got some good one on one time. Not to worry because the very next day Max took a nap so I could play with McClain alone when they were visiting at my house. My favorite line of Tuesday's visit was this sweet one liner from Mc after he was released from a brutal 3 min. timeout "I love you, Fartahead". Melts an aunt's heart. Fartahead. Where's he come up with this stuff?

So yeah, not a bad SB2011 thus far for this girl. There are obviously a few things that need to happen for it to be complete; for example, a St. Patrick's Day celebration to celebrate the one heritage I'm sure I've got in me, also I'm going to need to go see my girls (this weekend so Uncle Jon can see them too) and meet my new dog-niece Miss Sophie. I won't spoil the next post by divulging all my 2nd half SB plans just yet, but I'm excited.

I was taken a little off guard when I entered my kitchen and found "Steggy" Staring at me this afternoon. Looks like he won't be getting pinched tomorrow for forgetting his green. That'll make two of us.

For the Sake of Productivity

Yesterday I knocked out the month of February with some umph. Thirteen-hour-day kinda power and I definitely didn't hold back,(Eng. meeting, school, cheer mtg, gym) which left me thinking "Man, I should use up most days this way." Well...something happened between then and now because I sit here at 8:30, and realize I've been sitting here since roughly 4:45 this afternoon. The most I've accomplished is 1 load of laundry and finishing off this box of cereal.

Ok, so this isn't even the box, I google image searched....because I'm too lazy to get up and take a picture of the box. And yes, I ate cereal for dinner...because I was too lazy to cook. TSK!

Today was an interesting day at school...another teaching 1st. I was called a name...I won't say which one but it rhymes with Gag. I'm not sure how publicly I'm really suppose to talk about things pertaining to school, but I thought this was note-worthy. Obviously it didn't bother me too much other than the interruption it caused my other students seeing as how I had to stop class to fill out the detention referral....and try to keep from laughing while doing so. Never a dull moment in Middle School that's for sure. That being said, I was undoubtedly enthused to discover there are only 8 days of school before Spring Break.

(I tried searching Spring Break 2011 for a cutesy image...just got chicks in bikinis. I'll spare you)

So, now I've updated my blog, which always makes me feel accomplished...all 10 times I've done it throughout the last 2 years. And tomorrow WILL be productive. I've already packed my bag for the gym so I can head to BodyPump right after school. :) (yes, another generic image, you get the idea).

Snowklahoma? Snowmageddon? Snowpocolypse?

Still loving the play on snow words, keep 'em coming! Snow day #7? Yeah, I think that's the number we're on. More of that white junk was fluttering around this morning. And while our bed is especially cozy I just can't stay there ALL day.

So after a good hour of sloth-ing (yep, that's a verb. Trust me, I teach this stuff) around I got up to do a little file clean-up.

But that only took about an hour...so what's a girl to do?? Well, I could have graded these papers that have only been hanging over my head for a good 2 weeks.

And I really did consider it for all of maybe 2 minutes. But I needed to get up and move. Soooo I had no other choice than to shovel the drive. After all, I figure the last thing Jon would want to do when he gets home from a long day at work is shovel the driveway, in the dark, just to pull the car in. Yes, I'm a good wife. So I put on my coat, my Uggs and my shades and headed out.

Not too bad. Only, when I went to grab the shovel all I found was this sad little digger.

I thought about giving up, but then I got an idea that proved to be pretty dang brilliant. I pulled out this sweet little sweeper. Poor thing never gets used since my Dyson works the tile floors with excellence. I could tell it was ready to shine.

I know I looked silly. One neighbor immediately scoffed " You're gonna need something bigger than that!" I just smiled and said, "eh, well see how it goes." About 10 minutes later he sent his lady in for a broom. Another neighbor came over with his big bad snow shovel offering to help. "No thanks." This took me a little over an hour, and Mr. Snow Shovel was still scoopin' away when I came inside.

Now whether or not Jon will come running in showering me with praise and kind words is to be determined. I'm not holding my breath, I'm a smart girl.

But until he gets home I think I'll relax with a few of these tasty little treats. Damn you, Valentine's aisle, being so pretty and happy looking. I can't resist strolling up and down a few times. I love holiday displays, I'm a sucker for their aesthetics. These hopped into my cart.

Sweetarts are FAR superior to those crappy conversation hearts. But I only eat these 3 colors. Now if they made a yellow heart I would drop blue in a heartbeat for yellow. What's up with no yellow, Willy Wonka? Yep, this little girl and I will just have to snuggle up and do some grading--no, watch some TV. Don't let this innocent face fool you, though. Bitch just ate my orange heart!

Blizzard 2011: S'no Joke!

Today is snow day number 5 for me, and probably not the last of the week. I secretly hoped I might prevent the snow from coming last week by "willing it away" silly, yes. I knew better. It was when I woke up Tuesday morning to a frozen tundra that I decided to accept the blizzard. I couldn't resist the urge to see just how high the snow drifts were. (up to my chest in some places!)

I mentally prepared for a good 2-3 days of not leaving the house. I made detailed to-do lists filling the hours of free time I'd have. As long as I kept busy from 8-4 (when I'm normally teaching) I could handle idle time in the evenings. Jon's work was closed for the remainder of the week...which was good. Even though he did a lot of this:

It was great not being alone, those snow days are too boring. Tuesday and Wednesday were full of cleaning, organizing, laundry, a little working out and a LOT of this:

Swisher-pup and I watching TV in bed

Just when the laziness was getting really old we got company. Mike and the boys came to be snowed in with us for a bit. We played our favorite couch pillow game, watched movies, ate snacks, colored and played in the snow for all of maybe 20 min.

We throw all the couch pillows on the floor and play 'house' and hide each other. Here, Daddy is being hidden. Max is focused on finding him.

So the week was over, the weekend arrived and we were able to get out some. A trip to mom and dad's, the vet for a check up and shots, over to a few friends' houses, etc. Life was almost normal again. Except then came today. No school AGAIN. I know in future years I might be excited about this, when the newness of teaching wears off and all. But I miss work. I miss waking up for a purpose each day, I miss my kids, my teacher friends, being around people--all of it. I've had enough of this snow! I would say I can't take any more of it but I know there's more coming so I'd better change my attitude and find a way to be happy about it. S'no way I'm gonna let it get the best of me. hehe! I've definitely been enjoying all the play on words, they're s'now much fun. :)