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. :)

The Awesomeness of the Uneventful

Never in my life have I ever been so excited to have nothing to be excited about. This--is the life. I'm loving the mundane. For the first time in years there are no big changes occurring. Jon and I are both settled in our careers, which is great for so many reasons. One being we will actually keep the same health insurance for more than six months, now that's something to celebrate. (mainly bc I hate clutter and those policies they send in the big packets take up so much room the drawer of "Stuff we have to have but will most likely never need" drawer). We are settled in our home, and plan to stay put for quite some time. Yes, our life is pretty ordinary and I couldn't be more content.

Content, but not at all complacent.

There is definitely something refreshing about having nothing to look forward to. Yes, I realize that sounds like the most depressing thing ever to some. But it's nice to not be so focused on reaching a goal that you forget to enjoy the present. (college, semester by semester, wedding, house, jobs, etc. these things are exhausting for a perfectionist!) I am sucking up every bit of good that life has to offer, I mean it. Because, why not? I'm not a 'slow paced' kind of chick. I like to be busy, but lately I'm busy with things I enjoy. I get up, go to a job that could not be more rewarding, I get off at a decent hour, so I still have energy to run errands, or go to class at the gym, I make dinner, we eat, we relax. Boring, right? Weekends are filled with more and more nights in rather than out. My perfect Saturday? Sleep til 8, maybe workout or run around with my B-fri, let my husband sleep because that's what he digs, clean house, and on the weekends I'm really lucky I get to play with maybe all 4 members of my 5&under club. Depending on my mood I sometimes like to go out, but other times its just nice to stay in. Dull. Dull. Dull. But shockingly, especially to ME, I am loving it.

It is times like this, however, that the Charlie Brown in me creeeeps out. No, I don't morph into an orange-wearing cartoon baldy. That quote from Chuck ... Oh, I can't remember how exactly it goes but something about not letting yourself be too happy when things are good for fear that life will get bad. As sun-shiny as I typically am about life, there is a pessimistic worry wort deep down that says "Why do you think you get to be this happy? You're no more special than the people who experience great tragedy, yours is comin". Terrible, right?!? Go away, Chuck!

Yes, I need to work on that. But that is one character flaw I'm willing to embrace at the moment. Because I have it pretty good and I've got SO much to be thankful for. I will not take any of it for granted and I will not choose to focus on the silly imperfections. And they're there. But that's life, and if you consistently opt for allowing yourself to zone in on the negatives that's exactly what you'll get, a negative outlook. Ew, who wants that? Sooo drama, no thanks! :) Now I'm thinking I'll probably publish this post (I blog periodically but rarely publish), and share it with FB friends, obvs. :) Not so everyone can read about how great life is for me, but so that maybe someone who needs a pick-me-up can choose to focus on the 'great' in their life, too.

I'm not a dog person.

I never had a dog growing up; we had cats. Always at least one, and even up to 4 for one short stint. I've never necessarily had a hatred toward the canine species, I just never had one--at least not that I was old enough to remember. So, when people would ask which I preferred I went with what I knew, and said 'cats'. I've yet to really understood what seemed to always follow, when more often than not the askee would screw up their face in an expression of disgust and say something along the lines of "UGH how can you like cats? Dogs are SO much better." and then they go into a list of why dogs are so far superior to (blekk) cats. Somehow i never seems to occur to these people that they're pretty much being assholes.

You don't see me saying, "Ewww I hate slobbery, smelly, butt-sniffing, hole-digging, pathetic attention-seeking mutts!" If I did--by all means, insult my precious, self-grooming, litter box trained by instinct, low-hassle feline friends who make you earn their affection rather than shoving it in your face like some Jezebel. Honestly, I'm not sure why it matters. It seems some "dog people" feel that it's pretty cut and dry and that being a "cat person" is considered a character flaw. I've actually had people come into my home and make comments like "eww, get it away!" should one of my boys venture over to graze their leg.(maybe they'd prefer he race up meowing and jump right into their arms?) I can't help but think, "Now wouldn't you be insulted if I came over and announced my disgust with your dog feeling the need to attack-yap at my entering the room, slobber in my hair and/or molest my leg?" I wouldn't think of it! After all, our pets are part of our families and we love them as if they were humans with actual emotions. (p.s. for the record, I know they don't have feelings--yet it still breaks my heart when I hear puppy yelps coming from the crate in the next room at bedtime)

OK--now before all you "dog people" start going all Cujo on me, heel. (ok, that was cheesy) I am now a dog owner. I knew marrying Jon that he would eventually feel the need to have a pooch companion, but I had made it quite clear that in no way was I on board for all that responsibility. I'm no dummie, I know puppies are high maintenance. Um potty training? No thanks! Chewed up shoes? Nuh-uh! One day Jon calls me up at work telling me about this puppy his mom has found, "can we get her?" Was he serious?? "Ha! I think you know the answer to that, Jon, we don't even have a fence yet and no dog is taking over my brand new house, messing up everything!" End of discussion....until later that night when he pulled a tricky move and showed me a picture of a homeless, 4 lb black lab mix whose eyes were begging. That night while I insisted there was no way we could get her, we agreed to name her Swisher.


> What heartless person could say no to this face?

So I know what you're probably thinking, that we got this precious pup and she became my new BFF and now we're inseparable? Wrong, my friends. I was exactly right from the start. Since little Miss Swish has claimed her residency here she has done all the annoying things I knew she would. She chews Jon's shoes (bc he lets her), she's soiled my carpet on a dozen or so occasions (which infuriates me BEYOND belief), she's embarrassed me so badly that we both left a groomer with our tails between our legs, and she consistently comes in with muddy paws and snout. However, what I did not expect is to grow quite as fond of her as I seem to be. It was not an instant adoration, let me be clear, this attachment grew over time. I'm quite proud to say that I single-handed taught her to sit and shake on command. She also no longer chokes herself out on walks, and she can play a killer game of fetch. I find it sickeningly adorable that she knows when I come home to sit at my feet and wait for me to get settled before demanding I pat her. I am slightly embarrassed to say I keep finding "dog collars" coming up in my etsy and ebay searches. It's not that I never thought I could love a dog, it's just that my tolerance for them has typically been on a case-by-case basis. My dream is for Swisher, Boomer and Norman to coexist peacefully...for now, they chase each other and fight like, well, cats and dogs. So even though I may take my dog to work with me on occasion and baby talk her daily, I still stand firm (partially I suppose, so as to not betray my loyal kitties) that I am not a dog person. :)

Thursday Comeback

You know how a lot of people have that one day of the week that they look forward to each week? For many it's Friday or the ever-popular Saturday. My friend Lindsey is especially fond of Wednesdays, which she affectionately calls Hump Day. I'm assuming it's because of the mile marker it serves, as a mid-week "you made it through 2 full work days, you're going to be ok". It could be because she can call it 'Hump' Day, and maybe make a few people wonder if she's being dirty, or at the very least, get a few good giggles out of it.

Anyhow, I started getting a little envious of her excitement just for a day that is sure to come each week. So I started thinking about what day really gets me goin', and I came up with Thursday. I mean, what's there not to like about Thursday?? Yeah, you have to go to work, but by this point in the week it's time to start mentally shutting down for the weekend. Thursday is just so versatile. I think what I most anticipate is Thursday evening, because it holds so many possibilities. You can kick off the weekend a little early, let loose (Thirsty Thursday, anyone?) and go out or get together with friends, because after all, who really expects you to be worth a poo Friday morning? Friday work days are essentially pointless most weeks. If you're not quite ready for the weekend you can always choose the less exciting, but sometimes necessary Thursday night in. It serves its purpose to recharge your batteries for the weekend and typically provides decent TV. Now, by no means am I saying Thursday is better than the weekend, because I consider those 'S' days to be in a totally different category, but as far as weekdays go, Thursdays are excitement worthy in my book.

Today happens to be a pretty eventful Thursday, one I've been pumped for weeks to get here! A month or so ago my sister-in-law, Casey, and I got tickets to go see Tim McGraw (along with Lady Antebellum) in concert. I've been looking forward to it since, and anticipate a pretty good time. But a few weeks ago I got thrown another Thursday curveball when I got scheduled for today, a second interview for a teaching position I'd really like to get. I guess you could say all this Thursday excitement inspired me to start this thing back up. I'm off to my interview now, so wish me luck!