A Day of Silence

Taken from 

Currently: December

Currently
Listening	To the sound of the ticking clock and the heat running (*sigh* there will be a high electric bill in our future)
Loving	My Christmas Decorations
Thinking	About how I need to be in bed, but couldn’t sleep without updating this, because I completely forgot to do one for November
Wanting	A lot of unattainable things, like a restful time for my cousin A, and the pain of losing Uncle C & my Grandma within 2 weeks to go away
Needing	To curl up in bed with D and get some rest, I’ll be in the car for a total of 5+ hours tomorrow
Favorite Things	1.     My giant Christmas Tree! 2.     My icicle lights the hubby hung for me 3.     How my road has become increasingly more and more festive as it nears Christmas

What are you doing Currently?

Meal Mistake Merrymaking

Guys, I have a really terribly pathetic story, that I can't help but share.  My desire to share it probably stems from the fact that it's been a really stressful two weeks, and I need to laugh.  Laugh tonight I did.

I came home from work and thought I had a fantastic plan for supper tonight.

Plan:

1. Filet Mignon
2. Green Beans
3. Baked Potatoes

Isn't that delicious?  And, it's Friday.  We ALWAYS go out on Fridays (and Saturdays, and a lot of Sundays).   In the spirit of trying to save money because I make one quarter significantly less of what I made this time last year, I wanted to have a special dinner, then put up our Christmas tree.

So we multi-tasked.  Big Mistake.  While D was cooking the steaks, I was working on a homemade Christmas present (which is only about 1/2 complete, and needs to be done pronto), and decided to bake the potatoes in the microwave, wrapped in plastic wrap.

Now, usually, my microwaved potatoes come in this plastic-package already, but again, we are trying to save money.  Instead of buying those on my last grocery stop, I bought a 5 pound bag of potatoes.  Our basement is colder than the North Pole well suited for keeping veggies cool, so I thought this was a great solution.

Also, I realize that Filet Mignon isn't anywhere close to cheap, but this summer we ordered a ton of meats at a really cheap price.  They come individually packaged and frozen, so we just get them out when we need them.

We also multi-tasked by beginning to assemble our Christmas tree while we waited for the steaks to cook.  Another Big Mistake.

Result:
1. Tiny, overcooked steaks, which needed Worcestershire Sauce poured over them to be edible.
2. Perfectly fine green beans
3. Rubber potatoes, which I could ball up with my fingers.
4. Meal Addition when I saw the steaks were too dry: leftover biscuits left over from a supper last week.

The BEST part of the meal: the week old, microwaved biscuits.

Lesson:
1. Don't multi-task while cooking.  The cooking suffers.
2. Those steaks need to be marinated, and watched carefully.  Also, D needs 2 steaks of this type.
3. Regular potatoes, when cooked in the microwave, don't take as long as I thought.

OH WELL: at least it was entertaining.

Do you have any entertaining dinner flubs?

Grief Stinks

I have been a little overwhelmed lately, dealing with not one but two funerals since Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I am no stranger to frequent funerals, and graciously have been taught how to cope.

For instance, I know the legalities of formulating a will, and the steps taken to prepare a house for a tremendous amount of food brought by caring hands. At my Uncle's funeral, we were led in singing "How Great Thou Art." My husband had never heard it. I knew it by heart. And the Psalm about being led through the valley of the shadow of death? Yeah. I know that by heart too. My husband has been to 4 funerals ever (including the 2 I'm recovering from); there was a time in my life that I went to 4 in a month. My family is amazing, and we have always been able to pull together to get through.

So I know too much about grief, and thought I needed to express something.

I thought I would share a few quotes that have gotten me through the sadness.

From Pinterest: "Strength does not come from doing what you can, it comes from doing what you thought you cannot." Believe me, when you are grieving, you CAN continue to complete all of your every day tasks, you just may not remember how you did, and you may have to ask for help sometimes.

From a former student: Psalm 34:18 says "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

And again from Pinterest, but also biblical: Psalm 61:2 "when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."

Now, I realize that there are 2 Bible verses here, and many who know me know I haven't been to church in years, but they comfort me. My grandma would be proud to know that the words there do make you feel better.

If you are grieving, my heart is with you. And so are my listening ears. Just send me a message.

30 Days of Thankfulness

Happy December Friends!

As I sit here, spending some time procrastinating about graduate school due dates and waiting for the time that I head off to work today, I want to compile some of the things I was thankful with this past month.

For those who aren't on Facebook, or simply try to ignore it, as I wish I did more of, I'll explain where my posts originated.  Over the month of November, I and several (probably thousands) others posted a daily message of what we were thankful for.  

November wasn't the easiest of months in my family, but it wasn't the hardest one I've ever been through.  So here's what I was thankful for, in order:

1. Today, I am thankful for having heat, electricity, and work hours during Hurricane Sandy. So many others are not so lucky.

2. I am thankful for having a job which enables me to teach, coach, and attend grad school while still being able to see family and get the housework done!

3. Today I am thankful for our dog, Axe. He may be hairy, and he may drool all over everything. He may have eaten my muffin wrapper this morning, but one of the best feelings in the world is that wet nose pushing your hand on top of his head.

The drool bucket himself

4. Today I am thankful to be able to spend part of my day with my mom and dad. They rerouted their plans to drive to the beach today just to meet me for lunch!

5. Today, I am thankful for the ability to do physical labor. I was able to work in my flower garden and help my husband in the garage. There are so many people who would be unable to do either.

6. Today I am thankful to live in a country where each and every one of us has the opportunity to influence our government.

7. Today I am thankful for insurance, which allowed me to go to the dentist today.

8. Today I am thankful for a job that keeps me mobile. On the first warmer sunny day in a while, it's nice to spend time outside, even if it is just driving across Salem a few times.

9. Today I am thankful for SC [a girl I coached with for 3 years]. She is a smart, kind, wise beyond her years young woman. I miss her dearly, and volleyball season won't be the same without her. However, I am very proud of her for following her dreams, even as they took her to that OTHER school in Virginia. Knowing her has been a true blessing in my life. Btw: thought especially of her today as I put on my makeup and noticed how awesome my skin looks. Thanks for convincing me to buy Bare Minerals! Love you!

10. Today, I am thankful for good nights with great friends!

11. Today, I am thankful for all the veterans, near and far, past and present, who have fought for our freedoms. This definitely includes some of my favorite vets: SLB, DB, & JS!

12. Today I am thankful for my wonderful friend L. Her life is anything but easy, as she juggles a full time job, the demands of a husband, a kindergartener and a preschooler, numerous doctors appointments for her sweet baby who battles against the odds daily, soccer, dance, cheerleading, a new business adventure, and finished her Masters Degree. On tip of it all, she manages to make her friends and family a priority in her crazy life. She is a shining example of dedication, love, and Southern Belle! And did I mention, she kicked butt at her first 5K a few weeks ago? Happy Birthday L! I hope if I have kids I can be half as motivated as you are! I love you! (SN: go check out her blog here!)

13. Today I am thankful for a full day of work, even if it included 3 hours of math.

14. Today I am thankful for a husband who doesn't get mad often. I fixed a quick supper today, of which one of the main ingredients he hates. OOPS. So he ate around it, and then ate nachos.

15. Today I am thankful for fleece pants and long sleeves. I was walking around the house in my wool coat and D finally asked if I was cold. That was the push I needed to get comfy. Am I totally warm? No. Am I in my wool coat? Also no.

16. Today I am thankful for random talks with strangers. They make me smile.

17. Today I am thankful for my ability to continue my education. It's difficult; it's challenging; and, particularly this semester, painfully tedious. Regardless, I know that education opens doors, and this Master's Degree will open doors for me!

18. Today, I am thankful for my baby cousin. From infancy, her life flipped upside down and threw her into my home part time. Over the next 2 decades we fought, laughed, cried, played hard, and had what she calls torture imposed on her (many of those latter events I do not recall btw). Through it all, she pushed and pushed. She has grown into a wonderful woman, who I am proud to call my sister. A woman who has the heart to work with a kid who needs a special sort of love, and the strength to stomach a really tough future career. You continuously amaze me Bean, and I love you so much! Be careful going home.

19. Today, I am thankful for the Internet, which allowed me to fix my Wii on my own rather than buy a new power cable. Tomorrow, I'll blog about how I did it! (Oops...never did this..I'll work on that this week.)

20. Today I am thankful for the checks that just came in. Seems silly, but they say [both of our full names]. It makes me happy!

21. Today I am thankful for runny nosed kisses and the giggles that come with playing chase with the 3 most awesome kids on the planet.

22. Today, I am thankful for my kind of thanksgiving. Tons of people all talking at the same time, enjoying being together. One round at my great aunt's that has maybe 40 people, then round 2 with the immediate Fam.

23. Today, I am thankful for ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which you can alternate so that you feel better longer when your whole family shares their germs.

24. Today I am thankful for a peaceful day at home; well somewhat peaceful. It started at 645 when my nephew decided I needed to be awake. It also included a trip to see the new movie Lincoln. So not quite peaceful and not quite at home, but still great. Now if I could just kick this cold!

25. Today I am thankful for the surprise my husband had for me. He put an outlet on the porch so I can hang Christmas lights!

26. Today, I am thankful for having my Uncle C in my life. He came home when I was 6 months old and helped my mom take care of their ailing parents. For the next 2 decades, he lived next door (at least part of each year), and was there for me in a variety of ways. I know today has been hard, but he's been fighting so hard for so long. Rest easy Scooter, I know you're better off, even if it hurts us so much.

27. Today I am thankful for Christmas decorations that help distract me and make my house pretty!

28. Today, I am thankful for memories.

29. Today, as we laid to rest my uncle, I have struggled to find my thankfulness. I think I found it. I am thankful to spend a day "meeting" some of the people who have known me since I was a baby, and to hear stories of a man I loved. I am also thankful for the wonderful weather we had today, raining sunshine down on our time of mourning.

30. Today, on the last of 30 days of thankfulness, I am thankful for my family. I was able to enjoy the day with my mom, sister in law, and my youngest nephew and my niece. It was an exhausting trip, but those kids are hilarious. I miss my husband, but am also thankful that he was able to come down yesterday for the funeral and spend some time with us. Tomorrow it's back to [where we live] and getting back into the swing of normal life.

So that's it: 30 Days of Thankfulness.  Which leads me to ask: what are you thankful for?

Next up: that blog on fixing the wii and my Currently: December!

Election Day Musings

Today, as I am spending time on the couch, watching CNN's election coverage (and Comedy Central while the Daily Show and Colbert shows were on), I can't help but think about the great honor bestowed on us all today.

I was able to get up and drive to my polling place today, wait in a line of al of 3 people, and cast my vote for the President, US Senate, US Congress, and VA Constitutional Amendments (and buy brownies from the bake sale happening at the church I vote at).

Just 100 years ago, I would have been in eligible to vote. Women fought hard for my right to do so, and I, and all women, are indebted to those who stood up for what they believed in. These women were scorned, imprisoned, and in many cases turned out by their families.

I also am thinking about the dedication some people must have in order to vote. My supervisor, who lives in an urban neighborhood nearby, spent 3.5 hours today waiting in line to cast her ballot, at 10:30 AM. Luckily, the school she votes at was able to set up their lines in a manner that allowed her it stand inside the whole time. I am sure many people are having to stand outside in the cold and wind to get in the building to vote. This shows such great pride in the privilege we have in voting, and it is very moving to me.

The final thing that weighs heavily on my mind is the fact that so many nations deny this experience to their citizens, or, if they have democracies, create such frustratingly corrupt systems that no one citizen's vote actually matters. I just hope that, regardless of tonight's election results, the president-elect helps keep our country the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a nation that cares about humanity.

On a less serious note: I am also thinking about how tomorrow's Facebook post on thankfulness may likely reflect being thankful that the political ads are over.

I leave you now, with only 1 hour and 40 minutes left until closing of the first polling places, with these questions:

Did you vote? Did it take you a few minutes or hours? What are you looking forward to in the next 4 years?

Teaching

Recently, I read a comment on Facebook, which really struck a nerve with me. It stated something along the lines of never hearing about a teacher doing his or her job.

Now, I will be the first to say that teachers, including myself, make mistakes. We are human, and some are better at our jobs than others. However, it seems ludicrous to me that there are parents out there who think teachers don't do their jobs.

I thought I would elaborate here on what, in my experience, are the responsibilities of a teacher.

1. Teach. We must engage upwards of 25 students at a time with material they may or may not have any interest in. In doing so, we must relate to each student's unique prior knowledge, adjusting for the advanced student, the learning disabled student, the physically challenged student, and the ADD/ADHD student. We must do this without obviously treating any student differently. To do this, we spend hours after school planning, organizing, and reconfiguring activities to best fit our students, while ignoring our own families.

2. Communicate. In any given day, a teacher must communicate with students, colleagues, parents, administration, and, often, the public. This communication varies according to level, but includes written, oral, and electronic communication, and definitely doesn't end with the 3:30 bell. (Think I'm wrong? Has anyone ever gotten an email from a teacher outside of school hours? Have you ever spoken to a current or former teacher in the grocery store? I rest my case.)

3. Parent. This may be the most difficult concept for a child's parents, but it is a crucial part of the school environment. A parent provides love and support for their child unconditionally right? Guess what, in the hours your child is at school, his or her teachers are also providing unconditional love and support. If they didn't love your kid, they wouldn't be teaching. The pay and hours are terrible, the rewards of seeing someone we care about excel are why we do it.

4. Nurse. I realize that the school has nurses who do this, but I cannot tell you the number of times I have served as a nurse. From, "Do you have a bandaid?" to "Do you think this is infected?" and "I just threw up a lot, should I go home?" So yes, we are nurses. And the answers? Yes. Ew, gross, yes. And Dear God, please go call your mom. And I teach teenagers. I can not imagine what kinds of nurse things elementary teachers deal with.

5. Confidant. Again, this is another thing that worries parents. It happens all the time. Students spend so much time with their teachers, that teachers can tell at a glance if something is wrong. Students also have so much trust in their teachers, (as they should) that when asked, "Are you okay?" They spill. We then have to determine what is appropriate as a response, and if necessary, who to turn to next with the students' problem. I guess that's why we have to take psychology classes in order to get a license.

6. Disciplinarian. Teachers at all levels have to enforce rules. Every student at some point must be disciplined. Teachers must do so regardless of the support of the parent. Many parents are extremely supportive of the rules. Unfortunately, some parents blatantly allow their children to break rules. For instance, at the high school level, students are generally not allowed to use their phones. It varies by school, but as a general rule, phones are supposed to be silent and away at al times. I cannot begin to tell you the number of times I heard a student discussing something their parent had told them via text during the day. To be more specific, I emailed a mom around 10:30 about a question I had. Her daughter came to me 2 hours later with the answer. Clearly that parent blatantly disregarded a rule, which makes it extremely difficult for the school to enforce.

7. Learn. As a teacher, you must constantly learn. We learn names of students, which we are expected to retain for years. (Case in point, earlier this week I was stopped by a former student in the grocery store. I taught her 4 years ago, and she remembered me, therefore I am expected to remember her.) We learn about the students' character and family. We learn new curriculum, only to have it or our assignment changed, sometimes mid year. We learn new technologies and are expected to implement them immediately, despite the plans we spent hours on just last week. We take undergraduate and graduate level classes to maintain our certifications. (Which, thanks to budget cuts, we spend half a month's salary per course on.) We are perpetual students.

Now, these are not all the responsibilities of a teacher, but they are a large portion. Next time you feel frustrated by your child's teacher, think about this list, and remember that their line of communication is always open. Try talking, try offering how you can help, most definitely, try to encourage your child to learn!

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

If you can read, thank a teacher. If you can read in English, thank the US Military.

Fall Crafting

Do y'all know it's fall? I don't think Mother Nature does. Today it was 79 degrees. Mondays forecast is a high of 39 with a chance of snow. What the heck?

All the leaves here sure are changing though, which gave me a kick in the butt to finally make my fall wreath. I didn't take pictures of the process (I usually never take pictures), but I so have a final product pic!

1. Travel to your local craft store looking for a wreath form. Decide the styrofoam one isn't big enough and buy the much bigger straw one. While there, pick up VT inspired maroon yarn, white polka dot ribbon, and orange polka dot ribbon.

2. Have your husband choose a show you care nothing about. (For me, I believe it was Gold Rush and whatever that show is about the people who live in Alaska as homesteaders.)

3. Start wrapping your wreath with ribbon. If you are OCD, this will take days. For me, it took about 2 hrs.

4. Figure out how to use the ribbon to make a loop for hanging. This involves a lot of knots and glue, especially if you don't want to cut more yarn. (What can I say, I am a lazy crafter.)

5. Wrap the thin ribbon around the wreath in a circle, glue to the back of the wreath. Then use the thicker wire ribbon to wrap around and make a bow.

6. Display proudly, supporting your fave college football team, also serving as a daily reminder that you are a grad student behind on class.

Have fun in the fall!

Pinterest Let Down :(

Today, I was let down by Pinterest. TWICE. I am so shocked.

My first Pinterest attempt was a pumpkin carved to look like a minion from Despicable Me. It looked super cute, and the caption said that when the candle was lit, it would glow like the lovable little evil lair factory workers. This happens to be one of our favorite movies, so I thought it was perfect!

This. Is. Not. Perfect.

In fact, the pumpkin is so thick that the only light you see is in the tiny mouth. I attached a picture of it, notably not glowing. In fact, I used the flash so you would see more than the little sliver of a mouth.

D thinks that if I shave off some more of the inside, making the wall thinner, and hopefully making it glow.

We'll see.

So on to disappointment number 2. I discovered a quick and easy kielbasa and potatoes recipe, which somehow I had all the ingredients for.

SCORE. Not.

While the food was wonderful, and we will be keeping this one for cold weather days (It was 80 degrees today, y'all. It's Late October!)

So, where does the let down come from? I ruined a pan. Like, as soon as I took it out of the oven, I knew the pan was a goner. Somehow, I feel like whoever originally pinned it should have said, "Hey, make sure you line the pan, or you will lose it." I will be editing my comment for that one!

Oh well, live and learn, right?

What Pinterest ideas have you implemented that have disappointed you?

Crust-less Apple Pie

You know how everyone wishes Pinterest had a "Did This" button?  I think I even saw an ecard about it once.  Well, I accomplished this pin, and here's how:

Sunday night was dinner date night with our good newlywed friends B & H.  (You may remember my post about their wedding a few weeks ago, you can find that here.)

H makes a fabulous lasagna, that my husband adores, and apparently had asked for last week (when they had just returned from their honeymoon).  (Note: when I make lasagna, it comes from a box.)  She also makes a wonderful bread, which left me with salad and dessert.

Since I love apples and cooking in the crockpot, I thought these apples were just the ticket.  The link above is to the original source, but  I altered it slightly so here's my recipe:

What you'll need

6 Gala Apples

1/2 cup Apple Juice

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Apple Pie Spice 

2 T. margarine

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Set crockpot to high.

2. Core your apples.  I bought an apple corer today at Wal-Mart.  It's fantastic, and you can find them in the utensils section or on random aisles in groceries.

3. In medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, spice, margarine, and nuts.  I had to mash up the margarine with my spoon first, then stir it together.

So far you'll have this

4. Put the apples in the crock pot, then fill them with sugar mixture.  I started filling lightly, to make sure I had enough for all the apples.  Then I packed it down with my finger (you might want to use something else, but this worked great for me), and added more.

5. Pour apple juice in bottom.

Looks good huh?

6. My favorite step: Cover and cook for 2.5 hours.  (I used this time to catch up on football, clean the sofa & chair, do the dishes, work on schoolwork, and the first half of this blog.)  The original pinner said to cook for 3 hours, or until the apples started to collapse on themselves.  My apples were falling apart when checked in at 2.5, so I flipped it to keep warm.  I didn't take a picture when they were finished, because we were eating them.  Sorry!

I served these tasty treats with vanilla ice cream, because, let's be honest, nothing beats Apple Pie a'la Mode.  We also drizzled warmed up caramel on them, which was awesome.

Some notes:
1. These don't look very appealing when you cook them.  The turn super dark (almost like rotten apples), and I picked them up with a spoon.
2. Omit the nuts.  Really, you could just add more brown sugar & butter.  I like nuts and so does H, but B & D didn't care for them, and they were kind of distracting.

Have you completed something you are proud of on Pinterest?  If so, what?

Currently: October

Currently
Listening	To an airplane flying overhead, and the chimes made by my Bahamian windchime I picked up on our honeymoon
Loving	The ability to blog from outside on my front porch.  Granted, I’m in a sweater and a jacket, and in the sun, but, hey, a Southern Summer lover has to soak up every last Indian Summer day she can get!
Thinking	It’s been so nice having the hubby at home, even if he’s “recovering” from surgery.
Wanting	Starbucks, of any iced variety.
Needing	To finish off my grad school work that I’m about 2 weeks behind on thanks to a lack of motivation with the hub home.
Favorite Things	1.      Summer-like fall days 2.     The loads of laundry drying on my back porch 3.     The sight of my husband playing with the dog in the yard this morning, it was pretty unsuccessful since the dog just kept taking the ball to the shade & lying down 4.  Candy Corn & Peanuts - Thanks Nana!

Medical Education

So my wonderful husband recently had surgery.  Thankfully, he's doing well, so, naturally, I decided now is the time to enlighten you all on my recently acquired medical knowledge.

D had a urachal cyst removed.  Here's the steps we have taken so far:

1. Over the last several years, and in my knowledge at least 2, D would experience a pain just below his belly button, which would, for lack of a better description, pop like a zit.  It occurred infrequently at first, but became nearly a monthly occurrence.

2. In the spring, shortly after moving into our home, D drove himself to the emergency room after nearly passing out at work.  Doctors decided that (a) he was dehydrated, hence the feeling that he was passing out and (b) the weird thing on his stomach was an abscess, to be treated with antibiotics.

3. Weird abscess returns the next month, but he decides to just let it run its course.  Threats emanate from me that it "better not come back when we are getting married."  I know, I know, that's not exactly sympathy, but he should have gone back to the doctor.

4. Late July the "abscess" returns again, so he decides to return to the doctor.  Doctor prescribes antibiotics again, and refers him to a surgeon.

5. Early September, the thing has returned, in time for the appointment with the surgeon.  One pregnant-lady style ultrasound and several gross Google Image searches later, the surgeon tells us that my husband has a cyst that generally manifests in infants.  Cause: the connection between his bladder and his umbilical cord should have closed back in July 1985, but it apparently didn't close all the way.

6. Last week, the surgeon went in & removed the infection, and I have been caring for a stir-crazy husband with 11 staples up his stomach for a week.  Today, he spent the morning watching TV, and is now doing who-knows-what  downstairs because he feels too healthy to lay around, but isn't healthy enough to even sit in a car with his seat belt on.

Such is our life...

It's a Small World

Tonight, while my husband was cutting his hair and showering, I spent some quality time on Pinterest. (Translation: I spent some time avoiding finishing my grad school assignment my pacing said I needed to finish a week ago.)

While perusing this wonderful site, I stumbled along a super cute wreath that was captioned that it had funny directions. Of course, I had to know what the funny directions were, so I investigated.

The blogger was in some of her pictures, and I thought, "Huh, that looks a lot like that girl I went to college with."

Then, I saw under her comments that not one, but TWO other girls I went l college with had made comments on her page. Again thinking to myself, because the dog really just doesn't care, "Wow, what are the odds that I would stumble upon her blog on Pinterest???"

So obviously, I follow her blog now. And it's awesome, so you should too. It's www.peonyandgray.com.

And on a side note: not such a small world-the pin I followed was posted by the classmate who created the blog.

I have also added a pic here of my own creativity from this summer: he wreath I made. It looks absolutely nothing like the one I was investigating today, but I need to make a new one, decked out in Hokie Maroon and Orange, cleverly disguised with fall decor so my hubby doesn't want to take it down.

How is your fall decorating going?

Homebound: What is It that You Do?

As some of you may know, I have recently begun teaching homebound for a local school district. I do field a lot of questions about it though, so I thought I would spend my break explaining my new position.

Homebound teachers provide one on one instruction to students who are unable to attend traditional school for a variety of reasons. Some students have physical or mental conditions that require time at home for the entire year. Some kids just have to be out a few weeks and need to stay up to date on their classes (surgeries, etc).

It is my responsibility to coordinate the instruction with the high school teachers. My students are assigned k classes within the school, and that teacher sends the work to me. The student and I go through the work, I grade assignments as much as possible, and the teacher enters grades into their gradebook.

Here's an example of my day today:

8:55 arrive at scheduled meeting 9-12 with student one. Knock on door, no answer. Call mom, mom calls student, student doesn't answer. I lose 3 hrs of work. Leave to go to library to work on grad school. Schedule meeting at 10:15 with supervisor.

9:10-10:10 drive to library, work on grad school. Download English assignments for student 2.

10:10-11:00 drive to alternative Ed center, meet with supervisor. Pick up textbooks for student 2. Print off English work for student 2. Drive to high school. Get introduced to attendance officers and people on guidance.

11:00-12:00 drive to McDonalds to eat and catch up on email (and Facebook, Twitter, and now the blog). Also helped stranger retrieve a pic someone texted to his iPhone.

12:00-3:00 drive to student 2's house to work on new English and math assignments.

3:00-5:50 leave student 2 and drive to coaching job. Plan and run practice.

5:50-8:30 Leave coaching job, eat packed lunch for supper since I went McDonalds. Drive to local high school to do recruiting for coaching job.

8:30-? Drive home, do laundry, finish grad school unit and attempt to spend time with husband before bed.

And that's just a Tuesday.

Here Comes the Bride

I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate our good friends B & H!

They had an absolutely beautiful wedding at H's parents' home. The weather was perfect, and the ceremony overlooked a perfect view of the mountains.

We were both so very excited to be members of the bridal party (even if it meant D had to wear a tie AND his good shoes.)

We are also so very happy to share this newlywed period in our lives with an amazing couple.

When I get a moment, I'll add in some pics of the weekend, but I leave you with this wonderful shot of the top of H's dress, and the hanger her sister in law ordered for her.

Love y'all!

Brand New Life

In 2012, a lot has changed for D and I.

We got engaged.
I resigned my job because of his being in another state.
His job brought him back to the town we live in.
We bought a wonderful house.
We got married.
I found a part time coaching position at the local community college.

And now: I have started teaching homebound for the school district D graduated from. My first morning was today, and it went great!

I can't wait to see what the rest of 2012 has in store for us!

Currently: September

On one of the teaching blogs I follow, there is a post that blogger does every month called Currently.  She inserts this cute little picture that talks about what she's doing that very moment.

So here's my intention:
Create my own Currently post and post it the first week of every month.  So here goes!

Currently
Listening	To ESPN, baseball coverage now, but it was on because of Hokie Football
Loving	The Hokies win last night, first OT in Lane Stadium History!
Thinking	About how to run practice today.
Wanting	The sun to come out today, I’m tired of the clouds.
Needing	To finish off my grad school work for the first week.
Favorite Things	1.     My new rug 2.    The long weekend with my husband doing totally normal things. 3.    All the apple recipes I keep seeing everywhere!

By the way, if you are a teacher, you should totally follow this woman.  She teaches Middle School, so some of her ideas are great for high school, and some are adaptable for the elementary folks.  She also has links for resources for Math, Science, and Social Studies.  You can find her here.

I LOVE my new sofa! And it's easy to clean!!!

On a recent, rainy Sunday, my husband asked if I wanted to go look at furniture.  You know, to get some ideas for what we might want.  Ha.

After 5 hours and 4 stores, we had successfully purchased our first furniture as a couple.  It arrived Saturday, and we have loved every second of it.

Isn't it gorgeous?

My friend, L, (who has a fantastic blog here, you should check it out!) has microfiber furniture too, and said she loved it.  And she has little kids, so obviously it must be easy to clean!

I was perusing Pinterest the other day, and discovered a pin indicating that it was the easiest way to clean microfiber cloth, so I followed it.  I discovered this blog, with pictures and directions to clean my wonderful couch.  I repinned it, thinking I would need it eventually. 

  This morning, I discovered two places of stain:

Potentially chocolate, from my bday cupcake

Weird, white stains.  Dog drool?

So, I went to CVS, to pick up the 1 supply I was missing.  All you need is a spray bottle, rubbing alcohol, a white cloth (my source said use a white sponge, but neither I nor CVS had such a thing), and a plastic bristle brush.

CVS Rubbing Alcohol, Target Spray Bottle, and an old white washcloth.

I think this is from Wal-Mart, I've had it for years.

All you do is saturate the stain with rubbing alcohol, and rub out the stain.  Then, when it's totally dry, use the brush to re-fluff your fabric.

Good as new!

I don't have a pic of the chocolate stain, but I promise it came out too.  It was just still wet when I wanted to type this up, so I haven't fluffed it yet.

Me vs Lawnmower!

We got our wonderful lawnmower from a friend of D's. A free lawnmower in fact. It has been pretty great. For my husband. In my experience with it, well...let's just say I don't think we are friends.

The first time I mowed the grass, it cut off. Just quit running. I was maybe 3/4 done with the yard, and no power.

Thankfully, my husband and his fad were home. Within short order they diagnosed the problem, and it was soon fixed. (at some point, there was mention of it "acting like it ran out of gas" remember that.)

The next time mowed grass was full of usual things, except perhaps that I got sunburnt. And scraped by all the trees in the yard.

The next adventure mowing the grass seemed promising. And then, much to my frustration, the lawn mower started acting like it was going to run out of gas, and then cut off.

Now, I know lawn mowers need gas, but I have never had to put gas in one (thanks Daddy), nor did I have any recall of where my husband told me the gas was. So I texted him, and got a response.

When I found the gas can, I found 2. So I texted him again to find out exactly which can was for the lawnmower (as it turns out, the other is for the weed eater. If I had put that in the lawnmower, we would have been draining the tank.) With a full tank, I finish the yard, great end to the day?

No.

I then proceed to smell dog poop as I turn sometimes. When I stop the mower, I discovered I ran over 2 lovely piles, one on each back tire. So then I had to drag out the water hose to clean the tires. Not my day.

Enter this week. I start to mow the grass, but realize after about 3 laps that the grass is still pretty wet. So I stop, and go to Walmart. I'm about 5 minutes from home and it starts pouring. I can't finish mowing. I wait until the afternoon and get about 3/4 finished and decide to call it a day.

So today, the darn mower won't start. AGAIN. A text and a reply from my hubby and I am on task again with the advice "Just crank it over and over until it starts. And don't burn up the motor."

I find success and finish mowing the yard. As I turn to drive the mower back across the grass, I smell burning wood. "huh, someone must be burning a brush pile. Strange to do at lunchtime."

Oh. Stupid. Me.

When I stop the mower in front of the garage, I notice that there is black smoke pouring out from under the hood. Fantastic.

Another call to the hubby, and I discover that it has, after several minutes stopped smoking. When D got home, he took off the hood, discovering a pile of burned grass.

Good news: I didn't burn up the mower.

Bad news: because I didn't burn up the mower, we still have it. And I'm pretty sure it hates me.

From the mouth of babes.

Here's Monday afternoon's conversation between my oldest nephew B and I after his first day of kindergarten:

Hey! How was your day?

It was fun.

What did you do?

Well I had fun. And one boy got on the red and one kid got on the yellow.

What happens if you get on the red?

You go see...umm...you see umm...what's the principals name?
Pause. No answer from anyone.
Umm I don't know his name but you go see the principal.

Oh wow! That's not good. Did you stay on the green all day?

Yes ma'am

And what is your teachers name?

Miss jones (Note: I'm not really sure that's what he said. He sorta mumbled it)

Ok! What else did you do?

We had a fire drill.

Oh what do you do in a fire drill?

Well you run fast, no no you don't run. You walk fast and line up and you wait for the firefighters to tell you that you can go back inside.

Oh wow. Were you scared?

No! It was not a real fire drill. It was a pretend fire drill.

Oh ok. And did you take a nap? (Note: he told D that he wouldn't take a nap in kindergarten. I just didn't believe it)

Nope. There are no naps in kindergarten. No more naps for me.

Oh Awesome! And did you get to go outside?

Yeah I did. But I don't want to talk about that. I don't want to talk anymore. Can you talk to daddy?

Yeah, or mommy.

Ok love you.

Thankfulness

Today I wanted to say a quick thank you to a special group of women.

My childhood pediatrics office.

No, I am not kidding or crazy.

These women, who for the sake of privacy stay nameless, have shaped my entire life. They are some of the first people who ever met me. They made going to the doctor fun (and they try not to give me too much grief about the time I was at the office, left, and then was returned shortly in tears with a bleeding head because of an unfortunate car door incident.)

My mon began working with them when I was 12. I began working with them when I was 17. They supported me through college, that big breakup, and are still supporting me while I moved away, entered the workforce, and ended up married to the most amazing man.

So thank you Ya-yas. Thanks for the laughs, the tears, the support, the bridal shower, the gifts, and even the card from the nurse who shall remain nameless. (You taught me to always make sure I pay really close attention!)

I love you!!!!

Great Day

So today has been one of those awesome, southern, summer days.

My friend and her hubby are in from Montana, and we hiked part of the Appalachian Trail near my house.

The weather was beautiful, and the company even better. And A & J: sorry I slowed you guys down. (I am way not in hiking shape.)

So here's the view from our perch at the top. BEAUTIFUL huh?

What a Friday

My cousin/sister A send me a message Friday that could not have been more fitting:

"We have to give up good things to find great things." I gave up a good thing Friday. And then my Friday got crazy.

So, as some of you may know, I am not returning to the school I teach at this fall. It has been a fantastic 3 years, and I wouldn't trade my time there for anything.

So Friday in itself was emotional, packing up my life there and saying my goodbyes. At the end of the day, I had a meeting with the principal where I turned in my keys and had a chat about how much he has learned about my character this semester. It was tough. We then had an emergency faculty meeting, where we learned that a former colleague had emergency surgery to take out cancerous cells. Outlook: positive but with no further details.

So there came some tears as I climbed in the car to leave for the last time as a Knight. I grabbed for my phone to call my mom, and my phone wasn't there. So I spent the next 30 minutes running through the building looking for it. My friend/assistant coach found it, in the bottom of a box, about 2 minutes before I was suppose to meet D's mon 30 minutes away.

So I called, and met her at the alterations place instead of Target. I was only 5 minutes late for my appointment. 2 weeks ago my dress wouldn't zip. The dress that 3 weeks prior was 4 sizes too big. My seamstress assured me that it would fit Friday because of normal bodily changes. Lo and behold, she was right. I went home with my wedding dress perfectly sized!

On the phone with my mom, I discovered a deer had destroyed a lily and ate the top off my hostas. Vowing vengeance, I marched across the yard to D and informed him that I wanted him to shoot the deer he sees every morning. He laughed at me, and as I turned to go back to the house to unpack my car, I was stung by a bee. Second time in 3 weeks. Bees must love me.

So inside I went, took a Benadryl, 2 Tylenol, and stuck a piece of ice on my ankle. About 20 minutes later, I was really itchy. Like crazy itchy. I told D I was going to take a shower to see of the itchiness went away. The look on his face wasn't good. "ok but you lol awful." Not really comforting from the man I'm gonna marry. One look in the mirror told me he was right. From the upper thigh to my face I was covered in raised bumps with red splotches.

In true adult fashion, I called my daddy. He told me to take another Benadryl and if my tongue felt big, or if my throat hurt to call 911 immediately. Well, my mouth went numb. Not a good sign, so on to the hospital we went. Along the way my mouth felt better, but then my chest hurt. After checking in, I couldn't catch my breath and my chin was shaking up and down as if I was really freezing cold.

Vital signs were all good, and I was given fluids, more Benadryl, and a steroid. After about 3 hours, I was sent home, with a steroid regimen, Zantac (apparently contains antihistamines-who knew?), an epipen, and instructions to "take Benadryl religiously until you're done with the other medicines" and go see an allergist to find out what bee it is I'm allergic too.

Like I said, what a Friday.

Gotta love the dog

So in our beautiful home, we have laminate hardwoods in the living room, and linoleum in the kitchen/dining room (and an open floor plan).

So I bought a swiffer and I swiffer every day. Well...almost every day. But I try, everyday, to clean the floor.

I also sweep with a traditional broom and mop the floors on Wednesdays. Today is Thursday. So that picture below? Todays swiffer cloth. And, yes, I did mop yesterday. That's one day of the dog spending time in just 2 rooms. It's the sight that greets me everyday when I swiffer.

Lots of hair, lots of grime. But we love him still. We would be lost without him.

We have a table!

Ok, so I know I promised a blog update that never came, and I am sorry. Maybe I will make it my goal to put a mini house update up each day? Maybe. But here's my first attempt:

For the first time in my life, I OWN a table. And no, not D's table that I now claim, but my very own table. (besides, we have been eating off of TV trays for the last 2.5 years.)

Not only do we have a table, but we have a handcrafted to my specifications table!

D's dad made us the table totally by hand, and it is gorgeous! It was delivered to us last night, and i am stoked to get to eat on it today! Here's a picture of it, with our beautiful yellow walls! (I promise, they aren't really that bright. More on the painting later)

Anyone else having a great time with spring home improvement projects?