Moving Day

Okay, so I've been feeling guilty because I haven't told my best blogging friends that I'm moving tomorrow. I bought a town home in West Jordan, much closer to my work, and my sister. The most perfect place that I've always wanted to live. Seriously, everything about this place is perfect. It's 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, huge kitchen, big master bath, it's great. The living space is up above and the one car garage is underneath. It's going to be great once I'm all moved in and settled. However, there's a sad part to it, which I'll have to go into more later, I can't bring myself to talk about it much right now. Wish me luck.

Happy Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did. It's always such a great time to spend with family. I was quite spoiled by Santa. I got my Cricut (Yay), which came with a carrying case and an extra cartridge besides the one it already came with, plus Santa must've thought I was a really good girl and got me another extra cartridge. The cartridges are what has the shapes or fonts to tell the machine what to cut out. I've had so much fun playing with it the past few days. What a fun toy.

I got some great shirts, movies, and slippers from Matt's family. It definitely pays off to make a list, and send emails with specific links. That way I get just what I want. Hehe. I also got the 3rd season of Lost, just in time for us to watch it before the current season comes out. We've already watched 8 episodes, love the show. I'm looking forward to watching my Pirates 3, and Harry Potter dvds. Like I said, Santa sure thought I was a good girl this year.

1 More Day

Oh my goodness. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas already. Why is it that as a kid Christmas takes forever and a day to get here, yet as an adult it just comes way too fast. Don't get me wrong, I love love love Christmas, but I swear it gets here earlier every year. I'm all ready with my gifties, so I don't need to put on my combat gear to head to the malls today. Yee Haw! We invited my parents over for Christmas morning tomorrow since all of us kids are married now and they'd be all alone. I love sharing our Christmas with them. Trying to figure out the timing of everything tomorrow since it's always chaos. Wake up by this time, have present done by this time, eat by this time, leave for Logan by this time, arrive at his parents by this time, take the kids back home by this time, drive back to our home by this time, go to my parents at this time, etc. etc. How exhausting. I'm really looking forward to finding out what's in the really big box by our tree with my name on it (Cricut?). Wish me luck. I'm hoping it snows tonight too, ya gotta have a white Christmas, at least by my standards. Merry Christmas!!!

Cricut

I've been coveting one of these bad boys for a long time. However, I had pretty much given up hope of ever receiving or buying one. Matt went with me one night to Roberts and comment, "Those Cricut things look neat." Needless to say I put this on my Christmas list, once again not really expecting it, but dreaming all the same. I figure hey, maybe if I'm a really good girl Santa will bring me one.

I think they're about $250 depending on where you look. You buy different cartridges for it, which are like $80, ouch. It cuts out letters and shapes for scrapbooking and cardmaking etc. The new and improved Expressions Cricut is much bigger and can take huge pieces of paper to cut things to fit on banners, walls, etc.

Oh Man!

Laura came home last night around 7pm. The kids were so excited to see her, and Garrett, 5 years old, kept asking if she was just there to visit and if she had to go back to the hospital tomorrow to get better.

This morning as Laura was in the shower, she called for Greg, in the bedroom. He came running in and she told him she felt like she was going to pass out. She put her arms around his neck and he held onto her as he sat her on the bathtub. He thought she'd feel better if she sat down. She told him, No, I'm really going to pass out. Luckily he was still holding on, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted. He called the ambulance and they rushed her to the hospital once again. Poor little Ashlie, 2 1/2 years old, saw the ambulance come and take her mommy away, and was quite upset.

We don't have details yet on what happened. We do know it wasn't a stroke, whew! They're doing a CT Scan as of last I heard, so time will tell I guess.

UPDATE: What a day. Laura is back home again safe and sound. They said the hot water in the shower made her blood not flow as quickly to her brain and therefore caused her to faint. So nothing serious. What a relief. The doctor who looked at her chart said she's a miracle. She should have had a lot more damage to begin with such as blindness, deafness, paralysis, not being able to speak, etc. or even death. Many of the doctor's are surprised she even survived. How creepy is that?! There's definitely a lot to be thankful for! So glad to have her back home.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Good news! Laura will more than likely be coming home tonight. The doctor's will be sending her home on lots of medicines of course and Greg, her husband, will be giving her a shot in her stomach every 12 hours for her blood thinner. Yay! Not for the shot, for her coming home! I'm so excited. She can't be left alone, since she doesn't know how to do a lot of simple tasks, and in case of a seizure or any other such medical problems.

Yesterday, Greg was able to take her on a ride in her car for a little bit. She told us how strange it was with the lights turning red and you'd have to sit there for a long time. It's weird to think some of the things she doesn't know or has lost the ability to do. She won't be driving for a long time, which is strange to think. She'll be going to the hospital 4-5 times a week now they said to continue working with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist, continuing to learn to read, remember words, and relearning basic everyday tasks and such.

The doctor's say she's a very rare case. In that the stroke and ulcerated colidis are not related, and it's rare that they happened at the same time. We're so thankful that things have turned out as well as they have, and that she is continuing to progress more and more every day. Thanks again for all your prayers in our behalf!!

Laura's Progress

Laura is still improving a little day by day. She finally got moved out of the ICU last night into the regular part of the hospital. We're still not sure when she'll be able to come home, but for sure by Christmas. At the beginning she was blind in one eye due to the bleeding behind her eyes, and the doctor's told us they thought she would be blind permanently, but she has already gained most of her eye sight back. It's definitely a miracle.

She is seeming more like my Laura every day, not quite so child like as she was at the start. She practices daily with speech therapists and many others I can't think of right now. She's learning to read, by sounding out words and struggling with letters. Some pictures of objects she has to name she recognizes immediately, others she has to concentrate to remember how to say it. The doctor says she will have parts of her memory that she has completely lost and will have to relearn. But it is definitely hopeful as we see her progress each day. For example she didn't know what a knife was and had to relearn it's purpose. Her kid's got to visit her for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday. They were so excited to see Mommy, and brought her flowers and drawing pictures as gifts.

After many daily CT scans and other tests, we have found out she has ulcerated colidis. She has swelling in her brain, which caused the blood clot (1/2 inch thick and about 2 inches long) and then the stroke. This was all unrelated to the colidis, and will always wonder if it was due to a parasite. They say we will never know.

After she is released from the hospital she will be coming back 3-4 times a week to work with a speech and occupational therapist. Someone will have to be with her at all times for who knows how long, since she will not be able to do many things on her own. It's still surreal to think of everything that has happened in the past 2 1/2 weeks, but we are definitely thankful for all of the blessings, prayers, and fasting that has brought Laura to where she is today.

Jan Rocks!!

Okay, so this post is way overdue. I received my beautiful Lenox snowflake ornament from the wonderful Jan on Friday. The picture shown here isn't the exact one she sent me, I was having a hard time finding a picture of it, and of course my laptop is having issues letting me download my own pictures. Crazy! It is similar colors like this one, and it has the year dangling from the bottom. What a great remembrance. It seriously made my day to receive a fun package in the mail. Who doesn't love fun mail like that? This was such a fun idea, Jori, way to go! And Jan, thank you thank you thank you for such a gorgeous ornament. You're the best.

College Times

Last night I met 7 of my old sorority sisters from college. What a blast! One of them was in town from Texas and the rest live in Utah. It was so much fun to get together, see pictures of their kids and hear about their lives. We met at the Olive Garden, yummy! Gotta love the good food and good conversation. It was fun to remember old times together and funny memories. I had such a great time.

Outside Duty

I am the biggest wimp when it comes to cold weather. I finally got my new coat that I had ordered from Sears.com, which I'm very thankful for because it keeps me toasty warm. All of this week 3rd grade teachers, meaning ME, has outside duty. That means before and after school we have to be outside, in the cold, freezing, complaining, yuck. I really hate it, mostly since it's freakin' cold out there and it's suppose to be snowing later on. Blasted snow, you're only suppose to storm when I'm not at school, and I'm at home snuggled up warm in my bed. Wish me luck. I hope I don't turn into a snowman. Hehe.

Laura's Update

Matt and I stayed over at Laura's house last night to watch the kiddies. I love them so much! I'd heard from my dad and brother that the kid's slept through the night the previous nights etc. etc. Well, I wasn't quite so lucky. Ashlie is really having a tough time, really starting to miss her mom and dad. I fell asleep last night around 1am, being in a strange bed always makes it more difficult to sleep, and my mind is still racing with worries so I really haven't been sleeping well no matter where I am.

3am this morning I hear Ashlie crying and calling for Daddy. I go in to her room and she's sitting up in bed with big tears rolling down her face. She tells me she wants Dadda. I rock in the rocking chair until she falls asleep. But 5 minutes later she's crying again. This time we try her favorite story. Yet again, she's up 5 minutes later. We go downstairs to put on a movie. She fell asleep on the floor from about 6-7 until Garrett wakes up. He tells me that he had a bad dream about his mom last night. Oh goodness, it just breaks my heart. Needless to say I'm exhausted tonight from no sleep, but at the same time I'm so glad I was able to be with them and give them lots of hugs and kisses.

Laura is doing good and bad today. She had another colonoscopy and is waiting for the results to come back. She started bleeding heavily again today. They're now wondering if it's not colidis and possibly ecoli. She has a parasite attacking her colon and intestines. They are full of ulcers. She might have surgery to remove part of them. Laura was able to get up today and walked a bit with a walker, which was good news. She was also able to write her name today. The doctor's say she has the memory in there, but she's unable to communicate it. She is always saying, "I can see it in my head, I just can't say it." The other day when she couldn't write out her name, she knew it was wrong what she had written, but she didn't know how to write it. So sad. I'm hoping to make it to work tomorrow without having too many crying spells. They seem to come on randomly and uncontrollably. Thank you to all of my friends that have sent comforting comments and prayers. I really do appreciate everyone's love and concern.

Bad News

My sister, Laura, got really sick about 2 weeks ago. First thinking it was just food poisoning, but when she was bleeding excessively it became more serious. She had a colonoscopy (okay, I don't know how to spell that). They found out she has a form of colodis (once again I don't know how to spell today), and they immediately put her on medicines to see if it would help. They also questioned if maybe she had ecoli. She is so weak she can't get out of bed without help, she doesn't eat more than toast and such.

This past Wednesday Greg, her husband, took her to the hospital, thinking she was dehydrated. They found a blood clot behind her brain that was giving her an excruciating headache, obviously. They put her in an ambulance and sent her to the new hospital. She had an MRI and an MRV. She is now in the ICU, trying to get the blood clot down with blood thinners. They say it will get worse before it can get better. She is struggling with her memory, only sometimes remembering her kid's names, and those who come to visit her. When I visited her Wednesday night, she knew who I was, but couldn't think of the word "ambulance" and such. The doctors say she has had a form of a stroke. Yesterday she couldn't write her name, but today she could. The doctor can't guarantee that everything will come back. She is a college math teacher, and she might not gain all of her math skills back.

Needless to say yesterday for Thanksgiving was really not the greatest. We have all been worried and stressed out wondering how things will turn out. My parents have been staying at my sister's house watching the kids the past few nights, while Greg has been at the hospital with Laura. Today my brother, Mike, and his wife, Natalee, are babysitting, and tomorrow Matt and I get our turn.

Sometimes it seems I haven't cried this much ever. Who knows when she'll be back home. It's hard on her cute little kids, since they don't really know what's going on. This is one of those times when I'm thankful for the gospel and knowing prayers are heard and answered. I don't know how we'd all survive it if we didn't have that in our lives.

Another Fun Book

I got this book, A Job for Wittilda by Caralyn and Mark Buehner at our Literacy Night last Thursday night. I was so excited because the Buehner's had a bunch of their books there that we could buy and then of course I had them all signed. Yay!

I read this one to my kid's today. They loved it, as did I. Such a cute, funny book. Gotta love those. I'd recommend it for those of you that haven't read it yet.

Yay for Turkey!

Haha! This picture made me laugh. I'm so excited because it's a short week at school. Wednesday is a short day, which makes it even better!! When I woke up this morning, I was so tired and at first was dreading getting out of bed. I mean, who likes a Monday, yuck. Then it hit me, it's a short week, so it's kind of like a Wednesday today. Wednesdays are much better then Mondays.

I love Thanksgiving, and can hardly wait until Thursday. I'm a lover of food, and anything that involves food is a happy day for me. Bring on the turkey....and mashed potatoes, and dressing, and gravy, and green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Oh heck, just bring on the food!

Literacy Night

Our school is having a Literacy Night on Thursday evening. At first I wasn't too thrilled since it means I'll have to be staying here until 8pm, never a good thing for me. Then I found out we're having authors come to visit. Caralyn and Mark Buehner (Snowmen at Christmas, Superdog, Fanny's Dream, to name a few that I own), and Mike Knudsen (Raymond and Graham Rule the School, Halloween Scare, Dancing Dudes). Oh my goodness, I'm so excited now.

I'm like a child on Christmas morning. I'm in the process of trying to find all of my books that they wrote to get signed. Of course this is quite the ordeal since I have a bazillion and they're either at school, my apartment, or my parents. It's definitely worth it of course.

Oh Poop!

We found out today that our PE Specialist that we get part-time, afternoons one week, mornings the next, found a job with a different school. Blast! I really do hate teaching PE, and I've loved getting a break every other week. I'm so sad that she's leaving, she did such a wonderful job and the kids really loved her! What awful news for a Monday.

The Joys of Target

Yesterday I went to Target for a little Christmas shopping, before my dinner meeting. I'm quite excited that I'm getting closer to being done. I bought my brother and sister-in-law their gift, which I was just about to tell you, but then I thought what if they read this and then they'll know all about it. Sorry, now you'll just have to wait. I bought their gift, some fun little Hello Kitty stuff for my niece, and Cars tattoos for my nephew. After finding all this great stuff for everyone else I thought I better get myself a gift. I need to indulge every now and then right? I got Ratatouille. Its such a darling movie, I really did fall in love with it. So if you haven't seen it I would highly recommend it. Great idea for a Christmas gift, which I am giving to some favorite little kiddies of mine of course. Hehe

Love the Food

I met my friend last night for dinner after work. She used to work at my school, so it's great to meet up with her from time to time to catch up on our lives. We went to Iggys Sports Grill. Never been there before, what great food. I ordered the country fried steak, and of course we laughed hysterically when it was as big as the freaking dinner plate. Needless to say I brought half of it for lunch today. We spent a good 3 hours talking and laughing before we realized how late it was getting. What fun times. I love catching up with long time friends.

When it Rains it Pours

Life is quite stressful at times. Sometimes it feels like everything gets worse before it can get better. Matt is a general contractor, for those of you that don't know. About a month ago he was at work, picked up a piece of wood or something random and heard a crack in his back. Throughout the day his right leg and foot went numb. We went to Instacare that night and they referred him to a specialist because it could be something serious like a herniated disk. Oh joy! He went and had an x-ray to show that something is amiss. Of course in the meantime he hasn't been able to work and is on Workers Comp. It sucks, let me tell you. He only makes like 60% of his wage or something like that.

The insurance people were dragging their feel until this past Friday, for Matt to get his MRI. He went in to the doctor on Monday and they said he has a broken disk in his back, pinching a nerve. He has to meet with a surgeon to schedule a time for surgery to remove the disk off the nerve, and smooth out the part still attached. Which means, he'll be out of work for who knows how long now. I hope it's done sooner rather then later to get it over with, and for him to start his recovery. Until then it's quite a stress figuring out where all the money for bills and such will be coming from. Oh geez!

Winter Time

I need a new winter coat this year and have been looking online for something to keep me warm on those cold outside recess days and something cute at the same time. I ran across this one on Sears.com today. I'm very excited because it's on sale and has free shipping this week. It came to just over $80 with tax and regularly would have been $130 before tax. What a great deal. I figure if I don't end up liking it or something I can return it to the Sears over by my work. Isn't it cute? I love the fur around the hood and it looks like a good length to keep me warm.

No Meetings

During announcements this morning at the beginning of school they say, "There will be NO faculty meeting this week!" My first reaction is to do the touchdown dance. Woo Hoo! We have a faculty meeting every 3 weeks when we have track off day. I'm not one for meetings, but I can deal with such things if they weren't at the butt crack of dawn. On a normal day I have to make it here by 8am, doesn't sound too bad right? Other then I live far far away on Judea's plain, well, Bountiful really, so it takes me a good 40-45 minutes or longer depending on traffic lately. On faculty meeting days I have to get here by 7:30. Yeah, right, not gonna happen. I seriously dread those days, so it's quite a treat for me to learn there will be no meeting this week. Today must be my lucky day.

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged again. Here are the rules:

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names. Then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. When most people first meet me they think I'm shy. After getting to really know me, they find out that's far from the truth. It's hard to shut me up at times.
2. I snore at night because of a hole in my nose cartilage caused by a trauma inflicted in High School during Color Guard when one of my flags smacked my nose.
3. I'm VERY obsessive about table manners. Those who eat with their mouth open, use their fingers, etc. make me sick.
4. I hate winter, more specifically I hate snow. If I can stay home locked in my house I quite enjoy it, but the thought of driving to work or anywhere else is a major stress to me.
5. I love to cook. Mostly desserts. Yummy!
6. I love to travel. I've been to Nova Scotia, Hawaii, New York, Washington DC, South Carolina, Florida, Cabo San Lucas, Victoria and Vancouver in Canada, and California, to name a few. I have a dream of someday making it to France, Germany, England, etc.

People I tag (you lucky gals you): Emily, Kristi, Jan, Natalie, Jori, Angie

Cute Stuff

Here is a picture of my nephew and niece from Halloween. I wasn't able to see them, as I stated in one of my posts before, but I've got some fun pictures to enjoy. Garrett is Jack Sparrow, for the 3rd year running, and Ashlie is a pretty pink princess.

I love little kids in costumes. That's what Halloween is for. Not adults dressed up or teenagers just wanting candy. It's all about the small kids.

My Diagnosis

I've had this horrible, I'm going to die, kind of cough since the middle of October, when I last got sick. Not much fun when I'm trying to read to my children at school and I can barely make it through a page without the death cough. I think some of them were seriously worried about me and ready to make the run to the office screaming, "teachers dead!!" Just kidding. But seriously, I'm surprised I haven't coughed up a lung yet.

I finally gave in and went to the doctor. Definitely not my favorite place to be. And guess what the diagnosis was? Bronchitis. Yes, I officially have Bronchitis. Ew. Yuck. Poor me. He gave me some great medicine so hopefully I will recover without any major loss of before said lung or death or dismemberment.

Referendum 1: School Vouchers

I have one word to say about this: BAD! Don't vote for it. It's not a good thing. It won't help public schools, it isn't a good thing for all children. It's a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing. Trust me on that. Talk to any teacher, they'll say the same. Too many loop holes, too many problems. I got a paper on my door yesterday in favor and stating all the myths and explanations. It's crap I tell you. Don't do it!

Pumpkin Head Harvey

Yesterday, for Halloween, I wasn't able to see my darling niece and nephew in their costumes. I was most distressed! After school ended they were both taking a nap, and then left for my mom's house so I couldn't go visit. We didn't make it to my mom's house until 6:30, and of course they'd already left. I did get to see pictures of their cuteness, which helped, but it's still not the same thing. My brother, Mike, and his wife, Natalee, did come when we were there. It was fun to see them. They were dressed up as a pirate and Malice in Wonderland. My parents took some pictures so I'll have to get some from them since I wasn't smart enough to bring my own.

We ate some yummy food until I was stuffed. On our way back home I was almost falling asleep I was so exhausted from my day. Let me give you a little forewarning, if I'm extremely tired I'm very likely to become slap happy. We were listening to some station on the radio and they were playing the top 10 kid's Halloween songs or something like that. I thought for sure the #1 would be Monster Mash, but it was some song I've never heard of called, Pumpkin Head Harvey. It really was a stupid song, sorry if any of you like it, but I started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop. Thinking of it right now is making me start to laugh as well. Oh goodness, that's a really funny song!

I did make it home in one piece and went to bed around 10, after watching Garfield's Halloween of course. It was so nice to be in bed early and get somewhat of a good night's sleep. I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Happy Halloween

I survived our Halloween parade this morning. Other then having The Monster Mash song stuck in my head forever and a day. They played that song over and over and over during the entire parade. Crazy! My class is now having their party. At Parent Conferences last Thursday I had a parent volunteer to be my Room Mom. Woo hoo! I have parents in charge of different centers, whether it's art projects or games, so I don't have to do anything, they rotate every 15 minutes. So I get 1 hour of freedom, somewhat. I love it. I'm already exhausted and it seems the day has just begun. I really don't like Halloween at school. I think they should make it a short day. It's just a crazy day anyway. Wish me luck for surviving the rest.

When school is over and I'm heading over to my sister's to see my cutie pies in their costumes, then I'll start to enjoy my day. We're going to my parents tonight to have our tradition of Chili, hot chocolate, and donuts. Mmmm. I love that part of Halloween. And it just wouldn't be complete without Garfield's Halloween. Great movie.

Meet the Robinsons

We rented Meet the Robinsons over the weekend. Cute movie. Thanks Jori for the suggestion. I would recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. I love kid's movies, they're always the best. I'm now waiting for Ratatouille to come out next week, haven't seen that one either. Gotta get some ideas for Christmas suggestions.

UEA

If I can make it through today and conferences after school I'll be quite excited for my weekend. You see, this weekend is UEA. That means 2 days of freedom for me. No school Monday or Tuesday. It'll be so nice to catch up on sleep and relax after conferences. The crappy part is the day we come back is Halloween. EW! I'll be loving those 2 days off until Wednesday, and then I'll be wishing that it was Thursday, Friday, AFTER Halloween. Come on people, having days off after Halloween should be a must. Who came up with these days anyway?

The Office- The Bat/Vampire

I've been watching Season 3 of The Office, which my sister lent to me. I so am in love with this show now! I watched this episode just the other day and it's one of my favorites. I had to share it with all of you so I could laugh yet again.

Breathe.....Just Breathe

I've been running around all morning. Whew! I'm quite exhausted. Of course traffic was terrible this morning and I got to school a lot later than I had planned. I barely had time to put my purse and such away before my first new student showed up with his dad. I got him situated and the next new student shows up. I get her all ready, and I'm still running around getting supplies for them, getting my morning ready when the first bell rings. AHH!! I'm then told that one of my other grade teachers is in a meeting so if I can watch her class until she returns. Sure, why not?

I still feel like I'm going to die at any moment today. I can't even talk this morning, so I'm struggling trying to be heard by my kiddies. Poor things. They look at me like I'm some sort of alien. Hehe I'm finally sitting at my desk working on grades that need to be done as soon as possible. I'm starting to get stressed just thinking about everything I need to do before Parent Conferences this week. Plus I have our field trip this coming Wednesday, which is an exhaustion all to itself. Goodness, wish me luck!

Sick of Being Sick

I've got The Bug. I came down with yuckiness Wednesday night and missed out on my much awaited card club dinner, sad face for me. I missed school Thursday, spending the majority of my day in bed wishing I could die. I made it through Friday, even the boring meeting for 2 hours after school and came home and crashed. I've now spent my weekend praying I won't cough up my lung and maybe be able to pass out so I can get some must needed rest.

I'm feeling picked on after missing my card club, then having to say no to an invitation to dinner with some fun neighbors of ours. Now I doubt I'll be going to my mom's tomorrow night for dinner. Sheesh! Could I be more of a whiner?

Christmas Shopping in October?

I love love love Christmas! As soon as fall hits, okay, more like after my birthday, I start thinking about what I want to get everyone for Christmas. Now I'm not obnoxious like those stupid stores that start decorating before we've even finished Halloween, (we need to take the holidays in order people, not pass them over) I just like to start thinking and getting things done before the frightening nightmare after Thanksgiving.

I already have a lot of my shopping done, what kind of a freak am I? But seriously, I've got my mom's and sister's, and the majority of my friend's. I like to think it'll be less stress when we get to December and I'm down to only a few more to shop for.

Pumpkin Vermont Spice Cake

This is the recipe of the cake I made for my card club for tomorrow night. I love this stuff! We're having a dinner tomorrow, and everyone gets to bring a part of the meal whether it's appetizer, main course, dessert, it has to be something fallish. And of course we also make a recipe card that's all cutesy for everyone to put in their fun 6 by 6 album. I'm excited, we always get some yummy food!


Pumpkin Vermont Spice Cake

Cake:
3 cups flour
3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin (15 oz. can)
½ cup Nestle’s Carnation Evaporated Milk
¼ cup water
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Maple Frosting:
11 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
3 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons maple flavoring

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour cake pan. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beat for 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin, evaporated milk, water and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Spread evenly into cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool.

For Frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar in a large mixer bowl until fluffy. Add maple flavoring; mix well.

What Day is it?

Oh my goodness! For some reason today has been the longest day EVER! I think it's been Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday all in one. I'm kind of weird apparently (okay, so I know that I'm weird), but I keep thinking that it's Wednesday. It's driving me crazy!! I almost took my kids to library, since we go on Wednesday and all. Lucky for me my kids know what day it is. Haha! You think I'd get a clue after the thousandth time commenting about something we always do on Wednesday. Crazy teacher.

Old Navy

My little niece, Ashlie, got the cutest pants a while ago from Old Navy. She's 2 years old by the way. It had adorable pockets in the front with a cute little belt. My sister and I commented how cute they were and how they really needed some in adult sizes.

Well, 'lo and behold, last weekend Laura told me she went to Old Navy and guess what? Yup, they have the pants now for adults, minus the belt, but still with the cute pockets. And to make them even better, they're on sale for $20, who could beat that? Of course after school I had to run over there and get one. Sadly, they didn't have my size. I was almost set on ordering some online, but found out Laura's didn't fit her, so I could possibly have hers. Nope, they don't fit me either, blast! Now I'll have to be making a trip to Old Navy once again to try on yet a bigger size, because I really do need these pants ya know.

I've Been Tagged

What is his name? Matthew Brent Jensen
How long have you been married? 2 years
How long did you date? 1 year. We were engaged for 5 months after that.
How old is he? 33
Who eats more? Usually him. But I can hold my own baby!
Who said I love you first? Him
Who is taller? Bare feet we're pretty darn close (I like to think anyway). Usually with most shoes I'm taller, hate it!
Who sings better? Me. He doesn't like to sing.
Who is smarter? Me. I'm a teacher. He went to police academy, so he's smarter about that type of stuff. I'm more book smart.
Whose temper is worse? His
Who does the laundry? Me
Who does the dishes? ME ME ME ME ME
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me
Who pays the bills? Mostly me, but he does some of it.
Who mows the lawn? The apartment people since we don't own a house.
Who cooks dinner? Me
Who drives when you are together? Me
Who is more stubborn? Me. He is somewhat too, but I think I'm the worst.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me most of the time.
Whose parents do you see the most? Ugh! His!! But we're working on fixing that problem.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me.
Who asked who out? We met on LDS Singles Online. So we sorta agreed to meet somewhere after talking for a while. Then from there he usually asked me out to begin with.
Who proposed? Him
Who is more sensitive? Me
Who has more friends? Me
Who has more siblings? Him 3, Me 2
Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on the moment.

More Presents for Me

Last night we celebrated my birthday with Matt's family. This is the very first time since we've been married that I have received gifts and even been recognized for having a birthday. I gave Matt a list of things I wanted, which he passed on to his family (Yay!) so I got some pretty great stuff. Thanks to Jori for the suggestion about the Back to Basics toaster/egg cooker. Matt's parents gave me one (on my list of course), and I'm excited to try it out. I also got the Uno Attack game from Matt's brother Jake and his wife Amber (once again, on my list). Those of you that have not played Uno Attack, I would highly recommend it.

Love the Books!

Is anyone else a Skippyjon Jones addict like me? I seriously love these books. I only own the original Skippyjon Jones and In the Dog House, but I definitely have Mummy Trouble on my list of needs, and now this one!

Costa Vida

We noticed the other day they're building a Costa Vida right around the corner from us. Woo Hoo!! The first time I went to Costa Vida was last year I think it was, with my brother Mike's wife Natalee. I love that it's the same food as Cafe Rio (called different things of course), but cheaper. It might turn out to be a bad thing since it will be so close we'll be even more tempted to go there.

We do have a Cafe Rio only 10 minutes away, which we go to often enough. But how exciting to have it even closer. I'm such a lover of food!

I'm Loved Today

I feel so loved today! Thank you to those of you blogging friends that have wished me Happy Birthday. It's so wonderful that I feel like we're such great friends, yet many of us have never met. This morning on my way to work my Stake President called to wish me happy birthday. How cute is he? My brother sent me a text message last night around midnight wanting to be the first one to wish me a great day. I laughed.

I told all my kids at school they have to be extra nice to me today. Hehe Many of them made me sweet cards (I always love cards written by kids), and I even got a nice present from one of them. She gave me a gift set of lotion, shower gel, and slippers. What a sweetheart. I definitely am feeling the love!

Birthday Dinner

Tomorrow is my birthday. Matt and I usually go to dinner and celebrate when either of us has a birthday. Does anyone have any good ideas? I was thinking of something with either seafood or steak. Yummy! In the past we've done places such as Red Lobster, McGraths Fish House, Chili's, Olive Garden. We might just go to one of those places if we can't think of anything. Any suggestions besides the ones I mentioned?

My Party

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday with my family. Woo Hoo! My read birthday is Wednesday, the 10th so we had to celebrate it early. Gotta love birthdays. My mom and dad gave me the rest of my silverware that goes with my fine china, and a silverware chest to keep it all in. I was happy, since I'd never be able to afford it all by myself. I've been getting a little here and there for birthdays and such until I completed my set. My brother and sister in law gave me a gift card to Deseret Book, I'm always a sucker for new books. My sister and her family gave me a bunch of fun things; adorable clear stamps, the blocks to put them on of course, saying stamps, ribbons, and a cute wooden block that says "Boo". I was very excited!! My cute little Ashlie (my sister's daughter), read me what the card said. "E...I...O......from Ashlie". I'm not too thrilled about turning 30, I would much rather be celebrating 20. Maybe I could pretend.

Next Sunday we're going to have a party with Matt's family. The somewhat funny thing is I told Matt he's throwing me a party, because if not, his family would pretend my birthday didn't even exist, like they have for the past 2 years. Strange people. This year I got smart and figured if I wanted some sort of recognition I better plan something myself. That'll be an interesting experience since they're not my favorite people to spend time with. I figure if it's a way to get presents I just might have to deal with it. Hehe.

Spider!

I am terrified of spiders. I act like quite the child if I ever see one. If I must kill one, which only happens under dire circumstances (usually I'll scream until someone comes to my rescue), it will take me a good 15 minutes to get up the courage to smash it with a shoe (not mine of course, I wouldn't ever wear a shoe with spider guts on it), and leave it until someone else can clean it up. If the spider is on the floor however, I'll usually try to put a cup over it and once again let some other fool deal with it.

When I was living in my old house with my parents, I slept downstairs. Of course there are a bazillion more spiders that live downstairs than upstairs. Many times before going to sleep I would find a few spiders lurking around, waiting for me to be all alone before emerging. Blasted spiders know I don't like them. My dad and I would go on a "spider hunt" before I would let him go to sleep. I would search in all the creepy sneaky places hoping to let him kill them rather than being stuck on my own and terrified. Yes, I know I'm a freak, but I seriously have a phobia of them.

Living in my apartment now, since moving in, I have come across 2 hobo spiders. Not only are they just a typical house spider, but now I have to be around poisonous ones. Oh joy!! I still get creeped out having to clean in creepy corners.

This morning after waking up at 6am, I go and take my stomach medicine, and on my wake back to the bedroom to grab my bathroom stuff, I notice a black spidery form on the rug in the bathroom. Let me add, I can't see so well since I don't have my contacts in and I'm not wearing glasses. But I just know it's a spider, and my first thought is....AHHHH!!!! Hobo spider!!!! Help! Help! I quite calmly (a little more panicky actually) go into the bedroom and wake up Matt (he doesn't have to wake up for 40 more minutes). "Matt! Matt!!!!!!! Are you awake?" He is now..hehe. "There's a really scary spider in the bathroom. You need to come kill it now. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!" "No" "What?! No?! Yes!!! You will be killing it! PLEASE!!!!" "Melanie, it's not real. I found a spider ring outside yesterday and put it in the bathroom for you." Oh you evil man you. And here I almost had a heart attack.

Upon picking up the spider ring, yes, it really didn't look like a real spider upon closer inspection, I put it in the other room, somewhere where I wouldn't have to run into it again and think it MIGHT be a real one. Sheesh!

Laura's Christmas Present

I told Laura, my sister, that I ordered her Christmas present and it arrived today. Conversation between Laura and me.

"What'd you get me?"
"Something cool. I got the same thing for mom too."
"Oh.....so, what'd you get mom?"
"The same thing as you."
"Where did you get it from?"
"The internet."
"Which website?"
"www dot somethin'."
"I have a wonderful idea. You should blog about my present, post a picture and I promise I won't go and look."

So, here's you're present Laura. I hope you like it. It was pretty expensive, and they have a no return policy.

Love It!

My mom and dad went to New York last week on vacation. I was jealous. I love New York. They came back with presents. They bought my sister and I a purse, the one pictured above of course, from Ann Taylor. And it's not even one of the fake ones off the streets. Real leather baby! Isn't it cute? I was very excited. Who doesn't love a new purse?

My Halloween Costume

I'm not a big fan of celebrating Halloween at school. Eek! I'm sorry. I loved it growing up, and I know kids have a ball. However, being a teacher, it's definitely my least favorite day of the year. I think every Halloween should be a short day at school. The kids are too hyper to concentrate, they don't want to do work. I love that I usually have my parent volunteers be in charge of the party, I really think I would have a nervous break down if I had to do it. Sad story, this year none of my parents want to be my room mom. :( Blast! I don't want to have to do everything on my own. Life sucks.

Every year I have the hardest time trying to decide what to dress up as for at school. I think I'd be enjoying it a little more if it was just a fun ADULT party I was going to. I greatly dislike, okay, I hate, the Halloween Parade. I feel like an idiot having to walk through the lunch room/Gym and being stared at by parents with their video cameras. I'm such a party pooper, I know. In past years I've been Cinderella, Malibu Barbie, Pebbles from the Flintstones, a biker babe and I don't remember what else at the moment. So here's my idea. I'll be a military gal. Is that too boring? Matt was in the army, air force, etc. etc. before we met, so he has the whole army get up. I could just wear that. I included I really cute picture of a little boy in his costume. I thought he was adorable, and so much cuter than showing an adult.

I Love New Clothes

I curled my hair today and made it all flippy. Note, I do not do this everyday, since I seem to struggle greatly in making it out of bed on time in the mornings. It takes me 35 to 40 minutes to drive to work, so in order to curl my hair I have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Not usually a pleasurable experience.

I wanted to wear my new pants and shirt that I bought from Victoria's Secret. Yay! The pants look like the same color that I got. My shirt is a hot pink though, not that purple. So much fun to get new clothes, I love it. The only thing I hate, is the pants don't seem to be long enough, which I definitely require, so they seem a little short, but they're still cute I think. The other pants I bought are a nice long length so at least I've got one pair so far that work that way. Hehe. I'm still waiting for one more pair of pants to get here that weren't shipped at the same time for some reason. I'll have to post that one too once I get it.

Back to my hair story. On the right side I have this stupid hair that didn't want to curl this morning. For some reason I've had problems with this a few times recently. Very frustrating. My hair gets stubborn at times, but no matter how long and how many times I curled the darn thing it still is falling in my face and not curled. Blasted hair!!

My Mountain Dew

My new goal was to cut down on soda. Yeah, I'm thinking it's not going to happen anytime soon. At least for the next few weeks until I get back into the routine of things. Mountain Dew definitely puts me in a better mood. I had a crazy morning today. I got my new student, so far he's not a behavior problem. That's all I'm really caring about for the moment. I haven't tested him yet to find out if he's on grade level or not. Hoping to do that tomorrow, or at least some of it.

I was told he's a youth in custody. Wasn't quite sure what that meant so I asked the secretary. Apparently he was abandoned. How sad is that!? How could you abandon a child? I feel so sad for him. There are so many couples in the world that would love to have children of their own, but are unable to do so, and others that don't seem to take it too seriously. Makes me sad.

One Bad Egg

Ugh! Is it really almost Monday?! Where oh where did the weekend go? What a sad life I live. I'm somewhat dreading tomorrow, other than I do really have some cute kids that I've somewhat missed. I don't really want to deal with a new student tomorrow. I'm kind of a whiner at times. I'm also definitely NOT thrilled about having to deal with this stupid teacher that I definitely have NOT missed while I've been off track. She's one of our new teachers this year, came from a different school actually, so she has taught before. I know she's a wonderful teacher and all that, but I just don't like her. Am I just rude? I get along with most people, and usually like most people. I did say most because there are the select few that I don't like too much. Her being one of them. She's on C track, so she was off for 3 weeks, and then I was off for 3 weeks. Technically I haven't seen her for 6 whole weeks! Woo hoo for me. But the down side is I'm going to have to see her now for the next 6 weeks straight. I just might lose my mind!

After returning from my great 3 weeks off, I learn that our field trip has been planned, to Red Butte Gardens. Sounds like fun to me. I'm not really one for being anal about where we go. Okay, so far I'm liking it.... So let's now see when everyone else is going. Kim and Joanne Oct. 3, Tressa and Regan Oct. 17, Melissa and Anne Oct. 23rd. Okay, hold on just a second here. Kim, Joanne, Tressa, Regan, Melissa, Anne.....that leaves just ONE person if I'm not mistaken. ME!!! So who exactly am I going with? Oh, wait, let me guess. I don't get anyone to go with. I'm alone, just me, one, single, uno. What the freaking $%^##$%^&!*. Need I even say how pissed off I was. Her reasoning is a bunch of crap, I don't give a blasted $%^# what her reasoning is. Do I look like I care? I'm usually quite easy going, so nice, blah blah. My team has rarely seen me upset or angry, until this past Friday. I was furious during our team meeting. Did I mention before how I hate her! She doesn't fit in with our team. Our team has always been called "The Dream Team" because we're so easy going, we never have fights, we always get along. Everything had been perfect until she came along.

The Office

I've recently got addicted to Lost, and I can hardly wait until December when season 3 comes out, so I can be ready for the new season starting in February. Yay! Love that show.

Now I'm trying out The Office. My sister has watched the first 2 seasons, and I've heard great things about it from all of you blogging girls. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm glad I now will have some great shows to watch during the year and become even more addicted to. My sister recorded the season premier for me to watch after I can try and catch up. That's part of my goal this weekend. I got season 1 and the first 2 discs of season 2 from the library. I'm thinking it's perfect weather outside to be watching TV in my sweats cozied up on the couch. I can't believe it's snowing! Snow in September, I just don't agree with that. Crazy weather.

Last Day of Freedom

How depressed am I today you may ask? Very much so. Today is my last day of freedom. Tomorrow I have to go to this stupid Balanced Literacy class that I have to go to 2 more times after tomorrow, once in December while I'm off, and again in March. It's from 8:30-1:15, so it could be worse, since it's not really like a full day of school. But I don't like spending my last day in a class that I have to take according to the district. Blah! And they don't even feed us lunch, what a crock of sheesh. Free food always makes my day better, so it's already not looking so good. I'm suppose to bring my own lunch, so we're going to be working through lunch. Goodness! I better bring a whole heck of a lot of food. Has anyone seen me eat?!

Whenever dates used to take me to Cafe Rio for example, I would always order my favorite, pork burrito, black beans, mild sauce, enchilada style. Now those of you that are as addicted to Cafe Rio know how huge their burritos are. But being me, I can usually eat the entire thing, if I'm not sick or have some other ailment. A few times I my date would ask, or comment, "Are you going to eat all that? Would you like to take the rest home?" Umm...let me think for just a second....NO!!! I'm hungry and I'm going to eat the whole thing. I don't eat like a bird, I don't pick at my food because I'm on a date, if I'm hungry I'm going to eat dang you! Men were usually amazed at what I'm capable of eating.

If you ever want to make me perfectly happy, have food at your party, function, get together, or stupid class, and I will be quite content for the majority of it. :)

Update: Out of the 5 hours I was at this class, I learned 2 things that I didn't already know. I did say 2 people!! Why in the heck I have to take a class about something I already know, I couldn't tell ya. Stupid district people. I've taught for 7 years, everyone else in my class was a new teacher. Boring!!! The only good thing that came out of this class was winning a drawing for a Holes book...yay for me! Maybe they'll pay me extra if I help teach the class.

No one else seemed to have brought a lunch but me. Now how in the freakin' crap these people can go from 8:30 in the morning until 1:30 without eating, I don't know. I broke out my pb&j sandwich and went to town. I'm sure I had some jealous classmates, maybe next time they'll come prepared.

Jewelry Kinda Gal

First of all, how cute is this bracelet? Seriously, is it not SO cute?! Yeah, I need everyone to agree with me here. My friend is having a Lia Sophia party this weekend. I can't go since we have Matt's kids this weekend and will probably be in Logan at one of their football games or some such. I told her I'd look at a catalog and think about ordering something. Well, I guess their jewelry and such is pretty expensive, and least the ones I liked online were. So being the kinda gal I am I went onto ebay to see what they had to offer. Yeah, same cute stuff for much much cheaper. Now I fell in love with this fun little bracelet. I did some research of course, and figured out it would be around $40 if I ordered it from the catalog, but here on ebay I bid $20, ha! I made sure it's brand spankin' new and comes in the box with the tag and such still on. This story doesn't have a happy ending yet. The auction ends tomorrow evening, but as of now I'm winning with $15. Yay!

Update: Okay, how disappointing. I was outbid!! I didn't want to keep bidding and spend more than I should, though I was quite tempted. What a sad story.

My sister and her two munchkins came to visit today and have lunch with me. We had a blast playing with my photo booth and it's distorted picture taking. Hehe! They were quite entertaining. Here are a few of our silly pictures





Hehe!!! How funny are these?








Can you see why we were laughing hysterically by the end? They were quite hyper and didn't want to stop. Hehe! We had so much fun. Best lunch I've had in a long time.

Spinach Salad

Here's the recipe of the salad I decided to make for tonight.

1/2 cube butter
1/2 cup honey
1 pkg. sliced almonds
2 Tablespoons oil
2 Tablespoons salad vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 bag spinach leaves
1 sliced apple (Fuji)
1 pkg. dried cranberries

Pour butter and honey over almonds.
Bake in 400 degree oven until caramelized.
Mix oil, salad vinegar, juice concentrate, salt and mayonnaise thoroughly.
Mix spinach, apple, dried cranberries and prepared almonds.
Add dressing and serve.

Welcome to the Fat Cow!!

Yes, I am announcing to the world that I have become a fat cow. I don't even have any kids to show for it. What a great day I'm NOT having.

Salad Anyone?

I'm going to visit my brother and his wife tomorrow night in Provo. We're having dinner at their apartment, and I'm suppose to bring some sort of salad. Hmmm....does anyone have any ideas? I want something that's easy to make, and quick. :)

My Top 5

Here are my top 5, though I must say it was quite difficult to pick only 5. I could think of 10 or more probably.


1. Matthew Mcconaughey (Matthew Mcconahottie!)




2. Christian Bale (Break me off a piece of that....)




3. Matthew Fox (Oh baby!)






4. Jason Statham (Handsome Rob)



5. Matt Damon (Yummy)

Did you notice I have a lot of Matthew's? I thought that was funny as I was putting these together. Matt's must be hot!

Computers Suck

I found this extremely hilarious. I had to watch it at least a bazillion times, I'm entertained easily. Hehe!! I can definitely relate to the Mac swirling spiral of death. Hate that! Besides, I just love South Park it makes me laugh. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Halloween

I've never been one for scary, creepy stuff during Halloween. I hated haunted houses growing up and would usually stay at home with my mom, who also hated them, while my sister, dad, and brother would go without us. I hate scary movies, they will usually give me nightmares for days, if not weeks. What can I say? I have a very over active imagination.

I was born the first part of October, and lots of times would receive something Halloween related. I love Halloween decorations, the cute ones, not the scary icky ones. I went to Roberts today and happened upon a most adorable table runner with a little devil and frankenstein on each end. I've been trying to find a picture, but haven't been able to yet. Sorry gals.

Tomorrow I'm on a mission to Bath and Body Works to get this adorable pumpkin snow globe. How cute is he? I fell in love when I saw him, though I haven't technically seen him in real life, I just know I'll fall in love when I do. There are little bats that fly around. Who wouldn't love Mr. Pumpkin?

Going Postal

Matt called me on his way home from work. He wouldn't make it back in time before the Post Office closes to mail off his bazillion heavy boxes he sold. Crapola is my first thought. These 4 boxes to be exact are in the trunk of my car happily waiting for him to get home and take them where they belong. Very grudgingly I make my way to the Post Office, NOT enjoying the idea of lugging these suckers in the door. I look like some sort of freak making my way up to the door and somehow opening the door on my own. I'm sweating and my arms are aching not to mention screaming profanities quite loudly in my head, by the time I get the 4th box up on the gosh darn counter, which by the way, is too far away from the door. It seriously took me 10 minutes. Of course while I've got the 4th box in my hand, some nice man is like, "Do you have more of those? I could help?" Why oh why didn't he come sooner. Oh well, what a nice gesture.

By the time I get up to the counter for my turn there are 2 worker people, one is the really nice man I'm hoping and praying that I get waited on by, and the other is the cranky, evil biotch lady. Luck must be with me today as I get to talk to the nice man. Yay! I tell him I need to mail the 4 packages in the window next to us with delivery confirmation, insurance...blah blah. He's seen me lug each and every blasted one of those inside and smiles with some sympathy at me. He goes to get one and bring it back and the evil lady says to me all evil like, "You could help him get those." I glare at her all pissed off with my arms still throbbing. But before I could utter a word the nice gentleman waiting on me says, "No she can't. They're heavy, she's already carried all of them in here." Woo Hoo! Did I mention I'm in love, if I was a little older elderly lady?

Hair Day

Went to get my hair trimmed and highlighted today. I think just getting a little length cut off and my blond refreshed always makes me feel better. Not to mention how great it feels to get pampered ever now and then by letting someone else do all the work.

Now keep in mind I took this picture myself, I hate taking pictures of myself. Ick! My hair has been a little wind blown from going to the grocery store, but it's amazing to me how when my cute hair lady does my hair it looks better much longer than when I do it. I just don't really understand that. Crazy stuff.

A Fair is a Veritable Smorgasboard....

I must say that I love Charlotte's Web. This is my favorite song in that movie. It makes me want to dance around singing it at the top of my lungs. Who doesn't love the fair with Templeton huh? I love to read this book with my kids each year, then it gives me an excuse to watch it after.

I watched this movie at the end of the last school year with my kiddies. I was jumping around and singing this song for them, and they humored me with their laughing. What a final farewell I must've given them. Aren't I just the greatest? I feel like putting that movie in now just so I can watch that part over and over and over again. Enjoy watching it for me!

We Are Now in Panic Mode

I had an Enrichment Committee meeting tonight, sounds normal right? No, not normal, this thought caused my great stress. Why you may ask? I've never been to this girls "condo", and I have no frickin' clue where it is. I've seriously been dreading today because of this single fact. I started thinking, maybe I'll get sick, maybe I'll conveniently forget, maybe...maybe....maybe. You should be most proud that I did not chicken out, and began doing great research in order to find where this random condo might be. I called the girl, of course, to ask directions, but she didn't call me back until an hour before, so yes, I was panicking! I googled it, couldn't find it, googled some more, still couldn't find it.

Yes, she did finally call me, as afore mentioned. The directions she gives me are CRAP, yeah, I don't really understand a thing she tells me, but I confidently say, "Oh yes....yes....yes...ok....great. Alright then, thanks!" I hang up the phone and flip out. Matt of course doesn't know where this place is either. Great help he is! Then it hits me DUH, I have GPS in my car, hallelujah, thank the Lord. Now I now that this place is called Aspen Court. I program the address into my nifty little machine, and presto chango, it started directing me there. Sadly, it's only like 2 minutes from my apartment. Yes people, I am slightly challenged. Now as I'm turning onto the correct street my car announces, "Destination". What? Huh? Where? I don't see an %$&# condos. Lucky for me there weren't many cars around because I was driving like an extremely challenged person. I flipped around at least a bazillion times

I finally turn into some parking space of what I think might, I did say might, be the correct place. Only there's no blasted signs, NO anything! Well, just my luck, this parking area is already full, and there's no place to turn around. I have to drive in reverse, and back up onto a busy street to turn around. AHH!! I'm really starting to go officially insane because it is past 6:30 and I hate, absolutely detest being late to anything. I call the girl, and she tells me that I'm at the right place, only there's no parking right now, so park on the street. Alright then, thanks for the info.

Now the trick is to find the right building. Good timing gets me there at the same time as 2 other ladies. The funny thing is they seem as clueless as me, makes me feel slightly better, though I decide not to give them the details of my insaneness. We walk around all over, I swear to every building possible before we find it. Sheesh!! And to make a happy story have the happy ending, the meeting lasted 2 hours. I'm not a fan of meetings. Get to the point and get me outta there. Whew! I need a nap after this endeavor.

My Sis

My sister made the cutest card for our upcoming card club this month. I'm quite excited that I will be receiving one of these for my very own. However, I doubt I'll actually ever really want to give it away to someone. I'll probably just keep it in my card box and enjoy it for myself. See how selfish I can be at times.

For those of you that haven't noticed yet, I added my sister, Laura, to my blogger friends. Notice my side note, she's not really in the blogger world, shame on her, but its as close as she'll ever get. Hehe! I think I might forgive her since she makes such cute cards.

Last Week On Track

Have I ever mentioned how much I love going off track.? Yeah, well, I do! This coming Friday is my last day for 3 weeks. Unlike Hayley, I don't have a fun cruise, or other fun getaway planned, but heck, just the idea of not going to work for a few weeks is pretty dang fun to me. My kids are also getting quite excited about it. Partly that has to do with my reminding them all day every day that "today is our last Tuesday"....."tomorrow will be our last Wednesday". How great am I? I'm sure my kids think they've got some loony teacher. At least they go along with my craziness and laugh every now and then.

Funny Stuff!

What a great commercial. I think it's hilarious! But then again I am entertained easily at times. You've got to have some commercials you enjoy since I have to sit through them all the time. No dvrs for me. Blasted!

Speedy Gonzalez

I'm kind of an evil person at times, but at least I admit it, right? We have this new sweeper at our school, who I like to call "speedy". He's a strange bloke. Always running around like he's in a race or something and he's just strange. He sprays our counters from clear across the room, carries the dusting thing in his mouth so he can do more at once, dusts the TV while my teacher friend is sitting underneath, stacks the garbage can (okay, so this one was remedied once we complained to the custodian over him) and didn't put the garbage cans back where they belong. He's just weird okay, take my word for it.

Well, after school today Speedy comes in to clean, I can't help always watching him in entertainment, it's just freaky. The other sweeper comes to mop the back floor, and Speedy goes speeding along the floor, hits the wet part, and goes free skating along, arms flying over his head, glasses sailing across the room and WHAM he hits into my desk (which knocks everything over by the way). Now I'm sitting at my desk staring at him somewhat entertained by all this fun. I do ask him, "Are you all right?" He responds with "Sorry...sorry" and goes zooming off. After he leaves the room I start busting up laughing. See, I told you I'm somewhat evil, but heck people, if you saw what I saw you'd be laughing too.

MMMM....AHHHH

I'm a fan of smell good/ feel good hair products. I'll pay what I must to get a good product for my hair. I will definitely splurge on what I feel is important. Okay, so every now and then what I feel is important might not exactly be the most important thing it the world, but it seems to be at that moment in time I'm getting side tracked here. Back to my point. I love my Abba shampoo and conditioner, however, I'm feeling in need of something new to try, yet just as good in quality and yumminess. Any suggestions gals?

My New Stamps

In my card club for the next couple months, we have to make Christmas tags as well as a card through December. Now I have lots of cute stamps, of course not as many as I want, but I don't have any Christmas ones. I was looking through a Paper Crafts magazine and saw the cutest Christmas stamps ever! I immediately googled it to see if I could find them. I love google. I think I google everything imaginable through my day, so much fun. I found them on sale on ebay and ordered them right away. Woo Hoo!! They arrived in the mail today. I love the mail, just like Holly. It's so exciting to get a package or some fun magazine or letter (I'll skip the bills though). They're the cutest things ever and I can't wait to try them out. I've looked at them at least a dozen times since getting home today and picking up the mail. How much fun am I going to be having now in making my tags. Yay for me!

My Bee Hive

Okay, so I don't really have a bee hive, but I do have a hive, the itchy kind that drives me bonkers. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal since I get a random hive here and there quite often, at least a couple times a week. I think I'm just allergic to life and need to stay home in bed every now and then. Usually if I just leave it alone, it will go away in an hour or so. Other times I take a Benadryl and presto chango, it'll be gone within the half hour.

This morning I got the luckiness of getting a hive on my arm. Not being the brightest in the bunch, I started itching it until now it's bigger than life itself. That definitely doesn't make it itch any less, let me tell you. Since I'm at school I don't have access to my Benadryl stash, and must suffer the agony of waiting the blasted hour until it's gone. Good times.

Nothin' to Blog About

I've been frantically searching my brain trying and trying to think of something exciting to blog about. However, nothing exciting has happened to me all weekend. How boring am I?! I was sick all weekend, and spend most of it lying in bed praying that I would die soon so the torture would end. That's about the highlight of my weekend. I had great plans of going to see a movie, hopefully Becoming Jane, Bourne Ultimatum, or Nanny Diaries. There are a ton of movies I want to see, and I would have loved to have spent a weekend doing something fun like that. But oh no, I had to waste a perfectly good weekend being sick. Blasted kids! The hazards of being a teacher.

On a good note, I am feeling better today, just in time to make it back to work tomorrow. Lucky me. Maybe I'll make Matt take me on a motorcycle ride so I can say I did something worthwhile this weekend.

The Fun Starts Here

Matt and I skipped work today to go to Lagoon. It was a 2 for 1 day, something with KUTV viewer appreciation day or something. KUTV rocks. Hehe. We had fun. We actually slept in a little, which was nice for a change. I wanted to go on the new Wicked Coaster. Oh my goodness! I thought for sure I was going to pee my pants. Everyone else before us was getting the blast off sound as a warning for "Hold on tight. You're going to die." We did NOT get this warning, blasted people, not a fair thing since I was scared already. I did enjoy it, and would do it again, but it was quite the intense ride, gave me a major headache for quite a while after. Yes, I am somewhat of a wimp.

Ya know what cracks me up about Lagoon? All these little 12 year old girls running around in Daisy Dukes and spaghetti strap see through tank tops. I would never in a million years let my little girl go anywhere, not to mention Lagoon, wearing something like that. And some of the clothes these big fat creepy looking ladies wear, EW!! There's definitely quite the people watching entertainment going on.