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!