"My dog is usually pleased with what I do, because she is not infected with the concept of what I "should" be doing." Lonzo Idolswine

I will be posting pictures soon of the latest Truman escapade. Yep. I am pretty sure he is Marley in disguise. Let's just say there is purple pen on my carpet (thank goodness we are replacing it soon), there was some on the couch, and his paws were an interesting shade of purple - it is now beginning to fade, thankfully. So...yes...it was pretty much a pain in the butt.

We are at 13 more days of school left! Woo! That makes me super excited...and the kids. They are tired of each other and I am tired of the spring fever craziness. We have grandparent's day Friday, so we are trying to prepare a music program. They are not in the mood to learn the words or perform right now, that's for sure. Can you blame them?

I need some sleep this weekend. And the pollen count to lower. That would be so helpful to my runny nose right now...

*Achoo* Really, I sneezed. Anywho...have a lovely spring day!

"If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats." Lemony Snicket

My poor dog has allergies. He had them last year and they are back full force this year. Mr. S. will be calling th vet today to see if there is something we can do. We woke at 2am due to his hacking...I feel bad about going to work today because it makes me nervous with his coughing and hacking. He is really sweet right now because he doesn't feel well. Poor guy. He turns one and falls apart! His 1st bday was Sunday...aw! I will post pics later tonight or tomorrow morning of his pretty face.

It rained all day yesterday. Ick. I hope today is a prettier day. 

Swine flu = scary. We had to send a note home with our students because of it being a national epidemic. How scary is that?! I live in a college town, so that makes me a little more nervous because of spring break people that usually go to Mexico. There are none in my state yet though, so that is good. It seems like people are pretty on top of things right now though. Eek!

Alrighty, time to get ready for work. Weeee!

If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton

What a weekend...It was just a good, relaxing weekend. My mom came up to visit this Saturday which was awesome. I haven't seen her since Christmas due to busy weekends, her having her gallblader taken out, and weather. Her and I had a good visit and went shopping. She is very artsy and we went to Michael's so she could pick up some items for her alternative scrapbook...very cool idea, btw. Anyway, her stay was pretty short due to the drive back, but it was good for the time I got.

Mr. S. and I played some Guitar Hero on Saturday night...always fun. I like when we can just have a good Saturday night where we can chill out together. 

Sunday we had dinner at a friend's house and played Easter Egg Roulette. In case you don't know what that is...it is where you hard boil a bunch of eggs and leave 1 less than the people you have normal. So we had 6 people and left 5 not cooked. Then we picked randomly and tried to crack them on our foreheads. Yep, seriously. If you got one that was not cooked, it makes a mess and you are out. The person that ends up with no egg on their face, wins. My husband won last year. This year he was second out and I was in it until the end. My friend grabbed an egg, smashed it, nothing. There were two left, I grabbed one...nothing. I WON! Yay! No egg on my face this year! Some of the things we do....weird, I know.

My dog might be the biggest drool machine ever.

Last night Mr. S. woke up frantic, saying his ring had fallen off. He was searching everywhere and I was trying to wipe my hand over the bed to see if I felt it. So I told him to turn on the light. He did and walked over to me and guess what...his ring was still on his finger. Yep, he was dreaming and then woke up freaking out. He does that sometimes, especially when he is stressed out. Oh goodness...I wonder if he'll remember what happened when he wakes up this morning...haha!

My mom is coming up today to visit. Her and my step-dad raise cattle and then butcher in the spring. With that happening, they have decided to give me and my 2 step-sisters half of a cow's worth of beef. All we have to pay is the processing fee. She is bringing it up today...all 270lbs. of beef! Wow! We are going to be good to go for awhile, that's for sure!

If the dog does not stop barking this morning, I am going to scream. Seriously. 

"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death." Earl Wilson

Scary moment in my day...

Walking the dog up the road, 2 dogs are seen and they start barking, they are not on leashes and there is no fence to keep them in, woman is calling to dogs, one is listening and one is not, dog 1 runs up to Truman, I hear woman calling another name, I walk around the side, there is ANOTHER dog, a huge Great Dane is standing tall and proud watching me and Truman, dog 1 is now in Truman's face, Truman is trying to ignore him and he is not backing down, dog 2 is still staring at Truman and walking slowly toward us, dog 1 leaves and I see the person in the garage across the street, I walk slowly towards the garage and tell him to put the doors down, he does and the woman gets the dogs, I walk home...OMG...OMG....OMG! I about peed my pants! Oh, and I was asking her how dangerous her dogs were and if I should be scared...she wouldn't answer. Thanks. A lot.

So I went to talk to the woman after I took Truman to walk at the park instead (ruining my car cleaning job, thank you very much!), and she did not answer the door. Thanks...I was really going to be nice. Then I went and told the woman across the street that I told her mentally handicapped son to put down the garage door in hopes of not being attacked and not because of anything else...she was very nice and she knows us and Truman.

What an afternoon. I am so over this day.

Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy fat women. ~Nicole Hollander

Yep, this is my dog on the couch first thing of the morning. I can guarantee this is where you can find him every morning when I am getting ready for work. Right now he is kinda snoring. Awesome. He's cute at this time of the day!

Does anyone else find themselves addicted to DIY network, TLC, and HGTV? Everytime I watch that show I come up with more and more ideas for the house. I think that Mr. S. hates when I watch these shows because then I pester him with ideas that I want to do around here. The cost money. That's where the tricky part comes in. I have made it my goal to try to do one thing around the house that is a good change each month. I think it is totally doable. I have been on Target's, JCPenney's, and Wal-Mart's websites to get an idea of what I want in the house. We'll see. For now, it is more Moving Up, Property Ladder, and Kitchen Renovations. Yep.

Have a lovely Monday!

“A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower.” Kin Hubbard

My week is going to be B-U-S-Y. Holy cow. 

Monday: Finish 3rd quarter grades

Tuesday: Put together parent/teacher conference folders, make conference list with points I want to cover

Wednesday: Grade papers. finish conference stuff

Thursday: conferences from 3-7pm, SLEEP

Friday: Body Jam training

Saturday: more Body Jam training

Sunday: and even more Body Jam training

Every time that conferences roll around I feel like I forget to cover those important topics I need to with parents. I feel like I might get a little flustered and forget to bring certain things up. Well, we have 10 minutes/conference and I decided to make a cheat sheet for each child so that I talk about everything I need to. We'll see...

I have to be better about my grades this quarter. Sometimes I go for a couple of weeks without posting them and I know that is not the best practice. This time around I have to send a progress report home with one of my students each week due to...stubbornness, really...so I will be better about my grades. 

**************

Enough about school...

My dog has begun digging. A lot. There is one massive hole in my backyard. So....guess who is not allowed out on his own anymore. Yep, the big, yellow dog. Grrrr...I was SOOO furious. The first time I laughed about it because...whaddya do? The second time, I was angry. Very angry.

I should take a photo of this hole so you can see it. It is not really wide, so much as it is DEEP.

Alrighty...I need to make myself look presentable for work. Later gators!

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." ~Irish Proverb

Dear Bachelor Jason,

   I thought that you were going to make this season of The Bachelor different. Now I am back at square one...the one that makes me not want to watch this show again. You got my hopes up by picking the girl that was AWESOME....then at the final rose show, you really screwed some stuff up. I mean, really. Wow...talk about crappy. I didn't see that happening at all. The show should make you people stop proposing. That would really eliminate some of the pain and embarassment on the show. I thought you, Bachelor Jason, were different. But, alas, you aren't.

Sincerely,

Girl who is angry at the Bachelor

Yep, I am. How can you not be after watching that show. I mean, I hope that he has found all the happiness in the world...grrrr...poor Melissa.

Remember how my dog hates to let me sleep? At dog school my husband asked what we should do. I figured they would go with the whole "ignore his barking" thing...but they instead said to move his crate into our room because of proximity. We did. We moved it in our room AND he slept ALL night. I woke up to my alarm. I don't know how to describe the excitement I am feeling this morning that I got a full night's sleep last night. Without sleeping on the couch. AMAZING!

Hello! If you recall, I have a dog named Truman. He is the pain in my rump and also super adorable. I like to say that he is best enjoyed in photo form. So...there is a contest for Bissell where your dog can possibly win and be on the box. Woah! Here is the main reason I have entered him -- you can win a vacuum. Not just ANY vacuum, mind you, but a pet vacuum. Meaning dog hair comes up easier. It has been my struggle I can't handle about having this dog. I don't do dog hair...and he has a lot.

Here is what I need from my lovely blog-friends (and the real-life ones!)...please vote for my T-Dog! 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

"Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart." Author Unknown

Today is Friday the 13th. Today is also the day of our Valentine's parties at school. Neat-o! But do you know what I love? The fact that this is a half day. When making the schedule this year, it worked out to make 2 of our party days half-days. If you are a teacher...or parent, even...you may understand why this is so nice. The kids can only ask you for about an hour "When are we having the party?" You don't really have to try to keep their attention all day...it's awesome. So, here's to Valentine's Day! Woo!

I am back to letting Truman bark all night so that I can sleep in my bed. The night before last was miserable. He barked from like 3am until I got up at 4:45am. Last night though...woo! He slept until 4am (he had to go outside), went back in his crate, barked for about 10 minutes, and I woke to my alarm at 4:45. I am taking one day at a time on this one. Tonight could go either way.

I am all signed up for the class to learn how to instruct Body Jam! I signed up and paid for it last night. It is going to be a month from today. I am pretty psyched!

So I am watching the news and they say something about this Boy Scout's popcorn being linked to the peanut butter problem. No one has been sick on it yet, but it is linked. I BOUGHT THAT POPCORN! Holy cow! I am sure that if I were to be sick, I would have been already. No good, boy scouts.

"Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation." ~Author Unknown

I am not in a good mood. Why, you ask? Well, if you guessed the big, furry, yellow creature I call Truman, you are right. 1:45 the whimpering/barking started. Mr. S. took him outside...whimpering/barking became more insistant once he was brought back in and put in his crate. 2:22 I decide I am going to need SOME sort of sleep and my roomie, S, is probably getting irritated by now. I get up, let yellow monster out, and try to fall asleep on the couch. He was up and down throughout the night, annoying me. Tears may have fallen and my frustration is getting out of control. I have a migraine to start my day. I love the dog...don't get me wrong, I do. I don't want to get rid of him, I just want him to sleep.

How am I ever going to lose weight if I can't sleep? Yes, weird question. I was reading an article where these women changed NOTHING (meaning their diet and excercise), but they all attempted to get 7.5 hours of sleep each night over the course of a month or two. Just sleep changed. They lost about an average of 11 lbs. Just from sleeping. Come on now, dog. 

*yawn* I hope this is not the start of another horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day. 

There is a college that is going to have a class to teach parents Facebook. A class. On Facebook. Oh, United States. 

Oh, and the twist on The Biggest Loser...hmm...interesting. I *heart* the brown team. I want to see them do well. And Mandy on the yellow team gets on my nerves.

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” George Harrison

Tomorrow I turn the big 2-5. Yep. It's true. I can't hold it off any longer. Fun stuff though, my hubby sent me flowers at work yesterday. I was SO excited! I have always wanted flowers at work. My students asked who they were from...and I wanted SO bad to be sarcastic, but I didn't do it...so I said my husband and they thought that was so sweet. Funny kids.

Truman has been part of a countdown this week. He is heading to the doggy weekend sitter so I can get some R&R this weekend. We have not done the countown as T minus 4 days as you usually see. We have done it has minus T in 4 days. Get it...for Truman?? Anyway...don't judge my ridiculous humor! Haha! He is heading there tonight. I get to sleep in tomorrow morning and Sunday morning. I am pretty sure I am more excited about this than anyone can understand.

Ugly Sweater Party tomorrow! My friends throw it every year for my birthday. I have to find a sweater today though. I have nothing yet. I want something hideous this year. I will post some pics of the ugly sweaters.

My students are throwing me a "surprise" party today. "Surprise" is used loosely due to the fact that third graders cannot keep a secret. Too funny! I thought I might cry when I found out they were doing this. How cute are they?!

"Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery." Bill Watterson

Dear Weatherman,

I used to work with you once upon time before teacherdom. I know that you have no control over the weather, but I was really banking on you this ONE time. My 3rd graders are about to go NUTS because they have not had a snow day. With the promise of snow coming, they were really banking on today being a snow day. But alas, we are going to school today. Don't get me wrong, I am totally okay with going. Who wants to go to school on make-up days. But weatherman, I needed this snow day to keep my sanity. Today might be the longest day ever. I will send you my therapist bill when that time comes in my life because of this day.

Wishing I were snowed-in,

Mrs. S.

So...if you are a teacher you know that kids go CrAzY for a snow day. That is what I have been dealing with all winter. We have yet to have one snow day (yay! if you are a teacher you understand why that is great) and they are not in a good mood about it. This moring they are going to, first, be jumping around about the snow that did fall to the ground; second, grumbling because we are in school. But on the bright side, it is our 100th day! Tomorrow is PJ day...so I am WAY more excited about that. Oh, the joys of being a teacher.

Truman went to obedience class last night and got a little one-on-one with the instructor afterwards, according to Mr. S. Looks like it might have helped. Between that and the new collar/leash combo we were told we should get, things are much better. I take him to class Thursday, so we will see how well I can handle the beast. Or as I call him, the yellow bus.

Oh, Happy Chinese New Year! It is the Year of the Ox!

Holy Cow...what a long couple of days

**Edit**

I want to add in that I know that the auto industry needs money. I promise I do. I just got frustrated. I know people that work there. I just want to say that they need to balance some things out in the world. I am so sorry if I offended anyone. I was highly upset at the time.

**

Let me get my irritation out of the way first...Do you know what bothers me? Teachers being cut from schools and hearing that schools are cutting millions of dollars from their budgets. Then hearing that auto companies are getting billions to bailout. Now, would those people have a job if they didn't have a teacher? What about all the shit you give teachers for not reaching the unreachable No Child Left Behind Act? How can we do that when you make it to where there are teacher cuts putting over 25 students in some classrooms? I can't give enough attention to all those students. I'm just sayin'. I am sure there will be more, but I had to get that out today.

Thanks for all the lovely comments over the past couple days...that felt awesome to see 7! Wee! I needed that this week, that's for sure.

I took the dog to obedience class by myself last night. If you need a laugh, you should probably go on the nights I am there without the husband. That might be the best time to see some funny stuff. For example, we started out with the helpful Halti (which the instructor hates, but it is the only thing I can control him with) and Truman decided he was done working 5 minutes in because he hates the thing. I took it off and he about ripped my arm off and he would do NOTHING. I was exhausted when I got home. After he jerked me around the room, wouldn't sit, tried to make friends with everyone and everydog....it was just...the longest night ever.

Bombshell at work yesterday: One we knew about, our Superintendent is retiring. The one we didn't know, our principal is leaving after this year to stay at home with her baby. She just isn't happy being without her little one. Sad days for us, but yay for her!

Wind chills below zero make me unhappy of a morning. I don't want to get up, get ready, or head out the door. I have decided after spending the weekend with my friend that has automatic start for her car, that I need it as well. It might be the best invention ever. Ever. You can be almost anywhere, hit a button, and your car starts. If you remember to turn your defrost or heat on, your car is warm when you go to get in...amazing. I need it.

Truman went to obedience school last night. They have lessons on Mondays and then you can go back 2 other nights a week to have some reinforcement. Guess who needs those reinforcement classes? Yep. Truman just had some major ADD during class. Too much going on for him to pay much attention to us. I think Mr. S. was going to lose it at one point. It was pretty cold in the building and he was breaking a sweat. As nicely as possible he was trying to do all the right things...say "sit" as sweetly as he could, pet him, praise him...but no, nothing. He did SOME things okay...just not exactly what he needed to do. I had to remind him he is only 8 months old and it might take a bit. Oh this should get interesting.

"Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory." Albert Schweitzer

Exciting time! I get to go hang out with 2 of my lovely and wonderful girlfriends this weekend! We haven't seen each other in awhile so this should be pretty fun! One of our other friend's mom just had a stroke, so she can't join us this weekend. Though I am bummed, I definitely understand. I am pretty psyched about this weekend though. Think about it...no dog = sleep, girls weekend = complete craziness and fun. Yes, good weekend ahead.

So...Truman is going to school on Monday. We signed him up for obedience classes last night. He heads to his first class on Monday night. I can't wait!! He learns so quick that this should be perfect for him (and us!).

My students have been such rockstars this week! I love it! They have been read to come in and work and they have done such a great job. I love the change in them right after Christmas break. They come back rested and almost more mature. It is so great! 

There is a little girl at our school that has cerebral palsy. When she gets sick often times she ends up in the hospital so that she can get constant care for her breathing. She landed back in there after Christmas after her family had the flu. The family was concerned because she falls behind easily in school, so they were going to have the hospital come in and do school with her for an hour a day. They were going to charge...get this...$80! For an hour! Needless to say, when the school found out about this, they decided to help and they are taking care of it and sending a teacher and paying them (less) through the school to go and help the family. I am one of the two volunteers that has stepped in to do this. It works out because there are only a handful of us that live in the city that the hospital is in (we commute to work). I went last night and I am just amazed at what a ray of sunshine she is. With the situation that she is in, she is still the happiest little girl I have ever seen. She doesn't look like life has handed her sour lemons or that life is hard on her. She looks like a little girl that is just happy to exist. She is so funny and we had such a good time. I can't wait to go back on Tuesday to see her!

"A change will do you good." Sheryl Crow

I have been to the gym, let's see, a total of 4 times this week? Each time I went I ran 3 miles. 

Okay, ran might not be the right word for it...I combined running and walking for 3 miles. I would love to be able to run a full 3 miles and not stop. About.com has a great plan for traning that I should start following next week. I am a person that needs an ultimate goal to train for so that all the work seems worth it. Yep. Thanks to yourwishcake (Click on the name to go to her blog!) for the thoughts here. If you have not checked out her fun and quirky blog, you should!

I bought The Biggest Loser Cookbook. I have yet to cook from it, but I have made a grocery list and I am ready to go.

I am laying here on my couch with my dog (See, after he wakes up to go to the bathroom REALLY early of a morning, he won't sleep back in his crate. If I put him in there, he whines and barks, and I feel HORRIBLE because our roomie is sleeping. So...I get up. Sometimes it is 6am, like today. Most days it is somewhere between 4:45 and 5:30. I try to tell Mr. S. I am just conditioning for having a baby someday. Haha! The only way that the dog will let me get any extra amount of sleep is if we lay on the couch. Now, if we get home at like midnight from our friends' houses, then 5am is TOO early for me to want to be awake, and I need extra beauty sleep on the couch. Mr. S. is tired of not waking up together. I am tired of not sleeping in my bed. Someday. Someday.

I need some breakfast. My tummy is rumbling. But first, a nap.

2008 Highlights

2008 has been a wonderful year! Here are some of the highlights from this year...

We had our reception in January for our Jamaican wedding!

We moved into our FIRST new house in March!

Our roomie/friend, SH, movied in at the end of May.

We got our new puppy, Truman, in June!

then  now

A couple of my friends from college got married over the summer.

   

Girls weekend during the summer!

Celebrated our first wedding anniversary in December!

So...all in all it was a great year. I am sure there is more, but these are the main highlights that I am TRULY glad happened. Have a wonderful New Year! Ring in 2009 safely and happily!

Tis the Season

Truman is back. We went and picked him up this morning from the boarding place we left him at. He had a great time! When we left there was a white envelope in his bag, and when I opened it there was a Thank You card inside. Puzzled, I opened it and out fell a picture of Truman running in the outside area they have! In the note they thanked us for choosing their place and said that Truman was a sweet dog. Very cool!

The weekend was great! Mr. S.'s parents have rescheduled their Christmas, so we actually had the weekend to ourselves without the dog. I laid around the house and didn't have to take the dog out, get up early...all the fun stuff you do with a dog. Then we went to my mom's Sunday. It was a pretty good time. Mr. S. and I got some fun house stuff. My mom made me a cookbook scrapbook of favorite family recipes. It is so NEAT! Then I received some shelves with awesome baskets. It does not have all of these baskets in it. It is all open and then the baskets I got are striped.

Also, I received a $50 gift card to my favorite clothing store, a Sodoku book, and a wooden Sodoku board.

Those are some of the good things that I got! Mr. S. and I will have Christmas together on Christmas Day...so I am really excited about that. I am going to enjoy the rest of my break and read book 3 and 4 of Twilight. I am currently in the middle of book 3....I LOVE THEM! I think I am going to get back at reading and smell the yummy chicken I am cooking for dinner!

Sleight bells ring...

Good morning! Right now I am curled up with my cat on the couch and her kitty motor is super loud. Let me explain why she is in a good mood. There is no dog here right now. He has been out of the house since 4:30 last night. When there is no dog for that amount of time, her kitty motor gets l0uder. And for those of you unfamiliar with "kitty motor", I mean her purr.

Truman is at a boarding place that is supposed to be pretty nice. We thought we had to leave last night for Mr. S.'s parents' house, but his mom rescheduled our Christmas. Well, this place is so hard to get your dog into that we went ahead and kept our reservation. That means I got to sleep past 4:30am! YAY! Now, sleeping in still meant like 7am, BUT I got to lay in bed until 8:30. *sigh* I do miss that big yellow goon though.

Christmas break is upon me. Yesterday was a crazy day of caroling in the gym and Christmas parties. Now....break for 2 weeks. Weee!

**side thought** Why are there so many weird McDonald's Chicken McNugget ads? They weird me out.