"To teach is to learn twice over." - Joseph Joubert

It has been awhile! This weekend was a great one! I got to go back to my alma mater and watch my old roomie/one of my best friends graduate. It was a beautiful graduation day and I am so proud of my friend that graduated. There are a lot of things that she has gone through in life, and it is amazing that she came so far.

The husband and I had a heart-to-heart this weekend. There are things that we have been dealing with lately that we have not had time to sit and share with each other. That has made it hard for us both and it was really good for us to actually have a talk with each other. I missed my husband...we have both seemed so busy lately it is like we hadn't taken time out to talk to each other. It is good to feel like things are back in place.

Today was Play Day with the students. Teacher v. Student kickball game! Teachers won again, of course! The kids love it and we love it. What a fun day!!!

"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!

"Either you define the moment or the moment defines you." -- Tin Cup

Some thoughts:

• I want to go on Dancing with the Stars...too bad you have to be a star...or at least do something in entertainment...because I am sure quite a few of these people are not "stars", if you will.

• I hate when my husband has to work late. Hate it. Tonight he is not getting home until like 9pm. This is getting old.
• Standardized testing is making my class nuts. Seriously nuts. I hate having testing before school is over because my kids are done and I am done. Bah.
• I drink too much Diet Pepsi. 'Nuff said. I need to drink water. Badly.

• 5K this weekend...guess who hasn't been training? Yep, this girl. Maybe I will walk with our principal and her baby. Yep...or just work the registration booth. Haha!
• I want to find the secret of the blog world and how all these people have like 20 comments a day. Wow! Outta control, blogger people! Just kidding...I *heart* you.
• I hit over 100 posts...woah! I should do something special. We'll see...
• Check out this woman...

She is a lawyer where I live...her hair = outta control. Her commercial is worse. Eek!

Have a lovely rest of the week!

"Save it for a rainy day." Proverb

I am so tired...Mr. S. and I went to class this morning at the gym. I love having weekdays off. I am pretty sure I could be a stay-at-home wife at this point. Ya know, if we didn't have a mortgage payment and all! I love working out in the morning/early afternoon. It makes me more motivated, that's for sure. So yeah, we went to class and went to Subway for lunch. MMM!

Tomorrow is back to school. And we are starting the week with our standardized testing...yeah, a 5 day break and then testing. Awesome, right? Ick. No good. So this should be interesting. Trying to get my third graders back into the swing of things with testing beginning 30 minutes after they get back to school. One of the parents is bringing in fresh fruit for their snack tomorrow, yum!

My animals are all really cute right now. Truman has his head laying in my lap and he is napping and the cat is positioned on the arm of the couch with her eyes half-open. Awww...they are so cute (when they are sleeping!). 

Alrighty, enough mindless update for me. Have a wonderful rest of your Monday!

(Have you seen the Burger King commercial with the Baby Got Back song, but it is about square butts? Catchy, yet weird. Yeah.)

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." BF Skinner

Half day today! *happy dance* Oh, I am so happy! My students are happy...it's really a day of happiness. Minus my stomach, which is not happy because it is hungry. I will have 5 1/2 days off. Yes...seriously! No snow days means we get our WHOLE break...which means I am in a lovely mood right now. Woo!

Biggest Loser last night...

Brown team - Really, that's enough with the pity party. Sometimes you have to buck up and take it. Everyone is playing for themselves now. No one is going to save you but you. So you better start putting the energy you are using hating people into busting your butt so you don't go below the line.

End Biggest Loser rant.

I'm hungry...and running behind...but I don't care because it is a half day. *sigh* 

"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

One and a half days until Easter break! Sometimes being a teacher has its perks, that's for sure. I am going to need this break seeing as though this morning I woke up with watery eyes, runny nose, and icky stuff in my chest. Basically, I would like to just lie in bed and sleep the day away. Instead I am off to school to help my kiddos get ready for their standardized test next week. Boo.

So lately (ok, like the past week) I have been on Target.com. There is a place where you can make a wishlist. A wishlist! You don't have to be having a baby or getting married, you can just make a list of what you want. Then people can still access it, like for a birthday and Christmas, and buy things for you. I love this! 

So...right now I am working on my dream list for my upstairs bathroom. I think that I am going to work more on the upstairs family room though because I actually have some big ideas for it. I am getting realllllllllly antsy to get some stuff done up there. It is such a great room but it needs some assistance to be awesome! It is kind of that room that we put up there, but have done nothing with since we moved in a year ago. I need to get on it!

Welp, it's 30 degrees outside this morning...awesome...so I am going to go find the warmest clothes possible (when I should be wearing short sleeves and possibly capris) and get to work. 

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

Heading back to work today after a wonderful spring break. I hope that my students come back ready to work and are done arguing with each other. I think we were all around each other a little too much recently and we really needed this break. So...I hope today is good. 

I have tons to do at work, but that's okay. I am going into this day knowing that I have A LOT to do to get caught up. I prepared myself for this, especially since the only work I did was last night and that was just grading a few papers. I just didn't feel the need to work during my spring break. I do need to get some grades entered today. Eek!

My plan before I leave work today is to get a menu set up for this week. I need to run by the store and I would like to know what I am cooking tonight at least. Tonight I would love to make panini sandwiches. YUM! We'll see! I think that once I do that, I will add the recipes on my website...or at least the menus. Maybe I need to do a Menu Monday....on Tuesday! or Wednesday morning. I'll think about it. 

Okay, I need to get dressed for work. I definitely bought some cute new blue pants and striped shirt from Old Navy and I am antsy to wear it today! Couldn't find the pics online :(

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

Wow, I haven't updated since Monday. It has been one of those weeks. The basketball team at the school I work at went to state, so it was super crazy at work. They lost yesterday which means they are playing today for 3rd. Good luck!

I have had no time to go over my Body Jam tracks. Well, scratch that. I have done them in my car, I guess. I need to go through them today though. I think that I am meeting up with some of the other girls to practice today. I really need to get on it so that I am not super behind. It has just been a lot to take on right now, but I still really want to be a part of it. Goodness.

Mr. S.'s birthday is this weekend. He wants to be surprised for his birthday, so he has no idea what we are doing. His bday is actually on Sunday, but for everyone to celebrate, we are doing everything tonight. My friend and I made arrangements at a Japanese steakhouse and then we are going to this really fun country bar after that. I think that he will be happy if everyone I invited shows up. I will be! So I am hoping they all come.

I am going to enjoy the rest of my spring break...I do need to get some cleaning done, but I also plan to spend some time here on the couch lounging!

Parent/Teacher Conferences tonight...my grades have come back twice with mistakes on them. This means that I don't yet have them put together. STRESS TIME! I have to get everything done before 3pm today...and get my sub plans together for tomorrow...and clean up my classroom...oh my goodness...I need another set of hands.

Have a lovely day!!

Question for you all: If you could be a part of ANY reality show, what show would you want to be on and why?

My answer tomorrow! SEE YA!!

" Frustration is the compost from which the mushrooms of creativity grow." Tumerica

You should check out this awesome giveaway at According to Ashley's blog! Who doesn't love monogrammed items?! She has a super fun website, too!

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As of right now, I have stuck with the to-do list...after an almost-meltdown last night. While I was putting in grades at work the grading system stopped working. AAH! I got home and after Mr. S. took Truman to dog class I settled in to start working on my grades while I watched Dancing with the Stars. :)  It would not let me login. NOOOOOOO! It took one hour for it to finally log me in. I was so upset that I was not going to get done. But alas, I finished and just have to give 2 makeup tests today, grade and enter the grades, and then finalize the grades. THEN I AM FINISHED! That is my plan for today. Awesome.

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Welp, I am going to finish getting ready for work, go buy some seeds for my classroom so we can learn about plants, and go to work. Fun fun! Everyone, have a lovely Tuesday!

“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. 

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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!

So the other day at school I was trying to open one of the doors back up and it has a latch on the top to keep it open. I am about 5'2, therefore, I cannot reach this latch. I try to use my kids' lunchcards to poke it back up there. No hope. So one of my kids taps my arm.

Kid: "Do you want me to get a teacher?"

Me: *laughing* "But I am a teacher."

Kid: "Oh, yeah! But a taller one?"

Yep, thanks. Haha! I went to the elementary intermural basketball games today. Very funny!! It was a good time.

Now I am sitting at home waiting for Mr. S. to get home. Hopefully this Saturday gets some life breathed into it sometime.

"If at first you don't succeed...go back to bed and try it again tomorrow."

Oh, yesterday was a bad day. Bad, bad, bad. Frustration was the common theme for yesterday. I have 21 students in my room. Yesterday I had to do paperwork on one that is having some classroom problems with defiance, today I need to finish paperwork on another kid that is having some learning problems. I need to put in my grades, still grade some papers, get my reading lessons put together for my reading groups, figure out what I am teaching in science...it's neverending...

It is 5:50am right now. I like to post of a morning because it is quiet and my thoughts are under control. I am getting ready to dry my hair and head to work as soon as I can. Probably around 6:15. That puts me at work around 6:45. I typically get there at 7:10. Yep, it is one of those days. Actually, one of those weeks.

On a brighter note, my mom is coming to see me this weekend!!!!! I am so excited to see her. She had her gall bladder out a couple of weeks ago the weekend of my birthday and was unable to come up and see me. She was pretty upset that she didn't get to come up, but I am glad that she gets to now. We are going to go and watch some of my third graders play intermural basketball. Tee-hee...how cute is that going to be?! And eat Chinese. Yay!

"The best thing about me is you." Shannon Crown

Is it wrong that everytime the weatherman says there may be sprinkles, that I think of cupcake sprinkles falling from the sky? Yep, pink, orange, yellow, blue, and green sprinkles falling on a cupcake world. Weird, maybe...do I care? No.

Yesterday I came home and cleaned the living room...for like the 800th time this year. How in the world can the living room get so freaking cluttered?! Arg! No, I am not a pirate, but I am pretty sure that is the noise I have in my head right now...so there ya go.

I got a pile of papers graded. By pile, I mean pile. It is pretty serious. The pile was at LEAST 6 inches tall. Ridiculous. Now I have to enter them in the computer. Fun fun. I think that it would be interesting if parents could see how much work we do at home. I mean, it was my day off yesterday, yet I spent 4 hours at work getting ready for the week and then I spent about 1.5 hours at home grading papers. On my day-off. Awesome. I love my job, but sometimes I wish that I didn't have so much to do at home. I think Mr. S. wishes that, too.

Mr. S. hates his job right now. Hates is a strong word...he is unhappy though. I am trying to do all I can to make this an easier time for him, but I don't know what else to do. I think that just trying to make the house a happier place is the best that I can do at the moment. We diffuse about our days when we get home while I am cooking dinner we usually stand in the kitchen and hash it all out, and then the rest of the night we try not to talk about it. I usually just share funny stories about my third graders (because Lord knows they are hilarious!) and we have fun. I just hate that he feels like this about work. I mean, it's a place he has to go to everyday. Who wants to be miserable everyday? Not me.

Okay, I rambled on more than I thought I would. I really thought I would quickly post about sprinkles falling from the sky....welp, I guess I had a lot to get off my mind. So, there ya go. Have a lovely day!

"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.

"Women complain about PMS, but I think of it as the only time of the month where I can be myself." Roseanne Barr

The birthday party went great! I will post a pic of the ugly sweaters soon. Mr. S. took me to dinner on Friday night and then on Saturday I spent most of the day at the salon. I got highlights, a haircut, and a pedicure. Then as a surprise, my roomie had left a card with a blank check in it so that she could take care of my day of pampering! Wow!! I am totally surprised and caught totally off guard. It was a very cool gift!

Yesterday was a crummy day at work. Wrote a pink slip by 8:50am, student spent all the way until 12:00 finishing one assignment in the office, almost wrote the same student another slip by 12:20, he sat out in the hall for the rest of the day to complete another assignment, had a parent meeting at 3, called a parent at 3:20, and got cramps. Yep, completely crummy day. Today MUST be better.

At least The Bachelor made my day a little better. I do *heart* that show. I think he totally loves Melissa. They have great body language and are very cute together. I still really like Jillian and I have since the show started. We'll see!

Ok, I must get ready for work. I am so sleepy and my ovaries are screaming (cramps). Ouch!

“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?!

It's cold... I can't feel my fingers. Brrr.

The TV says it is 7 degrees outside. I want to throw the TV out the window. I hate cold weather. I don't want to go outside in 7 degrees, especially when the news says there is a bitter wind that makes it feel like -10 outside. Seriously, -10?! No thanks. Then I have to put on thin work pants and go outside. Wow...sounds like a bundle of fun. Oh, cold weather, how I despise you.

I am taking Lysol to school today. It's time to defunkify my classroom. Between the walking pnemonia, viral infection, various colds, and flus...I have had enough. Ick. I have had another kid out Friday and yesterday. So it is time to spray EVERYTHING. I can't deal with germs. I have been feeling rotten the past couple of days. No good when I have bday celebration this weekend coming up!

The Bachelor rocks my socks off. Last night was a such a good episode. **spoiler**

I can't believe that he kept Jillian. I really like her and I liked her when she was first shown on the show, but I didn't think he would keep her over Stephanie. Stephanie's breathy voice annoys me, but she was very, very sweet. I just didn't see her with him because she was always so prim and proper. Maybe it is the southern belle in her. You think? I don't know. I didn't know about Melissa at first, but I am really starting to like her and looking at his body language, so does Mr. Bachelor. Hmmm....We'll see...

Biggest Loser night tonight! Woo!

“Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.” Anonymous

We are hack to school now. I'm not going to lie, I was not super excited about it. I walked in the door just wishing I were at home in bed. I think I missed them more than I thought. It has been okay. Really, it hasn't been that bad. The kids are pretty excited because it is time for them to do all the "important" third grade tasks. You know, multiplication, cursive...that kinda thing. So...they are in good spirits and I am in good spirits. We'll see how long it lasts!

I made a recipe from the Biggest Loser Cookbook. Now, I am sure that it, if cooked correctly, is good. I don't think I did it 100% correctly. Mr. S. said that he really liked it. I really didn't. If I keep this up, I will definitely lose weight because I ate like 1/2 my dinner last night. So..I have some changes to make to that recipe. Oh...and due to the smoke from the frying, the smoke detectors went off AND my house still smells like dinner this morning. Neat.

Frustration has been my word of the day here at home. I need to stop being so frustrated, but when the big, yellow dog won't sleep, all you do is clean, and then once you clean, it all ends up back as a mess in a day...I get frustrated. Grrr....that's my rant.

It's cold. 19 degrees this morning. I was looking at the weather and the highs have been in the 30s (Welcome to Midwest, USA!). Then Friday it's going to be in the 50s, and then it goes back into the 20s and 30s for highs the next days after that. Stupid weather...okay, that is rant pt. 2.

Time to put my face on and go to work. Good day! I said good day!

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. ~Author Unknown

I am done with New Moon, book 2 of the Twilight Saga. Wow...wow...wow. I do not currently have book 3 at my fingertips, but I NEED it. Now.

Wrist update...it hurts. Badly. I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday. So much for waiting for break, huh? It's pretty painful. I have a brace...a clunky, ugly brace. We'll see what happens.

Our principal is back from maternity leave...life is back to normal again! I felt bad because she walked in in tears yesterday. She was sobbing, "I was okay until I got in the parking lot." Aw...poor Mrs. C. 

Gotta get ready for work. Good day!