Happy news:

Melissa Rycroft...from the Bachelor...is going to be taking place of injured, Nancy O'Dell on Dancing with the Stars! Weee! That should be fun. Along with her is Holly Madison (Hef's ex-main squeeze) taking place of very injured, Jewell. I might be a little excited now for DWTS.

Um...really, that's all for now. I need an oil change. Going to take care of that.

"The best thing is to look natural, but it takes makeup to look natural." Calvin Klein

Happy Saturday! So...the makeup consensus is Bare Minerals. I had thought about this before, but I guess that my concern with it has always been the texture of it. You just brush it on, right? It's just powder, so how does it cover all day? From the website, I understand that you brush it on, then put on your foundation. Is the L'Oreal stuff the same stuff, but cheaper?

Sorry about my makeup tangent...it's tricky. Being a woman is tricky stuff. I feel lucky that I am a woman due to the fact that I can cover my face if I need to. Men have the short end of the stick on this deal. They can't really put on makeup. I mean, I guess they could...but I am sure that most of them would not. 

I probably should stop the rambling and go let the dog in. I am sure he is a mudball by now. Awesome.

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Loire Hartwould

Truman and I went for a walk at the park today. We did 1.5 miles around. What a sweet guy! There was a little boy that wanted to pet him, and Truman was such a GOOD BOY...he let the little boy come up and pet him while he sat on the ground. Awww...it was so cute. Then the boy ran away and was like, "Thank you!" What a cutie!

I have been doing the best I can about eating healthy this week. Minus the McDonalds I ate Tuesday night -- I had to! It was McTeacher's Night! --I have done okay. I know that I will never be able to be 100% perfect about eating healthy, but I know that I can do better than I have. With that said, I really do love hummus. Yum!

Tomorrow is Friday. I AM SO HAPPY! I can't wait to have a weekend that isn't cold.

I have some lovely papers to grade. *crossing fingers* Hopefully my kids did well on their division tests.

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze

I want Carmandy from What Not to Wear to come and do my make-up. She seems to know what she is doing...and I would like some assistance from her. Just sayin'. I want a foundation that really covers my face. Seriously. Anyone use something they think covers to where you hardly see any imperfections? Let me know.

I really would just like to be on What Not to Wear. In college I had one of my roommates try to submit me. I was never on the show. I must not be HORRIBLE. Which looking at who makes it on there, I'm not. I just want someone to make me over. 

In about a week I start my pursuit of becoming a Les Mills Body Jam instructor! I am getting super pumped and kinda nervous. It is Friday-Sunday. Friday is 11am-8pm, Saturday and Sunday are 8am-5pm. Wow! That is 24 hours. 24 hours of working out. I hope I can keep up. I have been trying to hit all the classes over the past couple of months so I can kinda condition. Bah!

The dog has to go outside. *grumble* Catch ya in the a.m.!

This must be quick, as I should be drying my hair right now. Shhh. I am not that motivated to get dressed today. I would prefer to remain sitting here, wrapped in my blanket and hoodie, sitting with my blogs, and reading. Yep. Too bad there are 21 kids at school that won't allow that to happen.

I thought that I was getting sick in the middle of the night (I'm not though. Whew.). I was afraid to maybe need to call a sub. My classroom is a wreck. To do today: clean my classroom. WOW!

Do you know what I love? Still getting that rush of happiness when I catch my engagement ring in just the right light. It's a good feeling to know that it's there. Mr. S. and I are getting ready to come up on our 9 year anniversary of being a couple. Since we got married we decided we didn't really need to celebrate those big like we used to. I think we will celebrate the milestones, 10, 20, and such...but not every year. It's thankfully easy to remember because we became a couple in 2000.

Alright, I don't have time to type much. I will try to add more tonight and clean this up. I must get ready and go to the store on the way to carpooling. Principal's Day at school requires treats. Have a lovely day!

"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!

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. ~Buddy Hackett

I am not sure if I have explained what we do on Sunday nights...so, here it goes. On Sundays there are 3 (sometimes 4) of us that get together for dinner. We call them "Sunday Family Dinners". We alternate houses and each person cooks something for all the others. I LOVE these days. I look forward to them throughout the week because we all get together and relax. It all started last summer when we were BBQing outside. When it started to get cold we decided to just take it inside. I know we are all ready for BBQ season again though! This is what I made last night... (this pic is off the website! Although, mine was quite similar to this!)

Rosemary-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

6 oz. (3/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 tsp.  dried rosemary leaves, divided

1 tsp. pepper, divided

1 whole  roasting chicken (3-1/2 lb.)

6 Tbsp. KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing, divided

2 lb.  red potatoes (about 5), cut into 1-inch chunks

6 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

2   green onions, sliced

HEAT oven to 375°F. Mix cream cheese, 1 tsp. rosemary and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Starting at neck of chicken, use handle of wooden spoon or fingers to carefully separate skin from meat of the breast, thighs and legs of chicken, being careful to not tear the skin. Spoon cream cheese mixture under skin; use fingers to push and spread some of the mixture out to thighs and legs. Place chicken in shallow baking pan. Brush with 2 Tbsp. dressing.

TOSS potatoes with remaining dressing, rosemary and pepper in separate pan. Bake chicken and potatoes 1-1/4 hours or until chicken is done (165ºF), stirring potatoes every 30 min.

TRANSFER chicken to large serving dish, reserving juices in pan. Let chicken stand 10 min. Meanwhile, add bacon and onions to potatoes; mix lightly. Spoon around chicken in dish. Skim fat from reserved chicken juices in pan; discard. Spoon juices over chicken and potatoes.