Yeah yeah yeah... hush, MOO for President !!!

5. Because it makes sense. Nope, can't do anything that makes sense.
4. No really, there's like... ONE place in town to get it done.
3. Yeah, and I get out of work after that place closes!
2. Who wants to pay $20 to get the car inspected when they can pay $125 for getting a ticket for not having it inspected?
1. To make MOO for President ask questions.
 

Okay, so I'm in a fun mood today. Comment to this by posting any top five list you would like to see here, and I will make an individual entry answering the top five list for you, as pertaining to me. Then, if you'd like, do this in your own journal.
 

Spooky, hmm? Well, truthfully, I'm not a very superstitious person, but I did have a typical happening this morning. I'll tell you about it.

So, I was driving to drop my kids off before work this morning (yes, I really do work), and there was a train across the tracks. Stopped. That really rather sucks, but there is a back way to the babysitter's house that doesn't cross the railroad tracks, but it takes me way out of my way.

Considering the train was stopped, I decided to go ahead and make my way around the back way. I'd be late for work, of course, but how is this new?

I make my way around, drop off the kids, then get going. As soon as I turn onto the main road that heads between the town where I work and I live, I step on the gas a little bit. Yes, I mean, just a LITTLE bit. What do I see behind me a moment later?

You guessed it...

Flashing lights.

I pulled over, left enough room for the patrolman to stop behind me without blocking a driveway into one of the businesses out there, took out my licence and insurance, then waited for him to come up. He was actually a very nice man, and very understanding. I only got a warning for my speeding. (I do suspect that he doesn't actually know how fast I was going, but that's perfectly alright. Warnings work for me.)

My inspection sticker that's been expired since July? Yeah, that's a little bit of a different story. Luckily, he gave me ten days to take care of it, so I can pay the $20 for the inspection, rather than the $125 for the citation.

Yeah, that was my morning this morning...

Happy Friday the 13th!
 

And yeah, that would be my fault. I was gone for a while for Christmas break, and then I've been very busy since returning working on the Decathlon and starting work again.

That's the hardest part, really. Working again after a two week break. Especially when the break just didn't seem long enough at all. Getting up in the morning - wow do I drag! Then actually being responsible for getting things in, etc. Yeah, it's a pain...

Ah well. I'm up and running again. I'll try to keep writing in here. I need to force myself to write every day anyway. Maybe I can get rid of this darned writer's block.
 

So... yeah... yesterday sucked. It was a long, frustrating, anger-filled day. Not that I was so mad at anyone that I wanted to lash out or anything, but I was most certainly not in a good mood.

I started out the day doing fairly well. I was in a good mood, danced through the hallways to my classrooms, got to my first class and had a blast. Usually, I have a blast all day long. I'm that kind of teacher.

Well, my high schoolers actually got out of hand yesterday morning. Yeah, this DOESN'T usually happen. Not at all. I have wonderful high school classes. My junior high classes were their usual selves, but unfortunately, their usual selves were 10 times worse because I was already frustrated and a bit ticked off.

Today, one of my high school classes still pulled some crap. For the first time this entire year, I yelled at my high schoolers. Yep, they were so loud, that I had to yell at them. They were so surprised by this (because I'd never had to do it before), that they sat down immediately and just... stared at me.

Ugh... it's lunch time. Here's to the rest of the day! Anyone have any margaritas?
 

So... my husband and I went to Wal-Mart Friday night. Not because of the big sales, not because we needed to go Christmas shopping, but because we needed diapers. Yep... diapers, as un-grandios as that is. I'll tell you what I saw:

1. Shopping carts EVERYWHERE. I mean, everywhere! I swear, is it that difficult to take a shopping cart a few yards to one of the little shopping cart things?

2. The place is trashed. There are boxes, trash bags, coke cans, shopping bags, wrappers for toys and other items, that popping stuff that keeps things safe... everywhere. It was unbelievable.

3. People were rude! I don't mean the people working at the store, I mean the people shopping. They were unbelievably rude, pushy, and ignorant.

4. This announcement: No one, I repeat, no one is going home until all of the eighty-eights have been put in place. If you have questions about your hours, see a manager, but no one is going home until it is done. And this was at one o'clock in the morning.

Tell me... if this is supposed to be the season of giving, why are there news reports of people being trampled in Christmas shopping trips over laptops? Why are they ruining our environment and making people work even harder because they are too damned lazy to pick up their own trash or put their own things away. Why are people rude because they want to buy someone a certain gift?

I sincerely do not know what this holiday is coming to. I used to think of it as a time when everyone was smiling and laughing... now I only think of it as a time when everyone gets pushy, rude, and trashy.

What happened to white Christmases where the white covering the ground wasn't from a Wal-Mart shopping bag?
 

This is how one of the funniest statements of the day started. I suppose, if you are reading this, you'd like to hear the end of it...

"Did you know, that the first time I met Sara, she was on a mattress?"

He was, of course, not speaking to me, but to another person nearby, but I was still shocked. All I could do is stand there wondering when on earth I'd been in public on a mattress where someone could see me. Then, he mentions...

"Yes, she was on a mattress with this guy, but it wasn't her husband."

::blinks:: I was -what-? Now I really thought the guy was nuts. On a mattress... in public... with a man other than my husband. I still had no clue, so I had to ask.

Turns out, the first time he ever met me, I was in a play called "Footsteps of Doves" in which there is a wife (me) who is quite the dirty word trying to convince her husband to buy single beds, because she wanted her own space. It's set in a mattress store. I won't tell you the rest of the play, in case you ever get to see it, but it involved a lot of yelling, tempter touting, and all-round humor.

Yeah, so that was the highlight of my day!
 

So, to put it plain and simple, my weekend SUCKED.

On Saturday we had asked the babysitter to take the babies so we could go out for a night by ourselves. Sounds great, right? Well... it would have been, if we could have found our car keys. They weren't where they usually are, so who was blamed? Well... who else... but me? We couldn't go on our date, and we couldn't drop our kids at the babysitter's.

So, I felt like shit because my husband was severely pissed (like... hitting walls pissed), and I dug through the living room for a few hours. (The up side? My living room is now very nicely clean...) Anyway... no keys. PLUS, the bank statement came in. Yeah... that wasn't good news, either. We couldn't have gone out if we wanted to.

Sunday, hubby still pissed... no keys, no money. We are not going well here. He calms down eventually, I guess, but still kinda gives me the cold shoulder all day long. Remember, I lost the keys...

Monday morning - I get a call asking if I've found the keys. Of course, my answer is no. Do you know why this is so obvious? Because my husband had found them an hour before... in one of his pockets from last week. HIS pockets, mind you.

I'd been shunned all weekend, treated like shit, yelled at... and it was him who lost the keys all along. He did apologize, but his behavior this weekend was horrible. I'm still a little tiffed... but glad that we found the keys.

Let's just hope next weekend it goes much better, hmm?
 

Okay, so I owe RAOK a huge huge huge hug. I owe them a hug, and a few GPs, to be perfectly honest. Okay, so more than a few, but yeah... thanks guys!!! I'm thinking a tribute contest might be a ton of fun, especially with Thanksgiving, so that's how I'm going to do it. I'll get the details and such up later on this afternoon.

And yeah... so I haven't had much time to do much of anything with reviewing, etc. So, that's my challenge at this point. I want to review 100 items in the last few weeks of this month. Granted, it may be a challenge because I'll be out of town for a few days - but I'll do my best to get it done anyway.

Ahhh - and I have another competition I'd love for people to join! (Part of this contest would also go to RAOK). Starting on December 1st, I would like to take nominations for reviewers. It will cost 100 GPs to nominate someone for an awesome review they gave you (or that they gave someone else on the reviewing page.) The person with the most nominations will receive a reviewing merit badge and 40% of the GPs given for the nominations. ROAK will recieve another 40% of the GPs. Sound like fun? Well, keep those great reviewers in mind!!!
 

Okay, so I find myself in the dilemma of dilemmas.

(Oh yeah, not pregnant, by the way. At least, we don't THINK so. I had the stomach flu.)

I have a total of... oh... probably about 3,000 GPs, yet my upgrade expires today. Writing.com is extremely affordable, so I actually never thought I'd find myself in the situation where I can't afford it. Kinda sad, yes? Well, I can't afford it. With everything that's been going on lately, and having to use credit cards for intelligent things like... oh... GAS so I can get to work every day. I'm completely at a loss.

I'll be okay, though. I have some people trying to help me out, and I've been told that my stuff won't be deleted until the end of the month, so maybe I can come up with something by then.

Truth is, with the class I've been taking this semester, I haven't had time with that on top of work, kids, and... oh yeah... more work... to do much of anything on writing.com. Thursday is the last day of class, though, so I really do hope that things can improve by then.

Welp! Here I go!! I'll find the money somewhere, promise. I'm not going anywhere.
 

... THAT is the question!

So, we've been thinking I'm pregnant because I have the symptoms I had last time. I'm always exhausted, I'm nautious (sp?), I'm cranky, and I need naps a lot...

I took a pregnancy test last night, and it was negative.

This was actually a great relief, because we still aren't out of debt from the LAST time I had children. Yes, children. If you've read my journal often enough, you probably know that I am the mother of twins.

However, this morning, when I woke up and still felt like a had to hurl, that negative result isn't looking quite as positive as it did before. Or... should I say that it looks as if it should have been positive but wasn't? Eh, who knows how to say it, thing is, I'm feeling yucky this morning...

Yeah, really hoping it is that burger that I ate yesterday coming back to haunt my tummy, because if I'm pregnant, this is going to be one interesting year... interesting, back breaking, and financially crippling. (Not that it isn't already financially crippling when my twins get sick at the exact same time and STAY sick for a month.)
 

Okay, so I really had a Sara Moment this morning. Why do I call it a "Sara Moment" rather than a "Blonde Moment"? Well, for the simple fact that I am not blonde, and I am usually worse than any of those jokes that are passed around.

So, two weeks ago my kids earned a 'soda day'. They worked really hard, did a really great job, and so on. Well, I keep forgetting and keep forgetting, so yesterday I just buckled down and went to buy the sodas. So far, so good, right?

Well, I even remembered to bring the sodas out of the house today! Had a kid with me, set the sodas on the ground to put the kid in the car, then ran back into the house to get a blanket for both babies. I came back out, handed a blanket to each child, then got in the car.

What's the problem with this picture? Can you guess?

Absolutely!

I left the sodas sitting there on my sidewalk. So now my students STILL don't have sodas... and they are sitting on the sidewalk to my house where they will most likely disappear.

Yeah, now I know I need that day off tomorrow!!!
 

Okay, so it's been over a month since I've been able to post in here. To be perfectly honest, it is not because I have not really had time (though, if I have, it's been very little), it's not because I had nothing to talk about, and it's not because I haven't been on writing.com (though my time here has admittedly been limited.)

If I continue being perfectly honest, I can say that I have no idea why I have not updated my journal. I know I should. I need an outlet, and maybe that's what I've been missing lately. I'll catch you up on what I can, though.

Work has been... rough. Long hours, high stress... I really do love the kids, but sometimes I wish I was a camp counselor rather than a teacher. That way, when they want to have fun, we can have fun. As a math teacher, well... sometimes things are going to be a little boring. There's not really any way to avoid that. Sure, a lot of things can be made fun - but the basic skills are usually pretty darned boring, no matter how much I jump around in the front of the room like an idiot or use my stupid accents to make them chuckle.

Home life has been as home life is. It should be relaxing, I suppose, but with twins... little is actually relaxing. My husband and I are getting along better, which is what I really needed. Getting along with the person you live with is a must when trying to relax. In December our roommate is coming back. so that ought to be fun. I'll have someone to watch Golden Girls and Designing Women with me.

---

I think yesterday and this morning I found out how much someone you meet over the internet can mean to you. Of course, internet friendships are not like the average friendship. In most internet friendships you can't call someone and say, "Hey, do you wanna go to lunch tomorrow? Really? Great! I'll see you then."

It's not someone you can physically hug, see the facial expressions when you speak to them, or hear the inflections in their voice. Emails are especially hard to communicate through, at times, because miscommunication is so easy when they can't see that you have an idiotic expression on your features and don't understand.

Either way, though, they can be just as meaningful. Living in a small community, as I do, makes it sometimes difficult to make friends. No, I don't mean people you eat lunch with at work - I mean friends. Someone whose house you can go to and sit there and veg and do nothing for hours, and no one cares. What makes it even harder for me to find friends is the fact that I have children. Most people my age in this area... uh.... don't. Kids are taboo.

Then again, I figure that, if they aren't willing to take the baggage of the kids, then they probably aren't willing to be my true friends anyway. I have a few... I think... 4... that I can count as real friends in this area.

But, I don't think that's where I was going with this thing. Anyway, people on the net can mean a lot to you. I didn't used to think so, but I guess I was wrong. People can be drawn to one another over text as well as in person. People can be meant to be friends... and I am so glad the internet has given me the opportunity to expand my horizons so much that I can talk to people in China, Israel, Poland, South Carolina, Georgia, and all over the United States.

Those of you that are my close internet friends (and I'm sure you know who you are, if you are reading this), you really do mean a lot to me. When I have nowhere else to turn, and no one that I feel that I can talk to (because in small towns, everyone is always involved), I know you guys will be there for me to rant to... and you don't even have to hear me yell.

Well, this is a long entry, it rambles in all sorts of different kinds of ways, and I doubt it makes any real sense... but it's here.

Oh yeah... someone bring my muse back? He's been missing for months and I'm... I really want to write again...
 

So, Saturday morning I didn't think my husband was going to be up, so I set Love Actually to tape, since I really wanted to see it. My husband woke up early and groaned that I was going to watch a chick flick, then disappeared into the kitchen to make us some breakfast, after which he fully intended to go into the other room and play ToonTown on the one computer in the house that can actually handle the program.

So breakfast doesn't take too long to make, and he brings me mine, glancing at the T.V. as he did so. (The movie was just starting.) He sunk down onto the edge of the couch and proceeded to eat his breakfast sitting there and watching the movie with me, rather than going into the other room.

About an hour into the movie, I look at him and say, "So, I thought you were going into the other room..."

He simply responded, "Yeah, going in a minute," and continued watching the movie. He even got up to go to the restroom once, then asked me to rewind so he could catch what he missed.

Yeah, and we were laughing all the way through it. LOVED it... absolutely loved it. It's the perfect mixture of humor and tragedy - wonderfully enough more relationships worked out than didn't. Only two didn't work out, and they were both very sad. The ones that did were heart warming, though. I think this is the first ever 'chick flick' my husband has actually enjoyed.

The most amazing thing about this situation is that my husband never even opened his laptop. He actually sat and watched the entire movie from start to end. That's... almost impossible to accomplish.

Oh yeah, and we had fun, too!
 

The first few days of school can be summed up in one word, I think.

So... three weeks ago we got this babysitter all set up. $600 a month, her providing the food. It was great! We all agreed, we went about our way, knowing that she would start the second week of August after she gets back from vacation. She promised she'd call.

Day before she's supposed to begin, we get no call. No biggie! We have a friend that needs some extra cash, we call her in to do the work for the week. We figure maybe vacation ran long for the other... so we call on Thursday. Yep, it ran long. They'd be back Sunday. Just fine.

So, Sunday night, 10:00. I've called since 9:00, hoping they were home. No answer. Can't leave a message, answering machine is broken. I call my last babysitter, desperate by this point. She'll watch the kids for a day, no biggie, we'll try to get ahold of the other babysitter on Monday.

So, today's Monday! She calls at 6:50 this morning, apologizing that she didn't call before. I said fine, we have someone for the day, but we can get together this evening to pan out any last minute details. Great, everything seems just fine!

I call this evening and I get, "So how much are you paying me a week again? No, I don't want the month, I want the week. And the food is on top of that, right? No no no... I have to take $75 per week per child, plus another $25 per week per child for food. You can't afford that? Then I guess you have to find someone else."

All of this AFTER we've agreed on a price, AFTER she's already more than a week late on starting WITHOUT calling us. I'm livid! Not only that, she left me with having to find a babysitter by TOMORROW! I have connections, I suppose. We found one. I'm lucky.

I can't believe the gaul of some people! We have everything worked out, and it suddenly isn't good enough. She wanted more - $200 more a month, to be exact. I would be spending $800 on child care if we did that. That's half of my paycheck! I just... grrr... I'm so livid that she'd pull this the night before she's supposed to begin. I guess she thought that we'd have no choice but to use her because she tried to pull this crap last minute.

::simply... growls::
 

Have you ever seen that commercial where the wife and husband are sweating profusely and the wife says, "Have you called Sears yet?" He says, "No, I'll do it tomorrow." Then she says, "You'll do it now." Yadda yadda yadda...

Well, that is how I am feeling in my classroom right now! Hot, sweaty, and yucky. The windows don't open, so I can't let air in that way... the fan isn't working... no air conditioning. In Texas. Bad.

So... I thought I'd take a moment to pause in my work and gripe about it here... I suppose I should get back to work. Toodles!
 

Isn't that the truth! As much as we say, "Oh, I don't care about money," or, "Money doesn't matter," the fact of the matter is that it does. We can't survive without money, no matter how much we wish to.

Now, when I didn't have children, we could survive with less. So... my husband and I ended up eating ramen noodles and hot dogs for a few months, so what. At least we were happy, right?

Well, this mentality changed the second we had children. It's not just ourselves that we have to feed anymore, it's them. And they can't live on ramen noodles and hot dogs for months at a time. They need proper nutrition - fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, cheese, etc. The whole deal!

So, my husband and I now find ourselves in financial staits. Okay, so this time it is only for a month, but the real question is going to be - how long is it going to take us to RECOVER from that month? No matter which way we look at it - we have to have gas to get back and forth from work, and we have to have food for our children.

I'm lucky, at the school where I work, I will get free breakfast and lunch every day. For myself, all I have to worry about is dinner. My children are fed by the babysitter all day long - we are paying her extra for groceries for that. They are taken care of. My husband... well... that's going to be a bit more difficult. The school where he now works doesn't even have a cafeteria, but we'll figure something out.

A month living on a single paycheck when we've lived three years on two - this will certainly be a challenge. Pray for us, please?
 

So, MOO for President had this nifty little yes, no, or maybe quiz in his journal, so I challenged him to answer the questions again, but about me. Here are the results of that guessing game. I'll respond to each in italics.


1.smoked a cigarette - Yes (Never, actually)

2.smoked a cigar - no (Correct!)

3.made out with a member of the opposite sex - yes (Correct!)

4.crashed a friend's car - no (Correct!)

5.stolen a car - no Correct!

6.been in love - with The Milkman since becoming a member. (Hehe... you silly man! Actually, I have been in love - not necessarily with The Milkman, but I have been in love. Am currently.)

7.been dumped - yes (Correct! Exactly once, to be honest.)

8.shoplifted - yes but it was a small item and it was done accidentally (Correct!)

9. been fired - no (Correct!)

10.been in a fist fight - No (This is a yes. I was in second grade.)

11.snuck out of your house - probably not (Correct!)

12.had feelings for someone who didnt have them back - yes (Correct!)

13.been arrested - No, but in Texas everything is legal as long as you don't get caught. (So not true! Well, it's true that I've never been arrested... but Texas cops'll catch you.)

14.made out with a stranger- no (Actually, I'd consider a first date a date with a stranger, essentially, so this is a yes. My very first french kiss, to be exact.)

15.gone on a blind date - yes (Nope, never been.)

16.lied to a friend - yes (Correct!)

17.had a crush on a teacher - yes, and probably idolized him until you had to be like him. (I had a crush on a male teacher my sophomore year in high school, but it was a female teacher who inspired me to join the profession.)

18.skipped school - No.see answer 17 as to why. (I skipped school in college. Not often, of course, but I did it.)

19.slept with a co-worker - no (Correct!)

20.seen someone die - no (Correct!)

21.been on a plane - yes (Correct!)

22.thrown up in a bar - No (Correct!)

23.taken painkillers - yes, everyone does eventually (Correct!)

24.love someone or miss someone right now - yes, see answer 6 (Correct about loving someone, I'm married. )

25.laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by - yes (Correct!)

26.made a snow angel - no. well known fact that it doesn't snow in Texas (I didn't -always- live in Texas. I lived in Germany for almost six years... plenty of snow angels there. And it does snow in Texas, just not often.)

27.played dress up - yes, all girls do (Correct!)

28.cheated while playing a game - yes (Correct!)

29.been lonely? - Yes (Correct!)

30.fallen asleep at work/school - yes (Correct! But only once!)

31.used a fake id -- no (Correct!)

32.felt an earthquake -no, because there are no major plates in Texas (I did feel an earthquake when I lived in Germany. Yep yep!)

33.touched a snake - yes (Correct!)

34.ran a red light - yes (Correct, but it was an accident, I promise!)

35.been suspended from school- no (Correct!)

36.had detention - yes, to get closer to teacher in question 17 (Actually, when going to school I never got detention even once! Now that I'm a teacher though, I have to come every time it's assigned by me, so it punishes me, too. ::grumps:: )

37.been in a car accident - yes (Correct!)

38.hated the way you look- yes (Correct!)

39.witnessed a crime- yes (Correct!)

40.pole danced - yes, but in your backyard for 100 close friends and family.lol (Hehe... nope, never. Not yet.)

41.been lost - yes (Correct! All too often, actually.)

42.been to the opposite side of the country- no (Yes I have! I went to California this summer, in fact.)

43.felt like dying - no (Actually, there was a time when I was suicidal.)

44.cried yourself to sleep - yes (Correct!)

45.played cops and robbers - yes (Correct!)

46.karaoke - yes and had a cute following.lol (Correct!)

47.done something you told yourself you wouldn't - yes (Correct!)

48.laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose - yes (Hehe... nope. No milk out of my nose, or anything else, for that matter.)

49.caught a snowflake on your tongue - no (I have done this. Love it, in fact... chase them. It's fun.)

50.kissed in the rain - yes (Correct!)

51.sing in the shower - yes (Correct!)

52.made love in a park - yes (I'd love to do this, but sadly I never have... always in the house.)

53.had a dream that you married someone - yes (Correct!)

54.glued your hand to something - no (Correct!)

55.got your tongue stuck to a flag pole- no (Correct!)

56.worn the opposite sex's clothes - yes (Correct!)

58.sat on a roof top - yes (Correct!)

59.didn't take a shower for a week - no (I'm afraid I have gone for a shower without a week. It's called... camping in the middle of nowhere, but we all smelled bad, so we didn't care.)

60.ever too scared to watch scary movies alone- no (I'm too scared to watch movies alone. Way too scared... I won't even watch them with people oftentimes unless I have someone to snuggle up to and hide my face in.

61.played chicken - yes (Nope nope, never)

62.been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on - yes (Correct!)

63.been told you look hot by a complete stranger - yes (Correct!)

64.broken a bone - yes (Correct, though it was just this month! I broke my toe...)

65.been easily amused - yes (Correct!)

66.laugh so hard you cry - yes (Correct!)

67.mooned/flashed someone -yes (Correct!)

68.cheated on a test - yes (Correct! Once... I felt horrible. Confessed and retook the test. I'm such a nerd!)

69.forgotten someone's name - yes (Correct!)

70.slept naked - yes (Correct!)

71.gone skinny dipping in a pool - yes (Nope, never done this one. If I had my own pool, I probably would, though.)

72.been kicked out of your house - no (Correct!)

73.blacked out from drinking - no (Correct!)

74.played a prank on someone - yes (Correct!)

75. played poker- yes (Correct!)

One wonders if I have a life beyond my children anymore, truthfully. I imagine it'll be that way for the next 30 years or so.

Anyway, this is how I spent my day yesterday, I hope you enjoy: www.sarajean.textamerica.com

Nifty little website up there, textamerica.com. It is like the blogs we do here, but with pictures instead. If you have a cameraphone, you can send pictures in that way, and if not, you can upload them from your digital camera, which is the way I have to do it. You can upload up to ten images at once, so it's really nice. Mine has over 40 pictures already, almost all of my kids.

Speaking of my children, they were extremely silly today. My son was standing beside the door looking outside, and my daughter was walking around. Son still can't walk yet. Anyway, my daughter would come sneak around the recliner right by the chair and look at my son, who would in turn look around and start giggling his little head off, setting my daughter to giggling as well. Essentially, they were playing peek-a-boo with one another. This continued for several minutes, making my husband and I crack up with laughter as well.

I would love to see if they try it again when my son is walking so he'll just chase after her. They'd have a good ol' time!

--------------------

Now, to only convince my husband to get the rest of the way through Harry Potter so I can take my turn reading. ::hrumphs::