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 |  Newest Entry: July 24 - New Contest |
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I used to have this wonderful long description here of exactly what this journal would be... but I cannot say that it was entirely accurate. The journal has taken a mind of its own, so I guess the only description I can really give it is: A Collection Of My Thoughts As I have discovered many times in my writing, as well as in my life - things don't always go the way you plan them to. I am still happy with this journal, however. It gives me a place to lay down how I am feeling, or even just to document what I've been doing. Not bad, huh? Feel free to putter through the entries, and come back to visit often! You never know what you might find here. Newest entries are at the top of the list. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **
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| There are many, many ways to keep warm on cold mornings. Since this morning is cold, and I've done a few things to keep myself cozy, warm, and comfortable. A bit of morning... uh... wrestling... or, well, you know what I mean. Excellent way to start ANY day, no matter the weather. I'll just leave it at that. A warm, fuzzy blanket to sit under all day long. I'll admit, I love blankets. I'll sit under a blanket in the middle of summer, just... because I like them. The particular blanket that I have right now was bought in Mexico. It's one of those ultra, super soft blankets that's just... lovely... against the skin. Buy it in the U.S., and they cost about $80-100. Buy it in Mexico? More like $20-35. Hot chocolate to sip on and wrap my hands around. I don't know why, but I can't stand coffee. (Love the smell, hate the taste, unless you put lots of milk in it.) However, hot chocolate I could have every day. It's just so... smooth, and sweet, and warm, and... chocolaty! Homemade soup to slurp. I'll be working on this as soon as hubby gets up. Put it in, let it cool all afternoon, nibble on it this evening. It's so easy, too! Another thing from Mexico - this particular recipe. YUM! And easy! Just throw in some chicken (boned, believe it or not), corn on the cob, cabbage, carrot, onion, and a few other random things... let it boil. Throw in a few spices if it's a little plain. It's actually VERY good, and the boiling chicken makes the broth. Just... don't bite a bone, yeah? (I don't know why, it just doesn't taste as good if you use boneless chicken.) Those casual sweats/warmups that don't necessarily look good, but MAN are they comfy! I have a few sets... and mine aren't actually all that un-attractive. They're the warm-ups you see on teenagers. You know the ones, they go swish, swish, swish as you walk and the fabric rubs together. Mildly annoying, but very, very comfortable. Extremely so. Fuzzy socks, or toe socks to cover up my toses. Maybe because they are fun (because if I am truthful, toe socks aren't that warm - though fuzzy socks certainly are), but I love these kinds of socks. This morning I couldn't find my fuzzy socks, but I'm under my fuzzy blanket, so all is fine. Snuggling is, of course, top on my list of cold day activities. I can't necessarily snuggle with my husband, because my children get jealous. (They do, it's hilarious. They HAVE to be in between us.) I can, however, snuggle with my kiddos, and then with my husband once they go off to bed. My love of snuggling has tempted me to turn down the air conditioner in summer, too, so it's nice and COLD in the house. Good excuse, yes? Chick flick movies to pass the time. Lame, lame... I know, but it encourages snuggling! (Or the rolling of the eyes...) If horror movies actually were scary anymore, rather than just bloody as hell, I might watch one of those, instead. However, anymore, they're just... gorey. They don't mess with your mind anymore, or actually put you on the edge of your seat. Now it's just... "Ew!!!" Yeah, not my thing. MMmmmm... to stay warm. LOVE IT! |
| Okay! So I set my alarm last night to get up an hour early this morning. Expecting, even, to snooze just once before actually getting out of bed. I heard the alarm go off this morning. My husband murmured about how early it was. I reminded him of why, he nodded, kissed me on the forehead, and then turned back over to go back to sleep. I didn't even sleep in the one snooze time. I went ahead and got up, because I am responsible like that! While standing in the shower, I got struck by a thought. I can't put homemade soup in the crock pot today. We're not going to be home today until very late, because of a Christmas program. Damn. And I had even gotten up early! I tell my husband when his buzzer goes off, and he just chuckles at me, turns over, and dozes back off. So I'm awake. Pointlessly - but I'll admit, I look pretty good! Since soup was out, I went ahead and made myself look purty for the program. I'm going to put some makeup on in just a moment, and I'm actually wearing a skirt. *gasp!* If you knew me, that would make you fall over in wonder, clutch your throat, and even possibly die. I only wear a skirt when hell freezes over... OR when I have enough time that I actually think I can doll myself up enough for it. (I don't consider skirts casual. If I'm going to wear a skirt, I feel I need to take the time to look awesome. Otherwise, I'd just wear slacks and look like I normally do.) It's actually a suit, so I'll even have a suit jacket with it. Short sleeve, but it's all I've got. And it is a suit from before I had the babies! I've had this suit for nearly six years. It hasn't fit for three and a half. It fits, and I can close the buttons on the front. I guess I'm getting pretty close to where I was before I had the kiddos. Drawback - skirt only goes to my knees, so my lovely scar from the ACL replacement I had at 16 is in full show. It's okay. It makes people wonder how I can wear high heels. I still need to brush my teeth, read a particular poem, and do the makeup thing - so I'll go. I'll feel like a nut all day long, but at least I'll look nice. It's a good compromise. |
| I knew it was a bad idea when we started at 2 a.m., but it is so rare that I actually say "no" to that kind of thing. I'll admit, it was a blast, but I'm paying for it this morning. It's partially my fault. I was up reading a book, and hubby was up playing on the computer. I went to bed about 1:40 after saying goodnight and doing the usual smooch. He had found a glitch in W.O.W., and so he didn't come to bed until later. (For some reason, his transport wouldn't land.) He was frisky, I responded. We both said it was a bad idea and that we'd be hurting in the morning, but had our fun anyway. So! Now I'm tired. Extremely so. I suppose I could run and get an energy drink during my conference, and pray it'll keep me up the rest of the day. (Would I trade it? Hell no. It was fun.) |
| Okay, so earlier today I was working on a review when the lunch bell rang. No biggie, I was almost done - figured I could just keep going and then greet my kiddies as they came in. In the hallway, I had one motioning for me to come out, acting as if they had something to show me. So, I get up from my desk, and walk to the door. To the wall just beside my door, another student is hiding, and he jumps out and scares the SHIT out of me. I screamed, then almost doubled over laughing. He doubled over laughing, and then gave me like... three hugs, all the time apologizing, but he didn't mean it. He was laughing too hard to truly be sorry. It had me giggling all afternoon, and the kids got a real kick out of it, too. Needless to say, I was feeling a little droopy about midday, and I was wondering how I was actually going to make it through the last three hours. My lovely student found a way! If anyone ever needed a wakeup call, someone jumping out from around a corner at you will definitely do it! I would say, "Damned kids!"... but I actually love them to death. Teaching may be frustrating, but by golly, it's never boring. |
| To be honest, I can hardly believe it's December. However, now I find myself faced with... a decision. *dun duN DUN* I am slotted to sing at the Christmas Program on the 13th in the little bitty town that I teach in, and I need to make a decision on what to sing. I have it down to three songs, so if you have an opinion, I'd love it... Emmanuel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvHHlcMkrGk Grown Up Christmas List (by the original artist, not Kelly Clarkson): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvuTHCLB3o0 Breath of Heaven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2egKS4d1oI In all three cases, I'm looking at the songs, not the video.  There are two (or more) Christian artists that are perfectly within my range. Amy Grant is one of them, and Jennifer Knapp is the other.I'm really leaning between Grown Up Christmas List or Breath of Heaven. The first I've sung before, and the other I've not, but I do like the song. Breath of Heaven would be my absolute top choice, I suppose. |
| So, my students are playing Fact or Crap! It's a pretty amusing game that they enjoy, and... they are actually learning. *gasp!!!* Granted, it's not math, but I'm missing half of my class today, so I'm not even going to move on just so I can do it AGAIN tomorrow when they're here again. Better to just avoid the discipline problems and do it all tomorrow. I've been doing a lot of reviewing lately, too. I put up an In&Out where people can stick items they'd like me to review, and I've been enjoying it greatly, actually. It's here, if you'd like to use it yourself: "Invalid Item"  |
| I've been working a lot on my mystery book("The Case of the Misplaced Fortune" [E]) lately. I was told by a good friend (and someone who has EXTREMELY high expectations and tastes) that it was missing something, but that he couldn't figure out what. I looked, and I looked, and I looked - and I think I figured it out. It's missing... my main character - you hardly know anything about him. You know he's clumsy, and you know he's girl-starved, but... that's about it. I'm going to add other elements of his life and personality. Like the fact that his favorite food is a taco, he has a cat, a small apartment, a father that's in the hospital, etc, etc, etc. All of the things that I know, but my readers have no clue about. I'll sneak it in. I've also got through Chapter 14 outlined, so it's really coming along. I want to get the rest of it outlined so I know where it's going, and then you'll start seeing the folder linked above filling with more and more chapters. After I get it done, I'll go back and edit each one to add in the things I've missed, and then perhaps look for an agent and get that puppy published. I've also been working on "Invalid Item" with a friend of mine. He's... absolutely amazing, and he's been able to start helping me pick out the awkward parts. If anything, that's one that I think I could get published. It could be amazing, really, with the right artist. (Not me - I can BARELY draw stick figures.)--------------------------- As for life, I have Christmasitis. I don't want to be at work - I want to be at home with my kids. Baking cakes, making cookies, cooking dinner... it's an odd housewife bug that I've never gotten before. So, a few days ago, I set some bean stew to simmer in the crock pot all night. (Chili beans, pinto beans, black beans, potato, corn, onion, Lil' Smokies, and a few spices.) I woke up to the lovely scent, ate some for breakfast, and then snagged some tortilla chips and had some for dinner, too. Last night, I made a cake with homemade peppermint icing. Chocolate cake, peppermint icing, with crushed candy cane and tiny little chocolate chips on top. It ended up VERY yummy, too, even though the icing was a little too thin because I put in too much milk. (Bah, my luck.) I kept the peppermint subtle, though. Had some cake for breakfast - not such a good idea. My tummy doesn't like that much sugar so early in the morning. HELP! I don't like the housewife bug - though eating the stuff I'm making is becoming fun. |
| So, I've been gone for a few days (not that anyone noticed) visiting the in-laws. I've come to the determination that I'm spoiled. Granted, I didn't really ask for so much this weekend, but what I did ask for... I got. A sweater, two pairs of jeans (one nice and comfy pair, and one that hugs JUST the right places for a nice tease... love those), shoes, fuzzy socks, taken out to eat when I asked... yes, I'm spoiled. It's rather nice, to be honest, and I promise I'm not a brat.  For the record, hubby pretty much gets what he asks for, too. Neither of us ask for very much except on rare occasion - and we save up for those rare occasions, so it all works out.At the in-laws house, there was a bit of a disagreement about what the temperature should be inside the house. Now, we had snow in El Paso, which is almost unheard of. So, needless to say, it was cold. My mother-in-law believes that if you can put on two sweaters, wear pants, and have a couple pairs of socks on... it's warm enough in the house. I very highly disagree. I think that you should be able to walk around in shorts and a t-shirt in your own house, even if it's winter, and be comfy. In the past three and a half years, any time we've taken our children there in the winter, they always come home sick because she turns the temperature down so much. This year, I decided that wasn't acceptable, and I kept turning the temperature up again. (She leaves it around 55 or 60. I turn it up to 70.) The only time I couldn't get to it was at night, and I just tried to make sure that my kiddos had plenty of blankets over them to keep them warm. (Son still came home sick.) As soon as morning came around, I turned it back up again. (Okay, so maybe that's the bratty part of me.) Wal-Mart was surprisingly empty - even on Black Friday. I was surprised. The parking lot is usually trashed, lines are amazingly long... but this year it was short. Granted, we went at like - 10 at night, but still. I was surprised. It was nice. I didn't feel mobbed, and I was able to get the stuff I needed. (Yes, when we went then, it was a need - not a want.) EDIT: Oh! Someone gifted me five reviews from "Invalid Item" . I'm not sure who you are, but thank you! I got some very great reviews on things that are not looked at very often, and I enjoyed the comments. |
| Some time ago (about a year), my son stole my fuzzy blanket. It is a lovely blanket... beautiful, large, extremely warm, and one of George's aunts gave it to me - she's from Mexico. I was honored that she thought of me, and I LOVED snuggling with it. *sniffles* Well, I finally replaced it. Lovely blanket, beautiful, nice and fuzzy... just like they're supposed to be. I slept with it for the first time last night. So comfortable, and warm... waking up was not something I wanted to do this morning - even with hubby snuggling. Snuggling - wow. I've been married for 7.5 years, and even with taking vacations without the kids, we've not really snuggled for the last 3.5 years - basically the entire time we've had the kids. The past two weeks, though... we've snuggled before bed, and even when we wake up. Snuggle, snuggle, snuggle - turn on - it's been a nice lead from one to the other. Hubby finally told me why... apparently, touching me turns him on. (I don't mean in sensitive places - I mean touching me in general, my skin.) In all the time we've been married, I didn't realize this. It's probably why snuggling hasn't been prevalent when he's tired, and it makes perfect sense. Why get yourself all worked up when you don't have the energy to take care of it? Anyway, it's nice. We snuggled this morning, and I realized (and mentioned) that it'd been a long time. I think we both decided we'd make sure it happens more often. People are comfy pillows. |
So, Robert Waltz  and I have been working on and off on this event for the past year. (Yes, an entire year, maybe longer.) It started with a few ideas - some from him, some from me, and it's finally coming into fruition. Yay!It's going to be absolutely amazing, and if it goes well, we'll be doing it more often - continuing to add ideas, rounds, competitions, etc. I'm excited, very much so. Curious yet? It has taken a lot of thought, and a lot of patience, but it is going to be wonderful. You ought to check it out! We've even got some lovely Minions that will be helping with the judging (we couldn't do it without them.)
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| I remember a time when I was a child when I could walk into a store after Halloween (or even before), and there would be little cornucopias around... or little turkeys... or BIG turkeys, pilgrims, indians, cards for Thanksgiving, posters that named reasons to be thankful... Where have they all gone? Many stores completely skip Thanksgiving anymore, as does a lot of our population. To my middle and high school students, Thanksgiving is just an extra three days they get off of school. What happened to the times when Thanksgiving was more than just turkey? What about families, and thankfulness, and togetherness? What happened to the times when you'd see television shows where they'd all sit around the table at Thanksgiving and say what they were most thankful for? For that matter, what happened to holidays that weren't about buying everything you could? What happened to when it was about spending time with friends and family playing games, laughing, crying, and stuffing yourself until you think you're giong to puke? .... maybe I'm wrong, but I miss real holidays. |
| ... yes, it's another food entry. (What can I say, honestly? I -love- food.) So, if you've not tried this stuff... you really must. It's got little candy coated chocolate pieces (yes, just like M&Ms, but they're not M&Ms), pretzels, chocolate flavored chex, peanut flavored chex, honey-roasted peanuts.... just... WOW! Tongue tickling, mmmmm inducing, flavor explosion. See, I thought I'd like the Turtle flavor better. It even has caramel corn in there, but no... the peanut butter chex makes all the difference. Don't know why, it just does. --------------- On other news, I convinced my husband to go to the store for me and get all sorts of crayons, and markers, and colored pencils. All of which I'll hide from my students... and all of which I'll use in my OWN journaling. Will be lovely, really... I'm looking forward to it. He got the biggest sets for me, so I have a ton of colors to choose from. Childish? Yes, but... I have to see my inner child at some point. |
| Yes, yes, I know... you've heard it before. I actually brought my journal home the other day because I wanted to relay a few of the things that I've been writing about in there on here. Not everything, but at least a few. It has a chance of being a really long post, but I'll get as much down as I can. I had my observation last week on Wednesday. My poor kiddos were terrified with the principal in there. (I asked them later... they didn't want to screw it up for me. So they tried to make sure they got EVERY question right - though that rather defeated the purpose of the reteaching method that I was doing that day... as it appeared that no reteaching was necessary.) They usually aren't terrified of her at ALL. They are the kids that are almost always very rude to the principal, but pretty good in my class. They are normally enthusiastic, enjoyable, and encouraging of one another. The class that I had in my room, though... was quite... dead. Quiet, afraid to move, only responding when I specifically call on them. (Usually I have five people answering a question at any time. It's how I like to conduct my class.) To be honest, it may reflect badly upon me. (Because it did look like I was reviewing something that didn't need to be reviewed, and therefore just trying to give my kids the same lesson as the day before, rather than giving her a true experience in my classroom.) You know what, though? Those kids care about me, and they did what they thought would reflect well. Even if they misunderstood... it shows me that they do want me around and that they have respect for me. The evaluation be damned, I learned a lot about my kids that day. My father-in-law is in the hospital. He had a prostrate infection, and has had it for quite a long time, so he's been bleeding out the back end. Nothing they did was helping, so they finally put him in the hospital for it about three weeks ago. The medicine they gave him was making him hallucinate. He thought that he'd divorced his wife two months before, that she and my husband's brother sold the house for $16,000, and then bought him the hospice room to live in for the rest of his life. He even sat all day talking to my husband... but my husband was here, and not there. So they changed his medication. He was better for one day - responsive, coherent, energetic... and then the next day he was a vegetable. Didn't respond to sound, voice, touch... just... laid there, staring into space. Hubby is going today for the weekend. Six-Man Football to the Playoffs!! Our boys made it to playoffs. Yay for them! They actually 45'd the team last night, so it was a very, very solid win. (And probably one they really needed.) I have one of the coaches demanding that I go to the first playoff game. I might just tell him that if he wants me to go, he's going to pay for my babysitting. :) It's expensive. I watched hubby's band march last night. It means that I had to go to a different football game than the one I should have been at, and it means I was the only maroon person in a sea of red, but... it was worth it. I'd promised one of the seniors I'd go (I worked at the school last year), and I tend to do my best to keep my promises. They rocked, by the way. They advanced a couple of weeks ago after getting a Division I (highest) rating. Yay! EDIT: Oh yeah! I wrote a letter to my husband yesterday. We used to write letters to one another all the time, even though we saw one another every day. We'd have these little notebooks, we'd write in them, and then we'd exchange them at the end of the week, and continue in there. It's been years, though... but writing the letter was nice. He seemed to like it, too. |
| I love desert sunrises. This Sunday will be the time change, so I got to see the sunrise while driving to work for perhaps the last time in a while - at least until the sun catches up with the time change. What I love about desert sunrises, however, that I've not seen when living in the mountains or other areas, is that no matter which way you are facing, you still get a part of the beauty. Only a piece of the whole, perhaps, but still a piece. In my case, I drive away from the rising sun. West. Behind me the sun was rising over the horizon in beautiful reds, oranges and yellows. The direction I was facing, I got to see lovely purples, blues, oranges, and pinks. Gorgeous, and never as blinding as looking right into it. It was a lovely way to start my day. (Well, that and waking up late because right when we were supposed to be getting out of bed, hubby drew me close and we snuggled for ten minutes instead. I miss not having children sometimes - when we would spend all of Saturday morning laying in bed, snuggling and talking - just the two of us. No distractions, just... conversation and warmth and each other. You know, though? Someday we'll get that back again - and it'll be all that much more precious. Not to mention, I wouldn't trade my children for the world... even for more snuggling.) |
| There's something in the air lately. (I say this because we're not the only couple this is happening to.) Little things are setting us off. It's not one sided - it's me, too. Smallest stuff, and I'm going nuts. We've ended up pissed off at one another at least once a day for the past three or four days. It's nuts. And then, two hours later, it's over. We're happy again, horny, and just... well, it's weird! Maybe our anger is feeding the longing - I sure hope not, because I'd not like to have to go through that all the time. I guess we simply fluxuate back and forth. Marriage is certainly a love/hate sort of relationship. There's no bleh in between. You're either totally and completely in love (thank God we can still find that after seven and a half years), or we are so pissed off at one another that we'd like to rip each other's heads off. Then again, could someone that you care nothing for make you that angry? I might all be linked. I probably wouldn't get as mad if it didn't hurt so badly. It wouldn't hurt so badly if I didn't love him so much. ... I'm rambling. I'll leave you be now. Have a good day! |
| My weekend fluxuated, really. I had very cranky kids all of Saturday, so much so that we didn't go to the Fall Festival. However, found out on Saturday that my husband's band made a 1 at contest. Woot!!! It's the first marching band that has made a 1 for him in the eight years that he's been teaching - and they now get to advance onto area this next weekend. He was so excited. They were ecstatic - cried, covered him in silly string. He texted me FROM THE FIELD while hiding behind his drum major. That, in itself, was sweet. Made me wish I could be there - but I had the kiddos. Luckily, that was also the same time that they (meaning my twins) began calming down finally. Sunday was okay. Had a really good day most of the day - had a really, really nasty fight with the hubby last night over something... ugh, I just don't want to get into it. It was nasty. He even slept on the couch last night, it was so bad. (Though he said it was because he was watching television and fell asleep on the couch.) It was just odd to wake up alone, I suppose. Talked it out this morning, though. I cried some more (I'm good at that). We're better now... At school, it's red ribbon week. The benefit? Today is a day where we're supposed to wear red from head to toe. Well, I did. My only pair of red pants are some work-out pants. You know the kind... they swish when you walk and are insanely annoying, but man are they comfy. It'll be a good day. |
| Goodness... six man football. Things that aren't possible in eleven man DO happen in six man. The first game, our team lost by two points, because the opposing team scored two touchdowns in 17 seconds. SEVENTEEN SECONDS... just - whoa. I didn't see that one, though. I just heard about it, and pitied the guys. Last night, I watched the opposing team score two touchdowns in 30 seconds. Rather than pitying the boys, I wanted to rip their heads off - but maybe that was the crowd around me speaking, too. Luckily, we were 25 points ahead at the time, so... it didn't kill us TOO badly. We ended up winning the game at the end of the night, but it was very, very close. (We were within two points in the last three minutes, and then our boys scored twice. Yay!) Yeah... so... if you haven't experienced six man, I suggest you find the nearest small town (go to Texas, if you have to), and do so. Much, much more exciting. |
| Well! Tonight is going to be a super late evening. Bleh. I am the sophomore sponsor at my school, along with one other person (who happens to be the secretary, which is REALLY convenient.) We're hosting a fall dance this evening from whenever the football game ends until midnight. The difficulty, of course, is that I work in a different time zone than I live in - so there is an hour difference. So! The dance ends at 1:00 am my time. (Bleh again.) Then we still have to clean up, I have to get my kiddos from the babysitter (and probably pay a $80 bill for this evening), and get the mini-munchkins to bed. VERY late night ahead. I'll tell you one of the coolest things about the school that I work at, though. Six man football. Just... wow. If you thought eleven man football was brutal, you have not even seen six man. It so rocks... the games are very, very exciting. They also have something called the rule of 45. If, at any time after halftime, one team is ahead of the other by 45 points - the game ends. This happens more often than you might think. Their field is shorter (80 yards, rather than 100), and there is no defensive team vs. offensive team. Everyone plays every position (except quarterback, I believe.) Brutal, down to earth, back-country football. Love it. |
| I really do need to remember to update this more often. I'll explain why I've not been doing it. At the school where I am currently working, we have a little process called journaling. Yes, yes... that means that the stuff that would -normally- go here... goes in there. I've considered just copying it over, but it's not quite the same. The journals are supposed to be colorful, yadda, yadda, yadda. Mine is colorful. Very much so. SO MUCH... that it might occasionally blind someone if they stare at certain pages for far too long. (I'm exaggerating, but how is that new?) I honestly am not sure how many readers I still even have, since it has been so long since I've done this on a regular basis, and even my regular basis....es... aren't regular. If I copy my stuff in here, though, it'll be daily Monday through Friday. It's a mandatory thing at the school, so putting it here would be easy enough. We'll see. I'll decide tomorrow. So, the question of questions (feel free to reply), do you want the month and a half of back entries, too? |
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This is absolutely hilarious! My kind of humor.
My life's been busier than normal, too, but NOTHING like yours. 
Hope everything's okay.
