Nice Day!

This is one of those days that I'm just going to run down the excitement I've enjoyed today.

1. Get up.
2. Shower.
3. Get ready.
4. Go to Weight Watchers. (0.4 pound loss)
5. Go to restaurant where we're regulars. Enjoy Philly Steak Omelette.
6. Go to Starbucks. Enjoy Thanksgiving blend coffee. (It's very bitter, in a good coffee way!)
7. Go to department store. Purchase Clarks slides.
8. Come home.
9. Watch Georgia Tech put a whuppin' on Georgia. (I pull for Tech as default UNLESS Georgia is in for some national accolades or SEC championship{This makes me a traitor to both sides. I'm all about my state or an opportunist; you decide!} -- no and no this year. Triple option, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!)
10. Go to the gym. Yes, they were shocked. So was my body. Gotta get ready for the bridge run NEXT SATURDAY. I've been grossly neglectful in getting the old bod ready. Ugh. Stretched like I haven't stretched in a L-O-N-G time. I'm trying to avert soreness. Yeah, I know. Good luck with that!
11. Get home. Shower again.
12. Go to restaurant with Mrs. C. The grilled meatloaf was magically delicious. I halved the meal. Hello lunch for Monday!
13. Put up clothes. (Ugh, I hate this.) At least they ARE clean!
14. Flip back and forth between USC/Notre Dame and Oklahoma/Oklahoma State. Would LOVE to see Charlie Weiss get a win tonight. OK and OK State? Don't really care, no offense.
15. Go to sleep.

I love days like this where I just do what I want. I've really enjoyed these days off. I'm looking forward to finishing up this semester so I can have an even longer break!

TTFN!

If you didn't see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, check out this link. The bomb twenty years ago AND now!

11.

My Shopping (Virtually)

A lovely turquoise tunic

A nice yellow-y dress shirt

I bought these two shirts. They were both on sale. Obviously, Thanksgiving has blessed me with brevity of sentences. Anyway, I also shopped for a pair of brown corduroy cargo pants and two more shirts. I'm pretty stoked. I found them, they were all on sale, and I didn't even have to get dressed, shower, or deal with others. How awesome is that? Pretty awesome.

My Thanksgiving was really good. It was very low-key. It was just the immediate fam, with my sister-in-law, who is now considered immediate fam. She's wonderful. She just doesn't care. Whatever is fine with her.

We had the big spread. Momma outdid herself. We had turkey breast, dressing, sausage muffin thingies, baked sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (the kind with rings on the side--delicious), broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, giblet gravy (I try to get pure gravy. Giblets totally creep me out.) We just talked and hung out. It was nice. Nothing too much. Then the tryptophan kicked in and I was asleep (Yes, asleep no adult beverages for me! Actually no adult beverages in the 'rents' house.) on the den floor. I woke up really snotty and gross. It must've been a bad pillow, because I'm fine now. Weird.

I drove back over here at around 8. I just went to bed. In bed and slept until around 9 this morning. That's when I did my awesome shopping.

I found out that my mom and my sister did some shopping for me this morning. This should be interesting. Our tastes don't necessarily run in the same realm.

Have I mentioned here that I'm doing the Intermittent Fasting thing? It's just a little trial to see what happens. I like what I've read about this. Here's some information about it. This guy seems to be pretty reliable. When I told my parents about it yesterday, they weren't even surprised. My mom's brother used this method to lose 50+ pounds and get to his goal weight and has always struggled with being too heavy. He said that it was pretty easy and virtually thoughtless. Instead of obsessing about food, you can ignore it for long stretches, and when you do eat, it's whatever you want, but according to the information I've read, you really want something that is good and good for you. They stress that you should go for whole foods. I am on board with that. Let's see if that's the ticket for me, at least through the eating season that is the holidays!

I Hope This Is True

I'm not sure whether this is true or not, but it makes me feel WAY less overwhelmed. I was telling Hippy Chick about this during my hair-shedding this morning so I thought I'd link to it here.

Basically the person says that we should be working out no more than 45-60 minutes. Eating is the majority of the way to lose weight. I don't know about this, but I'm going to try and see what effect doing this has. It costs virtually nothing to try, so I'm going to do it.

I ate a HUGE breakfast with Dude this morning. There's a cute place near Big Lots here that is a delicious little diner-type place.

I am also on fire for a Blackberry. I have found the one that I want. I have conferred with knowledgeable people including Mrs. C., Dude, Hippy, and CNET. I am pretty happy with the choice and soon it will be mine, MINE!

I am listening to President-Elect Obama. I am TRYING to decipher what he's saying. He's definitely not a smooth-talker in a press conference. He's not said "strategery" yet, so I suppose that's a good sign. I'm really trying to be hopeful, but it was as if he were speaking in Chinese which, incidentally, I don't understand. Millionaire farmers? Wow, I know a lot of farmers and NONE of them are millionaires. Maybe all of them live somewhere in Iowa? Not sure.

I'm sorry this has been SO random, but I'm having a BIG-TIME ADD day. More later? I don't know.

Five Things I Love

Because of this post, another one from me.

1. My nephew's laughter When he's watching one of his movies or when we play tickle monster, he has this laughter that comes from WAAAAAY down deep inside his belly. So hysterically funny.

2. My job I am miserable a lot of the time, but as when a student (whom I dearly loved BEFORE she asked me the question) asked me, "Can I ask you what I need to do to be a math teacher?" TOTAL bliss. It makes up for every ornery-tail I deal with. There are enough moments for me like this that it outweighs the bad.

3. A family that accepts me I am over forty. I am not married. I am not particularly hepped up on the idea or pursuing any behavior that will help me move in the married direction. My family doesn't seem to care. They let me be me.

4. AWESOME friends I have a group of friends that is small, but GREAT. They are nothing but supportive. Like my family, there is very little judgment, but there is the occasional, when it is needed, "Hey, do you hear yourself? You're talking crazy. Get down out of the bell-tower."

5. This week off from school I plan on working on my running for the Bridge Run 5k, sleeping a lot, and spending time with my family and friends.

I Agree with Barack Obama on at Least One Thing

Well, I voted for John McCain. I am quite conservative on some issues that I believe are most important. This being said, there is at least one thing I agree with Barack Obama on. We should have a playoff in BCS/NCAA football so that we can crown a definitive champion on the field of play. As it is now, depending on who beats whom, it may come down to conjecture. With last night's drubbing of Texas Tech by Oklahoma, more questions were presented than answers.

Actually, Alabama is still unbeaten. They still have the SEC championship looming in their future. They may beat Florida, who is expected to beat Florida State in their last game. If they do, they'll have made it unscathed through the not-as-brutal-as-usual SEC. But, with the way Florida has played so passionately lately, who knows what should happen. (I am one of those people who usually thinks that the SEC is the highest level of play, but admittedly this year has definitely been a down one.)

Even today, who will be higher in the BCS? Oklahoma or Texas? Texas beat Oklahoma in a head-to-head, but Texas was beaten by Texas Tech, who was DESTROYED by Oklahoma yesterday. Good luck sorting that out.

I'm a proponent of the top seven in the BCS poll getting into a play-off. Then eight and nine competing in a play-in game. I'm not sure why I like the idea of a play-in, but I do.

I think that college football is SO good, that a play-off system wouldn't be harmful to it. I would at least like an opportunity to see if it is the case.

Okay, I'm stepping down off my soap-box. I hope everyone has a really good week!

The Child Has a Birthday Party

Today, The Child had a birthday party. It was WAY fun for him. There were about 5 adults for every child.

This is my brother's (and Rx-in-Law's) son, a.k.a. the Roaming Gnome, who is very cute and excellent at cheesing it up for a camera. I meant this to be the last picture, but I am techno-goofy with this blog picture uploading deal.


This is the cake AFTER. Being the official picture taker is difficult. I was distracted and didn't get a picture of the cake before. Incidentally, it had one of The Child's favorites, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, on it. The cake was pretty tasty.

Here, The Child is getting his koala, George, who happens to be sporting quite a dandy Batman shirt, out of the box. He chose all the components at the Build-a-Bear Store. He wanted to name the koala "Snake" but that was nixed by his dad. The Child also chose "Snake" as his Indian name for Thanksgiving at school.

More opening of gifts. . .

Here is Supermom, The Child, and a friend from school. She was SO precious. She was assistant present opener. There were so many gifts that The Child didn't seem to mind.

Snoopy and Mrs. C. attended the birthday antics. I'm hoping they had a good time.

This week has been a little crazy. You've seen above what today was centered around. Friday was a little crazy, because the day prior to a holiday always is. We did test-prep in all classes because, for some reason, it's easier to focus on that than some new topic. (I chose not to test all day yesterday because everybody else was and we'd done testing last week.)

We also finished up our fundraiser for the seniors this week too. We sold Joe Corbi items. They have regional distributors, but the people we deal with have been great. The cookie dough and frozen pizzas are really good. (Incidentally, they have a breakfast pizza that is divine, but deadly. It's an alfredo-like sauce. You put that on a crust, then top with real bacon and cheese. Really divine.) It's actually a really good value, as far as fund-raising goes. I'm not sure about the percentage, but it's pretty favorable. It beats the pants off of selling Reese Cups and candy bars.

After school, I went to Snoopy's and there was a PARTY. I don't usually drink, so it's ALWAYS an adventure. I was really tired when the last partiers left at 1:15 this morning. It was then that I took to the sofa and rocked it out, getting to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I woke up at 10:15 and today's craziness started.

Wednesday, I took off from school to take the 'rents so my mom could get some testing done. It should have been a few-hour situation, but wound up being all day. It's taxing to sit in a hospital waiting room. Forunately, all was fine. And, I should be thankful that the doctor was super-cautious. It was nice to see them in the middle of the week.

Tuesday, we had training on differentiation during planning, so I couldn't start the plans done until after school. It was one of those things that it seemed as if the harder I tried to do it, the longer it took me. I had a really good sub, so all of that went well.

Monday wasn't bad, but I was exhausted. I really have to reel in my eating. I am mostly exhausted from no exercise and from eating poorly.

Saturday Run-down

1. Get up really early for Saturday School.
2. Go to Burger King and get breakfast.
3. Eat breakfast on the way to school.
4. Conduct Saturday School (roughly 8:00 to 12:00) and clean out office in my classroom.
5. Lunch with Snoopy.
6. Decide where amassed paperwork, notes, and other associated items should be put. (Yes, I do realize that I should be doing this routinely, but I am a big-time clutter bug.)
7. Get AWESOME new quotes to put up on bulletin board. (I hate doing bulletin boards, so I keep quotes up ALL the time. You elementary teachers with your elaborate bulletin boards and word-walls, etc. , my hat is off to you.)
8. Make notes on simplegtd.com listing.
9. Return home.
10. Play with nephew. Annoy sister. (This is totally a two-fer.)
11. Go to Walgreen's to redeem my $5 gift certificate I got for getting their newsletter online. Purchase more Burt's Bees products.
12. Decide that I do want to eat something horrible for me. Instead, opt for some Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets, the best of the worst.
13. Surf a little.
14. Change my picture on my blog to a tree that is WAY more lovely than the picture I took with my phone shows. This tree has got to be over a century old. Just looking up through the branches totally Zens me out.
15. Type this list of what I've done today.
16. Go get ready for bed.
17. Sleep as long as I can.

What a great day!

Hello, I'm Back.

I've started several posts, but have been unable to finish any of them. I'm even distracted somewhat now by an ADT commercial. My ADD is horrific. I'm worse than the students I teach.

Well, last week I went to the Georgia Educational Technology Conference. It was FANTASTIC. I knocked myself off of all working out and exercise in general by going. I was honored to sit under the genius that is Patrick Crispen. He was basically teaching/telling about Google, technology, and how students best learn. It was amazing. There were other speakers, some of whom were good. But Crispen was AMAZING. The knowledge he was dropping was serious. His website is www.netsquirrel.com.

Also, we got to hear (and see) the one and only Ron Clark. He is a wonder. I love teaching and think it's what I was born to do. Seeing Ron and his passion for educating is unbelievable. Here is some video of his students who took a life-changing trip. The quality isn't that good, but it was so fantastic that I found it necessary to share it with all of my classes. His Ron Clark Academy is in Atlanta. One of my colleagues won a trip to his school to see how he (and the other members of the faculty) works with the students.

This week has been very tiring. I think I'm recovering from the high point of last week. I can't seem to get enough sleep, so I'm going to go to bed now.

Today Has Been Interesting

Greetings. I've had quite an interesting day. I woke up and began watching an O-L-D movie about Andrew Jackson. It had Joan Crawford in it. She's quite captivating.

I then got "awake" and went to shop at my arch-nemesis, WalMart. Wow, it was nice to get in there at about 7:30 and out around 8:30. I hate it. I was trying to get all the stuff I need, supply-wise AND stuff for my trip to the conference in Atlanta. It's really quite a pain. We're leaving Tuesday afternoon after school, so everything I need done has to be done essentially tomorrow afternoon since we get no planning block to speak of on Tuesday. Being absent is really a pain if you want to do your job as a teacher.

Then I began the cooking process. I improved the whole-wheat pasta dish I made last week. I also made a switch in the chiliesque soup business I made last week. They both seem better-tasting. That was good.

I joined up on this GTD website. I really like the idea of it being accessible online. You can also print out your lists. It's simple and makes sense. It's working for me so far today!?!

Supermom went and got Chinese for us. I think my taster is broken. The sesame chicken had a very odd taste to me. I wonder if it's the meds I'm taking. I'm on the loogey-ridding medicine Mucinex. I hate the commercials, but that stuff really does work. It's not cheap either, but it does work.

I've got to fold some clothes and get my work together for my students, so I'll sign out.

It may be Wednesday or Thursday before I get back to y'all, so have a good week!

The Crud Has Gotten Me

My mileage has suffered due to the creeping crud that has infested me. I have managed to teach school for the past three days. I haven't felt bad, just been voiceless. I warned my students to keep their distance and have encouraged them to sanitize and have done so myself. I'm going to the tech conference in Atlanta next week for three days, so I just couldn't afford to be out this week.



It was so good to go to bed early last night. Lights out was before 10 p..m.



Thought I'd show you the gains of my shopping trip. Mrs. C. bought me the CUTE bag (a birthday gift!), which is actually closer to a butterscotch color. The shoes are a pair of the Softspots mules. The top part is embroidered and the "gathered" part around the outside is suede-y. They are comfortable. Not EVEN on sale, but they are so comfortable!

I'm going out with Snoopy and her friend Library Lady to a way-out-of-the-way restaurant. It should be fun.