A Miraculous Occurrance

The end of the first marking period is almost here. My big unit tests are coming up next Friday - yes I'm going to be that awful teacher who gives a test on Halloween. I don't have time to wait around on silly holidays. I have to grade all those tests! Anyway, I've done a really good job with my planning this week. Last weekend I had gotten way behind and had to plan some 6-8 lessons over the weekend to get ahead. It was miserable, and just like other times that I've done that, I vowed not to let it happen again. See, I like to be planned a week ahead of myself so that on Monday I'm planning next Monday's lesson. So by some twist of fate or act of God, I am not only planned a week ahead, but I got today's planning done while I was still at work today so that all I had to do when I got home was enter some grades into my computer! It was outrageous. I haven't had so much free time since I started this job. I even thought up a dinner plan and had dinner done and overwith by 7:00. I know this sounds like normalcy for many, but my evenings usually consist of sitting down at the kitchen table with my computer as soon as I get in the house - sliding over one chair to eat dinner with Josh - sliding back over to the computer and working until it's time for bed. So tonight, to be finished with my work by the time he got home was amazing. All I can say is I feel like a normal person, and it is wonderful.

So of course having this time tonight - 2 full hours before the tv shows come on! - I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with myself! I decided to blog first and then do some of the other stuff with the time I have left. I'm always thinking of what I want to include in blog posts and then I never get to write them. So I hope you're ready for this one. I feel like there's a lot to talk about.

The last post was on Josh's birthday and in case anyone was wondering, he got a new golf bag. It was fun to surprise him with it and watch him examine it, not unlike me in the store, except he knew what he was looking at. His parents came over for dinner and ice cream and that was about it.

We had also made plans to go to New York City on Friday so that was partially a birthday present too. I was off work for the MSTA conference that no one goes to, so we decided it would be a good day to go to NY before it gets too cold. Our plan was to arrive, have lunch in Greenwich Village at the pizza place from Spider-Man 2, then get down to Battery Park to catch the boat over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. After that we were kind of flexible but mentioned checking out the changing leaves in Central Park. If you know your Manhattan geography at all, this is a lot of walking. Our bus dropped us off at 32nd street and we headed for the Village.....

Joe's Pizza! It's kind of tough to see, but the menu in the background says "You saw us in Spider-Man" Where we were sitting was a little counter facing out an open window to a little park across the street. After 3 hours on a bus and a brisk walk from 32nd down to Bleeker, it was nice to sit down, enjoy some NY pizza and people watch... all with the breeze blowing.

After pizza we continued down the island. On the way we stopped at one of Josh's favorite spots, the Firehouse from the Ghostbusters movies. He even wore his Ghostbuster's shirt that day. While we were standing there taking our pictures, a fireman walked over to the doorway eating a sandwich. We said hi and joked about Josh being a big fan. Turns out, the firehouse sells t-shirts and other stuff with their logo (hook & ladder 8) and the Ghostbusters symbol! Josh promptly took a t-shirt. We thanked the guy and went on our way. Josh was elated :o)

We finally made it down to Battery Park just 15 minutes before our boat was supposed to leave at 1:30. We got in line and shortly realized it didn't matter what the time on our ticket was. We didn't leave until after 2:00... what a long process! You first go through airport-like security (put your stuff in trays, goes through the x-ray machine, take off all watches, belts, etc. empty your pockets, walk through the metal detector). Then you stand in a mob, not a line, but a mob for at least another 30 minutes before boarding the boat. Getting on and off the boat was another 20-minute ordeal because there were so many people. Sad to say, but I wouldn't do it again! Here's the pretty view of the city from the boat. You can tell it was a gorgeous day - just a little chilly and windy (as you'll notice by my hair!).

Here she is from our boat. She was smaller than I had imagined.

Josh took my picture. The reason I look so thrilled is because the sun is in my eyes so my nose is a little crinkled, haha. I just look like I'm overjoyed to be at the Statue of Liberty. That makes me laugh.

Me and Miss Liberty. Check out that crystal clear sky!

Hmmm... silly husband.

Us being cute in front of New York :o)

A pretty picture I took of the Flatiron building on our way back up town. I liked the lighting, and lets face it, it's just a really cool building.

We never did make it back up to Central Park. It's all the way up in the mid-50th streets. Because of the very slow process of getting on and off the boat for the Statue of Liberty, we didn't make it back on land until 4:00. As you can see in the flatiron picture, the sun was going down - and in between tall buildings, that makes it really chilly. By the time we made it back to 32nd/33rd (the Empire State Building) it was after 6:00. We were pretty tired from all the walking. We knew we wanted to eat at Heartland Brewery and there was a location up near Central Park and on the bottom floor of the Empire State Building. So we decided not to walk any further since our bus would be picking us up from there anyway. We enjoyed some great food and a few delicious microbrews. Josh had the Empire Premium and another I can't remember. I had the Oktoberfest.

After dinner we had some time to kill, so we walked across the street to H&M where I proceeded to look at everything - mostly because I have an amazing husband who doesn't mind. He just wishes he could buy me the whole store. Then, our best and most favorite NY tradition -- we stopped in Jamba Juice for smoothies before we went to catch our bus back home. The guy at the bus station laughed at us for drinking smoothies when it was 40-degrees outside, but we explained that we don't have Jamba Juice at home and he totally understood.

Alright, are you tired of hearing about New York?? But you're not yet ready for my blog post to be over?? Then I'll tell you something else exciting. This week I ordered new glasses!!! It has been years and years (so many that I can't remember) since I've gotten new glasses. Mine are so old I can't drive in them. So I was really excited for my eye exam - which I failed because I'm blind. The doctor couldn't get my vision to 20/20 :o( but the new glasses are really cute. I couldn't find their picture online, but I'll post one when I get them. Naturally, I searched through dozens of frames from the largest selection in Howard County only feeling luke warm about a few. As soon as the helper girl walks over she looks at my face, at a few pairs I'd been looking at, and pulls the perfect pair off the rack. I hadn't even seen them! It was like magic.

Ok, well that's sufficient I think for now. Thanks as always for continuing to read :o) I hope I'll be back soon!

27 Things I Love About My Joshua

If you're like me and can't get enough of Josh, you'll love this post!! I borrowed the idea from the very clever Laura Cooke. In honor of Josh on his 27th birthday, here are a mere 27 of the zillions of things I love about him.

1. He picked ME.
2. He loves me more than just about anyone. Ever.
3. He spoils me silly.
4. He sings in the car and makes the songs about me, regardless of the actual song that's on.
5. He is so talented and I love to listen to him play music.
6. He is still very much a little kid at age 27.
7. He is going to be the best dad I can ever imagine.
8. He gets excited over anything that will make me smile (even just a tiny bit).
9. He randomly gives me ILYs.
10. He is uncommonly good looking.
11. He believes deeply in good and evil.
12. He writes me songs.
13. We have just about everything in common.
14. He likes to help me with anything from cleaning to grading papers.
15. He is so frickin excited to see me in the morning... yes, after sleeping beside me.
16. His resting body temperature is about 106 degrees, so I'm always warm when I'm with him.
17. He is a very clean boy.
18. He thinks I look amazing at all times and will tell me so.
19. He is too cute for words.
20. I'm his lobster.
21. He is the best one of the best ones, which makes me the luckiest.
22. He has a great sense of humor, and knows how to clean it up in front of ladies.
23. My family loves him almost as much as they love me.
24. He loves my family.
25. He is the most thoughtful person I have ever met.
26. He's everything I want, and everything I'm not.
27. He is from God - otherwise we couldn't be so perfect for each other.

Awwwwww, wasn't that fun? It is also Jenna's birthday. And Jenna, it's not that I love you any less than I love my husband... but he's going to be home any minute and I don't have time to write 22 things I love about you before he gets here! I have to catch him at the door and make him close his eyes so he doesn't see his present sitting in the middle of the room. Wish me luck!

It's That Time

I'm not saying I was ready, but I can admit that it's time. I know it's fall. The trees and bushes are all trying very subtly to change colors. The mornings are cold and dark. So I put away my adorable hydrangeas that usually sit on this little table in our entry-way and pulled out the fall arrangement. In the back sitting on one of the steps you can see a piece that I made myself out of a clear picture frame and some fake leaves. I put it up today too. So I don't get terribly excited about fall in general. To me it just signals that extreme cold is on it's way and that depresses me. However, there are some fun things to look forward to.

The first big fun of fall is Josh's birthday! It's coming up on Tuesday and I absolutely can't wait. I was going to try to throw a party for him, whatever he wanted. But it turned out that he never said what he wanted or who he wanted to be there. So I let it go. Don't worry- there will be celebrating. Sunday we're having dinner at my mom's and doing special birthday stuff for Josh and Jenna since they have the same birthday. Then on Tuesday of course I will unfold my very special birthday plans for him. I of course will tell you about that later. Don't worry, it isn't dirty :o) We'll probably also go to his parents' house that night for dinner.

After Josh's birthday, it's really almost Thanksgiving. We have 2 days off school the first week of November (professional day for the end of the quarter and election day). Then after two full weeks it's Thanksgiving. Who doesn't love Thanksgiving? I think this year Josh's parents may be going out of town which means we only have to go to ONE house! That would be exciting.

And everyone knows that after Thanksgiving, it IS Christmas. I love the Christmas season. This year we have two full weeks off for Christmas and New Years because they fall on Thursdays and the eves are Wednesdays. It's beautiful and I'm looking forward to it. I think we're also going to do another sleepover with the kids at some point over that break. We really had a ton of fun with them and talked right away about when we could do it again.

Speaking of which... I added some more of the pictures from that weekend. These are from the picnic Josh's dad's work has every other year. As I mentioned last time, the kids had a great time and so did we. Have a look:

Lacy making sand art. It turned out awesome, by the way.

Josh looking stylish with my purse while I made a tie-dyed shirt :o)

Leo, mid-jump, in the Moonbounce - his favorite activity of the day.

The mansion where all this takes place

Lacy making her tie-dyed t-shirt

Leo enjoying his "special" drink - a Shirley Temple instead of Coke that he asked for!

I'm sure you're wondering how I managed a blog post on a random Thursday night. It turns out there was no school today due to a Jewish holiday. Therefore I got up at a leisurely hour this morning, went shopping for fun, and got my school work done in the afternoon all before making a fabulous dinner for my husband when he got home. I could use this kind of day every day.

And finally, some fun and exciting news.... Josh got a new job this week! He's working for the same company, really just across the hall from where he is now. But instead of being a recruiter for the company, he is now a staffing coordinator on one of the company's contracts. It's a lateral move but it has considerably more potential than the HR office. We're both so excited and looking forward to getting things underway with that.

Hopefully I'll be able to post again this weekend. We have some fun things going on!

Hanging in there...

Wow. I can't really believe it's the next weekend already. This busy schedule of mine has really made the weeks go by quickly. Not that some of them don't feel long by Friday afternoon, but it seems like in social life they pass by like the wind.

I do have some more pictures from last weekend. We went to that fun picnic on Sunday. The weather was pretty and there was TONS there for kids to do. We had a great time. Lacy and I made bead necklaces, sand art, and tie-dyed shirts. There was also a moon bounce, various flavors of sugar to make oversized pixie-sticks, face-painting, temporary tattoos and let's not forget tons of food. Both kids were asleep within 10 minutes of getting in the car. I have pictures from that day but it's too late to start loading them. Sorry. I might try later.

This past week I was off work on Tuesday which was nice. Josh took off with me which made it even better. We slept in, had a delicious breakfast together, and then did some of the little things around the house we'd been wanting to do. The new Ben Folds CD came out so Josh picked that up early as well as the movie Iron Man (also released that day). We listened to Ben Folds while we worked around the house, and then watched Iron Man that night after dinner. It was such a treat to have a random day off work during the week. Strangely though, by Friday, Monday felt like it had been 2 weeks ago. I couldn't tell if the day off helped the week, or made it feel longer. This week we're off on Thursday for another Jewish holiday. I think it will be better to get Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday over with and then just have to come back for Friday. It will be a busy week nonetheless.

Today was Ben and Jenna's engagement party. That was also a lot of fun. I made pumpkin cheesecake and crab dip. For some reason I always get adventurous and try out new recipes when I'm making something for a party. It's not the best idea. Both things turned out fine, but really what am I thinking? What if I had totally done something wrong or the recipe was just not very good?? I actually didn't really like my crab dip. I'm used to creamy and cheesy crab dip. This was like crab meat that had soaked up some flavorful liquid. It tasted fine, but it didn't have the same consistency I'm used to. It was a Paula Deen recipe from Food Network. I wouldn't make it again. Otherwise the party was great. Everyone met and mingled. They had a box for people to write down a memory of one or both of them and then see if they could guess who wrote it. That was hilarious because Amberly and I shared a lot of childhood memories that were funny. Some that his groomsmen shared came as a bit of a shock to my mom, but overally she took it pretty well.

Tomorrow will be a busy day of lesson plans and writing a paper for my Monday night class (Counciling the Early Adolescent). It's just a "scholarly review" but I have a feeling it's going to annoy me and end up taking up all of my time. It might warrant a trip to Cold Stone, I can't say for sure.

Kid Weekend!

First of all, THANK YOU for still checking my blog :o)

Second of all, as you can imagine, things have been just as busy as I've talked about before which is why my posts are still so few and far between. I'm honestly doing everything I can and have come to terms with the fact that this year is just going to be that way. I have gotten caught up on my grading, so I've decided to use my daily planning to stay on top of that and then just plan my lessons in the afternoons when I get home (so as not to live in my classroom). As much as I hate using my time with Josh to do my work, it's better than just not having time at home. Another teacher I work with - it's her 2nd year - stays at school until 8 at night so she doesn't have to take work home, but she also never sees her husband.

And third, my sister went out of town this weekend and left her children with US! My mom took the baby but we have Lacy and Leo today and tomorrow. This weekend is also my school's homecoming. So originally I thought it would be a lot of fun to take the kids to the parade and then to watch the football game. So we got up this morning to go get them and of course there's a tropical storm coming through. Lame. I held out hope as long as I could but when we arrived at the parade and it was pouring buckets and people were racing for their cars, we decided it was a no-go.

So instead of that we stopped at Target for some milk and something to eat for lunch. For some reason Josh and I failed to prepare for this weekend in the grocery sense. We were completely out of juice in the first 10 minutes (considering we only had 1/2 a glass each of orange juice and V8 Acai berry). So we picked up some lunch things, some candy since I had told Leo there would be candy at the parade, some break-n-bake halloween cookies for fun, and this random window-cling pumpkin set. The pumpkin turned out to be a smart move because the kids were completely involved with making different pumpkin faces on the window the whole time I was getting lunch ready.

After we ate we had to play Rock Band! Leo had been asking all day if we could play his favorite song, "Carrot for you" which is really the song Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The line is "California rest in peace" but Leo sings "Carrot for you, rest in cheese" which we find hilarious. We played a few songs on Rock Band and decided it was nap/quiet time so we turned on a Star Wars movie (surprise).

Later Ben and Jenna are coming over for dinner and I'm certain there will be more Rock Band. So far it's been a lot of fun even though we were trapped inside all day. And tomorrow we are planning to go to a picnic Josh's Dad's work is having. They always have tons of stuff for kids so as long as the weather holds out we should be good.

Enjoy today's pictures below:

Lacy posing with the pumpkin face she made

Leo with his pumpkin face

More fun with the pumpkin face

Lunch time - Uncle Josh enjoys a Kid Cuisine with the kids

And you can't play Rock Band without making the Rock Band Face. Here's Leo's:

Two more funny pumpkin faces

Singing "Dani California" ~ Carrot for ya, rest in cheeeeese.....

Rockin out on guitar

Hittin the drums like a pro

And.... nap time :o)

Hopefully some more cute ones tomorrow :o)

So long, so long....

Wow, it's been a week and a half! I can't believe you're still checking this thing.

I hate to make this my big comeback after such a long break because there's really not a lot new to report. As you can imagine I've been MIA due to the overload of lesson planning and paper grading (which, yes, I should be doing right now on my Friday afternoon). All I can say is that I'd better be teaching the same exact subjects (or only one or the other of them) next year because this life is for the birds.

On top of constant lesson planning and standing in lines at the copier that rival Toys 'R Us on black Friday, grad classes have started up again. So I am in class two nights a week and somehow trying to write papers and do homework while I'm keeping up with the demands of work. It's unfortunate, but as much as I love this new position, it has also made me really realize that I'm ready to be a guidance counselor and put lesson planning and grading out of my life for good. If I could choose a faction of my job (say just the teaching part, or just the planning part) it would be comparable to what most other people do for a living. I could spend about 8 hours a day on it and go home to enjoy my family. However, the three factions together on top of graduate school means I can't even plan things on the weekend because I have too much work to do.

I am so sorry that this has been nothing but complaining. Now you're really sorry that you're still checking it ;O)

I think recently I posted about using exercise to escape my stress. That worked for a few days, but then as I realized that it was yet another commitment, I began weighing its necessity against the other tasks it was competing with. Several days so far it has lost out completely. The other day I tried Pilates instead of a vigorous cardio workout on the elliptical. Pilates and Yoga are supposed to be good for stress and calming you down while still giving you a workout. It was nice. I think I liked it better (although I know they always say you should do cardio regularly). I'm going to try alternating between the different Pilates routines on my DVD (abs and hips/thighs/butt). I did abs the other day and could definitely feel it in the whole trunk of my body. Hopefully I'll build some muscle that will burn fat for me until I have the energy for the vigorous cardio stuff again.

On that note, I think I'll get my workout taken care of and then grade some papers until Josh gets home. Tonight we're having dinner with Jennie (Josh's sister) and her bf Michael for Michael's birthday. We love hanging out with them so it should also provide a fun break from all my work stress.

I hope you're willing to keep checking my blog even if my posts slow down. And I hope everyone has a great weekend :o)

You Know You're At Your Wits' End When.....

Pardon the dramatic title. I'm not quite at my wits' end... yet. However, I did plan a workout and look forward to it all day (?!?!?!). Have I lost it? I really am not that fond of exercise, yet I found myself thinking about this workout all day.

It started with my realization that if I wanted this "diet" (yes "") to work, I was going to have to work out. Lame. So much for the easy way. It turned out that the diet was NOT easy. I've always gone back and forth about which I'd rather do and which was the more effective way to get/stay in shape: was it to watch carefully what I eat without being a super-strict maniac, or was it working out regularly? After two weeks of strict phase 1 on South Beach, I decided once and for all that working out was the easier way! Anyway, this weekend was the one month marker of the start of our diet: 2 weeks of very strict phase one, and 2 weeks of us being very not strict on phase two. Josh and I both hit a "plateau" (surely a term some man thought up to describe a situation relating to your body -- no woman would ever use LANDFORMS for this purpose) around the end of week one. We had both lost about 5 pounds, and by the end of week two it was around 7 for both of us. After ending the strict phase, we both still hovered right around the same weight. I thought... if I've stopped losing weight while still on the strict phase, what exactly is going to happen when I add back in the whole grain & berry carbs? I was afraid I would gain but fortunately my weight just stayed the same. Two weeks later I'm still at a 7-pound loss from the very beginning. Josh on the other hand recently added in a workout routine mostly consisting of strength training. Now he has doubled his loss and is down by 15. Seeing this I decided it was time to get my butt in gear and start working out as well.

There are many reasons I haven't exercised in the past. The two biggest are time and sweat. Exercise requires you to set aside time for it, and sometimes I just don't have it. This might be due to working late, errands, social plans or appointments after work, and let's not forget cooking dinner. Schedules fill up and we only have so many hours in the evening, and so many evenings in the week. So anything that needs to get done has to get scheduled during that time. All that aside, there is the sweat factor. If I have class or anything else to do in public in the afternoon or evening, I can not work out before hand. I will not go places in my sweaty workout clothes, and I will not shower, put on a fresh outfit, and re-do my hair and makeup just for 2 hours of class, dinner w/friends, or any other evening shenanigans. It's not worth it. So those have been my excuses.

Today was some freak of nature (or act of God). I had decided I was going to start working out. I planned on 45 minutes a day on the eliptical during Dr. Phil, Oprah, or the news depending on when I get home. I thought about it all day. I left work early with a blinding headache and an empty stomach but never even considered cancelling my workout plans. I popped some excedrine when I got home and had a snack (I won't mention that it was a little piece of cheesecake that I've been working on for a few days now). I even threw in some laundry to run while I was on the eliptical. In the past I've had a lot of difficulty getting the downstairs TV to work (it's hooked up to various dvd players and speaker systems - you have to push a lot of buttons to get sound AND picture, particularly the sound and picture you WANT). Today, it came right on with my first try. I stuck it out for 36 minutes and decided to cut myself a break since this was the first time in a long time that I'd exercised.

I thought about it and realized how important today was. Not only to break the long streak of non-exercise, but that if I could do it today in the condition I was in, I can do it any day. Granted I didn't have class or anything else to go to tonight, but I felt awful when I got home. I was proud of myself for just doing it anyway. I also thought about the combination of factors that pushed me. First, I know, was that I wanted to lose some more weight. But I also realized that I wanted to escape my lesson planning and paper grading. I actually got fed up enough with the recent deluge of work that I turned to exercise as my escape. At least it wasn't alcohol! Hahaha, and not that I want the stress of work to continue to burden me, but I hope I will continue to turn to exercise for stress relief. It was somewhat out of character for me, so I'm all impressed with myself.... sorry :o)

Ok and as if this post isn't long enough, I'll talk a little about how the school year is going. I had a surprise visit from one of the Central Office people today. That was a little awkward and stress-inducing. I didn't show it outwardly though, which was nice. She came in during my World history class and they aren't very enthusiastic about the 14th century. So unfortunately she really got to watch me pulling teeth. It worked out ok though. The class is overall really good. I also have my first official observation for the tenure process on Friday. I had to meet with one of the APs this afternoon to discuss my lesson. He's a really nice guy so I'm not concerned, but you always worry a little about things going well. Other than that I'm very much enjoying my students and the topics I'm teaching. I am very very happy with this job :o)

I'll leave you with that. Don't forget to watch Sarah Palin's speech tonight!