November 30, 2009

It was back to work for me today. It seemed to go pretty smoothly. My students did a good job getting back in the swing of things. It actually felt kind of good to be back. It was a nice break. I am ready for the three weeks we have until Winter Break.

So, it was a pretty uneventful day for me.

November 29, 2009

It was a perfect day. This afternoon, Michael and I took the kids down to Main Street. Every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are different Santas and Christmas Characters that wander around down there. They will talk to the kids and they hand out trading cards with their pictures on them. The shops stay open later during this time and there are other things like caroling and a train display. This year they even have an ice skating rink down in Frontier Park.

We wandered around Main Street letting the kids collect the trading cards. They ended up with 27 out of 29 cards. We stopped in at The Tintypery to make our appointment for our yearly family picture with Santa Claus. We'll be going back next Saturday for that. We watched the ice skaters for a while and bought a new Nutcracker for our collection. We stayed down there long enough to see the characters gather to sing Christmas carols. It was so much fun.

After that we went to Fazoli's for supper. Then, we came home and put up the tree and finished decorating the inside of the house. I just LOVE family time like that together. I even remembered to take my camera with me this year so we have pictures of the kids with the characters.

November 28, 2009

Today I started out doing laundry. I got about half of it done. Considering I did laundry every day Monday through Thursday this week, that's not a big accomplishment. I tried to do some online shopping, too, but I just don't seem to know what to get anyone this year.

I also got out the Christmas stuff. I got most everything out except the tree. I moved the nativity set to the table that usually has snowmen on it this year. Since Michael's parents helped us increase our nativity set last year it is big enough for that table and my snowmen have outgrown that table. They are spread out a little more now. I have my Santas in the same place, but I put the big Scottish one on top of the entertainment center. I put everything but the books from the entertainment center in the storage boxes that I took Christmas stuff out of. In any case, it's a good start on the Christmas decorating.

Michael and Caleb were up working on the yard at the duplex most of the day. Michael's dad was with them. Michaela was with my mom until after 2:00 pm. So, I had about an hour or so to myself. Michaela went outside to ride her bike when she got home. She and Caleb both need new bikes. Caleb has been riding hers because he's too big for his and Michaela has been riding mine.

Tonight we went to Trailhead for supper. We had to wait a while, but thankfully we didn't get there any later than we did. It got packed and there were A LOT of big parties there tonight. Main Street was really busy because the weather has been so mild. It is cool to see all those people down there and the shops still open at supper time. I love Main Street during Christmas time.

After supper we went and got some things at Wal-mart and then came home. It was a good day and night.

November 27, 2009 Black Friday

I got up around 3:30 this morning and was at Wal-mart by 4:30. I did not realize they were open all night. This wouldn't have been such a big deal to me except that they did not let anyone check out until 5:00 a.m. this morning. This meant that there were tons of people there who had gotten in line hours before I got there and were just standing in line waiting for the check out lanes to open. It also meant that it was impossible to move in the store. You could not get down isles because people were just standing in front of them. It was awful. So, I left and went to Target.

I found a few things at Target, but not a lot. I did see Kelly and Jeremy, there, too. It was nice to talk to them for a few moments. I stood in line there for about 45 minutes or so before getting to check out. It wasn't too bad there.

I went to a couple different places after that and again did not get a whole lot. I stopped and had breakfast at Jack In The Box because I was starving. Then, I ended up at Toys R Us last. I got a few things for Caleb, there, but again did not find as much as I usually do on Black Friday. I did manage to find a really nasty head ache while I was out, though.

I spent the rest of the day laying around in bed trying to nap and fighting the headache. Around 4:00 p.m. I took Michaela up to my mom's. She is spending the night up there with my mom and Griff.

Tonight, Michael, Caleb and I went to Red Robin for supper. I had French Onion soup there. I like their soup. After that we went to Garden Ridge, Lowe's, Target and Wal-mart. Michael is searching for new lights to put outside on the house. He's not found what he wants yet. I managed to find a snowman for outside, a snowman/penguin snow globe and the Santa Clause that goes with the snowman and reindeer I've already bought for this year. Caleb got boots and gloves.

Now, I'm watching the new version of Halloween and getting very sleepy. I cannot believe there are only two days left until I have to go back to work. This break has gone by way too fast.

November 26, 2009 Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving! It was a really nice day. My mom, Griff, Brandon and Karen were here with us. My turkey was not as good as last year's, but it was still good. We definitely had way more food than we needed, but we all enjoyed it very much.

The funny part about it is, I forgot to take the stuffing out of the bird so we did not have stuffing on the table for dinner time. It's so funny because we did not even realize it. I warmed it up at supper time, though so we did get to enjoy it.

My mom, Michaela, Brandon, Karen, Caleb and I played electronic Monopoly tonight, too. That was fun. Mom left before we were finished so Brandon and Caleb ganged up on the girls. Big mistake, there were three of us and only two of them. Karen and I helped Michaela win.

I did buy a Christmas gift online today, too. Amazon.com was having specials all day today. I found an MP3 player for Michaela for $44.00. I found some reviews on it that look good so hopefully, it will work out well for us.

After everyone left and the kids went to bed, I looked through the Black Friday ads. I guess I will be getting up around 3:30 in the morning.

September 25, 2009

Today the kids and I cleaned most of the day. They even scrubbed down the cabinets in the kitchen and the walls in the hallway. We cleaned until lunch time and then left to go get Wendy's.

We stopped by my mom's house on the way. She went with us. It was a nice lunch. After lunch we came home and cleaned a little more. Then, we took a break until late afternoon.

I made spaghetti for supper. This evening, Michael and the kids made the cranberries, pumpkin pies and cheesecake. I got the veggies and potatoes ready to go for the morning. Then, I dressed the turkey and had it in the oven by 10:30 p.m. It will cook slowly all night. Now, it's time for bed.

November 24, 3009

Today the kids had a half day of school. I spent the morning talking to Angie, dusting and folding laundry. I picked up Caleb at 11:45 and we went to Angie's house to wait for Michaela's bus. We were at Angie's until around 1:00 and then came home.

The kids and I cleaned until about 3:15 and then headed to the dentist. Both kids are cavity free!! I'm very glad to hear that. Michaela needs to brush near her gum line better and Caleb is getting his back teeth better than his front teeth now. Michaela has 6 baby teeth left and 4 are getting ready to come out.

Tonight I went and finished grocery shopping (I think) for Thanksgiving. Michael put the new light fixture in the dining room and cleaned off the dining room table. I also folded some more clothes. Laundry just never ends.

November 23, 2009

I have this whole week off so this morning I dropped the kids off and then came home. I worked on some stuff for work this morning, but that's about all I did this morning. I did take a little nap too. I'm really tired because I'm still hurting. It's not quite as bad, but still bugging me.

Abby had to be at the Groomer's by 11:45 so after I dropped her off I went and did some shopping. I went to Toys R Us because they had DS games on sale Buy One Get One 1/2 off. It was a pretty good deal for those games.

Then, I went to Target. I had to get my nephew a birthday gift. I also took some time to look at MP3 players. I think I found one that would be good for Michaela, but we'll have to see what Michael says.

After that I went to Dierburgs to get our Turkey and some of the other stuff for our Thanksgiving meal that I had not gotten yet. I had to get a couple candy bars because when I checked out I'd not met the $50 necessary to get the sale price on the Turkey. I don't think I've ever done that before.

When I was finished there it was time to pick Abby up from the Groomers. She's always so gorgeous after being groomed. She really loves going there, too.

We came home and I put things away. Then, it was time to go get Caleb. Caleb came home and did his homework and then we went to get Michaela.

This evening, Michael put the new faucet in the bathroom. It's so nice to not have a drippy faucet in there anymore.

November 22, 2009

Today is my nephew's 15th birthday. He's growing up so fast. I cannot believe he is only a year away from 16.

Ok, so I've been in a lot of pain this weekend. I woke up Friday morning with my neck and shoulder hurting. It kept getting worse through out the day. I did not sleep well on Friday night. So, Saturday was pretty miserable for me. By night time I was having to hold my elbow just to keep from tearing up. It really was hurting me pretty bad. I could not even lay my arm on the table without having sharp pains in my shoulder and back.

I slept better last night than I did the night before. When I first go up it felt quite a bit letter, but only for a short time. I was still hurting today. It wasn't AS BAD as yesterday, but it's been pretty uncomfortable. I bought a moist heat therapy hot/cold pack at Wal-mart today. It's like the one I used to have from the hospital. It's tube sock type material with rice in it and you heat it up in the microwave. It's helped more than anything. Last night when I got out of the shower and put Banalg on when my pores were still open it burned like hell, but it also made the ache and pain in my shoulder go away for a while much better than when my pores are not open.

I hope by tomorrow it'll be almost gone. Tonight is much better than last night.

November 21, 2009

Today was Caleb's last football game of his first season. It's been a long season, but I still cannot believe it's over. He waited three years to be able to play and now his first season is over. He loved it. I am so happy that it was such a positive experience for him. I think Michael and I enjoyed it as much as he did. It was so much fun seeing my little man out there enjoying himself so much. We've created a football monster, though. He is just football crazy now. It can be a little tiresome, but I am thrilled he's found something that he loves so much.

Caleb's team lost their game, today, but they put up a good fight. They finished their season with a 4th place trophy for their division and in 6th place position in the league. That is 6th place out of 17 teams. That is quite an accomplishment for their first year. A lot of the boys had never played football before and some of them had never played any kind of sport before. They did GREAT. As a mom, it's a dream come true when something your child wanted so badly goes so well.

November 20, 2009

Today was my first scheduled observation with our new principal. I was really nervous about it. Since he's never observed me before I really have no idea what to expect from him. I taught a vocabulary lesson while he was in the classroom today. I was kind of excited because I've been able to put together a lot of fun activities that differentiate vocabulary.

I think it went well. My students seemed to stay engaged. I tried really hard to call on some students that were not raising their hands to keep them in the lesson. During the part of the lesson where the children were working in groups, he went around as most principals do to see what the children were doing. But, instead of just watching he got involved with them. That was really cool. I enjoyed the fact that he was working with them. It was helpful to me, too. I told him so later. I told him that I was going to have him come to our room more often because I liked having the extra pair of hands. You can tell he really likes being with the kids.

In any case I am happy that my observation is over before Thanksgiving. This means I do not have to worry about it the three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can just teach and enjoy my students for those three weeks. I'm really looking forward to that. Three full weeks of just my students and me. That's the best part of my job, getting to be with them and not having voyeurs interfere.

What really blows my mind is that once we get to Winter Break (which is just 4 weeks away) our first semester will be over. Of course 2nd semester is longer, but it does mean we get to start "fresh" when we come back from Winter Break.

November 19, 2009

Tonight was Michaela's DARE graduation. She was very excited about it and I'm really proud of her. She has taken everything she's learned in DARE very seriously and I'm so happy about that. I'm just really proud of the young woman she is becoming.

She loved the officer that taught the program. I wasn't real impressed with his skills with parents. You can tell he has his favorites and the rest are just fluff for him. He talked way too much tonight. He said about a million times "We're going to move this along." But, if he'd not said that he could have shaved about 15 minutes off the program. If he'd stopped claiming to have baked the cakes he could have shaved another 5 minutes off the program.

After the ceremony he was letting kids come over and take pictures with him. Michaela wanted to have her picture taken so we went over and got in line. When we were next there was another family that had stepped up after us, but were kid of off to the side. The officer looked at us and then stepped over to them because he knew recognized the parents. Michaela was very aware that he skipped over us. He also called the girl by name.

When they stepped away he finally acknowledged us. He never did call Michaela by name so I'm guess he could not recall her name. He did not ask me who I was or anything. He did pose for a picture and was concerned when the flash did not go off so I know he wanted to make sure that Michaela got a good picture, but I do know Michaela's feelings were a little hurt. I don't think she caught on to the implications of his behavior the way I did, but it kind of put a damper on things. I had been looking forward to meeting him because Michaela was so fond of him and I feel really short changed.

November 18, 2009

It's hump day! Just two more days until my Thanksgiving break. I wish they'd not given us a week, but I'm still going to enjoy it. I will have a lot to do so I'll be able to put the time to good use, but it will be nice to be kid free for a day and a half next week. It'll also be nice to be able to pick Caleb up right after school, too.

Tonight was our Girl Scout meeting. I think it went really well. We let the girls know our expectations and I am hoping this means that we'll be having more good meetings. It really is a lot of fun being with the girls when things go smoothly and we are able to have a meeting without all the craziness.

November 17, 2009

It's raining again. Caleb's practice was canceled again tonight. It's the last week of practice and it doesn't look like he'll get to go to any of them because Thursday night is Michaela's DARE graduation.

Work went well today. My students worked hard and our staff meeting was actually productive. At least I think it was. We discussed building business and it was not too long. Well, it wasn't for those of us who do not teach 3 - 6th grade. They had to stay for acuity stuff and the rest of us got to leave.

November 16, 2009

It rained all day today. I had a hard time getting to work because there was residue of two accidents on the highway. I had to drive about 20 miles an hour all the way down 70 this morning and that sucked. I am so tired of accidents. There have been more accidents on my way to work this school year so far than in the previous 16 years combined. It's getting ridiculous.

Since it rained all day and is still raining, Caleb did not have football practice. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow too. I wish it would get cold enough to snow. But, that is very unlikely in November. Hopefully, it'll stay wet this winter and we will get some snow.

Tonight Michael, the kids and I did some running around. We went to Michael's parents to return a pie plate and I talked my MIL into hemming some pants for me. We visited for a while and then left to go to Target. Michaela needed tights because she has to dress up tomorrow for school. She's going on a field trip to the symphony. Michael also got the new Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD.

I've spent the rest of the evening working on pictures. I am making some headway. Maybe by Wednesday evening I'll be finished.

November 15, 2009

It was a crazy, insane day for us. But, it was a good day.

Caleb had his 2nd playoff game today. We had to drive all the way down to SLU High School for the game. Life will be so much easier when they re-open highway 40 (or I guess it's going to be I-64 now) so we don't have to drive through the city to get to the south side of St. Louis anymore.

Caleb's team actually won by forfeit today. The other team showed up without their ID cards. In our league you cannot play without your ID cards. But, then they went ahead and played the game as a scrimmage anyway. We beat them 14 - 7! So, we would have won no matter what. The 7 year old Gold Titans got 4th place in their division because of this win. Next week they play again to see if they get 5th or 6th place in the league. I'm pretty proud of them.

After the game, we had to rush home and get some lunch. I made sandwiches for the kids and Caleb gulped his down and changed clothes so I could take him to a birthday party. He was so excited about it. It was at the RecPlex and although he missed the first part of the party because of his game, he still got to have cake and go swimming with his friends. He stayed there with Chase's family so Michael and I could take pictures at the mother/daughter banquet.

When I left Caleb at the RecPlex, I came home and got ready for the Girl Scout Mother/Daughter banquet. We had to be there by 4:00 p.m. Michael and I took the posed pictures at the beginning of the evening. I am a little nervous about them. It is not easy to take posed portraits indoors. Especially since I am not a professional and I do not have lighting equipment. I think I need to work on that.

It was a great evening, though. Michael stayed until around 5:30 and then left to go get Caleb. Michaela and I won a basket from the silent auction. It has all kinds of cool movies in it, movie theater size candies, popcorn, nacho chips and cheese and soda. It is really cool.

They had hula dancers there, tonight too. They were great and they taught the girls how to do some of the dance moves.

The food was really good, too. Vicky and Melinda (the leaders that put it all together) did a GREAT job with the banquet. I love that we do this every year. I look forward to it and I know Michaela does, too.

Now, I am completely exhausted and going to bed.

November 14, 2009

It was a busy day with just normal weekend stuff. I needed to get as much laundry done as possible because I won't have much time to do it tomorrow. I also did all the errands today. Wal-mart was CRAZY of course and they only had like 5 cashiers working. I also think they picked out the 5 slowest cashiers they had to work today.

Tonight we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse. It was our anniversary dinner. It was REALLY good but I ate entirely too much. It was hard to walk afterwards. It was a good evening, though. I cannot believe how tired I am tonight, though. I really need a weekend where we don't have to do anything.

November 13, 2009

It was Friday the 13th and there were no Jason moments in my life! LOL It was actually a pretty good day. Work went smoothly and it's been a nice quiet night at home. I made spaghetti for dinner. I did not feel like going out anywhere tonight. This is the first Friday in a long time that we just stayed at home.

November 12, 2009

Fifteen years ago today, Michael and I got married. I cannot believe it's been 15 years already. I love him more now than ever. I really am very lucky to have him in my life. Michael and my kids are my biggest dream come true. How many people get to say they are actually living their biggest dream?

I came home to a dozen beautiful red roses tonight. They are just gorgeous. Michael knows how to make me feel special.

Love you, babe!

November 11, 2009

Well, we've made it to the middle of the week. This week seems to be going by VERY slow.

I did the grocery shopping tonight. The store was kinda busy. At least more busy than normal. I picked up a few things for Thanksgiving dinner while I was there tonight. Not a lot, but at least something to get that shopping started. I can't believe Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. Christmas is only 44 days away!

Thank you to all the veterans and active duty military personnel. I hope you had a good Veteran's Day.

November 10, 2009

I had two meetings after work today. Somehow meetings make me more tired that actual teaching does, most of the time. I just feel like I could sleep for about three days. I'll do grocery shopping tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it being Friday.

November 9, 2009

Today is Monday. We have two full weeks of school and then a week off for Thanksgiving. After that we have three full weeks of school and then off for two weeks for Christmas. Then, it will be second semester all ready.

I finally got my homework finished. It was interesting and I am eager to play around with Wikis a little more. I hope I get a good grade on it. I still have not gotten a grade on last week's assignment. I had to re-submit my Google Map because my instructor could not see my pin points. Hopefully, I'll get feedback on that tonight. I have two weeks left of this class. I can't believe it's almost over already.

We found out tonight that Caleb's team will be playing Normandy next weekend for his last game. I hope they win.

November 8, 2009

It was not a happy day for Titans, today. Caleb's team lost big time in their first playoff game. They lost to Kirkwood 31-0. It was a painful game. The boys really worked hard, though. They played tough and fought the whole game, but that other team was so much bigger and faster than us.

At least it was another beautiful day. We played on the field behind the middle school that is next to the Magic House. It was great being around fun people and watching my son play the game he's grown to love so much. We have one more game next week. Then, his first football season is over.

We stopped and had a very late lunch at O'Charlies before coming home. I think we were all tired. Caleb is the only one that really wanted to talk during the meal. No surprises there, he could out talk all three of us combined.

The rest of the day I worked on laundry, lesson plans and my homework. I still did not finish it. I'm still confused. I sent emails to my co-worker that is taking the class and my instructor, but they both seem to be offline for the evening. So, I put it away for the night. Hopefully I can finish tomorrow evening. I've really been enjoying what I learn, but some of it has been frustrating for me. But, I feel like I'm actually learning something new which is a GREAT feeling.

November 7, 2009

It was a BEAUTIFUL day outside today. The temps got into the 70's. The sun was out and it was just so nice outside. Michael went duck hunting for the first time this season and of course did not get anything because it was too warm for the ducks, but at least he got out and was able to be out where he loves to be.

It was a pretty typical Saturday. I did laundry, ran errands and worked on stuff for work. I tried to do some of my homework for my class, but did not get far with it.

We left the house by around 4:30 to go eat tonight. I wanted nachos from Trailhead so bad I couldn't stand it and did not want to have to walk away because the wait was too long again. We got right in and the nachos tasted SO GOOD!!!!! YUMMY!!!!

We tried to go to the AT&T store tonight. We have a remote that is not acting correctly. I guess it's got some bad connections or something. All the other remotes seem to work just fine. Michael called AT&T and they said we could just take the remote into the store and they would replace it for us, but they were closed before we got there so we'll have to do it later.

Still lovin' the U-verse, though!!!

November 6, 2009

Yeah, it's Friday! We got our AT&T U-verse installed today. Michael came home from work early to supervise the installation. We now have our Internet, television and land line through AT&T. So far I really love it!!! The modem that controls it all is HUGE! It's almost as tall as our computer monitor. We have receivers on 4 televisions. We have now joined the 21st century and have a DVR now! I'm SO EXCITED about that. It makes it so much easier to record television shows. The best part of all of it is that we get to say GOOD BYE to Charter!

November 5, 2009

Today was the first day of the NEA conferences. I rode with a co-worker on the Metro-Link down town so we would not have to pay for parking. It was a nice ride because we got a chance to talk. The conferences were interesting. I did spend some time in the rep meeting to see what it was all about. It was a bit confusing.

This afternoon I went to buy things for the basket that our Girl Scout troop is putting together for the Mother/Daughter dinner. I bought four plastic bowls for popcorn, popcorn, theater size candy, a Monopoly card game, the newer version of Miracle on 34th Street on DVD and three finger nail polishes. I got really excited about what to get and couldn't wait to tell Angie so I took it all over there to show her. I called Vicky tonight to let her know about it too. I really did not spend that much, either. I think total it came to about $25.00.

Tonight Michaela and I went to the Y to register for the Fall II session. She was supposed to get registered for Minnow class, but the only Minnow class that was available was on Wednesday nights and that's Girl Scout Night. So, she'll be with her same teacher and we'll both still be on Thursday nights still.

Caleb had football practice tonight. Michaela and I stopped up there for a little while on our way home from the Y. We didn't stay too long because Michaela still has a cough and the cold air makes it worse. So, we came home and she got in the shower.

November 4, 2009

Today was Friday for my students. Tomorrow and Friday are the NEA conferences. They are being held down town St. Louis at the Millennium Hotel this year. We get the two days off so we can have time to go to the conferences. I'm going to meet a co-worker at the Metro Link station and we're going to ride the metro link downtown together, then walk to the hotel.

Michaela had her last cross country meet of the season today. She came in 33rd. She had trouble running because of her cough. I think if she decides she wants to do this again next year, we'll see about taking her to the park and letting her train more.

Tonight was girl scouts. The meeting started out ok, but then at the end, the same thing as always happened. We have asked the girls repeatedly to not run around in the gym. Just because our meetings are held in the gym does not mean it's free for all time. I'm not sure how much help they gave in cleaning up before they started running around. It makes it hard for them to hear anything we have to say to them. It's also just not the right time for that kind of behavior. And, someone got hurt this time. It was an accident but that is not the point.

I am just so tired of having them ignore our instructions and directions. It is so disrespectful. We have explained it all to them and asked them more times than I can count, but they just ignore it. We can get them calmed down but if we turn to talk to a parent picking up or clean up something or even just pack up our things, they start in again. It's exhausting and makes me not want to be around them. I don't like feeling that way. Something is going to have to give. We can not keep having this stuff happen at our meetings.

November 3, 2009

I did not have to stay for a staff meeting at work today. It was nice to get to just come home on a Tuesday. I was able to pick up Caleb and be home in time to be here when Michaela got off the activity bus this evening.

Caleb and Michael had football practice again tonight. Michaela and I went to do the grocery shopping. And, then I came home and got my homework for my class finished. I had to make a Google Map and create a lesson to go with it for my class. I hope I did it right. I'm a bit nervous about it since I've not worked with Google Maps that much. But, I got it finished and got it turned in tonight.

November 2, 2009

Today was the beginning of a short week with students. My students will have a four day weekend. We get Thursday and Friday to go to the NEA conferences downtown.

It was a pretty quiet day at work. Not a whole lot going on. I was going to do my homework but our Internet was down all night. Yes, I am typing this post-Monday. So, I just chilled on my bed with the television on for the evening. Michael and Caleb were at football practice tonight.

November 1, 2009

I'm not sure how to feel with no football game this weekend. Our by week just happened to fall on the last week of the regular season. Playoffs start next weekend.

Today I mostly just did laundry and ran errands. Oh, and I got to take a nap. It was heaven.

Michaela and I stayed home from church because she's coughing quite a bit. We've had to get the nebulizer out this time around, but we've only had to use it a couple times.