The Great (totally and completely overhyped) storm of the year

So….all week, we were supposed to have huge amounts of snow on Thursday.

Originally, we were going to have 11 inches on Thursday…effectively shutting down the town.  Then it was only 4 inches coming late Thursday.  By Thursday, the snow was definitely going to be south of here, leaving us with the possibility of 1-3 inches on Friday.  My students had their time off planned.  They were ready for it.

My parents caught wind that something was going on south of them, and they were concerned.  You see, we are supposed to meet them in Indianapolis today for lunch to celebrate their fabulous oldest daughter’s upcoming mega-huge adult birthday.  But they didn’t want that delightful daughter and charming son-in-law out if the roads were treacherous.

I assured them that we would be fine.

By email and by phone.  Mom emailed.  Dad called.  Frankly, I was starting to wonder if they just really didn’t want to have lunch with us :)

Well, Mom and Dad, here’s the terrible snowfall that hit this little town.  It may be tough, but I think we’ll be able to manage those treacherous roads and emerge victorious in our battle against the weather.

I love you guys :)

Random Thoughts

We’re going to see CATS today.  It’s the one musical Andy has ALWAYS wanted to see.  And the one that I never cared if I saw.  But I’m looking forward to it today, I think.

Next weekend, after we have lunch with Mom, Dad, and LK, we’re going to a Monster Truck Rally at Lucas Oil Stadium.  I will refrain from expressing my opinions on that via the interwebs. 

Yesterday I fell asleep at my desk during my prep period.  I was exhausted.

Last night, I figured out that if I read my Kindle while I’m on the treadmill, the whole being on the treadmill thing goes pretty quickly.  I was using the “Look Twice as Toned Plan” from Fitness magazine—so I was walking a 16ish minute mile (I’m supposed to be faster…but I’m not there yet) which is somewhere between 3.5 and 4 on the treadmill.  You walk level for fifteen minutes, then for minutes 15-45, you do 2 minute intervals on level and on an incline of 5.  Then you cool down.  My 50 minutes didn’t feel so bad because I wasn’t thinking about it. 

Turns out, there’s not a huge crowd at the gym at 8 on Friday night.  Andy went to the movies with a friend, so I went to work out. 

I saw a dress at Target on Tuesday that I can’t stop thinking about.  It’s burned into my brain.  I want it.  I may ask Andy to stop on our way home from CATS so I can buy it.  I can see myself wearing it all the time.

I have to do laundry today.  I haven’t done it for two weeks.  Our dryer is about to die.  It can only hold a very few clothes or else it stops spinning.  Like 2 long sleeve shirts and 5 pairs of underwear and 2 undershirts a little.  It’s never held a lot.  We have had nothing but bad luck with that thing since we got it.  I am gunning for a replacement, and more than willing to head to Lowes to look.

10 Signs that Maybe you spend too much money on sushi…but are certainly loved at one restaurant in particular :)

Sign Number 1--When you start to enter said restaurant, the manager pulls the door in and pretends to keep you out as a joke

Sign Number 2--When you enter said restaurant, said manager says, "Hey guys, where have you been?  I haven't seen you in a few weeks.

Sign Number 3--Your husband shoots you a look like, "I told you we shouldn't have cheated on this restaurant with that other restaurant"

Sign Number 4--Things you didn't order appear at your table

Sign Number 5--The manager and sushi chefs take part in the ordering of your meal, offering advice, suggestions, and telling you try some of the specials, and one of the sushi chef tells you to "just use your pinchers" on the Dino egg someone chose to order

Sign Number 6--No one says a word when your husband uses your soup spoon to drink the last of his ginger dressing out of his salad bowl--that boy could lick up a ladle of that stuff (and he does when I make it at home) (also, one of the very few times that I must make a conscious choice to respect my husband when I really don’t want to…oh, I kid)

Sign Number 7--The manager tells you that the Snowball roll is actually called a Pla*boy (no way do I want people googling that and finding this)  roll everywhere but his boss thought that offensive

Sign Number 8--You leave with two of the ceramic glasses that their house drinks come in (one shaped like a geisha, the other like a Buddha) (Andy's response--to me, not to them--Is that an idol?  Is it bad to have?)

Sign Number 9--When your husband mentions that perhaps he ordered too much (he did) the manager says, "No man, I told you--there is no too much"

Sign Number 10--As you leave, they call out after you, "Don't wait another two weeks--come back this weekend."

Inside my head

I still have lots of words inside of me.

Mr. Kim is here.  He is the neighbor’s cat, but sometimes he hangs out here.  It helps curb Andy’s desires for pets and babies to have him around.  He can move in if that’s all it takes.

Andy has washed his new car twice in the last three weeks.  My car hasn’t been washed since before I got married.  I think my dad was the last one to wash it.

I’m afraid of car washes.

Drive thru’s too.  I’ve never done one.

I’m afraid I’ll hit something.

One time at the bank, I hit my side mirror on the brick dividing wall.

My classes were better behaved today.  I hope they are starting to mature.  I told them they needed too.  But I don’t know if they listen.

I’m thinking about not eating sugar anymore.  I can’t seem to control myself, so I think it might be better to just get my sugars from fruit and be done with the other stuff.  But that would mean I couldn’t drink my morning coffee, because I need some sweetener.

I’m going to have to think about that.

Every time I here the word Haiti, I tear up.  I keep praying for the orphans from Belloc, the orphanage our church supports. 

I have a load of dishes in the sink.

I always hope if I let them soak in hot water long enough, they’ll magically be clean.

Andy said that doesn’t work.  And he gets irritated because my dishes aren’t clean enough.  I never had to handwash dishes.  I really don’t know how.

My stomach hurts.  So does my throat.

I think it’s because of the climate change in my classroom.  I was freezing until 2 and then I couldn’t stop sweating.

I created lesson materials like a madwoman today.  I made two vocab lists, designed materials for a whole multi-genre unit, and did three days worth of grammar slides. 

I’m exhausted.

I hope Andy comes home early tonight.  I need to use my words.

I need to exercise.  I haven’t since Thursday.  That’s no good.

I lost two pounds last week.

That was exciting….hopefully I’ll have another two this week.  I haven’t been under my calorie count since Thursday either.

I think when left to my own devices I turn into a lazy, non-exercising eater.  I’m glad I have a husband around to keep me in check.

Okay.  That’s good.  My fingers hurt.

I just want to fall asleep

It’s way too late for me to be awake.  But I feel jittery and I couldn’t sleep (I tried).  Andy is flat passed out.  I’m a wired up mess.

Andy was gone all weekend.  I have two days worth of words stored up.  He didn’t get home until close to 9 tonight….so we haven’t had a chance to zip through my stored up language.

I hate glue traps.  With all of my being.  We had a mouse stuck in one in the kitchen all day.  He still wasn’t dead when Andy came home…but he took care of him.

I didn’t go inside the kitchen today. 

I went to Kroger and bought two Lunchables.  That’s what I ate today. 

Didn’t do my laundry either.

There was no way I was going in the same room as that mouse.  And I didn’t.

I just bought something way exciting.  It’s kind of a secret right now…but I’m pumped.

I have to tell Andy I did it.  He knew I was going to, we just hadn’t decided when.

Speaking of Andy…a video that he MADE for work is going to be on America’s Funniest Home Videos sometime in March.

I loved that show when I was little.  Frankly, I still think it’s funny sometimes now.  And I think it’s awesome that a video my husband edited will be on TELEVISION.  All because it's funny :)

I’d link to the video but I’m too lazy right now.  And it might spoil the fun….of course you’re going to watch it when it’s on, right?  Mom?  LK?

I took a Benadryl for an allergy related headache. 

I hope I can wake up not so groggy tomorrow.

I hope I can fall asleep tonight.  This week is going to be LONG.  Lots of evening stuff related to work that is never any fun.  I need to start the week well rested or Friday will not be here soon enough.

Working Out…

I like working out.  I just can’t convince myself of that every day.  Sometimes it’s just too cold to change into my gym clothes.  Other days I’m just too tired.  Or lazy.  Once I’m at the gym, though, I love it.  For real—love it.  I like to get sweaty.  I like to see the calories burned (and think seriously about the ease of taking them in and difficulty of getting them out).  I like to workout at home and at the gym.

At home, I’m a big fan of the following:

At the gym, I’m for real in love with the treadmill.  I used to like the elliptical back at Purdue…but recently, I’m not a big fan.  I think it’s just not enough bang for my buck.  I’ve been using the 5K training plan from Runner’s World.  For my walking portions, I go 3.5 MPH at an incline of 1 or 2, and then I run at the same incline and either 5 or 5.5 MPH (depending on how strong I’m feeling).  Or on off days from running I do a walking program where I walk for 10-15 minutes at a flat incline, then do 2 minutes at an incline of 5 and 2 minutes at zero until I get to about 45 minutes.

Then I alternate between the arm machines and the leg machines.  I try to do about 3 sets of 12 reps on each of the different machines.  I don’t worry too terribly much about the weight….I just go until I’m tired.  I don’t really want to build muscles…I’d rather just strengthen and tone what I already have.

As for food…we’re kind of boring eaters.  I can’t really eat gluten because it gives me terrible stomach cramps and bloating, so for the most part we have either chicken/fish/turkey with steamed vegetables and brown rice.  Or no rice and some fruit or low-fat cheese.  I try to stick to about 1400 calories a day (I use www.thedailyplate.com to keep track). For lunch I’ll have salad or yogurt or cheese or fruit or a protein bar.  Breakfast is usually plain oatmeal with some peanut butter and sugar free jam.  We try to snack on almonds or pistachios, dried cranberries, fruit, veggies, hummus and the like.  If I didn’t have a ridiculous sweet tooth and sabotage myself with chocolate, I’d be much better off :)

Mouse-tery Solved (sort of)

I found the missing mouse trap today. 

With the mouse attached.

It was in our bedroom.

Dead and dead.

I have no idea how it got there.  I sort of did a throw everything on the floor and try to rearrange furniture clean, and at some point, after moving every stick of furniture in the bedroom and kicking a pile of shoes (who knew I had so.many.shoes) from one area to another, I bent over to grab something and narrowly avoided touching the dead mouse stuck to the middle of the glue trap.

I screamed. 

And ran to the living room.

Thankfully Andy was pulling the in the driveway with our lunch and he went back to deal with the situation.

Sick me out.

Any ideas on how the mouse trap ended up in the bedroom?  We sure can’t figure it out.

Shannon’s Shower

Here are my edited pictures from Shannon’s baby shower two weeks ago.  (I know…I’m behind…my camera and my computer decided that they don’t love each other, so Andy bought me a card reader and I’m finally getting everything off the camera and onto the computer.  Honestly, though, you can’t expect much from a girl who’s been in the same zebra pajamas since 9 pm Wednesday (minus 30 minutes for showering) and keeps eating Pop-Tarts even though she thinks they are disgusting and they make her stomach hurt).

But here are the pictures (SME—I’m sending you a link to the originals later)

Our Sweet Mommy-to-be with her sash and rattle corsage:

The Mood:

 

 

The Food:

The Fun:

Shannon and Erin talking to Kristen (their big sister) and Aydan (their nephew) in Alaska!  And Kristen watching the shower :)

 

One of the guests,Monica, brought this sweet little piggy bank for Baby Boy—and all the guests got to “feed” him so he’d be quiet during the shower.  Too cute. (You know what else is too cute—those turquoise shoes my sister is wearing on the right—I’m in love with them…and she found them at Wal-Mart!  I know, right.)

 

Smell the chocolate diaper game

And a few of the presents

Can you read this one?  It says Mum+Dad=Me and Shannon’s youngest sister gave it to her.  It was my favorite of the day :)

Snowed In.

School was cancelled at 6:20 this morning.

It started snowing just after 7 this morning.

Oh, Southern Indiana.

You crack me up.

But I officially have a four day weekend, so I’ll take it :)

Saturdays for my sanity

I have decided something.  I am spending the next two Saturdays at home.  In my pajamas.  Doing nothing but sorting out my house.  It’s necessary.  Because I’m losing it.  So here’s the game plan:

When I wake up on Saturday hours earlier than Andy because I fell asleep at 6 pm earlier on Friday, I will drink my coffee, have my quiet time, and tackle the house.

This weekend, I will do the laundry area, the kitchen, the living room and the hall closets.

Next weekend I will get the bedroom, bathroom, and the offices. 

When things thaw out and I can walk outside without getting frostbite, the garage will meet its match.

And things will be thrown away.

And organized.

I need an organizing supplies category in my budget….or I might just pull it from “household.”

Here’s to a less distracted 2010

I have not started out the new year strong.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had fun.  But my brain is all afuzz right now. 

On Friday, New Year’s Day, we left in the early afternoon to go visit our friends Jon and Carrie in Louisville.  We were fully intending to stay through the weekend—Carrie and I went to see White Christmas the musical last night.

After we arrived, we were out to lunch at Qdoba.  As I was filling my water glass, I had the following conversation in my head:

“Oh hey, that tea is John Conti brand.  Doesn’t John Conti make coffee too?  Did I drink any of the coffee I brewed this morning.  No.  I didn’t.  Did I go back in the kitchen after I turned the coffee pot on?  No.  I left the coffee pot on.  Crap.”

So…after we ate lunch, we took a detour back to our house to turn off the coffee pot (while we were here…we watched a movie…and someone else left a space heater on the rest of the weekend).

Yesterday I wasn’t terribly fuzzy.  But I also didn’t do much.  So I probably would have been.

Today.  Oh today.  First, I grabbed a bag of apples at the grocery store that were totally rotted through.  So we had to go back to return them.  Then I put eggs on to hardboil and I forgot about them.  I went racing into the kitchen (Andy thought there was someone at the door)….and pulled them from the burner.  I sacrificed one egg, and was glad to find that it was in perfect shape.  I hadn’t overdone them yet.

If I keep doing things like this, I may end up burning the house down or hurting myself.  So here’s to hoping I can get my head on straight in 2010.  Like tomorrow, maybe.  Since I have to go back to work and all.

New Year Thoughts

I love a new year.  As a teacher, I like that I get to have two new years every year—a new school year and a new calendar year.

I love the idea of a fresh start, of a do-over.  In my classroom, my high school kids get a fresh start of sorts each six weeks.  Because we’re on a trimester, they get report cards every six weeks.  At the start of each new term, I remind them that it doesn’t matter what happened last time around.  This is their chance for a fresh start.  And I let them know that I want to help them—because I want them to succeed (for some of them, more than they want to succeed).  I want this six weeks to be their best one yet.

A new year is like that for me.  A chance to begin again.  A chance to line up my priorities and get a do-over.  A chance to forget about my shortcomings in the past, and start fresh in the new year.  A chance to make this year the best one yet.

So here are my plans for the new year…my chance at a do-over.

1. Keeping a clean house.  I’ve gotten better at keeping things tidier, at least for the most part.  But I still have a long way to go.  I am a natural slob married to a man who can’t function with clutter.  So this year, I want to do better at keeping our house in order.  My hope is to turn myself into a “clean a little each day” type of person so that it never gets too overwhelming.

2. Figuring out my eating/exercising.  I have recently figured out that eating gluten makes me sick to my stomach, so I’ve been trying to sort out what I can and cannot eat right now.  I’d like to get into a consistent diet and exercise routine, and maybe drop a few of the nearly 20 pounds I’ve gained since getting married. 

3. Focusing more on others and less on myself.  I so often get focused on myself—my wants, my desires, my whatever.  I’m kind of over me.  I want to look at others and see what they need and try to help.  I want to be aware of this in my home, in my classroom, in my church, and in the community.

4. Stick to the family budget.  We have one.  I’d just like us to work together to stick to it and make it work.

5. Be in the Word consistently.  I am really sporadic.  I may be totally on it with the Lord for one week…then take a three week hiatus.  I want to be consistent.  I am fully aware of the differences in my attitudes, my actions, and my relationships when I am not carving out time with the Lord.  I need to stop sabotaging myself.

There you have it….My five areas for growth in 2010.