Absolutely True

At school, one of my friends and fellow teachers has a sign hanging in her classroom that says:

There will be no crisis this week...my schedule is already full.

I laugh every time I see that sign. How true, right? I'm not sure when it happened, but my life became busy. Usually when I think about busy, I'm thinking about all the "extra" stuff that can fill up a square on the calendar. I've discovered that I'm quite busy these days just doing the ordinary stuff, not to mention all that extra stuff.

For example, you know that I'm busy with walking most nights (and if you're not familiar with that check out the post below...such an embarrassment, but a fun read all the same) and when you throw in church on Wednesday and WW on Thursday...well it just adds up.

Also on my calendar this week (in three boxes no less) was Toby. He was declawed and neutered on Tuesday. I had to take him to the vet Monday afternoon since I couldn't drop him off on Tuesday morning (sometimes work gets in the way of just about everything!). I picked him up on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately for both of us, his healing hasn't been smooth. I had to take him back in this morning for an infection in one of the pads. Of course, Charlie doesn't understand either why his pal doesn't want to play with him so he's been driving me bonkers. Needless to say...one crisis we're all wishing hadn't happened.

There is this Fall PTO carnival at school this afternoon. It was stressed very heavily that you needed to sign up for a shift, but I've decided not to trek down to Spring and attend. I put in a monetary donation instead. There have been numerous things that come up at school that require money...more than I thought. Frankly, I'm a little tapped out at the moment in the spare money department. I'm sure it'll go on just fine without me.

Today, I'm doing a little Fall cleaning at home...more than just the usual vacuum and toilet scrub of the weekend. My friend Becky is coming to spend the weekend with me on Friday. As you've seen, my weeknights are a blur of activity so all that in depth cleaning gets to get done today. Don't you just hate anything that starts with in depth?! On the upside, the house smells wonderful! Clean is my absolute favorite scent.

So, however you're spending the weekend I hope your life follows that funny little saying and that all crisis stay away so you can get on with the getting on of living that busy life of yours!

What A Bust

I think I've made a decision. No matter what happens job wise (I still haven't heard anything from anywhere...no one wants me...whaaa!) I will be moving. Several things have prompted this...mostly that I'm not happy in Huntsville. Also, this trailer is falling down around my ears and I'm not up to duck taping it together. So...I'm moving.

Where you might ask...I don't know.

When you might ask...another great question.

I have a time frame, but things seldom line up in my time frame. If you know me, you'd know that I just love (read H.A.T.E.) this kind of a plan.

Always trying to stay on top of things and keep in control what I can, I went house hunting in Conroe. Well, let me amend that. I started out house hunting and came to the realization that if I truly am not wanted anywhere else I'll have to be living on my current budget which means I can only afford to apartment hunt.

I should stop and say (or whine about) that I hate living in apartments. I like quiet. I usually like a yard (though seriously the creepy crawlies that go with grass...), and I'm picky in that I don't want to trek up stairs to get to my front door. Also, I'd like to have lots of room. Apartments aren't my first choice, but I'm discovering that they might be my only choice.

Okay, back to my house...err...apartment hunting this weekend. The places I could afford are the places where I'd be afraid for my life. And the places that were the nicest were for the drug dealing baby factories that are considered low income. (No offense to any drug dealing baby factories that are reading...) I learned quickly that I was what these apartments call "over qualified" and I need to look at "conventional" apartments.

So, this is my life at the moment. Packing up one residence to get ready to move to a still unknown residence. Also, there are only 7 days of school left so things are pretty crazy right now. This year has gone by so fast, but I think my little darlings are ready to move on from second grade. We all done good this year!

I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend! I've got laundry to finish (don't I always though...) and I think I might even scrap a little tonight or tomorrow, but other than that I'm just going to enjoy and rest for the rest of the long weekend. I hope you get to do that too!

The Bluebonnet Festival

I've been hearing about the funky weather across the country, but today was a beautiful day in Texas! It was perfect for heading out to a Bluebonnet Festival. Bluebonnets the flowers...not the butter. (Somebody will understand that!) My friend Tracy and I headed out around noon for a lazy jaunt through the country. We were on the hunt for these...bluebonnets.


Unfortunately, while we saw patches of flowers, they seemed to be past their peak. Some spots were vibrant blues and purples and in huge chunks. For the most part though, it was small patches of not so vivid flowers. I was fully expecting to find a beautiful patch where I could sit in them and have a picture taken. Turns out there wasn't a spot that would have been worth the memory card space.

Anyway, we did make it to the festival and the arts and crafts fair. It was set up along the main street. There were so many booths! I saw many things I could have carried home with me, but my wallet kept a tight leash on me...fortunately. I did come across this little treasure in The Brazos Star. I'm partial to Americana stuff and I just couldn't resist. Isn't it sweet!

The flag is stitched out of material and is surprisingly soft. I'm not sure how I will incorporate it into my living room decor, but I'll find a way!

Also, what is a festival if you don't indulge in festival food?! The smells were all mixing together, and the smokey smell of brisket and sausage was almost more than I could take. I did settle for a delicious funnel cake and fresh squeezed lemonade!

I opted for the small version (it was still a lot of funnel cake...probably the 1,000 calorie version!) but I can't imagine what a Texas size would have been like! Either way it was very good...crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and very powdery!

Also, speaking of things that are crispy, I got that way a little bit myself. I wore an off the shoulder shirt and didn't give sunscreen a thought when I left. Apparently, I should have!

Thankfully, I Solarcaine-ed up as soon as I got home. It isn't stinging too much. You're probably noticing the little circular moon in the middle. My hair is getting much too long (normally I keep it shoulder length) so where it was I'm still creamy skinned. Unfortunately, everything else got burned. I guess it'll just match the other tan lines...soon I hope!

I had a great Saturday. I hope all you lovely people did too!

Spring Cleanin'

Just thought I'd share...this is my 350 post! Who would have thought I'd have so much to say?!

I was off on Friday (district says it is a bad weather day and the calendar says that it is Good Friday) and was so glad! We've only got ten weeks of school left. The year has just flown by...it is so crazy! Anyway, I spent yesterday out with the girls. We went shopping, had a great lunch out, and then saw a movie. Busy day so I slept extra late this morning. I think with Spring Break last week and yesterday off I'm getting into a habit that I hate to break come Monday morning. I also had to remind myself that it wasn't Sunday and I had an "extra" day off.

Being that it is now officially Spring and I had some time on my hands I decided to do some in-depth cleaning. Y'all pretty much know how I feel about chores so why bore everyone again, but oh I hate house work! I'll make someone such a terrible wife one day. Ha ha...that was a joke! Well, sorta...

I've vacuumed and scrubbed stuff. I've washed curtains and sheets. Now I need to start organizing stuff. My bathroom closet looks like a mini drug store and linens store exploded. I'm contemplating the pantry and spice rack next, but we'll see. I'm not all that into cooking so maybe it could wait.

Along the lines of needing to sweep the dust bunnies off the rafters and ceiling fans, I started thinking about other things that could probably use a good cleaning. You know the things that aren't "household items". Things like my attitude toward people at work. Instead of letting it get me down I need to just clean it up and realize that there are only a handful of weeks left to have to deal with these people. I also need to dust off the stamps and my address book. I got a card from a friend and realized just how long it has been since I sent out mail happiness to people. I also need to tackle my closets. I have clothes for all the seasons just thrown in together in the bedroom closet. Yes, I am one of those people who try to keep the seasonal clothes all together and change them out from the spare bedroom closet to my actual bedroom closet. It is a sickness I tell you! Plus, I need to get rid of some things! I've been getting more movement in and thanks to more nights cooking rather than eating out, I'm down 10 pounds and some things are too big in the waist now. That kind of cleaning is always a good thing right?!

So, I'm taking time to reflect about what the Easter holiday means to me on a spiritual level, but I'm also looking at it from the perspective of someone who needs to shake off the dullness and blues of the Winter and get into the new groove of Spring! I look outside (I have six windows in my living room and the view is just gorgeous out there) and see everything green and getting ready to bloom. It is invigorating! I hope you can find some time to catch that same feeling too!

Wiped Out

Well, this week has been a good one, but it has kicked my butt too! School started back this Wednesday. I missed my kids! I didn't realize it until they came rushing up to me with hugs. I worried that we'd back track in our progress of learning and sticking to our routines, but they were great! They were a little rowdy today (or maybe I was just a little tired) but overall it was very nice to be back into my routine.

The only part of my routine that I'm not crazy about is the getting up at 5:30am part. I was looking forward to Saturday morning and sleeping as late as I wanted, but I've got this meeting thing tomorrow morning. See, I'm the Relay For Life co-captain for out school's team and there is a meeting tomorrow. It starts at 9am. Sometimes being a leader totally sucks. Bad attitude I know, but I'm wiped out.

So, after that I hope to get home and just relax. There is the required laundry and general cleaning that needs to be done too. Also, I need to get caught up with my blog buddies! I've been a total slacker in making the rounds. Lame excuse I know. So, watch out...I'll be out and about tomorrow!

Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm off to be a complete old fart by going to bed at 9pm and letting sleep claim me!

Clean Sweep

I feel like I've overhauled my house today! I returned home early from my parents on the premise that I needed some time to get my Christmas taken down and have just a few days to relax before school started back. Well, I spent the first two days at home slowly bringing the Christmas stuff to central location, but mostly sitting on my couch watching movies and diving into a new book. So, today was do or die basically...I had to get that Christmas stuff taken down!

Now, I love Christmas and I love getting all the decorations out and having my home be full of Christmas spirit. I also like the way my home feels after all the Christmas decorations are put back in their boxes and my normal stuff is once again in place. I've sat and just stared at the end table and lamp that are back in their rightful place. All I can think is...ahhh. I guess it all boils down to being ready to face the new year officially. I do still have a little pile of Christmas things stacked in the spare bedroom, but it will have to sit that way until I can get to Walmart and buy another one of those huge plastic boxes. Last year, I had room to grow in the decoration department, but this year I guess I got too much new stuff! Anyway, things are so close to being back to normal that I feel safe in saying that Christmas is down for another year.

Today I also sat down and got all of my thank-you cards written. Warning...soap box rant fixing to begin! From the time I was old enough to write, my mom made me write thank-yous for every birthday, Christmas, or any other gift getting occasion. Thank-yous are also appropriate after any act of unexpected kindness. It has just been ingrained in my personality that thank-yous are a must...especially after Christmas. Now, if you're not a thank you writer please don't feel like I'm judging you or anything like that. I'm not. I'm just saying that for me personally I'd feel awful letting a gesture of kindness go unthanked. Okay, maybe there was a smidge of guilt thrown in there! There were many to write, but they are finished and ready to be mailed out on Monday.

There isn't much of my weekend left, but I intend to enjoy every last minute of it. I might scrounge around in the DVD cabinet or dive into my new "grown-up" read, Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. I think it was made into a movie and I've seen the movie. I've had to force myself not to skip to the back (I'm notorious for reading the back of the book first!) and see if I'm right. So far it isn't bad, but unfortunately familiar. We'll see how it goes.

By the way...I've updated my photo spot on my sidebar with some new pictures. A couple are even from this Christmas! I'm sort of critical about the pictures and usually crop the heck out of them but I figured I'd just go with it. So, go check them out!

The Review...Picture Style

The other morning I started out the door to be greeted by this sight. I had a little "friend" trapped inside the screen on my front door. Thankfully I was on the glass side. I'm not sure exactly how he go in there, but he obviously found his way out because he wasn't there when I got home. Thankfully!


Thanks for all the words of luck on the whole paper making project! That whole day was crazy. I have fifteen kids in my class and one teacher was out (without a sub) so we had to split her class. There were five extra kids in my classroom that day too. If you're a teacher you probably know the difference one new child can make so you'll appreciate the fact that I had five extra! Anyway, I called the kids back in small groups and helped them press it through the screen. It was pretty messy, but the kids seemed to love it! And in the end, that is all that matters. They were pretty excited on Friday to actually see it dried and be able to take it home. This was the paper mush (it was soupy, cold, and kind of smelled). I was happy to dump it out Thursday afternoon!


I had my hands full just getting the kids to make their paper and lay it on the towels that I didn't bring out the camera, but this is what my trial run piece of paper looked like. It was a little thick at the bottom (paper after my own heart!) but it is paper nonetheless!


Yesterday, a bunch of friends and I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. It was fun! It was pretty much like stepping back into another time. I wore jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, but there were many there dressed in costume. I suppose they wanted to really get into the spirit of the day. Costumes ranged from the royality garb to a thong and much too small bra with chain metal hanging off it. Anyway, there were many shows to enjoy. My favorite was the jousting. Even if it is fake and the winner predetermined it was still fun! We happened to be sitting in England's section and guess what? Sir Thomas won!


Another show we saw was the Washer Women. It was pretty funny too. I loved this sign...made me think of my own laundry. Though I'd never say that laundry was fun clean or otherwise!

Saturday Project

Today has been the best kind of day! To begin with it is Saturday and that in and of itself is enough to make one happy. Also, I spent a very enjoyable morning in bed. I slept late, enjoyed some happy texting, got caught up on some tv I'd missed this week, and finished up a book. I only budged from my cozy place of sanctuary for those necessary bathroom and breakfast trips. Who knew a girl could waste half a day just being ridiculously lazy in bed?! Too, after the week I'd had I thought a little pampering in bed was just my due.

Once I did manage to wiggle out from the covers, I decided to take on a project. There is nothing like getting those batteries charged to make me productive. I'm taking on my spare bedroom. This was supposed to start out as my scrapbook and craft room. Right now it's just the catch all. Go ahead...take a peek for yourself.




I'm sort of embarrassed to post this on the internet...now all you people know my worst kept secret. I'm messy! Though to be honest, sometimes life just isn't worth it if there isn't a little mess involved. You're not buying that either huh? Well, that's my story.

Anyway, I thought if I took a picture of that disaster area and put it on my blog I'd feel compelled to get it in some semblance of order and then re-post showing off my new scrapbook haven. I have to admit that I'm not feeling very compelled at the moment but I'm sure that will come. Being the listy that I am (my term for my obsessive need to have lists in my life) I've made a list of the stages of organization.

1. Shame yourself into cleaning that room by posting horrible pictures on the internet....check

2. Move entire mess to living room and hope that you have no unexpected visitors for the next few weeks.....semi-check (I've got a lot left to haul into the living room)

3. Separate mess into smaller, but just as messy, piles of like mess

4. Organize (and by that I mean toss the stuff you don't want)

5. Put stuff I do want in cute containers and label

6. Arrange furniture pieces in spare bedroom to get the maximum amount of space out of that tiny room

7. Put newly organized and labeled stuff back in the room

8. Take pictures of your accomplishment and post on blog to redeem yourself from step 1

See...there is a method to my madness. Unfortunately, with my schedule I think my madness might take a week or two to get fully completed. I'm doing this all in the hopes that my desire to scrapbook will return. I know...my creativity has taken a vacation and finding her has been a challenge. To quote my friend Valerie...she's probably slutting around at someone else's house. Maybe she'll come home once she sees all the hard work I went to for her!

So, there you go. This is my current home project. Maybe I should have titled this SaturdayS (as in plural Saturdays) Project?!

They Don't Get Much Better

Today was good on a lot of levels.

It was Friday.
It was payday (and my step raise kicked in...not much but more than I was getting!).
It was mac and cheese day in the cafeteria (you know the really cheesy clog you up for a week cheesy kind).
There were also veggie sticks in the cafeteria.
My lesson plans are in and I'm 93% ready for Monday morning.
I had a very enjoyable dinner out tonight.

And today's goodness is running over into tomorrow.

It will be Saturday.
I will get to sleep late.
The only chore on my plate is laundry (let's face it...it never goes off my plate!).
I'm going shopping (okay so it's only grocery shopping but shopping is shopping!).

So, like I said...the days don't get much better than this!

Tweet Tweet

Another weekend is coming to a close and I can honestly say it has been a very productive one at that. Yesterday, I spent most of the day doing some in depth Spring cleaning. Not exactly fun, but a clean home is a great feeling.

Friday at school, a few people were asking about my weekend plans and I mentioned that I needed to clean my bathtub. I'll admit it isn't one of my regular weekly chores, but I try to get to it once a month. Unfortunately, it's a chore that has been pushed to the back burner for several months now. With a small sense of shame I'll admit that the bottom was so soap-scummy I spent more time trying to stand up straight than getting clean in the shower. I know...ick. When I related that as my reason for needing to clean, a friend at work said, "Don't tell that story to anyone else." After hitting it with Comet and a brush I can say that it's sparkling once again! I also dusted anything that stood still, washed every stitch I own, and put fresh sheets on the bed. All of that was in addition to the regular routine. It sure felt nice to go to bed last night in a perfectly clean and straight house!

I slept well until early this morning. For one thing, my internal clock obviously doesn't know that it is the weekend and on weekends I get to sleep late. I still woke up about 6:30 but I fought the urge to fully come awake courageously. Unfortunately, the birds outside my window decided to join in the fray.

I'd just like to say that I like birds. I think they are cute and make some sweet sounds...but not at 7:00 in the morning. It seemed that the little things took pleasure in tweet tweeting this morning. It wasn't a constant tweet tweet, but two or three short tweets in a row every minute on the minute. I guess it doesn't help that my bed is right under the window. Have you ever noticed that if you're trying to sleep and you hear the birds chirping it begins to sound like words? I swear...the longer I listened the more it sounded like sleepy head, sleepy head, sleepy head.

Giving up on any efforts to sink back into dream land, I got up and started the day. And it's been another beautiful day today! Winter is my favorite season, but I think Spring must be next in line. Things are starting to bloom and the weather has been so fabulous. To top off this great day, I tried out a new recipe that turned out yummy and this is the important part...I didn't set off any smoke alarms! It's okay...go ahead...clap and applaud...lol. Anyway, this weekend has been restful and productive. I hope your weekend has been too!