2007 Year in Review Meme

I think I skipped this in 2006 but I guess I'm in a meme mood so I'll do it again.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Ripped out carpet

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any so therefore I had none to keep. I probably won't make a resolution, but I may set myself a goal of losing weight before my 20 year reunion. Can you believe I'm that old?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my brother's girlfriend had a baby. It's my brother's first natural child and their expecting another in February.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully no.

5. What countries did you visit?
Yeah, right. I did get all the way to Wichita, KS this year, does that count? I was able to meet Abbagirl in person which I thoroughly enjoyed.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
More money. More time. More friends. A date?????

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Nothing comes to mind. It was a fairly uneventful year.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Giving up the internet at home for Lent. I will not do that again this year.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Luckily I don't think I can consider anything I did as a particular failure this year.

10. What was the best thing you bought?
Books. 7th Harry Potter, Sue Grafton "T is for Trespass", and Janet Evanovich "Lean Mean Thirteen" and my mp3 player.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Well, I guess I've continued to be on my best behavior in the sense that I avoid anything considered to be a mortal sin. My son always merits celebration. He was given parts in both the one act play and musical last year. He was the only member of his speech team to qualify for TFA state, and he made All-State band again. Pretty impressive, I think. (Oh and he is in National Honor Society with about a 95 average.)

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted?
O.k. Andrew - this is a small thing so don't think because of this one thing I don't like you, but it really upset me when you pawned your camera this year. I'm glad you came to your senses and got it back. But please don't do it again. I wouldn't say it appalled and disgusted me... those are harsh words, but I wasn't happy about it.

13. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Never Alone by Barlow Girl. It became one of my favorites.

14. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise. Reading. Cleaning.

15. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spending.

16. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Not at all.

17. What was your favorite TV program?
Monk, Pysch, Chuck.

18. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

19. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?
More money to pay bills and afford something luxurious like air conditioning. Being able to ride some new coasters.

20. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
I have no concept of fashion. I wear the same clothes over and over because I can't afford to update my wardrobe more than once a year. Maybe I need to go on What Not to Wear.

21. What kept you sane?
Going to church and blogging.

22. Who did you miss?
Sometimes my mom still.

23. Who was the best new person you met?
I only met a handful of new people this year, but I appreciate all of them. It was awesome to meet Abbagirl. Then there are my neighbors from Church that set me up to meet a new guy (Susie & Don), the new speech teacher at my son's school, Stefanie, and although I haven't met them in person, I enjoy knowing all my new blog readers like Leann, Cheryl, Terri, and Mago.

24. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2007.
A teenager should have a minor fender bender to help him be a more cautious driver. It pays to have good tires on your car.

25. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
And I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here

Seven Things About Me

I was tagged by Abbagirl for this meme. I may have already done it in the past, but I can't find it so I'll try to come up with some answers that at least my new readers may not already know about me.

The "rules" for this meme are:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share 7 facts about yourself.
4) Tag 7 random people and include links to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. My favorite food is Spaghetti with meat sauce. It has been since I was a child and I never get tired of eating it. Of course I no longer eat it with my hands as I did as a child... but that might be fun.

2. I went to a taping of The Price is Right in hopes of becoming a contestant. It was an interesting experience filled with hope and then a total let down when you don't get called to "Come on Down" I'm glad I got to go before Bob Barker retired. It's just not the same with Drew Carey. At least they didn't give it to Rosie O'Donnell.

3. Most people are surprised to find out that I have a tattoo. I have a small Marvin the Martian on my shoulder blade on my back. I would like to get another tattoo on my ankle, but I haven't figured out what I really want (but something religious that represents my Catholic conversion). If I did get one on my ankle, I would have to cover it up when I wear a dress at school (which isn't very often). And yes, it did hurt.

4. One of my biggest pet peeves is people reading over my shoulder. I can't stand it when I'm trying to read a newspaper and they're reading the same thing and since I read fairly fast, they tell me to wait when I want to turn the page. I really don't read newspapers that much and then I only skim it... but it still bothers me.

5. I have a "thing" about memorizing numbers. I can remember all my phone numbers since 2nd grade. I know mine and Josh's driver's license and social security numbers along with my ex-husband's. I also still know birthdays of friends I had in junior high. I am a fountain of mostly useless information.

6. The only bones I've ever broken was when I broke my neck when I was four years old. I was hit by a car and I cracked two vertebra. Luckily my spinal cord was not affected (0bviously) and I eventually had surgery that fused them back together. I was donned the nickname of "steel neck" afterwards.

7. I am relatively shy. It is strange that I am a speech teacher and I teach others how to communicate. I'm not afraid of speaking in public or making presentations but I'm horrible at interpersonal communication with people I don't know. I think I do have a bit of social anxiety because I hate being in uncomfortable situations where I don't know what to say. I also hate doing business over the phone. I would rather do it in person.

8. Bonus - I love riding rollercoasters and have ridden about 125 different coasters to date. (It may be 124 - I need to check my count).

Well, that's it. My long time readers probably already know all of this. I'm a fairly open book on my blog.

I tag: Andrew, Summer, Susan, Terri, Cheryl, Leann, and Mago. (But no big deal if you don't want to play.)

Politically Speaking

I hate that I'm going to have to eventually vote for someone as President of the United States. First, you should know that I hate politics in general. I think it's really a bunch of hogwash and the fact that there's not a single candidate that I can agree with on every stance makes it difficult for me to decide on one that I should try put into office. I think that the people running simply like the idea of power and although a few get their actual viewpoints in there, most have a slew of other people around them telling what to think and write their speeches for them.

I haven't given the election much thought and I haven't spent time investigating the candidates. Tonight I decided to take a look. I first took a quiz on this site to figure out who in general I agreed with. Although I tend to have a conservative stance, I did take both the Republican and Democrat quizzes. And what I found out is that I still have no idea as to who I would vote for.

Another Sunday

I spent another day doing much of nothing. Josh and I went to church and played our duet. It seemed to go off well. I came home and made some lunch and watched t.v. I thought about going to the book store. My brother gave me $25 gift card to Hastings. I still have a little bit of Christmas money left as well. Tomorrow my friend Kirsten and I will get together for New Year's. We've been celebrating New Year's together for probably the last 15 years or so. We'll probably continue to do so as long as I'm here and she comes homes every Christmas. But today I'm getting a feeling of wanderlust. Although I am quite a homebody, I have an urge to get away. I don't have any place to go, however. I guess Kirsten and I will go to dinner tomorrow and then come back here and watch movies until midnight. We're a pair of party animals, I tell you. Well, I haven't had dinner yet and Josh ate while he was out with friends. I guess I should figure out what I should eat.

A Nothing Kind of Day

Well, I've now finished the Harry Potter series once again. I still love the books and they still made me cry. I've done nothing today and I don't even feel guilty about it. I slept in, got up and read most of the day. I stopped for some lunch, blog reading, and email, but pretty much just read all day. Now I'm not sure what to do. I had thought about going shopping, but I decided I didn't really want to get dressed to go out. I did take a shower, but I immediately put on my sweats and comfy clothes. I guess I need to start thinking about what to have for supper. It will probably be steaks tonight. Josh and I are playing at Mass tomorrow. We're playing the medley he wrote for my cousin's daughter's Baptism. Hopefully it will go well and I'll make it through it again. He didn't give us much room to breathe in the piece.

Friday Break

I had another enjoyable day of sleeping in. I really didn't do much today other than read most of the day. I've now finished the 6th Harry Potter book and will start reading the 7th one shortly. I did get out of the house, however. Josh, my friend Kirsten, and I went to the movies and saw the 2nd National Treasure movie. I thought it was really good. After coming home, I made a quick supper and opened the present that my friend Kirsten had gotten me. She got me this Looney Tunes coaster figurine that I have been wanting for a while. It has Marvin in it of course. I was thrilled to get it.

I did sign up to take the GRE so I'll be doing that on January 5th at 1:00 p.m. I'll do some math reviews this week and just see how it goes. I'll also work on my admission essay and get everything going with that. Hopefully I'll know something by the end of the month as to whether or not I'll get into Graduate school.

The snow didn't last long, it was a fairly sunny day today. It wasn't enough to get rid of everything on the streets in town, but the main streets and highways were clear. Tomorrow I may try to brave the mall and see if there's something I want to spend the rest of my Christmas money on before I pay bills with it. And with that, I'm going to curl up in bed with my book and enjoy reading.

Snowing again

The snow is coming down pretty good, but I don't think we're expected to get too much. I had a restful morning. I went to bed some time after 11:00 last night after taking a benadryl. I slept all night until Josh got up around 8:30. I put the presents for my brother that he was supposed to take to work with him on the door and went back to bed. Josh left around 9:30 to go work with my brother. I slept until about 10:30 and finally got up. I spent the morning reading and watching t.v. Around lunch time I realized we didn't have anything to eat. I ordered thai takeout and picked it up after I took a shower and made myself somewhat presentable. I enjoyed my lunch and continued reading. I've now finished the 5th Harry Potter book again. (I'm re-reading the series.) Around 3:30 I decided that I really needed to get some groceries so I headed to the store. There was quite a big of fog in the area and a little bit of snow coming down when I left. By the time I spent $125 and left, it was starting to accumulate. Now I'm home and I'm going to continue to take it easy today. I'm feeling better, but still not 100%. I got more benadryl at the store and will take another one before bed tonight. I did spend some of my Christmas money on myself and bought the 5th Harry Potter movie. I have $30 left and will have to figure out what I want to spend it on. Maybe some new clothes. I need some new khaki pants. I just want to wait a bit before attempting the mall.

Sick on Vacation

Typical, huh? I guess it's better than having to take a day off at school, but I did catch something on my trip. Yesterday I started developing the scratchy throat and today I could tell that my tonsils have swollen and my throat is raw. I drove the five hours home sipping a sprite just to appease my throat. I came home and immediately got into bed. I sent Josh for dinner at some point and I've pretty much stayed in bed since I've been home. Now I'm getting that tickly feeling that causes me to cough. I may need to take something to help me to sleep tonight.

I don't have anything exciting to share today other than the fact that I just don't feel well. The roads were fine for the most part despite snow falling yet again last night. There was only about a 10 mile stretch where it hadn't been cleared so I had to slow down some.

Well, I guess I'm just going to try to get some rest and take it easy and hope this thing passes. If not, I guess I'll have to go back to the doctor - I guess it's good that I got some Christmas money... though I kind of wanted to actually buy myself something with it.

Merry Christmas!

I've been wanting to blog but the internet connection at my aunt's house is painstakingly slow. I'm at my sister's house right now so I figured I should get something up while I have a decent connection.

This morning started pretty early. We were up by 7:00 a.m. waiting for the kids to come out and see what Santa brought. They eventually roused around 7:30 and the chaos ensued. It took them about 3 hours to open everything... because they would open something and then play with it for a while, then open something else and so on. My aunt got me an oven glove and $50. My cousin got me some fuzzy socks. My dad is broke right now and so he didn't get me anything, but he did give Josh some money. Josh seemed to like all his presents. I got him the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, the weather calendar and $100. I didn't get his afghan finished, but I showed it to him and told him I would continue to work on it. My aunt gave him an Elvis book and some money. We spent the morning watching t.v. and just sitting around. We had typical Christmas dinner of turkey and all the trimmings around 1:00. Around 3:30 my dad brought us here to my sister's place. She got me a really pretty necklace and gave Josh a $50 gift card to Penny's. We played trivial pursuit and now we're going to be heading back to the mountain soon. I probably won't get pictures uploaded until after I get back due to the internet connection.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Trying to have self-control

I slept pretty well. I'm in the middle room this time so I have the more comfortable bed. I was up by 7:00 Albuquerque time and got ready for church. We had to leave by 8:25 but we didn't quite make it by then. We headed out but my car wouldn't make it up the bit of hill from my aunt's house to the main road. My dad and others had to help push it a bit to get it going. It was pretty much pure ice on top of a dirt road. We got to the church and had the service which included the blessing of my cousin's marriage vows and the baptism of their youngest child. Josh and I played the prelude music which he wrote/arranged himself. It was only 3 1/2 minutes, but it was tough to play because we didn't get to rest much. After the service, we went to the grocery store and then came home. I had a sandwich for lunch and a bloody mary. That made me very tired so I took a nice long nap. I got up and haven't done much at all today. I tried working on Josh's afghan but I'm not going to get it finished. I'm maybe a third of the way done. Oh well. I had a glass of wine and then we had dinner. Oh... I forgot to mention that at church we also had food. I've been eating and drinking all day and I need to stop. Now. I did take some pictures that I'll try to post before we leave. I know that Andrew would love to see pictures of my aunt's house here in the woods. Well, that's it for today. Hope everyone is safe and sound whereever you may be.

Made it here safe and somewhat sound

So I guess I should have more faith in the weather forecasters. Indeed it did snow. I awoke around 7:00 this morning and there was hardly anything accumulating so I decided to go back to bed for a bit. I got up shortly before 8:00 and checked the highway department's road conditions. It looked as though there were some advisories for New Mexico, but they indicated that road crews were working so I figured I should give them time to work a bit. Josh and I left the house around 9:30 but had errands to run before leaving. By then the wind in our area was wipping up pretty good and snow was blowing everywhere. We left for Albuquerque around 10:30 and it was an arduous trip just to get to I-40. We have to go up a decent hill which wasn't a problem. Then there's an overpass. A stupid driver decides to pull over at the last minute causing the cars behind them (including me) to break and swerve. I ended up going off the road a bit, but didn't hit anything. I backed up and continued on over the overpass. Shortly thereafter, I came upon a 3-car pile up. I traveled about 25 miles an hour at the most just to get down I-27. The visibility at times was zero and there were still cars whipping around me. I hate it when those big honking SUV's think they're above sliding on ice. I exited and headed around the loop which was a little better because the snow was blowing across the road and not straight at us. I had to stop at a convenience store to pick up the beer I wanted to get for my uncle. The roads were still snow packed and icy but I managed to get to I-40 after about 40 minutes. (It usually takes 15-20 minutes) Once we were on I-40 it wasn't too bad. I did see several vehicles off the road but it had started to clear towards the west which is the direction we were headed. There was a bad spot where we had to deal with the icy stuff that hadn't been cleared in a construction zone. As a matter of fact, one of the vehicles that was stuck was a snow plow. Once we got to New Mexico, the roads were clear and so was the sky. We were finally able to pick up the pace.

We arrived at my aunt's around 4:00 Texas time which took us an hour longer than it should have, but better safe that sorry. I didn't count the number of vehicles off the road, but it did include a semi that was upright but had a gash in it's side, an overturned semi, an overturned U-haul, several SUV's and pickups. (Again those people that seem to think a big vehicle makes it safer to drive on ice). I took it as slow as I needed. I settled in for about an hour and a half and then I had to go to Mass. I headed down the mountain road which I did not like. It was winding and there were long patches of ice on the downhill curves. It was scary. And I had more idiots behind me that didn't like the fact that I was going so slow. They finally went around me. I made to church a little late... but again in one piece.

As soon as Mass was over I headed back but decided to forgo the mountain route and went farther down I-40 to the simple up & down road that I took coming into my aunt's house. I had a message on my phone so I checked it. It was Abbagirl worried about me because she had heard about the 80 car pile-up in Amarillo. Luckily it was the opposite end of I-40 that we started out on. It made national news though. Here's the report on CNN. Here's the local news and you can see some footage of the wreck. So now we're back at my aunt's and I'm ready to stay put for a while.

Heading out shortly

I just wanted to give you a quick update. We did get some snow. It's not a lot, but it's very windy so it's just blowing around. I decided to wait a little before heading out to give the road crews a chance to do some work. It has paid off as the New Mexico conditions are getting better. We'll take it slow and we'll be careful. I'll update later once we make it to Albuquerque.

Getting things done

But I'm not sure if there's still enough time. I think this has been quite a productive day. I went to my doctor's appointment. No worries.. just my annual check up. I actually wrapped most of my presents before I went to my appointment. And to comment on Mago's comment, I'm not very organized. I can be and to some degree I can be quite organized, but my house is always a mess. But when I do get a bug in me to clean, I can get a bit over-enthusiastic about it. So after my doctor's appointment I picked up lunch and got some gift cards for my brother's girlfriend's boys. Then I came home and ate. Then I went to Walmart to get a few other things and I was able to finish up my shopping there - except for the beer I'm getting my uncle and I'll pick that up on the way out of town. I picked up food for Josh on the way back and then I got busy with the rest of the presents. I have everything wrapped and labeled. I've been cleaning the house a bit so I don't leave it a complete mess. I haven't started packing yet, but I'm going to shortly. I want everything ready to go tonight so we can leave as soon as I get up in the morning. The weather report is still saying it's going to get bad overnight, but I still have a hard time believing it. It is still 50 degrees right now... but we have a snow and blowing advisory for our area. It says the chance of snow right now is 90%. Well if it does get bad, we'll just take it slow. I've driven to Albuquerque in pretty bad conditions before.

I'm going to take my laptop with me so hopefully I'll find time to blog amidst my duty of playing bar tender. I also have to go to Mass Saturday evening and on Christmas Eve while I'm there. One of Josh's friends is going to come by and take care of the animals for us. Well, I better get busy packing so I'll be ready to go in the morning.

Debating...

...on whether or not I want to eat lunch before I go to my Doctor's appointment. I'm pretty hungry right now, but I have to be there in a little over an hour. I think I'll hold off and just wait. I left school around noon today. I got home and started finding boxes for presents. I have a box for almost everything, but now I need to start wrapping. I'll probably do that this evening. I still have to pick up a couple of things, but I'll do that after my appointment. I really could use a nap actually.

I'm still waiting for this yucky weather that is supposed to hit. It's in the 50's right now. I'm not even close to being ready to go. I still need to clean the house some. I did start soaking some dishes so I'll be able to put those in the dishwasher shortly. I did do some laundry last night so I have that done.

I think I'll go find something to snack on before my appointment.

Almost finished with shopping

I left school early today. Technically we were supposed to stay until 3:45, but I left around 2:00. I already spent the morning working and then went to lunch shortly before 1:00. I felt a little guilty leaving early, but I didn't worry much about it since I tend to devote quite a bit of extra time to work already.

I came home and then headed to Amarillo. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up something for my cousin. From there I went to a Walmart in North Amarillo so I could get the yarn I needed for Josh's afghan. I also got Josh a DVD. After that, I went to the mall. I got my hair cut. It's quite a bit shorter, but not the shortest I've had it. It should at least last me for a while. I want to know what kind of spray conditioner the hairstylists use that make my hair so sleek and soft. I'm sure Cheryl could answer that for me. Is it something I can buy myself?

After my hair cut, I wandered the mall some. I bought Josh his Weather calendar that he wants every year. From there I went to another Walmart to get pet food and some things to get us through the next couple of days before we leave. I'm done with Josh's shopping. I'll give him some cash and that should make him happy. I have a few more things to get that I can pick up in Canyon tomorrow.

I have to get some laundry started and then I'm going to sit on my bed and watch t.v. and do a little reading and then call it an early night. Tomorrow is the last day of school. Yay! I'm going to get home early tomorrow and then clean the house, pack, wrap presents and then we'll probably head out pretty early on Saturday morning.

Blogging at School Again

I slept in this morning and got here about five minutes before the first bell rang. I figured since it's just a work day, there's no reason to rush. I do have plans of things I'm going to work on, but I don't think it will take me the four hours that I have to be here until lunch. They are feeding us today.

Yesterday was fairly productive. I got home and had to drop off Josh's new prescription to be filled (which was an agonizing $50). I then went to Walmart and had my oil changed. I think I'm kind of like Andrew with a bit of social phobia when it comes to talking to mechanics. I often feel like they might try to take advantage of me and I'll spend more than I need to. I also didn't want to be chided for not taking care of things on my car. But Walmart was simple and there wasn't any fuss. I also spent 30 minutes in there without buying single thing. Can you believe it?

After that, I came home and picked up Josh to go to the Mall. It wasn't bad as I thought it would be. The parking lot wasn't full and they didn't have people directing traffic so it wasn't too crowded. I finally found something for my sister (a bamboo plant) and that's it. Josh and I looked at suits for him. I offered to buy him a suit instead of cash for Christmas, but he decided he wanted money. I wanted to get my hair cut, but Josh wouldn't let me. I guess I'll have to go on my own today or tomorrow.

We left the mall and then went to Outback steakhouse for dinner. Josh received $20 in gift cards from his director so we spent it and I paid the extra. It was a bit crowded and they had said it would be a 45 minute wait, but luckily we were seated within 20 minutes. After dinner, we went to the craft store and I got some cake decorating things for my brother's girlfriend since she is taking a class on it. After that, we headed home and I spent some time reading before bed and was asleep by 11:00.

Well, I better get started on the work I have planned. Hope you're all having a great day!

Blogging from Work

Well, it's now 2:40 and technically I'm supposed to be here another hour and five minutes. My tests for today are graded. All my class grades are finished. I cleaned my room a bit this morning. My office still needs work, but I need something to do tomorrow when I have to be here but have no classes. I'm just not in the mood to focus on anything school-related right now. I've read blogs, checked email and now I don't know what else to do.

I love having my test online. The only drawback is still having to manually grade the short answer questions. I may just change the test next year and make it all multiple choice, matching, and true-false questions. I'm going to try to get my entire course online by the start of school next year.

I may try to do some shopping today. I know it will be a pain, but I've got to get it done. Josh received $20 for the Outback Steakhouse. That sounds really good! I told him I'd pay the extra amount if he wanted to go eat at somepoint. I have a few ideas of what I want to get people. My uncle is hard to buy for, but I think I'm just going to take him some Texas beer. I don't buy for the nephews any more because I just can't afford it. I need to pick up something for my cousins though. Luckily there's money in my account now so I can get some shopping done!

Well, I've wasted about 10 minutes so far. What else shall we talk about? I always have good intentions to send cards out, but I have yet to accomplish it. Maybe next year. Tomorrow I have to send out the student Stock-in-talk letters and create a database for printing labels. I also need to go through my tournament checklist and see what else I can get done before the holidays.

Well, I guess I'll head down to the office and turn in some money and then perhaps sneak out a bit early. I'll see if other teachers have already left so I won't feel so bad.

There's nothing on t.v.

I didn't bring any work home and I'm actually caught up for the most part. I have my tests done and the comm. app. one is on the web. Most of the papers are graded and almost all the grades are entered. I'll have time tomorrow to get all of that finished and then I'll clean my room and start getting ready for after the new year.

I've played two games of scrabble this evening and now there's nothing to watch on t.v. I'm actually watching "Cops" because there's nothing else I'm interested in. I may just go to bed early and continue reading the 4th Harry Potter book.

I went to the bank today and submitted the paperwork for my loan payment deferral. Luckily I'll have that money to do a little bit of Christmas shopping. It won't be much, but it's the thought that counts, right? Josh just wants money. I'll probably pick him up a few smaller things though.

I saw two of my former students today. It was good to see them. College is suiting them well. Today was the last regular day of school. Tomorrow is semester testing so I'll only have two classes.

I have to work tonight

I still feel perpetually behind. I'm catching up on grades (despite not grading anything this weekend). I need to put two more tests together.... which really sucks because it's only for two students in one class and three in the other. If they could just come to school and do their work and pay their fines they wouldn't have to take the tests. So that's on the agenda for this evening.

I was very disappointed in the performances that I saw in my interp class today. The students have had almost six weeks to find and memorize a humorous or dramatic piece and they were quite pathetic today. I hope tomorrow's will be better.
We had to do a bus evacuation drill today. It's a new mandated state law.

I'm ready for Christmas break. Not Christmas... just the break. But then we're going to Albuquerque and that just means that I'm still going to feel like nothing gets accomplished around here. I do like visiting with my family, but I really hate being away from home that long. We'll be gone four days. Our break is cut short this year because of the change in our calendar having to start school later than we've normally been starting. I'm hoping to take the GRE on January 5th and I'll need to get a little bit of studying in before then.

On Thursday I won't have any classes, but I'll have to be at school which just doesn't seem fair. I guess I'll get some cleaning and organizing done in my room. That's also our staff luncheon so I guess I do need to be there. I think I'm going to snuggle under the covers in my room with my work that I need to get done.

I hate being broke

It's that time at the end of the month when money runs short. Of course I'm still feeling the guilt from buying that book last week. (Which I did finish and enjoy.) I had $60 to spend on groceries to get us through the next few days. I did pretty well spending only $47 and that included a $14 gift for my aunt. (It was on sale and I knew she'd like it.) I really wanted to do actual Christmas shopping, but that's a wash with only $13 left in my account until Wednesday.

I went to Church this morning. Josh and I played again at the 11:15 service so we had to be there by 10:30. Right after Mass I brought Josh home and then headed to Amarillo in search of more yarn for his afghan. I went to every Walmart in Amarillo and struck out. I did get some groceries and the gift for my aunt so it wasn't a completely wasted trip. I came home and changed into my pajamas (yes at 3:00 in the afternoon) and then started another scarf for a Christmas present. I put a pre-made lasagna in the oven a little after 5:00 and we ate around 6:00. I haven't done much other than crochet, watch t.v. and read blogs. I did bring home a bunch of papers that I'm certain I won't even attempt to grade.

I need to get to the bank and turn in the paperwork to skip a loan payment so I can pay for Christmas. I'm also behind on my water bill and need to get it paid before my water gets cut off. You'd think that someone that makes $37,000 a year wouldn't be so poor. It's not that the cost of living is very high here, but having a teenager is very expensive. Now that I'm having to shell out a couple of extra hundred dollars each month for things that always seem to come up, I'm broke all the time. I really hate living paycheck to paycheck. O.k. enough whining. At least I can pay my bills at this point. It could be worse and I know it. I still want to be able to pay for the GRE and I just don't know if that's going to happen this month. Josh has to re-register for his college classes and that's going to cost $150 more.

Well, I'm going to continue crocheting and take it easy. I'll think about grading those papers, but maybe I'll just try to get to school early tomorrow. It could happen. Really.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Well, I finally did it. I got the tree up. I have some lights that need to be changed, but I think it looks pretty nice. For those new to my blog, you should know that my tree is thematic in that almost all the ornaments are music related. They are either instruments, or music symbols or characters holding instruments. Josh also added his collection of Elvis ornaments. So for your viewing pleasure, I've included both a picture and a video.

And just for Andrew... here's some snow on the ground. That is my dog Max (i.e. the "Mop"). He really needs a hair cut.

Almost don't know what to do with myself

I am sitting in my recliner in front of the t.v. simultaneously watching it, web surfing, and reading. O.k. I tend to focus on one and then randomly alter my attention to the others. I enjoyed sleeping in this morning. I woke sometime around 8:15 but I didn't actually get out of bed until 9:00. It was quite lovely.

I know you're all anxiously awaiting the report from last night's dinner thing. Well, it wasn't a dinner thing. It was snacks and wine and playing dominoes, but it was still fun. I was kind of worried that the guy (whose name is Wes) would be a bit out of my league from the description I was given. But he wasn't at all pretentious. He was very nice... maybe even a little soft-spoken, but not shy. He was very nice and has a good sense of humor. I am horrible at writing physical descriptions, but I will try. He's not very tall... maybe a few inches taller than me. He's thin and he didn't eat much. I, on the other hand, didn't hold back and had two plates full. I know that some women eat like birds when they are out on dates (though this wasn't really a date or even remotely close) but I figure that I should be myself. If someone decides they aren't interested because I happen to enjoy food, then it wouldn't work out in the long run. (At least that's my philosophy.) He has blue eyes and light brown hair that was short but wavy on top. He has a little bit of a crooked smile which I thought was charming.

We played a domino game called "Mexican Train." I picked it up pretty quickly but didn't do well in the beginning so I ended up in 4th place. I did win one of the games by getting rid of all my dominoes first. Wes, the statistician (that's what he does for a living), beat everyone. He seems to have a logical mind which is a plus.

So is this dating potential? I have no idea. I thought he was very nice. I have no earthly idea as to what his impression of me was. I was simply myself. If he happens to ask me on a date, I would certainly go out with him. I'm not sure how he felt about being set up but I guess he wasn't opposed to it. I didn't give him my number or anything, I thought that would be presumptions (and he didn't ask for it). I figured that if he's interested, he could easily get in touch with me. I simply enjoyed getting out for the evening, being around real people and having fun.

So that's my report. There's really nothing much to tell. Today I'm taking it easy and I'm definitely going to get my tree up today. I'm going to try to do some cleaning but mostly I'm going to be a bum. I'm thinking about taking a nap already.

We did get a little bit of snow. I took a picture earlier that I'll try to upload later today. The snow will probably be gone by tomorrow. It barely even blanketed the ground. Well, gotta get busy doing nothing.

Friday at last

You'd think having a day off this week would make it seem shorter, but it didn't. I had a million things to do and I got about half of them done. Today was a strange day. We had only 30 minutes with our classes and then went to the school musical today. All I can say about that is at least they tried. It dragged considerably and we didn't even get to finish watching it. I was more disturbed by the audience which was completely rude. They wouldn't shut up and between scenes they would whistle and wouldn't stop. One would get another started and before you know it, they were all doing it. As you know, rude audiences is one of my biggest pet peeves, so today was extremely irritating. Then I had an hour and a half with my 7th period class.

I spent time working on on putting one of my tests online. It's time consuming right now, but the students will be able to log on and take it and it will automatically be graded. I won't have to print anything. I'm going to try to get it done this weekend. I also have intentions to get the tree up. We'll see if it happens.

We may be in store for some winter weather tonight. I'm not very keen on the idea, but I guess if it's gone by Monday it will be o.k. I just don't like driving 30 miles to school in it. If we do get snow, I'll be sure to take a picture just for you Andrew.

Well, I have the dinner thing tonight. I am supposed to be picked up by my neighbors at 6:40 p.m. They live just two doors down. I'm assuming everything is still on for now... I don't think the roads have gotten bad yet. It's been drizzly today, but nothing is freezing yet. I'll start getting ready around 6:00. I'll try to report when I get home if it's not too late. Well, I'm going to continue reading my new book for a bit until I have to make myself somewhat presentable.

Cold has come and gone

I guess that I'm a quick healer. I was sneezing a little this morning, but most of the symptoms are gone. I finally got another good night's sleep which was very helpful. I got to school at a decent hour and got several things done today. I caught up on a lot of grades. I still have a few things left, but I got most everything entering into our online gradebook. I have to work on semester tests and get those ready to go. I'm thinking about putting those online as well.

The interviews went fine yesterday so I don't feel as bad about taking the day. I spent a good portion of the afternoon trying to figure out which hotel I should book for the Seminole trip. I'm taking a small group, but Seminole is a small town and their two hotels are booked up. The closest town that has multiple hotels is in Hobbs, NM which is about 18 miles away. I checked the hotels there and I could spend an arm and a leg for a fairly nice hotel with a free breakfast or an arm and maybe a knee for a not so nice hotel. I went ahead and decided to spend an arm and a leg - after all, if we stay at a Holiday Inn Express, we'll be much smarter the next day.

I just got back from the band concert. It was o.k. but it's the same old cheesy Christmas music. Their jazz combo also played. Maybe it's me, but I've just never really gotten into jazz music. I kept waiting for it to be over.

I had another pang of guilt last night. I stopped at a Walmart in Amarillo on the way home in search of more yarn for Josh's afghan I'm crocheting for him. They had what I needed, but it wasn't on sale and I didn't want to pay full price unless I had to. So instead I got a crochet hook I needed for another scarf and then I decided to just peruse the book section. Wouldn't you know it, but the new Sue Grafton book is out and I couldn't resist. It's getting to the end of the month so money is getting short, but I bought it anyway. I took it with me to the concert tonight since I got there 30 minutes before it started. I'm going to go get in bed shortly with it and continue reading. I feel guilty, but I'm still enjoying it.

I desperately need a hair cut. My hair grows so dang fast. I just can't afford to get it cut that often and that's with going to the cheap place at the mall. Maybe after payday I'll get it cut again.

The Christmas party last night was nice. I didn't have time to cook so I took a cheeseball with crackers and some peanut butter cookies. The gift I took was a plush snowflake throw. I came home with a gloves, scarf, and hat set. I was needing new gloves so I stole them from someone else after someone stole the cute talking puppy that I had. (It was a white elephant gift exchange.) Well, I'm going to enjoy my book for a few hours before I go to sleep. I knew better than bring papers home to grade. The tree isn't up, but I should have it up by Saturday evening. I'll take pictures and post them this weekend.

A Much Needed day

I still feel guilty, but it is subsiding a little bit. If I had just stayed in bed or in front of the t.v. all day, then I would have had major guilt. I have been busy. I have done quite a bit of laundry, cleaned my bathroom, most of my bedroom, swept the house and tore up most of the carpet that was left in the living room. I haven't gotten the tree up, but I'll try to do that Thursday or Saturday. I still have a runny nose, but I'm not feeling too bad. I'm going to get dressed soon and run to the store to get something for the party this evening.

Feeling guilty

I don't feel just horrible, but I'm still home. I sent the message to my principal and the secretary last night around 8:00 while I was still feeling miserable and I was in bed by 8:30. Maybe it was the benadryl, but I started feeling better during the night. I slept from 8:30 until around 11:00 p.m. and then it was fitful after that. I was awake around 5:00 and 6:00. I think I'm feeling guilty for taking the day. I feel like if I'm at home, I should be completely miserable. Well, I'm starting to sneeze again so maybe I can feel better about being here. I am going to get some things done since I'm here. I'm going to clean my room and get laundry done. Maybe I'll even get the tree up if I'm feeling adventurous.

I'm going on the dinner date of sorts on Friday. The people from church are picking me up at 6:40 and we're going to their daughter's house in Amarillo. I haven't decided about the party tonight. I'm going to wait and see how I feel this afternoon and if I feel like getting out to the store.

Dealing with a cold

I had high hopes that I only had a mild cold because I didn't feel too bad today. I could tell that it was coming on, but I didn't sneeze much... until now. I left school sporting a headache and now I'm sneezing quite a bit and my eyes are watery.

I was supposed to have jury duty tomorrow, but it was canceled. I'm very seriously thinking about taking the day as a sick day instead. I already have the sub, so it would just be a matter of changing the absence reason. I haven't decided yet, however. I really needed to be there for the interviews, but I did plan for the fact that I might not be. I also need to be there to listen to a debate, but I think I need to realize that school does go on when I'm not there. I think in the three years I've been teaching, I've only taken one actual sick day. I've taken personal days that have been planned well in advance, but rarely have I ever taken a sick day. The last one I took was my first year there and it was on the second to last day of school before the Christmas break. I guess I'll decide before I go to bed tonight. If I decide to go, I'll have to call my sub and cancel. If I decide to take the day, I'll just need to email the proper people and change the absence reason. What would you do?

I'm supposed to go to a party tomorrow night, but if I feel as bad as I do now, it would be pointless to go. I'm also supposed to make some kind of food to take. I can't decide what I should do about that. I also need a gift to take. I want to go, but if I go to school tomorrow, I won't have time to get anything done. If I don't go to school and feel o.k. by the afternoon, I could still potentially go. I just don't know at this point. Decisions, decisions.

Tournament Results

It was good to sleep in a bit on Friday. Normally when I have to get up at 6:00, I wake up sometime around 5:00. I had set my alarm for 7:00 and I woke up around 6:00. Maybe it is something psychological. I took my time and left around 8:45, went to the bank, and then picked up the check for the hotel. We left right at 10:00 and got there shortly before lunch time. I should have allowed a little more time forgetting that often the bus drivers I get don't know how to get around Lubbock. I tried to check into the hotel shortly before 1:00 but they only had two rooms ready. I had the girls change in one and the boys in the other and we left for the high school around 1:15. We had two different tournaments this weekend. On Friday it was at Lubbock High and I was in charge of the extemp draw at this tournament. That means that students who were doing this kind of event had to draw topics, choose one and then spend 30 minutes preparing before they went to give their speeches. I had to make sure they drew their topics, then kept time and told them when to go and give their speeches. It isn't very exciting but I did get a lot of crocheting done. My students did pretty well at the tournament. We placed 3rd in sweepstakes which is pretty remarkable given some of the competition we had there and I only took 10 students.

We didn't get back to the hotel until around 10:30 and I had to stay up until 11:30 to make sure they had lights out at that time. We had to leave for the next tournament on Saturday by 7:00 a.m. We got a late start, but managed to get there on time despite the construction going on all over Lubbock. Some of my students didn't do as well - probably due to being tired, but some did pretty well. We didn't win any of the sweepstakes - a Dallas area school edged us out for 3rd place, but there were some good successes. One of my students that really loves performing is finally placing in her event. Last year she didn't get to go to many tournaments because of sports. Her mother hasn't been very supportive of her wanting to do speech over sports. Another student who finally figured out she is more of a speaker instead of an interper, placed first in debate and qualified for state at this tournament. I have another student who is either close or possibly qualified for state in Oratory. Josh did pretty well placing 4th and 5th respectively at each tournament.

We didn't get to leave the tournament until almost 11:00. We stopped to let the students get food, but it took forever. We didn't leave Lubbock until 11:30 and had a two hour drive back in freezing rain. We got to Hereford about 1:30 but I didn't get to leave until 2:10. My car windows were frozen over and of course, I didn't have an ice scraper. I turned on the defrosters, but it took forever before it started working. One of my students parents was late so I let her sit in my car so she wouldn't be out in the freezing rain. They came but another student thought she had gone to the bus barn so they left looking for her. In the meantime, I finally started working on the windshield with a credit card which worked, but was slow going. Eventually her parents picked her up and I started heading home. The roads were starting to ice over and my windshield wipers were frozen and didn't really work on clearing them so I had to pull over twice to scrape them again. It took me 45 minutes to get home.

This morning I had to get up by 9:30 in order to get to church by 10:30. Josh and I were playing at Mass. (Another note to self, don't plan to play at Mass after a swing tournament). It went fine and I'm glad I went instead of going to the student center this evening. We came home briefly to get my wallet and then headed to the store to get the ice scrapers and windshield wipers. We got some groceries, picked up lunch and came home. I spent some time catching up on the blogs I missed then I took a nap. I got up around 6:00, made supper and now I'm watching the Monk marathon. I'd like to go to bed early tonight, but I have to watch the episode I missed on Friday which comes on at 9:00.

It is going to be a busy week. I have to deal with the class interviews on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. (I have jury duty scheduled for Wednesday.) That also means I have to get ready for a substitute on Wednesday even though the jury duty could potentially be canceled as it usually is. I also need to put together my semester tests, have papers to grade, stock in talk letters to get out, and tournament stuff to plan. I also have a Christmas party on Wednesday evening so I need to get a gift for that and figure out something to make. I think I'm getting a cold which will make this week all the more enjoyable.

Note to Self...

Buy new windshield wipers for car and an ice scraper. Just got home. It's 3:00 a.m. I'm dog tired and hate this weather. Will report about the tournament tomorrow.

Tournament Time

I probably won't be posting for the next two days. Tomorrow we're leaving for a two day tournament in Lubbock and won't get back until very late Saturday. I'm not taking my laptop as it is bulky to carry and I probably won't have time to use it.

Although I'm going to enjoy sleeping in tomorrow morning, it is a pain to have to get ready for a sub. I was at school until almost 6:00 tonight. I had to stay after school to listen to some students perform and then put my sub materials together. Tomorrow I'll get to sleep in a bit and then go to the bank to get meal money and then head to Hereford and pick up the hotel check. We should be on the road by 10:00 and get to Lubbock by noon. We'll have a quick lunch at Spanky's before checking into the hotel and going to the tournament.

I don't have anything else to report today. No tree yet. I'm disappointed that I'm not going to be able to go to mass for the Immaculate conception on Friday or Saturday. I am excited about playing on Sunday, however. I'll report again sometime on Sunday. Until then enjoy some Christmas music.

Long days

I keep having good intentions to get out of school early but it never seems to happen. During the middle of a debate round today our trophies for our tournament arrived. I only ordered them last week. Talk about fast service! So I spent part of the afternoon unpacking them. Then I had to fax some items and typically I couldn't get the fax machine to work on the one to the hotel for this weekend. Oh well, I guess I'll just take the rooming list with me. Now I'm only taking 10 students. It should be a nice trip, but I'm pretty certain that we won't have any chance at a sweepstakes. I just hope some of them get to finals and get some more points.

I'm going to make dinner shortly (chicken tortellini with marinara sauce) and then probably take it easy tonight. I'll do a little laundry so I'll be ready to pack tomorrow. I need to do some more crocheting on Josh's present. I finally called and made a doctor's appointment for my yearly physical. I should have gone in September but I just never got the time. Well, I'm getting hungry so I better get busy in the kitchen.

Going to make it an early night

I did not want to get out of bed this morning. Granted, I went to bed later than normal. I waited up until Josh got home which was 10:30 so I didn't get to bed until probably 11:00 or so. The alarms went off at 6:15 and 6:30 and I hit the snooze after that. I made it to school earlier than yesterday at least. I heard some very good debates in class today. I realize that perhaps some of what I've been telling them has been sinking in and they are doing quite well. I'm still overwhelmed with paperwork and grading and even though I brought some home, I'm not going to touch it. I am going to go to bed early and hopefully make it to school earlier tomorrow.

I didn't intend to stay very late after school, but I was there until 5:00. I got home and made supper (taco salads) and then at 7:00 Josh and I had to go to a rehearsal. I was finally able to play my clarinet with decent reeds tonight. It is amazing. The feel is just incredible. The sound quality is amazing. I still need to work on getting my chops (mouth muscles) in shape again. I get worn out playing too long.

I'm going to go to bed shortly and crochet for a bit and then do a small bit of reading and have the lights out by 10:00. No, the tree hasn't made it up yet... but I'm still hopeful. I was thinking that perhaps some magic elves would get everything from the garage and set it up (after cleaning the living room first). I guess not.

Monday Ramblings

I had good intentions of getting to school early today, but it didn't happen. I stayed late until 5:30 or so working on materials and making stacks of papers to grade. I'm trying to get ready for the interviews that my students will be doing next week and getting ready for our tournament this weekend. It is an over night trip so there's a lot of planning to be done. I went to the store and spent too much money once again. I need to start using coupons or something. I didn't get home in time to watch Chuck from the beginning, but Josh was recording it so I'll watch it later. I did watch Heroes which was pretty intense.

I spent time working on Josh's afghan that I'm making him. I'm not sure if I'll have enough yarn. I'll check the other stores in Amarillo and see if I can find some more. He just called a little while ago and said that he got first chair in the All-Region band again. He's been using my clarinet. I hope it is making a difference for him. I'll get to play it tomorrow night though. We're going to rehearse to play for Mass on Sunday. It will be nice to play again.

I didn't get my tree up. I just didn't feel like it yesterday. Tonight I didn't have time. I'm just too tired. Maybe after this weekend.

Updates before my Nap

The tournament was long. It was a two day tournament and on Friday I only got about three hours of sleep. That made Saturday a very long day. One of my students finally qualified in oratory and another who was qualified in humorous also qualified in oratory. Josh is getting closer to qualifying but still needs six points.

I feel asleep as soon as I hit the pillow last night. I woke up a few times, so it was a fitful sleep. I didn't go to class this morning and slept until I had to get ready for church. I went to Mass and then afterwards a lady that lives down the street from me asked me if I had a minute. I said "sure" and she then asked me if I ever allowed people to set me up on dates. I said "Sure, why not." So she has a guy that she wants to introduce me to that is a friend of her daughter and son-in-law I think. She's going to set up dinner at her house some night so I guess it could be interesting at least.

I got a jury summons in the mail yesterday. I think that for the first time it is at a time that I'm not going to be out of town. Unfortunately, it is when I have a major project going on at school. I'll have to talk to my assistant principal and see if he could deal with the guests that are coming to do my class interviews.

I am thinking about trying to put my tree up tonight, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure that I'll get to it. I'm going to take a nap first, then probably head to the store to get groceries for this week.

3 Hours of Sleep

...is what I'm functioning on right now. Needless to say, I'm not going to type a lengthy post. I just got back from the tournament. Had some successes and disappointments. I'll write a full report tomorrow. Now I'm going to bed. Good night.

Time for Christmas Music

I haven't had time upload Christmas music to my mp3 player so this morning I tuned my car radio to a local station so I could listen to some music. In a 30 minute drive, I only heard 3 songs. The rest of the time was spent with the DJ's chatting. In addition, the songs were the cheesy stuff that is still "politically correct" to play. It seems that playing traditional Christmas hymns might offend people. I'm sorry, but if you don't enjoy celebrating Christmas, then turn the radio off or listen to your own music. I'm tired of people trying to say things like "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" in order to avoid offending people. (Actually the word holiday is a form of the words holy and day) And now instead of Christmas trees, we have "Family Trees." When is this going to end? Even when I was not going to church or being religious in any sense... I still celebrated Christmas. I gave some thought to the reason for the season, but regardless, I still put up a Christmas tree. I still gave and received presents. I listened to Christmas songs. I enjoyed my Christmas break from school. I wish people would get over their self-righteous attitudes and quit claiming they're offended by such terms. Despite one's religious beliefs or lack thereof, it is still a time of year to celebrate and be thankful. It is a time to give and receive.and spend time with family. It is a time of peace regardless of whether you call it Christmas, Hanukkah, Pancha Ganapati, or nothing at all.

So after my rant, the point I was making is that now I'm downloading Christmas music on my player so I can listen to the kind of music I would prefer to hear during the season of Advent. I happen to love the traditional hymns and carols. Now I can listen to all the ones I want.

Nothing exciting at school today. Just a typical day. I'm making progress with some things. I did finish grading all the debate cases and filled out purchase requisitions for our upcoming tournament. I stayed until a little after 5:00 listening to students perform. I came home and made porkchops for dinner. I sat in front of the t.v. since then and downloaded music. Now I've got to get them on my player. I'll be going to bed shortly.

Total Geek Attraction

I am totally attracted to geeky guys. Now, don't get me wrong... there still has to be some bit of physical attraction, but I am enamored by guys that are smart and into science or other intellectual pursuits. I was thinking about my favorite characters on the shows I watch and they are all the geeky guys. On CSI, it's Gil Grissom. On Chuck, it's... duh... Chuck. On Criminal Minds, it's Spencer Reid. I don't have a favorite on Heroes yet... but they're all pretty nerdy. I just thought I'd throw that out there.

No Whining

I picked up some pre-cooked chicken for dinner and made some rice-a-roni with it. It drives my dogs nuts and they're whining to get some scraps. I also have a cat that is driving me nuts by whining outside my door at night. If I let him in, he'll sleep for a few hours and then want out. If I don't let him in, he whines until I get up and open the door and spray him with the water bottle. I just can't win it seems.

Another typical day at school. To answer Abbagirl's question, I'm doing o.k. on grading. I still have 6 more debate cases to read and grade. I didn't get to them today. I did get the trophies ordered... I think. I sent an email with my order to the person that I dealt with last year. I stayed after school to do some work on the comm. app. interview project. My students have to go through practice job interviews in a couple of weeks and we have members of the community that will be doing the interviews. I worked on a letter to them. My debate classes have started debating. I need to get ready for a sub on Friday afternoon.

I'm going to try once again to go to bed early. I just hope I'm able to get better sleep than I've been getting. Well, Criminal minds is on so I think I'll go watch it.

Why is it...

... that when you go to bed early knowing you need to get up early that you wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep even when you know you need to get up in like four hours? Or is it just me?

I was in bed by 9:15 last night and read a little bit and had the lights out by 9:45. I set the alarm for 5:30 in order to get to school early. I eventually got up around 5:45 and took my shower and made it to school about 30 minutes earlier than I usually do. I did get some things done but it still wasn't quite enough time. I spent a good portion of 1st period looking for a new dramatic piece for a student that hasn't "got" the fact that you have to perform a piece that could be somewhat believable for the type of person you are. My principal also came by to visit so I worked with a student on her dramatic while he was there. He was gearing up for the visit from TEA or as my students call them the "feds." I didn't personally get visited, but I understand that they were on campus by 1:00 today.

I stayed after school today getting the order for our trophies ready. I had a nightmare over the weekend about our tournament and I dreamed that we didn't have trophies to hand out. I'm trying to get everything ready earlier this year because last year half the trophies they sent us were the wrong size. They were able to replace them in time, but I don't want to take any chances. I was going to shop around but after talking to other coaches, I realized that I'm really getting a pretty good deal on the trophies compared to what others are spending. We spend around $650 and we give trophies through 6th place. Other schools spend around $1000 or more and only give trophies 1st-3rd and sometimes give medals for 4th-6th.

I got home around 5:45 and Josh wanted to go to Amarillo to look at humorous books to find a piece to perform for the Lubbock swing tournament. We headed to Amarillo around 6:20 and was at Barnes and noble for almost 2 hours. We finally found a book and then we went to dinner at Fazoli's. I had the rigatoni romano which was quite yummy and I have some leftovers to take to school tomorrow.

Now it's already bed time. It's a good thing I have at least another day of clean laundry done. That's all the excitement here today. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep better tonight. I'm feeling pretty tired now.

Monday Shows

I brought home stuff to grade tonight that really needs to be done, but I know I'm not going to get to it. I didn't get home until shortly before 6:00 p.m. and had to immediately make supper, do the remaining dishes and finish some laundry. Now my t.v. shows are on. I can't concentrate on grading while watching t.v. Sure, I could just record the shows and work elsewhere, but I'm not going to. I'm thinking of just going into school early in the morning. We have a visit from TEA (state agency) officials and have to be ready to be on our best behavior.

I made a discovery this weekend while paying bills through my bank. I can possibly defer one of my loan payments for Christmas. That means I could potentially have some extra money for Christmas and pay for my GRE test. I really need to get that done. I need to apply for graduate school in January so I can also start applying for financial aid.

Today wasn't very exciting. I still feel behind at school. I think getting there early is a good idea... I just hope I can manage getting up early enough. I'm going to be in bed by 9:30 tonight.

A little progress is better than none

I did make an effort today. I cleaned the kitchen. I still need to mop the floor, but I think I'll wait until the rest of the house is done so that I'll only have to have the mop out once. I went to the store to get groceries. Is it just me or are they getting more expensive? I didn't even get anything beyond normal groceries unless you count the extra dessert I got for tonight. I spent $107. I guess that isn't really too much, but that is for two people and will only last about a week.

I slept in this morning and then went to Mass at 11:15. I came home and started cleaning the kitchen. I didn't move really fast, but I did get it clean for the most part. That reminds me... I just realized I forgot to get a sponge at the store. Oh well, I'll make due without it.

I need to start on the living room. I'll probably do a little bit, but I doubt I'll finish tonight. I wanted to get my tree up, but I'll hope for having it up by next weekend. I need to do some laundry and start supper in a bit.

So much for productivity

I simply can't get motivated today. I had grand intentions of cleaning the house, but I haven't lifted a finger. I only feel slightly guilty. I've been crocheting and reading most of the day. I'm working on a scarf for my brother.

I enjoyed sleeping in this morning. I changed the sheets on my bed and put my comforter back on and it was quite lovely to sleep in last night. I had some cereal this morning and then a slice of leftover pizza for lunch. I ordered pizza last night since I didn't want to get out of the house.

Now I need to figure out what to do about supper tonight. I really need to go to the grocery store, but I'm not ready to get out of the house. I need to take a shower and get dressed. Yes, I've stayed in my pajamas all day.

Maybe I'll get motivated by tomorrow. For now, I'm going to stay in my chair and continue to read and crochet.

Better late?

I was tagged by Terri for a meme a while back and I'm pretty slow on the uptake. So here goes. I'm supposed to use my middle name, but it is fairly short so I'll use my online name which contains my middle name of Ann.

A - Anchored - I tend to stay in one place and and am pretty set in my ways.
N - Nice - I think overall that I'm nice to others.
N - Nerdy - Although I'm not into science fiction, I am a computer geek of sorts and like learning.
A - Able - I can get things done as long as I put my mind to it.
B - Bright - I think my intelligence is one of my best assets. I'm not a genius or even close, but I think I do have a little something going on upstairs.
E - Eclectic - I have a variety of tastes in things (except vegetables) but most especially in music.
L - Lucky - Despite some of the hardships I've faced, I've been a pretty lucky person.

Made it home

I don't know whether or not I should believe the meteorologists. I had heard something about snow being forecast during the break, but I guess I figured that if I didn't really believe it, that it wouldn't happen. Wrong. But first, let's talk about Thanksgiving.

Josh and I left around 5:30 on Wednesday and drove to my aunt's house which is in the mountains east of Albuquerque. We arrived around 9:00 mountain time. We visited for a bit and I started working on a scarf that I'm crocheting for my brother-in-law. I went to bed around 11:00 to a very cold room. (Something happened to the heater vent and hadn't been fixed.) I went to sleep under a sheet, comforter, and two quilts. As long as I stayed under the covers, I was fine. Unfortunately, the bed that I usually sleep in isn't very comfortable. But I just dealt with it. On Thursday, I slept in and got up around 8-something. I continued to work on the scarf and we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade until we got tired of listening to the cheesy announcers. Josh and I watched the episode of Chuck that I missed on Monday and that he recorded for me. I helped a little with dinner. Very little. I opened the cans of corn and put it in the microwave. I also poured the water for the instant mashed potatoes. I'm a big help. I did play bartender and made the drinks but I didn't have to do much in that respect either. I only had two glasses of wine and that's it. My brother and his family got there shortly before dinner time. Dinner was great with all my favorite Thanksgiving foods. We had turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, stuffing, salad, green bean casserole (yuck), and rolls. We had several pies for dessert, but I had two helpings of food so I passed. Around 4:00 we left to go into town to visit my sister. She had lots of dessert too, but I passed once again. Josh and I left around 7:15 to head back to my aunt's house so we could watch CSI. After that, we watched the Monday episode of Heroes. I continued to work on the scarf and I'm more than halfway done with it.

It started snowing shortly after we returned around 8:00. I went to bed around 10:30 and slept until 7:00 this morning. My aunt had wanted to go into town to do some shopping but it had snowed pretty heavily in the mountains. We decided against going into town. I started the car around 10:00 and used a broom to sweep the 5-6 inches of snow off it that had accumulated. We left around 10:30 and wasn't sure if we'd make it out the brief road from my aunt's house. It was a snow packed hill and the car just didn't want to move. I finally shifted to a lower gear and got out after a few minutes. The road to Edgewood was a bit slushy, but manageable. I thought I-40 was pretty clear, until we got to Moriarity. From there until Clines Corner the road was pretty much ice. Traffic slowed to a crawl for a couple of miles due to an accident. A pick-up truck was off the road and it's front window was smashed in. The road got a little better but still wasn't great until we got to Santa Rosa. After that, it was pretty clear. The only problem was that my windshield wipers didn't work and my windows got pretty dirty. I had to pull over three times to clean the window. We stopped in Tucumcari for lunch and made it back home by 4:00. The trip usually takes us 4 1/2 hours, but today it took 6 with a stop for lunch. But at least we're home safe. I've changed into my pajamas and I'm going to sit in my recliner the rest of the evening and just relax. Tomorrow I will start the house cleaning.

We got a little snow here, but nothing major. It barely blanketed the ground. It's cold though. I'm glad I'm not out shopping. (Not that I have any money.) I am making most of my gifts this year. I have no idea what to get Josh though. He doesn't know what he wants either. I'd like to get him his class ring, but I don't think I can swing it by Christmas. Well, I'm going to wash my comforter so I'll have it on my bed tonight. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Off to Albuquerque

I may not post again until Friday. I'm not going to take my laptop with me. If my aunt still has internet at the house, then I'll try to post something tomorrow. If not, it won't be until we return Friday.

Today was a useless day at school. There was no point in being there for 1/2 a day. I only had two classes with 6 students in one and 4 students in the other. I stayed at the school during my first conference period and then I just "had" to go run some off campus errands. O.k. I really did, but I still left a little early to head back home. I got home and had to go the pharmacy to have Josh's prescriptions filled. So much for my birthday money. I spent $96 on his prescriptions alone. I was hoping to save it for the GRE test, but I guess I'll have to come up with some other way. I haven't sold any more rosaries.

Well, we're leaving in a few minutes. That will get us to Albuquerque around 8:30-9:00 p.m. (mountain time). We'll pick up dinner on the way. I've got to get some gas. I have left food for the animals and they should be o.k. for the next day and a half. (We have a pet door so they can go in and out as they please... the best invention next to air conditioning.)

Thanks for all the Thanksgiving well wishes and I wish all of you a wonderful holiday. May you be blessed with time spent with your friends and family.

A pleasant surprise this morning

I haven't weighed myself in months probably. I figured there wasn't any point. I had gained some weight and was topping out around 187--190 and it never seemed to go down. I noticed that some of my pants were a little easier to button lately so I figured I should check it out. I actually lost about 5-7 pounds. The scale showed 182 this morning. I'm not sure how I did it, but I'm not complaining. I just hope it's not a fluke.

In other news, I had a choral performance tonight. It went o.k. I didn't feel very confident when I sang with the diocesan choir. The piece was a quiet slow piece and I had only sang it a few times. The other large group pieces were fine. I didn't sing some of the really high stuff in the Hallelujah Chorus, but I'm getting better each time I sing it.

I'm ready for a break. I have to go to school for half a day tomorrow. It really is a pointless day. We have classes in the morning only. There's no point in doing anything productive. I just need to get some other work down and send some stuff off for printing. Josh and I need to leave for Albuquerque sometime tomorrow. I don't want to leave too late. We'll get back sometime on Friday. I hope I can get the house clean this weekend. If I don't, there won't be any time. I have tournaments the next two weekends after Thanksgiving.

Well, I don't have much more to say. I'm going to head to bed shortly. I'm worried about my friend Andrew. I attempted to leave a comment today but somehow it didn't go through which is probably a good thing. It's not that I wasn't kind, but I didn't sugar coat my feelings. It's difficult to watch a friend that you care about make mistakes. Well, the bed is calling me.

Just a few more days

I just now found the time and simply sit for a few minutes. I was awake too early this morning. I had my alarm set for a little after 6:00 but I was awake long before that. I got to school a little earlier than usual around 7:30. It was a normal day at school. My interp and debate classes worked on their materials. I listened to speeches in my comm. app. classes. I left school around 4:30 and came home for a brief couple of minutes before heading to the grocery store. I was there until about 6:00.... the check-out lines took forever. I was able to bring the groceries in and then had to leave immediately for my choir rehearsal tonight. I'm singing in the Festival of Praise concert tomorrow night. If you live in the Amarillo area, you should try to attend. It is a free concert at the Amarillo Globe news center at 7:00 p.m. I was at rehearsal for about an hour and half and then got home around 9:00. I had to finish my gift for Leann that I've been meaning to send her for a while. I'll be putting it in the mail tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm about to head to bed shortly but figured I should at least post a little something this evening. I'm feeling pretty exhausted.

Fed up

No, not with any person... other than perhaps myself. I'm tired of my house being a mess. I decided to start working on it today. Now, I haven't moved very fast, but I am making slow progress. I no longer use my computer desk. I've found that I prefer sitting in my recliner with my laptop on my lap or on my tray in front of the t.v. Yes, the epitome of laziness, I admit. But I did clean up the dog hair and trash around my sitting area and the living room in general. (I haven't touched the desk that I no longer use as it has become a catch-all for everything at the moment.) I had a headache this afternoon and after a big lunch. I still felt tired so I took about an hour and a half nap. I got up a little while ago and started attacking the junk on the bar in the kitchen. It is slow progress, but at least I'm making an effort.

I guess we're going to go to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving but it's going to be a brief trip. I do like seeing my aunt and spending time with her, but since it's my small bit of vacation time, there's a lot I want to be able to do at home. We'll probably leave Wednesday evening and stay all day Thursday and then come home Friday morning. I won't get the house finished before we leave as I have a rehearsal on Monday evening and a concert on Tuesday evening. I do want it clean by the end of the break, however. I am going to put up my Christmas stuff this year since I didn't do a thing last year. We'll spend Christmas in Albuquerque again, but I think it will help lift my spirits just having it up this year. It's not that I'm down or anything... actually I am quite content... but it just seemed so "dry" last year without the tree and stockings up.

Tonight Josh and I are going out to dinner with my dad and his gf. We're going to the Olive Garden to eat. We both love Italian food so we enjoy this treat every year for our birthdays. I've got to start getting ready in just a few minutes. I have on my cleaning clothes which would not be appropriate in public. Well, I'm off to make myself somewhat presentable.

Some sweet successes

It was another long tournament day. I was up shortly after 5:00 a.m. and left by 5:45. I arrived in Hereford around 6:15 and we left by 6:30 minus one student. One of my new students that was supposed to go to the tournament did not show. He also did not answer the phone when I called. Well, I guess he'll pay the $35 drop fee. The tournament went well. I was in charge of debate at the elementary. We started off behind, but actually caught up and ended an hour earlier than planned. My students over all did fairly well. I was surprised by a few, disappointed in some, but overall pleased. I was happy with one student that has been trying for years to be successful at something, but has not really made it. Today she placed 6th in student congress and earned her first trophy. I now have two students qualified for TFA state which is a relief. I have another that is close, but needs two more points. The team earned first place sweepstakes at the tournament so it was a pretty good day overall.

I'm really exhausted now. I could barely keep my eyes open on the way home. I'm now going to take out my contacts and call it a night. I'm going to Sunday school in the morning and then the late service at 11:15. I think I deserve a little time to sleep in.

Another busy weekend ahead

Tonight will be relatively calm. Josh has gone to the game (playoffs) so I'm on my own tonight. I could go watch as it is in Amarillo, but I'd rather just stay home. I'll probably pick up some fast food for dinner which is completely appropriate as it is officially "National Fast Food Day". I made these silly calendars for my students that have all these funky holidays on them. I figured if I put them on their calendars they might actually use it. I'm definitely going to bed early tonight as I have to leave by 5:45 a.m. to get to Hereford by 6:15.

Tomorrow is another speech tournament. I'll be gone all day so I can't promise a post. Sunday will be church and dinner with my dad. I'm contemplating whether or not to go to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving. I think perhaps we might. Yes, the gas will be costly, but honestly it probably won't be much more than paying for dinner. We could make it a quick trip. Unfortunately we have 1/2 of school on Wednesday. We could go on Wednesday afternoon and come back Friday morning in time for a possible playoff game.

Well, I've got to figure out what to get for dinner and then do some laundry. Hope you have a relaxing weekend.

Meme as Promised

I was tagged by Abbagirl so here we go with my answers.

1. What were you afraid of as a child?
I think I was afraid of the dark because I always needed a night light and music playing. Now I can't stand any kind of light (my alarm clock is too bright) and I can't listen to music as it will keep me awake.

2. When have you been most courageous?
I don't know. I don't ever think of myself as having ever been courageous. I guess maybe when I finally decided to get divorced.

3. What sound most disturbs you?
Nails on a chalkboard.

4. What is the greatest amount of pain you have been in?
Physical - childbirth, hands down. No drugs.

Emotional - One night in my marriage after having a fight with my husband. I truly can't describe the feeling, but I can tell you that I banged my head against the wall and threw canned goods because I was so angry, hurt and frustrated. I think that was the beginning of my depression that lasted another two years.

5. What's your biggest fear for your own children (or children in general if you don't have children of your own)?
That something will happen to him. That he will make the same mistakes I did. That he won't be successful.

6. What is the hardest physical challenge you have achieved?
Losing 30 pounds. I took a dance workout class for six weeks that didn't really push me, but I certainly felt it in my muscles.

7. Which do you prefer: Mountains or oceans/big water?
I love to view water. I don't know that I would want to live near either, however. I kind of like being land-locked and visiting other places. But I do get excited when I travel somewhere and can see water in the distance.

8. What is the one thing you do for yourself that helps you keep everything together?
I pray every morning. I continue to participate in music which is something I do simply because I love it.

9. Ever had a close relative or friend with cancer?
Yes, my mother died from lung cancer.

10. What are the things your friends count on you for?
An ear to listen. I tend to be pretty grounded. Sometimes I have worthy advice.

11. What is the best part about being in a committed relationship?
Knowing that you have someone that cares about you. Having someone to talk to.

12. What is the hardest part about being in a committed relationship?
Getting someone else to actually commit. Finding the the right one. Being able to communicate when you are in a relationship when you are from two different worlds.

13. Summer or Winter? Why?
Summer. No school. I hate being cold.

14. Have you ever been in a school yard fight? Why and what happened?
Not at school, but I did get in a fight with a girl in my neighborhood when I was in first grade. I don't remember the details. I pretty much kept to myself in school, was shy, and didn't cause any trouble.

15. Why blog?
Because I can't help it. Because it gives me friendship. Because it seems as though some people are interested in my ordinary life. Because I have always loved to write and I guess I'm addicted.

16. Did you learn about sex, and/or sex safety from your parents?
Are you kidding? No. Friends, books, and experience.

17. How do you plan to talk to your kids about sex, and/or sex safety?
Josh knows what he needs to know.

18. What are you most thankful for this year?
That I am blessed even when I loudly complain about my life. That I have an amazing son, a good job, a home, and paid bills. I am thankful that I have a Church that helps build me up. I am thankful that God is present in my life and continues to bless me even when I am most undeserving.

Tag yourself if you are so inclined to do this meme.

So much for going to bed early

I had good intentions. But then I had issues with my web publishing program that I had to figure out before I could go to bed. I didn't get to bed until after 11:00 p.m. I did get the problem fixed so that is a good thing.

A relatively uneventful day today. School was school. Nothing major happened although I wasn't very happy with my comm. app. class. They were supposed to have their outlines for their speeches done today. Less than half of them were finished. I made them practice without them anyway. My students took their orator group picture today after school then I listened to students. I still have one student that has refused to perform for me. If she doesn't come through tomorrow, then I will let her perform at the tournament, but she will not be able to advance regardless of how she does.

I got birthday money in the mail today. That was exciting. I think I'll spend it on the GRE. It's almost enough and I think after payday I can pay for the rest. Sure, I'd like to buy myself something, but I think the GRE is more important right now. I guess I should start studying, huh?

I decided against cooking tonight and picked up Thai Kitchen for dinner. It was quite yummy and now I have food for lunch tomorrow.

I am definitely going to bed early tonight. I just took a benadryl so it will knock me out shortly. I hope I stay awake enough to watch CSI. Well, I'm going to catch up on blogs and such and then call it an early night.

My clarinet has come home

My clarinet arrived today. It is so pretty and shiny. He did an amazing job. I hate that it is such a nice instrument in a crappy case. You should see the case. It has been through hell and back. I think that if I get any Christmas presents, I'll ask for a new case. It's something I've wanted, but won't buy for myself when there are other things I need to pay for... like bills. I forgot my reeds at school but I found some other ones so I could test it out. The keys are nice and smooth. The side keys no longer get stuck and the sound is amazing as always.

I had an interesting morning. I have an alarm clock that has two alarms. I generally set the first alarm for 6:00 a.m. and the second for about 10-11 minutes later. (The snooze is only 7 minutes) I guess somehow I slept through one or the other or at least turned it off in my sleep which is very unusual for me. I didn't wake up again until 6:37. I had to jump in the shower and try to leave by 7:10 to get to school on time since I was meeting students this morning. I didn't get out of here until about 7:18 this morning. I was about 5 minutes late meeting my student that was there.

I sold a rosary today! I got an email confirmation that someone bought one. I updated my site and I'll be shipping it out tomorrow. That is very exciting. If I sell enough, I can hopefully pay for my GRE test. I am not sure how I'll pay for it if I don't bring in some extra money. I need to start paying Josh back money that he used to pay for his dual credit classes and some other items. I also have to pay for the tags on his car this month. Next month is Christmas and it will be slim this year. I'll get Josh something and either make items for everyone else or just tell my family to not get me anything. I really need to make taking the GRE my priority. I need to be able to apply for grad school in January. I am determined to make it happen. If any of you know me at all... you know that once I set my mind to something, I do it.

I've got to get to bed earlier tonight. I didn't really go to bed that late last night, but obviously, I was still pretty tired this morning. I'm definitely going to kick one of the cats out tonight. I was up at least 5 times letting them in and out. My classes are going fine at school. I'm not having any further problems with the student I was having issues with. I am getting caught up at school. I spent a good portion of the morning cleaning my room. I tidied everything up and it feels pretty good. I have lots of things to file away, but they're in manageable stacks in my office.

Tonight I made manwiches for dinner with some mac-n-cheese. Now I'm watching t.v. waiting for Criminal Minds to come on. I'm going to do some web design work, watch my show, get the rosary ready to mail and then get to bed early. Another speech coach in the area wants to hire me to do their team website. Oh! I'm getting $50 at the end of the month for organizing a focus group of students for a college research thing.

I need to do the meme that I was tagged by Abbagirl for. If I don't get to it tonight, I'll try to get it done by tomorrow. Well, that should be enough for now.

General Ramblings

I think I figured out what is wrong with my camera. I think the camera is fine, but the Compact Flash card is not working. I guess that means it will be an easy and fairly inexpensive fix. After payday I'll get another card and try it out. I have more rosaries to put up on my site, but I can't get pictures of them. I guess I've gotten pretty good use out of the card. I've taken over 6000 pictures with it and it has lasted me for five years.

We had a mandatory meeting at school today to cover more information about the state testing and special education referral process. It's just one of those things that settles it even more that I need to get out of teaching. It is so frustrating to have to document, verify, record, modify, accommodate, adjust, and keep track of everything all the time. We have an upcoming school visit by the some state agency and we're all being put on the offensive to make sure if we are questioned that we answer appropriately. It's not that our school has done anything wrong, but we happen to have a lot of English language learning students on our campus (it is a heavy migrant worker area) and since we receive state and federal funding we have to be held accountable for it.

Tonight I was able to simply sit and not think much about work. I didn't have homework to grade and I have enough clean clothes to survive the rest of the week. I went to the store to get groceries to last until Monday. Now I'm on my music download service trying to find Christmas songs to put on my mp3 player. I'm going to try to get into the spirit more this year. Last year I didn't even put my tree up. My goal is to clean my house during the Thanksgiving break and get the tree up.

I'm feeling pretty tired already. I should go to bed soon, but I want to keep finding my Christmas music. It is my favorite time of year and I love playing the music in the car. I use my mp3 player all the time and I love it. I can go more than a week playing it in my car on the way to school and back every day. It is one of the best gifts I ever bought myself. I felt incredibly guilty buying it, but I don't really regret it. Of course I feel guilty almost every time I buy myself something. Maybe it's a mom thing or simply that I often feel the need to be self-sacrificing. I live a pretty simple life. I don't do or have anything extravagant. I don't get my nails done. I get my hair cut only when it is driving me nuts and I have the money. I drive cars until they literally fall apart. I wear clothes and shoes until they've worn out. I usually only buy new clothes at the start of every school year. I'm not sure where I was going with all of this, but I'm going to try to wrap up my music downloads and call it a night.

At least the internet is working now

Now I'm having issues with firefox. I started using firefox a couple of years ago after having some issues with internet explorer. I really haven't had problems with it except when it comes to publishing my sites. They don't appear as they should in firefox. They look exactly like they're supposed to in IE. I got my rosary page up, but if you view it in firefox, the text has moved and doesn't align as it should. The text is also a lot bigger than in IE. I'm not sure what to do about it other than completely revamping the design so it will work in either browser. I have my basic knowledge, but this is beyond my comprehension.

No internet, no post

I really intended to post something last night. I was online for a while because I did chat briefly with Andrew. I was working hard on getting my rosary page up when the internet decided to stop working. It still wasn't working this morning. Josh just called me and said it's still not working. I am not happy about this. I will be calling the company as soon as I get home today. I figured I should post a little something from here at school since I probably won't get to post tonight.

The rosary sales were o.k. but not what I hoped for. I sold six rosaries and made $90. With the money I spent on rent, I made $60 in profit but most of that is gone now that I bought Josh his birthday present, got supper last night and a few groceries. At least it helped out a little this week. I plan to try to sell the rest online, but without the internet, I can't do much to get my site ready.

Today at school was fine. I had to hurry to get some debate cases graded before 11:59 today. I think I finished around 11:56. I got to school late because I was trying to get something done with the rosary page this morning and fiddled around with the internet that still wouldn't work. I still feel perpetually behind. I really would like to take a day off to simply stay at home and clean my house. Wishful thinking. I have the days but we're supposed to be getting another grant this year and I will lose out on part of it if I miss too many days... I'll miss four at the end of the year for grad school, I've already missed 1/2 a day for the flat tire, I'd like to go to Vegas to work for my uncle in February so that means I'll miss one or two more. If I want to see Josh in All-State band again, I may have to do what I did last year which is drive 1/2 way on Friday after school and the rest of the way Saturday morning. I just don't know.

Well, I need to get home. This will probably be the only post today. I'm going to go read a few blogs before I go home so I won't get too far behind.