Ever have one of those days where things just go your way?? I had one today. Lots of things went right, and lots of those things were due to some hard work I've put in. That feeling of accomplishment is just so awesome. I thought I'd celebrate them with you! First, I finished my lesson plans for next week. My goal every week is to complete the plans on Thursday so that I can use my time on Friday to go over them and make sure I have what I need. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't. Today it actually happened, and it happened very smoothly! It's such a good feeling to go into a Friday knowing that my lessons are planned for the following week. I'm the junior homeroom teacher, which means that the planning for prom and the junior/senior banquet falls mostly on me. I gathered the other teachers who are on the faculty committee and we had a fantastic meeting. We hammered out a bunch of the big items, so now we can hand a lot of it over to the student committee and let them make decisions on most of the details (with guidance, of course). It felt really good to get those things down on paper, so they can stop swirling around in my head! This is the biggest thing that happened today... I received the nicest, sweetest card ever from my sister Beezneez (the one who's getting married) in the mail today. She's so good to send random cards that are just hilarious. She writes little notes of encouragement to me, and they always seem to arrive exactly when I need them most. Well, this one was just like her others, just explaining some of the things that she appreciated about me. I got all teary-eyed, and then actually bawled out loud when I got to the end because she asked me to be her matron of honor! It was just so incredibly sweet. I totally have the fierce love-loyalty-pride-protection thing going because she's my little sister, and I'm just so honored that she would ask me to stand next to her. I'm going to be the BEST matron of honor, EVER, just for HER because she totally deserves it. (Love you, Beez!) Last, but definitely not least, I had my Weight Watchers meeting tonight. After last week's gain (that I still believe was mostly due to the jeans and sweatshirt combo), I worked really hard all week, cooking well, riding my stationary bike, and paying attention to what I was eating. I made sure to wear the clothes I usually wear (jogging pants and a t-shirt), and... drum roll, please... I lost 5.2 pounds!!! I know that 5.2 pounds is totally unrealistic for a one-week loss, but that just confirms my thoughts that the clothes last week were definitely a part of the gain. Still, I know I lost some actual weight this week! Yay! Now, it's to bed and (hopefully) to an early sleep. This first full week back is wearing me out... :)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Today was a GREAT day
Thursday Thirteen #1
I'm trying something new this week. I saw this on TeacherBee's blog, and decided that I might write more often if only I had a little direction. It would be nice to have one day a week that has a little more structure to it. So, here is my first Thursday Thirteen!
1... Like TeacherBee mentioned in one of her posts, I prefer my own homebrewed coffee to Starbucks'. I think that Starbucks' coffee is ridiculously bitter, totally unpleasant, and insanely overpriced.
2. When I do go to Starbucks, I usually get a passion tea (sweetened) or an iced chai tea latte. It depends on how many of my Weight Watchers points I want to spend on a drink!
3. When I make my coffee at home, I make it a tad stronger than I would normally like. That's because I don't like drinking hot coffee. In a normal cup, I add two pieces of ice. In my travel mug that I take every morning, I add four. This is so that I don't have to wait for it to cool to drink it.
4. I've used the same travel mug every single school day and most Sundays since last Valentine's Day. It's pink and pretty with hearts on it. After nearly a year of use and abuse, it's showing it's age with a crack in the plastic that's only getting worse. I've been on the lookout for a new one, but am too picky. There are features I really like about mine (the shape, the height, the way the top opens and closes, that it seals well, etc.) that are really only on the ones at Starbucks. That's where I splurged and got this pink one, by the way. I just have a hard time spending $20 on a CUP, even though I know that, judging by this past year, I'll get way more than $20 of use out of it. So, I've found one at Starbucks that I'll be using Christmas gift cards to get.
5. My very favorite days of the week (month?) are the days that the housekeeper comes AND I have dinner in the slow-cooker. Walking into a clean house with dinner almost ready is heaven. I've finally figured out that those days can be planned to happen every single day that the housekeeper comes. Who knew?
6. I really, really love getting up before anyone else in my house. That is my only time to myself, and I *need* it for my sanity's sake. I don't do anything particuluarly special during that time, but I can go through my routine to get ready for the day without worrying that Knight or Jet will need me for something else.
7. I put on my makeup and style my hair everyday. I don't really consider myself high maintenance. It's just that, if I'm out and about, Murphy's Law states that I will always run into a student or parent when I'm scruffy. Since my superintendent really thinks of the teachers as the best PR the school has, I try to look presentable when I'm in public. If I do my hair and makeup, I feel like I look okay, even if I just have on jogging pants and a T-shirt. Plus, since I chopped off my hair, I can't just put it up in a ponytail anymore.
8. I'm a realist, almost to the point of being a non-dreamer. I don't have huge dreams. I don't spend time playing the "someday" game. It's sort of a method of self-defense. If I can't plan it all the way through to see the end results before I get started, I often just don't bother. That way I'm not disappointed if it turns out badly. I'm working on this, and Knight is helping. He IS a dreamer, big-time! :)
9. I always double-knot my shoes. *shrug*
10. I hate crowds. I'd much rather stay home and read a good book than go somewhere with a ton of people. Mostly, I'm scared of the "mob mentality".
11. I'm NOT trendy. I don't get caught up in the latest fads, fashion or otherwise. I'm a traditionalist, but it's mostly because I'm too lazy to keep up. I hate the thought of buying or doing something that I'll have to change next year (or month) because it's not "in style". I see it as a waste of time and money.
12. I'm a perfectionist at heart. It wasn't until my first year at my current school, when I had five science preps, a one-year-old son, and a 30+ minute commute, that I learned how to really prioritize and say "that's good enough". I probably worked 60+ hours a week during my first semester, and I could have done more. I learned that the perfectionistic tendencies I have are self-defeating. It will NEVER be good enough unless I learn to say so to myself.
13. My very favorite smell in the whole world is coming home from church to a pot roast that's been cooking in the oven all morning. THAT'S what home is.
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Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Parent-ese
After putting together Jet's dictionary entry the other day, it occurred to me that I, as a parent, probably say some extremely ridiculous things, too. I thought I'd start a new blogging category and document those for posterity as well. Of course, with most of them, you have to read the situation to understand where I'm coming from. At least, I hope you'll understand.
Tonight, we decided to spend our Denny's gift cards and go out to dinner. On the way into the Denny's, Knight was opening the door, but didn't see Jet right under his arm. The man opened the door right into Jet's face. At that instant, it wasn't funny in the least, but as I replay it in my mind to describe ... well, let's just say that I might have $10,000 if I'd had a video camera. To top it off, though, the door was glass, and I saw his iddy-widdy face all smushed up against it for just a split-second. I might not be the meanest mom in the world (though I might be when he gets a car!), but I'll be laughing at that image for awhile, especially since he wasn't really hurt. Inside the kids' menu at Denny's, they offer rocket cups. I normally would scoff at paying two bucks for something like this, but Knight ordered one for Jet. I suppose it helped to assuage his guilt at smacking his son in the face with a door. (Still chuckling.) We brought the cup home, Jet sucking down Sprite the whole way. After playing for awhile, I announced that it was bath time. Jet tried to convince me that the rocket cup should be taken into the bath because the fifty-eleven plastic doo-dads that he already has aren't enough to get him clean. Or some such nonsense. My reply was utterly brilliant: "Your rocket is for drinking, not for playing in the bath!" Maybe I should send that one to Hallmark.
Either Blogger freaked out on me, or...
today really is Thursday the 10th. Maybe I've just been writing the wrong date on everything and tomorrow really IS Friday? How cool would that be?!?! Seriously, though, I wrote that Thursday Thirteen post last weekend and gave it a publish date of tomorrow. (Thursday! Wacky, I know!) I went to change something in it this morning, and I couldn't remember if I should click "Draft" or "Publish". I checked the publish date, and it still said Thursday. I decided that if I hit publish, it probably wouldn't publish it until Thursday.
Now I'm wondering if this post will appear BELOW the Thursday Thirteen one... here goes!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
I hope I don't jinx it
Jet has been staying in his bed all night long for several nights out of the last week or so.
We bought him a new "big boy bed" with some of our Christmas money, and then let him pick out sheets at Target. He repeatedly stated that he wanted "Transfarmers" sheets. I was a little leery, since he'd really only seen the movie once at that point. I showed him Elmo, Thomas the Tank Engine, and a couple of other options. He was resolute that the Transfarmers sheets were the only ones for him.
I picked up a red, tubular metal headboard, footboard and rails for a song on Craigslist (I pink puffy heart Craigslist, most of the time). My Granny made him this ultra-soft fleece blanket using this fabric that has HUGE blocks with the faces of the Sesame Street characters.
So, Jet has a red bed, Transfarmers sheets, and a Sesame Street blanket. It's a bit tough on the eyes. BUT, if it's not too loud to wake him up in the night, I'm ALL FOR IT! :)