Just a note

It is a bit crazy around here. I'll post a more substantial post tomorrow. For now this will do: I love my fur babies... and secretly they love each other.

14 days

I had 5 days off. I remember when I could bounce back from that with no problem. Now, at the ripe old age of 29 I am no longer able to bounce back quite so easily. Who would've thought that six years of teaching would have done that. I am not a sitter. I like to be on the go but I am currently laying on the couch defrosting dinner. I'm trying to think of the easiest meal at to make wants the chicken is defrosted. The only reason this is getting done is because I am recording it. I'm not even typing. I pushed myself to work out but I could only make it 30 minutes. Today at work I felt like the Charlie Brown teacher the one who makes all the noise but no sense. I really could probably use a nap, but I have to be up and at em again in about 12 hours. Maybe I'll attempt to go for a walk tonight to boost my energy level. If this is what I feel like at six years I'm scared to think what I'll be like at 12. All I know is something has to give because I'm feeling much older than my 29 years. Massages and vacations should be a part of my pay. Those of you who think this job is easy, think again. I hate to count down but 14 school days until Christmas vacation. Teachers please tell me I'm not alone.

Tons of ornaments

We will have a new Christmas tree this year since the basement will be finished. I started to paint some ornaments, and then I painted some for gifts, and then party favors, and then... you get the idea. The end result~ almost 50 hand painted ornaments.

Happy Thanksgiving

And what a wonderful Thanksgiving it was. We spend Thanksgiving with my parents. We headed up bright and early Thursday morning. We left at 7:00 to be exact. I wanted to be sure to not miss a second of the parade and of course help with the cooking. Usually it is just my parents and Anthony and me. This year my grandma came down too. Mom, dad, and I cooked all day. Anthony looked at ads and napped. Gracie followed the food or whoever would let her snuggle. It was a typical Thanksgiving. I love the smallness and simplicity of it. Here are some highlights from the day:

1. We decorated the Christmas tree

2. The food was AMAZING~ I nibbled all day long and loved it all.

3. The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Santa was so good. We was very jolly and had a real beard.

Love that we can be comfy/cozy on Thanksgiving

Mom got stuck under the tree and then dad made sure she stay there for a bit. She laughed so hard I thought she'd never get out.

Another project

I've been wanting a new kitchen table for the eat in kitchen for a while now. Mom finally found this one on Craigslist, and it is my early Christmas present. I painted the top white to match my style more. It is for sure bigger, I even need 2 more chairs eventually. I love it. Just in time for family at the holidays!

Blessing Box- More fostering news

Today I am blessed to have received this email from our social worker...

that said...

We can sign final paperwork to open our house within the next week.

As soon as Wednesday.

Like Wednesday, the day after today.

I. am. over. the. moon.

WOO HOO!

The holiday card

Starlight Sky Christmas Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Miscellany monday- in a holiday sense

ONE~ I know we are having a warm streak. I know that lots of people are taking advantage of this. They are doing this by decorating their houses for Christmas. Lights and all. Now I love Christmas, but I just can't get myself to decorate before Thanksgiving. On Thursday, absolutely, I will decorate. It may be a freezing. But Thanksgiving is important and should be recognized too.

TWO~ I finished more signs to put on my etsy shop. It has been wonderful having the time to dedicate to my painting. I love my new philosophy on life.

THREE~I have been dreaming of turkey, stuffing, and sweet potatoes since last week.

FOUR~ I've been searching for a new service project for my students to do for our Holiday party. Any suggestions? We usually make fleece blankets for the Linus Project, but I'm looking for something different.

FIVE~ I'm in a crazy baking mood. I'm thinking homemade cinnamon rolls, and grandma's cream candy to start off with.

SIX~ It is very exciting that it is now the 25 days of Christmas on ABC Family. That means lots and lots of Christmas movies.

SEVEN~ To shop on Black Friday or not... that is the question?!?!

EIGHT~ I love it when Starbucks gets in their Holiday cups in. It makes me so happy. On a side note they are offering a buy one get one free for their holiday coffees for a couple days. Two perfect reasons to stop by and warm up with a cup of coffee.

NINE~ I treated myself to a new Christmas cd today. It is Swooner Christmas songs (Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra). It reminds me of Christmas with my grandma.

TEN~ On Friday Anthony will play golf in the Turkey Day Scramble, then he will come home and pretend to enjoy decorating the tree while we watch Elf. This is our tradition. He would rather decorate for Halloween but at least he will pretend, it's part of the tradition.

If only the weekends were longer

Yesterday was such a fun day. We headed to Cincy for the day to see a play and have dinner with my parents. The play we saw was Young Frankenstein. This is one of my dad's favorite movies. It is different from other plays I have seen as it is a comedy too. The play was funny, and as a side benefit I got some yummy cinnamon almonds during intermission. It was nice to get out for a different kind of date. Even though I wasn't feeling great I had a great time. After dinner we went to Newport on the Levy for dinner at a yummy Irish Pub. My only regret is I didn't get more pictures. Thanks for the tickets mom and dad.

An update:

Anthony wanted to check in with our social worker yesterday. We should have been approved a couple months ago. But as we have learned, nothing moves at the pace we deem appropriate, especially with the state. Just God's way of fine tuning my patience. At this point I am praying that everything will happen in His time. I'd love for that to be the holidays, but I'm perfectly content with His plan over mine. Anyway: here is the email response Anthony got in response.

You don't have to do anything as far as training right now, but you could if you wanted. It will count towards your 6 hours you need by next November. This has taken a long time but she said you should be finished by today. I will let you know. There really were no updates or I would have let you know. :)Just goes from me, to my supervisor, to her supervisor! Hopefully this is the week!

This could mean next week or the week after we are approved. I'm just happy it is moving, nothing is lost, nothing is just sitting.

An old saying

Let me begin this post by saying this: This post is not necessarily related to me, but to all teachers. It is simply an observation of my profession.

There is an old saying.

"I will believe half of what your child tells me, if you believe half of what your child tells you."

Have you heard this before?

It is SO true.

Alright. Parents out there. Are you listening? Think of all the possible things your child could tell me. Or has told me. Are you thinking? You should be blushing.

Now, if your child comes home and says their teacher wouldn't let them go to the bathroom, or their teacher screamed at them all day long. Your first instinct should not be 100% belief. Your first reaction shouldn't be to rally other parents, or call the principal. Your first instinct should be to 1. question your child or 2. call the teacher and get the full story.

Teachers are not in the position for the money or long lunches. We are not there for the short days (that is a myth), or the small amount of paperwork (ha!). We are there because we love children. We have a passion for teaching. Think. Would we really do anything so awful or horrible.

So let's recap:

"I will believe half of what your child tells me, if you believe half of what your child tells you."

Wordless Wednesday

Busy! Busy! Busy! I'm out of wood again. I may start ornaments tonight. Feels good after a day where I'm convinced the barometric pressure has turned my students into wild children. I have 2 more projects finished but I'll post them later.

Bug-licious

I was listening to yesterday's Today Show. That sounds kind of funny yesterday's Today Show. Anyway. They were saying that in a certain amount of years there would be an enormous amount of people on earth. Because of that the UN is looking into bug's potential to serve as a food source. They explained that lots of cultures survived on them and that bugs provide lots of protein and good fat. Basically what they are looking for is ways to have a bug farm. I can just picture the bug farm with the bugs grazing on poo and then being shipped off to a local slaughterhouse to be cleaned and prepared for delivery in a local Kroger store . I'm a pretty open minded person when it comes to food minus red meat and pork but I'm not sure I can do the whole bug thing. I guess it would come down to if there's no other options- yes I would probably eat a bug. I wouldn't want to though. Imagine: I stopped at my local Kroger picked up some bugs and seasoning salt and heading home to make dinner... not really sure. What would you think if bugs became part of the American diet would you go for it?

Shutterfly

Almost every year we have been married we have sent photo Christmas cards. My Christmas shopping is finished for this year, and recently I have begun to ponder photo Christmas cards for this year. It always sneaks up on me, and this year I want to be prepared. So, I took the opportunity to check out the holiday cards at shutterfly.com. I really love the multiple photo options on several of the cards. It seems way more exciting then the regular single picture I have picked in the past. Here is my top contender for this year’s card.

Ok- so now I became a bit obsessed and checked out the birth announcements… or something I could send to family when we foster. Can you tell I'm secretly hoping for a Holiday baby? I’m not too sure the correct etiquette for this, but they offered some great options. Again, here is my favorite. The best part is, it is only .32 an announcement.

Finally, I love the canvas wall art. If you’ve read this blog for a bit you know that I love photography, and art. This puts them together in a very creative way. I’m so picky with my artwork,, this will help my particular ways.

Oh, and if you are wondering.. while I do LOVE Shutterfly you can also get 50 free Christmas cards all you bloggers: Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 Be sure to check it out!

Miscellany monday

ONE~This weekend was insanely busy. Insanely fun, but insanely busy. Friday night kicked off with girls night out at Havana Rumbas followed by some time at a friends house. Saturday was our last home football game and another friends house for some hot tub and relaxation . On Sunday I recuperated from my fun and relaxation.

TWO~I still don't have half the things that I need to have marked off my list that I need to but I had a good weekend and I'll figure out when to get them done later. I really want to take a day off of work to catch up with painting cleaning and all the little things that are in the air right now. But I only have seven school days left until Thanksgiving break so I'm trying to stretch it out.

THREE~My hairdryer died this morning. I'm so glad that I had just barely finished drying my hair. I guess I'll add that to the list.

FOUR~I am going to start P90 X back up again. I have to make time for it. It makes my body feel so much better and I don't have nearly as many aches pains, creaks, and cracks

FIVE~I am attempting to organize a cool celebration next Monday for my kids along with another class and teacher. We want to have an authentic Thanksgiving celebration with pilgrim games and all.

SIX~I love the new holiday creamer that is out in stores now. Currently I am drinking a gingerbread coffee. So Yummy!

SEVEN~I am actually getting this post accomplished thanks to Dragon dictation. If you have an iPhone you should definitely check it out.

EIGHT~I have to brag a little bit that the majority- like 99% of my Christmas shopping is all finished. Thanks to couple outlets I'm ready for the season and can just enjoy the simple part of it. Not not having to worry about the crowds and hot mall.

NINE~Conferences are finally over. There wasn't too much excitement this year. Thank goodness. The only interesting point was when a dad asked me when I was going to have kids and pushed the issue so I informed him of my situation. Then he told me I was wonderful.

TEN~Look for an exciting Shutterfly post to come.

Math sucks

When I was in elementary school I was really good at math. I was in the higher classes and loved to take the challenges. I was a dork.  I even had a special math packet. In middle school I had a wicked witch for a teacher in six grade and in eighth grade my math teacher told me I was stupid. In high school I took the general math classes. And by the time I got to college I hated math. I am a little embarrassed to say that I failed my first college math class. I want to place the blame on the teacher (I even got a tutor) but when a teacher looks at you and says "why are you still taking this class just drop it you will fail" you kind of get a little let down about what you can do. I recovered from that, took the class with a different teacher and got an A. So, it's not that I'm not capable but then again I took a math class with Anthony one summer. He didn't study, didn't do homework, and aced every test. I studied my butt off, did all my homework, and left the final in tears because I couldn't finish it. The professor gave me a C just on the basis that I think he felt sorry for me. I tell you all this so that you know my math background. I'm not a fan. And when my principal told me I'd be teaching fifth grade this year I told her if I have math questions I'm coming to you. Well that math is starting to creep up on me again. Last night I felt like I was in school all over again. I was in tears because I couldn't figure out fifth grade math. We are beginning a fraction unit today and I looked ahead at some of the material trying to understand it at a deeper level so that I can explain it well to the kids. The question that stumped me was what is 3/9 of a dollar. First of all why do you ever need to know what 3/9 of the dollar is? The answer is actually half of a cent. It's not like you'll be splitting something to the half of the cent. It's frustrating because I don't understand why you do what you do to solve the problem. It's not that I don't get the steps that I need to be able to explain it, it's the background behind it. At 29 years old math is still bugging me. And at 39 I'll probably be saying the same thing. I just don't remember being taught these things and if I was it wasn't to the depth that these kids are expected to know it now. So please, say a little prayer that I get through my math lessons for the next few weeks. And don't look alike a complete fool. 

Jimmy Buffett says it best:

If necessity is the mother of invention Then I'd like to kill the guy who invented this The numbers come together in some kind of 3rd dimension A regular algebraic bliss. Let's start with something simple Like one and one ain't three And two plus two will never get you five There's fractions in my subtraction And X don't equal Y But my homework is bound to multiply  Math sucks (math sucks) Math sucks (math sucks) I'd like to burn this textbook, I hate this stuff so much! Math sucks (math sucks) Math sucks (math sucks) Sometimes I think that I don't know that much--But math sucks! 

On a roll... and loving it

Ok two more for tonight. I have to stop because I am out of wood, but I feel totally renewed:)

Busy painting

I've been focused on holiday art, however I needed to take a break for a couple growth charts and letters. Love that I am able to let the artistic juices flow! It is my outlet. More to come!!

Restless

Do you ever have those times where you just feel restless? Like something needs to change or to happen...something just need to be a bit different. I've had that feeling for a couple of weeks and I just can't figure out what it is.  For example when my alarm goes off I think "I could hang out with Anthony today, all day, every day... I'd be good with that (although I know I really wouldn't, I like my own time). Maybe it's the fact that it's getting to be the holiday season, maybe I'm getting a bit antsy for a kid, maybe it's a combo and the fact that it's getting to be the holiday season AND I want to enjoy time with my family not necessarily at work. Maybe it's God trying to change and move something in me. I wish I could place what it was. And then work on fine tuning and fixing it. Not that I'm unhappy I just know it's something and I can't figure it out.  Please tell me I am not the only one that feels this way.  I'd love to be fixed.  I'm still normal right?

Wordless Wednesday

Check out my new holiday paintings... here, or on etsy or Facebook at Little One Design. I've been hard at work!

What I did last week

Last week Anthony was gone to Dustin for a contest he won through work. I enjoyed some me time while he was gone but don't get me wrong I was definitely happy to have him back. On Saturday we had such a great day . After I went to visit my grandmother I came back and Anthony and I hung out. We had dinner at the house and then spread a blanket on the floor and watched Saturday college football. Anthony also had gone out and gotten wood for our first fire. He's not over the moon about fires himself but I absolutely adore them and I cannot wait to be able to have my first fire of the year. I know many of you might not think this is the best night ever but it is what we have always done. So, while I enjoy a week as a single girl again to bring back memories I have to say I'm glad to have my husband home. Next time there's a massive wind storm hopefully it'll be while he's home, and the dog barks at two o'clock in the morning hopefully he'll be home, and I am so happy that there is someone else to take out the trash bags because those are the things that I do not miss about being a single girl. Besides, he's a pretty good guy:)

Burr it's cold in here

Fall has finally reached Louisville. The mornings are cool and brisk and afternoons only get up to around 60. I love all that there is about to fall. All but one thing. Waking up in the morning. I get up at 5:30 or before and it is really difficult to want to move from bed when the air around you is cold, when the night sky is still upon you and all you want to do is snuggle underneath the covers. This time of year I have to set my alarm three times. Once to wake me up, the second time to give me a warning, and the third time to get my butt out of bed. The problem is by the time the second alarm goes off I have decided that I could spend another 10 min. in bed and forgo the third alarm. It's like a game that I play. How many times can I set the alarm, how late can I set the alarm for before I will be late to work. Usually I guess just right, but there are those mornings where I'm walking in the door with the students. It is what it is and I can't help that. This morning I set my alarm for five o'clock 5:10 and 5:15. I finally drug myself out of bed at 5:20. And that was before I had to get my hooded sweatshirt and big warm socks on underneath the covers. This morning I will probably be late. This morning I do not have time to fix breakfast. But those extra 5 min. under the covers were totally worth it. Hope you have a warm and cozy fall day.