Triple T!!!!!

Thanks to the gorgeous (and preggo) Laura Belle we have Ten Things Thursday!!

1. Only one day after today people...just one more day. No alarm clock, no pants, no real shoes, and not even a bra if I don't want one.


2. My birthday is on Sunday. I will be 22 with 21 years experience :) I will also be leaving for the beach that day. Woot woot!!!


3. OMG, the teacher that used to teach next door to me last year (she is no longer at my school) was arrested yesterday for murder. Yes, you heard me right...MURDER. Crazy stuff.


4. We had our end of school year party yesterday. I bought pizza for all of my kids. I drove off post to get the pizza and just as I was coming back on post I realized I had left my government ID in the computer at school. They aren't supposed to let anyone on post without their ID or a visitors pass (which is an ordeal to get). Apparently if you have on a dress that's slightly hiked up showing a little leg, big boobs, and bat your eyes at the guard they will let you slide through with just your school ID.


5. So I mentioned I had on a dress. I was carrying 6 large pizzas back up to the door of my school. You can't get in the school without sliding you school ID beside the door. So, I am trying to balance 6 large pizzas on one arm, while I try to fumble to get my ID out of the badge holder. In the meantime it is a tad bit windy. A big wind comes up and completely blows my dress up. I almost drop the pizzas and my pink drawers are still blowing in the wind. Finally, I hear a voice come on over the little speaker by the door. It was our secretary...and she was laughing so hard I couldn't even make out what she was saying...but I think it was something about buzzing me in. Great, now the office staff calls me pinky every time I walk by the office. Apparently they were all sitting there watching the security camera and wondering how I was going to manage to slide my card with all those pizzas in my hand...and they all lost it when my dress blew up. I hope they peed their pants from laughing and had to sit in urine soaked drawers the rest of the day :)


6. My kids loved the pizza party. Today is my last day with all of them since I am moving to the other class next year. I am sad about leaving my babies, but I know I will love the new ones too.


7. I want to make this fruit dip that I found online. It calls for vanilla bean paste. Nobody in my town sells it. I read online that you can get it at Sonoma Williams (??I don't know what that is) or Trader Joe's...and we have neither of those places.


8. Whoever suggested that I try Old Navy to find shorts...thank you, thank you, thank you! They have the exact right length me. However, I ordered 3 pairs of shorts, all same style but different colors in size 8. Two of the pairs fit perfectly and the other did not fit at all. Isn't that odd??


9. The Boy told me he is moving out in 2 months. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I don't know if I am ready for my baby to leave. What if he goes hungry? What if he runs out of clean underwear? What if nobody reminds him to change his sheets every week????


10. Do any of y'all sell Oragami Owl stuff? If so, please let me know because I wanna order something.

Rippin and Runnin

This has been a very busy weekend. I was rippin and runnin most of the time. I will tell you all about it...one day at a time :-)

Friday

I worked all day. The Rockstar is already out for summer break, but I still have to work until the end of this week :( After I got off work Friday I went tanning. I came home and The Rockstar wanted to go eat. He loves buffets, especially the Chinese buffet. It is such a waste of money for me to go to a buffet, but since he likes them, we still go. Let me tell ya, I still fix my plate like I did before getting banded. I don't know why, because even as I am fixing it I say to myself "Self, you know you will never eat all this food"...and I don't.

Here is my plate before I started eating...

 

I still pile it up with all my old favorites. Here is my plate after eating...

 

 

 

 

I told you...total waste of money for me to go.

 

 

After eating we went grocery shopping. Nothing fun or exciting about that. I hate to go grocery shopping.

 

 

Later that night I went to my mom's house. My ex brother in law and niece were in town for my nephew's graduation and they stayed with my mom. I visited for a while and then decided I was really tired and needed to go home and sleep.

 

 

Saturday

 

 

I slept in for a bit. I think it was because I was dreading going to my sister's house and the longer I stayed in the bed the less I had to think about getting up and getting ready to go to her house. I did finally drag myself out of the bed and get ready.

 

 

The visit to my sister's house was pretty uneventful. She didn't speak to me at all until I got ready to leave (and I actually stayed there almost 2 hours), and then all she did was give me a courtesy hug (you know, the kind where get a little pat on the back and a sideways hug) and said thank you for coming. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was expecting more than that. I was, however, happy to see my niece again.

 

 

 

 

I even got her to duckface with me :)

 

 

 

She does a great duckface, doesn't she??

 

 

After leaving I still had another graduation party to attend. This time it was the nephew of my Colorado bff. In case I have never told you, I have no sense of direction and need to use a gps to get any where I go. My bff's sister told me it was super easy. I put the street name in my GPS, but not the house number. I didn't put the house number in because she told me it was just a few houses down when you turned on the street and that I would know which house because they would have an awning set up and there would be balloons on the mailbox.

 

Sure enough, as soon as I turned on the street I saw a house with an awning set up, smoke coming from the grill, and balloons on the mailbox. I parked the car and joined the small crowd under the awning. The man running the grill welcomed me and told me to have a seat. The woman setting the food out asked what I would like to drink. Everything was going just peachy...good food, great atmosphere, nice people. I finally asked where my bff or her sister was. They looked at me like I had 2 heads and said "who?" I said "Isn't this Billy Bob's (not his real name) graduation party???" And they said "Ummmm, no. But you are more than welcome to stay. We have plenty of food"

 

 

Yep, that's how we roll in the south. If you are having a cookout any ole body can come up and you welcome them to your food and beer. I kindly thanked them and quickly made an exit to find the right house...which was about 5 houses down on the other side of the street :-)







I stayed at the party for several hours and ate way too much yummy junk. My bff left with me and came back to my house with me to spend the night. We stayed up till all hours of the night just laughing, and talking, and laughing some more.


Sunday

My local bff came up and spent the day with Colorado bff and me. I have been friends with Colorado bff for 23 years and local bff for 13 years and the two had never met. Can you believe that??? They both felt like they knew each other, but had never actually met. It was a great day.

 We went shopping and laughed and had a great time. The Rockstar cooked us dinner and ate until we were stuffed.

After the local bff went home the Colorado bff and I went and did a little more shopping and then I took her back to her sister's house.

I came home and I was exhausted. I took a bath and slept like a baby :)


Sunday

I slept in again. I got up and made a big ole pan of baked beans for a cookout we were going to attend. This cookout was a lot of my coworkers. Far different group of people than The Rockstar's group we usually hang out with...but it was all good. We are diverse like that. We can roll with all types :)

The cookout was great. We came home and now we are both just laying around like lazy people.

I hope y'all's weekend was just as good as mine!

Four more days and the alarm clock is out of site for 2 months!!!!

Ta Ta Time

I took the day off from work today. I have a diagnostic mammogram scheduled. I didn't "have" to take the day off. I could have just taken off a little early. But I feel like I needed a day off. So, I am getting my boobies checked out and getting my hair done. I figured if I had to get smooshed, mashed, tugged, and squeezed then I should I also treat myself to something good...so I threw in the hair appointment first. I may not like getting a mammogram, but at least I will look good getting it :)


If you have read my blog for any length of time then you know that I have a sister who I have not seen or spoken to (other than a text around Christmas) in 3 1/2 years. Well, my nephew (her son) graduates from high school this weekend. She sent me invitation to the graduation and to a cookout at her house. I just got the invitation yesterday (nothing like waiting until the last minute to send it) and I am trying to decide what to do. I had already accepted an invitation to another graduation party on the same day...I received that invitation a month ago. I don't know if my sister is truly trying to mend things or she just wants me to send a graduation gift (yes, she is very materialistic like that). I think the right thing to do is to at least go by there for a few minutes (and yes, I will take a gift) and explain that I had already accepted another invitation, so I can't stay long. I really don't even want to go. I know it will be uncomfortable since I haven't seen her in so long, but I also know that things will never get fixed if I don't.


Another reason I don't want to go is that my sister is probably the same weight I was before I got banded. I really don't know if she knows I had surgery or not. My dad may or may not have told her. I know that she feels bad about herself. And I have been there. I often feel like she has been jealous of other things in my life...when I graduated from college, when I bought my house, when I got married...etc. She didn't even come to either college graduation (bachelors or masters). I almost feel like when she sees me that it may make things worse. This is really the first time that I feel like I want to hide how well I have done...because I don't want it to make her feel bad. Does that sound crazy??


Only 9 more days until summer break...only 6 more days to wake up to an alarm AND only 10 more days until I leave for the beach!!!!! Can I get a woooooo hooooooo?!!!!

Triple T

Thanks to the gorgeous (and preggo) Laura Belle we have Ten Things Thursday!!

1. 15 total days until summer break, 9 more days to wake up to an alarm clock...but who's counting??


2. On the last day of school I have a ritual. As soon as I leave the building I call The Rockstar and sing School's Out (Alice Cooper). Then, as soon as I get home I unplug my alarm clock and hide it way back in the back of the closet...where it stays until I have to go back to work in August. I try my best not to set any doctors appointments or anything during the summer that would require me setting an alarm. I very rarely even look at the clock in the summer :)


3. I have to find a new doctor. My doctor affiliated himself with a program and if I wanted to stay his patient I would have had to pay the annual fee of over $1700 a year...plus still pay my copay every time I go in. It didn't make sense to me to do that since I only go to the doctor a few times a year. I have been with my doctor for 14 years and hate to get a new one, but that's what I gotta do.


4. My doctor will only see nonmembers up until May 22, so I went in today to get new prescriptions, get my vitamin B 12 shot, yearly girl stuff, and ask who he personally recommended for me as a new doctor. So the good news is he recommended a doctor he felt would match well with me. The bad news is, I have a lump in right breast and have to go in for a diagnostic mammogram next week. Normally I wouldn't even be concerned, but since my mother battled breast cancer 4 years ago I am slightly concerned.


5. My bff is coming into town next week for her nephew's graduation and I am sooooo way excited to see her. It sucks that I will still be working, but at least I will get to spend some time with her over the weekend.


6. Did you know that I have not had any Mt Dew in 3 days??? Not a drop. Yeah, I know, it's a miracle. Don't get too excited. I have been drinking sweet tea and lemonade like nobody's business. Probably just as much sugar, but lemons are a fruit so it's gotta be a little bit better for me...right??


7. Three weeks from this very moment my ass will be in the sun and toes in the sand. I look forward to beach trip all year long. The beach is my absolute favorite place to be. In the past we only stay 3 or 4 days because every year one of us had to be back for some other obligation. This year we made sure that we had no other obligations that week and we are staying the entire week.


8. I don't even have one pair of shorts that fit me. I looked for some shorts this past weekend, but every pair I saw were either down to me knees or they were coochie cutters. I need something in between.


9. We haven't even started opening our pool yet. I told my pool boy (The Rockstar) today that he better get on it. It was almost 90 here today. Ya know, I tell people that my summer job is an aquatic engineer :-)

10. There's a first for everything...and today was a first. For the first time ever I wore a dress to work. I normally only wear a dress to a wedding. But today, it was for no particular reason. Our custodian stopped me in the hall to tell me I looked very nice today...made me feel good :) It's hard to see in the picture, but the dress is white with little black polka dots. It is sleeveless, so I had to wear a cardigan with it to work.

Changes comin my way

So my principal walked in my room yesterday with a letter in hand. Usually this is not a good thing....it could mean that you are being fired, it could mean that they are transferring you to another school, it could mean a number of things that you usually don't want and are completely blindsided by. My letter was telling me that I, in fact, would be moving. But at least it is still in the same school. They are moving me to a different class. I will have fewer kids, but their disabilities are much more severe. As of now, all of the students in that class are nonverbal and in diapers. I am ok with it. I kinda feel like I can work with any type of student and I can always find the strengths in any student I work with.


When I walked in Monday morning this was on my desk...

 

 

If you can't read it, it says: For all your help and not being a B!

 

Apparently during stress week some people (ok, really only one) was quite the "B" because she was stressed out over doing the portfolios. It stressed me out too, but no sense in being a "B" to others.

 

 

I am so way excited that we are in the last couple of weeks of school!!!!! A couple of my kids have already left. One because her dad got stationed somewhere else and another because his grandmother died. I have two others who will be leaving next week because their mom or dad got stationed elsewhere. It's one of the hard parts of working with military children. You get close to them and then they have to leave. I guess they are used to it...I still am not.

 

 

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Stress week is O-V-E-R

Last week was the most stressful week of the entire school year for me. I have to do a portfolio on each one of my kids and they were due this past Friday. Each one takes hours to put together and I had 9 of them to do...more than any other teacher on post. But I got them done, and on time. I felt like a really crappy teacher last week because I did very little teaching. One of coworkers knew I was feeling the stress and she tried to make me feel better with this....

As you can see, one of the KitKats is missing. Yes, I ate it and yes, it is a full size.

Now that stress week is over, I have been able to have a very nice relaxing weekend. Yesterday The Rockstar spent the day with me shopping. Normally he doesn't like to go shopping, but yesterday he didn't complain one bit. Maybe it was because I was trying on swimsuits and I would open up the dressing room door and model them for him :). I had bought several swimsuits over the past few weeks and there was one that I just didn't love on me...I loved it on the model, but not on me. I liked the top, but not the bottom. Since it was so expensive ($75 for just the bottoms) I decided to return it. I did buy another one in its place, but The Rockstar still likes the cheapest one I bought (for like $20) the best. I love the colors of it, but I am certainly not used to wearing a real two piece suit. I have been in tankinis for the last 20 years. But not this year...I am actually going to be  brave enough to wear my 2 piece and not worry if someone thinks I look fat in it. Here it is...

I really should learn to take self pics during the day when The Rockstar isn't laid up in the bed in the background. I know my bed is always unmade in my pictures, but I promise I make it up every morning :-)


Today was a fabulous Mother's Day. Yesterday when I got home from shopping this was on my jewelry chest....

The Boy left it for me. He didn't stay at home last night, so I really had no idea what he had planned. I followed the directive and was ready at 1:00. He showed up exactly on time with a dozen roses in hand. He said he was taking me on a date for Mother's Day. We went to my favorite restaurant...just me and my date :)

 

 

 

 

After we returned The Big Boy came over and spent some time with me. He gave me a gift certificate for spa services. Yep, I did good raising these boys right :-)

 

 

I hope all of you had a great Mother's Day too!

 

Have you thanked a teacher today?

Today is Teacher Appreciation Day. Our PTA provide lunch for us today. Way too many sweets, but it was yummy. If you have kids, and you think they have a great teacher, tell them. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love getting a little note from a parent telling me they appreciate what I do for their child. It doesn't take expensive gifts or flowers, or candy....just a simple little note.

 A parent of one of my former students left a comment on my fb the other day telling me that I was wonderful teacher. Her son is getting married this summer and he sent me a message telling me how much it would mean to him if I was there. Now let me just tell ya....this kid gave me hell almost on a daily basis. There were certainly many days that I wondered if I was getting through to this kid. So happy to see that I did make some kind of impact on him. And I can't wait to be there on his big day!

This past weekend was very rough for me. My baby Austin went to puppy heaven. He had been declining since Kayleigh passed away back in July. He was 14. He was completely deaf and almost completely blind. I miss him dearly.

I have been super duper busy at work. My kids don't take standardized state tests. I have to compile a portfolio as an alternate assessment for each one of one kids. The portfolios are due Friday and I will be working on them up until the very last minute.


I am so stinkin excited about going to the beach next month. I bought 5 different swimsuits. I decided that I was going to buy any swimsuit I wanted, no matter what the cost, since I finally feel comfortable wearing any swimsuit I want. So, I ordered a Betsey Johnson swimsuit and let me just tell you....it was NOT cheap. Altogether I spent several hundred dollars on all the swimsuits. Wouldn't you know, the one that I liked the best was the one I found for $20.

Happy Tuesday! Toodles :)