(Un)important Things

I was tagged and am going to pass it on ;)

3 rules:

A. Mention the person who tagged you.
http://accidentallykle.blogspot.com/
thanks! you did help to cheer me up :)

B. List six unimportant things that make you happy.
1. Listening to the quiet, happy chatter of children
2. Eating dinner at a pizza restaurant like Bertucci's or Stonehearth and having leftovers for the lunch the next day.
3. Laying in bed, surrounded with cozy blankets and pillows, while reading a really good book. Falling asleep while doing this makes me extra happy.
4. Running into a friend unexpectedly

5. Hearing the exact song you wanted to hear on the radio (only to go onto turn up the volume and belt it out)
6. Trying a new recipe and having it work out deliciously. Example below :)
C. Tag six blogs, state the rules and notify them with a comment on their blog. Check each of these out. Each wonderful in their own way.

1. Elbows, Knees, Dreams
2. Shannon Holden Photography
3. Kindergarten's 3 R's (cutest url EVER)
4. A Patchwork Piece
5. Life in a Whitty World!
6. This is all I've got...

Sad day.

I have sad days. I think most people do. Chris says I get sad eyes which is how he knows I'm sad. Today is one of those days. No reason in particular, it just happens sometimes. I get overwhelmed by the sadness that is in the world. So much sadness- sickness, death, loneliness. I know that God is bigger than it all and that God works for the good in everything. I know that nothing can separate us from His love and life on earth is temporary. But, life on earth is just so hard for some people. Its for this reason that I have sad days. I know tomorrow will be better and happier.

I know praying is the best thing so, if you pray, pray for these things tonight:
-a man fighting brain cancer
-two families that suddenly lost their babies (don't know them, but read their blogs)
-families moving away

New Years Revelation

Yesterday, I was out riding my awesome new bike. I just got it last week and have been able to ride it quite a few times already! I am also starting a diet this week. I'm feeling super motivated now that I hauled my spring clothes out of the basement and showing a heck of a lot more skin (esp. in this 95 degree weather!!!). So, as I rode my bike with what seemed to be the rest of the greater Boston population, it dawned on me how truly cruel it is to have New Year's in winter. I suppose in parts of the country and world this is not that case, but in New England its a problem.

January 1st is a chance to reflect on the past year and prepare for the year ahead. Many people make resolutions and many of those resolutions are regarding exercising and eating healthier. But, HELLO, who wants to drag their sorry butt out into the arctic tundra in order to get a workout? Not I. Find me cozied up in my bed reading, watching a movie or just sleeping most of the time. And also, who craves salads, raw veggies and nicely grilled meats in the winter? Not I. Pass me some Velveeta Shells & Cheese, a large hot chocolate and a molten lava cake for dessert. Resolutions in winter are rough.

Resolutions in Spring? Much more manageable. I actually feel guilty being inside typing this right now, not taking advantage of the sunshine. I grilled out for the first time this season last night and will do so again tonight-creamy, comfort foods be gone.

So, Happy Spring! I love the new life breathed into everyone at the changing of the seasons.

my new bike :)

to temper my rant.

I just saw this on another teacher's blog, http://kidney-garden.blogspot.com/. Is that not the cutest kindergarten blog name?!

I love Coldplay and I love Life in Technicolor II with the words added. This video is so creative and has cutie kiddos in it. Enjoy. Nighty night.

back to life, back to reality.

april break ends tonight, in approximately 24 minutes when I climb into bed (or, in approximately 9 hours when my alarm goes off. ick.)

this break went by quickly and wasn't nearly as restful as it could have been. it was a great break, though, and i was super productive.

over the past nine days away from the kids, i have had way too much time to reflect back on my year, think about my kids and about my skills as a teacher. this year has been much easier than my first year. my class is easier and i'm more experienced. in some ways, though, i know i haven't pushed myself as hard as i did last year. i worry that my children aren't as prepared for first grade and last year's class was. i worry that i've allowed myself to be detached from some social problems in our class. i worry that instead of pushing my children to learn certain math skills, i've simply waited for them to come along developmentally. mostly i worry about two of my students. and really, just one.

there's a long, long story behind this little guy. to make it short: his mother is easily angered and i'm constantly terrified she'll go ape on me if i am really and truly honest about how poorly her son is doing. if his mother weren't so freaking scary i know i would strongly recommend him repeat kindergarten. i would probably recommend he get evaluted by his town. but, because i'm scared of her, i've not been the best teacher for my little guy. something just isn't right with him and i don't know if its because of his homelife, or if its because he has a learning disability, or if he's just developmentally young, or if it its a combination of all of those.

this is where i can begin to get frustrated with my school. i love my school, dearly. its a wonderful learning environment and its fantastic for a typically developing child. BUT if your child has any learning disability, its just not a great fit. however, that is not the opinion of the school's administration (or most of the other teachers) so i, as a teacher of student that's struggling, am left with poor support/follow-through from administrators, few resources and little educational background in special ed to help these students. so, i get to feel guilty, not serve my student well and still not know what to do.

this has been gnawing at me all week, so i'm going to go talk to my administrator tomorrow. i can't end the year feeling like i haven't done all i could have for my little guy. he's super sweet and its not fair for him to suffer because his mom is scary. pray it goes well :/

Beach Day, Hooray!

Today is going to be the hottest day of the year so far. Its already almost 60 and the sun is shining. So, Chris and I are going to venture out into the sunshine! We're not sure exactly where we're heading, but I plan on reading, relaxing and soaking up some tan :)

(my last documented beach day of '08)

Furniture Update: Brief

Have one picture to add of our new living room set-up. My mom and I had an excellent adventure to IKEA. I found loads of stuff and didn't spend much at all. I was so excited. I got four flower pots, for the plants my parents generously gave us. I also got two table lampstands, two lampshades, one colorfully striped throw blanket and three pillows. I was pumped. AND, let me no forget to mention the-most-delicious-cinnamon-roll-ever at the end of the shopping spree. IKEA, i love you. 

Spring Cleaning!

I've been on spring cleaning overload the past few weeks. It was mostly in preparation for the arrival of our new furniture, but also because the change of the seasons is good inspiration for getting my butt of the couch and getting our apartment in order. 

Today my goal was taking down winter clothes and bringing up spring clothes. It's such a hassle, but also so exciting. With the forecast predicting Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the 70s and 80s (!!!!), I decided it was time. Bringing out spring clothes is like reconnecting with old friends. Summer dresses, beachy tops and fun sandals bring a flood of memories and also a promise of warmer days and happy nights of summer. 

So I'm not quite done. I still need to go through Chris's stuff, but I need his help to do that. But, I thought I'd leave you with a photographic journey of my day.

Drawers started off cah-raaaazy.

 Sweaters ended up in nice neat piles. Wanted to highlight the Teacher-Christmas sweaters :)

Now, my drawers are full of colorful patterned shorts, skirts, tshirts and tank tops!

Happy Spring!!!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I want to take a moment to wish my dad a happy birthday by sharing two things. One thing I love about him & one thing I am grateful for.

First, my dad is a wonderful man. He is intelligent and confident. He holds strong beliefs and has helped shape me and my siblings into thinkers. He never thinks he has "figured it all out" but continually seeks to learn more, particularly about God. He is confident in himself and his beliefs which has always been a great example for me. He is not overly concerned about other's opinions of him. One thing my dad always does is sing. He sings wherever he goes. As a little girl I was sometimes embarrassed by my dad singing as we grocery shopped (or went anywhere). Now, though, I can see that him doing this taught me to be secure in myself and to not care so much about what others think. I appreciate who he is and how that has made me into me.

Second, I am grateful for all the ways he makes me feel special and important, particularly breakfast time with him. When I was still in elementary school my dad started taking me to breakfast once a week before school. It was always just me and him and I got to pick the place. I looked forward to those mornings and loved having special time with him. My dad gave me his full attention and helped me to feel valued. These times allowed us to build a great friendship. We did this through high school, and still met for meals during college. While our schedules don't allow breakfast as much now, my dad continues to find ways to make me feel special in simple hugs when I arrive and leave his house, in pursuing a friendship with my husband and in spending time time with Chris, me and my mom.

So, Daddy, I'm glad you were born and that God blessed me with you as a father. Happy Birthday!!

Welcome, Baby!

Today one of my good friends had her first baby. Chris and I, along with my parents, went to visit them this evening. It was so special and soooooo fun. He is adorable. He was also very curious and aware for only being 4 hours old!

I am so grateful the new parents shared this time with us. They will be wonderful parents and the new baby will be surrounded with love.

The furniture is here!!

Chris and I are beyond thrilled with our new furniture and new living room set-up. It feels like our own and feels very cozy. There are more updates and additions to come, but we are really happy with how it is right now.

Our couch, truck and rug. We're adding some pictures above the couch so the mirror isn't so off-centered.

This wall is a bit bare. We have a few ideas for sprucing it up. We'll see!!We moved our bookcases over against the walls to have more of an office/study feel. We really like how it turned out.

More pictures to come. I'm hoping to get a few new pillows and a few cute decorating things to tie all the colors in this week.

Crraaaaaving.

I have been craving a Krispy Kreme, hot donut ever since I read this blog. The writer of that blog has the good fortune of seeing a Krisy Kreme commercial and then running out to get one (or many!!!). Me? No such good fortune. There are NONE in the state of Massachusetts. I read a blog (ie. commercial) and proceed to have a mouth that waters everytime I think of donuts. I tried having a Dunkin' Donuts donut to satisfy my desire, but NO. Those bready, dry circle-shaped pieces of dough are a pitiful excuse for a donut. I need something a little more sugary, a little more greasy and a lot more hot. tears...

I am woman, hear me roar.

My bedroom now has a rug. How did that rug get into my room? I PUT IT THERE. All by my feeble bodied self did I get that honkin' 9x12 rug in my room. I single handedly took out the mattress, split box spring and two nightstands. I also managed to finagle my dresser and Chris's so that I could get the rug underneath them. In an act of sheer brilliance, I placed said rug on a wheely chair to get it from the living room into the bedroom.

I am proud of myself, clearly. I now love my bedroom even more than I did before. I didn't even know that a rug was missing. YAY!

wahhhhhhh.

I would like to take a moment to complain. My head feels like it might burst from all the pressure behind my eyes, in my cheeks and even in my teeth! Ugh. Allergies suck. And now, I'm tired because on top of having a pressure filled head, I had to go to the grocery store and do 6 loads of laundry. Ick, ick, ick.

But, to end on a positive note, because no one likes a negative Nancy- allergies mean spring has sprung, spring break starts Friday, and my furniture will be here Saturday. Wooooo Hooooo. Oh, AND, i bought three cadbury eggs today when I thought for sure the stores would be sold out after Easter. Yessssssssss.

New Furniture!!!

I hinted in yesterday's blog about the possibility of us getting new furniture and we did!! I'm so excited. We were generously given furniture by my parents when we got married. We were very grateful and the pieces were extremely comfortable. However, its old furniture and was loosing its bottom supports and the back cushions were coming apart from the back supports. It is also very large leather furniture for a relatively small apartment. We also think we might have a bit of a bug problem, but we're not going to talk about that. Ew.

So Chris and I shopped around a bit this week and I also went out with my mom. With my mom I found the furniture that I thought was "it" so I took Chris to look at it. We were sold! The couch and one chair arrive on Saturday!! The other chair won't come for about two months because we special ordered the fabric.

This is like a dream come true because I finally feel like I get to decorate my house. I am grateful for the furniture we've had thus far, but it wasn't "mine" and I didn't get to choose it. Now, I feel more free to decorate and experiment with ideas I've had bobbing around in my mind for a long time. My Country Living magazine subsription might come into some practical use.

I will post actual pictures of our very own furniture once it arrives, but for now here are some stock photos of it!!

Here's the couch:

Here's the leather chair (in real life the browns match, they look different here):Here's the style of the upholstered chair (its a swivel rocking chair!):
We got it in this fabric, but yellow instead of red:

I would like to take a moment..

...To tell you a few things I've been wanting lately. I try to be positive and grateful because there is so much to be grateful for, but I'm going to take a moment to tell you what I want :)

1) An adorable brick cape. Like this:

Or This:

Or This:2) I would also like an adorable baby. One of these would do:

I would like to dress them in this and this.

3) A beach-ready bod. No explanation necessary.

I must end by mentioning that one major thing I've been wanting (new furniture) might just happen today. I am a very happy girl and have a very happy life.

Unexpected lovely night.

I used to love Friday nights, long for Friday nights, relish in Friday nights. Until Chris started taking a Saturday class. Fridays now = LAME. So, after picking him up from work this evening (i'm superwife) we headed home for a night of homework (him) and television (me). When we were almost home Chris remembered that he has neither homework or an exam in class tomorrow. HALLELUJAH!
So, we went home, got into our "party" shirts and headed out for dinner. We had a lovely dinner (steak tips and crabmeat pie). I was feeling a little down in the dumps about something and Chris knows that one thing that NEVER fails to cheer me up is Cold Stone Creamery, the most heavenly place on earth. So, after dinner we made over trek there.

The wonderful part about this date night, aside from it being wonderfully unexpected, was that in total it cost us 12 dollars!! We had a gift certificate for dinner and a coupon for Cold Stone. Coupons make everything more fun.

Back home after our fun date :)

A day off.

I haven't been this excited for a day off in a while. The past month at school has been extremely hectic so this feels like a well-deserved break. Already this day has been wonderful. The sun is shining brightly. That in itself is enough, but there's even more!

I had breakfast with my mother-in-law as a late celebration of her birthday. We had a great time chatting. She is a very kind woman and I am so grateful for the way she raised Chris into the man he is today. 

After breakfast I got several things done like 1) close my Bank of America account (been meaning to do this for about a zillion months) 2) Bought a WetJet Swiffer- hallelujah!! can't wait to go home and use it and 3) refilled a prescription. 

Now, I'm off to hang out with my mom and look at some furniture. This may sound like BORING, boring, boring, but trust me this is EXCITING. Days like today make me want to be a stay-at-home wife :)

Kindergarten love update

So you might remember I wrote about a love triangle going on in my class a little while ago. Well, today I got material worthy of an update. The love triangle has shifted a bit. Shy guy (the boy) and little bit (the girl) still have a thing. But, now instead of lit bit's best friend being the other corner of the triangle, it's shy guy's best friend.

And you'll never guess, but today during rest time, shy guy's best friend (we'll call him mickey green eyes), made two rings. The children get to do crafts during rest time so I didn't think too much of it until he returned with his finished ring in what were clearly "girl" colors. I immediately was suspicious. He then asked to make another ring and this one ended up in distinctly "boy" colors. I tied off both rings and Mickey Green Eyes returned once again with a question.

"Which one is the marrying finger?"

Can you even believe it!? He was asking about ring fingers!!! So, for the entirety of the afternoon little bit and mickey green eyes wore their engagement rings (yes! they called them engagement rings!!!!!!) proudly.

Soak that up, ladies and gents. Did you wear engagement rings in Kindergarten? I think not.

A Haiku: For Chris

You take me to Za,
In the same weekend, sushi.
The laundry, you did.

Things I love/noticed about the south.

I grew up in the South, but having always lived there before I moved North never knew any better. I have found when I tell people that I moved to the Boston area at 17 they are amazed and immediately mention culture shock. Yes, Boston is very different. But aside from the obvious weather differences, I didn't feel acutely aware of the differences. Now, though, when I travel back to the South I am blown away by how different it is.

1) Fast food joints everywhere you stinkin' look. Not so much here in New England, thank GOD. I love fast food. I love McDonald's, Wendy's Burger King, Chick Fil A, Taco Bell and currently have a wicked craving for Arby's (its those darn "roastburger" commercials). Oh, and did I mention Sonic? Clearly I come by my love for fast food naturally.

2) Politically correct? Nah. So, we all know and love girl scout cookies. What are you favorites? Mine is easily, hands-down caramel de-lights. Oh, what did you say southern person? You've never heard of that one? Yes, actually you have. It's called a Samoa down in your lands. Now, to be honest, I'm not sure if that was a big battle or not. It just seems SO new england to change and also SO southern not to. that name difference is incredibly indicative of the differences between the two cultures. i'm in no way trying to put down the south. but, let's just say i was surprised by the lack of filter in some people's conversation :)

3) churches everywhere you freakin' look, even in that building over there that looks like a mall. yes, one church in Shreveport meets in an old mall that they purchased! what?! that seems like capitalism meets religion in such a bad, bad way. i obviously was aware that the south is more "religious" than the north, but man alive are there a crap load of churches down there. not just cute little white churches, i'm talking HUGE, fancy-schmancy, megachurch churches. what i liked about it was how freely you could discuss religion. one of my younger cousins was talking about how almost all of his classmates go to church every Sunday and his favorite music is Christan (which he can listen to on the radio). not so at my high school in belmont. not even close.

4) "the country" is glorious. my uncle own an old "fixer-uper" (trust me, there is no way to exaggerate that term in this case) that sits on 50 acres of land. Did you catch that? 50 acres! It was incredible and I would move onto 50 acres yesterday given the chance. It just seemed to quiet and removed and simple. Redneck? yes, but oh, so amazing. My uncle and aunt also have all sorts of antique-y things in their house. my uncle collects old soda coolers, my aunt has tons of old coke bottles and craker tins in her kitchen and their bathroom has an amazing claw-footed tub. if i could have a house like theirs (minus all the fixing up that's left to be done) i think i'd be in heaven. there's more i noticed/enjoyed/learned about the south on my trip, but that's good for now. i hope this doesn't sound negative because i love the south and all of the ways its so different from the north. so, dear southern reader, don't be offended. feel loved.

Family.

This past weekend I traveled south to visit family and attend my cousin's wedding in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was an amazing trip. I haven't been down there in about 12 years. I have "kept in touch" with some of my cousins through facebook and saw several of my family members at my own wedding and during one of their trips here last summer. Being down there, though, was great. I got to see where my mom grew up and, being older, appreciate it more. I had the chance to talk with aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my siblings :)

I think what I walked away feeling the most was gratitude. Clearly, as suggested by a twelve year hiatus, being close to extended family hasn't been a priority. I love them from a distance and want them to do well, but we aren't connected on an intimate level. Being there, I felt so grateful for people that, no matter how physically distant, are still your family. I haven't spoken to some of my family members ever as an adult and in over a decade in general. Yet I felt such a bond with them which is inexplicable except that we are family. I hope that my next trip down there is much sooner than twelve years. I want my husband and my children to be able to appreciate the wonderful cousins, aunts and uncles that I have down there.

**Pictures: the first picture is the house my mom grew up in; the second picture is the entire baker clan at my cousin's wedding; the last picture is of my mom, sister, brother and me.