So stinkin' tired

I wish I could just go to bed right now and sleep for two days.

Instead, this is what I get to do:

--plan what my juniors are doing tomorrow
--fix bottles for tomorrow
--finish a load of laundry so Amelia will have something to wear tomorrow
--pack my lunch

But I really just want to go to bed.

TV Thoughts

Last night I watched Lost and Grey's. It feels weird to have them back...almost like it is a new TV season, and then it is going to seem really weird when they disappear for summer in just a few weeks.

Lost--I can't decide who is creepier, Ben or the new mercenary dude with the weird teeth. I'm still liking the twists, and I think my jaw literally dropped in two different parts, but I'm going to be disappointed if this whole island business is connected to the rich guy. I want something better.

Grey's--I don't like Meredith, much for the same reason I didn't like Ally McBeal: the whole "woe is me" thing gets old. Quickly. In fact, I always preferred Addison to Meredith. (I have a friend who would think that everything I just said is complete sacrilege.) That being said, I did enjoy this episode, but was terribly depressed by the storyline with the family attacked by the bear.

Okay. I'm going now...I truly, truly, truly am going to get LOTS of grading done today. Bye.

It's Short, Y'all

I think I would be happier if it was just a hair longer (pardon the pun), but my hair grows quickly, so that shouldn't take long. I can still wear it curly, too, so the curl isn't really "gone." Anyway...

New Look?

I've really liked some of the non-Blogger templates that I've seen on some other people's blogs, and I happened to stumble across one site that offered them for free. I'm just trying this one out, but I'm kind of digging it. I tried a couple of her others, but they didn't really look good with the content of my blog...but I may try some other ones. I also like this 3-column format, except for the fact that the middle column is significantly longer...

I'm also considering changing the name of my blog. The ironic "Teachers Having It Easy" theme doesn't really apply much anymore...any other suggestions? (Well, the irony is still there, but that really isn't my focus anymore.)

Today (and I promise this is related) I became "that" mom and made a comment to Tim in which I compared Amelia to another baby of a similar age...and yes, I was pointing out how my baby can do something the other baby cannot. (Can I tell you how many times I swore I wouldn't do that?) So I immediately felt horrible told Tim I was a "mean mom," and he suggested I should make that a new title for my blog. Little did he know I really was thinking about a blog name switch, anyway. But how humorous would it be to have the festive/funky bluebird above with the title "Mean Mom"?

And for the record, I would like to say that I truly in my heart of hearts do not believe that babies who do things faster are necessarily "advanced." Now, if Amelia were already writing her name in cursive or something, then THAT might be a clue...

Oh, and if you have title suggestions, I'll take them. I'm trying to think of something clever or at least endearing, but I'm at a loss.

And yes, this whole blog renovation helped me procrastinate with grading even longer.

"Blech" and Bullets

--"Blech" because that's how I felt for the last three days because I had a stomach virus. I think it has been 10 years since I've had one. I'm fine if it is at least 10 years before the next one. I had to stay home two days from school. This was going to be my "get things done" week while my students watched Gatsby. (Another movie. Sue me. At least we read the book.) Not convenient. It made for easy sub plans, though.
--"Bullets" because my thoughts are so random that I'm not even attempting coherent paragraphs.
--I'm definitely getting my hair chopped off tomorrow. I just spent an hour at Barnes & Noble, looking through hair mags. I think I have enough pics to take to my hairdresser. I trust her. (Famous last words, huh?)
--I think perfume samples in magazines should be banned. I have a killer headache now. Seriously, don't some people have serious, life-threatening allergies to strong smells? The samples should at least be encased in some heavy-duty plastic.
--I'm all for marriages staying together, but I do have to confess that I snickered when I heard St@r Jones is getting a divorce. I'm not her biggest fan.
--While I was at Barnes & Nobles, I bought a book (from the clearance rack) about decorating sugar cookies. That may become a (fattening) summer hobby. On those days when I feel as though I never want to teach again (and let's face it, teachers...those days are pretty frequent this time of the year), I dream of being a pastry chef/cake decorator.
--Lost comes back tonight! Yay! (Or is the correct spelling really "Yea"?)
--Grey's Anatomy comes back tonight! Yea!
--I need to grade papers instead of watch TV. :(
--Two phrases I'm sick of: "Shawty" and "Boo" (as in my significant other, "my boo").
--I've procrastinated with the grading thing long enough. I better go.

4 Minutes to Save the World

While I haven't "actively" listened to the song (meaning that maybe it has been on in the car but I haven't really made a point of paying attention to the lyrics), I have the opening/repeated chord progression from JT and Madonna's "4 Minutes to Save the World" in my head and it won't go away.

Here are my questions:

Why do they have just four minutes to save the world?
Why are JT and Madonna saving our world? (Or is it a collective "we"?)

Anyone?

25 Days

We have 25 school days left. That's a fact that both thrills and terrifies me. If I were to list all the things I have to do I have to do between now and then, I might hyperventilate. You might ask yourself why I am blogging when I have a million things to do. The truth is that I'm completely unmotivated. I guess I can't really be mad at my students for being unmotivated these days when really, I feel the same way.

I must get some grading done AND finish my webquest-ish (but not really) assignment for my 10th graders this weekend. I'm saying it here and now so that I'll maybe feel some sense of accountability.

On a completely random note...I'm thinking of cutting my hair short. Not Jamie Lee Curtis short, but well-above-the-shoulders short. (If I could wear my hair like JLC, I so would. I've always thought she looked classy. Is it just me?) My hair has been "grown out" now for a few years, and I'm just getting tired of it. When I have a good hair day, I like it, but lately, most of my hair days have been bad. And Amelia likes to pull it, and y'all, that is quite painful. The other day I was sitting on the couch with her and she had a fistful in each hand, and then Abby the Dog came up and licked me in the face at the same time. They double-teamed me. Anyway, my hair appointment is next Friday, so I have until then to decide.

Anyway, that's about it.

It's Been a Stressful Day

And just like that...

...Spring Break is over. :(

This week has been good for the most part. Amelia and I went to Florida on Tuesday, and she pretty much slept the whole way. I had to wake her at one point to feed and change her, but then she went right back to sleep.

Once we arrived at my parents' house, I could tell she didn't feel great. The week before, she had been battling a cold and cough (and this first-time mom took her to the doctor TWICE with the same "she-has-to-ride-it-out" prognosis both times), but I was convinced she was on the mend. Apparently not. She had a fever for a couple of days while we were in Florida, and there were two nights that my mom and I had to take shifts holding her because that was the only way she would sleep. (Fortunately, to my relief, that did NOT start a bad habit of her needing to be held to sleep; she slept fine in her crib the next two nights.)

Even with Amelia's sickness, though, we were able to get out some when Amelia seemed to be feeling better. We went to my mom's workplace so my mom could show off her granddaughter, and then we went out to the beach to do a little shopping. Another highlight: Amelia is grasping the concept of a "jumperoo." She's hilarious when she's doing it.

I was hoping that by leaving Florida today, I would miss the mass exodus of people leaving the beach...I figured most people would maximize the full week and leave tomorrow. I was wrong. Every time I get caught in that traffic, I think of Moses leading the people out of Egypt. I'm not sure why. While Amelia didn't sleep the whole way, she was still pretty good, thank God.

I didn't really get much school stuff done...and that doesn't really surprise me.

Here are a couple of other things I want to mention:

1--My "diet" (although WW calls it a "lifestyle," not a diet) has gone way south. Monday, I resolve to get back on that wagon. I have a sundress I want to fit into in a month, so that's my motivation.

2--Is it pretty much teacher-suicide to teach this book to Honors 10th-Graders? When I planned to teach this, I was envisioning having a great group of academically motivated students like I had last year, not the ones I have this year who act surprised when I require them to read a book outside of class.

3--I want to give a big shout out to my Aunt Winifred, who keeps up with me through my blog and is considering leaving a comment one day! :) I think she should, don't you?

Aahhhh...Spring Break :)

Finally...Spring Break is here!

I'm really enjoying sitting here in my comfy clothes, not feeling the pressure to do all kinds of things and run all my errands in order to get ready for the school week to begin again on Monday. Amelia is napping and Darryl has gone to get some maintenance things done on my car, so it is quite peaceful.

Amelia and I are heading to Florida later this week to see Amelia's grandparents. We're looking forward to it. Cross your fingers that Amelia travels well. I'm hoping her more comfortable car seat will help a little. I've noticed that she really sprawls out in this seat and can see out the window better; she seemed really cramped in the infant seat we had.

There really isn't much more to report than that. I've really blown my diet out of the water the past couple of days; seriously, yesterday was a day of gluttony like I haven't experienced in some time, and my stomach literally ached last night. (I'll just say that the day's menu included a Krispy Kreme donut with icing AND sprinkles, a few bites of turtle cheesecake, and part of the Chocolate Stampede from Longhorn's. Just the name of that last dessert suggests lots of calories.)

Well, it looks like the peace and quiet is over for the moment...Amelia is awake from her nap.

Thoughts for This Evening

--I'm not sure why, but I have this inability to go to bed early when I have the opportunity. Like right now...I could be getting ready for bed, but I'm blogging. Why?

--Amelia is growing faster than I can believe. She is now a rolling-over queen who likes to play in an Exersaucer and grab her feet. (Not all at the same time.) How is that possible? Also, we just moved her to her next car seat, so no more lugging a heavy baby in an infant carrier. I was all gung-ho about it, but now I'm a little sad. It's like a phase of infancy is over. (Wow, I'm being too sentimental about that car seat.)

--I, the person who was probably a TV addict at one point, am watching two shows a week basically: The Biggest Loser (thanks to the writers' strike) and Lost. I have no time to commit to Dancing with the Stars this time around. (Yet I have time to blog.)

--We're doing graduation testing this week at school, so my classes are really out of whack. I'm so ready for the break.

--Here's another photo for you. I ran across it when I was downloading Easter pics from Darryl's camera. It's from our tornado scare a couple of weeks ago...I'm in the safest place in the house, the half-bath. This pic cracked me up. Good times!

Loooong Overdue Easter Post

Things have been crazy, crazy, crazy busy here, and I'm just now getting around to my Easter post.

Easter weekend was great. We went down to Florida to spend the weekend with both our families and had lots of fun, but we stayed very busy.

Saturday was fairly low-key until that afternoon, when Darryl's family met up at the beach for a family portrait session. It was quite cool and VERY windy, but we did get some good photos. This is quite an accomplishment when four children are involved (and one of them being Amelia, who doesn't yet understand "Look at the camera!")

After our photo session, we went to eat at Sunset Grill. Our wait for the food was long, but it was delicious when it arrived. They have some fried cheese grit cakes that are out of this world!

Darryl, Amelia, and I then paid a visit to Darryl's cousin Hayes and his wife, Brandy. They have a few-weeks-old daughter, Mary Katherine. I couldn't believe how TINY she was. She's 7-1/2 pounds, which is pretty average for a baby, but Amelia was over 8-1/2 pounds...so MK just seemed so small to me. (Also, I've been carrying around a currently-19-pound Amelia, so...MK felt like a feather.) MK was too, too precious! Here we are:



This is from Easter morning. There's nothing significant going on here; I just liked the pic.

Here's Miss Amelia showing off her Easter dress:

We went to church with Darryl's family. Amelia was very good through the service and apparently loved the choir. She was mesmerized by them!

After church, we all--Darryl's family included--went to my parents' house for a HUGE lunch: ham, chicken and dumplings, potato salad, creamed corn, collards, other veggies, coconut cake, banana pudding...the list goes on.

Here's our best family pic. When I asked Darryl why he doesn't smile in his pictures, he replied, "I am smiling."

And last, but not least, Amelia had her first visit from the Easter Bunny, who brought her a stuffed bunny, some books, some sunglasses, and a cute outfit. Here's Amelia sizing up her goodies:

"Thank you, Easter Bunny!!"