Update

Well, I don't think I'll be on the evening news for race riots in my classroom, so that's good. There were actually two "gangsta" presentations (in two different classes--but one had already shown me a script to make sure they were not being offensive), and both were fine. They were pretty funny, actually, and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

As for the problem student, I've come to the conclusion after another email from the mother and from a conversation with another teacher who is having similar issues with him that I'm not the problem. This is extremely comforting to me because I so don't want to be one of "those" teachers.

I've mentioned my "dream" class--5th period--before, so here are a few pictures of this class from today. LOVE this class:

Someone make me feel better...

...especially if you are a teacher. I have two teaching situations right now that have me frustrated, worried, and down on myself.

Situation 1: I have kid in my Honors class who is very disruptive...not "mean disruptive," but "class-clown-no-self-awareness disruptive." The problem is that he doesn't know when to stop. I love funny students as much as anyone, but this kid constantly blurts out ridiculous things to get us off track, and what's more is that he is in a class with other extroverted, obnoxious personalities, so it doesn't take much to get everyone off track. I've talked with other teachers who have him, and they say that he hardly says a word in their classes and are shocked when I tell them these things. Well, I've just tried to deal with it as much as possible, but today I had enough and emailed the parents. The mother responded to my email, telling me how shocked she is and how she has never received any kind of notification like this (and I believe her, based on what other teachers have said). So here is my fear: is it me??? Have I done something to make this kid want to be this way in my classroom? Do I not exhibit any kind of authority to him? I am really, really down on myself about it. Has anyone been in this situation? I truly have a pretty good reputation of being liked by students (not to toot my own horn), but seriously...what's the deal here? Why me? Why my class? Is it possibly the combination of personalities in that class? Has anyone been in this situation?

Situation 2: In an attempt to be creative and different, I've assigned my honors students different parts of a Greek play to perform with costumes, props, etc. But the problem is that one of my classes (the same one the kid mentioned above is in) is made up of kids who can be very offensive and kids who are easily offended. So now one of the groups with several "offensive" kids in it has decided to do a "gangsta" interpretation of their play, and I overheard a couple of kids who are "easily offended" say that they are, indeed, offended. I have tried to reel in the offenders (I do think it is possible to do "gangsta" without crossing the line), but who knows what will happen. I'm just praying now that I don't get any parent complaints. That's the last thing I need. And this all just makes me mad because my intentions were to think outside the box and do something different. I've done similar projects before with no issues like these whatsoever. Now I feel dumb for trying something new and seriously hope I don't end up being on the evening news.

Why can't kids just, you know, BEHAVE??????

The cutest thing...and scrapbooking

My favorite thing Amelia is doing right now is this: when I pick her up (or when anyone picks her up, I guess), she'll rest her head on my shoulder and pat my back. Seriously, nothing makes me smile like that little hand giving me a light pat on the back. We all need a pat on the back sometimes, don't we?

I'm very much looking forward to plowing through this week to get to Thanksgiving Break. I'm going through a little scrapbooking withdrawal because I haven't really scrapbooked in almost a month. A friend and I are meeting up Saturday for a little scrappin' action.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I put a button/link to a site that is offering "The Best in Baby Scrapbooking." Jessica Turner--a person I don't actually know but who is a gifted scrapbooker--is showcasing some products and ideas specifically for baby-centered projects on her blog December 2-8. (I know you don't want to miss out on that, Tim!) Anyway, probably most of you are not interested, but if you know someone who might be....let her know. (I say "her" because I have yet to meet a male scrapbooker.) I'm also eligible for a drawing for free scrapbooking goodies by posting that button. :)

Happy 1st Birthday, Amelia!

I can't believe my sweet girl is a year old today.

This time last year...



And here she is today, 1 year later, after enjoying a VERY pink birthday cupcake...



We celebrated her birthday this past weekend with a small family party. My parents were here ("Nana" and "Papa") as well as my cousin Vicky and her husband Robert; and Darryl's sister, Ashley, came up for the weekend with her two girls, Madison and Avery.

Amelia seemed to have a good time, but she was a little on the tired side because the party was during the time she typically naps. (I know that all the books say not to schedule a party during nap time, but oh well.) She was pretty pleasant, though, until the end...she just wasn't extremely smiley or chatty. Here are a couple of pics from the occasion:

Here we are with our birthday girl.



Here she is with her oh-so-cute cake, not really sure why people are singing to her:


And here she is with her special "smash" cake. She really didn't eat much of it, but she enjoyed smearing the frosting on her face and squishing it between her fingers:


I can't even begin to describe the ways she has changed our lives. We love you, Amelia, and we're so thankful you are ours.

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet girl!

Let's just slow down for a minute...

I have probably composed about 15 blog posts in my head this week but haven't had time to post any of them. Here's a sample of what went on this week. Some of these deserve the attention of a full blog post when I get a chance...

--We have a new president!
--I saw an outstanding production of Big River performed by our high school's musical theatre class! (Great job, Kim!!)
--I got red highlights in my hair! (They have since "calmed down" a bit, but the day I got them, I was thinking "Lucille Ball" when I looked in the mirror.)
--Our high school won--after years of 1-point losses to our arch nemesis--the regional One Act Play Competition for that great production of Big River!
--One of my problem students is probably gone for the rest of the year!
--We celebrated Amelia's first birthday with a family party! (Her "real" birthday is this Wednesday.)
--Darryl and I went out on a date tonight!

And...we have reached yet another milestone. Drum roll, please...

After a year of mixing up hundreds of bottles of this...



...we can finally switch to this!

The day after 35

Thanks for the happy birthday wishes on my blog and on Facebook. I really appreciate it!

The day was pretty low-key. School was the same as usual, but when I went home, Amelia had a present for me (a spa gift certificate--yes!!), and the three of us went out to dinner. (D's present for me is supposed to be arriving in the mail today. I think it is a camera bag I wanted, but I guess I'll wait and see...) Originally my birthday wish was to lie on the couch and watch TV (something I don't really get to do any more), but I was so tired I was in bed by 9:00. Festive, yes?


Let me switch topics to something completely unrelated...as I was doing my morning internet surfing, I stumbled across this article from People about Jennifer Hudson's family's funeral. The part about Fantasia singing made me tear up a little. I can't imagine what Hudson must be feeling right now. Poor girl. Poor family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!!!!

As her husband I felt I needed to hijack her blog this morning to tell her - Happy Birthday!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful day.

This is a picture of Amy protecting her child during 1 of 2 tornado warnings in the Spring of 2008.

This time last year...

I had just ended my last day at school before my maternity leave and celebrated with a dinner with Tim and Max at Shorty's. It was my birthday weekend, and D and I spent the whole weekend just enjoying the last few days of it being just the two of us. We were excited about Amelia's upcoming arrival, and I watched TV and lay on the couch without even a touch of guilt about it.

Present day: I have that weekly "Sunday afternoon depression" that I get when I think about a full week of school ahead, and my birthday falls on a Monday. I'm sitting here with my lit textbook beside me, trying to figure out how I'm going to get my students to love Walt Whitman tomorrow.

Where is my time machine???

Happy Halloween!!!

And you absolutely must check out my favorite part of this costume...look at the stinger!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Happy Birthday, Darryl!

Happy Birthday to Darryl!

I'm not really a mushy person (and it would probably embarrass Darryl anyway if I laid on some thick sentiment in a blog post), but he is undoubtedly my best friend and a fabulous husband and father. We love you!

Random things

I'm so happy it's the weekend. Today Amelia and I are going to shop for some party supplies for her 1st birthday party in a couple of weeks. I've decided to just make this a family-only party rather than a huge extravaganza. I'm excited about it, though.

Amelia was too funny last night. She held her toy phone up to her ear and said, "O? O??" Seriously. It seems like she has a new trick every day now.

As far as non-Amelia-related stuff goes...this week felt crazy long. It was actually our first full week of school after several weeks of having a Friday off or a fall holiday or an early release. I cannot wait until the week we have off for Thanksgiving.

Have you heard Beyonce's new song, "If I Were a Boy?" LOVE it..the melody, the lyrics, good song.

Well, off to get some things done...

Wonderful weekend

This weekend was wonderful. I'm going to make a big ol' confession here: my school bag never left the backseat of my car. I was already prepared to teach tomorrow, but I didn't grade any papers or plan anything beyond tomorrow. I needed a break.

Yesterday, I went to a scrapbooking crop for 12 HOURS. First of all, I have to give a big thank you to Darryl for not only being willing to keep Amelia by himself all day, but also for saying, "I want you to have a good time. I think you need this." (I did promise him that I would take a month off--at least from "crops"--until the weekend before Thanksgiving.)

Y'all, this may sound cheesy and crazy, but I think I love this scrapbooking thing so much because it makes me truly grateful for who we are and what we have. As I'm trying to present memories on a page, I realize that what I'm compiling is a story of us. Our family. A story that I hope Amelia enjoys reading about one day. It also does my heart good to see ladies sitting all around me basically doing the same thing, telling their stories and their lives. As my scrapbook for 2008 is coming together, I realize that even though we may not vacation all over the globe or go to lots of parties or do anything really out of the ordinary, our lives are really full. Anyway...

Today was just a good day together as a family. We went to church, had Sunday dinner on the lawn at church (how Walnut Grove is that?), shopped a little, visited my cousin, hung around the house...it was truly relaxing.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to try to top off this fabulous weekend by going to bed before 9:00.

I dedicate this moment to "No Child Left Behind"

So yesterday, I made a couple of (required by administration) phone calls to parents of students who are failing.

Here is how one conversation went:

ME: I'm calling because ___________ has a 32 in my class. He doesn't turn in assignments. He tunes out. I've tried everything I can think of to motivate him, but nothing seems to be working.

MOTHER: He don't care. And if he don't care, I don't care. I can't make him care.


Thank you, NCLB, for holding me responsible when this child fails and/or drops out of school. Obviously I am the problem here.

11 Months (Well, last Sunday)

I can't believe Amelia is 11 months old. I took this quick pic on Sunday at a cookout on the lawn of our church. (It was SUPER windy.) All Amelia wanted to do was walk around...oh, and play in the ice bucket by splashing water everywhere. That girl loves water.

Anyway, I'm finding myself getting very nostalgic in this month leading up to her birthday. (Seriously, I actually mentioned to Darryl--in a very sad tone--that we probably just need to make one more "formula run" to Costco.) I can't believe that a year ago, we hadn't even officially met her yet (although we were already in love with the idea of her), and now it is hard to imagine our family without her. She makes us belly laugh at least a couple of times a day. She's such a joy!

Greetings from the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took Amelia to Burt's Pumpkin Patch in North Georgia. It was insane, y'all. People everywhere. My main objective, though, was to get a picture of Amelia with a pumpkin, so I guess that was achieved.

I love the picture below. I love the angle, the smallness of Amelia in a field of pumpkins. Good photography skills, Darryl!

Afterwards, we went to a nearby apple orchard to pick up some apples (and some apple cider doughnuts). Amelia did her part to help:

Pollyanna I'm not

My efforts to be positive are losing steam. Quickly.

I Kid You Not

I'm making a concerted effort to be positive this week, and here is a teacher story from today that I just have to share.

You know the PERFECT 5th period class I have? Well, this conversation actually took place in my classroom as we finished our discussion of Night:

K in the front row: I loved this book. Loved it. In fact, I've enjoyed every book we've read so far.

E in the back row: Me, too. I've loved them all. These books have been so good.

(Everyone chimes in with similar remarks. It's a freakin' lovefest.)

Me: Well, while I'm thrilled you've loved all the books so far, keep in mind that you may not love everything we read. Maybe you will, but don't be too disappointed if you don't. (I say this only because I know Julius Caesar--ugh--is on the horizon.)

K: Mrs. ___________, it doesn't matter. We trust your judgment. If you assign us a book to read, even if I don't like it, I'll read it anyway because obviously you think there is something I can gain from it.


Is this class for real? I'm not trying to toot my own horn here; I'd say the idyllic nature of this class is 100% because of the students. They read. They discuss. They care.

I love them.

Eyes on the Prize

This week is going to be a tough one, probably. We have midterms, and I have tons of grading to do in an effort to make midterm grades as accurate as possible. I also have lots of other teaching tasks to tend to as well. (How's that for alliteration?)

I'm not too dismayed, however, because I know what lies ahead next weekend:

1. It's a long weekend. We have Monday off for Fall Holiday, and the students are off this Friday as well. (It's a "work day" for teachers, but we all know that "work day" is a day spent in meetings, workshops, and such instead.)

2. Darryl and I are going to take Amelia to a pumpkin patch at some point in the weekend.

3. I should have the opportunity to scrapbook next weekend.

4. I have plans to meet up with my friend Casi Sunday...and we'll probably eat a sinful dessert.

5. I get to spend all day Monday with Amelia, just the two of us.

I can't wait!

This weekend has been good. While I've had to work on lots of school stuff, the three of us have enjoyed just hanging out at home. I made taco soup for dinner last night and baked cupcakes just because I was in a cupcake mood. I think this weekend has been just what I needed.

Here's Amelia in the middle of a good nap yesterday:

I'm Still Here

I honestly haven't had time to blog, but I hope to update soon. Don't give up on me. :)

Here's the rundown in very random order:

--I just finished my shift of supervising the building of the sophomore Homecoming float.
--Darryl, Amelia, and I went to Florida this weekend for an event in honor of Darryl's mom and dad; I definitely will tell more and will update with pics.
--I'm tired all the time.
--I'm tired of grading papers.
--I liked the first episode of The Office (go Jim!), but thought the first episode of Grey's was really drawn out...could have easily been an hour-long episode instead of a two-hour one. Oh, and even though I haven't really watched ER since Romano lost his battle with the helicopter, I boohooed over Pratt's death. (I watched that one while I was packing my suitcase for Florida.)
--This gas shortage is getting old.

And here's a sweet Amelia story for the day...I came home from float building, tired, a bit irritable (it's been a long day), and so forth. I picked up Amelia, and she smiled really big, took my face in her hands, and put her forehead up next to mine and laughed. Be still my heart. Just what I needed.

Rough Week

This past week seemed endless. Seriously.

The Bad:
--For reasons I won't elaborate on here, I have found work very difficult this year. My kids are not bad (with the exception of a few boys and an honors class who--I think--hates me), but I simply cannot catch up with all the things I'm supposed to be doing. I guess if I went home, had no down time with Amelia and Darryl, and didn't do non-related school things that bring me happiness, I could possibly catch up, but I'm not going to do that. School is not my life 24-7. Do I care about my job? Yes. Do I try to do a good job? Yes. But I'm not going to do it 80 hours a week.

The Good:
--Speaking of school, one upside is that I have one of the best classes I've ever had. I think I've mentioned it briefly before, but it is a class of mostly girls with a few really likeable guys (who probably enjoy being in a sea of girls). Maybe this class is in my life right now to keep me going on the school front. Not only do these kids care about school, but they like to discuss. They do their reading and homework without complaint. They leave class saying things like, "I really enjoyed class today!" Ah, perfection. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.
--Amelia is too stinkin' cute these days. One of my favorite things is watching her learn and process things. She's becoming a pro with the walking, too, and is crawling less and less. She has even gotten to the point where she can crouch down to pick things up without falling over. We love her so much and are completely enjoying her!
--Even with all the demands on my time, I have taken up a new hobby: scrapbooking. I've become a bit obsessed with it, actually. I don't have time to do it all the time, but I try to take a few hours every few weekends to scrapbook at some local "crops." (See? I don't even have to mess up my house to do it...I go make my mess at other places.) I just feel this need to preserve memories about Amelia--and Darryl and me--while they are fresh on my mind. So far, I'm loving it.

Birthday Parties: A New Era

Today Amelia and I embarked on a new adventure: the children's birthday party. From what I hear, this is the first of millions to come.

Amelia received her first invite from her friend Denton:


(Tim, I deliberately didn't crop this photo because I wanted to see if you could tell who the person is on the left...although the view is somewhat obstructed.)

Here's Amelia checking out the gifts:

And here is a shot of Amelia and two other little girls, Sophia (top) and Jayden, mere seconds before a collision that resulted in a heap of little girls on the floor. The culprit? Some discovered Cheerios that had fallen on the floor. No one was injured, thank goodness!

And because Amelia's outfit was too cute, I thought I'd give you a full-on shot so you can appreciate it in all its fashion-forwardness. Shiloh and Suri have nothing on this gal!

And here's another one for your viewing pleasure. I'm being an obnoxious mother now, aren't I?

Sometimes I have good ideas...

...and sometimes I don't.

I learned last weekend that my love for hand-dipped corn dogs does have its limits, and that limit is the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain.

I had been wanting to go to the Yellow Daisy Festival because several of my friends told me it was really cool, and last year someone gave me a really cute T-shirt for Amelia that came from a YDF vendor.

So last weekend, when I realized that the YDF was happening right then, I decided I wanted to go. I asked Darryl if he wanted to go, but he declined so that he could spend some time with his mistress, College Football. But let's be honest. He wouldn't have wanted to go even if it weren't football season.

Amelia and I started off on our adventure. I was excited. I was going to have some good food, find some cute kids' clothes, and have some mother-daughter time as well. The trip there was uneventful. Amelia napped the whole way, and I listened to the Rick Dees countdown on XM 80's radio. Good times.

Until we went got close to Stone Mountain. Apparently everyone else in the metro-Atlanta area had the same idea to come to the Yellow Daisy Festival.

There were a couple of moments I considered turning the car around and going home, but I always shot down those thoughts with, "Nope. I've made it this far. I'm not turning back now."

It took me longer to find a parking spot than it did for me to drive to Stone Mountain. I'm not kidding.

I ended up parking probably a little over a mile from the Festival. It didn't occur to me, as I was walking downhill to the festival site, that I would have to walk uphill later that afternoon to get back to my car.

Here's Amelia at the entrance to the Festival:


I stood in line for about 20 minutes for a corn dog. I had some lemonade. I attempted to look at the crafts and other goods in a crowd that was making me more claustrophobic by the second.

After about an hour, I started the long trek uphill back to the car. People who were on their way to the festival would chuckle at Amelia as they passed us. Not sure what was going on, I managed to get a side view of her, and she was doing this:

Here's me, Amelia's foot, and most of Amelia's face. Awesome photography skills, yes? My excuse for my appearance is that I just walked a mile uphill pushing a 25-pound child in a stroller.
So basically, I went to the Yellow Daisy Festival for a corn dog.

And y'all, that was way too far.

Quick

I haven't posted this week because it has been extremely hectic, and when I do have a moment, I'm too tired.

I'm glad it is Thursday and the weekend is approaching.

I have too many papers to grade, too little time.

I'm sick of the Presidential election and am ready for it to end. I did find it exciting; now I wish politicians and their cronies and the media would stop acting like my 10th graders.

Random

--Amelia LOVES Cheerios. That is why I'm able to blog right now. :)

--The honor roll party went well, for the most part. Here's some irony for you: you know how teachers complain about how students can't follow directions, well, let me tell you how many teachers can't follow directions. After an email explaining how we were doing the party, when to send kids to the commons area, when to pass out tickets, etc. (our new principal doesn't allow announcements over the intercom during the day), several teachers didn't do what they were supposed to do. Oh, well. (Tim and Kim followed the directions, though!)

--Darryl is excited about the Florida State game tonight.

--I'm ready for some fall weather, y'all.

A Milestone and More

Amelia took her first steps Monday evening!

This photo is horrible quality, but you get the idea:


And technically, this pic was taken last night and not Monday, but still...

I was absolutely thrilled that Darryl and I were the first ones to see this big milestone. To me, one of the hardest things about being a working mom is missing these events. She rolled over for the first time at daycare, and then Amelia had to be a showoff for her Nana and stood up for the first time when Darryl and I had our "one-night vacation" in July. But this one was for us. And even better, she did it all over again for the video camera. :)

That's the good news.

The down side to all this is that Sunday and Monday nights were HORRIBLE. Monday night, Amelia woke up every hour, almost on the hour, from 12:30 on, and I have to get up at 5. Most of my baby books talk about how this happens when babies are approaching or are reaching a milestone. I remember she did this when she started crawling and then when she started standing, but those things happened during the summer when I could catch a catnap during the day.

Tuesday, I was a bear. I was so sleepy I had a headache. I have to give big props to Darryl, who, seeing my need for sleep, took care of getting Amelia to bed, emptied the dishwasher, fixed bottles, loaded the dishwasher back up again, cleaned the kitchen...all so I could go to bed at the glorious time of 8:30. Pure bliss! (And Amelia slept through the night last night, too. Even better!)

This week is a busy one. My pile of grading doesn't seem to be getting any smaller, and I also have an Honor Roll party to throw Friday. I'm ready for the weekend again.

I'm just sayin'...

I'm getting really tired of seeing celebrity moms' bikini-ready bods mere weeks after they've given birth.

Long week, long weekend

Forgive me, my 6 or 7 readers, for not blogging this week. I was doing well just to get to bed by 11:00 each night, so it left little time for blogging.

Besides, Monday and Tuesday I was in a FUNK, so you probably wouldn't have wanted to hear from me anyway. These days were just rough, not for any big reason, but for lots of little ones. On top of that, Amelia did this thing for a couple of days where she cried (yes, cried) when I picked her up from daycare as though I was the last person she wanted to see. While the logical side of me said it was just a phase, the mother part of me was a bit hurt that my daughter wasn't thrilled to see me. Wednesday, however, I was apparently back in her good graces and all has been well with her since (except she is teething with her top teeth and is cranky off and on).

Wednesday was much better overall, and I had a couple of experiences with my students that made me remember how much I really can love what I do. These are experiences that probably would lose their value if I retold them here--you know, those "had to be there" experiences--and I desperately needed them. (However, Jen, you'll appreciate this...my students were reading The Crucible the other day, the student playing Abigail was absent, so this goofy guy with a deep voice said he would read it...and it was the "sweating like a stallion" part. Hilarious!! The students were rolling, and I was, too.)

Amelia also had her 9-month appointment at the doctor Wednesday; she's already 25 pounds and is off the charts in height. She did very well at the appointment, though...I think she cried over her shot (just one this time!) for about 10 seconds. Brave girl!

Yesterday was a half day at school, and teachers had a potluck lunch. Yum!

And now we're to the long weekend, thank goodness. While I do have papers to grade, I fully intend to enjoy some peaceful down time with Darryl and Amelia.

TGIS

Thank goodness it's Saturday.

I'm not going to sugarcoat--this school year has been kicking my rear so far. I told Tim (fellow teacher) yesterday that in many ways it feels like my first year of teaching.

For starters, I have more students than I've ever had. I've been a little, oh, whiny about this, but I guess I need to put on my big-girl pants and accept the fact that my classes aren't going to get any smaller. Unless I can convince a few to drop out of school...but I don't think I'm supposed to do that. :)

Our new principal is also big on consistency between classes, meaning that if two teachers teach the same class, our tests should be the same and they should be given on the same day. Now, I don't think that is a bad thing, but the person who also teaches American Lit (not Tim, someone else) has a tendency to "lolligag," and I'm more of a "let's cover it and move on" kind of teacher, especially for some of the lesser-known works. I spent an hour and a half meeting with him yesterday discussing our Crucible unit and trying to talk him out of some projects that would have eaten up days and days of class time. My goal is to get this guy to the Postmodern period by the end of the year, come hail or high water. (It is hail, isn't it? Not hell? In this case, maybe both.)

I won't even get into the grading. I made a plan at the beginning of the week that I was going to stay after school TWO hours and spend the first hour planning and the last hour grading. That was a great plan until I had a collaboration team meeting one day and a parent meeting the next and then my Crucible meeting yesterday. But after putting in 50 hours at work during the week, I really don't want to take time away from Darryl and Amelia this weekend, but alas, I have a bag full of tests to grade. In short, I'm struggling for that balance of personal life and professional life.

But I like teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else. I'm trying desperately to find a system that works and that doesn't take away from sleep or family time. Any suggestions, fellow English teachers???

I'll end on a happier note. Here are a couple of recent Amelia pics. She is now 9 months old. I can't believe it.

A bit of this n' that

I'm taking a quick break from typing up a test on Native-American and Puritan Literature.

Thrilling stuff, I know.

I love American Lit, but I cannot wait to get out of the pre-Romantic period phase. Students hate to read as it is. Anne Bradstreet is really a tough sell, people. So is Jonathan Edwards. And that's after we've read Native American poems about the voice of the grasshopper.

Here are a few random bits of info:

--I was digging through our big "outdoor" trash can this morning at 5:15 in an effort to rescue an Anne Taylor Loft coupon I realized I accidentally threw away. Fortunately, it was in last night's trash, so I didn't have to plunge head first into the can or anything. It was also fortunate that it was still safe in its plastic shopping bag and didn't fall prey to the gross coffee grounds that surrounded it. My rescue mission was successful, thank goodness. I'd hate to know I picked through those coffee grounds in vain.

Those $25 off purchases of $50 or more coupons are gold, people. Gold. And now, after all that effort, I'm obligated to spend it.

--I was watching the Olympic trampoline jumping competition last night right before I fell asleep. (Seriously, trampoline jumping???? An Olympics-worthy sport??) Y'all, those people were getting some serious air. It was a bit freaky.

--Amelia is apparently Miss Charm at daycare and Miss Crankypants when she gets home. This evening she cheered up, however, when I gave her a graham cracker...her first one. Does that mean she's an emotional eater?

Well, back to typing up the test. Yawn.

I'm still here!

Before I get into my week...did anyone see Michael Phelps win that race last night be 1/100th of a second??? I practically had to pry my eyes open to stay up to watch it, but it was worth it.

You can tell this was the first full week of school for us. I've had no time to blog.

So far, things are going pretty well except for the overwhelming exhaustion that comes with the first full week.

For the most part, I really like my 10th grade honors classes. I have one class of almost all girls, and they are wonderful--focused, smart, sweet. At first, I was concerned they would be all chatty and dramatic, but they're not...at least so far.

My juniors are pretty good. There are three boys I could do without, but I'll just have to make the best of it.

Here are some non-school-related things that went on this week:

--Monday evening, I met my friend Jessica for coffee. She was in town for work, and I haven't seen her in probably almost two years. Since we've seen each other last, she's gotten married, and I've had a baby. It was great to catch up!

--Darryl and I also got to see the proofs of the pics I had made of Amelia a couple of weeks ago. They're too cute. If there's a way to scan a couple of them to put them up here, I'll do that. We won't get our "real" pics probably for a month or so.

--My parents are here this weekend getting their Amelia fix. Darryl is in Florida with his family, and I didn't feel like making a quick trip to Florida this close to the beginning of school, so I invited my parents to come up here. They're going to watch Amelia today while I grade lots of stuff. Isn't it sad that I'm already behind on grading?

Well, I better go. Have a good weekend everyone!!

School, the Olympics, and More

I started this post on Saturday and finished it Sunday night. Oh, well.

This has been an exhausting week, to say the least.

We have a new principal at our school, and he has required a lot from us (the teachers) over the past couple of weeks. I'm not really voicing that as a complaint because, in reality, these are things that we probably should have been made to do years ago, but no one actually made us do them. Regardless, the process has been exhausting, but I'm optimistic that it will pay off.

Thursday, the students returned to school. I have three Pre-AP English 2 classes (10th graders) and three "regular" English 3 classes (juniors). I think I'm going to like my 10th graders--I can tell I have some great personalities in those classes--but I'm not too sure about two of my three junior classes. I definitely have some potential troublemakers. Anyway, two days are behind us now, but those two first days wore me out. The teachers in my lunch group were all joking that we have the scratchy throat that comes with adjusting to talking all day again after a summer break from it.

Friday night, I met my friend Lisa for Mexican food. It was a nice way to end a busy week. I needed a little girl time. Lisa and I used to work together when I took a break from the academic world and worked at a law firm; she's one of those friends I wish I could see more often than I do. My jaws literally ached after dinner from laughing so hard. Definitely a good way to spend the evening.

And on to the Olympics...anybody watching? Why can't the Olympics come on during summer vacation when I have time to watch it? I can get seriously sucked in to it. I Fake Tivoed the Opening Ceremony, but I made it home in time from my dinner with Lisa to see the awesome-cool-freakin'-fantastic lighting of the torch. I hope to watch the rest in bits and pieces this week.

Well, I think there was more to tell, but my mind is drawing a blank. I'm sleepy, but I need to fix bottles, straighten the kitchen, prepare my lunch...the list goes on.

Exhaustion

I haven't blogged lately because there has been too much going on. Too much. This is going to be a fairly short post because bed is looking a bit better than Blogger right now.

On the Amelia front...she has her first tooth. I noticed it Sunday afternoon. (This info is partly in here for when I finally get around to writing the date in her baby book. Baby book updating is so not happening this week.)

School pre-planning has consisted mostly of one meeting after another with little time to work in our rooms. Today was an exception--we pretty much spent all day in our rooms--but the downside was that it was also Open House day, so I was at the school from around eight until six this evening.

Oh, and here's another kicker: three people asked me if I was pregnant this evening. I'm HOPING it was the dress that I was wearing, which had an empire waist. Another teacher who was also wearing an empire-waisted dress was also asked by a parent if she was expecting, too. Still, this was a blow to the ego that I didn't really need this week. (And what happened to that etiquette rule that you NEVER ask a woman if she is pregnant unless you are 100% sure she is???? Hello?)

I'm going to bed now. I've had enough of this day.

Last Week of Summer

This is the third blog post I've started this week. My goal is to finish this one and actually post it.

This week has been pretty full.

Monday, I crossed one of the items off "my list" by having photos done of Amelia. A friend from church is a photographer, and while I haven't seen the finished products yet, he showed me a couple of shots on the playback screen of his camera and they were totally cute. Amelia was pretty pleasant through the process, so I'm hoping the pictures turn out well.

Tuesday, I went to the school one last time before I go back tomorrow for the real thing. I was able to get a good bit accomplished, so I consider it time well spent.

Yesterday, Amelia and I had a lazy morning and stayed in our PJs until almost noon. I had wanted to take her swimming one more time, but thunderclouds were looming overhead all afternoon, so we strolled through a shopping center instead. It never did rain, though, and Darryl was able to take her swimming and I went to dinner with my friend Sabrina.

Today, Amelia and I went to see my cousin Vicky at her office, and then we spent my $100 Georgia Teacher Gift Card. My big item was a heavy-duty electric pencil sharpener. (Exciting, I know.) I've also decided to bring back good ol' journal writing in my regular English classes this year, and I found 70-page composition notebooks at Walmart for 5 cent each, so I bought 75 of them. Thank goodness the cashier scanned only one and took my word that I had 75 of them. :) Seriously, y'all, that was a BARGAIN! I was practically giddy. The rest of my card went to pens, pencils, index cards, and other little necessity items.

The rest of the day was spent playing, napping, and just hanging out. I'm going to confess that I held Amelia every minute she was napping.

I'm probably going to sound like a big sap here, but I think I may have a harder time taking Amelia to daycare tomorrow than I did the very first time I took her after my maternity leave. It's like my mom said on the phone tonight...it's like Amelia is a person now. Now I'm taking my daughter who loves to crawl, stop, then look back at me and laugh. I'm taking back my baby who likes to fiddle with my necklace charm as she falls to sleep and play peek-a-boo endlessly. In many ways, I'm looking forward to going back to work and seeing my friends and getting back in the classroom. But I'm definitely going to miss the luxury of time I've had with my girl.

Shopping and Stuff

I've been a bit negligent on the blog front because y'all, not much is going on. Let me give you the rundown on what "not much" looks like in our household:

Wednesday, I did a little shopping for me. Yep, I did. I need some school clothes every year to get me excited about going back to school. (It didn't work.) After shopping the mall for two hours and going to all my favorite stores, guess where I had the most success? Target. That's right.

Thursday, I had to take care of some personal maintenance (meaning I had my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed--poor Amelia is going to be especially blessed in the eyebrow department because her dad and I both have healthy eyebrows). I also worked most of the day at school while Amelia spent some time in daycare.

Friday, I became obsessed with finding Amelia a pair of shoes. Amelia has pretty wide feet, so that means the cheap shoes at Target do not fit. After doing much research (seriously, MUCH research) on mommy boards and such, I discovered a brand called Pedipeds and bought her a pair. They're adorable. I see how this could quickly become an obsession because I'm already thinking about her second pair.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I shopped a little more (sue me), and Amelia and I had a bit of a "bedtime showdown" last night that is a blog post in itself. I'll go ahead and tell you the score: Amelia-1, Her Mother-0.

But she's cute.

The Weekend, Heat, and Other Stuff

This past weekend, we went to Florida again. Darryl needed to do more work at his dad's (his dad probably kept every used checkbook and every bank statement since the mid-80s--lots of shredding to do!).

On Saturday, my dad's brothers and sister and their spouses came over for a cookout. This was the first time they had seen Amelia, so it was a big event. I could kick myself now for not getting more pictures, but I did get a good one of Amelia with her Great Uncle Joe:

Sunday, I was able to take Amelia swimming with her Aunt Ashley and cousins Madison and Avery. Amelia loves the pool!

Afterwards, she had even more fun by swinging in her swing at Nana and Papa's house.



As for me...I played Guitar Hero for the first time ever this weekend. I loved it--definitely my kind of game. It's probably good I don't have it at the house.

Mr. Benny's dog (and now Ashley's dog) Lily loves my niece Avery's bouncy seat probably more than Avery herself. Any time we couldn't find Lily, she was usually curled up asleep here. Forgive the wicked eyes...I couldn't fix them on my computer. Oh, you can see just a tiny bit of the "to be shredded" pile behind her.


In other unrelated stuff...it is so HOT here. I had been getting up in the mornings and walking with Amelia, but it has been in the high 70s by 7:30. The other day, I had decided to walk in the evening, but at 8:00 (still light outside), it was 90 degrees! Ugh!

This, too, is completely unrelated and random, but I've mentioned before how much I like Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. If you like them too--or even remotely like them--you should pick up the latest Ladies' Home Journal. (I had to buy it immediately when I saw them on the cover.) There is a wonderful interview with them about their friendship through Roberts's cancer--apparently they are extremely close friends in "real life." I think I loved this article so much because it is such a positive picture of female friendship. Women often have the reputation for being catty and jealous--and in my opinion this reputation is often earned--but here are two women who have tremendous respect and gratitude for each other. (And Sawyer is a hoot, too.) It made me even more sure that I want to have them over for chips and salsa and board games. :)

And on the school front...yesterday, Amelia had a somewhat impromptu day at daycare so I could start working on stuff for school. I'm not sure why I do this, but every year I have all these ideas of how I could reinvent the wheel, and then I get overwhelmed by reinventing the wheel. My American Lit class is pretty straightforward--it is taught chronologically. However, I'm thinking of teaching my 10th graders' class with a more thematic approach. This is requiring a bit more thought than I have energy for, however.

I know this post is rambling, but I figured I would just cram all my thoughts into one long one instead of dividing it into several. Anyway...

Cute Amelia Pics...Just Because

Pureed sweet potatoes with chicken must be delish!!




I love this smile!

Amelia likes playing with her new farm animals...

BUT they aren't as fun as the TV remote!!!!

Baking and More Baking

Today was Amelia's daycare day. (And no, I wasn't one of "those" mothers who take sick children to daycare...Amelia appears to be fine.) I decided to make this a "me day." Did I want to shop? No. Did I want to nap? Well, kind of. But really what I wanted to do was bake a couple of things from my new cookbook, Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. We're heading to Florida again this weekend, and I wanted to take a couple of things that both adults and kids might enjoy.

The first recipe I tried was "Chewy, Chunky Blondies," a delicious combination of butterscotch, chocolate, coconut, and walnuts in a cookie dough-ish batter. I do think I baked them just a hair too long (I blame it on the fact that the blondies didn't do what they were supposed to--pull away from the sides of the pan--to indicate their doneness), but they are still pretty good, especially with a scoop of ice cream.



Later, I made just good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies (from the same cookbook). I love chocolate chip cookies (seriously, who doesn't?), and I always like to try new recipes for them. These are good, a bit thinner than I like my cookies, and I think I prefer a sweeter chocolate than the bittersweet chocolate the recipe calls for, but that's just a personal preference. The cookies still taste really good, though, and I would make both these recipes again.

I also made stuffed bell peppers for dinner. And picked Amelia up from daycare, fed her, and rocked her to sleep. And I did laundry.

I'm every woman. I know. :)

Now I'm tired.

(I would like to add that Darryl did help feed her--it took two attempts because she was CRANKY the first time--and he also bathed her and tried to rock her to sleep. That, too, took two attempts. I just wanted to clarify that my husband wasn't just sitting on the couch, eating bonbons while I was being every woman.)

My Big, Fat Waffle House Wedding

I had heard about this on a local radio station, but Kim sent me a link to the pics. Scroll to the bottom to watch the slide show!

"Nana's" Departure, School, Cold, Grouchiness...

My mom left yesterday. Amelia and I had a lot of fun with her while she was here. It also gave me a bit of a break. I've already discussed the night out that Darryl and I had, but it was also nice to take a shower every morning without feeling rushed.

I realize I need to start thinking about school. To inspire me, I've bought a few English-teaching-related books. I just need some fresh ideas in teaching old stuff, you know?

I think I'm getting a cold or a sinus/allergy thing. Runny nose yesterday, sore throat today. I hope it passes quickly. Amelia had something similar earlier this week, but she seems to be over it. When I called Sunday morning to check on how the night went with Amelia and my mom, my mom said, "Well, she has a runny nose this morning, but I promise I didn't do anything to make her sick!" Anyway, she was better the next day. I hope I am, too.

Speaking of Amelia...she has been a bit grouchy the past couple of days. Not sure what's going on there. Teething, maybe? (Surely this girl is going to get a tooth SOMETIME.) Change in routine? Not feeling 100% because of the runny nose thing? All of the above?

So that's the excitement going on here...

Our Getaway!!

Because my mom was in town and insisted she could take care of Amelia for 24 hours by herself, we took advantage of the opportunity to have a night to ourselves! Going to a nice restaurant! Staying in a hotel! Having a full night's sleep! Woohoo!

First, let me say that Amelia, who turned 8 months old yesterday, decided to accomplish the major milestone of pulling up to a standing position by herself about 45 minutes after we left the house:

Figures.

Anyway, our first stop was the new World of Coke museum. We just wanted something to do that was "different" and that wouldn't kill the whole afternoon. I guess the museum is worth a visit; it kept us entertained. And the kids there seemed to enjoy it a great deal. However, if any of you had been to the old one...I think the old one was better. To me, one of the cool things about the old museum was the coke that shot in the air from one side of the room to the other in the tasting exhibit. The new one doesn't do that. :( That made me sad.

After the museum we got settled in our hotel room at Twelve, which is located at Atlantic Station. Twelve is a fairly new hotel that really markets its "modern" decor. We actually had a suite (all Twelve has is suites), and it probably would have been really great for a week's stay; the kitchenette featured new, stainless steel appliances and the furniture was really modern. The TVs were flat screens. However, what struck us most about the decor was how it just felt unfinished...bare concrete in places, a wooden ceiling that still had the builders' notes written in pencil on the wood. Interesting. Oh, and our room featured a spectacular view of the really strange Roman-like arch in the middle of it all, which apparently is the Millennium Gateway of Atlanta. Whatever. Here's Darryl looking at the Millennium Gateway from our balcony. Is it me, or is that arch just a bit out of place?
Last night we had a wonderful, fabulous dinner at The Capital Grille in Buckhead. We have been there a few times before and have enjoyed it, but I think last night's dinner was the best yet. I swear I have never been this full after dinner, not even after Thanksgiving. We started out with prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella with tomatoes. Holy cow. There are no words to describe it. Simple, but good. Then we shared a crock of French onion soup. Even if you are not a big French onion soup person, you might like theirs. It is hands-down the best I've ever tasted. I was already feeling full by this point, but we went on with our entrees; I had the beef filet and Darryl had the Delmonico ribeye. Again, delicious. I ate probably half of mine, though, because I wanted dessert, which was coconut cream pie. I love coconut cream pie, period, but this was fabulous. The crust was wonderful; my guess is that it possibly had some cake mix in the crust--which may sound weird--but it tasted very similar to the crust on the cream cheese bars I make, and that crust has cake mix in it. Anyway...I thought I was going to have to be fork-lifted out of the restaurant. (Also, is it just me, but when you eat a lot at a restaurant--like A LOT--do you almost feel as though you need to say to the waiter, "I don't normally eat like this" or "I haven't eaten anything all day." I don't say these things, but I really, really want to.)

After eating that delicious dinner, we walked around Atlantic Station for a while. The walk did absolutely nothing in making us feel less miserably full, however.

But of course, this morning (and I'd like to add that my eyes popped open at 6:30 on the morning I had an opportunity to sleep in!), we ate breakfast. We went to Silver Skillet, which is this old diner-style restaurant that is known for its good hearty breakfasts. The fare is pretty standard, but it was delicious, too. (I know... you may be marveling over the fact that we could even hold food at this point.)

Then we came home. It was wonderful to have some "us time," and we hope to do it again soon. And, of course we were happy to see our girl when we returned!

Friday, Friday

My mom flew up yesterday and is here for a few days for an Amelia fix. So far, we're having a big time. The perk for me--aside from getting to visit with my mother--is I get some relief with some Amelia-related tasks. Just to clarify...I don't mind those tasks, but I also don't mind getting a break from time to time. I took a 2-hour nap this afternoon. Heavenly.

And that's about it for now...

Book Notes: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Last night I finished The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. This was the second book I've read by her (I can't remember the title of the previous one and I'm too lazy too look it up...that's how much I liked it; it wasn't My Sister's Keeper or Nineteen Minutes), and here's the deal: something about her books annoys me. I do remember that with the first book, the plot was often hokey in parts; with The Tenth Circle, I was completely annoyed with the ending. I'm not one who has to have endings tied up in a neat bow; however, this book left too much up in the air at the end.

I did record the Lifetime movie of this starring Kelly Preston, but I've yet to watch it.

As the mother of a daughter, I did learn one lesson from this book: When a teenage Amelia says she's going to some friend's house to spend the night, I am so calling that friend's mother to confirm. The girl in this story was up to a lot of shenanigans, y'all.

My next book on the list is Atonement, a book I began last summer but ended up stopping because school started. Tim hails it as one of the best books he's ever read, and I think Max and Jen like it too, so I have higher hopes for this one.

Weekend wrap-up...wait, it's Tuesday already?

Wow. It's Tuesday? Why can't time fly this quickly during the school year?

Anyway...

Our weekend with our friends ended nicely. Kim ("Theatre Director") and her daughter were kind enough to look after Amelia so we could go out and have a good meal with just the grown-ups. I have to admit it was nice to have a meal without having to entertain Amelia with a pack of crackers. :) The food was good, too...steak, creamed spinach, molten lava cake for dessert. Delicious. On a food note, if I told you everything I ate this past weekend, you would be in awe. Oddly enough, I was down one pound this week. Go figure.

On Sunday, Darryl and I drove around a few neighborhoods we liked and just looked at houses from the outside and picked up a few fliers to get an idea of what certain prices will get you in a house. All this did was make me want to sell our house. I do love our house (with the exception of our heinous laundry "closet"), but we are quickly outgrowing it. The thought of getting it ready to sell exhausts me.

In "almost" news...I almost joined a baking blog ring that is devoted to baking through the cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Then I decided that while that may sound fun right now, those crunch grading situations I often find myself in would leave little time for making tarts and pies. I did buy the book, though, because it looks like a good book to have on the shelf anyway. If you have ever been in my kitchen, you might have noticed that I have a bit of an obsession with cookbooks.

Yay for Nicole K. and Keith U. on their baby daughter. I have mixed feeling about the name Sunday, but as far as celeb couples go, I like these two...tons more than I like Brangelina. :) (That one's for you, Kristy!)

Yep, that's it.

First Fourth!

Amelia had a very festive 4th of July. Our friends Damian and Rebecca came to visit from Baton Rouge, and we've been having lots of fun.

We watched the fireworks. (Please forgive the blurry picture. And the "Do Not Enter" sign. This was my best attempt to capture both Amelia AND some kind of firework in the background.)


Today, Rebecca and I took Amelia to a 4th of July parade. This was pretty much Amelia's expression the entire time.

Here's a pic of Rebecca and Amelia, just because.

And here's a pic of Amelia and Darryl cutting up at Hudson Grille, where we had lunch today. Quite frankly, I'm putting up this pic so you can see Amelia's cute red white and blue outfit.


HAPPY 4th of July!!

Just Playing Around

On pins and needles

I like how the world's focus has turned to France, where Angelina is expected to give birth--to twins!!--any day now.

Could I get a show of hands? Does anyone care? (Not to minimize the excitement of the arrival of the child, but I swear...)

Randomness

--I had a little "me" time today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so Amelia was in daycare for a few hours. After my appointment, I ran a few errands and had a child-free lunch with my husband.
--Amelia is kind of crawling. She's doing what I like to call the "soldier crawl," where she keeps her belly on the ground but moves her arms and legs toward her desired destination. Too cute!
--Is anyone watching The Bachelorette? I confess: I am. I am because 1) Summer TV is pitiful and I'm desperate for something to watch, and 2) I typically do watch The Bachelorette because unlike the "bachelors," the "bachelorettes" usually make an attempt to have a relationship with the person instead of breaking up three days later. You know what I've decided is a problem with these shows (aside from finding a potential mate for life on a TV show)? The stupid fantasy dates. When, in the real world, does a couple drive a luxury sports car to a deserted restaurant where the girl wears diamonds and a fancy dress? Or when, in the real world, does the girl get to treat the guy to a day at the baseball field playing with the pros? Who wouldn't get along in those circumstances? I say put 'em in a clunker of a car that breaks down in the pouring rain in an area that is out of cell phone range. That would test their compatibility, yes?
--You must check out my friend Kristy's latest post about her niece's baby shower. Hilarious!