Christmas Present=Rejuvenation

Several months ago, my friend Blayne told me about a scrapbooking retreat she does every year at this place. She just happened to have an opening and asked if I was interested. Hmm....two days to scrapbook when I wanted, sleep when I wanted, read when I wanted? A private room? Awesome food? Was I interested????? Um, yes.

I convinced Darryl that this could be my (very generous) Christmas present, so I signed up. I'm so glad I did. This past weekend was just what I needed.

I drove up late Friday afternoon to this inn, which was practically in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, you take this winding road, which turns into a dirt road at some point, and then, out of nowhere, appears this inn.

When I arrived, I settled into my room, and then went to the conference room, which was our scrapbooking area. My project for the weekend was Amelia's "First Year" book, and I got a lot done over the two days, thanks to this kit and some baby girl supplies I had already bought.

Anyway, after everyone had arrived Friday, we went to dinner. This might be a place to transition into food talk. If you love food like I do, check out what I ate all weekend:

Friday night: salad, Macadamia Chicken with mashed potatoes and crisp green beans, and chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Saturday morning/breakfast: Egg and cheese strata, out-of-this-world grits obviously made with cream, fried ham, fruit, biscuits with homemade grape/blueberry jam.

Saturday lunch: baked potato bar with all the fixings, homemade chili, and chocolate chocolate chip cookies for dessert. (Those cookies were probably the best cookies I've ever eaten.)

Saturday night: salad, beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes and green beans, and brownie sundae for dessert

Sunday morning: blueberry pancakes and apple cinnamon pancakes served straight from the griddle, bacon, and fruit.

Sunday lunch: salad, chicken pot pie, herb-ish buttered bread, and chocolate cake and chocolate fudge pie for dessert.

Good Lord. I ate it all. That might explain why I feel puffy this morning.

So basically, this weekend consisted of eating, scrapbooking, eating, scrapbooking, eating, scrapbooking...you get the idea. Oh, we slept in there somewhere.

It was awesome, and it far exceeded my expectations. I knew only Blayne when I went, but I met some other great ladies and had a wonderful time.

This inn was definitely the definition of "quaint." Is it a place I would go to for just a vacation? No. But it is definitely THE place to go if you just want to get away from everything.

Here is my room (excuse the unmade bed):

"Quaint" means you might see signs like this hanging over the toilet:

This was the view from my room.


Pretty nice, huh?

I came back Sunday afternoon, and while I had a good time, I was ready to see Darryl and Amelia. And I swear, when I walked through the door, Amelia started stomping her feet in excitement to see me, and then she gave me a HUGE hug when I picked her up. I think that was hands down the best welcome I've ever received!

I have to give a big thank you to Darryl. Obviously, my being away meant he was on 48-hour Amelia duty, and Amelia is quite the active little girl. Thanks, Babe! I truly enjoyed myself!

Amy is...

Too bad blogs don't have status updates like Facebook does. :)

Anyway, I'm still here and hope to blog soon. It's been a very chaotic week. It also seems like the longest week ever.

Later...

Ready for 2009 to get better

This has been a rough week for several reasons that I won't go into here. It feels, too, as though this week was really three weeks long.

And after just one week back with students, I'm ready for another break. Thank goodness for MLK Day.

And I have a horribly sore throat and have lost my voice. Otherwise, I feel fine.

I did get a chance to attend an AP Workshop today, and it was really beneficial. So far, I'm 2 for 2 on AP Workshops. I don't think Tim has been that lucky with the recent ones he has been to. (He went to a different session than I did today.)

I just had a funny thing happen through Facebook. I received this message from a former student (whom I can't remember at all, although the name looks familiar):

I think that you might be the same Amy _____ that taught Freshman English at ____. If you are not: disregard this e-mail and the errors contained within.
I found my first English paper from college tonight in a box. Spring 2000. You gave me a low "D." I deserved it. The reason I am telling you is to apologize for making you read that paper. It was horrible. I wrote it the morning before your class. Embarrassing. I hope all is well. Feel free to send corrections to this message in red type if necessary. I still need the help, apparently.

This made me LAUGH.

Two-Movie Date Night

Considering the fact that Darryl and I saw exactly ONE movie in 2008 and that was almost a year ago (Juno, which we both enjoyed), when we had another opportunity for a date night last night, we decided to get all wild and crazy and see TWO movies. We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was my choice, and Valkyrie, which was history buff Darryl's choice.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
If you get an opportunity to see this movie, go. It is excellent. And take a box of Kleenex.

Darryl and I both really enjoyed this movie. Now, it's long--almost 3 hours--but it is worth it. The basic premise, as you may already know, is that Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt's character) ages backwards while, of course, everyone else ages normally. It has the whole "life is what you make it" and "every moment counts" kind of themes, and there are parts of the movie that are just beautiful to look at.

And speaking of beautiful to look at, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beauty of Brad Pitt in this movie. I've never been much of a Brad Pitt person...I mean sure, the guy is attractive and all that, but I gave him the boot over the whole Brangelina thing. HOWEVER, there are parts of this movie where he is just perfection to look at. He and Cate Blanchett are both wonderful in this movie. Loved it.


Valkyrie
Darryl wanted to see this because he is a big WWII history buff, and he had seen some special about this story on the History Channel.

This movie was so bad that Darryl asked me if I was ready to leave about 40 minutes from the end. We ended up staying because I figured that we paid for it, so we might as well stay for it.

I told Darryl that the suspense was kind of ruined for me in the beginning because we all know that the assassination plot against Hitler obviously was unsuccessful.

Darryl said the movie was also poorly done because it left out some key parts of the story. I'll just trust him on that.

Don't even bother renting Valkyrie.

New Year's: Resolutions and Such

I'm actually at my house by myself. I can't quite remember the last time that has happened. Darryl and my parents (who came up to visit because my mom has a long weekend off from work) and Amelia have gone to my cousin's house, and I thought I'd take a few minutes of uninterrupted time to blog.

It's been a good day so far. Darryl grilled a pork loin, and I fixed hashbrown casserole, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and brownies for lunch. It was all pretty good, if I do say so myself.

I'm looking forward to 2009 because frankly, 2008 wasn't my favorite. It seemed that 2008 was tough on a lot of people--many loved ones passed away not only in our family but in families of friends of ours as well; my passion for teaching has dwindled quite a bit; and overall, it's been a bit of a roller coaster. On the other hand, I've enjoyed Amelia so much, and Darryl continuously amazes me as a father to her (and he's a good husband, too!), and we've enjoyed celebrating her milestones and watching her grow. So when I think about those things, I feel like I can't complain too much.

That being said, here are my resolutions for 2009:

1. I want to lose 10 pounds by St. Patrick's Day. There's nothing significant about St. Patrick's Day for me, but I figure I'll give myself a goal.

2. I want to exercise a little more. Wait, make that "I want to exercise." Period. I'm doing zero right now. (I'd really like to get back into running, but baby steps here. Baby steps.)

3. I want to read more for enjoyment. I typically get caught up in books I need to read for school, but reading for fun--even if it is Twilight--is good for the soul.

4. I need to make better use of my time so I can fully enjoy my "down time."

5. And speaking of down time, I want to continue scrapbooking on a regular basis. This hobby is such a creative outlet for me, and it really does change my perspective on life...for the better.

I think that's enough for now. I don't want to go crazy or anything.

Happy New Year! Happy 2009!

The REAL New Year's Rockin' Eve

I cleaned out my closet New Year's Eve:


I purged eight (!) garbage bags of clothes and two hampers of shoes and handbags from my closet.

Basically, I was just brutally honest with myself. Am I going to lose 30 pounds and fit into the dress I wore in 2000? Um, no.

But check out how well my husband knows me. Here was our conversation yesterday after my closet cleaning:

ME: You know what I finally did, Darryl? I got real with myself. I said, "Amy, are you really going to fit into those pants again? You may lose 10 pounds, but you're not going to lose 30. Get real."

DARRYL: I know what else you said.

ME: What's that?

DARRYL: You said, "And Girlfriend, if you do lose 30 pounds, you deserve to go shopping and get some new clothes!"

We have a climber.

Amelia is definitely a climber. Yesterday, she managed to figure out how to stand in the seat of the cart at Target. This isn't good.

Yesterday morning, I was putting away some Christmas gifts, and when I passed by the kitchen, this is what I saw:




Some exciting times are ahead, people.

If you pray...

...keep this little one in your prayers.

I do not know this woman or this family personally. I have found her blog through other blogs (oh, the blogosphere is just a neverending maze). She has a baby--maybe a little over a month old--who is basically a living miracle. You can read the whole story on her blog if you are interested, but basically when this baby was in the womb, the doctors diagnosed him with a severe heart problem and didn't think he would live to be born. Long story short, he was born perfectly healthy, a miracle in a time when I think we desperately crave miracles.

Now, this baby is fighting for his life because of extremely severe RSV. The doctors are saying things like "he must turn the corner tonight," and he has stopped breathing several times. (Edited to add: my original post said he was on a ventilator, but I was wrong about that. It is a very real possibility, however.)

As a mother, I can't imagine the emotions I would be feeling right now. I usually don't even post things like this. I've been in churches before where prayer requests were often thinly veiled gossip reports, so I'm always wary of coming across that way...but I couldn't shake the feeling that I should post this.

Please pray that this little one once again defines the meaning of "miracle."

And while you are at it, pray for Jen's friend and her family, too. They need a little peace in a very dark time.

Peace to you all.

Christmas, Parts 1 and 2

I've always thought that maybe the Jews had something going with celebrating for 8 days during the holiday season. (I'm being very sincere with that statement. I hope it didn't come across as disrespectful or making light of Hanukkah.) After all, there is so much buildup to Christmas, and then the day is over and done in the blink of an eye.

Well, this year, we actually did the whole "Christmas morning" thing three days in a row. I kind of liked it, but I don't think I can do more than three days.

Christmas, Part 1
For the first time EVER, we did the official Christmas morning thing at our house with just the three of us. (We've had Christmas before at our house, but usually with my parents.) Amelia slept until a little after 8:00, primarily because she had a Christmas Eve meltdown from 11 to 1 the night before. (That's a long story that isn't really that interesting. Short version: She woke up at 11:00 and cried, wailed, flailed, and kicked her legs until 1 or so. Lots of fun. Santa almost decided not to stop.)

Anyway, it took us over an hour to open gifts because Amelia liked to open one and then play with it to her satisfaction before moving on to the next gift.

We started with the good ol' corn popper:


After walking around with that for about 20 minutes, she moved on to the next gift, really her "big" gift, Elmo Live:
This expression means "I'm now done with Elmo Live. Next gift, please."
And this went on for a while. We had a rather lazy morning, just enjoying Amelia playing with her toys. After lunch, we went ahead and headed to Florida. (Our original plan had been to go to Florida the day after Christmas.) Here's the down side to traveling Christmas Day: no eating establishments are open except for Waffle House. Our Christmas evening meal was a Waffle House breakfast. Not that there's anything wrong with that, right?

Christmas, Part 2
Friday morning, we did the whole gift opening thing with my family. Do you think the WNBA has a future star on their hands? (That is a totally obnoxious mom thing to say, isn't it?)
With all the toys available to Amelia at Nana and Papa's house, guess what Amelia enjoyed playing with the most? Potatoes. Potatoes, people. Amelia had loads of fun taking all the potatoes out of Nana's basket and passing them to everyone. Then she'd put them back in the basket and do it all over again. Oh, the money everyone could have saved if they had known that her heart's desire this Christmas was really just some potatoes.



That evening, we had a delicious meal prepared by my mom: ham, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, the works. My dad even made a fabulous sweet potato pie!

Christmas, Part 3
At this point, Christmas morning was feeling a little like Groundhog Day, but we were still having fun. On Saturday, we did the Christmas morning thing with Darryl's family.

Here's Madison, our niece, dressed like Hannah Montana. She can sing "The Best of Both Worlds" with the best of 'em.
I wish I could post pics of my other niece and my nephew, but the clearest pics I have of them are of them holding gifts with their full names on them, and I don't want to put that info on my blog.

Anyway, that evening, Darryl fixed a wonderful prime rib, and his Uncle George, Aunt Miriam, and cousins Camille and Malorie came over. We only get to see them about once a year, if that, so it was a special treat to get to visit with them.

Here are Malorie and Camille. Malorie is making her way up the journalism career ladder by working as a fact checker at a political magazine (and the name of it escapes me at the moment). I thought it was super cool that she got to attend both the Democratic and Republican Conventions for her job. And Camille, on the right, is an amazing ballerina who just danced the part of Clara in The Nutcracker a few weeks ago.

And here's Amelia with her Uncle George:
Don't judge me for the pacifier. We sort of regressed in the pacifier use for this trip. We just wanted a peaceful Christmas, and if a pacifier was going to help with that, then so be it.

Conclusion
We're now back home, and it feels good to be home. We really enjoyed spending time with both families, and we have lots of memories that I can't wait to scrapbook. :)

I must confess that now I'm going to go to bed and continue reading Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series. My 5th period girls said it was "awesome," and so far, it has been quite enjoyable. You know, in that teenagery-vampire-love kind of way. Again, don't judge me.

Nights of Lights

Tonight we went to the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier. There's not a whole lot to report on it. We drove around and looked at lights. We got out at Santa's Workshop (or Village or whatever it's called) and we walked around with Amelia, who got really excited just looking at and listening to all the carnival rides there.

Oh, we ate at IHOP on our way there and we were by FAR the youngest people in the restaurant. Our pancakes were yummy, though.

Here's a pic of the three of us, obviously. Darryl has an angel watching over him, and my wallet-purse-thing seriously doesn't match my outfit. And Amelia looks thoroughly bored.

And here's Amelia, totally fed up with our need to photograph everything:
Maybe now you can see why getting a Christmas photo was not an easy task.

No Christmas Cards :(

Unfortunately, we never got our act together in time to send out a Christmas card this year. (So if you've sent us one, but didn't get one from us in return, it isn't because we are dissing you or anything. We simply don't have one.)

It isn't like we didn't try. We made several attempts to get a good picture of Amelia for the card. One lesson we've learned is this is NOT a task to put off to the last minute. Another lesson we've learned is that it is impossible to get a one-year-old--excuse me, an ACTIVE one-year-old--to stand still. Or sit still. Or just be still.

Here was our most promising photo:
I actually thought we had a winner with that one. Unfortunately, I had to do a lot of cropping and tweaking with iPhoto for it to look focused. When we had it developed, Amelia's teeth looked black. Not good.

So between the unsuccessful attempts at getting a photo, Christmas shopping, grading papers, feeling bad with a sinus infection...I just decided I had to let the Christmas card go.

For those of you who read my blog, please know that I do wish you a very Merry Christmas. For those of you who have sent me cards, I've loved looking at all your great photos and/or reading your holiday greetings.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas! (Imagine the photo above on a cute Christmas card.)

Amelia Meets Santa

We finally took Amelia to see Santa today. While she didn't freak out and cry, you can tell from the pics that she wasn't quite sure what to think. Darryl took these with his camera. The "official" pic we bought from Santa's Workshop looks more like the second one. I like this first pic, though.

I'm still here...and I "heart" doc in a box

I haven't posted this week because this is what this week has consisted of: two daycare parties, lots of grading, the assembling of daycare teacher presents, some baking, a haircut, a couple of lunches with friends, and a sinus infection. I hope to post something of some substance tomorrow.

And speaking of my sinus infection, can I just tell you how much I now love the idea of a "doc in a box"? I have felt really bad the past couple of days, but I didn't really have time--or make time--to go to the doctor. Today, I was fed up. I was tired of feeling crummy, especially when I have some Christmas fun planned for the week. So I went to the Minute Clinic at CVS, was in and out in 15 minutes, and left with a prescription for some antibiotics and some cough medicine. Awesome.

I'm going to leave you now to take that medicine and have a good night's sleep in hopes of feeling much better tomorrow.

She may be my girl, after all

Amelia takes after Darryl in so many ways that I've often wondered if she inherited ANY of my traits. Until yesterday.

What two things brought the biggest smile to Amelia's face yesterday?

Shoe shopping and M&Ms.

Yes!


(Okay, now back to grading essays.)

I'm climbing out from under my pile of essays...

...just for a couple of minutes. I'm so glad it is the weekend, even if I'm going to be grading for a good portion of it.

This past week seemed like the longest so far of the school year. I'm not sure why. I keep telling myself that this time next week, I will be a free woman for two weeks. I can't wait.

Task Number One for tomorrow is to get a Christmas pic of Amelia for Christmas cards. I'm going to be "that" person whose cards arrive the day after Christmas. I just know it. Amelia and I are also eating lunch with my friend Casi, and then it is going to be grade, grade, grade the rest of the weekend.

Wow. This post was really pointless.

Stuff from this week

I realize it has been a week since I wrote last. The end of the semester is always crazy. Here are a few things that have been going on:

--I have a stack of grading up to my eyeballs, practically. I'm slowly making my way through it. I have resolved myself to the fact that not everything is going to get graded, though. Yes, major assignments will be, like essays, major tests, and such, but some of the less significant assignments that students have apparently forgotten about...well, I confess they may never make it to the grade book. (If you are a teacher and read this, assure me that this is okay!)

--I got a phone this week that has a keyboard. This excites me more than it should. I love to text.

--I am reading the second book in the Twilight series, New Moon. It is very hard for me to put down to focus on, you know, grading...but I've been pretty good about limiting my reading to right before bedtime. I've already decided that when I finish it, I cannot buy the next one until Christmas break.

--We had big plans to go to a Christmas parade and to see Santa yesterday, but those plans went in the garbage after The Worst Diaper of 2008. In public. In a hoity-toity children's boutique. I ran out of wipes. I'll spare any more details.

--I have gotten a good bit graded this weekend, and I plan to do more.

--How late can you take a Christmas photo and get it mailed out? We have yet to do that.

Anyway...

I've Been Twilighted

Count me in. I'm on the Twilight bandwagon.

If you had told me at any point in my life that I would have gotten hooked on a book about vampire love, I would have laughed in your face. My 5th period class (a.k.a. "the dream class) told me I MUST read it, so I did. (Now, I did start the book at the end of the summer just to see what all fuss was about, but I didn't get very far in the book before school started.)

Last week, I read the book. Now, it is a bit melodramatic and full of angst--very Young Adult fictionish--but I enjoyed it. I am a SUCKER (no vampire pun intended) for stories of forbidden love. Edward is a tortured vampire who is completely in love with the girl he most wants to kill for her blood. (I'm actually chuckling as I write this. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?) I'm already reading the second book in the series, New Moon, and I'm enjoying it as well.

I also saw the movie yesterday. I have mixed feelings about it. I liked the actors, although Edward wasn't what I had pictured. I thought the movie downplayed some of the emotional stuff in favor of the special vampire powers stuff. I realize the novel had to be edited down to a couple of hours, but the movie misses some of the more tender moments of the book.

So is the book life changing for me? No. Is it one of the best books I've read? No. Did it keep me interested? Yes. And look...I've seen Stephenie Meyer on a couple of talk shows, and she has three kids--all fairly young--and she said she literally wrote Twilight with one hand while holding a baby in the other. I have to give her props for that, for sure.

(An interesting note...one of my former students posted on her Facebook "status" that after reading Twilight, she wants to know where she can find a vampire to love. I know she's joking, but I think vampires just got a big popularity boost, courtesy of the Twilight series! Oh, and when I bought New Moon Friday night, the checkout clerk at Barnes and Noble said, "Looks like they got you, too!" Craziness, I tell you.)

December Scrapbook Album

One of the projects I took on over the break was creating a mini-album for the Christmas season. I got the project idea from this post (I think the project is "formally" called the "Daily December Album"), and there is more explanation for it on this site.

Anyway, the point is to get the album ready first, so that all I need to do is add photos, journaling, etc. I took a tip from the first blogger I linked to and prepared and envelope with stuff that would be easy to add--stickers, buttons, and so forth. I called mine--as you can tell from the photo--"31 Days of Christmas." Now, do I plan to do something exciting and Christmas-y for all 31 days of December? Heavens, no. I do have some fun things planned, though: Amelia's first trip to see Santa, Christmas lights, Christmas card photo sessions, holiday baking, and so forth.

I think most of the albums I've seen on other blogs end on Christmas Day, but Darryl and I are planning to go to Florida the day after Christmas to see family, thus extending the season for us a bit.

Tim, I know you are totally rolling your eyes (if you are still reading, that is), but Jen asked a question about it, so I posted a couple of pics.

The cover...


Here are a couple of shots of the inside pages...nothing too elaborate.


This is my first attempt to try something like this, so we'll see how it goes. Anyway...

Thanksgiving Week, Thus Far

I haven't blogged very much this week because of one of these two reasons: either I was busy, or I was exhausted from being so busy. I'm exhausted right now, so this post will be somewhat short.

While this week has been busy, it has been a good break from work. Here are some tidbits from the week:

1. I spent some fun time with Amelia, Darryl, and my family.
2. I caught up on Friday Night Lights while doing some Thanksgiving cooking. (I have DirecTV, and DirecTV customers are getting the first run of this season's episodes, which will air on NBC in 2009...I think. I'll have to post my FNL thoughts another time.)
3. I'm about five pages away from finishing Twilight. (Again, my thoughts on the book will be detailed in a separate post.) I hope to see the movie this weekend.
4. I made Thanksgiving dinner all by myself, and it consisted of turkey (well, Darryl fried the turkey...delicious), dressing, sweet potato casserole, pineapple casserole, peas, corn, rolls, carrot cake, and pecan pie. It was a complete carb fest that involved lots of butter. Paula Deen would have been proud.
5. I made a December scrapbook that just needs to be filled with photos and journaling.
6. Darryl and I just got back from a date night. We were home before 10:00 because we were tired. Rock on.
7. I did some Black Friday shopping. I stayed clear of the mall and stuck to strip malls. The crowds weren't too bad.

As for school stuff, I've graded zero tests and zero papers. I know that means the next couple of weeks will be hectic, but frankly, I think I needed this break to gear up for the end.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful, high-fat, cholesterol-laden Thanksgiving!

Scrapbooking Hell

So Saturday night, my friend Sabrina and I met up at a "crop" and were all prepared to get some major scrapbooking done. At this particular place we go, each table seats four people, so chances are you will sit with one or two people you don't know, but it all works out fine because everyone is there to, you know, scrapbook.

Not Saturday, though.

Imagine the most talkative person you know. Then multiply that person by about 100. She was one of our table companions. Her friend was someone who was making engagement announcement even though she's not engaged yet.

Back to Talkative Girl. She talked the entire 6 hours we were there, and she was scrapbooking about a Disney trip, so she felt compelled to relive every single moment of the trip. And apparently she goes to Disney quite often because she is a Disney MANIAC. Now, I can appreciate Disney and I look very forward to taking Amelia there one day, but c'mon. This girl, who was college-age at least, still gets the Princess makeovers at the boutique and still gets the autographs of the characters. Every time.

At one point, both girls--who apparently have serious boyfriends (who must be INSANE)--were imagining what their marriage proposals would be like, and Talkative Disney Girl said, "Well, I just want Dave to take me to EPCOT Japan, get a pearl, and have it put in a ring." And then Sabrina and I tried (kind of unsuccessfully) not to laugh, and it was like those times you try not to laugh in inappropriate places like church, weddings, funerals, and so forth.

So I got only 3 pages done in my scrapbook, and two of those look terrible. I couldn't focus. Very frustrating.

Darryl said he would have just left, but A) I already had my scrapbook stuff spread out, and B) I was hoping the girl would have to shut up at some point just to catch her breath.

Not so.

What I'm Looking Forward To

Yes! I'm out for a week for Thanksgiving Break. For that, I am truly thankful.

Here are some things I'm so looking forward to, starting tomorrow:

1. Spending some time with my girl.
2. Having my family here for Thanksgiving. I'm cooking the meal for my parents this year for the first time. I've done the Thanksgiving meal before, but not for them. I love holiday cooking and baking.
3. Scrapbooking with my friend Sabrina tomorrow.
4. Using my spa gift certificates for a massage Sunday.
5. Shopping for Thanksgiving groceries. (That may sound weird, but I love shopping for the ingredients for T-giving dinner.)
6. Reading Twilight. I actually started it at the end of the summer, but realized I had to give it up when teaching took over and I couldn't finish a page of "fun" reading without nodding off. (Seriously, I fall asleep within 45 seconds of my head hitting the pillow. Is that normal?) Also, I feel I missed out by not being a Harry Potter reader. I'm getting on the Twilight bandwagon. Sue me.
7. Watching Good Morning America. I hope Robin and Diane aren't on vacation all week. I'll be sad.
8. Burning my Harvest- and Pumpkin Pie-scented Yankee Candles all day long. (I'm not a huge scented candle person, but I love these.)
9. Not getting up at 5:00 every morning.
10. Watching Food Network in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. This is my favorite time for Food Network.

I'll stop at 10. I don't want to get too giddy, you know?

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.