In the words of Pink...

..."Please, please don't leave me."

I promise I will blog again. I actually have stuff to blog about. Right now, though, I'm making "Blueberry Yum-Yum" to take to a teacher potluck tomorrow (we have a half day, thank goodness).

So come back this weekend. I'll have a blog post waiting for you.

And now a little about school

School is still going well.

I'm teaching 11th grade all day. This is new. In the past, I've either had a 12th/11th split or a 10th/11th split, but I'm teaching American Lit in some form or fashion all day now. That's fine with me. I think I'm an "American-ist" at heart when it comes to literature.

I'm teaching three preps for the first time, too: AP Language and Comp/American Lit (a new course for me), Honors American Lit (another new course--new entirely to our school), and College Prep (a.k.a. "regular") American Lit. (Ironically, the students in College Prep are the least likely to go to college. Gotta love education rhetoric.)

I think teaching AP is the kick in the pants I needed to put some more passion into my teaching. I think I kind of lost it last year because last year was so difficult for many reasons, but I'm really working hard to meet the needs of these extremely bright students. I taught them all last year as 10th grade honors students, and I'm thrilled to get to teach them again. They're a good group of kids. If I had one complaint, it would be that the class is too big for AP (26 kids), and because the kids already knew me, there was already this air of familiarity with me...not the typical first-of-the-year nervousness and quietness that accompanies truly "new" classes. They tend to get off track frequently, but fortunately, they will eventually get back on. They're fun. And nerdy. I love nerds.

I'm less than thrilled with my Honors kids so far. I like them, but goodness, they got really lazy over the summer. I guess I just need to whip them into shape.

And the "regulars"...look, y'all. I have one class that is just sad. The kind of "bless their hearts" sad. The other two regular classes I have are pretty good--good attitudes, good natured.

I'm pretty optimistic about the year. I really need a good teaching year because frankly, by the end of last year, I was emailing Darryl articles to support the notion that I could be a stay-at-home mom. (In all reality, I don't think I could be one. But that's another blog post.)

On a somewhat school-related note...I took Amelia to her first football game last night. She was very good. Fortunately, my friend Sheri and her kids sat nearby, and Amelia played with their toys. But Amelia watched the game some, clapped when everyone else did, and danced a little to the music. I think she enjoyed it!

Dear Goodness!!

I have been a horrible blogger. But here is my reason/excuse:

I'm tired, y'all.

The kind of tired you feel in your bones.

So when my choice has been to blog or to go to bed, I've chosen the bed. No offense.

Since school started two weeks ago, every day just seems to be cycle of continuous activity. Here's my day:

4:30--Alarm clock beeps. I hit snooze twice.

4:45-ish--I get up, grab a cup of coffee, check email. Maybe have to finish up packing lunches.

Before 5:10--shower, wash hair, straighten it (men, you just don't understand), etc.

6:00--fix Amelia's waffle to take to school, pack her bag for the day, haul stuff to the car.

6:10--wake up Amelia, give her a sippy cup of milk while I dress her (sometimes Darryl steps in and does this if I'm running late. I usually do the morning stuff for her and he does the evening stuff. Usually.)

6:25--get in the car and head out

6:50--arrive at daycare and get Amelia situated

7:00--arrive at school

7:15--first period (my planning period). Grade papers and run copies for the day.

8:12-2:30--teach American lit. All. Day. Long. Somewhere in there I have 20 minutes to eat lunch.

2:30-4:45--lesson planning, grading

4:50--pick up Amelia

5:30--arrive home and start preparing dinner or preparing to go out to dinner

6:45--dinner done (usually), play time with Amelia, clean kitchen

7:20--start bathtime ritual with Amelia (if Darryl does this instead, I go to the gym or work on school stuff)

8:00--put Amelia to bed

8:01--begin packing lunches, do things around the house, work on school stuff, do laundry, load the dishwasher, fix sippy cups for the next day--all this stuff seems to take until 10:00 at least.

10:30 or later--go to bed

And the next day I get up and do it all over again. I know my schedule isn't any more hectic than any other working mom's, but I AM TIRED. I think the whole getting-into-the-groove-of-school thing is still going on. The past two weeks have also involved lots of beginning-of-school work: curriculum maps (ugh!) and finishing up summer reading books and making tests for those. (Our school is requiring summer reading for everyone for the first time this year, so we're giving the students a 2-week grace period to get the book read.)

But school is good. I really have one class (so far, knock on wood) that I dread, but at least the class is small. Eighteen knuckleheads are better than 28 knuckleheads. I have lots to discuss as far as school goes, but I'm just happy to have a post on my blog. Maybe some time this week I can elaborate on some other things going on.

Edited to add--I feel I should say in all my "oh, I'm so tired and busy" that Darryl DOES help me. Cleaning isn't his forte (sorry, honey...I have to call you out on that one), but he often helps with dinner and watches Amelia for me when I need to get something done. Usually he gives her a bath. Sometimes he does the dishwasher stuff and fixes sippy cups. I just didn't want you to think he was sitting on a satin pillow eating bonbons while I flittered about.

If it isn't apparent from my lack of blogging...

...school is keeping me busy, busy, busy. I will try to blog soon, within the next day or two.

So far, things are going well...just hectic. I haven't fallen off the planet, though.

Farewell, Summer. It was nice knowing you.

So today was my official last day of summer vacation. It was a good day, complete with lunch with Darryl and a fun time with Amelia at the indoor inflatable playground. She had a blast, and so did I.

I'm sad to say goodbye to summer because truly, this summer was great. I was able to visit some friends, take Amelia on various adventures--to the beach, to playdates, to inflatable playgrounds, to birthday parties--and I was even able to have some "me" time to scrapbook or chill out. I saw Jersey Boys with my mom, had a couple of date nights with Darryl, and read some good books.

I really have enjoyed Amelia this summer. Last summer was nice, but now she is able to do more things, and that's been fun. Sure, there were some hairy days in there where we both thought we would lose our minds, but I really am going to miss seeing her as much as I have the past couple of months. She is growing up way too fast, but I'm enjoying her personality so much.

So goodbye, Summer 2009. It was fun!

The Last Week...of Summer (sniff!)

I didn't post last week because, frankly, I wasn't in the mood. Here' s the rundown of how I spent the last official week of my summer:

Monday--Attempted to buy classroom supplies with a not-so-cooperative Amelia. Watched The Bachelorette finale. (I was pleased with the outcome. Don't judge me for watching that show.)

Tuesday--Worked on school stuff in my classroom while Amelia was with her sitter, Alisha.

Wednesday--Had a playdate with a "kind of" new friend, Sophia. (To make a long story short...Sophia's mom (Michelle) and I have been running into each other in various places--the pediatrician's office, church, and even a unbeknownst-to-us mutual friend's birthday party--so we finally decided to get the girls together. We went to another inflatable bouncy playground and had a great time!

Thursday--Went to the pool. Went to Open House at Amelia's daycare. She's moving to the 2-year-old room even though she won't be two until November. It made me a little sad.

Friday--Had to go back to work so I could be available to help/answer questions for three new teachers in our English Department. Luckily, they were pretty low-maintenence, and I got lots of work done.

Saturday--Met Darryl's Uncle George and cousin Camille at Mary Mac's for lunch. They were in town because George was picking up Camille from a ballet academy that she had been attending for several weeks this summer.

Sunday--Church. Shopping. (Scored some great deals at Old Navy, of all places. I haven't bought anything for me there in a while.)

Thanks to the state-imposed furlough days that Georgia teachers are required to take, we won't be returning to school tomorrow as originally scheduled, so technically, I have one more day off. (Technically, I have two because we are off Thursday as well...the day before school starts! Don't get me started on that one...) Anyway, tomorrow I plan to hang out with Amelia and do something fun with her.

I might have to do a "Farewell, Summer" post tomorrow...it's really been a good break for me.

Another Day, Another Slide

Before I get into today's "slide" adventure, I have to show you this pic of Amelia form this morning. My cousin bought this Florida State dress for her about a year ago, and Amelia is now big enough to wear it. And I think Amelia looks pretty cute in it, even if it isn't an LSU dress:


That is, by the way, her new "cheese" pose. I'm not sure where she got the idea to cock her head sideways, but she's workin' it.

This afternoon we decided to take Amelia back to the cool toy store, but this time, we also let her go next door to the inflatable jumpy playground. (I have no idea what it is called for real.) She wasn't too sure at first, but it wasn't long before she wanted to slide. And because it was such a big slide, Darryl or I had to help her climb the ladder and slide down. Here are Darryl and Amelia sliding; you can kind of get an idea for how big this slide was:
And here I am with her. My eyes are closed and Amelia is wide-eyed and smiling:
At the bottom, I look relieved and Amelia looks drunk from the fun:

Then Girlfriend got brave and did it on her own. We just let her do it solo one time. Figured we shouldn't press our luck:

Okay, I'll be honest...Darryl totally decided to let her go on her own when they got to the top. I would have been too chicken. I was waiting to see the two of them through the view finder on my camera, and then I was so shocked to see Amelia by herself that I almost forgot to shoot.

Anyway, we had fun. She is such a daredevil. Again...another trait she did NOT inherit from me. :)

(And I apologize if I just bored you to tears with pictures from our inflatable slide adventure; it's been a slow news day.)

Bella's Birthday Party

Today Amelia went to her friend Bella's birthday party. At home, we hear Bella's name a lot, I guess because it is easy for Amelia to say. When she gets on her play cell phone, she starts her conversation with, "Bella? Hey!!!" then babble babble babble. It's probably just a hint of what's to come in her teen years.

ANYWAY...

Bella had a super-cool water slide/pool set up in her yard, and Amelia loved it. Unfortunately, my camera battery died after just a few pictures, but I did get this action shot:

(But let me tell you, after this party, I was worn out. Worn. Out. And I wasn't even hosting it.)

Books, TV, Music, and Toy Stores

I think I've started several blog posts in the past week and never finished them. It's as though I don't have the gumption or the focus to finish one post. So here it is, all put in one post, with little snippets of everything.

Books
I've read two books "for fun" over the summer. Only two, because Amelia keeps me so busy that I might manage to hold my eyes open to read for twenty minutes before falling asleep at night.

I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I thought I wanted to see the movie, but when I heard the movie ending was not the same as the book's, I figured I'd wait to see it on DVD. Anyway, of the few Picoult books I've read, this one was my favorite.


The other book I read, oddly enough, was Getting a Grip, the autobiography of Monica Seles. Darryl picked this one up at an airport when he was traveling, and he thought I'd like it. He was right! Even if you aren't a tennis fan (and I'm not), her story of her rise to fame and her emotional, physical, and mental struggles after her stabbing was very interesting, real, and inspiring. Even more impressive is the fact that she wrote it herself...and it's good! I think I'm definitely going to keep put this on my classroom bookshelf; even my students who aren't "readers" might like it.

TV
My two guilty pleasure TV shows this summer have been The Bachelorette and Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. I should be ashamed, but I can't tear myself away!

Music
I recently discovered a satellite radio station I love: XM 51, The Coffeehouse. It's lots of different artists playing mostly acoustic arrangements. I don't know if it's just me, but I'm not liking a lot of the Top 40 right now. Wow, that makes me feel old, like I'm somebody's MawMaw saying, "I don't like that racket the young people call music these days." Oh, well. It is what it is.

Toy Stores
Needing to buy a birthday present for a 2-year-old's party tomorrow, I took Amelia with me to a toy store a friend told me about. It was so cool...the store had lots of toys set up for kids to play with. They even had chairs for the adults to sit in while the kids played. I wish we had found this place at the beginning of the summer because there's nothing like indoor, air-conditioned, free fun! (Of course, I also think that when she is old enough to start begging for toys, this might not be the best place to go!)

Here's Amelia picking something off the shelf to put in her already-full grocery cart:

Amelia's fun with the grandparents

First of all, these last few weeks of summer have been flying by; it does not seem like almost a week has gone by since my last post. I mean, seriously. This isn't fair.

My parents came up this past weekend for their Amelia fix. Darryl and I, as a result, were able to have a couple of child-free outings. Friday night, we went to see The Hangover after several people told us how hilarious it was. Was it funny? Sure. But I think it was one of those situations where everybody went on and on about it so much that our expectations were really high, so we were a bit disappointed. It was still fun to go to the movies, though. Saturday, we looked at some houses for sale in the area (we haven't sold our house, mind you--we just wanted to see what our "price range" could get us), browsed in some stores, and had dinner. It was nice.

Well, back to Amelia and the grandparents. While we were having our fun Saturday afternoon/evening, the grandparents took Amelia to Bass Pro Shop to look at the big fish tank. They also rode a carousel, had chocolate ice cream, and ate at Five Guys Burgers & Fries. They said Amelia was a perfect angel through all that. I hope so! Of course, I'm sure she was having a blast!
It was a good weekend!

Just a breath away from a minivan

Last week felt like a real "mom" week to me. Saturday, Amelia went to a birthday party for a boy in her daycare class, and that, combined with the "playdate," just made feel like it was the official start to many years of playdates and birthday parties. And, lo and behold, when I checked my email last night...Amelia had another birthday party invite!

I hope this doesn't read as a complaint, because it's not. I'm actually enjoying all this. (I'm sure that in the future, when we have three birthday parties to go to in one day, I might be a little tired of it, but so far it's fun.)

At the party Saturday, the cake consisted of a chocolate layer and a yellow layer. Amelia ate the chocolate and left the yellow. As much as Amelia looks like Darryl and acts like Darryl, I think she has my food tastes. (Except I would have eaten both layers, but I would have much preferred the chocolate!)

Ha!

Amelia's playdate

Amelia had her first "official" playdate today. We went to her friend Tanner's house. Tanner is a girl in her class at daycare, and her mom is a teacher in our English department. It was lots of fun to see the girls play together.

They really enjoyed playing on this slide. I think they spent close to two hours on this. Amelia showed Tanner how she prefers to go down the slide:
They also just enjoyed standing on the top, stomping their feet and giggling:


They also read books. After all, they are the daughters of English teachers.
Another activity they enjoyed was chasing each other while squealing. It was cute, even if it was tough on the ears.

We had a great time! And Amelia was asleep after about five minutes in the car. :)

"Hello, my name's Amelia, and I like to do drawings"

This was what happened when I was trying to cook dinner the other night and I let Amelia play in the living room. I thought we had confiscated all the crayons. Oops.

Thank goodness crayon wipes off easily. :)

The Fourth

Is it just me, or is having the Fourth of July fall on a Saturday completely confusing? I thought yesterday was Saturday, and I thought today felt like Friday...I'm just lost, I guess.

Last night (the 3rd), we took Amelia to see some fireworks. I'm not going to lie. I like some fireworks. (I'd like to clarify, though, that I'm not a big fan of backyard fireworks, which is apparently what our neighbors are enjoying as I type. Sheesh.)

Anyway, the weather last night was PERFECT. A couple of times, it felt downright chilly. Why can't the weather be like this every evening in the summer? Here's Amelia hanging out before the big show:


I also want to show you this picture:
I want you to notice that Amelia, completely uncoached by me or anyone else, already knows how to eat an Oreo. Sometimes she gets the filling with her teeth and sometimes with her finger, but she knows that you eat that goodness first before eating the cookie. Smart cookie!! (I know. I know.)

Today, we went to a parade. Darryl will never let me live it down because it was my idea to go, and it was pretty awful. It was long and drawn out, and it was pretty much an opportunity for politicians to shake hands and for businesses to advertise. Let me give you a sampling of today's festive parade:
Yes, folks, we had men dressed as Confederate soldiers waving Confederate flags. Because nothing says "Let's celebrate freedom" like the rebel flag.

And then there was this festive float. I think it speaks for itself.

But here's my girl, being a pretty good sport despite the dismal showing of floats and entertainment in the parade. A small football landed in her stroller, so that provided her some entertainment. (Please forgive me for the patriotic dress. Part of the fun in having a girl is dressing her up from time to time. And she rocked this dress, y'all.)

Well, as I typed this post, I just listened to Neil Diamond sing "America," so I guess my 4th is now complete. (I also think I freaked Darryl out a bit when it got to the "Today!" part and I joined in...because how can anyone stay silent when Neil gets to that part of the song???)

A sign

Feeling drained from the heat today, I decided that what I really wanted for lunch was a small Chick-fil-a milkshake. Yes, it's high in calories, fat, and all that other yummy stuff, but it was going to be my meal, so that assuaged some of the guilt. Well, when I got to the counter, I had a last-minute change of heart and ordered a "traditional" lunch of nuggets in fries. But when I got my lunch, I realized it wasn't really what I wanted, and I barely ate any of it.

But...

When I went to pick up my car from the repair shop this afternoon, one of the mechanics asked if I liked Chick-fil-a. Then he handed me...wait for it, wait for it...a coupon for a free small milkshake!! I told Darryl it was like the milkshake gods WANTED me to have a milkshake. I happily took my coupon and cashed it in. And that milkshake was delicious.

Of course, it could have been a test of tempation.

If that was the case, I failed.

A girls' weekend in Florida

That title sounds much wilder than what it really was.

Friday, Amelia and loaded up our rented Kia Rondo (long story there) and headed to Florida to see my parents and visit with Darryl's family.

On the way down there, Amelia was PERFECT. No tears, no whines, no meltdowns. She looked at books, bopped her head along to the music, talked on her play cellphone, ate snacks, and took her shoes off and on. And she napped only 45 minutes of that 6-hour trip. We even stopped at a McAlister's Deli for lunch so we could have a break from the car, and she was even good in the restaurant!

Over the weekend, we were able to visit with family, go to a farmers' market to get some watermelons, and chase Amelia around. Seriously, the girl doesn't stop.

One of the highlights of the weekend was taking Amelia to the beach. She absolutely loved it. Here are a few of my favorite pics:
The above pic makes me laugh because Amelia loves to do this thing--in the bath or apparently at the beach, too--where she "stirs" in a container and then tastes what she is stirring. I'm not too sure what she thought about the salt water and sand mixture.


You see those seagulls? Once they discovered we had Goldfish crackers, these birds were a captive audience. They were starting to creep me out a bit. Even when we left our post to swim, they were watching us, waiting for our return. A bit Alfred Hitchcock-ish, don't you think?

Anyway. Amelia and I made our trip home yesterday. While she wasn't quite as angelic as she was Friday, she was still pretty good, considering that she's confined by a 5-point harness in a carseat that doesn't offer a whole lot of cushioning.

We had a great time!

Reasons Why I Love Sesame Street

The only TV show Amelia has shown any interest in is Sesame Street. Now, I'm not a big fan of letting the TV babysit kids, but sometimes Momma needs to take a shower. Or cook dinner. Or just sit down. In those moments, Sesame Street comes to my rescue.

Amelia's obsession began about six months ago when, on a whim, I bought the DVD Sesame Street's 25th Musical Celebration. She loved it. Then I started TiVo-ing the "real" episodes on TV. Now she comes to me with remote in hand and says, in her pitiful voice, "Elbow [Elmo]."

And let me tell you, I think Sesame Street is a great show. It's educational. It's entertaining. Here are a few reasons why I love Sesame Street:

1. I watched it when I was little, and now I find it comforting to see the same people on the show: Gordon, Luis, Maria...they're there. And they look good!!

2. I like how the show repeats letters and numbers. Heck, if Amelia is going to watch something, at least she is getting exposed to some useful things. They still do this, too: "Today's show was brought to you by the letter _____ and the number ____." Love that.

3. They get some pretty impressive celebrity guests who are often hilarious in their roles. Neil Patrick Harris shows up as a "shoe fairy." (Y'all, he might have come out of the closet, but I've had a thing for him since he was Doogie.) Brian Williams is too, too funny as a newscaster reporting how everyone on Sesame Street has a case of the "mine-itus" and won't share. Kristin Chenoweth (love her!) plays Mr. Noodle's sister in the segment "Elmo's World." Ben Stiller, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kim Catrall (that last one surprised me) have shown up on the show. And Michelle Obama is currently doing a little bit before or after the show where she talks about fitness.

4. I like how the show includes kids who have disabilities. I don't know if I'm being PC in discussing this, but every episode includes these kids, often in scenarios where they are playing with kids who don't have these obstacles. I feel I should say something more profound about that, but I just think it is cool.

5. Many of the songs are the same songs I loved growing up. And I don't know why it is, but a lot of the slower songs have melodies that make me want to cry. When Burt sings "Imagination" or Ernie sings "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon," I seriously feel like I could boo hoo. Why is that??

So that's my little Sesame Street tribute. For the record, I hope Amelia never discovers Barney. He drives me nuts. I haven't really tried The Wiggles. Any thoughts on them?

For now, though, I give Sesame Street a mom's thumbs up! For your viewing pleasure, I leave you with NPH as the Shoe Fairy. Enjoy!

Father's Day Weekend and Waterslides

Y'all, I love water slides. I don't care that I'm 35 years old. I'm excited that having a child now gives me permission to ride waterslides again like I'm twelve years old. Let me clarify...Amelia hasn't been down any waterslides and isn't going down any in the near future, but in a few years, she will.

We spent some time at the pool where we have a gym membership, and there's a cool waterslide at the pool. It's not a big one, like ones you fine at "real" waterparks, but it's enough to whet my appetite. I was hesitant to ride it because I thought it might just be for the kids, but once I saw a few adults go down it, off I went. I loved it.

And goodness, Amelia loves the pool. (For my mother...Darryl was watching her when I took a break to ride the waterslide.) My parents say that when I was little and we took family vacations anywhere, all I was interested in was the hotel pool. Forget sightseeing--I just wanted to swim. I think Amelia might be the same way. The only not fun part is the meltdown that ensues when we leave. :)

We had a good Father's Day weekend. We mostly hung around the house except for pool time. We ate most of our meals here, which is actually kind of unsual for us. (We typically go out on the weekends.) I'm also hoping that eating at home more will help in my effort to lose a few pounds, ahem.

Anyway....

Busy, Yet Uneventful

This week has been a weird week of sorts. I feel like it has been pretty busy, but at the same time, I don't have much to report. Here are a few tidbits:

Amelia went an extra day to daycare this week. She typically goes Tuesdays and Thursdays, but she went Monday this week as well because we got a call Sunday night that someone wanted to look at our house Monday afternoon. (Our house has been for sale for a while...don't know if I mentioned that on the blog or not. We're not leaving the area; we're just running out of room!) Our house wasn't in "house showing" condition, so I took Amelia to daycare so I could do some heavy-duty de-cluttering. I'll fast-forward to the end of the story and let you know that the couple decided our house was too small. Bummer, but not surprising.

I've also been continuing with the sleep training. If you are a Facebook friend, you already know how it's been going, but if you're not...

--the first night took an hour and a half
--the second night took 20 minutes
--the third night took 5 minutes
--the fourth night took...no time

I'm pretty shocked. Honestly, I was mentally prepared for this to be a month-long battle. The real test came last night when Darryl was left at home with her while I had dinner with a friend of mine. (I had put her to bed every night so far.) She only cried a few minutes, Darryl said, and then went to sleep. I don't know that we've reached the finish line yet, but I'm at least convinced she has the ability to do it. Naps haven't gone as well, but we're getting there.

And between all of that, I was able to fit in a little scrapbooking (I know I was going to take a week off, but oh well), a lunch date with Darryl, a little shopping, ice cream with Amelia at Bruster's, and a little more cleaning.

So there you have it...not exactly a super-exciting week, but a full one nonetheless.

The Weekend...and Turning a Corner

This past weekend my friend Casi came to visit. We pretty much shopped, scrapbooked, ate, shopped, scrapbooked, and ate. And ate. And scrapbooked.

It really was a fun weekend. Amelia hung out with us some of the time and was (fortunately) well behaved, but I really appreciate Darryl for keeping her some of the time so I could have some "girl time."

And while I have enjoyed scrapbooking, I think I'm taking a week-long hiatus from it. I really need to get some stuff done at the house.

Tonight was a big night in the area of parenting...we made Amelia get herself to sleep. I've been rocking Amelia every night, and while I have enjoyed that time with her, it was getting to where it was taking an hour or so a night to get her to sleep. So after reading a book on this (a book that I actually agreed with, but can't remember the title of at the moment) and getting a big "you can do it" from the nurse practitioner we see at the pediatrician's office (I love her...if you've ever watched Everybody Loves Raymond, she reminds me of Robert's wife, Amy), I actually made it to "the end" tonight--it took her an hour and a half to get to sleep. My book (and the NP) told me to stick my head in every 15 minutes and speak to her in a soothing voice, but that seemed to make her madder, so I pretty much left her alone. She was actually calm a good bit of the time with a few screaming outbursts here and there. So, whew. I hope we get this knocked out by the end of the week.

I'll keep you posted.