Not me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me Monday! Feel free to read on about the things I did not do.

I did not get home from Ohio in 5 hours and 53 minutes yesterday. To arrive home that quickly would mean that I would have been speeding at various points along the way which I did not do. I never speed. That's dangerous.

I did not put up a countdown on the message board in my kitchen listing how many school days until Christmas vacation. Like I said before, I love my job and never ever want a day off. Ever.

I did not spend my entire trip home wondering if I would make it in time for football. It's just a game.

I did not root for the redskins to beat the eagles yesterday. I hate both teams and generally wish the game would end in a tie. A zero-zero tie.

Anything you did not do that you would like to confess? I'm all ears.... ;)

What I did on my Thanksgiving Break.

Hehe--doesn't that just sound like something a teacher would make you write?? :)

WARNING: this is one EXTREMELY LONG POST. If you don't feel like you can read what could most likely be considered a mini-novel, please feel free to click on that little "x" in the top right-hand corner of your screen. If you feel like you are up to reading something that may leave your eyeballs bleeding, fasten your seat belt and read on, dear reader. :)

I SO needed to have a week off from work. Have I mentioned lately that my job is rather sucky? I LOVE the kids and most of the people I work with, but there have been some changes that have made it, well, rather sucky.

Anywhoo. Last Monday and Tuesday we had a teacher's convention in Crystal City, Virginia. That wasn't too bad. I have some follow-up work I have to do for it, but it was a nice break and a few of the seminars I went to were really good.

Wednesday morning I got up, loaded up the truck, put miss raven in her carrier, and made my way to O-H-I-O. I went over the river and through the woods to my BFF's house. I pretty much always spend Thanksgiving with her family and it is wonderful because they treat me like I'm one of them. :)

Wednesday night we (and by we, I mean SHE) made our annual pumpkin cheesecake. I can take some credit (and by some I mean a teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy, little bit) because she used my spring form pan to make said pumpkin cheesecake. I really should have taken a picture of the beautiful thing. It really turned out well, if I do say so, my, errr, herself? Anyway, because she is the QUEEN of the kitchen, she also made two outstandingly delicious apple pies, a large pan of green bean casserole, and a large pan of cornbread stuffing, as well as a little skillet of cornbread stuffing with cranberries (YUMM-O!!!). Like I said...QUEEN of the kitchen.

Thanksgiving Day, after watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade...hey! I just realized that I missed seeing Santa!...we loaded up the vehicles and went over the river and through the woods...ok, up the road, to grandma's house. I would just like to say here and now, that there is NO PLACE like grandma's for Thanksgiving. Oh my word! Diet? What diet? Turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade noodles, stuffing, cornbread stuffing, corn, lima beans (ok..ick on that one), green bean casserole, cranberry/strawberry salad, rice pilaf, and bread from the Amish. I feel like I am forgetting something. Oh! Deviled eggs. How could I forget those? That's just the meal. Then there is dessert, which requires a whole separate table. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, baked apples, vanilla pudding pie, cherry cheesecake, peanut butter pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. Again...I feel like I am forgetting something. Needless to say....I was STUFFED!

Of course, no post about Thanksgiving would be complete without an homage to football. Those of you that don't like football (yes, you...you know who you are) may scroll down a bit as I pay my respects to the game I love best. :) The Packers/Lions game was a no-brainer. DUH! Who really expected the Lions to win. The can only beat the, ummmm, who can they beat? Oh yeah, lol! The redskins!!! How could I forget? Everyone beats the redskins! ;) The COWBOYS/raiders game was next. Not only did my BOYS win, they crushed, dominated, destroyed, owned the raiders. Who is in first place in the NFC East? Yep, you got it! That would be my COWBOYS!!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!! I was a happy, happy girl! The Giants did me a HUGE favor by losing to the Broncos Thursday night and the Longhorns also won to remain undefeated. (Note to all in charge of the BCS championship game....you had SO better make sure that the Longhorns play in that game this year and while you are at it, Colt McCoy had better get his Heisman this year. Nothing against Mr. Teabow, but he already has one. HOOK 'EM HORNS!)

Now, where were we? Oh yes, after sleeping off the turkey-induced coma, my BFF and I got up early on Friday morning to participate in the annual ritual of fightingthroughthecrowdstofindthebestpossibledealoutthere, also known as Black Friday. It was snowing when we left at seven in the morning (no, we aren't one of THOSE people who get up before dawn even cracks to go shopping) and yes, I said the "s" word. Blech and double, triple blech. By the time we got to Easton (in Columbus) it was still snowing, but not quite as bad. We hit Old Navy first and got some good deals there. I had major coupons this weekend. How I love saving money. :) The line in Old Navy was OHMYGOODNESS long. I think we waited in line longer than we actually shopped. It wasn't too bad, though, and it is all part of the experience that is Black Friday. From Old Navy it was over to Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body, Barnes & Nobel, New York & Company, and the Container Store. A store that is entirely devoted to storage and storage containers. Ahhhhhhh. :) We ended our time at Easton with a trip to World Market. We walked around Khol's but found nothing that was worth waiting in their lines. After lunch at Panera it was on to Newark where we visited Hobby Lobby (I bought NO yarn. I was a little afraid the world would stop and we would fly off, but thankfully that did NOT happen. Phew!) and Target. Dinner was of course leftovers. Duh! What else do you eat the day after Thanksgiving?

On Saturday I was SUPPOSED to take Miss H out for a girl day. Uh-oh. In the midst of our frolicking, um, line-standing, in Old Navy, my BFF got a phone call from her husband. Miss H was spotty. Very, very, spotty. Methinks she has the pox. Chicken, not small, of course. Poor girlie!!! She is soooooo spotty! Unfortunately, you can't go out with the chicken pox so we had to have a stay-in day. She rested, she whined, she itched, she got covered in calamine and doused with cornstarch. I felt so bad for her! We played Sorry!, we watched TMNT. She quite possibly will be out of school for a week. I hope that she gets better very, very soon.

And so we come to today. Sunday. My week of vacation is just about over. 15 school days until Christmas vacation. The countdown has officially begun. I left Ohio early this morning and got home in 5 hours and 53 minutes. Speeding? Not me! ;) miss raven is BEYOND thrilled to be home and is currently napping next to me. Did I mention that my BFF has three dogs one of which is a Boxer who is in LOVE with miss raven? She does not, um, return said love. At all. As a matter of fact, I think it would be safe to say that she rather hates him. And the other two. She doesn't really play well with others. I love her anyway. :) Since arriving back at my house I have not only unpacked everything, I have also done three loads of laundry (one to go), emptied the dishwasher, gotten a shower (there is nothing like your own shower), and am currently watching, what else? Sunday football. Don't make that face. You know it might stick that way. :P Oh...and I have also finished this marathon post. Thanks for sticking with me and have a Happy Monday!

Two Truths and a Lie Tuesday

Can you figure out which is which?? ;)

1. I've sung karaoke before.
2. I've never been drunk.
3. I wanted to be Mary Lou Retton.

Not me Monday!

Feeling guilty for letting your clothes pile up on your desk chair? Chagrined because you didn't return the call you "pretended" you didn't get? Then pull up a chair because this Not Me Monday is just for you!

I did not eat an entire basket of salty french fries at dinner tonight. I had already eaten a healthy salad and a relatively healthy bowl of turkey chili. I would never ruin my diet by scarfing down french fries. Not me.

I did not not watch the COWBOYS/redskins football game yesterday because I was ticked off that my Cowboys were playing like crap and were going to lose to the redskins. As I have said before, football is "just a game". I am not passionate about it at all. Not even a little bit.

I did not turn the channel to the above mentioned football game and stare at the screen in disbelief, wonder, and hysteria when I realized that we beat the redskins. Again...just a game and all.

Keeping with the football theme...I did not take the sports section with me to my conference today so that I could passive-aggresively "gloat" that my team beat their team. Nahnahnahnahnahnahnah!!!! I am not that childish. Ever.

I did not write this whole post knowing that when my BFF reads it she will either (a) make an entirely inappropriate snarky comment, (b) roll her eyes in disgust, (c) laugh and/or snort out loud, or (d) all of the above.

How about you? Got anything to confess? No? Well, head on over to MckMama's blog if you would like to read some more from people like me who, um...didn't do things either. She created this blog carnival for people like me. :)

Weekend recap

I decided to roll Saturday and Sunday into one post. :) I can do that. It's my blog.

Yesterday was nice. I did a little Christmas shopping and was able to just generally relax. I needed that in a bad way. The only down thing was that I could feel the beginnings of a cold.

This morning I woke up in the throes (hehe--I love that word for some reason) of a cold. My head feels fuzzy, my chest is tight, and I am really snotty. How's that for some TMI?? I need to get better soon because I don't want to be sick over the holiday. How awful would it be to waste a perfectly good vacation on being sick?

The football gods were well-pleased with me today. The COWBOYS beat the redskins. It was an ugly, pathetic, pitiful win, but it was a WIN. For us, not them. We beat the redskins. LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!! Darn good thing, too. It is AWFUL to live in the DC area and lose to the redskins. One win and you would swear they were going to the Super Bowl. Wait.....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry.....the thought of the redskins playing in the Super Bowl makes me laugh. Hard.

I was going to bake today. I have this spectacular recipe for chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter cup in the bottom. Chocolate and peanut butter? God truly intended for them to be together. I will bake them probably Tuesday night. If I am feeling better.

Instead of baking I got crafty. I can't show you what I made yet, but I will sometime soon. How's that for a tease?

miss raven is having a good day, too. Aside from the fact that she has me all to herself today, she also got a new boney. With triple meat in the middle. Right now she is taking a break from chewing on it. I think her jaws may be tired. She also got new "treats". She is getting, ummmm, more mature and I am concerned about her joints. I decided to go with a treat that has glucosamine and other good stuff in it. She gets two small ones every day. They are peanut butter flavor and she seems to like them. As long as they help keep her happy, then I am happy. :)

fantastically fabulous brother-of-mine friday???

hmmmmmm..........not so sure about that one. :)

OBviously that was suggested by my very own fantastically fabulous (also OBVIOUSLY very humble) brother. Sooooooo....what to say, what to say?

Hmmmmm....really, should it BE this hard???

;)

Seriously. My brother is one cool guy. Most probably the coolest, funniest, always-be-there-for-you, kind of guy. He is an awesome dad, and, from what I hear, a pretty gosh-darn-good math teacher.

Growing up we fought alot. Well, who doesn't fight with their brothers and/or sisters? For a while we had to share a room. Our Nana had moved in with us because she had a heart attack and my mom needed to be able to take care of her. Matthew and I had to share his room. Because it was HIS room, I had to listen to his favorite music ALL THE TIME. At the time, his FAVORITE music came from uber-cheesy Disney records. Specifically, that would be the ever-popular, oh-so-catchy, "Swamp Fox." The story of Francis Marion, from the American Revolution. Hear it once, no problem. Hear it twice, still, not too much of a problem. Hear it OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.......it makes one want to, oh, I don't know, ram an ice pick into their eardrums. Now, mind you, he KNEW I hated (loathed, despised) that #$*%^*# song. What did my adorable, sweet, considerate, little brother do? Played it OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND...well, you get the picture.

Then there was the time that I have been accused of hanging him on the clothesline pole. He ended up with a pretty badly damaged arm and I somehow got all the blame. Still can't figure out how THAT happened.

There are more stories that I could tell....many more, but I suppose he could tell just as many about me. ;) What I will say, though, is that my brother is one of a small handful of people that I know that I can depend on. We pretty much only have each other. I can't relate to people with big families. The kind of families where everyone is always in everyone else's business. We didn't have that growing up. We lived in a city pretty far away from everyone else in either family. We sort of knew my mom's family and we didn't really know my dad's family at all. I miss that. But Matthew and I know that we have each other and that's cool. I know that I can call him any day, and any time of the day and he will be there for me no matter what.

So, yes, I guess, no, I know, that brother of mine is indeed pretty fantastically fabulous. :)

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for? So glad you asked...

1. miss raven
2. my bff and her family
3. pumpkin cheesecake
4. football
5. my family
6. coffee
7. warm socks
8. fridays
9. my friend freddie
10. jeans
11. my blackberry
12. peppermint body wash
13. chocolate and peanut butter, together
14. my friend renee
15. yarn

these are in no particular order, of course. well....after number one, that is. ;)

help!!! what is tomorrow going to be???? i need suggestions!!!!!

wordless wednesday

10 Things Tuesday

So.....two days in a row!!! Whoo-hooo!!! I toyed around with the idea of NOT blogging today. Sitting around in a FOUR HOUR meeting really drains a person. However, I did say I was going to blog every day this week, so without further ado, I present to you.....

10 THINGS TUESDAY!!!

I asked my BFF what topic I should use for 10 things tuesday and she said.....her. Hmmmmmm.....ok, I can do that.

1. She was the first person to actually be nice to me when I first moved up here. She invited me to do things when no one else did.
2. She introduced me to country music.
3. She got me hooked on coffee.
4. She likes most of the same things I do.
5. That does not include football, much to my chagrin.
6. She and I eat and entire pumpkin cheesecake at Thanksgiving. We make it knowing that we are the only two people that like it and we eat the WHOLE thing by ourselves. In one weekend. And there is no guilt involved. Well, maybe just a little.
7. She loves the beach.
8. She is an incredibly talented baker. Her cakes are ABSOLUTELY amazing. If I ever get married, she is SO making my wedding cake. And will also be my matron of honor.
9. She is probably the most creative, giving, amazing person I know. She will never admit to that because she is too humble. She is also VERY smart, although she doesn't always think so. I know better, though.
10. She has incredible taste. I know this because she chose me to be her BFF. ;)

Tomorrow....wordless wednesday. Now, off to make popcorn for me and miss raven to share.

Not me Monday!

Hmmmm.....are you feeling guilty for not blogging several times over the last few days even though you had time to blog but just didn't feel like it? If so, or even if not, welcome to Not Me Monday. The chance to tell everyone what you might have done, but didn't.

I did not take miss raven to work with me last Friday. It was not take your "dog"ter to work day and there was no reason for her to be there. I also did not hold her in my lap during a meeting with my supervisor and two chemistry teachers. How unprofessional would THAT be?
I did not immediately burst into tears upon viewing a picture of my nephew with his new glasses on because he looks so much like my mom. I am an adult, I can control my emotions.

I am not completely engrossed in Grey's Anatomy re-runs. The show is just like a soap opera and I am WAY to mature to watch those.

I did not think about my supper from last night an obscene amount of times during the day today. The leftover lasagna that I had was not THAT good.

I have not had a countdown to Thanksgiving break going on the message board in my kitchen. I love work and never, ever want to have days off. Along those same lines, I am not praying for a large amount of snow days this year.

And finally...I have not taken my two favorite coffee creamers (pumpkin spice and peppermint mocha) to school along with pumpkin flavored coffee, dunkin donuts coffee, and peppermint flavored whipped cream. My office does not smell like starbucks.

Have a happy Monday night!

Oh--and I DO plan to attempt to blog EVERY DAY this week. We'll see how that goes. ;)

Not me Monday!

Aaahhhhh...it's time for another Not Me Monday! This ohsofun confessional was started by MckMama and is really all about confessing things better left, ummmmm....unsaid. ;) MckMama didn't post a Not Me Monday today because she is with her sweet little boy in a hospital in Boston. My thoughts and prayers are with her. If you want to read some of her past Not Me Monday posts, head on over to her blog.

Anyway--here goes!

I did not have several "practice" conversations with myself today before dealing with an insubordinate teacher only to then forget everything I had planned on saying and have to wing it and be annoyed with myself because I had a GREAT speech planned.

I did not break out the Christmas music this weekend. I have very specific rules about listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving and I would NEVER break those rules.

I did not change my mind about a decision that I made months ago. I am a very decisive person. Once I make a decision I stand by it and never change my mind.

I did not hang an editorial cartoon mocking the Washington Redskins on my office door today. That would be mean, childish, and petty. All things that I am not. Ever.

I did not dream last night that my DALLAS COWBOYS beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Football is "only" a game and I am mature enough to understand that. I would never dream about my team beating a hated divisional rival only to wake up, turn on the Blackberry, and discover that my dream came true.

And, even if I did dream that, I would never, and I mean NEVER, delay going to work just to watch as many ESPN stories as I could about said victory. That could be considered obsession and I am NOT obsessed about football.

I am so not obsessed about football that I did not send my dad a text message this morning telling him that the COWBOYS beat the Eagles. Nor did I send an e-mail to a parent friend of mine also proclaiming the victory.

Phew! That felt good. All this "non" confessing is good for the soul. :)

Oh--you want to know if miss raven has any "Not Me's?" Of course she does!!!

miss raven did not:

consume an entire mini rawhide, sweet potato flavored bone in one sitting last night. She is much to lady-like to be that big of a pig. after not devouring the bone she also did not sit on my chest, look sweetly at me, and then belch in my face. Again, way too lady-like.

bark furiously at a helicopter this afternoon on our walk. She is much too smart to think that, by barking, she could scare the thing away.

look unbeliveably proud of herself when said helicopter flew away and then look at me as if to say "aren't you so glad I am along to save you from such a scary beast?"

miss raven thanks you for allowing her to not-confess, also. She, too, feels much better. :)

oh happy day!

It's Wednesday and I was going to do a "wordless wednesday" (no post, just a picture). I WAS going to....

Instead I am going to say.........wait for it..........................wait...............................

WHOO-HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why I am so happy? Glad you asked.

Last week I was told that my vacation time was going to change. "No one deserves four weeks of vacation" were the words that were told to me. I was devestated. I work very hard and I work long hours. Most of the time the things I do are behind the scenes and that is OK with me. I don't really like being noticed anyway. Not only was I going to lose a week of my vacation, but I was also told that, from now on, if I want days off over Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Spring Break, I would have to use my leave. I have NEVER, EVER had to use my leave for those holidays, mostly because of all the extra work I do. Now, it has been decided that I have to. That would have been bad enough but to also be told that I was losing one of my vacation weeks?? WOW--I was pretty upset.

Fast forward to today. I got a letter in my mailbox (at work) saying that I, although I will still have to use leave for the holidays (boo-hiss), I will NOT lose my extra vacation week.

WHOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

Today was a gosh-darn good day.

Oh--and right now miss raven is snuggled up under my sweatshirt. She is such a happy girl. :)

i have no witty title for this post...

Today wasn't as good as yesterday but it wasn't hellish, either. That's a plus. I'm a little leery about saying something like that because it IS only Tuesday. There is still a looonngg way to go in this week. I did manage to survive having two teachers and an assistant out today, though. I am hoping that everyone shows up tomorrow.

Where has common sense gone? When did it go away? When did it become ok for a child to make decisions that are a parent's responsibility? When did parents start taking the word of their child over the word of the teacher? Where did personal responsibility go? When did it become ok with parents for their child to not pay attention in class and/or disrupt the class and then blame the teacher for their child's poor grades? Why did I leave the classroom and why did I think that I could make a difference in an office?

I don't feel like I have an impact any more. I don't feel like I make a difference any more. I feel like I put out fires all the time. This teacher is angry. That teacher is fed up. That student doesn't care. That parent doesn't think that their child did anything wrong. Deadlines don't mean anything anymore. We bend over backwards to provide things for students but they don't seem to care. Things that they haven't had before. Things that we know that they need. Why do they resist when we try to help them? Why do they think we are "pressed"? Why do they grumble and complain when asked to do something that a million other children in a thousand other schools have to do? Why don't they see how much we care about them?

Sometimes I think this is the most thankless job.