Put some Windex on it...

So.  I have an ant problem.  I think we've discussed this, no?

Just about everything I have tried makes them laugh at me.  I'm not kidding.  I swear I can hear them.  They are like that creepy little kid Nelson from the Simpsons.

HA-ha.

So anyway.

I was at the Home Depot today to get some edging stones for my front flower bed and I stopped by the insect destruction aisle to see if there was something I hadn't tried yet.  As luck would have it, there was an orange-aproned gentleman there who offered to help me....until I showed him everything I had already tried. If I could have taken a picture of his surprised face for you, I would have.  He seemed genuinely gobsmacked that NOTHING on their shelves had worked for me.

So guess what he told me?

No lie...dude said, "Try Windex.  That's what I use and it seems to work."

All I could think of was the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (one of my all time FAVORITE movies) who used the window cleaner on EVERYthing.

So.  I bought a bottle of the blue spray and home I went.

I have to tell you.  My house smells streak-free clean and the ants seem to really hate the stuff!

Way to go Home Depot guy!!!

I also bought some liquid ant traps that the little beasties seem to enjoy as well.  I keep encouraging them to drink their fill and then take some home to the family.  From what I could tell their nest is UNDER my house and I think we all know I am NOT crawling under there.

I am more than a little concerned about the weather we are about to have.  There is a chance of severe storms tonight (WHY must is ALWAYS be at night?!?!) and then tomorrow they are calling for tornadoes, hail, and massive power outages.

Sigh.

I mowed the lawn today so at least, if we do get all the rain they are calling for, I won't have a jungle to cut down after the fact.

Finally, to prove that I have, in fact, learned to knit socks, I leave you with the following pictures:

hehe...how did that cute face sneak in here?!?  

;)

So, wow...

Um.  Huh.

Today is November 16.  How'd *that* happen??

Thanksgiving is less than a WEEK away.

And I am (once again) a blogger slacker.

Let's get caught up....

1. School:
• Is going well, thank you for asking.
• We had Grandparent's Day today.  As much as it stresses me out, I have to be honest and say that it is one of my FAVORITE days of the year.  This year I had the grandparents share what school was like when they were in 5th grade and also any advice they wanted to give to the students.  It was so precious and I am so glad I thought to do it.  I loved hearing what they had to say.
• I did the coolest project this week...and it wasn't messy.  SCORE!  I had each group (right now they are in 5 groups of 3) plan a Thanksgiving meal for 8 people.  I gave them each a different grocery store ad and told them their budget was $60.00.  They did so well working together.  I was super proud of them.  They all managed to stay within the budget AND plan a pretty decent meal.  Although one group's guests will have yogurt for dessert....
2. Life:
• personally.....hmmmmm....things are changing.  I've had to make some tough decisions about some relationships lately.  It hasn't been easy but I am at peace about it.  I've also been able to renew an old friendship.  That was rather unexpected but has been....nice.  :)
• miss raven is still giving me cause to worry.  Tuesday-Thursday I came home to find that she had been sick.  When I got home she wasn't acting sick but she had been sick sometime that day.  Today when I got home, all was well.  No sickness, thankfully, and a very frisky puppy.  she keeps me guessing, to be sure.

I think that's it for now.  I'm looking forward to this weekend as I am going to my knitting group again tomorrow.  I had a nice time the last time I went and am hoping to step out of my shell and talk a little more tomorrow.

Now, though, the best movie EVER is on and I am going to watch it.

"You've Got Mail"

:)

Don't you hate it...

When you follow a blogger and they never blog?

**crickets**

**hanging head**

**crickets**

I write a million posts every week in my head and then never get around to actually WRITING them.  I was determined that, even though I had stuff to do tonight, I would blog.

Things are going well.  I love my class, the new math curriculum is frustrating me (but today was a MUCH better day), the weather is ridiculously humid, I signed up for another knitting class, football starts tomorrow night.....

Really.  Things are going well.

I did, in fact, sign up for another knitting class that I am REALLY excited about.  I will be learning how to knit a raglan sweater from the top down.  There is a really cool leaf pattern down the middle of the back.  I chose a really pretty blue-green yarn.  Not really turquoise...slightly more blue than green.  The pattern scares the bejeezus out of me, though.  My teacher is the same woman that I had for the lace knitting class and that semi-scares me, too.

And there you have it, folks.  My last week in a nutshell.  I will leave you this evening with a few pictures of my classroom.

Don't say I never gave you anything.

:op

 one side of the room

 oops!  how'd she sneak in here?

 comfy chairs, new floor pillows in the back, and a basket of blankies

 OMG!  I *love* this board!

monsters!

 hehehe!  there she is again!!

 can you tell i love my monsters?

last monster pictures, i promise.

 she is *not* a monster

 cool idea for hanging papers...clothespins hot-glued onto ribbon

front of the room

good night!

:)

Sorry..

there is no way my brain is coming up with a witty post title tonight.

I'm so tired! I've been up since three with a sick little puppy.  I'm not quite sure what the problem was, but we had two puky episodes between three and five.  I gave up trying to go back to sleep after the five o'clock  episode so I came out into the living room and knit for a while.  The little one followed me out, walked over to her food bowl, and chowed down.  I wanted to cry just a little.  She seems to be fine now and I am hoping for a restful night.

I HAD to mow my lawn when I came home .  It was just THAT bad.  It took me a while and I'm not even finished with the weed-whacking part.  I have an electric weed-eater and it ran out of juice halfway through the whacking.  I'm gonna have to come home tomorrow night and finish up.

Fortunately for me, the kiddos were good today.  We had a fun day and they don't hate school...so far.  They did have homework tonight, but just a little.  I am trying to ease them back in gently.  They think that is pretty cool of me.

I was able to get my hands on a couple of CD ROM things that I needed for school.  I just spent the last three quarters of an hour printing out stuff that I need for the rest of the week.  I was supposed to take an apple to school today for a demonstration but I forgot.  Most likely because I was too busy remembering to take my coffee.  Coffee was more necessary for survival today than the apple demo.  In my opinion anyway.

Short one again tonight.  And no pictures.  I'm a blogger fail.  :(

Goodnight!

Catch up...

Hola!  It's me again!

Let's catch up, shall we?

• I've decided not to care if I don't blog a lot.  It's summer, I'm on vacation.  I'll blog if I want.  And I won't feel (too) guilty.  :)
• Sunday was my girl's birthday. She is THIRTEEN.  It's hard to believe that, especially when she romps through the yard barking her fool little head off at the helicopters.  She received a new squeaky toy and some treats for her special day.  The toy hasn't received much attention but boy, did she love those treats.  :)
• My BFF's little girl's birthday was also on Sunday and she is also THIRTEEN!  That one is even hard to believe.  I remember when she was born and it just doesn't seem like thirteen years have gone by.  She is one awesome kid and I am blessed to be a part of her life.  :)
• I took my lace knitting class last night.  While I was there I was extremely frustrated.  The teacher was good, it wasn't her fault, but the yarn they recommended was difficult to work with (although it has gotten better) and we were supposed to work on the project using the chart only.  I know that it is good to know how to read the chart but I really, really need to be able to see the written directions so I can get my mind wrapped around what I am supposed to be doing.  I made a mistake at the beginning (in the lace row) and she told me to just knit two together in the next row to get rid of the extra stitch, which I did, but by that time I was getting frustrated and discouraged.  Everyone else in the class seemed to be getting it and was sailing through the project, completing repeat after repeat, and I was still on row six.  The class was only two hours long which means NO ONE was going to get it finished; however, to finish the project we are supposed to kitchner the thing together.  She told us she wasn't going to demo the kitchner because we weren't going to get to it anyway and then gave us the name of a You Tube video to watch.  She did show us how to do a three needle bind-off, though, and said that would work just as well.  I came home and was still discouraged but decided to try it one more time before going to bed.  After I read the written directions, I figured out what I did wrong and then sailed through the next several rows.  Like I said, I know charts are good, and I know I need to know how to read them, but I really need to see the directions written out.  At least right now.
• My vegetable plants are annoying me this year.  Both my cucumber plants are dead.  I've gotten one tomato and have another red one waiting for me.  There are several green ones but no new blossoms. The pepper plants have lots of blossoms but no peppers.  I'm about to give up.
• The Olympics are only ten days away and football is only fifty days away!  Whoo-hoo!

Well, that about does it for now.  Consider yourself all caught up.

:)

the invader and how miss raven dealt with it...

I've decided that my new theme song is "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson.

no explanation necessary.

(p.s.  i triple-puffy-heart love you, bff.  thanks for always, always being there for me!)

I do have a funny miss raven story....

The other night she needed to visit the yard.  I let her out and I noticed that there was something in our yard. Seems like someone kicked/threw/tossed an old soccer ball into the yard.  What happened next made me howl with laughter and made me wish I had brought my camera outside.  miss raven saw the "thing" from the porch and tore off down the steps to attack the invader.  her fur was standing straight up all the way down her back and she was barking like mad.  she ran up to the ball but stopped short and started circling it, facing it the whole time and still barking.  Of course I had to play this up.  I kept telling her to get it and she kept barking.  she finally got the nerve up to get a little closer and sniff it.  As luck would have it, she was on the opposite side of the ball from my foot so as soon as she got close enough, I nudged it with  my toe.  I swear that dog jumped six feet off the ground and she was madder than a hornet!  The barking started anew but this time she was hiding behind my legs and peeking around to "attack".

I really, really wish I could have video-taped the whole thing because it was just about the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.  :)

I made it to Michael's yesterday and picked up a couple of different cable needles.  These new ones are from Boye and have ridges in the middle that seem to hold the yard better.  I also finally used my Barnes and Noble gift card on another knitting book.  I really like this one because it has pictures that I can understand.  I started a new cable swatch and am really happy with it.  I have an idea floating around in my mind for a sweater for my girl.  I like the idea of a cable down the back of the sweater.  The only thing I'm not sure of is how to add little sleeves.  I am assuming I would need double pointed needles (DPNs) but haven't learned how to use them yet. I know how I would do the main piece and the under piece and I know how I would sew them together.  I'm even thinking about ribbing around the bottom and the neck.  We'll see.  Right now I am going to keep practicing my cables, though, and tomorrow I am going to sign up for the lace knitting class.

Keep cool today and guess what?  There are only 17 days left until the Olympics!!!!

Note to self...

It really would be a good idea to blog more than once a week....

I actually did have a blog post ready to go sometime last week.  I had typed up about half of it and then had to stop for a bit.  I never did get back to it and so it never got posted.

Sorry about that.

So.  My knitting class was supposed to end last night.  I happened to check my e-mail yesterday afternoon and discovered an e-mail from someone in the store (I think the owner) saying that class was going to be postponed because the instructor was in the emergency room.

What?!?!

I don't know what's up with her and I really hope she is ok.  I was disappointed to miss class but am more concerned about the instructor.  We are supposed to be making up the class this coming Tuesday night and then I will have to decide what I am going to do after that.  I am going to try to get some advice from the girl who is teaching the class to see what she would recommend as the next step.  I have been looking at some of the choices and there are a few that sound interesting but that require skills that I don't have yet.

Look what I got this weekend:

I have been wanting some nice (inexpensive) furniture for my deck since I moved in here but didn't have the money to buy anything.  I have literally been saving for about two years and found this set on clearance at Home Depot this weekend.  I am so in love with it!  Unfortunately, it was hotter than Satan's left armpit the last few days so I haven't been able to really enjoy it, yet.

My deck is slowly turning in to the little oasis that I have been envisioning.  I love the bright colors of the plants I have gotten and love the furniture that I have.  It is supposed to cool down a little this weekend so I am hoping to be able to grill and dine al fresco.  :)

The little one is doing well.  She enjoys her daily naps:

and has "made friends" with the dog that lives behind us.  Ok.  Technically, I suppose they aren't friends.  I am guessing she is more likely merely tolerating him.  It is kind of funny, though.  He will come to the fence and whine and whimper to get her attention.  She will walk over to the fence and stare at him while he makes a fool out of himself.  Then she will turn around and look at me and I swear she would roll her eyes if she could.

She is such a diva.  Aaannnnnnddd....I love her!

Stay cool wherever you are and enjoy the rest of your week!

:)

Happy Tuesday...

part deux.

Told you I'd be back.

:)

Before I show you pictures I shall give you a brief re-cap of my day.  Because I know you are just dying to hear all about my 8 hours with 9 and 10 year olds.

I am pleased to report that this was yet another good day.

BFF:  Isn't this such a change from last year?  Last year you could count the number of good days on one hand!  This year I don't think I have had a bad day yet.  What a difference a year makes!


Today we learned about the following:

Bible:  The woman at the well.  Lessons learned:  (1) God doesn't look at the outside of us and judge us like people do.  God looks on our hearts.  (2) No matter what others may do we still need to be nice.  Even though the women in the village made her life miserable because of her lifestyle, she still made it a point to race back to the village and drag them back to the well to meet Jesus.  Because of the fact that she didn't hold a grudge her village was able to meet Christ.

Math:  More work with equations!  Gotta love them.  The kiddos feel like little Einsteins because I told them they are doing algebra and are possibly further along than some of the kids in 8th grade pre-algebra.

English:  Gasp!  We skipped English today because we are further along than the other 4th grade.  We spent the extra time working in Math.  I love having a principal who gives us the leeway to manage our schedules like that.

History:  We have started WWI much to my utter and complete happiness.  WWI and II are my hands-down FAVORITE things to teach in history.  I split them into different "countries" and every time I say the name of their country they have to respond with their "catch phrase":
                      Germany--nein!
                      Russia--nyet!
                      Italy--that's a spicy meat(a)ball!
                      France--ooh-la-la!
                      England--cheerio!
                      United States--U.S.A., huh!
OMG!  They LOVED it and when it was time to end history they were SO upset!  "Please can we do more!"  "Don't stop noooowwww!!!"  Love, love, LOVE it!

Science:  Hands down the best class of the day for them.  I have been saving all manner of cardboard boxes and tubes since about September knowing that this day would come.  We just started our unit on Astronomy and are spending this first week outside of the book doing various space related activities.  Yesterday they wrote reports on the planets.  Today they used the cardboard to make space ships.  Each team of six got a trash bag full of various cardboard boxes and tubes along with some super-sticky tape.  They had to create a "mother" ship for their team and then individual spaceships for themselves.  Hold moley!  It was the funniest thing to watch them!  They had a great time and I got some very, um, creative looking spaceships!  We are going to use them next week to play a game where they have to answer questions by flying their spaceships to the correct planet.  We'll see how that goes.

The best thing was hearing about how much fun they were having and how much they were learning.  That makes all the mess and the "chaos" worthwhile.

Tomorrow we will be continuing the same thing in history, which they will love, AND they will be painting solar systems.  I think I might need a drink tomorrow night.  Something stronger than just coffee.

Dunkin Donuts Blueberry Iced coffee?

I think so.

And now on to the promised crochet project pictures:

A friend of mine is having a baby girl in early May.  I am doing my normal dress, hat, booties, and blanket ensemble.  I have finished the dress (except for the ribbon through the yolk) and half of the blanket.  My goal is to get the blanket (and hopefully the hat and booties) before Spring Break so that I can start Babette during the break.  We shall see.

Finally...

A big, huge, awesome SHOUT-OUT to my friend, Freddie!  She went back to school to get a degree in dental hygiene and to become an x-ray tech.  She just finished up a series of finals with all "A's"!!!!!!  Way to go, my best MD friend!!! :)

Good night from her:

and me!

Today...

I received a wonderful, albeit expected, package in the mail:

My yarn for Babette has arrived!

Remember Babette?

I want to start on her in the worst way but she will have to wait a bit longer.  I am currently in the middle of a project for a baby gift and need to finish that (dress, hat, booties, blanket) before I can start on Babette.

Wanna see the yarnny yumminess again?

OK!!!

This isn't all of the yarn but I didn't take a picture of the Berroco yarn.  This is the Tahki Cotton Classic that I am using and I am SO excited to finally have some to work with!

Now I have an incentive to get through what I am working on because I DESPERATELY want to start on Babette!!

Today I also snapped these pictures:

My Lemon Balm coming back!

miss raven and her new man.

Outdoor frolicking in the beautiful weather.

He is kind of cute and he adores my girlie.  Alas, the feeling is not mutual.

"Anything in here for me, mommy?"

My sweet girl and her current favorite toy.

I must have lost a few pounds because I discovered this morning that I could get into (although with some difficulty) my favorite linen pants!  This is good for a few reasons:  (a) I'm tired of being fat and (b) I pretty much live in my linen pants when the weather is this wonderfully warm (EIGHTY PLUS DEGREES TODAY!).

Finally--Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST BFF IN THE WHOLE WORLD!  I LOVE YOU! :)

Say hello to my little friends...

Ok.  So, you may or may not know this.  If you do, bear with me.  If you don't, you are about to.

For the past year I have been having some major(ish) issues with my feet.  Primarily with my right foot.  It has gotten to the point that, when I get home at night, I am almost in tears because of the pain.

I know what you are thinking.  "Go to the doctor, dummy."  Perhaps you aren't thinking the "dummy" part.  I thank you for that.

You are right.  I know it.  I *should* go to the doctor.  I *should* also do the dishes in my sink.  Guess what is going to get done first?

Hush up, there, BFF.  No one likes a smarty-pants.

Anyway.  I have been thinking the last few weeks that I really, really needed to find a pair of shoes that will help cushion my poor right heel so that I won't be in so much pain by the end of the day.

I have found THOSE.SHOES.

Say hello to my little friends:

I was shopping this weekend and happened to wander into a Famous Footwear.  I honestly didn't set out to go into the store, meaning it wasn't on my list of things to do, but I did and I am SO happy!

I was wandering through the store and I spotted these sweet beauties and thought, "Aren't those nice looking?"  Then I spotted the tag on the inside that said they contained orthopedic support.  I tried those puppies on right away and wanted to cry tears of joy right there in the store.  As soon as I put the shoe on my right foot it took all the pressure off my heel and the pain was (mostly) gone.  To make matters even better, the store was running a BOGO sale so I was able to get a white/pink pair as well.

I wore them to school today and, for the first time in a long time, I had very little pain in my foot by the time I got home.  As soon as I took them off and began to walk barefoot, though, the pain flared up.  Summer time is going to be interesting because my love of all things flip-flop is well documented.  I can't even begin to IMAGINE having to wear tennis shoes all summer.  That would be the worst.

Speaking of summer....have I mentioned lately that I don't have to work in the summers anymore?!?!?!

Whoo-hoo!!!!

Speaking of work...I had FOUR children out today.  All were sick.  Two came to school and were on their way home by 11:00am because of said sickness.  One of those sweeties manged to BARF ALL OVER THE PLACE!

I don't do vomit well.  Especially when it has chunks of last night's dinner in it.

I'll spare you the gory details.  Suffice it to say, his mother had to bring him a change of clothes.

Nasty.

I don't need to tell you that I Clorox-wiped every conceivable surface in my room twice today.

It was totally psychosomatic, but I swear to you, right after the vomit child left, I felt my stomach getting all queasy.  And I'm not sick.

Oh please, God, don't let me be sick.

I don't do vomit well.



Pray for me.

And finally, here are some pictures of my sweetie because, well, just because!

I will blog about the other two books I got tomorrow, I promise! :)

thirteen...

I'm not quite sure why I am blogging tonight.  I don't have much to say.

About anything.

I'm kind of all talked out.

miss raven and I are fine.

Well, I am fine.  miss raven is mostly fine.

she will be thirteen this year.  July 15.  Thirteen for a dog is not the same as thirteen for a human.  she has begun to show some signs of her advanced age.

I have been noticing for a while lately that she is having some difficulty getting up and down the steps leading from my deck to her yard.  Not so much during the day but almost always at dawn, dusk, and night.

It isn't her hips or joints.  It's her eyes.  she is having a hard time seeing things.

It became painfully obvious last week.  she tried to run up the stairs after hesitating at the bottom.  she made it about halfway up and then conked her little head on the stair.  It hit pretty loud.  she ended up back down at the bottom of the stairs looking up at me as if to say, "What just happened?  That hurt!"

I was so upset.  I have begun picking her up and carrying her up and down the stairs.

And trying so hard to not think about her being almost thirteen.

Good things come to those who...

don't complain, moan, kavetch, scream, yell, stamp their feet...

I have been neglectful in the picture taking uploading of late but I finally got my behind in gear and got everything in the camera on to the computer.

Now you can be entertained without having to read through all my blah, blah, blahing.

Here is an update from the weekend:

Saturday--felt great.  Met a parent at Starbucks, mailed my swap package, went Christmas shopping for the niece and nephew, came home.  Around noon began to feel like crap.  Tried to talk the cold out of invading my body.  It didn't work.

Sunday--moaned, complained, kavetched about my cold.  Watched football.  Rejoiced that the redskins lost. Rejoiced that the giants lost.  #*#$(#$( that the Cowboys lost.  Rejoiced again (and more emphatically) that the giants lost.

Monday--went to school.  Worked very hard at not ripping fourth grade heads off seeing as how it isn't their fault that I am sick.  But wait...it probably IS their fault that I am sick.  Oh well, too tired to care.  Have a raw nose due to all the blowing.  Opened swap package.  Took the following pictures:

 miss raven received a t-shirt that says "Cookie Taster", a squeaky toy, and a rawhide bonie.

I received a hank of Malabrigo silky (in wisteria) and a cowl pattern, two dark chocolate mint bars, two notepads, two candles, a crocheted birdie, a crocheted snowflake, and a handwritten note on a handmade card.

Finishing post.  Drinking coffee, making English quiz for tomorrow.  Still 6 scarves left to crochet.  Can't do any tonight.  Too tired........

More pictures.....

 My favorite Chihuahua and her big ears.

 My Halloween pumpkins.  Yes, I know it is December.  I'm late.

 The ginormous puzzle that my students put together (almost) all by themselves.  We were studying birds in science.

My BFFF.*

Good night!

*Best Furry Friend Forever.

It occurred to me...

that I should provide you with a photo of the scarves that I am making for my students.  Sadly, I am too lazy to get the camera and snap a few.  Plus this light in my living room isn't all that great at night.  You are probably going to have to wait for the weekend.  Which will enable me to whip up a few more.

9 down, 10 to go.

Are we all ready for an SS update?

Alrighty then.

As you know, SS was not in school on Monday.  She came on Tuesday and was unprepared to work on a project that the class had known about since before the Thanksgiving holiday.  The excuse was that they were rushing to get out of the house that morning and that Mommy forgot to bring her things.

Ummmmmm.  Ok.

Except

1. It is not Mommy's responsibility to bring your things to school
2. Rushing out of the house is not an excuse for being unprepared.

So I explained that to the dear child, in a kindly way, and then proceeded to have her and the other two that weren't prepared work on an assignment from their book.

(Cue angry e-mail from Grandmama)

I am a horrible, insensitive, mean teacher who OBVIOUSLY doesn't have any children of my own because I don't know how to speak to children and I don't show CHRISTIAN LOVE and kindness and I call myself a CHRISTIAN but I don't act like one and she is just a little child and how DARE I talk to her precious grandchild like that and she want a meeting NOW.

Excuse me?

So, after stewing about it for about and hour and after talking to my BFF, I decided that I would need to reply because if I didn't I wouldn't get any sleep.

I sent a polite response clarifying what actually happened in class and letting Grandmama know that her precious wasn't quite as forthcoming as she should have been when relaying the story to her.  I openly copied the e-mail to my principal and told Grandmama that I would only meet with her AND the principal.

Of course I received no response and while SS did show up for school today, she left at 11:00 thereby making this her SIXTEENTH absence this year.

And yet, I would much rather deal with her than go back to the wretched job I had last year.

I came home this afternoon to find CRIME SCENE TAPE all around the house behind me.  There were police and state troopers EVERYWHERE.  I have zero idea what was going on but, from what I could tell, the house had been broken in to.  Of course that makes me a little uneasy.  Even with killer here:

I still think my house could be a target.  If you are the praying type, would you send one up for me that my house will be protected?  miss raven and I would appreciate it.

Ok.  Time to make another scarf.

blue and green tonight.

:)

Well...

So much for blogging every night last week.

Blogger fail.

In my defense:

1. We had Grandparent's Day at school on Friday.
2. This left me with a tremendous headache.
3. My kids weren't bad (weeeellllll....we did have a Speshul Snowflake incident, but....) but they were excited and even though quite a few of them left, the ones that stayed were hyped up for vacation.
4. I can't blame them.

So anyway.  I was supposed to blog over the weekend but I did not.  So now I will attempt to tell you about my weekend.  Although, there isn't much to tell.

Sunday was the highlight of my weekend for the following reasons:

1. The COWBOYS beat the redskins.  That would make TWICE this year.  In case you were wondering.  Which I know you were.  Even if you are my BFF.
2. The eagles beat the giants.  Now, under normal circumstances I would never, ever root for the eagles.  The mere idea of it makes me want to...well, never mind.  In this case, however, it meant that my COWBOYS would be tied for FIRST PLACE with the giants.  So...fly, eagles, fly.  And, they did.
3. Tony Stewart (my favorite NASCAR driver and, quite frankly, one hot man) won the Sprint Cup Championship.  Is it too much to hope that he will stumble across my blog, find out what a catch I am, and drive himself up here to declare himself my Prince Charming?  Yeah, I kind of thought it might be.  Stupid fairy tales.

All in all, it was a wonderful sports weekend.  Did I mention that the COWBOYS beat the redskins?  TWICE?

Hail to the who??

We had meetings at work all day yesterday and half of the day today.  I managed to get my Christmas tree put up (and mostly decorated) in my classroom.  It looks good, if I do say so myself.  I have a few more things to do in my room but didn't feel like staying late today.  So I didn't.  :)

miss raven and I will be by ourselves for Thanksgiving this year and I am really depressed about that.  I thought I would be ok with it but the closer it gets the sadder I become.  I am hoping that putting up my tree on Thursday will help.  I've been missing my mom alot the last few weeks and wish that I could talk to her.  She always made the holidays special.  And I really miss her Thanksgiving stuffing (or filling.  Whatever you prefer.)

I don't have to get up early tomorrow so I am getting to watch the NFL Network replay of the COWBOYS/redskins game tonight.  You know, the one in which the COWBOYS BEAT THE redskins.  AGAIN.

Goodnight.

:)

p.s.  How do you like the new look of the blog?  I couldn't resist the paw prints.  It is my homage to miss raven.  She approves.  :)

It's beginning to look alot like....

(We will start today's post with a Speshul Snowflake update:

• She was out on Monday.
• She was also out on Tuesday.
• If you are keeping count, that is now a grand total of 13 days.
• She came back today.
• My principal had a letter all ready to send home on Monday.
• He had to change it on Tuesday.
• I knew she would be back today because we have a field trip tomorrow.
• She and her mother drive me crazy!)

Now, on to regular bloggy news....

Remember the swap that I blogged about before and had participated in?  Well, as it turns out, the moderator decided to "tweak" some things and now I can't participate anymore.  I'm actually sad about this since I had just signed up for the Christmas swap.  I had it all planned out...I did August, then October, and had just signed up for December.  I was really excited about it and then the rules changed and I had to leave the group.

Speaking of Christmas (and weren't we?)...It's beginning to look a lot like it!  Especially in the stores!  I get to put up my Christmas tree in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!!!  I am so excited!  I love Christmas so much and I love to decorate for Christmas!  I can't wait to put up my tree!  This year I am putting it up on Thanksgiving Day because I need something to keep my mind off being by myself.  It will just be me and miss raven on Thanksgiving Day and I am a little down about that.  I figure that, if I spend the afternoon decorating and putting up my tree, it will take my mind off not being with anyone.  Well, decorating and football.  ;)

I have Friday off.  SO.EXCITED.  I am hoping beyond all hope to not have to wake up early.  (note to miss raven:  please don't wake mommy up at oh-dark-thirty.  mommy will not be pleased and, as we all know, a cranky mommy is not a treat-giving mommy.)

Vain, 4, and 40...

Right now, as I type this, I am sitting with a Target bag on my head, covering my lovely, ammonia scented hair.  For I am too vain to be gray.  Miss Clariol and I are solving that problem this evening.

School Picture Day is Thursday.

On the plus side:

1. My hair will (hopefully) look lovely.
2. I will not look like the weight of the world is on my shoulders thanks to not being the principal anymore.

On the no-plus (also known as negative) side:

1. The camera adds 10 pounds.  I've already added far more than that.  I do not need extra addage.
2. I loathe, despise, hate, dread, getting my picture taken.
3. This will be my last school picture as a "30 something".

What?  Wait.  Did #3 throw you?  Yeah, me too.

Six months from today I will turn....40.

Guess who is not ready for this?

Yeah.  That would be me.

Holy crap!  How did 40 sneak up on me so fast?  And with nothing to show for it?  No husband, no kids.  Just me and a dog.

Sigh.

Today is my niece's birthday.  She is not 40.  She is now FOUR!  Holy crap, again!  Where did the time go??

Happy Birthday Princess D!!!!!!!! :)

(Have you noticed that I tend to bounce around in my posts?  Yeah, me too.)

Guess what I did this past weekend?

Here's a hint:

I went to a pumpkin farm to pick pumpkins!  We had lovely weather this weekend and I just had to take advantage of it!  Here are some more pictures:

And here, because my BFF always complains about the lack of pictures of me on my blog...This one is for you, BFF:

Hehehehehe!  Gotcha!  :)

I had today off, thank you Columbus, and I did not one single thing.

Wait.  That isn't totally true.  I did have plans but they changed last minute.  No problem, I thought.  I will bake.

Total.  Disaster.

I tried a new recipe and it was a FAIL.  I don't normally throw things out when I bake but this time....gag.  Hey, BFF, remember the "Cranberry Cake" disaster?  Yeah.  Gross like that.  Bleck.

I was really disappointed because these cookies had pumpkin in them.

I love pumpkin.  I hate baking failures.

Here is the best picture of the whole weekend:

House is (almost) on.

Goodnight.