Next on the request list....

is my crochet.

(You're welcome BFF. Hope this keeps you somewhat entertained this morning at the law firm. In freezing cold Ohio. I miss you. Thanks for being my BFF and for sharing in my happy news from Thursday. You are the most awesome person I know. :) )

So, while I was away over the holiday I found this book that has nothing but patterns for crochet food. The first thought I had, as soon as I saw it, was "OMG! The niece and nephew would L-O-V-E these!!!!!" So of course, the book was purchased.

I had so much fun making the stuff in the book. The patterns were quick and easy. The possibilities are endless and I even came up with something on my own. New Year's Eve my brother and sister-in-law had some of their friends over for a get together. The friends also have small children. The small children loved the food and so did the parents. So I may have a few orders coming in. I just have to create a price list. I might need some help with that.

Anyway--here are some pictures of the bountiful feast:

Breakfast first:

Toast triangles, fried eggs, and bacon. I loved the "face" look!

A short-stack of pancakes. Sorry, no syrup.

Strawberry and chocolate toaster pastries.

Lunch:

Lunch meat, lettuce, tomato, and Swiss cheese on wheat bread.

A better view of the Swiss cheese, lettuce, and tomato.

Mini cheeseburger and an apple.

And of course, PB&J! :)

Dinner:

Chicken leg.

Slice of pepperoni pizza.

A taco! :)

and of course, dessert: Ice cream drumstick.

Ice cream sandwich.

Chocolate chip cookies, no nuts.

A stack of Oreos, regular AND double-stuff. :)

And one more for good measure...

A cute little strawberry.

So, what do you think?? The kids loved them and loved playing with them. There are more patterns in the book that I have yet to try, and some of the ones I have done I can adapt. The ice cream drumstick can be made into a regular ice cream cone and I can change the flavors. The pop tart possibilities and the pizza possibilities are also endless. And because I am the auntie....I don't have to have a reason to send a present! :)

oh...you didn't think you were going to get a post without a picture of her, did you?

I love miss raven so much!

BTW--this is my 100th post!! :) Sadly, no confetti floated down from the ceiling when I hit "publish post." Maybe that comes after the 1,000th post. Hmmmmmm......

It's a BEE-YOU-TI-FUL day in the neighborhood!

Welcome back to my HAPPY, HAPPY blog!!! Yes, I am in a great mood and it has nothing to do (well maybe a little bit to do) with the fact that it is Friday!

Work was wonderful today. We had a 2 hour delay because of the snow, and, while I hate a delay (I would rather have the whole day off), it didn't matter today. Today was a BRAND NEW DAY ladies and gentlemen. A brand-spanking new day. And it was a glorious one! :) For the first time in a loooooonnnnnnggggg time, I do not dread Monday.

My BFF has decided that she would like the following posts in the following order:

1. kids

2. crochet

3. trip

Because I try to be as accomodating as possible, and because I sometimes take requests for my blog ideas, and because she makes wonderful apple pies (hint, hint)....she gets her wish. Tonight, for your reading pleasure, I will be blogging about my niece and nephew. :)

My nephew is almostfive. His birthday is Sunday and it is hard to believe that he is FIVE. He looks exactly like my brother. I kid you not. They could be twins. I look at pictures of the boy and, besides thinking that I feel so sorry for all the girls' hearts that he will break in about 10 years, I can't help thinking that I am looking back in time at my brother at that age.

Besides being the best looking little boy in the world. Seriously...look at that face and tell me he isn't:

Mister N is also quite possible the most intelligent child that has ever lived. No really. I'm not at all biased. He really is a little genius (he gets that from his mother. ;) ) The thing is, he knows that he is both cute and smart. A deadly combination.

My niece is two. She is adorable and hilarious to be around. Case in point:

Now really, wasn't that just too funny??

You know what else is funny? Playing hide and seek with an almostfive year old and a two year old. He gets it. She doesn't. She's two. It was so FUN to play with them. N kept wanting me to hide so he could find me and miss D wasn't quite clear on the whole "hiding" concept. It was so funny. She would run into another room and then run right back giggling the whole time. How could you not love that??

I miss them both so much and can't wait to see them again!!

ELATION! or... I feel like I should have little birdies singing around my head.

It is possible for a person to go from being so unbelievably, wretchedly depressed one minute to completely opposite the next? Why yes, yes it is. And I am living, breathing proof. ;)

My work situation has been amazingly stressful this year. A new year always brings changes but this year brought significant, stressful, changes. I felt in a way that I have been walking on eggshells all year long. Afraid to do anything wrong because it could affect my job.

Consequently, I have been scared, worried, stressed, well, just about every negative thing you could think of these last five months. As I am sure that you have noticed (you five that follow me. well, only four because one person registered twice to follow me. sigh. only four. and no comments.) my blog has been kind of negative lately. Ok, more than kind of. Alot. Sorry about that. Really. I am sorry about that.

I am much more confident now that my blog will take on a happier tone. Has all the stress been taken out of my life? No, it has not. There is always stress that comes along with my job. I know that. However, the MAJOR stresser in my life has been removed. I can go to work knowing that I have a job. That I can feel secure in that job. And although I will still be stressed out from time to time because of this parent, or that teacher, or that student, I will know that I can deal with it and that those that are in positions over me are confident that I can handle it.

I promise that I will soon blog about this:
and this:

and of course, this:

but not tonight. Tonight I am going to spend quality time with her:

relaxing and hopefully sleeping peacefully for the first night in a LONG time. :)

not-so wordless wednesday

OMG! Doesn't the cuteness just kill you!! :)

Miss you, sweet girl!! xoxoxo

Frustration

That is the title of this post. I am going to try mightily to not complain, but I am beyond frustrated. Not by one thing in particular, but by a host of things.

First--work. Work is so frustrating. What I used to love I now dread. Should I really need to be freaking out every day wondering if I am going to have a job the next? I didn't get into education to manage adults. I expect that adults will do what I tell them to do when I tell them to do it, not give me a million billion reasons why they can't. A very good friend of mine was treated like crap at work this week. I am frustrated because I can't do anything to help her. She didn't deserve what was done to her but because of the powers that be, there isn't anything she can do except suck it up and deal with it.

Second--hypocrisy. Oh how this one drives me up a wall! Now please understand, I am by no means perfect nor am I without my own hypocrisy at times. In fact, sometimes I feel like the BIGGEST hypocrite in the world for various and sundry reasons. However, when an adult stands in front of a child (no matter how old that child may be), acts one way, and then the complete opposite when they think no one is watching, WHY is that adult surprised when the child acts the same way? I have students who act SUPER DUPER holy at school, especially in chapel, then seem to forget that their facebook pages are visible to all. Who do I direct the brunt of my frustration at, though, the kids or the adults that have taught them how to act like that?

and Third--worry. Worry is a frustration that drives me up a wall. I know I'm not supposed to worry. Give it over to God and all that. I try. I really, REALLY, try not to worry. I don't succeed. I worry. Alot. About alot of things. Mostly things I can't control. Not having control worries me.

Have you missed miss raven? Well, then, here she is!

Awwwww.....she missed you, too! :)

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?

Well, did you? Just wondering.

Oh? You want to know how my vacation was? Well, I'm happy to tell you. So glad you asked. :)

**BTW--this has the potential to be one VERY LONG post. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

The first week of my vacation I stayed in the area and visited some nice places. I went to Philly to see the light show at Wannamaker's (Macy's). It is pretty much a little kid thing, but I can remember my mom talking about seeing it when she was younger so I really wanted to see it. Of course I also went to Redding Terminal and ate a cheese steak.

I took some time to visit Longwood Gardens, also in Pennsylvania. It was SO pretty. They had everything all decorated for Christmas and it was GORGEOUS. During the day it is nice to look at but at night, when all the lights are on, it is simply BEE-YOU-TI-FUL. I highly recommend it.

We had a MAJOR snowstorm here the Friday we got out for vacation. miss raven and I do not like the snow. miss raven REALLY did not like the snow when she had to go out and *ahem* do her business. Truth be told, neither did I because it is so cold.
I flew home on Christmas day. Now, one would think (at least this one thought), that planes would be fairly empty on December 25. I figured everyone would already be where they wanted to be by then so I would have a nice, calm, empty airplane. BWHAHAHAHAHA. Not so much. The flight from here to Dallas wasn't too bad, except for the fact that they "lost" my seat. I had a seat. I had a window seat. Only, I didn't. I ended up on the AISLE!!!!! I should have known something was up when I got to Dallas because I came in at Gate C 29 and was SUPPOSED to leave from Gate C27. Whenever your gates are that close together in Dallas you should always know that something is going to happen. Something notsogood. I was only supposed to have an hour layover. Long enough to walk from one gate to another--airtram? I laugh at your airtram! moving sidewalks? I scoff at those! I am tough! I can carry a dog, a purse, and a bag through the airport with one arm tied behind my back. Ok--maybe not, but still...I can WALK!--go to the bathroom, AND get something to eat and possibly drink. (Now, before I go on, please remember that I got up at four in the morning to make my flight. Yes, FOUR, you read that correctly.) We land, early, and have to sit in front of the gate for almost half an hour. Am I worried? Of course not. I am going from Gate C29 to Gate C27. Nothing to be worried about. I may not get to go to the bathroom and I may not get a snack, but I am not worried.

We finally got off the plane and I noticed that there was no red-coated agent waiting to meet us with helpful information. In hindsight, I think the designated agent was too afraid of all the mad passengers to be there. I take a look at the monitors and do a double-take. My departure gate has changed. TO GATE A26!!!!! Quick look at the watch reveals I have about 41 minutes to make it. No problem. I'm not worried. I can still walk it, quickly, and make it by boarding time. Wait--what's that? Double-take again. The flight is now not leaving until 11:42 (supposed to leave at 10:50). Hmmmmmmm......ok. Well, darn it. There goes the surprise. You see, my brother didn't know I was coming home. Dad was going to pick me up at the airport, take me to his house to drop off miss raven, and then drive me over to my brother's house to surprise him and his family. Now I have to call Matthew and tell him that I am coming home, surprise, but am delayed in Dallas. He was surprised. I think.

Long story short. I end up in Dallas for an extra almost four hours. I shouldn't complain because there were people on my flight that had been in Dallas for more than 24 hours. One lady had a dog with her. I PRAY that never happens to miss raven and I!

I made it to El Paso and had a wonderful time with the family. I went to Chuck E. Cheese, Taco Cabana, the Sun Bowl, the movies (Sherlock Holmes--it was GREAT!), and other places.

I also crocheted. Here is a tease picture:
You'll get more on that in another post.

All in all it was a nice vacation. I am SO not ready to go back to work tomorrow. How many days until my next vacation???

OH!!! And to end the vacation on a SUPER HAPPY note.....the COWBOYS ARE THE NFC EAST CHAMPIONS! They opened up a can of whoop-bottom (hehe) on the eagles today. HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!! AND....the redskins lost! Nice!

A New Year

I suppose I should say "Happy New Year", since that is the "PC" thing to do. It technically isn't the new year here, yet, but it will be soon. I'm not feeling all that happy, though.

Don't get me wrong. It isn't that I had a bad vacation. I so did not. I actually had a wonderful vacation, truth be told. It's just that, at this time of the year, you tend to start thinking about things better left, well..un-thunk. (yes. I made up a word. I can do that because it's my blog, not yours.)

I am about to almost be close to middle age in a few months. I am not liking that at all. In fact, it quite depresses me because my life didn't turn out like I had planned. Isn't that a funny statement? I mean, who gets to have a planned-out life, anyway? Stupid type-A personality that I am...I expected that my life would follow the plan that I had for it. and...wait for it....POW! Right there is my whole up-bringing slapping me in the face. I don't get to plan my life. Ok. I can deal with that (as my nervous tic begins tic-ing). You know what really ticks me off, though? Glad you asked...happy to tell you.

Why is it that some people get to do whatever they want and still come out on top? They could fall into a pile of, well, you know, and still come out smelling like a rose. Then there are those people who do everything they are supposed to. And I do mean everything. Shouldn't those people get something that they want? Notice that I said something, not everything.

Those who know me know what I want and I don't think I am asking for too much. I really don't. I know all the right answers and all the right little sayings. By now, though, they are trite. By now they sound like platitudes that people say because they don't want to say anything to "offend".

Sometimes I want to just say "screw it" and do whatever I want. I pretty much don't, though, and it isn't always for the "right" reasons. Fear is a powerful tool and it does much to keep me in line. Fear of losing my job, fear of disappointing the people I love, fear of pushing just a little too much. Fear is a powerful motivator for a type-A.

So, a new year. We'll see.

Oh--and lest you think I sound bitter...well, maybe just a little. Generally not much. Sometimes. Like tonight. But not so much bitter as just sad.