3 Strikes, You're Out (of luck)

I am feeling so incredibly swamped at school that I wanted to take a personal day at work tomorrow, (read Manic Monday and you'll understand a little bit) so I thought to myself, 'If you can find a reliable sub, then you can take the day.' Yes, I do realize how idiotic I must have been for that moment to think that I could get a reliable sub on such short notice.

So, I dial the number for my first choice. She is busy with an appointment that she can't reschedule. I dial my second choice; he has a sub job all week. I dial my third choice; busy tomorrow with a job. Yep, that's what I thought...three strikes and I'm out of luck.

Manic Monday

I know that my melancholy mood is not a big deal at all compared to what some people are dealing with right now, but I just couldn't shake it last night.

I've always had a thing about Sunday nights; I hate them. It means that my weekend is over and I have to go to work in the morning. It means that I have to rush through my morning with the kids in order to get them where they need to be on time, so I can be where I need to be on time. It means that I have to be fully equipped to face another week of drama with hundreds of middle schoolers.

I just had this "feeling" all day. I couldn't really put my finger on it until I pulled in the driveway at daycare this afternoon. The song, "Manic Monday" came on as I was getting out to go get the kids.

'That's it!' I thought. It is just another manic Monday. Although I don't wish it were Sunday, like the song says...I'll settle for Friday or Saturday. Actually, what I really need is a time machine, so I can freeze time for a while and get all my crap done so that I can actually spend some good quality, here and now time when I want to.

I think I am just getting the winter yucks. It's that stage of winter when everything just sucks. It is still cold. Christmas, and New Years are long gone, and yet the cold drags on. Josh is close to being done with wrestling, but not close enough...I am sick of being cooped up inside. I need some sun! I need some fresh air! I need to get out of this nasty winter lull. Spring, I'm ready for you any time...

Magical #100!

I finally did it! Some days I thought I'd never get to my 100th post! Here goes...

1. I chipped my front tooth when I was five. I hate that flaw.
2. My Dyson is one of my favorite things I ever bought.
3. I have never dyed or highlighted my hair.
4. I have never been to a concert in my entire life.
5. I drive a mean bulldozer.
6. I can parallel park a semi; easily.
7. I procrastinate, but do surprisingly well under pressure.
8. I love brushing my teeth.
9. I am more than slightly OCD.
10. I like to color code things.
11. I'm full of contradictions.
12. I dislike buttered bread, but love it on toast.
13. I'm not so crazy about raisins, but I LOVE grapes!
    
14. I hate peanut butter, but I like peanuts.
15. Josh can't figure that out about me.
16. He thinks I'm weird--along with many others throughout my life.
17. Since I also dislike eggs,
18. Frosting,
19. And mayo.
20. I've always liked things plain and simple. That's not exclusive to food.
    
21. I have somewhat of a pen fetish. I love a good writing pen!
22. I'm a little psycho when it comes to recycling.
23. I'm not the best at actually saying how I feel.
24. I'm much better at writing it.
25. I think a little too much 'boy' rubbed off on me in my life's endeavors.
26. I didn't mean that...
27. What I meant was...
28. I like UFC.
29. I love The Unit.
30. I'm into weights, karate, kickboxing and don't mind sweating.
31. Despite my male interests, I think I have an incredible 'mom' instinct.
    
32. I will always take on too much.
33. And internalize it when I get overwhelmed.
34. I miss my grandparents--especially my Grandma Z.
35. I said the Eulogy at her funeral. I don't know how I got through it. I was only 20.
36. I dislocated a girls' shoulder once, in Basic Training.
37. I graduated at the top of my AIT class (more military stuff).
38. I was the flag bearer for my platoon at my Basic Training graduation.
39. My parent's were there.
40. I could have exploded with self pride.
41. I have a picture.
42. It's actually one of my favorites.
43. I love dark chocolate.
44. I never liked bananas until I was deployed overseas.
45. Now I like them slightly green.
46. I have the nose of a blood hound.
47. I used to chew my nails uncontrollably.
48. One day I decided to quit, and I did.
49. I wish that I never would have cut my hair.
50. Or maybe I just wish that my hair would grow faster.
51. I love running outside.
52. Its my quiet solitude.
53. I would go insane without exercise.
54. I knew that I loved Josh when I thought about going home (from deployment) and not seeing him every day.
55. Both of my children were born overdue,
56. With no epidural...
57. What was I thinking?
58. I used to think that I would never like a Mac (computer); I'm in love with mine now.
59. My favorite color is red,
60. Although I hardly have any red clothes.
61. I love to sing,
62. Just not in front of many people...
63. Unless it is to my babies.
64. I prefer to give sentimental gifts--I take a lot of pleasure out of making them, and giving them.
65. I only went to one summer of swimming lessons when I was growing up.
66. I failed.
67. At AIT (military stuff again), someone asked if I was an Army Diver.
68. Evidently, I'm a good swimmer.
69. I love Friends.
70. I have all 10 seasons on DVD. It's the greatest show ever created.
    
71. I love having it on in the background.
72. I've been a lot of places; not necessarily on vacation though.
    
73. I love crackers--I think Wheat Thins are my favorite.
74. I believe I have eaten a whole bag of Cheetos in one sitting.
75. With the help of Josh.
76. My best friend growing up was my cat, Moonshine.
77. She lived to be 18 years old.
78. While I was overseas, I had a dream that she died and woke up crying.
79. I found out 2 months later that she had died.
80. My mom didn't know how to tell me at the time.
81. I think I freaked her out because deep down I knew.
82. I can easily function on 4 hours of sleep.
83. I love creative writing.
84. I used to paint--watercolor.
85. I actually have 4 of my own paintings hung in the house.
86. I have never snowboarded. I would like to try someday.
87. I wear glasses because I am not supposed to wear contacts.
88. Although, I really wish I could--or even better, be able to afford eye surgery.
    
89. I can remember the lines from a movie after seeing it once, but I can't remember what I did yesterday.
90. I hate grading papers.
91. It is my least favorite thing to do related to my job.
92. I was a pre-physical therapy student before I was deployed.
93. I am definitely a crier.
94. Although I usually fight it.
95. I wish I had more time to read books for fun.
96. I wish I had more time for a lot of things.
97. Although I am the middle child, per-say, I would say that I am more like the oldest.
98. If there were one thing about Josh that made me fall in love with him, it was his sense of humor. I love to laugh.
99. I begged my mom for braces. I had super-crooked teeth. Not anymore!
100. Water is my drink of choice.
     
101. I hate checking the mail--only bills and junk mail anyway.
102. I wrote my hundredth post on November 30, 2008. (I was super excited.)

I know I went over...that's why I teach science--math isn't my best subject.

Mad About the Thing

Have you ever had a situation where you are really frustrated about something, but you can't really say much about it, and the more you think about this thing, the more mad you get? And you can't talk about this thing because it is involving someone from your life that you cannot avoid forever. So, all you can really do is sit and think about how mad this thing makes you sometimes even though all you really want to do is forget about this thing, because the thing is starting to drive you crazy!

Those photos

We all have those photos....

...where someone is stuffing their face...






...where the background looks a little silly...








...where someone is trying not to be included in the picture, but it didn't work out that way...







...where there is a variety of facial expressions in the group...



AND

...where there is someone with their eyes closed...









Despite the fact that my pictures are far from perfect, they sure do make me smile.

Dancing Queen

I don't know how to turn this so it is right side up, since this is the first time I've ever put a video on my blog, so you'll have to just tilt your head for 30 seconds. Also, this is when my voice was nearly gone, so I am very squeaky and raspy, so excuse my attempt at sounding normal. I know it's hard to hear the music in the background, but it is playing, "Head, shoulders, knees and toes..."

Winding Down

When I returned home from trivia, I had to go for a run in order to wind down from my trivia-buzz. It wasn't just to calm myself down, but also because I ate a ton in the 7 1/2 hours I spent at trivia. The time flew by (for the most part). There were a few times when we were so on top of things that it went a little slow. This is when I gravitated toward the candy and cookies. Not a good thing. Although, I must say that I had more fun than I thought I would. Let's be honest. I am horrible at searching for things on the internet. I don't have the skills for narrowing my search like some people do. Despite this fact, I found other ways to feel useful. I was a list maker a few times, I cleaned up the food room and I know that I had a major contribution to one question before my computer froze up. I know that I'm nowhere near being hard-core like Holly, Andrea or many others, but I am starting to see where the addiction comes from. It's almost like a runner's high; you can only know the feeling when you have experienced it. I like how we had to work together as a team to answer many of the questions; or, even if you are just cleaning up, you can feel like you are still helping out the group . I miss that feeling from being on a sports team.

I hadn't even planned on staying as long as I did, but time swept away. Its a good thing that I don't have to teach tomorrow because I have about a weeks worth of grading to do plus some other projects to get ready. Oh, well...it was a well spent 7 1/2 hours.

"That's What She Said!"

This is the quote of the hour, thanks (mainly) to Kelli.

Trivia

Here I am, waiting for the 43rd hour of trivia to start. Currently, we are in first place! Whoo-hoo!

I'm feelin' the energy...

Tonight I Fell In Love Again

It was a long day spent at school; nearly thirteen hours from the time I got there to the time I left. A feeling of excitement came over me when I looked at the clock and realized that I may actually be able to make it home to see Joslynn before her bedtime. I hurriedly packed up my computer and got in my car and headed home. (Jackson is hit or miss, but is typically asleep by 7 or 7:30.)

As I entered the house, I heard some stirring and mutterings of, "Mommy." As I climbed the stairs, there she was, waiting for me with open arms.

"Mommy, mommy," she said impatiently as she did the 'happy feet' dance, waiting for me to put my bags down so I could scoop her up in hug.

"Hi, sweetie!" I say to her as I grab her up for a snuggle. She ushers me to sit on the couch to read the "birdie" story to her. We read through that, then have a drink of water. She then thought it was hilarious to feed me some Kix cereal. I took them from her crazily, acting like a wild creature of some kind. We giggled and smiled and scrunched our noses in silliness. We laughed with our foreheads together and shared this moment of pure joy with on another.

Tonight, I fell in love again; not with Josh, not with any man, but with a little girl who gave me a pure piece of love for just a few moments before bedtime.

One More Round

One more round of conferences await me tomorrow night. It is not on my favorite list due to the following:

1. I fear that I may lose my voice again.
   
2. I won't get to tuck my munchkins in to bed.
3. The parents that I REALLY need to see, typically don't show up.
4. I lose the few spare minutes that I may have had for grading/preparing for a lab.
5. I will end up being the 2nd to last person there. Shara is always last.

On the bright side, this is the last one for the year!

Email Overload

I was just telling some co-workers today that it doesn't pay to email me in the middle of the day if you are expecting a quick answer. I am so busy with kids and labs and other stuff that I don't get a chance to read my email until 9:30 at night. Well, I didn't sit down to do that until 9:45 or so and almost fell out of my chair when I opened my inbox. My new emails took up two pages! I checked my email at about 9am today and then the internet wasn't working in my room for the rest of the day, (and I was too busy anyway) but still! I shouldn't have to go to page 2 to get the rest of my emails from one day! Geez!

It All Started With One

In order to start at the beginning, let's work our way backward...

Cold, slush-covered shoes sit collecting a small puddle underneath them. They just took me for a run; the sun was out, the temperature was perfect. I had 30 minutes of quiet peace with the road. A date with my Nike's can give me back my center. It allows me to clear my mind and release my stress; it inspires me. Running revives me like only 3 other things in my life can.

Jackson, my little snuggle buddy, can erase a bad day with his smile. He loves the closeness of a good snuggle. He's perfectly content with sitting around, watching his big sister play. A sweet little giggle will escape him as she does something silly. One of those laughs can remind you of all that is important in life.

Joslynn, my sidekick, thrills me each day with her excitement and energy. When she squeals with delight, as I walk through the door to pick her up, my heart flutters and melts at the same time. "Mommyyyyyyyyy!" She then attacks me with a hug and holds onto me like the monkey that she is. My world was forever changed with her arrival and each day she shows me how rich I truly am.

Joshua, my true love, started it all. He won me immediately as his friend with his genuine heart and silly sense of humor. He is one of those people who everyone wants to be around. He's the most real, honest and giving human being I've ever met. My love for running stemmed from him, which is probably another reason that I love it so much. Without Josh, I would not have my gorgeous babies and I wouldn't feel the completeness that I have when I lay down to sleep each night. I owe my four loves completely to him. These four wonders help me to love and understand myself better, so that I can be my best self each day.