Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I am sufficiently stuffed and have no desire to move unless it is to my bed from the couch. Today was a great day but definitely not our normal Thanksgiving. My grandmother is home from the hospital and whatnot which is awesome and a blessing but she is not making the progress that we all thought she would. She had put off her hip surgery because of everything that had happen with my granddaddy. She isn't able to be by herself anymore which is frustrating. She is my role model and I have always looked up to her. I hope at her age that I have as much spunk and determination to do what I want to do. She has refused to leave the house that has been in the family for over 200 years. She is not wanting to have any help really outside of the family for now (had enough of that when my granddaddy was sick). All of this would be fine if we all lived in the same town and if my aunt and my uncle lived even within our state but they don't. Sorry for the long winded start but what all of this caused was for my mom to not be home today until about an hour before we ate Thanksgiving dinner. I am grateful for her being home to eat with us but it wasn't the same. I didn't get up and head home to help her with making macaroni and cheese, pecan pies, and deveiled eggs (our contributions) or watch the Macy's Day Parade with her.
It also got me to thinking about all the things I am grateful for. We discussed this in my class on Tuesday and my kids had some creative answers (foods they like, pets, family, their toys, video games). I found an e-mail from my mom earlier that provided a website where you click once a day to fund the food for animals on the animal rescue site. Here is the website and all you have to do is click on the purple box. http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com A simple way to help out.

Turkey Day

I love the winter holidays even though I am a warm weather girl. I am amazed at how early the stores are starting to decorate...it was right at Halloween that the stores started pulling out the Christmas decorations. I almost feel like Thanksgiving is being lost sort of in the mix for the commericalism of Christmas which I understand with the recession and all but still. The commercials at least still celebrate Thanksgiving and I have to give out props to Jennie O. I love their commercials about getting the turkey ready for Thanksgiving day. I think my favorite one is the turkey wrestling. Does anyone else find these as amusing as I do?

http://www.jennieo.com/promotions/OvenReadyTurkey/traumaVideos.aspx

Dreaming Big

So eventually the Beau and I will be buying a house and when I say eventually I mean sooner than later we will. While the Beau has a great house now it is exciting to think about a new house and hopefully it being a house we will move into together! Talking about what we both want in a house and from us both looking around, we are finding that what we want is not out there right now at a price we can swing. The idea of building is something we are throwing around a little more. There are pros and cons to both sides so I am interested to see what happens.
On another note, as the Beau and I were hanging out tonight the discussion of ADD and ADHD came up. Neither one of us is diagnosed with either one but the Beau said that he would probably be diagnosed with it if he had gone to the doctor when he was younger. He went on to say that it took a lot to get him excited about what he was learning about. Don't get me wrong either because he is very smart but it was funny. I was saying at the same time that I have trouble focusing one thing for a long period and flit from thing to thing (doing things or saying things). And low and behold, the Beau says under his breathe "Don't I know it". Smartie Martie thought that I hadn't heard him...haha see who gets the last laugh. Glad I can laugh at myself and him.

That Time of Year

I feel like I am a rut with school and my daily routine. It seems to be the same old, same old day in and day out which is getting old quickly. I am ready for the "Winter Holidays" since it is politically incorrect to say Christmas Break. To top off my routine, I have gotten worse instead of better. So frustrating since I have been trying to take good care of myself and take my medicine and whatnot. The kids were entertained enough though by my voice and I think honestly felt sorry for me today.
On a brighter note, it appears like it is going to be a cold winter :) So maybe some snow this year...It was at least a record low last night in the twenties which is amazing for us down here in the south in mid-november. It is time to invest in some new dressier winter clothes. My wardrobe is predominantly school clothes or cute tops that can go with jeans...not much dressy-wise. Here are some things I am looking at:

Lace Dress from Ann Taylor Loft

Houndstooth Skirt from Talbots on sale!

Guess "Drifter"

Michael Kors Jacket

Can you tell that I like the Houndstooth pattern right now!

Stolen

Stole this from Southern Prep

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:00...it is getting harder and harder to get up...can't wait for Thanksgiving Break
2. Diamonds or Pearls? Pearls but I wouldn't say no to a diamond
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I can't remember...it has been awhile
4. What is your favorite TV show? Jon and Kate Plus 8
5. What did you eat for breakfast? Smart Start
6. What foods do you dislike? brussel sprouts
7. Your favorite potato chip? Baked BBQ or Baked Cheetos
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Can't tell you the last CD I bought.
9. What kind of car do you drive? Chevy Trail Blazer
10. Favorite sandwich? French Dip
11. What characteristics do you despise? those trying to make themselves look better just in front of bigwigs
12. What are your favorite clothes? button down polos and my pink chinos
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Anywhere sunny and warm
14. What color is your bathroom? beige
15. Favorite brand of clothing? preppy
16. Favorite time of day? 6:21 pm
17. Where would you want to retire to? the coast(isle of palms maybe?)
18. Favorite sports to watch? football
19. Coke or Pepsi? definitely coke
20. Are you a morning person or night owl? depends on the day and the mood
21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? same old right now but maybe one day!
22. What did you want to be when you were little? doctor
23. What is your best childhood memory? being with my family at my grandparents or their beach house
24. Nicknames? BUD, B
25. Piercings? Ears
26. Eye Color? Brown
27. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
28. Favorite restaurant? MoMos or Terra
29. Favorite ice cream? chocolate and vanilla frozen yogurt swirl
30. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? jcrew
31. Bedtime? last night was around midnight and too late to have to get up at 6 the next morning
32. What are you listening to right now? ugly betty
33. How many tattoos do you have? none
34. Next film you'll see? 4 Christmases possibly

Blog Giveaway!

So school has been crazy lately and the weekends jam packed...so it was yesterday before I had the chance to catch up on some of my favorite blog reads. I have been looking at different websites for ideas for some Christmas presents so imagine how excited I was when I saw what Magnolias, Marriage, and Manhattan was doing a blog giveaway of a Donovan Design Calendar from The Paper Cafe. That website has some of the cutest notepads, labels, and recipe cards. They are going to make some great stocking stuffer this year! So if you are interested in her giveaway here is her blog http://magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan.blogspot.com/


Here are the details:

We'll pick FIVE WINNERS this time--you have until FRIDAY!!

Each winner will receive this adorable Desk Calendar from Donovan Designs via The Paper Cafe. The calendars are an $18.00 value and perfect for teacher presents, stocking stuffers, gifts for your friends or coworkers, etc!

To win:

1) Readers must visit The Paper Cafe website and view their Donovan Designs products

2) Readers must post a comment on this post that tells your your favorite Donovan Design product (must have DD in product code). All posts must be done before FRIDAY!

3) Readers should make sure there is either a link to their blog or they should leave their email address so that I can contact you if you win.

4) For an extra entry (or two), post this contest on your blog or become a follower. If you do either (or both), please let me know. If the winner references that they found this contest through your blog, then they win too!

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays

So today was my first day back at work since last Wednesday and it was totally a MONDAY!!! I went to a conference out of town from Wednesday evening until midday Saturday. It was a lot of fun to break out of my routine but hard as bejeezes to come back to it. Apparently my threat from the last substituting experience paid off or my sub rocked my students' world. I am all about taking a day for professional development or if you just need a day but after this particular experience I don't feel like that is possible. Mind you I can be a very particular person (OCD) when it comes to leaving my babies. I don't like to do it often and I leave very detailed plans i.e. 7 pages per day. Needless to say this morning, I discovered that that was apparently not enough. Not only did this sub not follow my plans, she went above and beyond to GRADE all of my papers that I asked for the students to turn in to their folder. I have never heard of a sub that graded all the test. It wouldn't be so bad if she had just stopped there but she graded my test in red pen (big No-No) and went so far as to write comments on them. Can't wait to see what my parents say about that. The substitute also played Bingo with the students at the end of the day and gave them the treat that I had bought for the good report as a prize for winning Bingo. Great! Last thing I promise to whine about is the fact that I have some private books that I use as read-alouds with my class. Apparently those were given out to the students so that they could read them so they have now all read the different books that I have saved to use as a read-aloud. ARGH!!!!!! I just wanted to cover my ears each time my students told me about something they did with the substitute. No wonder they behaved and loved it! talk about having a case of the Mondays that lasted awhile today.
On a happy note, I totally got over my case of the Mondays by buying some Christmas paper to start wrapping some of my early Christmas presents. YAY!!! I love the Christmas season for all the different reasons that you can think of. It blows my mind though that they are already showing Christmas commercials and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. One teacher told me today that is 15 days until Thanksgiving and after Thanksgiving break, it is only 15 days until "Winter Holiday". YAY! Something to look forward to...