My Old Man Kendall

This is my husband. Today he officially joins the ranks of old people. Yes, today he turns 30. Now you may be saying to yourself, "I don't think he looks 30!" Well, that's because this picture was taken when he was 29. There is a VAST difference between 29 and 30. I will take a picture of him later to demonstrate this difference.

I emailed the radio station earlier this week and requested a wake up song for today. We listen to the same station every morning and they always play a 6:30 song. So I asked them to play Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. They always explain who requested the song and why when it's done playing. So I asked them to announce that it was his birthday and that he was MY favorite sharp dressed man. This elicited whistles from some of the other morning show people when they read the announcement.

It was awesome. It came on just as he was stepping out of the shower. He smiled because he thought it was a good song, not knowing I had requested it. I started pointing at myself and smiling and he got excited. "You asked for this for my birthday?" He was all smiles. And then when they read the note at the end of the song he blushed a little bit, but he was still all smiles, and it made me happy. I have such a good husband. :)

I got him a Nintendo DS Lite and he unwrapped it at breakfast. All smiles again. Just like a little kid. It's on the charger now so that he can play when he gets home. We both took a half day off. We're heading to The Olive Garden for dinner tonight with a bunch of friends. I'll have to get some pictures and post them here later this weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENDALL!!!!

My neighbor is obsessed!

So my next door neighbor just mowed her lawn on Friday. We just mowed yesterday to the same length as theirs. She's out mowing it again! Hello! Obsession! I kind of wonder if she's just mowing it to fix the lines we might have made mowing across the property line by like a whole inch.

I have to be honest when I say, I don't like her. She just comes across as snobby. She never has time to talk, she drives a white Mercedes sedan and she makes her sons and husband work out in the yard until it's perfect. Oh, and she mows her lawn too much. Too bad she's probably going to live next door to me for, like, FOREVER.

Thursday

So we had a second vote last night on our contract, and this time we got enough people to vote to meet the rules of our constitution AND the vote passed. So hopefully we have a new contract for next year and the board doesn't vote no.

I've been really tired lately because our bed sucks. We've tried various things to make it more comfortable, like a simulated goose down mattress pad and new pillows. It's not working. Last night I was so uncomfortable I went and slept on the guest room bed because it was slightly more comfortable. We really need to break down and get our new king sized bed, because part of the problem has always been that Kendall is a big man and we don't like touching while we sleep. But I want a Sleep Number. And they're expensive. And we're poor because of all of our doctor's bills and such. So we're going to try yet another type of mattress pad and see what happens.

Today was so nice out that I opened a bunch of windows in the house. It feels nice getting that fresh air in. The dogs are enjoying the smells and I'm enjoying the warm breeze coming in through the window. The kids are getting really restless with this weather. I'm dreading May if it stays nice like this. I'm just as distracted and restless as they are! I've had no desire to grade papers or doing anything that requires effort. Isn't that horrible? I just want to be outside enjoying myself, riding my bike, taking the dogs for walks, working on my landscaping.

For now I'll have to settle with a good book (trashy romance novel of course) and a nice warm breeze. And food on the grill. And a tasty beverage. :) Okay, I talked myself into a better mood. :) Sorry I've been so whiny this week.

Awful Day

So when I said I needed your thoughts and prayers, I really meant it.

My day started off with me running behind in my morning routine.

Then I got to school and on the way up the stairs, my lunch bag broke open and my lunch fell all over the floor.

Then over half of my 4th period class didn't have their homework done.

In the afternoon I had to deal with a punk a$$ kid who didn't want to do my work.

THEN I spent from 4 to 8 discussing our contract negotiations with association members. Some of which were total IDIOTS who couldn't listen and asked the same question like 40 times. Some of them just couldn't let go of their issue and thought it was the one thing that needed to be changed in the contract or they would vote no again. FINALLY someone in the crowd spoke up and pointed out that these people better be willing to strike over their one issue (Which they WEREN'T!) and we ended the 4 hour long meeting with a movement to invalidate our last vote since we didn't follow our constitution's protocol. Not that that means anything to most of you. But it means work for me and probably some heat from some of my coworkers. And it also means ANOTHER long night tomorrow trying to get people to vote.

OYE!

A Quickie

So I was walking through my house last night, shutting off lamps on my way up to bed, and got that good feeling when everything just seems right. I LOVE my house. I love the way it's decorated and painted. I love that it feels cozy to me. And that I have a sweet sense of style (at least in my mind). I realized that after almost 9 months of living here, it really does feel like home now. Although in that same moment it still felt a little hard to believe that it really is my house. :)

ps. I'm eating Cheetos Puffs......YUMMMMMM.

pps. Our contract didn't pass and we have to go back to the negotiating table (the union members voted it down and now we have to go nights and weekends to try to put a new one together) and other crazy stuff is happening around our house, so keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I'm going to be exhausted by the end of this school year! OYE!

Week of April 7th People Commentary

Okay, here's this week's list of commentary on People Magazine.

1. HELLO BOOBIES! Whitney Houston has ginormous boobs! At least in the dress she wore to Muhammad Ali's Celebrity Fight Night. It was obscene! I couldn't find the exact picture from People that really showcases her girls, but this one will still get the idea across.

2. Miley Cyrus- what I like about this girl is that she's not afraid to just be her. A teenage girl with a fun personality. She hangs out with girlfriends, she schleps around town in grungy clothes and she even has a YouTube show.

3. Will & Kate- When the heck are they going to get engaged? I can't help myself, I would totally get caught up in their wedding. It's royalty and even I get sucked in.

4. Thank God my TV is starting to come back on. There is a synopsis about Grey's Anatomy in this week's issue and I'm psyched. I've missed my friends Meredith and Derek.

5. The Real Housewives of New York City seem fascinating in a really ridiculous sort of way. Watching rich people who think they're important because they have money. How could this not be hilarious!?!

6. The Last Lecture- this is a published version of the ideas from Randy Pausch's lecture on living life to the fullest. If you didn't see him on Oprah, he's amazing. Not that what he has to say is anything earth shattering, but hearing it from a man who is dying makes a bigger impact.

7. Beyonce and Jay-Z get married in secret. Good for them. Way to keep their private lives private. It will probably help their marriage last longer than 3 months. While in the back of my mind I'd love to see what she looked like in her wedding dress, I totally respect the privacy of that moment. And what the hell is that dress that Gwenyth Paltrow wore to their reception?!?!?

8. Suri Cruise, could I please clone that kid? She's freaking adorable! Her parents are gorgeous so of course the odds of her being adorable were good, but Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are too, and I don't think Shiloh is that cute.

9. The Polygamy Sect article just amazes me. How is it that there are people out there that actually believe having multiple wives is the only way to heaven? I can't even imagine what it would have been like to be raised in this environment. 14 year old girls are married and having babies. Even being German Baptist seems extreme to me, so this branch of Mormons is flabbergasting.

10. Miss Iowa is awesome! She has cerebral palsy and is a beauty queen. She even started a program for other girls with disabilities so that they could feel beautiful too. Not that girls should need a beauty pageant to feel that way, but still. That's a positive role model.

11. Mile-High Dining sounds AWESOME!

12. Who in the hell decided that Mariah Carey knows how to dress? Her dresses are too tight and too short for her age. And her sunglasses are stupid. She is almost 40. It's time to face the music and start dressing like a grown up Mariah!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Love About The Office

1. That's what she said...
2. Michael Scott
3. Jim and Pam
4. Dwight Schrute's Beet Farm
5. Staplers in Jello
6. Popping the exercise ball with a pair of scissors
7. Personal interviews in the conference room
8. Mose
9. Asian Hooters
10. Bears, Beets, Battlestar Gallactica
11. Poop! There's poop falling from the ceiling!
12. Rockin' Robin Ringtones
13. Rabies Awareness Fun Run

Killers

We killed a bird today! It was awful! We were cruising along at 40 miles per hour on a side road in Troy and suddenly this GIANT brown blob smacked up against the windshield. Kendall and I both jumped. Kendall thought he saw feathers in the back window, but we couldn't be sure.

On our way back from The Sub House (which btw was the CLEANEST one I've ever seen!) we watched the road. Sure enough, there was a giant bird lying dead in the middle of the road. It was kind of sad. We're pretty sure that it died on impact.

This led to series of questions for me:
1. Did it really die right away?
2. Did it have a family?
3. What the f*ck kind of bird is that?!?! (It was HUGE!) (That's what she said...)

The fact that The Office is new tonight made me feel a little better.

Sunny Days

Having Spring Break in April this year makes the end of the school year feel even closer. Having warm, sunny days upon my return makes it feel even closer still. I feel like my mind goes elsewhere. I'm not focused. As I whined yesterday, state testing is in two weeks. In my mind this means two things:
1. Crap! State testing is in two weeks!
2. That means that April will almost be over!!!!!!

More than past years I am craving time to fly by and my summer vacation to start. Spring Break was just a teaser. I LOVE having my days off to do as I please. It's always the one thing that tempts me to be a stay at home mom someday. (I kind of need to have kids first....) However, I know that I would never make it 12 months straight. I like my job. I like the routine it provides in my life. More so than I think kids would.

It just always seems that this time of year is very difficult to concentrate. I'm hoping that testing week is cold and dreary. Otherwise the kids won't focus either. I can tell that their minds wander just as much as mine does.

On one of those random topics....

What's up with big, fat guys riding tiny Harley's? Is it the underworld of Harley riders? Are they just so big they make the bikes look small? Or are they picking small bikes to save money for food? Or, did they buy the bike when they were "small" and then get huge later? Just some food for thought....hehe.

So I'm going to whine about my job for a minute....

I have absolutely no time left until state testing! Like 2 weeks. There's no way I'm getting through all of my material in 2 weeks time. With all of the crazy snow days and half days because of delays, we're like 2 weeks behind schedule. I had to cut an entire novel out of my lesson plans. And I was planning on covering several key indicators in that unit. Well, they're gone now. *sigh*

They just ask us to cover way too much material in a short period of time. It sucks!

Okay, I'm done whining now. I'll just suck it up and cram the info in.

Going back to work today. :(

Send me some good vibes. :)

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I'm Obsessed With

1. Having a baby- obviously
2. The Gap- again, obviously
3. Our neighbor's lawn- I can't stand it! Their lawn always looks greener than ours! How is that possible after all of the snow? Seriously, I'm getting fertilizer. I'm too cheap to do a lawn service, but I'm at least going to fertilize.
4. HGTV- I've been watching it for at least 3 hours a day all week.
5. TLC- I was watching an episode of The Wedding Story and it brought back these great memories of watching it with the 1320 Honeys. We used to soak up that and A Baby Story. They still show both. So I watched them on a nostalgic marathon yesterday.
6. Cleaning- I was a cleaning machine yesterday! While I watched my 3 hours of HGTV I was busting out the dusting, vacuuming and organizing.
7. Small touches on the house- I'm still looking for a few key pictures, some nick knacks, and some furniture. We found a printer stand/file cabinet that matches our desk and snatched it up on clearance for under 200 bucks. We also bought another small wooden cabinet for our guest room.
8. Dressing nicer- I've decided that I need start dressing nicer. Even when I wear jeans. I'm concerned that I'm trying to look too young. I need to start focusing on looking like a well styled adult, and not like I walked out of a teen catalog. It's so easy to get sucked into some of the younger styles though!!!
9. Salty Snacks-I just can't help myself! Chips, Cheetos, peanuts. I have to have a salty snack every afternoon.
10. Going for walks- I've been trying to drag Kendall out of the house almost every night to walk the dogs. It's always tedious at first, but the longer we walk the easier it is. We laugh, talk, greet other dogs that we make up names for. It's good time together.
11. The weather- Every day I check The Weather Channel to see what the 10 day forecast is. Next week- it's projecting all 60's! HOORAY!!!!!
12. My hair- This week I've dyed it and got it cut. Nothing new, but I was just obsessing about it. It was driving me nuts! Now it looks all sleek and pretty again. :)
13. Summer music- I'm already on the lookout for the perfect summer CDs. April is a big month for new CD releases. I'm planning on scooping up a few and making a mix CD. I do one every year to motivate myself on the way to school. I'm looking for upbeat tunes that "sound" like summer. Point me in the right direction if you find any!

Busted by Karen...