Thursday, February 26, 2009

Where'd My Mojo Go?


It's been a little while since I blogged and even longer since I blogged anything noteworthy. This is a sure sign that the stress levels in my life are at very high points. Work has been really hard lately, but I won't go into the boring details. Suffice to say that I'm hanging in there and really looking to find my blogging mojo again. I miss it when I don't blog. You may not care, but hey....this is my blog, right?
So I'll recount some of the exciting details of my life. Pretty much, as of late, I am getting up tired, drinking coffee that I shouldn't have to wake up and then spend a large part of my day doing something as difficult as herding cats or nailing Jello to the wall. After the day is over, I head home where there is at least 3 more hours of work waiting for me. I go to bed late, toss and turn, and finally drift off to sleep. I usually don't remember my dreams and for the longest time I was convinced that I didn't dream at all. I now know that isn't true. My dreams usually have some element of Twilight involved. I'm telling you...it has become my alternate reality. But I've probably blogged more about that topic than I should. I've seen the eye rolling when I mention it....so I know how others around me feel.
I don't usually go on and on about food....it makes it look like that's all I think about. What's really sad is that I do think about food a lot. So I won't go into major detail, I'll just touch on the highlights. I really enjoy a good bagel. There is a bagel place in town but I don't usually make it there before they close on Saturday. When I go to Bagel City, I order a jalapeno bagel and get the mediterrian cream cheese. I figure that mixing the ethnicities is okay and it sure tastes yummy. Since I can't make that at home, the closest thing I've come to is a regular wheat bagel and some sun-dried tomato cream cheese. It's pretty good. I must be on an Italian kick, because I've thought a lot this week about the manicotti at Old Vencie lots. David and I went there on Tuesday after I had a real crummy day and I got to enjoy some. I've had it other places but it can't even begin to touch theirs!
Enough about food....this weekend I'm hoping to slow down a little. Of course I still have to do lesson plans, grade papers, and the like but I'm hoping to go see a movie with my friend Wendy tomorrow. I really like going to the movies and wish I could go more. David isn't a big fan of the movies....he prefers to watch them at home. I agree with him on some of that....I need subtitles to really understand what's going on. There are rarely any movies I'm interested in that would have natural subtitles built in.
Well, I'm going to go and write my weekly classroom newsletter. I'm hoping that I think of something witty to share with you and perhaps start to feel like myself again.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Huh???

I am not in my normal place as I blog this, nor am I in my regular state of mind....(as if I even know what that is)....... Ever have one of those days that you just couldn't explain? I'm having a hard time finding the words to describe what could probably be seen as an ordinary day. It was ordinary and it wasn't at the same time. Nothing happened and everything happened. Sound confusing? Just try understanding it from my perspective!


Nothing horrible happened today....lots of good stuff that I take for granted everyday....regular employment, a wonderful husband that loves me, a daughter that thinks I'm the best, good friends who listen and give good advice, a car that runs, and apparently have enough money and brain power to be enrolled (and successful) in graduate school.


Then why such a weird state of mind? I don't know either. If you figure it out, please let me know!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

I need your help.....


If you are any kind of regular reader of my blog, you've noticed that my posts have been a little "off" recently. Some of this is due to the stresses I'm dealing with, and the rest is writer's block. Every so often, I come up with an idea for a post and I write it down. If the topic hits my fancy later, I write about it. If not, it just stays on my list.




So, to help get me back on track, I am sharing my topic list with you. Any input on which one you'd like to hear about is appreciated. If none of these topics hit your fancy, please feel free to leave a comment with a topic you would like me to write about.



My list of possible blog topics:

1) my school lanyard


2) the pumpkin sitting on my TV


3) my love of subtitles


4) infomercials


5) the joy of the bargain bin


6) Raelynn and her toes under the bathroom door


7) me in a paper bag


8) clowns


9) sunsets


10) my high school mascot


11) a quote from Notting Hill and a painting


12) my teenage years on a dancing drill team


13) cats


14) evolution of phones


15) my watch


16) YouTube


17) Another way I get inspired to come up with blog topics


18) time period movies


19) tissues


20) tiaras
Thanks in advance for your help. If you ever need my opinion on anything, all you have to do is ask. Those of you that know me personally can attest to that. But a word to the wise....don't ask if you don't want to hear the answer!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I wonder...



Why does it always rain at funerals?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.....

I am going to apologize in advance for this post. It's been a tough weekend for me and I'm not really in the best state of mind. This state of mind may be more pervasive than I thought when I look back at how often I haven't been posting lately. Trust me, if I don't post, you wouldn't want to hear what's on my mind. Two of my readers (not sure if there's more than that :P ) left messages indicating that it was time to come back and blog. Not wanting to disappoint anyone, I am complying. I'll try not to sound too melodramatic, but I'm not promising anything.


I have to start out by saying that I enjoy the time leading up to a holiday, more than the actual holiday. There are many reasons for this, but none of them interesting enough for me to lay it all out in public. Suffice it to say, I'm ready for Valentine's Day and its weekend to be gone.


Some of you wanted to know how things went at school. I'll tell you....crazy! I believe that Valentine's Day is more stressful for the teacher than Halloween and Christmas put together. Most of those holiday parties involve eating and some candy, but Valentine's Day has the added bonuses of ALL CANDY and the never ending traffic jams in the room while students take all day to pass out their cards. Then there's always the yelling "Thanks!" or "I don't know who this is from!" across the room as they wade knee deep in their holiday sentiments. You can almost tangibly feel the excitement emanating from the kids. Add to that the stress of trying to actually teach earlier in the day, and you've got a recipe for disaster. I didn't have a nervous breakdown, but I felt that one could have been close by.


My attire was festive, as always. I've got about 20 pairs of Valentine inspired earrings and have been wearing a different pair each day. Over the years, my mother has purchased several Valentine sweaters for me and I wore those this week too. On Friday though, my extras included pink glitter eyeliner, iridescent glitter on my cheeks and brow and a fun feather and sequin heart headband. You couldn't see it, but I also had socks on that were decorated with red hearts. I was a sight to behold.


My students gave me cards ranging from Spongebob, High School Musical, to Cars. A couple of kids gave me chocolate (always a good thing) and I also got various stuffed animals, silk roses, and a red and pink throw. That evening, I went to eat with my husband, daughter, in-laws, and niece at Huddle House. The guys went to the rodeo and the girls went to Dandy Doodlez. I didn't paint, I graded papers while they painted. We then came home and watched a movie before I fell asleep. (The guys weren't back yet but I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.) It was an interesting day.


Valentine's Day was spent sitting on my couch writing lesson plans. David had a big project due so he spent the day at the college library. That evening, we went to the rodeo with my parents, my nephew, and some friends. Today, we went to church and then went to a wake for David's uncle. Before the wake, we ate with my in-laws again. The trip there and back (an hour each way) was spent in the car trying read a research article and then writing an annotation for it, which is due tomorrow. It's still not done and neither are my lesson plans. I also think there's going to be a test in my class tomorrow--I'm not prepared for it.


So really, nothing much to shout about. I've been in a crummy mood most of the weekend and I'm just looking forward to Tuesday, when my class will be over and I'll have a few more days of work-related stress before the weekend gets here again.


Oh, and I still need to wash and dry clothes, go to the grocery store, wash and dry Raelynn's Rapunzel length hair, and get stuff ready for tomorrow.


Yeah....I warned you about this post. Hopefully the next time you hear from me, I'll be in a better place and no holiday will be anywhere in sight.

Friday, February 6, 2009

It's been on my mind.....



So I've found some other people that are as crazy about the Twilight series as I am. And guess what??? We're friends! I'm currently rereading the third book, Eclipse, and am about 20 pages from finishing. Before reading the fourth book, Breaking Dawn, I'll probably go back and reread Midnight Sun, a partial draft of a book Stephenie Meyer started but didn't finish. I'm hoping that someone will throw some big money at her and she can finish it. Until then, my friend Wendy and I will continue to rehash all things Twilight, as we anxiously await the release to DVD on March 21. We plan on watching it at our own Twilight party. Should be fun. I know you may not "get it." All I can say is, when you have a stressful job like mine, it helps to have an alternate reality to go to. I've happily brought several people to the dark side! It's time to go...gonna finish reading so I can start a new book tomorrow. It makes me happy...and goodness knows I need that lately!!!