fun stuff

Tweet

I just had to share this paper punch w/everyone because I am completely in love with it!! It is my favorite of all punches. It is lovely. You should get one.

Working on a mini-album for next year...we'll see how long I'm able to stick w/it. I figure I do my share (or more) of complaining and I'm going to really try to find one thing each day to be grateful for...it will certainly be a challenge for me.

And just cutting up some papers in anticipation of Elise's class which starts tomorrow!! Hooray!! Thinking of making a 5x7 mini...just unsure what I'll fill it with. Also wishing I was home during the day to start on it, but instead I have a crazy full day..work retreat, WW, dinner w/mom and speaker presentation to attend at local school. I'm tired just thinking about it all.

I also took part in Shimelle's class "Learn Something New Every Day" but since September was filled with Comps Studying...I have done mine during October. Here are a few pics...

random babble

Tweet

Here's a random post for the 3 people who still read my blog...

*TGIF....it's early release for the students today...I still have to be here til 3:45ish. Meh.

*I only have 3 more nights of class to be completely done w/my Masters, but I will still be accumulating direct hours through December. I still cannot believe I am graduating on December 10th!! Woot!!

*The students have no school on Monday and we have a Faculty Retreat.  Most work-related retreats I have been to have had a "fun/team-building" component (other places of employment)...not this time, we are going to a church (!) that is 30 minutes away and will listen to a Deacon speak about the book "The Shack"...umm, I hope I can stay awake. I was really hoping for the retreat to be @ the local zoo where they bring out animals to pet, that you normally don't get to pet on a regular visit to the zoo. Just saying.

*E will get more than one wear out of this years Halloween costume. Hooray!! Today they are having a costume parade at his school, we are planning to go to a Trunk N Treat tonight and another on Sunday afternoon and then out for the real deal of Trick or Treating on Sunday evening.

*Noticing that I've been losing touch with some people lately.

*I am still not used to waking at 5:30am and the whole process of getting out the door in the morning is mentally exhausting, often negatively affecting my mood. Ugh. Some things you just never "get over"

*I'm struggling to keep up with the few shows I like to watch...House, Top Chef Just Desserts, The Good Wife, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. I am at least a couple episodes behind on House right now, but I always make a point to watch my Thursday night shows LIVE. They are too good to wait and last night was NO exception. Private Practice...oh.my.goodness.

*I'm considering running a 5K race on Thanksgiving day...I'll be in VA and I'm trying to recruit some family members to join in...it's a very family-friendly race (i.e. strollers & dogs welcome) and you can choose to walk too. I think it would be a great way to start a day that will likely result in over-eating.

*That's all for now. Happy Halloween.

bitchfest - pity party, call it what you will

Tweet

From the title of this post, you can only imagine how my day has started out...I was certain it was a Monday there for a while...apparently it is actually Wednesday disguising itself as the dreaded Monday.

It all began at 1:45am, when E woke me because he wanted some milk. I typically try to "talk him out" of this but there was no winning that battle this morning and if I wanted to get some sleep, I just needed to give in. Next stop: 2:45am...same.exact.situation. WTF? He rarely does this, so what's the deal with twice in one morning...oh wait, it gets better. Now it's 4:45am...he wants his TV shows on and he's pitching such a fit that again I cave, turn them on w/o volume thinking I'll get to sleep for 45 more minutes. Ha! Yeah right...stupid me. 

The only positive in all of this is that he wasn't a booger when it came time to get dressed for school, but that was because he had already been up for 90 minutes! 

As O likes to say, I'm on the "warpath" today...and for once he's right...any little thing has and probably will set me off...like the effin' moron who COMPLETELY turned in front of me while he had a RED light and I proceeded with my GREEN light leaving daycare drop off today. Yep, I honked, but somehow managed to control my hand gestures.

As you know I have that lovely arrival duty and of course this morning it HAD to be raining...so guess who gets to stand out there for 30 minutes of that fun...miraculously I had my umbrella.

When I have days like this, the bitterness in me comes out in full force and I'm reminded of all the times I was "promised" (loosely obviously) that I would be staying home with E during his younger years etc. etc. and the fact that that isn't even an option sends my mood plummeting to the ground. And then I get to observe all the doctor's wives dropping off their kids in their PJs or workout clothes...yeah, cuz that makes me feel even better about things. It's hard not to see other people's lives as SO MUCH better than mine (and yes, I know many have it worse, but just let me bitch for a minute ok?)

I'm in a pretty crappy mood and really can't help it right now. 

If I hadn't called in sick last week, I would have done it today. I do not want to deal with anyone and just want to crawl back into bed.

ETA: No, the day hasn't gotten better, but I lacked to mention the seriousness with which I am considering the need to return to my old line of work after this school year. Once school loan bills start coming in, I don't think this check will stretch that far...even with the increase I would get next school year. I have mixed feelings about it all...finally found an ENVIRONMENT in which I like to work and with good people, but the pay stinks. My former jobs that have paid well, have also come with CRAPA$$ people and environments. WTH? I guess it's too much to ask that all 3 come together for one happy work place?!

2 bummers

Tweet

Bummer #1 
I made my Christmas travel decision.

E & I will stick close to home. We may find some day-trips to take, but for the most part it looks like we'll be remaining in Tennessee for the holidays.

I'm both bummed and relieved.

Travel to TX just isn't in the cards this year.

Bummer #2
Being fat. It sucks. I've fought this battle all.of.my.life and I hate it.

I joined WW (for the bazillionth time) almost two weeks ago.

For the first time ever, I had ZERO weight loss the first week. WTF? How does *that* happen?? I follow the program exactly, track everything, drink my water but still nothing. I ran 2 or 3 times last week too.

The running thing is going to kill me though. It's getting harder and harder to do and I finally figured out why...I'm SO freakin' exhausted by the time I get home everyday, running is the last thing I want to do...and the reason I'm so exhausted is not just because I've been working, but that I'm waking up at 5:30am these days. Ugh!!

So far this week, the scale remains in the same place...I will be both embarrassed and livid if I lose nothing again this week.

Every morning when I get dressed, I nearly break down in tears.

What happened to choosing "rich or thin"....I'm neither!! Sucks!

planning ahead

Tweet

Thinking about the holidays already....E and I are (were?) supposed to fly to DFW at some point around Christmas to stay with my aunt for a few days.

At $425+ per ticket, I don't see that happening.

It's a 14 hour drive. I've always thought that it is a bit much, just myself and the little guy, but I'm starting to re-consider. I REALLY want to go to DFW, especially with having so much time off this year. And I know my aunt really wants us to visit, I don't want to disappoint her.

He didn't do great on our last long road trip (FL - July) but we weren't in our car (if that matters), but he did great on the trip to FL in March, so I guess it's a toss-up on how he would do from here to TX.

Is 14 hours in a car realistic for me and a 2.5 year old?

distracted

Tweet

I'm supposed to be working on a case presentation right now...but I AM at Starbucks and there is plenty to distract me...oh people watching gets me every time. And blogs to catch up on...

Anyway...I'm so relieved that the majority of pressure of school is lifted. I really only have to do this case presentation and one final paper and I'll be D.O.N.E.I cannot wait for the graduation ceremony, hopefully my name doesn't get butchered...and I'm really looking forward to pictures with E. :) I'm also glad that the Graduate/PhD ceremony is on a different day than the Undergraduate ceremony. We'll be done in 90 minutes. Hooray!!

Anyway, enough about school. I'm sure you are sick of that by now...let's talk about the weekend.

I'm hoping I have time to create a new blog banner...this one seriously needs to be changed out with it's Spring/Summer pictures!! Ack!

Tonight I am being taken to dinner (salad!) to celebrate passing my exam..we rarely go out to eat, so that should be nice...as long as E has a bit of patience..ha!!

Tomorrow we are heading to the Smoky Mountains...all the way to Newfound Gap...which we visited last year at just about this exact same time of year where I took this picture!!

It was insanely cold and the roads were icy (and scary!!)...I'm hoping it's not that bad tomorrow, but it is quite a site to see. On the way back down, we'll probably stop in Gatlinburg to take more pictures with the ginormous pumpkin collection....like in this picture (also from last year).

I passed - part 2

Tweet

There were 3 school counseling students that studied together for Comps. 

Me & Girl 2 were the super-crazy-nervous ones while Girl 3 remained cool & collected at all times, regularly reporting she just wanted to take it and get it over with. Me and Girl 2 were certain we would fail or AT LEAST have to do the oral-2nd chance question. We were always wishing to have some of Girl 3's confidence over the weeks leading up to the exam.

Strange results...me and Girl 2 passed on the first try. Girl 3 has to take the oral exam. I'm rather surprised. She is fine with it and I know she'll pass. I'm just relieved I don't have to deal with that.

At the end of class last night I stayed to talk to my (sexy) professor (about school stuff!) and he said that he's pretty sure my answers were all "pass-pass"...which means that both professors who read them graded them as "pass" so there was no need for a 3rd professor to read them as a tie-breaker. I left class last night on such a high.

It was a great day!!!

Now I have to come up with $85 for my cap, gown and hood.

55 days to graduation!!! I can't wait!!

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tweet

I got a surprise today with the early notification of my test results!!

I passed my Comps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started crying when I read the results! What a huge relief!

Top Chef

Tweet

How did I miss the start of the new show Top Chef: Just Desserts???? 

Oh my...this is SO up my alley...I swear still that I should have become a Pastry Chef...just wasn't an "option" for me at the time.

You can find me in front of the TV at 10pm ET on Wednesdays!! And if not, thank goodness for the DVR!! 

I'm adding this show to my "regulars"

it's time

Tweet

I gained back 10 of the 14 lbs I lost on WW when I joined about this time last year.

I signed back up today.

Sadly, I need the accountability of a place to go and a place to weigh in (that isn't my bathroom).

Sometimes I'm mad at myself for gaining so much back.

Sometimes I blame the stress of new job/comp exam on the gain as most of it occurred over the past 6-8 weeks.

I'm most frustrated in the morning when I'm looking for something to wear. I hate the feel of tight clothing. It's awful. Awful enough to motivate me to change....so here I go again.

A day in the life

Tweet

So my new job...
I'm liking it most of the time, Which is alot more than my last job...and when I say most of the time, I mean like there is only one thing I don't care for...that would be the beloved (not) position of "arrival duty".

What does that mean? Well, let me tell you...see, since we are a private school, we have no buses, so the kids are dropped off and picked up everyday by parents, family, friends etc.

Since we have about 600 students, that's alot of cars.

I have to arrive by 7:30am in order to open a gate so that the middle school kids can be dropped off...while that is not such an awful duty, the next 25-30 minutes that I have to stand outside "watching" (for nothing to happen) cars drive by is pure torture, in that it serves no purpose. Now that it's getting cold, I'm getting pretty miserable out there.

While I wasn't given a choice between arrival or dismissal duty, I was "sold" that arrival was far better since I could leave immediately at the end of the work day.

What I wasn't told though was that dismissal duty only occurs once every 4-5 weeks for one full week, while my arrival duty is every.single.day of the school year. Sucks to be me!!

So yep, dismissal duty would have been way better and no one will trade with me. Yay me!!

Also, I had requested an afternoon duty once they hired me primarily because I have to drop E off at his school (which opens at 7am) and then still drive to mine. Of course in a perfect world he would be in the preschool at my school, which would not only be uber convenient, but also a better education for him as well as save me about $80 per month. But they are at capacity. :( Yay me again!!

Oh this would also alleviate the worry of being late when the lady at the current daycare is 15-20 minutes late every now and then. For the record, that has happened 3-4 times lately in as many weeks.

So yeah, I love everything else about my job and especially my coworkers, they are awesome!! I could just do without the 5:30am wake up time and the arrival duty! :)

*sigh*

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

through the clouds

Tweet

That is how I was seeing everything up until taking that scary comprehensive test...through the clouds...or at least, dark & dreary anyway. The sun has come out now that the test is behind me...now I just have to hope that I passed. Ack!!

The test was 3 questions. Essay. Must pass two. In 3 hours, I typed 16 pages...I cannot imagine failing after writing (and including) all the information that I did. If I miss one of the two required, I will be told which one I missed, given one week to prepare and then go in to complete it orally. I hope I don't have to do that, but it's kind of a lot easier to swallow since I'll at least KNOW WHAT TO STUDY....which was the huge anxiety provoker in this whole thing to begin with.

On the bright side, timing has been great though. I had a school in service on Friday that was done at 2:30pm. Hooray for that. I headed over to Kroger to pick up E's Singulair and got my flu shot at the same time. It seems very WEIRD to get a flu shot @ the grocery store. Just saying! I then went to pick up E and we came home to relax a bit and also get caught up on my sadly neglected chores. Later we headed out to the high school football game, which was a lot of fun.

Saturday was "Momma & Ethan day" (that's what I call it anyway) and we headed out to do our errands...nothing too exciting, groceries, recycling center, lunch @ ChickFila for BOTH of us for $2 - thank you coupons!

Sunday - nothing on the agenda at all. I went out for a newspaper and to fill up the gas tank and that is all. Not going anywhere for the rest of the day, which is fine since it's a miserable 55 and cloudy. That feels REALLY cold considering yesterday it was 75 here!!! WTH?

The best part of this weekend...Fall Break is tomorrow...my first official school employee day off. Hooray!! E & I are heading south to Chattanooga for the day....lots of fun stuff to do down there and bonus that we'll be passing (and stopping at) a Publix on the way home.

It's great going to bed w/o the dread of that test hanging over my head. I even read more of "The Book Thief" last night, I need to get thru it and on to another book for fun.

And best of all...been doing some scrapbooking...off to do some more now. ¡Adios!