Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Pay It Forward Giveaway to Go Visit!

Remember my last Pay It Forward Giveaway? No? Well then click here. Then click here to enter Lori's giveaway in honor of winning my last giveaway. She has quite a thought provoking post, so go read it and then respond to enter her giveaway. But hurry....it's over on October 3rd at noon (pacific time I'm assuming).

Life continues to be too busy here. So this is all I have!!!

p.s. can you believe tomorrow is October 1st? Me neither!!!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Another Chance to Get to Know Janelle

Have You Ever…

1. gone on a blind date? ummm....does it count if you met him on the internet? cuz if so, i did and then i married him a few years later....

2. skipped school? not in k-12, unless you count faking being sick. college? yeah...all the time...

3. been on the opposite side of your country? no. i wanna visit NYC!!!

4. swam in the ocean? not swam, but walked...does that count? i lived in Seaside for 4 years and for a couple of those years i lived 4 blocks from the beach!!

5. had your booze taken away by the cops? no, not that i can recall.

6. lettered in a high school sport? Hah! No.

7. cried yourself to sleep? i’m sure i did this frequently as a baby, but not that i can recall as an adult...maybe i did when my grammy died and then before that when my grandpa died.

8. played a musical instrument? clarinet, in fifth though ninth grade. i tried to learn guitar when i taught in seaside, but reading music isn't a gift i posess.

9. sung karaoke? uh, sadly enough...but i was drunk those few times...i'm not going to even mention the song choices....

10. cheated on an exam? yes...i wrote the formula for photosynthesis on my arm for eight high school biology or life science or something. sorry Mr. Wilson.

11. played spin-the-bottle? um, maybe? i was probably drunk though...gotta love my college days.

12. laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose? yes. numerous times. i'm a dork.

13. watched the sun rise with someone you care about? no, but i've watched the sunset...

14. ever been arrested? no.

15. gone ice skating? yes, i grew up in south dakota. when i was in second through fourth grade i lived in mitchell and there was an ice rink not far from my house. it was awesome until i outgrew my skates. even had a warming house!!

16. been skinny dipping? no.

17. been on television? i don't think so, but my memory is pretty bad. if i was it was nothing major.

18. thrown up in front of a date? no.

Your turn. Blog it and tell me where in the comments section! Happy Monday to you all!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Weekly Winners

September 21-27, 2008
My week started on Sunday with Race for the Cure.
What an amazing event. I've participated several years. I love it!

Sylvia, Kaylynn, Kristin, Shari, Sharon (a survivor) and me.

Such a great cause to gather together for!
Shari & I (thanks Shari for taking the pic!) Being Silly
Our Bushes Before thier Leaf-Cut



And after....wow!!! Thanks Tall Man for calling "the tree man"
Liane's Princess Kassie and her new sign...spoiled! A Shower Gift...cover altoid can brag book....
The Inside...

Finished scrapbook pages 1 & 2, love spending time with Liane!
Finished pages 3 & 4. Wahoo!! Only a million left to go....
For more weekly winners, click here. Life isn't seeming to slow down so I may not be around much this week (either). I know, only a couple posts this week....wish me luck on "catching up".









Friday, September 26, 2008

Haiku Friday


open house last night
meeting families, much fun!
twelve hour day....yuck!

I'm tired, Thursday was a really long day! I'm so thankful the weekend is here! Open house was nice. Fourteen of twenty families came. Not bad. The ones that didn't come I wanted to meet. Such is life though!

Do you have plans for the weekend? I'm playing with my friend Liane on Saturday. I'm excited!!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Interesting Video

The Story of Stuff

Seriously, take 20 minutes and go watch this video. It's enlightening to say in the least.

Sorry I've not been around much this week....busy times I say. I've been to the gym twice since Monday, made muffins tonight and have open house Thursday night at school.

So....that is that. It's 9:37 and I need to go to bed!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Weekly Winners

September 14-20, 2008

Papa Duck painting Shorty McPrincess's toenails...he's so sweet.

Papa is seriously the best Papa....evah! Princess is living the high life!

The pain and suffering of pink eye.


A slow day in traffic, had to take a shot of the truck with all the flattened cardboard.

And.....we have clear eyes!

Shorty McMama's babies all lined up....taking naps.

Roller derby from date night last night.

The ref at roller derby...Mr. Tall kinda wondered about her "undies"...I'm thinking thong.....
For more weekly winners click here.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Fabulous Giveaway!

Ok, click here for a fantastic giveaway! It's for a Pakseat. Go enter to win, I know I did! Seriously, this bag could probably even make you a snack :)

Have a great Saturday. I'm off to the gym with Mr. Tall Man and then the house needs some attention....cleaning attention. I have shower invites to work on, reading to do for a class and attention to shower Shorty McShort with. I've got my hands full. Oh yeah, and Mr. Tall and I are headed to the roller derby tonight....wooo hooo!

Tomorrow is an early morning for Race for the Cure. I'm so excited! I look forward to this event every year!

Enjoy your day!!!!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Haiku Friday

the pink eye is gone
hallelujia! mommy sings....
no more drops or gel


i went to the gym
all i got was a sales schpeal
and saw 4 machines.

really pissed me off
this gym overwhelms me lots
hubby joined it too

partners in fitness
we will see how it works out
wish us lots of luck

real busy weekend
roller derby....bashing fun
race for the cure too


Thursday, September 18, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #4


Thirteen Jobs I've had...in chronological order from first to number thirteen.


1. Baby sitter for two young neighbors. Brandi and Bryan. I think I made like a quarter an hour, but it was a great way to spend time. I even cleaned the house while there. Cute kids, I wonder what they're doing these days.

2. Paper stuffer for Tri-State Livestock News in Sturgis, South Dakota. What a messy job...grab a stack of newspapers hot off the press and then grab a stack of inserts and put the inserts in the paper and then "jog 'em down". (make 'em all pretty and neat) I remember having newspaper ink all the way up my arms to my elbows. Great first official job.

3. Baby sitter for a hot shot doctor at Fort Meade VA Hostpital. Yeah...Chevy Chase look-alike. Had a real bear rug with a big head. Had a jackalope too....crazy shit. Great house. Good times.

4.. Waitress at Molly B's in Sturgis, South Dakota. First job waiting tables. Real dive. Grease joint. Great learning opportunity. Bad tips. Shitty shift. Big money during one week of the year...if you know Sturgis, you know what I'm talking about.

5. Motel room cleaner in Sturgis. WORST JOB EVAH! Seriously people. If I was a single mom of ten kids and it was take this job again or let them and me all starve, I'd starve along with my kids. OMG, I can't even begin to explain how bad it was. Let me just mention a couple things...pubic hairs, puke and oh yeah, I HATE cleaning.

6. Slave in the periodicals section of the Black Hills State University Library. Seriously...this was work study, thank you federal government. But honestly, my boss, Becky was horrible. Librarians have a way of taking their jobs too seriously. She'd give me this stack of magazines like 10 feet tall and be upset that I wasn't thrilled to go shelve them. Duh!

7. Waitress at the Valley Cafe (now has a casino too i guess) in Spearfish, South Dakota. Meanest man-boss evah! His wife was ok, but man....Alan was a piece of work. Seriously. There are ways to get employees to do shit, and his just didn't work. I remember countless times he had me in tears. Ass. (but it helped pay for college and all the alcohol I drank then)

8. Long term sub teacher in Hot Springs, South Dakota. I lived with my mom for 6 months. Thanks mom, I'm sure I made you crazy. It was an ok gig, I learned a lot about teaching special education too. Thanks....I can't think of your name, but your hubs was a police officer for the highway patrol and you were really sweet :)

9. Special education teacher grades 6-12 at Bennett County Jr./Sr. High School in Martin, South Dakota. Wow, did those kids school me. Just off the reservation most of the kids lived in a government housing project. I drank a lot that year. Seriously. Thanks to the people who made it endurable. Mr. McEldowney (not sure if I spelled that correctly) and I can't remember your name but you were going to get divorced but then didn't but you were a lot of fun and also to my teaching partner Stacy who got me through that year. Sorry I ditched you after you got me on you bowling league and everything.

10. Waitress at some shitty steakhouse in Martin. How sad that a full time single teacher needed a second job to pay the bills. 'Nuff said.

11. Salad cook and prep cook extraordinaire at Pacific Way Cafe in Gearhart, Oregon. Yup...I wanted to be a waitress but I'd just cracked my humerus (night of drinking, fell and cracked it) so I couldn't carry trays. I made salads and dressings and croutons. Yummy place to work. OMG if you've not eaten there....go NOW! (summer job before my teaching job in Seaside started)

12. Special education teacher at Seaside Heights Elementary in Seaside, Oregon. I also taught second grade. I loved this school and miss it very much. I also miss the beach...a lot. I only moved to get married.....

13. Bagels by the Sea (it was in a different location when I worked there) in Seaside, Oregon. I made bagel sammies. It was an ok job. The perks were I got to take day old bagels home with me. It was also probably a bad thing that I took all those bagels home....great summer job.

13.1 Mo's at Cannon Beach....another summer job.
13.2 Teacher for Centennial School District...my current job...love it! Best school evah!

So there you have it. All of my jobs...oh shit!! I forgot to mention the summer job when I was like 16 and I worked at Glencoe Campground during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. OMG! Did I ever "learn" alot that week!!! And the summer I worked at Pig N Pancake in Seaside.



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!




Tuesday, September 16, 2008

No Ooze...

I'm excited to say that Shorty McShort has been ooze free for a day. She woke up Monday with just the redness, like after a night of too much drinking...let's hope for clear white eyes (which I doubt will happen) this morning. If not, the pediatrician was talking about sending her to an opthamologist....i don't really wanna go down that road.

On a different note, I really must take some pics in my classroom to share. We finished our class promise yesterday and did some art to go with it...just too cute. Our wall story is in full swing and they're budding authors. I've never taught first grade before, but this is one group of smar-ties!!

I'm off to see a trainer tonight at LA Fitness...I met him on Saturday and he asked about my fitness goals...I was like, ummmm.....to just be healthy.....I wanted to say anything is better than this...lol. But I didn't. I'm afraid that I'm gonna be hurting on Wednesday....my quads already hurt. I actually used the stair master for 9 and a half minutes....I couldn't stay on any longer.

Wish me luck.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Pink Eye Continued

So we visited our pediatrician's office and saw a different doctor Sunday. I like her. I think she'll be our new doctor. Really. Shorty decided she didn't like her male pediatrician. I'm done fighting with her on it. It's just easier to switch. So. Yeah. Back to our visit today.

Doctor says that we'll try some new ointment. She doesn't have much faith in the drops. Shorty's eyes should be as good as new in 48 hours. If not, to an opthamologsit she'll go. I'll believe it when I see it. She's had the 4 doses and they didn't look any different at bedtime. We'll see. The good thing is she's been goober free. None on Sunday, and hopefully none today when she wakes up. (I warned Mr. Tall Man if she's got goobers, no daycare...man it sucks to pay for daycare when she misses most of a week...and she misses it too)

So. The moral of the story? Don't get pink eye. This strain is NASTY!

Really.

More pictures to come.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Weekly Winners

September 7-13, 2008

Papa Duck waiting for the big birthday present....Grammy has such a wonderful sense of humor!

Happy Birthday Papa Duck!

My pink eye baby. Read about it here or here or here.

She's happy even with the affliction!

Nice, huh? They still look like this...we're headed to the doctor's today (I know...Sunday hours, we have the BEST pediatrician EVAH)...stay tuned for the latest!
I know I don't have much this week. It's been a rough week with all the pink eye going on. Hopefully next week will be better!!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Peeing In My Pants Funny!

Make sure to pause my music player to listen to the audio on the video clip.


Guest Post by Katie

So while I was having lunch this week with my former team mate and all over gal pal Katie she was sharing her famous tortilla soup recipe. I said if she e-mailed it to me I'd let her be my first guest poster. So here it is! Thanks Katie, you're now an official rock star blogger in my book. AND...if any of you want to guest post on my blog, just e-mail me!! I'd be honored to have you here.

From Katie:
Here's the recipe we discussed at lunch...
4 chicken breast halves
2 15 oz cans of black beans, undrained
2 15 oz cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes or rotel tomatoes
1 cup salsa
4 oz can of chopped green chilies
14.5 oz can tomato sauce
tortilla chips
2 cups grated cheese
1. Combine all ingredients except chips & cheese in large slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours.
3. Just before serving, remove chicken breasts & slice into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup.
4. To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese.

From Janelle:
This stuff is really yummy!! Seriously...a couple years ago on an inservice day at school Katie had us all over for lunch and she served this stuff...yummy! (and I don't usually like salsa) MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm Good!

Happy Saturday to you all. We're still fighting pink eye here. (grumble grumble, maybe I should start writing sub plans for Monday)

Edited to add more pink eye updates...So Shorty and I took a nap. To get her to chill out due to the "pricklies" in her eye I gave her some ibuprofen and eye drops. When she woke up...three hours later, she had a bit of blood on her cheek. Freaked me out, but I stayed calm for her, it's amazing how I can do that even when I'm seriously freaking out on the inside. I called our pediatrician's office...they have a night answering service that has an advice nurse call you. From what I told her she decided she needed to call the doctor on call. Dr. on call said to try some Benadryl as she is thinking maybe Shorty is suffering from allergies on top of the pink eye. Poor kid has had more medicine today that she's had for the entire month combined. Dr. said she also wanted to see her tomorrow (yes, Sunday) at the clinic. I had no idea the office was open on Sunday...wow! Love our pediatrician!!!

Wish us luck, I'm ready for Shorty McShort to be all better, be able to go back to daycare (she only went one day this week and then couldn't go the next day).

Also edited to add notes from Katie, our guest blogger:
Here's a tip...freeze all the leftovers sans chips & cheese. It's dreamy to have something in the freezer that I can pull out the night before, put in the fridge & warm up after a long day at work.

Which Katie will need after the birthday party she's got tomorrow (Sunday). She's been busting her hump today with the little person underfoot getting into daddy's deodorant. She's a trooper!! Go Katie!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Kids Say the Funniest Things

So the funniest thing was said in my classroom today...first grade classroom....

the kids are writing books and i'm trying to listen to some of their books...i get to one particularly feisty young guy who tells me, "I wrote it in my language"....great I say, what does it say? He says, "hey you little bastard!".

Okay. Now I think I've fully experienced first grade.

Yup.

And the pink eye continues on. Make it end.

Haiku Friday

poor shorty mcshort
bad case of pink eye got her...
oozey gooey puss

"mom, stop the pricklies"
she'd cry to me. poor baby.
bed time was the worst

all gone, so i thought
but alas, no! puss returns!
no daycare today....

dad's turn to stay home
how much longer will this last?!
infection be gone!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously people....we've been dealing with this since Sunday night...medication since Monday morning....make it stop!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #3








Thirteen Quirky Things about Me

1. I hate the sound the seeds in berries make when I eat them (I generally try to not chew them much)

2. I can't stand most condiments...ick on the: ketchup, mustard, ranch, pickles, onions, mayo, salad dressing, and the list just goes on, but I love hummus....

3. I can't help but buy things on really good sales...if I don't buy it I feel as if I'm just losing money....

4. I kiss the dashboard of my car when driving through a yellow light...gotta give the car some lovin' for getting me through safely!

5. I complain that I can't get shit done, but I talk on the phone to friends constantly and am reading ten billion different blogs.

6. I like to be warm in bed, but I want the bedroom cool for sleeping.

7. I hate that I'm late at work all the time but I love to talk to my friends...

8. I can't fall asleep if my feet are cold (thank god Mr. Tall is a radiating heat machine!)

9. I'm usually reading 2 or 3 books at the same time.

10. I make piles...everywhere, but can't stand it when there are dishes in the sink or the toilets are nasty.

11. I have more patience with other people's children than my own at times.

12. I do things I don't really want to do sometimes because if I don't I feel guilty about it.

13. I love my blog even though not many people read it.




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!