Y is for Yawn.

2:22 PM Posted In , , Edit This 1 Comment »
All of my students seemed to be dragging today so I offered up an idea. I put on some relaxing "soundscapes" type music and told them they could put their heads on their tables or read a book. After the initial whispers, they really settled down. I even had one student fall asleep. It was about the last 20 minutes of our afternoon before my planning periods, so I figured, what the heck, they need a little rest and relaxation. Some chose to read but I just sat in my chair watching them all with envy. See, I am exhausted. Actually, I'm not really sure if that even defines what I feel-- all I want in the world is a nap.

Well -- I did it.

I think I sunk to a new level.

I took a nap at school. After I escorted my students to their related arts class, I came back up the three flights of stairs even more tired than when I went down...found a blanket they I have kept in a closet...laid it on the floor...set a cute timer that I have to check their reading fluency...and fell asleep on my floor. It was only about 13 minutes and if anybody needed me they could have buzzed my room...but I think it was the most relaxing 13 minutes I have had in for-ev-er. Now I am feeling refreshed and ready to tutor my kids after school...

THEN I'm getting a massage...saaaaaaa-weet.

X is for (copy cat) XOXO

3:14 PM Posted In Edit This 1 Comment »
Ok, I am a cheater. I am a big, fat, nasty cheater.

See, sweet SarahBeth posted this exact same post yesterday...but she did get me thinking about *good karma* which I of course always need. . . soooo....

Here I am-- sending out hugs and kisses to all of my dear friends, IRL and in blogland. I hope your hump day is treating you nicely!!!

W is for Waiting....

10:24 PM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »
Tom Petty is right...the waiting IS the hardest part.

V is for Valentine's Day

2:32 PM Posted In , Edit This 3 Comments »
Hello my long lost friends in blogland.
I had to go out of town for work this week, and while I kept myself updated on my readings, I slacked off on my own posting. So, without further adieu, V is for Valentine's Day.

I have a confession.

My name is Amy, and I love Valentine's Day. I know it is a ridiculous holiday, I know it is commercialized to the nth degree...but I can't help but love it. Maybe it is because I am a teacher, maybe it is because of my stellar valentine, maybe it's because I'm wack. Whatever it is, I love it.

Even though the hubs and I have been together for a couple Valentine's Days in the past, I still think my favorite V-day ever was probably the one time I didn't have a significant other. I honestly think I had boyfriends for every single Valentine's Day except one, my senior year of college.

My roommate Laura and I decided we were going to have a little dinner party, my friends Mary and Jen came over and we made steak (my roommate didn't eat because she was a vegan), salad, potatoes, chocolate cake, the works! It was fabulous. We didn't talk about boys, we weren't depressed because we didn't have anybody to share Valentine's Day with, we were just happy being with people we loved.

I think too many people look at V-day as a four letter word; thinking that it is miserable for anyone who is not in a fantastic relationship. I disagree. I think it is nice to have a day to celebrate someone, anyone, that you love.

I don't think hubs and I even have plans for the big day this year...I did get him a nice little book of my boudoir photos that he will hopefully enjoy, but as for dinner? Maybe I will look into whipping up something nice at home. I would much rather eat at home than going out this year. . .

Whatever you do, wherever you are, I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day with someone you love, platonic or not!

U is for Unprepared

2:31 PM Posted In , Edit This 2 Comments »
And THAT could be the understatement of the century.

Our county had a two hour delay today which is always a delight! My principal has been getting on the staff about being there on time; unfortunately, just because students have a 2-hour delay doesn't mean teachers do too. We are supposed to be there on regular time, or at least by 8:00, which is most of the time fine because normal time is 7:20. Maybe to prove a point or maybe because it had to be done, he called a staff meeting at 8:45. A surprise staff meeting? On a two-hour delay? He had already revealed the fact that he was leaving effecting March 1, so what could this meeting be about?

You guessed it (but you probably didn’t guess it unless you know me IRL)—staffing.

Staffing is based on the number of students in your school and the projected enrollment. Our school is very small and about to consolidate with another school with very similar demographics, so it is always a fear that we will lose teachers. This year I could breathe a sigh of relief because I was no longer the lowest on the totem pole. There were two other teachers that had less seniority in the county than I did. Bad news for them -- good news for me. Our school had to let two teachers go! This is TERRIBLE news, but I also received some startling news. As matter-of-fact-ly as humanly possible, my principal said, “ We have to lose two teachers, second grade teacher Ms. Red and first grade teacher Ms. Blue. Amy E. will be teaching first grade”.

::::awkward silence::::

Then he goes on to tell everyone in the building the insane amount of students each teacher will have in their classes because of the cut teachers. The students will all be back to regular classes (no more split gender and no more split grade level) and there will only be one class of each grade level, except kindergarten and first grade.

While this is HUGE in my little world, I am very, very, VERY terrified excited to try something new. I was planning to look for new jobs at the year if I had to stay in a fourth-fifth all girls’ class. They have really worn me out this year. Of course I love them, but my patience is running thin and I can’t subject myself to this year after year. So, as of now, I only have roughly 65 more days as an all-girls, fourth/fifth grade split teacher. I better live it up while I can!

T is for Taking...

2:27 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
Taking it easy that is. We had another snow day today so that of course meant more time with the boys.
Sam and I were enjoying a little cuddling sesh in "Crap-paw's" recliner, when Joelie decided to join the bunch.

Yay for snow and taking it easy!

S is for Superbowl.

2:44 PM Posted In , Edit This 3 Comments »
How dumb and predictable, I know. But, it just so happens that it fell at the right time for an “S” post.

Hubs and I got back yesterday pretty tired and sad from our visit to my brother’s house. We had a couple superbowl parties that we could have attended, but we decided that we would MUCH rather spend a quiet evening at home watching Troy Polamalu the Steelers play. With my ever-so-apparent love of food, I KNEW we couldn’t watch the game without a couple snacks, but we had been out of town for the past four days and had NOTHING in the house. . .

So, at approximately 5:00pm, I went to the grocery store (after a brief detour to my sister’s house where I sliced open my ankle on her screen door). Yikes. I knew everything would be sold out, but I tried my hardest to be creative.

I picked up stuff to make buffalo chicken dip, a pepperoni, cheese, olives, pickles, and of course, fritos and dip.
Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe : I did however substitute some of the Frank's Red Hot for melted butter because Hubs doesn't like the dip to be too spicy.
I am pretending hoping that is Frank's Red Hot coming out the side of my pile of dip, but my gut (literally) is telling me it's grease from the butter. . . Maybe that's why it taste's so good. . .

R is for Recap. . .

7:41 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
I have been MIA for the past few days, so I thought I would recap with lots of pictures from my weekend with my brother and sister-in-law!
We went up to see one of my favorite bands, Old Crow Medicine Show. They were fab.
My sister-in-law Jessica and me enjoying the music.
Husband almost always looks surprised in pics.
My brother and Jessica enjoying the show. Nicholas almost always looks like this in pics.
We had to walk through massive amounts of snow, while looking Romanian, says my sister-in-law.
As Nicholas and Jessica walked on the beaten path, hubs ran through the snow like a 5-year-old.

We made wings, rings, and things...here we are breading the onions. It looks like we forgot our makeup, but we didn't, it just came off after our 4 hour naps.

Par for the course, we had a freestyle dance party while we were deep frying our food.
Our finished products-- wings!!!
Our finished homemade onion rings.

Showing just exactly how tasty our wings were.


We sang duets while my husband someone who will remain nameless flipped off the camera.

We went to my brother's office where we did really important stuff with the 3D printer.

We ate 1/2 lb. meatballs @ Buca Di Beppo.

And we hated it when we had to leave. It's always nice to get back home, but it does make me sad living away from my brother and sister-in-law. I wish Jessica could go with me, my mom, and my sister when we go shopping every Saturday, I wish Nicholas could go shoot guns with the boys, or go shopping with us, or even just eat Sunday dinner with us. But their life is there and ours is here, so we have to make the best of it while we can, and we have been known to have some good times when we are together!
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