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!

Q is for Quick

5:06 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
Since these have been circling facebook, I knew it was inevitable that I would eventually be tagged. 

So, here you have it. Straight from my facebook notes; 25, well, 28, quick and random facts about me. 

1. My initials spell my name phonetically. When I got married I dropped Leigh (even though I loved it) to make my maiden name my middle name. My initials went from ALM to AME

2. I have had a pet turtle, Mr. Peepers, for at least five years.

3. I have always been looked at as the “wild child” of my family but it’s just because I tell all of my business. I think my sister or brother could have given me a run for my money but they are much more secretive about their meanderings.

4. I can flip my eyelids inside out. 

5. My dream job would be working in a salon doing hair and nails aaaaall day long. I never even mentioned going to cosmetology school to my parents because I was afraid they would think I was crazy for not wanting to go college.

6. I loved every minute of undergrad and I am pretty sure I wouldn’t change anything I did if I had to do it over again. 

7. Graduate school kinda sucked. 

8. The only thing I ever wanted to do with my life, besides hair and nails, was to be a mom. Unfortunately there is not an undergraduate degree for Mommy-ship, so I went into teaching. 

9. One reason why I wanted to get married was because I was surrounded with the strong marriages of my mom and dad, sister and Nathan, and brother and Jessica.

10. More than anything in the world I would love to be a mom. I am terrified of this because I don’t think there is any way possible I could be as good of a mom as my mother or my sister. 

11. Even though I know it probably will eventually happen; I can’t imagine loving any child more than I love my nephews Sam and Joel. 

12. I think the US should think more like Sweden on maternity leave--16 mos. paid leave per child. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave

13. I once sprained my ankle because I was excited about eating a sausage sandwich, and it was a very bad sprain.

14. I broke my nose in dance class after my girl Joanie asked me to skip it so we could hang out.

15. We have had all our baby names picked out since before Tyler and I were married. Who knows if we will ever use them. . . 

16. I have never had a speeding ticket, or even been pulled over ::::knocks on wood::::

17. I never went camping or would have considered myself “outdoorsy” until I started hanging out with Tyler…Now I can’t imagine my life without camping, fishing, peeing in the woods, swimming in rivers, etc.

18. I think homeschooling could be either the best/worst-service/disservice you could ever do for your child.

19. I believe in public education and it’s not just because our kids will go to the school where “Grandma” is the principal. 

20. I have only passed out once in my life. It was while I was checking out at the gyno’s office…I told the clerk that I thought I was going to be sick. I passed out and hit my head on the wall. My gyno made me go get a CT scan to make sure I was ok. They still use the wicker trashcan I smashed when I landed. They also still joke about it when I come in.

21. I could live anywhere in the world with Tyler…as long as my parents and sister moved there too. 

22. I have four tattoos. My most recent is on my back and has rhododendrons and says “Montani Semper Liberi”. Said tattoo is still unfinished. When Kevin (tattoo artist) finished the lettering, he said, “Hey, what is the ‘Montani Sepmer LIBRARY’ anyway?” I panicked for a hot sec, but then I realized he was just messin’ with me. 

23. I think that going to “Lick Run Tavern” with Melissa was a defining moment in my life.

24. Tyler and I have lots of nicknames for eachother, but most of the time I call him Borg and he calls me Sasquatch.

25. I met my husband through facebook by clicking on five random people I didn’t know in my college's network, Tyler was the sixth. At the time, we had no mutual friends.

26. I have two "pretend" sisters-in-law, Sarah and Erin. They are pretend because we aren't really related but we act like we are. Sarah is my bil Nathan's little sister and Erin is my sil Jessica's little sister.

27. When I need sisterly advice without the tattling to my mom, I go to Sarah for everything. Mary Ann and I have a very hard time keeping secrets from each other and our mom...Sarah can keep a secret from both of them. . . MA and MOMMY, don't you dare push Sarah for info about my secrets!!! Haha...

28. When I was in 7th grade I was at a sleepover and a girl there was being mean to me, I called Sarah crying and she put the fear of God in that poor girl's heart.

There you have it. 28 quick random factoids about yours truly. Thanks for reading!

P is for Play Day

8:48 PM Posted In , Edit This 4 Comments »
Well, in my sweet little county, we had a snow day today!!! So, knowing that I was on P for my alphabet blogging...so I set out to have a day full of P's. But not peas, I don't like peas.

First...I started my morning by pretending.

I woke up at my normal time; about 5:35 to start my morning. The weather people were calling for snow, so I went to my laptop to see if my county had a delay or if they were closed. Lo and behold, we were closed!!! Halle-freaking-lujah! I tried to climb back in bed with the boy, but I couldn't sleep and I was squirmy and coughy, and he wakes up about an hour and a half after me, so I decided to get out of bed. I thought it would be fun to pretend to be a stay-at-home-wife so I tidied the house a little, washed dishes from the night before, and made hubs cheesy eggs and ham, bacon, and toast. It was fun pretending, then he went to work and I was bored.

Next, I decided to give myself a little pedicure. I soaked my feet, trimmed my cuticles, buffed my nails, the whole nine yards. Finally, I painted my pigs OPI's French Chambord-Tini. I won this nail polish at the same WWW where I won my massage gift certificate!

Around 10AM I decided to go to my Mama's house...I think that's one of the good things about living in a one mile radius from your mom and sister; even on snow days you can still hang out with the girls, and boys! My dad drove up to pick up my sister and her boys to bring them down because of the crappy roads. I walked over to my mom's house and began my play day.

My mom and sister made me drive out to pick up the pizza and Sam was excited for his pizza. Joelie ate tons and TONS of pizza, but somehow, I didn't have many picture of him and then he was onto his nap.

Later, Sam and I decided to make peanut-butter kiss cookies! He is starting to be a help in the kitchen! He even unwrapped the kisses for the cookies. Here is a picture of Sam eating another cookie while we were making the other cookies...he has quite the sweet tooth.
Later, Sam wanted to get in bed to "play". I pretended to be asleep and he laid down beside me...then he was concerned about where my feet went. He went under the covers to find my feet and decided he wanted to stay under the sheets. He looked up at me and said, "Amy. AMY. This is so fun!"
After Joelie woke up from his nap, he of course had to have a cookie, but not the peanut butter kind, apparently babies shouldn't eat peanut butter until they are two. It's such a good thing my sister knows everything to know about pregnancy, being a mom, what kids can eat because I am sure I will be totally clueless when it comes to that stuff. My mom was making pinto beans for dinner and Sam said he wanted some. She set some out on a plate so they could cool down for him, he never got to those pinto beans because Joel ate them. Joel who doesn't like to eat anything if it isn't sweet or pizza.
Joel and Sam ended our play day by playing the piano together. I promise they are not really dirty, they just had about fifty a couple Hershey kisses. The temperature has warmed up a little here but it is still icy. I am hoping for another snow day tomorrow, but I am not quite sure I could come up with a day full of "q" activities. Oh well!

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