Here are thirteen activities my students were doing in class WITH THEIR HANDS!!

(only because I can't post their cute little faces....sigh....)

1. Sharpening a Pencil

2. Reading

3. Typing

4. Teacher & Student

5. Math

6. Dinosaurs

7. Legos

8. Puzzle

9. Coloring

10. Memory Game

11. Sewing

12. Jacks

13. Doorknob

A-Z of Me

I was tagged by Lindsay!!!

A - Available/Single? Taken and in love!

B - Best Friend? They know who they are!!

C- Cake or Pie? Pie, yummy.

D - Drink Of Choice? Water with lemon and I eat the lemon too.

E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? My car.
F - Favorite Color? It's a tossup between purple and green.
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Gummy bears. I miss them at the movies!

H - Hometown? (born in) Onsted, Michigan
I - Indulgence? Hershey ANYTHING.
J - January Or February? February....Valentine's Day and my mom & Grandma's birthday
K - Kids & Their Names? 1 hamster...Sparky, and 21 cute little 6 & 7 year olds at work!
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? Love (duh!)

M - Marriage Date? Soon

N- Number Of Siblings? 1 brother, 2 step-sisters, 1 step-brother

O - Oranges Or Apples? Oranges

P - Phobias/Fears? Climbing up high places

Q - Favorite Quote? "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" -Wayne Gretzky

R - Reason to Smile - Hearing Kenny's keys in the door.
S - Season? Fall

T - Tag Four People? Nah....

U - Unknown Fact(s) About Me? I am the wicked witch from 5-7am. And, my closets are really messy, despite being obsessive with cleaning.

V - Vegetable you don't like? Brussel Sprouts

W - Worst Habit? Being obsessive with cleaning and then messing it up.

X - X-rays You've Had Recently...None!

Y - Your Favorite Food? Mexican, same as Lindsay and Lori
Z - Zodiac Sign? Sagittarius

Kenny, the dancin' machine!

Hands off ladies!!! He's all mine!! (wink wink).

Last night Kenny's long-time friends tied the knot after dating for 8 1/2 years.

Congratulations A & J!!

What a night! I won't go into too much detail, but I will say that there was a small incident with goldfish, cream cheese, a fork, and roast beef. The fish bowl was TAKEN away from our table...actually, it was Kenny's friend's table, not our's, thank god. Some things never change.


Here we are before the craziness happened.

What a Thanksgiving...

I can honestly say I never had a Thanksgiving like I did this year....

For my whole life, holidays have meant traveling. And far places too. At least over an hour as a kid, twice in one day. And now that I live about an hour and a half from either parent, it means more traveling on holidays. Well, this year, on the actual holiday, we traveled exactly 1 mile to Kenny's parents house and that's it. THAT'S IT!! Can you handle it?? And we didn't even have to be there until the afternoon either! Amazing!

It was a nice, quiet, dinner with his small family, and then hours later, Kenny and I snuck away to do a little shopping before the Black Friday mess started. It was the first (and maybe the only) holiday that I didn't have to drive somewhere, other than a mile. Talk about relaxing!

Since my parents are divorced, we usually have Thanksgiving with one side (this year it's dad's) and Christmas with the other side. I still see both of my parents for the holidays, just not always at big family parties. So Kenny and I got up early yesteday and went to my mom's house for an hour or so before going to my dad's for the big blowout. We had a great time with my mom. I forgot my camera when we were there though! She had way too many sweets to eat, but I was good, and had one teeny tiny cookie. That's it!

When we got to my dad and step-mom's house, it was already filled with my step-siblings, a new boyfriend (my step-sister's, and he fared WONDERFULLY during all the chaos), a couple neighbors, and a few of my step-mom's relatives, I guess they are my step-aunts and uncles? That'll work. Anyway, the house quickly filled up. My step-mom's family tradition is to have a chili cookoff the day after Thanksgiving because everyone is sick of turkey. The chili was awesome! And, of course, there were side dishes EVERYWHERE of delicious carbohydrates that I stayed away from, as much as it killed me. And I didn't even touch the desserts. Way to go.

When the rest of my aunts and uncles got there, along with my grandparents and a whole slew of cousins, the party got loud! It was so much fun. My family has not gotten together like this in a few years, and I miss these kinds of gatherings. In my dad's family there are 6 kids, 3 boys, 3 girls, just like the Brady Bunch. And just over a year ago, the youngest one, my Aunt Nano, passed away after battling cancer for 10 years. So last year around the holidays, it was pretty sad. And it felt like no one was really into celebrating much, at least from my perspective. So for everyone (minus a couple people) to be together yesteday, laughing and smiling and enjoying being together, was pretty special to me. I have years years of wonderful family gatherings, including my Aunt Nano, and she was the one who was always "playing" with the cousins. She is SO missed. I know most of us were thinking that we missed her yesterday. How can we not?

It's always so much fun being around my cousins. We always find ways to topple onto each other, whether it's on a couch or somewhere else. It just always happens, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I had a great Thanksgiving. I got to see both of my families, and share Thanksgiving day with Kenny's family. I have SO much to be thankful for.

Oh, and one more thing. My step-sister told me that she reads my blog a lot. AND DOESN'T COMMENT!! So when you read this Miss Banana, COMMENT!! I'm putting a "shout out" to you and your new man (of 1 year, where have I been??)! So now you have to comment!

To see the pictures, click here.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

Have you ever changed a flat tire by yourself?

Yes, and it was a most UNPLEASANT experience.

Soup

Do you have an "innie" or an "outie" belly button?

Let's see here....it's an innie.

Salad

Name a new paint color and describe it.

Jamorange....a mix of the color of jamocha shake and a burnt fall orange...I think it's a mood color.

Main Course

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Taking pictures....what else?

Dessert

If you were a cookie, what kind of cookie would you be, and why?

Peanut butter for sure....mmmmmm....just because they are sooo yummy and chewy.

I got the idea for this meme from Tee.

If you want to play along too, click here!

Thirteen Reasons Kenny Is

Thankful For Me!!!

1. I rub his back.

2. I clean up after him (sometimes).

3. I give him lots of presents on Christmas and his birthday.

4. I call him first everyday on my way home from work.

5. I do not cook too much (everyone should be thankful for that).

6. I love being outside.

7. I LOVE all of our cute little hamsters (we have 3 now).

8. I quit overreacting to crazy stuff.

9. He found out what real love is (I know, ew).

10. I brighten his day EVERY DAY.

11. I like to walk around Meijer's aimlessly for hours at midnight (we discovered we both liked to do this on about date 3).

12. I put up with his crazy antics (not many people do)!

13. He has my unconditional love...forever.

LOVE YOU HONEY!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Word Beads

Word Meme!!

I got this idea from a fellow blogger. Check out the website and give it a try.

The mission is to string the words below with other words of your choosing to fashion a sentence, several sentences, a paragraph, several paragraphs, a poem, or even a short story.

~Slogan~

~Acronym~

~Stochastic~

~Ancient~

~Circumscription~

The stochastic circumscription made with yellow rope around the crumbling, ancient stadium was covered in grafitied slogans and gang acronyms.

Photo Hunt

P L U S H

This teddy bear is SO plush! I got him as a sweet sixteen birthday present...oh, so many years ago. He's a little beat up, but he still sits on the bed. He's been through part of high school, all of college, and is still with me. He's a HE, but doesn't have a name, just BEAR.

Meme Again!!

I was tagged by the great LINDSAY from My Splatter Painted Life. I think I've already done this one, but I'll do it again. I love memes!!

5 Things About Me

1. I love it when Christmas is so close!

2. I am the meanest, nastiest, crankiest person between 5am and 7am.

3. I miss living in the country!!

4. I got a HUGE bonus check today. SWEET! And it's payday too!

5. I drive a tiny silver car...it's so cute!

I am tagging Niki and Bethany! (Tasha, you were already tagged, otherwise, I would tag you too!)

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons To Blog!

1. For therapy

2. To meet some pretty nifty people

3. See others' creative ideas

4. To tell a story

5. Keep in contact with family/friends far away

6. For your job

7. Just because it's fun

8. To keep a journal of your life

9. To feel accepted

10. You are addicted to reading others' blogs

11. You want to share your life with the world

12. For a school assignment (college)

13. To show off your photography skills (not me!!)

Jerk, cheap, literal, in that order!!

I was happily engaged in strength training at the gym tonight after my 30 minute cardio stint on the treadmill, and I had been eyeing one particular machine for about 10 minutes. The same guy had been using it and I was patiently watching to see when he was done so I could go next. So he gets up and takes his towel with him, leaving me to assume he's done, right?

Wrong.

As I lean over to adjust the weight settings, he rudely says, "I'm not done, I'm just taking a break."

Taking a break? TAKING A BREAK??

How can you be taking a break and still have dibs on the machine? That's not how it works! You walked away from it with your towel! Hello! Take your turn buddy and get your #*@ out of the way so I can work my arms!

That's not what I said, but believe me, I wanted to. I've become more outspoken in the last few years (thanks to you-know-who), but not that outspoken. I did, however, shoot him a dirty look and wait till he was "done" so I could get my turn. And my dirty looks are ruthless. So I hope he sees my mean face in his head still.

Jerk.

On a lighter note, I took the advice of Tasha about getting some mesh bags to help with the laundry situation. I bought the device and put it together. And then it fell apart. Is it bad that it won't HOLD all of our laundry?? After I picked up the pieces and put them back in the box, and fished the receipt from the trash, I think I figured out the problem. It's probably not a good idea to pick the cheapest laundry organizer on the shelf, especially when the amount of laundry is HUMUNGOUS (sp?)!!! So this weekend I will take the hunk of junk back and get a better quality laundry organizer. I guess my cheap days are over...sigh...

I know I talk about my students too much here, but I can't help it. With no kids of my own yet, they take the place of what would be "my kids."

Somehow, I used the comment "Sorry Charlie" to one of my girls today. Everyone heard me say it, and the girl, H, that I said it to asked, "Miss L, what does that mean?" I laughed because every now and then I'll say something goofy like that and realize that they are too young to know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I explained that it sort of meant to be out of luck. Some of the kids got it, and we went on about our day. Some time later, I overhear the same girl, H, and another girl, M, discussing who gets to take my flashcards home for the night.

H says, "It's my turn to take them home. You had them on Thursday."

M says, "Sorry Chucky (mimmicking my "Sorry Charlie"), Miss L said I could." (which I didn't)

H says, "It's Sorry Charlie, not Chucky, and I'm telling Miss L that you said that."

I swooped into the conversation before any tattling took place and said something about my ears not listening to tattling, and that was that. But isn't that funny how they are so literal, even with mistakes?? Sponges, I tell ya. They are all sponges!

Weekendness

This weekend I indulged in lots of "me" time. Since I didn't have work on Friday, I met a couple teacher-friends and we raided The Scrap Box in Ann Arbor....it's a store that has lots of scraps left over from companies and warehouses and they donate things to be used in bulk. So we stocked up on arts and crafts supplies for holiday art projects...fun! After that I worked out (I'm being sooooo good about it right now) and we rented a couple movies.

Saturday I met a good friend (since we were in nursery school) at a craft show to get some Christmas shopping done. OMG did I just say Christmas shopping???? Ahhhh! I actually got a lot of shopping done! And I got tons of new ideas for my own crafts. Usually I make lots of gifts, but the only things I think I'll be making this year are cards and candles. Everything else takes a back seat to school work. After the craft show, we had lunch/dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Yummy. When I got home, K was in an exceptionally restless mood, so we did a little more shopping (I LOVE it that my man likes to shop!) and got a few more gifts purchased. We are so on top of things this year. FYI-Bath and Body Works is having a 4/$10 sale on hand soap....great gifts! I stocked up on those for gifts too!

Today we (I) did the usual cleaning and laundry. Which leads me to the ultimate question: How do you keep your dirty laundry area neat????? Keep in mind we are still in an apartment (with our own washer and dryer) but all the dirties are in a closet, on the floor, stacked up to who knows where. It's awful. Good thing no one sees it, 'cause I'd catch hell. I guess I did just dish my own 'dirty' secret on the internet, but seriously, I need help! Any suggestions on what to buy to keep it organized?? I've tried the laundry baskets and hampers, and they just aren't big enough. Am I making it worse by wanted to be organized like that? Should I give up? Suggestions?

Another cool thing I did today....I talked to Tasha on the phone! We had a great conversation and she's just as COOL on the phone as she is on her blog! I think we were both nervous because we have been blogging buddies for a while now, and you really get to know someone's life through their blog, at least from what's posted, so when we chatted in person, it was kinda strange at first but then really fun because there is so much to talk about!

I am already up waaaaaaay too late just putzing around, trying to avoid going to sleep because that means Monday morning will be here! This weekend has been so nice...not only was it 3 days, but I didn't do ONE OUNCE OF COLLEGE OR SCHOOL WORK AT ALL! Now that's what I'm talking about!

Thursday Thirteen

I had a hard time trying to come up with thirteen things about anything today. I know I should probably wait until Thanksgiving to do this T13, but I need an idea pronto!

Thirteen Things I Am Thankful For

1. Mom, Dad, Mark

2. The love of my life...Kenny

3. All of my friends and family (you know who you are!)

4. Crunchy peanut butter

5. My job (I LOVE what I do)

6. Growing up at a time when you could still play outside well past dark with the neighbor kids

7. Being taught to say "please" and "thank-you" as soon as I was talking

8. Campfires with loved ones

9. Riding in Kenny's truck with him anywhere

10. Getting to know my students this year-they are the best!

11. Meeting people through blogs that I consider real friends (you know who you are!)

12. Being welcomed into my man's family so quickly

13. Sparky

Election Day

It's the American thing to do!

Don't Forget!

It's Sunday AGAIN!

Feels like I was just here....sitting at my computer, the sun shining, chilly breeze outside, the smells of clean clothes and black cherry Candle-Lite candles, Kenny babbling on while I'm try to get some work done, and me in my post workout state of mind.....MUSH.

And Sunday is back again! The weeks are just flying by this semester, not to mention the weekends.

I really shouldn't be on blogger right now. I should be typing my lengthy, wordy analysis-y answers to questions that I despise. But Kenny left for a minute to run an errand, so while he's not looking, I'm playing. Ha ha. So there.

Today I started the South Beach Diet. So far so good. There's lots of stuff in it that I REFUSE to eat. Mainly the fish and ricotta cheese. Forget it. But the other stuff is doable. We dropped $100+ at Kroger racking up the groceries for this too. Better be worth it! I'm so ready for this!

Treated myself to a manicure yesterday, and I had been looking forward to it for a whole week. My nails are short, but they can still look cute, right? They look horrible now. A crappy paint job and it's already coming off today. Plus, aren't they supposed to remove all the dead skin around the cuticles?? Yeah, I think they forgot. I was in a hurry when I left the salon yesterday, so I didn't look all that closely until a few hours later. I won't be going back there EVER!! I guess that means I will have to go get another manicure this week, somewhere better!

See for yourself.

Back to the analysis bullshit. Happy Sunday!

TGIF

What a day. There was snow AND sunshine. That usually doesn't happen in Michigan. Yesterday was the first snow fall for the year. It wasn't much, and it didn't stick, but it did create a few accidents on the drive home. Seems like when the snow comes for the first time, Michiganders forget how to drive in snow and act all crazy and irratic. The funny thing is, the ground isn't frozen so the snow isn't sticking....the snow is more or less is just wetness on the pavement....kinda like when it rains. And people go nuts!! Even in this state, where weather like this is common. Go figure.

I showed a movie today in class. I usually reward my class with "Fun Friday" where I show a movie and let them eat popcorn. So we watched the Charlie Brown Halloween movie. I know it's a few days late, but I didn't have time to show it on Halloween so this was the next best thing. I love showing movies. It means I actually get to sit at my desk and NOT TALK!! I'm lovin' it!!

I'm looking forward to the weekend, as I'm sure everyone else is. I have a ton of masters work to do, so much in fact that I know I won't get it all done this weekend. Along with that there's the normal cleaning and laundry fiasco to deal with, but nevertheless, it'll be the weekend, and I can do all of these not-so-fun things in my pj's and slippers and robe......oh, does that sound good!

Kenny is working hard (as usual) around the clock also, so we aren't really that fun to be around right now....actually, we're kind of boring. And I know I will be until I'm done with my classes sometime after Christmas. Oh well, at least we're boring together!!!!

Happy Friday! Celebrate any way you can!

Question of the Day

Today's famous question asked by a six-year-old:

"Ms. L, if this is my right hand (he wiggles the fingers on his right hand), how come when I spin around (he turns his back to me) it's now my left hand??

I absolutely love my job.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons To Call In Sick!

1. To sleep in.

2. Watch TV all day.

3. Catch up on blogging.

4. Homework.

5. Stay in your jammies!!

6. Finish the latest craft project.

7. House hunting with the better half.

8. Shopping with the girls.

9. Taking care of someone you love.

10. No clean dress clothes....which leads me to the next one....

11. Do laundry.

12. Clean like a madwoman.

13. You are **TRULY** sick.