Gettin' better

Ahhhh Monday morning. Nothing like it. Large coffee to go instead of a medium one, laundry list of things to do when I get to school, a mailbox of memos and reminders to sort through, lesson plans to turn in, projects to plan swirling in my head, papers to grade still from the weekend...

This is my typical Monday morning. My copilot called and said she needed an extra 30 this morning, so I decided to blog!!

I am feeling better, almost 100%. It wasn't a sinus infection, a toss between a cold or allergies, I'm leaning toward the allergies at this point. Seriously though, it doesn't matter. I was sick, still am a teeny bit, but I rested up this weekend and hopefully after work today I won't be down on the couch at 5pm. Keep your fingers crossed!

I went shopping last night in the small town where the family lakehouse is before leaving to come home. I just have to comment on the wonderful shopping experience it was. I had lots of room in the aisles to move around, no one was nasty, no one was snotty, and best of all, there wasn't a 40 minute wait in the checkout lane. I waited for NO ONE. Can you believe it? I love small towns. I miss small towns. Maybe that will be our excuse every weekend to go back to the lakehouse, even when it's winter, just so that I can have a pleasant grocery shopping experience!

Happy Monday!! Happy Fall! I'm so glad it's here!!

Wednesday Funny

This is the student that I always talk about...the one that has funny funnies to say. I went over how to answer this question with the kids before I turned them loose to answer it on their own. This is what she came up with. Can you tell she's the drama queen of my class? I asked her if she was classroom pet. You know she had some long, drawn out answer, and the result was, of course, "Yes, I'm a pet. I'm my mom's pet."

I'm currently fighting off a cold, and hopefully nothing more. My students came to school the first day of the year coughing, sneezing, and snotting all over. It hasn't stopped yet, so I knew it was only a matter of time till I got sick. Two more days till the weekend.

Finally Fall

This weekend was AWESOME. Saturday Kenny & I packed a quick bag and went to the family lakehouse. The weather was perfect, warm but not hot and then very cool at night. PERFECT fall weather. We trudged through the woods to find some trees for his tree stand when he starts hunting, rode the 4-wheeler, I got to read my book on the deck for hours, slept in Sunday morning (a rarity these days), Kenny popped in the water with the canoe, visited with his parents, and overall, just relaxed.

It was such a nice getaway. On Sunday we visited the same farm we went to last year and picked our own pumpkins from the vine, along with other fall decor stuff for our porch. The dog had a blast and wasn't such a pain this year. She only chased SOME of the farm animals, whereas last year she terrorized all of them because she was still a baby puppy. This time, she thought she was tough stuff walking up on a peacock, until the thing unleashed it's feathers and then, I hate to admit it, our puppy turned into the biggest wuss. She hid from the peacock! Go to my flickr to see all the pictures.

Back to reality today. It was so hard to get up and go to work this morning, it really was. But I did, and it turned out to be the best day at work yet! I have an awesome class!

Why I love Quiet Mornings

Awww Saturday morning. I feel like I can sit still for a minute. It's quiet, the dog is outside, Kenny is still sleeping, I just cleaned the kitchen (taking a break until I move onto the next room), and a minute to think to myself. This school year I'm trying something different. I've always struggled with how to properly "correct" student work and what to do with it then. Normally I just put a check on the page and put it in the kids' mailboxes, they take it home, and probably it goes right into the trash. I seriously doubt parents looks at it, so it's kind of a big waste.....of paper, of time, of everything. I have advanced kids, my WHOLE class is advanced. I have first and second graders, all pretty much working at their own advanced pace, which is why I have a smaller class, so I can actually work one-on-one with them every single day. This is only my third year teaching multi-age (7th year overall), so there are still things I'm changing and trying and getting rid of. Here's how I've changed so far this year....when students are done with their work, they come to me. I look at what they have done and if something is wrong, it's addresses immediatly, fixed, discussed, worked out, and then turned into THEIR MAILBOXES. I'm sure parents still aren't going to look at the work, but at least it's not sitting in the try for me to have to put a check on it later when I don't even remember what it was and the kids aren't looking at it a week later thinking, what did I do wrong? They won't even remember? The problem with this method is that I am constantly talking/instructing ALL DAY LONG. From the second the kids get into the room, I have one or two right there at the table with me, working on things. I know that's my job, and believe me, I love my job, but this method allows me ZERO time to STOP teaching/talking. It's one child after another. If all the kids were "on the same page" with their assignments, I would have 5 or 10 minutes here or there to walk around the room or sit down for a second, just to recoup my mind. But with these smarty pants kiddos I have (and love dearly), I don't get that minute to unwind. Despite all that, the kids are learning better and more effectively from me this year than in the past. Even though they are constantly checking in with me, things are progressing much better for them. I have to say that I am more exhausted at the end of the day than I have ever been though. I can feel it every single day when I get home. Man, am I tired. As October begins, I think I am going to give them more independence with turning work in. Not go back to the way I used to do it before, but just to balance it out a little, because I know that I'll get burnt out this way real fast, and they will too. But I do feel good about the way they are progressing already this year. Advanced kids are so great to work with. I can introduce a concept to them (for example, borrowing) and in two days they get it and are ready to move onto the next concept. Just like that. And another thing I love about advanced multi-age is that the older kids can help the younger ones....they can explain things in their own "kid" words and sometimes the younger ones understand it more coming from another kid versus me. It's so cool how my classroom works. But this is why my brain is fried on Fridays. Or everyday. That's why finding this much needed peace and quiet at home is important. It won't last forever, in a minute Kenny will be awake and talking my ear off and trying to get me to go here and there with him. The dog will want to play and the phone will start ringing. But right now, it's still quiet, I'm still in my PJs and there's no one sitting in front of me needing an explanation as to why they have to put the "one" here and subtract. I love it.

Sick

I called in sick already. Can you believe it? Week three and I called in! I had a doozy of a headache yesterday and it was persistant, so when I woke up this morning, and it was still there, I know there was no way I could function in charge of 20 kids. So I called in. I felt SO GUILTY. Seriously, I still feel guilty. But I had to do it. My main concern was that all day yesterday I was experiencing dizzy spells, more than the normal get-up-too-quickly kind. I thought maybe it was a hormonal issue, because it's just about that time, but I wasn't sure, and it was happening a lot. So that and the headache had me worried. I do get headaches frequently, but not with dizziness. So Kenny took me to the ER at 5am. When did ERs get flat screens in every room? And I do mean ROOM as in a square foot room with 4 real walls and a real closing door, and PRIVACY?? Oh yeah, when a state of the art hospital is built. Talk about royalty. Kenny asked me if we could go back to the ER every time I get a headache. I find humor in that now, but at the time, it wasn't fully. So after mumbo jumbo of the ER, I had a clean CT scan (duh people, just a headache) and no clear reason for the dizziness, I got a shot (you know where and it hurt LIKE HELL) and the headache was gone in 15 minutes. We are thinking the dizziness if from either allergy or sinus junk or from PMS, not really sure, just keeping an eye on it. Kenny was sad to leave. He was having a great time with the remote while I slept in the ER bed. He's so goofy. I came home and slept some more. The shot I got knocked me out for about 6 hours. I woke up groggy and happy. End of story!

If you get an extra minute or two, hop over to Lori's blog and send her some love. She needs it right about now. And then visit Steff's too, she needs it!

TT sent me this MEME in an email, so I made a post out of it. It's been a while since I did a MEME. It was time. Here ya go. I tag anyone else who wants to do it!

1. What is your occupation right now? Elementary teacher
2. What color are your socks right now? None on! I love my bare feet at home!
3. What are you listening to right now? Dishwasher and the hamster in his wheel
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Green grapes
5. Can you drive a stick shift? YES! My first car was a stick shift, had it for 5 years! I learned to drive on a stick shift, so it was actually WORK to think about not using my left foot when I drove an automatic!
6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Niki
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Of course! Love ya Tana!
8. How old are you today? 29. Gulp. For real.
9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Hockey or baseball
10. What is your favorite drink? Diet coke
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes
12. Favorite food? Mexican
13. What is the last movie you watched? The Bucket List. Very sad.
14. Favorite holiday of the year? I love them all!!!
15. How do you vent anger? Cry mostly, if it's at Kenny, I yell (I know, BAD ME), sometimes stomp around
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I loved my Barbies, My Little Ponies, and my dolls
17. What is your favorite season? Fall/Autumn.
18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries
19. Do you want your friends to e-mail (post on their blog) you back? Only if they want to!
20. Who is the most likely to respond? You know who you are.
21. Who is least likely to respond? You know who you are.
22. Living arrangements? 3 bedroom ranch with the hubs, a hamster, and a one year old black lab who is very smoiled.
23. When was the last time you cried? Today...I had a headache AND pms. Not a pretty sight.
24. What is on the floor of your closet? NOTHING! I cleaned it out this summer and it's still clean. My shoes are ON A RACK! Can you handle that?
25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? You know who you are!
26. What did you do last night? Went to bed early with a headache
27. What are you most afraid of? Too many to name!
28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? Cheese!
29. Favorite dog breed? Well, I'm biased because I have one, but LAB at the moment!
30. Favorite day of the week? Thursday, it's the promise of Friday and the weekend!
31. How many states have you lived in? 1
32. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds!
33. What is your favorite flower? It was roses, now I'm not sure. I love violets and hydrangeas too, but really, flowers at anytime are wonderful, so I love them all!

Catch Up

I did it again....I let so many days go by without posting! I promise it's not from lack of things to write about. It's the time thing!

The second week of school was pretty good. My students continue to be mostly well behaved every day, which I LOVE. I'm really feeling the time crunch with things that bog down the beginning of the school year.....lesson plans, extra meetings, new routines, adjusting to less sleep...the list goes on.

One of my BFFs joined our gym and has inspired me to take some classes. Kenny & I have been members for almost 5 years and I've always been too intimidated to take the classes. I always thought "what if I can't make it the 60 minutes?" She told me I was ridiculus and we took our first class together last week called STRIKE. It's like taebo, only better, and you use weighted gloves and a big stick and it's awesome! And the best part was the 60 minutes FLEW by and it was high impact so I was feeling it the whole time, more so than when I just jog. We liked that instructor even though she was slightly crazy, so we took another class that she taught, cardio ballet. You can stop laughing now....we really took it. It was awful, but a good workout, but never again! So this past week we went to STRIKE again, and when we got there, there was a different instructor who said there was a change in schedule and that it was cardio kickboxing, not STRIKE, that the only difference was that there were no gloves or bars needed. So we thought, no biggie, we'll take it anyway! IT KICKED OUR ASSES. This guy (the instructor) was military style, and he was mean. If you even looked at the door with thoughts of bailing, it's like he sensed it and moved over to where you were. It was so hard, the hardest, most intensive workout I've had since high school softball. To make things worse for me, my BFF got paged about halfway through the hour because her son was crying in daycare and wouldn't stop, so she got to leave early and go downstairs and get him. I SO BADLY wanted to leave with her, but the instructor would have kicked my butt, so I toughed it out and kept going, all the while knowing I wasn't going to be walking the next day. I think I kissed the ground when it was over and done with. That was Thursday, and we both wanted to take another class on Saturday, so we opted to take WATER aerobics, which is still cardio, but a low impact version. Which was about all we could handle because of how sore we were from Thursday. The instructor for the water class was awesome, and he teaches his own cardio kickboxing class, which, after having survived it on Thursday, I have to say that I'm proud of myself and we decided we will take it again on Tuesday with the good instructor. He promised to not be so hard on us. We'll see:)

A word of caution to ladies who carry purses....

The same BFF that I suffer through aerobic classes with was grocery shopping yesterday. She opened the egg cooler to grab a dozen eggs, saw that one was cracked, and grabbed another dozen, turned around and set it in her cart and her purse was gone. It was taken in the time it took her to pick up two egg cartons. So be VERY CAREFUL when you put your purses in shopping carts. I'm guilty of it too, so just be careful! It only takes seconds!

Now I have a question to all the mommas out there. As a teacher, I am required to assign my students nightly homework. I send home the homework packet every Monday along with a reading log, and it's due on Friday. The packet includes one page of spelling word activities, and three pages of math practice. It's never work that is new that week, it's always a review of the week before's lessons. Do you think that's too much? Do you think first and second graders should or should not have 20-30 minutes of homework and reading a night? Leave a comment, even if you aren't a parent, leave a comment. I really want some opinions!!

Now that school is in full swing, we have full length lesson plans due. So I will be spending the next three hours working on them!

Wow it's been 5 days since I posted! Not good!

The first week of school was busy as usual. My class is pretty good so far. The kids are very funny, and I have enjoyed them all four days. I was VERY thankful for the weekend though. This coming week is going to be even more busy. We have meetings, open house, a cupcake fundraiser where teachers are required to make cupcakes, as well as all the normal teaching routines. I'm tired just thinking about what I have to accomplish this week.

This weekend I really took advantage of being home. I cleaned and did all that house stuff that never seems to go away, but really, I just LOVED being home with Kenny. I already miss that from vacation.

Today we went to a couple estate sales in our city and then to an outdoor craft show/flea market. The weather today was really nice for this time of year, which tends to be very hot and humid. It was sunny and warm with a breeze, perfect September weather. Although, I'm ready for it to be cooler because I practically melt everyday in my classroom without AC and so do the kids, so cool weather is welcomed to come anytime! We took the dog with us to the flea market on her choker leash (it's not mean, I swear!!) and she was so good. The leash helps out, and let me tell you, I've tried EVERY leash out there to find the one that doesn't allow her to rip my arm out of its socket. I finally found it, just a plain old choker leash, the kind where when she tries to pull on me, it pulls the leash around her neck and is uncomfortable, so she won't pull too much. I had her on a normal leash for a while, and she did okay with it, put I had to hold it so tight that it wasn't enjoyable to walk her, so I quit until I found the choker one. Thank goodness because even though she has an entire fenced yard to herself every day, she loves going for walks on a leash.

I'm off to bed early, or at least to watch TV and then bed, but it's still way earlier than I normally go to bed.....I need every extra minute this week!!

Survived!

The kids survived the first day with me as their teacher! Or, should I say, I survived the first day with them as my students. Remember how they are advanced? Yeah, well, this year's group seems to be SUPER advanced. And funny. Here's what happened during the first round of show-and-tell (minus the show...it's just tell in my classroom).

TEACHER: So, H, how was your summer?
STUDENT: It was good. My cat puked 6 times in one day.
TEACHER: H, let's try to talk about things that aren't nasty, okay?
STUDENT: (laughing) Okay. Well, I got a whoopin' one day from my mom because I......
TEACHER: H, that's not a fun thing to talk about. Remember, you are supposed to tell us about things that were fun for you on vacation.
STUDENT: Um, well, I went swimming with my friends and my bathingsuit came.....
TEACHER: Okay, thanks for sharing H! Next!
STUDENT: But I wasn't done with that part of my story!
TEACHER: Yes, you were. You will get show and tell again next week.

This is one of the same students I had last year, and she's super funny. She always has off the wall comments and talks about goofy things. I promise there will be more funnies coming from her this year!

My day was a great first day. The kids were great, they were happy and excited. I did have one crier, but he eventually stopped when his mom left mid-morning, and he was just fine from that point on. I let him eat lunch with me and all was good.

Kenny was STILL cleaning out the garage when I got home. It's looking a little better, there isn't a fleamarket going on in our backyard at least, today anyway. That's what it looked like yesterday. I'm NOT kidding either. I really wanted to take pictures, but then I felt bad because he's been working very hard to clean it all out and get rid of stuff. Just trust me when I say the garbage pickers in this town are going to have a field day when our garbage day rolls around this week. It'll be like Christmas for them. I'm proud of Kenny for parting with so much stuff. He has issues when it comes to parting with "stuff."

His funny moment of the day was when I got home and was checking my email in the computer room. He was watching TV and out of nowhere he says, "Do you think I look more like Trace Adkins or Matthew MCconaughey." I think I fell out of the computer chair when he said that!

I'm going to bed early. Today kicked my butt. I need more rest to go back and do it again tomorrow!

Real Last Day of Vacay

Lindsay over at Splat Designs is having a contest.....click on the box to find out details!

Today is my last day of sane-ness before the kids arrive in my classroom tomorrow. I am in shock! I am meeting one of my best friends (since first grade) at the gym this morning for a good workout and hopefully some pool time too. I'm so excited that she and her family signed up at our gym! I've been waiting for about 5 years for someone I know to be there! It makes it so much more fun to workout.

Kenny started cleaning the garage last night. He hasn't finished because it's going to be a multi-day project and I'm concerned because of his ADD tendencies. I woke up to about 15 things spread across the backyard, including, but not limited to: lawnmower, 4wheeler, snowblower, several other lawn items, tubs, a bike rack (where did that come from???), a new freezer we just purchased (that's what prompted the cleanout), I could go on and on and on. I'll spare you the details, but there's a lot of stuff out there. He was up late working on it. He will be out there working on it today, I hope:)

I got some clothes for school yesterday. That always makes me a little more excited...I think (THINK!!!) I'm wearing a dress on the first day.....OMG that hasn't happened in a long time! If I do, there will be pics to prove it! I do wear dresses, especially in the spring and summer time, just not to school. Maybe I'll make a change this year.

I will leave you with this picture Kenny took of the dog. She was laying in the chair with me, sleeping. I know, I know, how spoiled is she. I can't help it though. She's just so cute!

Classroom Pics

I survived an entire week back to work with my coworkers. I think it's going to be a good year. The kids start on Tuesday and here's what my classroom looks like now:

(entrance to my room)

(looking at the entrance from the room)

(word wall board & reading area)

(computer center and listening center...the plastic on the NONWORKING ac units has to remain until the new sc units arrive, sometime around NEVER)

(windows looking onto playground, love all the plants?)

(carpet & board & calendar area)

(my desk area)

(closeup of my desk...thrilling, I know!)

(the whole front of the room)

(wall on the hallway side of the room)

I moved things all around this year because I needed a change. I like it so much better this way now! I am not really looking forward to starting work again, but I am looking forward to seeing my kiddos and getting back into the routine of teaching. I LOVE all the freedom of summertime, but I do like routine too. So once the first week is gone, I'll feel back into routine. It's funny how now that I'm back at work, Kenny is doubling his work time too. I think when I'm home, he wants to be too:) He denies it, but I know I'm right. Hehehe.

You Won't Believe What I Did

I'm still here. Just tired. Yesterday I worked in my classroom and sat through the usual boring meetings at our back-to-school week. And today I was working in my classroom from 715am to 115pm......I took exactly one break to get a diet coke from the pop machine and visit Niki in her classroom. That's it! Then it was more meetings and such. I tell ya, just two days of going through my teaching stuff, organizing, labeling, filing, THROWING THINGS OUT (my favorite thing to do), stapling, taping, searching, talking, yawning, and constantly moving around, and I am whooped! Last night I was so tired, I came home and decided to sit down and finish up a book that we are required to read for work. I had about 100 pages to go, and about two hours before I knew I would fall asleep. So I took my book to the patio and put my feet up in a chair, it was very comfy and cool outside, PERFECT reading weather. Then I realized that my feet were tired and sore (I wore flipflops for about 5 days in a row, some while working, NOT a smart thing to do). Then the best idea I've ever had dawned on me.....

Notice the whirlpool foot spa happening under my feet, the cord running in through the slider, and my reading material, and the crazy setup, but it was awesome! It was my own personal spa in my backyard. What a great idea! My feet felt SO good this morning. It was worth it. I will be doing that again.

The rest of this week will be crazy. Two more days of work without kiddos, then Friday I will working with Kenny all day. This weekend it might be the lake or just staying home, we'll decide when we get there. The weather here is starting to get a little cooler, especially in the mornings, and it is turning into my favorite time of year...FALL! Knowing typical Michigan weather, it will get hot again, but fall is on its way when it starts to get that cool in thr morning! There is evidence of leaves on the ground too.

Lindsay over at Splat Designs is having a contest...click on the link to see the details!

Back to Work is officially ON!

I woke up this morning feeling hung over, but not from drinking. The last two days have been blurs, going through so much of the initial-back-to-work-before-the-kids-get-there-stuff and trying to squeeze in time to get my classroom put together. It's coming along pretty well. I didn't take too much stuff down in June and mostly just boxed some things up, so setting up hasn't been too bad. What took me several hours was reorganizing the furniture, figuring out what would go where. I finally got it the way I want it now, and everyone who comes in my room compliments me on how much better the setup is now, so it must have needed it!! Yesterday my coworkers and I met in a rural area far away from our school for an all-day team building workshop, outside, with an obstacle course and in our workout clothes. Most of the activities were fun, a few were not, and I was pooped at the end of the day. I came home and slept for about two hours, then stayed up late with Kenny, which accounts for the groggy feeling today! I'm working on school and classroom stuff today, nothing exciting, but I have to say I'm still in a daze from the summer ending. Oh well, it ALWAYS goes too fast!

I wanted to recap my favorite moments from the Olympics. I wish I could have watched more of them in the last two weeks, but I've just been on the go so much. But I did make sure I saw the American gymnasts and hurdlers, my favorite Olympic competitions to watch. And you can bet there were tears too. Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson were AMAZING in all their performances....I cried every single time they competed, and they both ended up with several medals.

And for the American hurdler, my favorite was LoLo Jones. Here she is when she finished first in the finals before the Olympics....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm6aLIoZpQg

And here's her performance in the Olympics, she's the third from the right (I couldn't find the English version, sorry!!)....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew0rxyS5t_4

Can you imagine? I watched this in real time when it happened and of course, I was all tears. She's still my favorite though. I hope she comes back in 2012 and gets the gold.

It's 6:30am....I've been up since 5am and I went to bed at 12:30am. OMG what did I do to myself?? Today is my first day back at work, for meetings and putting classrooms back together. Vacation is officially over. I'm sad, but also a teeny bit okay with going back, but don't tell anyone I said that. I LOVE having days with no time restrictions and being able to work on things around the house, come and go as I please, sleep in, take naps, all the enjoyable things that time off brings. But there's that one small percentage of me that is looking forward to seeing my coworkers (some of them anyway, heh) again. I'm no where near being ready for kids though. I still have some time before I am ON for 8 hours a day. Thank goodness! So off I go, on my 7th year of teaching. Wish me luck.

Thirteen Things I Will Miss About Summer Vacation

1. Sleeping in (I didn't get to do that much, but I loved it when I did!)

2. Seeing my hubs

3. Playing with the dog anytime

4. Not feeling overwhelmed or stressed out

5. A CLEAN house all the time!

6. The laundry ALWAYS being folded/hung up

7. Laying in the sun (hello-honeymoon!!)

8. Watching the Olympics

9. Seeing my family so easily

10. Weekends at the lake

11. Time to myself

12. WARM weather!!

13. No burnout feeling!

Kenny emailed this picture to me when he was supposed to be working one night last week. He may have had too much time on his hands, heh heh. The photographer LOVED us, can you just imagine?

Of course I pick the last few days I have off to start a big project in the backyard....resodding where we had a HUGE stump ground out. I laid the sod after digging forever day, my hands are so chapped and sore and now I learn that we have to remove the sod, put topsoil (I was originally told we didn't have to as long as we dug the wood chips out, which was done) down, THEN put the sod on. Ugh. Sod is heavy and I transported it IN MY OWN CAR, in the trunk, which is currently open and drying out so I can vacuum the dry dirt out in the morning. What a day. Tomorrow morning we're getting topsoil, dropping it in, re-laying the sod and watering the crap out of it for two straight weeks. End of project. Hopefully. I know I'll be happy when it's all done tomorrow, I don't mind the watering every day. That's the fun part!

Pancakes

Oh I'm so tired. I have going going going nonstop since EARLY Tuesday morning. I finally slept in and now that I'm awake, I'm wishing I was still sleeping. I have an unfinished cleaning and throwing out project happening in the basement, the laundry hasn't been touched since Monday night (I usually do it every day), since Kenny was here basically by himself every day it's a mess around here, the dishes are overflowing, and OMG I want to go back to bed. Listen to me complain. He is currently in the backyard with the puppy doing something, but any minute now, he'll come to the back door and either ask me to help him with something (I'm still in PJs) or ask me where something is and could I please get it for him. My bed is only about 25 feet from me....it's so tempting. But I'm going to do the "right" thing and get my arse moving. But before anything gets cleaned or de-messed, I'm making pancakes. With blueberries. And maple syrup. The real kind straight from the farm. Yum.

Dirty Doggy

As I was getting ready to leave on my two day adventure with my MIL, the dog did as she always does when I get ready, she laid on the bathroom floor, on the towel I strategically place on the lightly colored bathroom rug just for her. I didn't even look at what she was messing with because she's a good puppy and doesn't normally chew things she shouldn't. It wasn't until I was blowdrying my hair upside down right in front of her that I noticed what she was doing....something very dirty and naughty.....

And then I remembered that she IS in heat right now, and it all makes sense, doesn't it?

(yes, that is a beanie baby, and yes, she took his pants off)

Mumbo Jumbo

The weather yesterday and today in Michigan has been so awesome. Yesterday it rained a little, but it was cool, no humidity, perfect fall-like weather. I'm sure I'll miss the hot temperature when it's snowing in about 3 months, but I love the "cool" warner temps, not so much the stuffy hot stuff. Today is even better because it's sunny with no rain, but still on the cooler side. I've been working in the basement cleaning out bins and throwing stuff away, and I keep coming up for air and walking outside and playing with the dog in this gorgeous weather. If it was like this all year round, you'd get no complaints from me!

I am going on an overnight trip with my MIL tomorrow to visit her sister and family about 2 hours away. We are going to do some shopping and lots of visiting, and I'm sure I'll have pics when I get back. This will probably be my last trip anywhere before school starts. Ugh:( Still not excited about it yet. I'm waiting, any day now I'm going to wake up excited, I just keep telling myself that. Maybe new clothes for school will help. You think??

These pictures are completely unrelated to anything, but I had to post them. The first one was taken the day we got home from our honeymoon, we hadn't even been home yet, we drove straight to the inlaws to get the dog and have cake and ice cream for Kenny's birthday. I think it's my new favorite picture of the three of us. And then there's the dog, who's just precious.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

I tried to call him ALL DAY LONG to wish him a happy birthday but he must have been so busy because he still wasn't home at 9pm. My dad has a cell phone, but refuses to turn it on, so I didn't even bother calling it. He's still a little old fashioned when it comes to that kind of thing. I think I called his house about 6 times throughout the day! He was probably out celebrating somewhere with my stepmom. I will be seeing him today at my cousin's birthday party and I'll be able to give him his present and chat. Thank you for all that you do for me and for Kenny, and thank you for being the best dad ever! Love you!

I spent the day being a kid again....Chuck E. Cheese, ice cream, two parks, a walk in a lovely city. It was so entertaining! I was with Nik and her niece and nephew, who have become my niece and nephew now by default. I know those kiddos will sleep well tonight, and that's all the better for Nik, because she has them for four days now. Whew! Here is a pic of them....I know their Grandma reads my blog every once in a while so she will appreciate it!

Summer is for sure winding down for me. The next two weeks are just about booked solid with a few last fun summer activities and lots of work with Kenny. And then back to teaching....I literally blinked and two months of vacation was gone. It breaks my heart! Off to watch the Tigers' game and hope they win.

(not so) Wordless Wednesday

This is my very favorite picture of my grandparents (both are gone now). Both of them are smiling, usually my grandpa forgot his smile, and they just look so happy! I miss them every day. This month would be their 68th wedding anniversary if they were still here, and my Grandpa's 93rd birthday. I know they are watching me from above and still part of my life everyday. Love you both.