Simple Sunday

Today was a wonderful day.  I was able to enjoy some very simple pleasures.  The day started with church, as always.  I really enjoy the fellowship we have with the other members of the church.  I truly love our pastor, as well, and always get so much out of his sermons.

After church, I got my jiggly behind back to the gym, after a long hiatus (shame on me!).  I had a really great workout, and caught a couple of interesting shows on TV during my 65 minutes on the elliptical machine.

From there, I went home, took a quick shower, and headed off to meet a good friend for dinner.  She called me last night, before I headed out for the movie with my other friend, and asked if I wanted to join her for dinner tonight, her treat.  She said she had a Groupon, and wanted to use it to take me out.  Isn't she sweet?  We went to this neat little place called Wok 'N Fire.  We had dinner there once before, about a month or so ago, which was my first time there.  Apparently, she goes there often, as her kids love it.

We had a very leisurely (and delicious!!) meal, spending way more time talking than eating.  Truthfully, I think our server was a bit annoyed with us, since we were probably there almost an hour before we even ordered our entrees.  (We ordered an appetizer about 30 minutes after sitting down, just because we felt bad that she kept coming over to our table, and we hadn't even looked at our menus.  Although, to be fair, I DID tell her when we sat down that we were going to be doing quite a bit of talking, and that she shouldn't hurry back, since were going to need some time to order.)

After we finally decided we sat there long enough, we walked across the street to Starbucks for some coffee.  My friend wouldn't even let me leave the tip at the restaurant, so I had to convince her to let me treat us to coffee.  She only relented because she had a half-priced 'thingy' for Starbucks that expired today, and said I had to use it. 

I got to try something new there, a drink she had mentioned to me before.  She told me a while back that she is completely hooked on Starbuck's chocolate chai tea latte, which I had never heard of before.  She was right, it's good! 

I passed on my usual Pumpkin Spice Latte (basically the only thing I've ever ordered at Starbuck's) and tried a gingerbread latte.  (I picked it off the short list of special drinks for World Aids Day today.  A donation is made for every drink purchased off the list.)  It was delicious. 

Sadly, I remembered one of the reasons I don't care for Starbuck's.  Even with the half-priced deal, I still paid over $7 for two medium coffees.  Oy!!  But, it was worth every penny when I focus on the hour and half we sat at Starbuck's talking, and enjoying each other's company.

Now, I'm home, in my jammies, sitting in bed, checking in with my Bloggy Buddies, while the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie is playing in the background.  (Is anyone else watching this?!  It's a bit of a tear-jerker.)  A day filled with the simplest.  What could be better?

2013 Day Twenty-Five

Happy, happy, happy...Joy, joy, joy!!

Back on November 6, which just happens to be Stud's birthday, I entered a give-away over at my Bloggy Buddy Tiffany's place.  And, wouldn't you know it...I WON!  I like to think the fact that it was on Stud's birthday is what brought me luck. =)

I'm SO excited about this prize.  Check it out.

How awesome is this!?  Most of my bakeware is stuff that I got at my wedding shower, which was 23 years ago.  And you guys KNOW how much I love to bake, which means my stuff gets a lot of use, so I really could use this.  And, it arrived just in time for holiday baking. :D

Thanks, again, Tiffany!!

When the FedEx guy dropped this off, he also handed me a smaller box.  I had NO idea what it was or where it came from.  When I opened it, it contained a can of Libby's Organic Pinto Beans, a can of Libby's Mixed Fruit packed in 100% Juice, and a can of Libby's Mixed Vegetables, along with a reusable canvas shopping bag with the Libby's logo.  Clearly, LIBBY'S sent this to me, but I have no idea why.  There was no other papers or information in the box.  I must have signed up for free samples or something.  However it came to me, I appreciate it.  My brother will be the lucky recipient of the organic beans, since he's all about eating organic.  Magnum will probably take the fruit to work, since it's packed in juice, not syrup, and he usually eats fruit with his lunch.  I'm not sure what I'll do with the mixed veggies, since I don't really care for canned vegetables.  (They're too mushy for my taste.) Maybe I'll throw them into some soup or something.  I'm most excited about the bag.  I can never have enough bags when I go shopping.

Wait, I haven't told you the BEST part yet!!  A few minutes after my goodies were delivered, I was sitting at the kitchen table, checking email.  I happened to glance up at the window, and suddenly felt like I was in a snow-globe!!  YAY!!  It was snowing!!!  I tried to capture it for you, but my phone bites,

I told you last night I would be boring you with Monkey "stuff" today, but clearly I decided to bore you with other stuff instead.  But, don't worry, I'll be back with the Monkey stuff tomorrow.

2013 Day Ten

This is all I want to do right now.  I'm SO tired.  Yesterday's Day from Hell really wiped me out.  Then today was another busy one.

For the very first time, I did the reading during our church service today.  Last Monday, at Bible study (one of the "new" things going on around here...) the pastor asked me if I'd ever be interested in doing it.  He said he usually gives people plenty of notice (my first question!), and I said, "Sure!"  Well, imagine my surprise when he called me on Friday, and asked if I'd do the reading today.  I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing.  I printed out the passage, complete with the phonetic pronunciations of certain words, to make sure I didn't screw it up.  I think it went pretty well. =)

Then, after church, I went to hang out with some friends from grad school.  One of my girlfriends moved, and so we got together to see her new house, and do a little shopping.  Well, the rest of them shopped, since I have zero interest in purses, makeup and/or jewelry!  (My girlfriend had a few "demonstrators" there to show off their wares.)  It was a really nice afternoon, and it was great to see my friends who I haven't seen in FAR too long.

I've been fighting sleep since about 5:30 this afternoon, but I'm about to give in now. Good night.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

Trying to keep focused on the positive...

...which most of you already know means my Monkey!

I had her again yesterday (YAY!) and we had a lovely day.  On the days I have her, I meet her mother at her workplace, which is about 10 minutes from my house.  It works out perfectly for both of us.

Driving home after picking her up, this was the adorable sight in my rear-view mirror.

 I love that she's still in her jammies when I get her.  It means I usually get a little snuggle time with her when we get to my house.

Yesterday, she decided to spend some quality time gamin' it up with her cousin.  I was cracking up at how serious she was.  She was watching Stud's fingers like a hawk, trying to figure out what he was going with his controller.

 I love that she thinks SHE'S causing the action on the TV screen.  Too cute!

 When we finally made our way upstairs to get dressed, I was pulling out clothes and a diaper, when I heard the most glorious belly laugh.  She had found my glasses on the bed, and put them on.  I tried to snap a picture WITHOUT her hands in the way, but the glasses kept slipping off her face. :(

 We actually drove all the back to where her mommy and daddy live because I was meeting a friend for lunch.  Monkey fell asleep about half-way through the drive, and then proceeded to take a two hour nap!  My girlfriend and I enjoyed every minute of our lunch and chit-chat. 

When she finally woke up, she was feeling very mushy and needed to cuddle for a bit.  My friend couldn't help but pull out her phone and snap lots of pictures of that beautiful face.  She took this one of us, which I thought was pretty cute.  I'm glad she did, too.  Since I'm always the one TAKING the tons of pictures of her, I don't really have many of the two of us together. 

 Wow, what a difference from the very first time we took her to a restaurant, huh?  

 

She was exactly one week old here, and we all met for lunch before her one-week checkup at the pediatrician's office.  

(I debated for a long time about using the hideous photo of myself.  If you didn't know better, you would swear I was the one who had just given birth!  I don't know what the hell was going on, but I'm a hot mess!!  Actually, now that I think about it, I believe it was literally 110 degrees that day.  I'm pretty sure I posted about it.  Anyway, I decided to use this one because you can really see how teeny tiny Monkey was then.  She basically fit in one hand!)

After about 10-15 minutes of snuggles, Monkey was ready to eat.  Here's her absolute favorite thing to eat lately!

Well, that was a little glimpse into my fun day yesterday.  We ended up being at that restaurant for almost FOUR hours!!  (We were at Cracker Barrel, so I can spend 4 hours there any day of the week!)  At about Hour 3, my brother came strolling in to join us, and then decided to order food, which kept us there almost another hour.  But, we had a great time, which is all that matters!

Silly Sunday

The last of my guests just left, after an awesome Tastefully Simple party (which started at 2!). Jen was amazing! She was just as terrific in person as I thought she'd be. I thought I loved her before, but now I absolutely ADORE her!! I just hope my friends and family didn't scare her. I've posted more than once about my Pampered Chef parties that inevitably turn into drunken bashes. Well, my gang did not disappoint. My stomach hurts from laughing.

I'm so happy about the turnout. There were more people than I thought, and the sales far surpassed my expectations. I'm thrilled for Jen. What a great way to jump start her new business!!

It's not too late for you to help her out if you're thinking about ordering something. I've had a few people ask me to add them to the online list, so thank you. I won't be closing the show for at least a week, so let me know if you're interested.

I'm absolutely exhausted, so I'm going to finish the clean up in the morning. I need to hit the sack. And, no, it has nothing to do with the 6 pitchers of margaritas I made. Thank you, Jen, for such a great afternoon!!

Day 23

I just realized that I posted so late last night, it showed up with today's date. Oh, well. I guess I could go in and edit the post time...

We were at Stud's best friend's house last night, although the best friend wasn't there. He was at a concert with his girlfriend. We were there because it was his mom's birthday, and his grandpa's birthday. Grandpa turned 85! I felt bad for my girlfriend because neither one of her children were there. Like I said, Best Friend was at a concert, and her younger son is in France. Rough, right? He's there as part of an exchange program. Theirs was a true exchange program. Hugo came and visited here for two weeks a few months ago and stayed with our friends, and now Little Brother is there at Hugo's house for 2 weeks. So far, he's having a blast. He actually started a blog to chronicle his adventure.

I brought my margarita maker with me to the party, which may have been a mistake. At least that's what my tummy has been telling me all morning. It didn't help that I had to be up bright and early this morning because one of my sisters-in-law came over so Stud and I could help her with a project for school. She and her husband just left a few minutes ago, and I must say, I'm feeling much better now. The pastries they brought over seemed to have hit the spot!

Before they came over, I started preparing some dips and other yummies for the Tastefully Simple party I'm having tomorrow. I'm SO excited!! Believe it or not, I've never been to or hosted a Tastefully Simple party. I know some of you just fell off your chairs, but it's true. Oh, wait! I haven't told you the best part yet. My consultant is none other than the awesome Jen, from Laughing at Chaos! If you don't read her blog (why the hell not?! She's a hoot!) she recently moved back to the Chicago area. She also recently decided to start up her Tastefully Simple business again, after a few years away. I'm so excited to be her first party, and even MORE excited to finally be meeting her in person!!

It just occurred to me that some of you may want to help her jump start her new business. I think if you send me your email, I can add you to the online guest list, which will let you peruse the catalog and/or place an order online. Yay! Most people who have heard of TS, and have been to other shows, have all told me they LOVE it. As a matter of fact, last night at the birthday party, I got two orders from my friend's family members, who both said "Oh my God! I LOVE this stuff!!" I can't wait to sample the different products tomorrow.

I guess on that note, I'd better get back to preparing for tomorrow's show. We have invitations to two graduation parties today (Stud's "wife" and one of his besties) and I was invited to a baby shower. All three of these parties are scheduled to start at 3:00! WTF?! I'm not sure how the hell we're gonna pull this off, but what I do know is, I only have about an hour to finish making this food. Wish me luck!

May 1, 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Who did you play with as a child?

To hear my mother tell it, I would much rather be sitting with my nose stuck in a book than play when I was a kid. I have a younger sister, so I suppose we played together, but once she started school, I think she played more with her friends. My brother is significantly younger than me, so I played with him when he was a baby, but by the time he was in school, I was busy doing my own thing.

My friend Lynn (who I've written about before) lived 6 houses down from me, and we spent almost every waking moment together. Well, when I wasn't reading, that is. ;-) Luckily, Lynn was a big geek like me, so she didn't mind sitting together with our books. We took a lot of trips to the library together. We'd walk or ride our bikes there at least once a week. Sometimes, especially if it was a rainy day, we'd make homemade play dough. Usually we would just make it, then give it to my younger brother and sister to play with. Yeah, we were cool like that.

YAY!

Guess who I had dinner with on Thursday. Go 'head, guess.

Yup, SUZ!!!!!

This is absolutely NOT my best photo, however, Suz looks just adorable in this photo as she does in person.

Suz is now the third Bloggy Buddy who I have had the pleasure of actually meeting in person. I don't know about you guys, but I consider my Bloggy Buddies my friends. Like friends friends. Every blog post I read is kinda like having a quick chat on the phone, where we get to catch up real quick on what's been going on in each others lives. When you've been reading someone's blog long enough, you get to know their personality, their sense of humor, their likes and dislikes, etc. Just like you do with your "real" friends.

Let me tell you, Ms. Busy Bee Suz is EXACTLY the same in "real life" as I knew she would be. And, before I forget to mention it, I LOVE HER!!!! I had SO much fun that night. There wasn't even one single second of hesitation or 'weirdness' when we met. It was like meeting up with an old friend. Our menfolk even hit it off. It was really special the way they ganged up on us girls. Good times, good times... ;-)

The night went by way too fast. It was like we were life-long friends, with so much to talk about, and laugh about. Man, did we laugh! (And, no, it had NOTHING to do with the wine or margaritas that kept arriving at our table. Shut up!) I just wish she and Coach had been here strictly for pleasure, and not for business, so that I could have spent more time with them. Unfortunately, it was a work/school night, so we had to cut the night short.

After we drove them back to their hotel, CSJ and I immediately both started talking about what a great time we had, and what wonderful people they are. He said, "Now, how do you know her again?"

I said, "She's one of my Bloggy Buddies."

"And, what, you guys met up the last time she was here or something?"

I just laughed, and said, "NO, this is the first time we've met!"

He was so surprised, since he said we carried on like long-lost friends.

I will definitely be seeing Suz and Coach again. Probably when I randomly show up at her doorstep one day. CSJ has been wanting to visit the area where they live for a while, so it just may happen sooner than Suz is ready for. (Did you hear that Suz?! Don't answer your front door without looking out first!!)

Here are a couple of funny things Suz and I have in common. We are both a bit vertically challenged. We both could eat Mexican food every single day. We both have children in college. We are both devastatingly beautiful.

We both started dating our husbands in 1985. You know, when we were in preschool. Neither one of us were officially proposed to. We both got married in 1991.

January 19, 1991

May 25, 1991

We've all aged quite gracefully, wouldn't you say?

Thanks, Suz and Coach, for such a wonderful evening of laughs and great conversation. We can't wait to do it again.

How I spent my Saturday morning...

You may remember this from last Sunday. Well, after some last minute glitches, and changes in plans, here are the finished products. (Again, NOT kid-friendly!)

I decided that since I was way behind on time (thanks to having an AWESOME night last night with a house full of my girlfriends, the last of whom left at 1am!) I probably shouldn't attempt another cake. I came up with 2 alternatives.

A) bake a sheet cake to put the original penis cake (which had been lovingly wrapped tight and gently placed in the freezer last Sunday) on or
B) make cupcakes and put some type of penis on top of them.

It occurred to me that I should have asked my friend, who is throwing the party, for her penis molds that her mother and sister used for HER bachelorette party. Too late! But, I assumed I'd be able to find molds at Lover's Lane. There happens to be one about 5 minutes from my house.

Well, without boring you with all the details of my shopping trip, I ended up buying candy because they had no molds.

First, I bought these gummy penises.

I figured they'd be perfect for doing this:Shockingly, there are people in this world who don't like chocolate (the weirdos!!) so I made a few like this, too.
I also found these little cuties at the register. They're like Runts. (Remember those?)I used them for the mini-cupcakes I made.
Here's the finished cake. I think maybe I should have skipped the added stubble, huh?
This hilarious little detail is an homage to my Grammy. But, that's a story for another day.
Well, I'm off to get ready for the shower (which I'm already late for). The bachelorette party is pretty much immediately after the shower. I'm already tired just thinking about how long this night is going to be. I just may have to cut out early, and leave the partying to the youngsters.

I didn’t quite think that through enough…

*This post is from LAST Sunday. I wrote it when the internet was out, not thinking it would be out for five freakin' days!! I just found the draft sitting here, and realized I never published it. Sorry. Truthfully, I don't think I actually finished writing it, but I'm not up to a big edit right now.

Stud just decided this past Wednesday night to accept an invitation to a costume party that last night. It was being held at the house of one of his besties other besties. (did that make sense?) His bestie, George, came with us Wednesday when we went to get our hair done at my girlfriend’s place. He used the ride there to convince Stud to go.

(Quick side note, here’s his finished ‘do. As usual, he’s THRILLED to have his picture taken by me!!)

Anyway, while my sister and I were getting our hair done, the two of them disappeared outside for a while. I went outside to check on them (because it was after 10pm, and they were outside in a big, empty parking lot) and Stud was on the phone with his wife. Turns out, he invited her to come to the party! They were discussing what they should wear.

They came up The Annoying Couple. You know that couple. They dress alike, the act alike, they talk alike, they act lovey-dovey every minute of the day. THAT couple.

On the drive home, we were trying to figure out what they could wear. They wanted to dress alike, and I remembered that Stud and I have matching pajama pants (you’ve all seen mine before because I live in them. Naturally, they have penguins on them!) I usually wear just a navy blue t-shirt with mine, and I knew Stud had one, too, so they were going to wear those. Ah, but then I thought, why not white t-shirts? Then, we could write something annoying on them, like “I’m with him ---->, <---- I’m with her” or “I love my husband, I love my wife” You get the idea.

After an INCREDIBLY long day out at the bar (because Stud cleans at a snail’s pace, but that’s another post!) we rushed straight over to his wife’s house, already 45 minutes late. Because of Stud’s turtle speed, we were SO late. I had left him cleaning earlier to go to the store and get the t-shirts, and the plan was I would make them while he was getting ready, then we’d go get the wife, blah, blah, blah. Well, we didn’t even pick up Wifey until the time the party was to start. Ugh! I HATE being late for things!!!!

I told Wife I hadn’t even had a chance to make the shirts yet, and the two of them were deciding what they wanted on them. After talking about the ideas we had had the other night, Stud came up with, “We should just write something on them that makes it so you have to stand together to read it.” Then it hit me – half-hearts on both shirts so when they stand together it makes a complete heart! We were cracking up.

We rushed home, Stud jumped in the shower, and I grabbed my paint markers and the shirts. As I was trying to get the hearts on the shirts, it hit me – write something in the hearts. Wife and I were so geeked up, I was having a hard time drawing. We couldn’t stop giggling. Here’s the idea we came up with.

Now, unfortunately, I didn’t think this through enough. I simply laid the shirts side by side, and drew. I didn’t take into consideration the depth of their bodies. Poop. I also didn’t take into consideration the fact that Stud is taller than his wife! Argh!! If I had to do them again, I know exactly how I’d adjust them. Sadly, there was no time to fix them, since they were already an hour late for the party. (George called every 5 minutes for that hour, by the way!)

Sadly, because of my poor planning, the hearts looked more like a circle when they stood next to each other. But, they still looked pretty cute. Oh, and I forgot to mention the fact that I had matching shoes for them, too! (I really wanted to stop at a dollar store and pick up some cute reading glasses. I had planned to just pop the lenses out so they could matching glasses, too. But, once again, Stud was TOO DAMN SLOW!)

I think they still looked adorable. Wife had a great time, as did Stud. I figured they were enjoying themselves when he never called for a ride. I would have given him the car to drive them, but kids under 18 can’t drive past 11:00 on the weekend. I didn’t want them to have to cut their evening short, which is why I drove them. Stud kept trying to convince Wife that they should just leave before 11, and then come back here and hang out, just the two of them, for a while. I kept telling him to wait and see, because they just might not want to leave early, which is exactly what happened. (Sheesh, why are we moms always right?!)

In the windup, George, who turned 18 the night before, drove them back to our house (Thank you, George!) and then we drove Wife home. They weren’t quite ready to leave each other, but it was late, and I was exhausted. All the way to Wife’s house, Stud was trying to convince her to hang out today. I don’t think it’s going to happen. It’s almost 10:30, he’s still asleep, and she has to babysit later today. It seems they have they found the secret to a long-lasting marriage – lots of time apart! Hey, it works for MY parents!

She did it again!!!

Because I was gone all day yesterday, and didn't get home until very late, I didn't get yesterday's mail out of my mailbox until right this minute. Look what was in there! ANOTHER gift from my friend Debbie! I wonder why she thought this was so perfect for me... ;-)

She better watch it, a girl could get very used to this kind of treatment. THANK YOU, Deb. Your generosity is astounding!

10/6/11

Thursday, October 6, 2011

List two things (however close or far) that your current home is between.

My parents' house (about 20 blocks away) and GORGEOUS downtown Chicago.

I spent a wonderful night in my gorgeous city last night. CSJ and I, along with my Bestest Friend, took an architectural tour down the Chicago River. (Yes, you read that right - CSJ and I. Shut up, ok?)

I took my babies on an architectural tour around Navy Pier every year for 8 years. It was the shorter, half-hour tour that basically circled the pier. Then, New Principal came along, and put an end to that.

It's a great tour, and I've always really enjoyed it, despite the fact that most of my time was spent making sure no babies ended up overboard, sprinkled with trips to the bathroom every 8 1/2 minutes.

So, over the summer, when Groupon had a deal for tickets to the longer, one-hour tour that goes down the river, I jumped on it.

I tried to get as many pictures as I possible, since our city is even MORE gorgeous at night, when it's all lit up. You guys already know what a crappy camera I have, so those pictures aren't the greatest. There's some serious lag-time between when you push the button and when the picture actually snaps. Add to that the fact that the boat was cruisin' along, and it all adds up to some blurry, yet interesting, photos. Some of them have a really cool 'artsy' look to them. It's almost like I took them that way on purpose.

As we were cruising along, I suddenly remembered that I had my iPod with me, so I took a ton of pictures with that, too. Those are actually much better than the ones I took with my camera. Things were going along swimmingly, right up until the iPod died. Ugh.

I’m putting all the photos from both cameras here. The blurry, I mean artistic, ones are probably from my camera, and the better ones are probably from my iPod.

(Hey, Suz! I FINALLY used Live Writer to do this, and you're so right! It's MUCH easier!!)

Chicago River Night Tour VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

My day just keeps getting better and better...

...because I have the BEST freakin' friends!!! My Bloggy Buddies are on a roll today. First, Ricochet sends me that adorable video (see below). Then, I went to get my mail, and found a wonderful surprise!

No, not this junk mail.
This package from Japan!!My dear, sweet friend, dkuroiwa, sent me some pressies! She feels almost the same about flamingos that I do about penguins. (I say 'almost' because nobody is as big a freak as I am!)There was a sweet note in the package. I had to laugh at what she said about the stationery. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the stationery is actually turned on its side because the lines are designed for Japanese characters.
How freakin' cute are these!? You can write a little note on the penguin's belly, then you fold up his arms into a hug, and stick it to a gift or anything else you want.
These are cool. They are index stickers, designed to be stuck to the side of pages, like tabs. So cool!
Now, these next three things are really awesome. They are called tenugui. D said they were originally used as bandages and/or just to put around your neck or head on hot days. Now they are also used to "advertise" at festivals, etc.

This one she thought Stud would find interesting. It is covered with different sumo positions. The symbols are Kanji, and she thought Brian might be able to translate. Well, as soon as I unfolded it, Brian said, "Oh, I can read that!"
Here's a close up view of the cloth. How interesting.
This one is a Chinese Dragon Dance.
This third one is extra special, thanks to her explanation. She said she picked it out because of the picture on it, but after her husband translated it, she said she "realized that is is perfect for" me! The picture is Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. She wrote me a special blessing - "May she watch over and protect you and help keep you strong!" How incredibly sweet is she?!


Like I said, I have the BEST friends EVER!!! I'm off to write 'someone' a heartfelt thank you letter!

I have the best friends...

Do you remember when I told you about my breakfast with Jo? Well, last week, she sent me an email telling me that she picked up some friends for me on her road trip, and now that she's home, she's going to send them to me. Now, I knew by the way she said "friends" that it was going to have something to do with penguins, which made me smile.

This morning, when I went outside to see if the damn mailman ever showed up yesterday (it obviously was after 6, cuz that's the last time I checked my mailbox!) I found a package on my doorstep. Look what was inside!!How flimmin' flammin' cute is this trio?!?!

I had just taken them out of the box and set them on my table this morning when my sister walked in the door. She took one look and yelled, "Where in the world did you get brass penguins?! Those are adorable!" I agree wholeheartedly!

Thank, Jo! You're the best. That was SO totally unnecessary, but oh, so appreciated!

THIS is what I woke up to today :)

Could this be any cuter? This was the first email I opened this morning from my Sista-Girl, C. Thanks, C!! That was the perfect way to start my day! Love you, Sista!

Random crap...

...to make up for the fact that I'm such a screw up.

This post is LONG overdue. My sweet friend, Tiffany, sent me an awesome package a while back, and I had intended to share it with you all.

Look what was inside!!
Tiffany's mother-in-law has a hand-made soap business, and she and her hubby sent me a HUGE box of goodies! I can't believe their generosity.
I had to take some close-up photos so you could see what the various scents (or as my sister says - flavors!)



How cute are these 'fancy' soaps?

I wish there was some kind of "smell technology" that would allow you to smell these awesome soaps!! Tiffany had gifted me with a bar of this fantastic soap when I was a guest in her home last fall. Imagine my delight at receiving an entire box of these beauties. Thanks, Tiffany and Ben!!! (I'm sure if anyone is interesting in gifting their friends and/or family with these awesome soaps, Tiffany can hook you up. Click over to her place!)

Things at the Hell-Hole have been just awful lately. I've made a concerted effort to not come here and bitch every day, like I have in the past. Truthfully, that's really how this moved from being a "teacher blog" to just a "random ramblings of a crazy lady" blog. I didn't want to come here every single day and complain. I certainly didn't want to focus on all the negativity, or give it any more of my time and energy. I really just wanted to try and forget about it, and writing here became my escape.

That being said, let me just share a teeny bit of what's been going on here in ChiTown recently. Some of you may know that we had a new mayor take office yesterday. He's bringing in a new superintendent of schools and a new superintendent of police. Like I said, I don't want to use this place as a outlet to bitch, but let me just say, I know LOTS of unhappy teachers and police officers.

One of the things we just found out about yesterday is that there is going to big changes to the length of our school day and year. We were told that our school day is going to be increased by 2 hours, and our school year by 2 weeks, all without ONE CENT of an increase in our salary. Nice, right? There has also been a bill passed making it nearly impossible for us to strike, as we would need a 75% majority vote. Convenient how this was passed right before we were told about all the extra UNPAID time we're going to be expected to work. Some of my other friends who are teachers have told me that their union reps have already told them to prepare for a strike. Once we were told about all this added, UNPAID time, it didn't seem so impossible to get 75% of the group to vote to strike.

I can feel my blood pressure rising, and I think I should just stop now. Let me end on a positive note. There are only 19 days of school left for the kids. Woo hoo! The teachers have 21 days, but that's a post for another day. I'm trying not to stroke out tonight. :(