Derby

We celebrated the Derby with cupcakes Thursday afternoon.  Tyevon is behind me, and the other student is a boy named Terrell.  He is not in my class but I took him for the day because he started off really rough for our preferred substitute.  He was a sweetie.  On the cupcakes: when I opened the container, the smell from the sugar of the cupcakes about made me sick.  YUCK!

Since I had the day off, I planted these special candy items in HH's car for when he got off from work.  :)  He was very pleased.

We had a cookout with our friends Alex and Rachel tonight.  They are so much fun to hang out with.  Enjoy your evening!

Lori's Perspective: Would She Have the DS Again?

The Lots of Stuff Post....

I asked my principal to fill out a letter or recommendation for a competitive teacher trip to Portland, Oregon.  He said yes but that he would need me to say yes to a favor later.  I asked him what he needed, and he said he didn't know but would figure out something.

Yesterday he comes into my classroom making a big production on how it is important to keep your promises.  I am going right along with him, because I figure he wants my class to do something.  Then he hands me this packet and says I need to fill it out and get it back into him.  My chin dropped....it was an application for our state 2011 teacher of the year award.  SERIOUSLY.  He wants to recommend ME from our school?!?!?!  I teach in a school with a lot of SOLID AWESOME teachers.  He has aggressively recruited teachers, and I am floored to just be nominated from our building.

On an interesting article note, you may want to check out Weighty Matter's article on The Weekend is 28.57% of the week.

On my weight:  I have maintained my weight loss and my lowest weight now since December 2009.  I do have the normal (period related) fluctuations each month, but only for a few days.  That is maintaining my current size for SIXTEEN MONTHS.  As someone who has always gotten bigger, it is hard to wrap my mind around this.  My ankles and knees certainly feel much better than they used to.

Craig Ferguson

We went to Cincinnati last night to see one of my husband's favorite comedians, Craig Ferguson.  We had a great time.  I am having a tougher time getting up and moving today, but I'll make it.

I can't believe how quickly this school year is coming to a close.  I love this class.  The next few weeks will be bittersweet.

My principal wrote me a really great letter of recommendation for this history grant that would allow me to spend a week in Portland, Oregon.  It is a competitive grant, but I sure would like to earn it. 

We (the Teachers) Are Doing a Version of This for the Talent Show

My Niece Kate

Here is a link to a photo show of my niece Kate.  Kate has been in the US six weeks now, and is such an amazing gift.

Kate's Photo Story.

Weekend Recap in Pictures

I had lunch with my best friend Wendy to celebrate her birthday.  I had lobster ravioli.  Mmmm! 

I made Cracker Toffee from this recipe at the Eat at Home Blog.  It was delicious, only took a few ingredients (4), and was quick to make!

HH tackling our sundae for two head on!

Our dining companions: Alex and Beau

Loving Life!!!

What a great motto:

Today has been pretty low key.  I took a long nap.  We are getting ready to read 1776, almost done with that.  We finish up testing, and life as normal in the classroom can resume (ok...at least for the rest of the week, we have two days of Iowa Basic Skills testing the follow week).

HH starts a job tomorrow.  It is not in ministry, but is flexible so that we can explore ministry options.

Great Question

This is a question that was posted on Fit with a Purpose by Seth: (I can't wait to dig into his blog more!)

If you could go back one year from today, what would you tell yourself?

* HH's mom is going to really like you....stop worrying and just be yourself.

* Mom won't die over your wedding cake topper.

* Even though you worry like crazy about your weight, you are going to be the same size in one year.

I'd love to hear your thoughts too.

Show Us Your Life: How You Met Your Husband

Over at Kelly's Korner, todays topic is How You Met Your Husband.....

I met HH (Ben) through EHarmony.com.  I liked the privacy of Eharmony because I didn't want my picture to be able to be viewed by just anyone.  I also liked the depth of the survey (although it was frustrating at times to fill out).  Once it was filled out, a lot of the major things that would have been a turn off to me, allowed me not to be matched up with those people.

HH had been on Eharmony for a year, with no real bites.  He had just recently renewed his membership.  HH was my first match, on the first day....and the only one who I spoke with.  He likes to say I got a bit of instant gratification, "Ok, here is your husband," since I only had to wait one day.  We started talking on May 24, 2008, and went out on a date shortly after that.  We met at The Olive Garden, then he took me ballroom dancing.  I had the time of my life, conversation was amazing, and I called my dad to tell him that, "I had met the man I was going to marry."

  Here is one of our first pictures taken together (June 2008):

I can't tell you what all I've learned from this man.  He is such a servant.  He loves me whole-heartedly.  I can say he is my biggest fan, and would do anything to help me be successful and happy.  He loves the Lord.

I love you HH!!!

Desire to Inspire Dinner: Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy

Look Mrs. F, I'm an academic alien.  Jerry makes the blog again with his ruler and pencil combo.  Heck, it put a laughing spin on our testing frenzy.

These are pictures we had my mom take of us as HH and I played in Bibleland.  We all attended the Desire to Inspire Dinner with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy.  This couple was amazing!  I saw the movie Blindside, and jumped at the opportunity to hear them speak in person.  This is the second Desire to Inspire event I've attended (the first was in the fall with Tony Dungy).

Time to hit the hay!

A Testing We Will Go...

Testing is half through!  Woooo Hoooo!  I am bored to tears.  I do laps, up and down, up and down.  As kids finish the test, I have to keep them quiet so students testing in other rooms are not disturbed.  I have been bone dead tired the past two days. 

I am trying to get my brother and his wife to come to a date night cooking class soon.  I would like to hang out with them doing something fun like that.

Ok...I wish I had more, but my brain is fried.  Enjoy your night!

Hoarders On the Road

It was all filled with GARBAGE.  I had to stop and be in awe for a second.

Tradeoffs....

Today I had lunch with Penny and two other friends from my college days.  It got to the point of eating, and we all pulled out our "pills" to take.  We started talking about what our pills were, and why we were taking them.  My three friends are at least 125 pounds overweight, and in their early thirties.  I was the only person at the table who was taking vitamins, and they had blood-pressure, cholesterol, and diabetic medications.  I realize that some people really have genetics stacked against them for certain conditions, but it struck me that all these medications could be reduced (if not eliminated) if some weight was taken off.

I take a lot of vitamins a day (roughly twenty) because of my digestive rerouting.  I am happy that I traded in prescriptions for certain conditions for vitamins.

Note: I currently take prescription strength Potassium and Ambien.

For HH

Be sure to check out Love Actually's Blog!  I get so many creative ideas from there!  (This is where the Smartie Pants idea came from.)  Cher even gives you the template to download for free.

Fitting for Post Number 1500!

I cannot believe that I have published so many posts! I'm going to talk about the chair of death...

At The Cheesecake Factory prior to having surgery, I sat in a wicker type chair while out for a lunch with co-workers. This chair lierally squeezed the life out of me for the next two hours. Not to mention that I was scared to move too much (not that I could have readjusted in any way) for fear of breaking it. I went to the bathroom, and I had red indentations up and down my sides from being in this chair. Needless to say, I was miserable.

My friend Penny is in town, and we went to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate her birthday. When she got up, I decided to sit in that chair. I couldn't believe how roomy it was. I was able to cross my legs indian style in it. I could pull my legs up to my chest, and was still comfortable. This is at almost three years and 1 month post-op. I had the biggest grin on my face leaving the restaurant.

HH

HH was rockin out out as the game show host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (5th Grade Math style, of course)! He was such a ham, and the kids loved him. I actually had a great time. HH made the evening really enjoyable.

Our Glass Creations

Here is my ornament. (Chitown Girl, please not all the makeup in the background....not sure you can see all the DUST gathered on it from "good intentions.")

Ben's egg.

Lack of Resources...

So I've stopped at the Circle K two days this week in the neighborhood where I work this week. In general I try to avoid this, because of the legitimate possibility of being a witness to a robbery. I just went in to get some Diet Sunkist, yet I was struck by the lack of resources food wise for people to make good decisions. The whole store is JUNK. There must be seventeen varieties of hot fries there. I did find some peanuts, but nothing else that I would want to consume.

I think about the neighborhood Circle K where I live. While it still has a decent amount of junk food, there are some good choices there too such as: yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, chicken salad, cheese sticks, granola/protein bars, Muscle Milk (protein supplement drink), etc. While I would not want to make a habit of it, if I needed to stop and get something to snack on or for my lunch, I would have some decent options.

This is simply not the case for the Circle K where I work in the ghetto. Yet, they put what SELLS there. It's not that I don't worry about the adults, but I really worry about the kids. I was an obese kid, and life was tough emotionally. I don't desire to see any child have that experience replicated. This is not even taking into account that many kids are experiencing health problems that didn't hit their parents or grandparents until much later in life.

The Week After

Getting back into the groove of things is always a bit of a challenge for me. I'm hanging in there.

We have Math Night at school tonight. I am not happy about having to stay after school until 7:00. I don't want to sound jaded, but our families only come for the food. We have to put a limit on the number of people that they bring, because many will bring their extended families for a meal. While a meal is not a bad thing, I would like them to be interested in anything I am doing, instead of texting and talking on their cell phones. Ah well.

I'm a cake decorating class drop out. I went on Tuesday night, but I really was not into it. The instructor was great, and I felt comfortable in the environment....but it was a LOT of work, and I wasn't feeling it. Maybe I will give it another try later on, but for now I'm going to stick to cooking classes.

When Tiffany Stops Being Polite...and Starts Being REAL

Place: Monday afternoon, the grocery store...

I went into the grocery store to get a few items for potato soup (yes, even when the temp was 77 degrees outside). I went to the U-Scan to check out. I am talking on my cell phone, but then again, who isn't these days?

I HATE going to the grocery store, and HH does most of our grocery store shopping. I am VERY fast at grocery shopping (when I was a nanny I could whirl through the store and have $200 worth of groceries at the register in fifteen minutes). I am not too shabby at the U-Scan. The woman behind me proceeds to loudly curse me out, telling me to get off my "f-in" phone" and check out, and how "f-in" rude I am, etc. She finally goes to the station in front of me, still ranting. At this point, even the security guard has noticed, and is watching to see if the situation gets elevated.

As I was walking by her, and she was still checking out, I said, "Well it appears I was still able to finish checking out before you." To which she let out some more vulgar names for me.

I'd hate to come home to HER! Her poor kids....her poor husband.

Three Things that Make Almost Any Meal Better...

Toasted Pine Nuts

Shiitake Mushrooms

Golden Raisins

These items will make almost any dish pop! I had a dish over spring break with all three of them, and WOW, I was savoring the flavor the entire time.

AMAZING!!!

Amos Lee was wonderful!!! I got to be less than fifty feet away from my favorite artist along with 649 other people from the city. He also has a new album coming out in September! HH danced with me to Sweat Pea. It was so worth the late night right before starting back from spring break.

I've got a lot to do today:
* 5 report cards
* prep for an evaluation in Social Studies tomorrow
* figure out how my PD hours got messed up and get that fixed
* finish my student teacher's university evaluation
* put my room together since it was cleaned over spring break

One thing I can say is that I am looking forward to seeing my kids this morning. I love my class this year, and I missed them over spring break.

One Last Event....

to cap off Spring Break 2010! Amos Lee takes the stage tonight at 8:00. :)

Yesterday HH and I went to pick up our glass creations we blew. They turned out so cool. I will post pictures of them soon. We had lunch, then went to see the movie Letters to God. This was an awesome movie, and I highly recommend it.

We are plugged our way through 1776. This book is required reading for a history grant I am a part of. It has been interesting....it helps that my husband has read all 80 pages thus far in a theatrical way. Yeah for a great husband!

Post Secret

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it."

- Ferris Bueller

Friday Post Two

We also road a "coupe" around downtown at Waterfront Park. This was a lot of fun, but was a lot more work at times than what I thought!

Other Glassworks pictures:

Tomorrow we can pick up our egg and ornament. They have to cool for 24 hours.

It's Friday and I'm in LOVE!

Today we went to Glassworks. HH blew an egg, and I blew an ornament.

New Bandages and Dinner

The Portabello mushroom dish turned out very nicely. I had HH on standby to go out to dinner after the first bite, but we both really enjoyed it. I thought the mushrooms would be dry, but they were very moist.

This is what the patch looked like on my face. Below is the scar it was hiding. (The scar is roughly one inch right along my jawline.)

Last night I watched Shanghai Ghetto. I am fascinated with learning more about the tragedy of the Holocaust.

I did get some work done, because I am motivated by attending the concert on Sunday night. Cooking class was cancelled (our teacher had surgery on her foot and it not doing great with her recovery).

Supply and Demand

Southern Girl

Being Responsible.....Not at the Cost of Missing....

Amos Lee!!!

I saw Amos Lee in July 2008 at Headliners Music Hall. I love this artist, and happen to have two good friends who love him too. One of those friends was able to attend his concert with me.

This afternoon I was checking Amos Lee's website (as I do at least once a week to see if he is traveling anywhere close to me).....and a concert has been added in my city!

So Sunday my plans were to take a nap then get cracking on school work....not now! I will be jamming to Amos Lee with HH Sunday night. They always say you will regret more of the things that you didn't do in life than what you did. I can't wait to see him in concert again, it has been way too long.

Now, if only Joe Purdy would come somewhere near me!!!