Monday, November 30, 2009

Kid Art and Packages on Their Way

Back to school we went today. It seemed like the day went on forever. It was nice to see my students though. They were awesome today. The boys had great days as well. We got the homework done quickly, and they had time of their own. I did too! I am making the samples for my crafty night. Can't share that with you yet, it's a surprise! Also did some Christmas shopping, and I am almost finished! I like to just get it done because I hate to shop in crowded places, because I hate to wait in line. It's motivation enough for me, and good news, nobody challenged me to a fist fight today!
Quinn brought this home today. Isn't it great? I LOVE it! Click it bigger and check out his colors. I love the glasses and the unibrow. He has a kitten coming out of his head. It's super cute. I love it.

These are my ornaments, off to be mailed tomorrow or Wednesday. Once they reach their destinations: Florida, Florida, Michigan and New York, I'll post the pictures of them. I was happy with them. Hope their new owners are happy too.

Word of the Day: November. It's the last day of November. Time to welcome December!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Puzzles and Puzzling

Hey, how do you like my new blog design? Do you just LOVE my new blog banner? My friend, Valerie, made it for me. I love it! Thanks Valerie!

Today was our last day of vacation. The boys never left the house. They were in pajamas until they showered and got into clean pajamas. Come to think of it, I don't think they left the house yesterday either. I went to the Harvest Festival in San Jose. I found nothing. That show has gotten really awful the last couple of years.

I worked on our 1,000 piece Disneyland puzzle off and on. See how clever the border is? The puzzle if a map of Disneyland. It has teeny, tiny pictures of each land. Quinn was trying to help, but gave up. I love to work puzzles!

Word of the Day: Puzzling. I made another trip to Michael's today-the sales associate was very friendly today. I also scored an awesome parking lot. So awesome, that as I was leaving, this dumb lady wanted it, but she was on the wrong side of the parking lot row, so when I backed out toward her, I couldn't go anywhere. I sat for a minute to see how I was going to get past her. I swung right, into the empty handicapped spots and as I went by, she called me a bitch, and was yelling at me. Nice huh? Well, I was pissed. I wasn't the one going the WRONG way, so I circled back around to give her a piece of my mind. She was screaming obscenities at me (with her mother in the car) and then she challenged me to a fight. WTF? So much for Christmas cheer. I am NOT a stupid people person. I'm not.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

It's Really Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I am stuffed. I'm never eating again. Seriously. Back on my diet tomorrow morning. I have no idea what to do with my leftovers from my HUGE turkey dinner tonight. I made the turkey today-you know, the ornery one from yesterday. He was yummy. I made stuffing. I made cranberries (they were terrible. Never substitute real maple syrup with pancake syrup). I made sweet potatoes (OMG, soooo yummy). My mom made mashed potatoes (OMG, yum). See why I am never eating again? We had all that, and more, on Thanksgiving! I'm rolling to school on Monday.
I got all of my Christmas decorations up, except for the tree. I plan on doing the tree either tomorrow night, or later this week. I love this corner of my fireplace mantel. I love my church. It's from Southern Living. It's there all year, except when my pumpkins are there.
The advent calendar is ready to go. Behind the little doors is a tiny, silver Christmas ball ornament, for the little tree. We put one ball on each day, and the last day has the tree topper, a star. This year, I also filled the little doors with some little toy treats for the boys. Riley is odd numbers, and Quinn is even.

I love these guys! I made them last year. I kept them out all year. I just love my Christmas stuff. I'm always happy to put it out, and once Christmas is over, I'm always happy to put it away. Do you feel that way too? It's like I love to decorate, but then it's great to get back to the normal stuff.

Word of the Day: Busy. I spent all day preparing for dinner tonight, and not much was eaten. Too many leftovers. Anyone wanna come to dinner? I was so busy, I didn't get to redesign my blog. My friend, Valerie, made me a new blog banner, and it is sooooo stinkin' cute! Wait until you see it. I'll play around with it tomorrow.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Preparing a Turkey

I have been decorating the house for Christmas all day. In between, I've been trying to defrost a really annoying bird. I am fixing the bird for dinner tomorrow night. I am having my parents over for a "fake" Thanksgiving, since we were at Kevin's parents' house for "real" Thanksgiving. I got a 14 lb. turkey for FREE at Lucky, for spending a boat load of money. The damn thing will not defrost. He must have been an ornery bird in life, no wonder Obama didn't pardon him. Also part of the problem...(sorry, really gross picture to follow.)
See that clamp thing? The directions said, "Release legs of turkey from Handi-Clamp, one leg at a time, by pushing leg downward and toward center of clamp; free leg with upward motion." Yeah, right. That worked...NOT! First of all, the legs were still frozen, so they scarcely moved. Second of all, that bird was COLD. Third of all, it was a slippery f*#@. Pardon my French. I couldn't get the clamp to move, let alone push on the legs to "release" them. Kevin tried too. Unsuccessful. Back to the fridge the bird went, for more defrosting. Fast forward several hours. We try again. Well, damn.

Here's Kevin using the garden pliers on the damn clamp. That didn't work either. I kid you not! Double damn. We decided to try regular pliers. Kevin pulled the clamp out enough to "release the legs." I pulled it the rest of the way out. I was finally able to take the frozen neck (ew) out of the body, and then took the bag of giblets (double ew) out of the neck cavity. Gross. Have I mentioned how I used to be a vegetarian? Have I mentioned how much I HATE to touch raw meat, let alone an entire dead turkey? My hands have been all over this bird. Triple ew, with a shiver. Finally got it almost defrosted. I reread the directions. Oooops. "Replace legs into clamp." Well poop. Oh well, the damn thing will just have to cook with his legs flopping about. I'm going for tasty, not beauty. Ah, the adventures never end around here, and I am NOT Martha Stewart. Perhaps I'll fix ham for Christmas dinner.

Word for the Day: Wii. I am such a horrible mother. Those boys have been plugged into that Wii all day long. Well, at least they are getting their exercise, bouncing about. They are also perfecting their argument skills. I am learning to hate the word, "stop" though, since that's all they have said to each other all day.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a yummy meal and good times with friends or family. I had both. We had dinner with Kevin's family. It was very nice. The boys LOVE to play with their cousins. A good time was had by all.

Did you miss me yesterday? I was totally fried from our drive back from Anaheim yesterday. It usually takes us 6 hours, but yesterday, it took 9. NINE. It was horrible. It was 3 hours to Santa Clarita-which, if there's no traffic, is about an hour from Disneyland. I was ready to scream. We finally made it through all of the parking lot traffic, but got slowed down because of a grass fire-or a vehicle fire. We couldn't tell what was burning, just that something was, and there weren't any firefighters on the scene. The rest of the drive was fine. Slow in parts down Interstate 5, and lots of idiot drivers, trying to make up time with Mario Andretti speed. Anyway, we were finally home at 8:30 pm. It's always fun to go, but it's always great to finally get home. Now, let the unpacking begin.
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving. He hopes you enjoyed the turkeys that he did not pardon.
Speaking of turkeys, check out our bread! We bought this at California Adventure. They had Mickey heads too, but sold out of those. We thought the turkey was fun though. He sure was yummy. Sourdough. He had a wattle (is that what that thing is called? This just in, it is, I googled it), but it got eaten before this picture was taken.

Look all you friends who live where there are four seasons! We do have fall! Look at those beautiful trees!

Word of the Day: Stuffed. So much yummy food, so little room in the tummy.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Disneyland Nov. 09, Day 3

Another great day with great friends and family. It was crowded, but we were able to get on the rides/attractions we wanted. I think we have all perfected the art of walking among huge crowds, avoiding speeding strollers, runaway kids, and stop-in-the-middle-of-everything-map readers. We have a short visit tomorrow, and then we head for home.


The boys in the train.

Word of the Day: Please. We tried really hard to get these boys on Tower of Terror. Nope. Would not budge, not even for a Disney pin. I guess I should feel good that they didn't give in to the adult or peer pressure. Good news down the road.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, November 23, 2009

Disneyland November 2009, Day 2

Having a great time at Disneyland! We hung out with our great friends all morning. We rode lots of rides before it became too crowded to do anything.



Here are the boys and their friends. The kids had a blast riding rides together, and well the adults did too!



Look how cute!



This is at the end of the It's A Small World ride. It's all done up for Christmas, and it's so pretty.



Yo.

Word of the Day: Crowded. There are so many people here. I would like some of them to leave.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Disneyland November 2009 Day 1

We were on the road to Disneyland by 8: 40 this morning. We reached our hotel at 9:21, parked the car at the hotel, and headed over to Disney's California Adventure Park. We knew we were kind of late for Disneyland, as you really have to get there early so that you can ride a bunch of rides, and not have to wait a long time. We had perfect timing for the 10 am opening of DCA. In fact, we were standing around near the fountain, and Minnie Mouse showed up! We took pictures, and then Stitch came along, so we took pictures with him, and the best part, NOBODY but us knew they were there! Awesome. No fighting other parents for our chance for a photo.

Stitch and the boys! So when you enter DCA, there are three areas where they hold you. You can go into the center plaza and wait for the park to open, or you can start to line up in three main places. We positioned ourselves by the holding ropes, between Grizzly Run and Bugs Land. We were just sitting around when we were approached by one of the security guards. He explained that since the park is under construction toward the back (lots of new stuff coming), and the main path is blocked off, they wanted to try something to slow the crowds and keep people orderly. It was the first day they tried it. They chose a family (US!) and let us cross the rope. There was a little countdown until the park opened, at which point we were to walk in a line, holding hands, and ALL the REST of the people had to go around us! It was pretty cool-well except for the ass who tried to pass us and then told Kevin to "shut your mouth, I wasn't talking to you" when he asked why he couldn't pass (Kevin answered him, and this angered the guy). Apparently the guy didn't listen to the security guards instructions. The best part though?Our security guard escorted us to the Toy Story Mania ride, which was where we wanted to go first. He said he'd get us right on the ride, no wait! Awesome, but it was DOWN when we got there. Bummer. It's all good though cuz our security guard got us a special PASS, so we could go back later in the day, you know, when the line is 50 minutes long! Worked out well in the end, and not so well for the rude ass from the beginning of the day. We saw that he had to change his course when he too couldn't get onto the Toy Story Mania ride. Ha ha!! Karma is a bitch, I am telling you.

Word of the Day: FUN! We are here with my parents, and then my BFF and her family showed up, and some other really good friends are here too! Tons of fun!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Hollywood and Tar Pits

We were up and out early this morning. We wanted to get a jump on the day. First up was breakfast at IHOP, with some friends. After breakfast, we were on our way to Hollywood.


Riley and Quinn at the Chinese Theater. They had fun putting their hands and feet into the cement spaces of the famous. R2D2 was a favorite, but we almost got into a fight with a tall, stretchy Yoda. He wanted us to pose for a picture with him (for money), but we wouldn't bite. Apparently those costumed people are being arrested down there, for being too aggressive with their bidding on tips. Our breakfast friends told us that, and Yoda kind of confirmed it. A Spiderman was arrested just yesterday.




We found oil!!! No, just tar, at the La Brea Tar Pits. They have a pretty cool little museum, with lots of fossils from the early animal dwellers in CA. The Ground Sloth was HUGE! They had a huge fossil of a Columbian Mammoth. Really cool.


We finished out the evening in Marina Del Rey. Here you see a typical CA sunset.

Word of the Day: Exhaustion. We checked into the hotel here, in Marina Del Rey at about 4:30pm, went for a walk, and then spent the rest of the evening in the hotel room. I slept for two hours! We haven't even reached Disneyland yet! Hoping the nap, and the early to bed help.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Santa Clarita

We are staying the night in Santa Clarita. Did you know that Santa Clarita is made up of four cities? Suagus, Newhall, Canyon Country and Valencia. Good to know. We visited with some friends, and we will catch up with them for breakfast tomorrow.



Here I am in our very spacious, very bright La Quinta bathroom.

Word of the Day: Drive. We left home at 3:37pm and arrived in Santa Clarita at 9pm. Lots of traffic and slow Prius' on the road.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Getting ready to head out of here, on our mini LA/Disneyland vacation. Don't you worry though, because you know I'll post about our trip.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Word of the Day: Busy. Packing, packing, packing.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse!

Today, Mickey Mouse celebrated his 81st birthday!
Mickey Mouse now...

and in the beginning. Happy Birthday, Mickey! You are my most favorite Disney character.

Word of the Day: Excitement. Oh it is brimming over here. Both boys, but especially Riley, are beside themselves with excitement about our Disneyland trip. I can't even count the number of times I have gone over the schedule with each of them. Those boys are just too cute, and when they are so excited like this, one can't help but be excited too. It's contagious.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

More Buttons and a Cute Scout

Three days until Disneyland. When I got home from my after school meeting, and picking Quinn up, Riley was watching a Disneyland vacation planning DVD-a really old one. He is so very excited to go. It's really cute. He's a keeper. I think Quinn is pretty excited as well, and we know of several other families who will also be there, the same time we are there. He's looking forward to seeing them at Disneyland. Fun! I have some serious packing and organizing to do before we go though. Good news is that my report cards are finished! Now, if only Quinn's VERY loose front teeth would fall out-they are sticking out of his mouth, like a beaver! I know that has nothing really to do with Disneyland, but it sure would be great if the Tooth Fairy could visit before we go, and drop off some spending money for Quinn. Plus, he would look completely adorable (and toothless) in all of the pictures.
I am going to add these bracelets to my shop, in my spare time. I made some more last night.

Quinn had a pack meeting tonight, for scouts. His den was in charge of the flag salute. Here's Quinn, trying to hold up the flag. It's pretty heavy for him. Can you see the blur of yellow behind the other flag? That's the den leader running to help Quinn hold that flag up, so it doesn't touch the ground.

Word for the Day: Dinner. My best friend and I finally got to spend some quality time together. We went to dinner in downtown Pleasanton. There's a pretty new Indian restaurant there. It was really good food. They offer a buffet lunch, so we are hoping to go back for that the next time we can squish in some time together. After dinner we went to the mall. Macy's is having a ONE DAY sale Wednesday (with a preview on Tuesday). Seriously, when ISN'T Macy's having a One Day sale?

Monday, November 16, 2009

School and Home Crafts

Happy Monday! Only 4 more days until Thanksgiving break! It's so exciting. Today at school, we finished folding our origami paper cranes. It was a challenge, but I went nice and slow and was able to walk my entire class through the folding.
Our finished paper cranes. I took a really cute picture of the class, holding their cranes, but I can't put it on here. Here's one of just the cranes, no boys and girls. Oh, and yes, I have a class full of girls-12 to be exact, and 8 boys. Usually I have more boys-perhaps it has something to do with my having boys at home, or just coincidence.
The big yellow crane is my sample. I folded that one as the kids folded theirs. I let a boy take it home with him.
I finished these button bracelets last night. I wore the bottom bracelet and necklace today, with my new zebra shoes! I am going to put the top one in my etsy shop, when I finish a few more.
A closer look. The top one is all done with pink, orange and red buttons. It's yummy. The middle one is copper and silver. I am always searching for a bracelet that is more neutral to wear with brown.

Here's the necklace I made. The bottom is a vintage button, and it's in sort of a leaf shape-really cool. The middle bead is actually a button. I got that one yesterday. The yellow flower is just a cabochon that I already had.

Word of the Day: Hair. I got my hair cut and colored today. I feel like a whole new me.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

BABE!

I went with a friend (Sheri), and a new friend (Jenny), to BABE (Bay Area Bead Extravaganza) today. It was in Oakland. Sheri drove us to BART, and we BARTed in. We were early, so we had some Pete's Coffee. I quite enjoyed my eggnog latte. The show was amazing, as it usually is. It's really big, with vendors from all over the place. They offer an assortment of bead crafts and demonstrations. Last year Sheri and I went, and we took a PMC class. This year we just went to shop, and shop we did! We also had Chinese food for lunch in Oakland's Chinatown. We spent all day at the bead show, getting home at almost 4 pm. Thanks Sheri for driving us to the BART, and "forcing" me buy stuff. LOL.

My haul from the show. Resin beads, lampwork beads, buttons, a $10 kit to make myself a beaded badge holder, some yo yo beads, a dragonfly kit, and WireLace, a mesh ribbon. Tons of fun. I started creating some things tonight, but nothing is finished.

Word of the Day: Funny. The bead show was in Oakland. Also in Oakland today, was a Raider game. We timed our trips on BART (it's a public transportation system here-a train), to avoid the bulk of Raider fans, who can be quite interesting. On our way home, the game was still going on, but when we stopped near the stadium, some fans got on. One guy was so drunk he could not even walk. His buddies were practically carrying him. Guess where they sat? RIGHT behind us. The drunk guy didn't look so good. He was very pale and we were afraid he would hurl. His friend sort of made a comment about it, when he put him in the seat behind us. Upon hearing this news, Jenny jumped up and changed seats. I was stuck. Luckily they were only on for two stops, and he didn't hurl, but he certainly did not look good. I am sure he did plenty of that at home. I am wondering how many $12 beers he consumed at the game?

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Some Saturday Fun

We were all up at the crack of dawn this morning, for scout stuff. Today was Scouting for Food. Every year scout troops drop off flyers asking for donations of can/dry foods to deliver to a food bank. The scouts then go back the following weekend, to pick up any donations. All four of us were at it today, walking around in the "fake" (mostly an annoying mist) rain and cold, leaving flyers on the doorknobs of everyone in our neighborhood. It actually didn't take all that long, but we did walk a lot. It felt great to get home and sit for awhile. We won't be around next Saturday for the pick-up, as we will be Disneyland bound.
This is grumpy Quinn. He's apparently preparing for Disneyland by being Grumpy. He was upset at all of the walking we did. I told him we'd do more at Disneyland, but of course, there it doesn't feel like walking.

I ran some errands after the scouting event, and in the evening, we went to Pasta Pamadoro for dinner, and then to Borders. That's where we saw this lovely Christmas tree. It's PINK. I guess it's kind of cute, if decorated correctly. I could see black, white and silver ornaments all over it.

Word for the Day: Daiso. Ever been to one? It's a Japanese $1.50 store, but they do have things that are over $1.50. It's so cool. I went to get real origami paper for my students to use. We are in the process of making paper cranes-it goes with a story in our reading book. We are using just copy paper, cut into a square, but it's quite thick for the kids. I got the origami paper, and some other stuff. I just love that place.

Friday, November 13, 2009

FuREAKS!

I spent the evening at a Ladies Night Out. It's sort of a fund raiser for my BFF's kids' school. People come and sell their stuff-shop at home kind of businesses, personal businesses, etc. All of the ladies selling donate an item for the raffle, then raffle tickets are sold, and the items are "won." It's a lot of fun, even if you don't win.

See what I bought? Aren't they soooo cute? FuREAKS. The girl was selling really cute boots too, but I have all the wrong kinds of pants for boots like those. She had all kinds of animal prints: giraffe, cheetah, leopard-even purple leopard. The shoes are kind of furry. I can't wait to wear them to school next week!

Word of the Day: Excitement. The boys are beside themselves with excitement over our upcoming Disneyland trip. Riley wants to pack this weekend, because we leave Friday, NEXT Friday. I think he's concerned about the business of our weekdays lately. Hey, he can pack if he wants to. He's my kind of kid!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Owls

While yesterday was awesome, getting to stay home all day, catching up on stuff, I paid for it today. It felt like Monday almost all day long, and the kids were pretty chatty. Very strange. Tomorrow we have an early release day-end of the first trimester. I'm happy for it, but I wish it was NEXT Friday, instead of tomorrow. Next Friday is the day before the Thanksgiving break. We will be headed toward the LA area, but that's a subject for a different post. Anyway, once I figured out today was Thursday, and not Monday, things were fine. Back to business as usual.
My students made these owls this week. They turned out so cute. I do art every week. I think its very important for the kids to have time to be creative. They love it too, and look at that creativity!

Here's a close up. Isn't it so sweet? The kids did a great job on them! They look so festive, hanging on our wall.

Word of the Day: Read. Quinn is reading everything under the sun these days. He loves it. I love that he loves it. He sees his brother reading (ALL. THE. TIME), and he wants to be just like him (cute huh?), and he sees me reading-well in the summer he sees a lot more of it. I can't complain. Riley probably could, but I really can't. Reading is the key to everything.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

On this date, 14 years ago, I married my husband. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, and it was even a little warm. It was perfect. We got married at Stanford Memorial Church, right on campus. It was a great day with family, new family, and friends. Time has really flown.
Here I am sporting my new Snuggie, an anniversary present. It's very roomy, and quite warm.

I can't show you the ornaments I made today,for my swap. I need to put the finishing touches on them, and then get them in the mail. I'll post pictures when they are with their new owners. For now, enjoy this one. I got it at Pier 39 on Saturday, as part of a Christmas present for my mom. It's the kind that can be personalized, only nobody was there to personalize it for me, so I decided to do it myself. You can see my results up above. I almost peed my pants laughing so hard. You will be happy to know that I used my Goo Gone and fixed it. It now reads as it should.

Word of the Day: Home. We spent the whole day at home. It was nice. We only left the house to go to dinner this evening.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

It's Almost Like a Friday, Almost

I got over my disappointment about the lack of slurry seal on my street-sort of. I think it means that we will get another notice in the not so distant future in which they will want to do it again-er for the first time? Anyway, I had almost forgotten about it until I was bringing Quinn home today, and the main street in my neighborhood was closed off in the opposite direction. I'm thinking to myself, "well at least I don't have to go that way," when I noticed the people who want to go that direction, ARE in fact, GOING that direction, toward ME! So irritating. I had to pull over at least 6 times to let the idiots-I mean, the other drivers go past me, THE WRONG WAY. I don't know. If I saw a barricade of cones and those construction signs, it would be a clue to me to turn around and go the other way. Apparently, other people don't share my view of driving rules.

Had a PTA meeting at the boys' school, which ended pretty early. Early enough that I got to go to Target (my second trip today-see below), and to Starbucks. While at Target, I picked up UP. I figure the boys will enjoy watching it tomorrow, on our bonus Wednesday off! That is after they clean their rooms, do some homework, work on a book report and a bald eagle report. Oh man. Perhaps it won't be just a rest day for me tomorrow. Oh well, at least I don't have to work-at school, anyway.

Word of the Day: Check. So I went to Macy's this afternoon in search of something in particular that I can't talk about right now (shhh, Christmas). I found it, and went to pay for the said items. I realized that my ATM card and my credit card were at home, in the pockets of yesterday's pants, which had not made it to the laundry room as of yet. I was stuck and I had to pay with a...ready for it?...A CHECK! I felt so ridiculous paying by check. They had to run my driver's license (I think that's unique to Macy's), write down the expiration of my license, run it through the register thingy. It took forever. I never use checks to shop anymore. It's all ATM or credit card or cash. I was so embarassed (and glad that nobody was waiting in line behind me-like that commercial where everything grinds to a halt when the lady doesn't use her check card) that I decided not to get UP at the mall Target, so I wouldn't have to write a check. Silly I know. It worked out anyhow. Just call me weird.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Um, Yeah

So today was the big day. The day of the big slurry seal. We prepared. We parked out cars at the Lucky shopping center, near Starbucks, so it would be easy to get in and out in the morning, and well lit for the evening. I hoofed it to my car in said parking lot this morning, picking up a gingerbread latte along the way (the perk of living within walking distance of a Starbucks). When I left the house at 8 am, NOTHING was going on. No machines, no workers, just empty streets. After school I drove past the street that leads to my street, and it was blocked in one direction. It clearly had been repaved, but the other side hadn't. Picked Quinn up from after school care, and then picked Riley up from a friend's house. Headed to the library. Afterall, we were under the impression that the street would be closed until 5 pm. We got books about bald eagles and ancient Egypt, went to Kohl's and then to Target. Kevin texted me that the repavement on our street was "amaaaaaazing." We went home, and....NOTHING! They did not even touch our street! WTF? All that preparation, for nothing. Really really annoying.
Not so annoying though are the Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints. I am not a fan of peppermint, but I do love these-in small doses though. They are Junior Mints after all, and a little goes a long way.
These are self-adhesive mirror circles, from Kohl's. Aren't they cool?

Ahhh. The best part of my day-Target goodness!

Word of the Day: Monday. What an annoying day. I am so tired. I work so hard to provide a good education for my students. I take the time to get to know them. I do a lot of things beyond my normal duties. I hate it when parents of my students take me for an idiot. Two issues today. One student missed three days of school (two weeks ago). The dad asked for the homework. I left it in the office. Never picked up. I then collected it from the office and sent it home with a note saying I would be happy if the work was turned in the following Friday (which gave the student a weekend, and 5 school days to turn it in.) Did it come in last Friday? No it did not. Sent another note saying I need it Monday as I am trying to do report cards. Did it come in today? Nope. Wrote a nasty note saying it was too late to turn it in. Think I'll have a parent at my door tomorrow? Most likely. Not going to budge. Sorry. Second situation. One boy (the only student in my class) who does NO HOMEWORK. I write notes, I write it on his Friday Folder. They thank me for keeping them informed (????). Now when he doesn't do something, they just take it out of the homework folder. Like I don't check that? Like I don't keep really really good records? I think I know who is the idiot. Wrote a nasty note home today about the importance of building good study habits for the future. I'm not afraid of parents. The older I get, the more I speak my mind. Sometimes things have to be said. Other then those two sets of parents (the kids are fine, it's not their fault they are unsupported), the rest of my class (and their parents) are perfectly lovely. For them, I will continue to go the extra mile. Sorry. Had to vent. It's my blog and I can vent if I want to, vent if I want to.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

I Have a New Friend.

I did a whole lot of nothing today. Well, I did get my closet cleaned out, and the drawer to my night stand cleaned out, and some piles sorted, but other then that, nothing. I have not been feeling well-still. It was just a day to stay at home and do nothing in particular. Kevin did work with Quinn on riding a two wheeler. He was sort of doing it, but then something happened to his brakes. Kevin threw the football around with Riley and the baseball with Quinn. It was a lazy sort of day. It was nice.

This is my new friend. Isn't he cute? He's an Annalee elf. I think this Annalee stuff has been around forever. I never thought it was that cute before, but this year all of a sudden, I love them-well the elves anyway. I got him last night at Pier 39. I don't have any Christmas stuff out yet, except for this little guy, because I love him so.

Word of the Day: Park. Kevin and I drove our cars over to the Lucky's to park for the night. Tomorrow is when the slurry seal will be put on our street. We have to be off the street by 7 am, and we can't drive back onto the street until 5 pm. When I look out the window, I see lots of cars still on the street. Perhaps there will be a mad dash to leave the street around 7 am tomorrow. All I know is we did it correctly, and if anyone messes it up, and causes the opening of our street to happen later, I'm going to be mad. It's the main street too, so I think there will be some pretty stuck people in the morning and the afternoon. Our neighbors across the street just got home from India today. I sent Kevin across the street to tell them about it-figured they had enough mail to go through, after being gone a month. The guy was very thankful, as he didn't realize he wouldn't be able to drive on the street after 7. It should be very interesting tomorrow.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Date Night

While the boys spent the night with their grandparents tonight, Kevin and I celebrated our 14th anniversary. We went into the city, to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, and to dinner. It was a very nice afternoon/evening.
Since it rained yesterday, it was very clear in the city today. We decided it was a great day to drive up to Twin Peaks, to take in the BEST city view. See that? San Francisco! That big street is Market Street. We drove all the way down it, to get to the Wharf-ok, well not all the way. Part of it is closed to private vehicles, so we turned at 8th street (saying hello to the Orpheum, where Wicked is playing), and continued to the wharf, from Mission Street. Technicalities.
Here's Kevin and I, in front of the spectacular view.
Pier 39, at sunset. You can just see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
Sea lions. LOTS of sea lions. It didn't smell so good down at the pier. See how crowded they are? They are sleeping on top of each other, and many just waddled right across the tops of other sleeping sea lions, to jockey for a better sleeping space. Ar ar ar ar.

We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. It was yummy, and the place was quite lively. If you want to see the rest of our pictures, GO HERE.

Word of the Day: Mouse. Kevin saw our mouse resident this morning, in the garbage can. The traps are not catching the crafty fellow, but we now know that he is under the kitchen sink-most likely living behind the dishwasher. Kevin ran right out to get some d-CON. Now we are nervous to open the cabinet, to throw anything into the garbage. To be funny, Kevin left one of the cats' shaky mice toys (it looks like a real mouse), on the counter, trying to freak me out. It didn't work. Mice don't freak me out. Spiders do.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Apparently Yesterday was Slow Too!

Did you miss me? I totally forgot to blog yesterday, what with all of the excitement around here. I don't really remember yesterday. It was a hurry to work, hurry to grocery store to get food items for my treats at school, hurry home and fix dinner, hurry up and eat dinner, hurry up and get to my meeting on time, and hurry up and fall asleep on couch, kind of day. Yes, so exciting.
After school today, I went to Michael's, and look what I found! A brand new Subway! I have no idea when it opened. I'm at this Michael's every other day-and I was just there two days ago! This Subway just popped up, out of nowhere. Weird.
Look what else I found. Wet ground! It rained-well, mostly it misted. It was very light, hardly rain, but still wet. It smelled like rain though. I love that smell. The only thing I didn't find today were the firemen. I read, on Facebook of course, that there were firemen at the intersection of Fremont Blvd. and Mowry. I did not find them. Apparently they were filling their boots with cash for Muscular Dystrophy. Perhaps the rain-er, MIST, chased them away. Darn.
In the mail today, Arden's Christmas dress! Won't she look nice for her pictures? She has a new coat too, but it's kind of hard to really see in the picture. Trust me, it's super cute though.

Another view of Arden's pretty dress.

Word of the Day: Ornament. I think I have finally settled on an ornament for my ornament swap-hence all of the trips to Michael's this week. I just have to get them made this weekend, and in the mail.