Bah humbug...wait, wrong holiday.

So you could never tell by the fact that I am dressed all in orange and black, have my Halloween socks on (with the jingle ghosts), have been coloring pumpkin pictures for the kids today, and prepared 7 halloween 'treats' (play-doh attached to a note that says, "Happy Halloween from your speech teacher, Jennifer" on them, that I may have ruined Halloween. How do you ruin Halloween? you might ask. Well, as I was coming up stairs this morning, I saw some movement on the landing. Being the level-headed person I have become around crawly things, I set my stuff down, and went into the bathroom to grab a couple Kleenex, and went back to get rid of the crawliness. I realized as I was about to attack, that it was a spider. And as I squished him in the Kleenex, I thought to myself, "Is it bad luck or something to kill a spider on Halloween? Does that make me like the Scrooge of Halloween? Or what? I may never know...

P.S. There was some looney congressman on the radio this morning trying to spread the word about the HHCI (Halloween Healthy Child Initiative) which would make it illegal to hand out just candy on Halloween. In order to not get break the law, you would have to hand out fruits and vegetables as well as candy. See why he seems looney?

Did you fill out the form that you didn't know existed yet?

When you work at a job, there are aspects of the job that you don't understand, and there are those parts that you don't even know exist until someone wants to know why you didn't do something. I am currently faced with one of those things. Last year, when I worked full time, I didn't really have to worry about the number of hours that I worked, nor did I have to turn in an hours sheet because I was working all of them. I wanted to take the Monday off after Thanksgiving but not as a personal day, but rather as a day that the district owed me (which I have since learned is called a comp day). Well, in trying to figure out the details of this, I found out that there was supposed to be this form that was to be filled out to submit to let the district know that you are working all the hours you are supposed to. I didn't even know the form existed until yesterday. And I assume that the form was supposed to be in sometime in September. But seeing as no one has ever told me these things, I would never know. I hope that I don't get into too much trouble because of this, but we'll see. It's hard to be the one who has been here so people assume you know what you are supposed to do, and not knowing what to do because you have assumed a new role for the new year. Oy. Hopefully I will get it figured out. And hopefully soon enough to get the Monday after Thanksgiving off.

My son loves Mommy's snack choices.

So when my son gets up, he needs to have a snack. I don't think his dad realizes how long it is between noon-ish and 5:00-5:15-ish for a 17-month-old child. So when I get home, I usually have to be the one to bust out the snack. On Monday, I had grapes left from my lunch, so Lukin and I sat on the couch and finished them. Then yesterday, we sat on the couch and had goldfish. Baby goldfish. Of course, he doesn't seem to have any use for his mom when he gets up. He really just wants to be held, and since he was napping with Daddy, he wants to be held by Daddy. This makes me sad. But at least, he will come with me for the snack part.

Sonny says that I shouldn't take it personally. He points out that when it is time for bed, Lukin wants Mommy. He will whine if I am in the room and am not rocking with him. In fact, I realized this when I tried to sit down on the couch when he was rocking with Daddy. It was like one of those cartoons where the baby starts to cry only when one certain thing happens. That was Lukin. Every time I would bend my knees to sit on the couch, he would fuss because he wanted me to come sit with him. Then when you reach out your arms to him, he giggles because that is what he wants. It's pretty cute, actually.

I heard the news today...oh, boy.

I was watching the news on Saturday night, and there was this story about some 16 month-old surviving something, but I didn't stay tuned because of the story that they felt was more important. Before the commercial break, and before the story of how some little kid survived something, there was a story about how the author of the Harry Potter seriers outed one of the characters. I believe his name was Dumbledore. Seriously? How is this story more important that some kid surviving something? I don't care if the kid survived a cold, it would still be more news worthy than Dumbledore being gay! It was more like the kind of story you would see on Entertainment Tonight rather than local news, and that is where it was, on the local news. Like I mentioned, I was so disturbed by the lack of judgment on the part of the news editors, that I turned the news off.

Relaxing...my foot.

So the boys are in Texas right now so that should mean that I have all this time to just relax when I go home from work. Yeah, right. For some reason, a break from the boys means time to get a bunch of things done. Of course, the one thing that I am not getting done is resting.

Sunday afternoon, I played on the computer a little bit (played the Sims). Then I worked on and finished my wedding photo album (if you are getting married, STACIE, don't have kids before you get your album done because then it may take you forever to finish it). Then I did the regular stuff that I do: picking up the house, preparing for work Monday, etc.

On Monday, I worked the regular day (even though it wasn't really regular because the kids weren't there), and then after school I had to run home quick and change and freshen up before heading to my other school for conferences for another 4 hours. While I was there, I was talking with the school psych and she told me that I should go home and rest because I deserved it, as all the teachers who had worked a 12 hour day did. But did I do that? Not so much. I went home and I did sit and watch Heroes. So that was my 'rest' time. Then I went downstairs to put away a pile of clothes on the dresser. Then I proceeded to empty that dresser so that I could move it into Lukin's room so that he has a dresser so he isn't always dragging his clothes out from the baskets they are currently in. This took a little over an hour. Then I tried to find something to wear for conferences today that looked okay and was warm enough for the icebox that is my classroom, got myself ready for bed and was in bed by 11:15-ish.

So needless to say, I am sleepy today because when the boys are home I am usually in bed between 10:00 and 10:15-ish. Without them home, I should be able to get more sleep, but not so much. Of course, you probably know what I mean. You start to do something which leads to another thing to do, and then another, and then another, etc., etc. And just so you know, I have 9 things that I want to get done before I go to bed tonight. With getting out at noon today, hopefully, I will be able to get this all done and go to bed before 11:00.

Moment of Silence for Applebees Blondie

So last night, I went out for supper with Brenda, Deb and Sam. After dinner, we were discussing desserts, and so the lady brought the dessert menu. But it's changed. They are changing the dessert menu so that it is all these little $1.99 cups that are not as big as the old desserts. Of course, that's a bummer. I am a big fan of the triple chocolate meltdown. I am sad, but I will be okay. I think I will be fine because, even though I really like it, I don't get to have it often enough for me to be that sad about it's disaapearance from the menu. (Besides, there was a dessert that they used to have that I used to love, and that one is gone, and I don't even remember what it was.)

However, Sam seemed distraught over the fact that they weren't going to have the blondie anymore. So much so, that he had to have it, and seemed sad. Maybe he wasn't really that upset, but it became the focus of our conversation for the rest of the meal. When they got done, Brenda joked that they should have taken a picture of it so they could always remember it. Sam then joked that he should order another and then take a picture. They obviously didn't. But that's good because that way if someone else is very upset about the end of the blondie era, they can still get one of the last ones.

So I would like to dedicate this entry to the end of the Applebees Blondie era with a moment of silence...and since you are probably reading this quietly, the moment of silence is probably covered. So have a nice day.

What kind of establishment?!?

So, as you are all aware, last weekend, we went up north to celebrate my birthday. We went out to dinner, not where we had originally intented, but it was good nonetheless. And thanks to Brenda for making the reservations for us, even though we had to wait 50+ minutes for our table because they thought we had 4 in our party and not 10. WTF? I don't know what part of 4 sounds like 10 on the phone, but the dude who took the call should have his hearing checked.

Anyway, after dinner, we enjoyed Amanda's homemade cake. It was yummy: chocolate tower with chocolate frosting. Everyone in the restaurant was looking at us. I think they were just jealous that no one that was in their party had made cake with fondant on it. Jerks. Either that or they were jealous that no one in their party was singing to them. Jerks.

So after the dinner, we ran back to the hotel to powder our noses and get ready to head to a local establishment. I won't say the name, but if you know me well, you can probably guess where we went.

So we were there and we saw this girl at the counter and she was hitting on this guy. Pretty soon we see her and the guy kissing and start making out. Gross. Go do this somewhere else. But that's not even the half of it because like 5 minutes later, that guy has left and she is making out with another guy at the bar. My sister and I are watching this girl, whom I 'affectionately' name, "Herpes Girl". I ask the bartender if there is a way to get "Herpes Girl" to go somewhere else. He tells us she is from Grafton, and that, in his words, "She is kinda slutty." Nice.

Anyway, the girl was smashed and the four of us girls sat and talked about how we would never let another one of us ever have something like that happen to us. We would cut the others off way before we started making out with random guys, etc, etc. As we are having this conversation, a couple guys come in that must be part of a wedding, because they are in tuxes, and the girl works her way over to one of these guys and subsequently drags him back to the men's bathroom.

We were horrified. First, because that was a terrible slutty thing for that girl to do. Second because we were at an establishment that has never been known for that type of activity. Third, because that kind of 'crap' probably happens all the time at other, lesser quality, establishments, but not at this place. The brother happened to be the brother of the owner and was worried that his brother was sitting at home, watching the establishment on the webcam, and was going to be mad or disappointed with him.

I hope that we don't witness another event like that there again. I also hope that the girl gets help. (I forgot to mention that she passed out in the bathroom while with the guy.) I hope she finds some real friends who wouldn't let that happen instead of sit at the table and ignore her while she drinks herself to alcoholic poisoning. And lastly, I hope I never see that girl skanking out there again!

It's a pretty good day.

So, it's finally here. I have turned 30 years old. And I have to say, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Granted, I kind of look forward to my birthday every year (call it the kid in me), and so that is the part that is making it not so bad today.

The other exciting news is that I weighed myself in honor of my 30th birthday to see if I made my 10 pound goal by my 30th birthday and TA-DA! I did! So I am 30 and 10 pounds lighter. That's a pretty good day.

Add to that the fact that my husband and I played the Minnesota State Lottery last night (scratch offs) and we each won. Granted it was $8 total, but that's a profit since it cost us $6 to play. And even though that is not very exciting, the exciting part is that combined with our previous winner, we have won $53. That's a pretty good pseudo-birthday present.

All in all, it's a pretty good day. Like that song from 13 going on 30. Have a good one everyone!!

A very sad day.

So when the alarm went off this morning, I was so sad. I laid there thinking that it was the last day I would be waking up in my 20's. Of course, I don't turn 30 until after 10 am, but most people just assume it's their birthday once it's midnight. I assume this will be the same kind of thing.

So, I am sad today. I didn't think I would feel this way about turning 30 but I don't want to get any older. I don't want to go back and be a teenager again or anything either. I just don't want to leave the 20s. I have (for the most part) enjoyed this decade. It has been full of many different experiences: college, grad school, first job, second job, third job, fourth job; no boyfriend, boyfriend who turned into fiance, back to single, hazy area, outlaw boyfriend, friend who is a boy, who becomes boyfriend, who becomes fiance, who becomes husband; no child to one child; and so on.

The 30s are going to be pretty banal. I look at everyone else in their 30s and they talk about house payments, car insurance, day care, etc. It's not as exciting as it was in the 20s. I don't know. Maybe that is a harsh judgement, but I don't see the 30s glorified the same way that the 20s are in the media. I am scared to turn 30. I hope it's not lame. If you have any advice on turning 30, I am all ears.

I found the song.

So for the last week or so, I have had this song in my head and it had some lyrics about leaving some shoes in a tree and the guy wears them to your house. So I have been trying to figure out what song has those lyrics in it because I figured it was Dave Matthews, Badly Drawn Boy or Jack Johnson, because those are some of the cds in my car, and it was a male voice. So, I was trying to listen to all the songs, without having to listen to them, to see if I heard the line I was looking for. It was haunting me because I knew it was in my car somewhere.

So this morning, I have the Badly Drawn Boy cd in and I feel like that is the voice, but cannot find the song. Suddenly, more of the lyrics came into my head and I realized that it was BDB, but that it was on a cd that was made from songs on the computer...what's that website, where you buy the songs? It was made from songs on there. I remember the cd cost me 18.81 or something like that. But in case you are curious and would like to hear the song, it is called 'Magic in the Air' by Badly Drawn Boy. It's great.

In other news...

I thought my husband was a jerk because someone made a comment on one of my entries about wanting some cheese with my whine. It was signed anonymous, and so all day, I was upset about it. I mean, if you don't what you read, don't complain to me, just don't read it. So I was defensive about it all day because I had some names in mind of people that I thought would do that. Then when I got home, I asked Sonny about it. It was him. He said he meant it in a joking way, but it's hard to read it that way when it's written, you know. Anyway, I had to write that because after he told me that he wrote that, he figured he would make the blog.

It's Dawn's Birthday!

So today is Dawn's birthday. Who is Dawn? She is the business manager from when I worked in Medina. She's cool. She is one of the few people that I miss from there. So happy birthday Dawn!

This weekend, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for Deb's birthday. (Happy Belated Birthday Deb!) Neither my husband nor I have been to that place before. It was really good, but just so you know, if you have not ever been there, be prepared to take food home.

Well, other than that, not a lot to report. I had a million things to get done but they never really get done. My mom says that's part of having children. The only way everything ever gets done is to get really motivated.

Meh. That's about all I got.