Random Observations About My Life

* I have new neighbors. I was very concerned about my new neighbors. They are a group of 4 20-ish year old guys. Who have a rock band. In the basement. Oh. Yay. They are a bit rough-around-the-edges looking when they are outside having a smoke. I've talked to them a few times, though, and they're a pretty good group. They're really cute about asking if their music is bothering me, and they told me that they end their sessions early because they "live in a nice neighborhood now." Anyway, 2 of them were asking me about Sean's truck the other day, which is currently all taken apart in my garage. We're talking, he took the frigging bumpers off, the exhaust system is in pieces, etc. So those 2 are all excited to talk to Sean about his truck because they have old F-250s as well, same year I think, and they even volunteered to help him work on it. Hallelujah! For the price of a couple twelve packs of beer I could have this thing out of my garage before Halloween if I play my cards right.

* A crazy man at Sam's Club told me he really liked my hair. I do not have the type of hair that stops strangers in their tracks... My hair has 2 settings: "bad hair day" and "forgettable". Even if I hadn't noticed that he was a bit off, telling me I had nice hair would have been a sure tip-off.

* I love my kids. I love my job. I hate working with teenagers all day and then coming home and dealing with teenager-ness at home. I feel bad for my girls, though, most of all. My threshold for teenagery whining, complaining, or eye rolling is so low that I lose it pretty quickly. I go from 0 to Bill Cosby (don't you roll those eyes at me I'll roll that head of yours right onto the floor) in about 5.4 seconds flat.

* I started using the elliptical again. After my surgery this summer I wasn't allowed to exercise until August, and then I still didn't really feel well enough. So I'm finally back into it, and it never fails... like 2 days after I start exercising and trying to eat better, I'm like... hey, I should have lost 2 lbs by now... and getting all discouraged when I've instead gained a pound. I joined a gym when I was 16 because I loved to lift weights and do aerobics (I know, right? What happened to me? 4 kids, that's what.) My point is, I'm not new to the gig. I know how long it takes to see results... yet here I am still expecting miracles. What, I've been exercising for 3 days now and haven't dropped a pants size? I'm giving up and eating a donut! But, I decided that with the stress I am currently under, it's either exercise or heavy drinking. So I went with the exercise. For now.

* I love going to garage sales. It's like a giant treasure hunt. Currently I'm looking for books for school. I found some cute baby clothes last weekend for Lexi for 25 cents. I bought 4 items. I'm all picking through... "Oh, this dress is cute, but I don't know..." And then I got home and thought, "Well, crap, it was 25 cents! Why didn't I just buy it?" Who cares if it wasn't in perfect condition. For 25 cents she could wear it once and then give it to D.I. She gets her clothes all messy at daycare anyway... might as well buy them from a garage sale. Oh well. Sean got a DVD player for $5 and it works great. It has a 5 disc changer so he can put it in the garage and play CD's. While he and Guns-N-Roses work on his truck.

* It is late and I must go to bed.

Quirky

Those people are quirky. I don't think I'm very quirky. However, I was tagged by Lauralee to reveal 6 quirks about myself, so I'll give it a shot.

1) It bugs me to have anyone else write on certain things of mine, like my shopping lists or calendar. Sometimes I even have to start it all over. I like to have it all in one writing or else it bugs me so bad, and I can read my own writing quickly and easily. I let my students write their own names on their file folders this year, and I seriously obsessed about it forever because I knew it would bug me, but it was just too much work to do it myself.

2) With a few exceptions, I don't like my food to mix together. I don't like casserole, I hate getting syrup in my eggs, I don't want gravy on my corn. The closest I get to casserole is lasagne. I also don't want fruit in my dessert. The only exception is pie, and that is only certain types. Certain foods I always eat the same way... like I eat the filling out of the pie first and the crust by itself.

3) If I get bored, I play games in my head with words. If I see a big word, I'll see how many little words I can make out of it. Or if I see several words I'll cancel out all the letters that are the same and see if I can make a word out of the leftovers. Yah. I'm weird.

4) I'm mildly claustrophobic. I like to sit on the outer edges of large crowds, like faculty meeting or ball games, when possible. Basically, I just like to be mobile. I like to feel like if my butt falls asleep or I have a sneezing fit I could get up easily without having to crawl over people's knees and laps.

5) I hate turtlenecks, mock-turtlenecks, sweaters that are tight, and I never wear jewelry. I would like to be a jewelry-wearer, but I just never do it.

6) I love John Cusak and have since I was in high school. Even as he gets older and puffier, I just can't help it.

OK, that's the best I can do. I tag all my loopie friends who want to do it.

Family Photo Fun

So we got some portraits done the other day, and may I just say what a special kind of torture it was? You do not even want to know what hell we went through, and they didn't even turn out that super. Here are a few that I liked.

Sean's Birthday

Sean's birthday was Tuesday. He's 39 this year, but he still looks as cute as he did 10 years ago. Lucky dog.





He worked late, so we didn't really do anything, but we grilled steaks for dinner and had cake and presents.





A few of the many things I love about Sean:
* He likes to do a lot of the same things I do.
* He makes me laugh, and he laughs at my stupid jokes.
* He likes to stay up late watching movies.
* He has a good heart.
* He is neat and tidy and organized.
* He is a good cook.
* He smells good.
* He looks super cute in a baseball cap.
* He knows how to fix things. (The fact that he likes to tear large objects apart
and strew them about my garage does NOT go on the "things I love" list, however.)
* He has lots of energy and works hard.

Awesome.

I blogjacked this from Kerri, so thanks Kerri! So awesome.

Somehow, while no one was looking, Lexi snaked the chocolate syrup out of the door of the refrigerator. She took it over to the edge of the kitchen, out of my sight line, and had a blast. Sean and I were standing there talking, and here comes Lexi all happy and covered with chocolate. She had it all over her feet and legs, on her clothes, in her hair. Stinker pants. With good taste, though. And she managed to get most of it in her mouth instead of on her face, so that's good I guess.



We went up to the lake and went camping yesterday. It was 40 degrees when we woke up this morning, and that's just too cold for me. But it was beautiful up there, as always. One of my favorite places to go.


The lake through the trees


Courtney and Josh taking a walk


Brittney climbing a tree

School is going pretty well, I think. I'm supposed to write up a little blurb about the last book I read for my principal to display in the office, and as an English teacher I feel the need to Represent. The actual last book I finished was #14 in the Stephanie Plum series. I feel like I need something more high-brow and dignified than that... Ethan Frome or Discourses on Mark Twain or something scholarly sounding. Hmmmm..... I'm in the middle of reading a Dean Koontz novel and a biography of Kurt Cobain. Are either of those any better? Oh well. Guess I should just fess up and be myself, right? I realized one day that I am totally the Michael Scott of teaching! Sometimes the kids' negativity just sucks the life out of me... School sucks so bad, homework sucks so bad, everything sucks so bad... and I get all pissed off... like the Prison Mike episode! One day I could snap and do a Prison Mike on my class... You think school sucks worse than prison? Me wearing a do-rag and trying to be tough LOL Sometimes it just sucks the life out of me to feel like the enemy. Luckily I do have some fun classes and we laugh a lot, but I also have a few that I want to smack... there are times when they're giving me that blank-look-rolly-eyed stare, and a former student will wander into class to bring me a treat or to give me a hug or wave "hi" and I just want to say, "See! Some of my students do like me, really! I promise!" LOL

Soccer and Camping

Well, Britt's soccer game went well. They won 6-1. Looks like a good group. Coach had her playing middle, though, which she hates, so we'll see how that plays out. Josh... well, who knows about that kid. He was so excited to play... and then he got there and refused to step foot on the field. He's claiming that he's all ready now and will be playing this Saturday, so we'll see how that goes.

Camping was fun. We went up in the afternoon and made dinner in the dutch oven, played around, sat by the campfire, and just enjoyed being outdoors. It was butt freezing COLD at night, though. Holy cow. We're planning to go again this weekend, and I am bringing my long johns and my parka. So glad the heater in the trailer works.

Well, that's about all I have to report. School is... going. Everyone is surviving. This is really going to be a hard year for all of us, I think. Both girls have a heavy load, and I have a heavy load as well. Lexi was all bundled up and snoozing this morning on the way to school, and Courtney and I were both like... Man, I wish I was all comfy like that... going to go play with toys all day... and getting to take NAPS on mats! Forget the toys; we both just wanted the nap.

Back to School

Everyone went back to school last week at our house. So far, so good. I think. We're all still alive, anyway. My wallet, however, is dead. Deflated. School registration fees.... School supplies... Activity fees and class fees.... I'm up over $400 and still not finished. Oh well. It's worth it.

Seeing how I'm not one of those kind of moms (you know, the good kind) who remember things like, oh, taking pics before rushing out the door in the morning.... my first day pics of the girls are from *after school.

First day pics:




Josh and Lexi didn't start daycare until Thursday of the week we all went back. I totally didn't even think to take their pics that day. So here are some random pics of them that I'll pretend are from the first day. Hey, that's the shirt Josh wore, so no one will know. Except that I told you.




My birthday was last week. Sean fixed me a great dinner, we had pie, unwrapped presents. Then we went out to dinner with my mom and siblings on Friday, and that was lots of fun! I wish we could get together more often. We had an interesting debate/discussion and some tasty food.

For Labor Day weekend we went to Lava Hot Springs and then stayed over in Pocatello. It was really nice to get away with the kids for a little while.


Sean and Britt at the pool


Sean and Britt jumping off the tower


Joshy


Sean jumping off the highest tower

Messing around at the hotel:





At the fabulous Pocatello zoo:








This school year is shaping up to be a difficult one, but I think it will be rewarding as well. We have a few more weekend camping trips planned, so hopefully that will help me get through the weeks with something to look forward to. Josh and Brittney start up soccer this Saturday, and I look forward to that as well. Josh should be pretty cute. He was so excited when he got his uniform. He immediately put it on, had to demonstrate how fast he can run in it, ran around kicking a pretend ball, and slept in it that night.