He he... that title is a shout out to my kids. South Park. Yeah, my girls and I watch South Park once in a while, not in the running for Mother of the Year, blah blah.
So I was at the doctor's office and I was talking to him about how I got 3 cold sores last month, when usually I get 3 a year at the most, and it was crazy awful. I sometimes get cold sores when my kids have colds, and then I don't get the actual cold... it's weird. But he said it was probably that and then stress made me get a bunch in a row, and then he gave me a prescription for Valtrex. Which is herpes medication, but also used for cold sores and shingles and all those other strains of the herpes virus. So anyway, I told Sean after that it was kinda awkward filling this prescription for herpes medication, but then I figured... Eh, it's not like I'm trying to date the pharmacist or anything, who cares? And Sean said... Um, are you sure you're not trying to date the pharmacist? And I said... Um, yeah, she's kinda got bug eyes, so... not really my type. So then I went to change out of my work clothes later and asked him how frumpy it would be of me to put on my pajamas before dinner. He was like... Well, not really frumpy, unless you're trying to date the pharmacist with bug eyes... then you might want to reconsider. Heh. Touche.
Lexi told me again today that she wants to go to Las Vegas. She likes it there because it's fun and it smells good (?) and you can go swimming. And she wants me to read her a book when we get there. Sounds like a plan to me. She tells me the goofiest stuff sometimes. Like she told me that we need to buy some pink paint for her bedroom and paint it because she only likes light green on Sundays in the summer. Alrighty then, girlfriend.
I really enjoyed the State of the Union address last night. It struck me as the President was talking about what a legacy we have as Americans, and how important it is for us as a country to stand for freedom and justice, and to have high ethical standards. That we be humane and compassionate and hard-working and encourage intelligence and innovation. And I just can't figure out why some people have such an instant and intense hatred of President Obama. I understand that people don't agree with him... I get that... I don't get the disdain and dislike of the man himself. He is well-spoken, articulate, poised, intelligent, and overall represents our country well. I hated George W Bush's policies, and the man was none of the above, he was grating to listen to, actually, and I don't hate him with anywhere near the vehemence that some people seem to hate President Obama. Well, I don't hate him at all, really. I just disagree strongly with his views and with his pronunciation of words.
On a related note, I am feeling so frustrated with my classes lately. We are writing a problem-analysis paper, and I get so much annoying garbage floated around out there. Like someone said that President Obama doesn't like how much doctors get paid so he's trying to make them get paid the same as other people. (What other people? I asked. How would he do this? I asked. They didn't know. They just knew they'd heard it and it was true.) I had a kid wanting to write a problem-analysis paper on how the deficit is all President Obama's fault, and when I tried to point out the reasons why that isn't the case, he looked at me like I'm stupid. Ok, fine, write a paper based on a completely faulty framework, and when you can't back it up with facts and evidence, you'll fail. Whatever. I have students who want to make alcohol illegal (Prohibition anyone?) and who think that we should just put all gay people on an island somewhere... I had one who said that he'd die fighting against gay people having the right to marry. Pretty sure that was hyperbole, but disturbing nonetheless. I had another student wanting to write about abortion, and I cautioned her to make sure that she is willing to analyze the factors that lead people to have abortions and then propose real, workable solutions. Most of the papers I get on abortion are simply a soapbox for the student to poorly articulate their own opinion rather than a thoughtful analysis and solutions. So she said, "Well, there's never a reason for a woman to kill her baby." OK, one more time for the non-listeners. This is a problem analysis paper. You may not think there should be reasons to choose abortion, but there obviously are because women have them. So if you want to write a problem analysis on the topic, you have to be willing to put aside your own opinion somewhat and look at the problem, then decide how we can solve that problem. It's like some of them don't get it. They just look at me like I'm trying to say everyone should kill babies or everyone has to love Obama instead of understanding that I'm trying to teach them the structure for a paper. Gah I'm so frustrated.
I have teacher training on the new Common Core that many of the states are adopting tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how it correlates with what we already do. The standard that I'm in charge of presenting on is nothing new or different. I don't anticipate much change in Writing.
I have the cutest group of annoying seniors this semester. There is a huge group of them that are those kids that drive you crazy but they have charm so you can't help but like them. We had Obert Skye, who wrote Leventhumps and other books, speak to us today, and he was doing a question and answer session. The title of one of his books is called Choke and he was talking about the word "choke" and the many meanings and sharing times in his life when he has choked... So one of my main culprits raises his hand during question and answer and I'm thinking, "Oh hell, what now?" So he asks Obert Skye, "You've talked a lot about choking... are you certified in CPR?" Luckily Obert Skye has a great sense of humor, but I had to sit behind them all and smack them in the back of the head from time to time. I caught him at one point whispering to one of his buddies, "Ask him who would win in a fight between Mrs. Chamberlain and Mrs. Another English Teacher." I was like... Don't you dare, you little turds. I remember hearing stories about this same group of kids when they went on a field trip somewhere and the same one asked the presenter some goofy question and the teacher wanted to smack him. I hadn't ever had him before, but it's all so clear now. One of the other teachers wandered into my classroom the other day, took a look at that group, and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry." I think we'll get along just fine, but I may have to get permission from their mothers to smack them around a little from time to time.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Like/Dislike
Things I like and things I don't:
Like: Two pina coladas... I gotta have one for each hand... Sean made pina coladas tonight and that song has been running through my head ever since. Lexi kept calling them poladas.
Like: Lexi sings so cute in her little girl voice. I love listening to her.
Dislike: She goes through phases with songs that she wants to listen to over and over. Currently it's "The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars and an assortment of Christmas songs. Every day in the car. The last one was "Beverly Hills" by Weezer. I had to hide the CD.
Dislike: Things that break down. Like my refrigerator. That cost $300 to fix.
Like: Having a working refrigerator.
Dislike: When the freezer went out, I had to cook some of the stuff that had thawed. I ended up making a pan of cinnamon rolls, a pan of orange rolls, and 2 pies. And I've eaten a ton of that pie all on my own. I'm throwing the rest of it away.
Like: eating pie.
Dislike: how big my butt is when I bend over.
Like: Our 19th anniversary was last week. Sean and I went to Iggy's for dinner, and then when we came home the kids had put together pictures from over the years and bought us a cake. The girls and I read the Cake Wrecks blog, so they ordered a cake that said something silly on purpose. Then the bakery messed it up, so it was a wreck within a wreck. Awesome. I think it ended up saying, "We are moderitly glad you guys got married so that we could be bored." It was supposed to say "born".
Like: Re-reading Pride & Prejudice
Like: I'm really excited to watch the Bears v. Packers game tomorrow.
Dislike: Our elliptical machine has been broken for a while now, and it's given us problems since we bought it. The wheels on it have cracked a few times, which is weird. That shouldn't be a part that goes out, especially not right away.
Like: Sean finally tore the whole thing apart and found out that it was probably never put together right by the shop where we bought it. He thinks he's fixed it. He just has to get a new wheel (again) and we'll see. Now maybe I can use it to burn off some pie.
Like: When my kids randomly quote movies. Lexi told me the other day that the important thing from Ghostbusters is not to cross the streams. We can't cross the streams, mom.
Dislike: Yeah, so my 3yo has seen Ghostbusters. I'm not up for Mom of the Year, boo hoo, whatever.
Like: my job
Dislike: waking up in the mornings
Dislike: Messes. Always messes. Everywhere messes.
Dislike: Lexi is having all kinds of problems with making it to the bathroom lately. She's always thirsty and she contstantly has to pee and she keeps having little accidents. She had an accident at school the other day for the first time in forever.
Like: The biopsy of the mole the dermatologist took off Sean's head came back just a normal mole (which is what I said all along when all those other doctors kept telling him it was other stupid stuff) and he hasn't had anymore headaches since it was removed, hallelujah.
Dislike: Josh is off-track and it's so hard figuring out what to do with him. He comes with me some days, and it's fun to have him there. He's really good, but he gets bored after a while.
Like: Courtney is really good to come get him when she can and to help out. So, so, so glad I have Courtney to help me.
Like: Brittney has discovered re-runs of Three's Company and we watch it together sometimes. John Ritter was so awesome.
Like: Saturday nights
Dislike: Monday mornings
Like: Two pina coladas... I gotta have one for each hand... Sean made pina coladas tonight and that song has been running through my head ever since. Lexi kept calling them poladas.
Like: Lexi sings so cute in her little girl voice. I love listening to her.
Dislike: She goes through phases with songs that she wants to listen to over and over. Currently it's "The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars and an assortment of Christmas songs. Every day in the car. The last one was "Beverly Hills" by Weezer. I had to hide the CD.
Dislike: Things that break down. Like my refrigerator. That cost $300 to fix.
Like: Having a working refrigerator.
Dislike: When the freezer went out, I had to cook some of the stuff that had thawed. I ended up making a pan of cinnamon rolls, a pan of orange rolls, and 2 pies. And I've eaten a ton of that pie all on my own. I'm throwing the rest of it away.
Like: eating pie.
Dislike: how big my butt is when I bend over.
Like: Our 19th anniversary was last week. Sean and I went to Iggy's for dinner, and then when we came home the kids had put together pictures from over the years and bought us a cake. The girls and I read the Cake Wrecks blog, so they ordered a cake that said something silly on purpose. Then the bakery messed it up, so it was a wreck within a wreck. Awesome. I think it ended up saying, "We are moderitly glad you guys got married so that we could be bored." It was supposed to say "born".
Like: Re-reading Pride & Prejudice
Like: I'm really excited to watch the Bears v. Packers game tomorrow.
Dislike: Our elliptical machine has been broken for a while now, and it's given us problems since we bought it. The wheels on it have cracked a few times, which is weird. That shouldn't be a part that goes out, especially not right away.
Like: Sean finally tore the whole thing apart and found out that it was probably never put together right by the shop where we bought it. He thinks he's fixed it. He just has to get a new wheel (again) and we'll see. Now maybe I can use it to burn off some pie.
Like: When my kids randomly quote movies. Lexi told me the other day that the important thing from Ghostbusters is not to cross the streams. We can't cross the streams, mom.
Dislike: Yeah, so my 3yo has seen Ghostbusters. I'm not up for Mom of the Year, boo hoo, whatever.
Like: my job
Dislike: waking up in the mornings
Dislike: Messes. Always messes. Everywhere messes.
Dislike: Lexi is having all kinds of problems with making it to the bathroom lately. She's always thirsty and she contstantly has to pee and she keeps having little accidents. She had an accident at school the other day for the first time in forever.
Like: The biopsy of the mole the dermatologist took off Sean's head came back just a normal mole (which is what I said all along when all those other doctors kept telling him it was other stupid stuff) and he hasn't had anymore headaches since it was removed, hallelujah.
Dislike: Josh is off-track and it's so hard figuring out what to do with him. He comes with me some days, and it's fun to have him there. He's really good, but he gets bored after a while.
Like: Courtney is really good to come get him when she can and to help out. So, so, so glad I have Courtney to help me.
Like: Brittney has discovered re-runs of Three's Company and we watch it together sometimes. John Ritter was so awesome.
Like: Saturday nights
Dislike: Monday mornings
Saturday, January 15, 2011
I finished!
I finally finished all of my grading and got all of my final grades done on Friday! I brought essays home all week and I was worried I would be grading all weekend too, but I got it done before I left school. Last week had to have been at least 8 days long. The big topic this year was sports-- injuries, steroids, BCS... I think I read at least 10 persuasive essays on the NFL's new helmet-to-helmet tackling rule, but it's all done. And I'd rather read persuasive essays on sports-related topics over abortion and animal abuse any day. I'm sure there will be some begging and some pleading left to deal with... I do have a handful of seniors who are failing and will no doubt be full of excuses and cajoling and tears come tomorrow, but I can deal with that tomorrow.
Every time I sit down to blog I just don't want to do it and end up playing computer games instead. My life is pretty boring. I do have all these things rolling around in my head that I need to write about, but it's too much effort. Blah. It's easier just to think about it. So I will probably just write about stupid stuff because it's easier.
The Bears won on Sunday! Woot! So awesome. I cannot wait for the game this weekend. Chicago v. Green Bay will be epic. Going to break out the party.
I asked Josh the other morning on my way out the door if I looked OK and he got this really cute scrunchy look on his face and said, "I really don't know, so I just say yes." It was pretty funny.
I made Pineview reservations for this summer, and I always get so excited after. I hate January and February. Once March comes I feel like I can make it.
So I've been pondering goals. Part of me feels like... I'm stressed out, I'm trying to deal with 4 kids with completely different problems and challenges and age-levels, trying to juggle my career and family and be a somewhat decent wife, trying to deal with my own problems... Maybe I should just accept myself for who I am for a little while and not always be trying to change myself. But then, is that a cop-out? It's always hard to lose weight and save money and be more organized and not be such a dork. Why would now be any different than down the road? I just hate always beating up on myself when I fail. At the beginning of the summer my doctor put me on a second med for my thyroid, and it was awesome. I felt so great, and I dropped 6 pounds instantly. But the dose was too high, so she has backed me off to about 1/4 of the dosage, and I gained the 6 pounds back instantly. I still feel pretty good, so I'm happy about that, but I've gained another 4 pounds on top of that, so I've got to lose weight. I put on like 10 pounds in 4 months and it's so not cool. Some doctors are skeptical about taking the T3 meds for thyroid on top of the synthroid, but it works so well for me. I feel way better. Anyway... Still pondering.
OK so I decided that I kinda want to be Pink, just a little bit, and I have a little girly crush on her, and so then I was thinking about celebs who I would want to be my friend, and I came up with these 3. Although, I can't imagine hanging out with all 3 at the same time. Would I even be alive at the end of the night?
Pink is just b.a. and Avril is so stinking cute, and then Beth... I just want her to be all tough... like we'd go to Burger King and someone would talk trash and Beth would get all up in their face. She's Queen B man.
Every time I sit down to blog I just don't want to do it and end up playing computer games instead. My life is pretty boring. I do have all these things rolling around in my head that I need to write about, but it's too much effort. Blah. It's easier just to think about it. So I will probably just write about stupid stuff because it's easier.
The Bears won on Sunday! Woot! So awesome. I cannot wait for the game this weekend. Chicago v. Green Bay will be epic. Going to break out the party.
I asked Josh the other morning on my way out the door if I looked OK and he got this really cute scrunchy look on his face and said, "I really don't know, so I just say yes." It was pretty funny.
I made Pineview reservations for this summer, and I always get so excited after. I hate January and February. Once March comes I feel like I can make it.
So I've been pondering goals. Part of me feels like... I'm stressed out, I'm trying to deal with 4 kids with completely different problems and challenges and age-levels, trying to juggle my career and family and be a somewhat decent wife, trying to deal with my own problems... Maybe I should just accept myself for who I am for a little while and not always be trying to change myself. But then, is that a cop-out? It's always hard to lose weight and save money and be more organized and not be such a dork. Why would now be any different than down the road? I just hate always beating up on myself when I fail. At the beginning of the summer my doctor put me on a second med for my thyroid, and it was awesome. I felt so great, and I dropped 6 pounds instantly. But the dose was too high, so she has backed me off to about 1/4 of the dosage, and I gained the 6 pounds back instantly. I still feel pretty good, so I'm happy about that, but I've gained another 4 pounds on top of that, so I've got to lose weight. I put on like 10 pounds in 4 months and it's so not cool. Some doctors are skeptical about taking the T3 meds for thyroid on top of the synthroid, but it works so well for me. I feel way better. Anyway... Still pondering.
OK so I decided that I kinda want to be Pink, just a little bit, and I have a little girly crush on her, and so then I was thinking about celebs who I would want to be my friend, and I came up with these 3. Although, I can't imagine hanging out with all 3 at the same time. Would I even be alive at the end of the night?
Pink is just b.a. and Avril is so stinking cute, and then Beth... I just want her to be all tough... like we'd go to Burger King and someone would talk trash and Beth would get all up in their face. She's Queen B man.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Pretty pictures and pondering goals
One of Courtney's friends posted these pics on facebook, and I hadn't ever seen them before. I loved this dress. And the hair. And the silver sparkly shoes. And the kid wearing it all.
Brittney finished her luminarias. I think she did about 16. They turned out really fun. Next year I'm going to do a whole thing with them.
I'm thinking about revising my goals for this month. Sometimes I wonder why I'm bothering, and if it's really important to have some of these goals at this point. I end up just beating myself up for not reaching them. Perhaps I should accept some things as they are. I go back and forth depending on the time of day. Hmmmm... got to evaluate this some more.
It's really good to be back into the routine, and back to work, but I'm just so stinking tired. Bleh. I've got to find a way to get to bed before I am.
Brittney finished her luminarias. I think she did about 16. They turned out really fun. Next year I'm going to do a whole thing with them.
I'm thinking about revising my goals for this month. Sometimes I wonder why I'm bothering, and if it's really important to have some of these goals at this point. I end up just beating myself up for not reaching them. Perhaps I should accept some things as they are. I go back and forth depending on the time of day. Hmmmm... got to evaluate this some more.
It's really good to be back into the routine, and back to work, but I'm just so stinking tired. Bleh. I've got to find a way to get to bed before I am.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The Ending and the Beginning
As usual, Christmas came and went too fast. Probably because I'm always scrambling so I don't feel like I sit back and enjoy it until the very end.
Christmas Eve we had our traditional Chamberlain family party. It was lots of fun, as usual. Great food, great company, lots of laughs, lots of presents.
cousins picture
Now that is a hot looking crew there... a couple that aren't smiling, one in total meltdown, I look like I could be a linebacker for the Chicago Bears with those giant shoulders...
Josh being wrestled to the ground by Kaden and Spencer
Brittney is doing paper cutting on luminarias for a geography term project, and I was hoping she'd be done with them in time to put them out for Christmas this year, but she's still working on them even now. She's putting tissue paper behind the designs she cut out to make a stained glass effect. So we'll definitely save them and try them out next Christmas.
I didn't take a single picture Christmas day. Sean was videoing, so in my head I guess I figured pictures were taken care of. I don't know if anyone got That One Thing they really wanted, but I think everyone got something they liked, so that's good enough. It was a nice day. That night Dennis and Marilyn came over for dinner, and Katie, Scott, Wendy, and the little folks came over to hang out. We had a nice visit with all of them, and it was just a really fun night for me.
Most of our break has been spent alternating between relaxing, watching stupid stuff on TV, organizing, and eating.
Sean took a few days off this week, and it was fun having him home. New Year's Eve everyone from both of our families that was in town came over. We even got lucky and had Sean's cousin's family from Arizona. We had so much good food and played games and the cousins all got to play together. I think we had 22 kids ages 18 & under. Crazy fun.
Sean getting shrink wrapped-- Cami and Mindi heard of this fun shrink wrapping thing and were doing it to everyone. It was pretty hilarious
Cute penguin appetizers that Katie made
So now it's time to go back to work and school. No one is too thrilled, but it's always good to get back to some schedule and order after all of the excess and laziness. Courtney starts a new semester Monday, and Brittney and I have 2 weeks left in ours. I have papers due when we come back, so I'll be reading and grading like crazy to get them all done for term end grades. Josh has a few weeks and then goes off track.
Lexi told me today that she wants to go to Las Vegas because she loves Las Vegas and they have a swimming pool there. I am totally in agreement. So tonight I'm going to look up prices for Spring Break. Also, looking at making some camping reservations for Memorial weekend and dreaming about summer. Dennis told me yesterday that he can't wait until we go up to Pineview this summer because it will be so nice to be warm again. I thought that was cute, and I totally agreed with him.
Now that a new year has begun I think it's time to start the monthly goals again. So, here goes. Let's see what I can come up with.
January goals:
*Lose the 4 lbs I gained over the last while
*Go to bed by 11:00 pm
*Stick to my grocery budget
*Make a year financial plan
*Start doing family fun night with my family again (and Sean's... I think we were trying to do that too... Did we do it? Hmmmm.... It's all a blur)
Not too original, but all things I'd really like to do.
Christmas Eve we had our traditional Chamberlain family party. It was lots of fun, as usual. Great food, great company, lots of laughs, lots of presents.
cousins picture
Now that is a hot looking crew there... a couple that aren't smiling, one in total meltdown, I look like I could be a linebacker for the Chicago Bears with those giant shoulders...
Josh being wrestled to the ground by Kaden and Spencer
Brittney is doing paper cutting on luminarias for a geography term project, and I was hoping she'd be done with them in time to put them out for Christmas this year, but she's still working on them even now. She's putting tissue paper behind the designs she cut out to make a stained glass effect. So we'll definitely save them and try them out next Christmas.
I didn't take a single picture Christmas day. Sean was videoing, so in my head I guess I figured pictures were taken care of. I don't know if anyone got That One Thing they really wanted, but I think everyone got something they liked, so that's good enough. It was a nice day. That night Dennis and Marilyn came over for dinner, and Katie, Scott, Wendy, and the little folks came over to hang out. We had a nice visit with all of them, and it was just a really fun night for me.
Most of our break has been spent alternating between relaxing, watching stupid stuff on TV, organizing, and eating.
Sean took a few days off this week, and it was fun having him home. New Year's Eve everyone from both of our families that was in town came over. We even got lucky and had Sean's cousin's family from Arizona. We had so much good food and played games and the cousins all got to play together. I think we had 22 kids ages 18 & under. Crazy fun.
Sean getting shrink wrapped-- Cami and Mindi heard of this fun shrink wrapping thing and were doing it to everyone. It was pretty hilarious
Cute penguin appetizers that Katie made
So now it's time to go back to work and school. No one is too thrilled, but it's always good to get back to some schedule and order after all of the excess and laziness. Courtney starts a new semester Monday, and Brittney and I have 2 weeks left in ours. I have papers due when we come back, so I'll be reading and grading like crazy to get them all done for term end grades. Josh has a few weeks and then goes off track.
Lexi told me today that she wants to go to Las Vegas because she loves Las Vegas and they have a swimming pool there. I am totally in agreement. So tonight I'm going to look up prices for Spring Break. Also, looking at making some camping reservations for Memorial weekend and dreaming about summer. Dennis told me yesterday that he can't wait until we go up to Pineview this summer because it will be so nice to be warm again. I thought that was cute, and I totally agreed with him.
Now that a new year has begun I think it's time to start the monthly goals again. So, here goes. Let's see what I can come up with.
January goals:
*Lose the 4 lbs I gained over the last while
*Go to bed by 11:00 pm
*Stick to my grocery budget
*Make a year financial plan
*Start doing family fun night with my family again (and Sean's... I think we were trying to do that too... Did we do it? Hmmmm.... It's all a blur)
Not too original, but all things I'd really like to do.
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