good news

Isaac is a big brother.

Yeah, that was how I found out too. He gets in the car today and says "Good news mom! Auntie {what he calls dad's gf} had a baby, so I'm a big brother!"

I was shocked, because for various reasons his dad had decided not to tell me she was expecting, and simply left Isaac to deliver the news, but I'm happy for them. I have always hoped that Isaac would have a sibling, and Isaac has always wished for a little brother. If I can get his dad to take some pics of the two of them I will post them.

So yeah... kind of a mix of a ton of emotions.... I may or may not blog more about this in the future...

well....

Bad news:

I just started classes again for the spring semester. Six hours a week of night class (plus a 40ish minute commute each way twice a week) is looking like a bit more than I can handle without a serious hit to my sanity. It's going to be an exhausting semester.

Good news:

Both of my classes are really interesting. I have Strategies for the English Language Learner which is taught by someone who is actually an ESL teacher. The other class is a math methods class which is taught by a principal in a local school district. I really think I am going to enjoy both of the classes and take away a lot from them. Also, as much as I love being a teacher, I also really enjoy being a student. I'm glad that teaching is a profession that requires you to be a lifelong learner.

Good news:

I have lost ten pounds since Christmas from cutting out sweets, eating more veggies, fruits and whole foods and working out.

Bad news:

I didn't work out ONE TIME this week. And I had a serious brownie binge this week. I swear, it's like when one thing in my life gets out of balance (for example, starting up classes again) everything else just goes to hell.

Good news:

I have a fabulous first grader who is a star reader. He even went and read to some kindergarteners as a special reward the other day (he choose a book about hockey to read to them. I'm sure they were thrilled.) We seem to have gotten over the phase of terrible behavior at school we were going through, which is such a relief.

Bad news:

He has been sick for more than ten days. He is better now than he was last weekend, but lots of coughing, runny nose, sore throat, etc. etc.

Blah...

Tee-hee

My mom picked me this cute little Valentine's Day Decoration:

Someone in my house gets a kick of rearranging them on a regular basis... =)

New Year's Resolutions?

So one of my New Year's resolutions was to start eating a healthy breakfast. During the week I almost never eat breakfast. That leaves me famished by the time snack rolls around and then I end up scrounging in my desk drawers for stray Hershey Kisses or picking random stuff from the vending machine the faculty room. When I did eat breakfast before school, it didn't fall even close to the "healthy" category. So I picked up some yogurt and some instant oatmeal packets determined to learn to like something healthy for breakfast. And since then this is what I've had for breakfast pretty much every day once I get to work: Yogurt was just okay, but my friend Jami suggested mixing in some granola and I LOVE it. I'm a weirdo in that I don't mind eating the same thing every day, so this works. I debated picking up one of those ones with extra live cultures or whatever for digestion, but I was worried it would taste different or something. Is that true? How have you been holding up with your New Year's Resolutions?

Walking the Ben Franklin

Sometimes I dread Sundays because after church is over there is nothing really to fill up the rest of the day except sit around and wait for it to be Monday. The Sundays that Isaac is with his dad, we've starting swinging into the city to visit Joe. A couple of weeks ago Joe had the idea to go for a walk along the Ben Franklin Bridge. I have driven over that bridge a thousand times going back and forth from Philly to Jersey but I had no idea there was a pedestrian walkway along it. It was actually really beautiful. We had a great view of Center City and it was kind of dizzying and fun to be walking along so high above the traffic. Every once in a while a train would rattle along underneath us. We walked about halfway across and then walked back. I was surprised even in January how many joggers, bikers and photographers were up there. I would love to go back in the spring and summer when it is a little warmer.

Sometimes I think Joe is more like Isaac's big brother.

Those signs are attached to little walkways. They were closed off to the public obviously, but it was pretty amazing to think of walking so high above all of the traffic on a bridge which is already so high above the Delaware River.

Joe with the city behind him.

lazy sunday morning

Yesterday I got my car inspected. It needed some work but Tom was able to get me a really great deal on parts (like, I think I paid 25% of what they would have charged a regular customer who came in the front door), and of course he doesn't charge me labor. He's pretty much the best brother ever. I'm so proud of him and how successful he is. He's such a hard worker and such a caring person. He also really has no shame which used to embarass me a little bit when we were kids, but cracks me up no as he dances around the shop singing Neil Diamond at that top of his lungs with no qualms at all.

I am so glad to have that taken care of. For the first time in recent memory, it doesn't need brakes (it's a Christmas miracle! I am notoriously hard on brakes...) I got two new tire ties, he fixed my sunken four way button on my dash, put in a new turn signal switch (so my car no longer continuously ticks like a bomb when I'm driving around... felt kind of omnious...) and changed my oil. I'm going to need two new tires within the next few months and there is something with the transmission we are keeping an eye on, but for now, the Alero lives on at 167, 542 miles.

While I was hanging around the shop one of the salesman found me and tried to get me to consider a new car. As long as the Alero is running, I'm going to drive it. I don't know how I will afford a car payment again. The guy in the bay across from Tom was working on a Chevy Cruze. I might consider one of those, after some time has passed, if I can find one that is a year old or so. I'll let someone else take the depreciation hit, I think.

While he was working on my car I finished off "Fly Away Home" by Jennifer Weiner. I found a copy in a thrift store near my mom for only 2 bucks. It's the only book of hers left I haven't read, and this one didn't disappoint either. I'm also so exicted that my friend Selena is reading The Hunger Games. I loved the books and I am so excited for the movies, but NONE of my friends have read them. And she loves them.

Anyways, from there I met perfect on paper guy for lunch. Even though I am not interested in him romantically, I do like him and do want to be friends with him, even if there are certain things about him that are quite irritating. We had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (I had huevos rancheros-- so yummy!!!). He brought me a calendar he had made for me with photographs he had taken. We wandered around the mall for a bit after that.

Then I met my girlfriends for dinner at the vegan chinese buffet in Malvern, which was also delicious. I love that I have such interesting friends. My friend Jami has gotten really into gymnastics and has joined a team and is competing in meets. My friend Selena is becoming a certified tobacco prevention specialist. She helps workplaces go smoke-free and also helps people to quit. Her area of focus is smokers with mental health diagnosis such as schizophrenia. And I was home and in bed by 11:30, because I'm old.

I have a ton more stuff to blog about, but I'll have to get to it later. Have a great day everyone!

I need another purse like I need a hole in the head...

But how FABULOUS is this Jason Wu for Target bag? It will definitely be making it's way to my closet in the near future..

There is a matching scarf too! Squeee!!!

gross

I was at the dermatologist yesterday getting some stitches removed (they are still removing random troublesome moles, making me into a human pin cushion). She wanted to do another all over body check, so I showed her this annoying rash I have had for a week or so on my shoulder. I can be really allergic to things and just assumed it was allergy related. Turned out, it's shingles, that weird disease relating to chicken pox that mostly senior citizens get. Ugh.... Gross...

blah, blah, blah

I'm home on a Saturday night, doing nothing. I feel like I should blog, but I have nothing interesting to say. So this is as good a blog entry as any I suppose.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:00 am

2. How do you like your steak? I don't really eat steak any more. But if I did, I would say medium well.

3. What was the last movie you saw at the theater? The Muppets with Isaac and my folks. Cute!

4. What is your favorite TV show? Hoarders, Obsessed, The Biggest Loser, Project Runway, RuPaul's Drag Race

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Close to my family ...I couldn’t leave Pennsylvania.

6. What did you have for breakfast? I made myself an egg white and veggie omlet this morning.

7. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I don't, but it's probably a matter of time before I will need them!

8. What food do you despise? Oh my gosh bananas. I would die before I would eat one. I can't even open them for students at school.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Hmm. Probably Tria.

10. Favorite dressing? Zesty Italian.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Still drive Old Faithful... my Oldsmobile Alero

12. What are your favorite clothes? For warm weather: flowy dresses and sandals. For cold weather: jeans, cardigans, boots.

13. Where would you visit, this weekend, if you had the chance? Anchorage to visit my sister and brother in law. I miss her so! ..but let’s make it all next week; not just the weekend.

14. How many tattoos do you have? None - not for me.

15. Where would you want to retire? On beachfront property - near my grandbabies.

16. What is your desktop photo? My work laptop doesn't have one-- isn't that horrible? I will have to remedy that!

17. Where were you born? Provo, Utah. That's Mormon street cred right there.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball

19. How many siblings? Two brothers, one sister, all younger

20. Favorite pastime/hobby? Zumba, reading, shopping

21. Coffee Drinker? No!

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? I used to be a night person, but now that I'm freakin' old I'm just tired all the time.

24. Do you have any pets? Two cats-- one is very bad.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? The most exciting thing I can think of is all of the great thrifting finds I have found in the past week or so. Maybe I will share more about that later.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A hair stylist.

27. What is your favorite color? Black is my favorite for material items. Pink is my favorite for clothes.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Cat. I'm pretty scared of dogs.

29. Are you married? Nope.

30. Always wear your seat belt? Always. My car won’t let me do otherwise.

31. Been in a car accident? A few minor fender benders. And I have knocked off my side mirrors multiple times. And I might have hit a parked car once. And I might have kept the car in drive when I was trying to back out of the garage once when I was a teenager.

32. Any pet peeves? Being called "Mrs. Stephenson". Miss or Ms. is fine, but Mrs. Stephenson is my mother!!!

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? basil, cheese, tomatos -YUM

34. Favorite Flower? Peach colored roses.

35. Favorite ice cream? I’m really not a big ice cream eater. Although sometimes I crave a brownie with vanilla ice cream & chocolate syrup.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chick-fil-A

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None. Failed the permit test once though.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Facebook-- I have four friends with birthdays this week.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? The last thing I want to do right now is max out a credit card. But Amazon is usually where I drop significant amounts of cash.

40. Like your job? Sure.

oh boy

"Hey Isaac, want to go out for icecream tonight?" "No mommy, I don't want to get diabetes" This is what I get for subjecting him to endless hours of the Biggest Loser over Christmas break....

omg.. it's January

• I fell asleep early last night (just after nine) and woke up feeling ridiculously refreshed at 5:30 this morning. I lay there for a while and contemplated getting up to get a workout in before school, but I ended up rolling over and going back to sleep. Then I was nearly late to work. Some things never change I guess.
• I had a lowkey New Years. I played cards with some friends that live nearby. Sour Apples to Apples is pretty fun. The Friday before that I went out with my girlfriends in the city and had some El Rey... SO DELICIOUS!!! Seriously. In my book, Stephen Starr can do no wrong.
• I busted out the Wii fit tonight for the first time in 198 days. I played around with some of the yoga poses and stuff. Isaac had a fun time laughing at me. (I also went for a 12 mile bike ride before that, as Wii Fit really cannot be considered a real workout).
• On of my New Year's Resolutions is to start each school day with a healthy breakfast. I hardly ever eat breakfast and when I do, it's definitely not a healthy one! I don't drink milk (the lactose *kills* me) so cereal is out and I hardly like any healthy breakfast foods. So I'm forcing myself to try new foods. Today I tried yogurt. I wasn't 100% sold, but I did eat the whole thing and it wasn't terrible. The lactose didn't bother me either. I'm willing to try it again, and maybe mix in some granola, since it's mostly the texture that is so repulsive to me. Next up in the breakfast food challenge is oatmeal. I'm so not a fan of oatmeal but we'll see.
• Speaking of Isaac, he has been having such a rough time in school lately. He has been in trouble several times a week for the past two months or so. I really know what's going on or how to help him. Tuesday I am meeting with his teacher and the principal to try to talk about things we can do to improve his behavior. *Sigh*. I do this kind of stuff all the time as a teacher. It's hard to be on the other side of it.
• I'm ridiculously excited for Project Runway All Stars tonight. I *LOVE* me some Austin Scarlett.