Third Thursday Threads

It's time to get ready for school to start again.  That means getting my new classroom in order and actually getting dressed in something other than yoga pants.  As you can see from the background, I still have a long way to go to get the new room in order.   Bri was having a link up for geometric prints so I thought this dress would be perfect for the theme.

It first made it's appearance at brother's rehearsal dinner in my new favorite family photo of the three of us.
 

It's not a maternity dress but it works really well as one.  I expect to get a few more months worth of wear out of it.

Isaac was getting jealous and wanted in on the classroom self timer pics.  Of course, his new WWE championship belt had to make an appearance too.

 

 

 Happy Thursday everyone!

10 on Tuesday

1.  I may or may not have reactivated my Netflix account to watch the first season of Switched at Birth.  I didn't start watching until the second season and so obviously I missed a lot of the backstory. It is SO GOOD!

2. 

Especially working mothers.  Working mothers who barely have their lives together and now are going to throw a newborn in the mix.  I am nervous.

3. Random Isaac story I don't think I have shared on the blog yet:  a few months ago we went with my mom to a doctor's appointment.  She was back with the doctor for quite a while and this was still in my first trimester when I felt like the waking dead.  I decided to lean back in my chair and close my eyes for a bit.  Isaac, who was sitting next to me playing on his iPad, started to panic.  "Mom, don't go to sleep!  Someone could take me!" (I think all of my stranger danger talks have turned him into the most paranoid eight year old on the planet).  I tried to reassure him that this particular waiting room was filled with octogenarians with oxygen tanks and that no one there would try to take him.  His response "But I am so athletic.  Everyone wants an athletic child!".  

4. Ryan made an amazing chinese stir fry last night.  And when he cooks, there are leftovers for days.  Yum!

5. I have found a ton of Pinterest tutorials on how to turn regular old shirts and pants into maternity ones.  I may have to give some of them a try.

6.  This is so me.

7. My friend is coming over today to help me cross something MAJOR off my to-do.  I am excited.  Sometimes you just need someone else on board to give you that kick in the pants to get stuff done.

8. We got some free tickets to go to tapings of America's Got Talent, one of our favorite shows.  Unfortunately they only film on school nights in New York City, so I don't think we will be able to use them.  Rats.

9. My assistant came into school yesterday and we unpacked about 7 boxes of stuff that she had sent over.  It turns out, they were books from her old school that were going to be destroyed and she didn't want to see that happen.  I salvaged probably 100 books or so for my classroom and then we donated the rest.

10.  Well it's Tuesday, which means we are off to viola lesson.  You don't know patience until you have to listen to an eight year old learning to play a stringed instrument.  

Happy Tuesday all!

Ten on Tuesday: Chocolate Cravings Edition

1. Isaac came home from school missing his other front tooth yesterday.  It has been hanging on by a thread for a while.

 And how weird is it that the gap in his teeth looks like the Batman symbol?  My friend Joe pointed that out.

2. I know I blogged about it last week (and, let's be honest, I will continue to obsess and perseverate on it until Memorial Day) but I am getting sooooo excited for our family getaway to Orlando this year. Disney World, here I come!!  Personal days away from school, here I come!!!

3. I lost Ryan's laptop cord and my work laptop is being serviced (don't ask) so that leaves me to blog from work or my phone. Both options kind of suck and are putting a damper on my bloggy enthusiasm. I wish I didn't destroy all technology that I touch.

4. Isaac's church teacher made him this adorable candy lei in honor of his baptism. How cute is this?!

5. So if you have been keeping up on my recent posts you know I have been rolling in my new minivan. It has been quite an adjustment getting used to driving a bigger and wider car and just a new car in general. This morning I was running late for work and it was raining cats and dogs and I hit a button on my key fob and raced inside. Turns out I actually hit the button to throw open the back hatch and I left it wide open with rain pouring in. Fortunately a coworker spotted it and closed it before random homeless people took shelter in my car. I am ridiculous.

6. I am OBSESSED with the game Ruzzle. It helps me be even more antisocial in the lunchroom at work. Look me up if you play: midwaydancer.

7. So what did we think of the all ASL episode of Switched at Birth? I liked it, although with all of the subtitles I couldn't multitask (read: play Ruzzle obsessively) like I usually do. I feel bad for Bey though, as hard as she is fighting for Carlton, she will never be accepted there. Also, I know it is so wrong but it cracked me up when she had to be like "The cops are here".

8. I have been craving chocolate like crazy lately. I may or may not have foraged through cabinets and the pantry last night until I unearthed a bag of chocolate chips that I promptly scarfed down.

9. Ryan found one of the cats in the dryer the other day. With the door closed. Thank Goodness it wasn't running! Only at our house...

10. Pretty much...

Happy Tuesday!!!

random thursday

Welcome to another

I am really enjoying this link up.  Today's *random* topic is

1.  Growing up, I totally had a crush on Wesley Crusher from Star Trek the next generation.  I am the queen of the nerds.

 

2. My current embarassing celebrity crush is Justin Bieber...  I know, I know, I know.  But I can't help it.  His music is so catchy and he is so cute.   I even have a poster of him up in my classroom that my secret santa bought me.

Click here to read about the time Ryan surprised me with tickets to see him in New York for my 31st birthday.  And yes, we just went by ourselves and we did NOT bring our kids.  Terrible, right?

Who are your embarassing celebrity crushes?

Random Thursday

Wow.  Well first of all I know if I found 100 dollars I should do something boring with it, like put it towards a bill or Isaac's lunch account or something.  However, I am approaching this prompt from a pure fantasy angle.  What can I blow 100 bucks on?

I love to buy make-up....  I have had my eye on this little palette since it came out.  I love the Naked eyeshadow palettes, so I am curious to try some of their new face products like this little number..

and there would still be plenty left for a set of these 24/7 eyeliner pencils, in, like, every color. 

And if I wasn't going to go hog wild on make-up, I would love to pick up some shoes.  I have been craving pink sparkly Tom's since the summer.  They would leave money to spare...

If I was feeling a bit more practical, I would probably put it towards a purchase for the house.  There have been several times in the past few months (fishtank leak, dishwasher plumbing deluge, Christmas tree needle explosion) when I wished I had one of these...

 What would you do if you found $100?

Random Thursday and a Vlog?

 

 

First of all, has anyone watched The Carrie Diaries?  We watched the premiere the other night and I love it!  The girl who plays young Carrie is perfect.  The other show Ryan and I are watching obsessively is the Joe Schmo show on Spike where they set up a whole fake reality show for one unsuspecting guy who thinks it's all real.  The psych major in me finds it fascinating. If you don't watch it, start!  Ryan is also pushing really hard for me to start watching the Bachelor, but I just don't think I can bring myself to go there.

 

So I decided to try a vlog for the Random Thursday prompt. I love a good link up and this one seems like fun. 

 



 

Ta-DA!

 

  

Please forgive the rough editing and Darth-Vader-like heavy breathing of my cameraman.  I'm a total n00b when it comes to videoblogging but it was fun, and I might try it again!  Hopefully next time I can relax a bit.  This felt overly formal.

And shout out to the girls who run the link up. I e-mailed back and forth a few times with Lin and she was so nice.

What random things do you keep in your bag?

and the world can live as one...

Tonight when we were driving in the car, Isaac said to me, "Mom, do you know that song that goes 'You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one?'"

I was pretty surprised, because I didn't think Isaac would have any frame of reference for the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. I told him I did know the song and proceeded to look it up on my phone.

He continued on, "It is by that guy from the Beatles. The one that looks like Harry Potter."

 

You know what? 

  I totally see it. 

 

Just when I think I know him inside and out, he says something like that totally catches me off guard. 

 

LOVE that little boy.

 



Weekend Update

 Isaac rediscovered our karoake game on the Wii and has been singing Rick Astley's Never Going to Give You Up over and over and over.  He seriously knows every word.  It's sort of cute...

 

 and sort of disturbing...  I put my foot down with the video games and have relegated them to weekends only.  I expected it to be a much bigger problem than it has been.  Not worrying about video games leaves times during our crammed weeknights for a little bit of reading or family togetherness.  I figured Fridays and Saturdays he would revert to zombie status in front of the screen, but he has been actually using it in moderation.  I am so happy.  I hate video games, so this feels like a compromise we all can live with.

 

 

Saturday had us trekking down to Delaware for a soccer game.  Isaac played goalie again and did a great job.  The team had their third win in a row.  It is nice to see all of the hours and hours of practice paying off.  From there we  decided to check out Dorney Park's Halloween Festivities.  I loved these chairs spotted at a rest stop along the way.  I want some keystone chairs for my house.

 

Whenever we decide to go to Dorney Park on a whim, it always seems to pour on us.  Saturday was no exception.   We did get a few rides in before the deluge though.  This was my favorite shot of the weekend taken on Isaac's favorite ride, the Tilt-A-Whirl.

 

I'm not sure what is going on with me this weekend, but I broke three things.  A candle holder in my house, an outrageously expensive Yankee Candle at Target, and (worst of all), Ryan's favorite Phillies glass.  He was so sad.  This comes about a week after I washed (and ruined) his wallet and cracked the corner of his iPad.  I will never be domestic.

 

 

We have been having Ryan's girls over on Fridays.  The past few weeks we have taken them swimming at the YMCA, but this Friday we decided to change it up.  We took the kids to a little petting zoo.  It actually was pretty underwhelming as far as petting zoos go, but it was free and entertained the kids for an hour or so, so it still counts as a success in my book.

 

 

We finished up the night at Friendly's with some icecream. These two are buddies.  They worked together so nicely on the puzzle. 

 

 

Our weekend was fast but fun.  How was yours?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just seems fitting somehow

Medieval Times!

While we were in Myrtle Beach Ryan was able to scratch an item off his bucketlist....

Heck yeah, Midieval Times

Yes, Isaac brought binoculars, which were unnecessary since Ryan got us the VIP package and we sat in the first row.

My favorite shot of the night.

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.

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.

11 in 11

11. Favorite movie you watched: I've seen some good ones. Recently I've enjoyed The Station Agent. Exit Through the Gift Shop. I like Bridesmaids too. And Black Swan. Did that one come out this year? I think so.

10. Favorite TV series: I've been watching The Biggest Loser (via Netflix) non-stop lately. It's so inspirational! Isaac and I love The Big Bang Theory too.

9. Favorite restaurant: I recently tried the Sunflower Cafe in Pottsgroveish area. Loved that. And I continue to love Tria and anything Stephen Starr.

8. Favorite new thing you tried: Twitter. I like it! Also Spotify which is also two thumbs up.

7. Favorite gift you got: I had a fabulous 30th birthday party with friends in the city. That was the perfect night.

6. Favorite thing you pinned: I don't pin. I know, I can't be a TBM.

5. Favorite blog post: I like Advice for New Teachers.

4. Best accomplishment: Finally getting on track to get my second certification.

3. Favorite picture: Oh I don't know. All of my got deleted in the Great Google Plus picture fiasco of 2011. This one makes me smile:

2. Favorite memory: 2011 had a lot of great memories. Running around the city with my sister was a great memory. You can read about that here.

1. Goal for 2012: Not go crazy. Seriously.

so... what's been going on lately?

Just a quick update....

I had a nice weekend. I went on a blind date Friday. I wasn't 100% sold, but he was a very nice guy and I will probably see him again. I'll leave it at that for now. My mom and I did some Christmas shopping on Saturday and then I hung out with my girlfriends Saturday night. I had about an hour drive home and I ended up talking to old college boyfriend for the whole time to pass the time. It was a nice conversation and the whole day just made me feel so happy and grateful at all of the good friends I have in my life now. I remember after Isaac was born and genuinely feeling like I had no friends at all. I'm so glad to have such great people around to support me.

Sunday I picked up Isaac and then went to visit this adorable doggy:

a miniature daschund Giselle that my brother just adopted. She is SO SWEET and adorable. She absolutely melted my dog hating heart. I wanted to smuggle her out in my purse.

Work has been CRAZY lately. The forecast has a chance of snow later in the week and NOTHING would make me happier than a 2 hour delay. =P

I finally got in with my advisor at Albright and it has sent me into a big panic. I have quite a bit of work in front of me and the matter of the student teaching requirement from the state still has not been settled. I also have to take another Praxis exam. It's quite overwhelming and it's hard to not be discouraged.

I know I am so late to the party, but I just discovered the Biggest Loser (watch instantly on Netflix will be the death of me). I kind of love it, although I may or may not have watched two episodes tonight while eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's frozen yogurt.

you make me wanna staple bacon to my face, then remove it with a pitchfork

I decided this summer that I wasn't going to turn down any invitations and it's led to some interesting opportunities (I went rock climbing, scored some tix to the DMB Caravan). So when my dad approached me about joining him for a Weird Al concert in Lancaster, I figured, why not? I'm by no means an avid fan, but I had a few of his albums when I was a kid and of course I recognized a lot of the music he parodies. He was definitely entertaining and put on an energetic show. Now I can say that I have seen Weird Al sing "Amish Paradise" in Lancaster County (which feels like a bucket list item for an uber-nerd). He did all of his big hits: Fat, White and Nerdy, Perform this Way, that endless Star Wars song to the tune of American Pie. It was actually a pretty intense show with back up dancers and tons of costume changes. He was definitely funny and is a talented accordian player. I'm not sure I would ever catch him again, but it was definitely an experience; thanks for inviting me Dad!

So remember this post? (which incidently anonymous commenter, I DID have gas. When I need gas a little light turns on and then when I really, really need gas the car starts beeping at me.)

Well, today my driver's side window just arbitrarily decided to stop working. It makes the rolling down window sound but window does not move. =( Which pretty much sucks because my AC isn't really blowing out cold air anymore, so it doesn't take long till I feel like I am inside a greenhouse. Which is bad enough on it's own, but just when I thought driving in my car couldn't get anymore unpleasant/embarrassing, my brother warned me that window might arbitrarily just fall down inside the door at any moment and we might have to tape it up in the meantime. Thank goodness school is out, otherwise I would have to park my car a block away and walk to save face. I've never been a really vain person, but it seems like God is really trying to humble me when it comes to my car. Ugh, I can't even talk about it anymore.

Isaac's dad and I managed to have a series of civil enough conversations, including an awkward "Happy birthday!!!!" conversation where he said "It's not my birthday. My birthday is in nine days." Whoops. Anyways, M's father is coming for a few months from Sierra Leone. Isaac has spoken to him on the phone, but never met him, so we are all excited about that. He even asked me my preference about where I would like Isaac to sleep while his father is there, which shocked me. (One of our biggest fights ever was when he had Isaac sleeping in bed with some random girlfriend of his and then instructed Isaac to lie to me about it. AS IF Isaac wouldn't tell me that within 60 seconds after I picked him up.) So it should be a good weekend with his dad.

I've been doing some work as a secret shopper which has been fun. A friend of mine is the regional manager of a clothing store and asked me to secret shop some stores. Since I have nothing but time on my hands currently, it's worked out well. I'm definitely not the target demographic for this store, so it's been interesting to see what kind of service I get.

Other than that, there isn't too much to report on. Isaac has been doing soccer camp this week which has helped fill up our days a bit more. The instructors are all from England, complete with dreamy accents. It's also been good because Isaac is on the younger end and these are more experienced soccer players. In the local league we have been playing in he is sort of a big fish in a little pond, so I think this has been good for him.

Hope things are well with all of you.

ugh

I went to put on my fourways and this is what happened. The button simply disappeared into the depths of the dashboard. I seriously destroy everything I touch.

Quickly

How sweet is my friend Meagan for stopping by tonight with all of this?! Candy? Cookie mix? TOBLERONE?! Fresh flowers? It definitely cheered me up from my lonely mother's day. She is so thoughtful.

Inspired Apple

Linky party over at The Inspired Apple (have I mentioned my obsession with teacher blogs? Maybe someday I will start my own.. you know... in my spare time...)

You know you do 1/2 autistic support when:

• You find yourself writing social stories about every bodily function you can dream of. (You think I'm kidding? My flashdrive has stories for nose-picking, farting, hands in the pants, why you wipe, why you shouldn't eat boogers, putting your pees and poops in the right place, etc, etc, etc.)
• You can never have enough 3X5 cards, ziploc bags, post-its, white board markers or timers.
• When you bring your own kid into your classroom he keeps exlaiming "Hey! This is *my* book/toy/sweatshirt/game".
• On a date you find yourself asking the one you are with to slide his bottom over a little and he looks at you in complete horror (true story)
• I saw this one on another blog and totally cracked up. Teachers in the hallway use a slightly different tone of voice when asking about a student referred to as only "your friend". My poor co-teacher this year has several "friends".
• Certain names will now forever be off limits for your own children. They just instantly conjure up images of a certain student, for better or for worse.
• You crack up daily at inventive spelling. (My favorite ever was the girl who wrote about "titty bars" which we later found out were "teddy bears").
• The very first day on the job your assistant says "Do you drink?" and when you reply no, she says "Well you may want to start."
• You find yourself discreetly sniffing students to try to figure out which one is making the room smell like old potatoes.
• You consult with your OT like 489758475 times a day. And when she takes a sick day, you feel lost.
• You keep M and M's and Hershey kisses in your desk drawer and delve into them aggressively when your students are at special. And when you randomly appear in coworkers' classrooms to ask them questions they immediately assume you are there to raid their stash.
• You have to field questions from kindergarteners asking if "you've got a man".
• The honor system snack box in the teacher's lounge is out of chocolate the day after the guy comes to restock it (and the gross peanut butter crackers sit lonely in the box for three more weeks).
• There are never enough pencils. No matter what. And you discover that your student has been sitting there doing nothing for ten minutes because the one he has isn't sharpened and doesn't have an eraser.
• Your students think you and your assistant live together.
• You reflexively answer, "I don't know, can you?" every time a student says "Can I go to the bathroom?"
• You cringe when you see adults forming letters by starting at the bottom or making other "mistakes". You have to bite your lip to keep from screaming "Magic C! Up like helicopter! Down and bump!"

But I love it!