Lunch and Shopping!

Hola! Today was a super fun day!! It started when my friends Jennifer, Clare, Clarissa, Katie, Erin, and I went to Chili's in Smyrna to have lunch. It was so great to see Katie and Erin because we haven't seen them much this summer and won't see them much next year since they'll be at a different school. We had a lot of fun catching up with them and chit-chatting about what "fun" the new school year will bring! We stayed for about an hour and a half, gave hugs and then Clarissa and I were off to Lebanon to shop at the outlet mall!

I had completely forgotten that it was tax free weekend - because usually I huddle myself up in a little ball and stay far, far away from anything that resembles a place that sells something during that time! There are WAY too many people out and about and I'd rather have to pay the tax than bitch slap some lady for my parking place! Anyway, it wasn't that bad. A little busy, but not unbearable.

Clarissa and I visited LOTS of stores such as the Coach Outlet (where I hoped to find a bargain, but I didn't), Eddie Bauer, Carter's, Ann Taylor, Gap, and Ralph Lauren. Boy did we load up! I got a cute sweater at Eddie Bauer and some great stuff at the Gap. Clarissa ended up hitting sale after sale, too! Miss Caraline (Clarissa's daughter) is going to be the talk of the sandbox with her new clothes! Too cute! - but they still don't make me long for changing a poop-filled diaper. By the way, I have a story about a poop-filled diaper, a cheating ex-boyfriend, and a VERY hot car...remind me to tell it someday. You know it will be good, cause you all KNOW what I'm capable of...

After my disappointing shopping experience at the Coach Outlet, I decided to just go to Dillard's (instead of driving all the way to Green Hills Mall to the Coach store there) and buy the purse I have REALLY been coveting for about 6 months now. I know many of you are thinking, "Why in the HELL would you buy something so expensive?!" but I'll tell you, once you get one, you can't go back! It really is an addiction!! I have ALWAYS had a thing for purses, shoes, clothes, and Barbies (just ask my mom!) but I quit the Barbie thing a long time ago. And hey, why did I spend 5 years in college to get a job that pays a real salary? So I could spend the rest of my life shopping for purses at Wal-Mart? I think not, dammit! I've paid my dues to the college society (I'm still paying them in monthly installments) and I deserve the best because I'm AWESOME and I rock!

As usual I have taken the liberty of assembling a slide show of my wares for your viewing pleasure:

Back to work!

Hello all (three of you)! I'm sure you were wondering like crazy where I've been for the past few days. Well, I'll tell you...school. Well, really only the physical school today, but the past 2 days I spent sleeping at a school-related conference! Hahaha...just kidding. My body was there was there.

Today we had a meeting, which gave us an additional 5 hours of inservice credit. So, BEFORE we even have to start school, I already have 31 hours for the year. We only have to have 12! Ugh...I get talked into too much stuff!

We have new people at school. It's always strange to get to know them, but I have to remember I was one of "them" once. There is one new one, though. COCKY! That's all I'm sayin'. Lord help ya, buddy. I hope I didn't come out of the gate that way!

Anyway - since I really have nothing to blog about, I decided to go in search of a Thursday Meme. (Named for talking about ME) Here goes:

1. Are you a Chief or an Indian when it comes to work, working on projects, etc? Why/how so?

Hmmm, I tend to be a Chief. My dad always said if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. So TRUE! And, I am a tad bit of a control freak, so if I'm in charge, then it will always go my way! :-)

2. Are you able to be both a Chief and an Indian when the situation calls for it? Why/why not?

Yes, I am a big team player, but I prefer to be the Chief. I can be an Indian - as long as I like the Chief! If not, I'm tempted to switch tribes and open a casino!

3. Is there a particular situation as of late where you have had to be one or the other? What was it?

Ahhh yes, school. My dear friend Jennifer was elected team leader, which I think was a PERFECT choice! However, there are other school things, such as BTS, where I am the Chief. However, I'm always the Chief at home!

Ok, kiddos. That's it for now, but let me just leave you with this picture to honor Nick from Big Brother 8 since he was voted out tonight:

Brace yourselves...

That's right folks, brace yourselves! Breathe deeply as you read these next few words... Stephanie Smith actually went OUTDOORS to play a SPORT!!! I realize some of you may have just had a bowel movement in your pants, but it is actually true!

Corey and I went to Barfield Crescent Park yesterday to play Disc Golf. We played 18 holes and it just about killed me, but by god I made it! Thanks to Tim and Clare, (well Tim really, but Clare plays too) Corey has developed a new obsession and claims to be a "natural" at this game, so he had to show me the ropes. I lost my disk in the woods several times and even went IN the deep forest to get it! I did not see any snakes, but I did see a giant lizard, which scared the holy crap out of me and I screamed like any girly girl would! Of course I cheated a bunch and told myself that I either pared or birdied each hole just to make myself feel better. I really sucked!

We also smelled some interesting scents while we were out there. At first, we thought we were going to encounter a skunk, but we soon discovered that is was just two Bevis and Butt-Head look alikes smoking pot at one of the holes in the woods. What losers! I swear to you, they sounded just like them...laughing and all!

Anyway, I did really well playing the first 9 holes because they were actually in civilization, but once we got to the back 9 I began to realize this was more "outdoor-y" than I had planned for. There was one hole where you had to trek down what seemed like a mountain and then on the hole directly after it you had to haul your ass back up to the top. I thought I was going to die right there and all the maggots and wood critters would have had a lovely dinner! However, I made it. I survived.

I'm not real sure when I will be back to play again. You know how much I LOVE to sweat and all...It's only the most disgusting thing in the world...

For you viewing pleasure, I have compiled a slideshow. Make sure you pay special attention to the captions so that you get the "true" feel for my day. Sorry ladies, there are no pictures of Corey...only ME

A Trip Home

Last Thursday, I left Murfreesboro to head to Crossville. I hadn't been in a while and it was a good chance to get back before school starts. Sometimes it's just nice to go home, ya know? Anyway, I always have my favorite places to stop when I go home, so I was looking forward to my shopping excursion. When I got there, I met my mom at the house and we had to stay there for a little while because there were men working on the garage since it didn't work anymore. My dad called and wanted us to meet him for lunch before he had to head to the store. (Here's my dad in his favorite chair looking oh so handsome:)
After the worker men left, we went to meet him at the Cracker Barrel. I was really good and ordered a grilled chicken salad and I even left most of my croutons! We all had a good lunch, but it had to be quick so dad could get back and open the store.

After lunch, mom and I began our tour of my usual places to hit when I go home. We went to the Dollar Tree, which as you all know is my most FAVORITE store on the planet! I needed something that was metal for my students to be able to use their Magnetic Poetry centers on. They just happened to have some colorful square metal sheets to be used as a memo board in their Back to School section. I picked up six of them! I also got some really cool, clear frog and human models in their toy section. You can take them apart and "disect" them without getting all goopy! I got a couple of them for my friend, Clarissa, too! We also hit up the Cato store, but didn't find anything there. So we moved on to the used book store.
The Book Cellar is also one of Corey's favorite places to visit, but he looks for scary books! I go to look for books to use in my classroom. I will usually buy 2-3 copies of the same book if I can find it so that I can use them for book circles! I did end up finding a few books, and even one on tape, so it turned out to be a pretty good find!

After shopping all day we met my dad for dinner at Dickey's Barbeque. That happens to be my and Corey's "special" place (lol) but that's another story. I had a baked potato with pulled pork bbq and it was mighty tasty!! They also have these big-ass pickles you can get out of a jar! It was a very tasty dinner!

My mom goes to a water aerobics class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She wanted me to go with her in the morning, but I needed a bathing suit, so we went out to the outlet mall to find a new swim suit for me and some new tennis shoes for dad. I got a chocolate brown suit with rouching to hide all my fat rolls! It's really cute! So anyway, the next day we got up and went to her water aerobics class. I SWEAR to you my mom and I were the youngest people there! And...the class was lead by this old German lady. Let me tell you, that German lady was FIERCE! She had everybody's asses up moving around! It lasted about an hour, but it was fun and I am thinking about going to the YMCA here since they offer water aerobic classes, too!
Here is a picture of the pool:


The rest of the day was great, too! We met Marilyn, a family friend, to go see "Hairspray" at the movies and it was really cute! It was SUPER hard not to get popcorn, but mom and I snuck in some 100 calorie packs of snacks and we were fine! Here's my mom and Marilyn at the movie theater:

My dad's band, the City Lights, was playing out at the Fairfield country club that night and mom and I wanted to go see them, so we went shopping to find something to wear, naturally! We searched all over the place, but I finally found a really cute black and white polka-dot dress at Goody's. When we tried to call and make reservations, they were all booked up, so we didn't end up going after all. :-(
Instead, we called Marilyn and asked her to eat at Gondola's with us. It was really good and nice to spend more time with her!

The next day, I slept late! It was nice since I hadn't been sleeping well. I watched my mom kill a poke weed in front of her house. This is what people use to make "poke salit" and no, that's not spelled wrong. People used to eat this stuff! Here's a little slide show of it's removal by my mother:

We went to lunch with my grandpa at Shoney's and it was good to see him. Below are pictures of him with my mom and with his fishin' hat on:


It was also good to see the animals.

Spooky, the dalmation, Orange, the cat, and a random frog in the driveway! lol I also saw a black snake wriggling across the road as I was leaving! Ewww... I had a fun time and I'll be back again on Sept. 1st for my 10 year High School reunion!