Happy Birthday to ME!

Yes, yes...I'm officially O-L-D! Thirty was never supposed to come, but it has and I guess I'll deal with it! I did however have a wonderful birthday, which I celebrated with my friends Clarissa & Jason, Jenn, Sheri & her husband Chuck. Unfortunately, others weren't able to make it due to family obligations, illness or office Christmas parties, but that's to be expected when your birthday is in December. Damn Christmas wins every time! lol

Anyway, Corey & Clarissa cooked up a surprise dinner at Kobe Japanese Steakhosue downtown in Nashville where we had a wonderful hibatchi dinner. I was surprised to see my friends waiting for me when we got there. I'm so glad they were able to come!!

After dinner, Clarissa, Jason, Corey and I headed over to Opry Mills to find a parking place in order to go to the Opryland Hotel and see the Christmas decorations. Corey & I hunted for a parking place for literally 30 minutes! It was INSANE how busy the mall and Opryland were! We finally managed to find a spot and we met Clarissa & Jason inside the hotel. The decorations were beautiful and we snapped some great photos!

All in all, I had a wonderful birthday and I'm glad I could spend it with such good friends. I took a video of our hibatchi experience as well as some fun photos of our night! Enjoy!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Let the Birthday Dinners Begin!

My birthday is December 6. I will be turning - gulp - THIRTY! This day was NEVER supposed to come...it's all downhill from here! hehe

Luckily I have a great bunch of friends and family who celebrate all month long with me! On Thanksgiving my parents surprised me with gifts, which was awesome! Then, on Friday we met up with some friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for wings and beers. Dusty and her family gave me a beautiful hand-crafted necklace from her home studio. Click HERE to check out more of her beautiful pieces. After dinner, Corey and I went to Best Buy to pick out my new iPod! Of course I had to get the orange one - DUH! I have played with it all weekend!

Saturday night, Corey's parents came to Murfreesboro to take us to dinner for my birthday. We went to Five Senses. If you have never been, I HIGHLY suggest you go for your next "special event." It is pretty pricey, but delicious! We started with the always yummy cheese & olive platter, then unique salads using local lettuces, and for the main course I had filet with mashed potatoes and caramelized onions and mushrooms, for dessert Corey and I had an upside-down pear cake and coffee. That was the best dinner I have had yet from Five Senses. We have been 3 times now and it's totally worth the money! To top off the evening, Corey's parents gave me a check to help out with paying for the iPod and a beautiful necklace and earrings set. His brother's family gave me iTunes gift cards, so I've been racking up the music all weekend! My new favorite is the "Single Ladies" song by Beyonce. I've been going around the house all weekend singing, "...if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it!" It's my new jam! ha!

Corey also got me some cheddar and caramel mix popcorn from Garrett Popcorn in Chicago. This is THE BEST popcorn you will ever douse with saliva! Trust...

I am looking forward to seeing what my students do for my birthday. Each year they all try to out-do each other with pictures and homeade gifts. They are too funny!

It's supposed to snow some this week, so bring it on! That will be a lovely pre-birthday gift as well! I'll keep you updated on what happens on my actual birthday! Should be good times...

Have a lovely week!

Thanksgiving Dinner

On Thursday, my mom made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner - or lunch - or whatever you want to call it. We ate around 2:00. We had all the usual goodies: stuffing, turkey, ham, escalloped corn, sweet potato casserole, green beans, gravy, pies, cake, you name it! I took a few pictures of the family just hanging out waiting to eat...or sneaking a bite.

It was nice to see my parents and my grandpa. Corey and I trade off years for Thanksgiving and Christmas on the actual day with our families. This year is my year and it's always more special to see my family on the actual holiday. We stayed with them from Wednesday to Friday. We enjoyed our extended vacation away from school!

Monthly Dinner Menu: December

This month is going to be crazy with all we have to do for school (my birthday, programs, Corey's grad school, parties, etc...) so the menu is a little less planned, but we'll still eat! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas - or whatever you celebrate - and a happy New Year! I'm ready for summer!
(Please click on the menu to enlarge)

New Toy!

Yeah, I know...I'm a bad blogger. My mother has already chastized me!

Anyway, my birthday is coming up soon, and this week while I was home for Thanksgiving, my parents and grandpa decided to surprise me with birthday gifts! That's always a plus! My parents gave me some cute orange bracelets, a snowman t-shirt and my new favorite orange toy: a FLIP! This one is mine! And, I also recieved a snazzy little carrying case with it!

I'll post more about Turkey Day later, but I wanted to share my first video experience with you! This is a video of my mom and my grandpa right after Thanksgiving dinner. My grandpa is TOO stinkin' cute!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Monthly Dinner Menu: November

Happy Thanksgiving!

Feel Sorry for ME!

I am sick. I have strep throat. I'm sure one of my twenty-two darling dears in 4th grade gave it to me. They are so generous like that!!! They are REALLY good at sharing!

I did go to work the day I was pretty sure I had it and then confirmed it with a strep test at the dr.'s office last night. Luckily, today I was scheduled for a meeting at the county office, so I didn't have to actually teach. I got to sit on my butt all day, after sleeping in, taking my time getting ready and even had time to take a long relaxing lunch! AND the best part was getting home by 3:00! That NEVER happens! So, I guess being sick this time had it's rewards.

I know I've been a bad blogger, but I really don't care. I have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOO extremely busy with school that I just don't have time. And, nothing exciting has happened in my life - other than buying a new refrigerator - that I didn't want to bore you with mundane life. You're welcome :-)

On a side note, my friend is having a Murder Mystery party at her house this weekend for Halloween and I couldn't be more excited about going. I'm playing the part of the Maid of Honor in this wedding catastrophe! Perhaps I can get some awesome pictures and actually blog about that!!

What about you? Do any of you have any exciting Halloween plans? What are you or your kids dressing up as?

Monthly Dinner Menu: October

Say It Isn't So!

Can I just say that I (along with the rest of the world) am SHOCKED that Clay Gaykin, oops I mean Aiken is G-A-Y! And by shocked I mean how the hell have you lived on planet Earth and NOT known he was gay?!

Ladies, the Claymates must die now - he's strictly dickly. Let the record show...

Monthly Dinner Menu

Adopt a Classroom!

MINE!!!

Today, I joined Adopt a Classroom, which is a website where donors can "adopt" my classroom by donating money to my account. I have already received a donation from my generous in-laws, but was hoping by posting this on my blog a reader might take pity on my poor classroom and adopt me! I would love to use the donations for technology, general classroom supplies (i.e. folders, paper, markers, pencils, etc...),books, teaching aids and whatnot.

My school is considered Title I, which basically means that over 50% of the students are on free or reduced lunch. I teach in a low-income area of Rutherford County where parents often cannot afford to send their children with the basic school supplies needed for the year. In turn, I spend money out of my own pocket to cover those needed supplies. I'm not trying to pull out a sob story, but every little bit helps and would be tremendously appreciated!


If you are interested in adopting my classroom, please click on the icon below and it will take you to my homepage. Thanks a bunch!!

Monthly Dinner Menu: August

Better late than never!

I have been to Hell...

I just wanted to let you all know that I have been to Hell. Actually, I have been to Hell twice this week.

One visit involves a 96 degree day and an un-air conditioned wedding and reception.

The other involves a Chinese Buffet restaurant (and if you know me you KNOW I hate Chinese food AND buffets), a karaoke performance, and school inservice.

It's going to take me a while to get the story just where I want it and provide you with video, yes, video from the occasion and all the fitting details. So, you'll have to be patient and wait for my creation. Trust me...it's worth it...

Meet Jackson!

My bestie, Clarissa and her family just welcomed Jackson Garrett home last week. I was lucky enough to go visit him, so I wanted to post a couple of pics! He is such a good baby and he has a wonderful family to call his own! I'm glad his mommy is doing better and she can hopefully get some rest!

Clarissa's dog, Jazzy, was not content with a photo of just Jackson and me. She had to get in on the action, too!

Corey's Birthday

Corey's birthday was July 24. As most of you know, we went to Pigeon Forge for part of his gift. His celebration lasted a whole week!

The Saturday before the big day, his parents and brother, sister-in-law, and neice came to town to eat dinner at The Five Senses. We had a wonderful and tasty dinner and drank a LOT of wine!! After dinner, Corey went to Best Buy to get his Zune. He has wanted one for a while, so that's been his new toy. I also got him a new pair of earphones since he broke his old ones. Good job...

When we came back from DollyWood on Corey's actual birthday, we stopped by my parents house and all went to dinner at Gondola. Corey loves their pizza! He and my dad always get the House Special and a pitcher of beer. They are drunk buddies! Hehe!

On the Saturday after his birthday, we went to dinner at Fuji Japanese Steakhouse.
We had a good time with our friends Ken & Becca, Phil & Dusty, and Shad and Marsha. After dinner, we came back for cake and ice cream!

I'm glad the festivities are over - they have worn me out! Now let's get to planning MY birthday!! Hahah!

Here are some pics from the "friend" dinner:

Dolly Wood

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting the fabulous photos from DollyWood. I'm such a bad blogger. Sorry!

We had a wonderful time in Pigeon Forge! Corey had a great birthday (which I will post about, too) and we will have good memories for a long time! Especially about how freaking soaked we got riding the "Slidewinder," which we DO NOT recommend. We seriously almost flipped twice!! Too bad we didn't get any great pictures of us looking like drowned rats! Ha!!

Anyway, here are some of the better photos we had from our trip. Apparently, Photobucket is being a piece of crap lately and will NOT upload my pics or do a slideshow. So, you get the myspace version instead. It does not let me arrange anything, so you'll just have to use your imagination and if you have questions, just ask me...

Pigeon Forge

Corey and I made it to Pigeon Forge today to begin our vacation. We got here at about 1:00 and checked into our hotel. Of course, the room we had reserved wasn't available because the air conditioner was broken. So, Corey demanded we be compensated and they "upped" our room to a suite with a jacuzzi and fireplace. Now, when I say it's a suite, I mean it's the same size room as any other, they just crammed a bunch of extra crap in here with a big tub and a hole in the wall with some logs in it. However, we have a fridge, so I'm ok with that.

We ate lunch at a place called the Flying Horse. It was pretty good, but expensive. We both enjoyed our meals. After lunch, we went to the outlet mall and I hit up the Coach Outlet where I found only ONE orange mini-wallet on sale, so of course I had to get it! I also may or may not have done some Christmas shopping...

We went up to Gatlinburg and it was BUSY! We didn't even get out of the car. Just drove the strip up and down and tried not to run over anybody. We've both been there before, so we really didn't feel like we were missing anything by not walking the strip. On the way back, we got stuck in dead-stop traffic and then a giant rain storm! It took us an hour to get down the mountain, which should have only taken about 5 - 10 minutes, all due to about 6 orange cones and a lane closure. BOO!

We came back to the hotel and had a couple of flashes of power outages. I'm glad we weren't in the elevator!

We decided to brave the hurricane like weather and head to a local brewery for dinner. Corey got a pizza and I had a calzone. They were both pretty tasty. By the time we left the rains had stopped and we were able to walk around in the little prominade mall area outside the restaurant. Corey found a fudge shoppe and decided to get a little bit of peanut butter fudge. I had the teeniest-tiniest piece and that will probably be all I have...I'm not a fudge fan.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to go to DollyWood and the weather is supposed to be pretty rainy. So, if you have any pull with the weather "Gods" please ask them to take pity on us tomorrow...

Welcome Baby Jackson!

My bestie, Clarissa and her hubby, Jason had their second child today. A son named Jackson Garrett. He was over 9 POUNDS! Geez! I can't wait to meet him! He's going to have a wonderful family to come home to! And I'm sure his big sister Caraline will be very helpful to her mommy!

Congrats to Clarissa and the fam!


On another note, my friend Katie also had her twins today. From what I hear, they each weighed in at over 6 pounds. Congrats to Katie and her hubby - their dream has finally come true!!!

Jack Daniel's

On Monday, Corey and I FINALLY made it to the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. We have been trying to take this day trip for years! Literally! I bet we've planned to go at least seven or eight times in the last nine years and something always came up. We were glad to finally be able to make it down there!

There was a wonderful aroma as soon as we stepped on the grounds; almost "yeast-y" if you will. And the further we got on the tour, the more intense and "Jack Like" it became!

The scenery was just too beautiful to describe and everything was centered around the spring that gives Jack's whisky that smooth and unique taste!

The tour was absolutely FREE and was WAY more interesting than many of the tours we've paid for and taken in the past! If you ever get a chance to go - do!!! However, don't expect to taste any of Jack's tasty treat becasue Lynchburg is a D-R-Y town! The only tasting you get is lemonaide at the end of the tour! However, you can buy a bottle of Jack and take it home.

Enjoy the slideshow below. You'll need to move your mouse over the pictures to get them to stop so you can read the captions.

Monthly Dinner Menu: July

I would love it if you have any great recipes you'd like to share! Maybe I'll add them to August's menu...

I've Been Tagged!

Here are the rules:
a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog.
e. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Here are the 6 things about ME:
1. I am organized in every aspect of my life. Like, obsessed and anal. My closet is in color order from light to dark. My cabinets at school have tubs with labels on them and I enjoy scheduling things.
2. My food cannot touch! I HATE it when my green beans touch my mashed potatoes, in which case I will create a barrier and not eat the green bean or small row of mashed potatoes because they are now tainted.
3. I am obsessed with the color orange! I feel like it represents me. It is loud and obnoxious, which is just about what I am. I have orange things all over my house and even my cell phone and car are orange - yet, I am NOT a UT fan. I hate when people make that assumption...
4. I get irritated when people take liberties. I understand that most people are just trying to help in certain situations, but for the most part, if I wanted it that way, I would have done it! This especially applies to substitute teachers and students! lol
5. I CANNOT stand worms or ants or anything that is slightly similar (i.e. snakes, termites, etc...) the thought of going outside to stand in the yard and *possibly* having an ant crawl on my foot terrifies me! AND, I HATE the way it smells after it rains a lot and the worms come out. I promise you I can smell them!
6. I love my job. Most of the time. Everybody has their ups and downs, but I honestly don't know what else I was meant to do! Please remind me that I said this when it's the middle of August and I'm talking about how much I hate school - especially starting a new year!!!!

That's it! Now I tag:
Clarissa
Katie
Dustin
Stacey
Michelle
Alyson
Oh, and Dusty tagged me...

Bad, Bad Blogger...

I know all 3 of my loyal readers have been anxiously awaiting my newest blog! I apologize - I've been a horrible blogger. I have been so busy with summer school and running around that I've neglected to update. So, here's the quick and dirty version of what I've been up to:

1.) I've been going to Water Aerobics at the YMCA on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I LOVE it!! And if you know me, you KNOW that I HATE to exercise with a passion - mostly because I HATE to sweat! However, water aerobics kicks ass because you still get a work out, but it's comfortable and you don't sweat to death. Also, I have issues with getting ready to go get dirty and then having to get clean again. I have been going to the 6-7 class, so I just come home and get ready for bed. And I am SOOOO ready for bed when I get home. I wear myself out! Also, if anybody wants to come with me, you are welcome! June is bring a friend month. I'm only 2 more friends away from a FREE YMCA water bottle!! Ha! Joanne went with me and we had a super time!

2.) I went home to visit my parents for what we refer to as the "triple threat" i.e. their anniversary, my dad's birthday, and Father's Day, which all take place during the same week. Talk about a lot going on! Anyway, I went home to visit for a few days and had a great time. My mom and I went to the movies to see What Happens In Vegas. It was cute. Predictable, but cute. We also went shopping and I purchased a cute Tommy Hilfiger swingpack to take with me when we go to DollyWood later this summer. Sorry, but I'm not dragging the Coach bag on a water ride! Hell no!
I also went over to my grandpa's house to pick some cherries and apples from his trees. He has a small orchard on his property next to his GIANT garden. I took some pictures because I thought the fruit was pretty hanging from its branches. I can't wait until the squash is ready so I can "fry up a mess!"









3.) I have been super busy with teaching summer school. Monday through Friday I have been at school from 7:15 until 11:30 or later trying to come up with activities that will enrich and extend what these kids already know. God, I'm so ready for it to be over! I'm so jealous of all my other teacher friends who have been enjoying their summer for almost a month now! I only have 4 more days left...I can do this!

Hopefully, the custodians will wax my room immediately after summer school is over so I can get back in and set it up again. Of course, I will end up spending the rest of my summer at school, but I enjoy getting organized and cleaned up. My room needs it!

4.) This is still school related, but I felt the need to give it a new number...
On the way to the cafeteria from my classroom, we pass through a breezeway. Well, during the summer, the birds seem to think they own the place and build TONS of nests. They really are more of a pest than they are cute, but this week the babies hatched and they really are adorable! I took a couple of "fuzzy" pictures because I didn't want to get too close and have the mamma bird get pissed and poke my eyes out! You've seen The Birds, right? That's some scary shit, Mr. Hitchcock...





5.) I've been watching lots of TV. I love me some reality television! I'm hooked on So You Think You Can Dance! Love me some Joshua! He's so sweet and versitile with his dancing.
Right now, we're watching The Next Food Network Star, which is ok, but not as exciting as last season's.
I'm really ready for the new Big Brother 10!!! It starts on the 13th and I'll be all over that!

I guess that's all I've been up to in the past few weeks. I'm ready to have more free time. Corey will be finished with his summer portion of his Master's program on Friday, so we'll be able to spend more time with each other. And by that I mean try not to kill each other :-)

Until next time...

FIRE!!

I almost forgot to blog about the most eventful thing that happened today: a fire.

Just as we were dismissing the students from Summer School, the house right in front of our school caught on fire. At first we thought someone was just burning brush, but it turned out to be WAY more than that! At least 3 fire engines came to put out the blaze. Of course, the kids thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen in their lives...

It was so sad to watch the dreams and lives of these poor, helpless people just burn up right in front of them. One of the kids that lives there is a student at my school. Sad.

I hope everyone was able to get out alright. I believe they did, but I'm sure it was a VERY scary moment for everyone involved.

Corey and I came home one night after eating dinner, to find 3 fire engines in our front yard - along with the rest of the ENTIRE neighborhood!!! Talk about having the shheeet scared out of you! Lucky for us, it was the house across from us that had caught on fire - unlucky for them. However, they were eventually able salvage the frame and rebuild the house. They got bigger and badder stuff in it, too...We can see their GIANT flat screen TV mounted on their living room wall when their front door is open. Of course, if my house burning down was the only way I could get that TV, I would definitely choose another option! They deserve it with all they went through...

I wouldn't wish that type of catastrophe on anyone!

Sprucing up and the YMCA...

First off, I changed some stuff around on here. I got tired of looking at everybody's blog to see if they had updated anything everyday, so I added a blog roll that will update me when someone updates their blog! Yay! Also, I added the graphic of my name above, which I thought was super cute - thanks Dusty - I totally stole that from your myspace! I moved the header to the "About Me" section, which I'm sure nobody ever read anyway, but just in case, now you know where it is...

Now, on to the YMCA. Yeah, I joined. Just for the rest of the month and July. I am going to go to the H2O Aerobics classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the rest of June. Then, when I'm finished teaching Summer School, I will try to go Monday through Friday in the mornings. There is another teacher friend who goes to the Y to work out, so maybe we can get together and go sometime :-)

I'm not a big worker-outer. I mean, have you seen me?! However, my mom has recently lost about 100 lbs in the past year and she is a faithful participant in her water aerobics three days a week. She also has done Weight Watchers and I'm super proud of her! And I'm super even more jealous of her! Scrawny ass! So, I joined and hopefully I will have at least SOME of the success she has had.

I had a little issue with the folks at the Y. It seems that the people who work there have NO freakin' clue what you need to bring with you in order to become a member. I am surprised that they don't ask for your first born child! Anyway, after going back and forth from the Y to my house because of stupidity on their part, I finally told them that if they needed ONE more thing from my house, I was going home and NOT coming back. Apparently, everything that I brought the second time was PLENTY of information after making that point! HA!

Wish me luck! Perhaps I should put a weight loss ticker on my page...nah - that would mean people would be looking and holding me accountable. Now, we can't have that can we?!

Summer School

I'm teaching summer school this year. Ugh.

"Why," you ask? Well, I'll tell you. Corey is an Educational Assistant and they don't work OR get paid in the summer, so that means we have that much less income for the next 3 months! Gasp!

"Why doesn't HE get a summer job?!" you ask? Well, I'll tell you. He started his Master's in Elementary Education today. He's already certified 7-12, but has decided he wants to teach the lower grades since he's been working in an elementary school for the last year.

Soooo, his Master's program is very intensive. He will go Monday thru Friday from
9-5 PM for the month of June. I am teaching school from 7:30 - 11:00 in June, so we will still be able to see each other this summer and we'll have the entire month of July off!! Then, he will go one Thursday, Friday, and Saturday a month for the next year. By this time next year, we'll be decorating HIS classroom!!

Now, back to me:

Summer School started today. Poor kids. They REALLY need to be there. I am teaching former 3rd graders, which will possibly be MY 4th graders in August. Wow, I'm going to have a LOT of work ahead of me when school starts if these kids are any indication of what's to come!!! Hopefully, this will only be a sampling and not a grade-wide epidemic. However, I will say this: only FOUR of the students in my current class are from my school. The others are from different schools in the county. Makes me wonder what they are doing there?!

Anyway, we didn't do much today. Mostly introduction stuff. Tomorrow we'll probably play some math games and maybe start a novel. Good times.

I want to leave you with a picture of what I wished my school days had been like...

I was totally Lisa Turtle...

I.AM.A.DUMBASS.

Yeah.

Today Corey and I went to my classroom to get it ready for my summer school kiddos. We drove through and got lunch and took it into my room. I put down my purse and everything else in my hands. He went out to unload some stuff from my car and I (being the good natured helper that I am) followed him out the door. CRAP.

The door locked behind me. So there we were. Staring into my classroom looking at the keys on my desk. CRAP.

Luckily, he had his cell phone and his car keys in his pocket, so we were eventually able to locate a fellow teacher who came and let us in the building. BUT, I still couldn't get in my classroom. CRAP.

We trolled through the school (thank GOD the alarm wasn't on) and looked in the janitor's office for keys. We found some, but unfortunately, they didn't work. CRAP.

I ended up having to call my assistant principal and he came over and let us in. WHEW.

I owe him big time!

So after that, we were able to FINALLY eat our cold lunch and finish up the work we had come to do.

Yeah. I'll be getting several copies of that key made tomorrow...

Monthly Dinner Menu: June

Please leave feedback...is my posting these menus helping anyone?

Go Fly a Kite!

Today, Corey and I went on a LONG exhausting search for a kite. We started at Toys R Us. They were basically sold out of the cheap ones so we went over to Target. They had PLENTY, but Corey decided there were better ones at Wal-Mart and he'd rather have one there. So, off we went to Wally World. He came back empty handed. Then, off to Hobby World, which is supposed to be open until 5:00, but they decided to close at 3:00. Then, off to Hobby Lobby. No kites. Soooo, back to Target. Ugh. Finally we got to the park and stayed about an hour. There were a couple of other folks out there flying their kites, too. It was beautiful outside! Here are some photos of our fun day:

And here are a couple of videos of us trying to keep the kite up!

Monthly Dinner Menu

Corey and I have been planning monthly dinner menus since October of last year. It was an idea I stole from my friend, Clarissa. We plan for each night except Saturdays because we will usually eat out at least one night a week. For the most part, it works pretty well. There are some nights, though, where something at school will come up and we have to re-adjust things or we just don't feel like eating what's on the menu for the night. In that case, we just shift the meals around. There is always PLENTY of food! I usually end up taking leftovers to school the next day for lunch, so it works out well.

I downloaded a Power Point calendar template from Microsoft and each month, I just open it up and type in what we are going to have. I usually scour the web looking for recipes and other people's menus. I figured posting mine might help somebody out...let me know if you have any questions or comments!!

I Designed a Bag!

Kroger is having a contest for people to design a "green" bag. This was my design...



What do you think?

American Idol SUCKS!

Ok, am I the only person who feels like American Idol is really not living up to their end of the deal? What the hell kind of themes are they expecting us to watch? Mariah Carey? Neil Diamond? Dolly Parton? Andrew Lloyd Webber???? While I agree, all of those performers have definitely etched their way into the music history books, do people really want to listen to them now? The demographic for AI is probably
15-25, so you can't tell me that the above mentioned artists are current and popular with that demographic. And when did Mariah Carey stop singing? All she does now is ooh and ahh and touch herself on stage. Puh-leese.

Anyway...AI is complaining about their ratings being so low lately and they are even looking for ways to re-invent it for next season! Um, HELLOOOOOOOOO...LET THEM SING CONTEMPORARY SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, they probably ARE in fact, the most talented group ever, but I'm not so sure we'll ever get to see that talent to the fullest extent because they keep picking crappy genres for them to choose crappy songs!

I'm frustrated with this season. If I had known it was going to suck this hard, I would have never invested all this time in it...

And can we just take a minute to discuss the fact that Paula Abdul must have been smoking crack this evening? She was commenting on David Cook's second song before he even performed it! KooKooBird!

Here's my breakdown of what I think about the remaining 5 "Idols":

David Archuleta - You are a robot. Grow some bolts and quit singing the songs your dad picks!

Brooke White - I wish she had a range. Brooke is great, but she tends to stay in the safe zone. Get out!

Syesha Mercado - You are NOT Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, or Celine Dion. Please stop thinking you are.

Jason Castro - I'm over the dred-locked John Travolta look-alike. Lay off the 420.

David Cook - David probably deserves to win this the most. At least he can take these BORING songs and breathe new life into them.

And there you have it folks. I just needed to get that off my chest. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programs...

SKUNKED!!!

OH.MY.GOSH.

Last night, while watching the Idols get kicked off, I noticed a PUTRID odor coming into my house. It kept getting worse and worse. So bad, that I RAN (and ya'll KNOW I don't run) into the kitchen gagging! Apparently, a skunk had been in our yard and it got spooked and we all know what happens then...So, my ENTIRE house was enveloped in skunk stink! Thank God my nose has been stuffed for the past week and I couldn't smell it to the fullest extreme because we would have probably spent the night at the nearest hotel!

Today when I came home, it was still really bad. So, I opened all the windows in the house and sprayed Febreeze and Oust all over everything. My poor Coach bag even stinks! Anyway, I read online to deskunk a house you should boil vinegar and lay out coffee grounds in each room and it will neutralize the odor. I have to say, it has done wonders for the stench! We can still smell it, but it isn't NEARLY as bad as it was!!!

So, if anyone reading has any suggestions (and no, tomato juice does not work) please share them with us. I think this is quite possibly the grossest thing to ever befall my home! Ugh...


For such a cute animal it sure makes the vomit hit the back of my throat!

Quick Update...

Today, during our 4th grade field trip to the Hermitage, a representative from ULTA called my cell phone. She said all she needed was my address and they would ship my reward points card to me within 7-10 days. She also apologized profusely for my inconvienience.

So, they have 7-10 days to make me a happy customer again. I'll update you when I get my rewards and let you know what I get with it! :-)

Until then...

ULTA is NOT my favorite place right now...

Dear ULTA,

I have been a loyal customer of yours since you opened a store in Murfreesboro, TN back in October '07. On your grand opening day, I filled out your reward club card and dropped it in the box by the nice lady who asked me to fill it out. Since then, I have spent approximately $300-$400 on merchandise in your store and have YET to receive ANY of the benefits you promise to your loyal customers for spending their hard earned money at your store.

Yesterday, when I purchased $20 worth of merchandise and mentioned this fact to one of your employees, she looked up my customer number and apparently my information had never been turned in. I was given a card with your customer service number on it and was deferred to your customer service center instead of a manager at the store, so as instructed I came home and promptly phoned your customer service center.

In the past 24 hours, I have been on hold with your "customer service" department for a total of 45 minutes. Currently, I have been on hold for 21 minutes and counting. I have left TWO messages with your phone service with TWO contact numbers. Of course, I was contacted during a time that was well over 12 hours after my original message (is that REALLY your earliest convenience?) and I was not home. Did your customer service team bother to call my other contact number? Of course not! So, I'm back on the phone again.

ULTA, this is a SORRY excuse for good customer service. I am VERY dissatisfied with your company at this point. You must only have a total of three people working at your customer service center, which is evident by the current wait time of 26 minutes I am experiencing. There are companies twice as small as yours who would KILL to demonstrate better customer service.

Please be advised I will be posting this message on my personal blog as an open letter to my readers. Surely you know that word of mouth is the best promotion, so it is within your best interest to right this wrong as soon as possible.

Lastly, I am hoping this situation will be rectified soon and that you will honor the points I have built through your club since your store opened here. I am enclosing my Club number along with TWO contact numbers, in which I'm hoping you will use.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Smith (still holding after 40 minutes)
xxx-xxx-xxxx
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Club Number xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Have You Ever Wondered What $250 Worth of M&Ms Looked Like?

For the past two years in Rutherford County, we have had a teacher recruitment fair so all the graduating teachers, or those shopping for new jobs, can meet with the principals and some of the faculty from all of the area schools. This will be the second time I have represented my school. Last year, being the first, no one really knew what to expect as far as how to set up the booths and promote our schools. This year we'll be better prepared (as will all the other schools, I'm sure!)

We decided to order some M&Ms as give-aways. We got one 5 lb bag of dark green and one 5 lb bag of gold and 4 little bags of white logo M&Ms. Yesterday, Clarissa and I spent MUCH of the afternoon bagging them (100 bags - 2500 M&Ms total - and we didn't even use HALF the order) tying a cute litte ribbon around the bag and attaching our principal's business card by punching a paw print through it (since we're the wildcats.)

I think they turned out GREAT!


Now the next order of business is to complete the school's power point. The one we used last year is pretty much unusable since many of the people pictured on it don't work at our school anymore due to the new school they built last year. Our school was very crowded, so the new school was built to help with the overflow and half of our staff went there with half of our students. We still love most of them though! lol

The recruitment fair is on the 26th, so we still have a couple of weeks to work out the kinks and be prepared. I'm excited! I love to talk to people, so this is right up my alley! Clarissa will be joining me, so I'm sure we'll work up all kinds of trouble! It'll be good times!

Oh, no they dih-unt!

Where is Richard Simmons when I need him?

I am SOOO ready to head back to school. I can't take this Spring Break stuff much longer. I'm going to go insane! I swear I think I've gained a gazillion-trillion pounds this week because I've been on NO schedule whatsoever! I've eaten at McAllister's, Chop House, McDonald's, Hardee's, Sonic, P.F.Chang's, TGI Friday's, Marble Slab, Jason's Deli, Macaroni Grill, Pei Wei's, and Olive Garden - just to name a few. AND on top of that, Corey and I have raided the discounted Easter candy isles and eaten our weight in Mounds & Reese Eggs. Oh, and the Cadbury ones, too.


Please send Richard to my house if you see him. Let him know he needs to help me Sweat to the Oldies - except I hate to sweat! I see NO point in getting ready and putting on clean "special" work-out clothes just to go get dirty and need a shower all over again.

Oooh, and I saw my "Bestest" friend last week when I went to get my strep test. You know, the dietitian...she saw me and said, "Oh, I didn't expect to see you here!" Puh-leeze. She's scared of me. I know it. She is...she was afraid I was coming to fondle her rubber chicken cutlets again.

Sorry, I got off my topic. Please forgive me. Anyway - I'm a lard ass and I need someone to come and staple my mouth shut, lock my fridge, and put alarms on my pantry.

I can't wait to go back to school...

Morning Tongue

This might just edge out the "Cootie Queen" commercial...be prepared to pee yourself.

Hey - It's Spring Break! Let's Get Strep!

Soooo, I started off the week just fine. Felt GREAT on Monday and was excited about the week because I knew I only had FOUR days to go until Spring Break. A teacher friend was very sickly on Monday and I made her go home. She could barely hold her head up, so I helped her get her stuff ready for a sub. and sent her home to get rest. She came back on Tuesday and we could all tell she felt much better!

By Tuesday, I noticed my throat was getting a little sore, but I just figured it was due to the spring-like weather and the sinus infection that usually accompanies any weather change.After school, I had to go over to MTSU and serve as a panelist on the NSTA student chapter forum. You see, I actually DID do something smart and nerdy at college because I was the founding president of the National Science Teachers Assoc. Student Chapter at Middle TN State Univ. (NSTA-SC @ MTSU) Whew! So I went to speak about what it has been like transferring from the university life to the actual teaching industry and the challenges and rewards that come with it.

That evening, my throat felt worseand I kept checking my temperature, but I was still as "normal" as I could be. I had even stopped by our school nurse's office before leaving for the meeting to have her look at it. She didn't seem to be worried. After I got home from the meeting, I could NOT keep my head up. I was so deliriously tired that I kept slurring my words. Corey even asked me if I was OK. So, I ended up in bed by 7:00.

Wednesday, my throat hurt, but I was still deliriously tired, so I went to school to get things ready for a substitute. Luckily, we had a field trip to the local high school to watch a play, so all I had to do was get together a bit of busy work to occupy time between when they got back and went home. After I got home I slept for FIVE hours! My throat still was hurting, but not too much. I felt better after the rest and several of my friends called to check on me to make sure I was still alive. I secretly think they were just wishing they would inherit my super sweet-ass Element!

Well, that brings us to Thursday. The last day of the week...I woke up and my throat was on

! My school nurse made me an appointment at the CareHere clinic for 3:00, so I spent the day showering myself in Green Chloroseptic spray to numb the pain. I managed to make it through the day and went to the Dr. at 3:00. Her diagnosis - STREP THROAT! Ugh. I didn't have ANY of the usual signs other than a red swollen throat that usually accompany strep. Other than that, I felt great! She gave me a shot of penicillin and a prescription for Corey and me for a Z-Pack.

Corey and I went to dinner that night with school friends for a fundraiser and went shopping at Target afterward. He suggested I try Breathe Right Strips since my nose had been stuffy through all this and I've been resigned to being a mouth breather. Well, let me tell you that those things kick major ass! It was the first night I've been able to breathe all week!

So, kids. I guess the moral of this long and boring blog is - strep doesn't always appear as you think it would. And, it hurts like hell.

Have a Happy Easter! Eat some bunny ears for me since I can't swallow anything!

MeMe

Alison tagged me with the Meme challenge. Here are the meme rules: 1. Write your own six word memoir. 2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like. 3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere. 4. Tag five more blogs with links5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!
Here is mine:
Loving life more every single day!!

Now the hard part:Tag you are it!!!

Stephanie needs Spring Break RIGHT now!

Tagged:
Clarissa
Dusty
Jennifer
KT - use your myspace girlies!
Bell

And the snow fell!

We ended up getting between 1 - 3 inches of snow overnight. It was so pretty, but it's a shame it was wasted on the weekend! I mean, we could've had TWO snow days out of this!! Anyway, here is our slideshow of the fun we had this morning!!