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

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!

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...

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!

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...

Snow Day!

Today was our second snow day of the year! The last one was earlier this month, but I was lying on my death bed and couldn't enjoy it at ALL! Boooo! However, today I woke up at my usual 5:00 AM and flipped on the TV to notice my lover, Lelan Statom was giving the morning weather report. He said we were OUT! So, I got up and made my teacher friend phone calls to report the news. Then I went back to bed and slept until about 9:00.

My friend, Clarissa, her daughter Caraline, and I went to O'Charley's for lunch. The food was OK. I ordered soup and salad. My salad was great, but the potato cheese soup there is just gross. Does anybody else think they just cut up a raw potato and pour nacho cheese sauce over it and call it a day? Ick. I ate it anyway. Clarissa's meal was also pretty crappy. She got soup and a 1/2 club sandwich. I SWEAR to you the sandwich had a CORNER of a piece of cheese and not even a quarter of a piece of bacon on it. She sent it back. Our waiter took it to the kitchen and they put more bacon and cheese on top of the mess that was already there. I'm sure they added a few pubes to it while they were at it! Haven't you seen "Waiting?"

I came home after that and now I'm watching "Days of Our Lives." Why do they only bring back Kim when somebody dies? Patsy Pease is a good actress - give her a damn permanent job! She needs to be back with Shane so they can be involved with the ISA and have that secret control room in their house again! That was awesome!!

It has been snowing ALL day here and has not amounted to SQUAT! Hopefully, it will still snow after dark and stick. I think we need to call Mr. Gill and plead with him to give us ONE more day off!! Who's with me?!

That's my post. Deal with it! :-)

Birthday!

Hello!

Last Thursday (December 6) was my birthday! Thanks to all who wished me Happy Birthday and celebrated with me. If you are one of the few who didn't...then it SUCKS to be you! hahahahaha

Anyway, on Thursday I had a wonderful day which included getting Orange flowers delivered to my school from my parents and a scrumptious dinner at 5 Senses courtesy of Corey's parents. They drove down from Franklin to take us (ME!) out to dinner. I'm telling you, you MUST go! Very delicious! I had filet mignon and creme brulee. Quite tasty. After we ate I went and bought myself one of those fancy schmancy CHI hair straighteners and my hair loves me for it! Corey also gave me Paramore's first CD "All We Know is Falling" since I LOVE their current one, "RIOT." That is a whole 'nother blog, though. My obsession with Paramore is TOO intense for this one!

On Friday night, my closest friends Clare & Tim, Clarissa & Jason, Dusty & Phillip, and Corey and I all went to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse for hibatchi hijinx! The night was capped off by everyone coming over for cake and ice cream and a resounding game of Apples to Apples! We also had a few drinks...

On Saturday, my parents came up and took us (ME!) out to eat at Puleo's Grill and it was just as tasty as ever. When we got home, they gave me a cute little Christmas shirt with a reindeer on it (with a red nose) and some smell good shower gel and lotion (I think they might be trying to tell me something.) My parents and my grandpa also made VERY generous donations to the "Buy Stephanie an Orange Honda Element Fund." So, look out for me in March, bitches...

My parents spent the night and we had breakfast at IHOP the next morning. We also went shopping at TJ Maxx where my mom and I both scored a pair of J-41 (made by Jeep) shoes that are too cute for words for super cheap! Then, my friend Rachel called and said she had come up from Chattanooga to take me to lunch and she was at my house! So, we rushed home to see her and my parents headed home. Rachel and I went shopping on the Avenue and by shopping I mean we just went to drool on things.

We ended up working up an apetite around 4ish and so we ate at Mimi's Cafe. Again, you MUST go. The menu was huge and various! I would recommend it highly! Plus, they have chocolate mints by the door when you leave, so even if you don't go there to eat, stop in and steal yourself a handful of those bad-boys!

Oh, my friend Jennifer also got me the most beautiful teal wrap bracelet just because she loves me ever so much. Clarissa tried to find the Smyrna Starbucks in LaVergne so that she could bring me coffee, but she ended up going to McDonald's instead. That's ok, it was sure tasty! All-in-all I had a VERY good day. I will now leave you with pictures of my cake and flowers...

A Spook-tacular Halloween Party!

Last night, Corey and I were invited to our friend's, Clarissa and Jason's Halloween party. I was a cat and he was a devil (his usual self)! We met a lot of interesting characters such as Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Elmer Fudd, Buggs Bunny, a white trash girl (Clarissa) and her hippie husband. It was fun! They had their house all decked out with spooky decorations and spiderwebs, a fog machine, and a disco ball! Clarissa had her I-pod hooked up to speakers so the dance music could be heard all across the neighborhood! Lol! Clarissa made some fabulous "Witch's Brew," which was very potent and relaxing (if you catch my drift...)Even though we only knew a couple of people at the party, we still had a great time and were happy to be invited!

I made a lovely cake to help set the mood for the party. It was a Kitty Litter Cake. I figured it only made sense to bring that since I WAS a cat and all...

Here are some pics of the festive-ness!

Isn't your mouth watering?!


Aren't we cute??

Mystic Tans, Reunions, and Bad News...

Folks, it's been a whirlwind weekend! On Friday afternoon, we (Jennifer, Clare, and I) met up with Katie and Erin at Chili's. As always, we had a splendid time and I even took pictures! However, and here comes the bad news part, my camera is DEAD and I cannot upload them to my computer. I discovered this when I changed the batteries this afternoon and it STILL didn't work! Ugh, so...no pictures of of Chili's OR my 10 year high school reunion! Dammit!

After Chili's I left to go to the SunTan City tanning salon for my first encounter with the Mystic Tan. If you have never done this before you should at least do it once! I went in, watched the ever-so-helpful video of just exactly how to "MysticTan", then the girl led me back to this room with a cage and gave me a quick demo. Let me tell you, it takes longer to take off your clothes and put on that barrier cream than it does to tan! I finally got it and all I could think of was that episode of "Friends" where Ross was too stupid to turn around, so he came out looking like a carrot on one side and a potato on the other. The whole process takes about a minute and a half. It was nice. I was disappointed when I got out because I was expecting to look darker instantly and even more so after 3-4 hours. BUT when I got up in the morning, the first thing Corey said to me was, "You are TAN!" So it was a good thing, and no, I didn't look like Ross. I bought the package of 6 tans, so I have 5 more to go. I guess I'll go about once a week. If I added it up correctly (and you all know I'm a math tard) it is cheaper than tanning in a bed!

My reunion was on Saturday night. I'm sure everyone is apprehensive about going to see people you haven't seen or cared about seeing the past 10 years, but we ended up having a GREAT time! We mostly hung out with people that I'm still friends with through MySpace, so I didn't have to waste time asking them, "Where are you now? What do you do? How many kids do you have?" and other boring small talk like that. I was really excited to see my friend Seth, whom I haven't seen in forever. He rolled in in a fat ass black Mercedes! He is an accountant with a large firm in Atlanta, so he's doing VERY well! I was also super excited to see my friend Kynetha. She lives in L.A. now, so it has been a couple of years since I've seen her. We were BFF in high school and I miss hanging out with her!

After the reunion was over and the restaurant (no, not the Depot, Katie)kicked us out, we went over to the after party at the condo hosted by Shasten and Melissa. We stayed until about 12:30 and then said our goodbyes. I am still shocked that Beth & Brannon, Tammy & Jeremy, Beth & Ben, Erin & Nick, and Corey and I ALL live in the 'Boro and we haven't hung out! We had to go all the way to Crossville to do it!

On Sunday afternoon, after eating breakfast at the Bean Pot and lunch at Dicky's BBQ, we headed home for a much needed relaxing evening! I went to bed pretty early since we didn't go to sleep the night before until about 1:30 in the morning!

Today all I've done is clean! No, not true...I met Erin for lunch at Moe's and then we went to Marble Slab for dessert. I'm sure my BFF is going to LOVE that! How many freakin' stars will I get this week!? I also ate a piece of chocolate cake on Saturday night, so I'm SURE I'll get 4 stars for that one! Anyway, after lunch I went to Bath and Body works to get some hair stuff, which is WONDERFUL. The name is "Fakkai" and I get the glossing cream. It makes my hair literally feel like silk! They were also having a sale on their Aromatherapy soap, which NEVER happens, so I picked up 5 for $15. My favorite flavor is the Eucalyptis Spearamint. YUMMY! I also had a coupon for a free pair of panties from Victoria's Secret, so I made their day and didn't spend a DIME! Hahahahah...I love it when I win! lol

Anyway, I've had a full day/weekend and I have pants to take out of the dryer, so I'm leaving you for now! Since my camera is broken, I will leave you with a picture from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion...one of my favorite movies!

How could you not love it?

How could a person be so mean? Just look at that scrumptious powdered sugar and adorable pink box!


P.S. If you have NO idea why I posted this, please read the blog below.

Damn, I'm a good cook!

I just wanted to toot my horn tonight. For those of you who have ABSOLUTELY no idea who I am and what I like to do let me tell you...yah, yah, yah, I'm a teacher but when I come home I LOVE to cook! I've been "selling" (and I use that term loosly)Pampered Chef for the last, well it will be 5 years in April. Whew! Time has sure flown by. So anyway, I love to cook! I don't get to do it very often, but this week I've cooked 3 nights in a row. Sunday I made chicken marsala, Monday I made white bean tuscan soup, and tonight I made artichoke chicken with roasted potatoes. All three meals have been SUUUUUUUUUPER!

Tomorrow I go to the dietitician and she better not put stars on anything! I've been really pretty good this week with the exception of Friday. The scale says I've been good, so I'll let you know. So far I've lost about 10 lbs. Not enough, but not too bad...

Oh yeah, my school is selling Smart Cards, so you better buy one or I'll have to hunt you down and kick your ass! :-)

Happy Tuesday!

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:

Birthday Celebration #2

Well, yesterday was Corey's birthday and we had a fantastic time! It all started as we got up around 7:00 to get ready to go to the zoo. We got up there around 9:30 and began our day. We really enjoyed seeing the animals, but especially the giraffes and elephants! I got to see Hadari, the elephant that painted the picture in my livingroom! She had a notch in her ear and the shortest tail, so that's how we were able to distinguish her from the other 2 elephants. She is the one on the far left in the picture below. I ran into my friend Alison at the aquarium part of the zoo. She was there with her family and her friend. You can read all about her trip to the zoo HERE

After we left the zoo, we went over to the Hickory Hollow mall (ONLY because it was still daylight!) and had lunch in the food court. Corey had a gyro from Pyramids and I had a turkey sandwich from Subway. After lunch we cruised the mall and ended up at a store called "Steve & Barry's." This is where Sarah Jessica Parker has her new BITTEN clothing line. I had never been there before, but let me tell you - it is WAAAAAAY cheaper than Old Navy ever dreamed of being! Corey and I got 2 graphic tees there. His says "Dungeons & Dragons" on it because he is a geek and mine is pink with a turtle on it and says "It's all about me, get used to it" which is SO appropriate!

I was also on a mission to find some nice red heels to go with my two new black and white outfits that I purchased last week. I looked all over the mall but couldn't find any. After we had been at home and rested for about an hour, we went back out and I stopped at Payless and bought what my friend Sandy referred to as "red hooker heels." They are actually pretty comfortable. You should click on the link to see them; they're cute!

After finding my heels, we went to Hastings because Corey was on a mission to find the 20th anniversary edition of "The Monster Squad." If you are a loser and didn't see this movie back in the 80s, I HIGHLY recommend that you watch it! It's awesome! Ryan Lambert is in it and as we all know, he was on Kids Incorporated with Fergie. He's second from the left and Fergie is the cute little blonde girl on the bottom. Boy, did she get fugly! Anyway, we got the movie and saved the day. Then we went to Publix, which I lovingly refer to as "Pubix" for birthday cake and ice cream.

We came home and got ready to meet our friends at Fuji and yes, I wore my red hooker heels. We had an awesome dinner, but our chef didn't like the fact that I ordered my filet mignon medium well, so he gave me shit about it all night. I told him that was ok, but at the end of the meal, I was the one leaving the tip. He seemed to shut up after that comment. Other than that, our dinner was quite pleasant. There were 8 of us: Corey and Myself, Clare and Tim, Aaron and Jenny, Sandy, and Shad. All but Shad came over for cake and ice cream after it was over. We cracked open the bottle of icewine that Corey's parents brought us back from Canada and sipped on it out of my cute little cordial glasses. The girls and I went and enjoyed a conversation about America and politics on the front porch while it came a monsoon storm and the boys were sissies and sat in the kitchen - probably talking about recipes and how to knit themselves new man-panties.

We hit the hay around 11:30 and I conked right out! It was a long-ass day, but we had a great time! Oh, I got Corey a DVD/VCR combo for his birthday. He was excited!! We spent WAY too much money, but it was worth it. Birthdays are fun! Now, mine is December 6th and y'all better believe we'll be celebrating!!! Just wait...

Corey's Birthday Celebration #1

This afternoon, we went to Franklin. Tuesday is Corey's birthday, so we went to celebrate with his parents today. Our reservations at Saffire were for 5:00, which by the way if you haven't been, you should TOTALLY go - it's in the Factory. Anyway, we got down there around 2:00, so we had some time to kill. After hanging out with his parents we decided to head over to Academy sports to look for a Disc Golf set.

See, Clare and Tim came over the other day (when we had our mani/pedis) and while the girls were out Tim took Corey to play disc golf over at Barfiled Park. Apparently this is now his newest obsession!! So, off we went to the sporting goods store to buy TWO sets. One for him and one for guess who...ME. Have I ever played this before? No. It will be very interesting to see how that goes. I HATE to sweat, so if that happens we'll have to persue other options. Maybe I can take a portable fan with me...do they have those? Back to my story - Academy SUCKS! That place is huge and the isles are literally 4 feet wide and I have an intense feeling of claustrophobia every time I go in there. We finally found the disc golf stuff with the CAMPING equipment. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to do that!? Who said, "It makes COMPLETE sense to put disc golf over with the portable toilets and waterproof toilet paper!" We didn't like the deal they had there and I hated the store, so we left and went to Dick's.

Dick's was MUCH more open and less crowded and we were able to find what we wanted quickly, so we were in and out. Those little discs are expensive. For a pack of three - a driver, iron, and putter - it cost $24! DAYUM! We purchased two sets so that MOI could play.

We went back to his parents house and piled in the van to go down the street to Saffire. I'm telling you - YOU HAVE TO GO! It is expensive, but very tasty!! They have these cheese grits, made with mascarpone cheese and cream that are to DIE for!! So, Judy, Corey and I had the fish and grits. It was wonderful, but I couldn't eat it all; I was stuffed! I wonder if any of the chefs there work at Viking, too? I need to take another class there and maybe they can teach me how to cook the fish that way. I made the grits at home once, but they weren't nearly as good as Saffire's.

After dinner, we went back to his parent's house to have ice cream cake. Mmmmmm....I was sooooo bad today! However, I have eaten about 100 less calories each day in anticipation of today. We will also be going to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse on Tuesday, so I'll have to make up for that later in the week. I weigh in tomorrow and hopefully HER scale will show as much progress as MY scale does...

We got home around 8 and tried to watch Big Brother, but our stupid-ass TiVo wouldn't play it, so after Corey spent 30 minutes on the phone with a rep. from DirecTV's customer service, we finally got to watch it after I found it on the computer on a spoiler site. Ahhh, sweet drama. I freakin' LOVE Big Brother! It is the apitomy of summer to me. Love it!! Ok, it's time to shut up now.

Oh, the Kava's place wasn't all that but they did have some damn good iced tea!

Haircuts and toenails

Hello all! I'm sure there are like, three of you reading this... Anyway, I just thought I'd update you on the past 2 days of my life because I KNOW you can't live without an update!

Thursday my friends Clare and Clarissa and I went to the hair-do school to get our manis and pedis. Now, you may be thinking, "Why in the world would they go to the hair-do school to get their toes done?!," but I will tell you they are cheap ($20 for a spa mani/pedi) and they do a pretty good job. There is no way in HELL I would ever let them touch my hair, but they can touch my feet all they want because I am not gonna do it! We had a nice time and it was good to get out with the girls. Girl days are fun!!

After that, we went on a scavenger hunt for a pair of shoes that I so desperately needed (yeah right!) and Clarissa had. They were just too cute, so I decided I needed them also! We went to several shoe stores, but they were just nowhere to be found. I did end up finding them on the internet last night and ordered them. Whoo hoo! New shoes! Nothing makes a girl feel better than a new pair of shoes...I have literally more than 50 pairs. It's an addiction...shoes and handbags. I can't help myself!!

Yesterday I went to get a cute, sassy haircut. I don't know about you, but I absolutely HATE it when the girl fixes my hair. It always ends up looking like shit! I left there looking like a cotton ball head because my hair was sooooooo poofy! I knew I liked the cut, but I went directly to my straightener when I got home and fixed that mess right up! She CURLED my hair after I specifically mentioned that I wanted it straight. I don't even need a curling iron because my hair is naturally curly, so why would I want to do that to myself?! Oh well, I fixed it and it looks really cute today!

Today I went to a baby shower for another teacher friend at school. She is having a girl. This is literally about the 15th baby shower I have been to this year. EVERYBODY had a baby this year - but me. I don't even want a dog right now! Maybe when I'm 40 it will be time. I am way too selfish for that business. I have to save all my money for my shoes and handbags! lol

Anyway, the shower was nice and it was good to see some teachers that I hadn't seen all summer. We all got caught up on school news and talked it over and played games and ate cupcakes. Yes, I had a freakin' cupcake and if that bitch dietitician says ONE damn word about it or puts a star next to it on my paper I might just have to politely lean over the table and smack the shit outta her. I've been really good this week!!!! I don't want to hear about a damn cupcake! Shut up!!

Corey and I are getting ready to go out to eat with some friends who are about to move away. Hmmm, wonder what we did?! lol We are going to Kava's. It is supposed to be Carribbean food maybe? Anyway, I'm sure there's nothing there that I will put in my mouth. As you know, I do NOT eat ethnic food unless it's Mexican. Maybe they'll have some beans or fruit...I know they do have roasted chicken, and I might eat that as long as they haven't rubbed it with spices from the underbelly of a wild pig. I'll have to get back to you about that one...

Ok, so it's been a while...

Ok, my life I feel is really not that interesting, but I'm bored right now and need something to do. Anyway...let's get on with it:

I started the Rutherford County program called, "Action with Balance," which is a weight loss management program. I had to pay $50 for the 12 week course, but when I successfully complete it, I get my money back, so it really is a win/win situation. I met with my dietitician (after I tried to quit because she never would call me back) and I must say, I hate her. Let me tell you why. She's blonde, skinny, perfect teeth, and looks like she's never eaten a french fry in all of her 24 years (and yeah, she's 24...I looked her up on myspace). I HATE HER! Well, not hate, hate, but you know what I mean. I would probably feel MUCH more comfortable with her if she had a picture of herself on her desk from when she weighed 350lbs, but I'm almost positive that's not gonna happen. How am I possibly supposed to take advice, much less find inspiration in someone who's NEVER struggled with eating a cheeseburger!? Bitch even fussed at me for getting a NON-fat latte at Starbucks, but I flat out told her I wasn't even going to apologize about it because I knew it wasn't a big deal. She simply said, "OK" and she moved off it. Yeah, I really don't think she knew what she was getting with me.

The first time we met she asked me what I would and would not eat. I don't think there's enough paper in the world to list all of my eating "quirks," but my two absolutely-not-going-in my-mouth-foods were milk and tomatoes. YUCK! However, I really need to have a meal in front of me before I know what I will and will not eat. Take lettuce for instance; if it is too green or has too many ribs or hard vein-y parts in it, it's not going into my mouth! No way!

Anyway, on my second visit I did lose over 2lbs, but I'm trying to stick more with the Weight Watchers Core plan than what she tells me about calories. I hate to count, which is why I did the Core plan in the first place. However, I do use this cool website (www.thedailyplate.com) to track my calories, goals (if I set them) and exercise. It's nice because it literally lists EVERYTHING in the world on there; even fast food restaurants and national brands of food. So, if you're looking for a good tracker, use that one.

I go back to her this coming Monday, so I'm sure I'll have more lovely things to say. By then I should be used to my eight teen hundred freakin' calories a day diet. Shit. Maybe that's the stomach growls that are talking...

Oh yeah, my classroom is finished and hopefully I will have pictures up soon...we'll see how that goes. :-)

All Dressed Up...

Well, here we are! Corey's parents, Judy and Wayne, myself, and Corey. We were all dressed up to go to Corey's cousin's wedding back in May. We don't tend to get too dressed up very often. In fact, this photo is QUITE the opposite of what I'm wearing today! I haven't even showered yet! But, I've not been a slacker either; I have already unloaded/loaded the dishwasher, made a banana cake, and finished the laundry. I am also planning to dust and vacuum the living room and bedrooms. So, why get all dressed up just to get dirty again?!

Tonight I have to get dressed up to go to some sort of fundraiser with my friend Jennifer. She is supporting a woman who is running for Judge in our area, so we are going. She bought the tickets in hope that her hubby would be going with her, but he is on duty (Highway Patrolman) and won't be able to make it. Sooooo, I'm second on the list. I hope there will be free alcohol and lots of good food, otherwise I don't know how the hell I'm going to get through a bunch of political nonsense and jibber-jabber!

It will be nice to get out of the house, though. Since school's been out, I have found myself INCREDIBLY bored and wishing I could be in my classroom getting stuff done for next year. However, I've made a deal with myself that I wouldn't go for at least a month after school got out. Well, that month will be up tomorrow! So I'm thinking next week, maybe Wednesday, I'll be headed to school!! Yay!

This weekend, Jennifer and I are going to Tunica to gamble!! I have been to LasVegas and it was fabulous, so I'm hoping this adventure will at least be a closer and less expensive alternative to lose all my money! The room and all meals are free because we will be staying with a "high roller," that will be nice!! Maybe I'll come back as a "thousandaire!!!" Wish me luck!

Time to go watch Days of Our Lives now! Ta Ta!