Life

Well, ALS is officially over.  Anthony graduated on Thursday as a distinguished grad.  There were 58 in his class and top 5 were the distinguished grads, so needless to so, I was pretty proud.  I only got 2 pictures throughout the night because of where we were sitting, but my camera is at school, so I will post those later.

Friday was Anthony's Christmas party at work.  It was at the fire station, in the stalls.  They provided the meat and sides and we all brought appetizers and desserts.  There was so much food!  It was great getting to hang out with all the families, since we don't get together much.

We have three days of school this week.  It is so hard to read on Facebook how we are basically the last school to let out for Christmas, but oh well.  Atlas we are one of the first schools to get out for summer! Tomorrow is our holiday breakfast, and I can't wait.  I've asked all the parents to send breakfast foods.  The kids are wearing their pajamas.  It's going to be a lot of fun.  I've made scarves for all my kids out of fleece and I can't wait for them to open their gifts.  Also, I bought a bunch of books for my kids.  Since I wrapped the scarves, I really don't want to wrap the books too.  I think the kids will sit in a circle and read The Night Before Christmas and pass the books each time I say "the."  I am hoping they will all enjoy that!  Later in the day we are making Santa snacks out of graham crackers, icing, marshmallows, and candy.  And in the afternoon, we are watching Polar Express.  It should be a wonderful, but crazy day!  Wednesday will be a lazy day of movies and games.  I can't believe the semester is almost over!

We still aren't 100% certain that Anthony has leave, so I'm not getting too excited since we've had it taken away at the last minute before.  But, hopefully, we will get to spend Christmas with our family!  I can't believe it's less than a week away!

Random

Anthony checked my blog today and informed me that I needed to blog.  I kept trying to blog last week, but just couldn't get anything constructive out. 

Last week was another rough week with Anthony being gone.  Tuesday my grandmother (Gran) informed me that she was being sent for a biopsy on a lump in her breast.  She went for the biopsy on Thursday and goes tomorrow (Monday) to find out the results.  If you are reading this, PLEASE PRAY!  I am terrified.  I think I am more worried than she is.  You see, growing up I was very blessed to grow up with all my grandparents around and in the same town.  It was wonderful.  I have so many great memories.  I lost my maternal grandmother in July 2008, just months before our wedding.  I am very close to Gran.  We talk atleast 3-4 times a week, sometimes more.  During the summer, while Anthony was deployed, she kept Sam so I could stay at my parents.  While she's 72, she acts like she's 50 years younger.  When I was in hs, she took my friends to a big country bar to hear Pat Green.  She keeps beer hidden in the bottom drawer of her fridge.  She goes to the casino once a week.  Needless to say, my mind has been a bit consumed and I've been a bit grumpy.

Take that grumpy and throw in the 100th day of school Thursday and all that craziness and you really had one grumpy teacher. 

Thankfully, Anthony was home all weekend.  It was nice to be around him instead of alone.  It was nice to have someone to share the chores with.  It was nice to have him cook for me the whole weekend!  The weather was beautiful!  I'm recharged and ready to face a new week.  And some very cold temperatures and a "Winter Mix."  

Wow...

...time is flying.  I mean really flying.  Anthony's almost been home two months now.  Today was the 50th day of school.  Christmas is less than two months away.  Thanksgiving is 27 days away.

Wow.  Those last two sentences leave me a little overwhelmed.  So much to do.  And, as indicated by flying time, I don't know when it's all going to happen.  We still don't really know what we are doing for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  We know Anthony is off both of those days, but has to work the day before, meaning we will miss lunch with my family each day.  And then there's gift giving.  I like to have all my shopping done before December.  I worked retail in college and I dread the mall and avoid it like the plague in December.  Then, I have to decide what I want.  Normally, my wish list is complete by October, but this year, I just don't know what to ask for.

And then there's Christmas decorating!  I can't wait!!!  I love having the Christmas tree up and stockings hung.  I get giddy just thinking about it.  It'll be here before I know it.

Hanging On

In case you were worried (I'm sure you anxiously wait for my randmomness), I'm still alive.  Life has been CRAZY!

Friday was my birthday.  The day started off great.  The kids sang happy birthday.  My team brought me a birthday cake.  It was a wonderful day of work.  After work, we loaded up the car and headed home.  My aunt and uncle had came in from Mississippi.  The men were headed to the races and the women were having girl time.  I dropped Anthony off with my dad and uncle and was told my grandfather (92 years old, living alone) had fallen and they had taken him to the ER.  He was okay, but they wanted to check him out.  So, I continued the drive to my parents and when I got into town, he was still there.  So, I went up to the ER.  They had decided to move him to the ICU, but never really told us why.

Needless to say, our plans didn't really work out.  He was in the hospital up until yesterday.  Other than a blood infection, they never found anything wrong with him.  He has now been released and moved to a nursing home.  It was something we knew was needed, but getting him there was hard.  Now that he's there, I think he's going to like it.

Don't worry though, the guys didn't get to enjoy their fun either.  It rained ALL weekend there.  The races didn't take place until Monday.

While I am sad that things didn't work out as planned, I'm more grateful that my aunt and uncle were in town to support my mom through the whole experience and she didn't have to go at it alone.

I took Monday off work.  I had my GI appointment.  More tests will be run over the next few months.  It's going to be fun (here's where we need a sarcasm font)!

My kids have been CRAZY.  This is the worst case of spring fever I've seen.  They are chatty as ever.  They are mean to each other.  And they won't listen to me! 

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday.  And I'm so glad there are only 27 days of school left.

Venting

     I didn't much like today.  I have a stomach ulcer and it's making my life misserable.  You see, it causes extreme stomach cramps and pain.  And to take care of it, I have to take an antibiotic.  This antibiotic causes nausea and other stomach problems, dry mouth, and a bad taste in your mouth.  So, to start with, I didn't get much sleep because the extreme bad taste and dry mouth kept waking up.  I kept water by my bed, but when you drink lots of water during the night, you then have to wake up and go to the bathroom during the night.  Anyway, 6:30 rolled around and I rolled out of bed, very grumpily I might add.  I was okay while getting ready, but once I got to work, the nausea and cramps and pain started.  It made for a misserable day!  On top of that, my doctor thinks my husband and I could be passing the bacteria that causes the ulcers back and forth, especially since most people with it have no symptoms.  Well, he called his doctors office (on base) and they won't test him because he has no symptoms.  It's very frustrating to think that when I get over this, it will start over again in 2 or 3 weeks.  I might have broke down at lunch.

     But, once I got off work, things got much better.  First, I painted my toenails.  I was supposed to get a pedicure this weekend, but didn't get to.  I dug out all my summer clothes.  That made me real happy.  I love summer and I love organizing my closet!  Then, I went to pick up a prescription at WalMart and found pink Gerber Daisies in the floral area.  So I bought some.  I had an amazing dinner of leftovers and am going to make some cookies in a little bit.  So, that leaves me wondering, what do use as a pick me up after a bad day?

Where I've Been and What I've Done

Well, hello!  It's been a while.  I have lots to write about, but  nothing is big enough for a whole blog post.  So, I'm going to make a big post of little things that have been happening over the past couple weeks.

We'll start with the excruciating stomach pain on Thursday.  We're talking someone must have a voodoo doll and be setting my stomach on fire and then pounding it.  I went to work and sat in my chair in a ball all day.  I spent lunch curled up in my classroom library.  After lunch, ironically, my doctors office called.  What I thought was a stomach bug last week turned out to be the bacteria that causes 80% of ulcers.  I have an ulcer.  Hopefully after all my medicine for 14 days I will feel better.  I hope.  And pray. 

Now, on to the weather... Thursday it snowed.  The DFW area recieved 12 inches of snow.  We got 3.  It's okay though.  If I wanted to live where it snowed, I'd be in North Dakota.  We had a late start on Friday.  The funny part of that is that teachers still have to report at normal time.  I'm not sure why it's okay for teachers to drive on ice but not the parents.  Today it was beautiful.  A nice 55 degrees and sunny.  This is why I live in Texas.  We get all seasons within a 2 week period.

Next, my weekend...This weekend we got to travel home to see my family.  I loved being around my family and being at their house where I had nothing to do.  I didn't have to cook.  I didn't have to clean.  I didn't even have to feed the dogs.  It was wonderful!  This summer is going to be great!

Valentine's Day...it's just another day in our book.  I know some people do wonderful things, and that's great.  But we've never been big on it.  We do use it as a day to be romantic, but nothing over the top.  I also use it as an excuse to bake fun things!  This year, I made heart shaped brownies for my parents.  Since we were at their house, Dad took us to Red Lobster for a family Valentine's date.  When we got home, I baked Anthony some chocolate heart shaped cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche in the center.  They are from my wonderful Martha Stewart Cookie Cookbook that Kimmie gave me for Christmas.  And then when I got home from work on Tuesday he had a dozen roses waiting for me.  It was wonderful.  Since I was feeling bad last week, I didn't get a chance to make red velvet cupcake minis so I think I'm going to make those tomorrow night. 

And finally...Work this week has really been great.  I really feel like my kids are making progress and I'm finally becoming good at what I do.  I got some affirmation today that really made me feel great.  Remember the little boy that said my clouds were stupid and gave me a tough time at first,but then I grew to love and then he moved.  Well, my principal was on the phone with his principal when he walked in the office.  She got a chance to talk to him and the last thing he said was "I miss Mrs. J."  My principal was really kind and came down to tell me right away.  I only knew this child for maybe 8-10 weeks and I made that kind of difference in his life where he still remembers and misses me 4 months later. 

I'm looking forward to my husband being home for 3 days next week, cooking some new recipes, and catching up on some "me" time this weekend.  I'm going to reread Dear John before I go see it in theaters.  If I go see it.  I'm not sure if I want to before the upcoming deployment.

Look for new fun foods and pictures of Anthony's Valentine cookies!

A New Month

I am so excited that today is November 1st.  It means that...

~I'm going home to see my family in just 12 days!  My last trip was canceled due to a sick dog.
~Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  I will be hosting my first Thanksgiving lunch/dinner (who knows when we'll actually eat.)  My parents are coming down to visit and enjoy Thanksgiving.  It will sure beat my last Thanksgiving spent alone in a hotel on base and eating base cafeteria food.  I was happy, however, that I finally got to spend some time with Anthony, even if we weren't allowed to be go to my hotel room or leave the base.
~Black Friday shopping is quickly approaching.  I love this day!
~I can put up Christmas decor in only 4 weeks!  I love decorating for Christmas!  I love Christmas!
~I am a month closer to seeing my best friend Kimmie!

What I'm Up To

With Anthony's job, I spend one day a weekend at home by myself every weekend.  At first, this was hard, but I've grown to love my WHOLE day to myself. 

So far today, I've...
-Got new fall scented Bath and Body Works plugins.  And a "Leaves" candle.  It smells amazing.  I highly suggested getting either a candle or plugin in "Leaves."  It's kind of a cinnamon/pumpkin/fall spice scent.  I'm loving it.
-Picked up a pair of tights that Target had on sale.  They only had one pair in my size and I found it hiding among another style of tights.  I was so excited!
-Bought the ingredients for Anthony's cake.  When I wasn't working, I made some kind of sweet every week.  Now he expects it.  This week he wanted strawberry cake.
-Gone to the BX to pick up some Clinique stuff that I needed.
-Eaten delish leftover potato soup that I made when I was sick.

Now I have to...
-Make the above mentioned cake.
-Place my new plugins around the house!
-Take my boxer for a walk because Anthony is convinced that I hate the dog because I don't like to do anything with him.  He's also convinced that if I would exercise I wouldn't get sick all the time.  So, I'm knocking out two birds with one stone.
-Prepare for parent conferences this week.
-Enjoy all my favorite TV shows on ABC. 
-Slice my fruit to take in my lunches this week.  All the teachers bring fresh fruit in their lunches, and my little fruit cups just don't prepare.  So, I bought peaches, strawberries, and rasberries for the week.  I'm thinking I'll get it all ready today so I don't have to do anything to it during the week.

Complete Randomness

It's been a long week and I haven't blogged since Saturday. But I don't have anything super exciting to blog about, so you get complete randomness.

~Kindergartners can be mean. I don't like it when they don't want to listen to me. That's not nice. It's been a LONG day with one particular friend.
~Kindergarten is a LOT of work. I not only teach, council and nurture, but I also no sing, dance and act. I walk around singing everything. I get songs about Trixie Triangle and Danny Diamond stuck in my head. I listen to Dr. Jean on my way home to learn more songs. I act all excited about everything. I sure get tired by the end of the day!
~My dog tripped me on the stairs this morning and made me fall. That was not a great way to start the day.
~Anthony suggested that we needed winter clothes, so I got to go shopping yesterday!
~So, I lied, I do have something super exciting. I get to see my best friend Kimmie on October 11th! We are going to the state fair!!!! I can't wait to eat lots of fair food.
~Our wedding anniversary is only 11 days away! We still aren't certain of what we are doing, as we aren't certain if he can even get off work.
~I'm very excited about the Texas v. Tech game on Saturday! I might have bought 2 Longhorn shirts today.
~My bank made me super mad yesterday. I transferred money from Anthony's account to mine, but it didn't go into mine. I called. The first lady said it would be there overnight. I wasn't okay with that. It should immediately go into the other account. I do this all the time. I spoke with a supervisor. She assured me it was there and she could see it. Funny, I couldn't. She claimed she even had a confirmation number. She assured me it was there. I hung up. Check online later. The transaction was completely gone and the money was back in Anthony's account. I went ahead and transferred it and the other transaction that supposedly even had a confirmation number, was nowhere to be seen. I'm pretty certain she lied to me. That makes me very unhappy and I am no considering finding a new bank real soon.
~Jamie over at Fearfully and Wonderfully Made is giving away Faith Deployment. Go over and check out her blog. Tell her I sent you!

I hope you are having a great week!

Nothing New

Frankie sits like this when I leave to go to the pool. Now Sam's trying to be like Frankie.

I don't really have anything fun to post. But it's been almost a week, so I felt I needed to blog. So, get ready for some randomness.

1. I am sick for the first time since moving to the middle of nowhere. I think 1 sinus infection in almost 5 months is pretty good, especially for me. But I am not enjoying this! The doctor gave me Singulair to help with the allergies and I didn't sleep last night. When I'm sick, I want and NEED to sleep. So, today I am not real pleasant.
2. Still no job, but I am looking at the positives. For the first time in years, I am not stressed out about lesson plans, decorating and organizing a classroom, or students that just can't behave. I get to sit and home, read blogs, go to the pool, and relax. Also, I get to spend full days with Anthony when he's off. If I had a job, I couldn't enjoy all these things.
3. I am so ready for football to start. I love professional football. I played fantasy football last year and won. I'm really trying to get a league started, but I think the guys are scared I will beat them again.
4. Our one year wedding anniversary is just 1 month away!

Maybe something exciting will happen soon and I'll have something to blog about.