Sunday, November 28, 2010

A Semi-Productive Sunday

One of these days I will post pictures again, but until than my friends, you must suffer through yet another words only post. I haven't taken many pictures lately. In fact, I made a point of dragging my camera to Thanksgiving at my parents, but didn't even take it out of my bag. Here's hoping I can take some December pictures. I'm not officially doing a December daily this year, but I'd love to be able to put together a little holiday mini album during my winter break. This will probably require pictures. Hmmm. Maybe I should play with my new instax? Haven't done much of that since I got it for my birthday either.

Back to the Sunday post.....

Like my usual Sundays, today was a mix of getting things done and enjoying a little me time before the work week begins again. Today I managed to be a little productive and still spend plenty of time on the couch with my laptop. Here's what I did and did not get done:

lesson planning and printing of materials-done
cutting and coloring of said materials-not done
evaluation paperwork-done
8 loads of laundry-done
putting away of said laundry-not done (though it is all folded neatly on top of the washer)
sheets washed and bed made-done
floors swept and mopped-done
floors vacuumed-not done (I detest vacuuming)
house dusted-done
piles tackled-1 pile done
simply ArTistiC card-done
card photographed, edited and emailed-not done
post-Bacc lessons-not done
spinach manicotti made for dinner-done
dinner dishes-done

I also actually scrapped today! Crazy, I know. I haven't scrapped a page in a long time and today I actually threw a page together in like 20 minutes. It needs a little finishing touch in the way of hand stitching before I can photo and post, but I'm pretty happy with my first scrapping attempt in quite some time. I was inspired while doing the laundry (scrap room and laundry share a space...I get a little distracted). I used a bunch of old stash stuff too. Go me.

Though I didn't check everything off my list, I am officially done with the to do's for today. I plan on climbing in bed early with some knitting or a magazine.

Happy Sunday!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Grateful-Post Thanksgiving Addition

So I kind of fell off the blogging wagon this month. Truthfully, I've thought about blogging a few times over the past week or two and it just really wasn't on the top of my list. Since I'm home today, enjoying some time in my pj's, I figured I could do one more nice grateful post to round out the month. So here goes, my post Thanksgiving grateful list:

  • a nice, quiet dinner with my family yesterday
  • pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate pecan pie
  • cranberries for breakfast
  • a day off and some quality pj time
  • online deals and crowd free shopping
  • final paper for my grad school class completed yesterday morning
  • 2nd grad school class checked off my list
  • hot chocolate with marshmallows
  • 4 games of words with friends
  • a warm and cozy bed
  • no commitments for today
  • a pile of yarn and several in progress projects that could use a little love
  • cold weather, which makes it feel more like the holidays
  • a stack of unread magazines
  • quiet

Hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving weekend!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Gratitude Back in Action

I warned you that this little adventure might not be a daily event around here. I've been pretty busy and this week isn't looking good. So, while I had a few minutes I thought I'd post a quick glimpse at my gratitude for the past few days. Here goes, I am grateful for:

-two midterms completed and completed well...A's on both
-conversations with family and friends
-happy news
-early bedtimes
-cozy cool weather bedding
-my fuzzy red slippers
-pumpkin milkshakes

Happy Monday!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Grateful Day 10

Today I am grateful for online courses and the flexibility they provide. I'll admit that changing jobs, being a first year teacher, finishing my post bacc teaching cert program and simultaneously working on grad school is a bit crazy. Just a bit, right? I'm definitely feeling the pressure right now. I'm behind on a few things, but with the flexibility the online courses provides, its ok. Thankfully, I'm usually pretty diligent about getting things done, so when I get behind, its not too far behind. I'm glad I don't have set class days. I'm glad I can work at 8pm, or 6am, or all day Sunday. Without this flexibility, I'm sure I'd be floundering big time.That being said, tomorrow's holiday will be spent writing and turning in a grad school paper that should have been submitted already, studying for two midterms that must be completed by Saturday and beginning research on a paper that is do in two weeks. So much for a day off.....

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Grateful Days 8 and 9

Yesterday was a long day filled with teaching and after school meetings and by the time I remembered I should blog, I was too exhausted to get up and go to the computer. If I could blog from my ipad (not sure why it doesn't work) it could have happened as I lay in bed (I'm afraid to admit what time I crawled in bed). So, my grateful for yesterday is technology, more specifically the aforementioned ipad. Love it. Seriously. Love that I can stick it in my purse for use on the go. LOVE that I can lay in bed and surf, check message boards, twitter and facebook, read, play games (Words With Friends and Sudoku usually), watch movies, etc. Love that it has a cute little red case. Love that I can store and view photos. Love that I can store and read pdf files for my classes. Love that I can use certain apps for a quick guitar tuning, checking guitar chords, learning a new song. Love that I can catch up on all the NPR I miss now that I'm not driving around all day. Love it.

Today, I am grateful for the cooler weather. Hello fall, I've been missing you. We've had some weird, way too hot weather around here this fall, but this week is exactly what I've been waiting for. High's around 70 with chilly mornings and nights. I wore long sleeves all day today and was perfectly comfortable. It was 57 degrees on my way to school this morning and I was cold. Perfect. That's how it should be in November. It's about time Phoenix. My classroom was freezing this morning, which is a welcome change since its almost always super hot. I'm guessing my classroom is going to be cold all winter. I'll have to wear sweaters and maybe even coats. Bummer ;) I might even need to make my self another pair of fingerless mittens. In red. Or maybe black. Or both. Double bummer ;) Now, I don't want to hear from all you cold weather dwellers about my "cold" temperatures. To be fair, my Chicago born husband puts a sweatshirt on if it dips below 80 and doesn't appreciate my love of cooler (not cold) weather. I don't think I would do so well living somewhere where winter was long and hard, but boy do I love when the weather cools off around here. Fall temps (and our winter temps) are my very favorite. Chilly enough to need sleeves and maybe a few knitted goodies, but not so cold that you're miserable. We're not quite to the knitted goodies and fun sweaters and coats stage around here yet, but things are looking up in the weather department and for that, I am grateful.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Grateful Day 6 and 7

Today's Grateful is a musical one. Love this song and its message. It's the perfect happy song for adults and kids alike. Love it when I stumble across videos and songs while I'm surfing.



Yesterday's grateful:

Checking things off my to do list.
The worlds best "garden" mojito and darn good food at The Parlor.
Hanging with Michelle for the first time in way too long.
Goodies brought home for me from Shawn's visit to the state fair.

Happy Sunday!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Grateful Day 5


Better late than never....

Yesterday, I was grateful for this comment, given to me by someone observing my room: "There are some people who work with these kids and its their job and there are other people that it's their passion. I can tell its your passion and you love your kids." I am grateful that even when its a bit chaotic and I'm restraining a kiddo from attacking the bushes or chasing one back to the playground, an outside observer can tell that I really do love my job and my kiddos.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Grateful Day 4

Today I am grateful for left overs/fend for yourself night. I do really love to cook, but there are sometimes I just don't feel like cooking or don't have the time. Thankfully, there were lots of options in the fridge tonight from meals I made earlier this week. Our choices were sesame noodles with broccoli, mushroom and truffle oil pizza and green chile. I opted for the green chile (the veggie version), mostly because it needs to be eaten, but also so I could take the pizza for lunch tomorrow. Shawn, the foodie that he is, chose to make himself some Ramen.

Happy Friday Eve!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Grateful Day 3


Today I am grateful for chocolate. Yes, chocolate. I'm not a huge candy eater, but there's something about Halloween candy that does me in. It doesn't help that we had hardly any trick or treaters this year and there are tons of leftovers lying around. Besides, today was the kind of day where I needed something to help me stay sane and wine is probably not ok at school :) So, hooray for little Halloween chocolates, especially when they come in the form of peanut butter M&Ms!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Gratitude Day 2

I'd love to pair each day with a photo, but it's just not gonna happen. In fact, I've taken a grand total of 10 photos in the past 3 months and those were all project photos. Sad. On to the gratitude....

Today was a bit of a rough day. Not sure what was in the air, but things were challenging in my classroom. More challenging than normal. So, today I am grateful for the gift of patience. I have been told many, many times that I am a very patient person. In fact, I once had a client's mom write on an evaluation "Erin has the patience of a saint." I'm definitely not always patient, but I do seem to have more of it than some people. It's a blessing. Especially, when your day starts with more than one student coming in screaming.

Monday, November 1, 2010

30 Days of Gratitude


Though it is very likely I won't be able to complete all 30 days of this challenge, I'm going to give it a try. My November is ridiculously busy. Yet, there's something about this challenge that speaks to me. So here goes, my gratitude for day 1:

Today I am grateful for my ability to hold it together under pressure. The last few months have been a huge challenge and November is shaping up to be a rather crazy month. I like challenges, but some days I wonder if I'll make it. If you know me at all, you know its not that unusual for me to put A LOT on my plate. Thankfully, some how, I usually make it work, even if it means I have to neglect a few things for awhile....or really NEED that glass of wine :)

Happy November!

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