I'm LOST!

Tonight was the season premiere for this season's LOST ... in case you've been living in a cave and didn't know.

It was good, but now I'm even more confused! I watched the 8 minutes 15 seconds (get it!) recap on ABC.com and watched the hour long all series recap for the hour before the premiere, but I'm still confused!

What are everyone else's thoughts on tonight's show??

Congrats to me!

I've accomplished 2 very important things since I got home at 8:15 tonight!

Here is my dish cloth that I FINALLY finished! The colors are more true to the top photo, but I wanted you to see how cool it looked as I knit. I love the striping that just happened as I knit! Pretty, huh? Now I'm on to another one with totally different colors and WAY bigger needles as this one about gave me a panic attack!


This is the other thing I accomplished! 100 % accuracy and 249 notes out of 249! I played "My Name is Jonas" against Rob and kicked his booty! Actually ... he did very well with 95% of the notes! Then I started my own band. No official band name yet (I'm willing to take suggestions!) and could NOT figure out how to pass the bonus battle round against Tom Morello. I guess I'll need more practice tomorrow.

It's a good thing these two things happened tonight, or I have no clue what I would have blogged about! Today went well at school. Yoga was fun. The weather is still cold. I'm still overwhelmed by grading. Blech, Blech, Blech!

Hope everyone is ready to wind down their weeks. I'm crossing my fingers that the predicted snow actually comes early and that we have a snow day. I'm happy with no snow day tomorrow as long as we don't get 5" while we are school and then have a hard time getting home.

Crappy day from 6:15am - 8:15pm. Rockin' day from 8:45pm - 11:15pm

Can we talk about how cold it is today!?!?! Just yesterday I was home early from work so I could take the dogs on a walk and today it is so cold I haven't warmed up yet from my drive home from work!

I had another L O N G day at work. Came home with a few hours of grading to do. Wanted to watch American Idol and only got about 1/2 way through it because Jenny had the GREATEST idea EVER! She called all over town tonight to see where she could buy herself a fun, new game. This fun, new game turned out to also be a fun, semi-new game for me!

Lookie! Jenny liked Guitar Hero so much when she first played last Friday, that she just HAD to go out and get one tonight! Rob gave her the PS2 he had collecting dust at his house, so the extra parts were an easy (for her) purchase to make!

Here I am, super excited that she splurged for the extra wireless guitar so we can play 2 people at once. After seeing this pic, I think I stole a GH-modeling pose from Adam! See if you can tell in the picture how teeny, tiny this 2nd guitar is. For some reason, it is about the size of a ukulele. I don't know why, but I feel like a giant playing with it!

So anyway ... we got in a good 1 1/2 - 2 hours of playing GH tonight. I was about to call in "sick" tomorrow when I learned we were going to be making this purchase tonight. Instead, I'll be a good little employee and work my hiney off at school so I can get home early and get back to practicing. Jenny & I already built a band so we could earn money to buy things. Our band's name is Peanie Minnut. Cute, huh?

Alrighty ... I have only 11 minutes to finish this up. Must get to bed soon, or I'll be the crankiest teacher ever tomorrow!

Congratulations are in order!

For my new friends, Jill & Amy!

Amy came into my classroom this morning (she's my more fabulous than fabulous para) and asked how my weekend was. After she listened to me go on and on about my hectic weekend, I asked her about her's and she flashed the MOST beautiful engagement ring! TJ proposed this past weekend and I could not be more excited for her! She's already started with the planning and seems to be both overwhelmed and in awe at the same time! CONGRATS!

Today Jill and I were e-mailing about ways to help our Etsy businesses. I wrote the following to her: I keep waiting for you to make a sale … I know it's going to happen soon! I LOVE the new tech "caddie". Super cute for V-Day! I must be psychic, because tonight I got a call from Jill and she had made her first Etsy sale ... and it was the tech cozy I was talking about! YEAH for Jill! All it takes is 1 sale and then you can go from there!

Speaking of ... and this is probably a long shot ... but if anyone out there makes crafts or has their own business of some kind that needs some promotion, we have an offer for you.
Jill and I have made business cards to "swap" with other Etsy sellers. So far we only have a few bites, but that should help. The way it works is for a few people to exchange business cards. Then each time one of us makes a sale, we put all the different cards in with the shipment of the purchase. It is just an easy way to get your name out. If you are interested in swapping cards, let us know!

Okay. I know this post was sort of short, but it was a long day, and I didn't have too much to write about. Have a great week!

UPDATE!! I've been asked to include a pic of Amy's ring. It is TJ's great-grandmothers and even more beautiful in person! Check it out!

Thank you for being a friend ... your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant!

It's her Golden Birthday ... she is a self-proclaimed Golden Girl! Today is Ashley's 27th, and a group of us girls went out for a fun brunch at Brio on the Plaza! We had plans to go to Eggtc, but didn't plan for an hour wait on a Sunday morning. It was so nice to see all the girls and have a chance to catch up!

Ashley and I have gone through so much in the past 9 years that I've known her! NINE YEARS! Has it really been that long?!?!?
I'm so happy that Ashley and Drew have moved back to KC from Sacramento ... now there is really no excuse for us not to get together. We are all thrilled to have her back close to us!

Here are a few pics of Ash and me from the past few years.

Etsy Deals of the Week!

Another week has gone by and it's time for my Etsy Deals of the Week again! Last week's deals were all Valentine's related. They are still great deals AND I can get them sent to you in time for the big day!

As of now, I have 60 items listed for sale. You can buy anything: pet toys, beaded jewelry, magnet gift sets and wire keychains!

This week I'm only going to talk about earring sets! With every order that is made that includes either my earrings or rings, you will get a FREE pair of surprise earrings made just for you!

These "Acorn" earrings are made out of simple wood beads and vintage gold findings. They are for sale for just $3.50. With my free earring deal ... if you bought these, you'd be getting 2 pair of earrings for just $3.50!

These are my "Lime Juice" earrings. I made a pair of these for myself. They are so unique and will be sure to get many compliments! They are only $6.00 for you!

These earrings are perfect for a Valentine's gift. They are called "Champagne for Two". They are simple earrings strung on gold pins and hooks. The champagne-colored "pearls" match the plain white pearls perfectly. These are just $4.00!

And lastly, here are these fun, "Jelly Belly" earrings. These bright purple beads cheer up any day. These are small and can be yours for just $5.00.

As always, if you see something you like (not only earrings), but would like them to be in a different color or size ... let me know! I'm happy to make custom orders! HAPPY SHOPPING!

Go on! Take the plunge!

Okay ... here's the deal. I've been hearing from several of you that you read the blog every day. That makes me SUPER happy to hear!

But ... I've got the same 3ish people posting comments on my blog. You know who you are, and I thank you! :)

For those of you that haven't posted yet, this is your chance. You DO NOT have to have a g-mail e-mail account to be able to post. You can either post with a nickname that you just fill in, or post anonymously and sign your name at the end of your comment. You can always comment anonymously, too, but what fun is that? Then I think you are some crazy blog-stalker and I get worried for my safety! ;)

Let's see how many new readers we can get to post a comment to this blog before the end of the weekend. I wish I could give a prize to the 10th commenter or 20th commenter or 100th commenter, but I don't know how that would work. Instead, I'll write back to each comment that is left on this particular blog just so you know that I appreciate it!

Go on! Take the plunge!

UPDATE!!! I'm feeling very lonely, as only 2 people responded to my request. If you are just getting to this during the week ... puh-lease leave me a comment ... it's never too late!

Less Talk More Rokk

Tonight was a lazy, but really fun night at our house. We had a mini pot-luck dinner, guitar lessons, knitting mini-guild, and Guitar Hero party!

Adam & Jill came over. Adam was still sporting his "Bean Team" name-tag ... and he was allowed since he won the Oak Hill chili cook-off contest today! His chili was GREAT and I loved it! Adam told me AFTER I ate 1/2 a bowl that it had basil in it. I loathe basil, but didn't seem to have any troubles with it today. Mitzi came over with Guitar Hero and her real guitar for lessons. Jenny & Rob were here, too ... and the dogs had a family reunion after being apart from each other for over a week.

Here are a few pics of our evening.

Here are the Chittums rocking out on GH face-off. They are both really good at GH but haven't had a chance to play GH2, so that was fun.

Here are Jenny & Rob playing for the first time. They both did REALLY well! The first time I played, I got booed off stage about 13 seconds into the song. They were playing with 95% accuracy by the end of the night.

Here's the real guitar lesson taking place in the other room so we could still rock out in the front room!

The REALLY exciting news of the night is not how little money we all spent hanging out tonight OR how Jill and Mitzi both got a lot done on their scarfs OR how successful Jenny & Rob were at GH the first time ... it was this:

YES! That's my favorite player, Pandora, looking like a bad ass. I was player 1 and I hit 99% of my notes. Actually, it was more than that (see next picture). I had a note streak of 298 notes in a row. I was doing so well the whole song, and then when I missed one note, I literally gasped out-loud. I thought for sure I could get a perfect song! But ... I did do better than last time.

Here are my stats. This is why I said that I did better than 99%. I only missed ONE out of 326 notes in the song! Woo Hoo!

Had to quickly get my blog in before today was over. Off to continue working on my dish cloth that I'm knitting and hit the sack. It's been a long day!

I have to have them!

I was catching up on some older Oprahs tonight while grading papers. I saw one from a few weeks ago on the "The Face Behind the Name".

I was so excited to see the segment on Christian Louboutin! I love his shoes ... and would love to own a (or two or three or fifteen) pairs. I once tried on a pair of Louboutins at DSW and was thisclose to buying them and didn't. I've been kicking myself ever since then.

I literally gasped outloud at how beautiful some of these shoes were. They are truly pieces of art. Here are some that I would love to have!

Aren't these just fabulous? They showed them on the show in a beautiful green color.

And these are perfect for the girl who can never have enough PINK in her wardrobe ... oh wait, that's me!

Oprah said that she has these and wears them with everything ... jeans, the perfect LBD, evening gowns, etc.

This picture shows the signature red sole that is hand cut, glued and sewed on each shoe even to this day!

These are the Louboutins made famous by Carrie Bradshaw seeing them in the window on SATC and greeting them with a, "Hello, Lover!" Later they were ruined with Miranda went into labor. I would also love these.

As much as I love tall heels, I was kicking myself today when I decided to wear 3-inch heels to school all day. By 3:00, I was ready to just wheel around in my desk chair with my feet up. No heels for me for a few days!

I am the worst schnoodle mom, EVER!

Just 17 short days ago, I was bragging about how I was the Best Schnoodle Mom for taking Miss Minnie to the dog park twice in one day.

Now it's just the opposite.

I've been trying really hard to get home early from school since Minnie has been by herself in the laundry room while Jenny & Peanut have been gone.

• Last Friday I had so much work to do that I didn't get home until 7pm. That means she was alone for 12 hours.
• Monday I was home all day, but then went to Not-so-Xtreme team trivia until 11:30 at night.
• Last night I didn't get home until 6:00 or so since I had to take Mitzi to the doctor for her foot.
  
• Tonight I had a meeting after school and then didn't get home until 6:00.
  

This would be fine, if Minnie would keep herself busy during the day. The BIG bowl of toys goes completely untouched when we are gone during the day. Her chews don't get picked up until we walk through the door.

Tonight I came in and saw what I thought was Minnie smiling to see me with a chew in her mouth. I went to set my bags down and turn on the lights and came back to see what really happened. She somehow got her collar stuck all the way at the back of her mouth. She had been gagging on her collar for who knows how long and had gnawed away at the buckle and fabric on it. When I finally got it off, she looked very sad.

When I called Mom to tell her about my horrible "mommy" experience she assured me that it was my fault for being a working, single mother who leaves her child home all day and tries to find a way to entertain herself.

Awesome.

Anyone want to start a puppy daycare during the week for all the "kids"!?!?

Here she is with her new Lucky Fiona collar she got for Christmas that is now ruined. :( I'm a sad Mommy.

So Close!

The internet was down all last night at our house. I felt totally secluded from the world as I wandered around my house trying to find something to do.

I got up today (running late, of course) and it is miraculously working again! :)

As of this minute, I have 947 hits on my blog. I think that is very impressive for having this thing up and running for about 3 weeks! Let's see if I can get to 1,000 today while I'm at school! Go for it!

Even though it's totally cheesy!

I LOVE this movie and love this scene.
Thought it was appropriate after the news today. My celeb blog is going crazy. Very sad day.

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Not-so-Xtreme Team Trivia

I should already be in bed by now because it is a school night ... but I can't sleep. Last night I stayed up WAY too late (3am) for absolutely no good reason. Then, of course, I slept in this morning until 10:30 (as did Minnie, which was a miracle) and so now my schedule is all off.

We went to play Xtreme Team Trivia tonight on a new night and at a new place, Johnny's at 135th & Nieman. It wasn't a good sign when we walked in after 8pm when they were supposed to start, and there were about 8 people in the bar including us, the DJ and the bartenders. Once we got started with the rounds, there were 3 teams playing. Our new team name was The Stanley Nickels. The other two teams consisted of 3 "kids" who looked to be about 15-years-old and a team made of the bartenders and all of their other bartender friends who came in just to hang out, not work.

Well ... we were behind the entire night, which was frustrating. In the end, we lost (by only 15 points) to the "bartender" team. The 15-year-olds had left early on. I really don't think it was fair that the other team won. The prize is a gift card to the bar and qualification to go on to the final week. What are they going to do with a gift card to the bar where they already work and get free drinks and food!?!??!

I'm grumpy!

We're trying to do our part

Jenny & I have decided to start recycling at the house. They have never paid for a recycling pick up with the trash because it wasn't offered in her neighborhood, but we just got notice that they are ... for a fee. I know that many people that can have recycling picked up with their trash, don't, because of the extra cost.

So we have decided to do it the old-fashioned way. We have bags out in the garage for cans, plastic, and I've started collecting my paper and magazines to take to school. We have one of the dumpsters for paper recycling that earns money for our school. [Feel free to drop your newspapers and magazines off there, too! If you know me well enough, then you can figure out the address. Don't want to post it for obvious reasons.]

BUT ... I can't seem to find a simple recycling center out here in Olathe. When I did the search, lots turned up, but they are all for toxic waste or furniture or printer cartridges. I just want the simple place that has LARGE bins for your glass, paper, cans and plastic. I know there is one in old Overland Park (78th and Metcalf). Do I need to drive all the way there? Does anyone know of other centers out south?

THIS is why it is so difficult to do our part. If you make it difficult to be green, then people will have a hard time making changes that will help our Earth. One of those recycling centers should be set up in every city and they should be easy to find. I'm sure they cost money to run, but does that really matter if we are helping our neighborhoods and environment?

Etsy Deals of the Week!

Today's Etsy Deals are all Valentine's Day items. They aren't overly Valentiny, but really just pink items. I had a very crafty week. I finished my pink scarf that I started working on over winter break. I've started on a pink & white dish rag, but I don't know how long it will take me to finish it. Maybe I'll have it done

Here are today's items:

This gift set of PINK magnets is a steal for just $3.75 on my Etsy site. They come in this silver, tin box that has a clear lid so you can see what's inside.

I really like these simple earrings. Jill named them "Pink Ladies". They are made of light pink tear-drop shaped beads and they are strung on silver pins and hooks. These are priced at just $5.00. Don't forget that with every purchase of jewelry on my site, you will get a free mystery pair of earrings made just for you!

Here's another one of these GREAT wire keychains! This one is heart-shaped (duh!) and has white/clear stones to hold it together. I know I said that today's items are pink, but this one is just Valentine's-themed. I made another new flower keychain and posted it today, but the pink color of the stones didn't show up that well. This one is priced at just $3.50.

As always ... if you see something on my site that you like, but you'd like different colors or sizes, please let me know! I take custom orders. Enjoy!

More Friend Time!

Apparently last night I was having too much fun to take any pictures. It started with dinner at El Patron. Mom and Dad gave Molly, Erik & I gift certificates to the restaurant for Christmas. The KC Star has rated them the best for their fish tacos (which Mitzi ordered) and their margaritas (that both Jill & Mitz enjoyed).

I do have one picture from the start of our evening at The Levee. Mitzi and Adam had the upstairs "patio" room reserved for the belated birthday party. We discovered that a "Reserved" sign on the door doesn't necessarily mean anything to people who need a seat at a crowded bar. We did our best to help people understand they were not part of our party. Can you read our hand-made sign on the window?

There was a great crowd. Amy and her fun beau, TJ, came between a wedding ceremony and the reception. It was a lot of fun to meet him finally. Elizabeth and her fun beau, Nick, came and it was great to meet him, too! Lots of other friends from work and outside showed and it was a great mix of people. The band that played was awesome and we wiggled out way through the crowd to find a teeny, tiny spot to dance the night away!

Thanks to Jill being our wonderful driver, we all got home safe and sound. It sounds like we all enjoyed sleeping in and getting ready to enjoy 2 more days of our weekend!

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Once I finally got up and moving around this morning, I went to Dean & Deluca for lunch with Julie, Becca & Megan. Even though the 3 of us live in town, we don't get to hang out as much as we'd like. When the Chicago girls or our Columbus girl come in town, it's always a great excuse to see each other. Love you girls! Thanks for the cookies, Bec.

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And now for "girls" craft night #834. Adam loves to be with his girls. :) Jill, Mitzi (and Minners) were doing some knitting. Adam enjoyed his new craft (from Mitzi) and I'm working on catching up on blogging, and new Valentine's items for Etsy. Next up tonight is my Etsy Deals of the Week blog. Check back with me!

See how hard Minnie is working!? Mitzi is working on her self-striping scarf and Jill is making a fun, new felted bag.

Here's Adam with his new craft. A special award goes to whoever can guess what he's made! The yellow one is easy ... I want you to guess what the red & blue one is! :)

Technically this is still Saturday for me

I haven't yet gone to bed, so I have not failed on my resolution of writing every "day".

Tonight was the Adam/Mitzi belated birthday party at The Levee! It was tons of fun. I'll have to see what sort of pictures turned out so I can do a real post tomorrow.

On a totally different note, can we talk about how cold it is!?!?! My car said 5 degrees on the drive home tonight. I think it felt like it was about 15 below 0! I bet my hands and toes won't fully warm up until tomorrow morning right before I head out again.

Off to hit the sack and turn off all alarms! Minnie gets included in that bunch since she's having a sleep-over at "Grandma & Grandpas"! Aren't they the best!?!?!

Good Friends

Today was the perfect day to remind me of just how lucky I am.

It started with me walking into school late and I walked in with my friend Chelsey. She is our school counselor and she has been a HUGE help to me in the last week or so with a few very special students.

Then at my plan time, I got to spend some time with my friend, Michelle. She was nice enough to do a little shopping from my Etsy items. We don't often make time to visit with other staff members during the school day, so it was nice to catch up with her. Earlier in the week, Michelle brought her little sweetie to visit me after school one day. Miss A is so precious and she's really becoming a little girl now. I loved seeing her debate with Mom over the cookie she wanted for a snack! :)

After that, I was reminded just how great our FABULOUS secretaries are at school. They aren't just women who answer phones and do paperwork for us. They really run the school and do it each day with a smile. Both Cindy and Joan helped me today with giving a student a new backpack to replace his that has been broken all year AND Joan ran home to find some unused gloves at her house to replace his sock-gloves he's been wearing to recess. Thanks ladies!

I don't know what I'd do without my teammates. They make me laugh and help me to get through each day. Brenda has been there for me this week and went above and beyond to help a student in my class this week. She reminded me today that even though we have a few students in our classrooms that have difficult lives and therefore are difficult in the classroom ... we are VERY lucky that we can actually make a difference with those few students and we aren't overwhelmed with a whole classroom of students like that. Brenda is THE person to go to if you want to be able to put things in perspective ... she's GREAT at it!

Now for Mitzi. I was SO overwhelmed with my messy desk. I didn't even know where to start to get organized. The last week I haven't been able to do anything productive for myself at school because I couldn't get my act together. Mitzi came in my room at indoor recess and saw how flustered I was. She knew I needed help and just started cleaning, filing and throwing away. By the end of the day I could actually see parts of the top of my desk. Woo Hoo!

At the end of the day, I had a chance to catch up with my other friend, Michele, at work. Michele was my mentor my first year at school. We spend countless hours together during the week and she was helpful to help me survive my first year. We talked and caught up for about an hour and it was really nice. Sometimes you just need someone to listen.

As we all got ready to go home for the 3-day weekend, a few of us realized that we had nothing to do on this snowy, cold night. Brenny was off to be a ski bunny and hit the slopes in Colorado ... lucky duck. Mitzi was off to run errands, but then didn't have anything to do. The Chittums weren't sure if they had plans and Amy said she was free since her beau had movie plans with friends.

I didn't have plans either, so I suggested that people come over for a game night. I ran to Mom & Dad's at the end of my long day to get my bag of games. I treated myself to FRIENDS Scene-It last year and hadn't played it yet. So, people came over when they could and we laughed and enjoyed all the FRIENDS clips!

Minnie made a new friend, too! I've never seen her so well behaved and quiet around a group of people! I'm pretty sure she would have gone home with Adam if she could have.

On Sunday I will get to hang out with my other bestests! Julie is in town to get some wedding planning done, so Becca, Megan and I are meeting her for lunch at Dean & Deluca. Woo Hoo! More fun catch-up time with friends.

Me, in the future ...

If you've spent any time with me, you know that I LOVE PURSES! I really don't think it's possible for any girl to have too many purses.

At last count, I had probably 40+. Some of them are for daily use; some of them are for special occasions (weddings, nights out, to the pool, etc); some of them are for show and have been given to me to add to the collection; and some of my very favorites are vintage (either purchased by me or handed down).

When I lived in my old apartment, I decorated a whole wall of my closet with my purses on hooks. I wish I had taken a picture of it, because it was really cool. I've collected several pictures from magazines that show exactly what I would like to do on a bedroom or closet wall when I get my own place. Of course, I couldn't find any of them online, but Martha does have a great closet organizing idea with a pegboard.

The other thing you might already know about me and my purses is that they are either teeny tiny for a Girls' Night Out or quite large. I'm pretty sure that I have neck, shoulder, and back pain due to my suitcase-like purses. When I go to restaurants, I'm pleased when there is an extra chair at the table for my purse to sit on. I won't even get into the problem of my purses and bathroom stalls again.

As I continue to get newer purses, they continue to get bigger and bigger. Once you start carrying stuff in your large purse, you have a hard time NOT having it with you at all times. I'm pretty sure this is my next step:

I am totally over Tom Cruise, but I continue to like parts of Katie Holmes more and more. I mean, I accept the fact that she's probably been brain-washed and has become a part of the Scientology cult ... but ... I like her her hair, couture wardrobe and this purse! It is a bit over the top, but when I win the lottery, one of my first purchases will be a Birkin bag. I'd love a vintage one, but I guess I'd also take a brand-new one if someone was dying to get rid of it! :)

Reason #9 Why a teacher's job is different from everyone else's job

I'm enjoying a snow day and you probably aren't!

My lovely roomie texted me this morning from downstairs just before my alarm was supposed to go off to say: "Tv says snow day". Then I turned on my TV and watched as 400 other closings scrolled on the bottom of my TV to first see Olathe then Shawnee Mission (which means BV was for sure closed), but had to wait to actually see Blue Valley School District! Then, just to make sure I called the BV Helpline (which had not been updated since before Winter Break) and finally my work voice-mail.

NO SCHOOL!

I had to text my teammates to share the good news, text Julie to brag that I was still in bed and she was probably watching kids walk in her classroom, and then finally go back to bed. Woke up at 9:45 and feel much better!

I looked out my window and thought this was another mistake snow day (like the last not-so-snow day), but when I went to take Miss Minners out, I knew that the powers that be made the right choice! It is bitterly cold out.

This picture isn't from today's snow, but I love this pic. If we are going to have a snow day, I almost wish there was a lot so the kids could at least enjoy it with some good old fort making and snow ball fights!

He wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the tiiiiime!

For those of you that know me well ... you know that I am more than a bit obsessed with celebrity gossip. Lately I've been feeling bad about my obsession, because I think that the paparazzi stuff has gotten WAY OUT OF CONTROL, and I know that I contribute to that.

I can't wait for Friday to come, because I know that means that my US Weekly will be waiting for me in my mailbox. I come home at night to get caught up on my fav celeb smut blog, Oh No They Didn't. I love all things celebrity and like to impress people with how up-to-the-minute my celebrity knowledge is. I even made a celebrity inspired cookie at the Wagner Cookie Decorating Party this year and won the People's Choice Award.

See?


There is a picture from a few years ago that shocked me. It was a picture of Britney and Kevin (love the fact that I can use just first names and everyone knows who I am talking about) on the beach when they first started dating. One of the paps took a picture from behind them and you could see about 30 other photographers about 10 feet away from them. I don't know how celebrities deal with it. I couldn't find that picture, but here is one that is pretty close.



Today I got home and actually saw something that shocked me on Oh No They Didn't. Eddie Murphy and his new bride have ... wait for it ... decided to split! Apparently they lasted from New Year's Eve to Jan. 4th and the news is just now getting out. A 4 day marriage, woo hoo! I laughed out loud.

Who are these celebs kidding? You don't have to get married to prove that you have gotten over your ex. You don't have to get married to make us feel better about your baby bump. You don't have to get married just because you've spent the last 16 years of your life married to 4 other people. It's okay to just be. Look at the great celeb couples like Tim Robbins & Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell, Oprah & Gail, oh wait, I meant Stedman. None of them feel the need to get married, and they are probably better off that way.

Reason #412 why a teacher's job is different from everyone else's job

When you watch the weather man in the morning you don't really have to plan your outfit around what he says.

When I hear, "High of 38 degrees around 4pm, with a slight wind from the south and a cold front coming in" I have to plan accordingly.

To you, that may just mean make sure I have a coat, scarf and gloves for the drive to work. For me, I'm thinking that I need to bundle up for the drive to work, leave a heavy coat in my closet at work for recess duty, bring boots to change into for recess duty, and attempt to get out the door at school to enjoy the "high" for the day!

Tomorrow, I could probably plan on wearing heels to work ... with the temperature predicted to be super low and a chance of snow ... I'll be safe inside with indoor recess! :)

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Side note: I just turned on The Office on TBS. If you don't watch The Office, you are missing out! Tonight's episode was "The Merger". Here's the clip that just made me laugh out-loud and wake the dogs:

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Enjoy!

I figured it out today

If you are someone who works with children, you might already know this:

The kids that need the most love are the kids that are the most difficult to love.

I wish it weren't this way!

Etsy Deals of the Week!

Yesterday I was struggling to find something to write about (to keep up with my resolution of at least one post a day) ... and I totally forgot that I was due for my Etsy Deals of the Week!

When you get to my site: www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com, make sure you check out my new banner that Jill helped me with! It is so fancy! She's been a knitting fool, and has posted some really cool stuff on her site: www.knit1scrap2.etsy.com. She'll be posting more things for sale in the upcoming weeks, too ... so be sure to check them out!

You will also see that I've posted a new announcement! For every sale from my site that is earrings or rings, I will make a mystery pair of earrings to include in your order ... FOR FREE! These will be a surprise pair of earrings that I will make especially for you. You can't go wrong. It's almost worth it to make a purchase just to get the extra surprise pair!

On to the deals for this week:

A new Minnie's Fleecy Toy. This one is smaller and is great for a smaller breed of dog or for the new puppy in your life. I made it with bright yellow, blue and multi-colored Hawaiian print fleece.

This small fleecy toy is for sale on my site for just $2.50!

Next is the magnet gift set for this week. It is a little different than the others because it is packaged in purple plastic box and I've mixed the two sizes of magnets. These dog-themed magnets are set up to look like a paw print in the box.

This set is on sale for just $4.50. UPDATE: This item sold today! Go look for others that are similar on www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

Now for the jewelry deal of the week. Jenny had me pick these Robin's Egg earrings because she said they are great for winter and they can transition into spring well. I love the mixture of these baby blue and white beads.

This pair of earrings goes for just $7.00. But, don't forget that if you buy these or another pair you will receive a FREE pair of mystery earrings with your purchase! UPDATE: This item sold today! Go look for others that are similar on www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

The last deal of the week is a new key chain I made. Jenny showed me how to make these and I was playing around with shapes and came up with this. The tough part of these key chains is making a shape that starts and ends at the same point. I thought this Mail key chain would be really fun for a new home owner or anyone else that has a key for their mailbox in their neighborhood.

This one sells for only $3.50 on my Etsy site!

As always ... let me know if you see something you like. I'm happy to make custom orders and I can work with you if you are looking for something you want for a gift or for yourself! www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

China Moon

Today was a pretty lazy day. Minnie let me sleep in until about 8:30 and then we both went back to sleep after she had her breakfast. I sat around and watched some TV and read magazines and then went to meet Mom and Molly for lunch and running errands.

Minnie was lucky enough to get to hang out with grandpa while the girls went out. One of our first stops was to Blue Koi at Mission Farms (Mission Road & 435 overpass). The original Blue Koi is on 39th Street. We sat down to just have a few things to do some taste testing for a meeting Mom is having there ... but ended up stuffing ourselves full of their great food.

We had 2 kinds of their fried dumplings (which they are known for): chicken and pork, the egg plant pockets, and the China Moon. Molly described the China Moon dish as a Chinese quesadilla and she was right! It was SO good. I could definitely go back for this. The egg plant pockets were crispy and filled with veggies and the China Moon was a crispy flat bread that had a marinated shrimp mixture on the inside. It also had a sweet duck sauce to go with!

I highly recommend any of the things we had, and think you all should make your way down to Mission Farms when it gets nice to eat outside on the patio! Go check it out!

He's looking for a boy space friend!

This one is for all my friends that have moved other places from wonderful KC, or my new friends that have moved to KC from other wonderful places.

I've had SEVERAL friends pick up and move other places across the country for various reasons. They all have loved their new hometowns, new jobs, being with family or significant others ... but they have almost all told me how hard it is to make new friends. We are at that age where we like the friends we already have, but sometimes have to make new ones. It isn't easy. People have set groups of friends and I really think it's especially hard for girls. We are so damn picky that we don't let "just anyone" into our groups! :)

I was lucky enough to meet Adam this year at work and then he introduced us to his lovely wife, Jill! She came out to our Girls Night Out (with work girls) and we immediately loved her! Now I have two new friends (that are nice enough to let me come to their place to play Wii, Guitar Hero, knit, eat, drink, be lazy) and I hope that they are happy with us as their new friends.

Now for Adam's sad story. He's one of 3 men working in our building. Being a man and working in an elementary building is NOT easy. The women are always talking about girlie things and doing girlie things and being girlie girls. This is Adam's first time to live in KC and he is on the prowl for some boy (space) friends. When he finds them ... we've decided that it's a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for all of us! Adam gets some boy (space) friends to do manly things with; these new boys get fun Adam (and now Adam's fun friends) to hang out with; and we get fun new boys to hang out with!

WIN-WIN-WIN!

Which kind are you?

I believe that there are two types of teachers out there in the world.

The type you are all depends on what you do when it comes to Friday night.

You are either:

a) The type of teacher that can't wait to go out with friends after school, celebrate the end of the week and forget about the fact that you have to go back in 60 short hours.

OR

b) The type of teacher that is so exhausted at by the time it's Friday night that you can barely keep your eyes open. You can't wait to get home and crash on the couch and NOT make decisions for the next 60 hours.

Tonight I tried to be both types. I went out for a Happy Hour with work friends to celebrate the fact it was Friday BUT then I came home and fell asleep on the couch and woke up to the dogs barking at nothing outside.

I win!

So I JUST got home from work. Spent too much time procrastinating and complaining about finishing my report cards ... so I ended up having to stay until 6:15 tonight to wrap them up.

I checked Jill's blog and now I feel awful about the state of my messy classroom. I don't know how I can get on my kids' case for their messy desks when mine looks like it does. I guess I should tell them, "Do as I say, not as I do!"

These pictures are from last year, but my desk looks pretty much like this ... probably worse. Just ask people at school. I think I definitely win for the messiest desk out there!

So for comparison ... here is Jill's desk: Fancy-schmancy-high-school-teacher desk!

And my 22-kids-are-driving-me-crazy, I-feel-like-I've-got-no-time-to-grade, why-can't-I-get-organized desk: