Shift Happens

My Dad sent me an e-mail earlier this week and it had a great slide show in it. I was saving it to share until I a day when I didn't have much to blog about. Today's that day!

It is called Shift Happens. (I had to be careful to view the show at school, because with a name like that, you never know what it's going to be about!)

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The slide show was originally meant to share with educators to let them know that the world is changing and as teachers, you have a very important role in helping everyone to adapt to those shifts.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

You're Trashy!

Today I saw two very interesting things involving trash.

No ... it wasn't the disgusting things my kids throw away in my classroom. No ... it wasn't the LARGE dumpster at our school that sits outside. Yes ... it had to do with Oprah and art museums!

At lunch today, Amy asked us if anyone had seen yesterday's Oprah that talked about Freegans. I hadn't watched it, but had a feeling I had DVRed it. I got home tonight after work and sat down to watch it. It was VERY interesting. Freegans are basically people who are suffering from stickittothemanitis (Thanks School of Rock) and want to make a change about the what they consume, buy and use. In a nutshell, Freegans are "dumpster divers" and are happy to use anything that has already been discarded that they seem fit to use, eat, wear or sit upon.

I'm all for getting some awesome furniture that someone else is getting rid of. I'm happy to think about shopping at consignment shops and thrift stores for certain items. I would like to discard less in my day-to-day life. BUT ... I think I draw the line at going through restaurant and grocery store trash bins and dumpsters for my dinner.

I think the best thing to take away from what I saw these people do today is that as Americans, we throw away WAY TOO MUCH! We are working hard to buy more things that we don't really need. I'll start by giving away what I can instead of trashing and being more conscious of what I actually use and discard.

The next thing was an e-mail my Mom sent me today. I just got a chance to look at it and it went along perfectly with what the freegans were talking about. Chris Jordan is an artist who has a new exhibit called, Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait. He has created these LARGER THAN LIFE prints that show what Americans consume and waste and throw away.

I'm sure to truly appreciate them, you need to see them in person and be up close and personal! He has these gigantic sort of abstract prints, but when you get close, you can see that they are made of something that helps to represent the theme of that print. He's a great example. it is called "Building Blocks" and is 16 x 32 feet large. It depicts 9 million wooden ABC blocks that represents the number of children in America with no health insurance coverage in 2007. Scary!

Wide picture to see scale reference to how big the print is compared to humans.

See that "X" in the middle of the print? Here it is zoomed in.
And here you can see how it was really made.

If you had my vote yesterday ...

... you might have lost it today.

If you were watching Saturday Night Live like me on Saturday, you would have seen the opening skit that involved a spoof of the media falling in love with Barack and paying no attention to Hillary. It was funny, it was spot on and it was a smart and witty skit to do on their first night back after the writers' strike!

I wish I could have a clip of the video, but SNL has taken it off YouTube this week!

Anyhoo ... here is Hillary reacting to the skit:

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In this clip in the Ohio debate on Tuesday night she complains and whines that she is always thrown the first question, which doesn't seem fair ... but she'll take it because she can answer questions well.

This morning on the Today Show, Tim Russert (who I love), was great about telling us that this just isn't the case. She isn't thrown the first question anymore than Barack is, and when there is a question given to no one in particular, she is quick to jump in there first.

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I wish that she would have just left it alone and didn't say anything. Let's stick to the topics at hand and quit whining.

Here's another great example of Dan Abrams discussing the SNL spoof.

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Hillary should have let guys like Tim and Dan deal with it ... so she could spend more time winning Ohio and Texas!

Tell me you're watching ...

... The New Adventures of Old Christine!

It is on Mondays and finally came back after the writer's strike. We just got finished watching last night's episode and I laughed through the whole thing! I think it is one of the best written shows on TV right now!

If you haven't watched it before, you should be able to pick up on the story quickly. Julie Louis-Dreyfus plays (Old) Christine. She is named that because her ex-husband who she is still close with is dating a young girl named (New) Christine. The hilarious brother is played by Hamish Linklater, Wanda Sykes plays Christine's best friend and Blair Underwood plays her current boyfriend.

Run, don't walk, to your DVR to set it up to record this next week! That's an order!

Great purchase of the week!

Ever since I made my cute business cards for my Etsy business, I've been looking for a case to carry them in so they don't get all banged up at the bottom of my suitcase-like purse. I was browsing around on Etsy and saw a seller, Fabric and Stuff that makes Mini Tea Bag Wallets. They are fabric wallets that have tiny pockets for your tea so you always have some on hand.

I thought they were just what I always needed and never knew I wanted for my business cards! I've been checking the mailbox daily, waiting for my wallet to come and today it finally came! Yippee! Check out how cute it is! :)


SO ... if I happen to run into you ... you can count on the fact that I'll force one of my business cards on you. Now you can see my cute card wallet, too! :)

Where all the famous people go to eat ...

Today in honor of Dad's birthday, we made the trek down to 18th & Vine to have lunch at Arthur Bryant's for some good old BBQ.

We all got sandwiches and fries.The famous Arthur Bryant's Original sauce and Sweet HEAT sauce. I, of course, had ketchup with mine.

Here's some of our food and our LARGE sodas!

The fam enjoying their food ... mouths full!

More food! YUMMY!

Molly looking like she wants to vom after mis-ordering her pulled pork sandwich. I promised her I wouldn't put this picture on the blog. Whoooops!
I'm a member of the Clean Plate Club ...

... and feeling bad about it. I ate too much.
Mom wanted people to know that not everyone finished their order. Bragger! This also shows how large her order was. This was left after she ate more than half of her meal.

Anyhoo ... everyone should head to Bryant's if you get a chance. I don't think I need to eat again for another 48 hours ... but I'm sure I will!

Some of My Favorite Etsy Items

In the past I've done my Etsy Deals of the Week. This time I'm doing my Etsy Favorites of the Week. I've searched around on Etsy and found some items that I think are just great! They make great gifts or purchases for yourself.

I hope that if you've spent some time in my Etsy store, you've also browsed around to see what else is out there. Etsy is the home to many, many creative, crafty, artistic, people! You never know what you'll find!

This cute, flowered collar has been named the Aunt Tilly collar by seller, Lucky Fiona. Shannon, the artist behind all the collars uses fabulous fabrics to make sturdy, fun dog collars that she has called, "Vintage inspired dogwear for spoiled pooches." Peanut and Minnie both got Lucky Fiona collars for Christmas this year. You can find collars of all sizes and colors in her store, and she also makes them for every season and holiday! Your furry friend will love you forever if you treat them to a Lucky Fiona collar!

Next up are these beautiful Ruby Hoops. These faceted rubies are strung on gold wire hoops and they are the perfect present for any lovely lady in your life! Seller lindatrentjewelry also has many other earrings, necklaces and bracelets that you will be impressed with. Don't forget to check out her Sample Sale section. There are bargains you can't pass up!

Next up is this super set of ABC magnets for your little ones that you actually aren't embarrassed to have on your fridge! Creator, mommymemorybracelets has many other items, but these caught my eye one night while browsing!

This felted bag is one that Jill made a while ago. I've seen her make one of these virtually from start to finish, and it is so amazing! I would love to use this bag for all my laptop accessories when I'm out and about with my work stuff. It's one of a kind and you really can't go wrong with getting this for a friend or for yourself!
How cute is this bag?!?!? If you know anything about me, then you know that I can't resist a cute purse. This fun, pink, frame clutch is the perfect bag for a night out on the town! I had such a hard time picking one to feature today, because the seller, oktak makes so many different styles and colors of bags. Go check them out!
Last but not least is a posting of my own. These are my Ocean Water - Blue Beaded Earrings. I made a pair of these for myself months ago and wear them all the time. I thought I'd make another pair to share with others! Don't forget that with any purchase of earrings on my Etsy page, you get a FREE pair of earrings made just for you. They will be a surprise!

Go visit these stores on Etsy. Don't forget to support local artists!

Professional Blogger

Today I was at Borders and I happened upon a book in the Computer section that had a pink and green cover, which is exactly the type of book I love!

It is called The IT Girl's Guide to Blogging with Moxie. It is written by two fun girls, Kathy & Joelle and they give tips for writing a successful blog and having fun whilst doing it. I sat down a flipped through it a bit at the book store, and what I read, I liked. So I bought it and now Jilly is flipping through it, too. I'd like to get more traffic to my blog (besides just my parents, Molly and Jill) to read it. They give lots of tips and I'm excited to read and corner pages and highlight things I want to do.

Anyhoo ... I just wanted to prepare you all for my big time, fancy pants blog that will be happening in the future. It might not look any different, but I'll hopefully be a much smarter blogger.

I do want to say that I'm impressed with my ability to stick with blogging at least once a day. This is the first time I've actually kept up with a New Year's resolution. Yeah me!

Resolution number two is to get some new commenters. I'll remind again ... you do not need to have a gmail address to comment. You can comment anonymously or under the nickname part. If you do click on the anonymous button, I'd love for you to leave your name at the end of the comment so I know you were there! I'm super impressed with both Molly & Julie who commented for the first time this week! Thanks girls!

Okay, back to Saturday Night Live. Couldn't be more happy that it's back on! Yeah for the end of the writer's strike!

You're not fooling anyone ...

I think she just might be preggers. What do you all think?

"You're kidding me. Unbelievable. That's hard to believe."

Ummmm, yeah. Thanks idiot. That is what unbelievable means.

On this morning's news ... it has been discovered that Drew Peterson's 3rd wife was found to have been murdered. She did NOT drown as the coroner's previous report stated.

I still can't get over how stupid this guy is. He took himself on the Today Show several times in the beginning of the hunt for his 4th wife that "disappeared", let such a mess that his idiotic lawyer couldn't pick up the pieces and now this. I love when he said that he couldn't go out looking for her because she ran away with some other guy (he's sure), so why would he have to search for someone who left her home, husband, small children and family for some other random guy. He also called into his hometown's radio station a few weeks ago to see if he could set up a dating show on air for him. His lawyer even said on the Today show the next day that that type of behavior was okay.

Who are these men who think they can get away with murdering their wives and can just to continue to go on with their lives!?!?!

Come on now! Don't they watch CSI? The bad guys never get away with murder!

Whooops!

I almost marched right up to bed without blogging. Not much to report for from today.

I got my taxes done today, got some lessons made, got a bit caught up on our DVR and I think I might actually get to bed before 10:00.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day since it's Friday! Our PTO is bringing lunch in for us (they do it once a month) and it always makes my day. They are so nice to us and bring in great food that I never make time to make for myself at home!

Okay, the dogs just came in from going potty. It's time for bed for both schnoodles and moms.

Night!

I love field trip day!

Field trips at school are the BEST!

Field trips mean wearing jeans on days other than Fridays.
Field trips mean getting out of the classroom, which so rarely happens.
Field trips mean less papers to grade from that day.
Field trips mean an opportunity for longer than a 20-minute lunch "hour".
Field trips mean that our kids actually like school and learning for that day!

Now back to the usual routine of worksheets, lessons, and rushing to get the most amount of learning in. It is Assessment Season, after all!

Why I'm glad I'm friends with Jill ...

Jill has already mentioned one of the many reasons that she loves having me as a friend. Among these many reasons could be that I love to come over and make her husband make me meals; I love to mess up my knitting and have her fix it for me; I love to make her get out all of her crafty things and make a mess of her apartment; and I love to go on and on incessantly about my lovely pooch, Minnie, even though she's a cat person.

Why wouldn't she love to be friends with me!?!?! :)

Well here is reason #273 that I love having Jill in my life:

She took time out of her VERY busy life to make me giggle non-stop tonight. I know Jill is a busy lady. She works hard to make newspaper and yearbook deadlines frequently at school; she finds time to make the coolest items to share with others in her Etsy store; she blogs quite often which gives me something to read at night (and for my parents to not-so-anonymously comment about); and she makes the most kick-a$$ videos to post on that awesome blog!

Tonight's video: "The Truth About Cats and Dogs"! You MUST go see this post to see the funniest video of my little baby, Minners, fighting against her kitty-cat friend, Betters! Jill was sure to include the perfect fighting music and the perfect comments to go along. Puh-leaze go check it out. I hope it makes you as happy as it did me!

Thanks, Jilly!

The last 5 days in pictures:

I left Friday for Columbus to visit Mike and Julie. You've already heard about my flight, but that was about it. That night for dinner, we ended up at one of Mike and Julie's neighborhood bars, Rusty Bucket. I had a great chicken sandwich and we enjoyed our meals with a few beers to toast the start of our weekend!

On Saturday night, we went to dinner with Devon & Kate at the Columbus Brewing Company. Devon & Kate will be at the wedding in July and it was a lot of fun hanging out with them!

After our lengthy and rowdy dinner, we went to meet up with some friends at an Irish pup across town. It was a hole in the wall, but they had a band playing that night.

Lots of Mike & Julie's friends were there, so it was fun to meet the people I've been hearing about. Here is the happy couple.

The next day we all slept in and then we ran errands in the afternoon while Mike stayed home to watch the Ohio State basketball game. After the game, we all went to check out a furniture sale in town. J & M found some awesome pieces for their living room in their new, cute house!
Here they are testing out the "cuddler" that will be arriving in 18-21 days! No joke, that really is the name of this 2-person recliner!
By the time we left the furniture warehouse, it was so beautiful out. All the snow and ice that were previously on the ground were melted. I got to snoop around their backyard a bit and caught this amazing view. Can you believe this was taken on February 16th!?


Sunday was another lazy day for us. We managed to watch most of Season 2 of The Office over the 3 days I was there and we ate lots of Mike's yummy spaghetti sauce! Mike also made me a delicious breakfast sandwich Sunday morning. How did I get so lucky?
I left Monday and got back in town safe and sound. I still haven't unpacked ... are you surprised? I had so much fun this weekend and I'm so grateful that I have such great friends that are willing to let me come visit them! Thanks Mike & Julie!

Last night we had some exciting news happen at our house. Just about the time I was going to bed, Jenny & her Mom got a phone call that her sister went into labor. Today Jenny is an Aunt (again, since her brother & sis-in-law had a baby a few weeks ago) to little Kate! I've already seen pictures and she is beautiful! They left at 12:30 this morning to get to the hospital and basically just got home. They are both pooped. Here is Peanut in the spot I found him when we woke up. He was passed out looking like he was waiting for his Mom to get home!

Do we all agree this is out of control?

I know I said my Care-O-Meter was dropping ... but this photo makes me very sad for her!

What is my problem?

I would pay someone to come in each week and put away my clean laundry and to come over when I get home from trips to unpack my bags. I have no desire to do either chore.

Any takers? I just brought my bag in from the car ... I got in town at 1:30 this afternoon.

I guess I should go do that since it is a school night. More about Columbus tomorrow!

"Are you finding anything you like?"

Said the girl at the bridal shop today.

Julie: "No, no we're not. I think we are looking for something really specific that we can't find."

What she meant to say was, "Are you kidding me!? Look around at these hideous dresses! Do you have anything classy here?"

Here's just a teeny, tiny taste of the types of dresses that were being offered to us today when we went to look for bridesmaid dresses. Let Julie know if you see something you would like to see on 7 lovely ladies this July 19th!

No, you don't need to adjust the color on your computer monitor. Those are the real colors of some of these dresses. Some of them are prom dresses, but you really can't tell the difference between the prom dresses and the bridesmaid dresses. That is what worries me! AND ... who is letting their daughters go out in these dresses? I'm also pretty sure that my Barbies that I had when I was little had many of these dresses! :)

"I wouldn't be the person to ask about that."

Today for lunch we went to a cute little palce called W.G. Grinders. It is basically a sub place, but they also have salads and pasta and other lunch-time items.

I wanted to order the Southwest Chicken Salad, but saw that it said "spicy grilled chicken" in the description. For those of you that know me, you know that I'm a baby when it comes to spicy foods. Adam, Jill & Mitzi made fun of me when my lips started burning from the sweet BBQ sauce at Buffalo Wild Wings. (It's the least spicy and has a smiley face description so you know you're fine with it.)

So, I asked the girl at the cash register who WORKS at Grinders if the chicken was really spicy. Her response was, "I wouldn't be the person to ask about that." REALLY?!?!? Who would be the person? Someone else who doesn't work there? Then when I went ahead and ordered it, she asked me if I wanted the small or large. (The menu didn't give a choice). I asked her what the difference in sizes was and she said, "I don't know." Thanks girly. You were no help to me.

Okay, we are walking out the door to dinner and to hear an Irish band play. Gotta go, just thought I would share that. Night!

Skybus ... AKA Plane for Country to come to Town

I just arrived in Columbus ... currently sitting at Julie's computer in her HOUSE! It is super cute, and the yard and patio will be so much fun once the weather gets nice. I arrived to snow on the ground, which I wasn't expecting at all. What was I thinking? Julie did text me earlier this week to brag about her snow day. (She's unpacking all the Valentine's loot she got at her class party today!)

Anyhoo ... back to Skybus. If you haven't heard about Skybus Airlines, they are based out of Columbus and offer $10 flights each way. I got the $10 tickets for my trip last summer, but this time, I wasn't fast enough and mine were $55 each way. So ... because they have these wonderfully cheap flights, this is the chance for everyone who lives in the country to get to the big city for cheap! I don't mean to be rude, but that was my first impression. Julie said the same thing when I told her about it.

Julie is probably annoyed by me. I walked in and told her I had to sit at her computer to blog today. We are going to meet Mike for dinner, and then to do something, anything. It doesn't really matter ... all that matters is that I get to hang out with Jules and Mikey this weekend!

YEAH for friends in other places! :)

Picture Post to Play Catch Up

Here is the beginning of the Valentine's / Cooking / Craft Chaos that happened at our house this week. Here are some of the plates of sweets that Jenny made for her friends, family and coworkers. I got to taste test, but my favorite are the Oreo balls that she coats in white chocolate and then drizzled with pink chocolate!


And here are the gift bags that Minnie made for her 4-legged friends. We had 10 bags in total.


Here are all the Cupid's Crush Cookies that we made from the 3 Dog Bakery cookbook. I had to do some tweaking to the recipe to get them to work. They were supposed to be rolled into balls and then pressed with a spoon on the cookie sheet. Mine were the consistency of cake batter, so I think I'll try and call the bakery to see if there was an error in either the book or the cook! :)


The cookies were basically ginger snaps for dogs. They had that same flavoring and coloring. Clearly the schnoodles loved them! Although ... I don't think there's ever been a treat that Miss Minners didn't like! Here she is begging/dancing for her 4th Cupid's Crush Cookie! Peanut politely sat for his!


This is Minners looking sad that I was going off to Trivia after I had just gotten home. I've been quite the neglectful Momma the last few weeks. I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day to fit everything in!


We went back to Tanner's for trivia this week. It had to be done. We needed to play and we seem to do really well there. We had a new team name (see our card): Adam & Eves. (Under that you can see T.A.F.K.A.T.W.S.S.: T? A? Formerly known as That's What She Said. We seemed to be sucking most the night, and then miraculously at the end we qualified for the championship. Here is one of the rounds. We got all of these right except #5. Can you guess what the questions were?


Here are the Before and After pictures of the Valentine's tennis ball that Peanut bought Minnie. The time lapse on these pictures would be about 5 minutes from start to finish!
Before:

After:


Okay ... I've got to go do some laundry, pack and clean. Ciao! Let's hope that I can blog from Columbus this weekend. If I can't ... you have to know that it's not me failing ... it would be lack of availability.