It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

These are the reasons why:

REASON #1: Christmas came early for Miss Minnie. Friday night we went over to Adam & Jill's for a lazy evening of knitting & watching Christmas Vacation. Minnie's Aunt Jill & Uncle Adam couldn't wait any longer to give her the present they bought for her.

Here she is enjoying their vintage tinsel tree! Isn't it beautiful?!? I have a tiny one that is definitely NOT vintage, but I'd love one like this!


And here is her present. Minnie clearly needs help to start losing some of her winter weight. This was the large t-shirt, but it's pretty tight. How did my baby get to be such a chunk? She only gets 1.5 cups of food a day and rarely gets treats. I guess we need to make more of an effort to get out for our walks ... snow or shine!

REASON #2: I realized how lucky I am to have a carport this weekend. We've had pretty much constant snow since last night. It isn't much snow, but it's enough to stick to the ground and freeze up on windshields. See how clean my car was this morning when I went out?


My car could have been covered like this one. I'm a lucky duck. This means that I might be able to save myself some time in the morning when I leave for week days.

REASON #3: I brought all my Christmas decorations to my place from my parents' house. I started setting up last night in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, but finished tonight.



Next year, I think I'll have to get a bigger tree, because even though I really like my little tiny trees, I have a bunch of pretty larger ornaments that don't fit on the little babies. That will be my shopping challenge after Christmas. I'm hoping to find some good deals that I can store away until next year!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekends as much as I did. Here's to 3 more quick weeks until my next holiday break ... and ... THE BABY! :)

Dream a little Dream

... for Jayne!

PLEASE go read the post that Jill has written about Dreams Work. The goal of Dreams Work is to improve the quality of life for adults with special needs, assist caregivers with the challenges of providing care for disabled adults, and to provide hope for people with disabilities. Jill's sister, Jayne, goes to Dreams Work Monday through Friday and LOVES being there with her friends.

It is a great foundation and program that runs with the help of Kansas Medicaid monies, but also needs private donations to be able to cover the majority of the program. I've met Jayne and I've heard Jill and her Mom talk about what a great opportunity this is for families in the Kansas City area. Groups like these are needed for Jayne and her friends! As someone who loves to find a great charity, Dreams Work is definitely added to my list. Please head on over to The Chittum Files to read more from Jill! She even has a drawing for a hand-made hat & scarf that Jill will knit herself for one lucky person who makes a donation to Dreams Work!

Santa came early ...

And he delivered a new dishwasher for me! Yippee! Who knew I could get so excited over appliances?

Here is a sequence of pictures from old to NEW!

Here is my old dinosaur of a dishwasher. It didn't actually clean dishes, which was a tiny problem. I had to wash the dishes first in the sink before I could put them in there. What a waste of time & effort.


Waiting in the hallway to be taken away!


Yikes! It's a good thing that the owners before me put in these nice hardwoods in the kitchen. Can you see the water-stained linoleum under there? I'm just happy I didn't see any little animal friends hiding under there, too!


Ahhhhh! So pretty, huh? This new dishwasher even fits better in the space than the old one did!


Dishwasher racks that actually hold more than 10 plates. The delivery man (okay, he worked for the appliance store, it wasn't really Santa) started a cycle to make sure everything worked. It was nice and quiet. When Kristin came by to visit today, I accidentally started it again, and it took some reading in the manual to figure out how to get it to stop! :)


Thanks, Mom & Dad for my early Christmas present! I can't wait to fill it all up and run it for the first time! No more doing-the-dishes whining from me! :)

I give thanks

I was going to compile pictures of all the things I'm thankful for today, but I was afraid there would be too many and/or I might leave someone or something out by accident.

This year has been full of ups & downs for me ... but I give thanks for the following:

• A family that has been very supportive of me this year! Everything from letting Minnie and me move in when we were homeless, to helping me get a new dishwasher for my kitchen! My family helped me with all the highs and lows associated with buying my first home. With my niece on the way ... we have so much more to be thankful for into the next year. Thanks!
• My friends! My work friends see me almost daily and they are there when we need a laugh to get through a long work-week. My girls from high school are friends I can count on at all times. My college friends are wonderful and we can pick up from where we last left off even though it might have been months since I've seen them. Thanks!
  
• Weddings & baby showers! With 10+ weddings this year and 4+ babies on the way ... it shows how many wonderful people want me to be a part of the big events in their life. Thanks for letting me share in your important days ... I couldn't be happier and I wouldn't miss these things for the world! Thanks!
• My first home! What a crazy ride it has been, but I'm finally in a place I can call home ... and I. Love. It. This condo is the place I was meant to be, and even though it was quite the journey to get here ... it was worth it. Thanks!
• My job! Now that I'm half-way into my 5th year of teaching, I know this is what I'm meant to be doing. Each year, I'm given a bigger and bigger challenge in my classroom, and it helps me to push myself to be a better teacher. Not every day is fun or easy, but at the end of the year, it's amazing to see all the progress I've helped my students to make. Thanks!
  
• Minnie! I'm so thankful that I have her in my life. Those of you that are dog or pet people can probably appreciate a great pet like Minnie. She makes me smile each and every day and teaches me how to be more patient. Thanks!

I hope all of you got to spend time with family & friends today or over the weekend. Thanks for continuing to read after all these posts. I appreciate being able to share my daily comings & goings with all of you! THANKS!

It's a good thing I have a 5-day weekend ...

... because the DVR is currently at 97% full!

How does that happen? Scanning through my shows, it looks like Oprah has taken over my DVR. I don't even like her 1/2 the time! I think that means I can delete, delete, delete!

Just got home from dinner & catching-up with great family friends. Now back to the couch to hang out with my Minnie and get geared up for more food and family tomorrow!

Note to self:

The way to get things accomplished at home is to leave work immediately after the 4:00 bell rings.

I left school as soon as my contract hours were up, and I got home in time to do all the following before some friends came over for dinner & game night:

• Clean both bathrooms
• Vacuum the entire first floor
• Make & bake an appetizer
• Clean the kitchen
• Run & empty the dishwasher
• Make & freeze an ice cream dessert
• Feed & walk Minners

So, if I would like to get things done around home, I should be leaving work ASAP. There is the problem. I have so much to do at work, that the only way to get it all done is to stay for hours after the bell rings.

Quite the predicament!

The night ended with a game of Apples to Apples. If you haven't played it, it is a great game for friends, kids, quality family time, the holidays, after having a few drinks, etc, etc, etc.



Off to get some rest. My Turkey Day vacation starts tomorrow! I will use the 5-day weekend to hopefully get some more cleaning down around here, to get LOTS of grading done and to spend some QT with family. I hope you all can do the same, too!

Minnie's long-lost family?

Over the weekend, Molly & I went shopping. While she was trying on clothes, I was waiting patiently and watching the TV that was on. Lucky for me, the Agility Dog Competition was showing on ESPN.

I LOVE watching this! I liked watching before I even had Minnie, but when I first got her and I realized she was so smart ... I thought for a split-second that I would try and do some agility training with her. That dream has since come and gone, but it is still fun.

Anyhoo ... when I was watching the obstacle course, a cute Pyrenees Shepherd won. I don't remember the pup's name, but I do remember that he looked so much like a long-haired schnoodle! I came home to look these dogs up and I found some great pics to compare to pictures of Minnie.

Can you tell which pictures are Minnie and which are the Pyrenees?

Happy, happy couple!

Yesterday was the last of the weddings, Jenny & Robs. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was lots of fun! Everyone looked pretty and Jenny & Rob looked VERY happy!

Here are a few pics from the reception.

Mr. & Mrs. Stilley enjoying their first dance as a married couple:

And here they are letting loose before the rest of their family & friends joined them on the dance floor:
I love this pic of Jenny. You can also see the other women in her family in the picture. On the left is her sister, Anne ... then Mom, Pat and then Jenny. Everyone looked so pretty!

Congrats to my 2 former roomies! The day was wonderful. Hope you enjoy this time off and that you made many, many memories over the weekend! XOXOXXO

How do you handle ...

... THIS Parent/Teacher conference?


It's official, Malia & Sasha Obama are going to attend Sidwell Friends School. I'm sure the girls are great, and I know that the teachers are used to teaching children of well-known parents ... however ... I still think it would be hard to teach the children of THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

I wonder what kind of gifts might come near the holidays? I wonder what would happen if you had to send home a e-mail about bad behavior (maybe thinking about that since I had to do that 2x this week)? I wonder if you would get Mom & Dad's cell phone numbers for emergencies?

Maybe I should move to DC so I can get a job at Sidwell and then find some answers to some of my questions!

Yes, I have 2 names ...

... but I didn't think it was that difficult to figure out what to call me!

My parents made the decision to give both of us more formal official first names, a family name for a middle name and a nickname to go by. I'm Elizabeth King, but I go by Betsy. She's Margaret Hampton, but goes by Molly.

While I've always LOVED the name Elizabeth, I've never gone by it ... never ... and I don't respond to it. Instead, I had the pleasure of correcting teachers & professors every semester when they went through the class roster, "I go by Betsy". I also have bills, credit cards, bank accounts, and all sorts of paperwork that has one or both of my names on them. That's always fun to figure out which one it is, "The name on the account is Elizabeth. Oh wait, it might be under Betsy!"

Anyhoo ... I've been at work for 4 1/2 years! A lot of the people that I work with have been there since my first year. I've only ever gone by Betsy to my colleagues, but my e-mail address & work badge both say Elizabeth (because that would be the name on official employee paperwork). Lately, I've noticed that there is a handful of women who only call me Elizabeth. It's always interesting when I don't respond immediately or ignore them because I don't know they are talking to me. I don't understand it ... they don't see my name as Elizabeth that often. At this point ... how can I correct them?

Ahhh! The joys of having 2 names!

She has a BIG vocabulary!

See? Dogs do understand everything you say!

Minnie is VERY smart, I think she knows what I say most of the time ... and I talk to her A LOT! It's just us girls at home, so we have several conversations throughout the day. Call me crazy if you want, but those of you with pets understand.

I also have quite a few nicknames for her. One of which is Wiggle Butt. Can you tell from the video why that is one of her many names?

What to wear? What to wear?

This weekend, I have wedding #74 for the year! Actually, it hasn't been that many, but I have lost count at this point.

Jenny & Rob are getting married on Saturday! Yippee!

What I don't know, is what the hell I should wear. Yes, I have a trillion bridesmaid dresses to wear, but none of them are great for cold weather. When it gets cold out, all I really want to wear are jeans & a KU hoodie. I promise I won't show up in that, but I do need to find some time to go out shopping between now and Saturday afternoon! Yikes!

Suggestions for winter wedding attire? Anyone seen anything cute lately?

If only Minnie would bring the toys back ...

... I'd let her get this toy for Christmas.

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Even after many, many trips to the dog park she hadn't learned. She would go to fetch a tennis ball, but once she found it, she would either leave it there, or run with the ball, but not back to you so you could throw it again.

Jenny, if you are reading this, I KNOW that Peanut would LOVE this! Don't you have a place for this at Rob's house?

Should I be embarrassed?

I finally unpacked the last 2 moving boxes that were laying about in my loft.

Yes, I closed on my condo on July 21st.

Yes, today is November 16th.

A 4-month time frame for unpacking isn't bad ... right? Don't get me wrong, I still have PLENTY that needs to be done in the condo before I'm a happy home-owner, but I would say that I've accomplished a lot in 4 months. Unpacking just seemed to be on the bottom of my To Do list!

These are just a few of the projects I got done today!

I emptied out these sets of drawers that used to have desk supplies in them and they now hold all my wrapping presents supplies (bags, ribbon, boxes, gift tags, tissue paper, ribbon). Little known fact about me: if I could make money doing it, I would wrap presents for a career. Anyone want to pay me to wrap all their holiday presents? :)

Yes, the office still looks like a giant mess, but I promise progress has been made. I took all the supplies from the drawers above and organized them in the file cabinet drawers. I still have some piles of things to be filed, but since I don't actually use my laptop at the desk, it doesn't have to be perfect quite yet.

These two 8x10 framed pics of Minnie represent the 400+ photos that I organized and FINALLY put in albums last night. I had them sorted out into events by date (going all the way back to 2006) and they covered the entire floor. I still haven't put the Minnie pictures into albums. I have a puppy "baby book" that I bought a long time ago, but I'm not sure how much effort I want to put into it. That might have to be winter/spring/summer break project. Getting the other pics organized was good enough for now. These two framed pics are hung on the wall right next to Minnie's hall closet that houses all her food, toys, treats, meds, etc.

And the kitchen! I had a giant batch of dirty dishes in the sink that were screaming at me to be washed. I am basically hand-washing most of my dishes since my current DW is worthless. Mom & Dad took me early Christmas shopping yesterday for a new DW that will be delivered after Thanksgiving. Yippee! I also cleaned off all the counters that were covered in crap since before I babysat last week. In the back right corner, I also pulled all my cookbooks down from the cabinet above the micro. I thought that if they were up there, I would never look at them. Maybe if they are out, it will encourage me to do more cooking!

Who needs a TV when you can watch Shiba Inu Puppy Cam!?!?!

I saw that a friend has posted a link to this website on his FB page. How in the world did I NOT know about a website that has a live feed of 6 puppies sleeping, eating, playing and being cute??

The website apparently started a few weeks ago, and after I googled to find out more, I realized that the whole nation is watching! There is sound to go with the live feed. For some reason, my sound kind of went in and out, but when Minnie heard the dogs barking & whining at one point, she jumped up on my lap to figure out where it was coming from. I wish you could have seen her standing on my lap with her front paws on the edge of the table, watching the moving pups on my laptop screen! It was priceless.

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This is almost as great as the Puppy Bowl that Animal Planet shows during the Super Bowl for people like me who could care less about football!

I love what Gawker had to say about the site:
It's been a week, and the voyeuristic viral puppycam live-feed is still rolling and we can't tear ourselves away. (It may be the most popular live streaming video of all time, reports Alley Insider.) It's not just that they're so darn cute—it's the economy, stupid! The puppycam is a fantasty that cures us of our free-floating anxiety in an uncertain world. We all want to be those puppies: the Shiba Inu fluffballs don't have to worry about losing their jobs, or making money. They are completely provided for in their little box, their mom comes in and nurses them, and they have human caretakers who play with them as well. They've got it made.

Also, we all know that Obama is about to get his kids a new puppy. That new-puppy feeling that rushed over the country wasn't about the love of dogs: we want to be the Obamas' puppy. We want him to be a paternal figure who will swoop into office and take care of us. We want him to provide for us and feed us and to make our lives safer.

That's also why the people who are running the puppycam have become objects of speculation. All we ever see is the bottom of the man's legs, who comes in to feed them. "Puppies, you want your toys?" you can hear him saying. He's like Curious George's Man in the Yellow Hat, whose character is so sparsely sketched that the reader can project whatever they want onto him. Why did they decide to start a puppycam? How long will it last? Where do they live? WTF is going on?

Meanwhile, Gabriel Delahaye of Videogum thinks the puppycam is ruining the Internet: "Don't even get me started on the livefeed puppy cam and the threat it poses to the rest of the internet... because who cares about any other site? Puppies!"

Quick! Leave my blog! Check out the live feed and then bookmark the page. We don't know how long the site will last, so get your puppy fill while you can! I wonder if I can get to the site from my classroom computer. My kids might like to watch the cam for a few minutes as a reward for good behavior! :)

The sounds from an elementary school hallway

It occurred to me this week that people who don't teach, have young children, or spend time in an elementary school at all may not have any idea what the halls are like!

I've mentioned in a previous post one reason why a teacher's job is different from your job. My next reason is this: When you are walking down the hallway at your job, you probably don't have people reminding you to walk on the right-hand side of the hall and use the right-hand door, "just like a car". I say this probably 10+ times a day. Kids seem to think they can walk willy-nilly down the hall, however they please, even if several other classes are trying to walk to and from their rooms.

If you were in our building, you would also hear shouts and gossip and various noises (!) coming from the bathroom. There is also a constant chug, chug, chug coming from the paper towel dispensers. The students in our pod (1st, 3rd & 4th graders) seem to think they need 5 feet of paper towels to dry their tiny, little hands.

There are MANY other noises! Just today we had a tornado drill in the morning and then in the afternoon, my kids were so noisy at the bathrooms that another teacher came out to tell them to get quiet.

Next time you think you work with some interesting characters ... come hang out with me at my job for a day! :)

Haircuts are exhausting!

I know someone that finally got her hair cut last night ... and she's been worn out ever since!

A bit more of election night

I just finished babysitting Monday night. It was a L O N G nine days away from my own home and from Minnie!

These are some pics I took on Election night. I pretty much was camped out at this kitchen table the entire week. I had to get my internet/blog fix and got a chance to watch a few of my shows.

Anyhoo ... this was me last Tuesday. My laptop on the left to get all the updated election scoop; work laptop on the right putting my kids' grades in the computer.


This was my "score keeping" sheet I filled out for "the kid" for his homework. Yes, I had to help him do his homework ... because he was off at swim practice for 2+ hours. The blue & red lines are his work after he did his coloring for the assignment. By the next morning, the "blue" states had run onto the back! Yippee!

Glad to be home where I can relax on my own couch & sit at my laptop in front of the TV & not have to complete 7th grade homework for someone else! :)

From Fall to Winter

These are a few of the pictures I took last week. I think you can actually see Fall turning to Winter. Just last week I was still wearing flip-flops to school and it was close to 70 degrees. One short week later and we might have snow flurries on Friday.

Yeah for Kansas weather!

Has it seriously been 10 years?

I was talking with Julie on Sunday and we were discussing our 10-year high school reunion. As a class officer, Julie is in charge of working with a few other classmates to get our reunion planned. I can't even believe that it has been 10 years. The reunion will probably be some time this summer.

I feel like I've done a pretty good job of staying in touch with friends from our graduating class (Class of '99 - woo hoo!) but I've also done a good job of finding lost friends and classmates via Facebook, MySpace and maybe I'll find some friends on Twitter now that I've started that. I even had some old HS friends tell me they are reading the blog now ... "hi" to you all!

I have a disease ...

... Mitzi tells me it's called Fallalotitis!

Apparently I've turned into Tipsy Tumbles in my old age of 27 years. Last year I made the biggest possible fall in front of my whole class. I thought I rolled my ankle over a crayon, but in reality I probably just fell over my own feet.

A few weeks ago, I fell off a stool for no good reason at our grade level meeting. I was sitting on minute and the next, I was on the ground clutching onto the legs of the stool.

And this week I had my next big fall. I was in the kitchen here where I am babysitting and there is a tiny step down. I must have mis-gauged the distance of the step to where I was standing because the next thing I knew ... I was on the hard tile floor on my knees and palms. I was fine at the time, but the next morning, I realized that I had twisted my knee pretty bad.

I'm so sad that I have lost all balance and sense of distance. What happened to me?? Maybe I need to spend more time on Adam & Jill's Wii Fit! Yes, I think that sounds like a plan!

I want THAT job!

Tonight "the kid" and I were running errands & picking up Chinese take-out. On our way home, we drove by a SleepOne mattress store and the parking lot was empty. There were a few cars parked to the side of the building which I assumed were employee cars.

I looked in the window to see 2 or 3 men laying on the mattresses and taking a snooze. Hilarious!

I guess people don't typically buy mattresses on Saturday nights. If this is the case, then maybe I can work evenings at SleepOne and catch up all the sleep I'm not getting during the week.

Are you smarter than my 4th graders?

Apparently not.

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Now that McCain and Palin don't have the media wrapped around their little fingers (I was actually saddened when I saw McCain sans security guards and driving himself home yesterday), the media is allowed to share all the gossip nuggets about their campaign that were "off the record" until Tuesday.

I love the phrase "off the record". Having a Dad who has been involved in politics for a L O N G time ... I've heard him say things are "off the record" on many a phone call.

I haven't had a chance to watch all of this video because the internet here keeps going in and out, but the headlines today stating that Palin thought that Africa is a country were SHOCKING to me! My fourth graders know that Africa is a continent. Again ... this goes back to my rant about Palin wanting to tell the nation that she was "just like us". First of all ... most of us that are adults know that Africa is more than a country and second of all ... I don't what someone who is just like me to be one of the most powerful leaders of the world. The President and Vice President should be so smart that I have NO clue what they are talking about. I like to think I'm smart ... but I know I'm not nearly smart enough to be on the Presidential ticket!

Don't worry ... I'm done ranting for now. Just waiting for something else to get me riled up. I bet you all can't wait!

Fall Picture Post

Over the weekend, Erik's Mom, Ann, asked me to take some pictures of her garden and planters so she would know where everything goes next Spring when she's planting again. Since the weather was so nice, this was a fun project for me! I loved walking around her yard and taking pics, because even though some of the plants were dead, everything looked so pretty!

Here are some for you to enjoy. Didn't they turn out great? I especially love the close-up of the bumble bee. You can see the dew drops on his wings and back.

Obama! He's Baracking my world!

To steal a quote from Grace Adler on "Will & Grace" ... she seemed to say it best!

I'm almost speechless. After all my politics chatter ... I just down at my laptop about 10 minutes ago, and thought ... "Hmmmm ... what can I write?"

I almost missed it. I was sitting here at the kitchen table. Trying to get my laptop to hook up tot he internet. I muted the TV for about 2 minutes to help "the kid" finish his homework (coloring the states according to how the electoral votes went). When he left the room, I turned the sound back on and saw it ... "Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States!" Tears immediately starting running down my face. And here they go again ... seeing the whole family walk out to speak in Grant Park. I hope that Emilie has made her way down there. (Em, make sure to fill me on on all the details!)

What an amazing night in history. Whichever way the votes fell ... history was going to be made. I can't wait to read about this in the social studies & history books in the near future!

Results?

I'm babysitting this week (and have pre-written a lot of these posts), so I'm hoping I get to watch the election coverage tonight. I'm almost positive that the kid won't be interested in watching any of it, so I'll have to keep him busy with other things.

My "Smart Women Vote" t-shirt ... vintage from 2004. I'm wearing it today.

My cousin Katherine said that she's throwing a Results Party at her neighborhood bar for all her friends. She didn't couldn't do advance voting in New York City, so I'm interested to see what the lines where like there. I'm wondering what they'll be like here in OP. Very glad that I went early, because I know with my busy week there is no way I could have gone today.

I hope everyone is crossing their fingers like I am ... and if you are reading this early and you haven't gone out yet ... RUN! STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! Get your hiney over to the voting booths!

Etsy News

Sunday, Jill sent me to the link from the Etsy News page that announces that they are going to start doing some media promotions! Yippee!

This is great news. We've known for a long time that Etsy is a fabulous site, but if only the Etsians are out there promoting the site, it is difficult to get random people out there to browse around.

I've already told my family that I would be doing my best to make or buy handmade gifts this holiday season. For two reasons: 1) to save money now that my mortgage & bill payments are starting to catch up with my bank account and 2) to support other local artists who are trying to do the exact thing I'm doing.

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Etsy Buy Handmade betsyonetsy

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So here are some of the things that are currently for sale in my own Etsy store. If you don't see something here that you like (which is perfectly fine), then PLEASE browse around on Etsy.

If it can be made ... it's on Etsy!

I know for a fact that you can find beautiful jewelry, well-made baby gifts, presents for pets, art work, clothes, food, gift wrap, holiday cards ... and they all will be wonderful and possibly less expensive than if you just went out to the major stores in your home towns.

Think about it.

Elections are about this!

Go check out the video that Dad posted this weekend. It is a bit long, but the graphics on it are great and it has a wonderful message!

He also has some great cartoons to get us all ready for the election this week! I can't believe it is actually here. What will all the news media talk about when most of this mess is over?

Say what's in your heart!

Joanna sent me the link to this video this week, and even though it has it's funny parts, I think it is really pretty touching.

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The major celebs in this clip share why they are choosing to vote this year. They've also thrown in some people just like you and me. The video is part of the Declare Yourself campaign, and it makes a great point!

Every vote counts! Go out and vote ... the clock is running out! Wear your "I Voted" sticker proudly!