Relaxing

I finished baking and decorating about 10 minutes before my cousin arrived to babysit for the night. We packed up all the muffins and cupcakes into the car and I took off! Sadly, I left the cookies in the freezer.
Or was it good?
The cupcakes were pretty basic, but had a splash of hot pink sprinkles.
From The American Homemaker, I tried out the Simple Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  They turned out very, very yummy! I did add a bit more pumpkin than the recipe called for, as the first batch was a bit dry. Also, if serving to guests, I really recommend frosting them with a thick type of frosting – taste good, look not so good.
I also made Butter Pecan Cake Mix Cookies. These were also quite yummy, especially after being drizzled with melted chocolate. These are the ones I left in freezer – my attempt to get the chocolate to harden before I left. I hope the kids like them better than I do – or at least that they end up eating more than I do.


I think the wreath turned out quite well. Perhaps a few more grizzlies? Or bells? Probably not. My one weakness in creating things is adding too much. I never know when to stop. Anyways, it sold for $40, which all told is probably close to what it cost to make. It’s all for a good cause, right?
I’m spending today recovering. Five hours straight on my feet just killed me. I mean, I’m on my feet all day at school, but I try to plan out time to sit or grab a chair a kneel on for a few minutes. Last night there just was no time to do that at all. I think I sat for about 10 minutes total… at the end of the night while I was doing paperwork and counting money. The total for the night was nearly $1000. About half of our usual haul, but given the local economy and the fact that the football team was away at a state play-off game, it’s not so bad.
At least now I can relax my way into the Holidays. What should I make next?

Dreaming Away

Lately, I've been dreaming of moving to New Zealand. You know, it's all clean and shiny... it doesn't rain almost every day and the kids wear uniforms to school.  No more policing children's clothing at work or arguments about whether the rip is "just above the kneee" or "displaying the thigh". FYI, in the teen age mind, there is apparently a separate and distinct, body part between the knee and the thigh. It's called "justabovetheknee."

Working in a high school gives me lots of foder for thought on Lala's future schooling. For example, although I know the elementary school teachers in my district are wonderful and kind people, I really don't want Lala to attend school here. The kindergartners are foul-mouthed, illmannered, and apathetic. How is a kindergartner not excited about school? Although my community has several things positive about it, there are many that are not. Racism abounds. Schools are free day care/court monitoring and learning isn't a high priority. Neither is discipline, respect for others or hygiene.

So then the question becomes where does she go to school? Private is pretty much out, unless I find a job at a private school that allows children of staff members to attend for free. Homeschooling could only be an option if I found a work at home job that offered insurance (ha!). Which leaves moving as a viable option. And if you're going to move, why not make it a great international experience? Lala could have a cute Kiwi accent and say things like "yissss," instead of "yes" and we could go to a beach with swim suits instead of jogging suits with fleece jackets. I could get used to eating pickled beets (they're on everything in that part of world... ) and Lala could gross out all her Kiwi friends by eating peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches.

Ok, it's January and constantly raining. Pictures of sunny beaches give you funny ideas.

How to End a Really Sucky Day?

After all my angst about who would actually show up for conferences, I only made it to one session before I collapsed into a fever crazed sick person. There was supposed to be a sign up sheet to leave phone numbers, but either few could be bothered or, as one parent claimed, the paper was hidden somewhere that only special parents could find. I do have about 15 to call next week.

In the meantime, I’m still trying to recover from said illness. And get caught up on grading. Usually, I get tons done during conferences since I’m forced to sit in the cafeteria for hours with little entertainment. I had it planned… and, it didn’t work out. Instead, it was a marathon session today.

So what made the day suck? It should have been great. Only one class, tons of time to get stuff done, get qualified for my energy rebate without having to take time off, maybe even grocery shop… well, I did get one class all caught up with grading and will be getting my rebate check.

But! am apparently broke, discovered that out of 45 students, only 15 did the project assignment that was due today… and only two were from the class I actually saw, forcing me to give the annual “if you sit around watching life go by, all your going to get is a view of other people getting a life” speech. (as a side note, I think it’s getting better… there were no rolling eyes this year. Then again, this isn’t a class with much of a backbone).

After school, I was really too wiped out (speechifying is tiring!) to shop, so I didn’t get that done. Or pay the garbage bill or deposit a check, hence the bounced check fee… and the dog bit the two year old. So, I’ll spending the weekend finding her a new home (the dog, not the two year old)… which sucks, but I’ve tried everything and the dog is just not accepting them and yet, freaks if not with me.

I should have bought some calgon.

Another Meeting

I finally received a letter informing of an upcoming meeting for the cuddler. Hopefully I’ll get more information on his future – I think these past few months of no information has really set me up for an emotional fall. My mind has been moving into “permanent” mode, even though nothing I’ve ever seen or heard has pointed to that direction. The meeting is next week.

In the meantime, it’s been very busy around here. This week is a huge fundraising event (actually 10 days of events!) at work. It’s for a good cause and raises much needed funds… but it’s a lot of work. Last night was a “talent” show in which I performed twice. Sadly, no one recorded it on camera. I had a lot of people tell me that my rendition of Red-Hooded Sweatshirt was quite funny. Tomorrow night is the dessert auction. That’s the event I’m in charge of and I think that I might actually be experienced enough not to freak out this year. At least I haven’t freaked out yet. Tomorrow night I will probably be sweating it out waiting for the donations to show up.

I tried to help out in the dessert donation part by making cookies tonight. I should have known… I cannot make no bake cookies. The whole cooking the sugar for just the right amount of time does not work for me. Even when I have directions, it doesn’t work. I’d post a photo of them, but it’s just too embarrassing. I’ll have to hit the grocery store tomorrow before the auction. Sad.

Long Weekend

It was a busy weekend, as usual… but this coming week will be even busier. Two of our local high schools have a major fundraising competition for the area food banks. It’s a huge deal. Mind blowingly huge. The kind of huge that really should be on the Oprah show. In honor of this fundraiser, I’ll be singing tomorrow night not once, but twice. For the record, I can’t sing. I do, however, love to sing and signing in front of an audience where people will applaud no matter how bad – oh yeah, nothing better.

I’ll be part of team singing Mahnahnahnah and doing red hooded sweatshirt solo.
I am really excited about it. Really. If only I wasn’t so tired… and had so much still on my to do list. Plus, this Wednesday I’m the advisor for another event and even though Wednesday is officially a holiday… I’ll be at work bright eye’d and bushy-tailed at 8 am. Maybe I’m just to tired from today.

Current To-Do List

• Find someone to remove moss from roof
  
• pay bills
  
• figure out if this is water bill month or garbage bill month and pay
  
• pick up mail from post office
  
• weigh in for biggest looser at work; try not to cry
  
• finish cleaning the living room
  
• vacuum
  
• sweep
  
• train the dog not to growl at the kids or stay in another room without going crazy
  
• clean kitchen
  
• finish the laundry, wash new clothes
  
• sleep
  
• hang shelves
  
• make cookies for Wed. benefit
  
• find pink hair spray
  
• wash red hooded sweatshirt?
  
• get milk

maybe I need to prioritize a bit, but still it’s all gotta get done.

Upcoming...

Yesterday I had to attend a class to my teaching credential current.
It's the culimination of a class I took in 2006-2007. Everyone was supposed
to bring a photo that showed the changes in their life since we had last met...
my original photo was a copy of a christmas card I had made of me and my
dog wrapped up in Christmas lights and me with a wine glass in hand.
Contrast that to the one I'll sending out this year and it's quite a change in three years.

Have you noticed the recent backlash against holiday cards? I can't b
elieve the number of people who've told me that they really hate
them... how do you hate a holiday card? I realize that the annual
holiday letter was never a big favorite, but I liked them. Nowadays,
you can simply upload a photo to some site, choose a frame and order
away. They'll even send them out for you if you just upload your address
book. And yet, people seem to think they are this huge bothersome
task that no one appreciates, so why do it all?

Maybe it's just the people I know... Are you planning on sending out holiday
cards? Has the number of cards you received gone down over the years? Is
it just me?

**just wanted to add that this morning we had to stop at WalMart to pick up
mittens before heading out to the pumpkin patch. It was that cold this morning!
Winter is on it's way.

Home Visit and School Visit

Tomorrow is my final home visit for the home study. I'm predicting
that the homestudy report will be done just before my fingerprints to
expire. Hopefully, that means I will not have to do them again! It
will be such a relief to have everything done!

Last night was our school open house. My babysitter crapped out on me
at the last minute, and I could not find another. Every back up
already had plans - two were planning on actually attending said Open
House. So, as any good single mom, I brought them with me. All was
well until the third group of parents. By then Lala was comfortable
and the cuddler had run into his second wind. While I was trying
explain the class requirements to parent, I had a little boy sitting
in a stroller chattering away (or rather "bok-ing" away... he really
does sound like a chicken trying to lay an egg!) and a little girl
rolling on the floor under my feet saying "momma" over and over.
Luckily, the scene reminded all the parents of when their children
were young AND those were happy memories. I know it was certainly
memorable for me!