Thanksgiving Trip

For Thanksgiving this year, we thought we'd go visit Joe's mom in South Carolina. We had a blast. She sent us to Charleston for a couple nights to do some touring around. The first tour we did was a culinary tour. It wasn't really what I expected, but it was still pretty good. We started out in this hole in the wall cafe that shared it's building with a Lil Cricket conveinent store. I was skeptical. It was fantastic. The grits were better than any other restaurant we went to while there. We went to a couple candy stores, a chocolate shop, a bar-b-que restaurant, where I actually ate some collard greens...still don't like them though, then to a spice store, and then a kichen gadget store. I can't believe I didn't take a single picture on that tour, but there you have it. Again, not the tour I was expecting, but still good.

I think we probably ate every 2 hours we were there. They have the best restaurants. If you ever go, I highly recommend Hanks seafood. That might have been our favorite. I liked Magnolias too, but we both agreed Hanks was fantastic.


Some more fun times in Charleston.




We then made our way to Hilton Head Island.


Joe and his mom.



Riding bikes at the beach.




I tried to take a picture of Phil over my head from my bike. I'm not a very good shot.


Joe's mom and I even had time to go to Savannah.





So we had a pretty eventful Thanksgiving. I'm thinking we need to go again in the Spring to fully enjoy the East Coast.

Decisions, decisions...

I think I'm getting to that point in my life where some big changes are needed to be decided.

Decision #1: Buying or building a new home.

We've lived in our "neighborhood" for about 5 years now, and I'm thinking it might be time to move on pretty soon. Once we sell out last rental property, it will be time for a change in scenery. I'm really not too picky. Preferably just one that doesn't move every time we have a storm...and a garage would be nice too.

Decision #2: Change jobs...again.

When I came to my school last year, I thought I hit a gold mine. The kids were great, the administration was great, my team was great. I should have known it wouldn't last. Some new schools opened up, redrawing our district lines. Lost a lot of good kids. Then our principal ends up going to one of these new schools, so we get a new principal (she is the devil). And only one of my team members is the same as last year. I don't know if I mentioned our principal is the devil, but she is. She makes it really hard to want to stay there. But I love what I do, and I know the kids. She is the devil.

Decision #3: Baby?

This is like a constant ping pong match going on in my head. Back and forth, on and off, yes or no. I have no doubt I'll be a good parent. I'm not really sure what I'm waiting for. Hubby is the decision maker in the house. I can't make a decision to save my life. I've never been "on my own" and therefore have never had to make any tough decisions. I'm spoiled, I know.

So there you have it. These are the things on my mind at this point in time, in no particular order.

Fuming

So our district has been on the news this last week. EVERY night this week. Good ol' Wayne Dulcefino's sticking his nose in other people's business...again. I don't think this man reports news. I think he reports crap. Twisting the truth around until it looks ugly. Our district and superintendent have been accused of misusing taxpayer's money for travel and training of teachers and administrators. I do agree some of the trips are unnecessary, but this is nothing new in the education world. EVERY district does this. They all spend lots of money on consultants and training.

I'm not always happy about what decisions our superintendent has made, but I don't think turning his name to mud is the answer. As a teacher in this district, I fume when I see these "news" reports about us. We spend countless hours with these kids during the school year trying to make them better people. We are counselor, teacher, and parent to many of these kids during the day. We spend more time with them than most of their parents, give them more hugs than they get at home, and discipline them better with our words than with our hands.

If our district wants to send us away from here for a few days of training, why the hell not?

Just a lot of nothing

I haven't posted in a while because I haven't had anything to post. Since school started up again, life has been very monotonous. I get up, go to work, perfect my vocal abilities all day, go home. It's just been a great big pile of boring!

There is one bright and shining star from the last few weeks. I've been dropping weight for no apparent reason at all. I'm not going to complain, but it usually takes drastic measures for my weight loss. Hopefully I don't have some terminal disease or anything.

With it being High School Football season, I'm feeling the effects of being single again. I might go on a date once in a blue moon with the hubster, but usually I'm content with taking myself to Subway for dinner and ending the evening with the purchase of a new book. I might have a slight addiction in that area...at least it's legal. I've been trying to keep myself occupied with as many hobbies as I can manage. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it too. Bagpipes are getting learned, scrapbooks are getting started (notice I didn't say finished), books are getting read, and on and on it goes.

I know...it's okay to be jealous. :o)

1st day of school

So I don't use any real names when it comes to work. I would hate for someone to think I was talking about them...I can just plead ignorant. Today was obviously the first day of school. These next two words deserve their own paragraph.

It sucked.

Most of the classes I had were great. I went through my 1st day spiel and on they went. We even got to play a game in 1st grade. They were my favorite...by FAR. Kindergarten is last in the rotation this year.

That also sucked.

I thought they were crazy in the morning...I think they get crazier as the day goes on. Having 29 five year olds in one room pretty much sucked every motherly instinct out of me. Not only did we get their sweet little faces for 50 minutes at the end of the day, but we also got to keep them for the next hour while we waited to dismiss them to buses. Now I'm not going to play the blame game, but having the specials teachers dismiss kindergarten to buses is a BAD IDEA. Do we HAVE a transportation list?...no. Do these kids even know their own name?...no. Do THEY know how they get home?....hahahahah!!!!...no. I had 2 in tears before the day was over...BECAUSE THEY NEED STRUCTURE! I don't even HAVE my own kids and I know this.

I was never so happy as to come home and do dishes. Even teachers need a little structure in their lives.

Day 11:

So I'm well into week 2 of my new program, and the only thing I've noticed is a slight lessening of back fat. THAT'S IT! Now, back fat is not the most attractive thing, so I'm okay with that, but the scale won't budge, and the tape measure is not very promising. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to stick with it. Obviously 2 months isn't enough time for my body to adjust to working out. All that time with a personal trainer must have thrown everything out of whack!

But like I said, I'll stick with it. I'm determined to buy one of those clearanced swim suits in December and stare at myself in a mirror for hours on end. This is something I've never done, but hope to accomplish before 2010...not the staring at myself in the mirror part, just the buying a bathing suit.

So hopefully I can keep up with this workout routine once school starts. I guess I'll know after tomorrow. :o(

This body of mine just doesn't want to cooperate!

Okay, so I've got just one more training session with my trainer on Tuesday. This makes me happy. It's hard. Not that I actually thought it'd be easy, but sometimes I just like to workout at home. Like today...

Joe and I have started another, oh, I mean a new workout program. This one's a lot cheaper than a personal trainer and hopefully more effective. It's one of those Beach Body programs that you've only heard of if you stay up late and watch infomercials. I did my first workout this morning. The sad part was I got my heart rate up to ludicrous speed just during the warm up. This is not good. I realized very quickly this program is probably for people who are NOT fat and want to look like Gerard Butler in the movie "300". I was just waiting for the guy to tell me to upend a tractor tire 10 times in 30 seconds!

I thought my trainer was hard...this was ridiculous! But I'm going to stick with it. I'm hopeful I might actually lose some weight. 4 weeks with a personal trainer, and nothing! I think I might have gained a pound. I'm at my wits end here people! Perhaps this 90 days of Hell will be my saving Grace.

Day One: Check!