Rhonna Farrar Blog!

Rhonna Farrar has a beautiful new blog!! Here's the link!! http://www.rhonnadesigns.blogspot.com/
Go check it out for tons of yummy digi scrapping goodness!! She also has a fabulous contest posted to win some of her digi scrapping goodness!!

WE SURVIVED!! We survived our first Nutcracker that is!! Liv performed on Saturday afternoon and in the final performance on Sunday, a sold out show by the way. She absolutely LOVED every second of it!! She was the MOST PRECIOUS little party girl on the stage, especially in the very first scene when her "daddy" was carrying her in his arms through the snow to the party! Afterwards I asked her what she thought about that snow. She insisted that it was real because it was cold and wet when it landed on her face. Her brother, of course, teased her and told her it couldn't be real snow inside the theater. She very quickly told him that it WAS real snow, magic snow!!

She also requested her first nutcracker. I figured she would want one! In the car on the way home AFTER asking me for a nutcracker, she asked me, "Mommy what IS a nutcracker anyway." I explained to her that it was just like it sounded, it was for cracking nuts. From the back seat I hear, "AWWWWWW! So the SQUIRRELS can eat them easier." LOL!! Yes baby that's JUST what they are for.............so kindly people can sit on park benches and make it easier on the poor little squirrel to eat their nuts!! There WILL be a nutcracker and a webkinz squirrel under the Christmas tree for one little princess this year!!

On the way to the show Sunday Liv says, "Mommy, The Nutcracker wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be." My heart SANK!!!! This was all she had lived and breathed for WEEKS!! I asked her why not. She responded, "All the bigger girls got to do TWO parts and I only got to do ONE part Mommy!" LOL! Well then, that's a different story!! It wasn't that she didn't enjoy dancing it was that she didn't get to dance ENOUGH!! She has her parts all picked out for next year also. She wants to be either the Sugarplum Fairy OR Claire!! LOL! I think you have a bit of growing and practicing to do Princess!! She finally conceded that it would be fun to be a mouse. But NOT the one who dies...............although she did agree that the death scene was pretty awesome!! Mommy thinks the marzipan lambs were adorable................maybe she would settle for that! LOL!!

Dress Rehearsal Time..................

The princess was eager to get to her dress rehearsal last night!! She looks so beautiful and grown-up in this picture that it scares the bejesus out of me!!

These pictures are quite horrid and NOT up to my normal standards since my camera was being extremely uncooperative! Neway!! Olivia is in the center of the picture with the blond curls ad the light pick sash.

Another not so great picture..but there she is with her hands behind her back, watching Claire dance with the nutcracker.

Here she is with the rest of the "party girls." Boy did they cast her right!! By the way, don't you love that "momarazzi get that camera out of my face" look she's giving me. I'm just waiting for her bodyguard to come break my camera!!

Waiting and watching!

Yea! We survived the dreaded dress rehearsal!! We left the house at 4:45 and got home at 8:45. Yes I am exhausted but the princess is WIRED!! She is totally stoked and ready to hit the stage this weekend. As a matter of fact, she enjoyed the dress rehearsal so much that she was not only totally ticked off that they only got to rehearse once but also that I wouldn't let her stay and watch the rest of the rehearsal!! Mommy just doesn't have quite the stamina that the princess does though so it was off to home and bed for us before mommy turned into a pumpkin. Oh wait..........that a different story!!

Nutcracker Rehearsals

Olivia had her last regular rehearsal for The Nutcracker last night. I FINALLY realized that if I parked on the side of the building I could watch the rehearsal through the picture windows! Watching her literally brought tears to my eyes. You could just see, from the look on her face, how much she loves ballet and performing. She just has this glow about her. You can tell that she is enjoying every SECOND of it......from the costume fittings, the trips to find just the right ballet slippers and leotard, to the actual rehearsal...........she loves it all. I think this was MORE than apparent from the 8:00 a.m. phone messages she left Saturday morning. I received not one, not two BUT three messages from her, each one whispered into the phone so as not to wake her daddy, telling me we had rehearsal. I can't believe that, at SIX years old, she has enough intrinsic motivation to, not only remind me, but to get up that early all on her own!! The funny thing is that she DIDN'T have rehearsal because of the Thanksgiving break! LOL! I know adults who aren't as conscientious and motivated as my six year old daughter! Sweet girl! I hope she never loses this love and passion for ballet! No matter what path in life she may take, I know one thing, with her determination and spirit, she will go far be in as a ballerina or on the board of directors!

How to Make a Gingerbread Christmas Tree

First make sure you look adorable!

Then, very carefully and with complete and intense concentration, pipe green icing on the "branches" of your tree.

Add snow to your branches, only stopping occasionally to, yet again, make sure you look absolutely adorable.

Precisely place the ornaments on the branches of your tree, the ones that don't get eaten that is.

Look adorable one more time! You can NOT include too much of this!!

Proudly display your finished gingerbread Christmas tree!

Wow have we been busy!! Between Christmas shopping, returning all the mistakes I already made Christmas shopping (yeah..........LOL!), Olivia's Nutcracker rehearsals, waiting for the Comcast people (sigh), and the myriad other things, I don't know HOW we managed to fit in some time for some FUN!! But we did!! I helped Olivia make and decorate a gingerbread Christmas tree! She actually did at least 95% of the work all by herself and I "supervised." She became quite a little pro at that decorating bag! I always squish the icing out the top!

So tomorrow's the BIG day! Turkey day!!My plans are to do as little as possible. I'm NOT cooking, I'm not going to any family member's home. I'm chillaxing, watching the parade, resting for SHOPPING FRIDAY!! My FAVORITE day of the year!! The early morning lines, the coffee, the rude people who try to cut in line, the crowds, the fights...................sigh............it's wonderful!! I love it! All of it!! Every little bit of it!! Funny cause as a rule, I'm not a big shopper. I would rather pull my finger nails out one by one than spend time in the mall!!! I don't know what it is about Black Friday, but it ROCKS!! The next best day of the year.........the day after Christmas!! Woo hoo!! I love Jesus and love celebrating his birth on Christmas day but I tell you what I praise his name for the AFTER Christmas sales that without him, would not be!!

Girls' Night Out.........Little Girls that is............

Ally is spending the night with Olivia tonight........a house full of 6 year old girls! They have been absolutely no trouble at all, well except for the ARGUING!! LOL! OMG! They argue like two little old ladies!! Seriously.........it's like living with two of the Golden Girls..........really, really small versions of the Golden Girls. No matter what one of them wants the other wants exactly the opposite!! They argued over what to have for dinner, what movie to see, what to play with, crayons or markers, dinner before the movie or after, pajamas or night gown..............you get the picture!!

We went to see Bolt tonight. It was really, really cute!! As it should have been considering we had to pay an EXTRA 2.00 per person for the 3D glasses! Tickets for the three of us, a popcorn, and three small drinks was $41.00!! HOLY COW!! And that's why we don't go to the movies more often!! Seriously I could have bought two or three DVDs for the same amount!!

Off now to referee the hooligans. They are arguing as to whether the TV should be off or on while they are going to sleep. A see a mini-meltdown in their very near future!!

The Nutcracker Cult...............Let the Brainwashing Begin!!

Just got back from another Nutcracker rehearsal. Holy cow! I feel like it's taking over our lives......like we've joined a cult...........DON'T drink the kool-aid!! While Liv was rehearsing, I was in a parent meeting. Good GRIEF, these people live and BREATH ballet!! I absolutely love it and I love how much Liv loves it BUT golly doodle we DO have a life outside of ballet!! Shhhhhh!! Don't tell them I said that................those people scare me!!

The Nutcracker Looms on the Horizon.....

We spent our morning at ballet as usual. Liv loves it so much. She woke with an upset tummy t about 5:30 this morning. When I said it didn't look like she would be able to go to ballet today, she FREAKED OUT!! Needless to say, she pulled it together and we went to ballet. She has rehearsal tomorrow and next Sunday,then dress rehearsal next Thursday and THEN her performances on sat and sun. She is still upset that she can't be in ALL the performances! LOL! She also has aspirations for the part of either Claire or the Sugarplum Fairy next year. I don't quite know how to tell her that she will be much too young for the role of Claire and the role of The Sugarplum Fairy goes to one of the PROFESSIONAL ballerinas!! Hey! Nothing wrong with having goals though!! Go for it baby girl!! I, of course, CAN'T wait to see her on stage!! You know there WILL be pictures posted in the very near future!! LOL! I was pleased to read in the paperwork that we CAN take pictures DURING the dress rehearsal with a non-flash camera. Thank goodness for the Nikon D-50 and my long lens!!

I think Drs are all crazy!!

Went to the rheumatologist today for my followup. I think that was the longest Dr visit I've EVER had...........OMG!! They did a bunch of x-rays and took TWELVE vials of blood and I guess I'll hear back about that soon. The crazy thing is that she diagnosed me with carpal tunnel syndrome and said she thinks I may have a spinal cord injury! WTH?? Don't you think I might have noticed something happening to me that might have caused a SPINAL CORD injury!! I am thinking that being a medical Dr and being a witch Dr are NOT very different after all. If she had shaken some chicken bones and looked at some smoke and danced around the office with feathers on her head and THEN told me the exact same thing it would have seemed no more plausible to me. And people think I'm crazy!! She wants me to go for physical therapy 2-3 times a week...............ummm, ok and I'll do that WHEN?? IDK.........all I wanted to know is why I'm so freaking tired and achy all the time and now I feel like this woman practically has me wheelchair bound. I quit!! Funny how this is all becoming rather humorous to me...........well as humorous as being stuck with a needle repeatedly and giving enough blood to feed a hungry vampire can be!!

Pity.........Party of One, Your Table is Ready!!

Well not to be the voice of doom again, but Tom emailed me last night. Things are not going well for him and he is thinking about the possibility of moving back home. Sigh...............I completely understand BUT, and I KNOW this is selfish, the last thing in the world I wanted or needed right now was to loose him also with everything else going on in my life. Honestly, he was one of the few bright spots left, my kids and friends being the others. I am just feeling sad and scared and very, very lonely.

I am just having a great big old pity party for myself right now and everyone is invited!! BYOB!!

Seriously, I am valiantly trying to still see the humor or at the very least the IRONY in all this but man it's getting harder and harder!

I have a follow up with the Rheumatologist on Thursday.............of course it's on the SAME DAY that I'm supposed to have an all day professional learning day with another teacher and the school's ILT. Although I am sure she won't be happy that I'm missing half of it, my health comes first. I've been reading a lot about Systemic Lupus, which is the type that I might have.......I'm going with MIGHT until I get verification from specialist, and it looks like I have to look forward to a lifetime of maintenance meds and lifestyle changes. That's fine, I can DEAL with that if I actually begin to FEEL better. What I can't deal with is feeling like I'm walking through quicksand every single day, being so exhausted that I can't enjoy any of the things that I used to, and hurting so much that the possibility of every being active again seems like it will never happen. I just want to feel normal. Fortunately, I have wonderful friends and family who will support me through this journey. I will admit that I was a bit frustrated with my mom last night. I know she means well, BUT it seems like every single time we discuss this, it turns into a pissing contest of who feels the worst. Seriously?? I'm JUST venting and trying to process all this and I really just need her to LISTEN!! She also told me that she "didn't think it was a healthy attitude to automatically assume that I HAVE Lupus." This statement really ticked me off since I am NOT assuming anything, I sat in my DR's office and went over the test results with her! I think I am being very realistic, gathering information and thinking about the changes I will have to make to my life. Also part of the way I process things like this is by talking about it! I literally make connections and have the ability to see the "big picture" as well as the details more easily through TALKING!! GC!! Just let me TALK already!

Lupus?? Seriously??

I went back to the dr. yesterday to find out the results of all the testing they did earlier in the week. Apparently some of my bloodwork came back "abnormal" and they wouldn't tell me the results over the phone...........that's always scarey!! I mean SERIOUSLY! Just tell me already you know! Well I had myself thoroughly convinced that it was my thyroid test that was screwed up............it does run the the family..............but lo and behold.............NO............it was the LUPUS test! Or part of it anyway. She is pretty concerned and is sending me to a rheumatologist for more testing. She said said she THOUGHT it was Lupus but she couldn't be sure.......then she told me a story about a man who came in "with symptoms just like yours" and she goes on to say that his test result was just like mine also. She sent him for more testing and "it was one of those one in a million things that no one has ever heard of!" Well THANKS Dr. Smith..........that makes me feel SOOOOO much better!! So final verdict from her is a "rheumatic disease" that affects the joints and muscles but definately NOT Rheumatiod Artherits and most likely Lupus. How's that for a definitive answer?? I know I sound snarky..........and I REALLY am being snarky BUT even with this less that definate diagnosis, at least she found something and didn't just tell me, "You're depressed. Here's a pill......now go away." Which is how I felt my previous dr. treated me. I don't even really KNOW how to explain how I'm feeling right now; scared, anxious, even a bit relieved. Relieved because if there is a possible diagnosis then there is something that can be done about it!

Sigh...............

I went to the Dr on Monday to hopefully figure out what the heck is WRONG with me! Yeah.......don't respond to that! LOL! I mean PHYSICALLY! Anyway after six years of feeling like crap on a daily basis and getting the run around from drs, maybe just maybe this new doc has some sense and can figure things out. She actually LISTENED and took me seriously! Imagine that! So anyway, she did a whole bunch of bloodwork (I still have the hideous bruise to prove it) and they called me yesterday to tell me that some of it came back "abnormal." Of course they wouldn't tell me anything more over the phone. I have to go back in tomorrow to hear the final verdict. Since they tested me for Lupus, Rheumatoid Artheritis and Thyroid levels, I am assuming Thryroid since THAT actually seems to run in my family. Anyway! As much as I DON'T want there to be anything wrong with me (yeah don't say anything!) at least with a diagnosis maybe there is a treatment that will actually WORK and have me feeling semi-normal again. Of course the way MY luck runs, she'll say "you have the extremely rare wikijunglewacko fever and there is no treatment or cure except for this extrememly expensive experimental medicine that your insurance doesn't cover! LOL! Yeah, that would ONLY happen to me!!

November Updates

Wow! It's been awile since I've been here. Updates...........I finished the photography class I was taking. Learned a lot. There are two more that I want to take after Christmas. Hopefully I will have both the time and the money to do so.

Now I am taking Jessica Sprague's Stories in Hand class online. It's really interesting so far. It's more about journaling and recording the important stories in your life than it is about scrapbooking. As I understand it, scrapping is only one option for recording those stories. You could blog, keep a journal, videos, etc. Anything is acceptable as long as your stories are getting told.

Pumpkin Carving.............

Our new friend

He flipped his lid!

Hard at work!

The proper tools for the job??

Well Olivia had a blast murdering a pumpkin on our front porch yesterday. It has been forever since I actually carved one, I had forgotten how difficult and disgusting it really is!! LOL! Liv, of course, loved every second of it!! I sent her in the house to get a SPOON to scoop out the pumpkin guts and she came back with A PASTA SPOON!! LOL!! It sort of worked. Anyway, after battling the pumpkin for about 45 minutes we FINALLY got it cleaned out and carved. Liv had a new orange friend who was Scarey enough for her specifications.................: )

Photography Class

As most of y'all know, My dad and I started taking a photography class last week. I am learning SO much!! Lot's of terminology now makes sense, like grey card, and F-stop. I had no idea how my camera worked. I was pretty much using my DSLR as a glorified point and shoot!! I am hanging my head in shame! Not only am I learning a lot in class, I am also enjoying getting to spend some time with my dad. We rarely get to spend any dad and daughter time together anymore as we are both so busy so it's really nice to have a common interest that we can enjoy together. My mom is probably enjoying having one night a week to herself also! LOL!! We had to share some pictures with the class tonight. I brought some that I actually thought were either over 0r under exposed or not quite sharp enough. Amazingly I got good feedback on all of them. Goes to prove that we are our harshest critics.........................

Too tired to even think.................

I don't know what it is BUT I am SOOOO exhausted I can barely function. I slept for a total of about 10 hours yesterday and still woke up this morning feeling as if I hadn't slept at all. I can't keep going on like this. I think it is more mental and emotional than physical. I have SO much to do at work each day, especially now that I have team leaders duties and responsibilities along with everything I normally do. One thing that is really draining me is the constant complaints and negativity I hear from one teacher in particular. OMG! I don't know how much more of it I can take. It's gotten to the point that even lunch is stressful. She literally complains about everything all the time. What amazed me today was that she was talking about having an eye opening experience realizing which teachers in the school are not "respected." WOW!! Does she NOT realize that SHE is one of those teachers?? Talk about being in denial. She was also talking about how scarrey and sad it was if what was going on in NBI is an example of how most teachers teach. This from a woman who can't control her class well enough to actually teach. Good intentions are all fine and good, BUT I would rather have my kid in a class with a half-ass teacher who had control of the class than a teacher with great ideas who couldn't control the class well enough or long enough to implement them. Not a good choice but at least SOME learning probably occurs in teacher "A's" class.

Another thing that I think has been causing my tiredness is worrying about Tom. He has had a lot of stuff happening at work. Hours have been cut, I think he feels like the axe is hanging over his head. All I can do is be there to listen and offer support. It doesn't help that we haven't seen each other in about 2 weeks because of schedules, the gas situation, etc.

I did start a photography class in Kennesaw with my dad on Tuesday nights. Although I am sure it is a contributing factor, it is something I've been wanting to do for literally years and I'm not willing to give it up. Hopefully, one day in the not too distant future I will have my own photography business. This has been a dream of mine for many years. I'm NOT saying I would give up teaching, just that it would be nice to actually supplement my income by doing something I love.

Is it me????

Okay! I'm beginning to develop a complex! Tom got back into town Sunday from his week long trip to visit the family. Good news is he had a great trip..............bad news is someone broke into his house while he was gone. Yeah.....................fun times. Anyway! We were talking Sunday night and he says, "It's stuff like this that makes me want to pack my S*** and go back home." Goes on to say that there isn't much stuff keeping him here but I am one of them. : ) Tells me he thought about a lot while he was gone but we would talk about it later when we get to see each other. OK I don't deal well with ambiguity, so my mind starts thinking about all the horrible things it could be. Fast forward to Monday..................we go to dinner, we are both really glad to see each other, things are great. THEN about midway through dinner he drops the bomb...................he was offered a job back home!!

SERIOUSLY???

WTH???

IS THIS A JOKE??

IS THERE A CAMERA SOMEWHERE??

After this happened with John, seriously, statistically what are the chances of this happening AGAIN?!?!? Do I drive men out of the state of Georgia or what?? Do they feel the need to go hundreds of miles away after dating me??

I do have to give him credit he handled it MUCH better than John did. Didn't do it through email OR over the phone on the WORST day of my life. Also he hasn't really made a decision yet so I am being a bit dramatic........................ME? Being DRAMATIC?? NOOOOOO!!!

You can lead a horse to water...................

This has been one of those days when I wonder why I teach. It seems like all I did all day long was crowd control. Progress reports go home tomorrow. I spoke to my students who are failing about their missing assignments. at least 75% of them did NOT even attempt to turn in any of the work. How on earth do you make them care??

It's been one of those days......................

Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like everything and everyone was determined to get on my last nerve today. It started with a certain administrator telling me that we would have something else disrupting our class time in connections. As usual!! Let's see..............next was a certain ESEP teacher assaulting me about the 6th graders and their bookbags. Apparently there are some parents who are all hot and bothered about the string bookbags and they have formed a coalition to protest the use of them. (Wow! Some people really have too much time on their hands.) Anyway! This teacher told me that the 6th grade teachers "are not going to fight that battle" and apparently aren't going to enforce the bookbag rule. Since SHE is NOT my administrator I am choosing to enforce it until told otherwise. Funny thing is, when she found out we asked someone up front about it she backpedaled really quick and apparently IS enforcing the rule. Things that make you go HMMMMMMMMMMMMM? It doesn't end there! One of the grade level teachers is complaining because the connections teachers are marking the kids tardy when they are late. Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if you come in after the bell you're late. DUH! I'm sorry but we only have 45 minutes of class time, I am NOT delaying it because some of the academic teachers are whiney.

Five Wierd Things About Me............

Five weird things about me...........
Okay I totally stole this idea but hey it sounded like fun.........I'm just not sure I can limit it to only five things! LOL!
1. I don't like my food to touch other food on my plate..........I am a staunch believer in "Food Segregation." It's not that I won't eat food that is "mixed up" like vegetable soup, stew, or lasagna..........it's just that if it's MADE to be that way then I'll eat it, if it WASN'T made that way then I don't want anything else touching it!
2. I hate it when people mispronounce words.................it's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me!!! My mom says IDEAL for IDEA all the time and it freaking drives me up the wall!!
3. I talk to myself when no one is around..............and sometimes I even answer myself. LOL! On the same note...when I am shopping for resale and I want to remember something that I'm not ready to commit to buy yet, I'll call myself on my cellphone and leave a message. All the while I pretend to be talking to someone on the phone because people might think it's weird to talk to yourself on voicemail!Okay, so I could only think of three so far. Maybe I'm not as strange as I thought I was! I'm sure I can think of more later!

Back to school!!

Well it's that time again..............Open House!! Oh how I hate it!! There is nothing that makes me feel more like a professional than sitting at a door for four hours telling people they have to go through the front! Fun times!! I am not sure who dreads the beginning of the school year more, me or the students!!

My first time as an official "Wedding Photographer!"

Yes we knew the mushroom was there! LOL! They WANTED it in the pictures!

I wasn't quite sure how to do the flower and ring pictures so i just combined them into one!

I thought the pictures of the bride on the bed turned out SO pretty!! Think her hubby will like them?

Not so sure about this one. She wanted a mirror pic but the room was SO small I couldn't find a spot to get what I really wanted!

Love this one!

And this one!

I really like this one even with the shadows on her face!

THE WEDDING!!!

Well I was a nervous wreck yesterday since I was shooting my very first wedding BUT I think the pictures turned out pretty decent! WOW! It was A LOT of work though!! The couple getting married was throwing together their wedding on a wing and a prayer and a 3000.00 budget. I did the pics as their wedding gift. I enjoyed it but I now appreciate how hard it is and how much work! Thankfully I think the bride and groom were happy with the results and that's all that really matters!! For now I am just going to rest and enjoy my last week of summer! I think between all the pics I took last week at the beach and the wedding yesterday I can truly say I am all photo'ed out for a few days!!

Mexico Beach

Just got back from Mexico Beach yesterday. We had a great time. Rained a bit at the end of the week but we were still able to sneak in some beach time as well as time to make a trip to Panama City Beach for go-carts and mini-golf!! That's the BEST part of Mexico Beach.............NONE of that stuff exist there! LOL! Just a quiet beach town! Olivia overcame her fear of the ocean and got pretty brave. She even tried to intimidate the ocean with some Kung Fu moves! LOL! Yes she is wierd! She is MY kid after all! Sam and Shanon had a great time battling the elements also. The waves and current were pretty rough Friday! Their weapon of choice was an innertube. Too funny watching them get tossed about. I tried it once with VERY little success.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel..........

Yesterday was the last "teaching" day of summer school! YAY!! I took today off because I just NEEDED a break!! Tomorrow we will administer the math protion of the CRCT to the 8th graders. Fun times!! Friday is our post-planning day and THEN freedom, sweet freedom until August 11th!! Yay for me!! Summer school has been an interesting experience to say the least and NOT one that I want to repeat next year! Let's see...........there was the porn, the mooning, the knife, not to mention the general disrespect and bad behavior each and every day. What's not to love about it??
I also have a decision to make. I was asked to teach 6th grade math and social studies next year. Not so sure that is something I want to do. I really love teaching reading.............even though I do miss teaching math, I think that I want to stick with my current teaching position. I love my kids, my team, my subject area. NOW the only problem is............how do I tell them no! LOL!

Happy Memorial Day

I am totally being a lazy bum today! My plans involve lots of junk tv, scrapping and maybe just maybe a load of laundry! I am also going to start Stephanie Mayers new book The Host. I LOVE the Twilight series so much I am just dying to get started on this new book. Hope it is as good! I miss Bella and Edward though! LOL! I can't wait for book 4 to come out in August!! I am jonesing for the movie as well! Yes I am a dork! I know!! Another movie that, surprisingly, I am eager to see is "The Strangers" with Liv Tyler. I love her and just the fact that she is in it is enough for me to see it. The fact that it looks extremely scary might not be a plus but hey that's what sleeping with the lights on is for!!

I am absolutely NOT looking forward to work tomorrow. I am looking forward to teaching summer school even less!! I know it is only 17 days but I am so ready for a break!! Another negative is that I have to teach the obnoxious 7th graders. That's something to NOT look forward to! Could they BE more poorly behaved??

Spring Break Rocks!!

Even though I have no huge plans for Spring Break other than hanging out, playing with Olivia, scrapping some and in general being a bum, NOT being at work totally rocks!! So far I have caught up on tons of junk tv, read two books, actually CLEANED, slept a lot, and played with Liv a lot! So far the laid back plan for Spring Break totally works for me! Hopefully I will get to spend some time with Tom later this week. Being whiney BUT I haven't seen him in a WEEK and I miss him! LOL! Gay I know but I can't help it! Anyhoo! He's so much fun to watch Ghost Hunters with! Seriously! Ghost Hunters totally ROCKS by the way if you have never watched it! I SO want to go stay in the Cashtown Inn since seeing that episode! That picture frame scooting across the table was AWESOME!! I'll post some links to both websites later!!

John Pinette

Went to The Punchline last night with Tom and saw John Pinette. I laughed until my sides hurt..........literally! First guy..........just annoying, 2nd guy.......freaking hilarious...........I will never be able go to DQ again without thinking of chocolate hotdogs. And then of course there was Pinette.........what can I say?? Too much fun!! Not used to late nights!! So hard to get up this morning.

Sweet Jesus does that mean I'm officially a grown-up??? I say Nay Nay!! Lets hope not anyway!! That's no fun!!
AnyHOOOOO!! See the U-tube links at the bottom of the page for some great John Pinette clips!!

It's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!! It's Friday!! You have NO idea how ready for this day I am!! It seems that the closer we get to spring break the longer the days are! Yes I know that is NOT possible! Just telling you how it FEELS! LOL! The kids are doing crazy stuff and I think we are all ready for that sweet week off! I know I am !!

Liv is struggling with the changes due to the joint custody situation. Breaks my heart to see her cry and tell me that she doesn't want to live at Daddy's house. I am praying every day that this situation resolves itself. I cried this morning whn I dropped her off at school. After being her sole caregiver for all these years it is REALLLY hard to adjust to this.

Tom and I are going out again this weekend. He is so funny but obviously crazy if he hasn't realized that I'm nuts and ran away yet! LOL! Note to self............act normal! Actually what scares me is that he is SO much like me! WTH?? Surely God wouldn't make that mistake twice!

Gotta get off my lazy rear and actually get caught up on my scrapping! I am seriously thinking about entering CK's srapbooker of the year contest. Do I think I seriously have a chance of winning? Probably NOT! LOL! But it should be fun anyway!! I am going through my stuff to try and pull out my favs. 20 LO's are a lot and I would rather NOT have to recreate the wheel any more than necessary!!

College Day................Yeah..........

Today was the eagerly awaited college day at school. Imagine hundreds of middle schoolers turned loose to wreek havoc on poor defenseless college reps....................hmmmmm? Lots of running and screaming, I won't even begin to call it organized chaos. The only truth there would be the CHAOS part. I actually had to break up a mosh pit in the line to the navy representative. Yes, you heard me right an actual MOSH PIT!! You CAN'T make this stuff up!! Anyway it's over and hopefully it will die a quiet death never to heard from again!

Liv's arm is in a bright pink cast up to her shoulder. She won't let anyone write on it because then it won't be pretty! LOL! Such a princess. She goes back to the doctor tomorrow for more x-rays and hopefully we will be told that she does not need surgery.

Met a guy named Tom. He is very funny and very tall. Has much smoother legs than me..............lol! Not cool! Anyway more about that later. All for now! Ciao!

March Madness

Been awhile since I posted. Too much drama and I just couldn't deal with it. To update my soap opera of a life...........Paul and I were able to settle the custody situation over Olivia in mediation. Not the ideal situation but we agreed on joint custody and each of us will have her about half the time. I hate it but this all needed to end without disrupting our lives any more than it already has. Liv seems to be adjusting to the changes well so far. Perhaps because she doesn't realize they are permanent yet. She is still a very little girl.

As for John...............I guess he is North Carolina bound. Sad to think of dedicating almost a year of your life to someone only to have it end so abruptly. No regrets here about ending it though. Long distance relationships are not cool. Wish him the best in his new life.

Now update on the job situation. I have decided to remain at Dobbins next year. I think with all the changes going on in my life and the kids' lives that one more may be one too many. I have wonderful friends here so the decision wasn't that difficult to make. I still want to go back to elementary school one day but now is not the time!

Weds Update

Well a lot going on this week. As you all know we are in the midst of a custody dispute over Olivia. We have mediation Friday and I am dreading it. Liv is my heart and having strangers potentially decide her fate is just wrong. Headaches and sleepless nights here because of it all.

John called with some unexpected news tonight. He recieved a job offer back in Charlotte. He seems excited about it and potentially being back with his parents and siblings. I on the other hand, selfishly, don't want him to go. Charlotte is a LONG way away and I don't foresee a long distance thing working. Especailly since I have ties that keep me here in Georgia with no possibility or desire to move to NC. We have here what you would call a quandry............Would it be wrong to say my life is feeling like a soap opera? Insert sad face here.

On a more positive note, I received a job offer for a position teaching 5th grade next year. I have another interview on Monday so hopefully I will have several options!

Church and Prayer Request

Olivia and I went to church this morning. That may sound rather mundane to most of you but I almost NEVER get to have her on a Sunday so it was a BIG DEAL for me! I am always amazed at how much she and I love doing these routine everyday things together that so many families take for granted. She is such an awesome kid! And to those doubters this proves that I am NOT a pagan! LOL! I do LOVE Jesus! On a side note, prayers for Olivia and I. This custody situtation is dragging on and on. We need your prayers to give us the strength to get through this. As you all know, I prayed every day for two years for this sweet child, and was lucky enough to be blessed with her. Every single day she brings joy into my life.

Parent Observation Day

Today was Olivia's parent observation day at her ballet school. I LOVE watching her class. There is nothing sweeter than a little girl in a tutu! Loser me brought my camera without the memory card!! Thus I had to rely on my CELL PHONE to take pictures. Not the best quality! Hopefully I can figure out how to get them from my phone to my laptop so I can post one or two anyway. Thank goodness there is no photographic evidence of ME dancing! Yes they made us dance!! Of course Olivia loved it!

Well I have officially gotten my mom addicted to scrapbooking! He he he! We went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and she spent DOUBLE what I did! I got some pretty cool stuff......some BG paper, ribbon, the usual! My BIG thrill was getting the new Basic Grey rub on tool! OMG! It is SO awesome! Way better than a popsicle stick! LOL! I would definately recommend it!

Superbowl Sunday! Go Patriots!!

3am

Well here I am @ Approximately 3am and I can't sleep!! That's what I get for going to bed at 9:00 or as I've said to Olivia "with the chickens!" Her response of course was "EWWWW! What if they lay eggs in our bed!" LOL! Anyhoo! I am still feeling yucky.....that could be part of the sleeplessness. Apparently a stomach virus is running rampant through the school and lucky me I got it! I am past the actual "being sick" part but I can't shake the icky, queasy feeling. I can't even stand to look at food!
Update...........we got MORE snow this past weekend and may even have more winter weather later this week! WTH?? I thought this was Georgia! We go for at least 5 years without any and then 2-3 times in one week?? Only in Georgia...............Thanks Global Warming!! Olivia has been a bit upset though as we have listened to the school closings in the counties north of us and has decided that she wants to move to one of those. ; )
Okay enough of this..................I think I have actually bored myself with my ramblings enough to go back to sleep now! Good night all!

SNOWWWWW!!!!

We finally got some SNOW!! Liv and I had a blast playing in it this afternoon! This was her first time seeing snow and she was enthralled! She caught snowflakes on her tongue, tried to make a snow angel, and BLASTED me with snowballs. And let me tell you, for someone small, she has REALLY good aim! Got me right in the face with a few! She had so much fun! We went outside to play three seperate times and I finally had to practically DRAG her in the house when it started getting dark. She begged to stay outside because "it might be gone in the morning!" I have to admit, she did have a point! This IS Georgia after all! Tonight as I was rocking her to sleep..........yes I KNOW.............anyway, as I was rocking her, I asked her what her favorite thing about the snow was and she said "SNOW! ALL OF IT!" LOL! Apparently I have a little snow bunny on my hands. I hope there is some left tomorrow for her! I also hope that WE HAVE NO SCHOOL TOMORROW! It would be SO nice to stay home and play all day! I'm not getting my hopes up but I am keeping my fingers crossed!! I am posting some pictures of Olivia enjoying her first encounter with snow so be sure to scroll down to check them out.

Wow! Another Monday! This is going to be a long week but that's okay because it ends with a LONG weekend! Hopefully one of my hooligan kiddos will make time to go to a movie or something with me! Olivia wanted to get into the scrapbook supplies as soon as we got home today. We bought 6 of those cute little metal mailboxes in the Target Dollar Spot to alter for Valentines Day. She finished one tonight for her daddy and boy did it turn out cute! I'll have to post a picture of it later! She did everything herself except measure and cut the paper!

John and I went to his holiday party with his people from work Friday night (yes I know the holidays are LONG over.) Went to a yummy little restaurant in Buckhead called Roy's. Food was very good, service was not. Saturday was spent watching the Patriots win again.......at least this one was suspenseful!

Off to watch the end of Prison Break!! Woo Hoo!!

January 9, 2007

Only the 3rd day back @ school after Christmas break and I'm already exhausted!! That's what I get for staying up late and sleeping late just about every day for two weeks! Thank goodness Olivia is more resiliant than her mom! She was right back into the swing of things Monday morning and hasn't slowed down since! If only all that energy could be bottled!

She is loving school still (Thank Goodness!!) She told me all about a new boy in her class. When I told her to be nice to him because it is scarey going to a new school where you don't know anyone, she said, "I know mommy! I was SO scared when I went to my new preschool but then I met Conner and it was okay!" So she is determined to be nice to him so he won't be scared...........sweet! I am just hoping that nice doesn't turn into BOSSY because Little Miss SASSY also told me that he "doesn't know how to do anything the right way yet!" LOL! I'm SURE she will set him straight!

I scapped two more pages from my December pictures tonight! One from the trip John and I took to Biltmore in Asheville. It was SO beautiful! Just looking through the pictures made me want to go back............maybe this spring when the gardens are in bloom. The other pictures were of Olivia's first ride on a roller coaster when we went to see the Christmas lights at Lake Lanier Islands (one of those little tiny ones.......not the "Scream Machine"). She is hanging on for dear life BUT of course she wanted to ride again! She is quite the little thrill seeker....just like her mom! I've never met a roller coaster I didn't like!

My first BLOG!!

YAY! My first blog! Lets see how long I can keep this up! LOL! You KNOW how I am!

I've been super busy creating my LO's for this years Christmas album. 12 done so far since this weekend!! That's a record for me! I have to go back and add titles or journaling to a couple. Inspiration didn't strike during the creation so I was hoping a little break might help me think up something witty and creative! Question for you...........What do you do when you are stuck with journaling, titles, design, whatever to get those creative juices flowing??

I broke out some of my new toys last night also. I FINALLY opened the Cricut I bought back in NOVEMBER!!! I am glad I waited though...........I got the design studio software and LOVE it! I'm not sure I would have loved it quite as much without it. I can't believe all the ways you can manipulate your fonts and images! I stuck with some very simple titles as a starter but I can't wait until I have some time to sit down and really PLAY! I also remembered the Xyron I have had unopened in the basement for about a YEAR now! That was a lifesaver after adhearing one title with my tape runner I wanted to throw things! Second title.........zipped it through the xyron and right on the page! WOO HOO! I'm glad I remembered it! ; )

Olivia started her first little scrapbook last night. We had fun scrapping side by side. I think my stash may be in danger now though! She was fascinated with my Stickles and I can tell she can't wait to get her hot little hands on them! Actually for a 5yo she did a great job. Her LO was very well thought out, good color choices and very balanced. Now if I can just keep her from discovering the CKMB!!