Trick-or-Treat

The count as of right now...
35!!!
Watched Emma and crocheted between the door bell ringing. All in all, a pleasant Halloween.

Seriously?

Your child loves fantasy books- they're the only kind she'll read- but you, as a Concerned Christian Parent, won't let her read any books that have the words "magic," "wizard," or "witch" in them. Oh, Chronicals of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and even the Eragon series (about dragons) are fine because they don't contain those horrible satanic words that would surely be lure your intelligent child into devil-worship.
Do you lack the parenting skills to teach your child tell the difference between reality and fantasy? Do you think your child lacks that much intelligence?
Pathetic.

Happy Halloween!

Tonight, as I hand out candy alone (Nate will be at the station and Matt will be at church), I will keep count of how many trick-or-treaters we have. It seems that if you live in a less-than-rich neighborhood like mine, most of the kids pack up in the car and go off to neighborhoods where the Halloween haul will be more lucrative. Last year we only had 15- this year, I'm hoping for 20! Way to dream!

Voting and Pot Roast and Group Projects

Oh My!
That's what I've been up to since getting of school.
I voted with Nate- only took 40 minutes.
We ate pot roast for dinner.
I worked on YET ANOTHER group project.
Sometimes I think that life should be more exciting someone who is in their twenties.

I'd rather be

I'd rather be...

• Snuggled in my bed reading a book
• Eating apple crisp and ice cream with my family
• Watching The Wire with Nate

But I'm here at school, so I'll try not to complain anymore.
What would you rather be doing?

Should I feel bad...

... about posting on my blog while at work?

New Phone!

My new phone is here, my new phone is here- I'm somebody now!
The only difference between this one and my old one is that it has a camera and that it hasn't yet been through the washing machine.

Convincing

I hope I can convice some members of our congregation to paint the santuary of our new church ANY other color than off-white with white trim.

It's better than Frosted Flakes

What better way to start your day than with an accusatory email from a parent?

Shopping Spree- library style

So I got this email a few weeks ago. It seems that the state is going to "redistribute" my library funds on January 1st. So this means that I have to spend thousands of dollars in the next 4 weeks. At first, it was fun, but now I'm really stressing out. The budgets (there are 4 I'm responsible for) have made me nervous since day one and this just adds to it. I guess I can be thankful it won't be hanging over my head all year- it'll all be gone soon.

Canine Capers

As a prize for reading a lot, we had one wonderful lady her two amazing dogs come in and put on a show for a few students. The danced to the Monster Mash!

Rechargable means don't throw it away!

One of the teachers threw away 4 RECHARGABLE batteries. I know she forgot that's what they were, but still.

Love Confession

I'm in love with popcorn. But not just any popcorn. Amish Baby White popcorn from Wabash Valley Farms- purchased on Amazon in a 6 pound bag and then popped fresh in my Stir Crazy popcorn popper. This is the best popcorn in the world. It even makes group projects bearable. I think I might have an addiction though. See, I eat it about 4 nights a week and I would eat it every night of the week and for breakfast and lunch and my snack too if I didn't have to wash that Stir Crazy after every use. Sure, it's a healthy snack- fiber and whole grains, low in fat (since I don't put any butter on it- it doesn't need it), and low in calories, but is it really healthy to want to eat it ALL THE TIME?

Sad News

Claude the Yard Gnome fell out of a tree on the 7th grade field trip and broke into about 10 pieces. Good thing I have 4 more.

The weekend's over already?

That went by way too fast. As usual on Monday's, I spend my time in the shower trying to think of good things about this week, partially to convince myself to get out of the shower and actually go to school rather than stay in bed, and partially to get myself ready for Monday's Grateful List- a weekly list of 5 things I'm thankful for that is sent out to The Nine (the girls from my college Bible study). This morning, I was not particularily grateful. All I could think of is that I get to dress silly for Red Ribbon Week. Tomorrow is Rocking to a Drug Free Beat. I get to dress like a rock star. Should I pull out the old red pleather pants?

Laundry

I forgot to take my cell phone out of my pocket and accidentally washed it with the laundry this morning. This wouldn't be the most horrible thing in the world since I'm due for an upgrade, except nothing works out that simply. We spend over an hour in the store and I spent about 20 minutes talking to different customer service representatives because it seems like each problem lead to another. Thankfully, my new phone is on the way and will be here Wednesday. Don't bother trying to call me before then :)

Birthday dinner and auction

Nate, Matt, Amy, and I went to EV Baptist Church for the birthday dinner and auction. Each table was decorated for a month of the year- it was very festive. Then we won a windchime at the auction for $5 and one penny! Now we're watching Freaks and Geeks. What a nice evening!

Saturday

Nate and I are on our way to the annual Chili Cook Off (complete with Halloween costume contest for the kids and and Elvis impersonator). I love small town life!

Discount Grocery

Here I would like to profess my love for the Discount Grocery Store.
I love the deals on dented boxes and cans. I love the crazy frozen items with no labels.
I especially love Ben and Jerry's ice cream for $1.50.
Surely it's wrong to get so pumped about my weekly trip to the grocery store.

Dinner with the Peeks

Most of the Peek family is in town, so it's off to Juanito's for some good food. Guess working on that big group project will just have to get pushed back a little more!

Rainy Friday

It's rainy and I get to wear jeans, tennis shoes (my Chuck Taylors to be exact) and a school sweatshirt and that already makes this Friday great. I'm looking forward to an evening of crocheting and watching a good movie with a bowl of popcorn. This Friday could only be better if Nate didn't have to work the game tonight. Will football season be over soon?

Birthday Cake

This is the Barbie birthday cake I baked for Matt for his birthday. I am super-proud and Matt loved it too. Aren't you impressed with my culinary skills?

Matt's Birthday

I'm really looking forward to celebrating Matt's birthday tonight. We're going to have a little fire in the backyard and roast hot dogs and marshmallows and then have cake! I can't wait!

My mom

My mom's coming to LaGrange today to see my library! Yahoo!

Yum- Pizza

Thanks to Matt and his Youth Pizza Bash, I got to eat left-over pizza for lunch- YUM!

Adults or Children

It makes me very frustrated when adults act like children. How can we expect our children to act appropriately when they have such poor models? (I'm talking about myself as much as anyone else here)

Claude

Here are some pictures of Claude the traveling library gnome.

And finally- a picture that cannot be displayed in the library but which is still hilarious!

This gnome has gone more places than I will probably ever go in my life. I try not to get jealous.

Children's Book Week

As a school librarian. I LOVE to see kids get excited about reading. I'm really enjoying Children's Book Week and our theme Ticket To Read. It goes along nicely with our travelling gnome. You do know about the gnome, don't you? His name is Claude and as he travels to different places, we display books about that place, pictures of his travels, and put a pin in our big world map. Here are just a few of the places he's already been...

• Bangladesh
• Iraq
• Grand Canyon
• Chatanooga
• Mexico
• Honduras
• New York City
• Pittsburg
• Korea

The kids think it's really cool (and honestly, so do I!) I'll post some highlights of his travels tonight.

$171.06

$171.06 and a new battery later- the car is running again and I hate it now more than ever. Would someone like to buy a 2002 Ford Taurus with 100,000 miles on it?

I'm an adult

Today I know I am an adult...
I enrolled in a new health insurance program at school.
I dealt with an irrate parent in a diplomatic and professional manner.
I call the car insurance company to check on our coverage.
I called the auto shop to explain what I thought might be wrong with our car.
I am about to call the appliance repairman about our washing machine.
This afternoon, I will apply for a student loan- and this is the only thing that makes me feel like I am not a real adult since I have to have my parents co-sign the loan. Finally, someone sees that I'm not old enough to make all of these decisions.

Pumpkin Carving

This was Matt's first pumpkin carving experience.

Mrs. was very interested in watching Nate carve.

Here's the final product. Mine is the one in the middle. Yawning? Singing? Screaming? What do you think?

Grrrrr

Did I mention that I HATE our car? And don't try to tell me that hate is too strong of a word. After it was already in the shop on Wednesday and Thursday, today, it won't start. We got to church and then couldn't get home. We had to call a tow truck and now wait until they can look at it tomorrow. All this trouble from a 6 year old car with only 100,000 miles on it.

Church

Today is the first time Nate and I will see the new church building. Above is the old one- you know, the one that got struck by lightning and burned. It's been a year and a half since then and today we'll see a new building where this one used to be. It's not done yet, but we're going to have our service there all the same. It's exciting. It's a new beginning.

Recap

7:00- 7:45 Laid in bed, awake, but unwilling to get up
7:45- 8:30 Checked email and played on facebook
8:30-10:15 Ate breakfast and watched Ghostbusters
10:15-11:30 Took a bubble bath- complete with candles, a good book, and a bowl of popcorn
11:30- 1:30 Put on a clean pair of PJs, ate lunch, and watched Dirty Jobs with Nate
1:30- 3:00 Went to school to get ready for Children's Book Week (still in my PJs)
3:00- 5:00 Worked on my sewing project- I'm trying to make a quilt
5:00- 7:00 Made dinner, then ate it with Matt, Nate, Laura, and Chris
7:00- 8:30 Watched In Bruges and crocheted
8:30- now Read some more

Today was the best day ever!

7 AM

One thing that is not-so-cool about being a teacher/librarian is that I can never sleep in. Not even on Saturday.

Check it off the list

Yea! Our DFCS home study is complete!
The last thing on my To Do List is to take a bubble bath!

Rainy Day

Rainy days make me wish I was at home, snuggled up with Nate to watch a movie and eat popcorn.
Only one more hour of school.
Only 2 1/2 hours until the home visit.
Only 18 hours until my bubble bath. :)

Positive

Those last few posts were pretty negative. Let's try something happier.
I'm looking forward to going to Judgement Journey with Buh and her hubby tonight.
I'm going to take a 2 hour bubble bath tomorrow.
I got a lot done yesterday- including my dreaded group project.
I got to see Dani last night.

Listen to me WHINE!

Ha. You've been tricked into listening to my complain. Today was ROUGH. I had 2 parent conforontations that resulted in tears, I have that sucky group project hanging over my head, and we're still trying to get the house in order. Everyone should feel sorry for me. PITY ME. Ok, back to school work.

Leakage

My husband once lovingly called me a butt face then called my crying "anal leakage." Ha ha.
He would remind me of that now if he knew that I've cried twice in the front office- and all before 10:00 am.

Headache and Stress

I got a horrible headache last night and therefore went to bed at 9:00.
Woke up and felt much better- physically at least. I'm super stressed about the Open House tonight at school, the DFCS home visit (so we can be approved as foster parents) tomorrow, and Children's Book Week next week. On top of all that, I was booted from my own library today from 8-10:30 due to hearing tests (and they didn't tell me until 7:45). Ahhhhhhhhh!

Overwhelmed

Wow. There are 8 million things going on at once. This library can be a CRAZY place.

Thankful

I'm thankful for warranties and car parts that fall under them.

That car

Oh how I hate our car. It's in the shop AGAIN. If it ruins my errand running/date to Newnan this evening I will be oh so mad.

It's Wednesday/Monday

We had a 4 day weekend, so though today is actually Wednesday, it is, essentially, Monday.
In trying to psych myself up for the day I remind myself:
-It's Wednesday.
-Nate and I are going to Newnan today.
-I get to eat at Panera for dinner

Setting the Bar

I'm pretty sure I set the bar too high.
Try not to expect this many posts from me every day- only every day where there is work to be done that I am avoiding. :)

Wasting Time

Even though I know there is schoolwork and housework to be done, I still spend 30 minutes looking at pictures on Facebook.

Something better

I decided I'd rather watch The Wire and do laundry.

The Cat

Our cat, who usually stakes her claim on the top of the recliner has seen my group project pain and is currently purring in my lap.

Group Projects

I HATE group projects. Especially for online classes.

So I have a blog

It used to be my AIM away message. Then it was my Facebook status. Now it's my gmail chat status, but it's not really satisfying. I like to feel productive and to have a record of that productivity for everyone who might be willing to listen. So, here is a blog to do just that. I'm hoping each entry will be about as short as an AIM away message, just to tell what I'm doing or feeling. I may update 6 times a day or once a week. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how committed I am to this concept.