My feet...

got a few treats this week. So we ended up getting a total of 3 snow days this week. Yowza. And I told myself that if I got a snow day, I would go shoe shopping-which I have been desperately needing for a LONG time now. So I ventured out on Thursday to DSW.

I walked around the whole store, trying on everything that was cute. Nothing fit right.

I hate having big feet.

Then I hit the clearance section. HELLO! I found these black beauties-

for 40% off. I really like them- and hope you do too.

Then I was on the hunt for brown church shoes. and came across these- also 40% off. When I put them on for this picture, they hurt a little more than I thought- so I may have to test them out again before making my final decision to wear them outside. I have been known to buy shoes and then ummm... not wear them.

Like these. $10 at Kohl's. How could I say no?

Now I just need to wear them. But I feel like none of my clothes look good with them. Guess I better buy new clothes for my shoes.

The final treat- pedicures with my friend Sarah. We found a place that only cost $20 and they had the massaging chairs- I didn't know about them but now I do and am in LOVE. So anyone who comes to visit me, we will go get pedicures. I will even pay. It is worth the $400+ plane ticket. I promise.

Miranda Priestly (the Devil wears Prada) would DIE if she saw my choice of shoes. I think the ones Andy is wearing are cute when they bring her new shoes. I am so not hip!

The Good Samaritan

So today was a snowday. Happy Valetine's Day to me! It was more like an ice day. It snowed yesterday and we got released from school 2 hours early. Then there was freezing rain all night. I decided to go to my friend Martha's house. So at 4, I headed out- my roommate had kindly cleaned off my windows so I thought I could get out no problem. You can't tell by the side ways picture (sorry) but there is a big ledge- about 6 inches- left by the plow. Well I tried, and tried and my wheels just kept spinning. I saw a guy a few cars down having the same problem so I went to help push. As soon as I got to his car, he gets out and tells me it is okay- he doesn't need any help because this is his girlsfriends car and he has an SUV blah.. blah.. blah.. Okay. I think he just didn't want a girl helping him. Whatever. He didn't offer to help me. Whatever. Neither did the other 3 guys and 1 girl that walked past while I spun my wheels and shoveled. I was beginning to become very disgusted with the lack of kindness in this world when along came Blaze. He was the coolest guy. I felt horrible as he was older and had a limp but helped push, and shovel, and push, and shovel. "That's what neighbors are for", he said. Finally my car got out and so I wanted to help him- but he made me go get gas (my light came on as soon as I started my car). So I went and came back to help him. Then he helped me again clear out my spot totally so I could park there again. We helped another couple get their car out. I decided not to go to Martha's because I don't want some selfish, lazy person to steal my nicely cleared spot. That isn't very Christlike- I know. But after shovelling for 2 hours- I am tired. So thank you Blaze for being a REAL man. And for renewing my faith in the kindness of people. And thank you Fairfax County Public Schools for the Valentines gift of another snowday tomorrow! yey!

Yummy in my tummy

A friend from school had a sleepover. Her husband is in Bagdad for 4 weeks and so she wanted to do something to keep her from going crazy- he works for the security of diplomats or something like that! So she invited a few teachers over for a girls night in. It was really fun to just eat and chat. I volunteered to make breakfast as I had a recipe I REALLY wanted to try. I had it at a visiting teaching brunch and have been dreaming of it since. It is called Creme Brulee French Toast. Yummy. Well I doubled the recipe as I didn't know how much would be needed. Well 2 of the girls didn't sleep over and everyone just had one piece- so I have a 9x13 pan left. Yikes. The problem is- it is delicious- not nutritious. There is supposed to be a storm coming again this week- Tuesday & Wednesday- so talk of 2 snow days. So perhaps I will have a snowday breakfast and invite some fellow teachers. If we can get out of our homes and parking lots. Ha ha! We did get a snow day last Wednesday. The news said we got 1.7 inches of snow. Interesting since Western NY has gotten like 5 feet of snow and are apparently still going to school. Virginians = pansies. Anyways- make the Creme Brulee frenchtoast. It is delightful. But have people to share it with otherwise you WILL eat it all.
p.s. I just didn't put in the Grand Marnier in as I am not sure what it is- but I assume it is some sort of alcohol. And the challah bread is a jewish bread that I only heard of when I came to Virginia. Other recipes I have seen said to use French Bread!! Let me know what you think!

Crazy ol' Virginia

Yup- I live in a crazy state. Crazy. There is talk of snow tonight. Winter "advisory" in affect from 7pm tonight until 7 am tomorrow. 90% chance of getting 1 to 2 inches.
When I was driving home, the radio guy mentioned that 2 meetings were cancelled becuase of the weather warning. The meetings started at 6:30. What? It was 6:15 and there was NOTHING! But the meetings were cancelled because of snow. What is up with that. Of course I am hoping for a snow day. Virginia has turned me into a pansy. I just hope I don't turn crazy!

p.s. still no change in the bathroom situation. I haven't told my roomie that I am on strike. I just want to see how long it will take her to notice that it is her turn. It isn't THAT nasty but certainly past the point that I let it go!

I bet you didn't know...

I was tagged by my sister Andrea.

1. I am on strike from cleaning the bathroom. I have lived with my roommate for over 2 years now. She has cleaned the bathroom... maybe 3 times... so I am on strike. It is gross and eating me up inside but I will NOT clean it. The only way I can do this is because I am moving out it 26 days. The last time it was cleaned was when I cleaned it before I left for Christmas. NASTY!

2. I have 4 packages of kool-aid in storage, and I don't know when I will be able to bring myself to drink them. They are Great Blue-dini flavor. I LOVE it but they stopped making it. I found a few packages and bought them. And now they are in storage waiting for a special day. Weird, I know.

3. In college, my friends called me Mother Love. There used to be a show on TV called Forgive or Forget- ever seen it?? And the host was a big, black woman named Mother Love. I thought it was such a cool name. My roommate Laura started it all and it caught on. People from my ward would yell "Mother Love" across campus when they saw me. The good ol' days.

4. On-Star radio commercials make me cry. Sad but true. There are some that are lame, but most of them, make the tears flow. I want to be an On-Star operator.

5. My dream is to be on Sesame Street. How cool would that be?


I tag Kim and Mikaela. And anyone else that wants to be tagged.

My week...

I just did a big ol' post, and then it disappeared. So here is a much shorter, condensed post.
*We lost the faculty basketball game against our rival school's faculty. Last year, I played, we won. Coincidence. I think not. HA! (This is a picture of a teacher and our assistant principal in Cougars costumes. Kinda creepy.)
*Went to Williamsburg for my wards annual winter trip. My friend's Martha and Georginia in the stocks. And Dan, Shane and Rich with Pocahontas in Jamestown. I think I was the ONLY one who didn't have a clue that she had anything to do with Jamestown.
*Watched The Office on my laptop the whole way home. With 3 people smooshed in the back seat, it helped time pass a little faster. Dan, the driver, had equipment to make my laptop have surround sound. Weird. but nice.
*Went to bed at 9:30 last night. I was so tired, I thought I was going to die. Didn't finally get out of bed until 8:30 this morning. Of course I had to pee about 4 times during those 11 hours.
*It snowed last Sunday. Yippee. But we only got a 2 hour delay out of it. Whatever. More snow best be on it's way.
*I found $20 in the washer while moving my clothes to the dryer. I am SURE that I checked my pockets.
*I think I am getting another cold. Sheesh. Hopefully my 11 hours of sleep will help it go away.
*Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester. It is nice to see the "challenging" students go, but scary to think what new "challenges" will be walking in my door tomorrow. Yikes.
*I think I need to go make some Double Chocolate Banana Muffins. See ya!

Sorry-

for the delay! I feel like my life is such a bore- I don't want to put my 3 readers to sleep with my dull stories! Some highlights of the week-


1) Samoas ice cream is back. This stuff is heavenly. It is a goal killer. I am constantly making goals to stop eating ice cream, or at least buy the 1/2 the fat kind- that tastes just as yummy. Then I see this- on sale- I couldn't say no. And of course it was buy one get one free, so I HAD to buy 2. It was quite the decision but I went for good ol'American Idol ice cream. You can't beat that!


2) I crocheted my first dish cloth. I originally bought the wrong hook so I went back and bought a multi-pack of hooks. I spent a couple hours Friday night (sad, I know) and a gazillion hours Saturday working on it. I had to pick apart my first one because it was a little too large! The yarn was on sale so of course I HAD to buy 4 more. I have a disease. I also found another thing of crochet thread- for a total of 3 to make into leprosy bandages.


3) 3 day weekend thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I am sooo grateful. I think I might celebrate by sleeping, and crocheting.

4) I bought a laptop. YIKES. I hate making big purchases- especially technology. I am always scared I will find a better deal next week, or it is going to be out of date in 3 days. I got a printer with it for $28. It is being shipped this week. Now I just need to get rid of my current computer. I am hoping to sell it on craigslist - if not, find a place to donate it to.

5) I REALLY want snow. Is that too much to ask for?

Wow!

It has been quite the week. I got 3 hours of sleep Monday night after traveling all day. But I got to go out for dinner with my friend Sarah in Chicago during my 31/2 hour layover. I don't think I got much more sleep than that any other night. It was a good week- but long. Why is it that 4 day work weeks seem more like 6 days? Friday was a good day... until my 7th period. Those kids sure know how to push my buttons. Then I had my home room kids- we end the day with our home room class for 25 minutes. We are supposed to read on Fridays- silently. Well they weren't. I was sooo tired and frustrated. I was going to burst into tears so I walked out of the room into my office (All our rooms are connected so I could still hear them!) I composed myself as they continued to talk. I went back in and tried one more time to get them to read silently. It worked for the last 5 minutes. I finally broke down after my fellow teacher asked if there was something wrong. I think I just really needed a good cry. So there I sat- folding dish cloths and towels in my kitchens... crying... how sad. I decided to email the parents of a good kid in each of my classes to tell them how much I appreciate having them in my classes. That is going to be my new Friday tradition. I headed home- decided to buy a pizza and ice cream. That seemed to do the trick. My friend Martha came over and we watched the cheesiest movie EVER. I don't remember the name of it but it is part 4 of a series about a family during the pioneer times. It was good for a laugh.
Today I finally got my bags unpacked and everything put away. It was 21 degrees Celsius (70 Fahrenheit) so I vacuumed out my car in capris and flip flops. Can you believe it? On January 6th I was wearing capris and flip flops. Wowzers.
Then I went to see The Pursuit of Happyness with friends. What a movie. It makes me want to go help everyone that is in a situation like that. Amazing!!! Life is good. Even my life as a middle school teacher! :)