Random thoughts...Wednesday thru Friday

Wednesday...Influenza B

Thursday...Kristina's piano lesson

Friday...Fiddler on the Roof... and ice cream...

Enjoying the rain...

Today is one of those enjoy the rain days...I rolled out of bed at the crack of noon (didn't want to rush it you know) and have been cleaning like a crazy fool ever since. I just scrub-a-dub-dubbed my kitchen floor and I am sweatin bullets, but my floor is gleaming! I have all the rugs in the washer and my kitchen is going to be smelling sweet in no time! I also have my favorite apple candle burning, but am thinking of switching to mango salsa soon. I watched the weather this morning and discovered the low is supposed to be 10 degrees by Thursday; hence the reason to be enjoying the rain. The good thing about March though is spring is definitely right around the corner!

I cut my schedule down to two days a week at the college until I'm officially hired, so I've just added two more evenings to my life. Aaaaahhhhh, the joy of it all. The school board election is one month from today and I need to focus on a few events that I need to attend for that, get some signs printed and posted, and attend a few training events. It's hard to believe I'll be done with school in less than two months. Then, onward to a new chapter in my life.

Stephanie was out of school most of the week. She's back in bed today...no temp, just the signs of a cold now and feeling much better. She made it through the musical last night...and has another performance tonight and tomorrow. Then, she'll need to focus on school to get caught up. Ugh! Next week at work, I have to administer the IAA (ISAT for special education students) to all of our students, so it will be a busy busy week.

Brennan has a friend over today (a real event for him) and so we're planning pizza and the continuation of cleaning and laundry. I also am planning to start my research paper tonight. My goal is to have that done and off my plate by the end of next week. I'm trying super hard to utilize my time, so that when summer comes, I am free and available to enjoy every minute of it. For today, however, I am enjoying the rain!

Influenza B

Influenza is a contagious disease caused by the influenza virus. It affects the respiratory tract in humans. Influenza usually comes on suddenly and may include these symptoms:

Fever
Headache
Tiredness
Cough
Sore Throat
Congestion
Body Aches

Influenza has invaded the body of my big girl :( Although she is supposed to be in a musical at school this weekend, she now has the flu. The Dr. said, she'd seen a lot of influenza A cases, but this was the first Influenza B case. (I have no idea what that means, but leave it to the big girl to be unique.) Prayers for a speedy recovery appreciated.

25 Things about Brennan

In keeping with the theme blog lifted from my friend Stacie...here we go...

25 things about Brennan

1. He has beautiful green eyes
2. He is super handsome
3. He is very literal
4. He loves of nature
5. He loves cats and loves to annoy them
6. He is so smart
7. He plays the guitar but insists on only rock n roll, no country
8. He gives me spontaneous hugs every day
9. He tries harder than any kid I know
10. He is brave
11. He is super ticklish
12. He loves to sleep when his body agrees and will let him
13. He can participate in endless chatter
14. He is 14
15. He's in 8th grade
16. He is 'practicing' getting good grades so he can get a good student discount on his insurance
17. He starts Driver's Ed in April!
18. His favorite bird is the cardinal
19. His favorite relative is Uncle Tim
20. He plays World of War Craft (See #19)
21. He is learning to tolerate babies
22. He hates loud noises especially when made by a sister
23. He hates storms
24. He has an IQ in the superior range
25. He loves and plays every kind of trading card game

Can you say spanked?

I was SOOOO looking forward to tonight. Tonight was the first round playoffs for the Harlem Huskies. I even talked the hubby into going with on a Monday night! I had dinner all ready when he got home (ah the bliss of a day off) and then we were off to the game. Firstly, all of their team members are about a foot taller than ours. Secondly, our guys just looked tired, and we shot very poorly. I was quite thrilled however when Jordan Johnson shot a 3 pointer from nearly half court! Go Jordan! Hubby and I left when there were 5 minutes left of the game and we were losing by 20 :( We had a great season. Since most of our starters are Juniors this year, I can't wait to see what they can accomplish next year. Congrats Huskies on a great season!

At some point I'll catch up!

I have resorted to keeping a running list of all the blog posts I have waiting in my head. And even though I should be doing the taxes, I believe I'll get a few things off my mind, before finishing a load of laundry and heading to bed...First of all, I had to provide a picture for the newspaper for their voter's guide...you know, since I'm running for the school board. So, I chose this one. Anyone know how to edit a photo to make you look like you weigh 50 lbs. less? Common, they do it for Oprah, why not for me? Anyway, keep an eye out in the Register star in the next week or so, for the article. For my out of town friends, family, and blog buds, I'll post a link here when it's up.

Ok, a quick weekly recap...I went to a fabulous 2 day training on structured teaching on Thursday and Friday. I can't wait to get back to work to implement my new ideas. Saturday morning I went to my last class for this session. In two weeks I start my very last class! (Insert reflective pause here) Even though there are parts of school I will miss, I surely will not miss the time commitment nor the internships!

Saturday night I went scrapping with the girls...I made a super cute friends book for my big girl and Devin. I will try to get pics posted tomorrow. While we were there, my friend Anne got a call from her husband that their son had been accepted into the gifted program for first grade :) Needless to say, she was quite excited. My friend Sarah made some super cute books for upcoming classes in her scrap studio. I will be taking both of those classes for sure!

Since I have been working on mini books and legacy books for so long, I decided I really should work on some pages for a change. I started this page for Brennan last night. I still have to add embellishments and journaling, but I thought I'd share his super cuteness as a baby. Come. On. How cute is he?!?

We had such a great time... Even though I had only 4 hours sleep the night before...I arrived at scrap night at 2 and stayed until 11 and was hardly even tired! I so enjoy spending time with my friends and catching up. My friend Stacie made a super cute book of her boys and husband working on the car with a new 'gear head' line that they had at Archiver's. I dropped off Anne and was home about 12:30--today I had my baby Aubrey over. She had a little bit of a cold and was sneezing a lot so I decided not to take her to church today. Instead we stayed home and played. It was a super relaxing day. Tomorrow, I'm off work. I'm meeting a friend for lunch, and have a few errands to run. The rest of the day I plan to spend doing laundry and giving my kitchen a much needed overhaul and deep cleaning...I'll post that for Tackle it Tuesday, even though it would have been done on Monday...shhhhh don't tell k? Hope everyone got a little R&R in over the weekend...Stay tuned this week as I hope to catch up on all the posts floating around in my head ;)

Scrumptious Sunday...

When I go to the grocery store lately, I often feel like I'm risking burning my fingers when I take something off the shelf and put it in my buggy. Let me tell you why...prices are so high, it is really quite astounding. I went to the grocery store today and generic veggies were ON SALE for $1 a can. $1?!? Are you kidding me? So many times I go to reach for something and then my eye sees the price which results in my hand recoiling as if I just touched a hot stove. So...in honor of soaring food prices, today's Scrumptious Sunday...is for all of you trying to feed a family on a budget. Now...I have to give a disclaimer that perhaps this recipe doesn't look or sound appealing, but it is really quite tasty. We don't have a name for this item...so call it what you like. We call it rice stuff.

Ingredients...
1/2 stick margarine
1 cup chopped celery
1 lb. or so ground chuck
2 cans chicken noodle soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 milk
1 box (4 2 cup pouches) of Boil-in-bag rice
Salt
Pepper
Shredded Cheddar

Begin by sauteing onion and celery in margarine in dutch oven. Add ground chuck and brown. Meanwhile begin boiling rice. Add 4 cans of soup and 1/2 cup milk to ground beef mixture and stir well. (Use a spatula to chop the noodles in the chicken noodle soup while stirring) Once rice has reached desired doneness, add to ground beef mixture and stir. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes and add a cup or two of shredded cheddar just before serving. Yum.my. This recipe will feed a family of five and you'll have some leftover for lunch.



I like to add some yummy corn bread muffins

And serve with green beans. Enjoy!