Life Lately

It's been a while since I posted.... We've been busy, but we haven't really been doing anything. Let's see... what have we been up to...

I tried a few new recipes, chicken tortilla soup, a sweet and snappy chili, and shrimp Alfredo with mushroom, and they were all amazing.

I have fallen in love with avocados. I mash avocados with chopped tomato and red onion, then mix in a little salt, and I am in heaven--I could eat the whole bowl every time I make it if Mike didn't insist that I save some for him.

The number of mosquitoes has finally dropped so it is once again enjoyable to walk the trails through the wooded area near our house. Mike and I went on a walk last night--I absolutely LOVE this time of year, the leaves are changing, the temps are cooler, and did I mentioned the mosquitoes are finally starting to die down.

I have a great class this year. I absolutely love my job!! Anyone who knows me knows I love my job. I am amazed all the time at what the kids learn and say. When the year started I wondered to myself how the kids make it so far by the end of the year, but they do, and my kids are already on their way. The kids have already begun reading books and writing sentences, and both are things that they weren't able to do a month ago.

Now after explaining how much I love my job, I am going to say that today was not a good day, and you will have those. Since the first day we have been talking about good choices and bad choices. Today there were a lot of bad choices--way more than normal. At one point I felt like giving the kids my crazy eyes and yelling, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" But of course I didn't, I just stayed calm and firm and let them know that their choices were bad choices. Every teacher has these days, and today was mine.

I have conferences next week on Monday and Wednesday (I think.. maybe its Thursday--I better check on that). I really don't mind conferences--I like talking to parents, and they go really fast because they are one right after another... the only downside is not getting home until 8:30 and then having to go back 11 hours later and teach again--I just end up feeling exhausted by the end.

The political people came knocking a few weeks ago to see if we were going to vote. I told them that I probably wouldn't in this election, and somehow the man talked me into signing up for a mail ballot--it was probably the most annoying mistake I have ever made. The candidates call all the time--seriously, all the time. I get several calls a day from candidates. I never answer them, so they leave prerecorded voice mails. We keep getting mail saying who we should vote for. I understand that I am an American, and this is my job, but to be honest, I don't want to deal with all the "I say this,and I'm the best candidate because..." and the "They are bad because" campaining that gets thrown at me all the time. I will make a choice based on research, not annoying phone calls.

And the new TV seasons have started... I am watching Biggest Loser on Tuesday and 30 Rock and The Office on Thursdays. We only get one channel--NBC--so we are limited to what we watch. We talked about getting cable again, but really, I just want to spend as little money as possible. I want to save for a house, pay off my car, and focus on bigger goals. We have Netflix, and that keeps us entertained for $9 a month--I think that's pretty good.

So there you have it. A bunch of brief updates about our lives. :)