Can we say workaholic?

Yesterday I spent the entire day at school moving classrooms (I have never switched grades, however, have been in three rooms so far), which got me thinking about school, lesson plans, my new class, etc. Therefore, what did I do today? Worked on school! I have come up with a number of new ideas for my classroom that I am excited about implementing. What is wrong with me that I step one foot into my classroom and immediately go back into work mode? I still have a month left before I need to start working again!

In Exactly Two Weeks....

I will be on a twenty-four hour flight to China. I can't believe how quickly the last month has gone and that I already need to start making packing lists. Thinking about the trip leaves me excited and exhausted at the same time. It also leaves me wanting to pack. Thankfully, the clean house loving side of me is winning out, knowing that having the suitcases laying around the house would drive me nuts! So instead I have opted for one of my other favorite past times, making lots of lists. With that, I better go....I thought of another thing to add to my "list of things we need to buy"- toilet paper (gotta love China)!

Blueberry Lemonade

Since returning from Alabama, I have made it my mission to come up with fun things to do with our gallon of blueberries. However, no matter how much I think I am using them, there always seems like a ton more. So far I have made blueberry waffles, blueberry syrup, blueberry bread, and blueberry lemonade. Not to mention all the plain blueberries that we have eaten. My favorite thing that I have made so far is this (5 star) recipe for blueberry lemonade and it did not disappoint. I think I might actually be sad when the blueberries are gone!

We're Back!

So, what did we do?

We visited Auburn University.

We picked a gallon of blueberries. (Now I need to come up with some recipies for them)

I got to ride in an old porsche.

We ate some of the boy's grandmother's delicious pound cake.

We played minature golf.

Overall, we had a great visit to Alabama but it is always good to be home again.

Good bye Florida, Hello Alabama

The boy and I are off to visit the in-laws for a few days of games, relaxing, and some pound cake (his grandma makes the best). Be back soon!

Happy Anniversary!

The boy and I have officially been married for two years today. We are off to Orlando to see if the shuttle with launch at 5:40 tomorrow morning. Hopefully there will be some fun images to post tomorrow. I am hoping to catch a picture similar to the picture above...if all goes well, that is.

Decisions, Decisions

Tomorrow is our second anniversary; it is also when the launch has been rescheduled. We had fun plans for the day, however, now are deciding if we want to go and see the shuttle launch tomorrow instead of some of our plans (we wouldn’t be leaving until around 6:00 pm for Orlando). This would also mean that the boy would have to get someone to cover for him at work. The idea of pulling another all-nighter doesn’t sound appealing; however, I think that the launch would be an amazing thing to see, but then I don’t like that it would be taking over our anniversary. Right now, I am leaning toward the launch…but it could always change (Can we say indecisive?).

One More

I need to find one more plate to complete my china hutch. I have been searching high and low for the last week and can't find what I am looking for. How can this be so hard?

Delayed

We went, we waited…nothing happened. After walking around Kennedy Space Center for a few hours, we went back to Orlando with no shuttle launch. What happened? A gas leak in one of the tanks prevented it from taking off. So far there is no rescheduled time/date for the launch. Hopefully we will get to go back soon to see it off.

Soapbox...Sorry!

My soapboxes usually have to do with education/school; however, today it is about my neighborhood. I live in a hewdy flewdy (sp?) gated community with manicured lawns, high HOA fees, a resort style pool, etc. (I am not bragging, I would love to live in a simple, family style, no HOA neighborhood). Knowing this, you would think that there would be some serious rules regarding dogs, but there aren’t and I have seen more dogs without leashes in the last month than I can count. I really don’t want your dog running up to me barking, or licking, or sniffing, how I am supposed to know that you have a nice dog? I have been severely bit by a dog before and would prefer to never have it happen again. Personally I think it is just a common courtesy.

Going, Going, Gone!

The boy and I will be driving up to Cape Canaveral tomorrow for the NASA shuttle launch. I am a little nervous about it, since supposedly we are going to be pulling an all-nighter (which I don’t think I have done since college) leaving at 10:45 on Friday night from Orlando, but the launch is Saturday morning. Hopefully I will be able to drink lots of coffee or I might be sleeping through the launch.

Almost Finished

Other than a few nails that still need to be put in ( we ran out). Our wanna-be Pottery Barn wall art is complete. I think I am pleased, but am not sure...yet.

Paying to be TORTURED

After going to the dentist today I decided that my teeth felt better before I went there than they did when I left. It seems as though I just sit there and get gagged, poked, and tortured only to pay a lot of money for it. Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Hurry Up?

I am not a morning person, period, therefore, during the school year I have a tendency to get up at the very last minute possible so that I have just enough time to take a shower, get dressed, scarf down some food, and run out the door. From August to May I leave much earlier than the boy and rarely see him get ready for work, however, now that it is summer I have realized that watching the boy get ready for work is actually quite a comical event. The boy only has one speed in the morning, super slow. He will look at me and say “Oh no, I need to leave right now!” and still never move any faster as if he had all the time in the world. To each his own!

Peanut Butter Popcorn

Knowing the boy’s love for peanut butter, I decided to make my own peanut butter popcorn (since I didn’t have the ingredients in the recipe I found). Here is what I did:

Threw some butter (about 2 TBS.), sugar (1/4 cup) and brown sugar (1/4 cup) in a pot on the stove on medium heat. I then threw in a little water (I am not sure how much) and turned the heat up so it would boil. Once it had boiled for a few minutes I threw in peanut butter (about ½ cup) and ½ tsp. of vanilla, turned down the heat and stirred until it was blended together. Then I poured it over the popcorn and mixed it up (the faster you mix it the better it turns out).

Verdict: Best popcorn I have ever made!

ETA: I actually remade it the other day and it's about 1/4 cup of pb, not 1/2.

On to the second one...

Now that I am officially almost a week into summer, I decided it was high time that I started my second summer project. After seeing this wall art in a Pottery Barn catalog, I decided to make one for myself. I spent about an hour calculating the measurements and checking them twice; figuring out how much wood I would need and drawing up a blueprint complete with the color each piece of wood needs to be. I can’t wait to see how it will turn out. I hope I like it, because you never can tell with these things!

Out with the old, on with the new...

I have found a new use for my ice cream maker, it can make slushies too! Due to my uncontrollable craving this evening for a 7/11 Slurpee, I decided to try to pour some juice and diced strawberries into the ice cream maker and give it a try. It turned out better than I thought it would, I think that might be the end to using it for making ice cream.