Tagged on Facebook..All Things Random

I gotted tagged on Facebook to do a random post about myself. You are suppose to list 25 random things about yourself. I really am hooked on Facebook. However, this week I have been so busy, I haven't been on it that much. It is fun to find people from the past.

I am going to do the random post on my blog for the simple fact that I don't want all of my Facebook friends to know that much about me. They could judge me. ( You could too, but that's okay ) Some of my friends on Facebook are friends/acquaintances from high school. I don't want them to know that much about me, so I am posting on my blog instead.

Here it goes......

1. I drink coffee every morning and lots of it.
2. I drive a Nissan Pathfinder.
3. I met my husband on my 23rd birthday at a bar.
4. He was nervous to call me because he couldn't remember what I looked like.
5. We've been married for 13 years.
6. Freshman year in college was a blur...almost flunked out. Partied too much.
7. Made the Dean's list after that and actually studied and did quite well.
8. I am obsessed with working out and exercise and it drives my husband crazy.
9. My 3 kids and husband mean everything to me.
10. After coffee, I enjoy a Diet Mountain Dew.
11. I drink water for the rest of the day after the morning full of caffeine.
12. I teach second grade.
13. Thankful for my best friends.
14. Have a wonderful relationship with my sisters.
15. My brother lives in Florida and I never have visited( bad sister I know).
16. I could probally be 5 pounds lighter if I didn't enjoy my beer on the weekends.
17. Jam out in my car to rock music most of the time. It gets me pumped up to start the day.
18. Have a Springer Spaniel named Zena.
19. I've lived in the town I do now pretty much all of my life minus college years and 1 year in hubby's hometown.
20. Love to shop, but lately have been very smart about it.
21. Would love to shave off 10-15 minutes of my triathlon time from last year.
22. Hate tomatoes...smell, texture, gags me to even cut them up.
23. I could eat Mexican Food just about everyday. Yum!
24. Would love to be a fitness coach or start a running group.
25. Go to the circus every year as a field trip for school. I am so tired of going to the circus, but the kids love it.

There it is. 25 things about me. I may post to Facebook, it wasn't all that personal or crazy.

Play along if you like. It was fun to think of things. I bet I could do more. Maybe another time.

I really should be doing something else at this time, but needed a mental break from all of the work stuff.

What Is In A Name?

It is amazing that you can work in a building and never see or talk to the people you work with every single day. I teach at a school where our enrollment is roughly 600 students. We have 3-4 teachers at every grade level. There are months that go by and I don't see people on the other end of the building because our schedules aren't conducive to it.

We have early releases on a monthly basis to do staff development, talk about curriculum, work at grade levels, or work in your classrooms. So today we have one of those days...early release. We receive an email this morning to tell us who we are to sit with. No reason, just your partner. I was paired up with as we call it our Arctic Tundra buddy. It seems this person and I always have bus duty during the Arctic blasts around here. I, however don't really know her, only talk to her when we have bus duty, or if I happen to run into her in the copy room. She is very nice, but again the way our schedules are...it is impossible or maybe improbable.

So, today during the meeting our principal gives us the low down on the school board meetings, seriously blah blah blah. Get to why we are here with the partners. Yeah...we finally find out. He says you get 2 minutes to talk to this person and find out why they were named their name.

GO! That was fun. We both found out we really don't know why we have our names. She told me she doesn't like her birth name, but the nicknamed derived from it. I don't have a shortened name it is just Tammy. No Tamara. I use to hate that when I was younger....people would always ask is that your real name! No people just TAMMY.

I use to ponder on that name and wonder myself why Tammy? Why? It is such a goofy name. Tammy Slammy Whammy...the rhymes use to drive me nuts. I now don't mind my name because it is what it is.

Do you know why you were named? Is there a story behind it? Most people who shared today had my response Don't know. Some people were named after a relative, others were after famous people, names because you were born near a Christmas holiday. My favorite was I was named after a famous soapstar from the 70s. Not his real name, his character name. How funny. Then I started thinking about my own kids...why did I name them that.

Alyssa is named after my hubby's mom. It is a derivative of her name. Brandon is just Brandon, no reasons why. Emma was suppose to be Brooke, but on the way to the hospital it just came to me in a vision. EMMA! Alyssa was even telling everyone it was Brooke... how funny is that. I am sure others have such similar stories. So what is your story?

Can't Wait for the Green

I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago at the end of March. I am so excited to do this race. It is a huge venue. They cap the runners at 32,500. That is a lot of people. The race is an 8K. I am doing this with hubby and our best friends.

I like having things to look forward too. It motivates me to train harder. I know I am a bit pyscho as it is about working out, but this makes it worth my effort. I even looked up times from last year in my age category. I would like to place in the top 100 of my age category. If not the top 100 close to it. I am already going to start hitting it hard. The only thing is that I will have to continue to run the track at the Y or use the treadmill. The weather outside is horrible. I don't mind the cold, but today again windchills below zero. It can only get better. I hope. :)

We did have 1 sleepover this weekend. Not to say that the begging went on and on for everyone. I just held my ground. My oldest daughter had her friend stay over and they texted kids for hours last night. Just to see how nuts they were, I checked the log this morning...she texted almost 500 last night alone. I am totally serious. Thank goodness for the unlimited plan. They were texting boys...I remember when I was that age...we would call and actually talk. I guess this way it isn't so awkard with the silence on the phone.

Oh and I found this note on the floor today. It wasn't snooping because it was just sitting there...on the floor ready for me to read.

It was quite cute...I remember those days. "J" do you still want to go out with me? Or not...let me know by the end of the day...A When I mentioned it to her...it was like old news. To be 12 again...haha.

Slumber or Not so Much of It

Why is it that every weekend my house turns into a huge slumber party? My kids are always asking for their friends to sleepover. If we don't want it to happen we tell the kids a week in advance not to even ask. We say, "Your parents want a peaceful weekend."

Sleepovers are great for them...why?

They can stay up late, eat junk food, drink soda, play video games, and watch movies. I think that sounds like a great time too. When I was a kid I did the same.

However, I now understand my parents and why they said NO!

I clean up the mess, listen to whiny crabby kids the next day, and really never know when they truly fall asleep because I am in bed WAY before they are. Did I mention clean up the mess? Or whiny, irritable kids??? Or the fact that I have 3 kids and when one kid has a sleepover they all want to have a sleepover. If I even try to say no, the whining, the begging, the pleading go on and on until I finally cave.

I can't say there will not be any sleepovers next weekend because my niece and nephew are sleeping here. Or some weekends in February because E has her birthday sleepover, our friends from out of town are coming to stay...I guess I am looking at March.

So, I will deal and enjoy all of the craziness and know that I was a kid once too and be greatful that my kids have friends who want to sleep here and just put some Corona in cup and not think about this madness at all.

Happy Friday everyone!

WOOHOO!

The Wii Fit was delivered today!! It was delivered TODAY!! Phew!!

Waiting for a Delivery

Please Mr. Postman deliver my package that I sent to this person in Pennsylvania! It has been 2 weeks since I sent you on your merry way. I took care and pride in the packaging. I made sure nothing would get broken.

I sold a Wii Fit on Ebay 2 weeks back and it hasn't been delivered. I feel sick about it. If I refund the money I lose out. That would suck. That would mean no shoe shopping for awhile. :)

I will give it a couple more days and decide what to do from there. This has never happened to me. I've sold many things on Ebay and no problems...EVER!

Why Oh Why All of a Sudden

We watched the Inauguration this morning. My class was totally digging it. They liked Aretha and enjoyed the orchestra performance. We watched about 20 minutes...they thought it was the coolest thing. They were in awe of how many people were standing outside to watch. We had a great morning. What happened after lunch today is what I am wondering.....

• I have a headache
• My stomach is hurting
• My forehead is burning
• I can't poop can I use the bathroom?
• Do I have to do this writing assignment???
• I don't know where my pencil is? Can't find my red pen or my glue or paper or my boots?
• I need to use the bathroom...which is fine and great...but don't you think it should take longer than 20 seconds to do the duty and wash hands?? I think they just wanted to wander about.

The moon is not full...what is going on today? Why all the complaining. That should be my department because....

• I have pimples....I SHOULD NOT have pimples and NO I AM NOT STRESSED OUT!
• I feel bloated and uncomfortable.
• I am cold.
• My back is sore.
• My lips are dry.
• My hands are cracking I NEED TO PUT LOTION ON...to lazy to get it at this point and oh I have pomegranate in my desk and I really don't like it and vanilla...so not in the mood for vanilla.

Updates are so Much Fun!

Back to reality tomorrow. I've had an impromptu vacation thanks to the weather. We did not have any school Thursday or Friday...it was way too fricking cold. Windchills were -41 degrees below zero Friday morning. I enjoyed Thursday off...got caught up with all the laundry and some other household chores.

Once Friday rolled around again and we found out school was cancelled for the second day in a row I felt very cooped up! I decided I needed to go work out and braved the conditions and went to the Y where let me tell you, it was PACKED! I think everyone felt that way.

Saturday was our work holiday party. It was fun to let loose and have some drinks with friends from school. I usually take pictures, but this year I didn't host the party and didn't want to forget my camera and have to worry about it. Maybe next year I will host once again. It is always an interesting time. The best thing about going out for us, it is easier. We no longer need to hire a babysitter because we have one right in the house. It is great. I pay her, but not like I would someone else. Is that wrong? Should I pay her more? I figure I clothe her, house her, and pay for recreational fun like her cell phone and movies and field trips. What does everyone else do?

These are from last year...
I missed you this year M!

Have to say this....our ceiling in the basement is now done....so it no longer looks like that. K and R....you both look fabulous...next year you can enjoy beverages and not be the DD because of being "with child" :)

Today did a little shopping. I am on the hunt for clearance deals. I went to Target and struck gold with the shoe department. Thanks K for the heads up on that! E came home with 3 new pairs of really cute flats and it only cost me for all 3 pairs was $11.22. Can't beat those prices. I also found some birthday gifts for some friends that have birthdays in February. Emma's birthday is coming up and we picked out some stuff for her gift bags. I was able to spend a little more because she is having 2 girls spend the night. I feel prepared for this. Her birthday is February 14th and I have gift bags, invites, and even know the menu. Phew.....

I also found some really great deals at Limited Too/Justice...Buy one clearance get one half off. Plus I had some bonus bucks. I found shorts from last season, capris, camis, jeans, t-shirts, etc and I came home with 8 items for less than 40.00. I know the weather is awfully cold here, but thought I can't pass these deals up.

My favorite find was at Pier 1 today, I found this for only $32.00...originally priced at $119.00. I can't wait for hubby to hang this up...it seriously weighs more than my kids!

Should I Clean or Screw Around......

Things I should be doing on a day off from school. ( Too damn cold to go anywhere). School cancelled, the weather is below zero...could freeze if you went out for more than 10 minutes. I think we just may have off tomorrow too!! With wind chills predicted to be -40...no one should have to go anywhere.

Here I go with my list

• organize cupboards (especially spice cabinet...have no idea what is in there)
• fold the laundry I did all morning and put it away
• vacuum, wash floors, dust, clean bathrooms (all 3 of them), wash all the sheets on the beds and remake beds ( I did do mine, just the kids now)
• prepare a gourmet meal for my family
• scrub the kitchen from top to bottom
• grade papers and do lesson plans for school
• play games with the kids (wait...that is why I have their friends over...great way to entertain them)
• put updated photos of my kids in picture frames
• organize the storage room ( I get scared just walking in there)
• if hubby was home and the kids gone...a little boom boom!!

Instead I am:

• baking muffins, breads, and in a few minutes I'll make some cookies
• reading blogs
• going on facebook...I love Facebook...I have connected with a lot of old friends...I am feeling nostalgic today or something
• watching shows that are on my DVR...like Rock of Love Bus Tour (dumb show I know...but entertaining), 90210, General Hospital, True Beauty(embarrassed to even say I DVR that one)
• looking at pictures from back in the day...i should be finding updated ones...not ancient ones from way in the past (college days)
• chatting on the phone with bffs

If there is no school tomorrow because of this BITTER COLD, I will be a bit more productive.

Plus, I can even enjoy a few Corona's tonight with lime. No school means extra sleep time. I could drink one now, but would feel like a desperate housewife or something. Plus, the kids have their friends over...that wouldn't be good.

Suck it Up? I Don't Think So!!!

I hate bills!!! I know everyone hates bills. However, it is part of life. You pay the mortgage, car payments, utilities, medical things, groceries, etc. No big deal, you just deal with it. Until yesterday when I open up my latest Energy bill....I seriously fell to the floor...I was hollering "HUBBY!!!!!" you will not believe this! I say this is the largest gas/electric we have EVER had. I dreamt about it last night, I was a crazy person with the kids talking about being wise about using power, I am unplugging, turning lights off, etc. The thing that gets me is that our heat is never set above 67 degrees. We turn it down to 60 when we are not home....what gives?

New Practices that will happen: We walk around in robes, blankets, and use candles for light! (not really candles, but just making a point) We must cut down on video gaming...damn Wii Fit must be sucking up all the power. If no one is watching TV...off it goes. We must learn to entertain ourselves without sucking up energy. I hope next month is better because this really sucks! I am not talking a little higher, but $100.00 more than last month!

Tuesday Tidbits

I have to share this story or little tidbit because it seriously made my day. I know it came from an 8 year old, but still.

A: "Mrs. S. How old are you?"
Mrs. S. "How old do you think I am?"
A: " I think you are in your 20s!"
Mrs. S " A...Thank you so much because you hit it right on the head! You get an A for effort today. You just made my day."

As this is going on a boy in here K really knows how old I am because his Mom use to watch my kids when they were younger. I told him to not to tell my secret. He does anyways and A doesn't believe him. No, K she IS in her 20s I can tell just by looking at her. :) I guess 40 really is only a number.

Update on my sound situation. It is working. I restarted my car and it is working. I have music. I decided to celebrate this occasion and listen to a little Guns and Roses. Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child of Mine, and Paradise City helped me get a rockin' start to my day. This way I know the awful weather we are going to have this week won't get me down.

Silence Not Wanted

Everyday I drive about 25 minutes each way to work. I look forward to listening to the radio, my mp3 player, or a variety of CDs that I have in the car. As I accelerate down the snowy road today. I hear no sound coming from the radio. So I check the power...it is ON, I check the volume, it is On and I even try to make it louder...no luck...no sound on anything that I try. I realize that it is NOT working. This type of silence is not welcome because.....

If I try to sing, I may drive myself crazy because I have a terrible singing voice. I really am not a big fan of talking on my cell phone while driving...plus everyone is at work.

As I drive I am fiddling with this radio trying everything to make it work...nothing. It looks like it should work because you can see all the action going on, but no sound. I get to work and sit in the parking lot reading the manual to find out what am I doing wrong, is there a mute button I missed? What? I realize if I don't get to into work, I will be late and if I am late...yikes! I am on camera and if that happens even once I am warned not to be late. Not sure what the consequence of being 1 minute late, but hear through the grapevine it is not good.

I call my hubby and ask him to call the car dealership because I may sound like a complete idiot...seriously everyone I am not an idiot, but it is not working and driving 25 minutes in silence may drive me nuts! I may start to talk to myself and people driving down the road may think I am a real nut job.

Fun Friday Thoughts

What a beautiful day...it is snowing like mad, the temperatures are hovering around 18 degrees above zero, and there are 100 days left of school before summer break!

On my way to work this morning there were no lanes in sight, the lanes were snowy white, so I made my own lane this morning. Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive.

I am actually wearing a pair of skinny leg jeans with a really cute pair of boots. I look a little like I did in college...only if I were 21 again.

I have no plans this weekend. I love having weekends like that. Soon enough our schedules will be packed with things going on.

I watched Ugly Betty and Grey's last night. I love Ugly Betty...it is one of my favorite shows. Grey's was okay, but I am over the dead guy...out with you.

Just like Confessions posted about yesterday...the gym is packed with wannabe resolutionists! I can't stand it. I know it will thin out, but it is still annoying. I have decided on some fitness goals for myself.

• Instead of doing 1 triathlon this year, I am going to do 2.
• I am going to continue to train to become a better and faster runner. I am still undecided about a half marathon. I am doing another 10K sometime in March.
• I will push myself harder doing "bootcamp" classes and when doing free weights, I will lift a heavier weight to build more muscle.
• I will work harder on my core. When doing the "plank" exercise, I will not give up so easily.
• Along with fitness comes confindence. I will work on that too, because sometimes I am not as confident in my appearance as I should be.
• I have other goals as well, but won't bore anyone with them.

There really is no theme to this post. I have a lot in my head these days and thought I would share some of my thoughts.

Amnesia...just Maybe

Let me start this by saying I think I may have killed one too many brain cells in my days.

The reason I say that is because how is it that I can't remember things from the past???

So, I am at the Y tonight and run across someone from my high school days and he is talking to me blah, blah, blah. Remember when I came to your dorm room when you went to UWW? I am thinking seriously??? Why don't I remember this? I don't even recall even dating this person in college...only high school. Was I on something? Was I drunk? What?

He then continues by reciting everyone I use to hang out with and telling me the skinny on what they are doing now and how time has not been good to them. I then tell him I don't really hang out with anyone from back in the day. The shock of it all to him. Who do you hang out with? Family? I do love my family and do things with them, but I do have other friends. WTF? I am a different person now and have made new friends.

He tells me he has secrets about some family members...like someone I know hitting on him at a local bar and wanting to take him to the nearest hotel room and do a little boom boom. Why is he telling me this? Does he want me to start some cyclone of rumors? WTF?

One thing he did hit right on the head is this girl we knew she didn't age so well. She is someone I went to high school with and I did see her at the Y and she looked terrible. She is a lot bigger and that is okay...I am not judging, but please don't wear shorty shorts with your cheeks hanging out and a tight tank that shows all of your fat rolls....nasty. I am not perfect by any means, but I would never wear stuff like that at 40. Don't know what she was thinking.

Wii Fit is so much FUN!

This is so much fun. The Wii Fit is worth it! Emma running.

Brandon Goal! (I think you forgot about the dinner you left on your face.)

More running....

still more running....

We tried out a lot of things on this. I found I like the hula hoop because I can do it on the Wii, but not in real life. I suck at the skiing, I find myself having no balance...I will get better. I wonder if I will find myself doing this after the kids go to bed.

If you haven't tried it out...it is a must. So glad I went out in the cold this morning to get it.

Wii Madness

Santa brought us the Wii this year. I guess we needed to add to our collection of gaming systems. One thing I didn't expect is that I really like this gadget. I never had much use for the Xbox 360 or the original Xbox. I liked Guitar Hero every once in a while, but never really got into the whole gaming thing.

Once the Wii was hooked up I found myself wanting to try it out. I found that the bowling is fun in groups, boxing is a real work out, and I suck at tennis. I really need to work on my coordination or something. I am becoming better at it, but it is hard to compete with the kids because they always want to play it. I have to put in a number or something just to have my turn. It is madness at our house. The girls are even fighting over the time they get to spend on it. They were much like me that they really didn't care about the Xbox 360 and there really wasn't a fight over it. Until now...I feel like a referee. The 12 year old tries to help the 6 year old and that isn't what the 6 year old wants. She is way to stubborn and then fights break out. That is usually when I take over and then it is my turn. I am glad Brandon can just let them fight it out. Because he realizes if they fight, it will be his turn instead of their turn.

I have heard all this talk about the Wii Fit. I wanted it for Christmas, but no luck. It was the hardest thing to come by. As I am reading my Sunday morning paper and looking at all the ads, I noticed Best Buy was running Wii Fit in their ad. So hubby, kids, and I decided to take our chances and head over to Best Buy when it opens. I went to one and he went to a different one. When I arrived, there was already a line forming at the door. Waiting in line in freezing temps really sucks. At this point I am hoping this is all worth it. I was hoping no one was in line for the Wii Fit, but they were. The sooner it got to the store opening, they started handing out tickets...please please have a ticket for me. Yes! I got #15 out of only 20 available. Hubby called and he got one too.

We came, set it up, tried it out, and I LOVE IT! Now I just have to wait my turn.....

Happy 2009

It was a very fun New Year's this year. I really had no intentions of doing much that night except watch movies and hang out with the family. We got an invitation to head next door for some cocktails and cards. Glad we did and it only took 10 seconds to get there. The kids were RockBand junkies, we played darts, and played cards. In which of course I lost some and won some. So I probally evened out after all said and done.

We said Happy New Year at 11:00 (which is midnight Eastern Time) said cheers and were home in our beds by Midnight our time.

Yesterday was spent lounging all day. Hubby made everyone a wonderful breakfast. We watched football, napped, played hours of Monopoly with the kids ( I won), and watched a movie. It was a great day to spend the day.

This is the the final days before reality is back. Back to school/work on Monday. I think the kids will have a shock when they have to get up at 6:20 am again. They are still in bed as I type this out. So, today I will take down all the Christmas decorations, plus the 3 trees, clean the house, go to boot camp (can't miss that), go grocery shopping ( hate that), and just maybe organize the pantry...we'll see.

Happy New Year!