The Day Has Arrived

If some of you read my blog this week, it was birthday week. I went out on St. Patty's Day, did some shopping, went out to dinner, and spent time with family and friends. It was a nice way to say good-bye to 40 and hello to 41. It's not all that different, except now I am in my forties, not approaching or at forty, in my forties. As my husband pointed out I am in the best shape ever and I take care of myself.

Alyssa made the cake, made frosting, and used sprinkles for the Happy Birthday.

In fact I ran 5 miles this morning with my husband. Next Sunday, we are doing the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago. It is an 8K. I am awfully excited to do that race. I have goals this year, just like last, but now I need to improve on times and push myself harder and compete just a little more.

Thanks to my wonderful family for making me a cake, Alyssa playing Happy Birthday on the flute, and letting me pick my lunch date today. The weather was a sunny day! Cheers to another great year!

Brandon will be 10 this week. He is so excited to celebrate his day too!

Emma sitting on the counter....we always have to tell her to get off all the time. She must still feel like the shorty in the family.

Hubby and I out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was real good and so was he for not telling the wait staff it was my birthday...they have a saddle you sit on while everyone hoots and hollers..so thanks hubby for not embarrassing me last night.

Cheers to Green Beer

Wouldn't of imagined that I would of went out on St. Patty's Day, but I did. If it falls on a weekend, I like to go out and tip a few back, but on a school night? I would of never thought. It was PACKED!! Our town opened up a new Irish Pub right on Lake Michigan and it was so crowded I thought it was a Friday night. It was wall to wall people drinking, eating corned beef, wearing green, collecting as many green necklaces as you could get. It was just me and hubby. We ran into someone we knew and hung out with him. We left that pub because I was getting knocked around from being so crowded. We headed over to a different place, it wasn't crowded at first, but then ....



Some guy walked in and it was a blast from the past. Someone I went to grade school with and his brother. No big deal, except I taught his brother when he was 6 years old. He is now 23! I felt so old!! He was telling me things about what he remembered from being in my classroom as a first grader. It was from my first teaching job at a Catholic school. I now work in the public schools and have been at this school for 14 1/2 years. Yikes that sounds old! :0



Great night...was home by ten...asleep by 10:30. It is birthday week...I am allowed to do things that I normally wouldn't do.

Signs of Spring

How can I tell Spring has arrived in Wisconsin.

• The snow has melted, but a few "black" piles remain in the ditches and parking lots.
• The robins have come back.
• I can hang laundry outside to dry. ( I did this weekend)
• It is light out past 7:00.
• I can wear short sleeves, no socks, and bermudas to bed.
• I see people in flip-flops and shorts. ( Now for me it has to be a lot warmer than 55 degrees to make me do that, but around here 55 is like 80 after months of below freezing temps)
• Buds are forming on trees.
• Easter is around the corner.
• I can pull out my Spring wardrobe and feel refreshed and new.
• I need a tan like no other. My legs are ashy....thank goodness for self tanners.
• Last but not least......IT IS BIRTHDAY WEEK!!

Happy Spring! I know that in Wisconsin there will be some snow again and some yucky weather, but I know that it won't last and it is that much closer to summer. I counted...55 days left of school!!! WOO HOO!

What Did you Watch Last Night

I wasn't sure about watching this season's American Idol, but I thought last night was great. I have my favorites.

• Danny~ I think he has a good voice and seems to be a real nice guy. Plus he is from Milwaukee( I live about 30 South of Milwaukee)!
• Alexis~ The judges didn't have a lot to say about her performance, but I loved how she sang "Dirty Diana!" I also love her pink highlights ( mine will be coming this summer)
• Kris~ Didn't realize he was on the show until last night...he was good.
• Matt~ The dualing piano singer guy....loved his performance last night. Plus he is a cute guy.
• Lil~ She is well put together. She sang well. Simon hated her outfit. So funny because Alyssa was ripping on it too. I told her I would wear that outfit when her friends were around. I almost had her believing me. haha

I thought overall the show was good. The parts that were a bit weird to watch were Anoop and Jorge. I predict they will be going home. I think Megan is a beautiful girl, but the song she sang last night was a bit weird. I felt like I was at a 50s diner watching a lunch time performance.

I do like Kara the judge they added this season. She speaks clear. However, listening to Paula is like OMG what will she say this time. My favorite is Simon. There is something about him that I really like. I think it is his smile and white teeth. Randy is you know "yoyo dawg!"

What do you all think so far? Watching or Not? Who are your favorite's?

Lazy or Not...

I think tweens are a lot like newborns in some sense because you need to have patience, understanding ( expression is sometimes a guessing game), and wonder why all of a sudden they can't sleep anymore???

For the last 2 nights A is having the hardest time sleeping. She comes in our room around 11:00 pm and says to us " I can't sleep." I try to be patient and say relax, close your eyes, and if that doesn't help read a book to help calm you. A little while later she comes back up and says "I can't sleep, I have a headache." I tell her to go and take something. I must of been half asleep because I realized that I just told my 12 year old to take care of herself, get some ibuprofen and go back to sleep. If that were my newborn, I would actually of gotten out of bed to do all of these things.

This morning I walk out of my room to get some coffee and as I was turning on some lights, I realized she was sleeping on the couch. I don't even remember telling her to do that, but apparently I did so that if she did need something I wouldn't have to walk ALL the way to her room. I even asked her if she took the right amount of Ibuprofen. She did...phew...I was sort of thinking she could of taken some men's vitamin or something else in the cabinet especially now since she has started swallowing pills. I had to do that...the liquid bottles were going down like water...2 doses and done. Much easier...

Is that being a bad Mom? I didn't even get out of bed to help her. She is a responsible girl. Now, if that were my other 2 kids...Yes I would of got up to help. I feel kind of bad that I didn't help her and made her take care of herself. I was so cozy in my bed I didn't want to get out of it. However, if she were puking and feverish, I would of helped. I don't want her to feel like I don't care because I do, but I think all of this sleep stuff is happening because of the time change and she did have a sleepover on Saturday night and she did stay up until 3 am and slept so late on Sunday that no wonder she wasn't tired. Then Monday night comes and now I have a headache because I couldn't sleep. ( You see, I am just trying to talk myself into that I AM NOT A BAD MOM.)

***Side note*** I lapped him last night at the gym...so there! I even rubbed it in, in a way that didn't seem mean. Of course there was all kinds of excuses. I haven't lost it after all!

Triple Threat

Irritable, Frustrated, and just plain bitched up. That about sums up what I am feeling and thinking today. Must be the clouds, weather, and the fact that I am approaching my birthday...again. (Why do the years seem to fly by?)

Why irritable? On my way to work this morning...hoping that my cell doesn't ring because that usually means my kids are calling me for some dumb reason. It is never an emergency. Aww hell the phone is ringing and they are announcing a great concert on the radio....shhhh phone I don't want to miss the details of where this nostalgic concert will be and OMG I have to go that concert. I answer the phone just in case it is an emergency...it's not. "Mom, I don't want to wear my coat to school today. Can I wear a hoodie?" "Brandon it is 38 degrees outside...you need to wear your coat. I know the forecast says it is suppose to be near 50 degrees, but YOU NEED TO WEAR A COAT!! I am not asking you to bundle up like you are in the frozen tundra." I hang up bummed that I missed where this concert will be. Within a minute Emma is now calling me. WTF people "Mom, Alyssa is only wearing a vest today. I want to wear my vest too" Me..."Emma, Alyssa doesn't have outside recess like you, please wear your coat." She proceeds to beg and whine about wanting to wear her vest. I'm not sure what she ended up going to school in, but I hope she had some sort of coat on. Tonight we will have a chat about expectations and NOT calling me for these reasons. Hell, I don't want to miss my me time and radio. lol

Why Frustrated? Same reasons as above, but at school where I teach I have kids only wearing hoodies to school. I feel terrible sending them out to recess when it is 40 degrees out and they don't have a coat. They think just because it is March (Spring season in a couple weeks) it means let's break out the summer wardrobe and wear flip flops. We live in Wisconsin! It doesn't get warm around here for months! We may have nice days here and there, but not nice enough to not wear coats or even dress in layers. I send them out because hey...I am not their parents and I wouldn't want anyone to be ticked at me for trying to parent their child.

Why Bitched Up? Because last night when running this guy who has been wanting to beat me finally did!! What the hell I ask myself? Why did this guy find it okay to say Thanks to me after he beat me in a sprint around the track. He tells me that he thought he would never beat me and hell he did. So now I am going to do everything I can for that not to EVER happen again.

I will blame last night's mishap on the fact that it was my 6th day in a row working out, I had Girl Scout Cookies, ate dinner right before class, and I just finished my cycle. That's why...not because he is faster than me.

About my birthday...it seems like I just turned 40 why does 41 have to come so soon?

The concert that I HAVE to go to is Def Leppard, Poison, and Cheap Trick. Maybe that way I can relive the 80s all over again! Or this time around I will REMEMBER the concert because the first time I saw them back in 1988 I really don't remember much!! No...it's not dementia either.

Nets and Noodles

Nets/Noodles is an annual event at our school. It is a fundraiser with food, raffles, auctions, and a community basketball game. The basketball teams are our school staff members vs The SL Fire Dept. Last year we got just killed. They beat us by a lot. First of all their team is made up of all men and our team has a mix of men and women. They also were out for blood or to prove that they will NBA ready or something. This year we said it had to be a much friendlier game and add some silliness too.
An introduction of our team...we had 10 players this year. Some of the people who played last year were busy and some happened to get the flu that day. So 10 we are. Nice picture...uggghh..We even had cheerleaders!

In action.....

In for the rebound (see all those young boys...I taught some of them when they were in 1st and second grade and now they are in their 20s) It made me feel old or maybe they were being nice to me(letting me get the rebound) because I was their teacher at one point and guess what? I scored 1 basket for our team that night. YEAH!!

I was truly scared of being knocked over by these boys. Some were men too. This one guy was a little serious and was pushing me around and pounced on my foot. He probally weighed at least 100 pounds more than me. Who knows.... The silliness was putting wigs on, using a football, hula hooping, etc.

It was a fun night. My family came to watch their wife and mom play a sport that I really am not good at. Thanks to hubby for taking care of the camera and taking tons of photos.

This year the teachers won the game. The final score was 55 to 50.