Loser...

Yup, that's me.

Today I made the brave decision to give blood. I've only done it once before and I'm scared crazy when it comes to needles and my own blood. I can handle anyone else's blood... just not my own. I was so proud of myself when I watched the woman prick me AND I took a look to see where all that blood was going. I was pretty darn proud.

This is where the loser part comes in...

I stand up and make a joke that the comfy seats are just so hard to get out of. I walk to the canteen and BAM! fell to the floor, only to feel like I was going to vomit all over the lady's shoes. They rushed me to the gurney looking thing and tell me to lay down while they place ice cold paper towels on my head and neck. They then close the curtain and bring me a barf bag. Sweet.

Fast forward about 5 minutes and I'm feeling better. I sit up and make my way back to the seat I was supposed to sit in. It hits again, I'm going to pass out or vomit. I'm rushed back to the gurney. After about 20 minutes, I feel MUCH better and am actually able to sit up and eat something.

Damn. I was so proud of myself, too! That's what I get for not eating a huge breakfast before I gave blood. Next time, I promise.

So.. next time you're donating blood and you see someone who doesn't look well, don't laugh. It could be me.

:)

I might have a new friend! A real life friend, not all of you blog friends. Believe me, I love all my blog friends... but I also need real-life friends.

This is huge for me. I'm really hoping this works out. I know that sounds so silly, but it's true. I don't really have any real-life friends that I actually do things with. You know, the friend you call when you just need someone to run to the mall with. Or the friend you call when hubby is going to be out of town because she'll watch the chick flicks with you.

I grew up with lots of girl friends, especially some very close girl friends. Once I moved here, that changed. It became hard to meet people and make close friendships. Don't get me wrong, I have worked and currently work with some pretty cool people. But they have their own friends, or they live 40 minutes away, or they just didn't like me. I prefer to think it's the distance, I know I'm pretty cool.

So this is really getting me excited. Blondie from the couples date told hubby that she had a really good time and that we should go shopping together. Thankfully hubby played it cool and didn't make me sound like a nerd without any friends (which I am) and said, "Try and keep my wife away from a mall!" Whew. He didn't sell me out, yet.

So, I'll let you know how it goes.

Quirky?

Um.. so hubby just informed me that he might be starting a blog. I, of course, got all excited. He then told me it was going to be a running blog, just about what he ran for the day. I gave him a weird look... and he said, "Well, I'm not as quirky as you!"

Excuse me?

He then tried to explain himself, but the damage was done.

I think he just doesn't appreciate the quirks. Or, maybe he does.

**UPDATE**
Okay, hubby has done some more explaining. He would like you all to know that he doesn't mean quirky. He means witty.

Weekend Recap...

Saturday hubby and I met up with some of my work friends in Annapolis. We had a good time hanging out, watching football, and drinking. The bar we were at has a special shot, the Oyster Shot. It definitely is a raw oyster with cocktail sauce and vodka, chased with a shot of beer. Because I never turn down a dare, you know I totally tried that. It was gross. It won't be something I try again.

After that we headed to meet up with one of hubby's co-workers. It was a total couples date. I don't always do well meeting new people and was not terribly excited for this, but it turned out great and I'm really hoping that she had as good of a time as I did. I know it sounds lame, but sometimes there just aren't enough good couples friends out there and when you find a good set, you really don't want to let them go!

Today we ran a bunch of errands and did some shopping. Now we're just watching football, eating nachos, and drinking beer. Seriously, what could be better than that?

Cute...

Little Dog camping. She did not lay on the ground once. She insisted on sitting in chairs. Such a spoiled little dog. I love it!
Sorry for the blur, but big dog just doesn't take good pictures. She's still cute, though.

Seriously, look at that face. Now you know why she's spoiled rotten.
Both puppies cuddled up together. On the back of my couch. Seriously, they think that it's their couch. They won't move for anything.

no subject

I'm a little disappointed. I give you a story of a little kid saying pi$$ and I don't get any comments. What's up with that?

How about the little guy who called me a b*word, an f*ing b*word, a p*word and a fat p*word, f*word b*word all in one breath? Yes, that takes talent. Heaven forbid he know how to read when he can come up with insults using profane language, right?

A day in the life of moi.

Annnnnd.. if I get around to it, I'm going to copy Ashley and bring you all to work so you can see what I'm working with. Don't get too excited, it means I have to remember my camera tomorrow. And if you know me in real life, you know I have the memory of an ox and I forget everything. Seriously.

Ooops.

So today when we were sounding out words, I had a kid change a word from his (huh, iiii, ssss-- that's how we sound it out) to this on the board. He changed it to pis. Wouldn't have been quite so bad except I have one kid who loves to repeat EVERYTHING I say, just like I say it. And I turn to hear him say, "Sound it out.. does that spell this? No.. it's p--- iiiiiiii----sssss!" I whipped around to hear a fit of giggles and the little guy proudly proclaim, "Oops! I said a bad word!"

Word to the wise.. be careful when first graders are sounding out words on their own. You never know what you're going to get from them.

School, School, and more School!

Okay, my life has officially gotten boring. I feel like all I do is go to school, come home and work on school work for regular school, then do more school work for my grad class. I'm not sure this is what I had in mind when I said I wanted my master's in two and a half years. I love school, I really do. I just don't think I love school as much when I'm teaching full time and taking two classes. Yuck.

On a brighter note, I got some exercise today (which totally means I can now have a second helping of dessert, right?) and actually sort of enjoyed myself. Shhhhh! Don't tell hubby. He'll think I should do it more often.

Curious as to what kind of exercise I got? I rode my bike! I have a fabulous bike and there's just something about going for a bike ride when your bike rides like a BMW. Not too shabby considering I used to ride a bike that was 12 years old and squeaked when I used the brakes. There's just nothing like feeling the wind in your face. I was actually taken back in time to a day when I used to enjoy riding my bike daily. The weird part? I felt like I was going really fast. Come to find out, I wasn't. Shucks. Oh well... nothing says I have to be the fastest bike rider (just the cutest!).

Thanks for letting me use you as a great break from my grad papers! You are such a distraction, Blog.

Google Reader

I had a few comments a few posts back (when I was feeling sorry for myself about not having any readers...) and there were a few people who didn't know what google reader is. Let me explain.

If you have gmail, which I know you do because you commented on here and you are not a blogger. Google Reader is a program that allows you to follow blogs and be alerted when the blogs you are reading have been updated.

At the top of your gmail account, it says something to the effect of calendar, documents, photos, reader, etc. If you click on reader, it will allow you to set it up. It's super easy. Once you do that, any website you go to that has an rss feed (a little orange sign on the top right corner will easily let you know if it has an rss feed) and you can click on it to add it to your google reader.

Or, if this wasn't helpful... just go google it.

Bread, Rashes, and Grad Classes..

This is what my life consists of.

Mom and Gram sent a bread machine our way. After one failed attempt at creating cinnamon swirl bread, I decided to start off easy. I just finished a piece of warm, buttery, white bread. It was to.die.for. We're really looking forward to trying some of the awesome bread machine recipes. I mean, rosemary bread? Hello Macaroni Grill bread, only way cheaper. Sun-dried tomato and mozzarella bread? Yummy.

Yes, I realize this purchase really makes me sound old. Don't laugh at me.

Rashes? Well... hubby had poison ivy a few weeks back. Fast-forward two weeks and a few creams later, he had a full blown allergic reaction to something. We're talking hives all over his body. I took him to the doctor and they loaded him up with some pills to get rid of the pain and the rash. Hello day off for me!

And now I'm stuck working on grad class stuff. Papers galore.

I'm beginning to sing, "Bread, Rashes, Grad Classes, Oh My!" You know.. like lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!?

I really think all this 'serious' writing for my grad papers has warped my sense of humor. Eeks.

Less REALLY is more...

So I'm hubby-less and puppy-less tonight. Can I get a heck yeah?!

Don't get me wrong... I love the hubby and adore the puppies. But it's been quite some time since I've had even a few moments to myself. Tonight I'll be indulging in some guilty pleasures that I can't always get away with when one or the other is around.

1. Being on the computer for as.long.as.I.want...without interruptions.
2. Eating cereal for dinner.
3. Catching up on my shows. Now, I can usually get away with this but it almost always involves at least one dog. Said dog usually has to go to the bathroom, or wants to cuddle just at the time the plot is thickening.
4. Going to bed at 8:30 and falling asleep by 8:45. Again, Hubby would be fine with this... it just doesn't usually happen.
5. Not doing the dishes, cooking, or cleaning. I could get away with this when hubby or dogs are home, I just know I shouldn't.

With that being said... I'm off to fry my brain staring at the computer and the television.

Ahhh... freedom.

ANTM

Anyone else think "America's Next Top Model" is a little... um.... annoying this cycle?

First the random space-type theme with Tyra acting like a robot. I could almost let that slide. Now we have Tyra eating a poisonous apple and pretending she can't remember the make-overs? Then Jay sweeping in and being Prince Charming?

ANTM, stick to just being a model show.

Bad Boys...

Today was quite a day with the little ones. One spit a mouthful of water at me. Another destroyed my classroom, throwing things around, and stomping while screaming, "I hate you! I hate you!". My sentiments exactly, little man. And to round out the day? Two boys in for recess. You can imagine that wasn't a pretty sight.

The kids must have known I was lacking content for the blog.

So Tired...

Last night I went out to dinner with some girls from my old school. We went into the city for dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. We're talking six courses and three and a half hours for dinner. At one point, we joked that it was certainly not a place to have dinner with people you don't like. We had such a good time, but I didn't get home until 10:30. That's seriously past my bedtime. Needless to say, when I woke up this morning I did not want to get up.

One funny little tidbit... yesterday we were doing a rhyming activity and I asked them, "What's a word that starts with a /b/ and rhymes with fig?" (The answer is big) He shouts, "tig-ol-bitties!" If you don't know what that phrase means, go ahead a google it. I'm certainly not explaining it here.

My kids are very smart. Street smart.

Cuddle, anyone?

Seriously, could they be any cuter?

I think it's too funny that Leila, the bigger dog, has to be curled up in a ball while Zoey stretches out across the couch.

I'm off to go cuddle with them!

...

I think I might be talking to myself...

Wait, that sounds weird. Let me clarify.

I don't think I have any readers. Thus, the whole talking to myself thought. I do know that I have four or five faithful readers: Mom, Hubby, The Cuz, Ashley, and maybe Jessica. Beyond that? Nothing. You know how I know? Google Analytics told me. I don't have very many page visits. We're talking 10 total. And I'm certain most of those came from the mother because hubby, Ashley, and Jessica have google reader. I'm not sure if The Cuz does.

Is there anyone else out there who is reading? If you are, please leave me a comment. I'm starting to get a complex about this.

Science 101...

Yesterday during a particularly fun science lesson, we discussed the five senses. I introduced hearing and we all named something we could hear. I introduced touching and we talked about things we could touch. I came upon smell and asked the kids what types of things we could smell. I shared that when I go outside on a nice summer day, I love to smell the flowers. I went around the group. This is what my little first and second graders can smell:

Kid #1: I can smell Johnny (who does, on occasion, smell).
Me: Oh, you can smell that he took a bath today. Very nice.
Kid #2 (Johnny): I didn't take a bath today. (um, now we know why you smell)
Me: Oh, okay. Please tell us something you can smell.
Kid #2: Me. I can smell me.
Me: (In my head, Oh dear god..) Great. You can smell the detergent your mom washed your clothes in.
Kid #3: I can smell moke.
Me: Pardon?
Kid #3: moke... moke..
(makes smoking motions with his hand...)
Me: Oh.. smoke. Like when a fire is burning and you can smell the smoke from it.
Kid #3: No... when my mom smokes!
Me: Um.. uh... uh... okay. Yes, we can smell smoke. That's not a good smell, is it?
Kid #4: I can smell you!
Me: Um.. yes, my perfume.
Kid #4: No, your hair.
(How on earth does he get that close to me to smell my hair!)
Me: Oh, well I'm glad I smell good.
Kid #5: I smell weed.
Me: Excuse me?
Kid #5: Weed. You know, weed.
(makes same smoking motion kid #3 did...)
Me: I think that's enough sharing about things we can smell.

Seriously? Now you know why I love my job.

Near-death experience...

Okay, so I might be exaggerating but it could have been deadly. I was cut with scissors today. In the face. Little man was handing me his paper with his scissors in his hand and he sliced my face. And by slice, I mean there was a big red mark.

I did make him feel pretty badly about hurting me. And he replied with, "I wouldn't hurt you on purpose, I love you!"

I suppose that made up for the scissor stabbing.

In related news, apparently I'm pretty cool among the under 10 crowd. Today I broke out in some g-rated song and my kids just couldn't believe that I knew the song! I thought it was hilarious. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I knew for a fact that I was older than half of their parents. I'm mid-twenties. Sweet.

What.a.day

Tonight is a glass... scratch that... bottle... of wine night. We're talking the whole bottle for just me. Hubby will have to fend for himself.

It was just one of those days. I don't know if it was the dreary weather or what, but my kids were c.r.a.z.y. I felt like a broken record by the end of the day. I'm pretty sure I said, "Make good choices!" at least 987 times. At least.

I'd like to say it was all in the name of the blog, but it wasn't even that good. They were just bad to the bone and consequences didn't seem to matter to them. Guess the honeymoon is over!

Off to go pop the cork! :)

Face Lift!

I finally came to my senses. The last blog background just wasn't working for me. It was full of crazy code that hubby had to do for me and every time I wanted to simply add a new blog to the blog roll, I had to conference with him. It was a twenty-minute process because I just couldn't be happy with him doing it, I wanted him to teach me to do it.

Well, it would have been if I asked him. But I didn't because I knew how it would play out.

Anyway.. enough rambling. The blog has a new look. I think we'll stick with this for a while.

What do you think?

Ugly Blog.

Ew. If you don't have google reader... you've probably noticed the blog has taken on a new look. Yes, it's ugly. Hubby's website is down and he hosts all my images, so I'm out of luck right now. He says it will be fixed by the end of the week. Until then, don't mind the ugly green and silver image at the top and the horrible spacing.

Cute kids.

My kiddos are a.dor.able. Seriously.. the cutest things ever.

Today one of them grabbed my hand when he walked in the classroom and kissed it and told me I was "pwetty". I'm not sure where he got this from, but it might have made my heart melt. Especially since he's missing his two front teeth and he had crumbs on his face and he's just too cute.

Follow that up with another little guy who "needs to talk, like, now!" Yes, those were his words.

After our little chat, he kindly told me that he didn't think it was fair that he had to share me with the other kids in the class and if he had his way, he'd be the only kid in the class. Um.. how cute is he? Fast-forward an hour and a half. I kindly reminded him to make good choices (while he was standing on his chair to get my attention from across the room) and he followed up with, "forget you!" Um.... I thought I was unforgettable?

Sunday, funday!

Hubby and I headed down to DC to check out the Afghanistan art exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. It was the last day for the exhibit and it was super-packed. We're talking bumper to bumper, looking at pieces of art. So packed that I was beginning to sweat profusely (partly because I was a panic-stricken mess and partly because it was 95 degrees in there with a thousand people crammed in 100 sq. feet of a room) and starting to wonder where in the heck we would all go if there was an emergency. Hubby must have read my mind when he suggested we look quickly and not read all the information provided below the pieces.

We wandered around a bit more and then decided to grab some dinner. After walking a bit, we finally agreed on a quaint little restaurant and sat down to watch some football and grab some grub.

Oh! A little random, I know.. but while we were walking around downtown, we totally saw a guy on a orange fuzzy motorcycle. We're talking orange shag covering his motorcycle. Definitely down played the tough-guy-on-a-motorcycle image.

We're thinking the zoo next weekend...

50th Post!

Wow.. hard to believe, but today is my 50th post! I'm not really sure how I had so much to say..

Well, where has time gone? School started and I'm just super-busy right now. Not that it's my excuse for not blogging.. it's my excuse for no material. Seriously, I used to have thoughts about which crazy thing that happened in my day I would talk about. Now it's more of a... what on earth will I talk about?

Today we headed over to a wine and beer tasting at one of the local liquor stores. It was really fun. The wine was great, the beer was awesome, and the food? Simply divine. We're talking bruschetta and fried ravioli. The ravioli? My personal favorite. Delish.

Since I haven't been home in four weeks, I'm hoping hubby will agree to a night in with a movie or two and one of the bottles of wine we bought. Maybe even two? Bottles of wine, not movies. If you know me in real life, you'll know I fall asleep during movies. I definitely can't manage two movies in one night.

Here's to hoping the next few weeks will provide me with great content for the blog. I'd hate to lose readers (are there any of you out there?) because my life was... gasp!.. boring!

What a day!

Check out what came today from the cuz!

It's totally a "flower" arrangement made out of fruit!
Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

It came at just the right time, too. I was sick yesterday (definitely puked on myself while driving.. but I won't disgust you tonight with the details) and still not 100% today. Plus the kiddos are starting to show their true colors, while I want to bang my head on my desk.

The upside? I have LOTS of fresh fruit to eat and it's totally cute. I may have already had like seven skewers. I might have to think about always putting my fruit on a skewer..