Fall.Is.Fun

Seriously, there is nothing better than Michigan in the fall. The colors were in full bloom this weekend and I was able to enjoy the leaves while I was home. The car rides with my family included lots of "oooohs!" and "aaaaahs" over the colorful leaves and we even took the golf cart out (yes, I'm from a rural area) to stake out the property and get some close ups with the beautiful changing leaves.

It's always quite funny when I go home, because home is such a stark contrast to my new home in Maryland. For one, I would never wake to the sound of gun shots in the woods. The only gun shots I would hear in this area would be from a homicide. In Michigan? Just the hunters. I probably wouldn't be wandering through a dress shop and hear the woman comment that she just ordered a wedding gown in camouflage. Ah, the joys of living in an area where hunting is truly a religion. I often comment that I feel like Reese Witherspoon in "Sweet Home Alabama" when I travel home. I leave the hustle and bustle of a big city to live a quieter, slower paced lifestyle.

And that's why I love my life. I get to enjoy city living most of the time and can also appreciate rural America when I travel back to see my parents. There's just something special about looking in the backyard and seeing sand hill cranes and deer, with the colorful leaves poking through and a combine or two with the irrigation system in the field.

Have I told you lately that I love fall? The only thing that would have made this trip would have been apple picking and pumpkins. Because that? That's fall in Michigan.

what i wore wednesday...

Very few pictures this week.. I either didn't remember to take a picture or I was running behind when I left for work. So... you get only two this week. But one of them was from Date Night and I totally need your opinion, so make it count.

 I don't have a case of the Mondays....

Ivory cardigan with black bow-- The Limited

Black flare leg trousers-- The Limited

Black patent leather ballet flats with rhinestones--Tarjay (this season!)

Monday Date Night...

or the "I'm-not-sure-i-can-pull-this-off-but-i'm-going-to-try" Look.



Black long-sleeved t-shirt with detail at the collar--Tarjay (forever ago!)

Dark wash skinny jeans--Ann Taylor Loft

Black patent leather with rhinestones ballet flats-- Tarjay

Black and pearl necklace-- pretty sure it's The Limited, but from forever ago.

And that's the outfit I'm needing some input on. I know it's blurry, but you get the idea. For some reason I feel like my @$$ is too big to pull them off. You know, at second look, it's not my boo-tay, it's my hips/waist. I feel like it just goes out too much. And really, it's not the jeans I'm worried about. I'm not sure how I feel about skinny jeans and flats on me. I pink puffy heart how it looks with boots, but these size 10 feet are a wee bit awkward in tapered leg jeans and flats.

Which reminds me. They are essentially our mother's tapered leg jeans and we go around calling them skinny jeans. Weird.

Thoughts on the skinny jeans with flats look OR why we insist on calling them skinny jeans when they are really tapered jeans?

Discuss. Go.

Say what?

I'm feeling a wee bit overwhelmed right now, so I'm thinking bullets are totally appropriate.

• I was asked to be a guest blogger over at Seasoned with Words!! I'm totally excited and feel so honored that she asked me. I'm also feeling a bit anxious... what if her readers don't want to read what I have to say? What if I'm not nearly as witty as I usually am? Eeks!
• My eye doctor was wearing a Three Stooges tie. Seriously, who can take a man seriously when he's wearing Larry, Moe, and Curly on his tie? I about choked when I saw him walk in.
• I'm a little worried about Mother's Day coming up. It will be my mom's first Mother's Day without her mother and I won't be there. I can't imagine a Mother's Day without my mom, so I can't begin to understand how sad this day will be for her.
• I've been feeling a little under the weather lately, so my abs are really sore from coughing. Who knew coughing could be such a workout?
• I'm trying to be a better teacher and using some other strategies with my kids. They are LOVING the alternative assessments and our open conversations about text. I thought they might be bored hearing eachother talk, but it turns out.. they are learning more while I'm talking less! I love hearing their thinking.
• One of my struggling readers came up to me today and said, "Ms. L, I don't think I need your help reading today. I know how to read now." What an awesome feeling. He continues to need intensive interventions for reading, but to hear his confidence made my heart smile.
• A kid called me out for faking it today when I told him that I loved it when he frowned at me. He replied, "You're faking it! You don't love it!" and one of the other students said, "Ms. L doesn't lie and she would never fake it!" Bahahaha! They have no idea that I fake it quite often. But they'll never know!

Only in Michigan..

Totally just saw a man purse, mullet, fu manchu, AND a fringed leather trench coat on a dude in a restaurant.

I heart Kalamazoo, Michigan.

But I hate that I didn't have the stealth factor it required to snap a picture for you all. Because I love you all dearly, I decided to make my own version of what he looked like. And yes, I totally used paint because I'm cool like that. I think it actually adds some character to Mr. Fu.

"Hey Ladies, I'm single and ready to mingle!"

And yes, I totally had to look up the correct way to spell fu manchu. The first grade teacher in me wanted it to be three words or one word, but certainly not two words.

Fashion Disaster...

While at the grocery store, I definitely observed two fanny packs. Fanny packs. One was almost acceptable, as the proud owner was over the age of 65 AND it was leather. The other one? It was neon green and neon pink on a 40 year old. Literally, it was like it came out of 1991. I could not believe it!

And.. other fashion mishaps I observed while in Hicktown, MI... a man on a mo-ped with no shirt and no shoes. Immediately following that, I witnessed another shirtless wonder sporting a rockin' mullet while riding his bike. We're talking curly top and long curly back. A true mullet. You know, business in the front, party in the back. Another image circa 1991.

A Really Happy Hour..

I went out to a happy hour with Ashley over at Ashley's Antics. We had a TOTAL blast. But a word of caution, ladies: if you ever head out with her, be prepared to make bad choices. We're talking two glasses of wine and having to spend an hour and a half in Marshall's in order to let the little buzz wear off.

Oh, and.. shopping in Marshall's after you've had two glasses of wine.. let's just say your judgement is a little off and any filter you had to keep you from making fun of an outfit? It's gone out the window.

Also, Ashley has a difficult time reading. She can't tell the men's room from the ladies' room. As in, she walked IN to the guys' bathroom only to find a man talking on the phone on the pot. She immediately walked out. We laughed a long time about that one.

And... she'll put a big, fat, mu mu in your clothes to try on and then giggle endlessly while you're trying clothes on. Then plead ignorance when you call her out on it.

As we were leaving, we vowed never to let 7 months pass without seeing each other. I seriously love this girl AND she now lives like 15 minutes closer and only 5 away from my school--- yay!

Full Moon...

Today I looked FABULOUS in my cute gray dress with black trim, a black sash bow, gray tights, and cute, cute, cute boots. I was very impressed with my get-up. Hubby was, too.

I was totally cute until one of my little ones decided to run away at recess. Yes, a child with emotional/behavior issues ran away from me... and keep in mind that 5 year olds are much faster than their teacher running in boots and a dress.

The fantastic part? The wind gust at about 15 mph as I was reaching to grab him.

Yup, full moon. For the entire playground. Pretty sweet for me.

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...

ants

Okay, it's official: I hate ants. Seriously, they are everywhere. It all started on 4th of July when I was practically eaten alive by those suckers. They were out for blood. My blood. I had no less than fifty ant bites. Each and every one of them itched like crazy. Now they are in my classroom at summer school and the kids are walking around saying, "Is there one on me? I'm getting eaten by ants!". Okay, no they are not on you and no they are not eating you. To add fuel to the fire, they are now crawling over my spot on campus. I sat in them the other day and vowed to move spots. I moved today and they are here, too. Uck.

Funny little side story about summer school... I have a little guy in my class who doesn't talk much. He giggles a lot, but the little man doesn't have a whole lot to say. And, with the behaviors I have in my class, there's not a whole lot of time for me to listen to him talk. He's not a behavior problem. I have to spend time with the six other little guys who have a lot to say, most of which is not very nice and usually involves a curse word or ten.

So little man was outside waiting for the bus when he started giggling profusely. I asked him what was so funny. He pointed to the boy next to him in a pink Ohio shirt. I said, "Ohio? Is that what's so funny? It is a funny name for a state, isn't it?" To which he replied, "No, silly! Pink! Boys don't wear pink!" Of course the boy who was wearing the shirt had no idea that he shouldn't be wearing pink (it matched the Winnie the Pooh socks his mom made him wear, duh!) and little guy said, "My dad says boys don't wear pink. It's a girl color!" Now I had no idea this kid had that much language, let alone an opinion about colors boys shouldn't be wearing. Apparently his dad doesn't think boys should be in pink and it's pretty funny to some boy wearing pink. My thought? Why isn't he laughing about the Pooh socks?

I just don't understand why parents of kids with disabilities think it's a good idea to show that their kid has a sub-par IQ by dressing them in Pooh socks, fanny packs, or any other identifying factor that proves they didn't pick out their clothes (or they have bad taste in clothes). Yes, I've actually had a little one wearing a fanny pack. I had to tell his mother that he was getting made fun of for his fanny pack. She told me she wears a fanny pack. I had to stifle my laughter because she clearly had a warped sense of fashion. He showed up the next day sans fanny pack.

And one more t-shirt for the day: A little boy with autism (who was shouting obscenities at my aide and saying,"NO! NO! NO! I will not. Unless I blow you up with my TNT. Even then, you can't make me do it, TNT is more powerful than you!") that explained he was autistic and said something about having tantrums and not being spoiled, but being autistic. What a great shirt. However, I think it's a bit ironic that he's wearing it while he's having a tantrum.

all.sorts.of.wrong

Okay, so I came to the library to get some work done on this grad class paper. Well, as I'm driving up I notice someone parked out further than me. Normally this wouldn't bother me.. but S and I have been trying to park further away to get a few more seconds of walking in. Lame, I know. But when you're a fatty like me.. any extra incentive to get some calories burned really can help. Anyway, this woman parked further out than me. I felt guilty. So.. I moved the car. No chance I was going to let her burn .2 more calories than moi.

So, as I'm walking in feeling pretty proud of myself. I notice a man walking out. With a short-sleeved dress shirt, a tie, and suspenders. I'm thinking.. "My goodness.. what horrible fashion sense this man has!" Boys.. if you're going to dress nicely, avoid the short-sleeved shirt. It's just not right. As I'm thinking all of this, homeboy has no shoes on! Even worse. I could have left it at the short-sleeved dress shirt, tie, and suspenders.. but the no shoes? That was the clincher. I was going to have to rip on him. End of story.

Off to get some work done. And by work I mean writing that paper. Not looking at other blogs to get ideas for my own. No, I won't do it. I won't, I won't, I won't.