For the past few weeks...

Here's what we have been up to lately.

 

One of my BYU roomie's little brother got married so we loaded up the car and went to Vegas.
 Don't worry, we found some time for fun too.

My friend's husband does a magic comedy show on the Stip and totally hooked us up. We saw lots of shows and ate at lots of nice places thanks to him and all of his hook-ups. We had a blast.

On the way out we stopped at Hoover Dam. We have about 500 pictures of the new bridge (Bryan loves bridges and this one is HUGE). If you have any questions I now know all about how they built it, all the forces involved (sheer and tensile), trusses, etc, Yep, we had a full lecture on Hoover Dam. It actually was kinda interesting. However, I still may need to be drugged to go over that thing. It's a bit high for my comfort level.


We then headed for Bryan's homeland. A 6 hour drive turned in to a 2 day adventure thanks to some bad weather and icy road closures. We did make it eventually and had a great Christmas.

Bryan and his Christmas sweater. What a goof.

We had a great time but are now very happy to be home.

So maybe we were a little despirate

What do you do when you are making cookies and realize that your brown sugar has turned into a cinder block? You get out a hammer, beat that brick into small pieces, and use the flour sifter to separate out the big chunks. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyone want some oatmeal cookies?

For the record everything was kept perfectly sanitary in the demolition process.
If you know of an easier process please don't tell me. I don't want to know.

RLS - it's the worst

I have been suffering from RLS for years. It’s brutal. I even had myself diagnosed with restless leg syndrome years before the commercials came out on TV that educated everyone. Who new that the uncontrollable urge to move one's legs could almost send them into insanity!

My symptoms usually come at night so I very reluctantly go to movies or concerts at night because I know that it could very easily turn into a night of torture. Late night 3 and a half hour trips to Eagar are pretty much vetoed from now on. Once I had to practically bite someone’s head off because he told me it was “all mental” as I was pacing during a movie (don’t worry that was the last time I went on a date with him).

I guess I am so used to it that I don’t realize the things I do to make my legs feel better. The other night as we were trying to go to sleep Bryan said (very politely) “How about you hold your legs still and I will shake mine tonight so you can sleep.” Oh! That is so sweet. Thanks honey, I wish it could work like that.

I am about at the end of my patience. I have done lots of research and have tried everything other than prescription drugs. Magnesium supplements don’t help, iron doesn’t help, B complex doesn’t help (although it does turn your potty cool colors), and potassium supplements don't help. The only thing that helps is movement. Anyone have any advice? If not I am resorting to drugs. And lots of them.

My gratitude attitude

My sister-in-law is doing a cute thing on her blog. For the past few days she has been asking people what they are grateful for and then she posts their response. I apparently didn't make the cut and was not asked so here is my list, posted on my own blog. Don't worry Ashlee, I am not the type to get offended.

1. New running shoes. When I get new shoes I feel like I am running on a cloud for a week. Yep, pretty grateful for new shoes.

2. Digital grading books. I can’t even imagine having to calculate grades by hand. Thankfully I can just put the points in my grade book on my handy computer and it automatically figures out grades.

3. Debit cards. For some reason I get nervous writing checks (even though I have written MANY in my life). What if I do it wrong?

4. The people at work that bring yummy treats to share at lunch.

5. Advanced medicine and smart doctors. It’s amazing the healing, relief, peace, and hope that the medical field can provide. Things that were deemed impossible in the past are now, well, completely possible.

6. To be in charge of only the veggie tray at Thanksgiving. Thanks mom. I can totally handle that one. It’s gonna be the best veggie tray you have ever seen!

May we all enjoy being grateful!

Up Time

I liked this and thought I would share.
(Try to ignore the fake applause and laughter.)

I thought I'd been swined.

I got sick this week. Real sick. I, along with the rest of earth’s population (thanks to the media), immediately figured that it was the swine flu. Ahem, excuse me “H1N1” (oh brother). As I laid in bed for 2 days straight with a fever and nausea I thought of how this could have been avoided. Me? I can’t get the swine flu! I should have washed my hands every half an hour instead of every hour (seriously I am OCD about this). I knew that I should have faked that I was pregnant so that I could have gotten the vaccine (apparently teachers who have over 150 teenagers in and out of their room everyday aren’t high risk enough to get the first batch of the vaccine (yeah, oh brother again). I thought of everything I could as I flipped my covers on and off trying to get some sort of temperature regulation. I went back to work today. I had many students tell me, “You're back. We thought you died!” I just smiled. “Nope, not dead.” They asked, “Did you have the swine flu?” Again I smiled. “Maybe. Or maybe it was a stomach bug or food poisoning. Honestly it doesn’t really matter”

At lunch I snuck over and talked to the school nurse. She said there is a stomach bug going around that sounds exactly like what I had. Bummer. I was hoping that was my go around with the swine flu and now I would be immune. So I guess I will keep being paranoid with the rest of the world about getting the swine flu. When does the second batch of vaccines come out again?!

Green(ish) Thumb

Yesterday I decided that I had ignored my yard long enough. I have been wanting to get out and do some work for weeks now but never seem to have a full day of nothingness to spend out in the yard. Yesterday morning I sent Bryan on his way to do some electrical and I put on the garden gloves. I opened the front door only to see 3 landscaping business cards fall to the ground. Huh, is my yard really that bad? Nah, they give those to everyone.

The landscapers that originally did the yard were bush happy. That's fun when they are little cute bushes but baby bushes grow up to be big bushes and things tend to get a little crowded. So I am getting rid of some of 'em. I easily removed 2. They were easy to get out and I admit I was pretty impressed with my 'rip the bush out' skills. Then came time to get rid of this monstrosity.


I hate the desert one. It is ugly, pokey, and catches every feather, fuzzy, and piece of trash in the neighborhood. I nievely took on the task of trimming off 5,872 double edged spears. I found all kinds of stuff in there: candy wrappers, mailers, and yes, 2 landscaping advertisements. It was a lot of work. I had it down to the trunk and got stuck. Bryan had to help me get the roots up when he got home. We proudly stood by our trash for a while and waived to neighbors.


We just hope that this bush can recover now that there is a little more room on the side of our house.


As I was pulling some weeds in the back I noticed something odd in the garden (ok, fine, the big sectioned off space full of dirt that is supposed to be our garden when we get with it and actually plant something)


Gross, what is that? Some funky type of mushroom? I don't want to touch it! It was stuck in the ground big time! After unearthing it I discovered that it was this:


It was in the back yard when we bought the house (a major selling point :) and we had forgotten that my little nephew buried it months ago when he was over at our house. He has been placed back in his rightful spot. Guarding the backyard.

So maybe my thumb is a little green but mostly my arms are cut from the huge bush and my hamstrings are sore from leaning over. Yard work is not for wimps.

You are what you eat

I bet you have heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’. Let me assure you that it is true. Take for example the time when I sweated sweat that smelled like Cool Ranch Doritos a day after I ate them. Don’t believe me? Here’s the story.

I ate Cool Ranch Doritos yesterday. Mmm, boy were they good. I didn’t think that I ate a ton of them; in fact I was very proud of my self control. Well, today when I was working out I started to notice a not normal smell. What is that smell and why is it staying with me wherever I go? Yes, after some detective work I figured out that it was me. I also figured out the odd smell was in fact Cool Ranch Doritos smell. My sweat smelled like Doritos. I can’t decide if this is cool or disgusting (I am definitely leaning towards the disgusting). This does raise some interesting questions though.

Is this healthy?

Am I a freak or has it ever happened to anyone else?

Since sweat comes from blood, does my blood smell like Doritos right now? What about my tears? This has to be throwing off the pH of my body!

I recently bought a ton of pears and am eating them like crazy…if I smell really carefully will my sweat have a tint of pear smell to it?

Sorry if this was an over-share post but I am really concerned about this! Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t think the human body is supposed to have a cool ranch musk to it. Excuse me while I go detox…

A one liner update

It’s about time for another post but I got nothin’. I guess I will just give everyone an update on our little family. I am tired so you only get one liners.

“No honey, just because you are now in charge of the scouts and will be camping once a month does not mean that you can get a truck” (Me to Bryan)

“Why do I feel like no one is listening to me?” (Uttered many times this week at school)

“Ahh! The carpet is on fire!” (Don’t ask. Thankfully, no permanent damage)

“For Halloween lets turn off all the lights, hide in the back room, and watch a movie so we don’t have to hand out candy.” (That was my idea but we started feeling guilty so feel free to come over and get candy on Saturday night)

“Are you trying to wake me up in the morning when you are getting ready for work?” (Sorry hubby, I thought that I was being quiet but for some reason when I try to be quiet, I end up being louder)

“Brother Martin, come trick-or-treating with us!” (After learning that he has never been, some youth in the ward invited him. However, I do not believe I was invited.)

“We can’t go look at them because then I will have to have one!” (Regarding the cutest puppies that were being given away for free…Bryan wanted to just go ‘look’ but I stayed strong and we are still puppyless)

So maybe I missed 'em a little

Today was back to school after a week off. I will admit that maybe I missed my students a little (emphasis on the little). They are just so unpredictable which makes life interesting. I try not to cloud the internet with ‘teaching stories’ but this one is classic. It happened today.

We were working on a lab so I was walking around as students were talking and working. As I walked by a lab table I heard, “Mrs Martin....” she saw that I was listening and finished her sentence very quietly so I wouldn’t hear. Her partner said, “What?” and I walked away pretending that I didn’t hear.

“Mrs. Martin is a …” again she said it so quietly that I couldn’t hear her. I decided to approach her and ask what she was saying (she is a very nice girl and even if she was calling me a name odds are that I have been called that before :). “Oh,” she said, “I was just saying that you are a Mormon. Right?”

“Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

“Oh I just can tell. It’s pretty obvious.” Now almost every one is listening and all chaos breaks out.

A different student, “Your ministers on the bikes knocked on my door at 6 in the morning over the break. That is not cool”

“Six? Are you sure? And they are missionaries not ministers”

“Yeah, well, it felt like 6 to me”

“I really doubt that it was 6. You mean it was like 10 and you were still sleeping so it felt like 6?”

“Yeah but they were cool so it’s all chill”

(I didn’t know that people still said ‘chill’)

Meanwhile someone in the back row is giving me some sort of odd hand signal (as if it means Mormon Pride or something) and yelling “You are LDS?! So am I!!” By the time I acknowledge him he had already busted out his Book of Mormon from his bag and was having his lab partner read some scripture from Moroni out loud.

Another student is asking what the difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible is. I let the Mormon kid take care of that one. He did a pretty good job.

The whole thing made me smile. Like I said everyday is so unpredictable. It almost makes me excited to go back tomorrow. :)

Why must all my Friday nights look like this?

I went with Bryan to do some electrical work. It was Friday night. That's the usual around here (ug). He told me I was a 'good little helper'. I learned how to replace a breaker; however, I think that I will just stick with screwing on cover plates and putting together fans. We went and ate frozen yogurt after. That was our dinner. We then watched the biggest chic flick I could find. I can sleep a happy girl tonight.

Evidences of a needed break

Thanks to the Mesa School Board I get this next week off of teaching (October Break). I am so excited. I really need it; here's some evidence.

We bought an armoir off of Craigslist on Monday night. I didn't get to see it in the daylight (cause I haven't been home when there's daylight) until Saturday morning. Thankfully I still like it natural lighting.


On Thursday night I fell asleep in my school clothes with my contacts in. Friday morning I woke up late, my contacts felt like pieces of sand paper glued into my eyes, and I had a parent teacher conference that I was already late for. I really hope that parent didn't notice the pillow lines that were still on my face.

The other day as I was pulling the trash barrel off of the curb my neighbor came out of his house and told me that they thought we moved out because we are never home. I just forced a smile and said, "Nope, we just go to work early and come home late."

Yesterday morning I got into my car only to have it smell like rotting fruit. After some investigating I figured that it probably had something to do with the cantaloupe in my trunk that I had bought and forgot about a few days earlier. Oops.

Yesterday the first ever bubble bath was taken at our house. Sadly it was not me soakin' in the tub but our bathroom blinds (cleaning). I was so jealous.


I say that's some pretty good evidence of a needed break. I am looking forward to this week. Don't you just love little vacations?

Shopping

I am blessed to have a husband that will go shopping with me. I can’t decide if it’s because he is such a nice guy or if it’s because we are so busy that we rarely get to see each other and he wants to spend time with me. Maybe it’s both. Whatever the reason, we sure have learned a lot about each other within the walls of stores. Take today for example. We went to an awesome furniture store. I love this store. I hope that I still like it in 10 years because that’s how long it is going to take me to save up to buy something from there! The store is an old barn. Here was part of the conversation as we walked around:

K: I love this store. Look at that entertainment center! I love it.

B: This is a cool building. Look at the ceiling, the beams, wow. Look at this ceiling!

K: What do you think about the red color on this dresser?

B: They had to build so many supporting beams.

K: YOU ARE NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE FURNITURE!!

B: WELL YOU ARE NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE CEILING!!

At this point we just looked at each other and laughed. Hey, at least we were both happy looking at something.

The next store we went to was a decorating/crafty store. When we got back in the car Bryan said, “Wow, there were no other husbands in that store!” It’s true. How sweet that he would go with me. Before today I wonder when the last time was that a boy had been in there...

Other shopping observations: The speed of a man walking is directly proportional to what type of store you are in. Take the grocery store. Bryan insists on pushing the cart and for some reason feels the need to walk super slow behind me. He claims that he doesn’t know when I am going to turn and doesn’t want to be in the way. So I find something, pick it up, and have to wait for him to catch up to put it in the cart. I have even developed a little hand signal for him to hurry up (and I am sure an annoyed facial expression to go with it). The mall is the same way. However, if we got to a place like Home Depot I am honestly sprinting trying to catch up to him. Actually, I usually end up loosing him and have to search up and down the aisles. I pointed this out to him the other day and he just laughed.

I must say that I am looking forward to a lifetime of shopping adventures still ahead.

To my advantage

People always talk about how different boys and girls are. I don’t think that one can really understand this concept until they are married. I am a girl. I am married to a boy. A 100% boy. He thinks like a boy, acts like a boy, smells like a boy, likes to do boy stuff, and has lots of boy stuff (which thankfully is now located in our garage). How is a girl supposed to deal with all of this ‘boyness’? I figured it out. Use it. That’s right. Use it to your advantage. This is no secret at our house. Let me give you some examples.

Bryan has tons of wire in our garage. Long pieces and short pieces. I never touch it. However, I know that Bryan likes to work with that pokey, hard to bend stuff so I take advantage.

In every room in our house there is at least one thing hung on the wall that is rigged up with copper wire. Yep, I just tell him where I want it and the next thing I know there is some hanger looking thing on the back that can easily be attached to the wall.

FYI- Wire makes a good hook that fits up the hoses in the vacuum when it gets clogged. Also, it can make a belt if your pants are falling off. (both have been done at our house)

Football. Ug. I can watch a good football game every now and then but not all day on Saturday. There is a boy I know that loves to do this. Coincidentally, the laundry usually needs to be folded about that time. Nothing wrong with a little laundry during the commercials. Taking advantage? You becha.

Bryan works with a computer program a lot called AutoCAD. He has made blueprints, mapped out a street for his surveying class, etc. with this program that he can’t stop ranting about. He is pretty good at it. Last night he was working on this program making me a border to go around a young women’s handout! I couldn’t find what I was looking for in any clipart so he made one. I was cracking up! There he was in this complicated program making a dainty little border for his wife. His buddies would totally make fun of him for that one if they ever found out!

There is someone at my house that LOVES his saw. This fact screams out, “give me something to make with my saw!” Even as I type this I can hear the saw going on the back porch. Later tonight I will have an empty closet converted into a food storage closet, shelves and all. I think I love that saw too!

I could give tons of other examples. In the end I am pretty sure that I like all the ‘boyness’. It keeps things interesting around here. And it turns out to be very helpful if you work it right.

The Happy Dance

Before yesterday, the last time I did the real, true, genuine ‘happy dance’ was in high school. I bet you have a happy dance too. Let me explain.

One day I came home from high school to find my mom practically in tears. My little brother accidentally threw his retainer away in the cafeteria at lunch. My parents, not being in a situation to pay hundreds of dollars for a new one, were obviously upset. My mom asked us (the kids) if we would come help her look for it. We did. Yes, I jumped in the elementary school dumpster and we went through the trash, one bag at a time. I still can tell you exactly what was served for lunch and I can tell you that most students do not eat their food! After many bags I found it (I still brag about how I was the one to find it). That day the Kupfers did the true ‘happy dance’ in the elementary school parking lot.

Fast forward 8 years. Bryan lost his wedding ring. Gone. For over a month. We searched everywhere, and I mean everywhere. We looked in every closet, drawer, car, bucket of paint, trash (I was so sure that I would find it cause I have experience finding things in trashes :). It made me sick that it was gone yet we knew that it was somewhere in the house. We got desperate. We moved all the appliances. Bryan tipped the fridge up and I crawled under to see if it was magnetized onto the bottom. I gave up hope. Bryan refused.

Yesterday I got a picture text from Bryan. It was a picture of his ring. He found it. Right then and there I did the true, genuine ‘happy dance’. Yep, there I was in the science office at school between 2^nd and 3^rd hour with students passing by doing the ‘happy dance’.

The ring was in a place where it never should have been found. Sometimes miracles happen. Sometimes happy dances just need to be danced.

Here was the location of the ring. FYI, if you lie on your kitchen floor you will notice a small gap between the floorboard and the bottom of the cabinets. The space is so small that your hand cannot fit through but apparently a ring can. I guess inspiration led Bryan to pull of the wood covering, saw a hole in the floorboard, and reach his hand in to see if his ring was in there. We think that the ring fell off the counter and bounced at a perfect height and angle to be able to fit in the little crack and get back there. What are the odds??

Bumper Stickers

So in my mundane life of driving to and from work I have discovered a fun game. I look at bumper stickers. I have actually found myself changing lanes just so that I can read a bumper sticker. It helps the time go by faster. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

Hey, me too!

This one made me laugh right out loud. Whatever works to make people more aware of...well...um...ta ta cancer.



Couldn't have said it better myself.


This was on a jeep. Upside down of course. Very clever.


I actually have this magnet at school. I love it. No need to sugar coat it for the little high school darlings.


People are very creative I must say. Keep the stickers coming!

So brave

Hi. My name is Karen and I am afraid of big chunks of meat. Hmmm. Let me explain. Big hunks of meat scare me. Don’t get me wrong, I love eating meat and often even crave a nice chunk of beef along with some potatoes and gravy on my dinner plate. In fact I have the best childhood memories of coming home from church to have the entire house smelling of pot roast that has been cooking since early that morning. We could even smell it as we walked up the walkway! Yum. Honestly, a Sunday without roast is a bummer. Problem: I am scared to buy, refrigerate, cook, and serve big hunks of meat. How do I know how to cook it? How long is it supposed to cook? How do I know when it is done? What if it is too dry? Not cooked all the way through? What if I give someone (or me) worms? Food poisoning? What if I totally ruin it? That’s an expensive oops! AHHH! My poor dear mother has been so patient. She has shown me, walked me through it, discussed with me over the phone, and encouraged me many times. Finally, the other day I found myself walking passed the meat at the store. I had a bout of courage and picked up a roast and threw it in the cart. There it sat taunting me in the fridge until this morning when I put it in the crock pot, said a little prayer, and headed off to church. I am happy to report that when we came home there was a hint of roast smell in the air. Later we successfully ate the roast. It actually was good. Bryan sensing my insecurity was overly complimentary.

So there it is. The Martins have officially branched out and are no longer only chicken and hamburger meat people. I am exhausted; its been an emotional day.

Clothes

Today I wore a skirt to school. No reason, just because. I also happened to get myself up in time to do my hair and it actually stayed down the entire day (usually it ends up in a pony by the end of 1st hour). The comments I got today made me feel like I usually dress and do my hair in a way that is sending me straight for a makeover on What Not To Wear. Here are a few comments along with my reaction to them, I hope you catch the sarcasm in my comments; it gets me through the day.

Student: Oh my gosh you are wearing a skirt!
Me: Yep

Student: It's about time you wore a skirt Mrs. Martin.
Me: I'd say. (sarcastically)

Student: I was wondering when you were going to wear a skirt.
Me: Why on earth do you pay attention to what your teachers wear?

Student: Are you going somewhere after school? Where are you going?
Student across the room: Mrs. Martin's going to a party! woowoo!
Different student across the room: I bet she's going clubbing!
Me: Oh yeah guys, I am going clubbing in my knee length jean skirt after school.

Although there are more, I don't think that I need to go on. I had no idea that students were watching what I was wearing! Actually I don't care. What I am wearing is the least of my worries when I have to grab the attention of a group of 37 fifteen year olds for 52 minutes 5 times a day Monday through Friday. If I can talk in it, walk in it, yell in it :), dance around in it, do a lab in it, grade in it, make a fool of myself in it, tell people to 'shut up' in it (that happened today, yikes), then I will wear it. If they notice my clothes then, hey, at least they looked up at me.

Finally my turn

Imagine this. It’s the weekend. You just found out that your husband does not have tons of work to do on Saturday. He will be free all day. Even typing this gives me chills. It may not be for you, but this is a rare occurrence around these parts. I can not think of very many Saturdays where Bryan has not been at some run down, torn apart house doing electrical work by 7 in the morning. Don’t get me wrong we are grateful for the work but it is getting a bit obnoxious. What should we do together? I could hardly gather my thoughts! Sleep in? Shop? Run errands? Shop more? House stuff? Pay bills? Dinner with friends? The answer is yes. Yes to all of the above.

We went to some yard sales. Didn’t have much luck but I need to thank my mother-in-law for passing on the yard sale gene…that boy can spot a sign a mile away! (thanks Tonna!)

We did some back to school shopping. Bryan made a haul. I got nothing (depressing). This is the last back to school shopping for him!!! Woohoo!!! I am more excited than he is!

We ran errands…together…what a concept.

We went to my buddy Cami's birthday dinner. Yum.

And…(drum roll please) it was finally my turn to get some electrical work done. Bryan put in some can lights in our kitchen. I will take some credit too. I unwrapped them and handed the lights to him on the ladder.



I know, the tops of my cabinets are in desperate need of some decorating TLC. I will get there eventually. For now I am just enjoying a weekend where I get to see my husband...and trying not to get used to it.

Random Facts

Bryan gets up every morning before I do even though my alarm is set before his.

I HATE cooking dinner.

I am scared to death of planting a garden in my back yard (but I am going to do it anyway).

I want to run a marathon but have a hard time finding time to train for it.

Today I went to the grocery store hungry. Bad idea.

I need to either stop teaching or hurry up and have babies because there are very few names that don’t make my blood pressure spike. (These kids are ruining all the good names!)

I am addicted to granola bars.

I shouted Hallelujah! (in my head of course) when the 1^st counselor in the bishopric called me to be in the Young Women and not sunbeams or nursery.

I will no longer allow myself to watch the show Wipe Out at the gym because I keep laughing out loud and people look at me funny.

I look on Craigslist for fun stuff everyday but never have the guts to call and buy anything. (I am such a chicken for some reason)

I like to post random things about myself. Not sure why, must have been a slow week.

Teacher Syndrome

Today I am suffering from 'first day teacher syndrome'.

Symptoms:
-raspy voice and sore throat
-sore feet (apparently I am not in "teacher shape")
-lack of sleep
-marker markings all over my hands and pants (not sure how that got there!)

Treatment:
-suck it up for 179 more days

Only how many more years of this??

A picture is worth a thousand words

and I don't want to write a thousand words so here are some pictures.

Lately we have been doing a lot of this


and this (check out that shoulder range of motion, baby!)


and this


Trying to make this

look a little more like this


which makes us want to do more of this (of course referring to sleeping, not dressing to match our furniture :)

We still have lots to do but are happy we are at least making some progress!

Not again

At the risk of sounding like a complete bawl baby, I am confessing that I teared up again in Walmart. That’s twice in one month…beat that! It’s kind of a long story but I think it’s worth telling.

I went to a teaching conference in San Diego last week. It was great. The conference was about a program that some school districts are implementing to get the “middle students” to college. We need to do better at giving them the skills, knowledge, and means to get into and do well in college. I got 5 whole days jam packed of new teaching ideas and can’t wait to use them in my classroom this year.

While we (the other teachers and I) were in San Diego we caught word that back home the news reported that a group of teachers were treated to a resort on the tax payer’s dollar and how bad the economy was. I was so mad. First of all, resort? Seriously? I would hardly call it a resort. Yes it was big and it had huge conference rooms. I guess if that makes it a resort then so be it. Second, we are required to have continuing education. We don’t get time off for it. We don’t usually get reimbursed for it. Heavens knows we don’t get salary raises to compensate for it. What are we supposed to do? I was steaming.

I was still steaming yesterday as I was at Walmart loading my cart with supplies for my classroom. We have already been told that there is no money so almost everything we want comes from our own pockets. I felt as though no one supports teachers. What message does this send to the students? People are so ignorant to what we have to go through and how much time and money we sacrifice. I continued my pity party as I waited in line to check out. The lady in front of me looked at my cart and smiled. “Teacher?” she asked. We had a very nice conversation about what I was buying, where and how long I have taught, and how no, I was not being reimbursed. She told me of her kids high school experience (they went to the same school where I teach). Before this sweet lady walked away, she turned to me and held out her hand and placed in mine a 20 dollar bill. “This is for the kids. Thank you for all you do.” I was shocked. Sure it’s just a 20. It didn’t pay for everything but the gesture created a major attitude change for me. I thanked her and she said, “You are welcome, just pay it forward.” I cannot wait for the day when I can pay it forward. Thank you. I don’t even know her name. To her it probably wasn’t even a big deal but I will never forget it. She helped me once again feel appreciated in a nation where educators usually don’t. Thank you.

So that is why I was a bit teared up as I walked to my car that Saturday afternoon.

p.s. We did manage to have a bit of fun on the nights off. We went to the beach multiple times and did the Seaworld thing right before we left. Thanks taxpayers! (Just kidding that one was totally our own money)

Change

For some reason I have a hard time with change...even if it is good change. That creates a problem when it seems that everything is changing.

Change in location. We bought a house. Weird. I don't feel like I am grown-up enough to own a house (maybe I will be in 30 years when we actually own it, hehe). I was so sad when we moved out of the apartment; the same apartment that literally made me crazy because it was so tiny.(?) We are now in a house and I feel like I am constantly "playing house". I would post pictures but I haven't taken any, in fact, I don't even know where my camera is in this mess. My favorite part about the house? the garage. Now Bryan can put all of his tools in there and I can reclaim the closets.

Change in job. Bryan got a smokin' internship with the city of Mesa Engineering Department. That is something to brag about considering the economy and lack of engineering internships. I wish he was home more but it pays a little and helps a lot with a future job because it is what he wants to do when he graduates. He comes home everyday and gives me an update of all the city construction projects. Kinda fun to know what is going on.

Change can be good...it just takes some time to get used to it.

Say it ain't so

This morning I went to Walmart. And cried. Yes that was me in the shampoo isle silently wiping away tears as they were running down my face. Why? They have replaced the 4^th of July seasonal stuff with school supplies. School supplies!! Where has summer gone? In less than a month school will be in full swing. I will be again putting in 14 hour days with teaching and football and volleyball games. I will be making seating charts, grading papers, breaking up fights in the bathroom, and taping ankles. I am not complaining. I love my job and am very lucky to be able to take the summers off. The problem is that I love summer more. So brace yourself when you go shopping. Some will celebrate when they see the school stuff (all the mothers out there), some will not even notice, and some will totally lose it (like me).

Just a hint: a big chocolate candy bar will make it feel a little better!

But I wanted surgery too

My sister Lacey came to Mesa for a vacation and her appendix exploded (talk about a horrible vacation). She has been in the hospital recovering from the surgery for about a week. A teacher that I teach with got a new femur, knee, and partial tibia yesterday. She had bone cancer a few years ago and her bones were not healthy due to all the radiation.

However, no surgery for me. I have multiple dents in my cartilage and humerus bone. My labrum (cartilage kinda like the meniscus in the knee but it's in the shoulder) is torn and frayed. The doctor wants to see how it reacts to physical therapy before he will go in and fix it. I am bummed. I want him to go in and snip it, clip it, shave it, tighten it, stitch it, whatever just FIX IT! So please Mr. or Mrs. Therapist I need a miracle worker.

Purse or no purse

I have never been a purse person. I don’t know why. I think I bought a purse once and maybe used it twice in junior high. I think it’s time to become a purse wearing girl. I told Bryan this the other day and his response was, “why?” I explained. The other day I was running some errands. Here’s what I had in my pockets (you know, because I don’t have a purse)

- phone

- driver’s license

- keys

- debit card

- check book

- social security card

- teacher ID card

- a pen

- a few sticks of gum

- a few bucks in cash

- some change for a parking meter

-a list of things that I needed to get done on my outing

How did my pants not fall down?? So I am going to do it. I have been psyching myself up for over a month now. I am going to get a purse. Why am I so insecure? I can’t get a little one because then I get the ‘big girl with a little purse’ syndrome (is there such a thing?). It can’t be too big because then I get the ‘trying too hard and it’s obnoxious’ syndrome. AHH! So if you ever see me with a purse please don’t point and laugh. In fact, don’t even look at it…or me…because odds are that I am totally embarrassed to be carrying one around. Why? I don’t know.

In other news…

- We are all set to close on our house on July 7^th!! Woohoo.

- I am still waiting for MRI results to see if my shoulder requires surgery or just massive physical therapy.