blog envy (?)

In 24 hours time, I think of and encounter so many things that I think could be blog worthy. Like, today I made a new recipie that rocked. Also- I heard a really inspiring quote this afternoon. Hey! I'm taking an overnight trip to Nashville this weekend- I could even let you in on the fact that I am stoked about finding cheap book prices for grad school online tonight. But, I won't.

I read other people's entries, see their nikon d80 professional grade photos of things like their babies, pets or houses, and I think-- "Hey, I know i've got something just as cool or important to say or add to the blogosphere". Truth is, often times I don't. Tonight is one of those times. SO, instead of depth or substance, I leave you with this (which is something I think we all need a little bit more of):

What a weekend...

Ingredients for a weekend to remember:

1. Load up your boyfriend's entire immediate family (plus dog)

2. arrive with his family to a splendidly fabulous house on the beach, hoping to enjoy restful long weekend

3. go for a dinner date with boyfriend to established seafood restaurant on the Gulf.

4. (here's where it gets interesting)....eat grilled shrimp and tartar sauce sandwich

5. take a romantic stroll along the shore before heading back to the house.

6. fall asleep peacefully around midnight.

7. Wake up at 5 a.m. PUKING YOUR GUTS OUT. Repeat once an hour for the next 8 hours. At hour 4, add uncontrollable bowel movements.

8. In a painful, vomitous stupor, allow your boyfriend's parents to talk you into going to the doctor after you've thrown up the anti nausea medicine and 20 oz of gatorade.

8.5. Upon leaving the subdivision, find that baldwin co. public works has chosen this time to hold up traffic both ways to cut down tree limbs. Keith gets out of car, talks to sherrif, and we continue on. I only vaguely remember this.

9. Forget your ID, but don't remember this until you are trying to check in at the doc-in-a-box. Did you know in the state of FL a private practice will not see you without an ID?

10. Locate the nearest american family care in Orange Beach. Arrive. Check in. Vomit.

11. Get wonderful shot of the best medicine ever made, which allowed the vomiting to stop, put me to sleep and allowed me to remain hospital free.

12. Leave for home the following morning, spending a total of 20 minutes on the beach.

13. Realize you have the most loving boyfriend in existence and the most patient parents ever.

Bring it on, Summer!

R & R

This weekend i'm heading to Ft. Morgan/Gulf Shores, AL for a little Memorial Day vacay time with Keith and his family. I'm really excited to get out of town, especially to the gulf, however:

Oh well- we'll have fun either way! Now to pack and get ready :) Have a nice weekend!

ooOooOoo

I am most inclined to blog after 10 p.m.

Why is that?

I am not in on the American Idol craze. I watched the first season and part of season 2 but since then I have not been too interested. My college roommate Erin and I used to pretend we were on AI in our dorm room (even leaving duets as our rooms answering machine message) but those days have passed. I'd rather watch 2 hours of Snapped on WE, which is just what Keith and I did last night. This of course led to me being paranoid all day that people around me were murderers, adulterers or fugitives, but I still love the real life crime shows. For eva.

Speaking of crazes, I am not down with this one:

I first noticed the Kavu trend late in my college career at Auburn. Somethings are regional college trends that filter down to HS (read: BAMA BANGS a la John Parker Wilson), and I think this is one of them. I do not think these purses are appopriate for any indoor situation. They are canvas, industrial and not cute. You can try to dress them up with colors and stripes, but they are camping equipment. And every female I teach under the age of 17 owns one (and wears it with everything from jeans to dresses).

I have so much more to say- but my eyes will not stay open to let me finish. Tomorrow is officially summer for me, so watch out blog....Here I come!

Happiness is....

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
1 Corinthians 4:17-18

ALERT

time for some quirks:

• I love love love shopping for dresses. I don't wear many, but i love shopping for them.
• I hate hate hate shopping for shoes. I might not be American.
• I love love love when the temperature unexpectedly drops 30 degrees (see: yesterday)
• I hate hate hate when people proclaim their love for Summertime. UGH.
• I love love love when I get mail that is not a bill or Teacher Magazine
• I hate hate hate when I walk all the way to the mailbox and there's no mail to be found.
• I love love love chicken salad sandwiches from Chick Fil A.
• I hate hate hate Milo's Hamburgers, which apparently makes me the anti-christ.
• I love love love the smell of bbq and a bright spring day. Think: Steak Sandwich sales at Super Foods. No one will get that, but I'm okay with it. It's my blog.
• I hate hate hate the smell of eggs.

That's all for now.

Rando-Tuesday!

1. What in the world is going on with everyone updating their facebook statuses about "Glee" premiering on TV tonight? I'm noticing that none of these people who are so excited about the first episode of a TV show that revolves around a high school musical/theatre department are actually teachers. Or if they are, they arent high school music teachers like myself. I deal with real life drama queens and musical issues- i do NOT want to watch a show about it "off the clock". You know what glee day is to me? A day without high schoolers :) Just sayin...

2. Even though I am starting grad school in a few weeks, I am really looking forward to having a few days off. I want to sleep past 6 a.m. I hear that is wonderful, but i've forgotten.

3. The end of the year booty (come on, people) @ school is starting to build up...so far, an Edgar's gift card (just what this weight watchers member needs! BTW down 10.6, thankfully!), yankee candle, Cracker Barrel gift card (again....for the love of gravy!), check from the PTF that will allow me to get these acryllic nails filled in....because they've grown and now it's hard to type!

4. I am going to the beach this weekend with Keith's family. This is a change in plans from the trip home (to oz) we were planning to make. I think it will be nice- I havent been to the beach during the summertime in a couple of years. Pics to follow

Now, I better get back to proctoring this Bible exam.......

5 more days

til' school is out for the summer. I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!!!!! :) So excited.

Also, excited about losing 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks (almost back to where I was in march!) and attending a shower back home this weekend. Yay, family :)

I seem to be typing like a teenager, so LOLZ that's all for now.

I love this song and this dance

One of the advantages of teaching teenagers every day is staying "young". I am already a radio junkie- but I absolutely love when my students want to share things with me...I'm already a big Beyonce fan, so when I saw this dance video to her song, "Halo", I had to post it. BTW, this is from the very famous Broadway Dance in NYC- I had a student take a class there when we were in NY last year and he came back mesmerized. I wish I were in good enough shape to attempt...This song makes me want to move every time I hear it!

Ways to make a Thursday AWESOME

1. Find out you're getting out of school early at 11:30 the next day. God Bless HS Sports Playoffs which were rescheduled due to the swine flu!

2. Having a great dinner with a wonderful friend the night before. We talked for 3 hours! I miss girl time :)

3. Knowing that the weekend is VERY close!

4. My cold, frosty diet coke sitting right beside me.... <3

A few things--Part 2 aka FUN with segregation

I know segregation was legally eliminated years ago, but yesterday I had an experience that knew I had to blog about.

I was browsing in a shopping center I don't usually frequent. I was on my way to a location that was a little closer to downtown Birmingham than I usually am out in Shelby County, so I thought i'd peruse a few shops that I don't get to go by. Granted, most of these are chains, but you know that each "store" can have different stuff. One of my favorite passtimes is to hop over each TJ Maxx, Stein Mart and ROSS in 20 mile reach of my house (If you're wondering ... 3 TJ Maxx, 2 Stein Marts, and 3 ROSS stores in a 20 mile radius! I have a sickness!). This all being said- I am not a Birmingham or Central Alabama native. I am not used to having these stores at my disposal (after almost 3 years, even!) and am still very happy to be here!

Back to the saga- I was browsing through Hobby Lobby (I walked out empty handed, much to my checking account's glee), had bought 3 things for under $12 in Old Navy (It's like I can FEEL a sale), and then I came upon this:

I had never heard of such a place, but I saw some brandnames (Bandolino, Liz Claiborne), that I recognized on the sign outside, so I parked the ol' civic and headed in.

It looked like a Sam's Club on the inside- very warehousey. Despite this, I really enjoyed browsing. They had great deals on some cute sandals (see: gladiators below), SUPER cheap jewelry, and brand names of some pretty dresses that you could have found at Macy's. I was digging through a rack when a young lady bumped into me. I said, "oh! I'm sorry" --which is what good southern girls do, even if it is not our fault that you weren't looking where you were going in a public place. Anyway- I looked up and saw this girl give me the strangest look. Like I had snakes in my hair, or spaghetti sauce on my face, or had just threatened her. I shrugged it off, figuring perhaps she was having a bad day. Sometimes when I have a bad day I get really surly when I bump into people too....Oh wait......

I made my way over to the casual clothes. I was happily suprised to notice the large plus section with very trendy and affordable clothing. It seems they had more larger sizes than 0's and 2's. WOW! I noticed a teenager in a catholic school uniform looking through the racks with her mom. They met my glance and also looked at me and turned around the other direction. I was starting to get the feeling something was wrong! As I made my way to the accessories, I heard the funniest thing- a very effeminate male voice coming from a salesman in the Men's Suits. He was helping a Dad and Son pick out something, and was trying to also sell them a hat. I kept looking through the purses when I noticed something. Every purse I had touched had all been "Dereon". This is Beyonce Knowles personal line of clothing and etc. I looked to my left and saw a pair of earrings shaped like an Apple. Odd, I thought. Then I read the tag. "Apple Bottoms..". I then noticed a large portion of the store I had over looked....the "Sunday Hats" sign hung in the air like a lightbulb going off....(as CiCi Winans played in the background...)

My eyes started to dart around the warehouse. Besides the older, effeminate salesperson, I was the only caucasian in the place. This had NOT bothered be at all, because after all, I am South Alabama born and bred- but I started to realize the looks I had been getting. The girl, her Mom, the young lady, every cashier- they were following me with their eyes, as to say, "?!?!?!". I understand that I was the only white person in there, but honey, they had some deals! I giggled to myself at what they must be thinking, but I marched myself up to the checkout, made friends with the cashier (it's the south alabama in me), and even became a K and G rewards member. I WILL be returning... no one can stop me, right? :)

I just hit the website....and I think i'm right on target with their "branding" here...

A few things--part 1

1. I would like to make this announcement: I love Milo's Diet Cokes with Milo's ice. Also: when did I develop neck "rolls" ?

2. I once hated "gladiator" sandals. I found this pair yesterday, and they are super comfy and cute. Ignore my ugly foot. And the ethernet cord. They were on sale for $9.99 and I love a sale.

3. I am also very excited about my $1 earring find. View below. I would show you the whole outfit, but I'm duplicating it at a shower in a week or so, and i'm sure there will be lots of pics taken then. But rest assured, I feel cute today...hooray!

Twenty Random Things Tuesday

1. I count my steps in my head when I walk, but only my right foot steps. It was 6 right steps from my front door to my car this morning. So 12 steps total. Make it stop!

2. My classes are watching movies the next 8 class days. Today, it's High School Musical 3. I'm the worlds best educator. And also, my head hurts.

3. I am obsessed with my comforter. It's suede-y on one side and cool on the other. If I could, I would order a snuggie made out of this material...and wear it all the time.

4. I lost 3.2 pounds last week!

5. I secretly want to see "17 again". Shhh...

6. My students call me Miss T. Rarely do I ever hear "Thompson" when i'm at school. I think next year for halloween I should get a mohawk and some chains...

7. My favorite french fries (in order of preference): 1. Wendy's 2. Zaxby's 3. Milo's 4. Five Guys 5. McDonalds

8. I do realize that only a true fat kid would make a list like that. However, i'm on weight watchers, so that's the closest i'm getting to a french fry today-- listing about them.

9. I love getting mail that's not a bill or junk.

10. I like to buy gifts WAY ahead of time. Keith thought I was insane last week when I saw a shirt his sister would like on sale and urged him to go ahead and pick it up for her birthday...in July.

11. I have a bad habit of leaving the TV on after i've fallen asleep now that my television's sleep timer isn't functioning.

12. I love to doodle. I stayed after class many a time in HS to wash the pencil doodles off of my desk- and in college I grafittied many a desktop in Goodwin Hall. My favorite things to doodle: My name, squares, 3-d triangles, the letter S. I am so weird.

13. I hate hate hate hate making eye contact with strangers. I will avoid this to the point of rudeness. It just weirds me out. Don't look me in the eye unless we know one another, people!

14. I love the color brown. You might say, i was brown before brown was cool. I suggested a brown and blue bon voyage shirt for my high school sorority back in 2000, and I got the strangest looks. I should have cashed in on that and started the trend earlier!

15. I hate feet. Period.

16. I am really really really excited about going back to start my graduate degree. also excited about the student loan refund check i'll be getting in June.

17. Phrase heard most during the day: "Miss T, can I _________" (Fill in the blank with "Go to the library, go to the bathroom, go to my locker, go call my mom, or go see Mrs./Mr./Coach ______)

18. My pet peeve phrase: "What are we doing today, Miss T?"

19. My answer: "Sit down and you'll see!"

20. I put sweet-n-low in my water. <3

Bloggy Laziness

So, the last week or so has been a bit of a blur. Please excuse my lack of blog activity...I was lost in concert land! My concert was just fine, but it's all the PRE stuff that gets me. Sometimes, having all of your assesment (i.e. concert time) at once makes it feel like you have to do things that much more perfectly. Thankfully, the kids did fine, I got my programs printed for less than $100, and my administrator told me he was "thrilled" with the whole show, so I'm doin' just fine0.

Oh yeah, I got my hair cut.

My parents came up for the concert (and along with my Aunt Lori), represented the family and treated us to dinner. It was great to see them- we always have such a good time. You do not know how much you actually miss your family until you can't see them everyday. Lorilyn was at a sorority function at Montevallo and couldn't make it.

Keith and I at Don Pepe after the show.

So now, I'm coasting through the last 9 days of school (before 3 days of exams). I am in one of those moods where I don't have a ton to say (i know, right?) so i'll go now. Hope i've appeased the bloggy world!