just a good ol' day

Can you believe that January of 13 is over?!??!  I wonder how all those people who thought we were ending in Dec. 12’ feel? I have to admit I had suspicions just b/c of what was going on w the peeps we know, but once it got closer it didn’t feel any different really.  I wonder if it’s supposed to or not?

Anyways on the way to work this morning I heard the horrible news about an amber alert out of Memphis.  A 24 yr old black male, black hair, and brown eyes stabbed the mother of his two month old, was nice enough to take her to the hospital (I think if I heard correctly) and then kidnapped the infant. 

I had a few minutes to spare b/4 clocking in and finally got all my late entries posted!  I can not believe that I’ve finally caught up!  The only thing I didn’t complete was link love and I did that on my lunch. 

The morning went really well.  In the 1^st room I chatted w the Metro SLP, I’d love to make friends w her, she seems like my kind of people.  Then in our room I was able to finish my basket drawings for our art and my CCT3 helped me cut out more (larger too) images for the kids to paste like they were packing a basket to take to grandma’s like Red.  Morning circle went really well.  It actually went for an extra seven minutes!  The best part was the kids telling the story of Red and The Pigs.  By the end of the The Pigs you would have thought we were having a party it was loud and involved. 

Some of the kids really loved the art, esp Dear Fussy.  She kept asking for specific foods to go in her basket so I was scrambling to find them.  She stuck w the activity for so long she didn’t have a chance to get in to a tizzy. 

Nap was a little rough, there were three aftercare children who just did not want to nap! 

The afternoon went smoothly too and we actually got paperwork time!  Not the full 1 ½ like we were supposed to, but good enough for me to complete my summaries!!! (I did the other half yesterday)  The kids enjoyed our math circle and majority of them got involved. 

Aftercare was pretty easy.  The kids thought my ‘game’ (really goal) was fun and then we danced until it was time for us to go. 

Pretty nice huh?!?!  The reason I do what I do. 

At home Sasha and I got to play outside for twenty minutes or so.  The guy two houses down asked if we had somebody taken care of our tree yet, funny thing is I couldn’t hear him so Sasha and I walked over there and he was scared of her!  She’s 4 ½ months tomorrow, can’t wait to see how much she’s grown in a couple of weeks.  BTW I still haven’t looked up that bug yet.  Aaron said it was a hair follicle bug that just makes her itch. 

Then I came in and marinated dinner, took care of cleaning, and then prepped my lunch and got dinner started.  I decided to make fried rice finally and took responsibility to make the rice yesterday (after two days of waiting on hubby to make it).  However DA me didn’t take it out of our fancy schmancy hold all the heat in pots so the rice on the bottom was still soft, damp, and easily mashed; so in other words made fryin hard!  By the third scoop I realized a little trick: get the skillet hot, pour oil in, and WAIT for that oil to get hot.  That was the greatest sound ever: little crispy rice poppin sound.  I made two separate batches of rice; the first had way more oil so I let Aaron eat it since he can have the extra cals and I ate the second which was just lightly fried IMO. 

For anybody who ever stumbles across this here’s what I did:

In advance marinate meat (we did country style ribs from Aldi’s – so frickin’ tender)

            dashes of: garlic asian spice (garlic, white pepper, and ginger)

                             wasabi powder

                             hoision sauce

                             soy sauce

            smaller dashes: fish sauce

                                      rice and apple cider vineager

We have these vacuum seal sucker containers that marinate in 30 mins, but I should have done this earlier, you too if you want more flavor. 

Sautee: ½ bell pepper (mine was orange for color contrast)

             3 leaves of purple cabbage

             ½ purple onion

Set in dish in warm oven to maintain heat

Working in serving spoonful batches now – heat skillet, heat oil, dump in rice and stir stir stir.  Once crispy place in warmed dish w veggies and continue w the rest of the rice. 

Now it’s time to prepare meat. 

Cook in reserved rice oil till nice and brown.  (I left the juices which made for softer bites, if you want crispier ones pour off marinate first). 

Serve in bowls and top w Sriracha and extra Soy, eat w chopsticks b/c it’s fun!!!!

Okay, now that I’ve gotten the silly bug out I’ll tell you about all my eats today:

Bfast – blueberry peach oatmeal

Snacks – clementine’s and a piece of cheese

Lunch – another new soup from Campbell’s (1 serving = 3PP) w cilantro, sriracha, and extra veggies

             IMO - will buy again!  Tasty and filling.  The rice is a bit strange, but love the beans in it.  Def good

                        good in a pinch.

Snacks – grapes galore

Dinner – fried rice served like Biz; she always puts a bed of spinach underneath her food.  I love that idea and going to try to incorporate it when I can.  It was really pretty: orange, purple, and green w a gorgeous glass of vino.  I also ate two extra bites of Aarons b/c I like to taste how he changes his and the 2^nd bite was b/c he just couldn’t finish. 

Dessert – 2 chocolate covered espresso beans and one chili truffle. 

Now onto the best part of the day, oh wait totally forgot to complain about the thing that pissed me off most today!!!!  Did I mention that I didn’t get paid for a half hour of OT last period?  Well I didn’t, not at all, not OT or even my regular rate!  I emailed the DR early this week; Mon or Tue and she never got back w me, but we have to hand in our time sheets tomorrow so I really need to know whats going on…. Sooo I went into her office and asked.  Basically the payroll lady said she isn’t going to pay me OT b/c she paid snow pay (we closed early one day during that week, but I didn’t get snow pay b/c I was to leave at 4 anyways), but she would pay me my regular rate for the half hour. 

My ? is – since I don’t get the OT time, do I get the snow pay?  If I don’t then I should totally get OT.  Does this make sense?  I know what I mean, hope she does too b/c I’m going to try and talk to her tomorrow.  Or I though about just adding in 1 hour snow and ½ hour of regular time and see what happens and go from there. 

Okay now onto the best part; the kids telling the story after circle time.  I really wish we could have video taped it. 

Can you eat with chopsticks?  My MIL can’t and it’s fun to try teaching her!  Thanks for letting me vent there in the end…

WW

all four of our trees were taken out in the storm

luckily it went over the fence instead of our house

hope I win

Today was better overall! 

I enjoyed my bfast while keeping busy and then headed to work.  I got there w just five minutes to spare.  My DR also arrived at the same time and subtly hinted that me coming in at that time wasn’t going to work too much longer b/c there were already 17 kids for one teacher.  I wasn’t too sure what to say so I responded w ‘I know, that’s part o f the reason I asked to have the earlier shift’.  I kind of think it aggravated her (b/c of her response/way she said it), but what else was I supposed to say? 

The first 15 mins were easy as usual, but when I went into my room it was already wild, there were 10 kids! 

The PT came in and somehow managed to coincidently incorporate our LP in her activity so it was easy! 

My eye was twitching all morning which equals to me being off my game.  Also the school had a fire drill right in the middle of our circle time.  When we got back on of the smarter kids said ‘this is taking too long’. 

Nap was easy and I was productive; got my emails checked, most of my blogs (just a quick check not a read) checked and deleted, and started work on the LP for two weeks out! 

During my actual lunch break I did read some of the ones I wanted to keep.  I also noticed that I had two new comments!  This is the first time I’ve had comments in IDK how long!  Additionally my helpful blogger commented and offered to grab a cup of java to help me more if I wanted/needed!  HOW SWEET!!!!  I replied that I’d love to once I get me some more ?’s. 

Oh and b/4 I forget one of the other bloggers I follow and love lots is hosting a giveaway, check her out.  I’m excited about the giveaway, even if I don’t get it, b/c I’ve got one of their earlier books as well as some copies that an old coworker (from Canada) let me copy.  I’ve made a couple, the black bean soup from them is awesome!!! 

K, the rest of the afternoon was easy.  Worked on some goals, ate snack, played outside, cleaned too many BM’s, and my CCT3 got out and did paperwork for real.  I should start taking some of the time for myself ASAP! 

I got an email from a friend today about getting together for dinner soon and I’m in the process of trying to get it in the works.  I hope we get to go somewhere using scoutmob, it’ll be my first!

After work, I did the norm; lunch prep and dinner making.  Aaron had a ‘lot day’ and took Sasha w him to play.  She got to play w Cooper and Lola and got extremely muddy!  Hubs bathed, medicated, and clipped her nails.  I tried to file them using my crystal file and she allowed me to do it for a couple of minutes.  Then she tried eating the file. 

Now to admit to my eating failures again:

Bfast – another new yogurt w mango and strawberries

            IMO – the yogurt was nice in texture, not quite sweet enough for the combo.  Probably good in a smoothie though.  The berries weren’t too flavorful either, a little bit of a bite.  I think both of them being more tart made it less yummy. 

Lunch – second serving of yesterdays soup w added tuna.  It’s okay, but I still prefer the Aldi’s brand. 

Snack – (GULITY) ritz crackers, chocolate w nuts, and pb choc rice cereal treats (pb is my kryptonite), 3 fruits

Dinner – teeny slice of pizza (from Aldi’s, I LOVE IT; more reasons to continue to shop there), side salad, and a serving of ‘crab’ (just to up the protein in my meal).  Two glasses of vino, one merlot and one dessert blackberry. 

Can you tell that today was a positive day overall?  Not too many complaints.  If choosing the best it’d be that hubby got to take Sasha and play and got a bath.

Do you prefer tart or sweet vanilla yogurt?  Thanks for listening…

lots of IMO's today

I’m not sure as to whether to say today was a good or bad day.  It started out just fine; new to me yogurt while enjoying my book (which by the way I really wish I’d picked it up sooner or had more time to read so I can actually discuss it w Lindsay).  Aaron had the day off so I didn’t feel rushed when it was time to get ready in order to play with Sasha.  I got to work w enough time to check y email and pay our phone bill.

The morning itself went okay I guess.  Circle time wasn’t terrible neither was center time.  There was an accident from Jumping Tantrum, that’s right FROM; she bit a peer for no reason.  Got him good too!  Broke the skin and turned purple really fast.  Jumper also got some sassiness after lunch.  She had eaten all her meat and veggies and I had to help a couple of other kids so she had to wait on her fruit  well she stole a spoon and when I took it back (it wasn’t hers) she basically cussed me in her own language; throwing and shoving things w grunts. 

Nap was good though; there was maybe one or two kids awake at two when it was time to get em up.  My lunch break was productive.  I finally got some entries posted from last week, just two.  They were very link heavy and took a bit of time to complete.  I started my WW but the computer froze while I was copying the last image to publish. 

After lunch/nap is where I think it went all downhill.  I kind of blame these veggie straws.  They are very popular w lots of peeps.  I usually enjoy them, but went overboard today.  For some reason the green ones were super crunchy w a nice snap and I couldn’t stop eating them.  I think I ate too many b/c towards the end I actually felt like I was eating something fried and felt a littlie icky.  From then on out I just felt kind of crabby and impatient.  I should remember this and test the theory again.  (Later while talking to hubby about it he said I was probably crabby b/c I was berating myself rather than actually feeling icky from consuming them.) 

Again before going outside our new fund biter decided to bite just for the hell of it.  The ED was in to see her little one and get some loving (also to check out the mark) and she saw both bites, w/ in ten minutes of each other.  Biter bit one person, I cleaned wound and was about to be done filling out the accident report when biter bit another child!  I only mention the ED being in the room b/c she told our DR that it seemed to really stress us out.  Not too sure I appreciate that really.  I mean yeah we were frustrated, but there’s the whole he said she said business.  IDK how she said it or why or in what manner so it may be negative on us or it could be one of those moments ‘they really needed some help and I’m not sure what to do’.  The ED offered to take her out, but that’s almost rewards.  I removed biter helped her over to the safe place and gave her something to chew on instead.  Seemed to work till it was time to put her coat on and she tried to bite me!  She also tried to bite a peer outside on the playground.  I saw ED later and got her to sign the reports while talking about it.  She didn’t mention that she had said anything to the DR.  I also said I thought it might be due to biter’s cognitive level rather than sensory need and ED said it could have been just for the reaction.  Regardless the DR said it was okay to mention to mom so I did and it made the mom teary eyed.  I guess she thought we were going to kick her out; but I did my best to reassure her that I thought it was due to needs rather than being mean and just wanted to give her a heads up and see if she has any tips or tricks. 

My CCT3 said she was going to do paperwork when we came in but didn’t go straight to it.  I can’t remember what she did right away, but I do know that the kids were wild on the carpet and they shouldn’t have been left alone so I sat with them.  Well there was a bm hanging around and my CCT3 took care of that instead of doing paperwork.  Personally I think it was a bad mistake.  We were ridiculously understaffed today (luckily nobody asked me to close and we, admin team, figured out a way to cover it successfully) and I’m sure we won’t get our time for the rest of the week either.  (*NOTE TO SELF* put this on the calendar at school). 

Aftercare was a PITA.   The kids stayed at the table and played w table toys, but they made a huge mess.  Also the little gal who we are still taking responsibility for to go potty managed to pee her pants and I just couldn’t keep my cook w her.  She was doing all sorts f wrong decisions: playing with a paintbrush in the drain, pulling on her private, and just hanging out for over fifteen minutes in the restroom.  She really needs to work on speaking up and facing the speaker as well as taking responsibility for her own needs.  I also would like to take a minute to complain about another child, I’ll call him something soon b/c I’m sure he’ll come up again, he drives me bonkers.  Every time he gets into trouble he has to back talk, literally!  Always wanting to know why he’s in trouble, or why I said to do something, or to apologize or that he didn’t mean to.  And I know that I have to be nice to him b/c of his family situation, but man does he really need things laid out for him.  He’s so smart and knows what he’s doing!  BBBBEEEEAAAAHHHHHH

Okay, that might be out of my system.  On the way home it dawned on me (FINALLY) to just take control of the kitchen situation at home.  So I decided that tonight we were going to have a spinach artichoke like pasta and Aaron was okay w it!  He added crab and scallop to his dish, while I attempted to keep mine meat free.  More on that later.  I also decided that tomorrow we are going to have pork fried rice and took out the last two pork ribs to thaw and asked him to be responsible for rice.  I wanted him to make it while we were fixing dinner, but he said he’d do it later.  We’ll see.  If it doesn’t get done tonight guess I’ll eat his leftover pizza for dinner (that I discovered was still hanging out in there). 

At the house he did dishes and made his pasta w seafood while I made lunch and prepped the ‘sauce’ and made my own dinner.  I also forced Bella to take her meds.  I felt awful!  I’ve been trying to find ways for her to take the antihistamine for a while and finally broke down and smashed it and mixed it w tuna water and plunged it down her throat.  I thought the tuna water might make it better, but she didn’t take it willingingly.  I can’t decide whether or not to continue using the tw or just water.  Probably just going to use water so not to taint the tw for treats. 

While making dinner the shittiness didn’t end.  I had a glass of wine on the microwave and told myself not to forget about it.  However my self didn’t listen and I opened the cabinet and knocked the entire glass (minus maybe two sips) onto the floor.  The worse part is that it was the next to last pour of a bottle from NY.  However the glass I was using didn’t break!  I’m pretty sure it was from the tasting I went to w Carrie and should let her know!  After cleaning it up I finished off the bottle and started another one.  It was really one of those days where I should have just drunk from the bottle!!!

I ate:

Bfast – new to me Greek Lite Yogurt Kroger brand blueberry w a banana. 

            IMO – it was okay.  Only 2PPs, I’d eat again, but nothing to write home about

Lunch – new to me soup from Campbells 

            IMO – it too was just okay.  I still prefer the boxed one from Aldi’s that’s seasonal.  I think it smelled better than it tasted b/c my CCT1 asked if that’s what it was by name and I couldn’t remember, but it didn’t taste basily enough or hearty for me. 

Snacks – caramel rice cakes in the am, ½ banana, clementines, veggie straws, and an apple

Dinner – Spin Art Pasta w roasted onions and bell peppers over Shirtaki noodles

            IMO – once again just okay.  First time I had the noodles.  They weren’t terrible.  Aaron thinks they were to soft.  But if I can have pasta for no extra PPs more regularly bring it!  I kind of which I’d taken the time to actual create a sauce rather than just mixing it all in. 

            Mixed Art Hearts w seasoning

            Topped w peppers and onions

            Then topped w fresh spinach

            Next broke some LC cheese

            Added the noodles

            Baked in oven to get hot and melt and wilt

            Then nuked in microwave b/c it was gooey wilty enough

            Finished w nutritional yeast

            LOOKED like ASS, but decent enough to eat. 

Guess I should tell you that Aaron took Sasha to the vet today and she does have a mild case of demadex (sp?).  Now I’m going to have to look it up and figure out what it is for realz.  Her weight is 57 ½ I think, should double check but doubt I’ll remember to come back and tell ya. 

Ok I gotta go, but wanted you to know the best part of my day was coming home and having Aaron already here. 

Hope you were able to get through all that nonsense!!!

another busy Sunday

It was another long and busy Sunday here in the Vaughn family. 

I of course didn’t sleep in; got up around 6:30 or so to find a picture of my friends four new goats!   Woops I never msged her back w my inquiries, oh wellz.  Anyways almost did the norm except for the newish recipe I tried. 

I did vary it a little.  Instead of mashing 1 banana w two eggs I spilt the naner into two bowls.  In both bowls I made one pancake (the first) w/out b. powder and added it for the second.  In bowl one I used egg whites and in bowl two an egg.  IMO – tasted kind of like French toast rather than a pancake.  I was trying to save points but will try again the way it’s meant to be.  I also added fresh blueberries which turned really fat and were wonderful!

Hubs got up early and I got his motor running ASAP!  He made coffee and then asked what I wanted to do today and in return gave him a couple of tasks.  We sat down to drink our coffee and decided to go to the dog park just in case it did rain. 

We went to Shelby first.  There weren’t that many puppies.  The guys w Aida and Jack came back again today.  Jack’s owner had glasses on yesterday, but not today and he looked way younger.  It was nice that Aaron got to meet them, esp Aida’s daddy.  We also met a chick who lived on her own and had three pugs!  I got a great picture of her holding one like a baby.  TOO FUNNY!!!  (hopefully one day I’ll come back and show it to ya)

After a little over an hour we headed to Centennial for Aaron to meet Pepper and Hope as well as Bradshaw, Xena, Shelby, Nino, Titan (Pit), and Titan (GD), but only Nino and Titan were there.  As soon as we came into the park I saw Richo and his mommy and she said he was okay.  She got to cut his nails, after just a couple minutes of ‘lip’.  He stopped bleeding, and I guess was good enough to come play today.  However mom was w a group of gals rather than w her hubs.  George never showed :,( We were getting ready to leave when I saw Jill and her other crew.  Today we met Duke and Duchess, as well as Peter and Luna.  She also brought Laurel back, but Sir Walter got adopted.  I really liked D & D! 

Afterward we stopped at Wal Mart, where I thought we’d be maybe twenty minutes, but Aaron actually spent an hour in there!!! 

Back at the house we settled in and watched an episode of Dexter, than made dinner, and now watching the movie we picked up at the store. 

That’s it really.  I sooo wish we could connect here so I could upload all my entries from the last week +. 

I didn’t eat all that much

Bfast – ‘pancakes’

Snacks – cheese and an apple (at bfast more around brunch time so wasn’t too terribly ungry but knew I needed to eat something to tide me over till dinner)

Dinner – FRIED frenzy!!!  Aaron made beer battered crappie and I made OR as well as FF.  I also made a small bowl of red slaw. 

I’m hoping the onions and grease don’t wrestle in my belly over night. 

I love spending time w my family watching the little one have fun.

Thanks for listening to the mundaneness of my day. 

got my IL fix!

This was another busy Saturday for me.  I can’t remember the last relaxing Saturday I had.  Aaron had to work and I got up when he did.  I ate some of the crock pot oatmeal that we made at school on Thursday and added peaches & cinnamon to it.  It was okay, a little soft considering it was instant and slow cooked AND reheated. 

Then coffee was brewed and enjoyed while looking through recipes.  I really wanted some sort of red meat for dinner and couldn’t think of how to expand on my regular ways of prep. 

I didn’t find a new way to cook it but I did find the next recipe that we are going to make w D & H. 

Afterwards I got down to business; cleaning and searching for the book that I can’t find anywhere!  I made it fun though.  I turned on Ligion, Coyote Ugly, and Nirvana to make it more tolerable.  Sasha wasn’t a big fan of the music.  She preferred to sit in her crate.  Also the robot is now working thanks to yours truly.  Not sure you knew that it was ‘busted’, but the problem – don’t’ laugh – I didn’t have it plugged into the outlet!!! 

When Kurt was done I sat down and ate lunch while Sasha played in the front yard.  Then we headed over to Shelby to play. 

We met Aida (and Ted) and Jack (and Micah – as well as their friend Patrick who just lives through them pet wise).  Neither one of the four legs wanted to play but it was nice chatting w the parents; rather than just standing around on my own.  After they left Sasha met Richo (a Wemeriener ?sp?) and I met Leslie and Dan (? on the dad).  They played s hard and for soooo long!  I noticed a little bit of pink spots on her and decided it was time to go.  However it was his blood.  At the gate we noticed that his ear had a snip missing from the tip and he was slinging blood on himself and his collar.  I felt so bad!  The owners were hoping he had spent enough energy to clip his nails, but he didn’t seem ready to stop.  I wonder if they were successful, and really hope he’s okay and it doesn’t leave a scar like Izzie had. 

Next we went to Dickie & Carolyn’s for the evening.  Sasha was soo pooped all she did was lay down till about twenty minutes to leave. 

IT satisfy my need/longing of being with them.  Carolyn and I sat around and chatted for the longest time about her family history which I found interesting.  We went to the store and I used my .50 off code to get this movie IMO – go rent it!  Much better than I expected.  Joseph looked a little strange; I’d love to know what they did to his face to make him look that way. 

The food that went into my body:

Bfast – oatmeal (LO from school’s crock pot making) w cinnamon and peaches

Lunch – LO chix cordon blue from last night w a salad and some HM dressing

Dinner – just what I wanted: venison cube steaks, w cheater scalloped potatoes (I should totally tell Biz), green beans, and a piece of French bread.  I also had some wine which I’m truly impressed w!  I don’t usually like Cabs, but this one was smooth and fruit. 

I’m off to bed, get that movie and let me know.  Thanks…

a word game I actually like!

Gonna be honest here, it’s Saturday morning and I’m sure to leave something out. 

Things I want to remember:

We were understaffed, are you surprised?, again today.  That equaled no paperwork for us today, AH-GAIN!!  This time I finally took it upon myself to print a calendar w boxes for the entire year so that we can record when and how much time we actually get.  I know we aren’t supposed to do it and ask for more time when needed, but it’s gonna be nice to know why things aren’t completed. 

We also had a meeting with the vision specialist, which was strange.  She continues to confuse me even after telling us all her information.  Some statements made it sound as though she would only tell us enough info up to our allotted time and others made is sound like she’d be more than willing to help us in extra ways as much as she can. 

THE reason why I didn’t do this last night is we had dinner w the Balls.  She made chicken cordon blue and mashed potatoes and I made steamed broccoli and apple crisp for dessert.  They also had a HM dressing to go w it.  The chicken was a bit bland, but the sauce made it better.  Her potatoes we off the chain!  I could have eaten the entire bowl, which was five potatoes worth.  My crisp was pretty awesome as well.  I added some extra spices to the crumble mix so ti wouldn’t just be an easy bake only. 

After dinner we played bananagrams, which I’m now hooked on, and rook.  They didn’t think I’d like the bg’s b/c its like scrabble (which is in my top five of most hated games ever), but it was way better.  It went quicker and I didn’t have to wait on others.  It also helps that I somehow won the very first time ever! 

Allrighty, so I guess the high was dinner and games w the Balls.

Are you a scrabble fan???

Ru Sans impromptu date night!

Gonna be honest here, it’s Saturday morning and I’m sure to leave something out. 

Things I want to remember:

Our school was understaffed, but we were fortunate enough to get paperwork time today.  The kids dropped down in no’s so we were both able to get out for 45 mins!

We were going to have dinner at some NO’s place, but it was false that they were still having deals.  Instead we went to Ru’s and used a coupon!!! 

I parked past CeCe’s for free at a meter and had to walk a little.  I think the CeCe’s is closed.  It was just a couple mins b/4 six and their lights were off. 

I ordered the wasabi crusted tuna app.  It was okay.  Not near enough wasabi for me, but edible enough.  Aaron ordered several rolls, I can’t even remember their names. 

The one w two colors, red and white, was bland – won’t order again!  It was warm and strange.  The seven color rainbow was delish and the dr was alright. 

I asked him to order me the house pino grigio and he ordered the house red, which fortunately enough was a merlot!  It was drinkable, I’m pretty sure that it’s one I’ve drank/bought to drink at home. 

Even though we had a coupon I’m pretty sure that Aaron’s table used the entire deal!  He did share w me though, how sweet huh?

I do remember that we got home earlier rather than later, by 7:30 or so. 

The high was having impromptu dinner w hubs!

Do you love sushi and try to keep up w all that you’ve eaten so you can or won’t repeat?  Sorry this is a lame entry. 

WW

         

lots of new tries today

This was a much more challenging day than yesterday!  Normally at 8:15 when I clock in I go to the twos class, which is what I’m used to; however w our staff being short I’m now going into the 4-5 yr old class.  It’s a bit different.  Not harder, just different, bigger kids, bigger space, more noise, more of a challenge to keep an eye on all of em.  I’ve been w em b/4 from 7:30 to 8:00, but the next half hour is totally different! 

It was also a more challenging day b/c we had our 3 kids back (but one out) and lots of kids threw temper tantrums for my CCT3 this morning.  As soon as I walked in she said ‘I’m ready for happy hour if you wanna go’. 

We continued talking about The Three Little Pigs but heard the wolf’s tale today, it was cute and some of the kids understood it.  Downer bout today; even though it was gorgeous out we still had to go to the gym b/c of how stinkin cold it was.  The girls in the room are having an awful lot of trouble following the rules and didn’t get to play but for half of their time. 

I talked to my coworker about her friend’s I met last night and she knew they were more ’22 year old guy college style’ sort of people.  She just didn’t know how to tell me.  I ended up talking to her way long than expected and I think it may have really upset my CCT3. 

The kids loved their little pig houses we made yesterday (ramen noodles w yellow icing, pretzels w brown, and chex cereal w red).  I thought they were icky since the crispiness was gone, but they’re kids and love sweets. 

The afternoon was a pretty normal one.  I let my CCT3 get out and do paperwork for another half hour or so; this is probably the third or fourth time I haven’t gone out of the kindness of my heart.  She’s working on an assessment.  It won’t be happening anymore soon I’m sure since one of our 3:30 leavers is being allowed to stay for aftercare. 

Aaron had the day off so he took care of the liter, laundry, dishes, and took Sasha to the dog park (off HWY 100) to ‘meetup’ w our danes group only no one was there!  What a PITA!!! That park isn’t close at all!  I’m not even sure why the organizer chose it, she lives in Hendersonville.  Even though that part was a bust Sasha had a glorious time.  She’s been asleep since I got home and when I say asleep I mean like passed out hasn’t moved, rolled over, or even begged to get up on the couch with us!

We are watching our last disc of our show and will start a new one either tonight or tomorrow.  Super excited about this next one.  I told Aaron he’s gonna be pumped when we open it and he went and did just that instead of waiting!  I guess my comment was just too much temptation for him. 

My belly was a little better today, here’s what I ate:

Bfast – new yogurt 

            IMO – my coworker said she thought it was too sweet and had a peculiar texture.  I liked it.  It wasn’t really sweet, just less twangy.  It did have an off texture to most greek yogurt, but I like it.  Super smooth and would make a really nice topping on a grape salad or something.  The strawberry goo was kinda tasty in small doses too

Lunch – white chicken chili w veggies

            IMO – way to beanny!  I guess I just don’t like this kind of chili b/c the homemade one had too much too.  Doubtful I’ll buy again unless I forget my opinion. 

Snacks – banana, veggie straws (a snack crack for me), and grapes

Dinner – ALK’s LO pasta bake w a salad.  She does a mean pasta bake, I’m thinking about asking her how she did it! 

Oh I forgot to tell you; an eon ago I requested samples of Monkfruit in the Raw from the Stevia company.  I got them in today and can’t wait to try it in my coffee tomorrow.  The samples came in little plastic wrap w two to a pack.  I also got a bunch of Stevia’s too, but I’m sure I’ve had that.  I’ll let you know

Ok, what did I enjoy most about my day, probably getting the samples I’ve been waiting to get.  Also need to remember that while Sasha was at the dog park today she came home missing both of her top incisors. 

Have you tried that yogurt yet?  What do you think?

not what I expected

Can you believe that the school day was actually pretty decent?  I mean I was feeling rough, but the kids were pretty well behaved!  I opened so I could leave early for my meet and greet w a coworkers friends for child/puppy care and we all know the early shift is way easier than the late one.  It really helped that there were several kids who didn’t come that are usually there. 

Speaking of kids who didn’t come today we were down three, which all happen to need a little extra attention occasionally.  One of them was Dear Fussy which was a relief.  My CCT3 and I kind of hold our breaths about her until we are in gross motor before wondering out loud where she is.  Also Jumping Tantrum had an amazing day! 

We started learning about Traditional Tales, with The Three Little Pigs being first, and the kids really enjoyed the way it was presented.  We did a ‘flannel board’ story and the kids got to be involved by naming the pigs: Kiki, Robin (who’s a superhero), and Savannah (this child struggled the most w the concept of pretend b/c she continued to get upset when friends talked about her pig b/c she named it after her sister and she thought they were talking about her); and then acting the story out.  They continued to elaborate off the story the entire day.  At 3:30 we sat down and created our own and kids got to color their pictures and then we shared it with our LC.  The end of the day story was probably the best part and of course wasn’t planned at all! 

I will say that even though the kids were spot on I fell like total hell.  My belly has really been buggin me for several days and hit its high point today.  For those who know me this is gonna be strange: food hasn’t been appealing, at all!  The only reason I eat is b/c I know I need to put something in it.  Carbs are the only things that are settling.  A chick made cake and I didn’t like it!  Not just any cake a coffee cheese strudely cake.  When I got to work (TMI COMING HERE) I burped a little acidy refluxy like junk from my bfast; which is really strange b/c it was a normal bfast!  The only comfortable position is with my legs folded into my belly and when I move it’s like a tortoise.  I didn’t even really eat my snacks!

After work I did go meet with those peeps and they weren’t at all like I though they would be.  I expected them to be more the Knights or Ilagans, but they were more like peeps that I worked with at the restaurant.  I LOVED their Husky 10 month puppy.  The kid really bonded, but I think was sad when I had to talk to his parents rather than about his video game.  I think they will probably use me and I hope it’s easy and worth the $$ (I told em’ I usually charge btwn 12 – 15 for kids and gave them that as a base to work from). 

Upon arrival to the house Aaron was already settled in and I did my norm..  After I settled in we talked about our feelings (we’ve been short w one another; him w me b/c of tired and pain and driving, me w him b/c of offense I took and being sensitive).  He is a great hubby that way, making me sit down and talk it out rather than hold it in! 

Not sure if I told you this or not but at some point in the past few days I’ve noticed that Sasha has a baldish spot on the outer edge of her left eye.  I mentioned it to Aaron and he said it kind of looks like mange, which I freaked, and he said more like the demadex (sp?) that Izzie had and he’d ask the doc next time he took her in for blood work.  Well I noticed another small spot on her left shoulder blade area in the black hair/spot.   I also noticed that’s where she’s scratched most (almost dead on).  I’m gonna do my best to keep an eye on the spot to see if it gets bigger and if so insist he take her in. 

Even though I felt bad I did eat some things, which were all pretty bad for me

Bfast – raspberry banana oatmeal

Snacks – clementines, toffee, & choc. covered almonds

Lunch – the nasty beef sirloin soup w added grilled veggies

Snacks – frosting and pretzels

Dinner – last of the venison stroganoff and orange cake as well as 3 pieces of chocolate

I loved how the kids got so involved in today’s traditional tale and hope they continue to be interested.

Thanks again for letting me tell you about my day…

new friends in the making?

Today was another focus on the puppy sort of day. 

I did my usual Sunday morning routine, while Aaron was at work!

I got ready to leave around 12:30 or so to take Sasha to ‘meetup’ with her new to be friends hopefully over at Centennial Dog Park only to realize I didn’t know where my keys were!  I’m sure I looked for them for over twenty minutes!  They were in my pocket from yesterday!

This was a new to me park, literally!  I don’t think we ever took Izzie there.  It took me almost an hour to find!  However now I know.  Not really sure why people refer to it as Centennial Dog Park considering the sign says West End DP and it’s really not near to Centennial; it’s about three to four blocks from the main area! 

Lucky for me as I was going in, an hour later than the meeting time, the organizer was just getting there.  BTW she doesn’t look like her picture too much.  Thank goodness for her puppies or else I wouldn’t know.  Oh yeah while I was searching I came across some people I thought were going, but they didn’t.  I kind of felt like an ass b/c I said ‘I think I’m on my way to meet y’all’ when I asked for help and they weren’t there. 

So even though I was late, there were still people there and lots and lots of dogs in general.  Sort of an overwhelming amount really.  In our group there was Hope and Pepper, Bradshaw (a mix), Shelby and Xena (no GD blood at all), Nino (a huge lovely Harlequin), Titan, Laurel (a mix), and Sir Walter Scott (some shepperding dog).  We also met a girl who had a puppy two weeks younger than Sasha, George, who was a gorgeous Fawn/Blue mix.  I’d love for them to be besties! 

We stayed at the park till about four.  And then I went to the Knights.  KEK was excited to see me, but didn’t want to practice her words.  I told her I just wanted to look at em and figure out which ones were hard and he played with me that way.  Then we went upstairs w the sticker book and she loved that.  However to keep it fun I let her do a fashion show and there was no getting her back.  I tried several ways and decided to just sit and color with her while she talked about school.  Then mom came in and it went downhill from there. 

KEK was rather rude to mom and said some harsh things.  The harshest towards the end; ‘when you make me do things I don’t want it’s upsetting and I don’t feel like I’m part of the family, it makes me want to run away’.  Where has she heard such things? How scary!  I can’t even fathom how hurt ALK was, I was almost crying.  I really wish I could have been more help.  I thought that by me doing it would be fun but now I think KEK just may dislike me totally, like I betrayed her friendship or something.

By the time I left there it was a little after 7:30 and I felt really bad for Sasha; I knew she had to be hungry she hadn’t eaten since noonish!  Luckily ALK sent me home w some ‘lasagna’ and that was my dinner.  I put quotes around it b/c it was what I would call baked ziti b/c of the pasta.  Whatever it was, it was f’n delish!   I felt a little bad b/c when she offered I wasn’t going to take any, but my belly got the better of me since I wasn’t up to par and didn’t want to make anything.  When I got home I felt even worse; it looked like it was somebody else’s LO they forgot.  There was a scoop missing off to the side. 

Today I didn’t eat all that much and I can feel it:

Bfast/Brunch – pb2 banana English muffin

            I mashed the naner and used the dry PB2, not very pby, but def sweet.  Might make a nice dip

Lunch – didn’t really have one b/c I ate bfast so late and was at the park when I got hungry

Snacks – grapes and lots and lots of chips and dip w a small salad

Dinner – pasta bake

I’m so glad that Sasha got to run and play again today and hope to next weekend!

Thank you for letting me get out my feelings about this evening…

a very productive start to the weekend

Man what a great day!  First I’m sooooo glad the sun shone today, a week of rain = me needing a happy place. 

The day started uber early, even on Saturday, when Aaron got up at 5:30.  I know I could have stayed in bed, but there were things I wanted to get done.

I had plans to go to Costco and get my tires rotated.  When I looked online I saw that they opened at 9:00 and I wanted to be the first in line.  Last time I got there at 9:02 (at least that’s what time I thought I got there) and was the second in line; it took the mechanics damn near 2 ½ hours to complete my tires!  This time I figured if I was first then surely it wouldn’t take that long at all.  Well I left the house @ 8:00 and was in the lot by 8:30 only to discover they didn’t open till 9:30!  Instead of sitting there (not to mention my coffee was lukewarm like baby bath water rather than taste bud scalding hot) I went over to Publix and checked out their ads. 

@ 9:00 I went back over and was the first in line!!!  I had plans to remove my polish and cut coupons but the next peeps in line were just as talkative as me and we talked about our four legged babies.  I spent most my time looking at books for KEK and recipes for our pot luck (I know I haven’t told you about this, but I’m considering a garden roasted veggie tomato soup) which I took pictures w my phone (hope I can read em’ later).  Around 10:40 or so I saw the peeps that were in line after me and they said their car was ready.  WTF, why isn’t mine?!?!?  When I went to check supposedly it’d been ready since b/4 10:00 and they called but my phone line was busy.  There’s no way, I had the damn thing in my hand w the volume on so I wouldn’t miss it.  Today may have been the cheapest I’ve left there; under $20!  I only got peppers, cheese, and smoked salmon dip – If you haven’t tried this stuff yet, get up now and go find it at the closest space you can.  It’s creamy crack!  We eat it just on pita chips b/c we don’t like to take the time to get creative with it. 

Afterwards I popped back over to Publix and picked up some frozen veggies, my fav. Chobani even though I don’t need it but it’s the only place I can buy it, and some new creamers.  It took me forever to decide which ones to get.  I had a coupon for Coffeemate and figured I could get em’ for cheaper at WalMart, but how often do Bailey’s go on sale?  They come out to $1.60 instead of $1.50 (which is what I would have paid for the others). 

The last place I stopped was Aldi’s; I got hubs some milk, fresh fruits, and frozen fruit (this is the only time they carry the frozen fruit – I wish they’d have it more often).

Back at the house I wolfed down my LO’s from Coco’s, but added spinach, tomatoes, and onion while putting away the dishes and then got ready for the dog park.  At this moment I hit a glitch: could not find the purple collar or either one of our leashes!  I searched the house four times and my car too!  I figured they were in Aaron’s 4runner (they were I found out around 8) and had to go borrow Bosco’s retractable.  I hated going over there just to go in and then leave him.  I tried to keep Sasha in the car, but she knew where we were and got out.  I’m such a sap!  I hope he wasn’t too sad when we left.  We stayed at the park for at least 3 hours. 

Sasha really wanted to play with this guy and his dogs Frisbee so I tried to keep her away b/c I didn’t think he wanted to share.  I chatted w some other chick who was there w her roommates dog; nice conversation – she has two cats and is thinking about a dog.  I had to cut out quickly to get Sasha some water and she went about her way.  While talking to the chick Sasha played really well w somebody’s corgi (sp?) so I took her back there to play with that dog and she wanted to stay by my side.  After some time a couple of mixed healer’s came back there w their mommy and we chatted until it was just too cool and I needed a warm drink.  Her dogs were funny: Reece and Dizzy.  Strange I didn’t learn the human’s name!  I’d love if we could actually have ‘play dates’ with our doggies, but I’m not sure about the etiquette at meeting ‘friends’ at the park; do you?  I almost forgot to mention that I ran into a girl, an ABAT that worked w one of my CCT1’s old kiddo’s.  How small is N’ville really?  There were so many brown and black looking dogs that it made me think that from here on out I want to make sure that we get a distinctive trait on our future puppies, or at least a piece of identifying jewelry. 

After the park we went to see Bosco so I could check my email and pin some ‘sight word’ activities for KEK.  I found this pretty amazing blogger/SAHM and pinned several of her ideas.  I also forwarded the blog to another blogger, you remember the helpful one, she’s a SAHM too and I really think she may like these gals and activities. 

At the house I made dinner and we watched/are watching Farscape.  I bought Aaron the wrong dip!  I got the smoked salmon and he likes the lobster.  I just remember that he liked one that was red and I was thinking it was one I wouldn’t care for but ended up loving (I DESPISE smoked salmon).  I figured I’d like lobster b/c it’s extremely similar to crab so went w the salmon.  Future reference: get lobster or crab!!!  I wonder if he likes the plain salmon? 

I had an irregular eating today:

Bfast – cinnamon apple farina

Snacks – Costco tastings (lots of these meatballs/sausage links) and their brand greek yogurt (pretty good)

Lunch – LO sandwich

Snacks – cheese, chocolate, and trail mix

Dinner – LO salmon, rice, and broccoli

Well I’m ready to pass out now; the best part was being in the sun all day long!!!

Do you know socialization for puppies’ etiquette?  (if not I assume it’s like meeting friend for babies at parks, do you know that?)