Taking Stock of What is Important

I only have a moment to update, but I wanted to share what has gone on in the past couple days. On Tuesday evening, our condo suffered a fire. The kitchen is destroyed and there is smoke damage throughout the remainder. We are staying with my sister for the meantime, but eventually will be placed in an extended - stay hotel. We are all safe and no one suffered any injury (besides emotional) and that is the most important thing. Stuff can be replaced - people and pets cannot.

I just want to tell everyone to take stock of what is important and to remember that the divine works to grant your wishes in the strangest ways. I have been saying for months now that I need to simplify my home and life, but I didn't plan on doing it this way. The old adage goes - "be careful what you wish for as it just might come true." But the Lord does not give you that which you cannot handle, and we will pull through this just fine.

Hug your loved ones close! (and make sure you have enough insurance!!!!)

Angie

Back to School

How to Torture Your Teacher
by Bruce Lansky

Only raise your hand when you want to sharpen your pencil or go to the bathroom.
Repeat every ten minutes.
Never raise your hand when you want to answer a question; instead, yell, "Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!"
and then, when the teacher calls on you, say,

"I forgot what I was going to say."

Lean your chair back, take off your shoes, and put your feet up on your desk.
Act surprised when the teacher puts

all four legs of your chair back on the floor.

Drop the eraser end of your pencil on your desk.
See how high it will bounce.

Drop your books on the floor. See how loud a noise you can make.

Hum.
Get all your friends to join in.

Hold your nose, make a face, and say, "P.U.!"
Fan the air away from your face, and point to the kid in front of you.

On the last day of school, lead your classmates in chanting:
"No more pencils!
No more books!
No more teachers'
dirty looks!"

Then, on your way out the door, tell the teacher,

"Bet you're looking forward to summer vacation this year.

But I'll sure miss you.

You're the best teacher I've ever had."

Just so everyone who is not in education knows - this is what it is like on a daily basis in the teaching world :) And these are the GOOD days! But I must love it or I wouldn't be going into my 16th year, now would I?

The Affair is Over

Oh, but I have had a sweet love affair this summer,

a fling if you may,

but it is coming to an end today.

I will miss my beloved,

but it is for the best.

My sweet was no good for me.

Only causing undo guilt and heart ache.

When my husband found out about it,

you can imagine he was upset.

He wanted to know why -

WHY?

I wasn't including him in on it!?!

He said he would have done the same for me -

that's just how much he loves me!

But I didn't want to have to put him

through the heartbreak of good-bye,

because I knew that once school started back up,

the affair would be over...

So good-bye my love,

parting is such sweet sorrow...photo credit

So it is back to Weight Watcher points and Biggest Loser Contests at work

Yee haw!

Premium Meme Award

I have my first award!!! It is the Premium Meme 2009 Award! I received this award from My Husband's Watching TV. You rock girlfriend!

"To accept this award, the recipient must list 7 traits about themselves and then pass the award onto 7 other bloggers who deserve recognition for the personality they share through their blog."
Geez - don't know that I personally know 7 other bloggers, and the one other that I do know already received this award from MHWTV, but that's okay, one day I will have a gazillion followers (ha!) and then they will be sorry :)

1. Intelligent - I consider myself a smart person. I graduated high school, college and grad school all with honors. I love to learn new stuff, but if you told me I had to go back to school again right now, I would cry! I am not one for formal education (says the teacher) - I like to learn by doing, and college was hard for me a lot because there wasn't much "doing" just a lot of listening and testing. I also love me a puzzle - I live for logic puzzles, riddles, etc. You know the little tests that get passed on in emails, I 'heart' those as well. Needless to say, I have a mathematical brain.

2. Creative - There is a creative side in me that is dying to get out, and I have been trying to fuel it's fire through writing (hello, blog!) and photography. My sister, Diana, is the creative genius in the family and I strive to be like her. Someday I know that it's all going to explode from me and I will know what it is I'm supposed to do with it all, but for now, I'm still trying to figure it out. So go figure - my left brain and right brain are at odds with each other - math or art? math or art???? It's quite a fight up there!

3. Procrastinator - Oh, if it can be done tomorrow, I will do it the day after! It's bad. Is there a 12 step program for people like me?

4. Obsessive - There are just some things I cannot get my mind to unwrap from. I get an idea in my head and the train is full speed ahead, regardless if there is a solution to my problem or not. My husband has been helpful in getting me to calm down about some of my obsessive thoughts - "it will still be there tomorrow, don't worry about it, there is nothing you can do about it today" - but other times the idea just rots and festers in my head. Watching the show Obsessed, however, has made me realize I really don't have a problem compared to the people on that show.

5. Funny - I tend to think I have a good sense of humor and I easily make my friends laugh. Wait, are they laughing 'with me' or 'at me?' Hmmm?!

6. Nosy - I gotta know it all. I want to be in everyone's biznis and know all about their deep dark secrets. Not that I'm going to spread rumors, I just like to know what's going on around me. Too many times being left in the dark makes one, well, without light...

7. Unpretentious - I'm not the type of person that has to keep up with the Joneses. I don't buy designer (unless it's on sale at Marshalls - $15 for a Liz purse is a steal!) I don't have to have my hair all done and make-up on or all the latest fashions in my closet. I'm happiest in sweats and my Colts hoodie with my hair in a pony under a baseball cap. I have lived in a condo for 11 years and will be moving back into the house I grew up in, gasp, in North County of all places. I do love the look of Pottery Barn, but I'm not going to go into debt just because of what society thinks. I'll go into debt doing things my way, thank you very much!

So now I tag people - here goes -

Anyone who reads this, consider yourself TAGGED!

Things I'm happy for today

1. Getting into my classroom and getting things situated to where I feel I won't be too overwhelmed come Monday when work starts.

2. Finding the right length Ethernet cord for the computer in my classroom so I can move it to my desk and not have to keep it on the other side of the room.

3. Getting to listen to my Sugarland CD (now on my Ipod) which I haven't heard in ages. I made more heart soar! It's their first CD and I just lurve their songs.

4. Having lunch for the last time this summer with my girl, Jen, at Pasta House. Me lovey love their salad and spaghetti pomodoro!

5. Coming home to my doggy and his wiggle butt (no tail) and his deep throated growl of happiness upon seeing me. Watching him practice his roll-over for a cookie - he almost has it but he's so fixated on the cookie that he starts rolling over, gets there, then rolls back because he is just too excited and wants to goodness that smells like sausage!

6. Getting tagged by My Husband's Watching TV with the "Premium Meme Award!" Will have to work on that one later!

7. Finding one of my favorite bottles of wine among my many and excitedly having a glass early this Friday. Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere! Plus, I'm home and I ain't going anywhere anytime soon!

8. Finding out I have a new follower! I'm up to three now! Hi to Cheryl! Thanks for following me!

9. Getting ready to take my last weekday nap of the summer! Sigh, I'll miss them, but I'm happy to be getting back to a schedule.

These things happen in threes...

They say bad things always happen in threes. My sister-in-law had to put her 3 year old Aussie to sleep the other day because of a severe case of IBD. It was so bad there was nothing they could find that the pup could eat and keep down. The did everything they could for her, but in the end, the Rainbow Bridge called for her.

Now I find out our good friends' German Shepherd had a case of gastric torsion and had to be rushed into surgery in the middle of the night. Basically, the stomach of certain dogs is free hanging and when it is full, if the dog gets too active, the stomach can rotate, blocking the entrance and exit, causing gas to build up. Luckily, mom was up in the middle of the night feeding the baby and immediately noticed something wrong with the dog. If torsion isn't corrected within a couple hours, it is deadly.

Let's just hope the rule of three doesn't apply here, because I do not need anything happening to my precious pooch or anyone elses!

My crazy bubba Vegas.

Un-burned Bridges

There are some things in my past that I am not too proud of. One of which is how I treated my very first roommate. I was in a crappy situation at home and desperately needed to get out, so I asked this girl to move out with me. We had worked together at a daycare, gone to the same high school and church. She was a ton of fun and I thought it would be great. Plus, there was no way I could move out on my own. I was way too much of a scaredy-cat at 22. I hadn't even gone away to college, so I couldn't imagine being on my own in an apartment, even if it was just 4 streets from my parents house.

Well, we got along great for the first 6 months. Then she started spending more time with her boyfriend, who had moved out of town. When she couldn't spend time with him, she was on the phone with him, and the bill was out of control (mind you, this was prior to the phenom that is cell phones and unlimited minutes and free long distance - we are talking 1994/95!) We started arguing more, and she started staying away more.

Eventually my best friend moved back from college and moved into the apartment since roommate had basically bailed. I had gone ballistic one day trying to find her at a friends house to see when she was going to pay for the phone bill and got a good stern lecture from the mom of that house - telling me to grow up. Me? I didn't think I was in the wrong, it was her!

Years later, reassessing the whole situation, I can't imagine what she must have been going through. Her boyfriend is enlisting in the Army, she is afraid she won't ever see him again. Her roommate's best friend is making the moves on your room and basically plans to kick you out. I hadn't even bothered to tell her that when the lease was up, me and BFF were going to get an apartment together somewhere else. I just assumed she would go with her boyfriend. I was a major bitch...

Hindsight is 20/20. BFF and I don't even talk anymore - she got married and that was the end of our friendship. I have always felt like crap about how things ended with roomie and wanted to make amends. Well, Facebook can be good for some things. She 'friended' me and we chatted - and the first thing I did was tell her how sorry I was for everything, and that I learned over the years who my real friends were, and that I was sorry for treating her the way I did. She was like, "Girl, please!"

Well today, driving over the house to replace some motion lights, I saw her and her husband outside of their house, just 2 blocks from our future home. I stopped and she hopped in my car and we chatted for about 5 minutes. It was so good to see her and I am so glad that people have this amazing gift for forgiveness. It's nice to know that we are going to be neighbors in the near future, and I can work on rebuilding that bridge I once burned to the ground. Time sometimes does heal all wounds!

photo credit