Weekend Relaxation

We've had my nephew since last weekend. It's been very interesting. First of all, last weekend I went to a visitation/viewing for my Great Aunt Mary who passed away. She was 94, and I had been expecting it because she was getting up there in years... but it didn't make it any easier. They showed a slide show of pictures, and I got pretty emotional. I will miss her.

This week with Conner here has kept us all going at a fast pace. How do 2 year old boys get that type of energy??? I mean, seriously... if I could bottle it and sell it I'd be a millionaire! Anyhow... I wasn't really around him ALL that much... usually when I got home from work during the week he was still napping... and then I would only see him for about 3 hours in the evening before he brushed his teeth and went to bed.

Work has been keeping me busy. Weds was an early dismissal day for the students, so I got to meet up with my Mom and Conner for lunch near the school that day because we had an extended lunch time. Then I came back and did some clerical work. Then Thursday and Friday went by pretty quickly. Especially Friday because I took a half a day off... so I was only there in the morning.

Now I'm ready to relax... except I have at least 2 loads of laundry to tackle, and really need to run to the store to grab a few things for snacks/lunches and some hair care stuff. I wanna go to Walmart, but I also know that Walmart will be especially crowded on a Saturday, so I think I've resolved to go tomorrow during the day. :) That's all for now... hopefully I'll remember to post something this week.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

Well, I haven't posted much lately because a lot has been going on. Ricky came in from L.A. to visit for basically the month of June... during that time our good friend Long (who lives in the Dallas area) came down to SA to visit us... I haven't seen either of these boys in about 1-1/2 year!!! :( I was sooooo glad to see them! We spent a day in Austin while Long was here... hitting up our usual eating spots and spending a chunk of time in IKEA (actually in the Round Rock area) and we just had a great time! I can't wait until I see both of them again!

Ricky left July 2nd (which was incidentally the same day that I took my certification exam... still no word on results yet, btw) and I didn't really see much of him the few days before that bc I was studying. I did have a great visit with him... and I got to see Druck more, too... Summer is a time I can try to map out chunks of time here and there for people. When distance doesn't matter too much (I have a handful of friends that live on the other side of town... about an hour drive round-trip!)... time is precious during the school year, so when I don't have to worry about that, I make more time to see people. Although, I spend time with family a lot during the summer, too...

For example, we went up for the day to Spring to see Conner the Saturday after his birthday! He's SOOOO cute! This Saturday, we're leaving for our annual Port Aransas beach vacation with them... :) I'm very excited to see how much fun Conner has this year... he's 2 now and I imagine he'll have much more fun at the beach and pool than last year! And just in general, I'm glad we'll get to spend a few days with them...! Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that Conner will mainly only be interested in spending time with his PawPaw...! They're buddies... end of story.

Anyhow, today I had planned on running to Walmart to get a few things so that I can slowly start packing and all for the trip, but I just don't have the same motivation I had yesterday to get out and get things done...! Maybe in a little while, though!

I'm not really supposed to know yet...

But I didn't get the position. It helps to be well-connected with certain teachers and such on my campus, because they give me the bad news so I don't have to wait as long...! I'm totally okay with not getting it... I don't think it was really anything other than someone else being a better fit with the team of teachers... and that happened because the person that got the offer previously worked on our campus... incidentally on a different grade level with the grade level chair for Kindergarten... and I'm sure she had a huge say in the choice of teacher for the spot.

But, fortunately, I know that I am doing a good job (I've been given that feedback after having a few "walk-thru" observations by the Asst. Principal and Principal...) and I know there are at least 2 positions opening up for next school year. SOOOO... I think they are entirely planning on getting me in one of those. I do have a feeling there will be a few people that will voice an opinion about me not getting this Kinder position on campus... because (the few people that knew I interviewed) were all extremely excited I would become a part of the family of the faculty on campus. Yesterday when I was texting back and forth with with my inside source, they were saying they were REALLY disappointed! lol I think they were more disappointed than I am! haha I just take it as there is a reason that I didn't get the position... and part of that may be that for the time being I'm better used in SpecEd. It could also be that my inside source would love if I get the position that's opening up across the hall from her next year! lol

Anyhow... I'm not bitter, so no one else should be (and hopefully won't)! Tomorrow morning early, my parents will be meeting Rob halfway to Houston to make the exchange of Conner. :) I'm sad to see him go... and I'll miss him until the end of Feb! I'm excited because Monday Steph is going to let me know for sure if she can go to Washington with Jamey and I and what dates in July are good for her... which means... We can buy our tickets in March!!! And start to get things squared away!!! SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!! Alrighty... well I have to go get Conner's teeth brushed and in his jammies for bedtime! Night all!

GAH!

I can't believe the weekend is over! :( What's more... I can't believe that this is already the last week of JANUARY!!!! We're almost over a month into 2009! Where does time go?!? Things are going well with Conner staying with us so far. He's in bed right now... and the rest of us are getting some dinner and finishing up things getting ready for the week.

This week could be very exciting for me... but I'm not elaborating any more at this point. :)

Anyhow... I'm off to eat some dinner and finish laundry!!! I'll post more this week!

Fast week!

This week has gone by so fast after a holiday that seemed to drag on forever (and not really for good reason!)...

Tuesday at work was busy as usual... well... busier than usual, actually... the kids have been taking their CBA's (Curriculum Based Assesment) this week... and so it hasn't been uncommon for us to have anywhere between 5-10 kids in there that need their test orally administered... or just need extra help. What makes it stressful is that we usually have 3 different grade levels (at least) testing at once... so, it isn't uncommon to be going back and forth between 2 grade levels reading test questions and answers and then helping them make sense of what they need to do. It also doesn't help that the 4th and 5th grade teachers want the kids to justify all their answers by providing at least a sentence-long explanation of why they chose the answer they chose.

When the district Superintendent first imposed these CBA's (he's new this year... it's his first year with our district, and he SWEARS by CBA's... talking about how WONDERFULLY they worked in the district he worked with previously) they were supposed to be 5-10 questions in length. Now they're anywhere between 15-20 questions. Why did they lengthen them...???? Because the kids have to score 80% to pass them... and with only 5-10 questions, that wasn't happening. I personally think that for kiddos that are in Special Ed. they really shouldn't be taking as long of a test as other kids anyway... largely because most of them can't stay focused that long... and also because a lot of the stuff on the CBA's hasn't been covered at length... they already have the disadvantage of being behind as it is... couple that with only covering some of the items for 1 class...!

Anyhow, tomorrow is the last day, and I believe it's just a make-up testing day for any kids that were absent this week... hopefully we won't have too many kids in there testing...!!! In other news, tomorrow is FRIDAY! TGIF! This week has honestly coasted by because I've been so busy... the only part that's dragged was my lunch duty! lol Well, and Tuesday (even tho a huge chunk of the day was expended on watching the Inauguration with the kids...!) because that evening Jamey and I were going with some of my co-workers (my AP included) to the Spurs game! We had a BLAST! They played the Pacers... so of course it ended up being a blowout, and Jamey and I left early... for a 7:30 tipoff we were home by 10:05... which isn't bad!

This weekend my nephew and brother will be coming in town. We're keeping my nephew for a week because my SIL is going with her mom and sisters on a cruise. Since she stays home with my nephew, and my brother can't take a whole week off work... we'll be keeping him with us! My Mom and Dad are ECSTATIC! I'm pretty happy, too... although, I'll really only get to see him in the evenings since I'll be at work during the day. This Saturday we also have a party for my cousin to attend... it's a graduation/going away party. He just finished up his Bachelor's at Texas State Univ. and will now be going to St. Louis for about 4 years for seminary school. I will really miss him. Although he and I aren't AS close as we used to be... he's really more of a little brother to me because we grew up together until I was a Freshman in HS (my mom took care of him while my aunt/uncle worked).

A lot has happened... and a lot is yet to come... :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hopefully all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and really had a nice laid back day to spend with loved ones! Ours was good... although, all of us are shocked at A) How much food Conner put away today (seriously, that little guy ate a good, heaped plate of food) and B) that Conner didn't take a nap all day long... at is JUST NOW getting to bed!

Here's a couple shots from today:

I wasn't tagged... but...

I wasn't tagged but Kate's made it seem fun...! So here we go!

“The rules…”

* Go to your sixth picture folder then pick your sixth picture.
* Pray that you remember the details.
* Post it on your blog.
* Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged.

This was taken at Conner's 1st birthday party (which happened actually 3 days after his birthday). He was eating his personal cake that his Auntie Kels made him! At first he examined all the decorative details of the cake... and took one little pointer finger and softly petted some of the border icing decoration... it was like he didn't know what to do with it! We tried using one of his spoons to get a bite on it and have him realize he was supposed to eat this treat... but that didn't work! So, we cut out a slice of the cake and put it on his tray, and as you can see he eventually just picked up the chunk and shoved some in his mouth! It was cute and the video footage we took in this moment is priceless!

I'm not tagging anyone either... if anyone else wants to take part... by all means! But I'm not going to guilt anyone into doing this ;-) Hope you enjoyed my picture!

Wow

Who knew it was so easy to spend $100... on myself! lol I bought some new work clothes yesterday... I did also do some Xmas shopping. I have more to do... but I'm trying to spread it out until next month too when I get my next paycheck Dec. 15th. Tomorrow I'm going to Sprint to cash in on my $150 instant savings with contract renewal... Thank goodness I'll finally be rid of the demon phone! :)

I'm so excited to shop for Christmas... I think I'm most excited to shop for Conner! :) So many cute clothes! It's hard to pick just a few!

In other news I wonder what I'll be doing at work this week... I'm just glad I have 5 days, and then I get a WEEK OFF! WOOHOO! Vacation, here I come!

Onward!!!

Well, now that I have OFFICIALLY become certified in special education, I'm hoping that things will be MUCH easier getting a job. I've been updating various things such as my resume` and online applications I have with different school districts. Principals that I contacted I re-sent my resume` so that they have my most current copy...! I'm really and truly hoping this will GREATLY help my chances of getting something in the next couple-few weeks...!

We have a certain area within our NE school district where there are a lot of Mexican immigrants. They typically let their kids/themselves go visit relatives that are still residing in Mexico... and apparently the Mexican school system doesn't resume classes until after Labor Day. SO, we end up with a LOT of late registration after the first week of school... it always causes an issue of needing to hire on extra teachers after the start of school to comply with state mandated student:teacher ratios and all. The only cruddy part is that the district tends to drag their feet regarding hiring more people... of course because of the almighty $$$... They don't want to give up any more in salaries than they have to.

In other news, I FINALLY replaced my swim goggles and so I fully intend on integrating swimming laps into my weekly workout. I think a large part of the reason I don't like working out is the resistance training... so, because swimming laps combines resistance and cardio, I'm hoping it'll cut down on some of my resistance training. Also, I think it will do WONDERS for my arthritis problems in my knee (the one I had surgery on 8 years ago this past June)... I continue to have quite a bit of arthritis probs with it, and hopefully that movement will help increase flexibility in that joint. It'll probably help my left foot, also... as it seems I'm having some sort of arthritic issues with it also. And, lastly, I think it will help me get back on track and build my endurance... I'm getting hopeful in the thought that I may be able to pick up some recreational tennis playing again... but I wouldn't dare until I'm in better shape... but I do know that I don't think I want to attempt it until it's cooler... with the cooler weather coming up in November... I CAN'T WAIT! I really hope that I'll have built up my endurance/stamina and helped my joints so that I can play and volley as many times as possible... (instead of just volleying like, 2-3 times over the net and feeling pathetic and old!)

Last bit of news/update... is that my nephew is coming to town this weekend! We're watching him ALL WEEKEND while my bro/sis-in-law go to a bed/breakfast for the weekend to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years.... but I guess it has.... also, hopefully we'll be able to iron out more details with them about Conner's baptism service this fall. I can't wait to see the little booger again... he's completely walking on his own, and I'm sure that he's talking a LOT more! My favorite part about seeing him is getting little baby kisses... :) He's SO sweet... he makes the "muah" noise when he smacks ya! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post after the weekend, too...!

Productive day & Update

Well, I have had a pretty productive day... :) I got the layers of cake baked for Conner's personal one for his 1st birthday party on Saturday (we're leaving tomorrow around 1:30)... I also got all the icing and colors made yesterday... I've gotten all my laundry done... I have very little left to do to be totally ready for everything... I just need to pack my overnight bag and do a clean of the litter box before I leave Mozart for the weekend... We'll be back Saturday evening... but still... I don't want to come back to a kickin' room!

Tomorrow after we get to my brother's house, I'll get everything ready to assemble Conner's cake. The icing has to come to room temp. and it has to go in the fridge a few times in between icing stages so crumbs won't be on the surface... then I'll decorate it with the colors (lime green and bright blue) and then put it in the fridge before Saturday (the party is from 10:30am-1pm).

Tonight I have to go get all the weights for the canopies that my brother is borrowing from my friend Daughn... and of course I'll visit with them a bit. Moving them went really fast this time... mostly because everything was pretty much boxed ahead of time... We started around 9:30am and had everything moved to the new house by 4pm. And we stopped several times for water breaks and lunch... it was REALLY hot that day... in fact Damian's sister got heat exhaustion or something!

Anyhow, I'm off to finish last bits of things and all and get some relaxation in...! I'll update after we return.

Shopaholic

I haven't read any of the Shopaholic books... but I think I could relate quite a bit! lol I'm not someone that buys a whole lot of clothes (and when I do I am the one buying things off the 50% off racks!!!)... but I do have a weakness with large handbags (although, I normally buy those at JC Penney because they seem to always be 30-50% off)... and *sadfully* (that is a word that Ricky made up back at the end of HS!) I peruse eBay a LOT looking for lots of childrens books... or various teacher resources. Oriental Trading is another place that I'm constantly looking at teacher resource stuff.... it's sad because I still have no full time teaching position... and still may not have one next school year (although, I'm sincerely hoping I do... the realist in me knows that it's very competitive right now). I had to stop myself from bidding on a lot of things... and just "watch" them on eBay today... I found a lot of like, 60 books for about $25!!! That's just amazing!

Well, in other news, watching Conner went very well... we had a good time and I will miss him until I see him again on the 20th...! ;) I know, not that far off, but he's such a cutie! Also in other news there is a chance that I could end up living over by them in Spring, TX. Yeah, my brother works with someone whose wife works for Klein ISD (this is RIGHT next to Spring ISD... pretty much in the same neighborhoods in some cases) and they have taken my resume and letter of rec from my brother and are passing it around to the "right hands." Apparently this guy's wife was teacher of the year... on more than one occassion... she's worked for Spring ISD before Klein ISD and has a lot of contacts still in Spring. I can't say that I'm excited... I mean, I'll do whatever I can to get experience... and this includes moving there and teaching for a year and *hopefully* coming back to SA afterwards.... I don't really desire to live out there. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful area, and there's not anything wrong with it... it's just I would DEARLY miss my parents, and I would DEARLY miss my very close/best friends here in San Antonio. I wouldn't want to be away from them longer than a year unless I just couldn't get back into San Antonio for another year. I don't think I'd have as much of an issue with living so far away if fuel prices weren't sky-rocketing b/c then at least I'd have a glimmer of hope that I could visit at least every month.... but I can't plan on that the way fuel prices are currently! Thus, I'm SERIOUSLY crossing my fingers that I either A) Get a teaching position in San Antonio... or B) Don't get a teaching position anywhere and just go work at USAA for the time being...

I've been really stressed about all this... so prayers are extremely welcomed! Hopefully I can post more soon (if I keep myself motivated to update on a regular basis)!!!

Taste of Home and SUPER AUNTIE to the rescue!

Well, there really hasn't been all that much to report on lately. The most recent happening is that my best friend Daughn's little sister (Danae) got married last weekend. So, there have been a LOT of things going on during May leading up to that event. Also the end of school has come and gone... I helped my friend April chaperone a 2nd grade field trip to the Witte Museum here in town, and then the following week I had made a yummy sheet cake for their "2nd grade graduation." I've been doing a LOT of cake baking... Complete with homemade buttercream icing and decorating with piping bags and the whole lot... I'm strongly considering doing cakes as a side-hobby for low prices... probably mostly only for friends/family/church people... etc.

Anyhow, I've also been doing a great deal of cooking and experimenting with recipes new to me. At Christmas my G-ma got me a Taste of Home Cookbook and I have just recently begun making recipes out of it. I had found a recipe for a basic pizza crust, and I had been longing for "real" pizza since I've been dieting (started in Jan. remember... still doing okay... haven't gained anything... haven't really lost a WHOLE lot more, though... but largely because I need to get back in the gym on a more regular basis!!!) Anyhow, I made pizza a couple weeks ago and it was really good... It was a yeast dough... and I haven't worked with active dry yeast all that much... but I knew I wanted to try some other yeast-requiring recipes... so I got extra.

Well, yesterday I got ambitious and had found this recipe for a Raspberry Coffee Cake... it sounded SO good... I had to try it out. The recipe is below.

Raspberry Coffee Cakes:

1 TB active dry yeast
1/3 C. warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1/2 C. warm sour cream (110-115 degrees F)
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/4 C. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
2-1/4 to 2-1/2 C. All Purpose Flour

Filling:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 C. raspberry (or your favorite) jam

Glaze:
1-1/4 C. confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 TB milk

1- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sour cream, butter, sugar, salt and egg. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

2-Turn onto a floured surface; knead 20 times or until smooth. Place in a greased bwol, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. (The cookbook suggests turning your oven onto its lowest setting just for 45-50 seconds and then turning off and shoving your covered dough to rise in there. It worked well for me!)

3- In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth; set aside. Punch dough down (you know that it's ready for this by poking your 1st and 2nd finger into the middle of the risen dough... if the indention stays, it's ready to be punched). Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half.

4- Roll each piece into a 12 in. x 8in. rectangle. Spread filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Spoon jam lenghtwise over half of the filling. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side with the jam. Pinch seams to seal; tuck ends under.

5- Place loaves seam side down on a greased baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut shallow slashes across the top of each. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

6- Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm coffee cakes.

Yields: 2 loaves (10 slices each)
**Reheating options**
If you make a coffee cake in advance but want fresh-from-the-oven flavor when you serve it to guests, try this trick: Wrap an unfrosted coffee cake in foil. Reheat at 350 degrees for a few minutes or until warm.


Now... during all this fun, I had gotten a call from my brother. He had called a few nights ago to let us know that my sis-in-law's grandpa had passed away. He lived in Utah, and we figured she'd probably be going to the funeral... Rob had called me to see if I... or my Mom and I could come over to Spring, TX to help him with my nephew Conner b/c she wasn't taking him with her. And my brother really needs to work so that he doesn't fall behind on all his paperwork and such. SO... I'm going to be there from tomorrow to Weds. I'm taking the other coffee cake with me for all of us to have for breakfast/dessert... whatever. Anyhow... I will possibly update from there... but will likely wait until my return. Hope everyone has a good weekend.