DH Turns 36...

I figure I better post something as it might be another week before I get inspired to write again. The school year is quickly winding down and I am facing the same problem I deal with every term: grading. I never seem to quite catch up. I was closing in on the bottom of the pile when I decided to add more assignments. You would think I'd have learned better by now. Guess not.

Anyhoo, I hope to wittle it down within the next two weeks. The kids begin a monthlong karate class through the local parks and rec, so I figure maybe I'll get some down time during their class to grade some papers (a tip from a fellow teacher). Knowing me though, I'll get sucked into watching the kids practice and forget all about grading...but I digress from my original blog topic.

I spent a good part of the week trying to find the right gift for DH. He wasn't too jazzed about his birthday this year, so I wanted his present to make him happy. I settled on some new shirts that I thought he would love. We went out for an early birthday dinner for DH to Outback Steakhouse on Friday night. One really good thing that came out of it was it gave us a chance to discuss, sans eager ears, our Disneyland plans for next year. It also doubled as a date night for us, so we left the kids with the babysitter. This is a vacation we've been wanting to take ever since our son was born 8 years ago. It has been a matter of the kids being old enough to have memories and having the money to take the trip. Then on Saturday, we spent with good friends and celebrated his actual birthday eating good BBQ and a german chocolate cake (not my personal fave, but DH loves it).

Today (Sunday) was spent lazing abound the house, though I did manage to get lots of laundry done, even if I neglected other chores. Around 4:30, I needed to get out of the house for a bit and absorb some sunshine, so the kids and I took our dog for a walk around the neighborhood. They also talked me into going to the park for a little while.

Biker Chicks

I haven't been very good at blogging lately, barely managing to do it on a weekly basis. It's funny, I will be going about my day and think, "hey...this would make a great blog!" Then of course, I never get around to posting said inspiration. Go figure. I meant to write on Sunday, but the sunshine kept calling my name outside.

We had a really nice weekend though. DH surprised me with a trip to our local bike shop to buy me a bike of my own. The awesome part of this whole thing was that the last new bike I owned was when I was about 6 years old. After getting my new toy home, we took a ride around the neighborhood with the kids. They loved that! K had a little fear going downhill, but she was able to do it with some coaxing. I was very proud of her. She didn't want to be left behind, so I spent the entire bike ride just coasting along side her and providing encouragement. DH and N lapped us a couple of times as they sped off on their own. N has turned into a little daredevil on his bike, which is a far cry from the timid little guy he once was.

The other thing we were able to do was make a huge dent in our garage. It was getting pretty overrun with STUFF. I purged a lot of things and made a trip to the Goodwill. Now we can actually walk in there. Granted, I'll be bringing some of my teaching supplies home in the next month or so. However, it is a major improvement. I wasn't sure what home project to tackle next until yesterday. The shelf in N's closet came crashing down. It has served as storage mostly for miscellaneous items, but got to top-heavy. Guess it's time to make some drastic changes in this house. I am looking forward to summer not only for the freedom to sleep in and play with my kids, but for the extra time to catch up on my organizational projects.

Babbling Brook Strikes Again

The title is the name of a chatty character I once played in a middle school play, so hence the title of this blog as it will full of random ramblings. It is 10pm after a long week, so I do not claim to be completely coherent. This has been an interesting week. It began like any other, but a few minor adjustments were made. Everyday at work kept me super busy. It is testing season again, so I've been working my way through the Dynamic Reading Assessments of 50 students (in addition to all other teaching responsibilities). I also found out that our department lead teacher has decided to accept a job teaching English abroad in Japan. I wish her well and think it is a wonderful opportunity. I do worry that our program will sorely miss her presence.

The good news is that with all the things I've been dealing with at work, I finally decided to made a decision on my next course of action regarding school. I have to take some additional graduate courses anyway to renew my teaching license, so I've decided to go for my reading endorsement. It will be a lot of work, but it should help me in my efforts to better understand how to effectively teach reading and will help in getting back to a district position in the future (I hope!)

As for the homefront, I have been battling chronic fatigue this past week. I normally stay up until 11:00 on average, but this week I've been to bed between 9-10pm...for me that is really good. It's been a mentally and physically exhausting few weeks, and my guess is that it's just all caught up with me. We finally got rid of the cruddy colds at least. I know it seems wierd to blog about getting a good night's sleep for once. Why is that strange you might wonder? It's just so out of character for me. I've also been offline since Sunday. I simply had no desire to log on to the internet, another anomaly. Makes me feel like Neo after he first unplugged from the Matrix. It is very surreal and yet very relaxing. Finally, I figured it was time to sort through my emails and update this blog. I've got so many things on my to-do list and so keeping up my mental and physical stamina is a must.

This weekend will be a busy one as well. We checked out the liquidation sale at Joe's for camping supplies. DH had fun getting some camo gear (go figure this new hobby). I told him he has officially crossed over the the dark side of redneck nation. He grinned with pride at that statement. For those of you who don't know, I married a cross between Peter Griffin (of Family Guy) and Chandler (of Friends). That's okay, he tells me he married Monica (except I wish I was half the neat freak she was)...but I digress.

Then we ate at Arby's for dinner (the kids liked that). On Saturday, we'll color Easter eggs with N and K. DH and I have work-related dinner plans with his IT team, compliments of their big wig bossman to celebrate some of their recent successes. The kids will get their goodies from the Easter bunny on Sunday morning and hunt for their eggs. Then we'll have a swanky brunch at Embassy Suites with Grandma Jeanne. DH's family always had this tradition of having brunch, so he really wanted to carry it on with our children. We don't go to church or have many fancy occasions, so it's nice to have an excuse to be get dolled up for Easter Sunday. K can't wait to wear her pretty dress. I'll post pics as soon as I can.

Happy Easter to all of you!

Woohoo!

Thank you to Kristin at Yankee Mom for this lovely gift and so in the spirit of paying it forward, read on...


"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."


Now the rules:Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award." I nominate the following bloggers:

Toadally Talking
William's Page
Taking the Road Less Traveled
The Conley Family
TS Plus Our Blog
Wee Wonderfuls
Wilkinson Quints
Running With Books
Callapidder Days

*Since I can't figure out how to link each person, click on the sidebar to check out these wonderful bloggers.