The day someone was in my car

I talk to myself.  In the car.  All the time.  I have always thought it would be totally embarrassed if anyone heard me. Well, the other day, it happened.

I was on my way home from school after a particularly stressful day of dealing with child who have been given permission to act anyone way they choose without having consequences.  I was ranting in the car pretending to talk to this child's mother about her lack of parenting and how she should not be blaming me for the way her child is behaving.  I was expressing my frustration with my administration and lack thereof when all of a sudden I hear,

"Who is this?"

I look down in my lap to see that I have accidentally dialed a friend from school, which is embarrassing enough, but a friend who knows my frustrations.  Whew!

"Lisa?" I say after I see which contact I have been complaining to for the last five minutes.

"No, this is Grannie."

Gulp!  Not my Grannie even, this is Lisa's mom...who I have never met.  She has no idea who I am.  I had saved her number a long time ago in case I needed it.

Whoops.  Rant ended.

*Of course all of the details about students, parents, and administration are completely made up because I work in Utopia ISD, and those type of people do not exist.  People not doing their job--I have never encountered those people before.  

You never know who is listening...




P.S.  Any guest bloggers out there?  Free Button Swappers??

Flirting with a Short One

I got a new dress the other day from Eshakti, and I wanted to show it off.  Eshaki is a great online woman's clothing company that allows its shoppers to customize their outfits to fit their needs and size.  I am still playing around with the customizing.  Even though I have submitted my actually measurements, the dresses aren't fitting exactly right.  Their customer service is phenomenal and are more than willing to assist if something doesn't work out. 

I added straps to this dress because I didn't want to always be pulling it up.  The color matching with the floral print and striped sash is one of the reasons I was sold on this dress.   

It is a little short for me on a normal basis, but perfect for my trip to Cancun that is coming up!  I opted to have the shorter length because when I tried the above the knee option is was below my knee.

The are always featuring $25 off for first time buyers.  You should definitely go check them out.


PS  I would love to host some guest bloggers on a more regular basis.  Let me know if you are interested, and as always, I am more than happy to swap buttons for free:)))

What are these things growing out of my head?!?

I had to take a day off.  I just had to!  The kids were driving me insane.  I could not handle it, so I took the Friday off before my birthday.  My birthday always lands the day before state testing.  How lame is that?  It is like the most stressful and irritating time for teachers.  Even though a sub did not pick up the job, I couldn't care less.  I spent all day pampering myself.

I got bang bangs!  Look out!  I like them in this picture, but when they are on my face sometimes I get annoyed.  I needed a new look though without cutting off the length.  

I also went and got my nails done...finally!  I opted to get the GEL NAILPOLISH for my manicure.  I am so glad I did!  It is a little bit more expensive, but so worth it.  I have a chip or two on my nails, and I got this done like 14 days ago.  There is nothing more frustrating than spending money on a manicure to have it look ugly like 2 days later.  I highly recommend shelling out the extra cash.

Oh and by the way, we bought a house!  We move in in two weeks!  We have quite a few projects lined up, and I will try to  keep you up to date on how that goes.  I can finally put all my Pinterest boards to good use.  Hopefully we won't have too many fails!

P.S. Always looking to host guest bloggers and swap buttons for free!  Let me know:)

My perfect life

Update:  We did not get the house:(  But we have a whole bunch to look at tomorrow with our relator.
Interview went well.  The position is not currently vacant, but they should be finding out soon.  Thanks for all the well wishes. 

I am sure many of you have read the article, "Stop Instagramming Your Perfect Life."  I totally agree on the sentiments of the article.  Several months ago, I had to stop following some people on instagram because their pictures just totally wrecked havoc in my sinful brain.  Whether it was ten thousand pictures of themselves a day or pictures of things that they had but I don't have.  The first person I stopped following because I would start to become way too critical of the other person.  I mean how many different ways can you take a picture of yourself??  Maybe a little jealousy crept in, too, because I am the worst at self-portraits.  In my head, I am like, "I look good today!"  Take a picture of myself.  Bam!  Self esteem just hit the floor.  Either that or my outfit just got thrown across the room to join the other clothes that never get worn, but always tried on.  No wonder we have so much laundry!

I digress.

The other person I stopped following was for different reasons.  She would post nice pictures of her life, but for me, it was a struggle because she had things we don't have.  I was definitely comparing myself to her.  Instead of going through this sin issue every day, I just stopped exposing myself to them.

I would love for you to follow along with me on instagram, and I will definitely follow back just let me know you are a blogger friend.

I may even start posting pictures of all the laundry all over the couch, my super cute St. Patty's day decorations that are STILL up, the dirty griddle that I keep sliding back in the box, the peanut shells all over the car.

Bam!  I am not perfect.  I don't want to appear perfect.  Perfect is boring!

Waiting is the Hardest Part

Monday!  It all happens on Monday!  We found a house that we both love a little more than a week ago.  We put in offer in.  and we wait.  It is a foreclosure, so there is a certain date when all bids must be in.  We have no idea what the highest bid is, but we hope it is ours!  We have been trying to fill our time with other activities.  I think I drug hubs to like 5 different garage sales this morning.  I will keep you posted.

Also on Monday, I have an interview with another school in the district.  Eek!  First thought when I got the call was, "What will I wear???"  I already have the outfit picked out and will post an interview pic later.  I will have to wait until the end of school on Monday before I can have the interview.  Wait, wait, wait!   To help alleviate my nerves, which I have been trying to keep at bay, I have a two page list of potential questions that I have been brainstorming through in case I get asked those questions.  The position is for 4th grade at a different school in town with a principal that I have heard wonderful things about.

On to other important things,

If you missed my other posts on life-saving grammar check them out here!

More homophones for you.  Today we are going to talk about they're, their, and there.  It can be confusing if you haven't had a lesson in a while, but here is a trick to help you out.

There has the word here in it.  It is usually referring to a place.  The cow is over there.
TheIr has an I in it.  It refers to people.  Their cow is over there.  (The cow belongs to someone.)
They're is a contraction of the two words they are.  Try replacing they're in the sentence with they are.  If it doesn't make sense, it is the wrong word.

For example, They're dog chewed the ball.  (Replace they're with they are.)  They are dog chewed the ball.  It doesn't make sense.  It is the wrong word.  Their dog chewed the ball.  (Correct!!)

They're going to the store.  They are going to the store.  (Yes!! It works!!)

Thanks for making the teaching of young children not a waste of time.

xoxo,

Just say Hello!

Do you have trouble talking to strangers?  Do you avoid someone you kinda know in the grocery store but don't want to talk to? Do you find something in your hands to look at or fiddle with while passing people in a long hallway or on a running path?

I am the worst at this.  I think I over think what they are going to think of me.  Twice I have done this this week.  I have said something.  Then later I was like, "I bet they think I am idiot for saying that."  I had to have my positive voice in my head come out and get my negative self to stop thinking about it.  Seriously, anyone else have this inner dialogue going on?

A few weeks ago at student ministries  we were talking about our calling to share the Gospel with others.  In some aspect, that means developing a relationship with that person, and it all starts with saying hello.

For me, that is a relief that I don't have to have a whole list of topics planned to talk about, I just have to offer a smile and a hello.  Who knows what will come of that?

I felt the great impact of that a few weeks ago at BSF.  (If you don't know what BSF is, you are missing out!  Read here!)  I had missed Bible Study, and a few ladies came up and asked where I was and that I was missed.  Wow!  Thanks for reaching out to me.  I felt so connected and a part of the group.

I know that I have seen people by themselves at events.  I  know exactly how they feel--nervous, alone.  Step up and just say hello.  Let the Lord take the conversation from there.

This continues to be a struggle for me, but I keep making baby steps, and the Lord continues to show me the benefits of people reaching out.

xoxo,

One down...

I survived the first round of testing.  It is difficult for someone who is not a teacher to understand how mentally taxing it is to do absolutely nothing while students try (or don't try) to remember everything I have taught them.  I have some really great (sarcasm) stories about what some students chose to do during the test.  I am not really allowed to share...maybe in a few years.

Today my husband and I went for our first run in 6 weeks.  The anticipation was more brutal than the actual run.  I have been really working on lengthening my stride.  My husband noticed improvement today, but he said I was still doing my kick out to the side with my legs.  I don't notice while I am doing it, so it is super hard to fix.  Do you run weird?  We should be friends.  You should also join me in running my first mud run in Dallas on June 1st.  I have always struggled with running consistently.  I quit things in my personal life constantly which is super annoying.  Usually I sign up for a race, train, and then quit running afterwards.  To not fall in this trap, I have signed up for a race every month until this race.  After I run a race, I will sign up for another one.  That way I can't quit, right?!?!?

Even though the writing test is over this year, I still cringe inside when I hear grammar rules being broken.  For me, it is more annoying to hear bad grammar over reading it.  But I am sure there is someone out there who just cringed over the way I put together that last sentence.  

We talked about homophones last week.  Today I want to talk about double negatives.  Don't run off just yet!!  This is a super easy fix!

When you have two negative words (No, not, never, none, nothing, no-one, nobody, nowhere, neither, don’t, can’t, cannot, won’t,  wouldn’t, shouldn’t, couldn’t, isn’t, wasn’t) in a sentence, they cancel each other out and make a positive.  

These are just a sample of things that are not appropriate to say:

I didn't do nothing.

I don't have to listen to nobody.

There wasn't nowhere to go.

We can't just do nothing.  

Seriously, check yourself!  If this is still confusing or if you love grammar as much as I do, check out the Superheroes of Grammar.  My friend already bought me their book.  Nerd alert!