Halloween Weekend...Just Like Any Other...

There are three things I have a weakness for: Diet Coke, Kit Kat bars, and Dunkin Donuts. My students know this. I drink at least one Diet Coke every day at work. If I forget my coffee in the morning, I may drink two. I can't remember a time when I ever refused a Kit Kat bar and to be quite honest, Dunkin Donuts is about the only thing I crave when hungover. I was pleasantly surprised with goodies from many students on Friday. They tuned into exactly what I love. With all of the craziness happening on Friday, I didn't have to chance to properly photograph or post about said goodies. They literally and figuratively filled my bucket.

Trick or treat grocery bag, Diet Coke, Kit Kats, Popcorn glove, lip balm, Dunkin' Donuts gift card

As I stated in a previous post, I had no plans for Halloween and was in bed by 10:00pm. It was fabulous. Around 7:30am on Saturday, I was woken up by a chilling need to add another blanket on my bed. I went into the living room to close a window and realized that winter had set in over night. Apparently no consideration for the need of fall weather was taken into account. Friday was it was 75 degrees. Alas, it was 39 degrees, rainy, and gross. I went to my hair appointment, stopped at Publix, ran a few other quick errands and then headed home to warm up and make chili. Chili is my go-to winter meal.

I love everything about chili from prep to ingredients to looking at it when it's finished. It is so versatile to me. It takes no effort to make and can be frozen, then thawed and used throughout the week for lunch or dinner. You can make it with chicken, turkey, beef. Eat it with rice, a taco, a tortilla, toast, or plain. Put just about any vegetable you can imagine in it. For this batch, I used ground beef, onion, two green peppers, paprika, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato paste and McCormick chili seasoning. It's what I had in my fridge and pantry at the time. I dumped it all in the crock pot and let it sit on low for four hours. Then, I packaged it in small Tupperware containers and put those in the freezer to use later in the week.

 Saturday night was almost as low key as Friday. I went to California Dreaming with one of my girlfriends. We had a variety of plans from going to see a movie to going downtown but in the end, we were so disgusted with the weather that we chose comfort food and a bottle of wine. 

I was introduced to California Dreaming almost a year ago by this same friend. The restaurant is on the water and during the day, the views are wonderful. The alcohol is fairly priced. (I paid $2.95 for a Bud Light.) The food is....average; the prices are not exactly reflective of the food quality. Jaye and I split an onion square (sort of like the Bloomin' Onion from Outback.) For my entree, I chose the ravioli. There was too much sauce and not enough cheese in the actual ravioli. I'd bet my left pinky finger that it was just from a bulk package of frozen ravioli. Jaye made the wiser choice and had a grilled chicken salad. In my opinion, it's pretty hard to screw up a salad so, at least they got that right. 

The lighting was dull and the noise level was almost too much to bare. For such a large space, it seemed as though Jaye and I were having dinner with the people on both sides of us. We could hear every piece of their conversations. In between their conversations, we were trying to have our own conversation. Part of which, involved us agreeing to actually start a JOINT blog! Woohoo! 

Aside from the well priced alcohol, there is nothing that would actually bring me back to California Dreaming. Okay food and a noisy, dimly lit atmosphere doesn't exactly lure me in.

Sunday was less than exciting but productive. Finn and I took a couple of long walks, went to the dog park with her boyfriend, 'T' (a Doberman Pinscher.) She took a snooze in my lap while I attempted to correct last week's assessments. We also took a drive to Petco to sign up for some puppy classes. The reason behind the classes needs to be dedicated to an entirely separate post. We start this Thursday, November 6th. After our first class, I'll be able to give a more updated, informative post. 

Time to get back to the grind of Monday morning....!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween and T.G.I.F! Every year at school we have a storybook character parade. Teachers and students dress up as their favorite character from a book and parade around the front circle of the school. Last year, I was Little Miss Muffet. This year, I was Stephanie from Stephanie's Ponytail, a  children's book by Robert Munsch about being independent and wanting to be different. It was a great excuse to wear jeans, a t-shirt and my absolute favorite Chuck Taylors to work. The kids appreciated my character choice because they love the book and didn't seem to mind that I wasn't Pete the Cat or Little Red Riding Hood (both of which were taken by other teachers.)

 

Converse Chuck Taylor

I understand that most of my friends cannot wait to spend a week's worth of grocery money on a ridiculous costume to celebrate a night that most of them won't remember.  In college, we wore the skimpiest of outfits, simply because, let's face it: we could. As one gentlemen put it, "It's the only night of the year where dressing up as a complete skank is acceptable." Well put, if you ask me.

Up North, the weather in October is nothing short of freezing after sunset. Two years ago, Halloween was canceled three weeks in row because of snow. Not flurries, or a few inches but mounds, heaps, and feet of snow. It was beautiful while it was falling, fun to play in for the first day, and then, it became treacherous, annoying and a total road block in life...not the proverbial kind.We were stuck inside for three days. My father and I spent three hours shoveling just around the garage to get all the cars out. That night, I the plowman called my father and told him that the weight of the snow broke his plow, ten feet up our nine hundred foot driveway. The next morning, my father and I trekked down to the bottom of the driveway. With the weight and depth of the snow, it took us thirty minutes just to get to the bottom and another six hours to make any sort of dent.

I was so desperate to get out of the house that I put an all-call on Facebook for anyone who could help. One of my ex-boyfriends from high school, who happens to still live down the street from my parents, contacted me after seeing the post. Second plow fail of the day. He barely got two feet past the first plowman's attempt. The next day, a neighbor showed up with his backhoe. Yes...a backhoe. He was my snow savior.

 View from my parents' front porch.

After my freshman year in college, I never really got excited about Halloween but went along with whatever theme my roommates came up with every year. We pre-gamed until 10:30pm and then, made our way, fake IDs in hand, to the bar. After graduate school, I stopped dressing up altogether. Last year, I went out with someone who wanted more than anything to be Clark Kent and Superman. I agreed to be Lois Lane only because I could wear a cute outfit and a cheeseburger was promised to me. The weather was relatively warm in Charleston, which also helped to persuade me.
 

Last year at Red's.

This year, even though Halloween is on a Friday and I have a skimpy skeleton dress/costume hanging in my closet for "just-in-case," I still plan on taking Finn to the dog park, working out, then curling up and watching Netflix for the remainder of the night. There aren't enough children around my apartment complex for me to worry about trick-or-treaters, even though I'm sure Finn would enjoy be frequented by small humans dressed in funny costumes. 

I hope everyone  has a happy and safe Halloween full of expensive booze and skanky costumes! 

Overslept, underpaid, way over stressed...

Yesterday, I woke up with the excitement of believing that it was Thursday. Imagine my dismay when I looked at my phone, which read: "Wednesday, October 29, 2014." I begrudgingly got ready, walked Finn (who I have yet to post about,) and sauntered out the door for work. Most mornings, I have a protein shake. The recipe is idiot-proof. It's 2 cups Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk and 1 (heaping) scoop Pure Protein Frosty Chocolate Whey Protein Powder. I put it in my blender....ike a newbie, I just ordered Blender Bottles (thank you, Amazon Prime.) The whole process takes me under two minutes. I pour it all into a nice little tumbler, and I'm done. However.....

....this morning, I didn't have the patience, or the time to even make a two minute breakfast protein shake. I was woken up at 7:00....yes, 7:00 by Finn. Now, our school's start time is 7:05. So, after reaching over and looking at my phone, I jumped up so fast that I actually knocked Finn off of the bed. A cup of coffee was clearly out of the question, even with a single serve Keurig. After making sure someone could cover my class, I took Finn for a very brisk walk, threw on a dress, stuffed whatever veggies I had in my fridge into my lunchbox and flew out the door. I'm almost positive I didn't even eat breakfast. Somehow, even after getting stuck behind a backhoe, I made it to school by 7:50. Fast forward to 10:00am. I dropped my kiddos off at Art and headed to the office where a lovely little gift was waiting for me.

Every year, teachers are eligible to be "adopted" by an anonymous family. We fill out a form which lists our name, grade level, favorite restaurants, candies, colors, etc. Last year, I had the most fabulous secret buddy. On top of mounds of school supplies that she bought and wrapped in the most darling baskets, she stocked me up with enough Dubble Bubble and Bubblicious gum to last me until the this year. Literally. I still have pieces of gum that I have yet to open. Good thing, because I go through a ton of gum during the school year. Dubble Bubble happens to be a childhood favorite. This year, I am equally blessed to have an awesome secret pal who has tuned into my love for cute owl collectibles. So far, most of them have been themed with fall or Halloween. This one, was no different and included several pieces of my favorite chocolates!

This gift made my day. I stressed myself out to the max being late this morning and a small goody bag like this instantly brought a smile to my face. I'm sure the chocolate helped, too. After work I tutored and took the time to grocery shop (aka buy lettuce, nail polish remover and facial wipes.) When I got home, I saw what a tornado I caused during my rush this morning. Finn and I moseyed on over to the dog park for a while, then, I attempted to bake cookies for a teammate's birthday tomorrow. I was on a roll until Finn wanted to play with one of her four legged friends that she saw from the balcony. Ten minutes later, I came back into the apartment to find the last batch of my cookies had burnt. Sorry team....only 8 cookies for us tomorrow.  Finn is tired from playing and I am exhausted from a full week of GATE testing and oversleeping. Tomorrow is Halloween....this year, I may just sleep through it. We shall see....

Bubbles, Dragons, and Pontification

In school, we teach our students that sometimes the most important part of writing is just getting your thoughts down onto paper. Jot some stuff down, let it out and organize from there. Organization is the key...err...unless you have my mind, in which case, organization is the challenge. Last night, when I started writing, I had no idea how much stuff I actually had going on. I wrote, deleted, rewrote, erased, so on and so forth. I reread my writing over and over again. In my head, everything was in chronological order, flowing nicely from one event to the next. As soon as I started writing, I had what my 7th grade history teacher called, "bubble thoughts." (Thanks Mr. Considine.) I would write and then it would remind me of a totally separate event about which I'd need to tell...within the same sentence or paragraph. My 7th and 8th grade English teacher (Mrs. Kubler) would be mortified if she ever read it. 

At the end of it all, my thoughts were just jumbled together in random paragraphs. I made myself go to bed before I started to confuse myself. When did writing down your feelings become so intricate?

Anyway, my students are currently in P.E. and I am taking at least 5 minutes of my planning period to again, jot down some thoughts. And so, here I sit, coffee in hand, contemplating life and planning what to do for the rest of the day now that GATE testing as ceased.

A few weeks ago, I started reading My Father's Dragon to my class. It is the first book of a trilogy about a boy who flies off to a fictitious land and rescues a dragon. The next book, Elmer and the Dragon tell of their adventures together after they leave Wild Island. This morning, we started Dragons of Blueland, the last of the trilogy. I have fond memories of these books. I can remember my brother and I snuggled in bed next to our mother as she read to us. It's safe to say that she read My Father's Dragon a dozen times a year for at least three years...long after we had learned to read for ourselves. There is something so comforting and relaxing about listening to another human being read a story to you. It allows your mind to flow freely, imagining Elmer and Boris fly above the clouds, escape the crocodiles, and uncover buried treasure. 

Having such experiences in my childhood, makes me want to share them with my students. It gives them a chance to let their brains rest and just be kids for a moment during a rigorous academic day. They giggle at the thought of a crocodile eating a lollipop or a lion being vein. It warms my heart and fills my bucket every day. 

Speaking of students....P.E. is over, and I'm out of time!

Back At It....Hey!

A year ago I started this blog as a way for my family to figuratively join me on my journey to South Carolina. I needed to hit the proverbial "restart" button in my life. One week after my last post, I was offered a full-time 2nd grade teaching position at a school outside of Charleston. Two days later, I packed my life into my car and my amazing father made the 13 hour trip with me. 


Fast forward one year and three months: I am still living in Charleston, still teaching 2nd grade, and somehow, still feeling as though I need to hit the "restart" button. I was given the opportunity to recreate myself, and become anyone I want to be, in a state where only three people knew who I was. I wasn't even sure who I wanted to be or not be. I'm still probably unsure. I'm definitely still unsure. Maybe that's half the battle; figuring out who you want to be. The other half might be actually becoming that person. As I keep telling myself....baby steps. 
As I lay in bed last night, this blog came to mind. My head was flooded with thoughts going in all different directions. All I have to do is type and even if none of it makes sense, well, at least it's somewhere other than floating around in my brain. I moved here with a lot on my plate and very little to ground me. I felt as though leaving was the only choice I had in order to free myself from all the negativity weighing down on me. 
Life threw me a lot of curve balls starting at 18. My baby brother, is the only other person on Earth who could have even the slightest sense of how I felt through all of it. It made both of us stronger as people, and drove both of us far away from Connecticut. This past August, he started his first semester at law school.....in California. Yes, it took three thousand miles for him to restart. I have a measly 800 in comparison. Maybe the trick is more mileage, less confusion? Ugh. Either way, my father and I appreciate his choice to move to a gorgeous state with ideal weather, beautiful people, and fabulous shopping. 
Anyway...back to my move. If nothing else, I have learned how to truly stand on my own two feet. I am single. I have an apartment, a car, a dog, and a great sense of independence that I probably never would have gotten if a few of those curve balls hadn't been thrown at me. By thrown, I mean hurled...like a ton of bricks off the top Empire State Building. Mind you, a penny dropped off the top of the ESB has enough velocity to kill someone. I survived. Thanks, Life. I think? 

A Day To Myself....Welcoming 26.

For most people, my friends anyway, turning 25 is the most excitement they'll have for a birthday between ages 21 and 30. I had the same high hopes for my 25th birthday and was more than let down; not just on my birthday, but continually throughout the entire year. I could not wait to turn 26 and leave the past year behind me. Good riddance, twenty five! 

summer birthdays require ice cream cake

In any event, Tuesday was my birthday. Growing up, I never got a chance to celebrate my birthday in school and would have to wait almost a month after school got out to *hopefully* get all my friends together. Since my birthday falls dead in the middle of summer, a lot of my friends and their families were already on vacation at this point. 

Moving along....

Tuesday I decided to ditch everyone and spend the day, alone, at the beach. I told my trainer I wasn't going to ride, I told my friends I'd be unavailable, and I told myself to just soak in the sun and bask in peace and quiet. It was FABULOUS.

At our family friends' beach house

My parents separation fell two days before my birthday when it occurred, talk about putting a damper on the party. I spend every year trying to ignore the obvious: it hurts. Each of my parents tries in their own way to make my birthday special, probably in some way hoping I can for one day, ignore the pain that is constantly flowing through me. I'm only human, after all. 

This year, I was surprised however when my father told me, that him and my mother collaborated to find me a gift, and a cake that they knew I would like. Okay, let's be real people: my mother instructed my father on what to do but collaboration sounds much more "team" like. Round of applause to them. Birthday: success on all fronts.

Dad and me on the beach after dinner

Packing, Day 1

Every bird must eventually leave their nest and this little bird has decided to take everyone along with me...via this blog! As much as I wish I could take all the people I love with me, it would completely override the purpose of moving. (Sorry, guys!) 

Nonetheless, I thought this would be a good way to share my experience of moving from the Northeast to the Southeast: The good, the bad, the ugly, the sights, the frustrations, the dilemmas and everything in between. 

So, today I decided it would be a good idea to start pulling and purging from my closet and get a head start on the packing process. August 11, 2013 I will begin my 800+ mile journey from CT to SC, moving my entire life down to Charleston. 

Since the drive is so long, Jill and Steve, two of my friends from high school, have decided to join me and make it into a true road trip. Along the way, we will be making a two night stop in Washington, DC. The plan is to do as many "toursity" things as possible in 36 hours. Any suggestions? 

Packing is awful, especially when you have a monstrous amount of clothing, shoes, and accessories. The most daunting part is the fact that when I get to Charleston I'll actually have to unpack everything! 

I started with a quick trip to Walmart to buy Space Bags and some other essentials for my move (hair ties, gum, the usual!) After taking a fluffernutter break for lunch, I began to venture into my closet. Here's a look at my lunch, my closet and the beginning of my purge. 

Lunch; the classic Fluffernutter

Left side of my closet
[sneakers, Sperrys, converse, blazers, sweaters, oxford shirts, slacks]

Middle section of my closet which houses my heels and some flats

Right side of my closet
 [UGGs, Burberry boots, dresses, skirts, shirts, JC track suits]

Most of the clothing from my closet purge has since been either put in Space bags and packed or I have shipped to one of my cousins. I am always happy to send her stuff, especially after my aunt uses words like "idolize," and "worship" to descirbe my cousin's feelings towards me. Ok, to me, that was funny. But in all honesty, I love my family and really am more than willing to give them hand-me-downs that would otherwise go to GoodWill. 

Closet purge