Spring Break Part 2

Thursday is drawing to an end...my week almost complete. It has been a wonderful week, and frankly, even though there are only 10 weeks left, am not ready to go back to school. Totally in summer mode. Not a good sign.

I had a great St. Patty's day yesterday. Look here for a short history of St. Patrick. I ran some errands, cooked dessert and soup for church last night. I got in a short time to soak up some vitamin D, and finished this book:

"Blood Game" by Iris Johansen. I always enjoy her Eve Duncan books and this was no exception. It has been quite a while since I read the last one and this refers back to that book quite a bit. As always the story centers around Eve, Joe, Jane and their search for Eve's daughter's body. This book has a big paranormal...ghost...element to it. Also a character named Seth Caleb that seems familiar...must have shown up in another of her books...she likes to do that. It was a really good read, even if it did take me like 3 weeks to read it. Next up...Open Season by C. J. Box.

Finished off the day with a terrific soup dinner at church followed by another awesome Lenten service led by my favorite pastor. Voter's Meeting followed that. Seeing as how I am not a voter, several members thought that we should have our own voters meeting at the parsonage, which we did. Us girls had a great time with their kids, with Allan joining us after the meeting adjourned . A fun end to the day.

Today was a great day. I cleaned the kitchen...top to bottom...mopped the last of the floors. Then the three of us had lunch at Chili's. Then Allan and I went to Wally world and bought this. All I can say is WOW - do I ever love this vacuum! CanNOT believe what a great job it did. And EASY to push. love love LOVE it.

Short little cat nap, followed by the most amazing brats grilled outside by the most amazing grill-master (Allan of course) Served with Sour Kraut, potato salad, rye bread and pickles. Yummy. Then college basketball. Couldn't be better -unless my bracket wasn't already looking so bad:(

Spring Break Part 1

Boy do I love Spring Break. It's so nice to have time at home to do whatever...to NOT think about school or work. As day 2 is coming to an end, I have to say it's been wonderful.

First, spring cleaning chores completed: I have washed bedding and curtains in both our bedroom and Jacob's. I have cleaned both bathrooms, and hung a new and unmoldy shower curtain liner in Jacob's shower. Still need a new shower caddie - maybe tomorrow. I have dusted almost all the rooms, and cleaned windows in our bedroom and bathroom.

I have tanned once, exercised twice and almost finished reading a book I started weeks ago. We watched some excellent television, most notably episode one of "The Pacific." I thought this was excellent although Allan and Jacob didn't think it was as good as "Band of Brothers." Big Bang Theory was a repeat last night, but an excellent one with Wil Wheaton (which we know from a Family Guy episode - lol)

My most wonderful husband, who thinks he must keep me entertained even though it is his busiest time of year at work, has taken me to two - yes two - movies.

First,
Cop Out. Saw this yesterday. It was pretty entertaining. Bruce Willis can play this part with his eyes closed. There was lots of effing language, but oddly not in an offensive way. Several really funny scenes. It didn't always flow quite right, but was worth the viewing. There's a new Hispanic actress we haven't seen before that looks a lot like Selma Hayek. She was fun to watch. Sean William Scott was hilarious as always. Plus I think I saw Kelly Ripa's hubby in one scene.



Next,
She's out of My League. We saw this this afternoon. Actually was pleasantly surprised. Pretty funny. Jacob saw it Friday and thought it was hilarious, which usually means I won't like it because it will probably be disgusting. lol. I was expecting lots more crude humor and was pleasantly surprised. Allan says it is a total fantasy - that girl would NEVER be interested in that guy. She is gorgeous - like a younger Reece Witherspoon. And even though the guy looks like a young Tom Hanks in the poster, he looks nothing like him in the movie. All in all, likable group of actors and fairly amusing.

FYI - 1 minute is too long to heat a tablespoon of butter in the microwave to melt it without exploding it all over the microwave. sigh.

Edge of Darkness

We went to see this on Friday movie night. Had read reviews that it was pretty good, but that it didn't compare to the BBC Miniseries that it was based on. That miniseries must be pretty darn good, because this movie was great. Our only complaint was with the sound. Part of this is our small town theater (the speakers were actually buzzing during dialogue, I think), and part is our not 100% hearing capabilities. Some might have been the movie itself. Other sounds were plenty loud, but dialogue was not so good some of the time. Mel Gibson did a good job with this role, not acted as frantically as many of his roles in similar films. His daughter is killed on his front porch, and it is assumed that someone was trying to kill him (he is a Boston police detective.) He soon suspects that is not the case. No spoilers here, so you'll just have to go and see for yourself. Rated R, but the violence is not horribly graphic (although I closed my eyes twice just in case:) Language is a small problem, but not enough to make you crazy.

A Missed Week . . .

OK, I know I've missed a week. No post last weekend. Almost made it a whole month. How about I do two posts today?? Well I'm doing it anyway, lol.

The last two weeks have been extremely stressful. Things at work have been pretty sucky. The first semester, I had a boy who felt like he was being picked on, and frankly, I should have taken it more seriously. His parents felt like it was in his best interest to remove him from our school. I am always thankful for parents who care about their children (trust me, many don't). I respect them a great deal for making a difficult decision to change schools at mid term, and he is doing great at his new school. His mother, however, felt the need to bring her grievances to the school board (which she has every right to do.) I was extremely disappointed in the school board's response to this issue. I feel like I need some real guidance on discipline - some criteria -- on what discipline to give and when to do it, etc. They basically told me they didn't approve of my discipline plan, but had no suggestions on how to change/improve it. Meeting was shelved until later in the week to address this issue. However, instead of addressing the issue I needed help with, they picked over my daily schedule and after 2+ hours decided that I was teaching subjects at the wrong times during the day, that my students had too much recess, and that I should only have 15 minutes each day for both planning and lunch. Which directly contradicts what they said in our meeting (that I should have 30 minutes for lunch AND 30 minutes planning each day). I guess they discovered what we had already told them. Three teachers cannot have this much time off AND have 2 teachers supervising students at recess and lunch. huh. Plus they didn't like that I had the children miss recess as a consequence for unacceptable behavior, yet later took away 30 minutes of recess daily from the entire class. wow. It's been a very frustrating time...rant complete.

January is for Organizing

That's what I hear anyway. That's what we're trying to do, for sure. We've purchased shelving units (3) for the garage, and have promptly filled them up (almost). We have a truckload of things for Goodwill which will be delivered tomorrow or Tuesday. The sorting through, throwing away, and filing in the proper place is still underway. I went through an entire basket yesterday, filing only a few papers, and trashing everything else.

Have you seen that show about Hoarders? Our problem is that my beloved husband is a profound anti-hoarder, and I lean toward the hoarding side. Not like these poor people on the TV show, but I do think of most things as mementos. So he runs across a bin of things I've saved, and can't believe I've saved it. lol. I'm learning I don't need to keep every little thing. I'm toting off tons of sports equipment tomorrow. Who knows why I kept all that stuff. You should have seen all the flat balls I dug out yesterday. Luckily the dumpster had room.

Wish me common sense as I continue sorting!

I Hereby Resolve . . .

• To post on my blog once a week (along with this means keeping up and commenting on my cyber friends' blogs.
• To lose 25 pounds (not 20 and gain back 18 like last year) You may follow my progress in my sidebar ---->
• To plan my meals on a weekly basis and be prepared each evening to cook said meals.
• To keep up with the housework so my beloved husband doesn't have to do it himself.
• To stay in the Word with at least a small daily Bible reading.
• To NOT let myself get behind on grading so I don't have to spend a marathon weekend before grades are due.
• To read something from Wall Street Journal online at least every other day.

There you have it. A very small list of things I'd like to strive to do better this year.

Eckert 2009 Video/Slideshow

I worked like a fiend to finish this before I go back to work. I hope that my few readers enjoy it.

A New Year, A New Decade

On this, my last Sunday evening before returning to work, I'm reflecting over the last year. As I look back over the year, I think of the many joys this year has brought. I was filled with pride as my baby graduated from high school. My beloved first-born gave birth to her second child. God has richly blessed Sarah and Joey - they are wonderful, loving parents and have delightful children. Jessa is so, so smart, has personality like I've never seen in a 2 year old, and is a total sweetheart. Josiah is such a good baby...obviously loves his momma and daddy, and is so patient and good.

I lost almost 20 pounds in the first 8 months of the year (YIPEE) and gained 18 back in the last 4 months (I blame the school children). Maybe I'll do better this year.

Jacob went off to college, and did not love it. He has moved home to go to school here. He seems like his old self again, happy to be working and doing the things he loves. We spent much time in prayer for him those 4 months.

Allan and I celebrated 25 wonderful years of marriage. I am daily thankful to God for blessing me with such a wonderful husband. I totally never deserved such a man, that's for sure.

So as the new year begins, I strive to be a loving and supportive wife, to live a healthy life, to enjoy every minute with my children and grandchildren, to be the best teacher I'm able to be. I can do nothing without God. So my continued prayer is for the Lord to continue to bless me and show me the way I should go.