Monthly Archives: April 2011

Friday Confessional

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Confession – It’s Good For The Soul

I Confess….

I DID watch pieces of the royal wedding this morning.

I really couldn’t have cared less as  I think fairy tales are just that and when the rubber meets the road,  royalty or not, it can make for a rough day/week/lifetime.

I Confess….

I am still in my jammies at 2:25pm.

I have showered, put on my face and done my hair.

I spent about an hour on the phone with a friend.

But I just haven’t bothered to get dressed…yet.

I Confess….

This past week has been PMS central for me.

I was really on an edge one day, homicidal in fact.

I was totally depressed and fighting crying the next day.

Damn glad this only happens once a month and only to the extremes about every 3rd month.

I Confess….

While I’ve lost 5 pounds in the past few weeks, I feel fat today.

Not chunky, or pleasantly plump.

Flat out fat.

Guessing it is the PMS?

I Confess….

Despite the PMS.

Despite the fact that everything in my life is not perfect.

Despite everything not being completely ‘right’ in my world…

I am pretty damn happy, and if I count up my blessings, I think I am the most blessed and luckiest  woman on the planet.

Day 13 – A Fictional Book

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ALL ABOUT ME IN 30 DAYS

Day 13 – A Fictional Book

I am assuming that this is supposed to be a favorite book.  I actually have a series that is my favorite but the very first book of the series was the one that hooked me in, Dark Prince by Christine Feehan.  Somewhat of a fan of paranormal and vampire stories, this got my attention when my friend, Cathy, told me about it.  Yes it is full of steamy stuff but not too graphic, it is a romance series full of strong men, strong women that are under the protection of their mates, shape shifting, mind speak, vampires, committed love and good verses evil.  While the main characters, a race known as Carpathain, are blood feeders, they don’t turn vampire unless they fail to find their lifemate and resort to killing those they feed upon.  At that time they become the undead,  enemies to both Carpathian and human alike.

Heavy on the romantic side, the Carpathian male binds his lifemate to himself permanently after 3 blood exchanges and speaking their ritual binding words.  Fans of the book tend to agree that the  words would make beautiful wedding vows by any groom to his bride:

I claim you as my lifemate.
I belong to you.
I offer my life for you.
I give to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body.
I take into my keeping the same that is yours.
Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time.
You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care.


Wine & Cheese – 31st Serving

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Welcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Every week on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well.

I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings.

Sit back and join me now for the 31st serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WHINE = :(

CHEESE = :)

~*~

:(   Okay, I am SO over the rain.  I realize that everyone in my general area is likely whining  about this, but too bad, so sad, it is my post and I’m in a mood today.  I AM SICK OF RAIN!!!  SICK of being stuck inside with these adorable kids that just want to be outside.  I am sick to death of wading through a huge puddle to get anywhere once I leave the car.  I am sick of wondering if the puddle ahead of me on the road is going to be more high water than my car can safely maneuver through.  I am beyond tired of being woken up by thunderstorms all night.  The weather radio doesn’t even phase me anymore I hit it and roll back over.  I am fed up with it all.  Okay, I feel much better now.

:)   I am having SO much fun doing this daycare thing.  I have the  cutest kids to watch and they are entertaining.  Not to mention I’ve lost 5 pounds already just chasing and lugging around the 2 year old.  It isn’t the ideal job for my line of skills, but for now it is paying my bills and keeping me amused.

DESSERT

Deadline: an arbitrary moment responsible for creating the fine line between a paycheck and a pink slip. (From Daffynitions Twitter Feed)

Meet Me On Monday

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Blogging  is a funny thing…we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, “who is  this person!?”  I know them…but yet I don’t know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to “meet” each other!Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

Questions:

1.  Caesar Salad or Garden Salad?
2.  Will you be watching the Royal Wedding on April 29th?
3.  Last thing you spent lots of money on?
4.  Window seat or aisle seat?
5.  Do you know your blood type?
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My Answers!

1.  Caesar Salad or Garden Salad?

I am a garden salad kinda girl.  The more crap in the bowl the better!  Topped off with fat free French or Italian Dressing.  Honestly could just make a meal of the salad.

2.  Will you be watching the Royal Wedding on April 29th?

Honestly could not care less about the royal wedding, so that would be a big NO.  I don’t watch much TV as it is, so the thought of spending hours watching this production….just hours of my life I cannot get back.

3.  Last thing you spent lots of money on?

That would be my cell phone.  Love it but ridiculously expensive and if it weren’t for my addiction to so much stuff I need this phone to do, I’d be kicking myself.

4.  Window seat or aisle seat?

How  about neither??? Drop dead terrified when flying, HATE IT!  IF I fly it has to be the aisle, way too claustrophobic as it is and by the window I feel trapped.

5.  Do you know your blood type?

Sure  do! I am B+



Post It Note Tuesday – Comfort Food Edition

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Only Parent ChroniclesThanks to OPC for hosting one of my favorite blog hops. To join click the note above.

Princess Smiles A Lot and I were talking about comfort foods, those foods that just make us feel all happy, warm and fuzzy when we can have them.  While sitting here munching on one of mine I was inspired to use those as my Post It Note Tuesday (PINT) blog.  The following are only a small sample of my many favorites:

Monday Memos

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Dear Self,

Staying up late all weekend will always equal a very tired Marti  come Monday morning.  Do not grumble at the coffee maker simply because you aren’t smart enough to know when enough is enough.   On the other hand, I’d love a do over with perhaps a minor modification, what a FANTASTIC time. :)

~*~

Dear Ditzy & Pixel,

Look cats, the bed is MINE.  It is only full size and therefore there is only so much room available.  I was here first.  I am happy to share the space if you insist on both sleeping with me but get this through your cute little heads, if I chose to change position and roll over, you are not owed a love fest for your inconvenience.   If this does not meet with your satisfaction there are 4 other beds in this house you can go snooze on!

~*~

Dear Mother Nature,

Enough with the duck weather already.  The backyard is in danger of swimming away and I melt in the rain as it is.  No, it is NOT the same thing as a hot tub.  That usually involves hot, relaxing water, not moisture that is cold and blowing in my face.

~*~

Dear Alarm Clock,

We need to talk.  I cannot hold you responsible for the time I request to be awake each morning.  However could you possibly change your approach?  That loud, annoying noise you make has to go.  I’d like it replaced with a sexy, male voice that will gently coax me awake…something like “come on beautiful, time to wake that sexy self up and saunter out of bed to the shower….”.  I expect this from now on!  Bonus points for a French accent.

~*~

 

Featured Friend Friday – Robin!

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Featured Friend

Friday


Welcome to Featured Friend Friday!

I ‘met’ Robin through a great forum for women bloggers. She has a blog, Etsy Shop and Facebook page and I very much recommend checking out all 3!

More about Robin at the end of her post, and you’ll want to read it, as it is ALL true!

Leave her some love here and on her page!

THANKS ROBIN!!!

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Little Red Flags

I’ve spent the past 21 years teaching in a public school and I probably could tell you an entire book’s worth of stories about the hilarious things kids have said and done over the years. Being as how I’m such a long-term public servant, though, I decided to use my guest blogger opportunity to perform a public service for you. Because you don’t like to feel embarrassed, right?

The ridiculous stories and excuses some parents will accept at face value from their kids never cease to amaze me. No matter how unbelievable or even bizarre the tales get, they don’t seem to trigger those little red flags of skepticism. This can result in the parents going ballistic – firing off hateful emails or scrawling two-page hand-written “uglygrams” to the teacher. Some parents prefer the face-to-face-confrontation route and come charging up to school like Hell on wheels. All of which can be pretty darn embarrassing for the parents when the REAL story comes out.

This is where my public service part comes in – I’m here to save you possible future embarrassment. Now I’m not saying you’re one of those naïve, gullible parents. Heck, I don’t even know you. But just in case, I have prepared a list of some true stories and excuses that have sucked other parents in. A little practice in recognizing bull when you hear it should help your own red flags to develop a hair-trigger. And since I’m a teacher, I even I bullet-pointed and illustrated them for you, in case you’re taking notes:

  • Imagine that your 5th grader is now on her school’s newsletter staff because she raved to the newsletter advisor about how excited she would be to see her writing in print. A month later, the newsletter advisor calls to tell you that your daughter hasn’t done a single thing that’s been assigned, despite repeated reminders. You ask your daughter about it and she says she DIDN’T KNOW SHE HAD TO WRITE ANYTHING…well, that should trigger your first little red flag. It’s the NEWSLETTER, after all, so of course there is going to be writing. In fact, maybe you should say that to your daughter, rather than defending her by shooting a nasty email to the poor advisor.
  • Now let’s pretend that your 4th grader brings home a progress report with bad grades in all his major subjects. When you ask him what’s going on, he tells you it’s because his math teacher WON’T LET HIM DO HIS WORK. Strangely, neither will his English teacher. Or his social studies teacher. There goes your second little red flag because probably the teachers are not forbidding him do his work. It might be good to schedule a conference WITH YOUR CHILD PRESENT to get to the bottom of it, rather than firing off an ugly email to all three teachers and CC-ing the principal.
  • Okay, what about if your five year old comes home and tells you that his teacher took his shirt off of him? In class, she took your son’s shirt off. You guessed it, that’s should be another little red flag because…how would something like that come about? Possibly you should take a moment to question him further and see if you can ferret out the truth. Whatever you do, don’t go roaring up to school and cause a scene by demanding an audience with both the teacher and the school principal. Otherwise, you’re going to feel like an idiot when it turns out that what your son meant to say was that his teacher PUT A STICKER on his shirt and the STICKER fell off.
  • Alright, how about this one: What would you do if your five year old daughter came home and told you that she didn’t want to go to school anymore because her teacher had PUT A HEX ON HER? (Personally, I think it should send up little red flags about your daughter’s home life because what five year old thinks hexes are a good excuse?) By all means, avoid going storming up to school and demanding to see the principal. You’re going to be really embarrassed when it comes out that the real reason your daughter dislikes going to school is because you let her play video games all day when she stays home.

I hope that these four examples of what not to believe have helped to spring-load your little red flags. Maybe at least they’ll cause you to dig deeper into your child’s story before you shoot of a nastygram or make a fool of yourself in the school office.

Oh, and here’s a final thought – if last night’s sex toy is still lying on your nightstand in the morning when your child gets up, that should send up a BIG red flag. Under no circumstances should you leave it lying there and go out to warm up the car while your daughter packs up her backpack. Otherwise, it’s going to be pretty embarrassing for you to retrieve that thing from the (male) principal after your daughter whips it out for show and tell.

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ABOUT ME:

I hope you enjoyed my stories and YES, they are all true. Thanks, Marti, for giving me an opportunity to share these stories with your readers.

I’m a national board certified teacher who was honored as Elementary School Teacher of the Year for our entire district (26 elementary schools) in 2009-2010. Most of my twenty-one years’ experience have been spent teaching kindergarten, because there’s nothing like sense of fulfillment that comes with teaching five year olds to read.

My husband and I have two grown sons who are our lives’ best work and who are both married to lovely women. When I learned that they both had babies on the way, I ran out and bought myself an embroidery machine, because after all, those babies NEEDED embroidered bibs!

Since then, embroidery has become both a passion and has grown into a little business for me. I called it Soggy Bottoms Baby Duds, but I’ve branched out from just embroidering bibs to creating a whole range of items for adults, including custom-embroidered wine sleeves to be auctioned away for Relay for Life and autism awareness. And I’m having a GIVEAWAY! The winner will be chosen tomorrow night, so pop on over to my Facebook Fan Page or visit my blog to get the details if you’d like to enter!

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Soggy-Bottoms-Baby-Duds/134095519958927

Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoggyBottomsBabyDuds

Blog: http://soggybottomsbabyduds.blogspot.com/

From Office Manager To Poopy Diapers, Long Live Lipstick!

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I lay claim to being a positive soul that sees the glass as half full.  Still there, and finding the silver lining in my life.  This is SO not where I envisioned myself 2 years ago, or even 1 year ago.  But here I am, Marvelous Miss Marti, officially driving the magic princess chariot to the elementary school to drop off and pick up a 6 year old! Hey, we have vivid imaginations around here, helps us to make the most of our realities.

Yesterday was my first FULL day of being a daycare provider.  WOW was I exhausted by the end of the day!!! I’ve always been a huge admirer of the stay at home moms, they have one heck of a job and it is by far one of the most important and difficult jobs around.  After  a full day of poopy diapers, baby food, toddler toys and 1st grade carpool, my praise of them is renewed.  Oh and the day of coloring, Micky Mouse on the Disney Jr. channel and sing song gibberish I will understand in time.  BUT I AM LOVING IT!! I never had the pleasure of being a stay at home mom so this is like getting that chance all over again, but getting paid to do it.  Challenging but fun!

I have learned I still possess the talent to do many things with one hand with a 7 month old on my hip, including entertain a 2 year old.  I’m rockin it out as Miss Marti!  At the same time kicking my multi-tasking skills into high gear and working on Avon, blogs and baby blankets.

The Avon is coming along very well! I have 2 recruits so far, and one of my recruits has one, my down line is picking up fast!  I am looking forward to being in leadership as a unit leader and growing this business.  It is so different than when I did it years ago, and since I love makeup and jewelry this is working out fantastic for me.

Thank God for sippy cups and LONG LIVE LIPSTICK!