A Christmas Recap

*Kitty raked in the goods this Christmas. She loves her new zebra jumparoo, which she immediately fell off of on Christmas morning, right into the tree. Daddy didn't hold on tight enough....i think the video may be worth $10,000.

*Kitty also got a wagon from Santa Claus, which we've been giving her rides around in in the kitchen. She thinks she's top dog in that wagon....I"m so excited for Summer.

*For the week before Christmas, Kitty had been very stuffed up. Christmas Night she was unconsolable, and she didn't sleep overnight. So, Dec. 26 I took her to the Dr, where she was diagnosed with a double ear infection and a sinus infection, which had been around for a few days. I felt like mother of the year...I thought she was just crabby. Oops.

*After Christmas, Farmer and I also came down with terrible head and chest colds. We all sounded like death. Thankfully, we are all feeling a bit better.

*Kitty learned how to open gifts, which was fun to watch. However, if she got a piece of tape on her finger, look out. She was amused for several minutes.

*I got two new Cricut cartridges, the John Adams DVD set, and other wonderful gifts. Santa was wonderfully generous.

*Kitty has been sleeping in, and CELEBRATE! she slept all night in her own crib last night. She only needed to be comforted for a bit, because.....in the midst of all the snot, she's also popping out two teeth. It's been a banner week for poor KittyCat. But before that, she's been having a camp out in mumma's bed....Daddy's been less than enthused.

*Last night The Sound of Music was on, and Kitty enjoyed watching it. I know she did....she loves music and dancing. She's just like her Mumma....right down to the crush we both have on the handsome Captain Von Trapp. I think he's another secret boyfriend.

*Tonight Grammy and Poppy are coming down for some Christmas Cheer. Kitty really knows them now, and she squeals like a piggy when she sees them. It's quite fun.


*Watch out....a Historygirlie Year in Review is on it's way!!!

A christmassy weekend and other random thoughts

So, here we are, the weekend before Christmas. We are booked solid this weekend. Today is Farmer's maternal family christmas party, and tomorrow we head up to my Brother's house for a seeing trees gathering. I've got the garlic bread made, the jumbo blanket finished, and all I have left to do is put ribbon around some gifts and bathe Kitty. Not too shabby.

Last night Kitty was up 4 times, but Farmer and I held strong.....she DID NOT camp out in the middle of our bed. She yelled and whined and moped around, but she stayed in the Crib. Go us.

Only two more days of school before our almost Two week vacation. Huzzah. We didn't have a snow day yesterday, but it was close to needing one. The roads were just not happy yesterday morning. But since I teach in Metropolis, the city never sleeps, or shuts down for snow. That includes the schools. But I live in CowTown, so the roads In to work were rotten. But even Cowtown Disrict only had a 2 hour delay. Hmmmmmm.

Navy Girl comes home tomorrow!!! I'm so pumped. I foresee some great conversations, and perhaps a Margarita stop? ahead of us. What do you think, NavyGirl? We need to see what your frantic family visiting schedule is and fit in some time for drinks and convo. The New Years gathering is at M and K H's house, and kids are invited, so since we don't have a sitter, that's most likely where we'll be....for at least part of the time. Farmer would like to get together with his friends, but he needs to organize that.....so I'm seeing us at the H's house.

Huzzah! I woke up in the total Christmas Spirit this morning......just in time!!!!!!

Ok, time to go stick the Cat in the Tubby.....Have a great weekend all!

Bloggy update

So, an update from last night:

#1: I finished the paper and submitted it immediately. I've never been, unfortunately, one of those people who go back 16 times and revise and rewrite. I tend to write papers from the gut...and once I'm done, I almost mentally shut my mind off to them. I figure I wrote over 150 papers in undergrad and 1st masters, and did fairly well GPA wise in both of them, so this paper is good to go. Huzzah!

#2: The 9 foot blanket is 3/4 way done. Kitty went down relatively early tonight (8pm) and I got right to work cutting and knotting. Now, even if we don't have a snow day on Friday (possible, but not likely. we'll know more tomorrow) I'll be able to get it done.

#3: It's my night for Kitty.....pray to God she sleeps.

#4: Today was George F. Kennan day in Honors American. Kennan's my secret history boyfriend (props to Green Girl for creation of "secret boyfriends") because his containment policy of 1947 blows my mind. It's so simple, but also somewhat effective. He was this young guy who was the Department of State's head guy on Soviet Russia, and he came up with the way the USA fought against the evil Communist spider throughout the entire Cold War. In fact, some of his strategies are still in effect today against what the USA now considers "Evil". But anyway, I make my kids read the paper Kennan wrote outlining Containment, and normally, they HATE it. It's dry and political, but his hottie genius shows through. (Is it wrong to be crushing on a 1940's political advisor??? hmmmm....) However, this group of sophomore smarties were able to get past the dryness and get to the meat of his argument, and they also now admire Kennan for his genius and skill.

(Yes, That's Kennan. Yes, the amazing political power of his brain made his hair go away. It's ok, I still adore him.)

Ahhhhh, yes. Time to go put clean sheets on the bed and crawl in for a night of sugarplums dancing in my head.

Hey....that kinda rhymed. :)

Thumbs Up and Down: Historygirlie version

Thumbs Up: To my Honors American Studies classes, for willingly donating to the Adopt a Family program at school. We decided, as a herd, to adopt a family for the holidays through the Key Club. My co-teacher and I were nervous that they wouldn't bring in money and we'd have to get everyone in the family Pez dispensers, but wow....did they come through. 58 kids donated a total of over $240.00, and we were able to get great gifts for a mom, dad, and 3 kids. I'm so proud of them all. What a great show of Christmas spirit from a group of kids who can be somewhat materialistic at times.

Thumbs Up: to my mother in law, who called me last night to tell me that I don't need to make a pan of lasagna for the christmas party this weekend....all I have to bring is garlic bread. Huzzah!

Thumbs Down: To the stupid Wisconsin weather. It's been below zero the past two days (freeze your nose hairs cold, to quote my dad) and now, it's snowing. We're to get 2-5 inches overnight, but KHS already had their snow day, so I will be going to work anyway.

Thumbs Down: To me. I have to make a 9 foot long tie blanket by saturday, and have been postponing it FOREVER, and now I'm down to the wire, and my historiography paper is due on Sunday, and takes presidence over the blanket. I foresee some late nights in my future.

Thumbs Down: To Kitty, for needing to play in the middle of the night the last two nights. She ended up sleeping in the middle, where she crashed, but us parents were up, afraid of rolling over her. But she's still wonderfully adorable, so it's not a full thumbs down, just a thumbs sideways and a slight frown.

Thumbs Up: To me (yeah, I get double credit) for rocking the socks off this paper I'm writing for historiography. Yeah, I've had 2 months to write it and now i'm craming it in the week before it's due, but for me, that's nothing new. I've always been late at stuff like this. But I think i'm really hitting it out of the park tonight. I only have 3 pages left before I've hit the minimum requirement. It's about the little life changes that every day people went through because of the Protestant Reformation, and so I'm mentioning the change in art and patronage, the changes in christmas carols (when I get this flushed out, I'll post about it...tis the season) the changes in the practice of the Rosary, and the differences in the deathbed.

Thumbs Up: To George's Steakhouse, where we had the farm christmas party this past weekend. Awesome steak, Great Cosmopolitans, good time had by all. I want to go back this weekend. I think my favorite thing to do is go out to eat. I'd do it quite often if Farmer and the bankbook allowed.

What do you celebrate/boo-hiss at lately?

Book Club and Cookies

Well, the flu has now passed by our house. We all three seem to be healthy. Farmer had the achy bone flu, but no ickiness, and Kitty is back to her perky haired self.

Tonight I had book club with the Bumble Book Club at a local establishment, where we discussed an awesome book: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", which is a series of letters written between a London author and residents of the German Occupied island of Guernsey, located in the English channel. Even for a history girl, I've never read a book set in post war England. Most war books take place during WWII, but this one was refreshingly different. I'd recommend it to everyone. Excellent read. And excellent discussion amongst women who've accepted me as one of them without question....for which I give thanks.

Tonight we met at an establishment where their specialities are called Dirty Snowballs, which is a blended ice cream drink.....which tastes like my favorite Chocolate Martini. Joy in a Glass. Joy! seriously.....JOY!

But enough excitement about an alcoholic drink....it makes me sound iffy.

Now, we look forward to the weekend. Saturday morning Kitty and I head up to GBC for the Christmas Cookie Extravaganza, where Auntie Mousie, Auntie-to-Be and Grammy will help me make bazillions of christmas cookie and candy. Grammy will also be taking Kitty to Breakfast with Santa, which Grammy's wildly excited for. Then, Kitty will stay for a sleepover, because Farmer and I have the rollicking night out of the annual farm christmas party, which basically involves us two, the other Farmers (bro and sis in law) and Former Farmers (my parents-in-laws) go out for dinner. When we bought the farm, and Farmer left the 5 day a week working world, I was bummed out because I was always invited to all the Christmas parties associated with Farmer's old job. He was in landscaping, so the area landscaping associations and other groups would have their parties at restaurants-->which meant that I didn't have to cook for the entire month of December, or so it felt. I really missed those parties. So I insisted that the new business have a party. My in-laws, being as they are, thought I was, once again, off my rocker (just about everything I do is slightly left of center to them....grad school twice, stilletos, different hair color every month) but they went along with my idea. So on a Saturday in December we go out to a supper club and eat steak and drink old fashioneds (or chocolate martini's in my case....another so thought oddity about me) and celebrate the Cows and Milk and the end of field work (thank GOD!) for a few months.

SO, long story short, we have a fun weekend ahead. Thrown in with these big items, we are also going shopping for christmas for Kitty tomorrow night, along with our godchild's 5th birthday luncheon on Sunday.

THe christmas spirit is in the air!!!! Huzzah!

I've got a fever.....Fever! (NOT FOR THE SQEAMISH)

We've had a first last night in our parenting life. But first, a preface.

Kitty was sent home from school on Thursday afternoon with a 102.2 fever. We treated with tylenol, and throughout thursday night and all day friday it went up and down.

Last night around 9 I took her temp again, and it was up to 104.6. Yikes. I called our dr. and he said that since she's just feverish and sluggish, there's nothign they can really pinpoint. It may be teething or a virus, most likely, and they can't do anything for either of them. So we dosed her up again and sent her to bed.

Fast forward.

2:00 AM

She was not sleeping, so I brought her in by me to cuddle until she fell asleep. That normally works. well, she tossed around, and around 2:30, she let out a scream, and then proceeded to get sick all over the side of my face, neck,and shoulder. Twice.

The first nighttime sickness. What a moment.

Farmer sprung into action, still asleep. He delivered about 10 different towels for me to mop up with, and then ran some bathwater for Kitty while I cleaned her up with towels. I then bathed her, then bathed her again since she got sick in the tub, and got her smelling fresh again. While this was occuring, Farmer changed the sheets. He then cuddled kitty and tried to get her to drink something while I finally showered. We then slept pretty well, three in the bed. Kitty was fine once the poison was out of her. She started snoring almost immediately. Farmer and I were running on pure adrenaline (esp. Farmer, because I don't think one of his eyes made it open during this whole process) so we laid there, waiting to hear another scream.

This morning, she's still kinda sluggish, but no full ickiness....jsut a few stomach lurches. But this means that my pedicure appointment for today with my good friend MH is going to be cancelled. Farmer does NOT change diapers, and she's had some loose ones this morning, and I'm not going to saddle him with those, even though last night in the fiasco he said I could still go. He'd take care of it. I'm sure his feelings will change once he hears about the 'ree.

NOTE: this post was mainly for NavyGirl, since I seem to like to keep her up to date on the random, meaningless things that occur back in Cow Town while she's out west with Lewis and Clark. IF anyone has read this post and could no longer look at their St. Nick candy, I apologize. :)

I've found a new workout

Ok, so it's not really a workout, but last night it sure made me sweat.

Ok, you pigs, heads back out of the gutter.

I'm talking about trying to get Kitty to take the Christmas Card Picture. In my mind, I had this awesome Norman Rockwell scene all set up, where Kitty is sitting in her adorable Christmas jammies in her red chair in front of a christmas tree, hugging her kitty. She's smiling and almost winking at the camera. Christmas card perfection.

Instead, here are some of the examples of what I got.....

The first two she was running away from the Christmas tree, which she suddenly got afraid of. Between shots, she was best friends with the tree, but when the flash went on, look out....panic. The third shot she was just done smiling. Finished. Nothing I would do would make her even give me a tiny grin.

45 minutes after we started, I had 9 pictures. I was sweating from wrestling Kitty back into a respectable position. She was irritated with the world. We took some alone time for awhile.....she sat in her crib for 5 minutes alone while I took 5 mintues to wash my face and calm down. I have a lot of patience with my daughter, but last night she wore it all out in one shot. I even told Farmer that I didn't know I was really sure I wanted another baby, as I'll never get a good Christmas picture wrestling both children.....it was either not having another baby or he had to quit farming so he could help me take this darn picture. He thought I was being melodramatic....quit his job for 1 picture???

He obviously doesn't know how important this picture is to me.

Grammy said she'd come down this weekend to help me, but only if Kitty wore one of her Christmas dresses, and not her jammies. That deal hasn't been signed yet....I love babies in Jammies, so we'll have to see.

Maybe when she's 17 she'll sit nice for this yearly issue....but knowing her attitude, I doubt it.

Indoor picnic

So, Kitty and I are, as I type, hanging out in the family room, watching some Antiques Roadshow, and i decided to have a picnic supper with kitty. I found a toddler's version of a Lunchables (one of my college favorites) so I strapped her into her portable tray chair, and here she is, having a picnic of ham and cheese with Ritz. What a funny girl.

Otherwise, we had a great Thanksgiving....lots of turkey and family time. Now, Kitty and I are getting all geared up for Christmas!!! I'm looking forward to the big holiday.....she'll be much more exciting this year! Hooray!

So, I fell into a pit filled with wild pigeons.....

just kidding. but that story is probably a bit more exciting than what we Farm Folk have been up to.

I wish I was one of those bloggers who can just write about random stuff and make it sound interesting.....I don't have that talent. Hence --> little bits of blogging.

We've been busy around here getting the ranch ready for winter, getting our christmas shopping DONE (yes, you read right....I"M DONE!!!!!) teaching Kitty to creep around the furniture, winning State Football in Mad-town (GO PAPERMAKERS!!!), weaning myself off my happy pills, getting my heinder kicked regularly by Jillian thanks to NavyGirl, attending a weekend long scrapbooking event in Door Co, throwing Auntie Mousie a baby shower, and going to Chili's to try their new chicken crisper tacos (everyone must go and eat them. Awesome in a taco shell)

There you go. that's the update. :)

Today Kitty had a Thanksgiving feast at school, and parents were invited to come eat lunch with their kiddos. Farmer and I went and had a wonderful hour with Kitty and her friends. I give her teachers so much credit at their jobs....they artfully fed 6 1 yr olds a full thanksgiving dinner, cleaned them, the tables, chairs, and floors up, and got cots and kids settled down for naps, all within 45 minutes and trying to work around a bunch of bumbling parents who were trying to get their kids to eat and also take pictures, all while trying to not get their kid's gravy covered hands all over their work clothes. It was awesome. I'm glad I was able to get away from my big kids to see my kitty.

We are gearing up now for thanksgiving. Kitty's all ready to go. Grammy and Poppy's all ready to have Kitty come for lunch. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't notice if Historygirlie and Farmer even showed up.

But, during my absence I've been keeping up with everyone's blogs, and in my lunch time check in, I saw that my good friend and neighbor Green Girl tagged me for a One Word reveal. So, here's my answers:

Where is your cell phone? purse
Where is your significant other?garage
Your hair color? streaky
Your mother? crafty
Your father? kind
Your favorite thing? family
Your dream last night? didn't
Your dream/goal? professor
The room you’re in? family
Your hobby? crafts
Your fear? dark
Where do you want to be in 6 years? farmhouse
Where were you last night? home
What you’re not? awake
One of your wish-list items? cable
Where you grew up? Greenbay
Last thing you did? rocked
What are you wearing? sweatshirt
Your TV? on
Your pet? Mooooo!
Your computer? laptop
Your mood? tired
Missing someone? Jen
Your car? black
Something you’re not wearing? socks
Favorite store? JoAnn's
Your summer? long
Love someone? Yes!
Your favorite color? blue
When is the last time you laughed? Lunch
Last time you cried? Saturday

Now, I tag Navygirl. However, she's hosting the West Coast Thanksgiving Extravaganza starting tomorrow, so who knows when she'll get to this.

But, I hope all will enjoy a blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by those you are thankful for. I am lucky enough to to have everyone I'm thankful for surrounding me every day, either near or far away.....I am so blessed.

What a Weekend

We had quite the time this weekend. Friday night was fun.....I went to the school musical with a teacher friend....they put on Peter Pan, and one of Kitty's babysitters was Peter, and the rest of her sitters were involved in some way. They did a great job on the show, of course, and I really enjoyed it. Peter Pan was the first ever stage musical I saw, at St. Norbert's summer theater about 25 years ago, and I still remember the magic I felt when Peter, Wendy, and the boys sailed into the air to fly to Neverland. I felt that same stomach tingling magic on Friday night, and I almost sang along with 'I Gotta Crow"....my favorite when I was a kid.

I do a great rooster imitation when singing it.

However, Friday night Kitty didn't sleep well, so we were up quite a bit. Saturday we realized mid afternoon that Kitty had a low grade fever...however a few hours later it spiked up to 103.7 degrees, and she was quite listless. We dosed her up on baby tylenol and hoped for the best. Her fever went down a few degrees and overnight it broke, but she was still up quite a bit throughout the night.

The kicker was that we were supposed to go to a wedding on Saturday night, but we stayed home and.....you guessed it.....watched FOUR episodes of Smallville. FOUR.

Sunday we went shopping. Just the three of us. We got some christmas shopping and groceries. It was quite a nice day. We haven't spent a Farmer Family day together in a long time.

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So, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. At my parental unit house, Thanksgiving is a big day because it's my dad's favorite holiday. We always play some type of board game on Holidays, and in the past few years Dad insisted that we have to pick a name for ourselves that corresponds with the holiday.

For example, Last Easter, we needed to pick "Easter names".... My sister picked Mary Magdaline, Kitty was Pink Chick Peep, My brother was Barabbas (the guy that got picked to live over Jesus) Farmer picked Easter Ham, I was Peter Cottontail, and then Dad sat down at the game table. We figured he'd pick Chocolate Rabbit or something equally corny. But he didn't pick.....he instead picked God, since noone can beat God in a game. He took the name prize for the holiday.

Mom normally doesn't pick a name, as she never can think of one and doesnt' like the ones we normally pick for her. She's a party pooper of the highest order.

So, for thanksgiving we need to come up with names. Kitty is Sweet Potato, (but if she gets crabby she turns into Sour Cream or Sourkraut) I'm Candied Yam (but I'm looking for a female pilgrim for a name...suggestions?) My brother is Miles Standish, and I think Dad is going to be Tom Turkey. But we're not sure. My sister is Dinner Roll, since she has a "bun in the oven"....I came up with that one, and got a resounding hooray from everyone.

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So, I'm almost done christmas shopping. Almost. I'm pretty proud of myself for that.....getting ahead of the game. Now, if I can only figure out what I should get Farmer.

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That's about it. We have a busy week ahead since I"m going out of town this weekend to go scrapbooking. woohoo!!!! I need to get Kitty ready to go to Grammy's as well. Updates througout the week!!!

Today's the Big Day!

So, I've been pumped since I woke up today. It's election day! The citizens of America are using their constutition-given rights! and.....the ads will be over today! it's great all around.



Being a history teacher, this day gets me psyched. I gave my kids extra credit (which i NEVER do), so if they watch the election results and keep track of winners, they get the points. woohoo! I even made a election themed supper tonight.......mccaineroni and cheese with pork barrel sausage (emeril's AWESOME recipe...check it out here) with a side dish of barack-oli and cauliflower salad. It was a very tasty meal. Farmer thought I was off my rocker, but hey, it was good mccaineroni!!!!

We also hosted a mock election at school...my room was the polling place for all sophomores. I was surprised at how many kids took this very seriously! Hopefully they'll be as serious in 2012 when they are actually eligible to vote.

So, I hope all you readers used your voting muscles and rocked the vote!

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In other news, I got some kinda sad news yesterday. I had an appointment with a podiatrist to have him look at some toe issues. He ended up taking off (and then burning the base of the nail with acid so it doesn't grow back) about 1/4 inch from each side of one of my big toes because they were SO ingrown. PAINFUL. once the local anestetic wore off. It's wrapped up in a huge bandage and I've bled through the bandage.....it's just not pleasant. but that's not the sad part.

He said that I can't wear my stilletos until it's fully healed.....at least 3 weeks.

3 weeks!!! I'm going to turn more dowdy in three weeks without my stilletos! Ok, maybe not dowdy....but I love my heels. I feel thinner in heels.

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Kitty update: Kitty's doing great in her new room. She's adjusting well, but she's not doing so well at only 1 nap. She's fallen asleep at the lunch table the last two days. Oh boy. but she wakes up, gets some lunch eaten, and then takes a 2 hr. snooze. but she loves going outside and playing with big kids. She's getting to be such a big girl!!!


Enjoy watching the election results....I know I will!

A post for NavyGirl

http://www.target.com/Meron-Lady-like-wool-Jacket-Red/dp/B001DXGHLO/qid=1225674642/ref=br_1_15/180-2765745-5249808?ie=UTF8&node=14277541&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

Hey NavyGirl (and anyone else interested)

Let me know what you think of this coat....I got it for this winter, and also bought a black cloche hat to wear with it.......good or not??? It still has tags on and I can take it back. Let me know.

HistoryGirlie

(I can't seem to post pictures from target on the post......so I'm going super oldschool.)

And now, the time has come....

Yes, readers, the time has come.

It is time for the Farmer Family to get A DOG.

Tonight, while feeding Kitty, I caught her picking up a piece of food, so delicately in her thumb and forefinger, looking at it, and then, casually, throwing it onto the floor. I said "Kitty!" in a mommy tone, and she looked me square in the eye, shook her head "no no", and, while looking at me still, threw another piece of food on the floor. "I don't WANT this, mumma!"

I almost died laughing. she KNEW she was doing wrong, but just continued.

So, I want to get a dog. someone to eat the goldfish crackers and macaroni noodles off the floor so i don't step on them or have to pick sticky noodles off of my socks.

In other notes, I've been feeling uninspired lately....which is why there have been few posts.

There just haven't been much to report. Our days are becoming quite similar.....work, supper, play with Kitty, bathtime, bedtime, sit down to watch Smallville with Farmer. I'm getting a bit sick of Smallville. it's Farmer's favorite show, and so we watch it on DVD every night. every.single.night. Thankfully, NavyGirl is sending me two seasons of Bones, so we'll be switching Clark Kent with Yummy Seeley Booth.

And, Kitty learned how to stand up against a table this weekend......Big adventures around here. She's quite proud of herself. She's now standing up against my leg trying to type. Huzzah!

Where have I been?

Well, life on our ranch has been a bit quiet lately, hence the lack of posts in the past week. There just hasn't been anything much to talk about to my friendly readers. But here's a quick update:

*Kitty went trick-o-treating to Grammy and Poppy's house yesterday. She was a hit in her pink poodle costume. Pictures will be coming soon.

*I came up with a few ideas for my christmas cards. Now I just have to find time to make them. :)

*It started snowing in Cow Town today. Nothing stuck, but it was snow nonetheless.

*Kitty started up in her big kid room today. She's transitioning this week, and was in her new room for 1.5 hours. Her teachers said that when she came back to the baby room, she immediately fell asleep. It's hard being the new girl!!!

*WKCE testing starts tomorrow. Our administration told us at our staff development on friday that we aren't allowed to use our computers during the test, as our fingers typing may distract students. I am actually caught up on my grading (amazing!!!) so I don't have much to do for the 3 hours of silence tomorrow. So, I'm going to start working on my christmas cards!!!!

*I made applesauce yesterday, but wasn't able to can it because i never checked before I started if i had enough supplies, and I had no canning rings, so now my fridge is full of applesauce. We better get eating!

*We only have a three day week this week. Huzzzah Huzzah HUZZAH!!!

*We got a new front bay window installed this weekend. Farmer and his brother put it in. Hopefully that will help bring down our heating bill.

*I finally got the motivation to start losing weight in earnest. Not looking so hot yesterday, after looking at pictures of me and Kitty at Grammy's. YIKES. and I thought I was wearing a slimming outfit. Perhaps not.

And, I'll leave you with a funny Kitty/Workout story.

So, tonight I was working out and at a certain point I had to lay on the floor for some leg lifts. Abby had been playing near me and bopping to the cheezy workout music (she's the only person that thinks that music isn't annoying) and when she turned around and saw me laying on my side, she came over to visit. I was chatting with her while lifting my leg, and suddenly she leaned in and grabbed me around my neck for a hug.....that lasted a long time. Her hugs normally last only a few seconds. This one lasted for the entire left leg lifts, right leg lifts, and my ab workouts. She just held on while I switched sides and did my crunches. She seemed to enjoy helping me out.


Ok, so maybe I did have enough stuff going on, but nothing worth a long post. Adios!

Oh Boy

Kitty is a marvelous dancer. She can be-bop with the best of them....especially when I turn on her Sesame Street DVD's.


However, tonight, she's been rocking out to.......The Lawrence Welk Show. A show from the 1960's-70's that's on every Saturday night on PBS. We watched it every week growing up, so when I need a touch of nostalga (or the only other thing on is College Football) I tune in.


She seems to enjoy it.


Today I helped my sister, Auntie Mousie, register for her baby shower. She's doing her nursery in a jungle theme (she adores monkeys) and Graco has a line out now that is jungle themed. So, everything she picked out was matching her nursery! The three Martha Stewarts (Mom, Mousie, and Historygirlie) were so excited. The other grandma came along too, and while she liked the idea of matching stuff, she didn't see the full joy. Kitty helped too....but she really just got super crabby until we stuffed her full of Ritz crackers. What did mothers do before crackers??? Poor Ma Ingalls. Living in a 1 room shack with Pa and 3 girls, and no Ritz Crackers.


Who cares about cloth diapers, early childhood mortality, and watching out for your kids from falling into abandoned wells (remember that episode? Stupid Carrie fell into a well...Carrie = not my favorite character....she never had decent things to say and was always running to the outhouse).....but to live without crackers and have picky eating toddlers....that's enough for me to be glad to be living in 2008 and not in Ma Ingalls time.

Ma Ingalls for Mother of The Year!

Teacher Rants

I don't know what it is, but something today led me to see all the annoying things that teenagers are or do....here's a snapshot:

*sweatpants. really. must we wear our sweats to school every day? Now, I love my sweats as much as the next person, but the farthest my sweats go is to the mailbox or maybe to my neighbors. But these girls are wearing super-sized sweats to school every day! others are wearing them and then tucking them up to just under their knees. what do they think is going on, a flashback to early '90's rap music??? Then, the worst of the worst, the "heavyset" girlies who wear sweats with printing across the heinder. Really? Do you really think that having "pink U" across your heinder is attractive? does no one look in the mirror anymore? No one would ever have worn ginormous sweats when I was in high school....but of course that was 10 years ago.

*hugging in the hallway. I have several couples that are dating in my classes. Probably because I teach two honors classes and birds of a feather flock together....the nerds are dating each other. but I have a few that insist on hugging before class or during bathroom breaks. Then, I see them in the hallways before and after class loving it up...hugging or just standing with the guys arms around his girlie. Or, the best, as I saw today, walkig with each others hands in their back pockets. REALLY???? good lord.

*globs of kids. I was running all over the school today,and every time I had to try to bypass ginormous globs of kids just standing around in the hall, or sitting in the hall with their legs sprawled all over. I had to resort to yelling "BEEP BEEP!!!" to get through a clump this afternoon.

and on a teacher note:

*we now have two teachers who wear extremely short pants. They are truely noah floods....total sock visions. Don't they look down and say "Hey! My socks sticking out and they don't match my outfit at all!!!" Now, I'm no fashionista, but I know enough to make sure my socks are not seen constantly. And if they do, they better match.

Yes, NavyGirl....there are now TWO short pants wearers. You know the first one, oui, but the second now lives in room 7.


But other than this, my day was great. my kids did great work on their history day project and really found some great resources. It was neat to watch the discovery happen. I think this crabby streak is coming from my returning sinus infection. But Grey's Anatomy starts in 10 minutes and I'll cheer up then.


So, readers, Do any of you have any rants from your day you want to share???? Spill them here!

Quick Kitty Update

It's been relatively quiet around here....which means very little to blog about. Sorry, readers.

A few life glimpses:

*Kitty is starting to like to toddle around holding on to my fingers. Major progress. She normally doesn't like her feet on the ground....she'd rather sit.

*Farmer combined the soybeans yesterday....Kitty and I got to go to the feedmill to bring him his supper. He was 20 minutes later than he told me he would, so there were Kitty and I, hanging out in the car at the feedmill....I had a bunch of farmers come up to the window and ask why I was just sitting in there.....It's kind of awkward explaining to a strange man that I was bringing supper for my husband....I felt like they were looking at me like a hussy who feeds men. Ok, maybe not a hussy, but I was getting some realloy strange looks.

*Farmer and I have hired a babysitter for every tuesday night for two hours so I can go upstairs to the spare room to do some grad homework and not totally freak out from stress. So, right now I'm SUPPOSED TO BE researching how everyday life changed in Europe due to the protestant reformation, but I'm totally NOT feeling it right now. Hence, the blogging and listening to Kitty watch her sesame street video with her babysitter and playing with her screaming monkey.

*THis morning was slightly funny.....I call my mom every morning on my way to work to have a chat....it's been a tradition of sorts for several years. THis morning I call at 6:45 am....no answer. Odd, especially since she didn't have to work today. I called my sister to see if she knew where Mom was, and she said that she couldn't reach her either and was kinda worried....it was a bit early for her to be missing or shopping. So, then we were both worried. I mean, who, if they don't have to be, would be out and about that early?????? We ended up calling our brother, who lives 1 mile from mom, and made him go check out the house on his way to work. We called at 7, and he wasn't even awake yet....big time lawyer can sleep in while his sisters are already slaving away by 7. Long story short: Mom was at a Chub Club meeting and thought that our minor panic was funny, especially when Brother comes storming in hoping to NOT find his mother dead in bed. There was mom, watching Good Morning America and eating a pastry (hey! she weighed in already!!!) at the kitche counter.

*ok, that's about it. nothing else interesting going on in our home. Hope your lives are more exciting!

God Bless Cough Syrup

I'm at home today from work, with a miserable chest cold. I sound like I've been smoking 2 packs of unfiltered a day for the past 20 years. I get to go the Dr. this afternoon, so I'm just waiting until Dr. utters the magic words...."here's a prescription". I'm hoping for a codiene-laced cough syrup. Is it wrong to wish for drugs?????

Kitty went to DayCare today.....Farmer came home to take her since I didn't want to get anywhere close to the other kids. She was going to stay home with me but it was too much work. so I called Farmer home and told him to take her to school. I think she'd rather be there than with me, hacking on the couch.

But that's about it. I missed the debate last night because I went to bed instead. I wish I would have watched....everyone is saying it was interesting because the guys couldn't talk as long as they could have, and something about McCain meeting another Navy guy in the audience......can anyone fill me in about what happened????

The Big Birthday

Baby A with her Mumma and Godparents (my sibs)

Baby A is officially ONE. It was a momentus day. A day full of lunch, relatives, presents, and CAKE! A did a great job as center of attention. She had a minor meltdown at the beginning, but that's because I woke her up from her nap and quickly threw her clothes on her because, of course, people were early. But after that, she was all charm and grace. Everyone said it was a really nice party, even though I served strange food (Hot ham sandwiches! Cheesy Broccoli Soup! You would have thought I'd served liver'n'onions) and didn't make the cake myself. Farmer's family makes their own cakes, either a basic sheet cake or a fancy Wilton-cake-pan shaped one. I just don't have time to do one the way I would have wanted one, so I bought the cake. I think they only do it because it's cheaper. I KNOW some of them do it for that.

But I digress.

Baby A got some nice gifts, and some that she's afraid of. Her Godfather (man in Badger jersey in pic) got her a little elmo easy chair, with a GIANT elmo face on it, which promptly freaked her out. She's also afraid of a big pink ball....I don't get that one. Big elmo eyes....yes. Freaky. But a ball??? Whatever. But her favorite gift was a stuffed kitty from Grammy. Grammy went to build a bear and made the kitty, and put in it a sound byte thingie that says "Hi Baby A! It's Grammy! How's my kitty today? I love you!" A is amazed that Grammy's voice is coming from her kitty. We call A kitty as a nickname, so now we have two kitties!!!!

Because she's ONE, the cake was the biggest hit of the party.

This is just the beginning....it got worse

We've found out that Baby A LOVES frosting. LUV's it. She couldnt' get enough. I'm sensing a girdle in her future.

Today, Farmer and I had a date for our anniversary. Our Anniversary is actually in August, but I got Farmer Packer Tickets for the big day, and today was the game. We had a good time. Good weather, good hot dogs, poor defense by the packers.....how much better can it get???

Houston, We Have Success!

So, I teach two blocks of an honors American History class. It's a prep class for AP US History. The majority of my 58 kids are extremely bright and wanting to learn, which makes it fun to teach them. However, today took the cake.

We are starting our WWI unit tomorrow, and to get them thinking war, without guns and poison gas, I found a simulation that made them become different major countries of the early 1900's.Their job was to make their country an empire, using different stats that I gave them.....and if they got big enough or powerful enough, they could declare WAR on someone else, in order to take them over. It's a long drawn out way they get power, so I'll leave my explanation of the game at that.

(however, if you are a high school history teacher, or know someone who is and want to learn more about this simulation, just contact me. Because it's awesome)

This was the first time I did this simulation, and so I was nervous. Would the kids get it? Would they play correctly, or just go to war all the time? Would they find it fun or boring???? Well, it was a smash hit. They got it so right!!!!! It even turned out just like WWI.....even, in one class, Russia pulled out of war in the middle of it, and in another class, France melted under pressure. I was so excited, tears came. the kids were proud of themselves too....they want to keep playing!!!!

Then, in my western history class, we held an election for Best Roman Emperor. A class, which is normally very minimal at doing anything or participating, did AWESOME at their election process. Only 1 kid (NavyGirl: initials D.G. You know......) didn't do his work, but everyone else did! Complete success.

It was a day that reaffirmed my faith in teaching.

In other news....Baby A is going to be transitioning this month to a bigger kid room at daycare. No more cribs! They sleep on cots! Only one nap a day! No more babyfood if she doesn't like the meal served! No highchairs....they are in little chairs with seatbelts! They get to play outside ont eh grass, not just go on walks! I know she needs to move up, but I"m so nervous....what if she doesn't adapt well??? I was asking all sorts of questions this morning to her teacher, and suddenly I started crying......I don't adjust to change well, and I can't believe my little baby kitty is turning 1 soon! Where did this year go???? Sunrise.....sunset......

The teacher was not alarmed by my tears....she said lots of 1st time moms have a hard time with transition....more trouble than their kids do.

But I'm sad....my girlie is turning from a baby to a big girl.....and I'm not ready for it.

Can you imagine how I'll do when she goes to college, or gets married??????

Baby A Eats Italian

So, Baby A turns ONE on Saturday. BIG DAY!!!!! In preparation for her being a big girl, we are transitioning her over to all big girl food. She's slightly picky, but she's starting to consider options other than cheerios.

Tonight we tried Beef Ravioli ala Chef Boyardee. I figured it was nice and soft, and kids like it, so why not? well, as you can see, she obviously loved it. There's tomato sauce all over. The scream on her face is because it was gone. She also mowed through some corn and of course, peaches. She's also drinking some whole milk with dinner, and tonight, she's getting a bottle of 1/2 formula, 1/2 milk.

I promise, I will post a prettier picture of Baby A soon, but this was just so funny that I had to share. Can you imagine what she's going to do with her own birthday cake on Saturday???? I predict frosting EVERYWHERE.

Good Monday, everyone!

I'm raising a hussy!

So, Baby A is getting to be well known at her day care. When she was an infant, everyone knew that she was a spitter. Lots of spitty all over every time she ate. Next, it became known very fast that A doesn't like green veggies. She'll blow raspberries all over you if you try to feed her them. Then, she became known as a nuk-theif. Noone's nuks were safe from Baby A's quick sticky fingers.

However, today took the cake.

I picked her up this evening and her teacher Miss D. said that Baby A was giving kisses all day long....to her friend Baby V! Now, V is a BOY. Baby A is a GIRL. What's up with this???? She's making out at school! All day I try to avoid seeing teenagers involved in PDA, and I leave the halls of highschool lovin' to hear that my precious baby is kissing boys!

But in reality, the teachers said it was quite cute. She would crawl up to V. and give him a big baby opened mouth kiss on the forehead....when the teachers would ask her what she was doing, she would give a big grin and kiss him again. Then she would crawl away and do her own thing until she felt that Baby V needed more affection.

So very cute. I wish her teachers would have caught it on camera. It would be priceless!!!

Halloween Flashback

So, a few years ago, when I was thinner, less cellulite prone, and had perkier "ladies", I went as "Hot Donna" for Halloween. "Hot Donna" is a character from Farmer's then favorite show...That 70's Show. Donna was sent to Catholic school for a year, and so she appeared in the show wearing the necessary uniform: plaid skirt, white shirt, knee socks. So, for Halloween, I went as a more "loose moraled" Donna...shorter skirt, etc. Needless to say, I was a hit with Farmer's drunken friends at our annual Drunken Halloween Garage Party. In some circles, I'm still refered to as Hot Donna, even though I'm now dimpled and saggy. :)

Fast Forward to Saturday night. After reading some fashion and gossip magazines, I learned that an in style is a longer black skirt with a white fitted blouse tucked into the skirt, high heels, and big bulky jewelry. I thought....WOW! I actually have an outfit that would be considered In! I ran with the outfit.

So, there I was, feeling confident in my outfit, and Farmer's brother comes to the dinner table and bellers out "Hey! Hot Donna came to the party!" I looked around, looking for some inappropriately dressed female, and then realized, when everyone started giggling at me, that I was Hot Donna. I felt like an idiot. I mean....cripes! my skirt fell past my knees! My "ladies" weren't hanging out! I was completely different!

NOthing like looking like you're wearing a halloween costume when trying to look in style and fancy. :)

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On a different note, Baby A will lately only now eat cheerios and peaches. At least we are getting some fruit in there. She's also starting to drink whole milk, which she seems to like. Baby A also got a big girl car seat this weekend. She's excited to soon be facing forward.

Baby A also made it thorugh a whole day at Day Care without stealing someone else's nuk. It's progress.

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Hey, GreenGirl....that chicken cordon bleu casserole turned out awesome. Farmer really liked it....would you like the recipe to see if the Gentlemen of the Estate would like to try it?

Also, NavyGirl....this would be a good one for you to make up in Whidbey when you are feedinghalf of the Pacific Fleet at your soon to be found home. It's a crockpot meal, so it's un-screwup-able. :)

Oh Boy.....This could get dangerous

So, last night Baby A and I went to our shopping happy place......Target. This time, Target did not disappoint. We found stuff for Baby A's birthday party gift bags, a bunch of cleaning supplies, and....here's the danger point.....TWO pairs of shoes for baby A. Now, Baby A's mom has a dangerous dangerous addiction to Target's shoe department. I was trying to save Baby A from a life of lusting after yet another pair of adorable Issac Mizrahi peep toe pumps, but last night I capitulated. (But hey, I made it almost a year, so that's awesome in my book)



They had a very cute pair of white sneakers that would look very cute with Baby A's Badger and Packer cheerleader dresses. Her pink tennies just didn't match all that red and white and green and gold. Daddy didn't think that it mattered matching shoes to outfit.....but this coming from a man who has one pair of tennies, one black dress, one brown dress, and a pair of sandals. His shoe selection is woefully low.



Then, in the same display, I found a pair of black mary janes....what little girl doesn't need a pair of black dress shoes for her adorable dress outfits??????? Every woman knows that one of the best things in a wardrobe is having the perfect pair of go-anywhere black shoes. Mumma's happen to be a mary jane style too, but they are a crocodile print with very pointy toes and 3 inch stilletos (ALSO FROM TARGET!!!!)....but since they didn't have any like that in Baby A's size, we went with a sensible pair of flats.



So, Baby A should be set for now in the shoe department. Mumma does think that she needs a pair of brown loafers, so we are keeping an eagle eye out for them. However, if you run into Farmer in the next few days, don't mention to him about that. He's threatening to ban me from Target....what a sad day that would be.

Attn: heads of major TV stations

Please, bigwigs, bring back the fall lineup earlier than the last week of September next year. I seriously cannot stand another week of reruns or corny reality shows (except wipeout...laugh out loud funny).

There are TV junkies in our nation that need new TV shows so they have something to discuss with others. Not everyone likes to discuss minute points of historical events, or have a discussion as to what explorer is the best. People would rather talk about Meredith and Derek, or if House is going to make up with his old team and bring them back, or if Betty is going to marry Henry or go to Rome with Gio. Or....can Seeley Booth get any hotter? (I doubt it)

I can't wait until October to have my friends come back into my life. Please, consider bringing back my shows earlier next year. The wait is too long.

Thank you~

Historygirlie, TV Junkie

Making Mustard

Yes, my bloggy friends, a person can make their own mustard. My recipe is now, with me, 4th generation, and it seriously is the best super spicy mustard EVER. But warning: It's SPICY. Here's the super easy recipe:

1 c. white sugar
1 c. malt ale vinegar
3 beaten eggs
4 oz. COLMANS mustard (can only use this,it's in a yellow can)

combine in a double boiler, beat with hand mixer until thick. Store in fridge.

I just made some of this in under 10 minutes because we are having pork roast for supper and i was needing some mustard. It makes about 2 halfpint jars, with a bit left over. Now my home smells like spicy mustard goodness. Farmer won't like this smell....he's NOT a mustard man. But me? It will be so tasty tonight with my pork, baked potato, and green bean casserole.

(No, I wasn't off work tonight....everything was cooked yesterday)


If you make this yummy old world concoction, let me know! How do you like Great Great Grandma Maurer's spicy brown mustard??????

Enjoy!

Things I've been Pondering

So, for my grad class I have to write a paper on the trends of historiography in either Ancient Greece or Rome. Only a history geek could pull something off like this. So, I've been thinking about writing my paper on Ancient Greek trends in recording history, from Homer's oral traditions through the "Wars Only" history to "Greece is Great!" history, up to the fall of the empire. It's due at the end of the month. Does this topic sound do-able?

Doesn't it sound dull?

Wow.....

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how many cheerios can Baby A eat in one day? Lately, she will only eat cheerios.

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Why, when there are only 3 people living in a house, and one of them is only 1.5 feet high, can a kitchen counter and kitchen table always be full of junk????? ALWAYS???????

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What should Baby A be for Halloween? I must get us to Target to check out the costumes before they are all picked over and she'll have to be a pirate or Bob the Builder or something else boyish.

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What do I wear to a family wedding this weekend? I don't want to go out and spend money on a new outfit, but since I was preggo or post preggo last late summer/early fall, I have no dressy clothes that aren't work clothes. I don't want to look teacher-y, but I"m too cheap to get something new.

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What should I make for my sister's baby shower gift? I want to make something, but she's uber crafty too, so whatever I make could pale in comparison to something she would.

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Do I change my sheets tonight, or do it tomorrow night? I"m not really in the mood to do it tonight, but do it after a long day at work? I don't think so.

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As you can tell, many random thoughts are taking presidence (bad spelling there) over important things that are occuring in life in general, but sometimes you have to give attention to the mundane.


Also, to my few but loyal readers, I plan on starting to post more often now that the back to work exhaustion is getting better. I won't post nearly as often as NavyGirl, (she has a more interesting nomad-like life at the moment, which gives more material anyway) but I will try to be more on the ball. I know your life stalls completely when I don't post regularily.

(That last bit was just a self morale booster. I was just kidding)

(kinda)

Whew

So, we are exactly 5 days in with students in my classroom. Things are going well. My students are mostly excited and wanting to learn. We have great discussions, and for the most part, when I am done with the day, I feel satisfied in my job.

AND......I feel exhausted.

Bone numbing tired.

This makes me realize that I really didn't do too much this summer. I thought I kept busy, but not nearly enough. Last night I fell dead asleep at 9:00 pm. Tonight I could have hit the sheets at....well.....about 5:30 pm.

I hope this exhaustion phase passes quickly. I'm not a very good playmate for Baby A. I spend most of my time sitting next to her passing her toys to suck on and then throw behind her.

But she seems to be super tired from school too. Tonight she was playing, and then crawled in my lap, put her head down on my shoulder. I went to give her a bubba, and she fell mouth wide open asleep half way through. This was at 7:30 pm. She normally doesn't hit the sheets until 8:30. I just hope she'll sleep through the night so I can sleep through the night.

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In other matters, I came up with a great idea this summer to make my evenings a bit more easy. I came up with a meal schedule, and planned out my meals for the entire month....main dishes, sides, salads, etc. Farmer thought I was funny for doing this, but it makes everything so much better!!!!! I never have to rush around finding something to eat, we aren't eating everything on a bun (last school year we ate alot of things on buns) and we are eating more veggies than french fries. I think this trend will continue.

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I get to go bridesmaid dress shopping this weekend. My brother is getting married, and so we are going to go dress shopping on saturday. Well, brother isn't going, we are going with his lovey. But there is a whole van full of ladies on this excursion. My sister in law to be is a PLANNER.....we have appointments at 5 different bridal shops, an hour for lunch, and are all to be at the house by 9:15 AM. God help you if you are late. She wants fun black dresses with pink trim, so those won't be so bad...at least, not as bad as Ugly Pink Dress from this summer.

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Ok, I think I made my limit for staying awake today. Yes, it's only 9:12 pm here right now, but I'm throwing in the towel. Have a great night!!!!

What was I thinking?

Since Baby A is now on the move (and getting faster every minute) I've found myself pulling her out of the most random places. Under end tables. Under the lazyboy. Out of clothesbaskets. Under her jumparroo. Out of corners. stuck in the kitchen blinds.

I've also taken away a garden variety of things from her that she finds. Remotes. Phones. Cords. Tomatoes. Cucumbers. My office chair. Not to mention every crumb on my floor.

I've already forgotten what it was like to have a phone conversation without having to pause to save her or take something away. My mother and sister now automatically stop talking when I start talking over them.

I worried and prayed that Baby A would catch up with the rest of her age bracket when it came to self movement. My overactive mind was picturing the need for rehab or leg braces or something else.

Now that she's moving? I'm praying for 5 minutes without having to play search and rescue.

Remind me why movement is so great????

Back to school update

Yesterday our school year officially began. A few highlights:

*As I walk in to my room, I notice a few ants on the floor. No biggie. I get to my desk, and there are ants all over. EVEN INSIDE MY DESK DRAWERS. Attack of the Ants. Disgusting. I immediately call Joe the janitor and tell him to RUN, not walk, to my room with something to kill the ants infesting my room. He came quite quickly and sprayed them with something. All day I felt like something was crawling all over me.

*My school has A/C, which was exciting, as it was 95 degrees outside yesterday. However, in the basement, where I teach, the A/C wasn't working. My room got up to 85 degrees and I couldn't open my windows. Because I was dressed up, first day and all, I was a roaming sweatball by the end of the day. NOTE: don't wear massive girdle on hot days when the A/C might not work.

*My 3rd block class has only 13 kids in it. 13 kids as silent as tombs. for the whole hour and a half NO ONE TALKED. Well, they did complain mightily when I assigned homework for the first night. I think it might be a long semester with them.

Today was a good day too. I introduced my classes to the Sophomore Class history project. It's modeled after the National History Day project, and it's worth 20% of their grade-----big stuff. They looked a bit shell shocked when I was done going through the 13 page explanation packet. Bwahahaha......I love being that kind of teacher some days.

Also, I'm really staying on my game with planning ahead and being organized. I know it's only the 2nd day, but really.....2 days in a row organized is quite special. I came up with some AWESOME stuff for my world war I unit, and I'm super excited. NavyGirl.....I have to tell you about this unit. I found the History Alive binders in your old office and there was AWESOME stuff.

But overall, things seem great at KHS. I really think it will be a good year. I turned a corner in my thoughts about being the only non-coach, and I'm realizing that they do feel I have worth. None of them are prepared for day to day stuff, and noone was ready for the History Project stuff, so when I came in this morning to our morning meeting and announced that I'm planned two units out and was ready to introduce project, they were quite impressed with me. I also used to excuse my usefullness for the department, and this year I'm changing that. I'm a good teacher, and I'm letting them know that.

Ok, thanks for listening to my self-affirming rant. :)

In Baby A news, she's fully on the move with crawling. She's into everthing and anything. SHe's also loving her big girl food at day care. She LOVES twice baked potatoes and ravioli. Good to know. :)

Oh, I wish I had a camera to share with you right now....Baby A is stuck inside a clothes basket!!! She crawled in and can't back out! I love the joy she brings me......awesome.

The Big Day!

Well, kiddos, today was it. The first day back at school.

Baby A must have known something was up, because she was up super early. like 4:50 am early. My alarm didn't go off until 5!!! She was just so excited to go back to school! :)

But she had a great day. She loved all the new toys (and tastes of the new toys....loves to put everything in her mouth) and had fun trying to crawl on soft surfaces. She didn't even realize that I left! But she didn't nap much, and when I put her in her high chair while I made supper, she promptly fell asleep! Soooo tired.

My first day was fine too. The normal "Hooray! WE ARE A GREAT DISTRICT!!!" brouhaha, and then some time in our rooms to work. AND, a 1.5 hour school staff meeting, which was brutal. Tomorrow will be better....more time to get stuff dine. But I have so much to do that I got overwhelmed and just started wandering around my room doing stupid stuff. Tomorrow I"ll get back to business.

Otherwise, not much else going on....Baby A is having a royal fit in her chair, so it's time to get out.

NavyGirl~if you get a chance, because I know you are up to your eyeballs in Clorox and Magic Erasers, give me a call. I have to fill you in on our new department member....let's just say that alot of the guys really REALLY missed you by the end of the day :)

A Letter of Sadness

Dear Target~

What happened? For the first time in our fruitful relationship, you disappointed me. During a day of boredom and laziness, I turn to you to provide entertainment, and a pair of knee high brown boots.

I am drawn to the shoe section....up and down the aisle I stroll, becoming more anxious the farther I go....Merona brown boots, where are you? Alas, they are nowhere to be found. I sigh and tell Baby A...maybe next week.

Because you already had me enthralled, I then turn to the women's clothing section, to see the new fall line. Nothing, yes nothing, caught my eye. Nothing to buy for school or weekend wear. As a tear comes to my eye and nothing goes into my cart, I turn to the infant and child selection department.

Because this area has never disappointed before, my excitement to be in Target returns. But Alak! Nothing for Baby A! Nothing cute, fall appropriate, or something on sale is attractive enough to me to consider buying.

In desperation, I turn to the entertainment section. Farmer would like another season of Smallville, and if it's there, I will be sure to purchase the next season we need. I scan the rack, my eyes jumping from box set to box set. My eye lands on Smallville. Season one.....Season 5.....Season 6.........but no Season 3!!!!! And the kicker: it is on sale for $18.99!!!! And there's nothing for me to buy!

Near tears, I turn my cart to the exit, astonished that I am not spending a dime in the hallowed halls of shopping.

How could you do this to me, Target?

But even with this massive Sunday disappointment, I can't seem to quit you. I know I"ll be back in a few weeks, my eyes open once again for something, be it little or big, to buy.

Fondly~

HistoryGirlie

Hoop it Up!

So, Grammy called me the other day (from work....she and her friends dont' get much work done somedays) and told me that her good friend told her that the latest fitness and weight loss craze is hula hooping. It's supposed to be a great core workout. I was, in my prime, an amazing hula hooper. Mouser and I used to time ourselves hulaing in the driveway and I logged in at 75 minutes at my best, not to mention winning the hula contest three church picnics in a row....Go HistoryGirlie!

Anyway, Grammy thought I'd be interested in knowing this fitness tidbit, because I'm a chronic failure at losing weight. I just agreed with her that it sounded interesting, and assured her (while blankly staring at the TV and not really paying attention to her....Baby A was napping and I had a migraine) that I would look into hula hooping as workout.

Fast Forward to this morning.

I, with Baby A, drove up to GBC to go to the weekly Farmer's Market with Grammy, Poppy, and Brother. Lo and Behold, a lady was there selling weighted hula hoops for fitness purposes! Grammy and I were amazed. I tried one out, and I could tell by the 30 seconds I did it that it truly would be a great workout.

While we were climbing in the car to head home, the trunk full of cabbages, onions, and Green peppers (Poppy was making homemade coleslaw today) Mom ran back into the wilds of the market. We thought she was grabbing a last refill of the coffee (she has a crush on the guy that sells her her coffee each Saturday morning), but instead, she came back with a hula hoop for me! Oh boy. Now I have to hula hoop, I thought.

So, just now, Baby A was playing in her jumparoo, and so I thought I'd try out my new exersize equipment. I hooped for 30 minutes, and I feel as if I had been whipped with steel around my midsection. It sure is a great workout! I was amazed. and it was easy! and I coudl watch TV without having to turn up the volume to make it over the noise of the equipment! I didn't have to watch a stupid video of alreadly thin people wearing leotards and high tops doing the exersizes! Awesome.

Lookout.....next summer, I'll have abs of steel, all thanks to the hula hoop! :)

Break out the Banners, Beat the Drums!

....and don't forget the 76 trombones, and the monkey on a unicycle!

Baby A started to crawl this week, and she popped her first tooth!

Needless to say, we've been busy here on the ranch. The garden is also giving us tons of crops, and Farmer is in the middle of the haying season #3. AND....I go back to work on Tuesday! But most importantly....Baby A.

It happened seriously in the blink of an eye. We were playing in the family room, tossing toys out of her basket (favorite activity EVAH) and suddenly I turn around to see her rocking back and forth on all fours! THEN....she took two "steps", reached the toy she wanted, and sat back down, looking extremely proud of herself. That's about all she can move at the moment...she tends to get stuck on all fours and then slides down onto her belly, but sometimes she gets some forward movement. It's a start, especially I thought she'd never move and be the girl going to prom on her boyfriend's hip, because that's how she likes to move. This activity prompted a boatload of phone calls and pictures taken.

Then, on Tuesday, Farmer was eating lunch, and Baby A was sitting next to him in the high chair. He was chatting with her, and suddenly he told me to come check something out....he stuck his finger in her mouth and felt the little jagged edges of a toothie! Again, phone calls and e-mails galore. Grammy and Poppy were very excited. It's not fully out yet, but you can see it when she laughs. This also causes a copius amount of drooling....Farmer and I are fully soaked through after a cuddle and wrestling session.

But all this movement has promped Grammy to break into action. She's now all about babyproofing her house, and ours. Yesterday consisted of Grammy, Poppy, and I hiding cords and plugging up empty sockets with protectors. Poppy's doing the same thing today at their house. Everyone in the family has been strongly prompted to buy baby gates, including my sister and brother. She's been to each of their homes exactly twice, so i'm not sure they are directly necessary, but Grammy doesn't seem to get that. However, we are all determined that Baby A will be winning the gold medal in 50 meter dash at 2024 olympics...look out world, she's on the move!

Will this be Baby A someday, winning it all???

Back To School Jitters

Last night we attended a Social Studies Department grill out at a coworkers home. My department is made up of 6 men and 3 women, and everyone besides me is a coach of some kind. While they are great teachers, they are COACHES in every sense of the word. Meetings have been spent replaying games, group outings revolve around sporting events, etc. They all love their sports.



Last night was fun. We chatted, had a drink, ate....and then we moved out back to play swing ball and beanbags. And then they started talking about the fall sports. And I realized....I don't fit in here anymore. My one non-coaching comrade moved away, so I have nothing to contribute. True, I did coach cheerleading (and turned the squad around in very short time) but they saw that as a joke....not a TRUE sport. Some still tease me about that, and i haven't coached in 3 years. And so I realized that I'm all by myself. I have aquaintances at work, but no real FRIENDS. That made me feel very lonely, and also made me realize that I am going to have to work to be seen as an equal. My teaching credentials aren't going to cut it anymore within my department. I may eat by myself. I might be lonely at work. I could be the old Sesame Street snippet, "One of these things are not like the other". It's kind of a scary feeling to have to go out and make friends at 29 years old.



So, I feel like 1st graders do....Will I make friends back at school? Will the other kids like me? Will I fit in with the in-crowd? It's an unsettling feeling, but one I'll have to get over.



*****************



But I'm not all doom and gloom. I received the Brillante Weblog Primo 2008 award from my real life and bloggy friend Green Girl, which I was quite pleased to see, especially since I'm new to the bloggy community and I know she reads many other blogs each day taht are better and funnier and more thought provoking than mine. :) Thanks for the honor Green Girl!

Also, tomorrow night is Dinner and a Movie night with my cousins. On tap: the Ground Round restaurant, and then the early show of Mamma Mia! I'm looking forward to the evening, because my cousins are great fun to be around....lots of belly laughs in my future!

AND......tonight is the Women's Gymnastics All Around competition in the olympics! I've been sucked in big time to the Olympics this time around. It's just so exciting to watch!!!! I wanted to be a gymnast when I was a kid (no chance, since my thighs and hips have been big since 3rd grade) so watching these young girls flip around amazes me.

So, tonight will be spent cuddling my Baby A, drinking a Diet Mt. Dew, and enjoying some quality TV! I don't have too many cuddle nights left with Baby A since work begins in 1.5 weeks. Better enjoy them while I can!!!!

Sleepover Time!

My bro-in-law and wife won chachi Box Seats to tonight's Packer game at the church picnic, and so I volunteered to babysit their three kids. THe kids are always awesome, and they have been wanting to do this for a long time, so it was a date.

THey make me hope that Baby A and any other kids we have are that great. They are just so much fun! We went out for ice cream, played games in the front yard, watered the flowers and the new grass, and checked out the garden. R, the boy who's 5 and loves the farm, kept commenting on how my "crops" were doing. He loves my garden. The girls do awesome with Baby A, and she just loves them. They helped with dishes, helped with Baby A's bath, and were just all around great. Now, I know they were on best behavior, but still! awesome.

I also introduced them to the olympics tonight. Their reactions were awesome. While watching the swimming events, the girls (8 and 9) were commenting that the female swimmers, with their bodysuits, goggles, and amazing muscles, looked alot like the male swimmers. I had to giggle. R, the boy, loved the gymnastics. He had to show me his summersault because the Chinese gymnasts were ending their tumbling passes with summersaults. He believes he's ready for 2016. Watch for him.....he'll be the kid with the Wisconsin Farmer's Tan. :)

But even though the kids were great and helpful and only here since 4:30 pm, I'm beat. I thought that just Baby A was difficult....props to all multi-children moms!!!!!

Five Years of Bliss!

So, yesterday was our Anniversary. I had a wonderful day telling Farmer what we were doing exactly 5 years ago that moment. By 10:00 pm (Grand March Started!) he said he was going to bed. We spent our day at a local zoo, because Baby A likes animals. She loved the badger and the prairie dogs. Lots of laughing.


But our wedding day was marvelous. Because of the cows, we had the longest wedding imaginable. Our nuptial mass was at 12 Noon, and dinner wasn't until 6:30 pm. That's a LONG time during the day.

Grammy and I had been planning my wedding day forever...we joked that all we needed to fill the picture was a Groom. :) When our day finally showed up, it was amazing.

The weather was beautiful. 85 degrees and not a cloud to be seen. The church was filled with people and everything in the mass was perfect. My brother played the piano at communion, and he played Somewhere in Time, the theme music from an 80's Christopher Reeve movie set at Mackinac Island. This was important, because we were going to Mackinac Island for our honeymoon. This is just an example of the minute details I incorporated into our wedding. I was THE BRIDE, and it would only be that way. However, everyone involved said I DID NOT become a Bridezilla, and are still assuring me of this today.

But the best part of the day was the middle reception. My maternal family side always has a little informal party between mass and reception to fill the dead time. It always involves Sweedish Meatballs, ham roll ups, and a polka band. But our party was the best. Grammy and Poppy spent the entire summer relandscaping their flower beds to match the wedding flowers. (details!!!!!!) This was of their own accord, I didn't care about the landscaping. We had 3 huge tents in the front yard (Think Kennedy/Kennebunkport wedding) and the polka band was under one, with a dance floor, the beer was under another, and one just for relaxing under. the Garage was full of food. People danced the afternoon away. My mom sang Tiny Bubbles with the band (another wedding tradition), and the neighbors from teh back showed up, because they were having a party and could hear our party....so why not join up!

We then went to our reception hall and socialized and ate chicken. My cake was custom made by my aunt, a baker, and our card box was a country western themed wedding cake that Mom and I made....Farmer and I met at a huge Country music festival, so we incorporated that stuff in there as well. The dance was awesome....the floor was filled all night long. My dress was perfect....a strapless number with at least 20 layers of floof for a skirt. It was so big I had to wiggle through normal sized doorways. I looked like I was floating all night. Awesome.

It was the best day. People still talk about my wedding. I'm not joking. :) I loved being The Bride so much that when it was time for Farmer and I to be whisked away to the hotel for the wedding night, I started to SOB. I did not want to leave, and kept wailing that I still wanted to be the bride. I obviously didn't realize that someday I would no longer be the most important person ever. :) I cried all the way to the hotel, and for at least a 1/2 hour after we arrived. Farmer thought he might have just made the biggest mistake ever. :) My two best friends (bridesmaids) finally just gave Farmer my shoes and purse, gave me a hug, and pushed us out the door.

But Five Years have passed, and I still would not change a THING about my day. (notice, MY. Farmer was just along for the ride). But it's been a great five years. New Farm, New Baby, New Job.....we have an awesome thing going! :)

A few pictures...

The Men (yes, a huge wedding party) The three kneeling are Farmer's brothers, and my brother is standing with the curly hair. Farmer's in white tie.

THE DRESS!!! (and Poppy)

My Favorite Picture. Note the white sunglasses on bride.....Another super important detail!!! :) This is Farmer's car...1966 Impala. He bought it the weekend we started dating and finished fixing it up the month before we married. It's his other wife. He got it as a junk heap, and made it very pretty!!! :) We had to have red bridesmaids dresses so they wouldn't clash with the car. :)

Busy Days and Random Thoughts

Whew, it's been busy around here! This weekend was the extended family reunion...Sports theme. My immediate family wore Badger clothes, and looked like we were waiting for the 5th quarter to start any minute. My brother and fiancee are both Badger Graduates, so they were decked out from sunglasses to flipflops. I didn't know U of Wisconsin made that much stuff. Who knew? But it was a great party. We played alot of fun games and had TONS of food. Baby A and I also slept over at Grammy's on Saturday night so that we didn't have to drive 45 minutes at the butt crack of dawn to church.

Farmer wins the Best Gift Ever award. For my big birthday, he got me a new laptop for grad school. I've been wanting a laptop for a long time, and they were on sale, so he went for it. I'm in love with it, and adore the fact that Farmer can be watching TV and I can be sitting next to him on the couch doing my homework. Whoever invented these things should get a reward. I don't know if I'll ever use our desktop again. :)

Last week, we had an ant infestation in my kitchen cupboards. Farmer and I scrubbed out cupboards and threw out all open food, and then bug bombed the attic where they were coming from. They still kept coming. This made everyone slightly grossed out, but none more so than Grammy, the lady who's perfume is Lemon Pledge. Grammy decided that we needed to CLEAN my house. She came down yesterday and Monday and CLEANED. I hate to clean. But I went along with it and so my kitchen has been debugged and disinfected, and Grammy Approved. I seriously need a non-Pledge day.

Today, my cousin is bringing her two boys down to visit the farm. We are going to hang out with the calves and kitties, and hopefully get a ride on the tractors. This weekend we are going to be going to the NEW Zoo for our anniversary. Baby A loves animals, so we thought that could be a fun day. We are also going up north on Friday. Great days coming up!

Birthday Princess

Yes, today is my big day. It's my birthday. So, in honor of my birthday, I thought I"d throw out 10 random things about me (thanks for the idea, Green Girl!)

*If given the choice, I'd rather watch a NASCAR race instead of any other sport. I could honestly care less about the Packers, unless we are at a party where there's munchies to eat. This could be considered a sin, since I grew up in Green Bay and could see Lambeau field (aka: Heaven) at a distance from my parent's back window.

*I'm terribly afraid of the dark. I imagine all kinds of scary creatures in the dark, even if I'm just running up the stairs to our room after turning out the living room lights before bed. I seriously RUN.

*I knew I had to marry Farmer when I noticed that he always carries a cloth handkerchief. My dad always has one too, so when I saw that, my heart belonged to Farmer.

*If I could do any profession in the world, I'd be a caterer or chef. Someone who people book years in advance to make their fancy foods for parties, and I'd have a show on the Food Network. Look out Rachel Ray!

*A goal in life: Dance with John Travolta. Yes, he has weird hair, but I have a massive crush on him.

*I'm in LOVE with Will Smith. I mean LUV. He ranks right up there with Bon Jovi.

*I hate eating nuts. HATE THEM. the only thing I like is peanut butter. I even opt out of them on top of a sundae. I'll even stop eating Chex Mix if there are nuts in them. That's big.

*My favorite animal is a Pig. I want one and I'll name it Wilbur and we won't butcher him ever. We'll just let him get old and die naturally. I also want a pug dog named Gomez and a goat. I don't have a name for the goat yet. Farmer says that I can get a pig when we move to the farm. But he'll have to be butchered in the Fall. The discussion is still going on about that.

*I named my daughter after the persona I took on while working at Heritage Hill State Park during college. Farmer doesn't know this....I think he'd be creeped out. My character, who lived at Ft. Howard in the 1830's for real and was married to a Lt. there, was also named A. She's buried in Ft. Howard cemetary in Green Bay. I visited her grave when I was working there. I find it neat that I took on the persona of a real person who walked in the buildings that I worked in. Super cool. If anyone knows Farmer, don't tell him this. It's too late to change it anyway! :)

*When I was little, I wanted to be a doctor in the Army. I got the idea from watching M*A*S*H* when I was a kid. I thought their job looked cool. Go figure......

So, that's that. I know there are a few people out there lurking around my blog (Welcome, NavyGirl's family! :) ) so I thought I'd throw a few oddball facts about me. Who doesn't like to know random stuff????

*****

In other birthday news, the DQ cake was AWESOME. super tasty. I'd recommend it to anyone. NavyGirl slept over last night and we stayed up until 1:30 am. That's super late for us...we fell just short of doing each other's hair and playing Truth or Dare. My family also came over last night for cake and presents. I got some wonderful gifts from everyone. It was a nice party. Today my nieces and nephew are coming over this afternoon for more cake. AND.....perch plate tonight for supper! it will be a great day all around.

It's a great day

Today is a big day on two fronts. First, I had a hair appointment this morning to get it colored. I've been coloring my hair since 7th grade, and I have no clue what color is the real color anymore. For all I know, I could be totally gray.

For the last few years I've been going more towards red....I love red hair, and not being blessed with it naturally, I let my stylist make me into a red head. But I decided this morning to change things up a bit. I went blond. Not Dolly Parton blond, but close to surfer girl streaky blond. I like it, but it is a change. I've caught glimpses in the mirror a few times, and was like, Whoa. But it's growing on me. I'm adventurous when it comes to hair, much to the astonishment of my sister in law. I figure it will either grow back or can be recolored. It's easily changed....so just go with it.

In other news, I ordered my birthday cake today. I turn 29 on Friday, and my folks are coming for cake on Thursday night. I found out that the local DQ makes blizzard cakes, so I got a custom ordered Snickers with Chocolate Ice Cream BlizzardCake with Happy Birthday written on it, with Pink and Blue flowers. I'm pumped about it.

The only bad thing about today is that the Muggies are definitely in town on vacation. We had a weather man on a local station that used to say that the Muggy family was around when the weather got sticky. My family kept up the story. So Baby A and I have been hanging out in the basement.

Maybe Farmer will take us out for Root Beer Floats tonight if we look hot and sweaty enough.......It's a hope! :)

OOOOOOOHHHH!!!!! CUTIE!!!!!!!

Oh my goodness, this quiz is so funny...

http://www.blogthings.com/whosyour80shunkquiz/

My 80's hunk is Kirk Cameron.

This is a big deal, because when I was young girl, I had this huge poster of Kirk Cameron hanging above my bed. It was even bigger than my poster of New kids on the Block. I believe I got it out of a special issue of Tiger Beat that was all about Kirk.

Scarily, I still find him cute. 20years later.

Finding out that Kirk is my true 80's hunk is the best thing that happened to me today. I can go to sleep happy.

Who's your 80's hunk?????

You may be right....

I may be crazy.

Last night I enrolled in another Graduate School program. This time, it's to obtain my Masters in History. It's a totally online program through a university in Virginia, and I'm doing the European History strand. Farmer and I discussed it, and it just comes down to the fact that I just love to go to school and learn. And, I want to teach at the college level, and I need a masters in my field in order to even get my nose in teh door, to be a lecturer.

But seriously.....I don't have time for this! I know this in the back of my mind, but I just can't wait any longer to study history. I'm not doing any extracurriculars at my high school, and I don't work on the farm during the school year (and barely during the summer), so I will just make time. Thankfully Baby A goes to bed nice and early, so I'll have my evenings to work. Grammy also said she'd help me out with the house and Baby A (she's always looking for a sleepover opportunity) if I get in a pinch and assignments are due.

But besides my time panic, I'm SO EXCITED. Baby A and I did the Excited Polka last night when I was done with the enrollment process. I LOVED college life at UWO, and if I had the choice, I would have just kept going and getting degree after degree. I guess I'm already doing that, just without the dorm life, which I also loved.

So, another new adventure in life. My first class starts on September 1, so I have time to get my virtual backpack packed and sharpen my new #2 pencils. School starts in just over a month!

Woohoo!!!!!

Fair Update!!

Yesterday the dish towels were judged. Surprisingly, I placed 2nd. Not too shabby, considering the competition. But you should have seen the 1st place winners. My towels curled up in shame compared to the amazing stitching on them. I'll get a picture of them tonight (yes, 3rd night in a row at the fair....just call me a carnie) and post it up here.

Farmer and I also went to the concert last night. He was able to go in the end, due to a whole bunch of stuff working in my favor and not in his. :) Neal McCoy was great, as always, but we were disappointed in Joe Nichols. He did ALOT of talking. So much so that people were leaving before the show was over. He did sing my favorite (and theme) song, Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, but in the line "Those pantyhose won't last too long, when the DJ puts Bon Jovi on," which is why it is my theme song (combination Tequila {shot of choice} and Bon Jovi), he didn't use Bon Jovi, he used Bocephus (Hank Jr) instead! Again, I was robbed. There I was, dancing like a fool to the song, singing along, and then BOCEPHUS is said! I stopped mid hip shimmy and threw my arms up in the air. I think Farmer wanted to crawl under the seat. :)

That lovely show was provided by 3 potent Jack Daniels coolers, in Berry flavor. It's stronger than a wine cooler and beer, and very tasty. They normally cause spontaneous dancing when they meet me. Darn you, Jack Daniels.

I should also tell you I was wearing my ten gallon white cowboy hat, with stiletto sandals. What a vision of cowgirl/citygirl loveliness.

But since Baby A is still at her sleep over, it's time to clean the house. Grrrr. Mowing the lawn and cleaning the house in one day is too much maintenance work for me. :)

I was Robbed!!!!!

So, last night was the judging at the Cow County Fair. Baby A and I got there plenty early to drop off my goods and chew our nails in nervous excitement. Just kidding. Baby A and I went for a walk around the grounds and I introduced her to sheep, goats, and pigs. She loved the sheep, because I think she thought they were talking back to her (there was baaa-ing and squealing all over) but she sadly wasn't a fan of the pigs. She kept looking at me with a "What the H*ll???" look on her face. We also went through the cow barn, but she was thinking "Yawn. I see these at home."

But then, after an hour of random wandering of the fair grounds (and a hot dog -no bun - later), we got seats for the judging. Here are the results:

Bran Muffins: 1st
Sugar Cookies: 1st
Rye Bread: 2nd (judge said it was too dry and not dark enough....whatever. A matter of taste)
Zuchinni: 2nd place (too big....too big????? WTF!)
Green Beans: 2nd place (too many big seeds in the pod. He didn't know green beans)

AND........

Chocolate Chip Cookies: NO PLACE.

WHAAAAAAT?

I'm known for my cookies. They are awesome. I have special secrets that make them turn out every time. People LOVE my cookies. Last year I took first place. And this year I didn't even place. AND IT WAS THE SAME JUDGE!!!!! I could hardly believe it.

The judge was super skinny....I bet she never eats cookies so she doesn't know a good one when she meets it. I, on the other hand.........

As you can tell, I don't lose well. :) I'm a sore loser. When I go out to do something, (besides dieting) I WANT TO WIN!!!!! Judge, you can shove it up your chocolate chip cookie!

Ok, enough angry rambling. I'm better. :) Today my dish towels are judged, but after seeing the competition, I'm pretty sure I didn't do well. One lady entered dishtowels for every day, and every MONTH in the same batch! Holy stitching. That's 19 towels!!!!! I entered 4 in my batch, and thought I was an overachiever. Oh well.

But overall, I enjoyed myself last night. Tonight is the concert, but I don't think Farmer will be able to go with me afterall. Between his brother's back going out, the hay being ready to pick up, and the normal milking to get done, he doesn't think he can go. This happens sometimes, so I'm not overly surprised....but I am a bit disappointed. Oh well.

I'm already planning for next year's fair.....molasses cookies? Learn to make white bread? Pie?
The possibilities are endless............