A Week of Firsts

So this week has been a week of firsts in our household.  We spent the weekend at a friend's house in Plano.  The girls had a great time and barely wanted to stop playing to eat or sleep.  D spent the night with the other big girls upstairs.  This was the first of our firsts.  She has NEVER slept over at someone's house without us and if we are there, she sleeps in our room or in an adjoining room.  At first it was a little difficult as she wanted to talk and play, but soon her exhaustion won out.

D also chewed bubble gum for the first time!  At 3.5 years old, I didn't think I was ready for her to chew gum, but she got it down quickly and threw it away when it tasted "yucky".  Since it was just a little gumball, it didn't take long for it to lose it's flavor.

Little L learned a new word this week.  She now says, "Up" and holds up her arms to be picked up.  She is very excited when you actually pick her up that she waves her little arms and laughs.

My first has been starting to freezer cook.  I was going to make chicken taco meat last night, but I ended up with a migraine that put me to bed early.  So, husband (who does the cooking usually) ended up making the taco meat.  We had enough for dinner tonight, dinner tomorrow night, and we froze two batches!  That is a lot of chicken taco meat!!  Tonight, I made a double batch of tomato basil soup.  We are getting a cold front tonight, so the idea of soup sounds good to me.  I placed the entire batch into the freezer ready to be thawed.

Now, due to space, freezer containers, time, and amateur, I didn't spend one full day or half day cooking for the entire month.  We are just starting out and hoping to make it through the week with the first steps in place for freezer cooking.  Next week, I will try to add even more recipes.

Sassy Pants!

Today someone at work told me that I looked sassy!  She, being sassy herself in a fun way, meant it as a compliment.  She said that she liked my outfit and that I looked sassy in it.  I felt great!!  What an ego boost?  I wasn't wearing anything too special, but I felt cute.  The 3/4 sleeved brown shirt, brown/black/and white patterned skirt (with pockets!), brown leggings (it was cold this morning!), and brown fake Uggs made me feel trendy and fun.  Then, the compliment had me gliding through the rest of the day on cloud nine.  Sometimes the little compliments mean the most!

Technology Tuesday

I am a computer teacher and have been for the past six months or so.  Before this job, I have taught fourth grade and kindergarten in public school.  This new job is at a small private school that only has about two classes per grade level.  I teach Kindergarten through 8th grade, and truly love my job.

You are probably thinking that today I am going to talk about something technology wise, a website I found, a tip, something.  But no, that is not where I am going today. (Though, thought to self: maybe that could be a regular blog update)  Today I am going to talk about how technology went array today.

The day in my lab started off pretty normally.  The 8th graders came in and worked.  I had a class come in and do some research for their social studies class.  Everything was going so well.  Then, my first official class was starting and that is when everything came to a standstill.  The technology stopped working.  The computer network went down, so I couldn't get my class on the Internet, the monitoring software wasn't recognizing the computers, some computers couldn't log in, etc. 

I called the IT person, who told me that they were having "major problems", and I had a class full of middle school students!  Later, I was told that they were having problems with everything from Internet to thermostats.  I punted, which is all a computer teacher with limited working computers can do.

Manic Monday!

The fact that the blog is titled "Manic Monday" and I am finally getting around to writing today (Sunday) should give you a hint at how my week has gone.  On Monday, Husband and the girls were off of school for MLK Day.  I had a staff development day.  I got to work at 8, even though it didn't start until 9, because I had yearbook stuff I wanted to work on.  The staff development ended at 1:00, but my day did not.  Two of my students came up to school to work on the yearbook with me, because Monday was the deadline.  The three of us worked, and worked, and worked.  We were up at school until almost 6 PM!

As I am driving home, I am feeling drained.  This was such a long, exhausting day and I hadn't even gotten home yet.  I called husband on the way home, and he said don't worry that things would work out.  He was so right!!!  When I walked in the door at a quarter to seven (I work about 45 minutes from my house), I walked into both girls being bathed and D had already eaten!!!  I got to come home, get changed, and just love on the girls.  Husband had even made our dinner!!  Since I left before the girls woke up and got home right before bedtime, I was needing girl time.  I fed Little L and put D to sleep (after reading about 5 books). 

After dinner, I fell in a heap onto the couch, barely able to move.  I am truly thankful for the man that I had married.

Anxiety Attack...

I have had my dog for almost 12 years.  When I got her, she was a 6 month old puppy who had never walked on a leash, wasn't potty trained, etc.  It was just the two of us for a while and she is very attached to me.  She sleeps at the foot of the bed on my side of the bed.  She follows me from room to room. 

The dog, however, has some huge anxieties.  When we ride in the car, she sits in the passenger seat (even if someone else is sitting there).  The dog has some carsick issues and we have had to give her anti-anxiety pills for long car rides.  When the dog gets nervous, she has accidents on the floor and chews things.  We have lost numerous throw pillows, blankets, and comforters to the dog's anxiety.

So, it comes to this.  We have decided to start kenneling our dog again.  I kenneled her when she was a puppy, but it only increased her anxiety issues.  So, we pulled out a kennel that my mother-in-law left us.  It is made from a heavy duty cloth with mesh windows on all sides so the dog can see out. 

When husband came home from work, the dog greeted him at the front door.  The kennel was about 6 feet away from the location that we had placed it when we left.  Finally, there was a large hole chewed into the side of the kennel.  The dog had chewed a large hole and then squeezed her 15 pound body through the hole.  We imagine that she struggled to get out of the hole, and that is why the kennel was relocated across the room. 

There was food, water, a blanket, and a dog toy all in the kennel with her.  Apparently, they weren't as comforting as the couch.  Next time, we use a plastic kennel.

Spoiled, From Birth to Now

I have been spoiled all of my life.  I was the only daughter sandwiched between two brothers, but that is not how I was spoiled.  I have known all of my life (or most of it) what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I wasn't spoiled that way either.  We were not rich, but I didn't NEED for anything, but I was not spoiled that way.  I could try anything and everything I wanted (drums, dance, soccer, etc.), but that too is not what I am talking about.  I am talking about cooking.

My mom and dad always made my meals growing up.  Once, my mom thought it would be a good life lesson to teach us all how to cook.  So, we were each assigned a night to cook dinner.  Let's just say that I only had to cook once, while my older brother found a passion.  No, I did not deliberately sabotage dinner (I think it was inedible), but I did not succeed.  My first two years in college, I had fabulous (and fattening) dorm cooking.  We ate at one dorm the most because their dining hall stayed open the latest.  It was all things fried! 

I lived in an off campus apartment and was TRULY spoiled by my roommate who made dinner for me almost every night (no really, she did!).  We shopped together and split the grocery bill, but I worked until 6 or so.  My roommate would have dinner ready for me when I walked in the door.  I tried to be thoughtful and call if I was working late.  (Thanks roomie!!!)

When I lived in my own apartment, I survived on boxed Mac and Cheese, Spaghetti, and sandwiches (and a LOT of fast food).  Who likes to cook for one?  There is a song about one being the loneliest number for a reason people!  When I married husband, I was blessed with someone who enjoyed cooking.  Okay, if he doesn't enjoy it, he doesn't dread it.  The kitchen is his space to do with and in as he pleases, just FEED me!

Well, I decided to take some baby steps into the world of cooking.  I need it to be safe and non-threatening as I am not familiar with this area of life at all.  So, I decided to pull out (and dust off) the old bread maker I got for my wedding.  I had only used prepackaged bread mixes before, so anything from scratch would be a step up.  I found a recipe online for pizza dough.  So, I made a batch last night.  I divided the batch into three evenly weighed balls (thanks husband!) and put them in the freezer.  Next, I might make sauce to go on the pizza.

Or, I can just buy a can.