Bulletin Board 2010

Wow! It's been 3 weeks since I blogged. This is a combination of a few things: being busy, being lazy, and feeling like I have nothing very exciting to write about. Today is a snow day from school and it's currently 2:40pm and I am still in my pajamas. Love days like this!

Here is the bulletin board we will be looking at this year. I posted last year's pictures here as well. I love seeing the changes in our friends and their children from year to hear and I love looking at all the bright shining faces all year long. Click on the picture and it will enlarge for you. Let me know if you see yourself on here!

The space at the bottom of the board is reserved for our grocery list, Wal-Mart list, coupons, etc.

We have a fun-filled weekend coming up. Friday night, we have Blues tickets and since we bought them from B2's school, I antitipate that many local people will be there and be sitting near us, which is always fun. Saturday night, Bruce and I have a double-date with some good friends. We plan to spend the evening on the Landing in St. Louis. First up: gambling at Lumiere Place. Then dinner at Jake's Steaks (yummo!), and finally the piano bar there called the Big Bang. I am excited! On Sunday, we are going to take the girls to Dave & Buster's again to celebrate Valentine's Day and their great 2nd quarter report cards (all A's for both of them this time!). If you read my blog regularly, you are probably tired of hearing about Dave & Buster's. But our kids (and us too!) really enjoy it there and it seems to always be the destination of choice when celebrating. There is no school on Monday because of President's Day so we won't have to worry about getting home early either. Great weekend ahead!

ARF Concert and Stripes

Sunday night, Bruce and I went to Tony LaRussa's ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation) concert on the campus of St. Louis University. This was a first for us.....we had never been to this benefit concert before. He ordered tickets for it back in December when we found out that his favorite, Dierks Bentley, would be the headliner. Little did I know then that some of the other performers would be awesome too!

The show started at 6:30pm with a band called the Lovehammers. They are a Chicago (boo!)-based alternative rock band and honestly, I didn't enjoy their music very much at all. But you know, you go to a concert and you know you are going to love a certain act in the show, so you sit there and tolerate the others. This is what I figured would happen until we heard Dierks, or until I looked at the program.

Next up: David Nail, a native Missourian. He mixed a bit of country with a little pop, etc. He was enjoyable and come to find out, his sister and niece were sitting in our row. We figured this out when he sent a tribute out to his 5-year old niece who was seeing him perform for the first time that night and the sister reacted by bursting out in tears!

The next performer was Jonathan Cain and his 16-year old daughter Madison. Jonathan was a member of Journey. So, after Madison (who is very talented) sang about 3 songs, she and her brother (who had been playing drums) left the stage and Jonathan remained at the piano. He did a medley of Journey songs which I absolutely loved! I graduated from elementary school in 1982, high school in 1986, and college in 1990. So I was definitely a child of the 80's and Journey was HUGE then! That was a trip down memory lane!

We then had intermission and Bruce went out to get us some nachos. Texting was actually encouraged during this concert because one of the sponsors was AT&T! LOL! So I called the girls to check on them and then texted some people to let them know where I was and what I was doing. I asked one of my students who loves Dierks Bentley if she wanted me to call her when he was on and let her hear a song. She did! We also looked around while the lights were up for "stars" in the crowd. There were several current and former Cardinal baseball players there (this concert is held every year in conjunction with Cardinal Winter Warm-Up) including Mark McGwire. Tony LaRussa mentioned a lot of names of people and when he said Mark's name, everyone gave a huge cheer, which was kind of a sigh of relief given the news about him this past week.

The next performer was Dennis DeYoung from Styx fame. Wow! This guy is 62 years old and has white hair. But man, can he still perform! His voice sounds great, he can play the keyboard wonderfully, and he has a great sense of humor. He was a true entertainer, not just a musician. He and 5 musicians are going to be at the St. Louis Family arena on Feb. 12. If we didn't already have Blues hockey tickets that night, I might think about going to that show now that I have seen what he can do. He, of course, sang some of the old Styx songs that I love and again......memory lane!

Then it was time for Kathleen Madigan, a comedian. She was hilarious. She was kind of like the girl next door, only really funny! We laughed a lot at her.

Dierks then came out and performed with another guitarist and a banjo player. He did not have his full band and the 3 of them sat on stools on the stage. It wasn't quite the energy-filled Dierks we are used to seeing. But it was very nice. He sang about 6 songs, joked with the crowd, and wished someone a happy birthday. He got done playing and it was like 10:15! Time flew by.

We really enjoyed the show and will probably try to go back next year.


Yesterday, on my day off, I got some stripes put on my Honda Pilot. It is over 8 months old now and doesn't have 2000 miles on it yet! :-) I chose red because of Triad and the Cardinals. I think it looks pretty darn good and it really wasn't all that expensive.

Goodbye Airman Bradley Smith

Yesterday, my daughters and I took part in saying goodbye to one of my former students who died defending our country. Senior Airman Bradley Smith from Troy, IL died from the result of a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on January 3. He left behind a wife and a 3 month old daughter as well as his parents, brother, and many many other family members and friends. You can read an article about him here.

I had Brad in geometry class when he was a sophomore at Triad High School. He graduated in 2004 and honestly, the Class of 2004 has been one of my favorite classes to come through THS in my 11 years there. I remember him as being fun-loving and getting along with just about everyone. He had a great personality and liked to joke with me and other students. He was always smiling. It seemed like it would take a lot to get Brad down. One time when I did see him down was when he met me at the top of the stairs one Monday morning (3/17/03 to be exact) to give me the sad news of another man who had passed away. The man who had died had been a classmate of mine during my school years and was a friend of Brad's through church. Brad knew that I would want to know about this man's passing and he especially met me that morning to give me this news. Brad was a great kid.

The Triad School District is composed of students who live in one of three towns. Most of these students live in Troy, as Troy is about 10 times larger than either of the other two towns. Our three towns, however, are tied together by the school system. Because of that, the other two smaller towns, as well as Brad's hometown of Troy, came out in support of his homecoming yesterday. These pictures were taken while B1, B2, and I stood with other people from our small town and watched the processional pass by.

Firefighters and the emergency truck


B1 and B2 waiting.....


Other folks waiting.....


Coming across the bridge.....


and down the road.


Some of the other vehicles in the procession




Bradley


This is what living in a small town is all about. We honor each other and help each other during occasions such as these. Last night, on our way to St. Louis, my family and I drove through Troy. The American flags still lined the roads and on many of the business signs in town, messages were written about Brad or his family. It is very sad and touching, yet really makes me feel proud to be an American and proud to say that I knew him. I will continue to pray for his soul and for his family.

There was an article in this morning's newspaper which can be read here. Ths article talks not only about Brad, but about the processional yesterday afternoon.

There is also a video which I believe one of the local firemen put together. It is about 12 minutes long and very moving. Click below to watch; it's worth your time.
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Goodbye, Brad. You will be missed. Thank you for what you did for all of us.

Sweet Sweet Days

A snow day has got to be one of best perks of being a teacher. Usually, you have some idea that it is coming. Districts located close by start showing up on the bottom of your TV screen with the word "closed" next to them and your adrenalin starts to race! Students begin texting you, asking if we are off yet. Heck, I don't know - they usually know before me! People start posting on Facebook that this district and that district are off. My kids start doing the "snow dance." I keep looking outside up at the street light to see just how hard the snow (or ice) is coming down. I honestly think the build-up to finally KNOWING that you are off for sure is just so much fun!

Now don't get me wrong; I love my job. I really do.

When someone chooses to go to college, major in education, student teach, and finally acquire a teaching position all their own, it is pretty much given that they are going to have at least 10 weeks off sometime between May and August. We also get a nice Winter vacation and usually a few days off around Easter time. We also get bank/post office holidays. It's not a bad gig, really. Like I pointed out to someone today, however, if you are a GOOD teacher, you do just about as much work at home as what you do at school. And that's what "other" people often don't understand. But that's another story.

It's the days like yesterday and today that are so so sweet! When you think you are going to have to work and then poof! you don't - wow, that is AWESOME! It's like giving yourself 8 hours of nothing specific to do! When else does that ever happen? Shutting off the alarm and rolling back over after an early wake-up call announcing school is cancelled is one of the best feelings in the world for me. Knowing about it the night before is great too because you can stay up waaaayyy too late and do whatever! LOL!

Happy Snow Day everyone!

Relaxxxxxxing Break!

This Christmas break has been one of the more relaxing ones I can remember during my years of teaching. I think that there were several different things that attributed to it:

* I made sure my school work was caught up BEFORE the break began. I worked hard to make this happen but because of it, I have not had to do ANYTHING for school while I have been off. I haven't even had a little thought in the back of my head saying "you really should be doing this" or "you should spend some time doing that." How nice!

* Most everything was bought and wrapped prior to my first day off.

* We host Christmas Eve for Bruce's side of the family. My first day off was Dec. 23. I therefore had this entire day to spend preparing some of the dishes I served on Dec. 24. The girls helped me too. Also, before everyone left on the 24th, they pitched in to clean up (dishes, putting chairs away, etc.). That was a big help!

* Besides Santa gifts on Christmas morning, we had only ONE other place to go on 12/25. This is a first for us and it was WONDERFUL! We completely relaxed after opening gifts! Bruce did make breakfast, but (like I said in a previous post) from 10am - noon, he and I both took a nap in our couch recliners!

* We spent one night at the Ameristar Hotel and casino. There was a teeny tiny bit of stress involved there because we kept this a secret from the girls and I had to pack for them without them knowing. We snuck their bags into the back of the van. But once we were there, all I had to do was read magazines, swim in the pool, sit in the hot tub, enjoy the suite we had for a room, eat, and gamble. And winning $125 at the blackjack table didn't hurt either!

* This one is HUGE: The girls did not have any basketball (that's 3 teams total) practice OR games over break. Neither of them had pitching lessons (this is a twice-a-week activity; those coaches need time off too!). Sunday School was on break for 2 Sundays. B2 was supposed to go to gymnastics on 12/28 but that was the night we were at Ameristar, so we skipped it. Usually, we are running to these places Sunday - Thursday (yep, 5 days of the week!) but we had NOTHING during break! I love my kids and their activities but this time off from them truly helped make the break into somewhat of a "vacation."

* Although it seemed that I fixed a lot of dishes, we didn't eat many meals at home. One of the ones we did have at home was prepared by B1 and B2 using a cookbook they purchased with some of their Christmas money. Here are the things they made:

Main course: Chicken and Dumplings


Side: Chicken Quesidillas


Side: Fruit smoothies made with bananas, strawberries, and blueberries


Dessert: Cinnamon bears


Honestly, they did a fantastic job! Everything tasted really good. I was impressed with all of it, but especially the bears because they had to use yeast and let it rise, then punch it back, and let it rise again! Little chefs I have on my hands here! They were missing a vegtable in the meal, but at least we had some fruit in the smoothies! LOL!


* Bruce is good about helping take down the Christmas decorations, especially those outside. I am the main "putter upper" but he takes charge in getting it down and put away. He is also very good about taking ornaments off the tree and putting them back in their boxes, as well as fitting as many little ornament boxes into one big rubbermaind container as he can!

* New Year's Eve was planned a long time ago with people I knew are reliable and would definitely not have a change of plans at the last minute.

* We rented movies a couple times - once from the Red Box and once from a video store. We NEVER do that otherwise. At the video store, the sales person was trying to talk us into purchasing some deal where you rent a certain # of movies, collect points, get a certain # of movies free, etc. We declined because as I told Bruce, come Monday, life goes "back to normal" and we will most likely not be renting any movies until summer!

* We didn't have to go back to school right away on Jan. 2. I see this happening in a couple years when Jan. 1 falls on a Sunday. I can remember in the past having to go back on Jan. 2. Not fun!

That's about it for now. Monday, it's back to reality! Happy New Year to all of you!

Our Christmas

Here is a glimpse of our Christmas. It was wonderful this year. I think part of that had to do with the fact that we didn't have to run around like crazy people on Christmas Day. We didn't leave the house until 3:15pm and I took a nap in the recliner from about 10am - noon! After dinner, we went to a movie too (a tradition started in 2007).....

Here is a cookie plate that B1 put together for me of the 8 different kinds of cookies we made. Isn't it pretty?


This was my 2nd year to make the dressing for my mom's house. I made it on Dec. 24 and she then baked it on the 25th. This year, it turned out better than last. I think that is because I salt and peppered it a couple more times. It was really good. I asked my Grandma Philipine for a little help every once in awhile. I looked up and asked her to make sure I was "doing it right."


B1 and B2 on Christmas Eve standing in our kitchen. See B2's shirt? LOL!


B1 and her cousin Lea, who is 2 months old. B1 will be a fantastic mother someday; she loves children, especially babies!


Christmas morning by our tree upstairs.....


Shinza and her gifts! It was funny on Christmas Eve.....Bruce's brother Dennis had to go outside to smoke every so often and whenever he did, he took Shinza along with him. It got to be where she sort of followed him around, wanting to go "smoke"! LOL!


One of their "big" gifts.....new Blues jerseys and 8th row tickets for an upcoming game! Whoo-hoo!


The 4 of us at my parents' house on Dec. 25. I like this picture!


The 4 of us plus my parents, brother, and Rusty on Dec. 26 just before opening gifts.


In the weeks before Christmas each year, my dad loves to tease the girls and says things to them like "I didn't see any gifts for you at our house" or "I told Grandma not to buy you so much this year" or "I think you might be getting one small gift and maybe an orange". Anayway.....B1 thought it would be funny to wrap up an apple for my dad. So here he is with it!

Thirteen

Today is B1's 13th birthday. 13. My baby is a teenager. Wow. I remember the moment she was born. I expected to look at her and for her to be all red, wrinkled, covered with that white "stuff," and well, you know, look like a typical newborn. But she didn't look that way at all. She was beautiful. I seriously remember the first thought that came into my head was "awwwwww......she's pretty!" She wasn't covered in that "gunk" at all, she was only wet, as if she had been dunked in water.

One of the first things my dad checked out was her ears. Were they close to her head or sticking out? He declared they were close to her head and that was good! Kind of funny!

This is a picture of her opening a few presents this morning. It was about 6:10am, so it was dark outside.


She was born at 10:33am and today, my 4th hour class began at 10:30. While I was taking roll and sending my attendance report on the computer, I watched the computer clock and composed an e-mail to B1, which I sent as soon as my computer said "10:33." That way, tonight when she read it, the time would be her exact birth time. Thirteen years ago, when she was born, her father made sure to set the TV in the delivery room to ESPN's Sportscenter. Ha ha!

This is a picture of her while opening the remainder of her presents tonight. She got a new Triad hoodie, Triad sweat pants, a Carrie Underwood CD, 5 books, an Aeropostale bag to use for her school books, and some make-up. My parents gave her a hair straightener, a figurine, and cash.


We will celebrate with a few of her friends on Saturday night with a trip to Dave & Buster's and a sleepover.

I love you, B1 and I wish you sooooo many more Happy Birthdays! Thanks for helping to make my life perfect!

Our CMA Experience - Part III

So we got into the Sonnet Center and right away checked out the souvenir stand. I was disappointed. They had a few different T-shirts but only one sweatshirt/hoodie. The hoodie was a dark green color and only said CMA in small print on the upper left chest. It wasn’t something I was excited about so I opted not to purchase one. Everyone got a free souvenir program, which was like a thick magazine and pretty neat! We found our way to our seats by 6:30pm. They were announcing some of the awards that don’t get shown on TV (they announce them on TV, just don’t show people accepting them) and our very own Cornbread Morning Show from WIL 92.3FM in St. Louis won an award for large markets. Very cool! Bruce and B1 went out to get some dinner at the concession stand. I thought it was funny that we were at this “fancy” award show, yet the choice of food/drink was the same as if you were at a hockey or baseball game! Pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, soda, beer, etc.! Kind of weird!

At 7:00pm, the show began. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley were the hosts. Sometimes, when I watch the CMA’s on TV at home, I just wish they would get to the awards sooner and leave some of the other stuff out. But since we were actually there, I LOVED seeing all of it! The large stage was being worked from 2 sides. On one side a singer or group would perform. While that was happening, on the other side, there was a wall which was about 8 feet tall that rose and lowered. Behind this wall, when it was down, there were lots of people working like little ants to get the next act ready to perform. The hosts would stand right in the middle of these 2 areas and while they were talking and the cameras were on them, the people at home could only see them and the area directly behind them, which was right in between the 2 performing areas. I watched the screen a lot to see exactly what I would be seeing if I was at home watching on TV. Darius Rucker performed from the side of the arena too on a little runway type of stage and Taylor Swift sang her second song while seated on a stool in the very back of the arena, surrounded by teenage girls sitting on the floor around her. We heard a lot of good music that night. And since then, whenever I hear a song that we heard live that night, it makes me think about what a nice time we had. So many good songs………! Of course for B1, the highlight of the night was when Taylor Swift was named Entertainer of the Year. I was a tinge bummed because I LOVE Kenny Chesney, but he’s had his fair share. (By the way, Kenny has announced only a couple of dates next year when he will be performing and get this…..one of them in on MY BIRTHDAY! How perfect would that be? It’s in Baton Route, LA. Hmmmm……).

After the show, we walked back to the red carpet area where many of the stars were leaving right away. We could hear people yelling out names as they saw some of the performers leaving. We stayed there only about 10 minutes and then opted to get on the road. Getting on the interstate was easy and as it turned out, we stayed at the exact same hotel again that night in Paducah! We were even in the same room! I made it to work the following day in plenty of time for my parent/teacher conferences.

It was a great 42 hours!

Our CMA Experience - Part II

We got up the following day at 7:00am, left the room by 8:00, went thru McDonald's drive-thru for breakfast, and were on our way. Bruce was driving and the GPS system was in place. Nashville, here we come. All the country radio stations were talking about the CMA's that night. They were all playing music from artists who were nominated. It was great! We first drove straight to the Grand Ole Opry and Opry Mills Mall. We wanted to look in the gift shop at the Grand Ole Opry but only ended up purchasing something for my mother-in-law for Christmas. Then we went to the mall and wondered if we would really be able to walk the whole thing because it looks HUGE from the outside. We parked at Dave & Buster's and went in through their entrance. We didn't stop in there at that time but continued on and began checking out the stores in the mall. We are actually pretty quick shoppers. If a store doesn't look appealing to us, we don't go in. Shoe stores look appealing to B1 and me, sports stores to Bruce, and a handful of other stores to all of us. Anyway, about 1/3 of the way through, I noticed a little stand in the middle of the walkway called "Gigi's Cupcakes." Basically they were gourmet cupcakes in many different flavors with a LOT of icing on them. All 3 of us are suckers for icing. B1 and I bought one, intending to share it. Before we walked away from the stand, we had purchased 2. We each gave Bruce a small bite of ours and he declared that he needed one as well! Funny. But they were really good!

OK, so we did actually finish walking around the entire loop of the mall and it didn’t take all that long, maybe 1.5 hours. We ended up in Dave & Buster’s and ate a nice meal there as well as playing some games. We then headed to downtown Nashville. I think by now it was about 3:00pm. We found a good place to park for $10.00 which was only about 2-3 blocks away from the Sonnet Center, where the award show was to be held. Our plan was to just casually walk around downtown Nashville, looking for some souvenir stands or shops. We walked towards the Sonnet Center and noticed a big crowd of people hovering around outside. There was also a tent set up. I asked Bruce what was going on and he said he was sure it was the red carpet area. Cool! So we walked up, stretched our necks, and saw what we could see. People were already pretty deep as many had been there since about noon. B1 and I decided it would be cool to stay and watch people arrive. We had heard a few big names who had supposedly already arrived. I don’t know what they would be doing there so early?!? But anyway, Bruce wanted to walk around and I wanted to stay at the red carpet. B1 was torn. She went with him for a little while but then came back to stand with me. We really didn’t see much. You knew when people arrived because the crowd went a little crazy. But then again, there were television crews there and they were telling the crowd to whoop and holler for the cameras.

The red carpet area was big. I mean the part we didn’t even see was big. We could see a long white tent where, after the stars got dropped off (most of the time by a limo driver), they went into. There was a car parked just outside the tent that the stars were signing as they got dropped off. They ended up giving this car away for some type of charity I believe. We moved around from place to place to try to get a better view of things. It was neat just to people watch. At this point of the day, we were all dressed in jeans, warm shirts, and jackets. Many of the people, however, were dressed for the show already. Some of those women had to be cold! Sleeveless and sometimes even strapless dresses were popular. Guys wore anything from jeans to tuxedos. Hair, make-up, and jewelry were definitely paid attention to while preparing to go to the show!

Around 5:45pm, B1 and I decided we needed to go back to our van and get ready for the show. We weren’t sure where we were going to change and as it came down to it, we just changed in the van, with one of us holding a blanket up to shield the other. Rednecks are we! We had both purchased a new pair of shoes (of course) earlier in the day for the big event. She wore black pants, a colorful short-sleeved shirt, and her new shoes. She had also straightened her hair that morning. I also wore black pants, new shoes, and a red and black long-sleeved dressy top. Bruce opted to remain in his jeans! We tried not to claim him! LOL.

Our CMA Experience - Part I

I am trying to compose a post about our CMA trip earlier this month. The post is getting to be a bit long, so I've decided to split it up into parts. Here is the first:

Bruce, B1, and I attended the CMA Award Ceremony on 11/11/09. Attending an award show is something I've always wanted to do (a "bucket list" entry, if you will) and back in September, when the nominations came out and I realized the show was going to be on a day we had off school, my mind began turning. I then realized that the following day (11/12) was a day I didn't have to be at school until 12:00 noon because I had parent/teacher conferences until 8:00 that night. So that gave me an extra 4 hours to work with. This all came together in my head in about 10 seconds and I then said to Bruce "let's go!" He said "really?" And the following day, he was on the net trying to get tickets, which of course he did.

We left on the evening of 11/10 around 6:30pm. I drove that entire evening. We stopped in Okawville to get dinner in a DQ drive-thru and then quickly stopped at a convenient store to get some sunflower seeds (my favorite snack to eat while driving). B1 was my navigator in the passenger seat while Bruce sat in the back and did some schoolwork, sudoku puzzles, etc. It was dark and we were listening to music on whatever country radio stations we could find. We were having a good time. We stopped at a rest area which I hadn't remembered seeing in the past so we could go potty, throw away some trash, and get a drink. Back on the road.....Bruce decided to sleep and B1 and I were chatting away. Pretty soon, we come to the river that you cross over to go into the next state. As we approached the middle of the bridge, I looked up and saw a sign that said "Missouri state line." What? Missouri? That's not right. We're supposed to be entering Kentucky. Huh? For a second, I seriously thought maybe the highway department had made a mistake here. Now Bruce is waking up because B1 and I are confused and he hears us talking. Next thing we see is a sign that says "Welcome to Missouri." Yep, we were totally in the wrong place. Gees.

I remember seeing the sign that said "I-24 to Nashville.....2 miles." I don't remember seeing anything else about I-24. I knew that in that part of Illinois (about 50 miles from the southern border), some interstate ends and another begins. But the deal is that if you are traveling NORTH, then I-24 ends. If you are traveling SOUTH, it begins. But I-57 keeps going too…..into Missouri! I assumed the interstate we were on ended and I-24 began and I was just fine; there was no other option; we were on the right road. Wrong. So now we get out the GPS (which I, a self-proclaimed map aficionado, certainly didn't think I would need because we have made this drive (to Florida and other parts of Tennessee) many times). I was hoping it would give us a route to take to cut across part of Missouri and put us back on I-24 in northern Kentucky. No such luck. It said that the shortest way to go would be to go back 52 miles and get on the right interstate. Oh great. So that's 104 miles round trip and if you drive 70 mph, it's basically 1.5 hours wasted. Bruce wasn't real happy. I wasn't either really but I kind of thought it was funny. I wish I could have a picture of the look on my face when I saw the Missouri state line. What the?????? I guess this explains why I didn’t remember that particular rest area from previous trips and why some of the towns we passed didn’t sound familiar to me at all!

And on second thought, I should have pulled out the real map (the paper one!) and checked because the following day when I did so, I did see a road we may have been able to take to cut us across over to where we needed to be (after I made the mistake). Live and learn I guess. If you have a GPS, use it.....even if you don't think you need to!

OK, so we only made it as far as Paducah, KY that night. By that time, both Bruce and B1 were sleeping and I was getting tired. It was almost 11:30. I made an executive decision on my own to get off the interstate and drive to a hotel. Bruce woke up and questioned my decision but I stood firm and told him that we were all tired and it would be good to sleep and just get up a bit earlier the following day. So we stayed at an Econolodge for $64 and it was clean and fine.

More Crazy Scheduling!

It's been 2 weeks again, and things aren't going to get any better. Here's why:

11/3: Chaperone fan bus to Springfield, IL for 3pm Super-sectional soccer game, which we won in OT!

11/5: Take dog to doctor at 4pm (she has been squealing loudly in pain when we try to pick her up, not normal), then take B2 to basketball workout at 6pm in Edwardsville, sit in the school and do my own schoolwork during her workout since I have no errands to run at any stores right now.

11/6: Chaperone charter fan bus to Naperville for State soccer semi-final. Leave at 7am and probably get back about 10pm. Preparing for a sub can sometimes be a lot of work!

11/8: Girls sing in church, pitching lessons at 4pm, take B1 to basketball workout thing in Belleville (because Bruce has a Khoury League meeting) from 6-7:30. While she is there, run errands in the strip mall across the street.

11/9: Take B2 to gymnastics from 5-6 and then basketball practice from 6-8, get dinner somewhere in there.

11/10: Taking personal day from school to go on B2's field trip to the Magic House and Spaghetti Factory. As soon as Bruce gets home from basketball, leave to head to Nashville (me, him, and B1).

11/11: Arrive in Nashville sometime in the morning, spend the day "stalking" the stars and attend the CMA Awards that night, then drive a couple hours towards home.

11/12: Finish driving home and be at school by 12:00 for parent/teacher conferences until 8pm.

11/13: Parent/teacher conferences during the regular school day hours, after school, go ASAP to Carlyle for a weekend of scrapbooking! Michelle and I are renting a hotel room for 2 nights and we are gonna try to get a lot done. It's a big gathering in a large-size conference center adjacent to the hotel!

11/14: Leave scrapbooking for B2's basketball game in Highland at 4pm, return to scrapbooking.

11/15: More scrapbooking until late afternoon, then home to beging another week.

So I guess I will be back sometime after 11/15 with another post!

This Week's Schedule:

Monday: School until 4:00, picked up B1 and B2, took B1 home, left immediately to take B2 to gymnastics in O'Fallon, ran errands while she was there, picked up quick dinners for both of us to eat in the car, picked her up at 6:00, rushed her back to town for basketball practice which started at 6:00, then headed to the middle school where B1 was watching the first girls basketball game of the season, brought her home after the game (about 7:30) and finally did some stuff around the house

Tuesday: School until 4:15 (this day was an easy one).....picked up the girls, came home and fixed dinner, made cookie dough for later this week, watched The Biggest Loser beginning at 7:30, stayed up until about 11:00 doing school stuff and partially preparing tonight's dinner.

Wednesday (today): School until 4:15, picked up the girls, heard about how my mom's blood work is now indicating a problem with her kidneys, came home to a crock pot supper which was just OK (new recipe), sorted laundry, currently working on washing about 5 loads, will do as much school work as I can before bed.

Tomorrow: School until 4:15ish, pick up the girls, Bruce won't be home because he has parent/teacher conferences until 8:00pm, get some dinner for the 3 of us, run B1 to a basketball workout thing in Edwardsville (we want to try to keep her involved so she doesn't "lose" too much for next year' tryouts), while she is there B2 and I will go to Shop n Save and get a huge list of groceries, come home and put groceries away.

Friday: School until 4:00ish, pick up the girls, come home and eat something, then head back to Triad for the last football game of the regular season (Senior night), after we come home we plan to bake cut-out cookies (yes, LATE Friday night, but I can't find another time when all 3 of us can do it together!).

Saturday: get up in the morning and decorate cookies, spend a good part of the day at my grandmother (not deceased) and step-grandfather (deceased)'s auction, find some time to make 2 dishes for the trivia night we are doing on Saturday night, take B1 to a Halloween party and then head to trivia to be there by 5:30pm. After trivia, maybe go to the Halloween party where B1 will be for the "adult" side of the party.

Sunday: probably going to skip church (went the last 2 Sundays though), get B1 to Triad to work at the craft fair by 11:30, go to B2's first basketball game of the season which starts at 12:00, go work the craft fair myself at 2:30, girls have pitching lessons at 4 (I am not going), and then B1 has another basketball thing in Belleville beginning at 6:00.

Monday: Start all over again.

And then, you know, there's the checking homework, making lunches, helping study for tests, yada, yada, yada.....

So yeah, that's why I haven't blogged much lately.

Sports Disappointment

B1 did not make the middle school basketball team. I cannot elaborate on this because I may get myself into trouble. Enough said.

This week is exam week at school - the end of the 1st quarter. It's a stressful week for the students but a pretty easy week for me.

Bruce and the girls spent a good part of yesterday at the St. Louis Blues practice. Afterwards, they stayed to get autographs. Bruce used to do this when he was young and sometimes I went with him. It was always a fun time! I think he is very happy that he has 2 daughters who are showing an interest in Blues hockey. They seem to be more "into" it than Cardinal baseball. Speaking of Cardinal baseball, we were at the game on Saturday. We saw them get swept and eliminated from the 2009 postseason. Sigh. Bruce was ready to leave after the 6th inning but I wouldn't let us leave. It was cold, we were shivering with gloves on, but I wanted to stay until the end. We fly with them and we die with them I told him. Maybe next year will be better. At least we still ended higher than the Cubs!

Happenings.....

Things going on with us.....

* B1 is almost done with basketball tryouts. Tomorrow, after tryouts are over, each girl is going to get an envelope to take with them. Inside will be a piece of paper that will either say "sorry, try again next year" or "see you tomorrow at practice." Just love the suspense.....

* B2 can finally do a backhandspring (is that ALL one word?)! She's been taking gymnastics lessons for several years now so I think it's about time she gets this. Let's hope she keeps moving forward, learning new things.

* Bruce is coaching B2's basketball team. They are going to play in the same league as B1 did last year and the games start SOON. They only began practicing last week and only have 7 girls on the team. This ought to be interesting.

* I am just about done wrapping up the first quarter at school. It doesn't actually end until Oct. 20, but I have my exams, my exam reviews, and my final tests and quizzes of the quarter all made. I can actually now begin working on next quarter. That feels pretty good!

* The Cardinals begin their quest tonight for another World Championship. I've heard that the "critics" say it will be a Cardinal/Yankee World Series. That would be pretty cool, especially if we beat them! We have tickets to go to the game on Saturday and I am excited to watch Game 1 later tonight!

* This week is homecoming spirit week at school. I dressed up as the nerd again today, like I did last year. And once again, I got several laughs out loud from random people. I actually think I looked better this year than last year because this year, in addition to a belt, I also wore suspenders and I buttoned my shirt all the way up. One of my female students told me that I can pull the nerd thing off "way too easily"! I think that was a cut-down, not a compliment. Oh well!

* One of my favorite students, Theo, was nominated to the Homecoming Court. I think those who voted for him made an excellent choice. He is such a good guy! I also blogged about him here, here, and here.

* I have been craving taco soup for a week or more now so tonight I made some. It is super-easy and soooo yummy! It hit the spot!

I guess that's about it for now. More another time.....

B1 - TMS Softball 2009

Here are some pictures of B1 playing softball this season. The season is over and their final record was 12-2. They outscored their opponents by a total score of 151-38! The season sure seemed to fly by once we got started.

Baserunning at 1st.....


Playing 3rd.....


Bunting.....


Pitching.....




And a picture of Bruce umpiring. He actually umped a few of B1's games this year, but never behind the plate.....just in case she pitched, like the was doing on this day!


They actually have not had a team picture taken yet! That is scheduled for like 10 days from now. I will also take a picture of her that day in her uniform, posing for me. I forgot to do that during the regular season!

Home, Kenny, Softball, Basketball, Cardinals, CMA

So here it is, one week after my last post. Is this how often I am going to be able to update my blog these days? Probably. I guess that's OK though.....life is just really busy. It is Sunday afternoon and Bruce and I are home alone. The girls left with my parents before we got home to go to a family party. And having the house to ourselves all afternoon is really nice! We are both getting a lot done while watching football in the meantime (not that I really care about football, I only do the pool at my school to give me something to do on Sundays while Bruce roots for his fantasy players).

We went to Kenny Chesney's last show of 2009 last night in Indianapolis. He performed at Lucas Oil Stadium.....home of the Colts. The place was full with over 50,000 people. The show started at 4pm with the Zac Brown Band. Then it was Miranda Lambert, then Montgomery Gentry, then Sugarland (who, by the way, I really like these days), and finally Kenny started playing at 9:05pm. This is my 2nd Kenny show this summer (the first being back in May in Kansas City.....he didn't come to St. Louis this year). He began this summer's shows by basically swinging around above the audience on some kind of harness thing and sings the first song while up there. Very neat. Then he is placed onto the runway part of his stage and goes nonstop for at least 2 hours (last night it was 2 hrs 15 mins). He doesn't change clothes and doesn't pause once.....it's constant entertainment! I love his music. His songs hit home with me like no one else's do. I think that's why I love him so much. I don't particularly think he's cute. He does have a nice body, but it's the music that has me hooked.....the lyrics.

Anyway, it was announced earlier this week that Kenny plans to take 2010 off to relax. I guess he deserves that. He has been touring very heavily for the past several years. I will certainly miss seeing him somewhere next summer though. But last night, knowing that is was his last show for some time, he did his encore set longer than usual. Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland came out and sang just a little with him. Then Miranda Lambert came out and did the same, as well as Zac Brown. Some of Kenny's band members sang with him too. I can't remember which song he chose to sing last, but whatever it was, he couldn't get the words out. He cried. Bruce and I both took turns looking through the binoculars at the big screen picture of him and yes, tears were streaming down his cheeks. The band was crying too. I just got done reading online about his decision to take next year off and he promises that he WILL be back. Whew! I guess that just knowing you aren't going to be back for awhile is hard when you have toured at the pace he has. I will miss him next summer and I am thankful that we were at the last show of this summer.

In other stuff......tomorrow is B1's last 7th grade softball game. Didn't that fly by fast? Wow. I will post some pictures of her playing TMS softball later this week or next weekend. Basketball tryouts begin on October 5. My nerves will be up again during that time, hoping she makes the team. I guess we will worry about our children forever, huh?!?

The Cardinals' magic number is 4! Whoo-hoo! We have tickets for the last game of the season on October 4. They haven't been playing the greatest this past week but hopefully the post-season will be good. And.....they are on the verge of sweeping the Cubs if they can win tonight, so that is ALWAYS good! LOL

Lastly, for those of you who didn't already read this on Facebook.....exciting news! This week, Bruce was able to get tickets for himself, me, and B1 to go to the CMA Awards in Nashville, TN on Nov. 11! Yes! Attending an awards show like this is one of the things on my mental "bucket list." Check! I am very excited about this. Nov. 11 is a Wednesday and we are all off of school that day. I don't have to be at school until noon the following day because we have parent/teacher conferences that day, and B1 is off that day altogether. Considering the awards show is in the middle of the week, it couldn't have worked out much more perfectly than that! We are going to probably leave after school (or hopefully after B1's basketball practice) on Tuesday the 10th (B2 will stay with my parents; she is too young to attend). We may drive all the way to Nashville that night but I doubt it. We will probably stay somewhere an hour or 2 away. Then on the night of the 11th, we will drive an hour or 2 towards home after the show so that I will get to work on time the next day. We are all very excited about this and looking forward to it! We hope to go to the "Red Carpet" outside the show before so we can see the stars entering the building. I guess we will need to dress up too!

Have a great week!

Last of the Florida Pics

Here is Bruce with Patrick's daughter, L. She is 18 months old and at the restaurant that night, she kept coming back to Bruce because he kept giving her french fries!

This was the sweet car that we rented while there. I don't even remember what kind it was, but we enjoyed it!

This picture is blurry, which I hate, but it is Patrick and LeAnne at their house after the birthday party. Patrick is opening his gifts.

Bruce and Patrick

Some Things I Cooked Today

I went by myself tonight to see the movie "Julie and Julia." Bruce didn't want to see it and I knew the girls wouldn't like it so I had an evening to myself and it was really nice!

Anyway, since I am in a "foodie" sort of mood, I thought I would post some pictures of some things I made today. We were supposed to have a family reunion gathering (a Sunday before Labor Day tradition) but it was cancelled due to the weather forecast. I decided to make my dishes anyway and just eat them here at home.

First up: little Caprese breads. I don't know the technical term for them but I saw this recipe over the summer on the Food Network and decided to try it. This is the 3rd time I have made these and they are so wonderful! French bread, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, tomatos, and basil. YUMMY!


This basil (unlike the dry in the previous picture) came from a plant on my front porch. I needed to use it in another dish which actually didn't turn out very well, so I ditched it. But the basil smelled wonderful! My plant's leaves are getting rather small now and I think I've about gotten out of it what I am going to. I just love fresh basil!


Here is a dip I had planned to take to the party. The recipe says it can also be used to stuff celery. This will keep in my fridge for awhile. We are invited to another party next Sunday, so I think I will take this there!


These were our steaks for supper. Last night, after we found out the party was cancelled, I went to the freezer and pulled these out. They are ribeyes which I marinated in a packaged seasoning for several hours. Later, after I drained that seasoning off and the steaks were wet, I then rubbed them with a recipe mixture I got from Katie. My dad makes wonderful steaks on the grill. I have to say though, these were some of the best that we have ever prepared at our house! Very tasty!

Finally An Update!

OK.....life has been pretty busy between school, B1's softball games and practice, and keeping up with everyday things. The softball team is now 8-2 with both losses coming this week. We did beat Highland again though, so that was good! THS's football team is 2-0 to start the season, defeating Collinsville tonight 42-20. My classes at school are going well. I have managed to stay somewhat ahead in my planning, just like I like. On any given day, I have plans made for about 2 weeks out. I would like to get that to 3 weeks. Then I would feel comfortable. But things are going well.

Here are some more pictures from our July trip to Florida. These are the end of the Disney pictures.

Bruce and Me in Chefs de France in the France pavillion at Epcot. This dinner was really good!


This was our view of Disney's Hollywood Studios from our hotel room at the Dolphin. I zoomed in but the Tower of Terror was RIGHT THERE! You can also see Mickey's sorcerer's hat and the Chinese Theatre.


This was my snack on the night we were at Epcot. I purchased it in the Norway pavillion. I can't remember the exact name of it but it was good!


OK, these next 3 were also taken from our hotel room window. The other hotel across the way was the Swan. It was a really nice place to stay.




These were our sandwiches from "Earl of Sandwich" at Downtown Disney. We ate these before we left Disney World and drove to Tampa. Bruce's was some sort of roast beef (and no, for those of you who know him, that IS NOT mustard.....it's some sort of cheese).


Mine was a caprese sandwich. It was wonderful! I came home and attempted to re-create it at home, and I didn't do too bad of a job! YUM!


These little dudes? All over the place in Florida!


That's a Mickey Mouse shaped bush behind Bruce. It's hard to tell from the picture. And to the left behind him.....that's the World of Disney store. You can find ANYTHING in there!

Champions!

OK, so B1's 7th grade softball team won a tournament today! Yay! Their season began on Thursday with a 4-0 win against Edwardsville Liberty. Then last night they played Highland in the first game of this tournament and beat them 10-0. And today, we beat O'Fallon Fulton 18-0 and Mascoutah 24-4. Whoo-hoo! Here are a few pics of the champions. In the bottom 2 pictures, B1 is in the back row, next to the coach.





Now that school has started, my posts are probably going to be a bit fewer. Next time, I'll try to post some more pics from Florida.