It has officially been 2011 for 26 days now. And I'm sure all (like, two) of you are wondering how my resolutions are going. Well, they're going pretty darn well. I go to the Y five days a week now (three running and two water zumba). I've lost five pounds already. :) As for the cooking thing, I don't know about healthier cooking, but I have been cooking more and eating better proportions. I have been making healthier food choices, adding more fruits and veggies (this month's Healthy Habit) to my choices. And I definitely drink more water. The money thing is still needing some work. But without so much eating out, I think it's starting to get there. As for the cleaning thing, well, it started off well. I was even making my bed EVERY day! Haha. But that's kind of gone by the way side. But I'll get back on it.


School has been going pretty well. My students are showing slow maturing, but at least it's a small step. I have done really well staying on top of my grading though. Which is a huuuuge load off.


On a final note, I hope everybody is Remembering the 10.

"A cowboy never lets his hat touch the ground, unless he his bucked off his horse or he is deeply grieved."

We will ALWAYS remember. January 27, 2001.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2011 is finally upon us. I was writing a check for my bills today, and it was really hard to remember to put 2011 instead of 2010! With the new year come the New Years resolutions. Yes, everybody declares their resolutions for the year, but how many actually go through with it? I, for one, have probably never succeeded in going through with my resolutions.

Until now. I'm going to make 2011 the Year of Change for me. I will finally get off my lazy butt and make the changes that I've been saying for years now I was going to make. I've already got a manageable plan and I am going to stick with it. The resoluations are as follows:

1. Along with probably 90% of America, my first resolution is to lose weight. The difference? I'm actually going to do it. I'm not setting a number goal to reach, because those just seem pointless to me. My goal is just to get to the point where I feel good about myself and look healthy.

2. Exercise. This seems like it would be part of #1, but I'm considering it separately. I'd like to get into a regular exercise schedule and start taking part in 5K's and half marathons. I'm hoping by next year, I'll be able to do the OKC half marathon again.

3. Eat healthy. Again, sounds like it should be part of #1. But again, I'm counting it separately. I'd like to start out cooking one healthy meal a week. Hopefully that will become more as I get into a good routine. We eat out a lot, so healthier choices at restaurants are a must.

4. Save money. I know, I know, I'm almost 24, you'd think I'd already be on this. But sadly, I haven't been. I've decided there are several things I can cut back on so I can save some money. (Although, with the Nook I got for Christmas, this may be easier said than done. :)) I'm working on it. Budgeting, cutting back, all that.

5. Cleaning. Again, I know, I'm almost 24, and I can't keep my room clean? I admit, it's a little on the sad side. But 2011 is my Year of Change, remember? There's no time like the present to nix all those bad habits.

These are just the big, big ones. Of course, with all these come all the little ones, but I don't need to go into all of those. I've done a lot of reading up on all my exercising and eating healthy and I think I know how to do it right this time so I can be successful. So, here's hoping I can keep with it.

Happy New Year!

Oh, how I love thee, Fall Break!

Two little words that make every teacher's day when brought up in October: Fall. Break.

Fall break = Three days of absolute bliss, where there is no school, no students, no alarm going off at 6 a.m., no papers to grade (well, that's not entirely true...), nada. Three days where I can sit back, relax, and do things for me.

Too bad my to-do list is about a mile long. *sigh* Clean the house, do laundry, put away laundry, school things (I know, right? It's fall break. I must be crazy for thinking about school.), packing, brainstorming for my Halloween, costume, the list goes on. My cleaning list alone is prety long. The house has been neglected pretty badly recently, due to crazy busy-ness at school. Maybe I'll finally get around to hanging things up in my bedroom, also. I mean, I've only lived in this house for two months now. It's about time. I probably should've have started working on this list when I got up, but I just can't bring myself to get up out of my recliner and get to work. I haven't even put my contacts in yet. My motivation is really lacking today. I just want to relax on my break. I'll get around. Eventually.

I've also decided that I'm going to start my knitting again. I decided a while ago that I was going to knit scarves for my other team teachers for Christmas, and I figure if I have any chance at getting them finished, I should probably start now. So, I'm going to dig out my knitting needles and get to work. I'm sure you're thinking, "But what about your quilt?" Well, it's still there. Sitting in my sewing tub. And I'll get back to it eventually. But I'm not on a deadline for that, and I need to get these scarves done for Christmas. But one of these days, I promise I will get back to the sewing machine.

Back to fall break. The roommate and I are finally returning to Stillwater! This weekend is OSU's Homecoming (the biggest Homecoming the nation!) and we are so excited. We haven't been back to Stillwater since this summer, so this trip is long overdue. We're heading out Thursday to spend a long weekend with our fellow OSU fans. We're hoping to come home with another W on the schedule, especially since it's Homecoming, and we're playing a higher ranked team. And we're currently undefeated. Let's keep that goose egg on the right where it belongs. I sure do love those Cowboys.

I'm also pulling for another W for the Yankees. They're behind in the series right now with the Rangers and it makes me really sad. They need to get on that, put the Rangers away, and make an appearance in the World Series again. And preferably win it, like last year. I have faith in them.

Well, my to-do list is sitting here, staring me in the face. I'm running out of time before I leave, so I guess I better get on that.

Whooooooa.

I feel like life has taken off without me, and I'm barely hanging on! As soon as I mark off one or two things from my list, I feel like I add about five more. The other day, after a particularly rough day at school, I came home and just sat in silence for like fifteen minutes. No tv, no dogs, no Facebook. Just. Silence. I sat in my chair and stared off into space, enjoying the peace. It was glorious.

I think I need a vacation. How far away is fall break? Oh yeah. Eleven days. Because I'm counting down.

This is my life for the next 11 days: School (of course), grades = report cards = parent/teacher conferences, cleaning my room because I can't take it anymore, getting caught up on school projects (there's that darn to-do list again, will I ever get rid of it??), weekend trip to Lubbock (which means a long day on Friday, getting everything ready for school on Monday, because, let's be real, after spending my weekend in Lubbock, there's no way I'm gonna make it to the school on Sunday to get things ready), and most importantly, sleep. Does that leave any time for the enjoyable things in my life, like breaking out my sewing machine, because it's been forEVER? Nope. I feel like I've neglected my poor quilt. And it makes me sad.

On another note, this week is Homecoming. Monday was Crazy Hair Day and I rocked this sweet high, side ponytail. I'm talking full-on 80's awesome-ness here. But apparently, it wasn't crazy, according to my kids. Because, let's be real, I must wear my hair like this often, right? Oh dear. Tuesday was Twin Day, and the other 6th North teachers and I ROOOOOCKED it! We all dressed up as hippies, and it. was. epic. Once there is a picture on the website, I'll copy and post it on here. Wednesday was Pajama Day, thank goodness. And today was Favorite Team Day. I wore my OSU jersey and Pistol Pete earrings, of course. Even my panties were OSU, thanks to Victoria Secret's collegiate collection. But I didn't share that with anybody. Tomorrow is Tiger Day, duh.

**Side note: Lee DeWyze just came on my iTunes, and I must say... I love him. He can come sing to me every nite.**

This might be one of the most random blogs I've ever written. I like it.

Not entirely sure why I'm still up this late, but I should probably head to bed. 105 twelve year olds await me tomorrow. Oh boy.

Ho. Ly. Smokes.

School has taken over my life! I spend 8+ hours a day actually at the school, five days a week. I spend time every nite grading or researching at my house. And I spend a few hours every Sunday at the school, getting caught up and getting ready for the week. That doesn't leave much time for anything besides winding down/destressing from the day and then sleeping. Needless to say, I have not sewn on my quilt since.... well, since before I moved.

Yes, I said moved. The roommie and I moved into a house! It's so cute! I'll get around to posting pictures one of these days. I can't express how much I love living in a house and not an apartment now! It's awesome.

So, this is short and sweet, because, surprise surprise, I have papers to grade. (This is what happens when you take home at least 100 papers a nite.) But, I will leave you with this....

In what little free time I did have this weekend, I went to Amarillo and bought me some FiveFingers. And I'm already in love. :)

Except mine are all black. And they are awesome.

So, at the moment, school and getting ready to move is occupying most of my time. Let's start with school...



My kids are preeeeeetty darn cool. I have a lot of ornery boys, but it'll be ok. I usually like the ornery ones. In total, I will see approximately 105 kids a day. Yes, I said "a day." I've got the names of my homeroom kids down, but I'm still working on the other 80 kids' names. But I'm getting there. I started a 26-week writing project this week. Sounds crazy, I know, but it follows the letters of the alphabet. That's why it's so long. Anyways, I read a couple of the kids' A entries, and some of them are so good! I think we're gonna end up with some really good "alphabiographies." Life is good in sixth grade. I have fewer lessons to plan and more time to do it. I am really looking forward to it all.

As for moving.... we've been waiting to move for about a month now. The house we're moving into is being remodeled, and we've been waiting for it to be finished. We've spent a considerable amount of time doing some painting there. We have to be out of our apartment by Tuesday, which means everything moved out, apartment deep cleaned, and checked out with the landlord. Soooo, we're going to be packing and moving a lot this weekend. Which means a lot of my free time in the upcoming weeks will be spent unpacking and settling in, as well as keeping up with school and going to the Y. Which, I'm going to start doing every day, along with one of the fifth grade teachers from my school, starting in September.

It's going to be interesting!!

Row one? CHECK!

The stripes may have been a bad idea for my first project, because it's really hard to keep them straight. But, all in all, it looks pretty good! Here's hoping the rest of it goes just as well!