Friday, October 30, 2009

Lunching, Shopping, and Chocolate Pancakes :)

Finally, finally, the long-awaited fall break arrived yesterday. I was super pumped to enjoy a Thursday and Friday off, mainly because it involved sleeping in! Have I mentioned that I LOVE to sleep? Well, I do. Unfortunately, the puppies had a different idea. Gearry spent the night at the resort on Wednesday evening due to an early Thursday morning meeting, so it was just me and dear little Bailey and Zoey woke me up to go to the bathroom at 2:30 a.m., again at 6:30 a.m., and were a bit restless until I finally relented and got up around 9:30 a.m. Sleep wasn't much better last night and this morning, as for some reason Bailey was convinced the best place to sleep was in between my legs and could not be convinced otherwise despite multiple attempts to move him, Gearry was a snoring MACHINE (worse than usual), and I'm pretty sure I tossed and turned more than I actually slept. However, I still probably got more sleep than usual and I can't really complain about that! The funny thing is that even though I'm grateful for the much-needed days off, I miss my kids! I look forward to seeing them again Monday, even though I am NOT looking forward to the planning for my reading, lit group, and Pridetime (math intervention) lessons that needs to happen before then. I could definitely be doing it now, instead of updating the blog and watching Ghost Adventures Live, but that would be far too logical and would not create enough stress for me on Sunday night ;)

Gearry is working, of course, so even though I had yesterday and today off it didn't mean getting to see him any more than usual, which bummed me out. He is a busy, busy boy, but his restaurant continues to do very well and get great reviews, so at least the hard work is paying off. There are some prices to pay for being the man in charge. Unfortunately, most of it involves precious time. I realize that I have friends and family with spouses overseas whom they must sometimes go months without seeing, and so I try to be optimistic and thankful that I do get to see my husband at least a couple times a week. I need to make sure I am taking full advantage of those moments.

Yesterday, I pretty much hung around the house all day, minus a trip to the dentist for a much-needed cleaning & check-up (3 cavities -- whoops -- means another trip to the dentist in December, darn it). Today I definitely needed to get out of the house a bit, so I was glad that I had made plans to have lunch with a few friends. Emily, Catherine, Karen, and a first-grade teacher friend of Emily and Catherine's (I'm horrible, I can't remember her name!) and I had lunch at Lennie's/Bloomington Brewing Company and then decided to head over to Columbus/Edinburgh to do some shopping. Catherine needed a nice dress for a couple upcoming weddings and the rest of us just like to shop :) I ended up doing mostly looking but came away with a couple new pairs of earrings, which is something I needed since my favorite stand-by, a pair of little pearls, broke recently. Given the weather -- windy, dreary, rainy -- shopping was a great plan for the day.

While everyone else is planning on some Halloween party fun tonight, I'm chilling here at home in anticipation of an early wake-up call and a trip right back to Columbus tomorrow morning for a 50-mile charity ride! Stebby is driving up from Louisville to meet me (she is in Louisville for a few weeks for clinicals) for what I really, really hope will be a dry and not too windy ride (the forecast keeps changing!). It is called Beer Ride, as it begins at the Power House Brewing Company in Columbus, and is a fundraiser for the Clifford Volunteer Fire Dept. After the ride, you can swap your wristband for a frosty drink :) It is a lot like the Hope Ride that we did back in September, as it is a fully-supported ride (technical assistance along the way, multiple stops with snacks, drinks, & entertainment), and I am pumped, despite the fact that I have ridden maybe, at most, 60 miles this entire month!!

Hopefully, if it is not raining, I will get some good pictures and be able to post those on here or on Facebook, with a link on here, later this weekend. Tomorrow evening, after the ride, I am heading down to Mitchell to spend the night with Mom & Dad and watch the Colts game with them on Sunday. I think they are more excited about the puppies coming to visit than me! Haha...

Oh yes, just remembered I put chocolate pancakes in the title of this post and, therefore, I should probably mention why. I made them tonight as sort of part of my dinner, sort of dessert, sort of an I-just-really-need-some-chocolate thing, and they were AWESOME. The taste of dark chocolate cake but not as sweet with the consistency of a pancake. The recipe ended up making about 8 small pancakes and I only ate two, so I put the rest in the fridge for tomorrow morning, as part of my pre-ride breakfast. Given that I burn about 600-700 calories an hour on the bike, a huge-mongous breakfast is a must! The recipe is super simple, so if you are interested let me know!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

A Quiet Saturday

With both my master's degree work and my student teaching beginning to wind down (both will be complete on Tuesday, November 24), the work that must be done before then is stacking up. I spent most of last weekend and most of today trying to catch up and/or stay ahead, depending on how you look at it, and it all feels much more manageable now. I didn't cross everything off my list, by any means, but I got a lot done, including some readings and assignments for class, updating my resume, and applying to substitute for MCCSC. I think it is safe to say I have been productive, although I always manage to finally give in to the temptation to leave a few things until Sunday night (and then usually kick myself for it). I am guessing that tomorrow night at this time I will be frantically trying to finish up those last few things, including writing a cover letter that is due for class and reviewing my lessons for the upcoming week. It is crazy to think that in a month from now I will no longer be a student and that I'll be out there trying to make my mark in the teaching world.

Other than working, I enjoyed breakfast with Gearry, went for a run, listened to the IU game (pitiful ending) on the radio, and made time for a nap (of course) with my favorite girl, Zoey:



My friend Katie (also student teaching) came over last night to make dinner (rice & bean tacos... yum!) and watch a movie (Hocus Pocus, an absolute MUST this time of the year). We were both a little pooped from long weeks at school, so it was nice to just spend Friday evening relaxing and laughing and not thinking about much. Even though teaching often leaves my brain and body feeling taxed, I do have to say that student teaching is going very well, it is certainly one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and that I feel a little more comfortable and assured with myself in my role as a teacher every day. It's all worth it.

Gearry and I finally get to spend some time together tomorrow! We're planning on lunching and watching the Colts game at Scotty's Brewhouse and then going to the theater to see "Couples Retreat."

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

A New Look...

Randomly decided to change the look of our blog tonight. I like it... it reminds me of summer. How I love green.

Now I just have to get myself to actually update it from time to time.

But not at the moment, as the thought of the 22 second graders who need me to be on my toes tomorrow is chasing me towards bed! Goodnight!

UPDATE: OK, on second thought, I don't really like it that much. It will probably change again tomorrow ;) Maybe even with a real accompanying post? You never know.