gearing up again!

It's almost back to school time! I've spent the last week in my room getting ready and will continue this week. I'm getting pretty excited about making this year better than last year. I'm sure it will be just as stressful as last year, but at least I will have a better idea of what I'm doing. There is one new principal and a lot of new teachers, as well as me being in a new room, so there will be a lot of changes to get used to. I'm ready for it! Life will be crazy and busy, but well worth it.

Another change this year will be having a vehicle. Carpooling is great and it's great for multiple reasons, but I will be very glad to be able to come and go as I please. It got a little hairy and annoying sometimes to have to leave or come at a certain time to accommodate another's schedule. I'm sure the person I carpooled with felt the same way. It will be nice to be able to stay at work and get things done instead of having to bring them home.

Here's to a great year!

Gearing up again

Well, the summer is officially winding down. I've got a week of training this week and a few other days, then school will start! I can't believe it. I'm definitely ready for something to do all day and be back at work. The days I'm not at trainings, I'll hopefully be able to get into my classroom and get stuff done. I'm scared to see what it's like and what is where. I don't really want to deal with it, but I'd rather deal with it sooner than later. If I wait, the stress will kill me! I'm not excited for the technology training this week. I've been told it's absolutely boring! I'm just ready to get it over with and hopefully get a laptop at some point. Who knows if or when that will happen, but hopefully!

We are now officially residents of Texas. We moved in a year ago yesterday. I find it hard to believe it's been that long. We finally discovered an amazing grocery store! People have talked about it, but we went for the first time. They have amazing produce, a ton of stuff in bulk, all the random things that recipes call for and you can never find, an amazing cafe, and live music on the weekends! I just can't believe we didn't go there before this last week! It's not a place I will do all of my shopping, but produce is a definite!

this and that....

Camping before the fourth was a lot of fun. I'll post pics as soon as I get them off my camera. Lots of hiking, hanging out and one pesky raccoon that ate half the stuff out of our cooler! Fredericksburg is a pretty nifty little town. There are a lot of cute little shops with fun stuff. There are also a ton of bed and breakfast places. Maybe we'll go down there at some point and stay in one. We enjoyed a nice afternoon walking around and hanging out.

THen it was back to the real world. Money is really stressing me out right now, so we're doing a lot of things at home. We haven't really gone out and done anything since we got back from camping. Hopefully next month will be a little more free. This is the first time that I've been this stressed out and freaking out. A couple of lean months won't hurt, so we'll see how it goes. I do need to get few things before school starts, but we'll see how that works out.

Hopefully life will get less stressful, but then work will start again, so that's a different type of stress. It's never ending!

the month of June

It was a very exciting month. I finished my first year of teaching, met a brand new niece, got to see a lot of family and also had a time to just relax. Right now we're going camping tomorrow through Thursday, so that will be pretty fun. I just hope it's not deathly hot or rainy. We should have a good time. Got a bunch of food and stuff for s'mores! We even got Reese's cups for them! I can't wait for s'mores!

Not much else going on around here. Still plugging away at life. I really need to do some scrapbooking. I have so many pictures to do and there are also a bunch of pictures that need to be printed. That's the only thing I don't like about digital cameras. It's such a conscious thing to get pictures printed where as with film it wasn't. Oh well. That will be a project for next weekend.... print pictures!

it's been rough

I was ready for a nice week, packing, cleaning, getting ready for summer and next year. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning, all went as planned. My room was completely packed, I was getting things ready for next year. Then it all came crashing down. I got an "oh, by the way, you're moving rooms" when the last thing was checked off my to-do list. I had to unpack my lockers and cabinets into boxes I had to buy so it could be moved to my new room. This was further complicated by the person who is there now not having anything packed or even moved to a side so I could stack things in there. I couldn't do anything yesterday as I spent all day on the road picking up a student from the school for the blind, not in my classroom. I ended up getting it all in boxes today and piling it labeled by the door. The custodians will move it this summer and I will deal with it in August. You can't give me one day to get it all done, it's just not going to happen when I was already done once.

On a happier note... I'm DONE!!! I made it through my first year! Summer has started and I know it won't all be relaxation, but I am going to enjoy going back to Indiana next week and see friends and family. It's been so crazy this week that I am ready for a break.

I haven't paid attention much to my food intake this week. To much stress and things getting in the way of the plans that I had made. That made for a bunch of not so good choices and an I don't care attitude. I'm just hoping for a minimal gain on Sunday. Take it and move on, that's my plan. Portion control is the name of the game while away since I won't have much control over the actual food that I am eating. We are taking our running stuff, so hopefully we'll actually run more days than not and fight the intake that way. I'm very excited though.

Have a great weekend!

the last week

Tomorrow starts the last week of students! They only come 4 days, so it will be a great week! I'm pretty excited to move on. I will be sad to see some of the third graders go on, but others will get a high five and a good luck.

Tomorrow's menu

4:30 - Treadmill with Gilmore Girls +3-4 AP

B: 6.5
smoothie - frozen fruit, strawberries, yogurt, oils, juice, ice

L: 5
bagel, turkey, cheese -3
pretzels - 2
carrots - 0


D:
Joe T's appetizers.... yummy mexican food, so I'm expecting to use some flexies here.

one more week!

The students have one more week left. Their last day is next Thursday. My last day officially with them is tomorrow. I got a DQ cake for about 12 of my kids. I'm hoping that they all show up so I don't have to eat the last slice, but I highly doubt that one of them will come. I'm secretly OK with that, I just don't want to figure out how many points it is. I haven't had it in so long that it is staring me in the face, but we'll see who shows up tomorrow. I'm excited to play games and relax with them tomorrow. They need to finish cleaning out their desks an buy their last prizes, but it should go well. Grades are done and I'm so ready to be done!

Two weeks until we go home! I can't wait to see everyone back in Indiana. Family, new babies, many people we haven't seen since at least last July. That's almost an entire year, if not more! So much to do, but it should be a little more relaxing than Thanksgiving. We're hoping to bring Aaron's little brother and sister back with us for a week or so, but we'll see if that happens or not.

Tomorrow:
Treadmill 30-45 min

B: 6.5
smoothie - yogurt, banana, strawberries, 2 tsp olive oil, ice, 1/2 c juice

L: 7
chili - 3
nectarine - 1
doritos - 2
WW cake - 1

Dinner: 9
1 c milk - 2
meatloaf - 3
pasta salad - 4

Total 22.5 and all HGs. 1.5 left, I'm sure that I'll eat them somewhere. Have a great day!

quick update

No menu today... too much going on! I'm crawling into bed and getting ready for the last few days of school. I've got two more days with kids, then it's over. I'm very ready to finish getting it all put away! I've got some time tomorrow after school, so I should be able to get a bunch of stuff done. I'll be more in-depth tomorrow. Have a great night!

so close!!!!

The end is so close I can see it! Only 8 more student days, but I've really only got 3. I can't wait to have a little bit of time to get everything organized that has been in my room all year. There is so much that I didn't use and some that I didn't even know I had. I can't wait to get it all the way I want it, finally. I'm running on the assumption that I will have my room next year until they tell me otherwise. I really do think that I will, but there's that nagging voice in the back of my mind just in case. I'm done grading papers, just have to enter them at work tomorrow. Just a couple of fun activities for the next few days, then a party, then Field Day, then celebrations and assemblies and such. I'm so excited! This summer will be full and is getting fuller by the minute, but that's alright.

I've slacked on my menus in the past week, but here's tomorrow's!

Breakfast: 5.5
oatmeal - 2
banana - 1.5
oils - 2

Lunch: 6.5
stoup (last serving!) - 4
chips - 2
clementines - 0.5

Dinner: 11.5
sloppy joes - 4
bun - 3
corn - 1
milk - 3.5

Half a point left. I may eat it, who knows. I will get up and run, so there'll be some APs as well. Aaron has to work, so no excuse to not get out of bed.
Same goals as last week.
* workout 3 mornings before work (haven't worked yet)
* get all HGs 5 days (2/2 so far)

interesting developments.....

So I heard through the grapevine today that there are going to be some administrative shake-ups this fall. My principal is staying, but those around me are all moving around. Hopefully it will work out well for all involved. I will be very interested to see how it will go in the fall. I will work directly with a new principal, so hopefully that person will be a little more willing to listen to my concerns. We'll see how it goes come the fall. Along the same lines, there's talk of me losing my room for next year. I'm really not sure how I would run a successful position and teach the kids if I don't have a room of my own. I'm trying not to get too stressed out about it and it's still early and who knows what developments will happen between now and when school starts, but it still bothers me.

I really struggling with WW right now. It's been 4.5 months, and I'm doing overall pretty well, but I'm losing steam. I really do want this and I just need to focus. Tonight, I had a cheeseburger and onion rings for dinner. Um.... that's not so much good for me in any way. I did get all my guidelines in, but I still feel bad for eating that. Not regret, but my belly didn't really like it.

Tomorrow's a super busy day with lots of excitement. WiiFit!!!!! I'm picking it up on the way home from work! And Souper Salad, and hopefully picking up more Gilmore Girls from the library!

4:30 - Treadmill

Breakfast: 7
yogurt - 2
banana - 1
strawberries - 1
oil - 2
juice - 1

Lunch: 7.5
Stoup - 4 (it's almost gone!)
clementines - 0.5
pretzels - 2
sour cream - 0
babybel - 1

Dinner:
Souper Salad 11-12

Tomorrow's going to be a heavy f/v day! It's good that I like them!

monday and tuesday

Only 12 more student days! I'm starting to get stuff cleaned out and organized. I'm so excited to have it all organized and knowing where it all is and what I have! Now I"m just scared they're going to take it away from me next year. I sure hope not. I know a whole lot will change between now and then, but I have to keep a room! I can't teach the kids if I don't have a room! Some other craziness is happening at work, but too much to say right now.


I ended up having some mac and cheese with dinner, then a Betty Crocker mini for dessert, so I used all my points and all my APs. I also traded the WW cake for a 2 point "hostess cupcake" with lunch and the bun for an onion bagel with the burger. I was really hungry this morning, so I added a Fiber One bar at work. All the points worked out, so no WPAs were used.

Tomorrow's menu

Breakfast: 6.5
oatmeal - 2
banana - 1.5
strawberries - 0
2 oils - 2
creamer - 1

Lunch: 7.5
chicken, bean, corn stoup - 4
clementines - 0.5
WW cake - 1
pretzels - 2

Dinner: no more than 11
a new chili recipe, I haven't figured the points yet.
2 c milk - 3.5

I'm sure I'll come up with something if the chili doesn't eat up the points. who knows.

weekend update

So Friday at work went pretty well. After that is a different story. We had some people over and I had a few too many drinks. That made for a not so good Saturday. I slept almost all day and what I did eat was a triple dipper platter from Chili's (all fried stuff) and a Sonic Blast with Butterfingers... not such a good day. I didn't count it, but I don't really want to know how many points it was. Today was a much better day. I got all my HGs including some leisurely walking, except water. I always struggle with that on the weekends.

I decided to change my WI day to Sundays for the next month or so due to work schedules and travel. We'll see after that what I plan on doing for the summer. I do like my Monday WI, so I'll probably find a meeting during the day on Mondays for the summer. I went today and was up .6, but with all the junk and alcohol, I can't really complain. I also didn't work out much last week, so I am not upset. I don't understand when people know they don't follow the program and then don't want to WI because they don't want to know the damage. If you're not doing what you're supposed to, the scale won't like you. Sometimes it doesn't like you and you don't know why, that's a different story. I just suck it up and move on.

Goals for this week:
* workout 3 mornings before work
* get all HGs 5 days (only 6 more, better get cracking!)

We'll get our Wii Fit on Wednesday.... I can't wait!!!!!

Food tomorrow
Breakfast: 7
yogurt - 2
banana - 1.5
evoo - 2
strawberries - 0
juice - 1
creamer - 1

Lunch: 6
chicken, bean, corn stoup - 4
clementines - 1
WW cake - 1
Chips - 2

Dinner: 6
Turkey burger - 4
bun - 1
1 c milk - 1

That's 21... I'm sure I'll come up with something to use the other 4 points on. I've been planning so well lately that I'm starting to understand those that say they have trouble eating all of their points. That also doesn't include the APs I will earn on the treadmill in the morning. We'll see how this works out.

today and tomorrow

So today went alright.... ate too much at the staff meeting, but then didn't eat much for dinner. Still used some weeklies, but oh well. I WILL get up in the morning. I need to do something to try to avoid a gain on Monday. I've eaten a lot of junk with my weeklies and not worked out since 30 minutes on Monday morning. ugh! It's been such a long and stressful week at work with 2 long days hour wise and tomorrow is career day and I have been assigned to be the go-to girl for whatever happens and to go get lunch for all the speakers. It should go pretty quickly, but it will be exhausting. I need to make sure that I make myself do what I need to do for myself and not just for work.

Tomorrow's menu

Breakfast -6
1 c yogurt - 2
banana - 1.5
evoo - 2
strawberries - 0
juice - 1

Lunch - 10
Chick-Fil-A - 10
carrots - 0
Dt. Dr. Pepper - 0

Dinner - 7
2 Hot dogs - 2
2 Buns - 4
Cheese - 1
salad - 0
Dressing - 0

3 points left over!
Water - usually no problem!
Dairy - check
F/V - check!
oils - check
vitamin - in the morning at work
activity - 45 min on the treadmill at 5!
whole grains - bane of my life! I think the muffin counts!
lean proteins - I don't think the fried chicken counts, but the turkey dogs do!

super long day tomorrow

OK, well I'm about to strangle a few of my kids. They know that we only have 17 more days of school and have decided that that means they don't have to listen or do work. It's just one group of kids, but it totally ruins my mood for the last two groups of the day. I know it's not those kids I'm annoyed with, but I know I come across as short with them. AHHH!! Good thing that I really only have about 8 more days that I'm actually having to teach them due to field trips and end of year stuff and all that jazz. We're going to a Ranger's game with third grade tomorrow, if the weather holds up. I'm hoping that it does. Even if it doesn't, we've been given permission
to have a fun day anyway, so I'm not teaching. Yay for a break!

Today went pretty well. We didn't do hot dogs because I had chicken in the fridge that I didn't cook on Sunday, so I made some chicken, corn, black bean stoup (Rachel Ray). It's only 4 points for a cup of it and it's so spicy and filling! So no salad, but there was a decent amount of oil in cooking the soup. Too much cheesecake at a meeting, so no dump cake.

The dump cake we make is 2 cans of fruit (crushed pineapple and cherry pie filling is our standard) poured into a 9x13 pan, then pour lemon cake mix on top. Then pour sprite zero or something over it, bake as directed. So yummy, a little pointy, but so yummy!

Here goes food for tomorrow:

Breakfast - 5
english muffin - 1
eggbeaters - 1
turkey sausage, 1oz - 1
olive oil - 1
cheese slice - 1
creamer - 1

Lunch: 7
2 slices bread - 1
cheese slice - 1
turkey lunch meat - 1
chips - 2
banana - 1.5

Dinner: usually about 11-12
Souper Salad! Salad bar, pasta, dessert buffet

I'll get all my oil, fruit/veggies, dairy. I'll have to remember the vitamin before we leave for the field trip and water may be a struggle as i won't be at work all day where I usually drink it. I'm going to get up and get on the treadmill, so there'll be some APs. I'm sure I'll be exhausted tomorrow and have to make cupcakes for a wedding shower at work on Thurs., so not sure if you'll get a post from me!

long day....

So I just got home from an 11 hour day.... so tired. Quick update then crawling into bed. The day went pretty well. Had a banana instead of raisins in the oatmeal and added a hard boiled egg for some protein at lunch. Dinner was good. I ate a little too much I'm sure, but I was down 1 at WI before hand. I think I'm going to count 10 points for it all... who knows. I'm sure it'll all work out. I did earn 2 APs this morning, not much to offset the food, but it was something.

The banquet was pretty nice. Fairly good dinner, cool slide show, and a person I know won Teacher of the Year! I'm happy for her. She's my WW buddy, too, so we spend a lot of time together. I actually helped her plan her dinners for the week at the beginning of the meeting, so hopefully she'll be able to get back on track this week.

Here goes for tomorrow:

Breakfast
English muffin - 1
Cream Cheese - 1
Dole juice - 2
Carnation sugar free creamer - 1

Lunch
Yogurt - 2
Granola - 1
strawberries - 0
banana - 1.5
TLC crackers - 2

Dinner
2 turkey hot dogs - 2
2 buns - 4
salad - 0
oil - 1
dressing - 1
Cheese - 1
Dump cake - 4

I think that should do it. I may move some points to lunch, but I feel pretty well planned with all bu one oil in. Have a great day!

Monday menu

4:45: 45-50 minutes on the treadmill (one episode of the Tudors)

B: oatmeal (w/water)
raisins
oil

L: banana
Salad
babybel light
0 point ranch! (powder mixed w/ ff sour cream)
WW caramel cake

D: NO IDEA!! We're having a catered banquet for all the teachers, so I really don't know what it will entail!

Snacks: not a big snacker, and usually don't have time.

We'll see how it goes. If all else fails, I know I've got f/v, water, vitamin and activity in.

tonight's weigh in

I am down another .6 this week. I'm pretty excited because I wasn't too good at following the program, but if I can do that when I'm not too good, I'm hoping to do much better this week when I do stay on program!

I really enjoyed my three day weekend. I didn't do anything school/work related. I brought some planning stuff home as well as some papers to be graded, of course, but didn't touch it. I'm glad to have had the break. It's nose to the grindstone for the rest of the week. I've got to get grades done for progress notes and get everything in line for the rest of the year. Only 5 more weeks!

some pictures

So here's the progress. I think it's nice to see them side by side. The pants aren't the best to show anything, but the tanks do. I'm about halfway there. I'll find a new outfit to take a picture in, but this is what I had for a before picture, so I went with it.


Our plants are sprouting! It's pretty exciting!

green thumbs

So yesterday was a very productive and domestic. We went grocery shopping and also got some planters for our balcony. In the two hanging planters we have flowers and a fern. We got one basket for the railing and planted some her seeds. We're just hoping that we don't kill them before the seeds sprout! I'll be really excited to have fresh herbs that we can dry and use in the winter as well. Yay for being domestic! We also went to the pool. It was my first time for the season. I didn't get in as it was later in the day and the water was reeeeally cold! Maybe next weekend if we go during the day.

Last night I bought tickets to go home in June. We'll be there the 10th through the 16th. We fly in late on the 9th and will leave to drive home on the 17th. I'm excited to see my family and Aaron's new niece!

In not so happy news, Liam is hacking and sneezing again. He did it a few weeks ago and we went to the vet (almost $400!) and it went away for a couple of weeks. Now it's back and we don't know what to do. Do we take him back and spend more money, which we really don't have, or just hope he gets better? We don't know. They didn't really find anything the last time, so who knows what would happen if we take him this time. do we try a new vet that is supposedly less expensive? We're really confused and scared about him.

eight weeks later.....

I've meant to update this so many times, but haven't found the time. So much has happened, I'll start with some bullets....
- We bought a treadmill. I love it! I am now working out while watching season one of Gilmore Girls! It is so nice to not have to mess with the one working treadmill in the apartment gym and be able to watch what I want. I also have worked out before work a few times. That is such a great way to start the day.

- I'm down a total of 23.6 lbs. I've gone down one pants size in both dress pants and jeans. My shirts are fitting so much better and I love it! I'm kinda sad to not be able to wear my dress capris now that it is warm outside, but I guess I'll just hold off on that with only a few weeks of school left. I can wear pants and skirts until then.

- State testing is going on again. First and Second grade are taking their tests over the next few weeks. Third grade has the math test next Tuesday and the reading retest for those that didn't pass the next day. Brilliant planning Texas! I will be individually testing the same student for four days and I think I will go insane! She gets extended time and those will be some fun days for me. I will be administering some test to some one every day for the next three weeks. I'm not going to teach for such a long time, and then we're in the last couple weeks of school with field trips and parties and all of those fun things.

- We're going home in June! The 7th through the 17th. I'm so excited to be back and see my family and hopefully Aaron's new niece! It will be a crazy 10 days going all over the state, but will be so worth it to see all the people.

- It's already summer down here, and it's mid April! It was 90 degrees today! I think we may turn on the AC tonight. It's so muggy I'm not sure the fans are going to do it tonight.

- I can't wait for the summer and getting ready for next year. There will be so many changes that I want to make to make things go more smoothly that I can see myself planning for a lot of the summer.

So much going on! I am writing it in my calendar so I will update more regularly!

moving on and growing up

I was just looking at some pictures online some of my friends from high school posted. I understand that some people live in the same city for their entire life. It doesn't make much sense to me, as I've never really lived in one place for very long, but I get that some do. That is a different story than the pictures I was looking at. These people, now in their mid twenties, are still hanging out and partying in the basement of one of their parents' houses. I don't talk to them anymore, so I can't judge why they are there. All I know is that I am glad that I have moved on from the life of high school.

WW update - I'm down 11.6 lbs since Jan 7. I weigh in agin tomorrow, so we'll see what happened this week. I've eaten more of my flex points than before during the week, but still totally within my points, so I'm optimistic.

Aaron and I bought CamelBaks yesterday. They're the water backpacks that you see cyclists wearing sometimes. We ran with them yesterday and loved them! I need water when working out outside, but it is such a pain to carry a water bottle. I was a little concerned that it would bounce around, but it stayed in place very well. YAY!!

I've cinched in my belt two notches on my jeans since starting! Now it's to the point where the belt is smaller than the jeans and the fabric slides down below and the is on my skin. They fit everywhere else, so I don't want to buy a new ones, so I guess I just have to deal with it for now.

Work is as crazy as ever! The state reading test is next Wednesday so everyone's stress levels are through the roof. The math one is in 8 weeks. I don't understand why they are so spread out. It is just a never ending climate of stress and drill and kill in the way to take a test. I just don't understand and probably never will. I just have to deal without understanding. The students are stressed as well, causing some crazy and out of control behaviors.

hmmm.....

From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

BOLD the statements that are true about you. Unbold or leave alone the ones that are not.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college (nursing school, but is so close to getting her BSN!)
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18.
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs.
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18.
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them. (It wasn't new, but it was new to the family and only 3 years old.)
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.
Makes you think, huh?

good things happening

So it's been two weeks on Weight Watchers, and I've lost 6.4 pounds! Aaron is doing it with me, so it's nice to be in it together. You can see a difference in what we are eating, which is great. There hasn't been much change in the exercise portion of our lives, but right now I currently feel really crap, so there won't be any of that today. We decided that our long term goal is to do a marathon. I think next year's Cow Town Marathon. That training will start on Monday.. 5K, 10K, half-marathon, then full marathon. I just hope all of our joints can withstand it all. I'm excited!

Parts of work are really starting to get on my nerves. A lot of things have been thrown at me in the last week at the last minute and without explanation. I'm very frustrated and stressed, probably what is making me not feel so good. I know that it will only get worse from now until the end of the year with state testing and all that. Third grade is the first year of testing and they must pass to go on to fourth. I have never been anywhere where there is so much focus on a test. There is so much teaching to the test, released test practices and kill and drill on these kids. They get tired and frustrated and just want to give up, and I can't really blame them in some respects. Now we are doing Saturday School. The students who are struggling are required to come, as well as their parents. I just don't understand. Maybe someday I will and it will bet less stressful due to the unknown.

Loving life and trying to make it better

So the past month or so has been pretty good. we went to St. Petersburg for about 10 days for Christmas and New Year's. One of Aaron's friends got married down there, so it was a great excuse to spend the holidays on the beach! The weather was just amazing and the Gulf was gorgeous! Check out the pics on picassa.

I managed to make it to the break from work. It was a good time for a break, but I was ready to come back. Now comes crunch time for the state test that starts in March and who knows when it will end. I'm just hoping that my kids do well. School is just so hard for them that I hope that we have all worked hard enough for them to pass it.

So I live in Texas, and I'm loving the current weather! It is January and we have all of the windows open. I was almost 80 today! I just can't believe it. I could really get used to this. I know that it's unusual, and that summers will probably be horribly brutal, but for now, I'm just loving it. It's supposed to cool down somewhat, into the 60s, later this week, but I'll take that over 19 and snowing any day.

On to making life better.....
I started Weight Watchers tonight. I am very excited to be doing this and I know that it works when you stick to it. Two women from work say they are going to do it with me, but one had a sick kid today and then the other bailed, so we'll see what happens next week.

Make and stick to a budget. I've never been too good at this one, but the more parts of my life I can get in order the better.

That's all I have for now, but if I can stick to both of those, I'm very hopeful for the year ahead.