Getting a break today!

We've got a snow day today, which is odd because there isn't any snow, and the temp is 40 degrees outside. Apparently the back roads all froze because the ground temp is below freezing. But I didn't know this because they didn't announce it until about 6:50 this morning, and I was already at school. Wasted time and gas, so I am a little ticked because I didn't get a call, but what can you do. At least I can catch up on things around here today.

Things have been crazy busy around here. Now that I am working full time again, there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day for anything. I am usually up around 5am, so I can make a short stop at the gym on my way to the school. Unfortunately, school starts early enough that I am lucky to get a mile in before I have to shower and get going. But hey, an hour is better than nothing, right? I get to the school about 6:45, get everything ready for the day, and get myself ready to face 150 different 7th and 8th graders, some who are not happy people. I've only been there a week, but the angry, unhappy ones already have a special place in my heart. I'm getting lots of compliments so far, both from the students and other teachers. I have also been getting teachers from Hudson telling me about a job that just opened up full time in another district, but I am not applying for it. I think God put me in this school in Adrian at this time for a reason, so I am staying here and waiting to see why. I think those kids need me.

By the time I get home, I am mentally exhausted, but that doesn't keep the laundry from piling up or the homework from needing to get done. And dinner doesn't cook itself. The kids have been pretty good about the changes though. They are helping Chris in the morning because it's his job to get them to school now before he heads to work. And they are getting better about getting their chores done at night too, so that helps me out a lot. And Chris has been great. He tries to get things picked up as much in the morning as he can because he has a little extra time. The kids don't go to school until 8, so there is a bit of time that he can clean instead of leaving it for me. It's a big help.

In other news, the weight loss is going well. It's been about a month now, and I am down about 12 pounds. I wish it was more, but with the limited gym time, it's going to have to come off slowly. Chris on the other hand is down almost 20... the jerk. Just kidding. I am proud of him, but part of me wishes that it would come off of ME that fast! But he goes to the gym on the way home from work, so he gets more time. I'll get there though. I am 25% of the way there, so I just have to keep it up. If this sub job doesn't go past April 17, I'll have more time at the after I take the kids to school. Plus, it will start getting warmer here in another couple months. Not warm per se, but warm enough that I can bundle up and walk a little at night outside when it starts staying light a little later. Looking forward to that.

Anyway, I won't bore you anymore. I'll wait a couple days and let some interesting things happen around here!

I scrapped! YAY ME!

It's been a while... a loooooong while!  I think the last page I scrapped was sometime in early October.  I did do all of the Christmas cards, but those don't really count as scrapping, more of just a repetitive process.  But over the last week, I have gotten out of my funk, and I am scrapping again!  Thirteen pages so far.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Noah playing T-ball last summer

Noah practicing for soccer last fall

Emily's field trip to Henry Ford Museum in December.

Fall pictures of Emily that I took at the park

Caleb's field trip to Sauder's Village last fall.  This one may be changing, not sure but I think it is missing something!

So there you have it!  Fawning and flattery welcome!  lol

Exciting News!

I've really been praying lately asking God to send me work.  Subbing has been very slow lately, and although we have enough to pay for everything we need to pay for each month, there are extra things that we would like to do that we haven't been able to do.  So I've been praying for work.

I got a phone call yesterday asking me to do a long term sub job in Adrian for 7/8 grade math classes.  I was so excited.  I was supposed to start Wednesday and be there through March 5.  SIX whole weeks!  Well, I got another call today from the Principal, and he wants me to come in Monday to meet everyone and to start Tuesday, a day early. 

Well, the teacher called me shortly after that, and she let me know that the lady who originally called me only asked me about the FIRST part of the job.  The teacher is actually having TWO surgeries, six weeks apart, and the teacher wants me to take over her class until April 17!  How awesome is that?  Twelve weeks of steady work. 

So though I will miss working in Hudson, this job is a great opportunity for me.  Not only does it give me experience in the middle school levels, it opens me up to a whole other school district, which increases my chances of finding something this year full time.  Bummer that I had to give up my 5 days that I already had scheduled in Hudson, but I think the 55+ days I am getting from this job MORE than makes up for it! ;)  And the schedule is such that Chris will drop the kids off at school before he leaves, and I will be able to pick them up at the end of the day!

I start Tuesday, and a few of the classes will be solely MY responsibility, start to finish, because they begin a new semester on Tuesday, and they will switch again before the other teacher gets back.  So, be praying for me!  I want to make a great impression on these kids, and the school itself!

Christmas Pictures - Finally!

I finally got around to editing my Christmas Pictures. I didn't take as many this year as I have in the past, just a few special ones. I guess I decided I don't need to take pictures of absolutely everything the kids open because I can never use them all anyway! Here are a few:

Christmas Eve before church:

Christmas Morning:

And just a couple of Emily's birthday:

So there you go!

Six in Seven!

I promised an update of the weight loss over my first week. Pretty darn good if I do say so myself! So far I am down six pounds in seven days. I'm not expecting to keep up that pace by any means, but it was really nice to see that number on the scale this morning. I've cut calories and fat significantly, and haven't had anything to drink but water all week. I've worked out 3 days of the 7 and was more active than usual the other 4 days. I feel good! I have a goal. I would like to lose 40 pounds by my birthday. Counting the 6 I already lost, I've got 34 more to go, and 23 weeks to do it in. 1.5 pounds per week is a healthy rate, and I know I can do it!

I am actually hoping that a bunch of people miraculously start reading my sad little blog so they can keep me accountable! And I know that this time I have to keep it up. I've gone through all this before, the weight loss starting, feeling good, but then I got busy and didn't keep up with it, and put 20 of those pounds back on. I WILL NOT do this to myself again! I hate feeling overweight, so why do I get lazy and stop working at it, especially when I was only 20 pounds away from my goal? Because I started liking what I saw in the mirror, got happy enough with what I had done so far, and settled. I lost track of the me that I really really wanted to be, the BEST me and stopped with the BETTER me. The problem with that is once you stop, especially if you do it before you make your goal, it is easier to tell yourself, just one bite won't hurt, just one Whopper, it's no big deal, but it IS! So I am NOT going to stop until what I see in the mirror is so amazing that I don't want to take ANY chances blowing it. Then I am going to go shopping, buy all new clothes, and throw away everything I have now. Can't wait!

OK, enough of me self-analyzing my weight loss. Sorry for the whole whopping one of you that actually reads this! LOL

Well, that didn't take long!

So we bought Emily an iPod nano for Christmas, and guess what. It's fried. I really don't think it was anything that SHE did, but now we have to send it back and get it fixed. Not looking forward to that hassle. I am going to try to take it back to Target and exchange it first, but I don't think they will do it. It's worth a try anyway because otherwise, we'll have to wait a while to get it back.

Chris is feeling better, and fortunately, I think I might actually NOT get it this time *knocking on wood*. I finally got some sub days this week, and we don't want to mess those up. I worked today in fact, mostly over at the high school. Those kids drive me crazy sometimes. They don't even care, don't even try UGH.

Anyway, nothing interesting going on. I'll be updating within the next couple of days on how the weight loss is going so far!

Well, would you look at that?

Only 2 days since my last post. I was really thinking about posting yesterday, but I didn't think anyone would really want to hear about my trip to the grocery store, or about Chris being sick.

I thought it was the flu, that's how it started out, but apparently it is strep. Which is not good, because I have always been very susceptible to strep. I really hope I don't get it. Anyway, he has a prescription, so he should be feeling better tomorrow. I am supposed to work Monday and Tuesday, though so if I get it, that's really bad.

Other than that, not much is going on. I took the day off of working out yesterday because there was so much going on and my legs were hurting, but I'll be back at it today. I have been doing really good with calories too. I have cut my intake in half by changing the food I have been eating, but haven't really decreased the amount of food. Just balanced things out a little. Hopefully I'll start seeing results soon.

Yeah, see why I don't post a lot. Not real interesting, is it? lol

New Year's Resolutions

I typically do not like New Year's Resolutions, mainly because I know I am not going to keep them. I have good intentions, but not the time, the grand visions for how I want things to be for me, but no willpower. That's just me. But this year, I have decided to make a few. I figure the more I make, the better chance I'll have at keeping just one of them! We'll see come next month.

1. The resolution that EVERYBODY makes. I will eat healthier and I will take better care of myself. My goal is to lose 45 pounds this year. Realistically, I would be thrilled with 30, but there's that old saying that if you shoot for the moon, and miss, you'll still land among the stars, so the moon it is. Chris and I are working on this together, so we'll make each other keep going. We did this a couple years ago and I lost 40 lbs in 6 months, but put 20 of it back on last year and a half. So, we'll do it again, but this time, we don't have a lot of the same pitfalls. For example, Chris was working a lot that summer when we stopped at the 6 month point. He wasn't able to go to the gym, and started eating a LOT of fast food, Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was home with the kids all summer, and wasn't able to go to the gym either, plus I wasn't working or anything, so we just were lazy all summer. This time, I have some things to work out with at home, so the gym for me won't be as big of an issue. I'll keep you updated on my progress, whoever you are.




2. I will blog more. I'm not saying I will be here every day, because let's face it, my life is just NOT that interesting. But I will post more pictures, and update more, and maybe even vent a little for sanity's sake!




3. Another common one. My house will be cleaner. But there is a twist to this one. I won't be the one cleaning it. I will make the kids clean their own rooms and pick up their own stuff. I am tired of spending all day cleaning when I am not subbing only to have things trashed the minute the kids come home from school. I will make them start helping. It may not be cleaner for a while until they realize how serious I am, but they'll get the point eventually when they have no clean clothes because they never brought their dirty laundry downstairs.




4. And this one is just for me! I will scrapbook more. I have not scrapped in months, I just haven't had the time. But now that I won't be cleaning all day, I will have a little more "me" time. I am way behind again because I still take as many pictures as ever, but I haven't been doing anything with them. I just may start today.

The kids went back to school today. The house is so quiet, I forget how much energy they bring to the house with all their mess. They'll remind me about 3:15, though, so I will try to enjoy it while I have it!

Here are a couple pictures from the last few months. The Christmas ones are still on my camera, so those will have to wait until my next post.

The family at Chris's company Christmas party.

Caleb making us a fabulous breakfast.

Emily and I at the Henry Ford Museum.