Bobbi and Jimbo

So I went downstairs and when I came back up, this is what I saw:

Jimbo is licking Bobbi. So cute.

But then they saw me and Jimbo wanted attention. Later in the evening, Jimbo wanted to give Bobbi more kisses but she wouldn't get of the back of the couch. So, I nudged her off. He was begging her.

And this time, he wasn't letting her go. Haha.

Sorry about the blurriness, but I only have a dumb phone (not a smart one) and it's pictures are not great.

love me

Baby Sparrow

This is the sparrow who fell from his nest on my roof and I saved his life.

This is the make shift nest. Yay for yarn hanging around.

When I put my hand near him, he opened his mouth and chirped. My co-worker did the same and he hid in the nest. yup. He loved me.

Neighbors Part 1 of ?

I am posting some pictures of some of my neighbors. They are so cute.

An adolescent buffalo eating some hand picked weeds.

The following are pictures of the goats on the south end. I tool all of these pictures with my cheap phone and thus camera and thus not good quality. But look how cute the babies are!!!!

PS, it is SO much easier to post pictures now. I actually can do it without any frustration. Time to post again everyone!!!!

Moved

I don't have internet at my new house, but when I do, I will post pictures. I moved to the yard house and believe it or not, I LOVE it!! I flourish there. Haha. Cheesy!! But I like having a lawn and flowers and SUN! The sun in my window is great in the mornings. I'm getting used to the trains and either they are running less at night or I am sleeping through them. Now I wake up to 1 or 2 versus 4. Woo hoo. The freeway sounds just blend in with the birds. There is a white fish in the canal I named Ali (Ah-lee) and the goats don't even run away when I'm mowing the lawn.

love me

Sometimes boys suck rocks. 

Thanks for the super cute picture Mom!

Girl's Night + Michael

We went to a play as a family to Hale Theatre and then we went and saw Titanic in 3D

I'm giving up after this post. This blooger has changed and I don't like it anymore.

I can barely make a post so after 3, I'm spent.



Double Date

Michael and I went on a double date with these two love birds

 We went to the Cheesecake Factory

My China

It's been so long since I posted I can't remember how to do this all :(
But this is my new fine China. I was able to buy 12 sets with some of our gift cards from our wedding.
I've always wanted my own. Michael thinks it looks like Christmas but I diagree, I think it can be used for anything. I want a China cabinet now but Michael doesn't know where we'd put it, so true so I get to wait.

 But hopefully you can see some of the detail on here. I love them. The lady stood on top of the tea cup and it didn't break. It's bone China so it's supposed to withstand better. So hopefully when the kids drop them they won't break (or chip). Happy days for me. Now I need to use it.

What the Public Knows about the Political Parties

Pew Research News IQ Quiz

http://www.people-press.org/2012/04/11/what-the-public-knows-about-the-political-parties/?src=iq-quiz

OVERVIEW

Before you read the report, test your own News IQ by taking the interactive knowledge quiz. The short quiz includes many of the questions that were included in a national poll. Participants will instantly learn how they did on the quiz in comparison with the general public as well as with people like them.

Take the Quiz

I scored better than 92% of the public.  WOW!  I thought I was right about all of them ; ).

The News IQ Quiz

---

Overall Score

The quiz was made up of 13 questions excerpted from the larger Knowledge Survey. Your responses do not affect the survey results.

READ THE 

My goodness I have a hard time remembering how to do this.  If stupid is as stupid does, I am doomed.  Since this seems to be place for venting or letting your light shine I thought I would write how I got the guts of my toilet changed out (after Michael loosened the nut which I couldn't get).  Yeah!  Then the handle thingey broke (crud) and I went to Loews to get the replacement part, which I did and opened everything, giving myself a blood blister trying to loosen the nut on the old handle, and found I had bought the wrong replacement part! This one has to be at the end of the tank not on the front!! Scream nasty things *&^%^&*(#$%#!!!!  So now do I go back right away or leave it undone for another night?  I have cub scouts in a couple hours and need to remember how to do a flag ceremony with our little wolves plus the stuff I was really supposed to do today ; ).  Decisions . . . decisions . . . maybe I should go eat ice cream . . . oh, I already did the other day & it is gone, ugh. OK, decision made, going to look up simple ceremony (since I can't easily access my cub stuff) then go get the part.  Cross your fingers - you out there in - where are you?  Who are you? Anybody there?

Cell phone picture to pdf

In one of my magazines it talked about using your cell phone as a quck scanner with the aid of an app.  Here are the apps it recommended:

Free:
Apple- Genius Scan
Android- ScanToPDF

They will crop, resize, color adjust, and convert to a pdf for you.

Paid:

Apple- TurboScan ($2)
Android- CamScanner ($5)

They will let you print, text, email, your pdf files, and they won't "flood your cell with ads like some free apps can.

Huntsman Award to my Principal

My principal won the Huntsman's award for best elementary principal in the state.  It is quite prestigious and comes with a $10,000 award.  I'm super proud and excited for her, and it makes me proud that she chose me to be a part of her team.

Stress Management- always helps, never hurts. :)

Pictures from cooking recipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cute-egg-chicks/Photo-Gallery.aspx?Page=2

Taking it easy
The bottom line: Relaxation techniques may help with blood glucose control very little or a lot, depending on your psychological makeup and your body’s sensitivity to stress. Whatever the case, however, they probably won’t hurt, and they may leave you feeling less tense and more at peace. While you can certainly take a class in meditation or go to a therapist who teaches imagery exercises, you also can try such techniques on your own at home. McGrady offers this caveat, however: “If you have frequent, long-lasting feelings of anxiety or depression, you should seek professional help.” Based on her study, you may not be able to focus on your relaxation practice until you get these problems under better control. What’s more, while deep relaxation usually leads to feelings of enhanced well-being and calmness, occasionally it can bring up disturbing emotions, such as fears, sadness, or despair.

Following are some simple techniques for getting the best of stress. You may find that one method is more effective or feels more natural than another. The best technique for you is the one that works.

Take a deep breath

Deep, abdominal breathing plays a role in many relaxation techniques.
Here’s a simple breathing exercise to help you get started:
1. Sit or lie in a comfortable position, and close your eyes.
2. Place one hand on your belly just below your navel, and notice your breathing.
3. Feel your hand rise slightly with each breath in. Feel it fall with each breath out.
4. Focus on this rising and falling motion for several breaths.

Have you ever been told to count to 10 to calm down? It really works, at least if you combine the counting with deep breathing:
1. Follow the steps above until you get a comfortable breathing rhythm going.
2. Now, say “ten” to yourself as you breathe in. Then breathe out.
3. With the next breath, say “nine” as you breathe in. Then breathe out.
4. Repeat until you reach “zero.”

Meditate on it

Perhaps the best-known means of calling up the relaxation response is by meditation. This practice has its roots in religious rituals, and many people still use it as a path to spiritual enlightenment. However, you don’t need to have any religious or spiritual intentions to reap the benefits of the technique. All forms of meditation have two key components. One is a mental focusing device, such as a repeated word, sound, phrase, or prayer or a repetitive movement. The other is a passive disregard for other thoughts that may come up. If you temporarily lose your focus, don’t worry about it, but simply return your mind to the repeated word or motion. To get started meditating, try following these basic steps:

1. Pick a focus word or phrase. Keep it short enough to easily coordinate with your breathing. Some examples: “peace,” “shalom,” “let go,” “hail, Mary.”
2. Find a quiet place where you aren’t likely to be disturbed.
3. Sit or lie in a comfortable position, and close your eyes.
4. Try to relax your muscles, and start noticing your breathing.
5. Repeat your focus word or phrase to yourself as you breathe out.
6. Passively disregard any distracting thoughts that come up.
7. Continue for 10–20 minutes. Meditate once or twice every day, if possible.

Mind your mindfulness

One popular variation on the meditation theme is mindfulness. In this technique, you’re asked to focus on moment-to-moment awareness without judging or reacting to the things you notice. You can use mindfulness to become more aware of your breathing, much as you might do in traditional meditation. However, you also can use it to become more fully aware of your experiences in everyday life. The goal is to slow down, focus on one thing, and give it your full attention.
Here’s a quick exercise in eating mindfully:

1. Have an apple (or your favorite kind of fresh fruit) on hand.
2. Sit in a comfortable position. Relax with some deep, abdominal breathing.
3. Focus on what is happening in the here and now, and let go of other thoughts.
4. Now, focus your attention on the apple. Notice its appearance, feel, and smell.
5. Then, take a bite, and notice the flavor as if you had never tasted an apple before.
6. Note without judging any other thoughts that may come up. Then passively return your mind to focus on the apple.
7. Enjoy the feelings that arise as you savor the experience of eating an apple.

Imagine stresslessness

With mindfulness, you focus intently on the actual sensations you’re experiencing. Imagery exercises are similar, except that you focus on imagined sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. This lets you harness the incredible power of imagination to help reduce stress and deepen relaxation. Often, the most potent images are ones you create for yourself. However, there are also a number of books and audiotapes on the market that guide you through the process of conjuring up soothing or healing images.
Here is an example of the kind of script you might invent or follow:

1. Sit in a comfortable position. Relax with some deep, abdominal breathing.
2. Focus on the imaginary scenario: Imagine that your body is made of very strong, clear crystal. Notice how beautifully the facets shine in the light. Now, with each breath in, see your body fill with colored mist in a soothing shade. Watch as the mist flows slowly from your head, to your chest and abdomen, to your arms and legs, and finally to your hands and feet. As the mist gradually fills your body, you are imbued with peace and well-being. With each breath out, watch as the mist flows in the reverse order, from your hands and feet to your head. As the mist leaves your body, it carries away any stress and fatigue, leaving you feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

Learning to cope

Stress can give you the intensity and energy to finish a project by a deadline, but chronic stress can affect your blood glucose control and your overall health. Even though life’s problems can blindside you every once in a while, using relaxation techniques can help you to roll with the punches and adjust rather than letting stress knock you for a loop.

Teaching

Finally! A flow chart to help you decide what to wear!

Here are 4 teaching stories that I experienced that just crack me up.

During my first year of teaching I asked the school psychologist to come and observe me, and then give me tips to improve my classroom management. It was the Christmas season and students were writing letters and poems about the holidays. As I was talking to the psychologist one student asked me how to spell gigolo because he wanted one for his Mom- I asked him what it was and he explained that it was a squishy tube of water and stuff that you get from the aquariums.

About 5 minutes after that a girl came up and asked me how many "hoes" Santa had. I asked her to explain, and she said, "You know, ho, ho, ho, how many?"

Of course you have all heard my Chinese zodiac snake story from 2 weeks ago, but today was another funny day. One student is giving his state Power Point presentation on Virginia when he anounces that inhabitantents of this state are called "virgins." I didn't even blink an eye to try and avoid bringing it to everyones attention. However, at the end one student came up and asked me if it was true that people from Virginia were called virgins. She quickly followed with, "Aren't virgins alcoholics who drink all the time?" Restraining my laughter I only responded with, "They are called Virginians." Then, I quickly fled to the bathroom. Too funny.

Insouciance

I'm striving for insouciance. Insouciance is, according to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/insouciance, the cheerful feeling you have when nothing is troubling you. The pictures above are some examples of what I think it would look like.

Private/Public?

So, Sarah told me our blog is public. For some crazy reason I thought it was private. What do you want? By you I mean everyone. It is easy to make private. We can invite the people who have been following up to this point. e.g. Becka and Tiffany.

Thoughts?

Irony

Happily, earlier yesterday I had an interview with Vino Volo, a new restaurant opening in the airport, and they hired me knowing that I cannot work more than 12 hours a week. :)

I have caught up my reading here again. Thank you Melissa for explaining the comments however once I went to read them I could hardly get back to the posts; alas 'tis a tortuous journey. I am happy you are a little better Melissa. I worked out today by shoveling snow for hours! I am sure the energy used will show up again before I get to the scale (energy=fat), but that way I don't have to worry about buying all new clothes because I too thin. :) Suzy noticed my office is a bit cleaner, yeah!! Thank you Melissa for the borrowed post on handling anger, I enjoyed renewing my commitment to not regret saying something, ie being careful with the words coming out of my mouth. Well I need to go fix a casserole and freeze it for the homeless shelter. I am so darn good I can hardly stand myself! Hee hee

Worst Flu ever

I have caught the worst flu ever- well, almost ever. I'm not dying, but this stupid virus has beat me up. It's like everyday it picks a new target area to attack. :( I'm glad that I have not (to the best of my knowlegde) shared this crummy beast with anyone. Love you all.

Bed rest

So, on Sunday I started to spot a bit. Not much but, enough to get my nerves going. So, Trevor gave me a blessing because I really feel like I'm done with all of this crap. We both felt ok about things. Yesterday I went to work and it was a very simple day, not too busy. Well, the bleeding got worse and worse. I called the clinic and they said they don't worry about spotting. They told me to take it easy and if the bleeding got worse to just lay down and rest. Well, the bleeding got worse so for the first time in my almost 10 year career....I left work early. I cried the entire way home because I was so nervous. Trevor was so great. He was being as positive as he could and trying to get me to relax.

So, I called the clinic again when the bleeding went in to full force. They said there is nothing that I can do except rest and do the pregnancy test Wednesday. The bleeding could be bad or it could just be a bump in the road and I am still pregnant. We don't know. It seems to me that I was pregnant or may still be because my period wasn't supposed to start until next Monday. So, we will see.

I am not going to work today either. So, lots of PTO to use this week.

Now I am going to vent. I am not saying any of my below comments in search of answers or comfort. I am just venting. FYI

Why does every stinking step of this kid process have to be so damn hard? Why? I just don't get it. It's not like I am asking for a six pack on my tummy to magically appear. I am not asking for a million bucks so I can just do nothing the rest of my life. I am asking for a family so I can be a mother and teach them the values in life. My goodness.

With that being vented....I know that all things in my life happen for good reason. Trevor and I are living our lives the best way we know how to so, we will learn from this. We will move forward and we will give every single ounce of strength and every penny we get to this family of ours.

Thanks for the venting session. It's great to have you 'listen.' hee hee

Stolen from Mary Lewis' blog

I stole this from Mary Lewis' (the counselor at my school) blog as a helpful reminder for anyone.
Express Anger Responsibly
Because I spend a lot of time talking to kids about handling their anger, I can only assume that this is something that lots of people feel challenged by. So in an effort to give variety to my posts, I am throwing in a little "Life Skills 101". Here are some ideas for avoiding the loss of control when you are frustrated.
1) Take a break. Calm down before you respond. At school we call this GPS.
GET calm, then focus.
PLAN with self and others.
SOLVE or start again.
How does one calm down? Take deep breaths or go to the "happy place" (this is not the frig). This is that happy state in your mind when everything is calm and peaceful. Also exercise, counting to ten or one hundred, you get the idea.
2) Start with "I". We call these "I feel..." messages. Rather than saying "YOU so and so, YOU did this or that". Say, "I am confused when you..." or "I am frustrated". People generally can't argue about how you feel. There may be some that do, or it might not work. But, at least you get to express your feelings in a way that is as least argumentative as possible.
3) Don't look back. FOCUS on SOLUTIONS, not the past.
4) Anger is secondary. Usually anger is not the first emotion. Usually hurt, fatigue, hunger, pain, or other problems are the real emotion. Make sure you know. For me, just figuring out what is really going on with me, takes away the anger.
5) Decide that angry yelling is not allowed. We are never sorry for the things we DID NOT say. Apologies are always ok, too.
6) Listen to yourself. Record yourself sometime and see how you sound. Words can be very hurtful.
7) Write a note. If you are too emotional to speak, put together a nicely worded note.

Great Moment!

After reading a research paper that states that one of the reasons why a high population of students fail physiology and human anatomy is because they are not prepared as good note takers or "studiers" I decided to start teaching my students how to take notes. We learned several different note taking methods and we practice for 2 or so months.

Today, we started a video on WWI and I told the students to take notes, but I would not be grading the notes. When I looked down and saw that several students had formatted and outlined their notes I was proud and took some pictures.

In another note, Buddy ate a 70% pure cocoa dark chocolate bar the other evening. It was great. I saw the wrapper on the floor (it had been sitting on the coffee table for over a month) and realized what had happened. I called Mom who assured me that he would be ok- just sick. At 3 am I few upstairs to help my little one get outside where he left trails for 30 minutes. He has since been hungry all the time and off-kelter. It has made him grouchy and he pulled all the pillows and blankets off the couchs. Apparently, that was not enough to soothe the frustration because he also pulled the sheets, pillows, and blankets off of Julio's bed, took his water bowl and threw it behind the couch, and upended his food container. He finally seems better today- but it was a rough 2 days.

Waiting game

So, this leap year was pretty special for us because (as you already know) we implanted two eggs. This was on February 29th. So, we are hoping that leap year is our lucky year. We will find out either way next Wednesday. I just talked to a friend from college and we talked about fertility issues. Apparently he and his wife tried to have kids for abour 5 years before being successful. I was excited to talk to him. I was hoping that I would learn so much. Well, they didn't do as much testing as we have and they didn't do near as many interventions. So, I was very let down by the conversation. I was pretty bummed. Because all though he said they were trying.....his wife didn't even have her uterus looked at because it is a painful procedure. WHAT!!!! that was like the first thing we did after blood work. They didn't do artificial insemination either. Man, they just took some medicine one time. That is not when they got pregnant but, I just didn't feel like they were trying as hard as we are. I guess I just didn't learn anything new. O'well!!

All sunshine makes a desert...

Happy Leap Day! Quick little update- all about me! I am helping Amy with Emily's shower this Saturday, and if I don't see you there I will see you Sunday.

Buddy and I went to the dog park earlier this week and one of the new friends he made is a minpin, but she was much closer to the Dauchund? side of the breed (Buddy is closer to the Italian Greyhound side) because she had short little legs and a long back. She was excited to play with Buddy and they would jump up and around, and then run. Buddy would fly down the field and she would eventually give up trying to catch up to him and come back to her owner. Buddy would figure this out and then it would start all over. This little minpin must have stuck in my head though, because last night I had a dream that Buddy and went somewhere and then I came back home with a little minpin, but not my Buddy. The new little one crapped and left liquid deposits all of the house and was always wanting to lick me or jumping. I was crying trying to figure out how to get my Buddy back.

When I woke up my little Buddy was there, his head on the pillow next to me. He frequently sleeps on his back with all 4 of his legs in the air, so I touched his tummy and told him how glad I was to have him. After my dream I expected him to snuggle closer or something, but he just grunted and rolled over. I think he just wanted to stay sleeping.

I know he is just a dog, but I am so glad he is my little best friend.

Interview

My interview went great- but I'm still conflicted about whether or not I can take the job without hurting myself in regards to downtime and patience with my students. I have decided to put off thinking about it until I get my second interview. As an interesting side note, the way they do tips is new to me. All the tips get pooled together and then divided amoungst the servers later. You never go home with cash- it comes all in a paycheck.

Don't understand . .

I saw the comments on the lower right side of this blog & don't understand several things:

1. How did they get there?

2. Why are those characters intermingles with the alphabet? What does that mean?

The internet, home phone and cell phone all went down this afternoon for a while and while I thought that might be a great quiet moment Richard got the heebie-jeebies (try sounding out phonetically). So I drove out of the area & low and behold got reception. Turns out someone cut a line, figures. I am so glad that is one worry I do not have to maintain anymore. In fact I am striving to eliminate worries from my mind. I have looked over the years and generally the worst things (perceived worries) have not happened and oftentimes even the smaller worries have only taken up the energy needed to actually accomplish other "real" things.

While this should put me closer to heaven don't hold your breathe waiting for me to be translated. I imagine this process is going to be long and tedious but I seem to have reached a stage where what I think shows on my face so I have to be more positive so fewer wrinkles are embedded into my "canvas". I don't want to end up scaring small children.

Okay this is is. Deep thoughts bubbling up for inspection by others - oh the fear!!!

PS

I may never "publish" this, keep seeing problems. Anyway the chickens and I reached a record today - (drum-roll) - 7 eggs in one day!!!! Yeah!!!!!!

Funny Melissa

I actually just checked the blog last week. I just don't have much that you don't already know about. So, I'll post anyway.
Trevor and I are going to do a second round of IVF. We have to wait for my period to come. We have no idea when it will come. Any day or in two months. I have my blood drawn every other week to check my HCG level. The level has to be negative for my body to menstrate. On the good side we found a website to order medication through. It's a company in Europe and it's saving us about $1500 for meds. We ordered our meds. They have a 1-2 year shelf life so, no matter when my period is....we will have meds.
We just found out yesterday that we can claim our medical costs for taxes!!!! So, our grand total for medical costs last year was $18,505.00 It would have been 10K higher if it were not for Lisa and Shane. Bless them. I was pretty excited to here there is some sort of perk from all of these costs. We should be able to legally and truely purchase our home in springdell after our taxes have been filed.
I am at work so, I have no pics to post this time around.

Almost

I almost changed the background to two scantily-clothed women for Valentine's Day- just to see if anyone is looking. :) Saved by the appeal of this super cute background for V-Day.

Second job? Again?

There is a new restaurant opening in the airport and I think it would be a great financial opportunity to make some extra money and help me get a little further out of debt. Which would be great for the future when I want a car and will be able to get one...I applied on Friday and I have an interview tomorrow (Wednesday). If they offer me the job and agree to just 2 shifts a week- then I will have a 2nd job and less time.

It would be great to have extra money again- but I noticed that even though I did focus on tuition first- most of the extra money went to a lot of other things- not really bringing my debt down significantly. It's kind of like the more you work the more steam you need to blow off and the more you spend money on other things because "I deserve after working..."

However, I am much closer to having my basement loan paid off and it is a huge priority for me. So, I think I could focus there- I'll let you know how it goes. :)
Me

And the weekend...FINALLY

Hello Friday,

I have been looking forward to seeing you for quite a while now. Your embrace welcomes me to the weekend and I am excited to spend some time with you and your friends, Saturday and Sunday.

Thank you again,
melissa

More posts for ME!

Hello, hello, hello,
I only have 3 conferences left and then I am done with conferences for the year. It is a great time in that I like setting goals with the students- but it really sucks the life out of me and I am exhausted. I go to bed as soon as I get home and stay there until it is time to leave again.
I will see you all at the funeral (Bishop Losee) or at the play (Games Afoot) on Sat. I think Sat is the one-year anniversary of Skip's death- everyone remember to support Auntie if you can.