Tonight was a good night! I got Zero's right after school since it was CASH-O-LA night for our school. I had a tuna sub. YUM-O. Then, I went and picked Evan up from his school. We came home, played, ate a snack, played some more, ate dinner, had a bath, played, and went to bed. YAY! There was lots of playing going on tonight. I got another baby gate from my mom's house in order to keep Evan out of the kitchen completely. He was already locked out of the kitchen from his playroom, but now, I can block off the other doorway that leads to the kitchen.


I'm slowly kid-proofing my house. I started with the electrical outlets in the playroom, now I'm up to gates. Pretty soon the whole house will be kid-proof. at least thats the plan...)

Tomorrow is Friday... and that means its BINGO day for my reading groups!! I heart BINGO day!!

Blog... and get paid for it!?!?!?

So, I just got approved for an awesome opportunity. PayPerPost is a website that allows me to blog about stuff I find on the internet AND get paid for it. I'm so excited because 1) I love to blog. It gives me a feeling that I am writing meaningful stuff that people would want to read. 2) It gives me an opportunity to "talk" when I'm the only one in the house that is available to listen. 3) I can do it when Evan goes to bed... I mean, heck, I already spend most of my time on the computer when he goes to bed anyways, why not make a few bucks here and there for my time, right?

So, anyways, if you notice me talking about random things here and there, its because I am so excited about my new "job" as a writer. One thing I have already learned is that I need to expand my writing skills. I am trying to write my “Please let me into your master’s program” paper right now, too, and its got a word minimum of 400 words. When writing about stuff, I know that there’s a minimum I’ve gotta make, OR ELSE I DON’T GET PAID.

What am I going to do with all of this cash?? S-A-V-E Save it! Oh my goodness, I want to put a second story on the house...and that kind of takes money. ALOT of money, so this will go towards that (and maybe a new pair of shoes here and there.)

I can only imagine...

So, this song came on the radio tonight. Every time I hear it, it brings tears to my eyes, sending memories back to simpler times. Jeremy sang this song to me over the phone (I remember it so clearly) and it was at that moment that I was sure he was "the one". I knew he was special long before that moment, but when he sang that song to me, something in my heart skipped a beat, and I knew I'd never be without him in my life again. And even though we have our moments of grumpiness, somehow we always comes back and refocus... I love him with all of my heart, like I've never loved before. He's a great guy, and is a great daddy to our son.

...and with that, I leave you with Mercy Me...

This is a tribute to you stay-at-home mommies...

You have WAAAAY more energy than I could even fathom up for a half-a-day of staying home. I don't know how you do it. You've gotta be doped up on Starbucks or something. I often dream of staying at home, but its probably like running a marathon, you have to be physically prepared for it. I stayed home for 11 weeks when I had Evan. Then went back to work for 9. Then stayed home for 10. Then went back and today is the first day that wasn't a weekend or holiday break that I stayed home from work. I guess once you get out of a routine, its hard to start somewhere new really quick. I'm usually VERY on-the-go on the weekends, so it's not so exhausting to me. What makes me tired is watching Evan run around the house... his energy exhausts me. I WISH I HAD THAT MUCH ENERGY.

but, I enjoyed every minute that I got to spend with Evan today. I love my beautiful boy. He's wonderful, and I honestly can't remember what life was like without him in my life.

So yea, my job

I almost quit yesterday. But that's not the first time I've thought about doing it. There have been multiple times this year where I've said "I CAN'T TAKE THE PAPERWORK ANYMORE!!! I JUST WANT TO TEACH!!!" and then I meet my deadline and all is well, until another IEP creeps up. sneaky little buggers

I really do love my job. I love the kids. I love learning. But, I signed up to teach, not to push paper, and thats what I feel like I do. I think that school should be more developmental than it is. Have classes based on ability, not age. In my world, that's how it would be. It wouldn't matter that you were 9 and in the first grade, if thats what stage you're at, you're there. (Yes, I know there are other factors to take into account, but folks, this is my world we're talking about right now, not yours.)

So, instead of going to work, taking off to get Evan from school and go to his Dr. appt, I decided to relax today. I started the morning off (after I got home from taking Evan to school) by cleaning up the house. I took out all the trash, disinfected the trash cans, opened up the windows, turned on the fans, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and did a random load of laundry. Oh yeah, I vaccuumed too. I loathe vaccuuming, especially because I feel like my hardwood floors collect the most CRAP on them that I have ever seen! (NOTE TO SELF: Do not put hardwood floors throughout the entire house ever again.) They're pretty, but I don't know what I was thinking. THEN... here's the best part... I TOOK A NAP ON THE COUCH!!! I haven't done that in gosh knows how long. It was wonderful.

I think my crescent rolls are done baking. I'm going to eat all 8 of them.

*update: i DID eat all 8 of them. they were very tasty!

Day Off!

I took today off. The WHOLE day. Evan has a dr's appt in the middle of the day, so it would be silly for me to be at work for a short time, leave to get him, go to the dr, and then come home. so- I'm about to take him to school, then come home and do some hard core tidying, and then go pick him up and go to the dr. It's his ear re-re-check. The re-check AFTER the last re-check. This kid's got ear infections like its his job, but you'd never know it because they don't bother him. The doctor said she would possibly be concerned about Conductive Hearing Loss if he keeps getting them. I'm not concerned though. He's "speaking" and imitating sounds, so I think his little listeners are doing just fine.

I almost quit yesterday...more on that a little later.

....for your reading pleasure...
"Conductive hearing loss is caused by an interference in the transmission of sound to the inner ear. Infants and young children frequently develop conductive hearing loss due to ear infections. This loss is usually mild, temporary, and treatable with medicine or surgery. "(Thanks KidsHealth!)

Happy Sunday!

I love it when I can wake up and take my time getting ready. Heck, I woke up at 7:00 and don't have to be out of the house til 10:15. THAT'S 3 WHOLE HOURS!! 3x more than I get during the week. I'm lovin' it! I took a shower and put jammies on, simply because I don't want to get all gussied up for church just yet.

Evan's taking a nap, I'm doing laundry (an extra load that I forgot about last night...oops!), and pondering what I'm going to wear today.

Yes, Evan is taking a nap... something he does rarely at school. I don't know why he doesn't like to nap. I'd nap all day if I got the chance. But- thankfully he's not a hard-and-fast routine kinda kid, so he naps on the weekends at least once a day. Love it!

I hope my tax return comes soon. I'd kinda like to see all that extra cash flood my bank account (only to see it disappear to pay off debts...) I checked irs.gov and they told me to wait another week, sign back in, and MAYBE it would be on its way, that really, it could take 6 whole weeks to get me my money!! I'm so techno-savvy, and yet, I didn't e-file. (BANG HEAD HERE)


I found this video on my computer. It came pre-loaded on it... I think its a pretty butterfly. Don't you? Thank you HP for the nice video.