…tomorrow!!!

Raise your hand if...you just found out that this year, you'll be paying the IRS instead of the other way around, which has only happened once before. Crap.

No T.G.I.F. today, “not no way, not no how.”  Today is the last Friday of February vacation week, which means that Monday is back-to-school for at least another seven or eight weeks.  During that time, we have our yearly MCAS testing….a miserable, unfair, ridiculous test that virtually every student must take, regardless of their capabilities.  It’s also rigidly monitored to the point of amazing tension among all of us that work in the school system.   It’s one of those necessary evils.

On a better note, my sister-in-law and I had a wonderful lunch at Olive Garden today, then spent awhile meandering through Michael’s Craft Store.  It didn’t spark my creativity like I’d hoped, but I did get this…

…a magnetized note pad that says “I child-proofed my house, but they still get in”! 

Have a great weekend! 

Hi crafty gals. Does anyone have any creative ideas for using the paper in the shredder? I happen to love paper, have even made it before, then used it to wrap a few items. Other than that, nuthin'. Every time I empty the shredder, I feel sort of like I'm throwing "good stuff" away. Just wondering.

Soooo....apparently my dog has a blog! I find that quite amazing since she has no thumbs with which to type. Hmmm, will wonders never cease!

If you're so inclined, you can find her amazingly dog-like life at:

www.lucysdogspot.blogspot.com

Raise your hand if...you had to spend an hour in the dentist's chair today, have three shots of novacaine, have him work on "what's left" of a molar, have him suggest a root canal/crown, and four hours later, the novacaine still hasn't worn off. Ouch. I'm feeling whiney.

♥You can never have too many hearts! Hope your Valentine's Day was special.♥

Valentine’s Day, Vermont Style

“A warm-back husband and a cold-foot wife should easily lead a compatible life.”

“It’s a lonesome washing when there’s not a man’s shirt in it”.

And my favorite…

“There may be snow on the roof but there’s fire in the cellar”.

♥Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥

Not only is today~

T.

G.

I.

F. …

it is also~

T.

G.

I.

V!

a/k/a…

THANK GOD IT’S VACATION!

 

Snow Day

Snow day today...even though the real flakes didn't start until around 1:30 or 2:00 this afternoon! Oh well...it set a calm mood for the whole day.

I'm thankful to have spent the afternoon exactly the way I wanted to, which doesn't always happen. My friend Nina gave me some pretzel molds for my birthday and today, I tried them out. I actually had fun, which can be a rare occurrence in our busy lives.





This basket of chocolate goodies is heading to school with me tomorrow so that the other teachers can eat them! Can you say "sugar headache"?

I am so doing the snow dance right now! We're due between three inches and fourteen inches of snow (depending on which "expert" you listen to) between tomorrow morning and tomorrow night, and all of us teachers are praying it comes! A mid-week snow day would be great! If it comes, I have plans that involve chocolate, pretzels and candy molds. :D

Birthday CakeS!

Hi there.  Well, I turned 33, 42, 47, 52 yesterday and no, I don’t feel a day older.  I feel ten pounds heavier, though, due to my family getting me TWO cakes!   Seriously, I still feel full, but that won’t stop me from having a chunk, I mean sliver, of each of them again tonight.

 Here we have the decadent cannoli cake made at the local Italian bakery.  It’s creamy, rich, sinful, and delicious.

 Here we have the more typical ice cream cake, still decadent and delicious. (Ahem. Please note the age on this cake.  I approve this message.  Thank you.)

 The most creative gift? This one from my husband--it cracked me up!  It’s the beginning of our putting away a little bit of moola towards a get-away weekend for the two of us.

 Here’s my mom…she’s going to be 89 in March and I want to be just like her when I grow up.

Yesterday was a great day filled with family, which makes all of life’s ups and downs worthwhile. :) 

And now, onward with this wonderful new year ahead.  Tally ho!

Words of wisdom to share…

It’s nice to sit and think, but sometimes it’s nicer to just sit.

A kiss without whiskers is like an egg without salt.

Love and a cough cannot be hidden.

Happy Saturday evenin’ to ya. :)

Raise your hand if…the class of crazy 8th grade hoodlums, as I lovingly refer to them, threw you a surprise birthday party today during third period!!  

It was really wonderful!  They (and the teacher) got me a cake, an adorable balloon, a bouquet of lovely purple tulips, and a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble!  They brought in sodas and Doritos, too.  Come to find out, the one kid in that class that I’ve had the hardest time with since 6th grade was the first one to offer to donate money towards the gift…and he offered $10!!!  I was astounded! But mostly, I was humbled…these are not “well-off” kids and sometimes you think you just don’t get through to them.  Today proved otherwise.  It lifted my spirits immensely and had me smiling for the rest of the day. 

And on another note…

…duh!

Happy weekend to everyone!

I just peeled and ate two tasty oranges and as always when there are orange peels, I made my potpourri.  It is heavenly…see what you think. 

Peel of two (or so) oranges

Twelve (or so) whole cloves

Four (or so) cinnamon sticks

Two cups (or so) of water

Put these ingredients into a small saucepan and let simmer.  Be sure NOT to forget about it, though; always keep water in the pan.  The smell is absolutely wonderful!

Last Friday night there was a “wolf moon”, an exceptionally beautiful and rare full moon.  It was also about one degree out there, so as rare and lovely as it was, there was no way I was venturing outside to take a photo of it…and that’s why God made 20 year olds!

My middle daughter took her pretty fancy camera, along with my cute little one, outside and took some shots.  Here are a few of them for anyone else who stayed in, under the heavy blankets. :)  These were taken over the barn my son built…talk about a bright night! 

Raise your hand if…you ate enough raw cupcake dough to eliminate eight cupcakes from the finished product.  Yeah, so did I. Ugh.  Did you also get the accompanying stomach ache and sugar headache?  Ditto here.  Blech. 

All I can say is that they’d better be gone before I have to eat the frosting!