11/29/08

Thanksgiving!



The holiday was much fun. It went much too fast as well. I spent the day with the Bills like every year and it was great as always. I made too many potatoes but that is tradition. We had the annual bingo game and it was fun even though there really weren't any kids around this time around. Weird.

We then headed to Manila, Utah yesterday and we just got back today. I love not working. It went fast, but I guess that just means that Christmas Break will come faster, right?

I don't have a whole lot beside that. I am tired and will be glad to have a bed to sleep in tonight rather than a couch. Not that I am not appreciative of the couches I have been sleeping on, it is just nice to have a real bed!

I am not looking forward to having to go back to work. SIGH!

11/26/08

Let the Festivities Begin!

I am now officially on Thanksgiving Break. This is indeed one of the things I am thankful for right now. I do love my job and am very thankful that I have it because I know there are a lot of Americans don't have jobs right now. I also do have a pretty awesome job. I get to be around the future everyday. I get to have, even if a small part, an opportunity to make a difference in kid's lives. That is pretty awesome. I do not touch every kid, but I do touch some and that is amazing still! I love my students and even if it is hard sometimes because of how broken their lives are, it is so worth it. I think I need to tape what I just wrote up on a wall in my house and look at it every day before I go to work. Seriously, it is hard to have a positive attitude at work sometimes and I am not always who I should be there but each day is a learning experience for me.

So, wanna know how I will spend the first day of break? I knew you would. I got to sleep in which was magnificent and needed. My eye flared again yesterday so I am again on antibiotic drops. It worries me a little. Sleeping helped a bit. I am going to head to the grocery store and buy potatoes for Thanksgiving. I then will go to the laundromat which is one of my favorite places on the planet (feel the sarcasm!). Then I plan on watching some DVRed shows and just chilling.

I have gotten to see Ben the past few days and it has been fun. Last night we went to dinner at my favorite Indian restaurant. It was fun. We also watched tons of The Office because he is trying to catch up. Yeah, it is really a sacrifice for me to watch The Office as you all know. I did sleep through most of the ones we watched last night but I had good reason. We may watch more tonight. Good times!

11/24/08

More Thankfulness!

Continuing the Thankful week...

I am so thankful for all the awesome friends I have. Sarah shouted out to me in her blog yesterday and I was very touched by that. She is one amazing person and without her, I would not be the person I am today. I am thankful for her courage and example. I am also thankful for all of my work friends. Today the home and consumer science teacher helped me make a present. (It is scary when Alice sews btw). Janette made me dinner tonight, she is always amazing. Of all the people in my life, not only is she one of them but she is one of the ones that keeps me sane. I can always vent to her about anything. She always listens and understands. It is always nice to have these great friends who know what I go through every day with the students I teach. I really have noticed that I have always been surrounded by amazing friends. I do not know why but I always have good friends. They always help me with everything. Today even one of my friend's emails made me not be as nervous as I had been. MBC is amazing. She is also quite the librarian who always recommends good books.

I am very tired and if you are reading this and you have not been mentioned please do not be offended. If you are one of my friends, I am thankful for you and for all you do for me. You people are pretty darn special.

I must sleep now. Only one more day to get through before break. YIPEE!!!

11/23/08

I Think I Can Last Two Days!


This pic is funny because I bought some nuts to eat this week remembering how much I loved eating these kinds of nuts with my grandpa at his house. I went all out and bough some and even a new nutcracker. Well, I am allergic to peanuts as a lot of you know. Well, I am also allergic to other tree nuts apparently because I had a reaction to one of these kinds too. Sad day! It was good to remember Grandpa though!

Yeah, I think I can do it, I think I can make it through two days of work this week. That is just fantastic. I am so excited.

Today I didn't do much. Went to Church then came home and read for a bit and then had dinner with two friends. I like when friends come over and make dinner for me. If anybody else wants to do this, please feel free!

I decided that in each post this week I will write about something I am thankful for seeing it is Thanksgiving week! Here is number one:

I am thankful for knowing my creator. My faith in God is something very dear to my heart. In fact, most of my decisions in life involve Him. I also feel that I am a much calmer person because of my knowledge of who I am and my part in Heavenly Father's plan. I know that even my trials have reason and that through each of my experiences here on earth I am made stronger and basically God is shaping me into who I am supposed to be. The journey is pretty much one of the awesomest things about life. I am so thankful that I can see God's hand in my life and that I know that everything will always work out as long as I have faith in him! What a wonderful thing to have and to know!

It is later than I wanted to go to bed. I hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to one great week.
Love ya all. Unless I don't know you very well, but even then, I think I probably would learn to love you though time!

11/22/08

Geto!!!



Morgan once blogged about living in the Ghetto (http://ingfamily.blogspot.com/2008/11/proof-i-live-in-ghetto.html). Well, if one shopping cart makes it so you live in the ghetto, I live in the Ghetto times seven. There are a total of seven shopping carts in my yard. (One is on the side of the house so it is not included in the picture) I will never understand the mentality of people who take shopping carts from the store and bring them to where they live. I just don't get it. If you live only two blocks from the grocery store, it does make sense to walk there. The part I do not get is why are you buying so much that you can't comfortably carry it? Seriously, the place is only two blocks away...you probably could go there next week, or even tomorrow if necessary! Another thing that I do not get about this mentality is why don't you take the cart back the next time you go to the store. Apparently, you go multiple times if there are multiple carts. Wouldn't it occur to you that "wow, I could take this back with me so it would not become an eye sore." Hmm. Maybe they do not understand that there are other people in the world. "If this cart doesn't bother me, then it isn't a problem." They do not have to walk past the graveyard of carts everyday, do they?

I would also take pictures of all the trash that they have on "their" porch, but I have a fear of them getting out baseball bats and chasing after me. Apparently, the walk to the dumpster is too far, so they just chuck the garbage out onto the porch instead of walking the fifty feet to the dumpster. Again, they are not realizing that this is a shared space and everyday other people have to walk past junk alley to get their mail.

Morgan, I think I win. I live in more of a ghetto than you! I will even dare say I live in the "geto." That is how my students grafittized our sidewalk at school one year. They thought our school was ghetto but really were so ghetto that they actually could not spell ghetto properly. I kinda take humor in all of this but at the same time am irritated by the lack of education around me on all fronts right now. I go to school and teach people who struggle so much then I go home and am bombarded by the same crap. In fact, the other day when I confronted one of the neighbor children about said shopping carts and suggested the next time they go to Smith's they could actually take a few back he responded by saying: "Oh those aren't our carts." Hmm. Funny that I often see him with his mother parking the cart there and taking their groceries out of it. Yep, they must not be yours. One of my students does a similar thing every time I confront him on inappropriate behavior or language. "Please do not swear." "I wasn't swearing, it was my mouth." No responsibility for anything. Very annoying.

So there you have my rant on the "geto" I live in!

Life has been very, very, very busy these days. A typical day has me teaching for about seven hours, coaching basketball for an hour and a half, exercising for an hour, doing some grading for about a half an hour and then going home about about six-thirty. Once home all the energy I have is to plop myself down in front of the TV and veg until about ten-thirty. Sometimes I stay up later because I feel I have not gotten enough Alice time. This is bad because then I do not get enough sleep and I am Grumpy Alice at school. I have found myself yelling at students a few times this last week. I don't like when I get like that. I don't want to be Yelling Alice either. She is not nice. The kids like the Alice who is funny and positive not angry and negative. I am aware of all these things but am having a hard time changing. I guess that is the project for me in the next few weeks.

I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving Break. I don't have too many plans except for hanging with the Bills forThanksgiving and the day after. My friend, Ben, will also be in town from Austin, Texas and I am excited to see him. The last time I got to see him was in March while he was living in Des Moines. It will be fun to re-connect again.

This weekend I am going to the movie Twilight and cleaning. I am procrastinating getting down to the cleaning. The biggest challenge is going to be the mound of clothes that has appeared in my room. I have been so tired lately that Tornado Alice just throws clothes in piles when she is done wearing them. Non-Organized Alice has also not put the clean ones away so the hampers are out of commission for dirty clothes because clean clothes are inhabiting them. I better get to it so I can go to the movie this afternoon. I hope you are all having a fabulous day. I like weekends!

11/20/08

More Carrie



Today went fast, which is always good. Okay so you shouldn't live your life for the future but until Thanksgiving break I am on coast.

The wait for Carrie Underwood is over and the concert went by too fast. I thought about it a lot today. That is why you will get to see a few more pictures from the concert.

Tomorrow is our next basketball game. Today the girls looked lots better at practice. I hope they can remain calm during the game. I think they just get too nervous.

We went to burgers tonight. I sure do love Red Robin and good people to hang with.

I went to the library for the first time since February. What is wrong with me that I haven't been to the city library since them? Weird.

I also watched The Office. It was awesome. Thirty minutes is just not enough sometimes!

It is late again. Going to sleep now!

Carrie Underwood Rocks!!!



It is late and I am tired, but it was all worth it. My friend, Aimee, and I went to see Carrie Underwood in Salt Lake City tonight. It was an awesome concert.

Ms. Underwood puts on a great show. She first appeared from a lift in the stage and the show was energy filled from start to finish. I have a few videos but I don't have the time to post them right now. It was a complete blast and I am still on a little of a concert high, but I must go to bed or I will be grumpy with my students. Poor, poor children having to deal with me and my bad attitude all the time.

11/17/08

25,013

I am a slacker writer but half way through my novel. It doesn't seem that good but at least I am writing.

A pretty non-exciting day.

Basketball practice was awesome. I think my girls finally got our play. I am hoping they will be able to use it in the game on Friday.

Started a weight lifting unit in Phy Ed. Good times.

Exercised and went grocery shopping after leaving work. Thrilling day.

Only two days until Carrie Underwood! YIPEE!

11/16/08

Winterizing.




I decided to put plastic over my windows in order to save some heat. It seems to be doing the trick so far, but I guess I will notice more when it is more cold. I refuse to credit it as winter yet, even if it is cold in the morning. It has been pretty warm this weekend and sunny. I like that weather. By the way, thanks to Megan for the hair dryer to put up my plastic. You are a gem.

Megan stayed with me this weekend and we had fun shopping(as we always do!) and eating and going to a movie. We saw Quantum of Solace. It was okay. Not the best Bond movie if you ask me. I spent a lot of the movie feeling dizzy because of the cinematography. It was fun but I don't think I would buy the movie. See it if you want!

I have taken a two day break from the novel. That is not good. I did write a bit tonight. I have to get on it again this week. I now have 24,201 words. Not bad but I really wanted to be ahead. Now I am playing catch up! SIGH! OH WELL.

Well, I must be going to bed. Not excited to go to work tomorrow, but who is?

Night

11/15/08

So People Don't Worry!



Here is the history of my eye infection. It has been a week and it is almost perfect now. I just didn't want you all to worry about me going blind and having my eye then fall out. That would be embarrassing.

11/13/08

OPAC


OPAC stands for Operation Pass All Classes.  Today we started something new at our school and I am very excited for it, so you get to read about it.  Basically, during our Leadership class on Thursdays we now have each student assigned to a class that they are struggling with.  This means they go to that teacher and work on bringing their grades up instead of going to their Leadership class.  I had about six Health kids who I requested to come meet with me who were failing Health class.  Within about a half an hour, all six of these students had pulled their grades to Bs or better.  I thought that was pretty awesome.  

I hope we will be able to see a rise in our students passing all their class which in the end will mean there will be more students who actually graduate.  YIPEE!!!!

11/12/08

21,955


The eye is slowly getting less red. I hope the drops are working like they should. Funny thing about the drops. I was surprised that my eye wasn't getting better very quick. The funny part is that I was just putting drops in. Last night, I finally read the directions and I am supposed to put the drop in and not blink for two minutes. Yes, I was supposed to actually let the stuff have contact with my eye for a whole two minutes. Who would have thunk? Funny how somebody as literate as I am would neglect the written directions of my prescription. Sad!

The novel is coming along. I have been trying to write 500 more words than I should lately because I know that there will be days that I don't want to write. Thanksgiving break will be like that, for example. Also, the Carrie Underwood concert a week from today will probably be a day where I don't type. It seems to be going well. It is fiction. It is about a guy who just graduated from college in California and who goes partying with friends. He then kills one of his best friends in a drunk driving accident. It is about him dealing with this tragedy. It interesting. It is awesome how the words just roll off my fingers. I don't even know what I will write about most days. It just comes. Awesome.

I am tired. Life is busy with work and coaching and trying to exercise and write a novel. I guess it keeps me out of trouble or something.

11/11/08

19,736



I do believe that the eye is looking better. I think the doc was right that there was some sort of infection up in there. It is feeling better and I am glad. Eye infections are so overrated. You should not get one.

Today was pretty normal. Got up, went to work, taught rowdy kids, went to faculty meeting, exercised, graded, came home, wrote more novel, watched some TV.

My life is pretty much the excitement of the world. If my life were a reality TV show it would probably have negative ratings.

A bunch of teachers at school have decided to start a new workout program. That makes me pretty excited. We are all going to work together to get more healthy. I need all the help I can get seeing that I cannot say no to Alice lately. I eat anything I want to. My pants tell me it is true.

Well, gotta go finish Chuck and get to bed at around ten. New goal!

11/10/08

17,578



I decided I will take a picture each day of me and my red eye. You can be the judge as to if the antibiotic drops are working. The doc thinks it is an infection even though there was no puss. If it doesn't get better by Wednesday, I am supposed to go to the eye doctor, which will cost lots of money. Good times!

I stayed home from school today and it went to fast. I went into work at about ten to seven and got stuff ready for the sub. Then I came home and slept for another hour. Then I exercised and watched TV. I then went to the doctor and paid $25 dollars for a thirty second visit. I love how health care works...NOT! I then filled my prescription and did laundry. Then I watched more TV and took a nap and then went to Janette's for dinner. She is nice to me most Mondays and lets me partake of her crock pot meal of the week. We then did some shopping and went to the library for something she needed for her class on Thursday. I then came home and wrote more of the novel and put some grades in. Now I am off to bed. Exciting day, eh?

11/9/08

IDAHO




This is how pick-up trucks should look. My friend's brother-in-law took us to a cave on saturday night. While we waited for people to come and meet us, he found some puddles to play in with the truck. I loved it and laughed the whole time. Laura didn't like it so much and kept yelling his name. It was hilarious. The cave was awesome, unfortunately, I could not get a good pic from inside but it was huge and a great place for people to go and grafittize. I actually participated by writing: "Live 100% ARK." That is my life theme these days.

Other than just visiting and eating we did not do a whole lot in Idaho Falls. I did enjoy spending time with my old roommates. The drive went fast because I had Kerri to talk to.

My eye is really red. I am having a sub tomorrow and going to the eye doctor to get it looked at. Good times. NOT SO MUCH. I don't think it is pink eye because there is no puss. I am grateful for that but it is still a pain, literally and scary. I guess we will see what it is tomorrow. Enjoy the pic of my eye! :) I am taking a break from the novel today. It stresses my eye a bit and I will have time tomorrow to write more! :) I guess there is a good part of that! I do have over 13,000 words now though! Go Me!

11/7/08

10245

HI. It is way later than I should be awake. Seriously. I told myself all day that I would be in bed early. It didn't happen.

Basketball practice was today so I didn't get out of the school until almost six. I then came home and showered and ate and then headed to play pool with a friend. Then I came home and watched The Office with other friends. It was awesome by the way. LOVE THAT SHOW!!! Then, of course, I had to get my quota of words for the novel. So, I did it. Now it is after midnight and I really need to get to bed. Dang Alice!

Tomorrow, I will go to work and then one of my friends and I will be driving up to Idaho Falls for a weekend with my friend from Logan. We all used to be roommates. It will be a fun time.

Night!

11/5/08

8512

I am tired and need to get to bed. Today was good. I like my life. My students are so good. How did I get to be so lucky this year?

I didn't do much else today besides work. I did watch The Office a bit while exercising. I then wrote. I don't think I can have a life and write this novel. Tomorrow will be a challenge because I have basketball practice then I have plans to play pool at 7pm and then watch The Office with a friend. Where will I get my exercise and novel writing in? Sometimes there has to be sacrifices. It was nice to exercise today. I haven't been feeling like doing it lately.

I also was able to catch up with a friend from college via Facebook Instant Messaging. Good times. Man, I feel old when I think about how long ago I was in college! Weird.

Well, off to bed. Night!

Snow! NO!


These pictures say it all.  It is snowing.  The first one is from my classroom.  The second is my reaction.  I know it is not pretty but it is totally how I feel.

11/4/08

6820

Tired again. Wrote again. It didn't seem as long to write tonight. I think I need to start earlier in the night. I should be in bed right now, but as usual, I am not.

I stayed up to watch the results of the election. I don't typically tell people who I vote for but I did a lot of that the past few days. Today, in the teacher's lounge, I was again reminded why I keep quiet when people are talking politics around here. I got tired of hearing how Obama is a slimy person. These people don't even know this man but because he is the opposite party from their own ideas, they feel the need to rationalize why it is okay to vote straight party and wonder why things don't change around this place. Okay, so most of them don't think like that but I totally feel as if it is that way sometimes. I am projecting as always. They did admit at one time that all politicians are slimy!

I was very impressed with McCain's address tonight. He truly stood up for Obama and told his supporters that he will do anything to help Obama. I like that. I was also inspired by Obama's speech. His recount of American history was awesome. I was in tears at many parts of the speech.

Sorry to all my friends who are starch Republicans. I know you are all good people. I did not mean to offend any of you during this post but I am sure some of you will take offense. Not all people around here are uneducated and vote straight party. I do tend to lean Democrat but I am unaffiliated and actually voted for a few Republicans this election. So there!

11/3/08

5214

That is how many words my novel has. Today was not an easy day to write. I think these 1700 words will be not so good. Oh well. The program is all about quantity not quality so I am okay.

I am tired. I hate Mondays. Time seems to be dragging right this minute. Is it Friday yet?

Did I tell you that I am coaching Girls Basketball at our school this year. We haven't had a team in about three years and I haven't coached in more than that. It is weird to coach. I must be getting old because I am not that excited about it. In fact, I am frustrated with how much time it takes. Me time, free time is sacrificed. Oh well. We will see if they are competitive or not. I forget how little skills the girls from our school have when it comes to basketball.

That is pretty much it. I had some good dinner with friends tonight. Pork chops, potatoes and pie. You should always have alliteration when you eat!

11/2/08

Sunday...quickly exits.

Man, I don't know about you but I really have a hard time with the time changing. I like that it is now a bit lighter in the morning but having it be dark before six is a hard thing for me. I hope I am not going to be filled with rage because of the lack of light. I guess it is normal, seeing it is now November, to be full of rage. That is just how Alice rolls.

Today I went to church and then headed up to the Bills for dinner. It was fabulous because we had pot roast and mashed potatoes. YUM YUM! Thanks Bills for having me, as usual. It was nice to be able to spend more time with Morgan and Derek. I have missed spending time with them. I was spoiled when they lived in Provo a few years ago. I am glad that I will also get to see them over Thanksgiving in a few weeks. Spencer gave me a little gift of strawberry juice on my pants. Normally, I would be a little upset that my favorite pair of pants got a stain on them the first time I wore them since washing them, but I love that kid and if he is going to hug my legs because he is excited to see me, I will sacrifice a bit of stain on my pants!

I even came home early enough to be able to add more words to my novel. I am now at 3,487 words. Not bad. It does take about an hour to get my 1700 words that I want to get in order to make the challenge. Hopefully, at least a day each week I will be able to get a few hundred extra words so I can get ahead for the slacker days I know I will have. This is a pretty fun challenge for me and I find myself actually enjoying writing again. It is fun to just write and not worry about editing. That is pretty cool stuff.

Novel

Today I started my novel again. I am participating in National Novel Writing Month. Basically the goal is to write a 50,000 word book in 30 days. If you want to learn more about the program see this site: I have 1700 words typed today. I think I have to write about 1667 words a day to get the whole thing accomplished this month. So far, so good. I am informing you of this in order to give myself a bit more of a push to get it done. When you talk to me this month, ask how the novel is coming. I need the pressure. It is going to be hard to give myself enough time each day to write. It will be interesting to see how the novel turns out. It isn't meant to be perfect, in fact, the program is set up purely to get quantity. I am excited for it. If any of you want to read the novel I will email you a copy of what I have so far. Let me know if you want it! You are amazing people and thanks for being you and liking me! Night!

11/1/08

Halloween and the Nightmare After!



I had a very enjoyable Halloween. I had fun being the Lion from The Wizard of Oz at school with a few of my co-workers. Then I went Trick or Treating with Morgan and her boys and my friend Christine and her boy, Aiden. They were so very cute. I am tired because I didn't sleep much because when I came home I discovered that my carpet was sopping wet in the corner of my living room. Same leak as the one that kept me from moving in at the beginning of summer. Slightly annoying, especially the wet smell.

I also had Aiden over night because his mom worked early this morning and she needed a sitter. I took him to babysit my co-worker's kids this morning. They had a blast playing. I had a blast playing Barbie with the girl as Aiden played with the older boy. I really think I need to make my own dolls that wear more clothes and actually look like real human bodies. I get depressed every time I see a Barbie. I also wonder why she is shaped the way she is; it looks so difficult to sit!

Well, I am off to Salt Lake to spend more time with Morgan. I like her. She is fun and her kids are so very cute.

By the way, Caleb did the most amazing Joker. I thought he was really Heath at times. It kinda creeped me out to be honest but he did an amazing job. Way to go kid!

Later.