11/29/09

Thanksgiving was good....now looking forward to Christmas!







I love this time of year. I really love Thanksgiving and I feel it is a very important holiday that sometimes gets lost because of the greatness of Christmas. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas, but I also think Thanksgiving gets a bad break, so I always wait until the day after Thanksgiving to get excited about Christmas. No Christmas decor or music until the day after Thanksgiving. I am very excited about holiday music and decor now, though. Only 20 days until I get on a plane to fly home and really that is what is going to keep me going the next three weeks. I am so excited to see my mother and family and to just chill with them. Mom, be prepared to watch some movies and play some trivia.

The holiday was good. I was able to see The Utah Jazz lose in basketball, but still I was at a pro game, right? That is all that matters. I was able to babysit a very cute baby on Wednesday. Thursday, I was able to both watch the Packers play and peel potatoes...all at the same time. I also was able to eat some wonderful food and spend time with my other family. I sure do love them. Friday, I got to see New Moon and spend even more time with the fam. Saturday, I went up and was able to attend a temple session with The Bills as Caleb received his endowments for the first time. We then went to Red Robin afterward. Yummy!

Today was a chill day as I just want to church. I actually was only out of my pajamas for those three hours today. That is my kind of day! I have been busy tonight watching football and writing my novel. Good times!

So, there you have it. You are officially updated.

11/23/09

Hmmmm......TURKEYS

I like that tomorrow is the last day that I have to teach this week. It is going to be very, very, very nice to have a few days off. I plan on doing some major sleeping and eating. That is what Thanksgiving is all about right? I told my students today that I would not miss them because hanging out with a turkey would pretty much be like hanging out with them, the turkeys that they are!

Life is good. Gave a good lesson on Sunday. It is actually nice to be done with it. I hate the whole being nervous in preparing. The talk was by President Monson and it is spectacular. Click on Monson(it will be in green) to read the talk. You will enjoy it. Mom....read it!

What else. Hmmm. It snowed yesterday. It was pretty coming down but then I started to think about how I don't really like snow and winter. I think I need to buy some full spectrum light bulbs this winter!

I have been eating a lot of chocolate lately. I like it. I had some nice pizza tonight from Papa John's. YUMMY. I am going to have In-N-Out burger for lunch tomorrow. One of the teachers at school has prep the hour before lunch and he was totally okay with going to get it for us tomorrow. That makes me excited. Funny how food really makes me happy these days!

Here are a few things that I am thankful for today:
1. Friends who are so supportive of me.
2. Good talks with co-workers after school.
3. Visiting Teachers who come and visit me and who are hilarious.
4. Pizza and Fresca
5. Music
6. Sleep. (I better go get some!)

11/20/09

I remembered

A student reminded me of the second funny that happened in Health yesterday. While I was talking to the students, one said: "hey, did you know if you tilt your head to the side it makes the room bigger?" That as funny all by itself but to see the whole class then proceed to put their heads sideways was priceless!

11/19/09

Funniness at School

There were two funny things that happened today at school but I can only remember this one. We are talking about violence and I had them do a little activity with the statistics of rape, assault and murder. While talking about the rape statistics, I lectured the boys a little bit about how a girl's no really means no. I told them that even if you have kissed them before and they say no to kissing now, that meant no. I also told them that applies to sex as well. Then I also said that women can even be raped by their husbands, if their husband forces himself on his wife and she is not consenting. Unfortunately, I used too much of their own slang and said this: "Even if you have put a ring on her finger, it doesn't mean you get to tap that whenever you want." A little too Beyonce? Yes! One girl in class had just taken a sip of juice when I said this and she started to choke to death. I couldn't help but laughing. It was hilarious. Maybe you had to be there.

Not much else from today. I did play some "Goodminton" with two of my co-workers after work. They only beat me one game and I was playing alone and they were playing doubles. I am a fantastic badminton player.

One of my students had to have me as a partner in badminton yesterday and before we started playing he looked at me and said: "But are you good, Alice?" I responded by saying: "I guess you will see when we play." We were a pretty good team and only one other team beat us. After class my teammate came up to me and humbly said: "You really ARE good, Alice!" It was a nice compliment.

Got to go to the temple tonight. I love how it is such a peaceful place and that I can get out of the chaos of the world for an hour or so when I go to do a session. Great stuff!

Well, I am very glad it is Friday tomorrow. I am excited to sleep in on Saturday.

Cheers!

11/18/09

A Lesson on Caffeine!

One of my students is brilliant. He found 15 dollars in some parking lot and decided it would be a good idea to spend 13 of it in a coffee shop before heading to school this morning. Here is a conversation we had in class:

Student: So, how much caffeine do you think I have had today? I had that iced coffee with three shots of espresso in it and I had some of those chocolate covered coffee beans.
Me: How many coffee beans did you have?
Student: I had that whole bag and now there are only like ten left.
Me: I bet about five of those beans would make a whole pot of coffee. You probably had about twenty. So you had about four pots of coffee and a iced coffee with espresso shots worth of caffeine.
Student: Whoa, that is a lot of caffeine. Could that be bad for your body?
Me: Uh yeah, caffeine is a stimulant so it makes you heart beat a lot faster and will make you jumpy. Do you feel a little bit jumpy and anxious?
Student(as he is tapping his fingers on the desk and rapidly tapping his foot on the floor): Yeah. I can't sit still, can we go play basketball or something?
Me: Uh, no this isn't PE.

Yeah, the kid got in trouble later in the day. I am sure he was even more hopped up on caffeine. Silly kid.

Here is another two conversations that I had with another student this week(he is hilarious and not even in any of my classes):

Student: Hey Alice, maybe Victor wants to date you.
Me: Yeah, here is my policy on dating students. Um NO and if you have ever walked the halls of Independence as a student that is a for sure no!
Student: Well there goes all my chances!

That was yesterday when I had that conversation with said student. This was one we had today:
Me: Man, this is one awesome apple(I was finishing my lunch on the way to class).
Student: I bet that is a good one. Watch out it will go right to your hips, Alice.
Me: Yeah, probably not this apple, but that potato and sour cream...yeah, right to my hips!

Funny. Sometimes I LOVE my students. Now is one of those times!

11/16/09

Monday....need I say more?

I really want Thanksgiving Break to be here. But I know, just like the Kelly Clarkson Vegas weekend, it will come and go quickly and then I will have to have something else to look forward to. Is it usually hard for me to get through school this time of year? I know some of you know me better than I know myself and you see patterns in my life better than I do? What do you think?

Today was a good day. I gave a test in Health. It makes for an easy teaching day, but I always forget that when I give a test, I actually have to grade it later. SIGH. After school, we had a little baby shower for the wife of one of our teachers. There were some fabulous homemade Oreo cookies there. I had three, which I shouldn't have. I decided that I should only eat popcorn for dinner tonight because of that carb loading decision.

Tonight, I had big plans for getting caught up on some TV but when I tried to, I fell asleep on the couch. I have been doing that a lot lately. I cannot figure out why I am doing this! It is weird. Maybe it is the start of winter sleeping on the couch Alice.

Now, I really want to play some Band Hero(it is made by the same people who make Guitar Hero) but I also think I should grade some papers. Maybe those papers will have to wait until tomorrow. Life is so hard sometimes. I also could finish House seeing I fell asleep watching it earlier. These are my hard life decisions. I am kinda thankful my life is so uncomplicated.

Cheers.

11/15/09

Sunday...........That day before dreaded monday.



I missed Flashback Friday again...so we will have Super Sunday. I kinda wish I would be in this picture right now rather than facing the reality of Monday tomorrow. SIGH. LIfe is hard sometimes, isn't it? That picture is of me on the back of a boat near the Apostle Islands in Northern Wisconsin. I am way excited to visit home in a little over a month. I kinda like that place!

Today was good. A little more just sitting around home and relaxing. I wrote a lot in the novel today. I am a full day ahead. By the end of the week I would like to be five days ahead! That would be cool.

This week the kids in PE will be playing Badminton. One of the kids thinks it is cool to call it "Goodminton." I like that idea. Kinda goes along with my life theme of being positive.

We WILL have a good week!

11/14/09

Blogging Slacker


This is Caleb opening his mission call

Hi. It's me, Alice. Do you remember me? You may not because I have been the world's most sporadic blogger lately. Don't worry, you didn't miss much. This week hasn't been too exciting. I went to work, I wrote some of my novel, I slept and then woke up and did it all over again.

Friday was nice. Fridays are always nice. After work, we went out for burgers because it was payday(I was very excited for it to be payday....the funds are a little low with medical bills to pay! Don't feel sorry for me though. I am okay). We did not go to Red Robin this time. I know, shocking, right? We actually went to another one of my favorites, Burgers Supreme. Their burgers are yummy too. I also am a fan of their fries. Yum. We then went to my school's boys' basketball game. It was nice to just sit and watch basketball and not be in charge of anything. I like that! I am not coaching basketball this year due to the fact that we would have to come up with six hundred dollars to play and I would not get paid. I was okay with sitting out because of those things. Last night made me thankful for my decision. They lost the game but it was fun to go.

Thursday, I headed up to Salt Lake because my "little brother from another mother" got his mission call. In my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, men serve for two years as missionaries from the age of 19 to 21. They go to various places all over the world to share our beliefs. The leaders of our church assign each young man to a mission and send them a letter which tells them where they will go and when they will report to their mission. Caleb got his call in the mail on Thursday. About 30 of his friends and family got together to see him open the letter and read it to us. It was so cute he was so emotional as he read where he would serve, which is Fortaleza, Brazil. He will leave on March 17. It was fun to be apart of him opening his call and I am excited to write him letters and hear all about his adventures as a missionary.

Well, that pretty much catches you up on me. I would now like to write a Thankful list to celebrate the fact that this is the month of Thanksgiving. I actually keep a thankful list all year long but don't share it much. It will be fun to share it with you today!

I am thankful for:
1. A wonderful place to live.
2. Heat in my wonderful place to live. (It snowed today!)
3. Plane tickets to Wisconsin for The Christmas Holiday.
4. Great friends who love me.
5. A car that runs.
6. New clothes.
7. My faith that keeps me going because I know everything always works out in the end the way it is supposed to and we always grow through trials! It also keeps me grounded and safe. God truly is marvelous and loves each of us so very much!!
8. Bath and Body Works hand soap.
9. Guitar Hero and playing it with friends!
10. Fresca. Especially when it is on sale!! :)
11. Pandora. It helps me focus when I am writing my novel! Good music!

There is eleven things I am thankful for. There are lots more things but that is the list for today. Thanks for being cool and for reading my blog. I appreciate your support.

11/10/09

So Here I am....






Once again...torn into pieces. The Kelly Clarkson concert is over. This was something I have been looking forward to for months. It is kinda sad to not have it to look forward to. It went too dang fast.

I am dragging at work. It has been hard to go back this week. I need a vacation from my vacation!

The novel is coming along. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work. Other times I love it. I have gotten a little behind but am working on getting back up to a few days ahead!!

The weekend in Vegas was awesome. I sure do love my little "nephews." We have a lot of fun being around each other. Thanks again Morgan and Derek for the fun weekend. I got to eat a lot of the foods I love in Vegas. It was also fun to just chill and relax. I like low key.

Enjoy the pics of the boys. They are so cute. I also was able to go shopping with my friend, Alyssa. She has great fashion sense and we had a blast while getting me new clothes and jewelry. She is nice.

Here are three reasons why I am going to fly Southwest a lot more:
1. The earlier you check in, the better seat you can get because you choose your seat.
2. There is no business class to walk through and be reminded of how you are not rich enough to ride in the fancy seats.
3. Bigger seats. When I sat in the middle one I didn't feel like a blimp.
4. Cheaper tickets!!!!
5. A flight attendant actually said: "Now be careful with your things in the overhead bins. Shift happens!"

I would make a list about why I would never fly delta but that would be depressing right now. I tried to get tickets last night for Christmas and it was a fiasco. Sorry for being stressed on the phone, Mom!

Later all!

11/7/09

You can see Morgan, Lesley and Alice in this video!



Watch this Youtube video. Your life will be changed. At 2:30, be sure to look at the center of the balcony and the jumping black blobs(there are three of us) are us! I have never been on Youtube but here is my moment of glory! This was an amazing concert! Realize that "My Life Would Suck without You!" Enjoy!

Kelly Clarkson Rocks My World for the Third Time this Year!!!

Us at the concert



Kelly's tour bus

We had a blast at the Kelly Clarkson Concert. It was nice to re-connect with Lesley. I think we really embarrassed Derek. It was a blast. I am not sure if I will have a voice tomorrow or not. Silly screamer at concerts. What a blast though. Kelly Clarkson is truly so good live. What a talent!

It was awesome to have a day off today. It was nice to also just have a low-key day. I love being around Morgan and her family. They are very stress-relieving.

I hope you do something fun this weekend as well!

11/5/09

Happy Day Before Kelly Clarkson's Concert to You!



Okay, maybe you are not that excited about the concert but I am very excited. I will do the normal teaching thing today and then bust a move up to the airport right after. It is going to be fabulous. That is right you heard it here first, FABULOUS.

I seem to be consumed by writing a novel these days. It is a lot of work. The cool thing is that, for some reason, this novel is being easy to write. I kinda hesitate to write that because, as soon as I do, I may be plagued with writer's block. Hopefully, that does not happen. It has been an adventure to be writing and it is fun to see ideas just come to me that I never thought would go into the story. Good times.

I hope that life is treating you well! Talk to ya from Vegas! :)

11/3/09

Tired but not....how does that work?

Hi. It is Tuesday and I keep thinking it is Wednesday. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I only have to work two more days this week. That is a fun thing to think about.

Not much happened today. I got up, went to work, came home, wrote a bit of my novel and stuff.

I am tired but don't want to sleep. Where does this come from? Today I was in an extremely good mood despite not going to bed until 11:30 last night. That was weird.

I don't have much else to say. Read today's writing for the novel if you like. It is nice or not. I pretty much was in a blur while writing it. It is easy to write the story but I think I am leaving lots of details out. I guess that is what the editing the next few months will be all about, right?

Well, I am off to watch a bit o TV. Cheers!

11/2/09

Welcome to my busy life....

So, I have decided to write another novel for November's National Novel Writing Month. That is a huge deal because pretty much I must put in about two hours of writing a day in order to get the 50,000 words goal by the end of November. My novel is based on the drama of my students' lives. Here is the link to my new blog(it is also linked on the sidebar!). It will have all of the writing that I do this month. That is truly a new thing for me. I have a hard time sharing my writing but decided what the heck, why not get out of my comfort box a little bit more. Don't judge the novel and please feel free to make comments and suggestions. The whole program which you can learn about here is just to write and write and get 50,000 words. You are not supposed to do any editing which is hard but really the goal is to get the 50,000 words(quantity, not quality!). I already have over 4,000 words. I want to get real ahead so when the craziness of life comes during the month I will not get behind if I flake a day.

Not much else going on here. Just living the dream. I have been saying that a lot lately. I better add that as a title.

Have a superb day!

P.S. I am highly enjoying Pandora these days. Julianne is right; it does make writing easier!

11/1/09

Halloween and Such.

I had a blast this Halloween. I think this will be more of a photo blog than a real post. Didn't do much this weekend but chill with the Bills and watch Aiden. Enjoy the pics and know I am very excited to only work four days this week. Viva Las Vegas and Viva la Diva. Little excited for Kelly Clarkson!
The Kids Trick or Treating.
Buckethead Spencer(I may or may not have taught him the saying and then he kept saying: "Buckethead, buckethead, buckethead!"
Zack as Darth Vader
Kids carving pumpkins.
Jordan as Hannah.
Danni as Ladybug
Morgan and the cutest pumpkin ever.
Caleb and Lexi
Me, the other pumpkin.