Loves…

My French manicure thanks to my special friend.

My new Sharpie pen….omg, if you’re a pen freak like me you HAVE to get these!  They write just like fine point Sharpies, but don’t bleed through the paper!

Hate… my purple swollen pinky finger!  AND the fact that I have no clue how it happened!  I guess I jammed it last night, but now it hurts and is ugly.  Boo.

I have lots to catch the blog up on, but for now this will have to do… one of my favorite pics from the weekend with Andrew’s family…

Me, Andrew, his sister, Sarah, and brother, Thomas…

Such a fun weekend!  Can’t wait to be home in one week!

xoxo Kaneil

What better way to relieve stress than shopping?  And buy yourself a Christmas gift?  Well, that’s not something that I typically do – and I’m certainly not spontaneous when it comes to spending more than $20 at a time.  But, after admiring the coats at JCrew for the last several years and never buying one for myself, I finally caved.  Earlier this fall, I tried on a coat and loved the fit.  It was out of my price range, so I decided to hold off until it went on sale at the end of the winter.  Surprise!  It was marked down from $298 to $208 recently….and I had a $50 gift card that I’ve been hoarding since July (thanks again, Kat!!!)  AND they give teachers 15% off!  So, I finally got this beauty for $140…including tax.

http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/WomenBrowse/Women_Shop_By_Category/outerwear/wool/PRDOVR~17506/17506.jsp

If you love their coats as much as I do, head on over and save yourself 30% off all outerwear.

Happy Shopping!

Oh, and the best part is, I have no buyer’s remorse.  This is something I’ve wanted for years and it was finally on sale and available at the right time.  I luuuurve it.

After writing this morning’s post, my classroom continued to get colder.  I am wearing leggings, a sweater dress, wool socks, and snow boots…..I still had to wear my huge long coat until lunch time!  My nose was cold, hands and feet were numb, and I could not focus.  (maybe I’m being dramatic…but so what!)  Our building engineer tried to adjust something, but it never worked…and our entire building is running on one boiler at the moment.  Anyways…

I found myself getting really annoyed with my class and stressed.  I was snippy, fo sho!  I hate when that happens, especially now that I’m a teacher.  After venting a bit during lunch time (ya know, teacher’s lounge talk…hahah not really, but kinda)….I realized that I was the only one who could change the situation.  Yes, my class talks.  A LOT.  And they are rude sometimes (ummm…. talking right in front of me when I’m trying to teach)…or interrupting…or demanding that I take care of them first…or kicking each other in P.E.?!?

But, they’re kids.  Sometimes I forget and hold them to unrealistic expectations.  Even if they are a little chatty, it’s not worth it for me to be mean and have them remember me as the mean snippy Ms. K.  No thank you.   I’d rather look at their chatty-ness as eagerness to learn and discuss topics amongst themselves.  I’m still trying to figure these things out!

I definitely have days when I get upset thinking about how my first class is like a huge experiment.  Trial and error for 10 months straight.  I love them to death and know that I will miss them next year (well, most of them at least), but I am ready to have this first year of teaching behind me!  I’ve learned so much and am ready to be an expert.  I’m over this novice bullsh*t!   Excuse my language, but it’s true.

The end.

This guy’s my new best friend!  Andrew and I finally got around to cleaning the carpet after the burst-pipe-induced leakage/stain.  I love this thing!  Andrew rented one from the grocery store on his way home from work last night $40 for a 24 hour rental.  Not too bad!

So, today we had a delayed start at school.  After two days of snow, we woke up with NO snow, but sub-zero temps.  I’m not complaining!  We are starting school an hour late….and I’m happy, but I would have lovvveeed a day to snuggle up at home!  Who am I kidding?  I have a frrrrreaking long at home to-do list that needs to be tackled asap!  Instead, I am sitting here at my desk, waiting to be bombarded by 27 pre-teens.  I have tons of grading to get done, but might spend a lot of time looking like this instead….

Brrrrr I now have my giant coat on inside the classroom.  I’m freeeeeezing!!!

Here’s to hoping for some warmer weather (I’ll take anything above freezing point)!

This is a picture from the internet.  It’s a furnace that’s extremely old and resembles the one in our current rental house.  Some people call it The Octopus.  No joke.  Well, at 2 a.m. this morning, a loud noise woke me up.  Charley was wandering around our bedroom and I couldn’t figure out what the noise was.  Eventually, I fell back asleep (after waking Andrew up and asking him if he heard the noise, too….he didn’t).

2:49, I woke up again.  Something smelled weird.  I tried to run things through my head….the heat was up higher than normal due to the sub-zero temperature, but it had never smelled like this before.  It didn’t smell like gasoline or anything weird, but it was definitely a strong and unusual scent.  Andrew eventually woke up since I was wiggly and so was Charley.  He smelled the scent and we decided to head downstairs to check it out.

I peeked my head down the stairs and saw that the carpet was wet.  Something was leaking.  We realized that a pipe was leaking above the furnace….dripping on the furnace…and making it smell.  We shut off the water to the pipe and put a bucket underneath it.  There was already about 2 inches of water on the concrete floor around the furnace and laundry area….and plenty more seeped into the carpeted hallway.  UGH.

We got bundled up and brought the shop-vac inside from the garage (Andrew walked through the dark snowy yard to the garage…at 3 a.m…to get a shop vac).  Are ya laughing yet?  So, we cleaned up for about an hour.  Vacuumed the carpet, hauled the vac back up the stairs to dump out the water…vacuumed some more, set up a fan to dry the carpet, and finally went back to sleep.  (After begging Charley to come back inside…he was terrified of the vacuum cleaner).   Phew.

5:00 a.m….I hear an ear-piercing beep.  Charley starts to bark.  He never barks.  The beep continues once every 30 seconds.  Andrew wakes up and we head back downstairs to see what it is….the carbon monoxide alarm.  Uh oh!  Neither of us know what to do.  I tried to reset it, then got on the computer to google “signs of carbon monoxide poisoning”.  I also looked up the number to poison control.  We donn’t have any weird symptoms, but are left wondering why the alarm is going off.  And we still aren’t sure about the source of the odd smell.

Poison control tells Andrew to get everyone out of the house, get in the car, and call the fire department.  I’m in cue little jcrew boxers, snow boots, and a hoodie.  We get in the car and call the fire department (it’s about 5:15 at this point). p.s…it’s below 0 degrees outside.  The fire trucks show up within a few minutes…turn the wrong way onto our street (glad our house wasn’t burning).  About 5 fireman go into the house with Andrew while I sit in the car with Charley.  After a few minutes, they all come back out….our alarm needs new batteries.  Ooopsy!    Andrew and I are so tired and delirious at this point.  He told me that he was embarrassed when the guys were downstairs staring at the monstrosity of a furnace…and he told them that it’s called an Octopus! hahaha I was dying laughing.  I’m assuming the fan made the alarm go off?  Anyways…guess what we did….we drove to Starbucks (and then McDonalds so my skinny*ss boyfriend could eat some food).  It’s now 8:30…I’m showered, dressed, and reading to teach and I’m ready to crawl back into bed!!!

Here’s to being thankful that despite the hectic morning, we are safe and sound.  I hope this day does not creep by like the morning already has!  Hope you enjoyed the story – I wanted to document it somewhere before I forgot all of the details.

We woke up to 18 degree weather and a few inches of snow on the ground this a.m….twas an icey drive to worky this morning!  I laughed when some of my students were tardy because of the weather….ummmm they all live in walking distance!  I drove 15 miles!

I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who’s disappointed in the teacher lay-offs….not like I thought I was, but sometimes it feels like few people realize that it’s also really difficult to find teaching jobs right now.  But, like I said, I have a Plan B and I’ve already started to work on it.

Also – thanks for the compliments on our xmas tree...but that was LAST YEAR’s tree! haha we haven’t purchased one this year.  (remember…we’re a lil worried about the monster dog tearing it apart)  That’s the plan for the weekend….along with a million other things going on!   I have a cookie party and bachelorette party on Friday night, hair appointment and Andrew’s work party on Saturday, and then we’re going to see one of my students in the Nutcracker on Sunday.  Hopefully we’ll squeeze in Christmas tree shopping somewhere!

I just can’t wait to be back in Nashville with My mom, her manfriend, Carl, Kellen, new bro-in-law Kevin, Kat, her beau, Michael, Burke, is ladyfriend/roomate Jenney, and my lovely awesomely baby sister, Rory. (Oh, and Andrew’s entire family, too!!!)  Our family is humongous and I love every bit of it!

Here’s a flashback to Christmas 2007 at my momma’s house!

Brother Burke and Andrew (Grizzly Adams DID have a beard!)

Kellen, Momma/Mrs. Claus, and RoBear

20 days until we start our 20 hour drive back to the ones we love the most!!!

Before Thanksgiving break, I presented a prize opportunity to my students.  I asked them to guess how many steps I would take Wed-Sun…closest one wins a prize.  Welllll…only ONE out of my 27 students came within 20,000 steps of my actual total.  I walked  a little over 43,000 steps in 5 days!  Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal, but it was funny to see the students who only guessed 2,000.  My lil Maggie pulled through with a guess of 43,600!

It’s now become a consistent challenge.  Every Monday they will guess how many steps I took throughout the prior week and I will offer a prize to the winner.  The district’s pedometers and stability balls have definitely peaked my competitive side and inspired healthy conversations in my classroom. Such a great thing!

This leads me to a touchy subject…rumors are starting to buzz around the district that another 30 MILLION dollars will be cut from the budget next year.  OUCH.  That’s a lot.  A few newer district-wide positions have already been notified that they will be cut next year (fortunately, most of them are veteran teachers and will probably find new teaching positions).  UNfortunately, I have the least amount of seniority in our school.  Hopefully it won’t come down to that, but if it does…I would be the obvious choice to let go.

Uggghhh I’m not even worried about my own job, I’m more disappointed in the fact that teaching jobs continue to be cut across the country, in turn, making it extremely more difficult for those teachers who hold onto theirs (bigger classes, fewer resources, etc.)  I’ll never forget Andrew’s mom always advising me that teaching is a secure job.  Well, typically, it is.  Probably one of the MOST secure careers out there….but no industry seems to be able to avoid the economy today.

Yup, this is a rant…more of a sad rant, though.  I could go on and on and on.  All the more reason why I still consider going into the government-side of education.  Things need to change!

Luckily, I love my job now and have a guaranteed pay check until July.  Glad I have a back-up plan!

Busy + Relaxing = Bulaxing… that’s what my break was.  I got a lot accomplished AND managed to relax a ton.  I feel refreshed and ready to knock out the next 3 weeks.  I can’t believe we are almost 1/2 way through the school year!  It’s exciting and scary at the same time.

• Successfully cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal
• The meal actually tasted good, too!
• Painted our bedroom
• Planned and budgeted for all Christmas purchases
• Bought a few gifts on Black Friday – the deals were too good to pass up!
• Took several walks with Charley – 17.5 miles! Oh, and Andrew joined us for a few of them, too!
• Continued reading a book that I started a YEAR ago!

Overall, it’s been a really nice break.  I’ve focused on enjoying the moment and making the most of my free time.  The best part was being able to be home with Andrew for several days.  He even gets tomorrow off!  Lucky duck!

Here are a few pics from the weekend…

Check out our faaaabulous table-scape.   Yup, we pulled out the ole TV trays…and I’m drinking beer out of a bottle….and using a paper napkin.  MOM – if you’re reading this, please forgive my tackiness!

I must say that Andrew’s homemade roasted chestnut sausage dressing was the BEST dish!  We used this recipe by Tyler Florence. Unfortunately, it was our first time roasting chestnuts…and they ended up in the trash can.  But, the dressing was still absolutely delicious!

I gotta go grade some papers… don’t want to start Monday on a frantic foot!

Charley says, night night!

Yesterday, I woke up shortly after Andrew left for work and began to think about my options for the day.  There are tons of things on my imaginary to-do list, but I didn’t have a game plan.  I started to read a few of my favorite blogs and instantly felt motivated to get.stuff.done.  Lots of stuff.

I started to make the mashed potatoes for today’s meal and then decided to paint our bedroom.  Finally!  Remember this post when we bought the paint on September 14??!!! Well, after painting our living room that weekend, we put off the bedroom until yesterday.  I painted the whole room all by myself.   I must say it looks pretty darn good, too. (especially considering the fact that I ran out of tape before taping the ceiling….so I painted the trim and baseboards first, then re-used the tape for the ceiling….just call me a genius.

The room still needs some work – baby steps.

In addition to cooking the ‘taters and painting, I did the following:

• Ran errands that have been on my list for WEEKS
• Found a new Dog Bowtique for Charley and purchased a “natural” sedative (and a toy)…lets see if it helps calm this guy down…we’re driving to TN for Christmas.   The dog needs something to help him chill during the 19 hour drive. (oh, and Benadryl doesn’t phase him)
• Took Andrew out to lunch (poor baby had to work and I was home without him)
• Grocery shopped for last-minute Turkey Day items
• Hit up some bargain shops: Dollar Tree, Payless, and KMart…all in a row – got a curtain for our bedroom window
• Baked Andrew’s mom’s Sour Cream Apple Pie from scratch (the link is a very similar recipe to hers)
• Prepped more items for today’s meal (cornbread, turkey, etc.)
• Went out for drinks with the boys
• Sleep at 2 a.m….up at 6:30 with Charley – I’m hoping for a tryptophan nap sometime today!

I LOVED getting so many things done.  I was exhausted last night, but very happy to know that I stayed active all day.  Staying busy this time of year is KEY for me.  Being away from my family and Andrew’s is really tough – especially during the holidays.  We’re lucky to have extended family here in town, but it’s just not the same.  Last night we were talking about how extremely fortunate we are to just have each other (and our lil Charley baby). Not a day goes by that I don’t give thanks for all of my blessings…

1. my faith
2. my cheese – Andrew is my best friend and knows me better than anyone…I try to remind myself that it’s not normal for someone to be able to make me laugh as much as he does
3. my momma – amazing -  is always up for a good heartfelt chat – even if we’re 2000 miles apart and it’s a crazy time of day for her
4. my siblings – Kellen and now Kevin!, Kat, Burke, and Rory…each of them are completely different but incredibly alike in many ways.  Don’t know what I’d do without their goofy jokes, funny heartfelt stories and lectures.  I love them to pieces.
5. my lil Charleston Bear who pops his head up onto our bed at 5:15 every. morning. – he has the sweetest temperament of any creature – always happy and is incredibly aware of my feelings
6. my cousin, Linds and her growing fam – I’m so thankful for our ability to stay close despite the distance
7. my not-quite-family (Andrew’s fam) – for always treating me like their own and making feel like I fit right in
8. my friends – new and old, near and far
9. my coffee – yup…I am so thankful for the memories coffee brings to my day (coffee milk as a child, my mom’s strong coffee, and creating a Starbucks addiction with Andrew)
10. my job – the past year has brought an entire new perspective on the saying “love what you do”
11. my students – all 27 of them make me laugh each day.  Their tweeny awkwardness makes me giggle. a lot.
12. my blog!  this thing has changed a lot over the past 10 months and has exposed me to loads of new ideas and people….it’s turned into a hobby that I truly enjoy and am thankful for
13. my first Thanksgiving dinner – today I am we are cooking our first full Thanksgiving feast…I’m praying that everything turns out ok…now I understand the insane amount of time and planning that my mom has put into hundreds of meals….I am even more grateful now!

The Thankful list goes on….

You should be thankful that I made these bars for our school Pumpkin contest…they are incredible.  Andrew’s new “favorite dessert”  – and to the King of Sweets, that’s a hefty title….

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars…

This turned into about 30 “bars”…excuse the terrible photo and imagine how amazing these taste.  Please, do yourself a favor and try this recipe.  You will be thankful.