Playing with new Christmas toys

Before









After









Guess what new Christmas toys I was playing with today?! I asked for hot rollers and Santa (aka Mom and Dad) got them for me. Since my hair is getting longer, I wanted to have some options with doing different things to it. Lately I've perfected the ponytail, and that's about all I do to it. So today I decided to give the curlers a trial run and see how well I could do on a day when I don't need to go anywhere. As you can see, the results are obvious. They give me much more body and bounce. I'll keep practicing during break, and perfect it before I go back to school.

Christmas evening greetings!

Since we decided (or Mom decided) that we would do brunch as our main meal we were finished early and I'm already home for this Christmas evening. Yesterday in my excitement to take pictures of my fabulous trifle, I decided to take some pictures of my little tree and some of my fave ornaments. I have a small 4' tree that I got when I first moved out into the Osborne's house. I have never upgraded to a larger tree for a couple of reasons. One reason is that I kind of like my little baby tree. It's cute! Another reason is that I worry that I wouldn't have enough decorations to fill a large tree if I got one. So, in the meantime I just keep collecting and collecting, filling up the little tree, hoping that when I do decide to get a normal sized tree I will have enough to make it look decent. Another reason is that they take up so much room. I put my tree in my dining room this year so that I wouldn't have to rearrange any furniture. It's always a dilemma for me. I liked it where it was this year. I could see it from the couch or from the dining room, where I sit at the computer a lot.
My tree is a themed tree and is decorated in all snowman or snowflake decorations. Many of them are homemade and came from craft shows. I went to Frankenmuth one year with Rachael, Mom & Dad, and we got a ton of ornaments at Bronner's. That's one place that you need to visit if you are into Christmas stuff. Here are a few favorites:

This was one of my first snowman ornaments. I got it at a craft show and it's made from one spoon. He's unique and kind of cute.











This is another craft bazaar ornament. It's made from a gourd. He was painted and received a scarf.










I don't quite remember where I got this guy, but he always makes me laugh. I'm not even sure why I bought him, because I'm not a cowgirl, or anything, but his hat and dangling legs with boots caught my eye. He's kind of bigger, and heavy, but very fun!








This is a new ornament this year, but I like this one because she's definitely a girl snow"man"(?) and is pink. She brings some color to the tree and is a cutie!

Watch out Rachael Ray!

Usually the words cooking and Christy don't tend to end up in the same sentence very often. But around holiday time I'm typically asked to bring a dish or they might even trust me to attempt two things. I'm not sure why I've never decided that cooking was fun...I learned pretty early that eating is fun, and since cooking is the predecessor to eating, I should try to work on that.
Well, after attending a Christmas party with great food on Friday night, I decided to try and recreate one of the fancier looking desserts for tomorrow's celebration. This is how special this is...I had to go buy a special bowl to put it in. I'm not sure about a dessert that has a special bowl named after it so you have to go drop money to purchase a container just for this, but that's how Trifle has ended up, I guess. I was pretty proud of the work, and the end result, so I took a pic by the Christmas tree and thought I'd display it. I hope it's good when we eat it tomorrow. If so, I'll have to attempt another trifle--at least I've already got the bowl this time! :)

School's Closed--let's craft!

After a pretty bad snowstorm this weekend and a 2 hour delay called last night, we ended up being closed today, due to weather. I got up at a decent time and took advantage of the day to get some errands run. I went to a friend's house to pick something up, took Lucy to get her nails trimmed, to the post office, to the bank, and then to Rachael's to craft.
I have this party that I go to every year and it requires that we bring a homemade gift for an exchange. I always try to come up with something pretty creative and crafty to take. Two years ago I took one of the nativity sets and it was a huge hit! This year I decided to go easy, but cool. I made chocolate candies and then wanted to put them in some kind of fun container. Here's what I came up with. It is so cute in person! It's an empty gallon paint can, decorated with scrapbook papers and ribbons. I think someone will really like it...and there's chocolate inside--how can you go wrong?!
I also made some little decorative things to put on the top of other chocolate baggies I'm giving to some teacher friends. They turned out really cute, also. Here's just one of the five designs I did. They were all different. I think they'll make a small gift seem really nice.

Pomp and snowstorms

I'm finally officially finished with IWU! (All except paying the money I borrowed--minor detail!) Last night was the commencement in Marion. I had always wanted to walk, but had to talk several of the other cohort members into going. We had 7 out of 13 people there, and we had a blast! We were so glad we went. They really made us feel special, and made us feel proud. It wasn't a formal, stodgy ceremony, as I had thought it would be. They encouraged the crowd to cheer for their people and show their pride in creative ways. Too bad all my friends bailed because of the winter storm warning. I could have had some "creative cheering" when my name was called for sure. : )
So, the weather was fine heading down there. Coming back was beginning to get bad, and it took us a little longer than usual to get home. It continued to snow overnight and most everything in the Fort was canceled today. I got up and shoveled the driveway, not knowing that I didn't have church. Heather was planning a party for me this afternoon, and we went back and forth over what to do about it. We finally decided to have it and let anyone who wants to come out, come and party with us. It's looking like at least a delay tomorrow, and it would be great to sleep in. Hopefully it won't continue snowing. I'm beginning to see a snowblower purchase in my future...Merry Christmas to me!

Cozy by the Fire

After a few weeks of up and down temperatures, today finally feels like one of those cold, beginning to get wintry days. I came home with a headache and sat with ice to get rid of that. After becoming cold from the ice, I decided to see if I had any dry wood so I could attempt to make the first fire of the year. I must have actually been thinking ahead last year, because there was one piece of wood in the fireplace. I grabbed some others from outside.
Now, the making of the fire wasn't as easy as I had remembered, so I must have had wet wood. I used these fire starters that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I used 5 of those, and about an hour later I finally had something decent going. The problem is that I have to sit directly by it to actually feel the warmth...so I grabbed the mail, a magazine, some hot tea and snuggled in for the night next to the fire. I love the smell of a fire! I think a rearranging of the furniture might be in order to get a comfy seat close to the warmth.

Whew! (big sigh!!)

Today, November 3, 2007, is a day that I thought would never get here!  And now here it is, come and (almost) gone.  I am officially finished with my course work for my masters degree and am a grad school graduate!!  Wow!  

Today at our last class we reminisced about that first day and how intimidating it all seemed to us.  We saw some people at our break who were just finishing up and we were asking them all kinds of questions.  And now...a short 18 months later, that group finishing up is us.  Who would have thought we'd ever get here?!  

So, unfortunately today was pretty anti-climactic.  We had presentations and did a short group assignment.  Then we watched two videos and that was it.  No big finale.  No hoopla.  Just a whoop and a holler from us as we exited room 202 for the last time.  Luckily we had planned to go have a fun celebratory lunch at Bandido's.  We have already planned to get together for breakfast in about 8 weeks to keep in touch.  

So, here's the kind of dorky part...I'm actually going to miss it.  Not just the people, but the schooling.  I don't know if I discovered that I love learning, if I was happy to have something to keep me busy, or what, but I am a little sad that we're done. (Don't let the other cohort members know that!)  I think that I have enjoyed knowing that I had something to do, except during the extremely busy periods, and that I enjoyed the social aspect of it.  

So, who knows what's in store next for this graduate.  First things first...I've got to figure out how to change everything on this blog that says "grad student".     : )

Field Trip Funnies

So we took our students (both 4th grades) to The History Center and the Courthouse last Friday. I was thinking about the trip this weekend, and remembered this funny story from the orientation part. At the beginning we meet in a large room and talk about the history of Fort Wayne and look at some memorabilia (war clothing, old records, etc.). One of the other things we look at, and discuss are different pelts that might have been used around here. She shows us a raccoon pelt, which is usually pretty easily identified. Then she shows a beaver skin, a deer skin and one other skin. This one is smaller and is long and narrow. When she asked what kind of animal they thought that it was, one of the students (not mine) actually shouted out "hamster". I thought I might wet myself!
**Oh yeah! I almost forgot...the real answer is-- muskrat.**

Random Acts (of kindness?)

So tonight at family game night the topic of Christmas came up. Normally we do some type of exchange with each other to prevent people from spending on everyone. We've tried to mix it up at times by doing something like a "service exchange" or something. My aunt suggested that we somehow donate to a family friend who is going through a rough time and is in need of many things, especially financially. So, at first I was like my younger cousin and thought, "Hey! I want gifts!" But then I got to thinking about it and realized we should do something like this. We all have so much STUFF and usually get people more STUFF that they don't need, but that they put on a list so someone knew what STUFF is least likely to annoy them. I'm all in favor now, and think that it would be great if we all at least donated the amount we would have used in the exchange (about $25 each) to this friend. How thrilling for her to feel better about being able to pay a few bills, and how fun for us to help.

Something else that happened this week...I took on the task (with my friend, Christie) of trying to boost the morale at my job. Yikes! I'm not sure why I decided I should be so bold as to tell the whole staff they suck at being happy and grateful, but I did. I read a book (Have You Filled A Bucket Today?) to them, and then explained that our staff has grown apart. We have started having cliques, being very whiny and had way too much complaining. We made a bulletin board with buckets for every staff person and made drops to put in them. It's just a way to try to start something positive amidst the negative atmosphere. The wild part is that so many people thanked me for doing that. Everyone said that we needed it, and evidently no one was willing to step up to the plate. Guess it's that IWU teaching me to be an "agent of change." : )

Gilmore Girls and Announcements

Since I really have nothing to share, and am feeling bad about not posting in over a week...I decided to have a Gilmore Girls update. After a brief hiatus from the show, due to season 6 not being available right away (come on! I watched 5 seasons in just under a month!), I'm back to my viewing addiction. Fortunately for me, after the break, I'm now able to refrain myself to watching just one episode and actually getting some school work (Nebraska or IWU) completed.

On that note...only 3 Saturdays to go!! And boy, they are going to pump every last bit of studying out of us that they can in this last class. Each week we have about 3-4 assignments due, plus reading, which is never priority for me. I just can't believe that it's this close to the end. I ordered invitations online, and actually shed a tear when I saw the preview of them on the computer (not a surprise for most of you).
Speaking of invitations, here's a good story: So, the invitations come in the mail last Saturday. And since I had nothing to do that evening (ha!), I decided to sit right down and start addressing them so I could send them whenever I wanted to. I got out my little address book and started writing addresses on them and sealing them all up to send. After about 8 or 9 I went to lick one and seal it up and it didn't stick. Upon second glance, I realized that it had no sticky stuff to lick. And upon even further looking, several of my envelopes were defective! Great, I thought...now I'm going to have to call customer service. After a few minutes of thinking about what to do, I made the brilliant realization that there happened to be 25 sticky envelopes, AND 25 non-sticky envelopes! Hmmm...then suddenly it hit me. This is one of those fancy occasions where you put the card in one envelope and then into another (sticky) envelope. Hey! I've never gotten married--I don't know all these things! So, now the decision...do I redo all the messed up ones or leave them. After thinking about it for a minute, and realizing that all formality was probably lost when I put a sticky note on some of them, I chose to be my casual self and send out...heaven forbid I say it...improper announcements. So, if you're one of the few lucky ones to receive the graduation card...just remember, just because I'm getting my masters degree doesn't mean I now know everything! : )

I wasn't tagged, but...

So, I wasn't actually tagged for this, but saw it on a blog I read and thought it was enjoyable...so I'm putting it on here. Enjoy. And if you do yours, leave comments with your funny ones.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Lucy Saturn

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream, fav cookie) Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL" (GUY) NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letter of last name) C Ste

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Elephant

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name & city where you were born) Ellen Grabill

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of last name & first 2 letters of first name) Stech

7. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink--put "The") Blue The Tea

8. YOUR NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) Hubert James

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME: (fav perfume, fav candy) Sunflowers M & M

10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names) Lynn Curtis

Fun at the Fair

Tonight I helped Gabrielle initiate Alaya into the world of carnivals at the Bluffton Street Fair. First, I had to get a picture of the three of us with our quirky t-shirts. From left to right they say: "Where's my prince charming?" (Alaya's), "I thought you were hot from far away" (Gab's), and "In tennis love means zero" (mine). It made me laugh!

And of course, like any child would, she loved the fair. I'm happy to report that she enjoyed my favorite carnival game, the mouse game, as much as I do. She was a natural gambler and wanted those quarters to keep coming. She caught on very quickly how to place them on the numbers. She actually rode a car-type roller coaster, too. Pretty impressive for not quite 2 years old!

The one thing that I wanted to do was eat some fair food. I walked around all night looking for just what I wanted. Finally around 10:30 I decided on something...an ice cream cone! How boring! So, on the way out I got a hand-dipped corn dog. That's slightly better. Maybe next weekend at another fair...

Thief in the House

Lucy and I have a thief. Actually, Lucy has been burglarized, and I was just a witness to the crime. This morning during my daily healthy breakfast of some sort of sugared cereal, eaten at the kitchen counter (because what else are those things for?!) I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. As I turned to look, I watched a small (2 inches tall or so) thief run to Lucy's food bowl, steal one piece of food, and quickly retreat to it's hiding place. Now, the crazy part is that this was a very bold move because Lucy was in the living room barking at someone walking in front of our house (how dare they!!), and I had just yelled at her to stop. Meaning that this was not one of the quietest moments at our house.

Yes folks, we've got a mouse! Luckily I'm not one of those kinds of gals who will stand on a chair, screaming and swinging a broom. To tell the truth, mice don't bother me--that is, until they start leaving little presents in my kitchen.

I think our thief is a pretty smart little fella. We've actually heard him stealing food before. Once he even rolled it across the ground. It was that recognizable of a sound! I've set traps a few times, and all that happens is that I end up feeding him, and probably some family members, because I find the traps empty--of food and carcass.

So...we will either have to find a smarter trap to use, or give him a name. I'm kind of partial to Ralph S. Mouse...or maybe Mickey...

Higher Education

Today, the 5th from the last Saturday of class in my masters program, I think I learned the most interesting thing of all so far. Did you know that "bootylicious" has officially been added to the dictionary?! Wow! I'm glad I paid $10,000 to the university so that I could learn important things like that. : )

Moving experiences

Today we had church in a tent at the back of the parking lot. According to Pastor Dave it's quite a way to celebrate FMC's 25th (from the YMCA to a tent!). But it was a neat service. We sang a song in Swahili. The "My Journey" part of the service was the Ehlers' story and expecially Mesfin's journey. It was sad to hear him, around 9 years old, talk of wanting to go back to Ethiopia to see his family and to see if his mother is still alive.

So the reason we were out in the tent is that we had a World Vision Experience: Step into Africa going on in the gym. I was able to be there some on Thursday night, helping to get ready, and training. And then on Friday night I volunteered. It was quite a sensory, emotional experience. You put on an iPod and step into the life of one of four children, listening as they guide you through their struggles, and the exhibit. Not only do you see photographs of them and their world, but you smell the stench of the area, you sit in the health clinic waiting for test results. It really makes you think about how much we have to be thankful for, and how little others have, especially children. 90% of those living with AIDS in the world are living in Africa. Many children are the head of their household because they have been orphaned due to AIDS. Many sad and startling statistics. We cannot sit by and watch.

One thing I was made aware of at the marketplace part of the exhibit was the (PRODUCT)RED brand and how it works. Created by Bono it's a brand that donates a portion of the sales to African AIDS programs. Many well known brands are a part of (PRODUCT)RED. Check out the Manifesto...interesting!

On a lighter note...yesterday I finished an IWU course (with a knock-out presentation, I might add). Next week I begin a new, and my final course in the program. Only 5 more weeks of the program before graduation!! I never thought I'd make it to this point. Oh, how I will celebrate when I am finished!!

Selling Cars and Making Friends

I've come to realize that it will be more difficult than I had originally thought to keep this up to date on a regular basis. Sorry about that.

Well, this weekend (being a holiday weekend) has been fairly eventful thus far. Thursday night began with dinner at the parents' house because JC and Walt arrived for another year at the ACD Festival. Friday after school and tutoring I decided to stay and work for a while to get some things done. While I was working, Gabrielle called to tell me her bad luck story--as it was happening. She was on her way up to Kruse to take her grandfather's Cadillac to be sold. On the way it began to smoke badly and caused her to pull over. Apparently this was bad enough to require the assistance of two firetrucks, and for 69 to be blocked to one lane for about a mile. Luckily her mom was following behind and able to take her back as the car was towed. Later that night she called to ask me if I'd like to help her get the car up there the next day. My first question was, "Do you want me to drive the car, or just follow you up there?" (I'm not much for driving cars prone to fire) Well, long story short (or shorter), I agreed to help her out. BTW, this meant getting up at 5:45 on one of my Saturdays off, and on a holiday weekend! Hey, anything for a friend, right?!

Well, we met and drove the BIG car (I mean BIG!--see pictures) up to Auburn. After parking craziness, paperwork, and moving the car to the desired location we were off for breakfast--funnel cakes and lemon shake-ups! I love festivals!!

The fun of being at a festival, especially one pertaining to cars, is lost when you're trying to keep up with, and entertain a 22-month old. We very quickly decided that if the car wasn't being auctioned off until 6pm or later, we should go back to the Fort until later (coming back sans kid!). So, after a trip back home, a short nap, freshening up, we headed back up to sell a Caddy. Now, we were being entertained by festival food (gyros), watching the bidding and the people, and making friends with strange men, but we had no idea what we were doing, and how the car would do on the auction block. Most of the cars on that particular block were either going really cheap, or not selling because they didn't make the reserve.

Well, shortly before the car was to be coming, a man walked past us and made some comment about the truck that he had just been bidding on. Due to my friendly nature, and our success at making friends thus far, I mentioned that he shouldn't leave, and that we had a car coming up for sale soon. It worked! He sat down to talk to us about it. He went outside to go take a look at it. When he came back in, he told us that it wasn't out there, and that we would have to bring it up ourselves. What?! No one told us about all the details, like driving your own car up when it's your turn! And remember...that thing is BIG, and there are lots of people and golf cards all over. Not to mention other fancy cars! Somehow we talked Chris, our new best friend, into pulling the car up for us. He also gave Gab some tips about dealing, being up there during the sale, dropping the reserve, etc. So, the fun part of the story begins. He had told her that the way things were going on this ring, he thought she'd be lucky to get bids of two, maybe three thousand. Well, as soon as they moved that car up near the building it was like a man magnet had been polarized. There were guys all over that thing...asking questions, looking under the hood, sticking their heads in the windows. It was crazy! When it was our turn, Chris, aka Gabrielle's "boyfriend", drove it up onto the ring, and the people flocked. It was fun to hear the bidding, and the auctioneer reading the info about Gab's grandfather. The bidding was still going strong as the car was being driven off the block! It ended up selling for $10,400!! WOW! We were shocked, thrilled, and very thankful for our new friend, Chris from Cleveland! We met up with him afterward and the only thanks he would accept was a "cold one", so we celebrated with him before parting ways. And actually we saw him again shortly after taking care of paperwork, and he was still amazed at the way the auction went. Luckily for us, none of them must have heard about the Cadillac on fire on 69 the day before! : )

Finally around 11pm I pulled Gab away from the auction, before she could spend her new found riches on another car! What a day!


This is Chris...Gabrielle's "boyfriend" and our savior!! Oh, and the guy on the floor in the gray ended up being the winning bidder.

Back to School Night...check!

Well, one annual event has come and gone. Back to School Night, where I had 1/3 of my parents show up, was this evening. I think that might actually be better than last year. I think we had a little better turn out because we had a guest rapper. Yes, you heard me (or read that) correctly. Today we had an assembly by Six8. He is a local guy with an amazing story, and he is positive and motivational for our kids. Why didn't we think of this before, I ask?! If the kids like rap, lets make positive rap for them to listen to. He sings songs about things like bullies, Abe Lincoln, reading, and my favorite of all..."Pull Your Pants Up". Did you ever know where that originated, and why?! Eww! I'm going to remind my boys of that all the time now. If you don't know, ask me. : )
One good thing about B2S Night is that parents get to hang out in our sauna (aka the building). Maybe some of them will get hot enough to call and complain to someone! Well, anyway, I'm going to sleep (in my AC!). More to come...
p.s. "Six8" is his height...he's a tall one!! (Abe was only 6'4"--it's in the rap)

Whew! Saturday is finally here, and yet already over

I can't believe we made it through the first week already! And also that Saturday, day one of my weekend, is already finished! Yikes! Luckily my IWU class today consisted mostly of a Dr. Seuss magic show.

Well, I'm really excited at how well school is going so far. Besides the fact that the average temp in my classroom is 90 degrees, things are really great. We are beginning to create a community and starting to work on the "Steininger Essential 36", a set of rules that I stole from Ron Clark. So far, I have taught them to use "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am", not to roll their eyes or smack their lips, and to always say thank you within 3 seconds of receiving something. Other than that we are busy on ISTEP+ prep.

I celebrated the first Friday after school started by having a Gilmore Girls marathon with Gabrielle (and Alaya)...until we all fell asleep. It must have been a hard week!

Well, I'm sure my posts will be getting fewer and fewer as things get rolling. This week is Back to School Night, after school tutoring, etc. All fun activities will be temporarily put on hold as normal life begins again. Thank goodness next weekend is a 3-day holiday weekend!

Back to School

Wow! One day down and only 179 to go until summer break! I know that sounds bad, and I truly love my job, but man, what a change of lifestyle from last week. It's always difficult for me to go back and make that huge change.

I had a good day today...probably due to three, yes 3, breaks (aka specials...and now I remember why they are called "special"). The day flew by and I didn't get everything in that I had wanted to. There is so much to tell a new group of kids. I did get the important information out...things like I'm OCD and a neat freak, so don't make a mess anywhere near me. Those kinds of important info.

Well, I'm looking forward to a great year! I'm doing lots of things differently this year, including the set up of the room. And have I said how much I am loving the room?! Just checking.
Well, anyway, here's a pic of the kiddos on the first day.

New Addiction

Wow! I've not posted for a few days. Not only did I have an official day of "work" Wednesday (building based day), I'm busy trying to squeeze the last few drops out of summer break before the real beginning of school--which for me begins tomorrow.
Unfortunately, just before school begins I have gained a new addiction. Now, keep in mind that I haven't watched tv for close to 4 months. Partly because I've been busy doing other things (IWU, reading, hanging out with friends, computer stuff), and partly because I really would really rather not. I get easily hooked and can waste lots of time in front of the television...especially reality tv. So, my friend Rachael loaned me her DVDs of the Gilmore Girls (seasons 1 & 2). I began watching last night and by tonight I have so far viewed at least 10 episodes. I stopped long enough to see Rachael off at the airport for her trip to Africa today (but not before calling her to tell her that I needed her to bring seasons 3-5...remember I said addiction!) It's quite frightening. Good thing I didn't discover the show at the beginning of summer!!

A Little More Crafting and a Good Book

Went to Rachael's to do crafting tonight. I had hoped to finish my clipboard before school began and she left for Africa. I had "crafter's block" for quite a long time, but eventually came up with some things to do. I like the finished product. I still want to find a green and a rust ribbon to add to the top for some more color, but otherwise its finished! I'm excited to actually use it at school. Here are pics of the front and back.
Another thing that I spent lots of time on today was reading a book that Rachael let me borrow. I saw it on her shelf at school and asked to borrow it (because it had "dog" in the title). I am really enjoying it and will probably finish it tonight. It's called the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. It's an interesting book (although after reading the first page and finding out that the dog is dead--killed by a garden fork, I was unsure if I wanted to continue). Check it out!

70 to 55, and back again

Who's up for one last road trip before the end of summer?? Me and Rachael!

I think I literally heard IKEA calling my name when I asked Rachael if she wanted to take a day trip there before school begins. I "needed" some things for my craft room and for my classroom. And when you "need" something cool and cheap, there's no where else to go but IKEA.

When we looked at the map and realized it was near Ann Arbor, we decided to go there and look around before hitting the store of all stores. I found out that it's the home of U of M and we got to drive around that big and really nice looking campus. The downtown area of AA is really fun! There are TONS of little shops and cafes all over a many block area...trust me, we saw most of them twice, some three times while driving around looking for a cafe (Ziegler's) that was recommended by our friend, Lisa. We literally drove all over downtown AA looking for it. Finally we stopped to ask a mail-lady. It was then that we realized we were looking for Zingerman's (whatever, close enough--how do we get there???) After finally finding it, I dropped Rachael off to go stand in line (which was out the door). I drove around a few blocks looking for parking and then called Rach to see if we were going to be eating there. She said it was cool, and while trying to describe it to me, with me telling her there was no open parking, one of the workers at Zingerman's told her to have me drive around to the front of the store and she would go out and direct me to parking. As I finally make it around to the front and roll down my window for the worker girl who is approaching my car, she opens the door, hops in, and introduces herself as she begins giving me directions. It was kind of bizarre! Well, anyway it worked. Lunch was an adventure, as this place was packed...obviously a local favorite. The whole staff there were very kind and helpful (not just car direction girl). They give free samples of any of their food. We had heard that they have large helpings, so we decided to share a reuben and a side of mac & cheese (half a pound!).

Here's our lunch...and let me tell you, it was great! That was the best mac & cheese I have ever had! It had two cheeses and some secret ingredient that gave it a little kick. YUM! And we ate outside, which I totally love to do!

Also this place is named one of the Top 25 Food Markets in the World by Food and Wine magazine. Wow!


Well, as if that weren't enough excitement for the day... we headed on to the real reason for gas money to the Great Lakes state...everyone's favorite Swedish four letter word...IKEA!

Now, to me, IKEA isn't just shopping. It's more like an amusement park. There's so much to do and see (and buy!). We spent several hours in that big blue and yellow box, and came out only slightly poorer. I've decided that I need to make this trip a semi-annual event. Maybe that way I can spread out the spending...or does that just mean I'll be spending twice as often, so twice as much?! Oh well. I got some fun stuff--organizational things for the craft room, and a fun rug for my reading corner at school. I used a gift card I had received and actually only went over by $1.75! Not bad, I'd say!

Blog Scattergories

Nothing exciting to post today, so I'm sharing something I found on another blog that I was perusing (love that word!) earlier. Using the first letter of your name, fill in a word for each category. Go on, give it a shot. Try to use your first instinct.
Here's mine:

Your name: Christy
Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Chicago
4 letter word: Camp
Vehicle: Cadillac
TV Show: CSI Miami
City/Town: (shoot, I already used Chicago! hmmm...) Canton, MI (where I'm going to IKEA!)
Boy Name: Charlie
Girl Name: Claire
Occupation: Cab driver
Something You Wear: Clothes (ha!)
Celebrity: Chevy Chase (double points)
Food: Cheerios
Something Found in a Kitchen: Cereal
Reason for Being Late: Can't find your keys
Cartoon Character: Casper the Friendly Ghost (Man, I had to Google that one!)
Something You Shout: Come! (to Lucy)

Ok, your turn...

An Inside Kind of Day

Today was another inside kind of day (and not inside school). I decided that I would do some work in my "craft room" and get it to where I could start working on finishing it up to be a usable space. So, I put a few things away (ironing board, ebay stuff, bags, etc.) and put the sewing machine up on it's desk. Then I thought I'd take the two boxes of memory box stuff that I took from Mom/Dad's attic up into my attic...what was I thinking?! It was probably over 100 degrees up there. I tried to hurry, but found some children's books that I had left for some reason, some more clothes for the garage sale, and shoes I had been looking for. When I came down I was dripping sweat! So, as soon as I closed the attic stairs I began stripping and hit the shower (maybe TMI). So, all that to say, I'm excited to get to see the floor in my craft room again. And I'm taking a trip to IKEA this weekend!! I'm soooooo excited to see what cool things I can find for both the craft room and my classroom!

Well, here are pics of the craft room "before". Hopefully there will be some "after" pics soon...anyone have a husband you are willing to share for a weekend???

It's going to be all khaki and white, with a bit of the blue (like the garbage can) to pop some color. Also, those letters, C..R..A..F..T will be hung on a wall soon. And that big, long white thing is a countertop looking for a home atop some sort of cupboards.

I've Been Waiting for this Day!!

Today was a day I have been anxiously awaiting for close to 10 months. This afternoon the expander was removed from the roof of my mouth!! Now, if you have never had the pleasure of wearing this medieval torture device in your mouth, first count your blessings, and then view this picture (they let me have it--you know, for show and tell).
Imagine that thing affixed to the roof of your mouth and cranked open gradually, to expand my jaw. Yes, I know what you may be thinking, but no, my mouth was not big enough. Some of you might disagree with Dr. Bussick, but he said I have a very small mouth. So, after several months of expanding, and then 6 more months of just wearing it to hold the new position, it's out!
I was thinking that my mouth could start to get back to normal, but no. Alas, I was wrong. I now have to wear new rubber bands from top to bottom 24/7. And if I'm not talking (basically during sleep hours), I can double up those tiny rubber bands and basically tie my mouth shut. Sounds like fun! But, the good news is that after looking at a new x-ray today, and asking Emily, his asst. where in my treatment I was (10 out of 33 months), he patted me on the shoulder and said, "You won't be in these for 33 months." YEA!! Less than 2 years to go...AND I can touch the roof of my mouth. What a day!

I Can't Stay Away

For some reason, after setting up the basic arrangement of my classroom I have had that on my mind all weekend. Saturday night I went to bed and woke up at 2am (due to a phone call), and couldn't get back to sleep for thinking of all that still needs to be done. I got up and made a list--for almost 2 hours. So today, despite the heat and humidity, I braved the upstairs non-air conditioned room and worked for about 7 hours. I am feeling so excited about my classroom and how it looks. Today I got several bulletin boards moved or redone (because of the rearranging). I laminated some things. I checked the connections on my student computers. I arranged some things on my desk. I filled my new paper rack, which I'm SO excited about. My writing workstation is going to ROCK! I even got as far as putting some books on student desks. When I have a more up to date class list I will need to begin making labels for folders for students.

Ok, that brings me to a tangent/rant! I get very frustrated at having to buy everything for my classroom. I am only given the following items for each student: a supply of pencils, two folders, colored pencils, and lined paper (there might be something else, but I can't think of it). Everything else I either need to provide for them on my own, or ask them to bring on a supply list. This year I was told that I'm not allowed to ask them to bring scissors or folders because we "supply" those items...really?! the two folders (black and green) are enough for fourth graders?? And I was given 18 pairs of scissors three years ago...now I have 20 students, and I wonder how many of those 18 pairs were not stolen, lost, or damaged. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to buy anything for my kids...it just gets frustrating to spend so much of my own money on things like supplies, when I'd much rather be buying books for my kids to enjoy, or other things that would benefit them. So many people think that we have this endless supply of money given to us to buy things. My PTA gives each teacher $50 for the entire year to spend on whatever we want. Trust me, if you've ever been to the teacher store, you know that $50 won't go far.

So, back to the excitedness...I really am excited. Not about starting school (I could do summer break all year if I could figure out how to fund my life), but about my cool room. But it does start to get exciting. The beginning of the school year is like a fresh new start...new clean room, new kids, new supplies, new room decor, a new chance to do things differently or better than last year. I think that's my favorite thing. I get a brand new start at my job, and can try to do things better than last year.



p.s. Here's the picture I forgot to take on Saturday of my new reading corner. I love it and I hope my new kiddos will too!

New family?

Today I took a trip with the parents up to Auburn to meet Wilson, my possibly-in-the-near-future cousin. He is from the Philippines and is here for a 4 week "summer camp" to meet and stay with a possible adoptive family (my aunt and uncle). It's an interesting way to get to try out a kid before you decide to adopt. I'm sure it will be hard to say goodbye when the time is up, knowing it will probably be several months before they can get to adopt him and bring him home. He seems like a sweet kid, and is very close in age to Mikalyn, my cousin who was adopted from China. They already get along like brother and sister, and it is a big adjustment to Mikalyn who has been the only child (and only young grandchild).

Is it that time already???

Today I stopped at school to drop off some "furniture" I had bought...ok, pause that story. The furniture story is good, too.

My friend Rachael's mom works at a retail store and it's in the same shopping plaza as a scrapbooking store that has recently gone out of business. She happened to be leaving the other day as some guys were loading up some fixtures from the store onto a truck. She inquired about them (knowing that Rachael and I, as teachers, take anything we can for our classrooms, or for our craft rooms). The guy told her that he would give her any of it for $5 each. She called us and tried to describe the pieces over the phone. It was difficult, so we told her to just make her best judgement call. She bought several pieces. Well, long story short, we went today and the guys were there and we got to go inside the storage area and look around for more stuff. I got a bookshelf and a 30 slot paper holder. Rachael took a few cool things also. It was awesome!

So, back to the original story... I went to school today to drop those things off and felt very sad and overwhelmed by the current state of my room. There is MUCH to be done in two short weeks. After I got home I just kept feeling that I needed to get in there and at least start arranging furniture. So, I called one of my students who lives a block from school to see if he wanted to help, grabbed Lucy, got a pizza, and headed over for "Extreme Makeover 2007" (aka the setting up of Room 202).
I was feeling frustrated in trying to get things arranged. I was trying to figure out how I can maximize my space, and include all my new fixtures. I was having trouble coming up with a good arrangement. So...Heather to the rescue!! If you call her, she will come. This was the second time she had helped me out today (And remember, she has her own room to get ready!) We worked for over 3 hours, and got tons done! I was sooooo glad to have the help, and now feel really good about having that part of things completed. There's still much to be done, but that was a huge chunk of it.

Here are pics of before and after. Just so you know, the before looked worse at the real beginning, but I forgot to take a picture before we began uncovering and moving things around. Everything was basically covered up and piled on top of each other in one half of the room.





We changed several things, added my new pieces, and the room looks great! And I think they are both still my friends!

(Oh, and I realized I didn't get a shot of my favorite new spot...the reading corner. I'll take that one soon. It's very cool!)

What a Way to Relax!

After an unsuccessful trip to work in my classroom today (wet wax), Rachael and I decided to go to Target...is there anything better to do when you can't work?! After a hard day of shopping, we ended the evening by taking a relaxing pontoon boat ride with Coop and his family. Lucy went along, as she always does. She loves running in their HUGE backyard and feeling the wind on her face in the boat. Not much more to tell about that, except that I would one day like to have a pontoon boat, and obviously someplace to use it. It is one of the best ways I can think of to unwind and enjoy the great outdoors.

Whew!! (big sigh)

Today I am feeling very good! I have officially finished my IWU portfolio: a compilation of 15 months of hard work, lots of typing, late nights, study groups, tons of research, and close to 200 page protectors! (see a picture of the giant book below)

I finished the required assignments and met with my mentor today to have her check things and sign off on the last few sections. I still have to have to turn it in on Sept. 15, but as far as I'm concerned, it's done. And to think that a year ago April I was totally freaked out about doing this...ha!

And I only have 7, count them...7 Saturdays of class to go until I will be finished with my Masters Degree!!! Talk about feeling good...that will be an awesome day!

Arts & Crafts 101

I am so glad that I have the summer off because it is a great time for me to catch up on some crafting that I usually don't have time for during the school year, especially with class on Saturdays. My friend Rachael and I have done some stamping/scrapbooking activities together this summer. She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator, has lots of materials, and is very generous and willing to share! Besides cards, I've made some really cool projects. Today, after trying to Mod Podge Rachael's work table, I worked on covering a clipboard for school and it turned out so cute. I'm not finished, but I wanted to share it. I'm planning to add more colors of ribbon at the top, and I have some work to do on the back, but here it is.


Another project we have done this summer is make these cute things. They are made out of paperclips. They could be used as paperclips, but they look really cute sticking out of a book as a bookmark. What a fun gift!











On another note, Lucy is eating some Woofy Pop right now. It's microwave popcorn for dogs that I got at Jungle Jim's yesterday. She is enjoying Grilled Filet Mignon flavored popcorn. And out of curiosity I tried it...not bad!

Roadtrip adventure

Let me tell you a little story about my 8 hr. road trip for groceries (of all things). So, a few weeks ago some friends asked me if I would like to go with them to Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati. Knowing that summer is coming to an end soon, and the days of random road trips are coming to an end, I decided to go, and ended up taking another friend along. It was a beautiful day, and the drive was going nicely on the way to Cincinnati (Ohio, that is), when all of a sudden we're seeing signs for Kentucky. Hmmm...is that Kentucky, OH by chance?! No, it's Kentucky, the real one. So we cross a bridge while driving under a sign that says, "Welcome to Kentucky". Our guide quickly proceeds to do an illegal U-turn in the middle of the highway, and we go back the 30+ miles that we had gone out of our way. Long story short, we made it to our destination and had lots of fun. I've posted some pictures below, along with the description of what they are. I do not like to cook, or go food shopping, so I wasn't sure how much I would like driving 3+ hours for this store, but this place was amazing! It's 6 acres of food! They have over 1,600 kinds of cheeses, more than 800 international beers, 950+ hot sauces, 1000 gallon tanks of live fish, lobsters & crabs, and MORE! We visited France, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Asia...It's really a grocery amusement park! Check it out sometime.

Here's the international section.










Here is the olive bar...too bad I don't like olives!









The hot sauce area was hilarious and we spent WAY too much time there (close to peeing our pants!) It's under a real fire truck.








The bathrooms were funny. They are in a contest, and are one of the top 5 finalists in the "America's Best Restroom Contest". I only took the outside pic, but if you go inside there is a normal, large restroom. If you can't see from the picture, the outside, which is the door, is a port-o-potty.









Here is us as we were leaving our "day of fun". :) Yes, I'm squished in there somewhere!

202 Summer Cookout

Last night I had a cookout for my 4th graders. I have done this in the past and had lots of fun. I invited all of my students and had 11 show up...not bad (plus the Secrests, mom/dad, G, and Rachael). The kids were excited to see each other, I was excited to see them, and we had a great time. We played "baby toss" (a homemade game that belongs to a friend), volleyball, tag, and misc. other games. One of the great things is that I use the esplanade when we have a larger get-together. It's like a bigger open yard, only I don't have to mow it!! So we spent lots of the evening out there, and came back to the backyard to eat our dinner.

I really enjoy teaching and the fun I get to have with some great kids. I think that part of my ministry as a single is that I can spend a little extra time with my students that maybe I wouldn't be able to spend if I were married and had my own kids. So, I get to be "mom" to lots of kids and I don't have to pay for them! (And they do slip often and call me mom--but they also tell me that they slip at home and call their moms Miss Steininger sometimes) And many of my students need more positive attention, and role models, and love!

Anyway, here are two pictures we took during the evening. The first is just a group shot, and the second is the silly shot.