Sunday Social

What is your favorite breakfast food? 

I really love breakfast foods. I just don't like to get up to eat them. The best thing for me would be a breakfast buffet so I could have all my favorite breakfast foods. But if I had to pick one, it'd be the Belgium waffle smothered in strawberries and whipped cream I get at a local breakfast place. Yum! And of course, a side of bacon!

What is the best way to spend a free day? 

The best way to spend a free day would be on a vacation with my husband. Preferably at Disney World or on a cruise. But until that happens, I like to spend my free days sleeping in and then relaxing at home. Maybe take a trip to the library or the zoo.

If you had an airline ticket to anywhere in the world....where would you go and why?

London! I'm dying to go to London.

You can only leave the house with one thing...what is it?

Can it be my purse and all its contents? If it was really only one thing, then I'd probably pick my phone. It's the only way to contact me and it's how I get work, so it's pretty important.

How do you take your coffee?

I don't. I can't even stand the smell of coffee.

 

Mimi

Yesterday was hard.

With great sadness, we had to say goodbye to our darling girl, Mimi. It was the hardest thing I've had to do in my life.

While I'm still sad and still having a hard time processing it, I want today to be about remembering what a great cat she was.

I first got Mimi in 2004 while living in Florida. She was found as a kitten by a coworker's daughter. I often joked that she was raised by alligators and survived hurricanes.

Her very first picture. Her whiskers were already crazy!

She was a tiny little thing, but she knew what she wanted and by golly, if you didn't give it to her, you'd hear about it! She was fond of sitting on the back of the couch and tapping me on the head whenever I ate popcorn. And if you weren't looking, she'd gladly steal a piece or two from the bowl!

As she got older, she grew more aloof. She often preferred to spend her time away from others in the house. She tolerated our other cat, Sammy, but was quick to remind her who was the boss.

When she was feeling loving, she'd climb onto our laps and allow us to pet her. She had the loudest purr I've ever heard. I'm going to miss that sound.

She was fond of boxes and sitting in the window. She loved begging for human food. Ham was a particular favorite of hers. If you sat at the dining room table, you'd often get a kitty back massage from someone reminding you that she was there and she wanted whatever you were eating.

She loved Vera Bradley too!

She was a fantastic cat and companion. She will be greatly missed.

 

Week in Review

Hey look, I wrote a post in advance! Amazing!

Work

We actually went to school every day we were supposed to this week. It was a 4-day week because of mid-winter break though, so it wasn't a full week. I really wanted to work every day this week, but only ended up working 3 of the days. I was actually glad to have Tuesday off after all, because my cold was pretty bad that day. It was nice to have a day to rest and fight the sickness.

I had my favorite 4th graders on Monday, kindergarten on Wednesday, and my friend's 2nd grade class on Thursday. It was a pretty good week and I picked up more jobs for the future. So far, nothing for this week, but I hope that will change soon.

Life

We spent our evenings watching the Olympics all week. I'm a figure skating fan, so I was really interested in those competitions. I absolutely adore Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

M had to work on Valentine's Day, so I spent it home alone watching White Collar (Yum, Matt Bomer!) and eating frozen pizza. I was craving chocolate, so I got into my brownie mix stash and made brownies. Best idea I had all week!

We spent the weekend mostly at home watching TV. We did venture out to Target on Saturday to hit up the Valentine clearance, but only ended up getting a dog toy for my mother-in-law's dog. We made homemade pizza Sunday night, which was the second best idea I had all week.

How was your week?


 

Sunday Social

What are your favorite things to do on a lazy day? 

I like to watch shows on Netflix or Amazon, read, and spend time on the Internet

What is your TV guilty pleasure?

Gossip Girl! I didn't watch it when it was on TV, so I've been watching it on Netflix. I'm way more attached to that show than I really should be for someone my age.

What is your favorite road trip music?

Anything my husband and I can actually agree on. On our trip to Minnesota this past fall, we just searched for stations that were playing songs we liked and stuck with them until they played a song we hated or we lost the station.

What are your favorite magazines or books to read by the pool or laying around? 

I like romance novels and mysteries. 

What is your favorite snack?

This really depends on what I'm craving and what time of day it is. In the afternoon, I tend to like cheese and crackers. In the evening, I like ice cream or popcorn. 

 

Four for Friday

1. Happy Valentine's Day! No celebrating here. We don't usually make a big deal about and M is working tonight, so we couldn't do anything even if we wanted. I'm still battling a cold, so my Valentine's Day looks like me, the cats, a frozen pizza, cough syrup, and the Olympics. Exciting stuff

2. My big plans for the weekend? Watching more Olympics and shopping the Valentine clearance. I can't possibly be the only one who gets excited about hitting up Target the day after a holiday, right?

3. I really enjoyed the first season of Downton Abbey, but after that felt like the show really went downhill. In fact, I became so frustrated with it, that I declared it dead to me halfway through the 3rd season. Since I refuse to waste my time watching the show, I really enjoy The Fug Girls' recaps. They're an entertaining read & I can find out what horrible things are happening on the show without having to sit through an episode.

4. Speaking of the Olympics, who knew men's figure skating could be so dramatic? Especially since Johnny Weir isn't competing anymore. Jeremy Abbott's fall was hard to watch, but I was so proud of the way he got back up and finished his program. Hopefully he did better today in the long program. (NO SPOILERS!)  I was shocked when Evgeni Plushenko pulled out of the competition yesterday. This ABC News story about his wife was an interesting read. She sounds like a real character!

 

Week in Review

I swear, I have no idea what day it is anymore. I keep thinking today is Thursday. I'm late, but let's do this!

Another week down, another week closer to spring. Right? Please? I need the snow and cold to go away!

Work

Once again, we could NOT have a complete week of school. We ended up missing Wednesday due to some overnight snow making the already crappy roads that much worse. And then we didn't have school on Friday due to some dangerous windchill.

Luckily, I was able to work the three days we did have school last week. I did 4th grade on Monday, Kindergarten on Tuesday, and then another 4th grade on Thursday. The kids are understandably antsy due to our completely messed up schedule, but we're all dealing as best we can.

In six weeks of school, we've only had one full week of school.  This week and next week are already short thanks to mid-winter break, so we'll go 2 months with only one full week of school. Crazy.

Life

Snow and cold means I pretty much stay inside when I'm not at work. I'm really excited that the Olympics started. I watched the Opening Ceremony Friday night and then watched whatever NBC would show me all weekend.

Life is pretty boring in the frozen tundra.

How was your week?


 

Sunday Social - Movies & TV

 

What is your favorite thing to watch on a girls night?

We tend to watch chick flicks, especially old school stuff like Dirty Dancing. My friend Liz and I like to watch Empire Records or watch the Twilight movies and laugh at them.

What is your favorite thing to watch on your day off?

If I'm home alone, then I tend to watch my guilty pleasure shows on Netflix or Amazon Instant, like Chopped, White Collar, or Chuck.

What is your favorite thing to watch when you're sick?

Pretty much the same thing I watch when I'm home alone.

What is the last movie you saw in the theater?

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

What are your top three favorite movies or TV shows?

Movies - Tangled, The Princess Bride, Pride & Prejudice

TV Shows - Sherlock, Doctor Who, NCIS

 

Four for Friday

1. We didn't have school today due to dangerous wind chills. And while I really didn't want to go outside in that, I'm disappointed I didn't get to work today. I was looking forward to working with today's class. And, you know, getting paid. This was the second day this week we didn't have school.

2. I'm really excited about the Olympics starting. I'll be watching as much as I can over the next few weeks. Sadly, it won't be much since we don't have cable, so I'm stuck with whatever NBC deigns to show me. I'm really dreading the awful commentary on tonight's Opening Ceremonies. I might try watching a BBC live stream for some other Olympic coverage.

3. I got my ticket for the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale this week. I'm already counting down the days to April and making my wishlist on Pinterest. Anybody else going this year?

4. Something I am loving right now - Amazon Instant Video on the Wii. We already had Netflix streaming on our Wii and thanks to my brother-in-law, we now have access to the Prime Instant Videos. It's great because they have shows Netflix doesn't have. We just finished the second season of Grimm and I've been watching episodes of Chopped and Daria. Don't judge my guilty pleasures.


 

Week in Review

I know I've complained about this before, but I am really ready for winter to just be over. I hate snow and cold weather in a normal year, but this year has been ridiculous. And now that groundhog says six more weeks of winter. Grrrr!

Work

Thanks to the latest round of the polar vortex, we once again didn't have school for three days. I was supposed to work on Thursday, but since it was our first day back in a week, the job was cancelled. I did work on Friday in a 4th grade classroom. I mostly just monitored while the student teacher did all the teaching. It was a nice way to ease back into work after so many days off work.

And to add insult to injury, while I wasn't making money because we didn't have school, most of my jobs for this coming week were cancelled. So much for the awesome paycheck I was looking forward to!  They're calling for more snow Tuesday night, so who knows if have a normal week this week.

Life

Life was pretty boring thanks to that polar vortex. The temperatures were bitterly cold and I was not up for going anywhere. I finally got out of the house on Friday for work and then went to the grocery store. Sunday night, I watched the Super Bowl. Since I was rooting for the Broncos, that was a disappointment. I spent most of the game yelling at the TV. At least some of the commercials were good.

How was your week?

 

Sunday Social - 4s

4 favorite bands you loved in high school

*NSYNC
Backstreet Boys
5ive
Spice Girls

I really liked boy bands, obviously.

4 go to meals you'd love to learn to cook or can cook really well

Chicken Fajitas (Not really a go to meal since it requires preparation, but I'm a pro at it.)
Stuffed Shells
Homemade Pizza (Mine is way better than any frozen pizza)
Crockpot Ribs (Again, needs preparation, but so good!)

4 necessities to your daily life

Time with my husband
My phone (That sounds sad, but it's how I get work, so it's important)
Laughter
Water

4 makeup necessities you must have if you could only have 4 on

Mineral foundation
Mineral Veil
Mascara
Lip gloss

4 favorite apps on your phone or iPad

Instagram
Foursquare
Ibotta
Facebook